My one word resolution for 2019

Every year about this time I choose a theme for a New Year's resolution that I can put a one word label on and just concentrate on that one thing for a whole year until it becomes an ingrained habit. I am pleased to report that this system has worked for me very well. Here is a partial list from years past:

2011 "Ideate" ("to form an idea of", "think of", "imagine", "conceive of","envision", "visualize")

2012 "Update" ("improve", "correct", "renew", "revise", "upgrade", "amend", "overhaul", "modernize", "contemporize")

2013 "Motivate" ("prompt", "drive", "move", "inspire", "stimulate", "influence", "activate", "impel", "push", "propel"

2014 "Ataraxia" ("Tranquility", a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety)

2015 "Contemplate" (Know Thyself, "examine", "inspect", "observe", "survey", "study", "scrutinize")

2016 "Intentionality" ("Intentionality" is the connection between our conscious mind and the object we are thinking about. It is the quality of our thoughts and beliefs that consists in their being directed toward some object or state of affairs. In other words a clear and conscious focus.)

2017 "Altruism"  (The practice of selfless concern for the well being of others. It is the charitable and humble giving of oneself to other people in many different ways.

2018 is "Meditate" (To focus and quiet the mind to reach a higher level of awareness and inner calm.)

My theme for 2019 is "Validate" (To check that something is true and that there is objective evidence from a valid source to prove or confirm that it is true or correct.

In this age of "relative truth" and "alternative facts" there is is obviously a serious case of "truth decay," and facts are likened to a "curate's egg." A "curate's egg" is something that is described as partly bad, but also partly good, whether that is true...or not. The term is derived from a cartoon in Punch (November, 1895) in which a timid curate, who has been served a bad egg while breakfasting with his bishop, when asked how he liked it, said that "parts" of the egg are excellent. The modern meaning is that something is a mix of good and bad but mostly one or the other depending on who is describing it. It is like saying after the massive white supremacist rally and subsequent violent confrontations in Charlottesville, Virginia in August of 2017, "I think there is blame on both sides. You had some very bad people in that group, But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.” That is a good example of a curate's egg."

It is said that we are living in a "post truth era" where truth is not necessarily true and this is damaging our democracy (and our collective morals) by calling into question whether or not there exits an objective truth. "Post truth" is based upon feeling and emotion and not hard data and objective reality. Post truth is moral relativism; the way that you like to remember the facts may be to your liking but not particularly by their veracity. Moral Relativism (or Ethical Relativism) is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances. This encourages "truthful hyperbole," a presumed innocent form of exaggeration when the truth does not seem adequate. The reader or listener or political rally attendee is overwhelmed with a blatant disregard for truth and logical coherence.

There is nothing to be achieved by mere zeal of opposition to moral relativism, alternative facts, or political hyperbole. The end will be achieved through the concentration of all parties on truth, justice, and the camaraderie of charity (love through sacrifice) for one another. "E Pluribus Unum"..."Out of many, one."

Truth is Freedom. In John 8:32 Jesus said to the people who believed in Him,”And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In John 18:37-38 Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you a king?" Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, Pilate turned away from the truth and handed Jesus over to the lynch mob to be crucified as a scapegoat.

Adam and Eve bought our knowledge of good and evil with their original sin and expulsion from Paradise but Jesus Christ paid for it with His death and resurrection and so we have no excuse for not seeking the truth.

May God bless everyone who reads this and may the Holy Spirit bring you light to guide your own path towards the truth.

.

On Paradise

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas in Heaven!
Hip hip hip hip hip hooray!
Every single day is Christmas day!"
(From Monty Python - "The Meaning of Life")

This isn't the Heavenly Paradise that we all long for. This Heaven that they sing about consists of a worldly, consumer driven Christmas, utterly lacking in any religious or spiritual meaning, for the reality of the situation is clear: everyone in this Monty Python skit has gone to Hell. The true Heavenly Paradise that everyone hopes to see (but many won't) is the Paradise that Saint Francis de Sales wrote about in his Introduction to the Devout Life. The following is my adoption of his meditation on Paradise:

Eighth Meditation - On Paradise

Considerations:

1.) I consider a lovely, calm, summer's night, when the heavens are bright with the light of the glittering stars, a scene that rivals the beauty of the blue sky, the white clouds, and the glorious morning sun. I imagine that all of this falls far short of the glory of paradise.

2.) I consider the beauty and perfection of all those who already inhabit paradise; the Angels, the Apostles, Disciples, Martyrs, Saints, and Innocents along with all of the other righteous men and women who have gone before. I imagine what it would feel like to be in that number, in perpetual joy, unimaginable bliss, and incredible delights.

3.) I consider how the inhabitants of Paradise enjoy the presence of God who fills them with wondrous knowledge and understanding and the perfection of a being united in Him. The souls in Paradise are like happy children without jealousy and strife, singing praises of their Creator.

Affections and Resolutions:

1.) I admire and rejoice in the thought of Paradise and the vision of my camaraderie with Jesus, His Apostles, His disciples, my mother and father, and my ancestors who have gone before me.

2.) I admonish myself for not availing myself long ago of God's gift and promise to those who acknowledge Him and keep His commandments. How could I neglect or reject such a treasure for mere vain, corruptible, and temporary earthly pursuits?

3.) I will aspire earnestly toward that Heavenly shore, not for the reward of the delights that it offers but for the blessed relief to be with my God in the company of all who love Him.

Conclusion:

1.) Bless me O Lord with Thy glorious gift of Paradise which I don't deserve but I long for with all my heart. I wish to dissolve my soul in holy unity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forever and ever.

2.) O God, please help me to grow in faith and love for Thee with all my heart and soul and to love my fellow human beings without exception. I cling to the hope and the promise of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that one day I shall be with Him in Paradise. Amen.

Merry Christmas Everyone! "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  Amen!

.

Pass it on!

