Back in the 1990s, Marilyn Manson was sort of a big deal in the music scene. In his 1998 album, "Mechanical Animals," most of his venom is directed toward the fake and disposable celebrity culture of which he was a part. I can certainly understand that sentiment. Back in my undergraduate days I was one of the more prominent and well-known members of the Greek community. Not on the order of Interfraternity Council board member, Greek man of the year, or student body president, but enough of the right people knew me for me to get inducted into the Order of Omega, the Greek leadership honor society. In spite of all that and the fact that I loved my own fraternity brothers dearly, I largely despised a lot of the Greeks outside of my fraternity. I despised people just like them when I was largely overlooked and ignored in high school and I despised them just as much when they accepted me as one of their own. I simply could not find anything to like about them.
But anyway, one of the songs from "Mechanical Animals," called "User-friendly," says "I'm not in love, but I'm going to **** you, until somebody better comes along." Just like most of the rest of the album, there is some very inappropriate lyrical content so don't bother looking it up, just take my word for it. This song specifically addresses the use-and-throw-away mentality of the celebrity culture, which is quite similar to the hook-up culture amongst more ordinary people. A similar mentality unfortunately takes place outside of the hook-up culture as well. In these cases, people mess with other people's minds instead of messing with their bodies.
A guy could be a charmingly aggressive corporate type, just the kind of guy that shallow girls tend to like the most, and he could whisper sweet nothings in her ear. Or he could just say whatever it is he says that gets her to want to hang around with him all the time even if they've only just met and hardly know each other. Or he could casually yet aggressively invite her to a group social activity, but with an ulterior motive. But he could also break away from her at the first opportunity, like if she has to move to a different town, or even a different country, for some time. For him, this game is easy come - easy go so if he meets someone "better," it would be as if the first girl never mattered. His lips may promise but his heart is a whore.
A girl could look at a guy very intently or act in a flirtatious manner toward him, sometimes on multiple occasions with the same guy, but then she will meet someone "better." Within a day, or a few hours, her behavior around the first guy would completely change. It would be as if he never mattered. Somehow he went from being very appealing to very expendable over the course of a day, or a few hours. He was thrown away by a girl who was a fake.
Flirtation is not meant to last, it is for right now. A relationship is about keeping it real. It's about being true and sincere. It is built on honesty, not on lies. While a flirtation is always over as soon as things get difficult, a relationship sometimes involves making a loving sacrifice for the good of the other person. Before getting too emotionally involved with someone, think about the level of commitment that person is likely to be capable of. Do they have it in them to keep it real or are they just your fair-weather fans?
John 10: 11-18
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Time In Between
There was a time in my life in the not-too-distant past when things were constantly changing for the better. But just when I thought things looked their most promising, nothing changed anymore except my age. My life became stagnant. I got stuck in a rut and I did not yet get to where I thought I was going in life. Although I live and work fairly close to civilization, it nevertheless seems rather provincial where I am right now. Life is just slower here than I was expecting it to be. This was neither a good time nor a good place for my life to come to a standstill like this. I was still in transition; far from being settled down. Why did things go so dreadfully wrong? Will they ever get better again?
These were the questions running through the minds of some of the disciples before they knew about the Resurrection. As Jesus entered Jerusalem with them, it looked like they were on their way to reaching the culmination of His ministry. But then things went horribly awry from their perspective. They were not ready for Him to just die, especially not in that manner. The ministry did not yet get to where they thought it was headed. They were expecting glory right away and instead suffered a horrible setback. Jesus did reappear but not immediately. Things actually got much better for the disciples but they did not know it until it actually happened. Before then, they lived in quiet desperation, not entirely sure that their purpose in life would ever be fulfilled. That's because these sorts of things happen in God's time, not man's time. In the absence of results, it's easy and tempting to give up hope that life is actually going to change for the better. The disciples certainly could have given up hope when all the evidence in their lives seemed to indicate that everything was going downhill while there was no evidence indicating that something promising awaited. But they did not give up hope. They were patient.
