Why the Failure to Launch?

Julie Ponzi has an interesting take, as do several of the commenters. I, however, really, really think much of this is simply the logical outcome of the "Greatest Generation's" actions in the 40's and 50's.

They came home from WW II and started families. They wanted to give their kids what they didn't have during the Depression - so they worked, hard. They defined the commuter. They scrimped and saved to get a little house on a postage stamp sized lot. Their kids had next-door neighbors' kids to play with. Moms stayed home, and whalloped all the kids in the neighborhood willy-nilly when they misbehaved.

Korea, and more vets came home to start families, and worked to prevent their kids from having to go to war.

So, 15 years later, when Viet Nam came along, the kids didn't want to go to war. After all, their parents didn't want them to, and supported the cowardly running to Canada. The national "will to win" wasn't there, and we essentially "lost."

It's been downhill from there. Boys are supposed to act like girls, sit quietly in class and learn, obey the teacher just because the teacher says do something. All the PE was taken out of schools, so the energy boys have isn't exercised.

At the same time, we lost the war on poverty - more people are "sucking the tit" of Govt giveaways and have no desire to earn a living than ever before. Kids had babies when they just weren't ready for the responsibility. They have had babies to "get out of Mama's house" and get their own (govt subsidized) apartment. They are paid more welfare and given more food stamps when they have more kids. If they marry, they lose their subsidies, so why marry? If they work, they lose all their medicaid benefits, their subsidized housing, their food stamps and their welfare payments, so why work?

Again, at the same time, we decided only parents should discipline children, and they were no longer permitted to spank. Discipline left the schools - parents didn't support the schools' attempts to impose discipline. With no limits, children become sulky and defiant. They *want* limits, they *crave* limits. Without limits they become seekers of limits. Gangs provide limits the schools don't. If you get out of line, you will be beaten or killed. But the limits are known, and the consequences of crossing the lines are known and are imposed - quickly.

Now, the middle class has discovered that they don't have to work. "Guilt-ridden" parents will give them the handouts the Govt gives the impoverished. So why leave home? Why try to find a job? Why bother starting a business?

Obviously, there are many more reasons for the failure to launch, but I see a connecting thread.

Should we "return to the 50's?" Probably not. But certain aspects of the 50's are needed now. Structure, limits, discipline, and support of others imposing the structure, limits and discipline in parental absence are needed. Taking an interest in your kids - 0r don't have them - is needed.

Abortion? That's a cop-out. If you are going to have sex, you take responsibility for yourself and use birth control. And if the BC doesn't work, you accept the consequences, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. Don't like those choices? Don't have sex. Period. Abstinence only failed once . . .

We need to encourage people to weigh the risks of their behavior and to accept the consequences of their choices.

If you choose to not work - you don't eat.

Have we had a "boomerang kid?" Yes. But he *paid* rent and did chores around the house for room and board. He fed cats, scooped litter, cleaned bathrooms, washed dishes, vacuumed etc. He also left as soon as he could! Had he balked, he would have been out on his own before he could turn around twice.

Failure to launch is a failure not only of parents, but our society.

TurtleMom's Space

TurtleMom's Space

Silly me! I hardly ever post here, and now I have ANOTHER space! Check it out!

Immigration Laws

The ol' curmudgeon and I were talking about the immigration problems we currently are facing. He wondered about the various laws already existing. What, really, do they say?

Well, for those who are really interested, here is a page with links to the existing laws:
The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website contains links to all the US immigration laws and regulations.

I haven't studied them very deeply - haven't had time as yet. However, they specify exactly what an "immigrant" is, the different classes of immigrants and how one can become a legal immigrant. Boy! the language is obtuse! Now, my IQ was certainly high enough to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship on my pre-SAT, to graduate from college, and get 2 post-graduate degrees. But I'm having

What I wish someone would do for all these laws and regulations is "translate" them into everyday language and make shorter sentences so the "average Joe or Jane" could understand them. I haven't found a website that does that, as yet.

There is a link from that page (above) to "Interpretations," but they are just about as obtuse.

Bah! Why do we let the US of Govt write laws so unclearly??

Let's fire all the lawyers . . .

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Immigration taboos by Thomas Sowell - Aug 16, 2005

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Immigration taboos by Thomas Sowell - Aug 16, 2005

You know, there are a lot of commentaries about our current immigration "crisis" "out there" on the internet, in newspapers, in magazines as diverse as JAMA, People, Time, and Sports Illustrated. We constantly hear about it on the news and talk shows. Congress is working on "new" immigration laws.


Why do we need more laws when we aren't even enforcing the laws we already have on the books? Someone on a talk show said we have over 300 immigration laws between the states and the federal government. There are legal and illegal methods of entering the country. Illegal immigrants are felons under our current laws. They should be arrested and deported.

Legal immigrants are welcome. Felons are not. It's that simple.

Why In The World Would An Episcopalian Become Orthodox?

Why In The World Would An Episcopalian Become Orthodox?

For all my Episcopalian friends: THIS is why!!

I'm a Porsche 911!

Sharona tagged me! These silly things are so much fun!

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Isn't this a beautiful car?
Wish I could afford one!

Blog on a Blog!

Nothing like 'borrowing" someone else's blog for your own blog! :-)

Denise, my friend in Savannah, has a food blog. During the Great Fast, I'm always looking for recipes, and Denise is sharing a recipe or thought a day. This one, Arabic Cabbage and Rice Pilaf, is for wine and oil days. It looks scrumptious! I'm going to try it this Sunday using whole-grain brown rice and roll it all up in cabbage leaves. I'll stack them in my crockpot and cover with veggie broth. Then heat slowly for about 4 hours. Should be really good at that point! Since our priest is coming this Sunday, I'll leave out the onions as he is allergic to onions and garlic (and other members of the lily family). Instead of onions, I'll use finely chopped celery - it works nicely, in terms of texture, as a substitute for onions.

Thanks, Denise! I'm using your offerings! And so are lots of other people!

So, it's off to Kroger to get the makings. I should have read this yesterday so I could use my senior discount - even 5% off the food bill helps!

Me as a Novel?

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. You are a mystery novel dealing with theology, especially with catholic vs liberal issues. You search wisdom and knowledge endlessly, feeling that learning is essential in life.


Which literature classic are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thoughts on the End of Life

Not to be morbid, but I'm "of an age" now when probably 85% of my life is behind me - there isn't much left - and I'm facing the inevitability of dying. My Orthodox faith requires me to retain my hope for the Resurrection. My very human brain insists upon throwing out doubts to be overcome.

On Sunday I was preparing for some people to come to our home. Now I'm NOT a housekeeper, so the house was a total wreck. Much like my spiritual house. I "knocked myself out" rushing around getting things ready. I had to rest frequently, and at a couple of points I experienced chest pain, pressure and shoulder pain. Was it a heart attack? Was it THE heart attack? No, neither. It was my esophageal spasm acting up because I ate too large a breakfast. Happens. But here I was trying to get ready for guests and wondering if the guests would find me dead.

This certainly is an apt description of death. It comes with no regard for our plans. It happens. And my spiritual house needs refreshing even more than my physical house.

Prayers, almsgiving, reception of the sacraments - how to get it all in? Will God reject me? What if He does? Regardless of the assertions of some, there is no way to be certain. God isn't a "great computer in the sky" that will carry out salvation if I punch the right buttons in the right sequence. He saves us regardless of our unworthiness, and we condemn ourselves regardless of our outward appearance.

All we can do is live as if today is our last on earth, loving God and loving others to the best of our paltry ability - as if by the end of the day we will stand before the dread judgement seat of God.

I find myself doing that more and more as time goes on, but still finding that I'm not doing it enough. I can never be totally prepared - only in semi-readiness.

Open to me the doors of repentance, O LifeGiver!
For my spirit rises to pray towards Thy Holy Temple
Bearing the temple of my body, all defiled,
But in Thy Compassion
Purify me by the loving kindness of Thy Mercy.

Lead me on the path of salvation, O Mother of God
For I have profaned my soul with shameful sins
And have wasted my life in laziness
But by thy intercessions
Deliver me from all impurity.

Have mercy on me, O God,
According to Thy great Mercy
And according to the multitude of Thy Compassion
Blot out my transgressions.

When I think of the dreadful things I have done
Wretch that I am
I think of the fearful day of judgement
But trusting in Thy loving kindness
Like David I cry unto Thee:

Have mercy on me, O God
Have mercy on me, O God
Have mercy on me, O God
According to Thy great mercy!
{from the Mattins of Great Lent}

» Firefox is slow and buggy (but I'm hooked anyway) | Ed Burnette's Dev Connection | ZDNet.com

As a long-time computer "user" rather than a developer, I think there should be a forum for inputting what my "druthers" are. Firefox is great, I love it, and it's buggy and slow.

I want -
>> a browser that opens every webpage I go to and will function properly following javascript links and filling out forms.
>> a browser that keeps my bookmarks in a folder that I can access and edit without opening the browser.
>> total ad blocking (even Firefox isn't completely ad-free).
>> a database that I can use without having to read 12 books and spend 52 weeks in the learning curve.
>> applications that don't "get in each other's way" in the registry
>> when I remove an application, I want the whole thing removed - don't leave little snippets of it all over the place
>> when I install an application, I want to be able to put it where I want to, and have it save it's data where I tell it to
>> and how about something that will zap spammers with 50,000 volts when they hit Send?
AARRGGHH!!