We live for a moment in time just once,
For one fleeting second, and no more.
We live our lives taking leave of the past.
In the last moment we fade into that past,
Along with the memories about us.
Nothing is quite as good as it seems to be.
All things are best at the beginning.
We tire of things, they fall apart,
The sunlight fades, the party is over,
The night grows cold. It too shall pass away.
We are created with a free will.
We may want to shirk the responsibility
And shy away from dealing with it, but
In the end we must choose something,
Even if the choice is not to choose.
The Golden Rule: forgive others and be forgiven,
We will be done by as we do to our brothers.
Forgive us our trespasses Oh Lord, as
we forgive those who trespass against us.
Choose well and the momentum will lift you up.
While the heart weeps for our regrets
The spirit rejoices in peace and hope.
Prayer is a spiritual consensus between believers
and the Creator; a spiritual union, as it were.
The cost of sacrifice is the price of something
That it hurts to lose. Sacrifice is conscious love.
Sacrifice is charity and virtue. It is God's love.
He sacrificed for us. Pass it on.

.

The Kingdom yet to come.

I slept soundly until the the dawn cracked wide open.
The birds were singing like they were singing just for me.
The room was filled with an air of blessed thoughts,
And my dream had not yet left dreamland for consciousness.
I tried to make sense of the parting dream before it faded.
The night is at odds with morning like two different worlds.
What goes on while we are sleeping, and What foolishness?
What mischief, the owl and moth, the bat, and the rat? 
The only daytime thing that doesn't sleep at night 
Is the clock that ticks faithfully beside my bed.
Do we dream our own dreams or is someone dreaming us?
My dreams are a misty view through the window of my soul
Unto another world behind the filmy curtain of Paradise.
My dream companion, my hearts content, is my Lord and Savior, 
He was, and is, and ever shall be, my guiding light. 
I am happy to know that He is there for me at night,
But I am also happy to see the open eye of another morning,
To live and work, and pray, for the greater glory of God
And a ticket to His glorious Kingdom yet to come.

.

Among other things...

Sometimes when I am searching under the seat cushions
On the armchairs of history or philosophy, inter alia,
To see if there are wayward crumbs of wit or wisdom
That the vacuum cleaners of lost edits failed to get.
Continually coming up empty handed, I get the feeling 
That indeed there is nothing new under the sun and
I am just a pup chasing its tail to no particular avail.
It is apparent that those "Aha!" moments are by design
Only few and far between and they are likely reserved
For those who climb the highest peaks no matter what,
And bear the costs of risk for the sake of honest truth, 
To be on the side of He who tells the finger of fate 
What to write, and exactly how to say it, and move on.
For God has put it into their hearts to carry out 
His purpose by being of one mind, united in the hope
That the world can be made a better place if we only try.
In order that I might find some favor in His sight,
I will give Him my heart and soul and try harder.

.

Repair the World!

Are the means to an end themselves the end,
Delusional fictions that give life to lies?
Are there really alternative facts as well?
Did not God make man from dust and is not man
As befits the made, the inferior of the two,
Not purposed to create facts from lies, but
To avoid the bad, the ugly, and the false, and
To seek the good, the beautiful, and the true?
Is not man's attempt towards truth God's intent?
Can man ever create truth like God? Certainly not.
Nothing that never had life shall get it from man.
Rather it is the purpose of man to repent and
Correct what he has already done in error.
Those fortunate few with an abundance of life, or
The multitudes without much, it doesn't matter,
When it comes to the truth only one thing does.
Only belief in God makes way for a new beginning.
Faith completes the incomplete circle of life and
God redeems man's soul from total obscurity
By way of man's love for God and his fellow men.
"Tikkun Olam," the ancients say, "Repair the World!"
Imagine how it will feel when you are too late,
For by that time it really will be...too late.

.

Are you lucky?

A wealthy man is a lump of clay gilded with luck.
Oh greedy one, you are not wealthy. You are just lucky.
An unlucky person will accuse you of guilt,
But what guilt is there in being lucky?
To be lucky and guiltless you must share the luck.
Then everyone is rich. They are lucky to have wealth,
And lucky to know a generous person like you.
You are good when you are one with your soul,
You are good when you speak well of others.
You are good when you strive toward goals.
You are good when you do something kind
For somebody else's sake and for nothing in return.
And you do good in many countless ways
But when you are not doing good for others
You are merely wasting away an opportunity.
If you have the good fortune on Judgment Day
To be within earshot of the Savior,
You will cry out with the others and say,
"Oh Lord, I am a sinner and you are all merciful.
In spite of all the bad that I have done,
And all the good I could have done but didn't,
I sincerely repent and I crave your forgiveness
If it is not already too late."

.

All-Terrain Woman

Today was the first time that I heard the phrase "all-terrain woman." A news reporter was interviewing a young Honduran woman named Rosalin Guillermo with three children who had been waiting on the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico for twenty-four hours with no food or water and in desperation she had climbed down a sort of rope ladder into a boat that was below the bridge and some kind young men climbed down after her bringing her children with them and they all crossed he river together. When the reporter asked her how she had the courage to do something like that she said, "This bridge, this river, they can't stop me. I am an all-terrain woman." ("Soy una mujer todo terreno"). By the use the metaphor "all-terrain woman", she labeled herself as a strong person who can endure a lot of difficult situations.

When asked why she was making this difficult, dangerous, and uncertain journey to seek asylum in the United States with her young children she said, "I want them to study, have a good future. My husband is dead so I do this for my kids. I ask you with all my heart, wouldn't your mother do the same for you?" When the reporter mentioned that Donald Trump has a "zero tolerance" policy for her actions she said "I know about this," she says. "But I have faith in God. He has the final word. We did not come to rob or kill anyone. All we want to do is work and start a new life."

