Pharisees and publicans

Discussing next Sunday's gospel with Sr. Marilyn at St. Joe, we looked at the Pharisee's bragging way of prayer, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity..." Sister Marilyn reflected that people today are not so likely to have that fault, being more likely to downplay their talents and needing to be encouraged to share their gifts in ministry.

That got us thinking.

I share that perception, but a light-bulb went off in reference to this huge demand for a Marriage Amendment (marriage=one man + one woman) -- which makes no sense to me, as it doesn't protect MY marriage, nor can I see that it protects marriage in any way for my children who are all of that age, nor can I see that it offers higher-quality lifestyle for the children of any marriage, which is one of the supposed reasons for supporting it.

No. But now I see what the Marraige Amendment does. It lets people (as a group, not individually) act as the Pharisee in Luke's gospel. After all, the Pharisees were basically good people, very serious about maintaining their relationship with God. The Pharisee was stating how he followed the rules, therefore justifying his relationship with God. The Marraige Amendment allows people to justify their goodness in terms of following a set of rules. What's more, they can define clearly those people who don't follow those rules as "other." This is simple. It is clear. And it is such a relief to be clear about things in this complicated world.

A legislation such as the Marriage Amendment clearly defines Evil in terms of biology, which is settled once and for all at birth, not in choices or decisions. It lets the majority point to a minority of others as the source of Evil. And it certainly avoids any need to look for Evil in one's own actions, lifestyle, or the unintended results of those actions and lifestyles. This seems to me to be a very Old-Testament way of looking at things.

I would hope that followers of the Way of Christ can take the more fruitful road offered by compassion. Can't we be inspired to recognise the goodness in stable, loving relationships? Can't we support caring people in their life-choices? Can't we see the fairness and richness this adds to our society? This is the direction toward which our governments and civil entities have been evolving. To me, it looks like the Christian choice as well.

Prayer for All Saints

A Catholic's Companion: "Blessed and Holy are those who turned the time of trial into a moment of grace.

Holy are those who choose peace in a violent situation.

Blessed are those who live in simplicity amid overflowing stuff.

Thanks and praise to those who live gently in an often angry and competitive environment.

How wonderful are those who show mercy and kindness in an uncaring time.

Holy and Blessed are those who choose purity in a depraved age.

Thanks and praise to those who act in justice with the weak and the powerless, the downtrodden and homeless, the old and the young.

Holy are those who choose less in an abundant and consumer society.

O Gracious God and Father, we gather this day to thank and praise you and those who choose your way. These are the Holy Ones, the Saints of the ages. Fill us with your Spirit. Help us to choose the better way and be numbered among your Saints, among those who dine at the Feast in your Kingdom.
"

Deus, Deus meus respice .mp3 Psalm 22 recording

This recording is VERY long, and quite a download if you're on dialup. (12 meg) This psalm ("Oh God, my God, why have you abandoned me?") is one of the few "through-composed" Gregorian chant psalms in the Graduale Triplex. It is incredibly expressive, and not likely to be part of the parish liturgy, since it is to be sung after the first reading as the responsorial psalm, and it takes fully 33 minutes to sing. But I can only imagine what it would be like to take part in a Palm Sunday liturgy that included this beautiful, haunting prayer.

Text, translation and reflection here

Recorded at Bernheim Forest, Sept 2004.

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy:

"The United States should be working to build democracy in every corner of the globe. But Market Fundamentalism actually undermines democratic values. We cannot successfully export democracy without also exporting economic justice and economic opportunity.


Iraq in this sense is a microcosm of a much larger problem. For more than twenty years now, the United States has been aggressively exporting Market Fundamentalist policies to other nations. This country tells foreign governments that they must lower their tariff barriers, dismantle controls over capital flows, cut government spending, and privatize state-owned industries. Most of the world’s developing and transitional economies have followed these policies and the overwhelming majority of them have been moving backwards–not forwards-- on all of the key indicators of economic success reported by the World Bank and the United Nation’s Human Development Reports. Market Fundamentalism, in short, has subverted economic development in most of the poorer regions of the world.


Even before the disaster in Iraq, the global failure of Market Fundamentalism had badly undermined our nation’s credibility in the developing world. It is now far easier for Islamic Radicals to demonize the U.S. as a greedy superpower bent on continuing the subordination of all Muslims. The failures of Market Fundamentalism have made recruitment easier for Al Queda and similar groups. In short, a new Administration needs a radically new strategy to counter the terrorist threat. The centerpiece of such a strategy must be a new approach to global development that abandons Market Fundamentalism in favor of exporting economic opportunity and economic justice."

This is a group that seems to be making progress with what I would consider to be the greater, all-encompassing values into the political and social conversation.

Chant at St. Joe

David H. has been talking to me, and to the folks at St. Joe, about singing the chant at the early morning masses.

The music director asked me if I'd like to be part of the rotation for Sunday early mass, and I agreed. We also set up a time to rehearse with anyone who wants to learn to chant--Wednesdays from one to two, following Sr. Marilyn's lunchtime scripture discussion.

So. We start. (Not this week, but the week after.)

Operation Truth

Operation Truth

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal: "Andrew Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank, said troop refusals are rare, but not unprecedented in combat. This incident, he said, could reflect poor leadership."

Poor leadership at the top. Good leadership at the unit.

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com)

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com):

"Kerry mentioned that Cheney's daughter was a lesbian in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News asking the candidates if they believed 'homosexuality is a choice?'


After President Bush had answered that he 'did not know,' Kerry began by saying, ' . . . If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.'"

Well, it did come out a little awkward, but homosexuality is a subject that John Kerry is not uncomfortable discussing, and I think he was trying to make the question personal to the listeners, not just an "issue." Since candidates families are admired and in a way, adopted, by their supporters in this voting ritual, Kerry's strong statement of empathy might have crystallized into a shared realization among the people of this country. That would have been a good thing, especially since it's largely the neo-conservatives who have adopted the Cheney's as part of their extended family.

I guess it didn't. Too many Americans consider "lesbian" a cuss word.

I wish all that sensitivity that's showing up as "disapproval" would translate into consideration for partners' rights being upheld in our Constitution and state laws.

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown: " But perhaps he (President George Bush) was thinking of the director of his faith-based initiative. John DiIulio, from Princeton, the most distinguished man of ideas to join his administration, who said, after resigning, 'There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything - and I mean everything - being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.'"

debate: look, mom, I didn't slouch or scowl

No, President Bush didn't slouch or scowl. But he whined. At least 4/5ths of his words were delivered in a defensive, high-pitched "But I DID do what you told me, Mom. I did. See? Why are you being mean to me?" tone of voice.

And it's an accurate portrayal of his position. The things that he thought were the right things to do, really aren't good enough, and he just didn't know.

Not enough experience under his belt, too much adulation and power.

baby bowman

Thank you, Carmel, for asking me to be with you guys. He is beautiful, and you are a beautiful family.

Native grasses

We went out today and collected some seed from a field of native grasses. We think they are Indian Grass , Little Bluestem , and Big Bluestem .

It's been really dry around here for weeks, so I assume we can just put the seed in canning jars and it should keep until spring.

I want to at least make a bunch of round areas in the yard to plant these grasses, and down at the bottom (but can I roundup the current grass? There are fruit trees to consider). I might try to plant the old garden area in native grass, as well.

I'd really like to get some of that perennial corn, too.

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize: "Ms. Maathai's Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees across Africa in an attempt to stem the deforestation that has turned parts of Africa into desert. The committee praises Ms. Maathai for enlisting poor women to take part in the tree-planting effort. The citation notes that Ms. Maathai's strategy to combat deforestation combines education, family planning, nutrition and the fight against corruption."

Electoral College, Afghan style

Afghans vote, ready or not | csmonitor.com: "Deference to tribe is a common attitude all across southern Afghanistan, where the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, live. Individuals such as Sayid Amir, an astrologer waiting for loaves of bread at a bakery in Qalat, know that the new Afghan Constitution allows them full personal rights. But he still says he must defer to his tribal elders with his vote.


'It depends on our tribal leaders,' he says. 'Yes, I know it is my right to choose whom I want. But in my region, the tribal leaders will all get together and choose whom they will vote for, and then everyone will vote for that person."

Democracy-->no terrorism?

Watching the VP debate, I am struck by a statement that Vice President Cheney made twice: that establishment of a Democratic government will somehow end terrorism in Iraq. I believe he considered this to be obvious.

What is the basis for this? By common definition, "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature" is considered "terrorism." History shows that Democratic nations' interests and policies are at least as likely to do this as non-democratic governments, and there are many examples in our own backyard.

