Evolution, Creationism, Randomness

"Can you tell us, sir, how old you believe the Earth is?" the lawyer, Pedro Irigonegaray, asked William S. Harris, a chemist, who helped write the proposed changes to the state standards.

"I don't know," Dr. Harris replied. "I think it's probably really old."

If the state board adopts the new standards, as expected, Kansas will join Ohio, which took a similar step in 2002, in requiring that students be taught that there is controversy about evolution. Legislators in Alabama and Georgia have introduced bills this season to allow teachers to challenge Darwin in class.

Do these people who "challenge Darwin" actually know Darwin? What are they really trying to challenge? I think it's their own perception of Darwin that contains the evil they are trying to eliminate, not Darwin.

When I was little, one of the questions in the little blue book was, "Where is God?"

The answer, as I remember it, is: "God is everywhere."

"God is everywhere." and "Where your heart is, there your treasure is."

We find God in that which we know, love, and pursue our greatest interest. People who embrace family and responsibility find God in that pursuit, and will probably define God with words from their personal experience. People who embrace Church, in its depth and fullness of potential, will certainly own a rich vocabulary to speak of God. People who find God, as Kepler did, in the harmony of the heavenly bodies, define God's goodness in the vocabulary of their love: science. People who find God in reason can speak of God in reasonable ways.

The problem only becomes a problem when someone of one branch of God-experience looks at the other's words and says, "They must be wrong. They have faith in empty words, or empty deeds, or meaningless images," mistakenly ascribing their own emptiness of that particular God-experience to the other person.

From their own point of view, the Creationists are correct to say that Science is wrong to teach that randomness drives the universe, with no love, no personal direction, no caring, no afterlife.

They are "correct" because they equate "randomness" with "meaninglessness." They don't understand that randomness is the key point at which all life and all value is generated. Randomness is that cherished point at which love functions most fully.

Science & reason are not opposed to creation. They are merely a bigger vocabulary. A different image.

Where is God? God is everywhere.

If you truly believe in God, you should be able to stop fighting about things you don't understand, and go about your own life, walking with God wherever God is found.

Baghdad

Faiza writes:

Now I began to understand why some Iraqis objected to the elections, considering it illegal, with the presence of an occupying force… I used to see them as silly extremists, while I supported the theory of "try, work, and push towards achieving your national goals", and by your intelligence, you could achieve the demands of your people, bringing honest, nationalist men to rule, men who want to achieve much for the welfare of Iraqis, and push the occupation outside Iraq…
But I discovered that these were naïve dreams, and an un-achievable equation within the present circumstances of Iraq.
As long as there is an occupation… it means you are weak, and do not posses enough pressure cards to win against the occupation force…and push it out of the country.
And day after day, they confirm the theory that they didn't come for the eyes of the Iraqis, and that they wouldn't pull out, not even if some 20 million Iraqis walk in a demonstration demanding they leave Iraq, ( that is, assuming some 5 millions are supporting them).
"We are here to stay"… it looks like this is their undeclared slogan, which is slapping all our faces, and that is something that the whole world will know, after the Iraqis.
Time is the only wager…
And we shall see…

Why are we all so helpless to stop this carnage that we started?

Chant at St. Joe

Holy Hour and Benediction
Sunday, May 1, 3:00 PM
13th Anniversary of Eucharistic Adoration at St. Joseph

Opening Song: O Salutaris Hostia
Praying of the Rosary
Silent Prayer and Adoration
Liturgy of the Word
Tantum Ergo
Divine Praises
Blessing, Benediction
Holy God We Praise Thy Name
Thank you to volunteers
Reception

Father Bill Medley, Presider
Eucharistic Adorers
Gregorian Choir

Chant at St. Joe

In honor of Pope John Paul II
Maggie Hettinger
will sing
Vespers in Latin
for
Eucharistic Adoration
on
Tuesday, April 12th
and
Thursday, April 14th
in the
West Sacristy Chapel
at 5:00 PM

--Flaget Nalley, organizer

The Blessing and Recital of the Pilcher Pipe Organ--St. Catherine Church, New Haven, KY

The Blessing and Recital of the Pilcher Pipe Organ
St. Catherine Church, New Haven, KY
Sunday, April 10, 2005

BRIEF HISTORY OF ST. CATHERINE PARISH

St. Catherine's rich heritage goes back to 1844 wenn this parish was first established.

The first church erected on this site in 1844 was destroyed by fire in 1928. This church was described as being the finest church in the United States for a small town. Lost in this devastating fire was the Van Dinter organ, made in Mishawaka, Indiana. This organ was possibly the first instrument made in the state designed so the organist would sit with his/her back to the instrument while playing it.

The present church of Romanesque architecture, designed by Carl J. Epping, was dedicated on Sunday, March 30, 1930.

These words were taken from the dedication brochure:
"Today, all obstacles surmounted, this new church stands, a monument to the zeal and energy of this parish..." (This same zeal and energy still exists in our parish today.)

The main altar and two side altars are of the finest statuary and Poanazzo marble, inlaid with Venetian Mosaics. The Stations of the Cross, by Feuerstein, were imported from Munich, Germany, a gift from the Rt. Rev. Obrecht, at that time, Abbot of the Abbey of Gethsemani.

The stained glass windows in St. Catherine's Church were researched in 1993 by Father Fred W. Klotter, who was then a seminarian assigned to St. Catherine. Father Klotter found a name on one of the windows "signed" Emil Frei, Inc. of St. Louis and Munich, a company still in operation, but their company experienced a fire and lost all the records of their work done during 1930.

The pipe organ was installed in this church in Many 1931 at a cost of $1,350. This modest jewel of an organ was built in the 1890's by the firm of Henry Pilcher's Sons of Louisville, their Opus 83. Mr. John Gunther and Mr. Roy Heimerdinger, employees of the Pilcher Co., installed this organ. The organ was played for the first time on Sunday, May 17, 1931.

This historic organ is one of the last few remaining unaltered organs built by the prestigious firm of Henry Pilcher's Sons, Louisville, Kentucky. Where this instrument was originally installed is a mystery.

---

ORGAN RESTORATION

This fine example of late 19th century organ building has two manual deyboards and a pedal keyboard which access 10 ranks (or sets) of pipes totaling 514 pipes in all. This is a "tracker" organ. It has mechanical action where the organist, through a series of verious levers, trackers, squares, rollers, backfalls and pulldowns, actually opens the valves which let air into the pipes. The organ was in very good original condition. Prior to 2002, this organ was not played for about 10 years, but with periodic repairs, it has been in regular use since January 2002.

Major renovation of the organ began in February 2004. Work was carried out following guidelines set up by the Organ Historical Society which is dedicated to preserving these fine old instruments.

The renovation included replacing all leather parts, a thorough cleaning, replacing some missing and damaged pipes and a final regulation of voicing and turning to maintain the original tonal levels and balances of the organ.

Te single largest part of the project was releathering the four by seven foot reservoir including the feeder pumping bellows. Also, another significant part of the project was turning the organ 90 degrees out of the balcony alcove where it had been installed so that it now speaks directly out into the church.

New case sides were also added.

With the renovation of this instrument completed, we expect another 110 year of organ music for St. Cathering and the community.

We would like to thank everyone in St. Catherine Parish and the New Haven community for the courtesy shown to us during our time here at St. Catherine.

Pete Webber,
Webber and Borne Organ Builders
Louisville, KY

---

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ORGAN

Great Swell Pedal

8' Open Diapason
8' Violin Diapason
16' Bourdon
8' Melodia
8' Stopped Diapason
8' Common Bass
8' Common Bass Couplers
8' Dulciana
4' Harmonic Flute Swell to Great
4' Octave
8' Oboe
2' Super Octave
(Reed pipes t.c.) Swell to Great Octaves
Tremolo Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal

---

BLESSING OF THE ORGAN

Opening Hymn Gather and Remember (Finlandia)
...accompanist, Roberta Tannahill

Greeting and Welcome
...Father Clarence Howard, pastor

Psalm 98: All the Ends of the Earth (David Haas, Marty Haugen)
...Cantor: Randy Stephens
...Accompanist: Roberta Tannahill

Blessing Prayer
"We dedicate this organ for your glory and your praise!"

The deacon sprinkles and incenses the instrument.
Psalm 47: Ascendit Deus,
"God mounts his throne to shouts of joy, a blare of trumpets for the Lord."
...Amy Hettinger, vocalist
...Gregorian Choir, Director, Maggie Hettinger

Song of Mary (Magnificat) Schola and assembly
...Bro. Luke Armour, OCSO, organist
...Gregorian Choir, Director, Maggie Hettinger
...Carmel Bowman, cantor

The Lord's Prayer

Final Prayer

Hymn: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (Beethoven)
...Choir made up of members of many, many, local choirs.