Cheesefare Sunday - the Sunday of Forgiveness

While Roman Catholics and Anglicans have Ash Wednesday, we Orthodox have Forgiveness Sunday. A cross between a Feast and deep penitance. Today is the last day for fish, milk, butter, eggs, and other dairy products until Pascha (Easter). Last Sunday was the Sunday of the Last Judgement (Meatfare) and the last day for meat and animal products. And, yes, we Orthodox take this *seriously.* We work and struggle through the Great Fast to tame the passions, to pray more, to give more alms, to be more and more of who and what we should be in God's eyes.

So, today, just as we begin, we have a great Maslenitza - or butter fest. We eat up the last of the cheese, milk, butter, eggs and other dairy products. We feast on the last of the fish.

Then, after the Maslenitza, we return to Church for the Vespers of Forgiveness. We begin with the usual Vespers service, then it moves into special, long penitential prayers and readings. The height of the service is when we say the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian for the first time:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power and idle talk.

(Prostration).

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant.

(Prostration).

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen.

(Prostration).

O Lord, cleanse me, a sinner. (x 12 with Sign of Cross and deep bow with each)

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. (Sign of Cross).

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen.

(Prostration).

(Yes, we really do bow our head down to the ground during a prostration.)

At the end of the service we go first to the Priest, then to each member of the Parish in turn. We make a full prostration (or a deep bow if physically handicapped) before each person and say, "Forgive me, my brother / sister." Then we stand and embrace and say, "God forgives." This is totally gut-wrenching, and there just aren't any dry eyes at the end.

Having asked and given forgiveness, having fortified ourselves with prayer, we enter into Great Lent, striving, struggling, falling down and getting up, again and again, as we journey to the Bright Pascha of Our Risen Lord.

Forgive me, my brothers and sisters, for any offenses I have committed both voluntary and involuntary, of word and of deed, committed in knowledge or in ignorance.

God forgives.

May you see the Bright Pascha of Our Risen Lord!

{NB: Pascha falls on April 23 this year - the week following Western Easter.}

Feminist Reprise: Screwed By Southwest

Well, if you take up 2 seats, you should pay for 2 seats. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography

Found this page while surfing. Here is Franklin's list of virtues as found in his autobiography, chapter 8:
1. TEMPERANCE.
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY.
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY.
Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION.
Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Would that our schools would teach these!

Japanese Men Declare "Beloved Wives Day"

What a sad commentary on some men in Japan. They are such "workaholics" that they have no family life. " 'Many men can’t put their feelings of gratitude towards their wives into words. Work is number one for them,' the non-profit group says on its Web site, http://www.aisaika.org/."

One would think that in a civilization that raised haiku to the level of an art form, the "Japan Doting Husbands Association" would encourage it's members to use that form to make their affection known to their wives.

More Muttonings

I kind of skipped over my father when I posted about my parents. Frankly, I didn'tknow him very well. I was only three when he and my mother split up. I have heard several different stories about why they divorced, but I don't think anyone, including they, knew the complete story.

Later, after he died, I learned that he had two sisters I had never known. Naomi went to nursing school for a little while, but didn't finish. She got married - a no-no for nursing students back then. Her husband was apparently an abuser, but she stayed with him for about 50 years. She died back in the mid-90's. The other sister, Mary Elizabeth, died back in the 50's of a stroke. They knew about me, but had not tried to keep in touch. Apparently they were warned off by my father who told them I would, "never need anything they could offer me."

His father, according to reports by Naomi and her oldest daugher and son, was an abuser who was married at least 3 times and maybe 5 times. There are rumors that he murdered my grandmother, the Cherokee indian, and that one of his children by a previous wife was imprisoned for murder. Gee, the things you learn about your family!

Did I love my father? I honestly don't know. I longed for more time with him, and as a child I think I loved him. As I got older, however, the lack of contact over the years reduced my attachment to him. There were some points in time in which I tried to re-establish a relationship with him and my half-sister and half-brother. It never "worked," though. When he experienced his last illness, I wasn't notified until he was in a coma. I spent several days at his bedside, read the paper to him, kept the TV tuned to sports programs in a vain attempt to bring him "back," but he didn't recover. My sons were among his pallbearers. But they didn't know him, and it was a detached kind of honor for them.

I pray for him and for his wife, my step-mother, who died a couple of years later. I wasn't notified of her last illness or death at all. I found out a couple of years later when our priest went with me to my father's grave to bless it. Then I saw my stepmother's headstone and the date of her death. At that point, I realized that my half-sibs and I had no relationship whatsoever, and I gave up trying to keep up with them at all.

Such things are sad. May God have mercy on all of us!

T-Rex Cooks

Since I've had so much to do, and have been under the weather so much recently, the T-Rex (AKA the ol' curmudgeon) decided to do the cooking on "non-fasting" days. He became so addicted to the FoodNetwork that I hardly get to see Animal Planet anymore! ;-)

So, it was a Food-Groupie kind of Christmas.

He got:
Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food (he already had the first one)
A large pepper mill for the kitchen - adjustable from cracked peppercorns to powdered pepper

He gave me:
A Kitchen Aid mixer
Two of Rachael Ray's cookbooks

We got:
A new food processor
A citrus press
various other kitchen tools

Since October, he's rearranged the kitchen, re-organized the refrigerator and the freezer, used up most of the food in the freezer, and started getting really different (from our usual fare) foods from the grocery and the local fresh-market (proschiutto, mascarpone, etc). The food he makes is good, I'll say that for him.

But as relieved as I am that I don't have to plan meals and cook, I feel guilty because I'm not planning meals and cooking!

Can't win for losing.

New Martyrs, Confessors, and Passion-Bearers of Russia

New Martyrs, Confessors, and Passion-Bearers of Russia

As I was reading these pages, I realized once more that we in the USA are not comfortable with the concept of martyrdom. In fact, we ofte use the term "Martyr" as a derogatory assessment of the mental and emotional shortcomings of others.

However, in this 21st century, the USA will see the true martyrdom of many Christians by those who hate Christianity. Those who truly love Christ will be threatened with death by the Christ-haters. And hundreds of thousands of those who retain their faith will be slaughtered. There will be many who will say, "Their deaths were in vain," but God knows that the death of one who loves Him is never in vain!

Our task to to embrace Christ ever more tightly, ever more firmly, until we cannot conceive of living life without Him - and to that end, we would lay down our lives in order to live in Him. For, life without Him truly would be death.

This will not take place in some obscure (to us) corner of the planet, but in our own cities and states. Even in our own Churches. It will happen in Washington DC, in New York, in California, in Minnesota, in Texas, in Alaska, in Hawaii - and everywhere between.There will be no place to hide.

Just as in Russia, in the early part of the 20th century, bishops, priests, deacons and laypeople were imprisoned, tortured and killed for their faith, so will we be imprisoned, tortured and killed for our faith.

Only a remnant of believers will be left - and they will have to go into hiding - just as did the early Christians of the first through third centuries. They will worship in basements, in garages, in backrooms. They will have to have special passwords and signs to recognize each other - and these will have to differ from location to location to keep the persecuters from recognizing them.

We must prepare for this - prepare our children and grandchildren, prepare our friends and relatives, prepare ourselves. We must hold to our love of Christ, we must be prepared to suffer, we must be prepared to die.

We must also be prepared to not judge those who give in - for those of them who later repent their denial of Christ will form a strong remnant that will keep alive the true Body and Immaculate Bride of Christ - His Church.

May God help us!

Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts - New York Times

As I recall, the right to a defense does not mean a right to be found not-guilty no matter what.

But, then, I'm a "radical reactionary." If evidence is obtained illegally, it should not be thrown out, but the people who collected it illegally should be fined and prosecuted. If the evidence shows the defendant did the crime, then he does the time, no matter if the evidence was obtained illegally.

We are going too far in the direction of "criminal's rights," and not far enough in the direction of the rights of those injured by criminals. We need to come back to the middle ground - not too far to one side or the other.

TV Chefs

I've been reading some of the blogs on TV Chefs in the last few days, and I'm appalled at the negativity. Certainly there are a few that I'm less enamoured of than others. However, I believe each of them is a professional and has much to contribute. One blogger said that Giada couldn't possibly be a good chef because she is too thin. Then someone else gigs Paula Deen for being chubby. Excuse me! Giada went to Le Cordon Bleu, "did her time" as an assistant in various restaurants, and then worked with Wolfgang Puck - anyone who can work with Wolfgang Puck has to be good - Puck is a real stickler for competence in his assistants. Paula Deen is a great cook who "did it" the hard way - she borrowed money from everyone she knew and started a little restaurant in Savannah - which has multiple great restaurants. I've eaten there, and the other restaurants are in good company with hers!

Rachael Ray is so perky she makes my teeth itch. But, yes, by watching her I've discovered how to cut down on the time it takes me to prepare a meal. She is organized, and has her every movement down to it's most economical. Yes, I can put one of her meals together in 30 minutes or less - IF I am organized and use my movements economically. She not only developed from catering, she worked in her family's restaurants as a kid. She certainly knows what she is doing. Not everyone has to go to Le Cordon Bleu or one of the schools of Culinary Arts here in the US in order to learn to cook well - or to teach it to others.

