Before And After

BEFORE GUSTAV



AFTER GUSTAV

 

The branches on the side away from the house of our beautiful Pink Snow crepe myrtle tree broke off during the hurricane, so Grandpère had to trim the whole tree. It will bloom again, but it won't look the same in our lifetimes.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

A Good Laugh From The Diocese Of Pittsburgh

"Vote for it" is the title of the video.

It seems that I am now on BabyBlue's YouTube email subscription list. How that came to be, I don't know.

The diocesan convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is meeting this weekend. They will decide whether to leave the Episcopal Church and join the Diocese of the Southern Cone. Pray for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. The Lead at the Episcopal Café will update as they get information.

Regarding the video: I am not laughing. Why are they laughing?

UPDATE: According to The Lead, the convention voted to leave the Episcopal Church.

Feast Day Of St. Francis Of Assisi

 

St. Francis and Diana

Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic father disowned him because of his love for a beautiful lady. She had been married before, to Christ, and was so faithful a spouse to Him that, while Mary only stood at the foot of the Cross, she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross. These two of whom I speak are Francis and the Lady Poverty. As they walked along together, the sight of their mutual love drew men's hearts after them. Bernard saw them and ran after them, kicking off his shoes to run faster to so great a peace. Giles and Sylvester saw them, kicked off their shoes and ran to join them....

Spoken by Thomas Aquinas of Francis in Dante's Paradiso.

READINGS:

Psalm 148:7-14 or 121
Galatians 6:14-18
Matthew 11:25-30

PRAYER

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace gladly to renounce the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfect joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever

Saint Francis’ Canticle of All Creatures

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

Heavenly Father,
You gave Your servant Francis
great love for each of Your creatures.
Teach us to see Your design in all of creation.
We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Dedicated to the guardians of Grendel, a fine dog, who recently joined Our Lord in his perfect kingdom.

Why I Fired My Secretary.

Last week was my birthday and I didn't feel very well waking up on that morning. I went downstairs for breakfast hoping my wife would be pleasant and say, 'Happy Birthday!' and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out, she barely said good morning, let alone 'Happy Birthday.'

I thought...

Well, that's marriage for you, but the kids...

They will remember.

My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast and didn't say a word. So when I left for the office, I felt pretty low and somewhat despondent.

As I walked into my office, my secretary Jane said, 'Good Morning Boss, and by the way Happy Birthday!' It felt a little better that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o'clock, when Jane knocked on my door and said, 'You know, it's such a beautiful day outside, and it is your Birthday, what do you say we go out to lunch, just you and me.' I said, 'Thanks, Jane, that's the greatest thing I've heard all day. Let's go!'

We went to lunch. But we didn't go where we normally would go. She chose instead at a quiet bistro with a private table. We had two martinis each and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office, Jane said, 'You know it's such a beautiful day... We don't need to go straight back to the office, do we?'

I responded, 'I guess not. What do you have in mind?'

She said, 'Let's drop by my apartment, it's just around the corner.'

After arriving at her apartment, Jane turned to me and said, 'Boss, if you don't mind, I'm going to step into the bedroom for just a moment. I'll be right back.'

'Ok,' I nervously replied.

She went into the bedroom and, after a couple of minutes, she came out carrying a huge birthday cake ...

Followed by my wife, my kids, and dozens of my friends and co-workers, all singing 'Happy Birthday'.

And I just sat there...

On the couch...

Naked.

Doug did the deed. Blame him

On The Non-Debate

From Juan Cole at Informed Comments:

Not only was there no debate but Sarah Palin was not required actually to answer any of the questions put to her, and she announced before she began that she was just going to throw up on us all the talking points that she had binged on in Arizona for the past few days.

She mugged for the camera, winked like a bar fly, and just went on talking and talking and talking, oblivious to whatever anyone else said. Not only did she ignore most of Gwen Ifill's questions,she paid no attention to what Joe Biden said. When he choked up over the loss of his family, she did not have the decency to express any kind of condolences. It is almost as though she is autistic and unable to connect with human beings.
....

Palin has revealed her real self in the Gibson and Couric interviews, and clearly knows nothing and offers only rubbery expressions and glib repetition, for all the world like a rasping myna bird, of a stream of memorized slogans that sound as though they were disinterred from a time capsule originally buried in William F. Buckley Jr.'s back yard several decades ago.