---

RECITAL
Fubue in C Major ("the Great") Johann Sebastian Bach
...Bro. Luke Armour, OCSO, Organist

Canon in D Pachelbel
...Maggie Hettinger, Flutist
...Bro. Luke Armour, OCSO, Organist

Voluntary VI, Set II, Opus 6 John Stanley (1713-1786)
...John Marcum, organist

Meditation Richard Lloyd
...Bro. Luke Armour, OCSO, Organist

Finale (Organ Sonata, Six, Opus 65) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
...John Marcum, organist

Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock Johann Sebastian Bach
...Maggie Hettinger, Flutist
...Bro. Luke Armour, OCSO, Organist

Two Hymns:
Chorale Prelude on Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Johann Gottfried Walter (1684-1748)
Lobe den Herren
Exaltation on Christ the Lord is Risen Today Alice Jordan (b. 1916)
Easter Hymn
...John Marcum, Organist

After the recital, you are invited to the balcony to greet Mrs. Maggie Hettinger, Ms. Amy Hettinger, Bro Luke Armour, OCSO, and Mr. John Marcum.

Mr Pete Webber, of Webber & Borne Organ Builders, will also be in the balcony to greet you and answer any questions about the organ restoration.

---

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For their invaluable assistance, we wish to express our thanks and gratitude to Bro Luke Armour, OCSO, Mrs. Thelma Ford, Mrs. Carol Ann Haynes, Ms. Amy Hettinger, Mrs. Maggie Hettinger, Mr. Philip Hines, Mr. John Marcum, Mrs Joan O'Bryan and Pete Webber and staff.

We would like also to thank those in news media, expecailly, Mr. Mike Grosso, Mr. Barry Bernson, The LaRue County Herald News, The Kentucky Standard, PLG TV-13, and WAVE-TV News.

A special note of appreciation to all our benefactors, the Sa. Catherine parishioners and our pastor , Father Clarence J. Howard. Without your generosity, support and encouragement, this organ restoration would not have been possible.

Organ Restoration Committee:
Billie J. Alvey
Fred Boone
Totsie Boone
Sissie Clark
Julia Sims
Randy Stephens
Betty Vittitow
Martha Vittitow
Leigh Ann Wimsett

Notes:
The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. Attendance was good, the church was full. An exceptional meal was served by the parish, and a great time was had by all.
Prelude music by a flutist and violinist is not listed on the program.
Thanks Martha!!!

Air in tires would = ANWR oil

excerpts from an Earth Day observation by syndicated columnist Edward Flattau:

By simply pumping up their tires to the proper pressure, Americans would free up as much oil as is expected to be derived from the unique ANWR wilderness.

Benedict XVI on war

"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war.'"

- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, May 2, 2003.

I wasn't paying a bit of attention to politics until our country's horribly misguided, mistaken, WRONG, response to 9/11. I agree wholeheartedly with this positon of our new pope. If the new "young priests" were to take some active attention to THIS bit of the Holy Father's wisdom, I would buy them all the fancy dishes and frilly clothes they want.

But, I suspect they only want to follow him in as much as he appears to give them power & control.

My wonderful pastor was treating us Sunday with his insight that the last 40 years in the Catholic Church have been a "wasteland" from which he and our newly Confirmed are going to rescue all of us. He says "that's why we got the Pope we got." He crowed about that a little, then did some name-dropping about his connection with "Uncle Joe" Ratzinger.

All this from a newly-ordained convert to the Catholic Church who never lived through the last 40 years with us. What an ass. Every Sunday, from the ambo and the altar, we get put-downs--who we are, what we've learned, the people who taught us (priests, sisters, laypeople in the church, Archdiocese, the American Bishops, liberals), the things we do. And there is almost always a good statement about how educated or how ordained he is, or just plain name-dropping. He is "instructing" us now, from the ambo and in our Sunday bulletin.

It's a unique experience. Certainly not a performance I've ever seen from a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

I will say one thing. Sunday, he mentioned the word "Christ" 4 or 5 times. That's a record. I think that's more often than he's said the word during the whole 10 months of Sunday sermons.

Abu Ghraib

As the courts-martial and the Armed Services Committee hearings over Abu Ghraib clear senior Army officers (except Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, who was in charge of U.S. prison facilities in Iraq) and find low-level soldiers guilty, we Americans can observe a government administration that barges confidently and controllingly into all situations, but takes no responsibility for its actions.

I suspect that, when we look back at the ongoing grief, death, and humiliation in Iraq, we will realize that the Iraqi "insurgents" won the last battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people when they launched their concerted attack on Abu Ghraib last month.

Standing during Communion

Hey, David,

I had some insight last night as I thought about what you'd said about communion. It doesn't change anything, but it helped me understand why I feel differently about it than you (& many others) do.

I realized that since I'm a church musician (since the sixth grade), my concern during communion time has ALWAYS been with the whole assembly. I am part of that whole procession. I am always aware of everyone in the church. My job is to make the singing work well for all of them, for all of us. It's not private at all. When I'm not playing the keyboard, I'm standing, as choir, right there near the altar. It's powerful. I love it. When I participate from the pew, I keep that perspective--being one of many people, centered together around the altar (close and active). I wouldn't trade that for anything. I see the Vatican II renewal's idea of bringing that to everyone as a gift. It was a gift to me.

But, if your formation was different, as yours seems to have been, you don't have as much of a "communal" connection with Christ at Communion time. I can see that it's private, and of course no one would want to give that up, either.

It's funny, because the liturgy renewal started by first paying attention to the more personal (though still communal), more prayerful liturgy. The first step was the translation of the Liturgy of the Hours (The Divine Office) into English. When you read the hopes of people who worked on that, they were thrilled to be bringing that to lay people as well as religious. The Office contains more, much more, of that sense of prayerful connection with Christ (that I sense you get from communion at mass and rightly don't want to lose).

So, IF we had all joined, as parishes, into the Office (the great Prayer of the Church) then we wouldn't be fighting over bits of the Sunday Eucharist, trying to make it be all things for all people, unable to gather for prayer at all unless we "have" a priest.

And that was the plan. But people rejected it. They still do. Go figure.

love you,
maggie

American TV--Another gift to Iraq

Baghdad Burning:

Riverbend reacts to the inundation of American TV on Iraqi stations:

"We sat there watching like we were a part of another world, in another galaxy. I’ve always sensed from the various websites that American mainstream news is far-removed from reality- I just didn’t know how far. Everything is so tame and simplified. Everyone is so sincere.

Furthermore, I don’t understand the worlds fascination with reality shows. Survivor, The Bachelor, Murder in Small Town X, Faking It, The Contender… it’s endless. Is life so boring that people need to watch the conjured up lives of others?

I have a suggestion of my own for a reality show. Take 15 Bush supporters and throw them in a house in the suburbs of, say, Falloojeh for at least 14 days. We could watch them cope with the water problems, the lack of electricity, the check points, the raids, the Iraqi National Guard, the bombings, and- oh yeah- the ‘insurgents’. We could watch their house bombed to the ground and their few belongings crushed under the weight of cement and brick or simply burned or riddled with bullets. We could see them try to rebuild their life with their bare hands (and the equivalent of $150)…

I’d not only watch *that* reality show, I’d tape every episode.
"

Chant at St. Joe

Musicians' Dinner

Talent Show offering:
Pigorian Chant, sung by Gregorian Choir, with Amy Hettinger as Chicken, Bill Fell as Farmer

"orsnay....orsnay..."

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II was a gift to all of us.
I think most of his untiring efforts to empower the Vatican II liturgy renewal
* working tirelessly to bring ALL of us into the full liturgy of the Catholic heritage
* personally and politically championing peace, justice, dignity and love
* showing us by example, how to live our lives while enjoying that greater communion with God and the People of God
Pax Domini

Tickle: Tests, Matchmaking and Social Networking

Tickle: Tests, Matchmaking and Social Networking: "maggie, your secret to success is to be Proactive

Maggie,

You are a born leader with a take-charge attitude. Unlike many people who believe problems will simply go away if you give them enough time, you're one to tackle the obstacles in your path head-on.

Part of being proactive means you can aggressively anticipate the future and work to shape it according to your desires. You don't wait for things to happen; you make things happen, which is why you also tend to find yourself in a position of responsibility.

Also, because of your quick mind and ability to strategize, you can keep yourself two steps ahead of everyone else when it comes to executing plans or anticipating future actions. These characteristics help you rise to positions of authority where others can more fully appreciate your drive and direction.
"

t r u t h o u t || George W. Bush, the Frightened Man

t r u t h o u t || George W. Bush, the Frightened Man: "They are not protecting us against terrorism; they are protecting themselves against democracy."

iraqi_hospital_7apr2003

iraqi_hospital_7apr2003
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

I was reading Raed's blog, and pulled this photo from it. His family is my window on Iraq, although I do check other blogs as well.

This picture says it all. It's the price that's paid for our so-called "prosperity" here in this country.