Her courage and determination remind me of a line from the English poet, James Allen:

The human will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless soul,
Can hew the way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

My hat is off to all-terrain women everywhere!

.

Politics vs. Peace and Harmony

Politics is a convention for the narrowing of minds enough to perpetuate the reign of ignorance, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation of the desires and designs of one another. Because individual lives on earth are relatively short, mortality compels a dependence, and charity speaks to the heart in a faint, yet powerful voice, and binds mankind in a common brotherhood in the struggle for the common good against non-rational ideas and the evil impulse of our base desires. Nevertheless, we have every reason to hope that through individual humility, patience, empathy, and self-sacrifice that we can accelerate the unity of purpose of the vast human family under the paternal gaze of our Creator and thus reach the state of peace and harmony that is the end point of His eternal plan.

.

On the Gifts of God

Considerations:

1.) I consider the material gifts that God has given me, my body and the means to maintain it, my family, my talents, my abilities, my education, my vocation, and my mission in life. I also consider how many more people there must be without these gifts; people who are in poor health, people who are injured, without limbs, blind, deaf, mute, poor, uneducated, homeless, and hungry, etc. I also consider that God willed that I should be better off than many people and yet, at times, I have been ungrateful of what I have and envious of those who have more. I also consider that He has granted the progress of my soul in uniting with His Holy Spirit.

2.) I consider the mental gifts that God has given me. Why am I not stupid, idiotic, insane, neurotic, psychotic, or hopelessly drug addicted like so many other people? God has favored me with loving parents who provided me with a decent and suitable education while so many other people have grown up without good parents to guide them and have grown up in utter ignorance.

3.) I consider God's spiritual gifts. From a small child God has taught me to know about Him. How often has He shown me the correct path and how many times have I failed Him? How many times has He forgiven me and delivered me from evil only to see me fall again from his grace. In spite of my failings, how many opportunities has he given me to repent and turn away from sin, and how have I responded?

Affections and Resolutions:

1.) Oh God, how good Thou hast been to me; how generous in mercy and kindness Thou art. O my soul, be ever aware of all the great things that the Lord has done for thee!

2.) I wonder at my own ingratitude. What am I, Lord, that Thou should remember me? I have rejected Thy mercy and abused Thy grace.

3.) Wake up O my soul! Renew thy faith and love for thy Benefactor. How could I not serve the Lord who has done such great things in me and for me?

Conclusion:

1.) I thank Thee O Lord, for making clear to me the knowledge of my benefits and my duty to serve Thee out of love for Thee and accepting Thy gift knowing that I will never be able to repay Thee.

2.) I offer Thee my heart, my mind, and my soul, O God, and I plead with Thee to accept me as a true son (or daughter).

3.) O God, please strengthen me by the merits of Thy son Jesus Christ who died on the Cross at Calvary for my sins. Amen.

Note: From Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, 21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622. He was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. His Introduction to the Devout Life was written specially for lay people. In it he counseled charity over penance as a means of progressing in the spiritual life. St. Francis de Sales has been styled "the Gentleman Saint" because of his patience and gentleness. He developed a sign language in order to teach a deaf man about God. Because of this, he is the patron saint of the deaf. He is one of my favorite saints because he was very "down to earth, understanding of human nature, and practical as well as saintly. He, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Anthony of the Desert are my companions and advisers on the "straight and narrow path."

.

The Lesser Towards The Greater

In our mind's eye we recognize a power
Spanning all space, and linking together
Every one of the worlds without end
That spangle the robe of the Infinite.
This illimitable power we call "gravitation"
Which resides in every form of matter, and
By which, particle is attracted to particle,
Mass to mass, the lesser towards the greater.
The smallest speck that floats upon the breeze
Carries this attraction of eternal presence
And we attribute its overarching influence
To that center of all, the will of the Creator.
Gravitation unites the whole by the power of God.
If one of the most remote specks of starlight,
Flickering in the distant dark of a moonless night,
Was removed from its place in the starry vault,
The disturbance would be felt through all Creation.
Attraction, Connection, Complexity, Consciousness.
The unity of progression in the Divine Milieu.

.

The Ends of the Earth

In the beginning was the Word,
Scattered to the ends of the earth.
But where are the ends of the earth?
The ends of the earth are where
The Word reaches the farthest,
On and on through space and time.
The ends of the earth are where we rest,
Where the heavenly voice is heard
Through all the lamentations of this world,
Ransomed by our Savior into a new life,
Redeemed from the evil one and the abyss.
Stand by the roads, ask for the ancient path,
Search for the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Follow it, and find eternal life for your soul.

.

Has there ever been a time?

Has there ever been a time when we did not 

Tend to stray from the straight and narrow,

And get tangled in the sinful affairs of others?

"How could such a thing happen?" That is what 

We say when we realize our iniquities 

And we are crushed with the burden of our sins.

Our eyes fill with pitiful tears of sorrow,

But with each teardrop should come a lesson.

Alas, where is our promise of faithfulness? 

Where is the remorse of our conscience? 

Oh Lord, you who keeps track of my many sins,

You in whom my soul takes refuge from my ego,

Remind me that only my undying faith in you 

Will deliver me from the abyss of oblivion. 

Wipe away the stain of guilt from my soul,

Replace my sorrow with boundless hope, 

Remove the stumbling block from my feet.

Oh Lord, I stretch out my arms to you. 

I thirst for you like a desert thirsts for water.

Reach out your hand from on high. Rescue me

From those whose mouths speak lies and whose

Right hand is a right hand of false friendship.

Lord, you are the one to whom I look.

Instill in me the truth that will set me free.

.