Emeril may be flashy on Emeril Live, but he knows how to keep people's attention. If you can't follow his recipes on the show, go to the Foodnetwork website and read them! Emeril Live is more of a "showy" kind of show - not a recipe show. Did you know that Emeril turned down a scholarship to the Boston Conservatory to go to the Johnson and Wales University culinary program? And that he has a doctorate from there? He has no secret ingredients. The recipe for his "Essence" is all over the web, not to mention the Foodnetwork website - and you can buy his various seasonings in any major grocery store in the spice aisle. Doc Gibbs may not be your cup of tea, but he is a "master percussionist," and is much sought after by various bands. His little band doesn't have much chance to show off on most shows, but they are a very good jazz band.

I certainly don't "like" all of the chefs on the Foodnetwork, and I don't like all the recipes either. I think there is entirely too much southern Italian cuisine and insufficient other cuisines (French, Japanese, and Russian come to mind).

Ya' know something? If you don't like what's offered on the Foodnetwork, you can always change channels to 24-hour boxing or something equally intellectually stimulating.

Muttonings

My friend Meg has started using her Blog to detail the lives of her departed loved ones. This is a good use of a Blog, and I will flatter her by imitation.

October is coming up, and that's my birth month. I think I'll start by telling a little about my parents.

My father was 1/2 Cherokee. He was not even an American citizen until he was 6 years old because American Indians and their offspring were not citizens until after 1915. He never got over the "disgrace" of being a "half-breed." He was distant and emotionally uninvolved with both my mother and me.

Mother was the only child. Her daddy fought in WWI in France, and didn't even see her until she was 18 months old. He wanted to make a career of the military, but his wife, my grandmother, didn't want him to - and made a big stink about it. Mama was their little princess. She had all the advantages they didn't have growing up - dancing lessons, piano lessons, summer camp, good city schools rather than poor rural schools. She met my father when she was in college. He was in the insurance business - with my grandfather's company. I believe I remember they met when she was meeting her father for supper after work one night.

Their marriage, like so many of the early 40's marriages, didn't survive WWII. Neither did my grandfather. He died of a brain abscess - the result of a head wound he had sustained over 27 years earlier in France - the same year my parents divorced.

Mama was a bubbly, happy character - the kind who made the best of everything and was always ready to have fun with her friends. She was a good Mom, and included me in on fun, too. We went to her parties together, she took me on many of her dates. She worked hard to give me, her only child, as many advantages as she could. I, too, had summer camp, piano lessons, dancing lessons and good city schools - because she was determined her child would have those things.

She worked hard, and just about the time she could have stopped worrying about raising me (I was in Nursing School) she developed Rheumatoid arthritis. It was fast developing, intense, and totally crippling. In 2 years she went from a 5'6" slender woman to a 5'3" cripple. Over the next 12 years she had over 30 major orthopedic surgeries to remove (not replace) joints and fuse her neck. During this time I married, began having children, and my husband was transferred by the Air Force to Utah. I had to leave her. By that time she was retired on disability and living at home with her mother. Leaving was the hardest thing I ever did, but she wouldn't hear of me staying with her. My place, she said, was with my husband. Four years later, when we returned, she put herself and her mother into a nursing home - they shared a room. After my grandmother died a year later, she had a series of roommates - mostly very elderly women who died quickly. She stayed on there for 4 years.

During that time, we were able to talk about everything we needed to talk about. It was during that time that Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about "Death and Dying." Mama read that, and we talked about death and what she had wanted for me. We said our "sorries" and our "happies" and our "goodbyes." Finally, the RA invaded her spine and led to dislocation of several vertebrae which in turn caused paralytic ileus. She couldn't keep anything down. The doctors at that time could not do anything for her, and she decided she didn't want any more interventions. The nursing home staff refused to remove her IV, and I ended up having to take it out. One of the hardest things I've ever done. She lingered for 2 1/2 days. Most of that time she was in and out of consciousness. But she would rouse from time to time to talk to someone that I couldn't see. She would smile and seem so happy. But if I spoke to her, she would look worried and "interrupted." On the last day, I told her I was going to lunch and would be right back. There was no place to eat in the nursing home, and I had to go up the street to Steak and Shake. When I got back, she was gone. She had died 10 minutes after I left. To this day, I believe she waited for me to leave so I wouldn't be there when she died.

We didn't convert to Orthodoxy until over a year later, so I never had the opportunity to tell her about the Church - but somehow I believe, no, I KNOW, she entered the Church before we did.

I do miss her so much. This year she would have been 87.

May God grant Memory Eternal to His handmaiden, Elizabeth.

From: Meg

Lament

The rock 'n' roll raucousness now is stilled;
with Vivaldi the halls of the house are filled.
Where gerbils and hamsters once reigned supreme,
there's time to think, and plan, and dream:
The kids are gone.

Two-a.m. feedings have long since fled,
and two-a.m. entrances nothing to dread.
From close of day to dawn's rose-red,
We sleep the sleep of the grateful dead:
The kids are gone.

The bathroom is free, our showers are short,
we no longer hasten from sport to sport,
the mountains of laundry are molehills at last,
and supper in shifts is a thing of the past:
The kids are gone.

There's time for our hobbies, we read at our leisure,
we walk and we talk to each other for pleasure.
But once in awhile, a brief, sorrowful sigh,
or a tear quickly wiped from a treasonous eye,
reveals our awareness: Our life's task is done.
The kids are gone.

(c) 2005 by Meg Lark

We've been "empty-nesters" for about 12 years, now. Restful. Oh, initially, I had butterflies - would they be ok? had we prepared them adequately? would they ever come to visit? etc.

Well, they are OK. They've had their "moments," and "seasons" but they are OK. Yes, for the most part, we had prepared them adequately - and they used their bad times to learn. They come to visit, but, of course, not frequently enough for us. On the "up" side - there are grandchildren, and the kids have formed their own, strong nuclear families. They are supporting their families. They are planning for the future, and are resigned to the fact we will not always be here, on earth.

The ol' curmudgeon and I have "our" life - and we are enjoying it. We are in the twilight of our lives and it is even warmer and more satisfying than the earlier parts were.

Yet, even now, the kids need us - for advice, companionship, as a "sounding wall," or to vent to. And our life's tasks are not yet done. Grandchildren come to visit - and we fall back into correcting table manners, break up squabbles, remind them about and supervise them in cleaning up the family room when they are ready to leave, teach them to cook, make webpages with them, talk about school - it all comes back!

God bless all who are empty-nesters. It's hard, but it's a "normal" part of life.

I'm a Gryffindor!

I'm a Gryffindor!

Rather a fun site.

ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.: All for One?

Fr. Joseph "Orthodixic" Hunnycutt strikes again with this article by Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green. Worth taking a look at.

Mr. Stanley

We have been invaded by a (now 1 pound 4 oz) bundle of fluff originally named "Lucky," but renamed Mr. Stanley (after the explorer who found Dr. Livingston) because he is an intrepid explorer. Mr. Stanley is a "little kittenin" who is now 4 weeks old. We've had him for about 1 1/2 weeks. Daughter-person rescued him at approximately 2 weeks of age when his mother rejected him. He's almost pathologically fierce - and has our three elderly felines terrified. I'm covered with toothmarks and scratches. He is food aggressive to the nth degree, and will attack anything that moves - or doesn't move. So far he has destroyed 2 little toy "mousies" from PetSmart.

It's obvious he's here to teach us something - maybe patience? maybe the fact that lack of overt gratitude doesn't mean it isn't "there?" maybe that all of God's creation is inter-connected - even fierce little kittenins and grumpy ol' curmudgeons who talk baby talk to him when he thinks I'm not listening. And maybe because God knows we need something to laugh at during our current difficulties.

Mr. Stanley is resolutely trying to attack 20 pound Magnus, the Magnificat. He's practicing pouncing on his tail. Magnus spits at him, gets up and walks off. Mr. Stanley follows. Magnus bats him across the floor. Mr. Stanley gets up and returns to the attack. Magnus runs and hides! Magnus has teeth that are bigger than Mr. Stanley's tail, and he outweighs him by 15-fold - but he runs away from the little fluffball. Brave kitty!

Where is the Ghandi of Islam?

Charles Moore wrote this very interesting article for the Daily Telegraph, London, England. One point really spoke to me:

The faith Mohammed taught does not just hope that the world will become Muslim. It wants all human society and politics to be governed by religious law: it draws no distinction between the secular and religious sphere (except to condemn the secular). Therefore, Muslim leaders find it very difficult to resist the hotheads who say that Sharia - the divine law - should be imposed wherever possible.

In addition, the religion is absolute in its attitude to particular bits of territory. It is forbidden, for example, that any other religion be practised in the Arabian peninsula, because that land is considered sacred to Islam. Therefore, it is hard for a "moderate" to oppose the second-class citizenship of Christians or Jews in Muslim lands, or to say that "infidels" fighting in Muslim countries should not be murdered - even when they are his fellow citizens in a Western country.

When someone like bin Laden says that Islam should confront the "Cross-worshippers" and the "Zionists", he is making a claim in which politics and religion dangerously reinforce one another - a claim which most Muslims might not like, but which most of their leaders cannot find quite the right words to resist.

I find I am less trusting than I used to be. We don't hear much on the news about hte Islamic communities disavowing the actions of the so-called "radicals." Is that because they actually agree with them? Where are the protests to discourage more?