'Historic agreement'

'Historic agreement':

A letter to the editor of the Courier-Journal

"Your March 9 coverage of the historic agreement between Yum Brands/Taco Bell and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) was thorough, but emphasis is needed on the 'teeth' of this agreement.

The key significance of this agreement is that the farm workers, through the CIW, have won the status of monitor and enforcer of labor standards for any tomato grower that sells to Taco Bell. All of Taco Bell's 10 million to 11 million pounds of tomato purchases in Florida are now transparent for the coalition. The books are open, the growers identified. CIW and Yum have become the enforcers. That is the stunning, beating heart of this groundbreaking agreement.

And since any grower who supplies Taco Bell also supplies others in the restaurant and grocery industry, the impact on labor relations is likely to be generalized to all tomato-harvesting activities of those growers.

Meanwhile, Yum pledged to work with CIW to persuade the other big growers to pass through the penny-per-pound income increase to farm workers and to enforce a strict labor code that explicitly prohibits 'involuntary servitude' or modern-day slavery, a condition that has afflicted thousands of farm workers in recent years.

Unlike fast-food tomatoes harvested green and gassed to ripen, this agreement is as sweet and homegrown as a vine-ripened tomato.

STEPHEN BARTLETT

Louisville 40206

Thank you, Stephen. Thank you, Yum. Thank you, CIW!

Cantus Sanctus: The Mystery of Gregorian Chant

Cantus Sanctus: The Mystery of Gregorian Chant: "Chant heard day in and day out, then, would not have become boring or tedious because the four different styles of chant would require the use of four different modes of thought. Also, many chants contain a mixture of word-music relationships, and some are performed in cantor/response style, which offers further variety. Perhaps the different styles of chant correspond to different areas of the brain, so that the change from one style to another stimulates a different brain function. The result is that chant continues to be refreshing, even stimulating, to the listener"

Ward Accent and rhythm

Ward Accent and rhythm
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Ward Accent and rhythm

Ward Accent and rhythm
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Ward Puer Natus

Ward Puer Natus
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Ps 22 Palm Sunday English

Ps 22 Palm Sunday English
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Chant at St. Joe

Palm Sunday is a beautiful day to be in Gregorian mode. Opening the mass with "Hosanna to the Son of David," is very direct. At both St. Joe and St. Aloysius, I taught the chant before mass as a call and response between cantor and assembly. It should be really effective if we use the same one year after year.

The best part, for me, was singing the responsorial psalm. I went to the ambo this time, because the choir is now ok with leading Gospel acclamation without me. I sang the antiphon from Today's Missal, and for the verses, I adapted the Gregorian melody of Deus, Deus Meus respice to the English texts. Wow. What an incredible experience that is!!!

I'll post those notes here, just so they don't get lost, and perhaps someday I'll look at it seriously and transcribe it to decent notation.

We sang "All Glory, Laud and Honor" for entrance, Pater, si non potest at Prep of Gifts, and for Communion: "Were You There" and "Jesus, Remember Me." Sending was organ instrumental: "O Sacred Head Surrounded." Father Tuon led us in "Jesus, Remember Me" as we knelt during the Passion, as well.

Today we also had our new worship aid booklet with the regular chant mass parts that we sing and the two psalms we usually use for communion.

I don't get any complaints about what we're doing. We DO get compliments, and Fr. Bill says St. Joe is glad to have us as.

OK.

t r u t h o u t - Tom Engelhardt | Are We in World War IV?

t r u t h o u t - Tom Engelhardt | Are We in World War IV?:



Here's a good article that calls us back to the original problem: we totally miscalled our "response" to 9/11. People picked up flags and started waving them around, and our Government picked some wars to fight. Remember? "Kick Ass." And only stupid "liberals" thought we were doing the wrong thing. Had we responded to the attacks as if they were want they were, a small, but effective, demonstration of unrest from a small group, enforceable by law, what a different world we'd be in now.

"As the Bush administration and its neocon allies called for a global response that rose to the level of apocalyptic battle, small groups of legal types and liberals called for a response keyed to those 19 men and the dangerous but modest-sized organization behind them. They claimed 'terrorism' was a method of asymmetric warfare, not an enemy; that our actual enemy, while determined, fanatical, and murderous was not the equivalent of a state and that what was at stake was not 'war' at all; so they called, in one fashion or another, for internationally cooperative police work to bring the criminals and murderers to justice and to dismantle their organization or organizations. This approach was instantly and roundly dismissed - trashed, you might say - by the administration and its various acolytes and has now largely fled the national mind."

t r u t h o u t || Another Bloodbath in Iraq

t r u t h o u t || Another Bloodbath in Iraq: "I try to imagine what the psychological reaction here in America would be if there were bombings every day, if dozens and sometimes hundreds of Americans were blasted to bits each day shopping at Wal-Mart or trying to sign up for the Marines. We are still recovering from one attack - albeit an attack of epic proportions - and I can only guess where we'd be if such a thing were a daily occurrence"

from "left, right, & wrong" by Garret Keizer

I read a surprisingly fresh article in March/April 2005 Mother Jones and I'm going to record some of the insights here:

Some time after election day, I receive a call from a woman in my community...the woman is speaking of what she sees with her own two eyes on her own dirt road. Most of all, she is speaking of her struggle to protect what she values, which is partly her community and partly its youth and absolutely her teenage son.

If there is anything the left fails to appreciate, and that politicians on the right exploit with unerring tact, it is the nature of that woman's struggle. I mean the class nature no less than the moral nature. You may call it universal if you wish, because it is common to parents everywhere and, in fact, to anyone who loves anything at all, but the struggle to preserve what you cherish becomes especially acute when you live in poverty, or close to poverty, when your well-kept prefab sits on its half-acre a quarter mile up the road from the shack with all the dogs. Or, tougher still, when you live in the shack with all the dogs and try to teach your kids not to treat animals like the little sadists up in the prefab house. Sophisticated people of independent means can afford to be disdainful of lower-class attempts at "respectability," chalking it up to religious prejudice or provincial narrowness, but when their own kids come anywhere within the smell of social dysfunction, they have the private-school applications in the mail...

...To be honest, I have begun to lose patience with "compassion," be it the conservative version that sees poverty as a moral disease to be cured with a benevolent dose of 19th-century rectitude, or the liberal version that views poverty as an exotic culture to be scrutinized through the kindly lens of tolerance. Poverty is not a culture to be understood; it is a condition to be eradicated. The only people who think otherwise have never sat down in the places where I've sat down, including the house with all the dogs (and the mold and the burns and the bruises and the blank-eyed toddlers and the interminable cough.)

But "compassionate conservatism" is now the ascendant and thus the more insidious form. Like other kinds of demagoguery, it is based on a partial truth: the idea that individuals and civic groups can meet needs that no government can. This is a claim guaranteed to resonate in any place where the fire department is staffed by volunteers.

But none of us lives entirely in a small town (no more than a city dweller lives exclusively in Chicago or New York.) We live as beneficiaries of a society that is complex, affluent, centralized, and-when it operates as intended--democratic. This is the level on which compassionate consercatism becomes completely disingenuous...

...Revolutionary politics...have always been tied to a dogged willingness to teach...

...Democrats seem prepared to subordinate every value to that of winning, failing to realize that they can never win--especially in a time of international terror and domestic disarray--until they subordinate winning to conviction. This is where jabs at George W. Bush's intellect prove to be every bit as lame as their target. Nobody thinks Bush has a brain. They think he has a backbone.

...The main point, which is always the main point, is this: What do you) know for sure?

..The right is right when it says that certain social problems cannot be addressed by what we on the left like to call "systemic change." The right is right when it says that certain social problems can be addressed only by a change in our cultural values.

Where the right is wrong is in trying to impose a single set of cultural values on a pluralistic society. Whre the right is also wrong is in failing to keep faith with its own professed values...

The one thing more insufferable than a pretense of moral superiority is a pretense of superiority to morals, as if the task of an "evolving" woman or man is to stand above the struggle instead of on the right side.

...So what am I saying?...

Should we continue in Iraq?

Should we continue in Iraq?

Fahreed Zakaria says yes. Our best successes are Germany and Japan, where we stayed.
Faiza and her children say NO. Leave. We can't do anything until the U.S. is gone. Stop the destruction.
GWBush assured us that we have no permanent plans for U.S. presence in Iraq. He lied again. The U.S. is building between four and fourteen permanent bases (depending on how you define "permanent") in Iraq. Haliburton and Kellog Whoever are still scooping up the cash to do the work.
My beloved pastor is fervent in proclaiming the parish's support of the military. Says he.

Here's a letter written by one set of military parents, and endorsed by local parents:

Our son recently joined the U.S. Navy and we feel pretty much the same as the author, Mr. Kamileqicz  below.  Thought you would like to know our feelings and our question about where your children are...