Their blood cries out for justice

During the last few weeks of bad news we learned about so many tragedies involving children. The first and foremost that comes to mind was the bombing of the bus in Yemen that killed and injured so many young boys on their way to a school outing. Their little blue knapsacks were left in the street covered with their blood that cries out for justice. There is the never ending saga of wars in Syria and Afghanistan and the crowded refugee camps of Palestine, Jordan, and other places scattered throughout the war torn Middle East. Closer to home we have the children being separated from their parents at the U.S. Mexican border by the Trump administration. They will never convince me that this was necessary and justified. Today in the news I saw a newborn baby that was screaming and shaking uncontrollably as it suffered from chemical withdrawal symptoms from the opioids that its addicted mother had been taking during pregnancy and I learned that this is not uncommon.

Add to the above the tragedies of countless abortions, childhood poverty, slavery, malnutrition, and sexual abuse by pedophile priests, etc., and one wonders how we can call ourselves "civilized." I say "we" because there is no "they." We are all in this together, and those who look the other way and make excuses are guiltier than the rest. The very least that we can do is to raise our voices and bring light to the dark corners where these atrocities take place and the demons lay in wait for the innocent.

"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes." (Matthew !8:7)

"Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:10)

.

Truth - Now you see it and now you don't.

At times the truth is quite apparent.

One might say it's as plain as day.

Then comes a cloud to obscure the truth

Plunging us into the shadows of doubt.

Then truth comes back like a lightening bolt

Out of a clear blue sky or the dark of night.

It makes us jump right out of our pants

Like multiple flashes of cannons in war.

Sometimes only one flash and then the grave.

It may also be the glow of a bright star

Bidding us to seek out the mystery beneath.

The truth can be nebulous and illusive

Like the "ignis fatui" or will-o'-the-wisp,

Now you see it and now you don't, like 

The flame of the biblical rotating sword

That guards the padlocked gates of Eden.

Truth may be withheld if you don't seek it.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, 

So call on Him and He will answer you and

He will show you great and many truths.

Ask, and it will be given to you;

Seek, and you will find; knock, 

And it will be opened unto you.

.

The Eternal Presence of Attraction

In our mind's eye we recognize a power

Spanning all space, and linking together

Every one of the worlds without end

That spangle the robe of the Infinite.

This illimitable power we call "gravitation"

Which resides in every form of matter, and

By which, particle is attracted to particle,

Mass to mass, the less towards the greater.

The smallest speck that floats upon the breeze

Carries this attraction of eternal presence

And we attribute its overarching influence

To that center of all, the will of the Creator.

Gravity unites the whole by the power of God.

If one of the most remote specks of starlight,

Flickering in the distant dark of a moonless night,

Was removed from its place in the starry vault,

The disturbance would be felt through all Creation.

Attraction, Connection, Complexity, Consciousness.

The unity of progression in the Divine Milieu.

What on Earth

What on earth would the military do if there was no more need for a military? How much money would that save? Would the savings be offset by the loss of jobs? Then which is cheaper, War or Peace, when life and death no longer seem to be part of the equation?

Has there ever been a time?

Has there ever been a time when we did not
Tend to stray from the straight and narrow,
And get tangled in the sinful affairs of others?
"How could such a thing happen?" That is what
We say when we realize our iniquities and
And are crushed with the burden of our sins.
Our eyes fill with tears of pitiful sorrow.
But with each teardrop should come a lesson.
Alas, where is our promise of faithfulness?
Where is the remorse of our conscience?
Oh Lord, you who keeps track of my many sins,
You in whom my soul takes refuge from my ego,
Remind me that only my undying faith in you
Will deliver me from the abyss of oblivion.
Wipe away the stain of guilt from my soul,
Replace my sorrow with boundless hope,
And remove my feet from the stumbling block.
Oh Lord, I stretch out my hands to you.
I thirst for you like a desert thirsts for water.
Stretch out your hand from on high. Rescue me
From those whose mouths speak lies and whose
Right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
Instill in me the truth by which I will be free.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
Every word that comes from the mouth of God.

.

In the Spirit of "Love your neighbor"

There are two general categories of law. One consists of natural laws and the laws of mathematics and physics which are descriptions of patterns of cause and effect. The other consists of the laws of ethics and morality which are laws that regulate behavior. If we act badly we will sooner or later experience the negative effects of the laws of morality that were decreed by our Creator and are not only spelled out in the holy writ of all major religions but also engraved on the heart of every human being who is endowed with a conscience that will not be denied. The values that determine right from wrong and positive from negative and true from false are not a human invention, but are inherent in the Cosmos.

The Universe itself was designed by our Creator with morality in mind to balance the evil impulse that is necessary in order for there to be a free will. Without morality there would be nothing but evil, dog-eat-dog, and devil take the hindmost. For good to triumph over evil, it is the collective responsibility of individual souls to choose good over evil and virtue over vice.

To be indifferent to the lives of others is detrimental to our own lives. We must be humble and empathetic to the suffering of others who are more unfortunate. To humble ourselves means self sacrifice. That is the spirit of "Love your neighbor."

.

Lest you be sorry

My days are fading like an echo and 

I am nothing more than a lingering shadow. 

Death will come like a gust of wind and 

My candle will flicker, sputter, and die. 

My good intentions will follow me to the grave 

And lie down beside me, dust to to dust. 

Decay will eat my flesh and bones and 

Nothing will be left except buttons, zippers,

And a few seeds I have planted in others 

Who will carry on, by the grace of God, 

The work that I have sadly left undone.

Make peace with God now lest you be sorry.

Listen to your conscience for His instructions.

Humble yourself before Him. Hear His Word 

And banish sin from your repertoire.

Consider desires of the flesh as worthless. 

Let the will of God be your treasure. 

Look to heaven for help. Pray continuously. 

God walks the heavens on the rim of the sky. 

He will answer your prayers and light your path 

If you believe in Him and you repent.

.