One aspect of our choice for leadership in the upcoming election is to consider the Bush administration's near-sighted policy of using inappropriate levels of money, power, and violence to promote Democracy and to "fix" problems in countries (Iraq, Afghanistan) whose unrest and anger has been substantially exacerbated, if not caused in the first place, by inappropriate money, power, and violence.

Compare the Bush administration's brash commitment to military bravado with the Democratic Party's 2004 commitment to deploy, "in addition to military might, ALL that is in America's arsenal--our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas." In John Kerry we have a leader who has the depth and breadth of experience (in peace/war, ecology and economics) to allow us to combat the deep causes of terrorism, not be locked into stubbornly forcing U.S. image at all costs.

Suicide is a very common component of today's terrorism. This is significant. Medical experts know that in treating suicide, you can't treat the disease, you have to work with the environment. It's the distress of the global environment that underlies this social earthquake we are embroiled in. Attention to environmental issues is the only way to make a long-term difference. Here, again, is a clear difference between the Bush administration, which is systematically dismantling environmental practice at home and abroad, and Kerry/Edwards, which sees the environmental effort as a significant part of the social/political/economic picture.

A little perspective on living systems, oil, and soil

The Earth in Review:
The Rise, Role, and Fall of the Soil

A quick overview of our planet shows a history that began to get really interesting about 750,000,000 years ago. That is one-sixth of the total age of the earth. The earth spent five-sixths of its time getting set for the explosive emergence of higher life. Some twenty-five of the major phyla around us today appeared then.

For convenience, let us telescope the recent one-sixth into a year, for a quick look at the significant events of this part of the earth’s history. We start on January 1. By the fifteenth of March we can see several marine invertebrates and we think we can even see lichens on land. Some time after mid-June there are scorpions crawling about and these newcomers are joined by the first bog plants later in the month.

The lung fishes appear in early July. By late August early reptiles inhabit a landscape dominated by swamp forests, an as we approach September we can see the cone-bearing plant becoming forest trees. In late September, the Auraucaran forests (Norfolk Island Pine and Monkey Puzzle tree are modern descendents of this group) are quickly followed by other seed plants resembling pines.

Sometime in late October we get our first glimpse of flowering plants. A month later it has become obvious that the dinosaurs are headed for extinction. By December 11 some insignificant little mammals with a larger brain-to-mass ratio than the reptiles have become conspicuous, and by a short week later they are the dominant animal group. The mammals have made it. We are all fascinated as we watch the Miocene uplift that creates a rain shadow east of the Rockies, which in turn gives rise to the great North American grasslands. A few days before Christmas we see extensive grasslands in various parts of the planet.

Creatures best described as ape-men appear right after Christmas, and with about thirty hours left in the year, we see a creature which is decidedly human-like, even though it shows little promise at first.

As we watch these creatures closely, various forms develop, most with no future at all; but with less than three hours of the year’s last day left (or about 200,000 real years), a creature with a brain almost as large as our own is eking out a livelihood in ecosystems not much different from what we find in many parts of the few wild places left today.

An important system was developing literally under the feet of these diverse life forms. The early dust of the earth was mostly cemented together. It gradually became pulverized by the action of wind and water, plant roots and brevity. The bodies of dead plants and animals were added to this powder. A peculiar type of evolution was under way. This entity teemed with small organisms which secreted chemicals into the powder. Small life forms ingested and egested it, buffered it and burrowed in it. It grew in thickness and began to cover a large area with what we might call “ecological capital.” The capital of soil creates “interest” in the form of more soil. This interest then becomes reinvested. Water and wind still carried tons of this capital to the sea to become sedimentary layers, as it always had, but the life forms seemed almost purposefully devoted to retarding this work of gravity. From one point of view, David Brower has humorously suggested, plants and animals were evolved by this soil system to save itself and further its own spread.

A book written in 1905 by Harvard professor Nathaniel Southgate Shaler entitled Man and Earth described the soil and water system as an enveloping membrane or film, a placenta, through which the Earth mother sustains life. All life, including humans, Shaler suggested, draws life from the sun, clouds, air and earth through this living film. If the placenta is not kept healthy or intact, life above suffers. If healthy, it is a rich, throbbing support system. His message was clear enough: protect the placenta and you protect all Nature’s children.

Placenta may not be the best word, for once a birth is complete the placenta is disposed of. And yet Mother Earth is always pregnant with new life and therefore an intact placenta is necessary… Call it what you will, soil is important not just for land life but for life in the ocean around the continental shelves. In fact, the open ocean is a desert. It would seem as if all life forms—except plants—take this system for granted, regarding it much as they would regard gravity. When humans arrived, they, like the other animals, paid it no special respect.

In the early morning of December 31, changes took place on the surface of the earth. Later in the day the human population would explode … The human species, ten minutes before year’s end, was on all major land masses except Antarctica. It was in the next five minutes—from 15,000 to 8,000 years ago—that something critical happened. Gradually, an invisible claw began tearing at the placenta. It wasn’t dramatically ruptured as it had been by the ice; there was just a little scratch which failed to heal in the Middle East, and shortly another like it appeared n middle America. The larger the gash, the larger the concentration of people and their handiwork around it. The placenta itself was being ripped away to build civilization. Within three of those last five minutes, the face of the earth was changed. In some places scarcely anything would grow. Scabs—sterile areas or deserts—increased in size owing to human-directed activity. In the last fifteen seconds of the year, the continent of North America was discovered by the Europeans. The great wildernesses of North America disappeared, and the placenta wasted away faster than it had in any other area of the world.

Nearly half of it disappeared in the year’s last eight seconds.

In the final three seconds, a new stream of oil began to flow throughout the country, and out of it, fossil fuel that had been forming for eight months of our telescoped year, was discovered and was about to be used up in six seconds.

It was now being used not only for transportation, but also as feedstock for chemical fertilizer, in pest control, and in energy for traction in the fields. Clearly a very new thing was happening on earth. Production of living plants was shifting from total dependence on soil to an increasing dependence on fossil fuel. The new reality was clear—agriculture in America was shrinking the placenta, but the decline was obscured by heavy doses of petroleum-based chemical agriculture.

If we were far enough out in space for the planet to seem but the size of an egg, then all the soil, that thin, unique miracle, alive and sustaining life, would, if gathered together in one spot, be barely visible to the naked eye. Built by nature during our telescoped year, half of it lost by mankind, the self-proclaimed wise ones, in a few seconds.

The intensity of the entire agricultural operation can thus be seen as a frantic last attempt to keep alive a rapidly wasting cancer patient. Unless the health of the placenta is restored, a last convulsion will follow, throughout the countryside and around the world.

from New Roots for Agriculture by Wes Jackson
ISBN 0-8032-7562-5
Kansas Land Institute

The Land Institute - A Story, as told by E.F. Schumacher

The Land Institute - A Story, as told by E.F. Schumacher: "Fritz engaged a local man at the station by asking, 'How are things?' 'Fine,' the local replied. 'What is it to you?' asked Fritz. 'Oh, I work on that farm over there,' he said pointing. 'I used to own that farm but I had no money to pay the hired hand, so I paid him in land. Eventually he owned all of my farm and now I work for him.'".... Click the link above to read the rest.

It's one that can restore your faith in people and the world. Just think...E.F.Schumacher, one of my old heroes, and Wes Jackson, one of my new heroes, knew each other.

It appears that this story is an excerpt from Schumacher's book-- Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered: 25 Years Later ... With Commentaries. Hartley & Marks.

Iraq. Self-deception.

In light of the rhetoric at the Republican National Convention, we really should remember that there was actually MUCH debate about Iraq before we went in there, and there was a multi-national effort to combat the potential threat. Many knew about the danger, but they also knew about the danger of inappropriate reactions. These were the people who insisted that that the sanctions and the inspections and U.N. initiatives needed to be followed, and that the U.S. should NOT invade Iraq militarily at that point. Many people tried to get across the fact that the damage to the peace of the world would be horrific, that violence and inappropriate-cash-flow begat the terrorism, and a "solution" made of violence and big-cash-flow would continue to force people to actions that they deem heroic and we suffer as terrorism.

Pres. Bush listened to the cowboy Americans--the people who always seem to improve their ratings of a President when he is dropping bombs on people. He charged into Iraq, blithely handing out big-money opportunities to American businesses. He did NOT read his own briefings nor the intelligence reports. He did NOT look for the disadvantages in his "plan." He did NOT consult with the real government staff, but listened to the people right around him who are in love with him and his power.

He is really dangerous. But he puts on good makeup and does good photo ops, and keeps promises to people who will back him with money or votes, and helps folks who are afraid pretend that just by being nice people who love their kids, everything will be all right.

The rest of the world loves their kids, too.