Patience is a virtue that pretty well describes what is needed in order to make wine. Planting, or replacing, of vines is a busy time and a lot of change is taking place amidst all this activity. But just when things seem like they're all set, there's nothing, and there continues to be nothing, for a long time. Eventually there is the harvesting and pressing of grapes. But that time in between can seem impossibly long, and if one is not already familiar with the process, there is no indication that there will ever come a time during which things will get better again. That time in between could instead seem like a cruel and endless fate. But the fact of the matter is that the harvesting and pressing of grapes will be even busier and more filled with activity than the planting or replacing of vines. But the harvesting and pressing is not possible without the time in between. One must continue cultivating during that time, even without perceptible results, lest the plants fail to fulfill their purpose. For those of you who feel like your life is stuck in a rut, this time in between is the opportunity to make yourself the best man or woman you can be before things start happening again. In man's time, the harvest would take place the day after planting. There would be no break in activity. In God's time, there is an opportunity for growth that would make the harvest much more worthy and fulfilling than it would be if treated like a rush job. So if your life seems to be wasting away, don't give up on it and don't resign yourself to just going through the motions or going with the flow. Everything you do with a purpose, no matter how fruitless it seems at the time, is working toward something.
Luke 24: 35-48
These were the questions running through the minds of some of the disciples before they knew about the Resurrection. As Jesus entered Jerusalem with them, it looked like they were on their way to reaching the culmination of His ministry. But then things went horribly awry from their perspective. They were not ready for Him to just die, especially not in that manner. The ministry did not yet get to where they thought it was headed. They were expecting glory right away and instead suffered a horrible setback. Jesus did reappear but not immediately. Things actually got much better for the disciples but they did not know it until it actually happened. Before then, they lived in quiet desperation, not entirely sure that their purpose in life would ever be fulfilled. That's because these sorts of things happen in God's time, not man's time. In the absence of results, it's easy and tempting to give up hope that life is actually going to change for the better. The disciples certainly could have given up hope when all the evidence in their lives seemed to indicate that everything was going downhill while there was no evidence indicating that something promising awaited. But they did not give up hope. They were patient.
Patience is a virtue that pretty well describes what is needed in order to make wine. Planting, or replacing, of vines is a busy time and a lot of change is taking place amidst all this activity. But just when things seem like they're all set, there's nothing, and there continues to be nothing, for a long time. Eventually there is the harvesting and pressing of grapes. But that time in between can seem impossibly long, and if one is not already familiar with the process, there is no indication that there will ever come a time during which things will get better again. That time in between could instead seem like a cruel and endless fate. But the fact of the matter is that the harvesting and pressing of grapes will be even busier and more filled with activity than the planting or replacing of vines. But the harvesting and pressing is not possible without the time in between. One must continue cultivating during that time, even without perceptible results, lest the plants fail to fulfill their purpose. For those of you who feel like your life is stuck in a rut, this time in between is the opportunity to make yourself the best man or woman you can be before things start happening again. In man's time, the harvest would take place the day after planting. There would be no break in activity. In God's time, there is an opportunity for growth that would make the harvest much more worthy and fulfilling than it would be if treated like a rush job. So if your life seems to be wasting away, don't give up on it and don't resign yourself to just going through the motions or going with the flow. Everything you do with a purpose, no matter how fruitless it seems at the time, is working toward something.
Luke 24: 35-48
Sunday, April 15, 2012
No bread? No beer? No problem!
No bread? No beer? No problem! Actually it wasn't quite that easy. To celebrate Passover faithfully actually requires some degree of planning, as I found out soon enough.
A little over a week ago during the Easter Triduum, I was recording a video blog entry each day. During one of them I mentioned something about Passover and how it always encompasses the same weekend as the Easter Triduum. Well, not only did that make me very conscious of the fact that Passover began at Sunset of Good Friday but it also inspired me to try to celebrate it myself, at least from a dietary standpoint.
Part of the problem is that A LOT of things either have wheat or yeast in them, or are processed by using wheat or yeast to carry out some task. Another part of the problem is that I did not finally make a decision to try a Passover-friendly diet until less that 24 hours before it was to begin. When I went grocery shopping earlier that week, I loaded up on food so as to make sure I got through the entire Easter Weekend and then some. So I had a lot of food but a lot of it was definitely NOT Passover-friendly. Even in avoiding these foods, I'm sure I still broke all kinds of rules along the way.
On Saturday morning I decided to check and see if cold cereal was considered "leavened bread." So I looked it up online and also looked at the ingredient list on my cereal box. Cold cereal was ruled out. I ate oatmeal instead - the sole ingredient was whole oats (this was NOT instant "oatmeal"). It might have still been a violation, but the effort was there.
I snack a lot too, often on granola bars. Those were ruled out as well so I snacked instead on peanuts. Well, apparently, dry roasted nuts should be avoided too although fresh nuts are okay. Nevertheless, I continued to snack on dry roasted peanuts for the first few days anyway, probably breaking a rule in the process, and I never did see the fresh shell-covered peanuts in my local grocery store. I'm sure there's a store nearby that has them but maybe it's just not one I set foot in during the last 2 weeks. I mean, the place where I live is in very close proximity to no fewer than 3 supermarkets, 2 of which have the same name. I probably just didn't go to the right one.