The Patron of Rascals

The Patron of Rascals is a lover of vice. He tells you that the scoundrel is quite a gentleman, if you will only give him a chance, and that while be admits that most things people say about him are true, he asserts there are other things untrue. "He is a witty fellow," for instance, "and a true friend and tactful," and he declares during his apology for him that he never met a more capable man. He shows his friendliness to him in his speech in the assembly, or as defendant in an action, and he is always telling the jury that it has nothing to do with the man, it is the case that is the point: "But the defendant, gentlemen, is the watch-dog of the state, he keeps a guard over evil-doers. We will have no one to be roused over public wrongs if we lose such men." Then he is certain to set up as a supporter of rascals and to form conspiracies in the courts for bad causes to get the verdict, and when he is on the jury he puts the worst construction on what the two parties say. In a word, the patronizing of rascals is sister to rascality itself, for very true are the words of the proverb "Like draws to Like."

From "The Characters of Theophrastus." -- Theophrastus was a Greek Philosopher, the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death, he attached himself to Aristotle. Born: 371 BC, Eresos, Greece.
Died: 287 BC, Athens, Greece.

.

Please do the right thing.

Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why does He let tyrants rule? Read the fine print in His book about "being righteous." Righteous means knowing right from wrong and choosing to do the thing that is morally right and virtuous. What has been happening in this world? Wars are being started and fought for hegemony, prestige, and material gain. Iniquities and abominations of all kinds abound. Even little children are being torn from their mother's arms by complete strangers under the false authority of "the law" without discretion, empathy, or compassion. "But look," you say, "The law is the law and we are only human." Oh, are you sure about that? We, who claim to be good Christians, are we true children of God, or merely creatures of God and are twisting His Word to bolster our aims. Think about it, and then call on Him, and He will answer you from that point in your heart that we call a conscience. You can't escape him and you already know what He will say. But...believe it or not! You do have a choice and know that there are consequences. Please do the right thing.

.

My morning Prayer

Father, I praise Thy Holy Name and I thank Thee
For everything Thou hast given me in the past,
And in the present and in the future hope of the Resurrection
And eternal unity with Thee, Thy Son Jesus Christ, Thy Holy Spirit,
The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostles, the Disciples,
The Saints, the Angels, the Holy Innocents and the Holy Martyrs
My parents, my siblings, my friends and relatives,
My ancestors and my progeny, and all of the faithful departed
Who have gone before to live and reign in eternal glory
With Jesus Christ according to His promise that if we love God
With our whole mind and our whole heart, and our whole soul
And if we love our neighbor as our self, we will be with Him forever.
Father please take away my sins and wipe away the
Stain of guilt from my soul, that I might be a true adopted son
Of God and come to you as a little child saying, "Abba, Father,"
And that I may talk to you face to face like a friend, as the
Scriptures tell us did Moses, Enoch, and others. Amen.

.

The Dust of the Earth

The name Adam comes from the Hebrew "Adamah," meaning "The dust of the Earth."

It is said that when God created man from the dust of the earth He gathered the dust from the far corners of the earth. He gathered dust of red, yellow, black, and white so that when someone dies, no matter where they come from or where they are buried, they will always return to the same dust from which they came.

A baby cries at birth because it is brought forth into the light against its will and spends the majority of its life like a stubborn mule fighting against the reins that either goad it on or hold it back. Then, when it is time to die, that same person weeps again as they re-enter the dark against their will. And then, once again against their will, they must give an account and reckoning of their life while standing before God. It would be much better to abandon our own will and accept God's will right at the beginning, but even so, it is never too late.

Come now, make peace with God and you will not be sorry. Listen to your conscience for His instructions. Humble yourself before Him. Keep His Word in your heart and banish sin from your dwelling. Consider your desires of the flesh as worthless. Let the will of God be your treasure. Look to Heaven for help. Pray continuously and God will listen. He walks the vault of Heaven on the rim of the sky. He will answer your prayers and shine a light on your path if you believe in Him, and if you repent. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. May His Kingdom come and may His will be done, on the Earth as it is in Heaven.

.

A Glimpse of Reason

At times I glimpse the light of reason,

Like the afterglow of the setting sun.

A vision that comes with the gathering dark.

It is no sooner thus revealed to me,

Than extinguished by the fading of the light.

I am an itinerant wanderer in a tiny vessel

Adrift on the great ocean of Philosophy,

Tossed hither and yon by the wind and waves,

My goal is to acquire wisdom and understanding,

Ultimate truths, and spiritual felicity.

My only guide is a star of beauteous light

That twinkles brighter than all the rest,

The onward leading star of Bethlehem.

.

Kicking Against the Goad

I am a peripatetic philosopher, old, and full of days.
My quest, an anxious search for a time that has been lost.
The only recompense is a pocket with a hole in it.
I ask for wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and nothing else.
Holiness and worldliness are in constant friction.
What is the life of man? Is it to lurch from sorrow to sorrow;
To bottle up one set of problems and uncork another?
Is it kicking against the goad of our wild desires?
Is it a perpetual peek through the keyhole of curiosity?
We are the sum of the many foolish choices that we make,
And we are a result of the careless chances that we take.
May the good Lord pardon everyone of a willing heart
Who sets his heart on seeking God, and eternal life.
Virtuous men pass mildly away saying, "It's time to go."
They know as only the dying know, that eternity is now.
The Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn
His his face from you, if you don't turn your face from Him.

.

