Off To First Communion Celebration

I tried to find a cute First Communion picture to post, but no luck. My next to youngest grandson will be receiving his First Communion tomorrow this morning in New Orleans. We'll be eating out afterwards at one of the Chinese restaurants where they cook right at the table. The kids love that. The chef tosses food to them. It's OK, because we're in a closed room, so if the chef misses, he doesn't hit other customers.

Also, say a prayer for my son's cat, Stormy, who has urinary track problems. He's pretty sick, and the children will be upset if anything happens to him. Although he is a mixed breed, he looks just like a pure-bred Russian blue, and the breed is genetically predisposed to have the urinary problem.

UPDATE: I found a picture. That's a pretty accurate representation of the children, but the priest didn't look quite like the one in the pictures. Too treacly?


UPDATE 2: This is not a picture of Stormy, but it looks very like him.

The Great Disconnection

Yesterday, I took the time to read the whole of Bush's speech at the National Museum of the Air Force in Ohio. Yes, the seven pages of drivel, stupidity, and mendacity from the Bizarro World of Bush. I'm not linking, but you can find the whole of it at the White House web site.

Here are a few quotes from our dear leader:

On the security side, the surge has brought important gains, which I discussed in detail last week in a speech at the Pentagon. In Baghdad, we've worked with Iraqi security forces to greatly diminish the sectarian violence and civilian deaths. We've broken the grip of al Qaida on the capital. We've weakened the influence of Iranian-backed militias. We've dramatically improved security conditions in many devastated neighborhoods in what some have deemed a "re-liberation."

We liberate them, and then we re-liberate them. How much more of our liberation can they take?

Initially, the United States paid for most of the costs of training and equipping the Iraqi security forces. Now Iraq's budget covers three-quarters of the cost of its security forces, which is a total of more than $9 billion in 2008. And soon, Iraq should, and we expect them, to shoulder the full burden of their security forces.

Yes, but we're still spending $12 billion a month there.

Some, however, seem unwilling to acknowledge that progress is taking place. Early in the war, they said the political situation wasn't good enough. Then, after Iraq held three historic elections, they said the security situation wasn't good enough. Then, after the security situation began to improve, they said politics, again, wasn't good enough. And now that political progress is picking up, they're looking for a new reason.

No, it's an old reason, Mr President. It seems to be security again, not to be nitpicking or anything.

You know, when I mentioned justice of the cause, you see that when Americans in full battle gear hand out books to children, hand out books to total strangers. You see it when they defuse bombs to protect the innocent, or help organize a town council meeting. And you see that, there could be no doubt that America is a force for good and decency. (Applause.)

So to give books to the children, we had to invade their country. Many of the children's schools are now destroyed, and if the schools are standing, because of violence in the area, attending school may be too dangerous for the children. Were there bombs to be defused before we invaded?

Four thousand of our finest citizens have sacrificed their lives in this mission. Every one of them was loved. Every one is missed. And we thank God for the gift of these brave Americans

-- and we ask Him to comfort their families. Every one of them will be honored throughout our history. But the best way to honor the fallen is to complete the mission, and lay the foundation of peace. (Applause.)

To honor the fallen and the maimed, we must allow more troops to die and be maimed.

Earlier yesterday, I had read Today I read in McClatchy of the violence in Iraq:

Baghdad

12 mortars hit the Green Zone starting at 10 am until this report was prepared at 2 pm, Thursday, said Iraqi Police. The U.S. Embassy said no one was injured.
....

Updating Sadr City news, since the fighting started on Monday until now, the toll has reached 38 killed and 47 wounded, Iraqi police said.
....

Random fire by gunmen passing in a speeding car killed a father and his son, 13 years old in Talbiyah, north Baghdad at 5 this afternoon.
....

4 mortar rounds hit the US military base in Rustamiyah at 6.30 pm. No casualties were reported and no comment was available from the US military at the time of publication.
....