Well, I was struggling to finish my Holy Saturday video blog entry and kept running into difficulties. It was getting pretty deep into the afternoon. I generally try to watch one sporting event each weekend and usually that would be football ("soccer") or Boston Bruins' ice hockey. I don't have an elaborate cable package so I either watch ESPN3 on my computer, a network television channel, a Spanish-language channel, or I go to a bar. At any rate, I was not going to plan on being able to watch any match in its entirety on a busy Easter Sunday so it had to be Saturday. To watch nothing would have been a shame because there were some good matches on the docket for this weekend.
When it got too late to catch the beginning of Lazio -v- Napoli, the next in line was Braga -v- Porto. By the time I was finished recording a video that was free of technical glitches, it was too late for the Braga match as well. So I was going to watch the Bruins' final regular season game against the Buffalo Sabres. But that game was on NESN, which I do not have, so I went to the bar down the street to watch it and also have dinner. Eating dinner at home after the game would have been too soon before the Easter Vigil Mass.
Naturally I avoided all the sandwiches, burgers, and wraps. All of the other dishes either came with french fries or rice. Being a fairweather vegetarian, I chose the vegetable stir-fry (a rice dish) over the dishes that could have had french fries instead of rice. Being health-conscious, I probably would have chosen rice for those other dishes anyway. Either way, that was a mistake! Mixed into the rice was a bunch of little, short, thin noodles. I had forgotten that this place does that with their rice, but it had never been an issue before so I never had a reason to notice anyway. I was not about to send this dish back to a Lebanese-American kitchen staff telling them that it's "Passover-unfriendly" when I'm not even Jewish. So I ate it so as to avoid making them throw it away. I realized later that I should have proceeded to order something else, and then boxed the stir-fry with the intention of keeping it in the freezer all week. At this point I could have just decided to give up my attempt to live the Passover after just one day in light of this obvious violation, but I stayed with it. A loss does not mean the season is over.
So I continued on Sunday afternoon by making myself some soup. Usually when I spend a few hours preparing and then cooking a soup, I make enough for 4 meals. These soups typically last me for the better part of a week. But I also remembered when I looked online about Passover that there were a lot of ways a violation could be committed. Sure enough, when I checked the ingredients of the soup base I used, there was yeast extract. Well, I had already prepared the vegetables and opened the cans of beans so I proceeded to finish cooking the soup. But I knew that it would not be right to eat soup for more than half of the week and just chalk it up as a "small mistake." So I did not consume the soup that day even though I had initially planned to. I just stored all 4 servings of it near the back of the refrigerator so that I could consume them after Passover. In the meantime I was left with very few other options so I scavenged a bit. I may have broken a rule anyway just by preparing the soup during Passover.
It had been a while since I ate tofu. Most of what I was eating these past few days was not very satisfying. Tofu would at least fill me up. As a child I used to eat tofu as an afternoon snack all the time when coming home from school. Since tofu has no taste I always garnished it with soy sauce and sesame oil. In recent years, I had not been to diligent about finding a good Chinese or other Asian grocery store that would carry some quality brands of these condiments; preferably brands based in Taiwan, not mainland China, not Japan, and not some country whose cuisine I'm not familiar with. So I just used things I already had in the kitchen such as balsamic vinegar and olive oil. But balsamic vinegar and olive oil just do not seem right on tofu so I decided I would finally search for an Asian grocery store. I passed by one every day to and from a work site I was going to at the time so I checked it out on Monday. They actually had a good selection of condiments, including brands based in Taiwan. But the problem with soy sauce is that almost all soy sauce has leavening in it of some sort. That's good to know, I guess. There was only one brand whose soy sauce did not have leavening in it and it was an organic brand that was most definitely not based in Taiwan or the USA. I won't say who it was. So I decided that revisiting an old childhood snack would not be the way to get myself through Passover.
