Feast Of Ignatius Of Antioch

Readings:

Psalm 116:1-8 31:1-5
Romans 8:35-39
John 12:23-26

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

PRAYER

Almighty God, we praise you for your bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch, who offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to you the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept the willing tribute of our lives, and give us a share in the pure and spotless offering of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in the city of Mosul in Iraq, who are being killed or forced to flee their homes because of what appears to be deliberate targeting of Christians.

From CNN:

At least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week, terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death, officials said Saturday.
....

"Where is the government and its security forces as these crimes take place every day?" asked Azoz, a carpenter who is staying with his wife and three children in a town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Mosul, according to AP.

The history of certain of the Iraqi Christian communities stretches back to the early church. They have suffered terribly during the war. Nearly half their numbers were killed, or kidnapped, or forced to flee for their lives to neighboring countries. It appears that their suffering is far from over.

Icon of Ignatius being martyred from Wiki.

UPDATE: More on the Christians in Mosul and one of their leaders, the Anglican Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, at OCICBW.

You Have To Laugh

I know I did. Thanks to Doug.

"Fair And Balanced"

In an effort to be "fair and Balanced", I decided to post a little about McCain, or rather the McCain campaign, from the same article by Nicholas Lemann in The New Yorker which I referenced in my post below.

The people around McCain put me in mind of one of those old war movies where a salty, can-do major struts into the mess hall and points: “You—soldier! I like the cut of your jib. How about coming along on a special operation? Not for the faint of heart.” And then he knows how to cadge some light artillery, a couple of jeeps, and some rations from the quartermaster (he’ll do the paperwork later). In the McCain campaign, the women (and not just Sarah Palin) tend to be a little saucy and the men look uncomfortable in suits, and it would be difficult to produce an organization chart that would explain the relationship of McCain’s travelling buddies from the Senate, Lindsey Graham and Joseph Lieberman, to the staff and the short roster of outside advisers.

To the author, I'd say that the phrase, "cut of your jib" might be better suited to addressing a sailor, rather than a soldier, but, of course, I could be wrong. Who am I to say that an author who publishes in The New Yorker made a mistake?

We learn that Sarah Palin is not the only "saucy" woman in the McCain campaign, although the others are only "a little saucy". One might say that Palin is beyond saucy, but I would never say that. The men may look uncomfortable in suits, however, I'd be obliged to draw the line and object if the author described either Lindsey Graham or Joe Lieberman as "saucy".

Both Graham and Lieberman are far down on my list of favorites. They'd be farther down on my list than McCain, except that he is running for president. There's something about Graham that I find truly off-putting the minute he opens his mouth. I don't know what it is, but I can't listen to him.

That's about as "fair and balanced" as I can be.

Just Because They Are...

From Mark at Enough About Me:

Walking home, this morning, the sun still barely making a purple glow on the horizon, I looked up into the branches of the oaks that line the streets here. They were black against the sky, and their shapes and the "white space" effect touched me, delighted me, somehow. I remembered, then, how such things delighted me as a child, not because of anything, just because they were.

Yes, where is the lost innocence that delights in things because they are? Read the rest of Mark's post.

John, You Are George Bush!

Yeeaaah!

Thanks to Lapin for the new Obama ad.

Obama - Too Good To Be True? I Think Not

Last night, I read an article in The New Yorker by Nicholas Lemann, titled "Worlds Apart, Obama, McCain, and the future of foreign policy". I won't take you through the whole piece ( and aren't you glad?); it's long, and it's there at the link if you'd like to read it. What struck me in the article is the description of Obama offered by Robert Danzig, a Secretary of the Navy in the Clinton administration, who is now among Obama's foreign policy advisers. He said this about Obama:

“There is a degree of self-reflection, self-awareness, and psychological wholeness he arrived at after going through a period of working through his identity as the son of a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas”.... “Having worked for two Presidents and with many Presidential candidates during the last thirty years, I have not seen one as psychologically well balanced, and as good about not injecting his ego into a problem.”

That's how I now see Obama. He was not my first choice as the Democratic candidate, because I agreed nearly 100% with Dennis Kucinich's policies. Dennis was my first love, and he will always be my love, but he didn't make the cut. Then, I moved on from Dennis to next best, and I was not completely happy with any of the others. I'd go back and forth, but in my heart, I never really settled upon any of the others, while, at the same time, believing that any of them would be better than a Republican. For heaven's sake, we've had enough of them! Begone!!!

I don't embrace all of Obama's policies: for instance, I'd much prefer a single-payer health care system run by the federal government than Obama's plan. I differ with him on other policies, but laying aside our differences, as I tried to settle on a candidate, Obama seemed a little too good to be true. But as I have observed him over the months since he has been the candidate of choice, I've come to admire him more and more, and I believe him to be the man that he appears to be. He possesses a coolness, a command of himself, and a dignity that I believe is real. And black men growing up in the US, certainly get enough training in staying cool, don't they? If an African-American man wants to succeed, he must never be seen as "the angry black man". That is so absolutely scary to many in the US. Of course, angry white men, which McCain certainly seemed to be last night, put themselves at less at risk when they show anger.

Probably not too many folks changed their minds about whom they will vote for as they watched the debate last night, but, to me, the contrast is stark, and the choice is easy. What puzzles me is the number of undecided voters at this stage of the game.

Meet Marilyn Obama-Biden-McCain-Palin

Who's the prettiest?

From Mr Brainwash via Susan S.

On The Run

I will be running hither and thither for most of the day, with not much time for blogging. Physical therapy is a marvelous thing. I've completed nearly three weeks now, and my foot and knee are greatly improved. I have little pain, and my knees feel so much stronger. I don't need to worry about taking as much care when I pivot or move quickly. Once my six weeks of PT are up, I shall need to maintain what I've gained, if I want to remain mobile. Spending that much time on myself goes against the grain, but there is no alternative. I see that now quite clearly.

Amuse yourselves while I'm away by gazing at Paul Newman or go read about the brave Lt. Col. Vandeveld, who I believe is a hero. Leave a comment in the event that he drops by (not very likely). Or express your outrage at the violent language at the Palin/McCain campaign rallies.

Paul Newman - True Story

This picture is worth the e-mail even if you don't take the time to read the story below.

Only women of a certain era will fully appreciate this....true story.

(If you don't understand this, tell your mother, she'll get it!)

A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited. One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.

She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor. There was only one other patron in the store: Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee. The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes. The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.

Pull yourself together! She chides herself. You're a happily married woman with three children, you're forty-five years old, not a teenager!

The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction.

When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty. Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store? Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter or something! No ice cream cone was in sight...

With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman. His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman, 'You put it in your purse.'

From my brother-in-law.

Disclosure: This is not the picture that came with the email. I could not load the original into Blogger. I liked the other better, but I chose this one to show how handsome he remained in his mature years. He aged well, like a fine wine.

As The Crowd "Warms Up"

From the Scranton Times-Tribune:

1:25 p.m.

Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin.

Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the 10th Congressional District mentioned Barack Obama the crowd booed loudly.

One man screamed "kill him!"

Supporters have been noted shouting “kill him,” “terrorist,” “off with his head” and other equally incendiary terms about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Others have directly suggested Mr. Obama is a Muslim, which he is not, or a traitor. Some comments even drew rebuke from Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Other than the lone man, there were no other such outbursts.

Only one lone man? How long will this go on? Where are the authorities? Isn't this somewhat like shouting, "Fire!" in a theater? When will Palin/McCain speak out about this? I'm waiting. I'm waiting.

H/T to TPM.