Of Dogs & Cats & Mice and Politics

Cats and mice are not very compatible now but the ancient ones tell a story that once upon a time cats and mice were friends. However, as many lopsided relationships are prone to do, eventually the relationsip went sour. Although the cats were larger, the mice were much more prolific than the cats and so there were many more mice than cats. One day there were so many mice that they began to go hungry and went before the Lord and said that the cats and the mice are partners but there is not enough food for both of them to eat. The Lord answered, "I see what you are trying to do. You are plotting against the cats in the hope that you can devour them. For your punishment I decree that the cats shall eat the mice instead." The mice were suddenly repentant and said, "Oh Lord, how could we have gone so wrong?" The Lord replied, "Go away from me! You should have noticed the example of the moon who lost part of her light because she spoke badly of the sun and the sun was given the extra light and thus made much brighter by the moon's loss. This evil intention by the mice against the cats will be punished in the same way. Instead of the mice devouring the cats the cats shall devour the mice." The mice said, "Oh no Lord! Shall all of the mice be eaten by the cats?" The Lord said, "No,I will take care that a remnant of mice is always spared." In their consternation with this decision the mice started biting the cats, and the cats, in turn, threw themselves upon the mice and ripped into the mice with their claws and teeth until many of them lay dead. Since that day, the mice have learned their lesson and stand in such awe of the cats that they do not even attempt to defend themselves against their enemy, but always keep themselves in hiding. 

Similarly dogs and cats maintained a friendly relation to each other, and only later on became enemies. A dog and a cat were partners, and they shared with each other whatever they had. It once happened that neither could find anything to eat for three days, not even a mouse. Thereupon the dog proposed that they dissolve their partnership. The cat should go to Adam, in whose house there would surely be enough mice for her to eat, while the dog should seek his fortune elsewhere. Before they separated, they took an oath never to go to the same master. The cat took up her abode with Adam, and she found sufficient mice in his house to satisfy her appetite. Seeing how useful she was in driving away the bothersome mice, Adam treated her most kindly. The dog, on the other hand, saw bad times. The first night after their separation he spent in the cave of a bear, who had granted him a night's lodging. At night the dog caught the sound of grunting, and he reported it to the bear, who ordered him repulse the intruders. They were wild boars. The dog had a hard time repulsing the boars, and almost lost his life on account of their large tusks.

The dog fled from the house of the bear, and took refuge with the monkey. But the monkey would't cooperate, and the fugitive was forced to appeal to the hospitality of the sheep who welcomed him gladly. Again the dog heard noises in the middle of the night. He arose to chase away the marauders, who turned out to be wolves and they chased the dog away instead. The barking of the dog suggested to the wolves the possible presence of sheep, so that the dog innocently caused the death of the sheep. Now he had lost his last friends. Night after night he begged for shelter, without ever finding a home. Finally, he decided to go to the house of Adam, who also granted him refuge for one night. When wild animals approached the house under cover of darkness, the dog began to bark. Adam awoke, and with his wooden staff he drove them away. Recognizing the dog's usefulness, Adam bade him remain with him always. But as soon as the cat spied the dog in Adam's house, she began to quarrel with him, and reproach him for having broken his oath to her. Adam did his best to pacify the cat. He told her he had himself invited the dog to make his home there, and he assured her she would in no way be at a loss by the dog's presence. He wanted both to stay with him. But it was impossible to appease the cat. The dog promised her not to touch anything intended for her. She insisted that she could not live in one and the same house with the lousy dog. Bickerings between the dog and the cat became the order of the day. Finally the dog could stand it no longer, and he left Adam's house, and went to the house of Adam's third son Seth. He was welcomed kindly by Seth and from Seth's house, he continued to make efforts at reconciliation with the cat, but his efforts were vain. And so, the enmity between the dog and the cat was transmitted to all their descendants until this very day, just like the enmity between the donkey and the elephant. 

.

The Promised Land

Brother and sister stand the pain. Escape the poison of addictions.
Your children will bow to your leadership and do what you do,
The way that a thorn precedes the rose that glows from within.
How terrible the world seems to those who do not know themselves.
The glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience.
Just take care that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter.
Don't be satisfied with stories about how things have gone with others.
Unfold your own story so that others will have a correct path to follow.
Reach out and start moving towards God and the good of your soul.
Your legs will get heavy at first and you will stagger under the load,
But there will come a time when the heavy burden will be lightened,
And you will feel the wings that you have grown begin to lift you up,
And pull you forward toward the bright horizon and the promised land.

.

What the hell..!

Recently, Pope Francis seemed to fall into the deep well of dogma over a statement that he was purported to have made to an atheist journalist. The journalist claims Pope Francis stated that there is no Hell, and the journalist went on to make a big deal about this. What the Pope was trying to say is, that whether you burn in eternal hellfire or not is beside the point. What really matters is that if you choose Hell over God (and yes it is your choice) you become inconsequential and because all life comes from God Himself it is quite likely that you may at some point cease to exist entirely, as though you never lived.

God has given mankind a free will to either accept or reject Him. The famous German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz once said, that because of free will we live in the best of all possible worlds. Liebniz wrote, "I do not believe that a world without evil, preferable in order to ours, is possible; otherwise it would have been preferred. It is necessary to believe that the mixture of evil has produced the greatest possible good: otherwise the evil would not have been permitted." 

The Word of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, speaks to all those who believe in Him and are one with Him in the Mystical Body of Christ, i.e., "Those who love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind, and who love their neighbor as themselves (Matt. 22:37-39)." The sinners who turn their backs on God, trespass against their own souls. They are not "sent" to Hell, according to Pope Francis. They "choose" Hell on their own accord.

At this Eastertide it is the perfect opportunity to forget speculation and quibbling over hellfire and damnation, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).”

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened Matt 7:7-8)."

May God bless with eternal life in union with Himself, His Son, and His Holy Spirit, all who have ears to hear and who heed His message. Amen!

Soul to Soul

I see a tree as movement. It must surely be alive.
There is sap that flows up and down the sturdy trunk,
A sucking of the roots, and a breathing of the leaves.
The constant exchange of earth, air, and water.
The slow growth of the trunk and limbs ring by ring.
I am drawn into it. I and the tree are united in life.
Does the tree feel the same? I think it must be so.
The tree gives fruit and shade to me and my brothers,
The birds and the bees, the ants and the squirrels,
And yes, the termites too, quite indiscriminately.
Is the tree self conscious? Am I always conscious?
Our communication is through the Holy Spirit of God.
Soul to soul we commune through the Creator of all.
God bless every living soul with whom I communicate.

