Stand Together for Life - Students for Life

Our monthly Stand Together for Life prayer vigil outside Planned Parenthood today featured Taylor McGee,, Northeast Regional Director for Students for Life of America. The future of the pro-life movement lies in the hands of young people, and this Student organization is an important part of that future. 

Despite the cold - 18, with a slight breeze - A number of people came out to hear her, and to pray. The Catholic group is there every Saturday top pray the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and other prayers. Once a month, an interdenominational group gathers to show solidarity in the quest to save lives.

And, of course, there had to be music. I don't know if I would have brought out my guitar in the cold, but this fellow did, and played and sang quite well!  .

Pax et bonum

Poems in Scifaikuest Online

The February 2023 online edition of Scifaikuest contains two of my poems:

Halloween costume -
werewolf considers options
but full moon decides

 

time travel mishap -
alternative history
no longer fiction

 

Hooray!

Pax et bonum

Untroubled By the Unknown: Trusting God in Every Moment (Fr. Schmitz)

As part of my spiritual reading, I recently finished Untroubled By the Unknown: Trusting God in Every Moment by Father Mike Schmitz. The book, which is adapted from a some homilies by Father Schmitz, is  lies is part of The Curious Catholic Series. In addition to the adapted homilies, it includes reflection questions and suggestions for action.

I've encountered Father Schmitz before through his short videos about faith topics, some of which I used with my students.  He is well-known now for his Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcasts, which, to be honest, I haven't viewed. But from what I have seen of him, I have liked his personable approach to faith, mixing solid teachings with humor.

I found the book and its exploration of mercy and trust in God enjoyable and inspiring. It was an easy read, very down-to-earth, yet still informative. 

I recommend it!

Pax et bonum

Lent 2023

Lent is upon us.

Time for some "fasts" - though I'm looking for some positive ways to improve my spiritual life rather than just giving up things.

I am giving up two specific things.

I will not make any critical, negative comments. If tempted to do so, I will keep silent.

I will not snack after dinner.

I am also going to cut back on my television viewing - especially of the political/news shows that encourage negativity on my part. I'll make better use of that time either watching more spiritually enriching shows, or doing non-television things.

I have several positive things I plan to do.

The first is just to continue my daily reading of the Bible and spiritual works. I will continue my daily Liturgy of the Hours Morning Prayers and Night Prayers, Rosary, and Divine Mercy Chaplet. I've slipped a few times since I resolved to do these things as a New Year's resolution, so this is really a renewal of that effort.

I will practice playing guitar and singing daily, and will include at least one hymn or spiritual song in each session. 

Onward! 

Pax et bonum

Save the Baby Birds, But Not the Baby Humans?

 

The March 2023 edition of Smithsonian magazine contains an article about the efforts of a town in Iceland to save baby puffins ("Make Way for Pufflings"). 

It's an interesting read, and I certainly have a fondness for animals - the Franciscan in me.

At one point the article notes that chick production had been "ticking up," in recent years, and despite a "dramatic drop in 2022 ... it still surpassed the 'abysmal horror' years when almost no chicks survived." 

All well and good for the puffins. I applaud the efforts to save them.

 But as I read I couldn't help thinking of the situation in Iceland for babies with Down Syndrome. 

According to reports, pregnant women in Iceland who take prenatal tests that show their babies have Down Syndrome are overwhelmingly choosing to abort those babies. It's not all of those women, and some women don't take the tests, so some babies with Down Syndrome are still being born. 

But many are being killed. 

We are currently experiencing "abysmal horror years" in Iceland when it comes to those human babies.

Imagine if the same concern being shown for the puffins was shown for the babies?

     

Pax et bonum

Old Time Appalachian Storytellers

Storytelling

Back in the 1990's, storytelling was very popular. A number of individuals went around telling tales, sometimes with music. There was even a Storytelling Guild of Greater Rochester.

I was briefly one of them.

What brought this to might was I found an old notebook in which I kept a record of some of my storytelling gigs in 1995. To be honest, I was surprised at how many their were.

My first forays into the world of storytelling came in 1994 when I attended a storytelling conference an the University of Rochester, and joined the local Storytelling Guild. I was even elected "Guildmaster" of the Guild in 1995.

Then I became active in 1994, combining stories and music. I taped a number of religious stories as Brother Lee, the Storyteller on a cable access television Christian show, Clown Town.

