More on writers

Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. -Flannery O'Connor

Heads or Tails?

Nature gave men two ends -- one to sit on, and one to think with. Ever since then man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most. -Robert Albert Bloch

Truer words were never said

He must increase, I must decrease. - St. John the Baptist

Feast of St. Augustine

You are Christ,
my Holy Father,
my Tender God,
my Great King,
my Good Shepherd,
my Only Master,
my Best Helper,
my Most Beautiful and my Beloved,
my Living Bread,
my Priest Forever,
my Leader to my Country,
my True Light,
my Holy Sweetness,
my Straight Way,
my Excellent Wisdom,
my Pure Simplicity,
my Peaceful Harmony,
my Entire Protection,
my Good Portion,
my Everlasting Salvation.


Christ Jesus, Sweet Lord,
why have I ever loved,
why in my whole life
have I ever desired anything except You,
Jesus my God?
Where was I when I was not in spirit with You?
Now, from this time forth,
do you, all my desires, grow hot,
and flow out upon the Lord Jesus:
run... you have been tardy until now;
hasten where you are going;
seek Whom you are seeking.


O, Jesus may he who loves You
not be an anathema;
may he who loves You
not be filled with bitterness.

O, Sweet Jesus,
may every good feeling that is fitted for Your praise,
love You, delight in You, adore You!
God of my heart,
and my Portion, Christ Jesus,
may my heart faint away in spirit,
and may You be my Life within me!
May the live coal of Your Love
grow hot within my spirit
and break forth into a perfect fire;
may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart;
may it glow in my innermost being;
may it blaze in hidden recesses of my soul;
and in the days of my consummation
may I be found consummated with You!

Amen.  - St. Augustine

Bonus quote: 100th Birthday of Mother Teresa

When I am hungry give me someone that I can feed, and when I am thirsty show me someone who needs a drink.  And when I am cold give me someone to keep warm. And when I grieve give me someone to console. And when my cross grows too heavy and its weight I cannot bear,  when I need someone to hold me and it seems that no one’s there lighten up my heavy load, give me someone who deserves  to be loved, just as I do, give me someone that I can serve.  When I need some time, let me sit with someone for a while.And when my heart is heavy let me find someone to make smile. And when I’m humble give me someone that I can praise. And when I need to be looked after, show me someone that I can raise. And when I need some understanding, show me someone who needs mine. When I think of myself only, draw my thoughts to those who are kind. When I’m so poor give me someone who’s in need  and when my eyes are blind to what is holy,  let me see the Christ in the eyes of each one whom I feed.  -Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Levity

Moderate strength is shown in violence, supreme strength is shown in levity. - The Man Who was Thursday, 1908  G. K. Chesterton
       I don't know about the truth of this quote, but I certainly hope in it. There is rarely something so terrible that one cannot find the good in it, rarely something so sorrowful than one can not bring levity to the situation. I do what I can to bring levity, humor and general goofiness to much of what I do.  Life is so serious, I want to season it with humor, temper it with laughter, and find the ironic and absurd in the moments that unfold before us.

Thanks, but no thanks

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. - Thomas Jefferson

Feast of St. Louis

       If the Lord has permitted you to bear some trial, bear it willingly and with gratitude, considering that it has happened for your good and that perhaps you well deserved it. If the Lord bestows upon you any kind of prosperity, thank Him humbly and see that you become no worse for it, either through vain pride or anything else, because you ought not to oppose or offend Him in the matter of His gifts.
 - St. Louis King of France

Bonus quote

"We cannot fight credibly against other social and moral evils, including poverty and violence, while we tolerate mass killings by abortion."  - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Make ready

Make ready for the Christ whose smile like lightning sets free the song of everlasting glory that now sleeps in your paper flesh like dynamite!
- Thomas Merton
    I received that little message on a Christmas card a number of years ago and liked it so much it has remained on my bedroom mirror ever since. I like Thomas Merton, but have always been a bit hesitant because so many on the liberal side of the Church went gaga over him in the 70's and 80's. His earlier writing are rock solid, but I am not so certain about his later writings. My hunch is that he was swept along with the false enthusiasms that so dominated the western world in the 1960's. In all fairness, had I grown up in the 50's there is a fair chance that I may have been swept along in that societal adolescence that typifies the 1960's and and early 70's. When we are young I think many of us long for a life without consequence because of a misunderstanding of personal freedom, as we get older I think we realize that a life without consequence is hardly worthy living and incapable of any measure of achievement or contributing to the greater good of humanity.

Healthy men

All men have an instinct for conflict at least, all healthy men. -Hilaire Belloc
     Who doesn't like a good argument?  However, in the time that has passed since Belloc made this statement I think residents of the West Society have gotten increasingly thin-skinned and increasingly incapable of making amends once the conflict is past.  Our age of disconnect seems to permit wounds to fester, resentments to remain and conflicts to reignite with even greater potential.  That is certainly not the ideal we have from Christ. I often wonder how much my own difficulties in  forgiving will hamper or even prevent my redemption.

More Chesterton

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people. - G. K. Chesterton

Chesterton #1

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." - On Running After Ones Hat, All Things Considered, 1908 G. K. Chesterton
       Chesterton is a wealth of great quotes on faith, culture and the human condition.  I am sure I will be putting more of his quotes up with the passing of time.
Bonus quote from Orthodoxy:
"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around." - Orthodoxy, 1908

The writer

A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood. The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that perhaps, is what makes him different from others. -Leo C. Rosten

A Father's Prayer

       Father, I thank you for the gift of my family for whom I now pray and upon whom I now ask you  to shower your blessings. With St. Joseph as my guide, may I always be ready  to spend my life for them.
       Bless my wife whom you have given to me as my spouse, sharing in your wondrous work of creation. May I see her as my equal  and treat her with the love of Christ for his Church. May Mary be her guide  and help her to find your peace and your grace.
       Bless my children with Your life and presence. May the example of Your Son  be the foundation upon which their lives are built, that the Gospel may always be their hope and support.
       I ask you, Father, to protect and bless my family. Watch over it so that in the strength of Your love its members may enjoy prosperity, possess the gift of your peace and, as the Church alive in this home, always bear witness to your glory in the world.  Amen.

