Going All Jeremiah!

Woe to you America! 

You have turned from the Lord 

to embrace 

immorality and perversion. 

Repent! Repent! 

Before it is too late.

Woe to you America! 

Your quest for 

individual liberty 

has become

a demand for 

self-indulgent licentiousness. 

Repent! Repent! 

Before it is too late.


Woe to you America! 

Too many parents 

have failed to form their children in faith 

and have set poor moral examples in their own lives, 

and too many leaders and educators 

are intent on leading the young astray. 

Repent! Repent! 

Before it is too late.


Woe to you America!

Your sinful ways 

will lead to a fall 

unless you repent

before it is too late.

Pax et bonum

There's a Place in the World for a Gambler (Live)

Three Rivers Bluegrass Band, Ain't No Grave

Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down - Tim O'Brien

A Southern Gospel Revival - Jamie Wilson - Ain't No Grave

Chesterton Reading Goal Met

One of my long-term reading goals was to read all of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries.

Having now read The Scandal of Father Brown, I have met that goal.

All told, he wrote 53 Father Brown tales. They were collected in the Ignatius Press G. K. Chesterton: Collected Works. 

Chesterton once declared  "I think it only fair to confess that I have myself written some of the worst mystery stories in the world.".

I don't agree with him. I have certainly read far worse mystery stories. And some of the Father Brown tales are wonderful mysteries.

I do acknowledge, however, that some of the tales do not measure up to the good ones. Some of them read as if he wrote them in a hurry, or had some need to scribble one - such as money. I remember one tale, for example, where a character was referred to as another person's daughter, then, later, as that person's granddaughter. Chesterton also uses some stereotypes when referring to certain ethnic groups, or used the "n" word when referring to Blacks. Yes, I understand that the stereotypes and words he used were not offensive in his time, but they certainly made me uncomfortable as a modern reader. And too often the tales are stretched out with Father Brown dropping hints about the solution, but kept delaying revealing what he knew. Was there a certain length or word count guiding Chesterton?

Still, I enjoyed the journey. I could see a really fine book collecting 8-10 stories, "the best of Father Brown."

My next Chesterton goal is to finish reading all of his novels.

I have read:

The Napoleon of Notting Hill

The Man Who Was Thursday

Manalive

I have yet to read the novels:

The Flying Inn

The Ball and the Cross 

The Return of Don Quixote 

I read somewhere that the Quixote book was the one that convinced Chesterton to give up writing novels. Hmm. I will at least read the first two titles!

There are also some story collections I might tackle at some point:

The Club of Queer Trades

Tales of the Long Bow

The Man Who Knew Too Much

I actually have copies of these three collections. There are at least two more collection, though I do not have them:. 

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond

The Poet and the Lunatics

If I find them, I will probably read them at some point.

Pax et bonum

That Blasted Novel

I was talking with someone about my unfinished horror novel - the one that reached 40,000 words but that I abandoned because it was too dark.

The person said it sounded really interesting.

It got me thinking.

Can I save it and finish it?

I've mulled this before. I already had taken out some of the darker elements. I also had cut out some characters as it was becoming too cluttered.

I looked at the last part that I wrote. It's kind of sketchy; I was just trying to get it moving forward, figuring I'd go back and develop it more.

One thing that became clear to me is that I don't remember all that I did write - and I can't even remember the names of some of the characters! I have to go back and take notes. Plus, i had had some ideas about some incident later in the novel, but now i can't remember them. What happens at the party with the Chesterton-like character? How does the professor die? How does the main character get into the INS? What happens with the witch who was trying to seduce the main character? How do I keep the Native-American nurse involved?

Sigh.

Pax et bonum

Dada Wisdom

Every time we tell an old family story it is different because we are different, and because we are closer to death.

Pax et bonum

Actually Reading Robert Frost

One of my reading goals has been to read all of the published books of poetry of one of my favorite poets, Robert Frost. I've been reading them in chronological order.

I just finished Steeple Bush, published in 1947.

As much as I like his poetry, I have to admit that this book is one of his weaker efforts. He was about 73 at this point, and I think his skills were fading. Oh, there are some decent poems in the collection -  like "Directive" - but most of the rest are not of the same quality as his earlier poems. 

At this point, I just have his final collection, In the Clearing (1962), and two masques, A Masque of Reason (1945), and A Masque of Mercy (1947) to read.

When I'm done with Frost, I have two other poetry reading goals.

I plan at some point to read all of Shakespeare's sonnets.  

And I will read the collected poems of one of my other favorite poets, Emily Dickinson - all 1,775 of them!

Pax et bonum

Reading Robert Frost Clerihew

When reading Robert Frost
I often find myself getting lost
in thoughts of walls and trees and snow and roads,
but never once of toads

.
Pax et bonum

Good Response to "If men could get pregnant ...

Good response.

... Setting to the side its blatant anti-Catholicism, the old abortion rights counterfactual sloganeering that “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament,” might better be expressed as “because men cannot get pregnant, abortion is a sacrament.” If men could get pregnant, surely they would insist on something better than being vacuumed out and sent on their way. Surely they would demand comprehensive health care, affordable childcare, and extended parental leave policies. If men could get pregnant, would they not demand something better than abortion? 

https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/if-men-could-get-pregnant-wouldnt-they-demand-something-better-than-abortion/ 

Pax et bonum

5 Myths About the Crusades

Human Life Begins ...

Pax et bonum

Grandfather Joe Limerick

Pax et bonum

Bible does NOT give a recipe for abortion

Conclusion

Neither interpretation provides any support for taking the life of an unborn child.

We have looked at two plausible interpretations of the curious passage in Numbers 5 that some people have cited as an argument for abortion. Yet neither interpretation provides any support for taking the life of an unborn child. The disfigurement view does not involve a pregnancy at all. The miscarriage view does indeed involve a pregnancy, but the sins of the parents (their adulterous relationship and her false oath before God and man) are wholly to blame for the resultant miscarriage.

The Bible consistently teaches that the life of the child in the womb is just as valuable as those who have already been born. Every human being, both male and female and from the moment of fertilization, is made in God’s image, regardless of one’s level of development, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, or age. These truths will be vividly displayed in the Creation Museum’s upcoming exhibit, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, opening later this year. This spectacular exhibit will celebrate human life from the moment of fertilization, showcasing our Creator’s unmatched handiwork, respectfully addressing sensitive issues in our culture, and showing the message of hope and forgiveness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

https://answersingenesis.org/sanctity-of-life/numbers-5-and-abortion/

Pax et bonum

Good Friday Stations for Life 2023

A pro-life hero, Carol Crossed, spoke to the folks gathered in McQuaid High School's chapel for a prayer service, then we marched to a site where abortions are performed, and prayed there. 

Pax et bonum