James and Carla McMillin
40206

 
Published on Monday, February 14, 2005 by the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine)


How Dare Some Say, 'Support our Troops'?
by Dexter J. Kamilewicz

Someone recently informed me that they didn't know that my son was being deployed to Iraq and asked why I hadn't told them. I really didn't have an answer.

That is when I began to be annoyed by those ever-present, good-intentioned but mindless ribbons stuck on the back of cars and SUVs exhorting, "Support Our Troops."

I find those magnetic messages to be offensive when I think of parents and friends of National Guard soldiers who purchased expensive Kevlar armor for their soldiers while Donald Rumsfeld said they didn't have any in stock.

Those marketing messages seem so empty when soldiers are told to "up-armor" their Humvees because the Department of Defense had not asked the manufacturers if more could be done.

I am saddened when veterans wait over a year for appointments at veterans' hospitals and soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and places like Walter Reed Hospital are required to pay for phone calls and emails home. I bet Rumsfeld doesn't have to pay for calls and e-mails back home, and I find it unbelievable and unacceptable that Rumsfeld has not been fired while the troops have been treated so poorly. Support our troops?

I accept that there are justifications for going to war. However, I cannot find anyone who can give me a solid reason to justify our going to and continuing the war in Iraq.

Seeking Reasons

There seems to be no question in America more avoided, particularly by elected officials, than a discussion of the war in Iraq. I asked Maine's members of Congress those questions.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen said the war was not justified, but to abandon Iraq and its people now would be a mistake. Sen. Susan Collins said that going to war in Iraq was a problem of faulty intelligence, but the chaos in Iraq required us to stay.

Sen. Olympia Snowe blamed Saddam Hussein as the revised apparent rationale for invading Iraq, and she focused on the need for global support for the U.S efforts in Iraq. U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud agreed with Snowe.

Those answers translate that we got there by mistake, and we are staying there by mistake. There is no plan, there is no discussion and there is no leadership. Didn't we go into Iraq to protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction and because of Iraq's connections with the terrorists, reasons that have been found to be utterly in error? Support our troops?

The pointless death and maiming of this war is pure insanity and probably even criminal. In this war, many times those who died in the World Trade Center have been wounded or killed. Over 1,400 American soldiers are dead, over 10,000 soldiers are physically wounded while uncounted others are psychologically wounded, and, by some estimates, over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and maimed.

How can the killing be justified? Are we going to destroy a nation and kill its people to save it? We tried that once before. Support our troops?

I am afraid for my son. I certainly worry about his being killed, but I am also worried about his being placed in the position of killing, too. Most of all, I am angry that we are sending our soldiers to a war that nobody can justify.

Most Americans, especially members of Congress, do not have to worry about a loved one in the middle of this war, and they duck the tough questions.

Why do we permit a defacto back-door draft of the National Guard and recycle them, too? We were lied to once before, and we must avoid being lied to again. Will President Bush be this generation's Robert McNamara? I hope not. Will the Congress have the courage to ask the relevant questions? I hope so. Support our troops?

Please Don't Ask

Now you know why I didn't go out of my way to tell people that my son is being deployed to Iraq, and please don't ask about him if you really don't want to know.

Instead, please know that you will be in my shoes or his shoes unless you ask questions and demand answers of those in power. In the meantime, please excuse me if I have a painful lump in my throat or tears brimming in my eyes and that I am so angry with this damned war and the people who declared it.

Support our troops. Ask tough questions. Bring them home now.

Dexter J. Kamilewicz is a resident of Orr's Island, Maine.(dexkam@aol.com)
\xA9 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Beat the Devil: Ward Churchill and the MAd Dogs of the Right

Beat the Devil: Ward Churchill and the MAd Dogs of the Right: "At this point Churchill could have specifically mentioned the infamous bombing of the Amariya civilian shelter in Baghdad in January 1991, with 400 deaths, almost all women and children, all subsequently identified and named by the Iraqis. To this day the US government says it was an OK target."

Book Review: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens

From a review:

Book Review: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: "“The Ghosts of 9-1-1,” originally published in a shorter form directly after 9-1-1,1 caused quite a stir amongst some American leftists. Intent on categorizing themselves and their loved ones as “innocents” in the wake of the attack, they flinched at Churchill’s description of the majority of those who died from the 9-1-1 attack as “little Eichmanns.” Whining “But Eichmann was a nazi!” – as though Churchill was unaware of that – those who use “nazi” to describe most everything they dislike are perhaps unable to comprehend how someone could use the same term with very specific intent.

Churchill uses “little Eichmanns” to describe that “cadre of faceless bureaucrats and technical experts who had willingly (and profitably) harnessed themselves to the task of making America’s genocidal world order hum with maximal efficiency...”  Eichmann, Churchill notes,

was a mere mid-level officer in the SS, by all accounts a good husband and devoted father, apparently quite mild-mannered, and never accused of having personally murdered anyone at all. His crime was to have sat at several steps remove from the holocaustal blood and gore, behind a desk, in the sterility of an office building, organizing the logistics – train and “cargo” schedules, mainly – without which the “industrial killing” aspect of the nazi Judeocide could not have occurred. His most striking characteristic, if it may be called that, was his sheer “unexceptionality” (that is, the extent to which he had to be seen as “everyman”: an ordinary,” “average” or “normal” member of his society. (“The Ghosts of 9-1-1,” note 131)

Although it is easy to see why many of us might wish to self-define ourselves out of this category, the fact remains that in the eyes of the world, today’s Good Americans are ultimately just as responsible for the state terror perpetrated in their name as were yesterday’s Good Germans. Then, with Americans cheering the loudest, the entire German people were convicted for “never attempting to meet the legal/moral obligation of holding their government to even the most rudimentary standards of human decency.” (7) Do American’s have less responsibility today then the Germans did then?"

Iraq Dispatches: What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election”

Iraq Dispatches: What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election”: "As Vice President Dick Cheney's Defense Policy Guidance report explained back in 1992, 'Our overall objective is to remain the predominant outside power in the [Middle East] region and preserve U.S. and Western access to the region's oil.'"

Heidelberg recordings

As my journal shows, I spent the last three days of my trip to Heidelberg in a beautiful, medieval church. Singing. (No surprise there.) Many thanks to the folks at the JesuitenKirche, who graciously allowed me to do this.

The reverberance in the church is very long, and I spent most of my time experimenting with this question: What does it take to sing the chant so that Word, the text, is foremost?

It became clear to me that in order to make this happen, many long tones must be held really long, letting the sounds catch up with themselves. Many other connecting tones must be sung very lightly, sometimes fast, so that they do not obscure the main tone, but decorate it, or stretch it, or amplify it, or harmonize with it.

I'm posting two files. One, Pater, si non potest is almost well-done. I can't hear the "s" in transire, but otherwise, ok.

The second, Ascendit Deus," is out of my league. I don't have the vocal skill that it takes to pull it off well. But, my daughter heard the recording and was fascinated by it. She didn't think it was a chant, but just "Mom playing around with the echoes in the church." And she likes it enough to learn it herself, which is good, because she IS a good vocalist.

This is the piece I was so excited about elsewhere in this blog (you can search for 'Ascendit Deus' if you want to read more.) It's expressive to the point of being medieval movie music, with God swooping up thru the clouds and trumpet calls playing in the distance.

Anyway, I'm putting this here so I can access it if I need to, but I hope some of you excellent vocalists will tackle the piece and record your own. I want to hear it.

Haight silencing feeds theologians’ fears

Haight silencing feeds theologians’ fears:

Oh, my. Human beings. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

"Reports that Jesuit Fr. Roger Haight, a professor of systematic theology at Weston Jesuit [School of Theology], has been barred from teaching while the Vatican scrutinizes his views made headlines recently around the country. Haight, in fact, has been on leave from teaching at Weston for the entire academic year, while he responds to questions about his newest book.


The investigation was prompted by Haight’s book, Jesus, Symbol of God. Winner of the top prize in theology from the Catholic Press Association, it was published in 1999 by Orbis Books.


The Vatican’s criticism turns on Haight’s attempts to separate Christology from Greek philosophical concepts, on which many of the traditional doctrines on the role and nature of Christ depend. Specifically, the problems relate to formulation of the mystery of the Trinity, an interpretation of Christ’s divinity and the role of Jesus in salvation.


The investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was reported in the Aug. 11, 2000, issue of NCR, but did not gain wide publicity until an article appeared a week ago in the April 24 issue of The Boston Globe.


In response to the recent news reports, Jesuit Fr. Robert Manning, Weston’s president, released a written statement saying Haight was on leave at the request of Archbishop Zenon Grocholewski of the Congregation for Catholic Education.


Haight has not responded to inquiries from the press. In July, he told NCR, “I want to handle this like Jacques Dupuis did and not comment.”


Dupuis is a Jesuit who taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome until the fall of 1998, when he came under Vatican investigation for his book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. Dupuis was later cleared.


