Showing posts with label The World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The World. Show all posts
Monday, April 15, 2013
Better / Richer
The world would be better off if people tried to become better. And people would become better if they stopped trying to become better off. For when everybody tries to become better off, nobody is better off. But when everybody tries to become better, everybody is better off.
Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer. And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be the poorest. And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be.
Peter Maurin
Monday, August 6, 2012
Monday
Since it's Monday...I thought it would be good to remind ourselves that we DO NOT have to carry the weight of the world...
Monday, February 20, 2012
Reshaping the world
Faith contains the potential to reshape our world...be sure and watch the video all the way through.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Beauty
I used to think the world was trying to teach girls and women that you had to do this or that or use this beauty product or that, wear these clothes or that, attend this school, be a cheerleader, dancer, be the most popular, and the list goes on an on. I now realize that the world is actually saying, "You'll never be good enough!"
That is so not true...
We must all work to teach our children and young girls that all are beautiful in God's eyes...and ours!
That is so not true...
We must all work to teach our children and young girls that all are beautiful in God's eyes...and ours!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
My opinion....
I have put off responding to the death of Osama bin Laden simply because I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Of course, I was pleased that the world no longer contained the one face that made each of us recall the terror, anger and sadness of 9/11. But I could not bring myself to celebrate in the fashion of so many others. I am not judging their outpouring of jubilation...each is free to react in their own way.
But rather than celebrating death, isn't it more satisfying to know that American arms and intelligence have triumphed in a contest with our enemies? Even though it has taken much longer than any one of us would have liked or expected, we have at last rid the world of al-Qaeda's most valuable figurehead. Seal Team 6 performed their duties quickly and effectively. Have you noticed that those who were on the front lines, who jumped into harms way to do their duty and accomplish their mission, are keeping well hidden from the glare of the camera? They refuse our praise and adulation. If you could ask any one of them, they would tell you that it's all in a day's work. This is what they have sacrificed and trained for...to defend freedom at a moment's notice.
While I realize it has probably been a long time since bin Laden has been the real leader, the fact that he has been able to survive for so long has been extraordinarily symbolic to his followers. But, when the time came and his location pinpointed, he and his followers succumbed after a very brief struggle. His last stand cannot be used to glorify him or serve him as a martyr. .
I am also pleased to know that we do not have to struggle with the myriad of issues that would have presented themselves if he had been captured alive. Where would we try him? What prison would hold him? Would his ultimate death be televised and thus used to inspire countless others? The fact that he died without the glare of television crews and was buried quietly in the sea, which does not give up her dead, made handling the situation simpler and easier. Some may try to argue that the military should not be judge, jury and executioner but he was tried in the court of world opinion almost ten years ago...his fate was sealed at that point.
I am no where near perfect and cannot say that I am right...it's just the way I see it.
But rather than celebrating death, isn't it more satisfying to know that American arms and intelligence have triumphed in a contest with our enemies? Even though it has taken much longer than any one of us would have liked or expected, we have at last rid the world of al-Qaeda's most valuable figurehead. Seal Team 6 performed their duties quickly and effectively. Have you noticed that those who were on the front lines, who jumped into harms way to do their duty and accomplish their mission, are keeping well hidden from the glare of the camera? They refuse our praise and adulation. If you could ask any one of them, they would tell you that it's all in a day's work. This is what they have sacrificed and trained for...to defend freedom at a moment's notice.
While I realize it has probably been a long time since bin Laden has been the real leader, the fact that he has been able to survive for so long has been extraordinarily symbolic to his followers. But, when the time came and his location pinpointed, he and his followers succumbed after a very brief struggle. His last stand cannot be used to glorify him or serve him as a martyr. .
I am also pleased to know that we do not have to struggle with the myriad of issues that would have presented themselves if he had been captured alive. Where would we try him? What prison would hold him? Would his ultimate death be televised and thus used to inspire countless others? The fact that he died without the glare of television crews and was buried quietly in the sea, which does not give up her dead, made handling the situation simpler and easier. Some may try to argue that the military should not be judge, jury and executioner but he was tried in the court of world opinion almost ten years ago...his fate was sealed at that point.
I am no where near perfect and cannot say that I am right...it's just the way I see it.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Do not try this at home...