I'm very disappointed in my Muslim friends. We are in the grips of international terrorism and they don't condemn the perpetrators. Could it be they want the rest of the world to succumb? Is, "Convert or die!" once again the Islamic mantra?

I really worry about it.

An Old Bluejacket's 22-Year USN Career, Duty Stations, Patriotic Flash Movies, Links & Blogs, Humor & Some Politics

An Old Bluejacket's 22-Year USN Career, Duty Stations, Patriotic Flash Movies, Links & Blogs, Humor & Some Politics

For those who are interested in patriotism and nostalgia, here is the ultimate site! It is so big it had to expand to two other websites:
Patriot Files and Patriot Files Annex.

I'm just bowled over by the talent this veteran has for developing Flash productions. We need to remember that our military is protecting us 24/7/365, not just on Memorial Day or the 4th of July.

Club Gitmo

Boortz strikes again! These comments on the Gitmo "scandal" are priceless!

Eminent Domain? Rather Your House is My House

I can't believe this! Eminent domain has been abused and misused for decades, but now there is no recourse! What do these old men mean by taking the roofs from over the heads of children? Think I'm overstating? Well just read the ruling HERE.

I predict a backlash from this, much debate, name-calling, and, eventually - perhaps - legislation that will either add protections or further reduce the rights of property owners. I have to admit I don't like the idea that at any time a developer could sweep down on my neighborhood, have it condemned and suddenly a shopping mall appears where my house used to be! And if you really think people will be paid what their property is actually worth, think again.

Three decades ago, Atlanta and the state of Georgia swept down on the venerable Morningside neighborhood and condemned numerous homes creating a divisive swath through the neighborhood that was going to be a new freeway connector. That swath was eventually (after years of litigation) reclaimed for private property and the neighborhood was "saved." The highway project was canned. But the original property owners had been displaced, their homes taken from them and they were paid a pittance compared to what they could have received on a free market basis. The houses went vacant for several years, without repair. At least one had to be demolished, and most of the rest required extensive renovation before they were again habitable.

If the free market wants a section of land, then they need to pay the owners what the land is truly worth on the open market. Government needs to butt out of private development except to confirm that building codes are observed in new construction.

"We the people of the United States" need to take back our inalienable rights. Preventing the confiscation of property without due procedure is one of the reasons this country exists. Back to basics.

SHRIEK! How long are we going to allow our courts to run away like this??

Too Long!

Too long since I last posted anything here! Several friends had bad results from their blogs, and I became "leery."
One of my DH's friends sent this to him (it goes around the internet from time to time):

"HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE
"Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954


"Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

"Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

"Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the home just before your husband arrives, gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

"Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

"Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad he is home.

"Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

"Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

"Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

"The Goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. "

I remember that textbook! (Guess that dates me, hunh?) And I thought it was a bunch of hooey back then!

Well, I love my DH's response to his friend (he copied me):
"Yeah -- I've seen this. I prefer a companion with some brains & spunk. Any man that has to marry a maid has serious problems."

O Joy! what a great guy!

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

Letter From Little Miss Attila

I believe this BLOG Post to be very important. I encourage my readers, if any, to go HERE, read the entire Blog Post, and think about it very, very carefully!

And many thanks to Little Miss Atilla, whose blog I recommend very highly.

Letter to an Undecided Voter
I spend too much time preaching to the choir. This essay is different, because it is where I will lay my case out for re-electing George W. Bush. It is not for political junkies, but for people who only follow the news when they have a chance between their other obligations. I'm going to put it to you as straight as I can, and try not to inject a lot of emotion into this piece—though I promise I am passionate about it.

I want you to vote for the President, no matter what you might think of him as a man, or as a speaker, or as a politician. No matter which of his policies you might disagree with. And no matter what your party affiliation might be. I'll try to keep it short. I have high hopes that I'll at least get you to think about a few important issues. Please read this through, and if it makes you think at all, pass it along to your friends—whether I persuaded you or not. MORE...

ABC News: School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches

Can you believe this!!

Our family does not "observe" Halloween because it is anti-Christian, and not because we want to be "respectful" of Wicca!

ABC News: School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches:

"PUYALLUP, Wash., Oct. 21, 2004 -- A Washington state school district is canceling its annual Halloween celebration, and the explanation has some parents baffled.
'Let them have their 30 minutes of dressing goofy and having candy,' Silas Macon, a father of two school-age girls, said Wednesday outside Maplewood Elementary School after learning that the grade-school tradition of a party and parade in costume during the last half-hour of class before Halloween night won't happen this year in the district.
A letter sent home to parents Wednesday said there will be no observance of Halloween in any of the district's schools.
'We really want to make sure we're using all of our time in the best interest of our students,' Puyallup School District spokeswoman Karen Hansen said.
The superintendent made the decision for three primary reasons, Hansen said. First, Halloween parties and parades waste valuable classroom time. Second, some families can't afford costumes and the celebrations thus can create embarrassment for children.
Both of those reasons seemed sensible to the parents who spoke to ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle. But the district's third reason left some Puyallup parents shaking their heads.
The district said Halloween celebrations and children dressed in Halloween costumes might be offensive to real witches.
'Witches with pointy noses and things like that are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion and so we want to be respectful of that,' Hansen said.
The Wiccan, or Pagan, religion is said to be growing in the United States and there are Wiccan groups in Puyallup.
On the district's list of guidelines related to holidays and celebrations is an item that reads: "Use of derogatory stereotypes is prohibited, such as the traditional image of a witch, which is offensive to members of the Wiccan religion."
"I do lots of things that are not revolving around wearing a black outfit and stirring a cauldron," Wiccan priestess Cheryl Sulyma-Masson said in an interview with ABC News in which she explained that Wiccans, or Pagan Clergy, celebrate nature."
On the district's list of guidelines related to holidays and celebrations is an item that reads: "Use of derogatory stereotypes is prohibited, such as the traditional image of a witch, which is offensive to members of the Wiccan religion."

The article goes on to say that:

"We want to make sure our students are respectful of all religions and all cultures."

I'm Israel!!

Israel: "

You're Israel!

Though a victim in the past, you've learned very little from this and
have encouraged a cycle of violence in your life and the life of many you know.
 You're a little paranoid and somewhat schizophrenic, causing you to promote
both hatred and hope in cycling intervals.  Some of the paranoia is justified, as
a lot of people don't like you, but more people are helping you than you'd ever really
admit to.  At this point, you live on some valuable property and would benefit
greatly from just giving peace a chance.
Take the Country
Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

"

New York Post Online Edition: Heinz Kerry in a Pickle

New York Post Online Edition: news: "October 21, 2004 -- Teresa Heinz Kerry touched off a firestorm yesterday and was forced to quickly apologize by saying First Lady Laura Bush has never held 'a real job,' even though she's been a teacher, librarian and full-time mom.
'I don't know that she's ever had a real job I mean, since she's been grown up,' Mrs. Kerry told USA Today in making the case that she'd be a better first lady.
Bush adviser Karen Hughes said Mrs. Kerry revealed 'an unfortunate mindset that seeks to divide women based on whether you work at home or whether you work outside the home. I've done both and so has Laura Bush and both are difficult and both are rewarding.'"

Tereza Heinz Kerry revealed a mindset that obviously is trite and catty. She is sooooo privileged she can just say whatever crosses her mind - with no self-ensorship, no self-restraint, and no self-discipline. I'm not voting for a "first lady," I'm voting for a president, but in that the attitudes expressed by the wife of a candidate and tolerated by the candidate expresses a probable unity of thought, this makes me even more skeptical of sKerry than I already was!

I am just horrified that Ms. sKerry doesn't think being a full-time mother is a "real" job. It is just as much a "real" job as working outside the home is. In fact, being a stay-at-home Mother is even more important in the long run than anything a person does working outside the home! A SAHM is raising the next generation - hopefully to be nicer and better than Ms. sKerry!

Sorry, her remarks reflect on her husband - who is out hunting to prove he's a "real man" - and while I feel sorry for him, I wouldn't consider voting for him.

Daily Record Online: Election determines fate of nation

Daily Record Online

This article will only be online at The Daily Record Website, the original publication of this piece, until October 27, 2004. It is well worth reading, and I urge anyone who reads this to do so!

Kerry's Coalition Quagmire

Greg Lewis brings up a very good series of points regarding Kerry's diplomatic skills:

"Early in the Democratic Primary campaign in 2003, you infamously described America's allies in the war against international terrorism which is currently focused on the country of Iraq but which is also being quietly and clandestinely contested in hundreds of locations around the world as a 'trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought, and the extorted.' You have also insulted Iraqi interim Prime Minister Allawi by presenting the impression that he is a 'puppet' of the Bush administration. Perhaps you will have the arrogance to repeat this charge to the face of a man who has endured a heinous attempt on his life while he was in exile in London and who courageously attempts to mold seemingly intractable opposing forces into a unified nation in Iraq today.

Where do you suppose America's allies' anger comes from in their responses to your utterances? Why do you suppose they choose to align themselves, not with a genuine war hero such as yourself, but with George W. Bush, who, according to you at least, dodged his responsibility during Vietnam? It may be that America's allies know something you don't know, Mr. Kerry. Perhaps they know that, based on your reckless and audacious disrespect of them and the serious lacunae in your vision of the international political scene, you are not the man they want to see elected President of the United States. Perhaps the American electorate knows the same. I, along with the leaders of the American allies, am counting on it."