Later that evening I went to my local supermarket to go on the big shopping spree so as to diversify my Passover-friendly food options at home. Given that I had next to nothing that was Passover-friendly at this point, it was not such a difficult task. Obviously this is a shopping trip I should have done before the end of the previous week except that I did not come up with this whole Passover idea until less than 24 hours before it began. So I got myself some rice cakes consisting of just brown rice and sea salt, no other ingredients. These were for spreading hommus on or dipping into hommus. Eating hommus on its own just seemed a bit weird, not to mention unsatisfying, but that's what I was doing because pita bread is not Passover-friendly. I also loaded up on cottage cheese and tofu. I also got some vegetable soup broth that was different from the soup base I already had but it sure is difficult to find a vegetable soup base, bouillon, or broth that does not have yeast extract. I think I got myself the only 2 brands in existence that do without it. Finally, in anticipation of increased consumption of certain foods in the absence of wheat-infested and yeast-infested foods, I topped off my supply of hommus and greek yogurt with more than my usual quantity. Of course, I resupplied my usual fresh fruit as well. So after all this I could lay off the dry-roasted peanuts for the rest of the week.
The food I had was not filling at all. I noticed that within a few short hours after each meal, I was hungry again. I almost felt like I was fasting again. And then on Saturday when I had both a morning and an evening activity in the Boston area, I stayed around there all day which meant that I would be eating restaurant food again. This time I was cognizant enough to ask and make sure certain ingredients were indeed absent from the food. Nevertheless, even getting to that point is difficult because restaurant menus are dreadfully Passover-unfriendly, especially at places that are fairly cheap and quick such as cafes and pubs. Besides, it seems to me that eating out during Passover would generally be advised against by those in the know. At the very least it would not surprise me one bit if I were to look it up and read something like that somewhere.
So when the Sun came down on Saturday evening, Passover had finally passed over. Passover is not easy. There are a lot of things that would be easy to take for granted until they become issues. Passover may have been even more difficult for me had I done some advance planning as well as some research about the way some foods are processed and then been more meticulous about playing by the rules. I'm sure I racked up all sorts of violations, especially early on. Nevertheless, just like in a true fast, living the Passover forced me to think and to focus. If anything, it gave me some perspective. For those who do this every year, perhaps the progressively increasing familiarity with this routine makes it progressively less burdensome. Still, I do not envy you in the slightest - it DOES require a good deal of effort and thought.
1 John 5: 1-6
A little over a week ago during the Easter Triduum, I was recording a video blog entry each day. During one of them I mentioned something about Passover and how it always encompasses the same weekend as the Easter Triduum. Well, not only did that make me very conscious of the fact that Passover began at Sunset of Good Friday but it also inspired me to try to celebrate it myself, at least from a dietary standpoint.
Part of the problem is that A LOT of things either have wheat or yeast in them, or are processed by using wheat or yeast to carry out some task. Another part of the problem is that I did not finally make a decision to try a Passover-friendly diet until less that 24 hours before it was to begin. When I went grocery shopping earlier that week, I loaded up on food so as to make sure I got through the entire Easter Weekend and then some. So I had a lot of food but a lot of it was definitely NOT Passover-friendly. Even in avoiding these foods, I'm sure I still broke all kinds of rules along the way.
On Saturday morning I decided to check and see if cold cereal was considered "leavened bread." So I looked it up online and also looked at the ingredient list on my cereal box. Cold cereal was ruled out. I ate oatmeal instead - the sole ingredient was whole oats (this was NOT instant "oatmeal"). It might have still been a violation, but the effort was there.
I snack a lot too, often on granola bars. Those were ruled out as well so I snacked instead on peanuts. Well, apparently, dry roasted nuts should be avoided too although fresh nuts are okay. Nevertheless, I continued to snack on dry roasted peanuts for the first few days anyway, probably breaking a rule in the process, and I never did see the fresh shell-covered peanuts in my local grocery store. I'm sure there's a store nearby that has them but maybe it's just not one I set foot in during the last 2 weeks. I mean, the place where I live is in very close proximity to no fewer than 3 supermarkets, 2 of which have the same name. I probably just didn't go to the right one.
Well, I was struggling to finish my Holy Saturday video blog entry and kept running into difficulties. It was getting pretty deep into the afternoon. I generally try to watch one sporting event each weekend and usually that would be football ("soccer") or Boston Bruins' ice hockey. I don't have an elaborate cable package so I either watch ESPN3 on my computer, a network television channel, a Spanish-language channel, or I go to a bar. At any rate, I was not going to plan on being able to watch any match in its entirety on a busy Easter Sunday so it had to be Saturday. To watch nothing would have been a shame because there were some good matches on the docket for this weekend.
When it got too late to catch the beginning of Lazio -v- Napoli, the next in line was Braga -v- Porto. By the time I was finished recording a video that was free of technical glitches, it was too late for the Braga match as well. So I was going to watch the Bruins' final regular season game against the Buffalo Sabres. But that game was on NESN, which I do not have, so I went to the bar down the street to watch it and also have dinner. Eating dinner at home after the game would have been too soon before the Easter Vigil Mass.