Franciscan Fr. Kenneth Himes, a professor at Washington Theological Union and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, said he found the sudden storm of publicity about Haight’s silencing to be curious, given that the Vatican intervention had happened months before. The silencing is unfortunate, he said, because it is “a preemptive strike that short circuits the give and take of theological conversation.”"

Google Search: "Envisioning Past Musical Cultures"

Google Search: "Envisioning Past Musical Cultures" : "... Peter Jeffery’s Re- Envisioning Past Musical Cultures investigates ethnomusicological
parallels for the formation of the medieval sacred repertory. ...
journals.cambridge.org/article_S0961137101210122"

JSTOR: Could Not Retrieve Article

JSTOR: Could Not Retrieve Article: "[Letter from Peter Jeffery]

Peter Jeffery
Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring, 1996) , pp. 175-179"

Project MUSE

Project MUSE: "Snyder, John L. 1950- 'Aspects of Orality and Formularity in Gregorian Chant (review)'
Notes - Volume 58, Number 3, March 2002, pp. 560-562
Music Library Association

Excerpt


Gregorian chant has long been a focus of musicological research, and recent decades have seen new research paradigms, reinterpretations of established data, and the development of new views concerning the origins, transmission, and notation of this vast repertoire. Representative works include Leo Treitler, 'Homer and Gregory: The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainsong' (Musical Quarterly 60 [1974]: 333-72); Kenneth Levy, 'On Gregorian Orality' (Journal of the American Musicological Society 43 [1990]: 185-227); and Peter Jeffries, Re-envisioning Past Musical Cultures: Ethnomusicology in the Study of Gregorian Chant (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). The present offering is thus of exquisite timeliness.

The book 'revolves about three themes: (1) the role of orality in the transmission of chant ca. 700-1400, (2) the role of the formula in the construction of chant, and (3) the varying degrees of stability or instability in the transmission of chant' (p. ix). Karp explores these themes individually and in various combinations over the course of the book. The methodologies employed range from traditional source studies (especially collations of multiple sources), to psychological theories of memory (both constructive and abstractive processes are considered), to 'folkloristic' studies of the transmission of various oral literatures (Homeric, the Hindu Veda, and synagogue practices, inter alia). The transmission of Gregorian chant, initially oral and later via notation, is thus placed in context with other literatures that have to varying degrees undergone similar processes and transformations.

The book comprises an introduction..."

Robert C. Provine: Publications

Robert C. Provine: Publications: "Review of Peter Jeffery, Re-Envisioning Past Musical Cultures, in Early Medieval Europe, 2, 2 (1993), 174-176."

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology"

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology": "In his work Man, Magic, and Musical Occasions, Charles Boilès describes this power as 'extra-normal forces' and elucidates the phenomenon as follows:
...words by themselves have little magical force, but when combined in special ways, when spoken or sung in unique contexts, these words of chants, spells, carmens, litanies, and invocations set in motion those extra-normal forces reckoned within the magical universe of the culture in question.4




Boilès's use of 'extra-normal forces' includes a broad range of musical repertories as well as many that some would consider non-musical. To illustrate his point Boilès turns to sports chant sung by the public or perhaps sideline cheerleaders at sporting events. According to Boilès, 'since there is nothing in the music that physiologically abets the team, it must be assumed that at least this music is partly for magical purposes if not completely so.'5 This magical purpose evokes the power of extra-normal forces, in this case team 'spirit,' to favor the home side over its competitors."

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology"

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology": "Younkin describes the numerous definitions of chant as falling into two general categories: a) chant as a style and b) chant as an act-in other words, 'chant' as a noun and 'chant' as a verb. An important point here is her clarification of the two. According to Younkin, chant, as a style, is an abstract concept that focuses on musical sound rather than contextual significance. She turns to several uses of 'chant' and 'song' in the literature, namely articles by George List, Andrew Strathern, and Helen Roberts, for illustration.2"

t r u t h o u t - Kelpie Wilson | Al Gore, Global Warming and Moral Leadership

t r u t h o u t - Kelpie Wilson | Al Gore, Global Warming and Moral Leadership: " To speak of market (read: economic growth) solutions to a problem caused by markets (economic growth) may not be as contradictory as it seems. It all comes down to how one defines growth. It is possible to envision a growth economy that is not based on material growth but rather on cultural and spiritual growth. Services are as much a part of the economy as goods, and a cleaner environment is the most valuable service of all"

anthonymcwatt.co.uk : Pirsig's annotations on Copleston

anthonymcwatt.co.uk : Pirsig's annotations on Copleston:

Coleridge and [Pirsig]:

"The ultimate principle is to be sought in the identity of subject and object. [This is strikingly similar to the MOQ.]



Where is this identity to be found? [At this point Coleridge is at the same door that Phaedrus was at, but he doesn’t have the key of Quality with him.]  So he answers: 'Only in the selfconsciousness of a spirit is there the required identity of object and of representation.' [What in the world is selfconsciousness of a spirit?] But if the spirit is originally the identity of subject and object, it must in some sense dissolve this identity in order to become conscious of itself as object. [Ridiculous]. Self-consciousness, therefore, cannot arise except through an act of will, [How did will get in here?] and 'freedom [How did freedom get in here?] must be assumed as a ground of philosophy, and can never be deduced from it'. The spirit becomes a subject knowing itself as object only through 'the act of constructing itself objectively to itself'.  [This is the sort of nonsense that has inspired logical positivism."]

I think "will" refers to the human function of following a DQ event with a conscious action at the biological/inorganic level.
I think "freedom" refers to the human function of following a DQ event with a conscious action at the social/biological level.

That's how they got there.

The"spirit" is the DQ event registering in intellect. "Identity" refers to the intellectual pattern that results, which, once conscious, creates a social pattern of value within one person's mind (its web of social pov's). It is only manifest to others, though, as "freedom" or "will."

Note: the sentence above would be too unwieldy to include this, but I must make a concession to the word "conscious." Without changing the meaning of the rest, realize that that particular interaction could be just as well with the somatic (unconscious) cognitive forms of perception and storage.

What word to use? Recognized? interacted with? aaaah..

Verstand (empirical knowledge) & Vernunft (reasoned knowledge)

Interesting that the definition of these two German words splits the world thus:

empirical (conclusions drawn from observation of action)
and
reasoned (conclusions drawn from observation of those conclusions).

the roots of the words are:
"stand" = booth, class, estate, frame, profession, rank, stall, stand, standing, state, station in life, status

"nun" = now

Looking at the roots, you would expect the two words each to refer to a level higher, ie. 'verstand' should be static understandings of the world in accordance to the observation of the conclusions of social empiricism (intellect reacting with social), and 'vernunft' should be the new divisions being made in the immediate present (Dynamic Quality reacting with intellect).

Where is Raed ?

A memorable quote on the headline of an informative blog:

Where is Raed ?:

"----------'the West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.'----------
Samuel P. Huntington"

Iraq Diaries: Salam Pax - News from the ground #2

Iraq Diaries: Salam Pax - News from the ground #2:

[This is old news, I guess. From a 2003 photo/narrative journal of a civilian. This is not a government-sponsored effort, just some Iraqi's using their education to investigate and get the information out to the world. But who listened? Thank you to the Jarrar family and their friends for providing me a window on their world.]

"The Shamia medical center saw 44 civilian deaths in one single night. All making the mistake of getting near the Shamia checkpoint on a day when the US army was having a bit of a mood. The people who live there told us that it was one of the sandstorm days. Everything that approached the checkpoint was shot without any discrimination. One of the cars was carrying the casket of a dead woman to the cemetery. All four passengers died. "

poem: For Our World

 

"We need to stop
Just stop
Stop for a moment
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else... ...

--Mattie J.T. Stepanek















   


   








 

 
"

Diversity Pledge

Quoted on Peace Love & Candlewax:

"Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.

To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own."

--We Are Family Foundation

Salt Lake Tribune - Health & Science

Salt Lake Tribune - Health & Science
: "Adair, like most music thanatologists, draws from a repertoire of ancient, Gregorian chants and lullabies when she plays. Familiar music might trigger an unhappy memory,   she says.
   'We use lullaby because it has a rocking, three-quarter time that is so soothing to everyone,' says Adair. And Gregorian chant is 'exquisitely beautiful and meter-less. I can take Gregorian chant and because it doesn't have a beat, I flow the music to the patient.'
"

t r u t h o u t - Apocalypse Now: How Mankind Is Sleepwalking to the End of the Earth

t r u t h o u t - Apocalypse Now: How Mankind Is Sleepwalking to the End of the Earth: "    The experts at Exeter were virtually unanimous about the danger, mirroring the attitude of the climate science community as a whole: humanity is to blame. There were a few skeptics at Exeter, including Andrei Illarionov, an adviser to Russia's President Putin, who last year called the Kyoto Protocol 'an interstate Auschwitz'. But in truth it is much easier to find skeptics among media pundits in London or neo-cons in Washington than among climate scientists"

Amy, What you Gonna Do?

