Inner Peace

Diana, our one-eyed family dog

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can get going without pep pills,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,


...Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!


Posted in January from Doug, with a recent reminder from Susan S. I thought this was an appropriate time for a repeat.

" THE INDWELLING PRESENCE" - Richard Rohr

The word “prayer” has often been trivialized by making it into a way of getting what you want. But here I use “prayer” as the umbrella word for any interior journeys or practices that allow you to experience faith, hope, and love within yourself. It is not a technique for getting things, a pious exercise that somehow makes God happy, or a requirement for entry into heaven. It is much more like practicing heaven now.

From The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (p.22-23)

Daily Meditations

(Sick?) British Humor

The train was quite crowded, and a U. S. Marine walked the entire length looking for a seat, but the only seat left was taken by a well dressed, middle-aged, French woman's poodle.

The war-weary Marine asked, 'Ma'am, may I have that seat?'

The French woman just sniffed and said to no one in particular 'Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that seat.'

The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat left was under that dog.

'Please, ma'am. May I sit down? I'm very tired.'

She snorted, 'Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!'

This time the Marine didn't say a word; he just picked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down.

The woman shrieked, 'Someone must defend my honour! this American should
be put in his place!'

An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up, 'I say, old boy, you Americans seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your cars on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrong bitch out the window.'

Don't blame me. Blame Erika.

We Say Good-Bye To Babs

Note: I first posted a picture of Junior, instead of Babs. I'm sorry. Babs is below. The mother and son have similar markings.


Back in April of this year, when we had our Good Friday crawfish boil, I said this:

Pictured below are the three Bassets that belong to my son and his family. In the foreground is Trigger, the father of the family. On the right is sweet Babs, the mother, who was supposed to have died of untreatable cancer some time ago, but is still here. She seems comfortable, is apparently not in pain, and is not off her food. In the rear is the dumb son of Babs and Trigger, Junior, one of the stupidest dogs ever. If you knock on that huge head of his, it rings hollow, proof of a very small brain.



The time has come for poor Babs. She lived far longer than anyone's expectations. She can no longer move around. Malignant tumors have spread throughout her body. Tomorrow is the day when my son's family will bid Babs, "Good-bye," to her time with them. She is a good dog and was an excellent mother to her large litter, although she was young at the time. Pray for heartsease for my son, his wife, and my grandson. Pray for Junior, who cries whenever his mother is out of his sight. I am not kidding. That great hulk of a dog is beside himself whenever his mother is at the vets or somewhere else than with him. It will be a sad day when sweet Babs will no longer be around.

My hope is that she will meet up with Rusty, the wonder dog, Ginger, from my childhood, and our many cats who have passed on to that better place where they can "Woof, woof!" and "Meow, meow!" and laugh about the crazy families that they left behind, knowing that one day we will all be together again.

Statuary In St. Joseph Co-Cathedral

Ste. Jeanne d'Arc

I wonder if Ste. Jeanne wore a skirt over/under her armor.

 

St. Louis, Roi de France

You can't tell by clicking on the larger view, because it's blurry, but St. Louis is pretty well rouged up. The first time I saw his statue up close many years ago, I thought he was a queen. (LOL! Sorry.)

 

The Virgin Mary and the child Jesus

I like this statue, but for the large crowns, the size of which is decidedly de trop. (That means "too much".)

 

St. Anthony and the child Jesus

Not contemporaries, but no matter. It is all mystery and art.

The statues of Ste. Jeanne and St. Louis face the nave in the front of the church. The Virgin and St. Anthony are in the narthex.

I meant to make this a serious post, but that's not the way it turned out. What happened?

St. Joseph Co-Cathedral - Thibodaux, LA

The recent funeral of a friend's father was held in Roman Catholic St. Joseph Co-Cathedral, a Romanesque-style church, which was constructed in 1923. Since St. Joseph is a place of note in tourist information, I decided to take pictures after the service and post a few of them. It's a grand church which was renovated just a few years ago. The parish is quite old, dating from 1817, when it began as a mission church, and the present building is the third church structure.