Naturally I avoided all the sandwiches, burgers, and wraps. All of the other dishes either came with french fries or rice. Being a fairweather vegetarian, I chose the vegetable stir-fry (a rice dish) over the dishes that could have had french fries instead of rice. Being health-conscious, I probably would have chosen rice for those other dishes anyway. Either way, that was a mistake! Mixed into the rice was a bunch of little, short, thin noodles. I had forgotten that this place does that with their rice, but it had never been an issue before so I never had a reason to notice anyway. I was not about to send this dish back to a Lebanese-American kitchen staff telling them that it's "Passover-unfriendly" when I'm not even Jewish. So I ate it so as to avoid making them throw it away. I realized later that I should have proceeded to order something else, and then boxed the stir-fry with the intention of keeping it in the freezer all week. At this point I could have just decided to give up my attempt to live the Passover after just one day in light of this obvious violation, but I stayed with it. A loss does not mean the season is over.
So I continued on Sunday afternoon by making myself some soup. Usually when I spend a few hours preparing and then cooking a soup, I make enough for 4 meals. These soups typically last me for the better part of a week. But I also remembered when I looked online about Passover that there were a lot of ways a violation could be committed. Sure enough, when I checked the ingredients of the soup base I used, there was yeast extract. Well, I had already prepared the vegetables and opened the cans of beans so I proceeded to finish cooking the soup. But I knew that it would not be right to eat soup for more than half of the week and just chalk it up as a "small mistake." So I did not consume the soup that day even though I had initially planned to. I just stored all 4 servings of it near the back of the refrigerator so that I could consume them after Passover. In the meantime I was left with very few other options so I scavenged a bit. I may have broken a rule anyway just by preparing the soup during Passover.
It had been a while since I ate tofu. Most of what I was eating these past few days was not very satisfying. Tofu would at least fill me up. As a child I used to eat tofu as an afternoon snack all the time when coming home from school. Since tofu has no taste I always garnished it with soy sauce and sesame oil. In recent years, I had not been to diligent about finding a good Chinese or other Asian grocery store that would carry some quality brands of these condiments; preferably brands based in Taiwan, not mainland China, not Japan, and not some country whose cuisine I'm not familiar with. So I just used things I already had in the kitchen such as balsamic vinegar and olive oil. But balsamic vinegar and olive oil just do not seem right on tofu so I decided I would finally search for an Asian grocery store. I passed by one every day to and from a work site I was going to at the time so I checked it out on Monday. They actually had a good selection of condiments, including brands based in Taiwan. But the problem with soy sauce is that almost all soy sauce has leavening in it of some sort. That's good to know, I guess. There was only one brand whose soy sauce did not have leavening in it and it was an organic brand that was most definitely not based in Taiwan or the USA. I won't say who it was. So I decided that revisiting an old childhood snack would not be the way to get myself through Passover.
Later that evening I went to my local supermarket to go on the big shopping spree so as to diversify my Passover-friendly food options at home. Given that I had next to nothing that was Passover-friendly at this point, it was not such a difficult task. Obviously this is a shopping trip I should have done before the end of the previous week except that I did not come up with this whole Passover idea until less than 24 hours before it began. So I got myself some rice cakes consisting of just brown rice and sea salt, no other ingredients. These were for spreading hommus on or dipping into hommus. Eating hommus on its own just seemed a bit weird, not to mention unsatisfying, but that's what I was doing because pita bread is not Passover-friendly. I also loaded up on cottage cheese and tofu. I also got some vegetable soup broth that was different from the soup base I already had but it sure is difficult to find a vegetable soup base, bouillon, or broth that does not have yeast extract. I think I got myself the only 2 brands in existence that do without it. Finally, in anticipation of increased consumption of certain foods in the absence of wheat-infested and yeast-infested foods, I topped off my supply of hommus and greek yogurt with more than my usual quantity. Of course, I resupplied my usual fresh fruit as well. So after all this I could lay off the dry-roasted peanuts for the rest of the week.
The food I had was not filling at all. I noticed that within a few short hours after each meal, I was hungry again. I almost felt like I was fasting again. And then on Saturday when I had both a morning and an evening activity in the Boston area, I stayed around there all day which meant that I would be eating restaurant food again. This time I was cognizant enough to ask and make sure certain ingredients were indeed absent from the food. Nevertheless, even getting to that point is difficult because restaurant menus are dreadfully Passover-unfriendly, especially at places that are fairly cheap and quick such as cafes and pubs. Besides, it seems to me that eating out during Passover would generally be advised against by those in the know. At the very least it would not surprise me one bit if I were to look it up and read something like that somewhere.