.

Long live Shiphrah and Puah!

In the story of the Jewish Exodus from the land of Egypt, about 3,400 years ago, we have history's first recorded case of civil disobedience in defense of a moral cause, and it just so happen that it was initiated by women.

Prior to the Exodus the population of the Israelite people living in Egypt had grown so large and potentially powerful that it posed a threat to the reigning Pharaoh. Accordingly, the Pharaoh used a form of state slavery to impose forced labor upon the male population for a long and indefinite terms of service under degrading and brutal conditions in order to control and even reduce the population. The plan did not work, however, and Hebrew people continued to thrive, to the great consternation of the Pharaoh.

The Pharaoh decided that he would use infanticide to slow the population growth. So the Pharaoh said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God, and did not do what the Pharaoh had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the Pharaoh summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. (From Exodus 1:15-21)

The motivation for civil disobedience is a moral one, that, like the midwives Shiphrah and Puah, places fear of God over the laws of men that are established with a political or arbitrary authoritarian bias. It is the moral and ethical difference between right and wrong. It is the same fear of God that keeps us from mocking the handicapped or placing a stumbling block in front of a blind person, or keeps us from torturing animals. The fear of God "trumps" the law of men. It is the consciousness or subconsciousness of the existence of a higher law that makes demands upon human beings and constitutes the ultimate restraint on evildoers and provides the higher moral incentive for choosing to do what is right and just.

All of the power of the state, the outward magnificence of the regime, and the prowess of its leader, are illusionary and ephemeral, and in the ultimate reckoning they are insignificant, and turn to dust because they rest on foundations empty of moral content.

.

Hooray for Women's Day!

On this International Women's Day of 2018 it is good for us to realize that the Lord acknowledged the rights of women at least 2300 years ago. When the Israelis had reached the promised land Moses knew that he would die before they crossed the Jordan into the land of milk and honey so he began to lay out a plan as to how the land would be apportioned to the Children of Israel. There were five sisters who spoke up regarding their rights to an inheritance and Moses asked the Lord what he should do. The Lord decided that the women were right. Later when Moses died and his successor, Joshua, led the people across the Jordan to take possession of the land, the daughters stepped up again and reminded Joshua of their inheritance. Hooray for women who speak up. Don't be timid, speak your piece. It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease!

The plea of the daughters: Numbers 27:1-8

Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying,
“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons.
Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
Moses brought their case before the LORD.
And the LORD said to Moses,
“The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.
And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.'"

The reminder to Joshua: Joshua 17:3-4

Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

.

Thy will be done.

In the Old Testament, the unnamed servant of Abraham who was sent to Haran to find a wife for Isaac is the first person that the Bible records who prayed for personal divine guidance at a critical moment in his life. He did not ask for a miracle but he prayed that his exercise of discretion might be in accordance with God's will (Genesis 24:12-15). In the New Testament Jesus commissions us to pray in a similar manner; "Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." Each answered prayer is a miracle in itself in that we can talk to God and that he hears us. The essence of the word "miraculous" is that a single individual in good faith can experience a distinct feeling of constant nearness to the Creator of Heaven and Earth and approach Our Lord with a simple pious prayer and expect results.

.

A double parody

Ill fares the promised land, a prey to avarice,
Where wealth accumulates, and wealthy men decay.
Presidents and Congresses may flourish, or may fade;
A vote can make them, and a vote can take them;
When gobbledygook accumulates and ideas decay
And galloping fears stalk the land.

My parody of James Thurber's parody of Oliver Goldsmith's "The Deserted Village"

.

One Nation Under God

I recently heard a televised speech on by a prominent gun rights advocate regarding the school shooting at Parkland, Florida. He said that to stop a bad guy with a gun it takes a good guy with a gun. This is the same opinion of our president who suggests that we arm teachers with concealed weapons in order to "harden" our schools. In short, they are saying that instead of banning assault type weapons, evil must be confronted with evil in equal measure. The purpose of both the perpetrator and the defender is "shoot to kill." This particular speaker and many of his colleagues state that gun control is socialism and to them socialism is anathema. There is definitely some cognitive dissonance at work here. The same people claim to be Christians. They must realize that Christianity is socialism in the manner of Christian Humanism. The Gospels and the Epistles of the New Testament will bear that out. 

When I was a youth there was a simple moral dichotomy. It was called "right or wrong". Since the last presidential election cycle, however, we now have an "alternative right" and so it only follows that there must also be an "alternative wrong." In Deuteronomy 5:32-33 it says, "You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you possess." 

We should abandon the left and the right and come together in the middle where we belong as "One Nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. I believe that the brave survivors of the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, are on the right path. I pray that God gives them the strength and the wisdom to speak truth to power with one voice as witnesses for the victims of tragic shootings not only all over America but in the rest of the "civilized world" as well. Never again!

.

For My Valentine

Man pursues woman, striving to be
One flesh with her, as if to regain
A lost part of himself, ever since
The divine anesthetic reduced Adam
To an inert object while God
Removed his rib to form Eve.
Happy Valentine to my better half.

.

A Warning from the Ancients

The ancient Greek poet and philosopher Hesiod wrote the following about 2700 years ago regarding the fate of mankind and that sure looks the way we are heading if we don't address the issues in a truthful and rational manner.

"For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labor and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and troubles shall lay sore trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their evils. And God will destroy this race of mortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth. The father will not agree with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will dishonor their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the fear of God. They will not repay their aged parents the cost of their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack another’s city. There will be no favor for the man who keeps his oath or for the just or for the good; but rather men will praise the evil-doer and his violent dealing. Strength will be right, and reverence will cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking false words against him, and will swear an oath upon them. Envy, foul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along with wretched men one and all."

.