Comparisons in history

Here's a Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida. I'm thinking we should be reviewing this information and looking for parallels in our lives today. I'm not sure that today's focus is Anti-Semitism, maybe Anti-Other-ethnic-religious-groups, but the surrounding behaviors may be more parallel than we would like. I'm talking about perceptions of "other," perception of self, selection of leaders, success of demagogues, spin, and desperate partisanship.


The Rise of Antisemitism

GOP to play Bush's likability card

GOP to play Bush's likability card | csmonitor.com:

Christian Science Monitor says:

"Bush's strongest attributes have always been 'his ability to empathize,' agrees Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot. 'He's always exuded humility, and an ability to work with other people.'"

Who are they talking about? I've never been able to discern one iota of those characteristics in our current President. They are the LAST words I'd use to characterize him. Where does this come from?

Empathize? Humility? Work with people?
Exuded?!!!!

"The president is not just a great president - he's a good guy," said GOP chairman Ed Gillespie at a Monitor breakfast. The convention will not only showcase Bush's strength as a leader, but as a loving father, dedicated husband, and "someone who likes baseball," Mr. Gillespie says

They're serious!
It's all social/biological. Fame and fortune. Loyalty. In-crowd/Out-crowd. Yea team, rah, rah!

And, according to polls, this appeals strongly to roughly half of the adults in the United States?

Jimmy the Cab Driver video

Short, sweet, and sassy. Jimmy the Cab driver's not just blowing smoke. We've all seen this information, but we forget:

"Environmentalists say the fire prevention claims made for 'Healthy Forests' are just a cover for big giveaways to timber to industry loggers.

Critics also worry that the bill doesn't protect old growth forests or allow for environmental and citizen reviews before forest thinning begins.

Those who live in fire-prone zones (who must be thinking a lot more than usual about this kind of thing right now) argue the bill doesn't even protect those wildfire-susceptible areas we should be most concerned about: 'red zones' that surround urban areas.":

----Smokescreen , Mother Jones, October 2003

...you're killing your father's father, and your mother's mother: the history of this nation, your nation, itself. You're killing the very core of the frontier spirit that, as Wallace Stegner so eloquently explained, has shaped our American character and spirit.
----- The Right to be Wild, by Rick Bass

Wild, intact ecosystems hold answers to questions we haven't begun to ask. They run on contemporary sunlight.
---Wes Jackson

What were the ecosystems like 10,000 years ago, after the retreat of the ice? Those ecosystems featured material recycling and they ran on contemporary sunlight. Humans have yet to build societies like that. Is it possible that embedded in nature's economy are suggestions for a human economy in which conservation is a consequence of production? Let's open that up. The day after 9/11, I wrote a piece suggesting that what George Bush should say is, "My fellow Americans, from this day forward we will evaluate our progress by how independent of the extractive economy we have become."

...This struggle that we're involved in is not going to be won with the bumper sticker. It's going to be won across the ecological mosaic of the country; it's going to be the particularities.
An Interview with Wes Jackson

This is a lot bigger than parties or elections, but inherent in a society that puts money flow above all else. So why are politically "faith-based" people, as a group, so blind to all that is going on environmentally? What about social justice?

Fr. Pat's solid Catholicism doesn't have that blindness. We kind of took it for granted while he was with us, and didn't realize that it was his unique skill to make the counter-cultural Gospel message so appealing.

The one who gives the banquet is told, “Don’t consider yourself a host if you arrange things in such a way (by inviting, for example, only the wealthy) so that the invitation will come back to you."

“Humility” is to correctly ascertain one’s God-given talents and then to share those blessings with others—with the community (one’s family, friends, coworkers, those who care for us). And to do so in such a way that we do not manipulate them so that the good we do comes back to us!

----Fr. Pat Creed, in last Sunday's homily, 22nd Sunday OT:

How John Kerry Busted the Terrorists' Favorite Bank

t r u t h o u t - How John Kerry Busted the Terrorists' Favorite Bank

Click the link above to read a detailed article about Kerry's consistent work against terrorism, in spite of opposition from the rich, famous and powerful U.S. Americans.

USATODAY.com - Soldier accepts blame in Abu Ghraib case

Soldier accepts blame in Abu Ghraib case:

"Army Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick acknowledged in the statement he broke the law and said he hoped others involved "in the chaos that was Abu Ghraib will also come forward and accept their responsibility."

Echoes from the past: Transcript : John Kerry’s 1971 Senate Testimony:

(SENATOR FULLBRIGHT)
Finally, in connection with Lieutenant Calley, which is a very emotional issue in this country, I was struck by your passing reference to that incident.

Wouldn’t you agree with me though that what he did in herding old men and women and children into a trench and then shooting them was a little bit beyond the perimeter of even what has been going on in this war and that that action should be discouraged. There are other actions not that extreme that have gone on and have been permitted. If we had not taken action or cognizance of it, it would have been even worse. It would have indicated we encouraged this kind of action.

(Mr. KERRY)
My feeling, Senator, on Lieutenant Calley is what he did quite obviously was a horrible, horrible, horrible thing and I have no bone to pick with’the fact that he was prosecuted. But I think that in this question you have to separate guilt from responsibility, and I think clearly the responsibility for what has happened there lies elsewhere.

I think it lies with the men who designed free fire zones. I think it lies with the men who encouraged body counts. I think it lies in large part with this country, which allows a young child before he reaches the age of 14 to see 12,500 deaths on television, which glorifies the John Wayne syndrome, which puts out fighting man comic books on the stands, which allows us in training to do calisthenics to four counts, on the fourth count of which we stand up and shout “kill” in unison, which has posters in barracks in this country with a crucified Vietnamese, blood on him, and underneath it says “kill the gook,” and I think that clearly the responsibility for all of this is what has produced this horrible abberation.

Now, I think if you are going to try Lieutenant Calley then you must at the same time, if this country is going to demand respect for the law, you must at the same time try all those other people who have responsibility, and any aversion that we may have to the verdict as veterans is not to say that Calley should be freed, not to say that he is innocent, but to say that you can’t just take him alone, and that would be my response to that."

Voting Your Catholic Conscience --Rep. Jim Wayne

This morning I want to say thanks to a career politician, Kentucky Representative Jim Wayne. He spoke to our cohort at Spalding University a few years ago, and I came away impressed with his presentation of the political vocation as one of public service, one of living out and actively promoting Gospel values in the world.

Rep. Wayne is speaking again, this time at "Theology on Tap" gathering. "The Record" (Archdiocese of Louisville's newspaper) has an article in which he speaks on "Voting Your Catholic Conscience."

I'm going to quote big pieces of it here, because as far as I can tell, it's not online.

"We, as Catholics, are called to be prophets in this world," he told about 50 young adults gathered for the talk. "As prophets we have to go to the polls to choose. I'd like you to consider your prophetic role in the world."

...He urged the young adults last week to embrace their roles as prophets by keeping Christ's teachings and the Gospel message in mind when selecting candidates.

He also warned them that Christ was a radical in his day. And though Christianity has flourished since then, following Christ's call today is no less counter-cultural, he said.

In fact, "Every time we understand the essence of wht Christ was all about, it is revolutionary."

...Wayne recommended that Catholics pass current issues through a filter of the Gospel message and Catholic social teaching. And he highlighted several areas of concern for Catholic voters.

Among them were the consistent ethic of life, globalization, militarization, education and the environment.

"The church has really developed a lot of rich thought on how we address these crises," he said. "Most of us Catholics aren't even aware of it."

For example, "The church emphasizes the common good over the individual," said Wayne.

"We were raised on John Wayne individualism," he said. "But the church says, 'No. You look at what's good for everybody. You protect life at all stages.' We need at all costs to protect it at all levels."

Within that framework, the poor should always remain at the forefront of concern, he said.

"That is the group you address first when you make policy decisions," he said. "The first question you ask is, 'How will this affect the poor?'"

The church also "has been very strong on demilitarization in terms of disarmament," said Wayne.

Under the Bush administration, the defense budget in the United States has risen to $470 billion, Wayne said. Education, which he said has the next highest budget, is allotted $60 billion.

He said health care--including the Medicare and Medicaid programs--receives about $40 billion; the justice budget is about $38 billion; and about $30 billion is allocated for housing for the poor, such as Section 8 vouchers.

"We as a church have to say, 'Is that just?'" he said of the discrepancies in funding. "There were 40,000 kids in the world who died on Sept. 11, 2001 of hunger."

Another concern for Catholics is globalization, which allows corporations to "extract wealth and exploit employees without unions," said Wayne.

"It widens the gap between the rich and the poor," he said. "It cost Kentucky 25,000 jobs in the last three years. And it has devastated family farms."

On the environment, Wayne cited the destruction wrought by mountain-top removal in the coal industry, air and water pollution, the United States' energy policies and other environmental abuses. As a result, "The world is filled with toxins," he said.