Kerry says he will bring about a "real" coalition - of whom? France? Germany? both have said they would not join us in Iraq even if Kerry were elected. Having insulted the rest of our allies, just who will Kerry appeal to? Somalia? Sudan? Iran?

Give me a break!

Monday, October 18 / October 5 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
Saints Peter, Alexis, Jonah, Philip, Hermogenes (Germogen) and Tikhon, metropolitans of Moscow. Martyr Charitina of Amisus. Martyr Mamelta (Mamelchtha) of Persia. Hieromartyr Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. St. Damian the Healer and Saints Jeremiah and Matthew, clairvoyants of the Kiev Caves. St. Charitina, princess of Lithuania. St. Cosmas, abbot in Bithynia. St. Gregory of Chandzoe in Georgia. St. Eudocimus the Unknown, monk of Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. Namesday of New-Martyr Crown Prince Alexis.
(Greek Calendar: St. Methodia of Cimola.)
Repose of Nun Agnia (Countess Orlova-Chesmenskaya) (1848).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

From: Prayers by the Lake. St. Nikolai of Ochrid and Zima
I

Who is that staring at me through all the stars in heaven and all the creatures on earth?

Cover your eyes, stars and creatures; do not look upon my nakedness. Shame torments me enough through my own eyes.

What is there for you to see? A tree of life that has been reduced to a thorn on the road, that pricks both itself and others. What else-except a heavenly flame immersed in mud, a flame that neither gives light nor goes out?

Plowmen, it is not your plowing that matters but the Lord who watches.

Singers, it is not your singing that matters but the Lord who listens.

Sleepers, it is not your sleeping that matters but the Lord who wakens.

It is not the pools of water in the rocks around the lake that matter but the lake itself.

What is all human time but a wave that moistens the burning sand on the shore, and then regrets that it left the lake, because it has dried up?

O stars and creatures, do not look at me with your eyes but at the Lord. He alone sees. Look at Him and you will see yourselves in your homeland.

What do you see when you look at me? A picture of your exile? A mirror of your fleeting transitoriness?

O Lord, my beautiful veil, embroidered with golden seraphim, drape over my face like a veil over the face of a widow, and collect my tears, in which the sorrow of all Your creatures seethes.

O Lord, my beauty, come and visit me, lest I be ashamed of my nakedness—lest the many thirsty glances that are falling upon me return home thirsty.

Monday, October 11 / September 28 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
St. Chariton the Confessor, abbot of Palestine. Prophet Baruch. Martyrs Alexander, Alphius, Zosimas, Mark, Nicon, Neon, Heliodorus and 24 others in Pisidia and Phrygia. Martyrdom of St. Wenceslaus, prince of the Czechs. St. Herodion, abbot of Iloezersk. St. Chariton, monk of Syanzhemsk (Vologda). (Greek Calendar: Martyr Eustace of Rome.)
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

Saturday, October 9 / September 26 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, Righteous Gideon, Judge of Israel. St. Ephraim, abbot of Perekop, Wonderworker of Novgorod.
(Greek Calendar: Martyr Cyra.)
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

Death, for men who understand it, is immortality; while for the simple, who do not understand it, it is death. And one should not fear this death, but ought to fear the perdition of the soul, which is ignorance of God. This is what is terrible for the soul! Life is the uniting and joining of the mind (spirit), soul and body; while death is not the perdition of these joined parts, but the dissolution of their union; God preserves all this even after the dissolution. Just as a man comes forth from his mother's womb, so does a soul come forth naked from the body. Some are pure and bright, some are spotted by falls, and some are black from many transgressions. That is why the wise and God­loving soul, remembering and considering the calamities and extremities that come after death, lives piously lest it be condemned and subjected to them. But the unbelievers, the mindless in soul, do not perceive and they sin, despising what is to come. Just as on issuing forth from the womb thou dost not remember what was in the womb, so on issuing forth from the body thou dost not remember what was in the body. Just as on issuing forth from the womb thou becamest better and greater in body, so on issuing forth from the body pure and undefiled, thou wilt be better and incorrupt, abiding in the heavens.

Mortal men ought to care about themselves, knowing in advance that death awaits them. For blessed immortality is the lot of the holy soul when it is good, and death eternal meets it when it is evil. Remember that thy youth is past and thy powers exhausted, while thine infirmities have grown and already the time of thy departure is near, when thou wilt give an account of all thy deeds; and know that there, neither will brother redeem brother, nor will father deliver son. Always remember thy departure from the body, and do not let eternal condemnation out of thy thoughts; if thou wilt act thus, thou wilt not sin unto the ages.

Venerable Anthony the Great.

nousfromspring: All the Nous that's fit to print

Great new Orthodox Blog has started. This lady can write well, and has many things to share! Check it out!

OpinionJournal - REVIEW & OUTLOOK - Hullabaloo Over Halliburton: The Kerry campaign's Old Democrat tendencies

"Hullabaloo Over Halliburton: The Kerry campaign's Old Democrat tendencies."
Opinion Journal has struck again -

.... All that's needed to refute this smear campaign are the facts: Mr. Cheney's deferred compensation is a standard practice for retiring executives and an entirely legal way of spreading tax liability for previously agreed compensation, so it does not imply any continuing relationship with Halliburton. In order to re-enter public service, Mr. Cheney had to forfeit millions of dollars worth of stock options to avoid any conflict of interest. And he has zero control or even input regarding Halliburton's Defense contracts.

But the attacks have gone on for so long despite no evidence of impropriety that there must be something else going on here. That's what we mean by saying that voters can learn from a campaign's negative attacks: They sometimes betray the accuser's own biases. In this case, it is a prejudice against large corporations and preference for big government.

Don't the liberal realize that the big corporations are where the most jobs are? This is where the most and newest jobs will be created. Yet they continually tear them down. They assume big corporations are corrupt - well, so are small companies - in the same proportion that people in the gneral population are corrupt. That's what regulations are for and about - our tendency to be corrupt.

It's a fallen world, and we have to struggle against corruption, but there is a corruption in looking for corruption, too. That's what I believe I'm seeing among the liberals - corruption in the seeking corruption; repeating a big lie so frequently and so forcefully that susceptible people will believe it.

Neither the Dems nor the Reps have the Truth - that is only found in God. But a little moderation and dispassion is called for - especially in the Silly Season!

Center for Consumer Freedom

Center for Consumer Freedom

This has become one of my favorite websites! As a scientist, I deplore scientists who allow their own per-conceived agenda to influence their research and conclusions. What's next - imprisoning pregnant women to ensure they eat "right" and exercise enough?

Tuesday, October 5 / September 22 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope Prophet Jonah. Martyr Phocas the Gardener of Sinope. St. Jonah the Presbyter, father of St. Theophanes the Hymnographer and St. Theodore Graptus. St. Peter the Tax-collector. St. Jonah, abbot of Yashezersk. The 26 Martyrs of Zographou Monastery on Mt. Athos, martyred by the Latins (see October 10). St. Cosmas of Zographou. Martyrs Isaac and Martin. St. Macarius, abbot of Zhabyn. St. Theophanes the Silent, recluse of the Kiev Caves. Repose of Abbot Innocent of Valaam (1828) and Blessed Parasceva "Pasha of Sarov", fool-for-Christ of Diveyevo Convent (1915).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

THE SPIRIT OF ANGER
(St. John Cassian, "The Institutes")

-- We have heard that some people try to excuse this most destructive disease of the soul by attempting to extenuate it by a rather detestable interpretation of Scripture. They say that it is not harmful if we are angry with wrongdoing brothers, because God Himself is said to be enraged and angered with those who do not want to know Him or who, knowing Him, disdain Him. For example: "The Lord was angry and enraged against His people" (Psalms 106:40). And when the prophet prays and says: "Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor in your anger correct me" (Psalms 6:1). They do not understand that, in their eagerness to concede human beings the opportunity for pernicious vice, they are mixing the injustice of fleshly passion into the divine limitlessness and the source of all purity.
-- And so the monk who is on the way to perfection and who wishes to engage lawfully in the spiritual struggle must in every respect be free of the vice of anger and wrath. He should listen to what the vessel of election (Acts 9:15) commands of him: "All anger and indignation and uproar and blasphemy should be removed from you, as well as all malice" (Ephesians 4:31). When he says: "All anger should be removed from you," he makes no exception at all for us as to necessity and utility. He should strive to cure a wrongdoing brother, if need be, in such a way that, while bringing relief to one who is perhaps laboring under a rather slight fever, he does not get angry and bring upon himself the more baleful malady of blindness, so that as he sees the speck in his brother's eye he does not see the beam in his own eye (Matthew 7:3-5). For it behooves the one who wishes to heal someone else's wound to be healthy and untouched by any disease or illness, lest the gospel saying be applied to him: "Physician, heal yourself first" (Luke 4:23). And how will a person see to remove the speck from his brother's eye if he carries about a beam of wrath in his own eye?

What The Election Is REALLY About

Alan Caruba has some interesting things to say about our national sovereignty. And his point is that we know where Bush stands - he believes we are a sovereign nation with the right to defend ourselves, while we cannot be sure where Kerry stands - he has voted and stated opposing things.

Sovereignty turns on the issue of who’s in charge. Is it the American people through their elected representatives and executive branch? Or is it the United Nations through its General Assembly and its Security Council? Is it a Europe divided between nations such as France and Germany who oppose the war? Or is it the Europe supporting our war? That Europe includes Spain, Italy, Poland and others who were the captive nations of the former Soviet Union; nations who now savor their sovereignty, their freedoms. More than thirty nations around the world have become “a coalition of the willing.”