The Power of Truth

Hatred begins in the human heart and grows from the inside out. At first a spark of humiliation kindles a flame that that is fed by the winds of anger and imagination and goes to the lips to announce a wounded pride. From there it is either broadcast or whispered to the ears of others depending upon the courage and the outrage of the offended party. Once finding sympathetic ears to hear, the indignation strikes a chord with those who harbor similar disappointments or unrealized expectations. The flames grow into a conflagration of hatred. Then a scapegoat victim is sought in order to justify redress or revenge by the collective false righteousness of the crowd. "Crucify Him, crucify Him!," they shout, or "Lock her up, lock her up!" So, we see that when the vain and arrogant are humiliated by the truth, the Devil leaves their own dark hearts and is directed to other people to stir them up against the bearer of the truth. A person who is truly just will welcome the truth and not oppose it with anger and lies.

Truth is the great anti-satanic power because God Himself is the witness for truth. A person who is truly evangelical will always seek the truth. To tell lies in the face of God's truth is the unpardonable sin and those who lie under oath are in grave danger of placing themselves beyond forgiveness, for by doing so, they blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God. Moral conduct is essential for those who seek the truth. After all, no one can see the truth while wandering around in a perpetual state of concupiscence (animal lust). There is an old saying that after every act of  fornication you can hear the Devil laughing. The blind who deny that they are blind will never "see" anything, and the sinners who deny their sins cut themselves off from any remedy.

.

Is it time yet?

All of the people who have ever lived and all of those yet unborn are like the upper and lower globes of an hourglass that are connected by a narrow passageway. Each passing from birth to death is like a grain of sand that passes through the neck of the hourglass. Just before the end of the world the last grain will fall and that will represent the last soul to receive a mortal body on this earth. The hands of the "Doomsday Clock"  have just been moved forward to two minutes until midnight because of "the failure of our president and other world leaders to deal with the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change." The last soul at this moment may very well be sitting at the top of the pile, nervously waiting for the nod.

.

No matter what I say

No matter what I say, other people seem to remember only the words that they were expecting. It is not the tongue that determines what people hear. It is the ear that decides what they will hear, and what they won't.

.

Build or Destroy?

Why is the American Democracy always under construction? Because without never ending construction to provide for never ending change, the great destruction will begin. What is the blueprint for the never ending construction? Look up at the stars tonight. That is the blueprint.

.

Metoo & Youtoo

Women are believed to be the first to use civil disobedience against an unjust head of state. After Joseph (of the many colored coat) died and many years had passed there was a new Pharaoh in Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph and he feared that the Hebrew population was growing uncomfortingly large. He started to oppress the Hebrews and enslave them and the more he did so the more numerous they became. Finally he decided to control the male population by killing all of the Hebrew male babies. In Exodus 1:15-21 we read about two women who took on the challenge to defy the Pharaoh. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. The refusal of Shiphrah and Puah to follow the Pharaoh's genocidal instructions may be the first known incident of civil disobedience in history and in some ways the most powerful example of resistance to an evil regime. 

Exodus 1:15-21

Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:

“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 

"Yes" or "No"

In one way or another, through births, adoptions, or immigration, America's population continuously renews itself. The participants in the political dialog die off one by one and in the meantime those who take their places arrive, some in one way and some in another. When one makes his or her first entrance into the politics of social life on whichever side of the spectrum, or changes sides, or abandons the political intercourse altogether, there is a process of adjustment and the political balance tends to be restored, almost always regressing toward a point where the median and the mean coincide...the middle of the road as it were. Through all of this a battle of words constantly rages with points, counterpoints, talking points, tweets, invectives, expletives, threats, sarcasm, criticism, and outright lies..."from people on both sides." The same dialog has been in progress for more than 240 years and by the grace of God it will continue as long as we continue to acknowledge Him.

The key to America's survival as a democracy is active participation by citizens of good will and the enemy is apathy and abdication to the one with the biggest appetite and the longest reach. Our Lord admonished us to strive for perfection (Matthew 5:8) and as the U.S. Constitution states, it was established to form a more perfect Union in order to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. The Lord also tells us that all we need to say is simply "Yes" or "No" and anything beyond this comes from the evil one (Matthew 5:37). We need to avoid the boasting, the name calling, and the lies and get out the vote through honest debate and persuasion. To be a good political leader one must sacrifice oneself, that is to say, "humble oneself" for the good of the nation. That is what true love is; sacrifice, a mother for her child, a father for his family, a soldier, policeman, firefighter, or first responder for the duty and honor to serve their country, a president, governor, senator, congressman, or mayor for their country, state, city, or county, a teacher for their pupils, a doctor or nurse for their patients, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth. The duty to make sacrifices for peace, security, freedom, and democracy is the duty of every citizen.

.

Preparing for the willy-nilly slide,

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset.
One foot following the other,
Searching for the trickle-down
And thanking God for my daily bread.
I'm on the spiral road to infinity.
An evil impulse is tracking every move
By following my digital exhaust.
As I climb the hill of January
I look the left and slightly below
To the descending Januaries previous,
To the right and above, only clouds.
Home is wherever my heart is at peace,
But sin is crouching at every door,
Ready to jump at the first opportunity.
I keep marching, marching up the incline,
After January, the boredom of February,
And then the treacherous Ides of March.
Finally the road smooths out in April
With rain that brings the May flowers,
And Mayflowers that bring June Pilgrims.
The lazy, hazy days of mid-summer
Are a respite from the steep climb
Until I begin the willy-nilly slide.
Year after year, round and round it goes.
Where will it stop? The Lord only knows.
I fear that one day all of my desires
Will awaken within me at the same time
And hold my tattered soul for ransom.
We only think we enjoy our desires
While all the time we are their slaves.
Once I was young and now I am old,
And my desires have faded to memories.
The only desire truly worth having
Is the desire for humility and charity
Through self-sacrifice, and eternal union
With the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!

.