When the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux was split off from the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1977, St. Francis de Sales Church in Houma, Louisiana, was chosen as the cathedral church. The word-of-mouth back story is that the pastor and certain parishioners of St. Joseph were upset that their church was not chosen as the cathedral, because it was the oldest parish in the new diocese. The powers then decided to make St. Joseph a co-cathedral to appease the folks at the church.



Pictured above is one of two large stained glass windows at either end of the transept of the church. The stained glass in the church is beautiful. In a quick search, I couldn't find information about the history of the glassworks in the church, who designed them or who did the work.



Pictured above are the ceiling carvings plasterwork and the mural. The mural is the one decoration in the church about which I can't say anything positive, because I don't like it. To me, it's not good art. Of course, I could be wrong.

Unfortunately, the colors in the rose window don't show at all in this picture. According to Monsignor Barbier, the pastor at the time the present building was constructed, the window was modeled after the rose window in Notre Dame de Paris.



And last is St. Valerie's bier, which I always found creepy, as the poor dear seems to be writhing on her bed. When my children were young, the bier stood in one of the side aisles, and they were a bit spooked by it when they had to pass it on the way to a pew. The case holds a relic of St. Valerie. The bier now stands against a wall, a more appropriate position, surely.

Information for the post was taken, in part, from this history of St. Joseph Co-Cathedral

Picture at the head of the post from Yelp.  More pictures here.

Florida Squirrel

For all who appreciate the outdoors . . . the rarely photographed South Florida Squirrel.

Doug struck while I was not looking.

" A better future for the Anglican Communion?"

By Savi Hensman

Abstract

Rowan Williams has recently proposed major changes in the way the Anglican Communion is organised. Because of growing willingness in the Episcopal Church (TEC) to recognise the status and ministry of lesbian and gay people, and the global disagreement on this issue, he is putting forward a “two-track” approach. Provinces such as TEC in North America would not be able to carry out certain functions such as representing the Anglican Communion in ecumenical circles, while those which signed up to a Covenant would have a more central position. This research paper describes the background, examines the evidence on which the Archbishop’s main points are based, discusses their implications, and corrects some mistaken assumptions about history and practice. Inter alia it tackles a number of key theological issues. It suggests that a two-level Communion would be practically and spiritually harmful and suggests a different approach, less focused on institutional structures, that could be more effective in addressing divisions and ultimately enabling Anglicans to move towards a deeper unity.

Savitri Hensman was born in Sri Lanka. She works in the voluntary sector in community care and equalities in the UK, and she is also a respected writer on Christianity and social justice. An Ekklesia associate, Savi has contributed several chapters to the recent book Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change, edited by Simon Barrow (Shoving Leopard / Ekklesia, 2008). She has written and reflected widely on the future of Anglicanism and is herself a member of the Church of England.

From Ekklesia.

Savi Hensman has written a very impressive, well-reasoned, and well-documented article analyzing Archbishop Rowan Williams' Reflections on the Episcopal Church's 2009 General Convention. I've had this one on ice for a couple of days, as I attempt to read it, mostly in fits and starts. As it is, I am only half-way through reading the piece, but I thought I'd throw the link out for any of you who'd care to read it. It is long, but well-worth taking the time. I tried to pick out a few quotes, but I believe that I would do an injustice to the author if I used quotes beyond the abstract.

H/T to Thinking Anglicans.

UPDATE: I've finished the article. It is excellent.

Story Of The Day - InvitationTo A Future

this is an invitation to an amazing
future & I can guarantee it because
most futures are & even if they aren't
there are better things to do than
blaming me about it

Ooooh, I do like this one. I do.

From StoryPeople.

Myron Update

Dear Mimi,

Finally, after 32 days of hospitalization, Myron is being transferred via ambulance to Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Center this afternoon at 5pm. A smaller trach was put in this morning and it has a speaking tube. So according to Eric, My has been talking up a storm.

Maryann is leaving her job, and going home to pack for him, then will make the trip with him in the ambulance.

Thanks be to God.

Thank you all for you continued prayers. Keep up the good work.

Sue

Thanks be to God, the medical staff, and the family! Prayers continue for Myron's restoration to full health. It's great news that he's "talking up a storm".