It was not a debate, and pretending that it was and judging "performance" is to fall into the trap set by the campaign spinmeisters and talking point pimps.

Leave it to Juan Cole; "throw up on us" about sums it up. Well, the "rasping myna bird" bit is good, too, except that it may be a tad unfair to myna birds. Oh, and I liked "talking point pimps", too.

I shall speak no further about "performance". I should say that I will speak no further at all, because Cole's writing puts mine to such shame.

"SARAH PALIN WAS SENSATIONAL"!

My take is Sarah Palin was sensational tonight. She not only met the expectations, I think she wiped up the floor with Joe Biden, quite frankly. She is personable, she is young, she’s got a sense of humor…I think that she has done a sensational job and I think she as recaptured that magic she had out there at the convention.

Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Pat, um, I believe you forgot something when you left home. YOUR BRAIN!

Biden Won Dammit!

Biden was very good, beyond my hopes. Palin was terrible. One of them is going to be vice-president of the United States. This not a beauty contest. If McCain/Palin win, Sarah Palin will be one heartbeat away from the presidency of a 72 year old man who has many health problems in his past. She is so far out of her depth, that it is pathetic to put her out there as a serious candidate. She makes Dan Quayle look like a genius.

What's with the maverick, maverick, maverick? Why is it a big deal that she and McCain are mavericks? Is the maverick meme the equivalent of "Bush is a guy I'd like to have a beer with"? God help us, then. Mavericks, Joe Six-pack? Yes. Let's search out the least common denominator between the two teams, give them a six-pack, and crown them. Good, good, good for the country. Good for the world.

We'll have two more opportunities to see if John McCain can reign in his fury at having submit to debating a junior senator.

Will Palin do more interviews with the mainstream media, or will she continue to be muzzled? How did we get to this place?

Wrong Again

This morning, my granddaughter went to her appointment with the orthodondist to have her braces adjusted. Grandpère took her this morning and brought her to school after the visit. Later in the morning, she called me saying that a wire in her braces was hurting her, and could I pick her up at school to return to the orthodontist's office to have it fixed. I said yes, but that I would have to get ready. Trust me when I say that I could not meet the world outside my house without first having a shower and washing my hair. I just could not.

I didn't pay attention to the time, and, by the time I picked her up at school and we arrived at the office, it was closed for lunch. When I picked her up at school, she said to me with a withering look, "It took you a long enough time to get here." I nodded in agreement. When we found the office locked, she was, shall we say, pissed. She knocked and rang the bell until finally a woman came to the door and said that no one who was there could help her.

Off we headed back to school, and we decided to wait until after school to have the wire fixed, which we did.

This mothering. It's not easy.

And now, I'm soooo looking forward to the debate tonight. You can visit Jane R. to find out what the gang will be drinking during the fun time.

Thank You!

The "In Honor of Mimi" drive is now over. Thanks to all of you who gave, and thanks especially to Holy Foolishness, whose idea it was, and to Fran, who publicized the effort. The donations are much needed and will be put to good use. Again, thank you.

McCain - A Miserable 20 Out Of 100 Rating

The Disabled American Veterans organization rates the members of Congress according to their votes to support veterans with disabilities:

Formed in 1920 and chartered by Congress in 1932, the million-member DAV is the official voice of America's service-connected disabled veterans -- a strong, insistent voice that represents all of America's 2.1 million disabled veterans, their families and survivors.

The votes listed under the Key Votes section of the DAV web site are recorded roll call votes. They are related to important issues, such as:

* Budget
* Appropriations
* Amendments to increase funding
* Emergency supplemental funding for VA

In most cases, with recorded votes, we have notified members of Congress of what our position is, how we wanted them to vote, and why.

The group rates McCain at a miserable 20 out of 100 in his votes in support of disabled veterans. Obama scores 80 out of 100.

For all the blah, blah, blah about patriotism, McCain doesn't put the money we give him where his mouth is.

H/T to Lapin.

UPDATE: From the comments:

Lapinbizarre said...

Checking the full list I see that McCain is one of only TWO members of Congress (both houses) to bottom out with a 20% D.A.V. rating.

The other is Larry Craig.

Ha! Good to see that McCain keeps the right company.