Caruba concludes:

On November 2nd, Americans will once again determine whether the United States of America is a sovereign nation or whether it will go the way of Europe where member nations of the European Union continue to cede their sovereignty to an organization of unelected bureaucrats. Clearly, our membership in the United Nations did not deter us from exercising our sovereign right of self-defense. Freedom comes at a price. If our history provides a template, it is likely this generation of Americans will vote to pay that price.

This is also my take on it.

Sunday Rant

Domestic Policy:
I'm really tired, tired, tired of the liberalies screaming about lost jobs out of one side of their mouths and then condemning Bush and Cheney's prior ties to big business. Just who do they think hires people in the largest numbers? Little businesses? Sorry. I'm an entrepreneur and I own a little business. It has one employee - me. I have more work than I can do, but I can't afford to hire anyone because a minimum wage worker is too inexperienced and unmotivated, and an experienced, motivated person costs more than I can afford. So I'll have to stay small for a while longer. But a bigger business than I have can hire more people and pay them better than I can. And giving tax breaks and incentives to big businesses will lead them to be more productive and to hire more people!

So what is the disconnect there?

Foreign Policy:
The USA has bailed France's tushie out twice in the last 90 years. We liberated Germany, and to a large part because of US pressure and policies, the Soviet Union was prevented from totally overrunning Europe and has collapsed. After WW II, it was the US Marshall Plan that bailed the Europeans out economically. We created and maintained the Berlin Air Lift - saving the Berliners from starvation. Europe - especially the French, the Germans, the Austrians, the Belgians, the Swiss and the Italians OWE us.

So what have they done? Undermined us whenever and whereever they could. Most recently, they profiteered from the Oil for Food Program, along with the oh-so-smug and arrogant failures at the UN.

And these are the people that the liberalies want us to get permission from to defend ourselves? We were attacked. The perps have been traced not only to Afghanistan, but support for the perps and assistance in training them has been traced to Iraq.

The UN published 17 resolutions against Iraq in the past 15 years. Like an ineffectual mother who keeps saying, "Junior, now stop that, it isn't nice. -- Junior, if you don't stop that, I'll have to put you in time out. -- Junior, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that. If you don't stop I'll tell your father when he comes home. -- Junior!! Don't you dare do that again! -- Junior! I warned you, now go stand in the corner for 15 minutes. -- JUNIOR!!" the UN kept telling Iraq to stop working with weapons of mass destruction. There was no doubt that there were WMDs, they were even used on their OWN people - the Kurds. Intelligence, later proven to be faulty, indicated nuclear development was going on. Acting under that information AND with the 17 UN resolutions behind us, we formed a coalition of 60 nations and invaded Iraq - justifiably.

Now, sKerry wants us to think that because France has not been in and Spain withdrew from the coalition, that a coalition does not exist. France and Spain are not the whole of Europe, much less than the whole of the coalition.

sKerry wants us to have the permission of the UN to continue with our work in Iraq, but wants to talk unilaterally to N. Korea instead of using the pressure of a coalition - which we have - to reduce the threat posed by N. Korea.

They can't have it both ways. We have a coalition in Iraq, we are using a coalition in N. Korea. But with or without a coalition, the US will defend ourselves from those who would destroy us.

The poodle wants us to ask permission of the UN to defend ourselves. But the UN wasn't attacked - the US was attacked. (Maybe if the terrorists had crashed one of their planes into the UN building there might be some different words coming out of the mouths of the liberalies, but I doubt it.)

Maybe we need to protect ourselves from the liberalies who want to destroy our freedom in the name of wimpiness.

Sunday, October 3 / September 20 (Church Calendar) 18th Sunday after Pentecost

Commemorated Today
Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross
Great-Martyr Eustathius (Eustace) Placidas, his wife Mary Theopistes, and their children Martyrs Agapius and Theopistus, of Rome Holy Martyr and Confessor Michael and his councillor Theodore, Wonderworkers of Chernigov. St. Oleg, prince of Briansk. Martyr John the Confessor of Egypt, beheaded in Palestine, and with him 40 Martyrs. Saints Theodore and Euprepius and two named Anastasius, confessors and disciples of St. Maximus the Confessor. New-Martyr Hilarion of Crete (Mt. Athos).
(Greek Calendar: Martyrs Artemidorus and Thallos. St. Meletius of Cyprus, Bishop of St. Kyr John of Crete, monk.)
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

OpinionJournal - Featured Article - Why We Back Bush: Five elected black Republicans make the case for the president.

This article is too good to miss!! I won't even quote it here. You need to visit the site and read it yourselves.

Suffice it to say, these 5 black Republicans - elected officials, all - have found NO "Do Not Enter" signs at the White House. On the contrary, they note that Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell are the two highest ranking black leaders in American history. They were appointed by a Republican, not a Democrat. Bush has "appointed more minorities to high-level government positions than any other president." Now, isn't that interesting. A White Republican has appointed more minorities to high-level positions than the Democrats!

Kerry is trying to divide the country by race - Not Bush.

Believe it or don't.

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion - Kerry Didn't Get it Done

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion

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ON the day of the most important debate in their political lives, President Bush was in shirt sleeves consoling Florida hurricane victims, patting some on the back, hugging others and shaking hands with the tired relief workers. John Kerry had a manicure.

If ever there was a metaphor for the difference between these two candidates and their respective relationships with the American people, it was this. As The Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes put Kerry's problem so succinctly last night, "This is a man who really needs to go bowling."

For all the back and forth between the two men, the debate did nothing to change that reality. Kerry's pontifical performance was light on specifics, heavy on criticism and plagued by the inconsistencies that have characterized his positions on Iraq for more than a year.

While there were few fireworks, I suspect swing voters did come away with a few perceptions. First, Bush knows what he's trying to accomplish. He believes deeply in the rightness of the war in Iraq and its centrality to the larger War on Terror. His message is the same message voters have heard since 9/11 — we will go on the offensive to fight terrorists wherever they are found to keep this nation safe.

On the other hand, voters saw Kerry continue to struggle to define his position on the war — justifying his latest position, which is to call the war a mistake, while promising to bring new allies on board to fight for what he terms a "grand diversion."

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I'm convinced that Kerry is the Wrong candidate with the Wrong positions on the Wrong issues and running for the Wrong office! He strikes this Southern gal as a pompous A-- who smugly assumes because of his New England Brahmin background he will be able to convince the few reluctant Euros to join our 60 member coalition against the terrorists. Of course, by implying, nay, stating, that our coalition is inadequate, he has alienated those members already aboard.

He has no clue how arrogant he looks and sounds.
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I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

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Give me a break!

Trial Lawyers Picked The Wrong (Food) Fight

Trial Lawyers Picked The Wrong (Food) Fight:

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"Trial lawyers generally aren't a picky bunch. They care about two things: making money and laying blame. Their trick is convincing a jury to disregard common sense and blame whomever happens to have the deepest pockets. That's pretty much what we saw last month at the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) conference, where trial lawyers and food cops plotted new ways to sue restaurants and food producers over obesity. But as we argue in an op-ed in today's Washington Times, the lawyers who see big bucks where the rest of us see breakfast have missed the mark by a wide margin.
The problem isn't breakfast -- nor is it lunch, dinner, or anything in between. Obesity's real smoking gun is America's growing problem of lethargy. "
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No, it isn't McDonald's fault that my tummy precedes my bosom! It's my own fault - for choosing the wrong foods, for not exercising enough.

There are lots of other food choices out there - I could even get a salad at McD's - if I wanted to! But I have, all to frequently, **chosen** not to!! It's my OWN choices and my OWN fault!

Time to stop making people the "victim of the day." Past time to tell folk to accept responsibility for their own actions - and the consequences thereof!

Did Lehrer Save His Softballs for Kerry?

NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story

Check this out!

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there were no queries to Sen. Kerry about his long Senate record of voting against defense appropriations, or his sponsorship of a bill to cut CIA funding by $6 billion a year after terrorists struck the World Trade Center in 1993, or Kerry's support of the nuclear freeze movement during the height of the Cold War.
Kerry wasn't asked why he teamed up with Jane Fonda to protest the Vietnam War while his band of brothers were still on the battlefield, or why he met with enemy leaders in Paris, or why he accused fellow soldiers of being "monsters" and "war criminals."

Most Americans would consider the answers to those questions extremely relevant to the selection of any U.S. commander in chief during a time of war.

But not Jim Lehrer. Instead, he focused on Iraq with question after question that suggested Bush had blown it.

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Read the entire article!

Kerry may be smoother, but Bush is a WYSIWIG kind of guy. I have no idea who Kerry is or what he stands for - other than being well groomed with a barber he brings with him, and getting a manicure when the mood strikes him. He has flip-flopped for the entire scope of his campaign. I'm ready for him to get specific, and to stick to his guns on issues - even when people in his own camp disagree with him.

Boortz has some interesting things to say in Nealz Nuze :

Skim down to Nealz Nuze, and select October 1:

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OH...AND THERE WERE FLIP-FLOPS

Despite a decent performance, you don't think The Soufflé made it all the way through a public debate without a few whoppers, do you? Of course not. There were some big ones...we'll hit the high spots.