Sorry, this is fascinating to watch but I felt I needed to add a disclaimer. During my childhood days, me and my sister, along with neighborhood children and various cousins would have given it a shot! I've never said we were (or that I am) the brightest bulb in the box...but, we did have some fun!
Friday, January 7, 2011
If we love our children...
The exploitation of children, ANY exploitation of children in reprehensible. It offends the senses of most and yet, we allow it to seep into our culture bit by bit with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. The January/February issue of French Vogue has crossed a boundary that should never have been approached.
The models are slender, overly made up and photographed in provocative poses. What's new about that you ask? Nothing, except that these models range in age from 6 - 7 years old. I will not post the pictures on my blog. If you want to see them in order to put my post in perspective, you can see them here.
I can't even begin to fathom the reasons a parent would allow this to happen to their child...I'm afraid the thought renders me speechless. But, then again, I am one of THOSE people who have issues with young girls out and about in short shorts with phrases printed on their backsides. What are those who are supposed to be the guardians of their childhoods thinking?
Exploitation robs, not the perpetrator but the child. It robs them of innocence, of a sense of protection and safety, of trust. All the while inflicting on them a sense of guilt, of fault, of failure. It can and does shape their lives and may even destroy it. Exploitation teaches them to live with an internal pain so deep and so hurtful that it may never be exorcised.
Those things which destroy a child, destroys humanity itself. If we love our children we must do all we can to protect them...this is just the first step.
The models are slender, overly made up and photographed in provocative poses. What's new about that you ask? Nothing, except that these models range in age from 6 - 7 years old. I will not post the pictures on my blog. If you want to see them in order to put my post in perspective, you can see them here.
I can't even begin to fathom the reasons a parent would allow this to happen to their child...I'm afraid the thought renders me speechless. But, then again, I am one of THOSE people who have issues with young girls out and about in short shorts with phrases printed on their backsides. What are those who are supposed to be the guardians of their childhoods thinking?
Exploitation robs, not the perpetrator but the child. It robs them of innocence, of a sense of protection and safety, of trust. All the while inflicting on them a sense of guilt, of fault, of failure. It can and does shape their lives and may even destroy it. Exploitation teaches them to live with an internal pain so deep and so hurtful that it may never be exorcised.
Those things which destroy a child, destroys humanity itself. If we love our children we must do all we can to protect them...this is just the first step.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Church...
From Msgr. Charles Pope
The hatred of the Church is growing in our culture and many of the ring leaders claim to know Christ and think they can find him only in purer air, a room of their own choosing. But Christ is found where he is found. The Pharisees expected to find the Messiah on their terms. But Jesus was found where he was found. He was not from the educated in Jerusalem, but of the peasants in Galilee. He spoke with a Galilean “hick” accent and walked among the poor, the nobodies, the sinners, the uninformed and unenlightened.
Today, the menu is a little different. In Jesus’ time it was a religious aristocracy that sneered at his followers. Today, the world is secular and those who sneer see believers as simple-minded, unscientific, unenlightened and intolerant. And we are sinners to be sure. Some of the charges against us are true. Actual sinners are we. The Church is a hospital for sick people who need a doctor. Some of the other charges of our sinfulness are less deserved: that we are collectively intolerant, hateful, bigoted, etc.
But despite all this, I know by faith that this is where Christ is found. Those who want Jesus without his Church not only seek him in vain, they risk reinventing him altogether. He is found where he is found.
The hatred of the Church is growing in our culture and many of the ring leaders claim to know Christ and think they can find him only in purer air, a room of their own choosing. But Christ is found where he is found. The Pharisees expected to find the Messiah on their terms. But Jesus was found where he was found. He was not from the educated in Jerusalem, but of the peasants in Galilee. He spoke with a Galilean “hick” accent and walked among the poor, the nobodies, the sinners, the uninformed and unenlightened.
Today, the menu is a little different. In Jesus’ time it was a religious aristocracy that sneered at his followers. Today, the world is secular and those who sneer see believers as simple-minded, unscientific, unenlightened and intolerant. And we are sinners to be sure. Some of the charges against us are true. Actual sinners are we. The Church is a hospital for sick people who need a doctor. Some of the other charges of our sinfulness are less deserved: that we are collectively intolerant, hateful, bigoted, etc.
But despite all this, I know by faith that this is where Christ is found. Those who want Jesus without his Church not only seek him in vain, they risk reinventing him altogether. He is found where he is found.
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