"Small Town Blues" - Ruthie Foster

A resonatin' song, I tell ya.

J. C. Recants

Promoted from the comments in response to the post Recantation:

Blogger Tobias Haller said...

Greetings in Me.

After careful consideration, I realize I ought not to have placed myself in conscientious objection to the wisdom of the Scribes and Pharisees. They sit in Moses' seat, after all, and I'm just a Galilean Carpenter. I deeply regret that I may have offended them and caused any unrest among the people. Nothing was further from my mind. Special apologies to the Governor of Judea, under whose excellent guidance the peaceful reign of Caesar can continue uninterrupted by zealotry. I am very sorry if anything I said was taken in the wrong way, leading to suggestions I was attempting to usurp any kind of earthly authority or rule. I was speaking metaphorically. I'm particularly concerned that last week's demonstration and donkey-ride may have given people the wrong idea. I tried to hail a taxi, but people insisted I use the donkey. I didn't mean anything by it.

Can I go now?

J.C.

Recantation

Tom has left a new comment on your post "And Here's Another - Fr. Steve Niskanen":

From the San Gabriel Mission Weekly Bulletin, dated October 19, 2008...

"Dear Parishioners of San Gabriel Mission:

The Peace of Christ be with you!

Two weeks ago, I presented in a bulletin letter an overview of the three Propositions (4, 6 and 8) on which our California Bishops’ Conference has taken an official position. I presented these positions in summary, but then added my own personal opinion regarding Proposition 8, framing it as a matter of my conscience. I regret and apologize for placing my opinions on the same level as our Bishops, “the authentic teachers of the faith.” I fully respect and support our Bishops’ position that Proposition 8 does not intend to infringe on the human and legal rights of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters; rather it seeks to preserve the restriction of the term “marriage” to the complementary, life-long partnership of the whole of life, open to the gift of children, between one man and one woman.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Steve Niskanen, CMF, Pastor."

The peace of Christ be with you Fr. Steve.

My emphasis added in the letter. The bolded words of Fr. Steve are pure BS. I don't mean to be harsh on him, but they sound very much like a forced confession out of a Soviet gulag. His position in the church will be adversely affected anyway. He's a marked man for having made his original statement.

Let us pray for Fr. Steve.

Tom, thanks for calling my attention to his change of mind.

"Oui, On Peut! - Yes We can! - Obama Zydeco"

Elizabeth told me about this, and as soon as I saw and listened, I had to have it. I stole it from Jon. Is this not great? As Jon says, "I have never been so proud of my homeland." Why didn't I think of saying "Yes we can" in French?

H/T to Jon at The Ultimate Word

Johnieb Is Back!

Go see at Here Still Running.

Welcome back, you old rascal. We missed you while you were away. Don't you be running off like that again.

On The Fall Of Humankind

Was there a fall?

If so, what was the fall?

From what does humankind need saving?


Your thoughts?

The Four And Twenty Elders

The Four and Twenty Elders Casting their Crowns before the Divine Throne - William Blake

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’

Revelation 4:9-11

The imagery and the prayer from "Revelation" captivate me now and have done so for many years, and I love William Blake's representation of the passage. To me, it's the image of true worship, the attitude of the heart with which we approach the throne of grace. This post is for me and for anyone else who enjoys it.

This Is What Happened...

to an Obama supporter's car in Hays County, Texas. Go read the story at Mock, Paper, Scissors.

The mood in the country is ugly. The darkness comes into the light, and it's not pretty. What I see and what I hear make me quite sad. Is this my country?

H/T to FranIAm.

Lunch With The Biddies

 

The Biddies - Class of 1952

On Saturday, Grandpère very kindly drove me to Mandeville, Louisiana, to Grillot's Oyster Bar and Restaurant for a luncheon with my high school classmates. Ours was a small class, only 22, so we all knew one another quite well, and many of us have kept in touch. Eleven attended the luncheon, which I think was quite a good turnout. One woman even came from California. Others are spread around the country, and a few have died. I attended an all girls Roman Catholic high school. I believe that, in many ways, separating the sexes in high school leads to better education, especially for girls.

GP was not going to eat with us, because he was the only man there, and he didn't want to spoil our fun. As though he would have spoiled our fun. Fortunately, another husband showed up, and the two of them entertained each other.

We reminisced about our high school days, laughed and joked quite a bit about how we are all falling apart physically and mentally. We did the usual passing around of pictures of children and grandchildren.

One woman brought a few old photos of us in our high school days. One showed three of us in shorts, short shorts, for bermuda shorts were not yet in style. We are on what looks like a cliff, posing like WWII pin-up girls. I cannot imagine where the cliff was, for we have very few cliffs around here. One girl is standing on a rock, hands on hips, the other posing on the grass, and I am sitting facing the camera, with one leg dangling over the side of the cliff, and the other leg propped up, bent at the knee, close to my body, and I'm holding my leg in the bent position. Well, there's quite a bit of my back thigh showing, even moving beyond thigh. What was I thinking? In those days the picture would have been quite shocking. If the nuns who taught us had ever seen it, they would have torn it up. We were often reminded that, wherever we were, we represented the school and not just ourselves.

Several of us went on to Loyola University after we graduated. We all spent time in the classroom of an elderly Jesuit philosophy professor. In his prime, he was a brilliant teacher, but when he taught us he was old and in decline. His wit was still sharp and biting, but he seemed to have lost certain of his inhibitions. He smelled bad, too.

We had quite a laugh over our time in his class when there were three girls named Tootsie, Teetsie, and Tessie. The old priest could never keep straight who was who. He'd say, "Tootsie, what are your thoughts on what I just said?" And she'd say, "First of all, I'm not Tootsie, I'm Tessie." And he'd go into his rant, "Tootsie, Teetsie, and Tessie in one class! How can I be expected to keep that straight?"

He called me Miss Best-Dressed, because, by some miracle, I was selected among the ten best-dressed coeds. I had very little money for clothes, so I still can't understand how that ever came to be.

 

Three Biddies

 

Here be the mens.

"Don't Worry, Everyone, You're Safe "

I'm not from California, but I'd like to do my bit to defeat Proposition 8, which would reinstate the ban on gay marriage. Same sex couples in California have rushed to get married, since the former ban on gay marriage was declared unconstitutional. All faithful, committed couples should have the same access to the rights, priviliges, and responsibilities of marriage, no matter the sex of the two people. The relationship between the two of love, faithfulness, and commitment is what constitutes marriage.

Read what my virtual friend, IT, says about her marriage, which took place last weekend:

Our wedding last Sunday went off wonderfully, and we have just returned after a relaxing, and largely internet-free, honeymoon which we spent doing nothing in particular. During this time we of course contemplated the remarkable fact of being married and what it means to us.

Of course, it has not changed what we mean to each other. I have loved my beloved partner-spouse for many years with every part of my being, nothing different there.

But what HAS changed is something of our view of our relationship. We were rather surprised to find that we both felt this change.

Please read the rest to see what being married meant to them. She ends with this plea:

Please help us stay married. No on Prop 8!

H/T to Tobias for the video.