So when the Sun came down on Saturday evening, Passover had finally passed over. Passover is not easy. There are a lot of things that would be easy to take for granted until they become issues. Passover may have been even more difficult for me had I done some advance planning as well as some research about the way some foods are processed and then been more meticulous about playing by the rules. I'm sure I racked up all sorts of violations, especially early on. Nevertheless, just like in a true fast, living the Passover forced me to think and to focus. If anything, it gave me some perspective. For those who do this every year, perhaps the progressively increasing familiarity with this routine makes it progressively less burdensome. Still, I do not envy you in the slightest - it DOES require a good deal of effort and thought.
1 John 5: 1-6
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Friday, April 06, 2012
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
The Light is on for you TONIGHT
If you are in or near the Archdiocese of Boston (Counties of Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Plymouth - so basically in the Boston area, the North Shore, the Merrimack Valley, the Nashoba Valley, the Metrowest, or the suburbs south of Boston including the South Shore all the way down to Plymouth), then there is an opportunity for Confession every Wednesday during Lent, including today, at every parish between 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This is in addition to the regular Confession schedule that is offered at each individual parish.
If you have not experienced the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a while, why not give it a go now, during this final week of Lent before Easter Sunday? If you're not sure how to approach it, what to do, or what to say, the priest will help you along. As a matter of fact, this is the time of year when priests expect to encounter an unusually high number of people coming out of the woodwork to go to Confession so he will be patient with you. You are not alone.
If there is such a thing as an unforgivable sin, I am not yet aware of it. Even relatively new priests have heard everything under the Sun, including many things you would never come up with even in your wildest imagination. You will NOT shock the priest and he will NOT be easily scandalized. He has heard much worse things. Besides, it is pretty well documented that there have been some absolutely heinous crimes that have been forgiven by the Lord's Divine Mercy. You need not look much further than Saint Paul back when he was called Saul to understand. No matter how bad you think you have been and no matter how ashamed you are, you can be redeemed as long as you give it a chance. Woe to that man who decides that his fate is sealed because he has given up hope. (This applies to the ladies as well.)
Matthew 26: 14-25
If you have not experienced the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a while, why not give it a go now, during this final week of Lent before Easter Sunday? If you're not sure how to approach it, what to do, or what to say, the priest will help you along. As a matter of fact, this is the time of year when priests expect to encounter an unusually high number of people coming out of the woodwork to go to Confession so he will be patient with you. You are not alone.
If there is such a thing as an unforgivable sin, I am not yet aware of it. Even relatively new priests have heard everything under the Sun, including many things you would never come up with even in your wildest imagination. You will NOT shock the priest and he will NOT be easily scandalized. He has heard much worse things. Besides, it is pretty well documented that there have been some absolutely heinous crimes that have been forgiven by the Lord's Divine Mercy. You need not look much further than Saint Paul back when he was called Saul to understand. No matter how bad you think you have been and no matter how ashamed you are, you can be redeemed as long as you give it a chance. Woe to that man who decides that his fate is sealed because he has given up hope. (This applies to the ladies as well.)
Matthew 26: 14-25
On-the-job training
Several years ago I went to a summer camp reunion because during one summer several years before that, I worked as a cook under both an assistant chef and a head chef. The assistant chef was usually someone fairly young who had been just a regular cook not too long ago. The head chef, on the other hand, was a bit more professional.
During that summer, I got to know quite a few counselors in training, called "bridgers," because they spent a bit of time working in the kitchen. So when I returned for the reunion I was informed that a fellow named Justin, one of the bridgers from when I was a cook, was the head chef during the reunion year. So I went to the kitchen to pay him a visit and he recognized me right away.
Later that evening, many of us were hanging out around a bonfire and I got a chance to get caught up with Justin again. It turns out that this was his first summer as the head chef. Camp reunion comes every five years at the end of summer camp so he actually had to work an extra few days at the end. Furthermore, based upon my experience, cooking for camp reunion is even more stressful than cooking for summer camp. But the food service we were getting during the reunion seemed to indicate that Justin was handling his job as the head chef quite well. The fact that it went this smoothly is not the sort of thing he would have expected even as recently as a year prior to this reunion summer. A lot happened during that past year.