Jim Lehrer asked sKerry about the times he has accused the president of lying about Iraq. The Poodle replied that "Well, I've never, ever used the harshest word as you just did." In other words, Kerry says he never directly accused President Bush of lying. Let's go to the tape.

In December 2003, Kerry told a New Hampshire editorial board that Bush had lied about his reasons for going to Iraq. In September of that same year, Kerry did the same thing saying "this administration has lied to us." So if he thinks Bush is lying about Iraq, then he is lying about not accusing the president of being a liar, which he clearly has done. John Kerry has a problem with the truth. He just makes it up as he goes along.

Another example was when The Poodle was talking about Bush protecting the homeland. Kerry said "That's why they had to close down the subway in New York when the Republican Convention was there." The only problem with this?

Yep. ..you guessed it...the New York City subway did not close at all during the convention.
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OpinionJournal - The Florida Myth

OpinionJournal - Featured Article; The Florida Myth

I'm so, so, SO tired of people trying to create situations that didn't happen. In this piece, the story that somehow there was widespread voter intimidation against racial minorities in Florida in 2000 is addressed. One of the conclusions:

"... the idea that racial animus rather than all-around incompetence produced higher spoilage rates for blacks, or accounted for their misplacement on the infamously inaccurate "felon purge list," is fanciful at best. In Florida, as in many other states, the manner in which elections are conducted, including all of the essentials of the voting process, is determined at the county level.

"Which leaves the "stolen election" crowd with these inconvenient facts: In 24 of the 25 Florida counties with the highest ballot spoilage rate, the county supervisor was a Democrat. In the 25th county, the supervisor was an Independent. And as for the "felon purge list," the Miami Herald found that whites were twice as likely to be incorrectly placed on the list as blacks.

"The real spectacle here is that some Democrats are only too willing to exploit the painful history of black voter disenfranchisement for some short-term partisan advantage. And it just might backfire. Democrats played up the Florida fiasco in the 2002 midterm elections, repeatedly telling blacks that their votes hadn't been counted in 2000. Rather than being riled up, many black voters believed what they were told and stayed home."

Check out the entire article. Interesting

Start Of School Very Different For Parents Of Boys, Parents Of Girls - Glenn Sacks

Start Of School Very Different For Parents Of Boys, Parents Of Girls - Glenn Sacks: "Simply put, modern schools are not boy-friendly. This can be seen from the time boys enter school, when many of them are immediately branded as behavior problems. The line of elementary school kids who used to gather every day after school in my son's class for their behavior reports--all boys. The names of kids on the side of the chalkboard who misbehaved and would lose recess--all boys. The nine million children, many as young as five or six, who are given Ritalin so they will sit still and 'behave'--almost all boys.

Girls get better grades than boys, and boys are far more likely than girls to drop out of school or to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. Boys are four times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, and the vast majority of learning-disabled students are boys. By high school the typical boy is a year and a half behind the typical girl in reading and writing.

Modern K-12 education is not suited to boys' needs and learning styles. Success in school is tightly correlated with the ability to sit still, be quiet and complete work. The fact that many young boys are bodily kinesthetic learners who crave physical, hands-on and energetic lessons is inconvenient, and is thus largely ignored.

The trend against competition and the promotion of cooperative learning strategies run counter to boys' natural competitiveness and individual initiative. Group projects and lessons in which there are no right or wrong answers, and from which solid conclusions cannot be drawn, tend to frustrate boys, who often view them as pointless.

Efforts to make schools gentler and to promote women's writing, while understandable, have pushed aside the action and adventure literature which boys have treasured for generations. In their place are subtle, reflective works which often hold little interest for boys."

What can I say - this guy is right! We need a revival of the "action and adventure literature" for our little boys. There is nothing wrong with giving boys and girls different assignments!

As the mother of 2 boys and one girl, I can tell you that boys need an entirely different approach to schooling and learning than girls do - not just because of their learning "styles" but because of their entire testosterone-soaked little brains.

However politically incorrect this may be, boys are different from girls! Vive l'difference!

In the name of "helping" girls, we have totally disregarded our boys. How about we go back to gender-based academies at least through middle school, and preferably through high school? Both girls and boys would get the educational emphases they need without the distractions of the other gender.

And just don't even get me started on our abandonment of the gifted children! That's another rant!

Why Conservatives Love Rathergate - Monte Kuligowski

"Everyone loves a story where a little David takes down a haughty Goliath."
This is a very cogent article about Blathergate.

Thursday, September 23 / September 10 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora at Nicomedia. Martyr Barypsabas in Dalmatia. Saints Peter and Paul, Bishops of Nicaea. St. Pulcherius the Empress. Synaxis of the Holy Apostles Apelles, Lucius and Clement of the Seventy. St. Ioasaph, monk of Kubensk (Vologda). St. Paul the Obedient of the Kiev Caves. St. Cassian, abbot of Spaso-Kamenny and Cyril of White Lake Monasteries. St. Salvius, Bishop of Albi (Gaul).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

-- There are five occupations which help to gain God's benevolence. The first is pure prayer; the second, psalmody; the third, reading the Holy Scriptures; the fourth, contrite remembrance of one's sins, of death and the terrible judgment; the fifth, work with one's hands.
-- If while still in your body you wish to serve God like the incorporeal beings, strive to have in your heart a secret unceasing prayer. For in this way your soul will come near to resembling the angels even before death.
From: Abba Evagrius on Prayer

Reflections on how to vote: Orthodox Christians and the Presidential Election

Very interesting article! We are, indeed, either "Reluctant Democrats" or "Reluctant Republicans."

George Bush, Alvin Toffler and the Third Wave

Ran across this interesting place:

Alan Toffler and the Third Wave

Michael Finley is a futurist. In this executive summary of his article about Toffler's Third Wave theory, he discusses the Third Wave and it's effects.

I've been thinking about our society quite a bit lately. Don't know if it's because of my age, the silly season or what. Seems to me that we are in the midst of a major paradigm shift away from a corporate-based society and toward an entrepreneureal society. This is certainly in keeping with our historical roots, and was predicted in the 70's, 80's and early 90's by the futurist, Alvin Toffler and his wife Heidi. I read their books back then - wish I had kept them!

In this silly season, of the two candidates, Bush supports the inevitable shift, and Kerry attempts to stop "The Third Wave" predicted by the Tofflers. Can't say that Kerry is being particularly realistic about it. He wants to move toward the upshot of Toffler's Third Wave, individuation, diversity, and entrepreneurship.

It isn't comfortable to live through a major paradigm shift, and we can't rely on the practices of the past. Michael Finley points
out:
"In a not-always-pleasant way, the third wave began decentralizing the machine heart. Today is a time of transition, in which we witness the curious spectacle of massive second-wave-type enterprises adapting to the third-wave appetite for differentiation.
Take the coffee example. In the 1920s each town had its distinct coffee flavor. In the 1970s it was Maxwell House and McDonald's scalding coffee, from sea to shining sea. By the 1990s, an explosion of mom-and-pop coffeehouses took place across the country. Today you stop, as I did recently, at a coffee shop in Talladega, Alabama, and order a double latte of decaffeinated Kenyan with a finger of amaretto hazelnut syrup in .
Or you can have the best of all worlds, second wave McDonalds' standardization combined with third wave product choice, by walking into any of the 2,000 Starbucks coffee shops nationwide.
In retail, we have witnessed the second-wave juggernaut Wal-Mart break upon cities small and large, with the third-wave possibility of a single store selling 100,000 different items."

He goes on to point out:
"The clearest sign of changing politics is the decay of political parties. The day when a Franklin Roosevelt can put together astring of four elections by combining a handful of voter blocs(farmers, labor, intellectuals, the rural South, and the urban North) into a single lasting coalition is gone. Election todayrequires stringing together hundreds of splintered grassrootsgroups : the nonsmokers, AIDS activists, save-the-whales peopleand what-have-you.
Every group is passionate, and narrow in focus. It is in every way a more daunting process, and it is conducted, as making frankfurters should not be, in full view of the public. It is no wonder that no one, in the United States, in Japan, in Italy, or anywhere, believes in parties any more. Parties were a static second-wave, homogenized, massified function that do not seem relevant in the more volatile, diversified, heterogeneous third wave."

We are moving away from dependence on big government and big business and toward depending upon ourselves as small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises take over the economy. The resiliant, those who can, in the words of the Marines, "improvise, adapt and overcome," in a positive way will be the ones who come out on top.

While no politician and no political party are perfect, some are more forward-seeing than others at various points in time. At this time, the party most capable of forward-seeing is the Republican Party. An example of this is the recommendation that small companies be able to work together to form blocs to obtain the same low rates for insurance that large corporations receive. They seem to realize that his is not the time for "warm fuzzy" feelings and making people "feel good." It is a time to help people to move from the previous paradigm into the
new paradigm.

This is very American! Although immersed in what Toffler called "the First Wave," the agricultural life, people who were forward-thinking moved away from their static societies and came to what became the US in a spirit of individualism and entrepreneurialism. We began to move through the Industrial Revolution and to leave our small farms to work in cities or to work for giant corporate farms.

