Better Friends through NFP

I had the great fortune recently to join up with the Knights of Columbus and meet many men who are trying to live out the faith. It is always a blessing to start new friendships and grow closer to those who help us on our narrow road.

It is especially a blessing to discover real Catholics who try to adhere to all of the Lord's teachings, like NFP. Not only is it great to have conversations about mucus, or about the spiritual benefits of love-making beyond the fertile years, but there is a palpable sense of understanding and mutual connection that is deeper than the words exchanged. An intimacy that could only be wrought of materials far beyond my comprehension.

NFP - Health, Love, and Friendship.

Searching for Sasha

I have not entered the Mall in a long time, consequently, I had mostly enjoyable shopping experiences this Advent. The greatest shopping experience was definitely related to the true meaning of Christmas. As we were finishing dinner in the Food Court, I noticed a dad walking, carrying one kiddie, with two trailing along behind. As we left the Food Court, I saw the dad frantically run up to a clerk and ask, "Do you know where my keys are?" I saw myself doing the same thing, but as we started to move along the concourse, I was stopped by the man's frantic running up and down the entrance to the Food Court, that's when I realized that he had lost something far more precious than his keys. Of course, he was also constantly repeating his daughter's name, Sasha.

By the grace of God I had seen them together so I had some idea of what Sasha looked like. Since he had canvassed the area around the court thoroughly, I went to look where he hadn't. Upon entering the nearby stores, I found a little girl touching everything that she could. I asked Jen to watch over her and I flagged down the frantic dad. Guiding him to the store, he picked up Sasha immediately and then called for his son, who emerged from behind another rack of touchable items. He started reprimanding them both in a foreign language, perhaps German.

And there is the lesson of the Incarnation, the mystery of our place as Children of God. God so loves us that He will keep searching for us, as He would search for His only begotten Son. (And once He has us, He will teach us the error of our ways)

Colds that Reproduce

I love my humble magyar. There are so few men who would take the time to report on the state of their mucus. Wouldn't it be a better world if we could all self-diagnose through monitoring our various secretions?

Great Jimmys Think Alike

Jimmy Akin has a great post on nutrition. He discusses many of the issues which I see surrounding nutrition. I would love to see a company do double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on excellent nutritional products without having to be goaded by the government to do so. Oh wait, Reliv has done that on its newest product, as well as a few others, without spending millions of taxpayer dollars for the FDA to watch over them.

Eschatological Cake

Song: Cool Blue Reason
Band: Cake
Lyric: "...I'm just talking to myself. I'm just rearranging Hell..."

I suppose Cake has been a guilty pleasure for years. Isn't that always the case? Ever since their hit, "Going the Distance," I've been intrigued by their lyrics. The above lyric struck me upon my most recent listening as a particular apt description of Hell in two sentences. Although the whole Fire and Brimstone imagery is still common in the arts, the recent elaborations of Hell have focused on the idea of singularity. That is to say, Hell is being completely and totally self-absorbed much like the image from "The Passion" where Satan is on a floating rock in a vast dark emptiness, screaming. The Cake Eschaton has a nice fussiness to it. When a consummate consumerist goes to Hell, I imagine him spending a lot of time rearranging it; moving things around in a knowingly futile attempt to make things better and looking at all his things as they eternally condemn him, like a millstone around his neck.

I imagine Hellish furniture to be expensive and modern, whereas Heavenly furniture is from Ikea.