The head chef from the previous summer was the same guy who was head chef when I worked there. What changed, however, was the fact that the rest of the cooks were young women who came over from Russia. Back in my day, the demographic of the cooks was somewhat similar to that of the camp counselors; well, I was similar to the camp counselors anyway - the other cooks, perhaps not as much. But it was a completely different scene by the time this reunion summer came around.
For one thing, the head chef got married shortly after my summer as a cook. That marriage was over well before this reunion summer. Apparently there was a certain newfound or rediscovered freedom that came with no longer being married because between the previous summer and this reunion summer, the head chef ran off with one of the Russian girls and was never seen nor heard from again.
Just like that, Justin got a call during the winter informing him that he had just been promoted from assistant chef to head chef - and he had never even acted as assistant chef yet! He was already feeling unsure about how he would handle being the assistant chef, only to find himself staring down the barrel of the head chef job. Handling the sparse crowd at the year-round outdoor center is very different from handling the huge summer camp crowd that gets served all at once during each mealtime.
In the end, Justin seemed to make out all right. I do not know what it was like during the early part of the summer but by the end, he looked very comfortable there. He was not called because he was qualified. Rather, he became qualified because he was called.
John 13: 21-33, 36-38
During that summer, I got to know quite a few counselors in training, called "bridgers," because they spent a bit of time working in the kitchen. So when I returned for the reunion I was informed that a fellow named Justin, one of the bridgers from when I was a cook, was the head chef during the reunion year. So I went to the kitchen to pay him a visit and he recognized me right away.
Later that evening, many of us were hanging out around a bonfire and I got a chance to get caught up with Justin again. It turns out that this was his first summer as the head chef. Camp reunion comes every five years at the end of summer camp so he actually had to work an extra few days at the end. Furthermore, based upon my experience, cooking for camp reunion is even more stressful than cooking for summer camp. But the food service we were getting during the reunion seemed to indicate that Justin was handling his job as the head chef quite well. The fact that it went this smoothly is not the sort of thing he would have expected even as recently as a year prior to this reunion summer. A lot happened during that past year.
The head chef from the previous summer was the same guy who was head chef when I worked there. What changed, however, was the fact that the rest of the cooks were young women who came over from Russia. Back in my day, the demographic of the cooks was somewhat similar to that of the camp counselors; well, I was similar to the camp counselors anyway - the other cooks, perhaps not as much. But it was a completely different scene by the time this reunion summer came around.
For one thing, the head chef got married shortly after my summer as a cook. That marriage was over well before this reunion summer. Apparently there was a certain newfound or rediscovered freedom that came with no longer being married because between the previous summer and this reunion summer, the head chef ran off with one of the Russian girls and was never seen nor heard from again.
Just like that, Justin got a call during the winter informing him that he had just been promoted from assistant chef to head chef - and he had never even acted as assistant chef yet! He was already feeling unsure about how he would handle being the assistant chef, only to find himself staring down the barrel of the head chef job. Handling the sparse crowd at the year-round outdoor center is very different from handling the huge summer camp crowd that gets served all at once during each mealtime.
In the end, Justin seemed to make out all right. I do not know what it was like during the early part of the summer but by the end, he looked very comfortable there. He was not called because he was qualified. Rather, he became qualified because he was called.
John 13: 21-33, 36-38
Monday, April 02, 2012
GOoD -vs- EVIL
A few years ago, I read a book by Stephen King called "The Stand." A few years before that I saw the entire 4-part miniseries on video. I just rented it and watched it like it was a 6-hour movie in 4 parts. I was curious because a few years before that I had seen several minutes of the second episode while it was on television. Yes, I know I did it in the wrong order by watching it before reading it. Nevertheless, the book gave me a bit of insight that the movie/miniseries did not. Don't get me wrong, the movie/miniseries was done quite well as far as book adaptations go. Perhaps that was because Stephen King was directly involved in the making of the miniseries. But anyway, there was something rather profound that came to mind after getting pretty well into the book.
One of the characters we get introduced to early on had every indication of being very virtuous. She was an elementary school teacher and it was clear that this was not just a profession for her but a special calling. When a lot of the population died from a deadly plague, she was one of the survivors. As an adult, she could get by but there were other survivors who might struggle on their own. One of them was a small boy who did not speak and was a little bit crazy at times. Nevertheless, this woman took care of him and accompanied him because he had no one else. When she and the little boy met a young man, she and the young man hit things off quite well and the young man also took pretty good care of the boy. She did not have relations with the man because she wanted to keep herself unblemished for "her intended," whoever that might be. Even if it were to be him, she was not yet sure of that so she wanted to wait until she was sure. Very noble indeed.