The joy and risk of forgetting

A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience. -Doug Larson
    I think this really applies to Confession.  Poor, shallow and rushed examinations of conscience often prevent the Sacrament and Our Lord from doing the real work of conversion. The truth will only set us free when we are willing to face the truth about ourselves.  That is humbling news, but profoundly freeing news.

Sorrow & laughter

Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter. -Friedrich Nietzsche
     What is most obvious in this quote is Nietzsche's self-congratulatory style.  He was not lacking in pride, however he did make some bold comments in philosophy that have to be addressed.  His presentation of the completely autonomous "super-man" rings truer on the world stage than we realize. It's not just something the Nazi's embraced and enshrined, it's a poisonous mindset that can effect anyone with power.  However with this quote, he does reveal the deep connection between sorrow and laughter. We do suffer deeply, and life is anything but easy.  However, life is also something so mysteriously wonderful that it's difficult not to laugh when we know that there is One who is over life and all it's experiences.  Even more paradoxical, this One has entered into the human experience and made our suffering His own, and gives us the ability to tap into His joy even in the darkest of life's situations.

Liberty & the frog

The Statue of Liberty is not that monument's name. It is Liberty Enlightening the World. -Deane Jordan
    Having just watched a documentary on Thomas Jefferson this weekend, I think he would be rolling over in his grave repeatedly at how our country has developed. Liberty has taken a beating at the hands of an ever expanding Federal Government. I don't remember the exact words, but it goes something like drop a frog in boiling water it reacts and jumps out.  Slowly raise the temperature on the water and the frog dies without ever leaving it.

The Truth will set you free

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. -Clive Staples Lewis

Meaningful matters

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.
 -Joshua J. Marine
       One of the things the students would frequently ask me is if being a priest is fun. I would usually answer them that I enjoy being one most of the time, but it isn't always fun.  As a priest I do many things that are not fun, but usually meaningful.  And at the end of the day I have more thankfulness in my heart for meaningful experiences than for fun ones. However, I frequently make boring experiences more fun for myself by my warped sense of humor or my goofy responses.  I am sure one day the men with nets will catch up to me and haul me into the asylum.

Rule of Acquisition #208

Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer. -  Ferengi Rule of Acquisition # 208
       I always enjoyed the Ferengi, and really enjoyed Quark on Deep Space 9.  Their rules of acquisition are a source of fun quotes.

A day late and a dollar short - Yesterday's quote

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. -Bernard Bailey

Yesterday's missed quote - Memorial of St. Claire

       Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,  Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;        O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;  to be understood as to understand;  to be loved as to love.  For it is in giving that we receive;  it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;  and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. - The prayer of St. Francis
       This is one of the prayers I say on pretty much a daily basis, I wish I did a better job living it.

Feast of St. Lawrence

"This side’s done, turn me over and have a bite."  "Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca." - I knew the first part of the quote, had not heard the have a bite ending.  The Church with Her odd sense of humor and perspective made St. Lawrence the  patron saint of comedians, butchers and roasters.  Here is a link with some interesting facts on St. Lawrence:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/08/st-lawrence-guardian-of-the-churchs-treasures.html

Reputation vs Character

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.  -John Wooden

Harry S. Truman

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. -Harry S Truman

Rekindling the flame

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. -Albert Schweitzer

Fuel for the debate

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."   -Theodore Roosevelt

      For the most part I share these sentiments. I am not opposed to learning second languages, like Spanish, but I am a firm believer that we should possess one common civic language.  Other languages are learned with two goals in mind, communicating with those who speak a different language (NO DUH!) and assimilating those who do into the United States with a better understanding of English.  If second language issues were not challenge enough, the use of Internet verbiage is polluting the language as well. We all naively hoped that the increased use of keyboards would make us better typists.  LOL! It has opened new doors to laziness and expediency which is a strange pairing in Internet useage.

Our dilemma

Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better. - Sydney J. Harris
       Two for today, since I was a distracted slacker yesterday.  I could ramble on about this quote for a long time.  My experiences over the last few years make me realize just how true this statement is for the vast majority of us. I am sure I fall into this way of thinking more than I realize.

Transformation

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. -Margaret Fuller
       Forgot to put up a quote yesterday, too many distractions and a bit too much tension on the personal side of life. While the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly is wondrous, most of us don't experience anything nearly that dramatic. It is a much slower process, and at times the transformation is barely discernible. While I would hope that it would keep us humble, I fear that most find it boring. The Church latched on to this imagery early on in trying to help us grasp what the Resurrection would be like. Death and Resurrection are the most profound changes we will face in life.

Growing in wisdom

Deliberate with caution, but act with decision and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.
-Charles Caleb Colton

Bonus Quote - The men who quell the storm and ride the thunder.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder.
-President Theodore Roosevelt, "The Man In The Arena"  Speech at the Sorbonne.  Paris, France  April 23, 1910

Something silly for Monday

If you go through a lot of hammers each month, I don't think it necessarily means you're a hard worker. It may just mean that you have a lot to learn about proper hammer maintenance.
-Jack Handey Deep Thoughts

More on optimism

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. -Harry S Truman