Following his talk, Wayne asked young adults to consider what role the church should take in addressing these issues. He noted that "by 'the church,' I mean us."

Wayne asked the crowd to consider issues other than abortion, which he said "we an all agree is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed."

The popular answer was a belief that the defense budget should be brought more into balance with the education budget. Several teachers mentioned being frustrated by a lack of funding for schools and criticized the "No child left behind" program.

Wayne mentioned the struggle for private school vouchers that would help more children attend Catholic schools. He said the church also should focus its efforts on improving public education.

It seemed the question weighing most heavily on the crowd was, "Can a Catholic vote for a pro-choice candidate?"

In response, Wayne noted that the U.S. bishops are torn on this same question.

"People are really trying to swing voters on this issue," he said. "But legislators in Frankfort really can't do much on this issue. We are limited by the constitution of the federal government."

On the national level, he said, the issue depends on Supreme Court justices.

"In the end, we as voters have to decide," said Wayne. "It is important to weave the other parts of Catholic social teaching into weighing the candidates."

Some bishops have said, "As long as you don't vote for the candidate because he is pro-choice, you can morally do that," Wayne noted.

Catholics may be treading in "dangerous waters" voting solely on the issue of abortion, he added. "We as a church have to be skeptical of politicians who use us and our sacred issues for their benefit.

"You look at someone who says they are pro-life," he said. "There may not be a lot of other issues they're consistent on as far as life. They went against the church on everything else. Look at their records on housing for the poor, on capital punishment, on unions. You have to weigh those issues as you study the candidates."

Asked how he--as a Catholic politician--reconciles his faith with the desires of his constituents, Wayne said that those who vote for him know the Catholic faith guides all of his decisions.

"First, I am Catholic, then I am an American," he said.

---The Record, Aug. 19, 2004

Labels: Liberal or Conservative? Pro-life or Respect Life?

All these labels are hard to live with. I can't claim any of the ones I know of. If I have to label myself, it's going to be as a "Big-Picture Conservative."

Well, that's done.

Back to School: John Kerry's 1971 Senate Testimony

The school year has begun. Will it be business as usual?

The current bruhaha in the media regarding John Kerry's Vietnam war experience actually began in the primaries, when Pres. Bush attacked Kerry's protesting of the war in Vietnam, implying that Kerry's protesting was dishonorable and cowardly. This caused people to look for facts on whether Senator Kerry was a coward, and the material was then brought forth about his service record. The record speaks for itself, but our national fixation with the war-service question seems to obscure the reality that beyond the simple courage of behaving well in battle, the greater courage came later, in trying to change the course of a country.

Any of us can read the transcript of the Senate Hearing in 1971 in which John Kerry spoke as a representative of Veterans Against the War to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A portion of this is available on video from MoveOn.org.

The video takes us back to the 70's, when we were very different people. I was in college then, too. Yet, amazingly, we were facing similar problems. You realize that when you read Kerry's speech, (which by the way, is 9 pages of clear thinking expressing the will of the 1000 veterans he represented), and the subsequent Q&A session (a significant stack of paper--Kerry's very coherent answers to the questions of the committee). This 27-year-old person obviously has a strong grasp of the nuance and the breadth of a very difficult subject, and with clarity of expression, he helps to turn the course of a nation that needed to be turned.

There are several things we can take from this wealth of information. One is the depth of conflict and responsiblity inherent in war. In our current time, when sound bites, such as "Dead or Alive," and "staying the course," and "protecting Freedom" are taken as rationalizations for our nation's behavior, we can compare the thinking expressed in this document from the past.

In 1971, Kerry speaks of the veterans' anger at finding out that the rationale for the war was phony, realizing that the South Vietnamese just wanted to be free to grow their rice and live, and that the Americans were often seen as the oppressors.

He spoke of veterans' anger that "money from American taxes was used to support a corrupt dictatorial regime" and that in battle, the "blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties." He spoke of an America that "accepted very cooly a My Lai and refused to give up the image of American soldiers who hand out chocolate bars and chewing gum."

Kerry speaks of the anger of the veterans who feel betrayed having to fight for a mistake, then called "misfits" when they try to speak out. He identifies the great threat to the United States. "...the crimes we (Americans) are committing (in Vietnam) threaten (our country), and we have to speak out."

He asks, "How do ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

This is a speech from a young person to all people.

In the Q&A session, Kerry shows leadership, for example, when Senator Fulbright explains that Congress cannot actually stop the war, merely make recommendation to the President. Kerry returns with two specific ways that Congress CAN be effective within its power: namely to vote to cut off funding for the war, and to pass a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of it.

Later, still off-the-cuff, Kerry tackles the thorny questions of tangled responsibilities: to the South Vietnamese government members whom the U.S. supported (created); to the people of South Vietnam, to the U.S. soldiers, to the international community.

I hope that this fall, the young people in our colleges and gathering places are reading the 9/11 Commission Report. I hope they are reading the full text of this speech of the young John Kerry. I hope they are reading the platforms of the the Democratic, Republican, and Green parties. I hope that they are looking for documents and other information sources with deep meaning, and that this school year, they claim the vigor that youth of other generations have shown, becoming leaders in the positive, progressive work of guiding the world.

The alternative is to be mired in group-think. America really can do better. It's more than a slogan, and we have to work to keep it that way.

DeoOmnisGloria.com John Kerry, Abortion and Politics

DeoOmnisGloria.com discussion

My thoughts this morning, posted here and on the link above:

John Kerry works toward the goal of abortion being "rare, but safe and legal." That eliminates all the unconscionable casual abortions that take so many precious lives. It also saves many lives of mothers that are lost when abortion is illegal and dangerously performed. It's a pretty good goal, in my book. Compared to many of the public, who he is bound to represent in his vocation, Sen. Kerry's stance is definitely pro-life.

Most Catholics strongly oppose abortion. However, when it comes close to home, as in "my" daughter's health being threatened by a dangerous pregnancy, or even "my" family's way of life threatened by an untimely pregnancy, they get a glimpse of the horror of that "gray area" that we all wish didn't exist--the area of life choices in conflict.

People in those crisis areas deal with it in different ways. Our current President is proud of the fact that he sees the world in black and white. His youthful response to his own personal gray-area abortion decision, though, is not in line with the staunch anti-abortion advocacy that is attributed to him by his cheerleaders.

If the world was black-and-white, and "life" was only one thing--maximum procreation, the Church's stance would be easy to fulfill. But God's gift of life is present in much more than simplest biology. The needs of different levels of life always conflict, and as far as I can see, it's our duty to make our best choices with as much grace as we can.

Chant at St. B

Worship aid insert
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

We could add this (via Avery sticky labels) to the front of our worship aid (Word & Song)

George Bush Sr.'s take on Iraq

Here's an email that came to me:

In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.

"Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq.... There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

If only his son could read.

 
I don't know who started this email, but I did check it out. It is an excerpt from the book, page 489.

I've spent all day making phone calls for KerryKentucky, verifying email addresses. Dozens of people took time to tell me that they wanted to DO something about all this.

TheStar.com - Editorial: Kerry fails Iraq test

TheStar.com - Editorial: Kerry fails Iraq test

Click the link above to read a thought-provoking editorial from the Toronto Star.

I would say to the author:

Your perspective is logical, but I don't think you quite have a handle on the American situation.

When you write...

That leaves most Americans feeling misled, or duped. They can see the damage to U.S. prestige internationally. The loss of more than 1,000 American and allied lives, and 16,000 Iraqi lives . A $200-billion cost.

...you are not speaking of the average American. A solid majority do NOT understand how unimaginably badly our U.S. prestige is damaged. It hasn't sunk in. They don't have a clue.

I'm glad to see you put a number on the Iraqi lives lost, because in this country's news reports, I never see it except as a vague afterthought, as in "...and also thousands of Iraqi lives." (This mortifies me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.)

I feel betrayed by our President, and I think J. Kerry has his finger on the reason. After 9/11, facing a new, unknown, threat, people might be forgiven for thinking that the country's leadership needed to be light on its feet, and give more executive power to a leader. But even as the threat was new, our President's response was also new. Who knew that we had a President who isn't sure what a president is? Who doesn't understand that his legitimate power comes from being part of a vast organization to which and for which he is responsible? He is like a schoolboy president of a school organization who hasn't learned democratic procedure yet and just thinks he is the boss. What a disaster this is!

I think J. Kerry has a very STRONG sense of government, of its laws and it's myriad legitimate voices. In his more complex understanding role of President, it is allowable to have voted as he did.

But you're right, it's the wrong thing to say in an election. J. Kerry's appropriateness as "a serious man for a serious job" is unfortunately not an asset in the "democratic" election process in U.S.America.