On radio today I heard "Amy, what you want to do?" And as I listened to the verses, they were simple chant, with exactly the types of ornamentation you find in the Triplex, IF you interpret it the way I do, with many of the square notes intended to be ornamentation.

When you look at it from the other direction, St. Gall notation is EXACTLY what a singer needs if he/she wants to record the nuances in a pop vocalist's renditions--the ornamentations that the simple shape of the melody can't convey, the part that (if you try to notate it in standard notation) comes out looking like unbelievable rhythmic complexity.

But it's not really complex. Any child can sing it, if it's learned orally.

USATODAY.com - What got so many counties to shift from blue to red?

USATODAY.com - What got so many counties to shift from blue to red?

Environmental issues--are they "domestic issues"?

Sometimes I see "Environmental Issues" labeled as "Domestic Issues," as if they are some kind of small-change backburner problem.

Don't people realize that a huge factor of the grief in the Middle East, (esp. Iraq and Afghanistan) is caused by the United States' uncontrolled race to suck up all the available oil in the world?

Don't they realize that the wildly out-of-balance money flow created by this so-called "U.S. interest" corrupts government after government in the Mideast, while the people who live above that oil live in poverty and frustration?

Don't they realize that quick homebased fixes to our energy problems, such as jumping headlong into nuclear power, pose huge dangers to us and our children? Any mistake is catastrophic, and do we know any organization that doesn't make a mistake or two? C'mon. Murphy's Law happens.

Don't they realize that permitting energy drilling in the last natural wildernesses destroys those ecosystems? Pristine ecosystems hold the keys for people who are going to be living in a world that has no more fossil fuel. In tomorrow's world, they will be the wealth. If we are destroying these ecosystems for a few weeks' or a few months' supply of fuel, can't we understand that this is not for America's good, but mostly to line a few pockets with more money?

Do people realize that in our grandchildren's lifetimes, people are going to look back at our greed and see it for what it is? Why can't we all see it now?

We really need to wake up. The sooner the better.

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning: "It sometimes seems, from this part of the world, that democracy in America revolves around the presidential elections- not the major decisions. War and peace in America are in the average American’s hands about as much as they are in mine. Sure, you can vote for this man or that one, but in the end, there’s something bigger, more intricate and quite sinister behind the decisions. Like in that board game Monopoly, you can choose the game pieces- the little shoe, the car, the top hat… but you can’t choose the way the game is played. The faces change but the intentions and the policy remain the same.
"

Dissertation

I just started a new blog for my dissertation notes.

CREATION MUSEUM TO OPEN IN PETERSBURG, KY (courtesy of T. Moiser)

"Other exhibits in the museum will blame
homosexuals for Aids."


http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/02/weden02.xml&pos=portal_puff3

In the beginning . . . Adam walked with dinosaurs
By James Langton in New York
(Filed: 02/01/2005)

With its towering dinosaurs and a model of the Grand
Canyon, America's newest tourist attraction might look
like the ideal destination for fans of
the film Jurassic Park.

The new multi-million-dollar Museum of Creation, which
will open this spring in Kentucky, will, however, be
aimed not at film buffs, but at the growing ranks of
fundamentalist Christians in the United States.

It aims to promote the view that man was created in
his present shape by God, as the Bible states, rather
than by a Darwinian process of evolution,
as scientists insist.
The museum, which has cost a mighty $25 million (£13
million) will be the world's first significant natural
history collection devoted to creationist
theory. It has been set up by Ken Ham, an Australian
evangelist, who runs Answers in Genesis, one of
America's most prominent creationist
organizations. He said that his aim was to use
tourism, and the theme park's striking exhibits, to
convert more people to the view that the world and its
creatures, including dinosaurs, were created by God
6,000 years ago.

"Market research companies hired by the museum are
predicting at least 300,000 visitors in the first
year, who will pay $10 (£5.80) each...

The museum's opening will reinforce the burgeoning
creationist movement and evangelical Christianity in
the US, which gained further strength with the
re-election of President Bush in November...

"Since President Bush's re-election we have been
getting more membership applications than we can
handle,'' said Mr Ham, who expects not just the
devout, but also the curious, to flock through the
turnstiles. "The evolutionary elite will be getting a
wake-up call..."

Monday.
Dianna and Cherie took a bus trip, I went to the Jesuiten Kirche to see if I could sing there. Last time I was there, the church was empty and quiet. Today, there was a tape playing (Gregorian Chant, of course). I saw a man working there, and asked him if it would be ok for me to sing, and he turned off the tape so that I could. (I don't remember what I said, my German is not good at all for conversing).

I practiced and recorded quite a few piece. When people come in, I stop practicing and simply sing. People seem to like to hear Requiem and Kyrie from familiar masses.

Wonderful. Awesome. Challenging. And, just like the silo at Bernheim, you kno it's time to go when your toes are frozen.

Recordings made on this day seem to have good diction--the sounds aren't swallowed up--but I hear too much of myself. Tomorrow I'll record from further away.

Heidelberg

10 Uhr Mass at Jesuiten Kirche. Children’s choir, organ, alto recorder. Young soloist.
Presider was very comforting and engaging.
Recessional: organ only.
Hymn numbers projected on the wall when needed.

Dagmar and Martin met us to go to Speyer, on the Rhine River. It was COLD!. Foggy.
The cathedral is Gothic, amazing. Couldn’t sing there, music playing. Archdiocese offices were across the street.
We went in St. Joseph’s Church, a beautiful church with clean, spare lines. Beautiful. This would be a good place to sing with our choir someday.
Dagmar’s favorite church is the protestant church nearby with the statue of Martin Luther in front. (I can’t remember its name). It was closed for lunch time when we got there.
Fish soup for lunch.
Anna’s hockey.
Supper: leftovers and liver & rice & potato cakes & applesauce.
Philip had a flat tire. (Later we found out it was three. The tires were old, probably dry-rotted. )

Heidelberg

Breakfast at Denner
We drove to Strassburg, France with Philip and Laura.
Autobahn. Philip is good. He was upset, though, because even though it was very cold, the sun was shining in Heidelberg for the first time in weeks. As we left Heidelberg, though, the fog and clouds closed in. We sang sun songs.
Strassburg Cathedral of Notre Dame, once the tallest building in the world. I sang, of course.
The town was Roman ‡ German ‡ French.
Dog piles had little signs on them. (Go figure!)
Christmas decorations and medieval streets.
Gas, grocery ad home.
Dinner w. Dagmar, Martin and Eva. Pork and spatezle; salads, cheese and wine dessert, then ice cream dessert!

Heidelberg

Breakfast @ Denner.
Went to JesuitenKirche early. Locked. Back to hotel.
Met Laura, we went to Monastery, where the monks raise apples, vegetables, guinea pigs and rabbits.
Walked across Old Bridge.
Lunch: Indian food
Bought “Think” shoes. They are excellent. (From this point on, in spite of much walking, my feet don’t hurt any more. YES!)
Naps.
Philip takes us to see the Celtic Hole, Castle & Church Ruins and Amphitheater. (Heiligenberg-anlage). Sunset.
We drive to see the US Army base with fences and barbed wire (“America Land”). Aldi’s has shoes for $6.
Then we "Tie One On." First we go to Laura’s work, talk to John (privatizing SS), drink Jaegermeisters; then go thru the street-in-the-wall bar, then the Heiligeist Kirche door is open because someone is packing up sound equipment. We go there, and I sing it for a few minutes. Then to another bar, Barbie & Ken. “Ein Bier, bitte!”

Heidelberg

Breakfast @ Denner (which is, by the way, a beautiful, hand-crafted hotel. Lots of love here.)
Cherie & Dianna & I felt sure enough of ourselves to walk down the Hauptstrasse and find the stairs (300+ of them) up the hill to the Castle. We stopped often to enjoy the view, and wondered about the people who live there. At lunchtime, we stopped and ate a snack. A man passed us ( he was eating his bread, too), and said "Mach es dir gemütlich." We did.
We went into the castle (Schloss), went through the Apothecary museum, and took a tour. The tour ended up in the Chapel, which had a picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. I sang Omnes qui in Christo.. Had a conversation with the tour guide about smoking. We had a late lunch (Fish & chips) in the little place just outside the castle, where (I believe), Philip's dad once had to jump thru the windows to escape the police. (Too much partying inside, I think.) Cherie walked around and made a video.
Supper; pizza under the Kaufhof Galleria. Then Philip took us to the Skylounge, where we had a drink and sat and talked. Very nice.
Philip asked me to send him information about the "Left Behind" series. I will.