5 unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad by Iraqi Police today. 1 in Ur, 1 in Zayuna, 1 in Husseiniyah, 1 in Mansour, 1 in Alawi al-Hilla, Sheikh Ma'roof.
....

Basra

Fighting in Basra between the Mahdi Army and the security forces has been ongoing since early Tuesday, and the toll of the fighting is at least 97 killed and around 300 injured, a medical source in the Directorate of Health in Basra said.
....

Diyala

5 unidentified bodies were found in a mass grave by security forces in al-Zor area, Muqdadiyah district, 25 km to the east of Baquba.
....

Salahuddin

Gunmen attack a Sahwa, US sponsored militia, member's house in al-Khadhraa neighbourhood, downtown Samara and kill both him and his son and injured his wife and one of his daughters. Joint forces, Iraqi army and US military announce a curfew in order to search for the armed group, said First Lieutenant Muthanna Shakir. US military did not include this report in their release.

I have included only a sampling of the violence reported by McKlatchy.

The president's disconnection from the reality of Iraq is astounding. How can anyone treat him with any seriousness? How do any of us live our lives as though none of this is happening?

What Happened To The Pink Elephants?

From the Telegraph:

A New Zealand man who claimed he was raped by a wombat and that the experience left him speaking with an Australian accent has been found guilty of wasting police time.

Arthur Cradock, 48, from the South Island town of Motueka, called police last month to tell them he was being raped by the marsupial at his home and needed urgent assistance.

Cradock, an orchard worker, later called back to reassure the police operator that he was all right.
....

Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Stringer told the court that alcohol played a large role in Cradock’s life.

From Lapin labeled, "This week's silliest story!"

More Prayers, Please

Blogger Kate Morningstar said...

My Dad's in hospital as of yesterday. I thought it would be a very short stay, and he'd die in the next few days. But there's something they can do that will make him more comfortable and able to breathe, without fixing the problem. They're saying, after they've done it, they're planning to send him home early next week. It will still be soon.

Dad's illness is a logical consequence of what he's done in his life. I believe that in the next phase of his existence, whatever that is, he will be offered healing he wouldn't or couldn't take in this phase. And that at some point, he'll be able to move into that healing.

A big part of the problem is -- he is completely unwilling to accept the possibility that there is a Source of All Healing and Help, or a next phase of existence.

I made his favourite kind of cookies this morning, and I'm going now to deliver them to the hospital. We do what we can.

Kate, you did good with the cookies. Prayers for your dad that he finds healing, comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding, and that he finds hope in the Source of all hope. Prayers for you and your family, too, that the love of God surround you all.

From The General(s) To The Particular

The two articles from the Associated Press appeared one beneath the other in my local newspaper, just as I post them here.

From the AP via MSNBC:

In the confidential confines of a Pentagon conference room known as "the Tank," President Bush moved one step closer to temporarily halting U.S. troop cuts in Iraq.

No decisions were announced at the closed-door session Wednesday, but officials said later that the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps indicated they would go along with a halt.

The chiefs stressed, however, their concerns about the accumulating strains caused by an Iraq war that is now in its sixth year and that has forced the Army and Marine Corps in particular to keep troops in combat longer and on more frequent tours than officials believe can be sustained in the long term.
....

The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.

From the AP via USA Today:

FORT STEWART, Ga. — Army Staff Sgt. Robert Brown's third deployment Iraq was also his longest -- he was 39 when he left, and he turned 41 the day before he returned to Fort Stewart on Wednesday.

His wife, Taura Brown, and 4-year-old son Jacob had a cake waiting for him at home that said, "Happy Birthday and Welcome Home."

Brown was part of the first Army division tapped for a third combat tour in Iraq. He was among 500 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade returning Wednesday from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The rest of the brigade of 4,000 troops will return in the next two weeks.

"The only thing I want to do is just go home and be around nobody but them," said Brown, of Chatham, La., as he pulled off his helmet and flashed a wide smile at his wife and child.
....

At least 75 soldiers from the 19,000-soldier division died during the latest deployment, the military said.