And since it's too late to do the right thing about Iraq, hindsight is just as problematic, since there's this huge mess, and we are in it, and we are responsible to clean up. (I don't know if it's possible, but the responsibility is still there.)

It's a time for prayer. And campaigning.

[Added Aug 19.
Fareed Zakaria brings his knowledge to this question as in this Newsweek article:
Why Kerry Is Right on Iraq by Fareed Zakaria]

Chant at St. B

We tape for Mass of the Air this week(a TV broadcast for those who cannot attend mass in person), for the 24th and 26th Sundays of Ordinary Time. Because of the 25-minute time limit, it's a very strict format that we use. This time I want to try something different, and the St. B Cantors are willing to go along with it. During Preparation of the Gifts we always play some instrumental music. I have, in the past, played chant from the Graduale on the flute, which is interesting, but somewhat lacking [grin]. However, it fits very well. So this time, I'll prepare to sing the Latin communion chant from the Graduale at Prep of Gifts, and then we will sing a song at communion that corresponds to the communion chant.

Actually that's easier said than done. First of all, I should have looked up those "corresponding" communion songs in advance. When we were planning, it had to be done quickly, and we couldn't find very good matches. (I find this to be true a lot--that there is so much more (or at least different) range of expression in the Graduale than in our current hymnals.)

24th Sunday communion antiphon is Tollite hostias, et introite in atria eius: adorate Dominum in aula sancta eius.
Word & Song gives the English as "O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can gather under your protection."
We're going to sing "Amazing Grace" at communion.


26th Sunday communion antiphon is Memento verbi tui servo tuo, Domine in quo mihi spem dedisti: haec me consolata est in humilitate mea. "O Lord, remember the words you spoke to me, your servant, which made me live in hope and consoled me when I was downcast."

We'll be singing "The Lord is my Light" (based on Psalm 27).

I hope we get points for good intentions. ;)

The other tricky thing will be the acoustics at the recording session. We record in the Ursuline chapel, which has GREAT acoustics for chant, but the recording engineers are accustomed to placing the microphones directly in front of the singers, which cancels out the acoustics. I'll have to talk to them about this.

Chant at St. B

We tape for Mass of the Air this week(a TV broadcast for those who cannot attend mass in person), for the 24th and 26th Sundays of Ordinary Time. Because of the 25-minute time limit, it's a very strict format that we use. This time I want to try something different, and the St. B Cantors are willing to go along with it. During Preparation of the Gifts we always play some instrumental music. I have, in the past, played chant from the Graduale on the flute, which is interesting, but somewhat lacking . However, it fits very well. So this time, I'll prepare to sing the Latin communion chant from the Graduale at Prep of Gifts, and then we will sing a song at communion that corresponds to the communion chant.

Actually that's easier said than done. First of all, I should have looked up those "corresponding" communion songs in advance. When we were planning, it had to be done quickly, and we couldn't find very good matches. (I find this to be true a lot--that there is so much more (or at least different) range of expression in the Graduale than in our current hymnals.)

24th Sunday communion antiphon is Tollite hostias, et introite in atria eius: adorate Dominum in aula sancta eius.
Word & Song gives the English as "O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can gather under your protection."
We're going to sing "Amazing Grace" at communion.


26th Sunday communion antiphon is Memento verbi tui servo tuo, Domine in quo mihi spem dedisti: haec me consolata est in humilitate mea. "O Lord, remember the words you spoke to me, your servant, which made me live in hope and consoled me when I was downcast."

We'll be singing "The Lord is my Light" (based on Psalm 27).

I hope we get points for good intentions.

The other tricky thing will be the acoustics at the recording session. We record in the Ursuline chapel, which has GREAT acoustics for chant, but the recording engineers are accustomed to placing the microphones directly in front of the singers, which cancels out the acoustics. I'll have to talk to them about this.

Top News Article | Reuters.com

Top News Article | Reuters.com: "The testimony backed the contention of England's lawyers that Abu Ghraib was an unruly prison where inmates were often kept naked, guards were not trained and abuse complaints were ignored. England has said she was just following orders to soften up detainees for questioning.

Joyner said he and many colleagues had no training as prison guards when they went to Abu Ghraib and worked minimum 12-hour days there.

'No one knew what we were supposed to do. Basically I was shooting from the hip and hoping to God I didn't screw up,' he said."

Kerry Kentucky meeting

I went to the Kerry Kentucky Volunteer meeting last night at first Unitarian Church, across the street from Abe Lincoln at the library. I got there a little late, so I had a hard time trying to park. Then I had a hard time getting in. It was tight-packed standing-room only, with people hanging outside all the doors of a fairly-large church.

I don't know the names of the speakers. The first guy was probably on the staff of the Democratic Party. (He has an office and a phone number). He said that there are "swing states" and we know that campaigning is going really strong there. But he really spoke to me, (and many there) when he said that Kentucky is a "bubble" state, which, I think means that it is important, too. (see the numbers in the post below, and you'll see how possible it is). And the folks at that meeting last night were interested in what WE can do, HERE.

The Democrat fellow (he was young, articulate, and kinda cute, if that matters), invited everyone to go to Fancy Farm (old-fashioned outdoor political rally, both (all?) parties) tomorrow (Saturday), there's a bus leaving from Democratic Party headquarters. no charge to ride. Sounds great, but I have a prior commitment. Call them if you're interested, or show up.

The next speaker was a woman, didn't catch her name, who must be the main organizer of this KerryKentucky group that started in April around a table at the Rudyard Kipling. She noted that the number of people had multiplied GREATLY since the last meeting, enough that we'd have to change plans on meeting space from now on. This is a grass-roots activity that is unprecedented at this point in the election process.

Did we know that the US has the poorest voter participation of all the democratized nations of the world? One of the numbers I jotted down was that, in this country, only 38% of those in poverty vote, and these are the most affected.

She talked about individual efforts that are inspiring. Here's one: Louis Moseson is going to Wal-Mart 1-1/2 hours on Saturdays and registering scads of people to vote (I forget how many, but it's impressive). (Makes me think I should carry around voter registration cards, envelopes and stamps. I think I will.)

She talked about Owlsley (?) Brown, a prominent Louisville Republican, I think, who is organizing Republicans for Kerry. He says, "This is not about our party, this is about the future of our great nation."

She talked about some famous Texan, who had campaigned for GWBush for governor and president, who says something like, "GB is a really great guy, but his policies are really terrible, and he messed up too many things." (Don't quote this. I was just scribbling. Find a reliable source if you need it.)

People who do business overseas are coming together behind Kerry.

Of course, she talked a lot about what she sees in John Kerry. (Go to JohnKerry.com for info)

She had all of us who had never participated in any political events before raise our hands. It was a lot of us, about 1 in six or eight. That said something, too, I think.

She said, "We don't want your money." I was glad to hear that. (We give money whenever MoveOn asks for it, and occasionally when the Democratic party asks for it, but I am tired of being hit for money and not given a better idea of what I can do personally.). There were numerous groups and people with specific activities planned that you could talk to. (College student groups, people signing up to stand outside Fahrenheit 9/11 with information, people going around apartment neighborhoods with information, etc.) She had bought Yard Signs, T-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons. She would give them away, or asked us if we would reimburse her son's college fund with a donation.

KerryKentucky has a plan. They have something called "Pledge 3" which has the materials and information to organize in neighborhoods. Basically it involves volunteering to send out letters to people who are registered, regular Democratic voters, and invite them to a meeting at your house. That group meets and plans to bring 3 other people each to another meeting. At the third meeting (I think), you all plan to contact people, speak to them, get them to the polls. Arrange to drive folks who need rides, etc. (I'm not clear on the last part. It made good sense when I heard it, and I'm going to find out what it is.)

There are trainings for neighborhood volunteers all next week, day, evening and night. If you're interested, contact kerrykentucky@yahoo.com. They'll tell you were to go. I signed up to go Monday evening at 5:30.

That's it for now.

pax,
maggie

Win Back Respect

Win Back Respect: "More than 200 Americans studying abroad - including more than 30 Rhodes Scholars - have signed an unprecedented open letter alerting their families, representatives and communities back home to the growing rift that the Bush administration's foreign policies are creating between America and the rest of the world. Learn how the lives of Americans abroad are being affected by the administration's go-it-alone approach."

My daughter is in Germany, and has spent much time in Europe over the last 3 years. Her experience has been the same as the students who wrote the letter linked above. Just today she told me that, out of all the students and other Americans she talks to in Germany, she only knows two who have anything positive to say about Pres. Bush and his administration.

That's obviously VERY different from the percentages here, even of college-type people.

Folks in other parts of the world must be getting very different information than we are.

KeepMedia | U.S.News & World Report: In Iraq, in uniform, and in turmoil

KeepMedia | U.S.News & World Report: In Iraq, in uniform, and in turmoil

: " 'suicide is not a medical problem. It's a community problem. You don't reduce suicide by reducing suicide. You reduce it by improving the quality of life in the military.'"