Heidelberg

Breakfast at Denner Hotel.
Dianna, Cherie and I walked out Rohrbacher Strasse. We went in a cemetery, (trees, woods motif, Christmas trees, candles). Stood on the sidewalk and watched people parallel park. Unbelievable. Walked back past the schools--kids out on lunch break, some playing soccer.
Met Laura, walked down Hauptstrasse, shopped, shopped, shopped. HeilegeistKirch: closed. JesuitenKirche: empty.
Rain. Cold. Took the bus back.
Supper, chinese, w. Laura & Philip.
Rummy with Cherie.

Heidelberg

7:20 AM Arrive in Frankfurt (Me, Cherie, Dianna)
Follow people getting off the plane. Don't declare anything. Go out the green side.
Our luggage is the very last off the plane. Meet Laura and Philip. Philip has curly hair that he didn't have before. Cool.
Ride on Autobahn with Philip driving. To avoid traffic jam, take a "shortcut" through fields and greenhouses. Into the city, up tiny streets. Philosopher's walk.
Amazing driving the winding roads up to the castle, arch.
Lunch at Philip's mom's house (noodles, bread crumbs, peas & carrots).
Met Oma and Opa. Opa tells me about JesuitenKirche.
Supper: German Sauerbraten & spaetzle.
SLEEP!

Denner Hotel Room #34

Heidelberg

2:31 Depart Louisville NW1232 Arr Detroit Metro 3:53
Get a Vogue Magazine and Harper's New York for Laura
5:10 Depart Detroit Metro NW51

Omnes qui in Christo rehearsal sheet

Omnes qui in Christo sheet
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Communion Antiphon Galatians 3:27 for Sunday, Baptism of the Lord.

Omnes qui in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis, alleluia.

All who have been baptized in Christ have pu ton Christ. Alleluia. Alleluia!

Ode: How I lost faith: How the end of religion can be the beginning of God.

Ode
Laura sent me this article. Good to read.

Brother Guy Consolmagno

State of Affairs: "Astronomy and Religion



Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Michigan-born Jesuit who's been working at the Vatican Conservatory since 1993. His research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies. He also curates the Vatican meteor collection and has been published in more than 100 scientific publications. He's also written several books, including Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist"

An Interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=966&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

The Vatican's Eyes on the Heavens 
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/vatican_observe_000716.html

The Mechanics of God, Part II: Why Would a Techie Join an Organized
http://homepage.mac.com/brother_guy/.cv/brother_guy/Public/Mechanics%20of%20God%20II.pdf-link.pdf

Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/007135428X/qid=1099514691/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/103-5327755-7957455?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521781906/qid=1099514691/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-5327755-7957455?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

The Mayo Jar and the Coffee

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things--God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes
to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always
room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

(Cherie sent me this today. I like the concepts.)

Voting Forum

Voting Forum

It's time to contest the election.

I think we are being too blase about the vote in Ohio. That power-hungry group of people who are currently working within the Republican Party has actually been successful at subverting the election, and people seem to be ignoring the evidence. Ever since the election, we have been assured that the Democratic Party would "count every vote," and look into the outrages. It's time to do something. Otherwise, we are not a country of law, but of opinion and media control. It's our representatives' job to contest this, and not just as a principle.

George Bush hasn't legally won the election unless we hand it to him now.

Epiphany

by Maryanne Hannan


It was Einstein who said either nothing is a miracle,
Or everything is-
A jagged mountain range,
Lilacs in bloom,
A peacock unfurled,
Sun on your arm, the touch of a stranger.
Take your pick: be surprised
By nothing at all
Or by everything that is.

Spiritual Perspectives; Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony

Independent - December 11, 2004: Spiritual Perspectives; Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony

My God's Bigger than Your God

My God's bigger than your God.
My God's bigger than yours.
My God's bigger, cause he loves everybody.
My God's bigger than yours.

Gregorian chant; a history of the controversy concerning its rhythm.

By:
John Rayburn, Professor.

Type:
English : Book : Non-fiction

Publisher:
New York, 1964.

Chant at St. Joe

Today we rehearsed for 4th Sunday of Advent. Only three of us there, Shirley has laryngitis, Sharon is babysitting her new grandchild, and Frank won't be able to come during the day. Dave came, and Shaun (who is dealing with a horrible pinched nerve).

For You O Lord: decided to take it down a step.
Ecce Virgo: After listening to last week's recording, we tried to make the diction so explicit that the Engligh words HAD to come thru. It was painfully difficult. We. Spoke. Every. Sound. Then listened to the recording, and it was much better, not overdone, but still not quite good enough. I'm going to get Amy to listen to the recording with me, and help me figure out how we can have that much clarity, but without sacrificing the flow of the words.

Diction: Everything needs more S. Remember to make English Emmanuel different than Latin. English verse entrances were not together. Final consonants are still getting lost: EmmanueL, concipieT, filiuM, exclaiM. Learn how to sing "enemies."

After rehearsal, we were leaving, but the door up above the choir area was open, so I peeked in. Then went up. We went up three flights of dusty, ancient stairs, past the balcony of the trumpet row, up higher than the ceiling. And even there, when you looked up, there were more steps (from somewhere, who knows?) leading on up into the steeple. Wow! We weren't sure how stable the flooring was going to be, but you KNEW those huge beams everywhere were solid. What construction!

At youth choir, Amy rehearsed Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, singing and walking, for Christmas Eve with the Herde Family choir. Also, we rehearsed Resonet in laudibus , which is fun, with dance steps, tamborine, clapping, and dramatically-spoken English verses.

A Family in Baghdad

A Family in Baghdad

Faiza's journal, and her son Khalid's journal, put faces on the Iraqi people for me. This woman, who I would love as a neighbor or friend, is so angry and frustrated, trying to make sense of the violence and destruction that has overtaken her life, yet I always admire her sense of walking with God on a good earth. How does she do it?

Mining antiquity for heavenly music - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Mining antiquity for heavenly music - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA: "Intrigued by a mystical translation of prayers in Aramaic, the language of Jesus' time, the Moroneys embarked on serious research into the music of that period.

For melodies, they relied on the early 20th century work of Abraham Idelsohn, a musicologist who collected and studied the songs of Jews from many countries who were settling in what was then Palestine."

Bush asks Rumsfeld to stay

Bush asks Rumsfeld to stay

Ohio Soybean Council

Welcome to OSC - Ohio Soybean Council

EcceVirgo practice sheet

* We plan to sing this on 4 Advent, Prep of Gifts. 7 am at St. Joe
* Antiphon from Graduale Triplex
* Psalm verses from Lectionary, to match Graduale
* I'm not sure if I like the verses, they seem too busy. But, the notation suggests that the antiphon is pretty slow and stretched-out, so it might be ok if we sing the verses the same way.
* St. Gall notation over "eius" seems to be missing a note that we sing from the square notation.
* Gloria Patri: I changed DO from top line to third line down. The relationships are the same. That makes syllables center on DO. I have beginning readers, and this will help them learn better. Also, as per Dom Turco, it's probably more authentic anyway. (apologies to Guido)

Chant at St. A

Theresa (pastoral assoc.) and the Seminarians are setting up Advent Evening Prayer, followed by Scripture breaking (and food, I think). Next Wednesday at 6:30. She called me, and I went over to help plan (that was nice), and I'll cantor. That should be a good evening.

t r u t h o u t - Howard Fineman | Rove Unleashed

t r u t h o u t - Howard Fineman | Rove Unleashed: "Asked to name Bush's biggest accomplishment thus far, Rove replied in a flash: 'His clear-eyed explanation of how to win the war on terrorism. It was the defining moment of our time.'"

Chant at St. Joe

First Sunday of Advent 7 am mass

Entrance Song: O Come, O come Emmanuel # w. organ

Resp. Psalm from missalette, chant verses, a capella
Alleluia Show us Lord, your love, and grant us your salvation.

POG (cantor and schola)
Ad te levavi anima meam:
Deus meus in te confido, non erubescam:
neque irrideant me inimici mei:
et enim universi qui te exspectant, non confundentur. (Graduale Triplex)
(To you, my God, I lift up my soul.
I trust in you.
Let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.) (Fr. Columba Kelly english chant)

Eucharistic acclamations: Sanctus: (Mass XVIII)
Christ has died (Danish)
Amen (Danish)
Agnus Dei (Mass XVIII)

Communion (choir) John 6:57
Qui manducat carnem meam, et bibit sanguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo, dicit Dominus. Graduale Triplex
(“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me, and I in him,” says the Lord.) Chant mode VIII

Sending: Organ Postlude On Jordan's Bank
--------------
All went well. The people sang strongly with us. I taught the Sanctus before mass.
The latin and its translation was printed in the worship aid. Yess!!!! Thank you, Vivian!
Next liturgy for this group: Fourth Sunday of Advent 7 am
Rehearsals: the next 3 Wednesdays 1-2, possibly a Friday.
I want to make some arrangements for someone to bring communion to the choir loft, if possible.
And David wants to approach people in neighboring parishes, which makes good sense to me.
Frank won't be able to attend daytime rehearsals, can we record? Sure. Just have to remember.