Among my 1994-6 public performances:

1994 

May ? Hendrick Hudson School (Bridget's class) 

July 8 Mendon Ponds Park

July 9 Corn Hill Festival 

August 10 Pittsford Library

December 18 Mendon Solstice Fesival

1995

February 12 Mendon Ponds Park Winter Festival  

May 21 in Spencerport for Art in the Park

July 8 Casey Family Reunion in Bushnell's Basin

July 9 Corn Hill Festival 

July 29 Christian Festival in Seneca Falls

August 10 Pittsford Library

September 15 Writers and Books

September 29 St. Mary's School in Auburn

October 5 St. Michael's School in Newark

November 16 Creative Childcare in Macedon

November 25 Covenant Methodist Church

1996 

January 21 Strong Museum

April 12 School 16

November 21 Covenant Methodist Church Childcare

December 5 Winterfest at ?

I stopped storytelling to focus more on acting. My thought was to improve my storytelling skills that way, but then I did not go back to storytelling. And then the popularity of it faded.

As I look at the list of performances, I was amazed at how many stories (and songs) I did.

For Clown Town, for example, I taped St. Jerome and the Lion, St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, Solomon and the Bee, The Tower of Babel, The Prodigal Son, Solomon and the Two Mothers, The Good Samaritan, The King of the Tree, David the Musician, and Benjamin the Grumpy Shepherd. I hadn't realized how many I told; I wonder if the videotapes still exist?

For secular audiences there were some standard stories and story/songs I performed: B'rer Rabbit and the Frogs, Abiyoyo, Puff the Magic Dragon, Put Your Finger in the Air, The Noisy House, On Top of Spaghetti, St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, How Bear Lost His Tail, How Giraffe's Neck Got Long, The Stone Giant/Stone Skipper, Iroquois (Seneca) Creation Story, Seneca Canoe Song, Sun Man, and The Fly (Vietnamese). Thee were a few other scattered stales and songs depending on particualr groups or themes.

As I looked at the list of stories i performed i honestly could not remember how some of them went! Well, it's been 25 years. I'll have to look some of them up.

I wonder if storytelling is still a thing?

Pax et bonum

A Failed Haiku On Time

he declared “Time’s just
an artificial construct”
then his ran out

Lee Strong, ofs

(My contribution published in Failed Haiku, Volume 8 Number 86. The theme of the issue is "time.")

Pax et bonum

Killer Klowns from Outer Space Clerihew

From outer space the Killer Klowns

have come to turn our smiles to frowns.

Here's a tip that might prove handy:

Avoid the cotton candy.

Pax et bonum

Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) by Pope Benedict XVI

I read Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) by Pope Benedict XVI. I highly recommend it.

The writing is clear and well-structured. I have read encyclicals that were hard to follow, so finding a well-written one like this was a real pleasure.

Pope Benedict's examination of the nature of various kinds of love was familiar but worth reviewing, and his examination of God's love for us was reassuring. His explanations about our obligations on a personal level to carry out charitable activities and to seek social justice through love prompted some self-reflection on my part. Charity should be done not simply out of obligations or guilt, but out of love for our brothers and sisters.  

He also notes that we should not rely on the state to carry our charity; where possible and practical it should be local and personal. Otherwise, it loses those senses of love and the personal.

As he says:

“The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces.” 

I totally agree. 

I look forward to reading his Jesus of Nazareth.

 

Pax et bonum

Creature from the Black Lagoon

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

never could carry a tune.

With dreams of singing success dimming,

he decided to stick with swimming.

Pax et bonum

Saint Blaise Clerihew

We can probably assume Saint Blaise

is in Heaven these days.

Martyrdom likely led him to eternal glory

and not just some fish story.

Pax et bonum

Forgiving

Forgiving is difficult for me.

I remember words and actions. I easily take offense - whether or not it's intended.

I "forgive" - but allow resentments to linger and fester.

This lack of truly forgiving has led me to break off relationships, to quit jobs and groups, to leave organizations. I even refused to go to my high school reunion.

I have in the process alienated people, including many former friends. 

The most recent example is an editor/publisher who regularly published me, but who failed to publish some poems I thought should be published and who responded to a query in a way that seemed to me abrupt and dismissive. As a result, I did not go to a conference where he was to be a speaker. I have mentally decided not to submit more poems, and to let my subscription to his magazine lapse.

Silly. Petty.

Today at Mass I prayed about my hardness of heart and lack of forgiveness, 

God, forgive me.

Pax et bonum