Probably goes for suicide terrorists, as well. You reduce it by improving the quality of life period.

Frequent worshippers tend to cast GOP vote

Frequent worshippers tend to cast GOP vote

How much of this has to do with mannerisms, tone of voice and speaking/preaching style?

I've ordered two books by Noam Chomsky, whom I respect as a linguist, who seems to have done some work on this politics/control area.

I also ordered the 9/11 Commission report (only $8, very readable) , which, I am gratified to see, appears to make the assertion that the terrorist problem is not a nationalist situation, and conventional war is an inappropriate means to deal with the problem.

That's a lot of reading to do.

I'm also working on Deus, Deus meus, respice (Psalm 22) from Palm Sunday. What a compelling, haunting, piece of prayer. It seems to fit the subject matter of our times, doesn't it? I keep thinking of people caught in our military and money-flow horrors.

A Little Latin

Agnus Dei audio recording HERE

LATIN TEXT	PRONOUNCED	ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Agnus Dei	AH-nyoos DAY-ee	Lamb of God
qui tollis peccata mundi	kwee TOLE-lihs pay-CAH-tah MOON-dee	you take away the sin of the world
miserere nobis	mee-say-RAY-ray NO-beece	have mercy on us
dona nobis pacem	DOUGH-nah NO-beece PAH-chem	grant us peace

---

The Catholic Church has spoken and sung in Latin since the liturgy was formed in the first centuries, becoming the official text of all Christianity, and down through the present time. Since 1963, (well, actually since the Protestant Reformation) liturgy has been spoken and sung in people’s everyday languages, as well.

You know Latin is ancient. There are fewer words in the Latin language than there are in the English language. Our current languages developed using many Latin roots, and words have become more specific in their meanings. So when you read an English translation of a Latin text, you get a specific approximation of the original prayer or scripture. But the original Latin contained many more concepts that have since been splintered off into other words. For instance, the word mundi is translated in the Lamb of God as world, but Whitaker’s Words Latin Translator tells you it might mean universe, heavens; world, or mankind.

So, knowing all those meanings, when we say, “qui tollis peccata mundi,” recognizing that Christ has power to “take away sin,” are we asking that he subtract the black marks on our personal scorecard? Or asking forgiveness for the scorecard of the whole world? The universe?

There’s a even another set of meanings of the word mundi, which refers to clothing and ornaments.

“The sins of the clothing”?!!

Well, think about it a minute. Think about English words whose root is mundi, such as mundane (ordinary), municipality (big city), and, for you Harry Potter fans, Muggle.

Saying,"qui tollis peccata mundi,” can we be asking for mercy as we realize that we are not always our best selves, letting stylish things and peer pressure lead us to do things that we would not otherwise do? That’s not so far-fetched. It happens all the time.

And what about the verb, tollis? It’s usually translated as “take away,” but there are other possible meanings, including lift, raise, destroy, remove.

Are we asking Christ to “take away” bad marks on a scorecard?

Or might we be asking that the consequences of mistakes be not as bad as they could be, but somehow “raised up,” seen in a kinder light, and perhaps even transformed by grace, good intentions, or kindness of others into something good?

A prayer for our times, isn’t it?

If you decide to give Latin a chance, whatever Italian, Spanish, or French you know will probably come in handy. These languages are direct descendants of Latin, and if a word sounds similar, it probably is. An interesting thing to remember, though, is that all during the centuries when these newer languages (and our own English) were developing, European culture was still singing and praying the original texts and phrases of liturgical chant in Latin. The Latin liturgy has been a continuing connection among all the people who said those ancient prayers. It has really never been broken.

We don’t sing Latin chant because it is old. We sing it because it is rich and meaningful.

If we come to know it well enough, we don’t sing it, anyway. It sings us, and we agree to be part of the song.

When you’re translating for yourself, in your own meditation and prayer, it’s not so much how accurate you are that matters, but how the connections enrich the meaning, making a difference in your understanding of God and of yourself.

---

Agnus

lamb (sacrificial offering)

Dei

(of) God

qui

who

tollis

lift, raise, destroy, remove

peccata

sin, wrongdoing, mistake,miss the mark

mundi

universe, heavens; world, mankind; dress/clothing/ornament

miserere

pity, have compassion

nobis

we, ourselves

dona

present, grant

nobis

we, ourselves

pacem

peace, harmony

---

PDF file suitable for inserting in bulletin. Permission granted to reproduce.

What is "liberal"? What is "conservative"?

I'm still grokking the world I inhabited yesterday, in which I saw "Farenheit 9/11" with my daughter and came home to watch an hour or so of the Democratic Convention on broadcast TV.

The puzzle to us is why George Bush has such a loyal following. What do these people see that we can't? Michael Moore highlights this question well, simply by following scenes of anguish and carnage in Iraq with a segue to Britney Spears saying earnestly, "I think we should trust our President," or something to that effect.

It's so...high-school.

High-school. Traditional 50's-era memory-glorified high-school.

Linguists say that we individuals each maintain hundreds or thousands of dialects in our cognitive database, and answer within the appropriate dialect according to the situation we find ourselves in. I've often perceived an extension of this, in that the dialect just as likely predicates the actual response--its content as well as the style of the language. It's how our knowledge is stored: within our interactions with each other.

George Bush's mannerisms and capabilities seem to me to correspond to the successful high-school president or team captain. At that level, he would be a success. That's the level at which he functions, and, while so many of us are constantly appalled at his inappropriatness as a leader in the world, others may be (unconsciously) soothed and reassured as he fulfils familiar patterns of their primal experience.

So, is a "conservative" someone who reveres and operates within and hearkens to the shared ideal of 50's high-school behavior and a "liberal" someone who reveres and operates within and hearkens to the archetype of the 70's college student?

Maybe it's as simple as identifying the subset of those Americans who center their behavior in Philosophic cognitive patterns (Does this align with conservative?) and those who center their behavior in Ironic cognitive patterns (Does this align with liberal?).

Democratic Nat'l Convention--Thursday

We don't get cable TV here. Had to deal with network TV. Discovered that "Live Coverage" can mean the convention is going on in the background, but Tom Brokaw's head is covering up what you might have been able to see, and he and other talking dudes blathering about what we're going to see and hear later in the week covers up whatever it is that we might see and hear now. We changed the channel.

Glenn Close's 9/11 piece seemed forced and flat to me, but who knows? It was followed by a truly moving appeal from a woman who had lost 3 family members on one of the hijacked flights.

Hillary Clinton's "introduction" was a rousing yet intelligent endorsement of the Democratic Party and the upcoming Presidential candidates. I was pleased to hear her call J. Kerry "a serious man for a serious job."

Bill Clinton's speech was effective, powerful, resonant. It was interesting to me how he said that the Republicans need a divided America. I was groping toward articulating that today, talking with Natalie, as we tried to figure out how it is that so many people seem to need to know that they are "hanging out" with the "elite," and in order to do that, they have to always be aware of somebody "other" who is not "elite."

He also reminded us that "strength" and "wisdom' are not opposing values. Thank you, Mr. Clinton.

It was a great relief, like a return to normalcy, to listen to the speakers at the Convention tonight--to hear the endorsement of common sense that our present leadership has brazenly abandoned. This is not my usual reaction to political conventions. Hopefully that signals an unusual campaign and election.

Natalie and I saw Farenheit 9/11 today, my second time, her first. It is a powerful movie. The most harrowing to me are the segments portraying the anguish of the Iraqi people surrounded by fire and chaos.

USATODAY.com - PPG working on self-cleaning counters that kill, resist bacteria

USATODAY.com - PPG working on self-cleaning counters that kill, resist bacteria

I'm ordering new countertop this week. Wish this was available!

Chant at St. B

New pastor likes chant. Also tabernacle & statues all over the front of church. Stuff on the altar. (And he put it all there by the first week.) Also sermons. Bells. Gestures from the 50's. Cardboard wafer bread. (Never mind the bread-baking ministry). Liturgy committee? what's that?

I sure miss scripture-breaking, servant leadership and respect for the presence of Christ in the Assembly of the People of God. Have to find it elsewhere? Bah.

But the good thing is, I guess, he wants chant. Of course we know it. Some of it.

Most musicians have been on vacation. I filled in once or twice. Jamie asked me to sing the resp. psalm, this week and last week. Maybe I will stay in the rotation. I'd like to be cantor, and can bring guitar and flute. Think I will.

Sunday we sang Agnus Dei Mass XVIII. I led it, and parish answered strongly. Fr. commented favorably on this at the end of mass. That's a good thing. Still, it needs to be explained to those folks who don't know what's going on. Perhaps a paragraph for the bulletin and a language explanation. Not next week, though.