DO FENCE ME IN, Finding a Balance Between Hubbub and Silence in the Big City, by Sarah Vowell (11/18/04)

DO FENCE ME IN, Finding a Balance Between Hubbub and Silence in the Big City, by Sarah Vowell (11/18/04)

National Feathering-Our-Nest Club

National Feathering-Our-Nest Club

record:
Intelligence information, inconvenient
        decision: ignore
International opinion, inconvenient
        decision: ignore
Separation of Church and State, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Geneva Conventions, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Budget limits, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Environmental safeguards, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Deficit limits, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Ethics, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Objections from staff, inconvenient
        decision: change the staff
Democratic process, inconvenient
        decision: TBA

credo: Rule of Law Our Club RULES!

Possible correlation--voter preference and river systems

Wanna see something interesting? Open these three maps in new windows:

1. Election 2004 Results
2. Set this map to show rivers
3. Purple America

My daughter Laura is home from Germany. She's a geographer. We were looking at election results and she noticed that you can see the Mississippi river system in the "blue." (for Kerry).

That makes intuitive sense in that this country is more populated along the river systems, and the more populated areas (more urban? more international?) tended to go Kerry.

But the red/blue shift doesn't hold true about ALL river systems. Eyeballing it, I see a correlation between the direction the rivers flow and the voting percentages. By and large, areas with only east-west river systems are reddish. Areas with north-south river systems are more blue.

Offhand, the only things that come to mind are:
* rivers = people who travel more, meet more people vs. those who have less varied experience
* North/South = Union/Confederacy, thereore people who travel (or meet travelers) across north/south areas get more experience beyond whatever cultural mores are leftover from the Civil War divide, whereas travelling east-west would leave the person within whatever of that particular cultural mix he/she already lives in
* Population appears to be less (by my eyball) in those areas that were largely red. Again, less cross-cultural experience, just from meeting fewer people

???????????

Election 2000 Results Map by County

Election 2000 Results

U.S. births to youngest teens reaches lowest level since 1946

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- U.S. births to youngest teens reaches lowest level since 1946

Regrouping at Bernheim Forest

Invitation:
To all of you who worked with Pledge-3 here in Bullitt Co.

Thank you for your hard work, your serious thought, and your sincere communication with so many people. Many of us are grieving, and this grief shows that there is much more to this past election than winning or losing.

You are invited to be part of a simple ceremony where we:

recognize our feelings of loss,
name the hopes that we want to carry forward,
express our gratitude to John Kerry and John Edwards,
and begin to transform this valuable experience toward a better tomorrow.

As John Kerry told us, "in an American election there are no losers, because the next morning we all wake up as Americans." He's right. We move on. Please come.

When: Sunday, November 14 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Where: Bernheim Forest Quiet Garden (beside the Arboretum)

Bring a pencil or pen for yourself and one to share. Lawn chairs optional. We'll be outdoors. Bernheim charges an entry fee on Sunday, but tell them you're with Maggie Hettinger, and you won't be charged.

pax,
maggie

---

REGROUPING
Bernheim Forest
11/14/2004

Song
Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
--Joseph Brackett, 1848

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Welcome
"Somewhere, in the last few years, from our different backgrounds, we all, I think I can safely say, we all came to an awareness that our world was even more out-of-kilter than usual, and that we probably should do something about it. What we here have in common is that we came to focus our hope for change on the election of the President of the United States, and put our efforts strongly behind two people, John Kerry and John Edwards, their vision and their goals.

"The result of the election may or may not be known yet, but regardless, our roles in the highly-polarizing, dualistic process have come to a natural breakpoint. We are all people who think deeply and evaluate, and this is the time to do it. I'm glad you agreed to come here to this beautiful place to do it together.

"Today I want to do three things, in a ceremonial way.
1. Recognize the loss we've experienced
2. Consider John Kerry's invitation to us to pledge in uniting our country over the partisan divide
3. Make a personal commitment to move forward.

"No matter how big the problems, how grand our goals, it still always come down to simple engagement between one person and another."

Reading

After the election
some of us thought that God
had smiled upon us-
had rewarded us for righteousness-
had promised to save us
and millions of sweet babies--
had shown allegiance
to the sacredness of marriage.

After the election
some of us thought that God
had become small
and mean spirited, like those
who like to make their gods
in their image.
Some of us thought
we could see them at the forge,
pounding out their chains from the veins
of gold in the human heart.
Some of us knew what they knew --
that even the shadows
can be sharpened into swords.

After the election some of us
talked about how simple it had been,
to extract those nuggets of goodness
and those ancient myths- fashioning them
towards a higher cause.
Manipulating the masses is easy
once you’ve found that core.

After the election some of us were
slain by words too small-
and bombs too dumb.
Some of us knew that morality
is larger than the body politics
of the bedroom and procreation.
Some of us believed in God’s whole house,
an ecology of relationships.
Some of us wanted that large God to come back
to occupy that house in us.
--Patty Wren Smith

Sharing
--Hobie Dotson
(individual accounts of loss, and coming to terms with it)

Reflection

What you did made a difference, and building on itself we go on to make a difference another day.

In an American election there are no losers, because, whether our candidates are successful, the next morning, we all wake up as Americans. That is the greatest privilege...

With that gift also comes obligation. We are required now to work together for the good of our country. We must find common cause. We must join in common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion. I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years. I pledge to do my part to join in ending the partisan divide. Join me in pledging to bridge the partisan divide.

---John Kerry Nov. 3

* Put America back to work
* Political Party ideals
* Protect the environment
* Support our troops
* Push the frontiers of science and discovery
* Succeed in Iraq
* Restore America's reputation in the world

Commitment
Write a letter:

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,

Thank you…

I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge...

Signed,

(letters to be sent to John Kerry, either individually, or by Maggie)

I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am not alone.

We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are two voices and we are singing.
We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are not alone.

We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are not alone.

We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are not alone.

We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are not alone.

Letters to John Kerry, John Edwards

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you.
I hear you call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge to continue voicing, with determination, the concerns, the ideals that you fought so hard for during the campaign. This includes but is not limited to, the environment, education, and health care.
Signed, A.A., Kentucky and Ohio campaign

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for giving us hope. Thank you for making us believe that we could come together to make our country a truer, more honest place to live.
I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge to continue to support the values that I believe in which are the ones I believe you embody. I voted my values and you got my vote. I will not go back to sleep. I am awake.
Signed, D.R. ATR

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for working so hard for the past years on the campaign--that's a big sacrifice and a lot of work. I'm disappointed that you were not elected but the work goes on.
I hear you call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge:
...to keep listening to people's deep desires
...to keep working in my own neck of the woods to make the world a better place
...to keep looking for the good, the truth, the beauty and find common ground.
Signed, C.B.

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for inspiring us. Thank you for a vision of what we can be. Thank you for standing up for integrity of Law and Democratic process. John Kerry, thank you for your work to end the war in Vietnam. That story has inspired us, especially my children.

I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge:
* To write a letter to someone (newspaper, etc.) once a week
* To learn how to speak to people who don't already agree with me
* To finish my schoolwork, integrating what I have learned in this election
* To seriously consider the Libertarian and Green political parties
* To make a home for progressive values in the spirituality emerging around me

John and John, we expect you to continue.
Any government leader who does not stand up for Law and Democratic Process is a patsy. Hold their feet to the fire.
And count those votes!
Signed, M.H.

After the Election

by Patty Wren Smith

After the election
some of us thought that God
had smiled upon us-
had rewarded us for righteousness-
had promised to save us
and millions of sweet babies--
had shown allegiance
to the sacredness of marriage.

After the election
some of us thought that God
had become small
and mean spirited, like those
who like to make their gods
in their image.
Some of us thought
we could see them at the forge,
pounding out their chains from the veins
of gold in the human heart.
Some of us knew what they knew --
that even the shadows
can be sharpened into swords.

After the election some of us
talked about how simple it had been,
to extract those nuggets of goodness
and those ancient myths- fashioning them
towards a higher cause.
Manipulating the masses is easy
once you’ve found that core.

After the election some of us were
slain by words too small-
and bombs too dumb.
Some of us knew that morality
is larger than the body politics
of the bedroom and procreation.
Some of us believed in God’s whole house,
an ecology of relationships.
Some of us wanted that large God to come back
to occupy that house in us.

Chant at St. Joe

We had a wonderful rehearsal tonight. David and his wife, Shirley, and Frank ( who was new to us, but knows chant and Latin).

We rehearsed for 1st and 4th Advent. Mass XVIII Sanctus, Mysterium fidei (though we won't sing that 'til Lent), Communion Antiphon Qui manducat carnem meam and english psalm verses, and Resonet in laudibus for Christmas season.

Then we sang Night Prayer from Fr. Pat Creed's book.

Next rehearsal, the Wed. before Thanksgiving.