In a return to the entrepreneurial and individual spirit of our forefathers, we see small businesses springing up like mushrooms in spare bedrooms and the corners of living rooms and dining rooms. A person with a computer and an internet connection can set up a business in less than 2 hours, and be making money at it in a couple of days. What isn't immediately perceptible is that these people DO have jobs! They just have a different kind of commute - across or down the hall instead of across the city or down the freeway. These people are not so much using traditional resources, but rather are manipulating the resources of other businesses. They are often "off the books" or in the "grey economy" in that they don't pay many (if any!) taxes and do not use many (if any!) tax-supported resources.

Many people have gone into entrepreneurial businesses in order to avoid being tax-supported. They don't want to be on welfare or on SSI - they see themselves as competant and capable of taking care of themselves better then the government can.

Kerry wants people to be taken care of by "Big Brother," entrepreneurs want to take care of themselves and Bush supports that position.

Kerry has a love-hate relationship with big business, entrepreneurs use big business to further their own ends, and Bush supports that position.

These are only a few reasons that I suspect Bush will win. He is improvising, adapting and overcoming by surfing well and riding that Third Wave, not fighting it.

Where Kerry Stands on Iraq - A Kerry-English translation. By William Saletan

Where Kerry Stands on Iraq
A Kerry-English translation.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, Sept. 20, 2004, at 3:27 PM PT

.... Solicitousness, spending, job training, public employment, crime prevention through economic aid. It sounds a lot like domestic liberalism. I'm sure Kerry would object to that simplification of his position. I'm sure he thinks all of his views are more complicated than I've outlined here. But we're about to have an election. We need a clear picture of how Kerry's position on Iraq differs from Bush's. This is it.

Finally! Someone can translate Kerry's Stands!! er ... Shifts? er ... Dances? er ... Oh well. And the beat goes on .....

ARMAVIRUMQUE: THE NEW CRITERION'S WEBLOG

ARMAVIRUMQUE: THE NEW CRITERION'S WEBLOG

Now, the New Criterion does point out that Blathergate is based on lies!

comment on annika's journal

annika's journal - a wonderful Blog!

What I don't understand is, why so few people recognize that Blathergate is simply another example of the dissolution of our values and mores! Burkett lied, and it took 6 days before someone stood up and said, "He lied, we fell for it," much less, saying, "It is wrong, wrong, wrong to lie."

Tuesday, September 21 / September 8 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
THE NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY.
St. Serapion, monk of Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov). St. Lucian, abbot of Alexandrov. St. Arsenius, abbot of Konevits. New-Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonica. New-Martyr Alexander (Jacobson) (1930). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Rufus and Rufianus. Martyrs Severus and Artemidorus. St. Sophronius of Iberia, Bishop) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos: "Kursk-Root" Icon of the sign"; "Pochaev"; "Kholmsk"; and others. Repose of Elder Daniel of Katounakia, Mt. Athos (1929).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

The story of Mary's birth is not found in the New Testament, but in the writings which are not part of the [canonical] scriptures. The tradition of this feast teaches that Joachim and Anna were a pious Jewish couple who were among the small and faithful remnant - "the poor and needy" - awaiting the promised messiah. The couple was old and childless, and had prayed earnestly to the Lord for a child, since among the Jews, barrenness was a sign of God's disfavor. In answer to their prayer, and as a reward for their unwavering fidelity to God, the elderly couple was blessed with the child who was destined, because of her own personal goodness and holiness, to become the Mother of the Messiah - Christ.

The fact that there is no Biblical verification of Mary's birth is incidental to the meaning of the feast. Even if the background of the event as celebrated in the Church is questionable from a historical point of view, the divine meaning of it "for us men and for our salvation" is obvious. There had to be one born of human flesh and blood who would be spiritually capable of being the Theotokos, and she herself had to be born into the world of persons who were spiritually capable of being her parents.

The feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, therefore is a glorification of the miracle of Mary's birth, of Mary herself, and of her righteous parents. It is the celebration as well of the very first preparation of the salvation of the world.
Theologic Website; Quoted from Orthodox Family Life, 1996(c)
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"It is regrettable that the immaculate conception, not to be confused with the virginal birth of the Saviour, is a concept of the Mother of God which the Roman Church assumed in 1854 and with which the Orthodox Church is in total disagreement. This concept holds that Mary was born without the stain of original sin brought upon all mankind by Adam and Eve. But the Orthodox position holds that since Jesus Christ is God, he is, therefore the only one who is without the original stain."
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Victor Davis Hanson on al Qaeda and terrorism on National Review Online

Victor Davis Hanson on al Qaeda and terrorism on National Review Online

This is an interesting comparison of Western society, the US in particular, with Athens of the mythical period of Theseus. The problem is, it's too true to be good! This writer makes some terribly telling points.

Elizabeth

St. Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner

St. Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner

Saturday, September 18 / September 5 (Church Calendar)
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner
Saints of the Day

Commemorated Today
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner.
Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 Companions at Nicomedia. Martyr Abdias (Abidas) of Persia. Martyr Sarbelus of Edessa. Martyrs Ththuil (Thithail) and his sister Bebaia. Virgin Martyr Rhais (Raisa) of Alexandria. Martyrs Juventius and Maximus at Antioch. Appearance of the Holy Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira near Constantinople. Martyrdom of HolyPassion-bearer Gleb, in holy baptism David. Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot of Brest, by the Latins.
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!

(From the Prologue from Ochrid)

The Holy Prophet Zacharias, father of St. John the Forerunner, was the son of Barachias, of the tribe of Aaron, a high priest in descent from Abia, and held the eighth degree of service in the Temple in Jerusalem.

His wife, Elisabeth was sister to St. Anna, the mother of the holy Mother of God. In the reign of King Herod, the child-slayer, Zacharias was serving one day in his turn in the Temple in Jerusalem. An angel of God appeared to him in the altar, and Zacharias was afraid. But the angel said to him: "Fear not, Zacharias," and informed him that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son in answer to their prayers, for Zacharias and Elisabeth were both old. When Zacharias doubted the words of the heavenly messenger, the angel told him: "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God," And Zacharias was made dumb from that moment, and did not speak until his son was born and he had written on a tablet: "His name is John." Then his mouth was opened, and he glorified God.

Later, when the Lord Christ was born and Herod began killing the children in Bethlehem, he sent men to find Zacharias's son and kill him, for he had heard of all that had happened to Zacharias and how John was born. Seeing the soldiers, Elisabeth took John in her arms -- he was eighteen months old at that time -- and fled from the house with him to a rocky and desert region. When she saw where the soldiers had driven them, she cried out to the mountain "O mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!" and the rock opened and hid the mother and child inside itself. Herod, furious that John had not been killed, ordered that Zacharias be cut down before the altar. Zacharias's blood spilled over the marble and became as hard as stone, remaining thus as a witness to Herod's wickedness. At the place where Elisabeth hid with John, a cave opened and a spring flowed forth, and a fruit-bearing palm grew up by God's power. Forty days after Zacharias's death, blessed Elisabeth also entered into rest. The child John stayed in the wilderness, fed by an angel and guarded by God's providence, until that day when he appeared by the Jordan.

Troparion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 8)
The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears; and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundredfold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Mother Elizabeth, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 4)
Like the full moon, thou didst receive the light of righteousness from the Messiah, the noetic Sun, O Elizabeth beloved of God, and with Zacharias didst walk in all the commandments of the Lord. Wherefore, blessing thee with worthy hymns, we magnify the Lord, the most compassionate Light, Who illumineth all.

Righteous Elizabeth is my Patron Saint. On this day I am mindful of the example of obedience to God that she sets me.

ROCM Music Scores (English)

ROCM Music Scores (English): "http://www.rocm.org/e_scores.htm"

This is a wonderful site with much Russian Orthodox Music. Do visit it!

Thursday, September 16 / September 3 (Church Calendar)

Commemorated Today
Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, and those with him: Martyrs Theophilus deacon, Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius, Peter, Indes, Gorgonius, Zeno, Virgin Domna, and Euthymius St. Theoctistus, fellow-faster with St. Euthymius the Great. (services combined) Martyr Aristion, Bishop of Alexandria. Martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia. St. Pheobe, deaconess at Cenchreae near Corinth. Blessed John "the Hairy", fool-for-Christ at Rostov. St. Ioannicius, Archbishop of Serbia. New-Martyr Polydorus of Cyprus. Martyr Edward of England . (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Chariton and Archontinus. Emperor Constantine the New.) Repose of Priest Peter, fool-for-Christ of Uglich (1866).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
(My thanks to the Protection of the Mother of God Parish for their list of Saints of the Day!)

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"Which is better: to pray with the lips or with the mind?" The answer is that we must use both forms: pray sometimes in words, sometimes with the mind. But it is necessary to explain here that mental prayer also involves the use of words which in this case are not heard, but are only pronounced within the heart.

St. Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer.

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How is it possible to follow the political process and remain focussed on God? It is only possible through constant prayer - prayer even as we read impassioned words, prayer even as those words fall upon our ears. We must pray always - that we understand the truth and not permit the passions and misspeaking of politicians sway us. We must pray and avoid following that path of least resistance and allow ourselves to be swayed by the passions.

It is our responsibility to take part in the political process by becoming as informed as possible and to vote on the appointed days. Our vote should be consistent with the Mind of the Church which is the Mind of God. We must read and hear the words of all sides and apply the intellect God has given us in an attempt to understand all the issues and facts. We must fast and pray, asking God to illumine us and to show us the way He would have us follow.

May God, the True God, Who loves mankind, enlighten us and keep our feet walking in His Way.