Next week we introduce the Lee chant Gloria (Gather #254) for Ordinary time. Choir has learned it. We'll do this a capella, too. It worked well at HT.

I spent the last two days reading. I've been looking for months for something I could get engaged in. Amy lent me her copy of I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. It's an angry book, and a peaceful, reconciling one. As I read it, I feel as if I were solving a whole lot of my relationship conflicts.

Nat's going to read it next. It has some things in it that I would never have been reading when I was her age, but that's the way everything is now. And in this book, the events, though extraordinary, don't seem to be at all forced or added. It's a very cohesive and insightful book. Do-it-yourself therapy in page-turner fiction.

-----

Last night we went bowling to kindof celebrate Amy's birthday. I can really get into that. You can be real competetive with the pins and real supporting of everyone as they play. Nice.

------

Remember when we used to watch Mr. Spock and his super computer that you could find out all kinds of information on? Well, we've got it now, but who no one ever (that I know of) predicted it would be ONE computer that was made up of all of us, that we're all part of, that belongs to the world.

That's the reason I like blogs. And homepages. Business does not control the information on the internet. If individual people share whatever they feel is important: lists--insights, plans, hopes, thoughts, art, play, relationships--the good in the world is the guiding force.

You go, Google!

The New York Times > Washington > President Says U.S. to Examine Iran-Qaeda Tie

The New York Times > Washington > President Says U.S. to Examine Iran-Qaeda Tie

Hmm... wasn't it in Florida that the AlQaeda group trained for its 9/11 flights? And where else in the US have Al Qaeda members been based? Do you suppose those states should be preparing for "surgical" air strikes?

t r u t h o u t - Bill Moyers | This is the Fight of Our Lives

t r u t h o u t - Bill Moyers | This is the Fight of Our Lives

The veteran Washington reporter, Elizabeth Drew, says "the greatest change in Washington over the past 25 years - in its culture, in the way it does business and the ever-burgeoning amount of business transactions that go on here - has been in the preoccupation with money." Jeffrey Birnbaum, who covered Washington for nearly twenty years for the Wall Street Journal, put it more strongly: "[campaign cash] has flooded over the gunwales of the ship of state and threatens to sink the entire vessel.

This is Bill Moyers who created/hosted the wonderful PBS series with Joseph Campbell.

Keep it in the tail

I'm rereading Stephen J. Gould's seminal article: "The Median isn't the Message"

It's good advice to cancer patients, and it's good advice for human beings. You can't fix it all, you can't carry everyone. But you can steer in the right direction. And, at any particular moment, it's not the horrible baggage that counts the most, but whether we "keep ourselves in the tail" of the statistical landscape. Not the great lump of the middle ground, but the high road that ultimately carries the world.


Here's a more current illustration. It's a short video, quickly downloaded.
http://www.moveonpac.org/edwards.html

Who benefits from manufactured fear? The big business of arms sales and political control. Who loses? As far as I can see, we all do.

I prefer to check in on the side of the positive. Anything else is a big downward spiral.

PS
I see that Stephen J. Gould's "labor of love" lifework book is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674006135/watchmakerpress"> The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. I'm heading to the library.

memory. hope.

Anywise, instead of dying, I got me a big piece of magic that night. It was hard to hang onto for a time, but I know no matter what else I experience in this world, scraps and pieces of that magic'll be with me forever. I don't question that."

from "Seven Wild Sisters," one of a dozen poignant, smile-and-thought-provoking stories in "Tapping the Dream Tree," by Charles de Lint.

"Turn Up the Heat" get-together at our house

Frank and I hosted a MoveOn.org-sponsored get-together at our house last night.

I won't say much here, but it was an encouraging evening. I didn't expect anyone except Dotti, but four more people came, women from Boston, Ky and Radcliff, KY. We were all gratified to meet each other. We plan to continue as a group. Deborah is setting us up a site on Yahoo Groups, we have lots of possible courses of action. The ones I wrote down are:

1. Take off November 2, volunteer to work.
Well, I'll have to ask you politically-experienced guys. Work at what? Where? Who would we contact? Sounds easy, though.
2. Take 1 weekend in October. Drive to a swing state and volunteer.
Same questions.
3. Identify 5 non-voters. Adopt them.
I can start with my younger girls. That's two.

We also brainstormed:
* Play the Fahrenheit 9/11 movie in a public place.
*Play the "Bush in 30 Seconds" commercials in a public place.
Stores with banks of TV like Lowe's & Sears, streetfront, churches, sr. citizens.
*Find out if you have to have an address to vote, what the ramifications might be, and work on that angle.
*Check out the "If you vote for Kerry, you can't go to communion" foolishness, see how far it's gone, do some PR on that angle.
*Figure out how to communicate with the "KICK BUTT" contingent.
*Ditto for the "BUSH IS GOD" contingent.
*Ditto for the PRO-LIFE contingent. (Note that the states that have the most liberal abortion laws correspond with those that have the most support for mothers, and vice versa.)
*Keep in contact with each other. Deborah will look into setting up a site.

And, those of us who are able agreed to have a phone bank at our house on Sunday, July 11, to help register voters.

Optimism and uncertainty mark feelings of immigrants

Optimism and uncertainty mark feelings of immigrants : "Al-Hindawy, who left five brothers in Iraq, said the needs in Iraq are not unlike those in the United States. 'I believe the most problems we face is because Iraqis are out of jobs,' he said, noting that in both countries, it's key to being able to take care of one's family.

'That's what we struggle with,' he said. 'They feel really hurt when they see all of the construction being done by people from out of the country, and they know they could do it cheaper themselves.'"

(Mark Lombardi) arts / w b u r g

(Mark Lombardi) arts / w b u r g: "Distilled from a welter of dis- and misinformation and refined from dense archives of aesthetic experiment, Lombardi's 'narrative structures' demonstrate a Cheshire understanding of the reciprocity between factual solidity and mutable appearance. In a media culture where few sources report the fine print on collusion between financial markets, political operatives, and corporate entities, and few commentators acknowledge how fluidly form and content, being and seeming blend, his work both emphasizes and redresses the lack of coherent analysis from journalistic and governmental experts. But perhaps more importantly, it obeys Joseph Kosuth's assertion that 'art…fulfills what another age might have called 'man's spiritual needs.'' "

...His drawings delimit a field in which aesthetic, geopolitical, and epistemological concerns are not mutually exclusive, where their self-mirroring identities are tabulated and given two-dimensional form.

Chant at St. Joe

This morning I'd agreed to play keyboard for the 7 am mass at St. Joe. When Debbie talked to me, she said they'd been providing accompaniment for a while, but no cantor, and people were getting used to singing at that early mass. She suggested to me that I play the organ, as both she and Shirley had been wanting to do more organ than piano, but hadn't done it yet. She told me that they generally sing a gathering song, have the resp. psalm read by the cantor, sing the alleluia (she suggested Celtic, refrain only, twice), instrumental at PoGifts, and singing for the mass parts. I said thanks, I'd love to do it, it's my favorite time of the day to be at mass.

When I got there I had a few reservations, mostly concerned with leadership, as the organ is in the choir loft. I approached Fr. Bill at the entrance of church, said hello, and talked thru what I thought we were doing. He seemed surprised, and said that the people at that mass weren't accustomed to singing. We agreed to singing an entrance song, alleluia, and mass parts. He said (kindof tongue-in-cheek) that one song was enough to make 'em mad (as in, no need to sing more). (Which I can appreciate. Been there, done that.)

So at 7:00, (not being able to see the procession from the choir loft) I announced the celebration and the opening song. Please stand. My voice seemed to carry ok without any amplification. I played the intro on organ, and off we went. We sang "Glory and Praise to our Lord." People seemed to sing strongly.

When it came time for the Gospel Acclamation, it just didn't seem right (or actually possible) to lead with organ, so I sang the Alleluia (Easter chant alleluia, everyone should know that.) They did know it, and responded strongly. The deacon was still at the altar with the book of the Gospels, so I soloed a verse, and all repeated Alleluia again.

Since it had felt comfortable to do all this, and the vocal parts had gone well, during the homily, I looked at the Graduale and dared myself to sing chant at Prep of Gifts. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." When the time came, I thought I'd be nervous, or that it would seem out of place, but actually it wasn't. I sang the Introit --Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus. I started singing kind of softly, not pushy, but it seemed to carry. Felt natural. Then I sang the English translation (which I lifted from Word & Song) to the psalm tone, then the antiphon again, then the Gloria Patri as the gifts were carried up. I stopped there, although I could have gone on to the antiphon again.

I played organ for the Eucharistic acclamations (Mass of Creation), and it sounded to me as if the church was full of singing. At Lamb of God, again, there was the problem of no cantor, so I started Agnus Dei a capella. The church really WAS singing. No doubt.