The division helped lead the charge to Baghdad in the 2003 invasion, and returned to Iraq in 2005.

During their third deployment, division soldiers had their tour stretched to 15 months -- compared with the typical 12 month rotation -- as the Pentagon boosted troop levels in Iraq to crack down on violence from insurgents.

"It seemed like forever," said Spc. Bradley Glasscock, 33, of Wilmington, Ind. "We were already three months into the deployment when they told us we'd get an extra three months. So it seemed like we stopped and started over again. We were just biting at the bit to get home."

I was going to comment, but res ipsa loquitor.

Prayer Request For Naomi

From Caminante:

As Kris Carr author of "Crazy, Sexy, Cancer" would say, Get your posse going.

So, you all, you are Naomi's prayer posse. She needs your prayers. Spread them far and wide. Put her on whatever prayer list you know. Just pray. Pray for her, her mother, father, four sisters and brother.

She wrote tonight on her website:

"So, not so great news. I’m going to finish radiation and try a chemo for two weeks. The chemo wont cure it but we’re hoping that it’ll slow or shrink it a little. It is Ewings and it is growing and being very aggressive. After radiation and chemo they will do an assessment but after that they said that there is nothing else they can do. After the assessment they will be labeling my case as terminal. My parents and I have talked about it and decided to try eveything out there to fight this beast. We’re going to research alternatives and holistic approaches. If anyone has suggestions or knows anything please let me know. I’m hoping things work out but now I really begin my fight."

I can't believe they told her that they would be calling her case 'terminal.' It's so harsh.

If you all know of anything that might help, write me in the comments and I will pass it along.

Our prayers can make a difference. I don't know for what to pray but God knows. Thanks.

Prayers for healing for Naomi and for comfort, consolation, and peace for her and for those who love her.

Blogging for Doorman-Priest

While Doorman-Priest is away at Vicar School this week, he gave the key to his blog to The Reverend Boy and to me, and asked us to post while he was gone. When I said yes, I had no idea how daunting the task would be when the time came to actually write a post. I struggled and discarded and finally posted at The World of Doorman-Priest. If you'd like, you can read my post there. RB's post will be later in the week.

The task was difficult, because I believe that DP is quite good at what he does, and I didn't want to disgrace him on his own blog. I wonder if he realized the risk involved in handing me the key. I've already been tempted to put up something naughty.

Signed,

Doorman-Priest's humble servant (aka Grandmère Mimi)

20th Century Martyrs - Westminster Abbey

Statues of 20th-century martyrs on the façade above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming.

Thanks to Lapinbizarre who sent me the links with this comment:

It is a wonderfully "catholic" assembly, isn't it?

Indeed, it is a "catholic" assembly. That's the best of Anglicanism, the catholic, embracing Anglicanism, contrasting with the narrow, exclusive Anglicanism that certain members of the leadership in the Anglican Communion are presently advocating.

Image from Wiki

UPDATE: Links to biographies of the martyrs can be found here. Scroll down to the section labeled "Commemorated".

Feast Day Of Oscar Romero (Missed)

Yesterday, I missed the feast day of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Mea maxima culpa!

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador.

As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of human rights and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's civil war. His brand of political activism was denounced by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death finally provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador.

What wise words in this prayer from Archbishop Romero:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
John 15:13

Archbishop Romero is under consideration for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church, but the Episcopal Church has moved ahead and given him a feast day. Thanks be to God.

PRAYER

Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

Picture and biographical quote from Wiki.

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

This is not new, and I have already tried it, and it is true, but I needed a laugh. From my well-trained daughter, who knows when her mama needs a laugh:

I could not believe this!!! Just try it!

It is from an orthopedic surgeon [?]............ This will boggle your mind and you will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction. I told you so!!!

And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so. Send it to your friends to frustrate them too!

My friends, here is my gift to you today. I am frustrated about a good many large issues, today. Here's a small frustration to take your mind off the big ones.

PS: The left foot is just as smart.