John 12: 1-11
SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU INTEND TO READ OR WATCH "THE STAND" BY STEPHEN KING AND HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
The woman's name was Nadine and "her intended" was a mysterious man from her dreams. He may or may not be Larry, the man she was with at the moment. After all, this man in her dreams did actually exist in her life about 20 years earlier when she was very young. This dream she keeps having is of him chasing her while she runs away. It is a magical night as they run through the dew-covered grass over the rolling hills and dunes and she is flush with the passion of youth. She has no recollection of what his face looks like but she knows that if he catches her, she would willfully give herself wholly to his embrace. He does not catch her during that chase so she continues to hold out for him year after year, hoping for the day that he finally does catch her.
As we read further into the book, it becomes clear that Nadine's "intended" is not Larry, nor is "her intended" even fully human even though he is of human form. She has no recollection of his face not because she forgot but because she never saw it in the first place, like it was always in the shadow. This man had a few nicknames, such as the "dark man," the "bogeyman," the "walkin' dude," etc. He was creepy, and for good reason. He seemed to have these supernatural powers that were demonic in nature.
Long before the plague wiped out the bulk of the human population, Nadine had a number of opportunities to give up her maidenhead to someone else. Each time she backed off at the last moment and each time her hair would unnaturally change color the next morning. Interspersed amongst these opportunities were some very terrifying and obvious signs, in addition to the sudden changes in hair color. These were much more in-your-face and personal than anything from the occult. In spite of all this, she remained "virtuous" to "her intended."
Nadine was making a very persistent self-sacrifice but it makes you wonder what cause she is sacrificing for. If your self-sacrifice is for a good cause then it is a worthy, virtuous, and noble act. If your self-sacrifice is for something dubious or even evil, then what good is it? You're not only pretending to do good rather than really doing good, but you're actually doing evil. Worse yet, you're also being deceptive by making yourself appear virtuous and noble. You really can't go much lower than this.
One of the characters we get introduced to early on had every indication of being very virtuous. She was an elementary school teacher and it was clear that this was not just a profession for her but a special calling. When a lot of the population died from a deadly plague, she was one of the survivors. As an adult, she could get by but there were other survivors who might struggle on their own. One of them was a small boy who did not speak and was a little bit crazy at times. Nevertheless, this woman took care of him and accompanied him because he had no one else. When she and the little boy met a young man, she and the young man hit things off quite well and the young man also took pretty good care of the boy. She did not have relations with the man because she wanted to keep herself unblemished for "her intended," whoever that might be. Even if it were to be him, she was not yet sure of that so she wanted to wait until she was sure. Very noble indeed.
John 12: 1-11
SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU INTEND TO READ OR WATCH "THE STAND" BY STEPHEN KING AND HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
The woman's name was Nadine and "her intended" was a mysterious man from her dreams. He may or may not be Larry, the man she was with at the moment. After all, this man in her dreams did actually exist in her life about 20 years earlier when she was very young. This dream she keeps having is of him chasing her while she runs away. It is a magical night as they run through the dew-covered grass over the rolling hills and dunes and she is flush with the passion of youth. She has no recollection of what his face looks like but she knows that if he catches her, she would willfully give herself wholly to his embrace. He does not catch her during that chase so she continues to hold out for him year after year, hoping for the day that he finally does catch her.
As we read further into the book, it becomes clear that Nadine's "intended" is not Larry, nor is "her intended" even fully human even though he is of human form. She has no recollection of his face not because she forgot but because she never saw it in the first place, like it was always in the shadow. This man had a few nicknames, such as the "dark man," the "bogeyman," the "walkin' dude," etc. He was creepy, and for good reason. He seemed to have these supernatural powers that were demonic in nature.
Long before the plague wiped out the bulk of the human population, Nadine had a number of opportunities to give up her maidenhead to someone else. Each time she backed off at the last moment and each time her hair would unnaturally change color the next morning. Interspersed amongst these opportunities were some very terrifying and obvious signs, in addition to the sudden changes in hair color. These were much more in-your-face and personal than anything from the occult. In spite of all this, she remained "virtuous" to "her intended."
Nadine was making a very persistent self-sacrifice but it makes you wonder what cause she is sacrificing for. If your self-sacrifice is for a good cause then it is a worthy, virtuous, and noble act. If your self-sacrifice is for something dubious or even evil, then what good is it? You're not only pretending to do good rather than really doing good, but you're actually doing evil. Worse yet, you're also being deceptive by making yourself appear virtuous and noble. You really can't go much lower than this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)