Since Fr. and I had agreed only one hymn, I went to the organ to play "Eat This Bread, Drink this Cup" at communion. I sang on the verse (but not facing down over the choir loft) but no one took it up, so I let it go and just improvised on that song all during communion.

At the sending, since Fr. Bill had told me they weren't accustomed to having music, I didn't do anything. After all, the mass is supposed to end at the Ite missa est, right? Well, the procession people didn't LOOK as if they were accustomed to just leaving. That was the only thing that felt awkward. I think they were looking for music.

I didn't see Fr. to talk about it afterwards, so I don't know what his reaction was. I met some people from mass in the Burger King where I went for a drink (and kill time) before the next mass, and they were very complimentary. I did say to them, that if they like it, they might say something to Debbie or Father, because I'd love to do it more.

That was a MARVELOUS pattern for singing the mass. If I could have anything in the world, it would have to be:
1. world peace
2. my family all in sync
3. to sing a mass like that every week. a simple mass. with the chant. with all of us singing. with just the essential elements, not all the added-on hoopla.

At 9:00 mass, Amy and the youth choir sang (about 6 of the ladies showed up), and I played piano.

Fahrenheit 9/11

We saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Baxter Theater. It was packed. Two theaters. We got in because Amy and Hobie had gotten us tickets in advance.

The movie was unbelievable, (but you have to believe, actually. The sheer number of video clips make it impossible that this is somehow "out of context."). Our embarassing President was shown to be much more than embarassing. Why isn't he up for impeachment?

I cried for the Iraqi people. And for the American military families. We certainly left the theatre with the sense that we should DO something. A LOT of something.

We had agreed to pass out flyers for MoveOn.org, so we did, joining another group of sign-carrying people, the local Democrats, who are meeting on Thursday. We told people about the get-togethers scheduled at homes (including ours) on Monday night.

Chant Discography

Chant Discography

Catholic Church and the internet

Two Vatican documents regarding the internet. Quoted here.

The Church and Internet

Three decades ago Communio et Progressio pointed out that “modern media offer new ways of confronting people with the message of the Gospel”.17 Pope Paul VI said the Church “would feel guilty before the Lord” if it failed to use the media for evangelization.18 Pope John Paul II has called the media “the first Areopagus of the modern age”, and declared that “it is not enough to use the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church's authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message into the ‘new culture' created by modern communications”.19 Doing that is all the more important today, since not only do the media now strongly influence what people think about life but also to a great extent “human experience itself is an experience of media”.20


All this applies to the Internet. And even though the world of social communications “may at times seem at odds with the Christian message, it also offers unique opportunities for proclaiming the saving truth of Christ to the whole human family. Consider...the positive capacities of the Internet to carry religious information and teaching beyond all barriers and frontiers. Such a wide audience would have been beyond the wildest imaginings of those who preached the Gospel before us...Catholics should not be afraid to throw open the doors of social communications to Christ, so that his Good News may be heard from the housetops of the world”.21

Ethics in Internet

Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good, within and among nations. This technology can be a means for solving human problems, promoting the integral development of persons, creating a world governed by justice and peace and love.
...
It (the internet) also can help men and women in their age-old search for self-understanding. In every age, including our own, people ask the same fundamental questions: “Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life?” 42 The Church cannot impose answers, but she can—and must—proclaim to the world the answers she has received; and today, as always, she offers the one ultimately satisfying answer to the deepest questions of life—Jesus Christ, who “fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling”.43

>>> AsiaNews.it <<< Remote Catholic Community Maintains Faith Without Priest For 50 Years

>>> AsiaNews.it <<< Remote Catholic Community Maintains Faith Without Priest For 50 Years

Google Search: define:praxis

Google Search: define:praxis : "Definitions of praxis on the Web:

how do you get to Polis? (praxis, praxis, praxis)
www.cs.umd.edu/~mikeoda/phldef.htm


Habitual or established actions and motor skills.
ivc.uidaho.edu/brain/book/glossary.html


the performance of an action; 'doing'
www.tornadodesign.com/cbgd/glossary_cbgd.htm


Marx’s term for social practice. The term is meant to convey the work we undertake collectively to shape our world and our reality; it represents Marx’s dialectical critique of Hegel’s term Geist.
staff.bcc.edu/philosophy/HEGELMARXGLOSSARY.htm


Praxis is a complex activity by which individuals create culture and society, and become critically conscious human beings. Praxis comprises a cycle of action-reflection-action which is central to liberatory education. Characteristics of praxis include self-determination (as opposed to coercion), intentionality (as opposed to reaction), creativity (as opposed to homogeneity), and rationality (as opposed to chance).
www.sef.org.pk/educatewebsite/educate2fol/glosiconedu2.asp


the practical or customary application of a branch of learning.
www.sevmedia.net/clients/gt/Main/FAQ/glossary.html


(Motor Planning) The ability of the brain to conceive of, organize, and carry out a sequence of unfamiliar actions.
www.steveengelhardt.com/sensory_glossary.htm


translating an idea into action; 'a hard theory to put into practice'; 'differences between theory and praxis of communism'
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn"

I just looked up a definition, and found a wealth of connections to social patterns of value (pov's). Lest I forget.

Benedictus es Domine.mp3

Blessed art thou, O LORD, teach me thy statues With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. Psalm 118(119), 12.13 Graduale Triplex 277 

Latin text:
Benedictus es, Domine, doce me iustificationes tuas:
benedictus es, Domine, doce me iustificationes tuas,
in labis meis pronuntiavi omnia iudicia oris tui.

English text:
Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

Chant source:
Psalm 119:12,13
Graduale Triplex pg. 277
Offertory for 6th week in Ordinary Time

This chant is an example of what's so compelling about singing chant from the Graduale. This chant is a plea to be taught the way of Christ, the Way of the Gospel, the Way of the universe.

It has such a plaintive, humble feel. (I think Dom Turco would call it Type B, of the three types of chant-modes.) Contrast that with the proud, "we are the body," "we have it all, we are special" feel that so much of our currently-sung parish music proclaims.

This chant is what I feel a need to express, at least at this point in my life.

Manducaverunt et saturati sunt nimis.mp3

So they did eat, and they were well filled; for he gave them their own desire. Ps. 77,29.30 

Latin Text:
Manducaverunt, et saturati sunt nimis,
et desiderium eorum attulit eis Dominus:
non sunt fraudati a desiderio suo.

English Text:
So they did eat, and they were well filled:
for he gave them their own desire.

Chant Source:
Psalm 78, 29:30
Graduale Triplex pg. 278
Communion
6th Week in Ordinary Time

The Beginner's Book of Chant

What you really must know about Gregorian Chant

The link above is to the first chapter of The Beginner's Book of Chant, by a Benedictine monk

Thanks to the Recovering Choir Director for the tip on this link. I just ordered a copy. They're not charging much.

Little Larka Sambo (aka Little Black Sambo)

FCL: Discussions -- Little Black Sambo and Racism

Alex brought me "Little Black Sambo" to read. (It's the "Indian" version, one of Sr. Sharen Baldy's books. I think we read the version with blackface illustrations when I was a kid.)

I like the story, and I started reading it, but quickly started experimenting with leaving out the "black." "Little Sambo" is sorta ok, but loses its rhythm.

So this morning I whited-out the "Black," but the story seemed bare, and I found Hindi words for mother (ma), father (bap) and boy (larka), and substituted them in the names--Ma Mumbo, Bap Jumbo, and Little Larka Sambo.

While I was surfing, I read thru a long conversation of librarians and book specialists about the subject. That's the link above. They talked about a whole lot of racial baggage that may or may not be contained in this story. There are also some interesting adaptations there: Little Kid Foxtrot and Blond Barbie.

After reading all that commentary, I remembered that the previous book Alex had brought me had been about Vikings, and we had just talked about how Vikings mostly had blond hair and blue eyes, like his mama, and he had told me he had dark hair and brown skin. He did seem to think it was important, maybe an identity. (Of course, when he's with his cousins in Mexico, he appears to be very light-skinned.) At the time, I didn't make any connection with this and Little Black Sambo. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was reading to a little boy who could very well be the subject of discrimination. I just knew I didn't like saying Black Mumbo, Black Jumbo and Black Sambo.

Alex liked the story. The ending surprised him. I plan to keep it on the bookshelf and see how it flies in its new incarnation.

This is the same evening that we sat on the swing with the boys and sang songs--Found a Peanut, Brush Your Teeth Each Morning, Oh I Wish I Was in the Land of Cotton.

And since the power was out, as I lit the candles around the house, I had Benjamin with me, and we said "Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen."

This is being a grandmother. It's so much easier when the power is out.