Wise Words on Wednesday: For a happy life
Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life
– Marcus Aurelius (121-180)
Month: September 2015
Men Without Chests
C.S. Lewis Doodle has just released a video covering the first chapter of the last Lewis book I read, “The Abolition of Man”:
Music Monday: In Over My Head
Today we have the appropriately titled “In over my head”, sung by Jenn Johnson:
I have come to this place in my life
I’m full but I’ve not satisfied
This longing to have more of You
I can feel it my heart is convinced
I’m thirsty my soul can’t be quenched
You already know this but still
Come and do whatever You want to
I’m standing knee deep but I’m out where never been
I feel You coming and I hear Your voice on the wind
Would you come and tear down the boxes that I have tried to put You in
Let love come teach me who You are again
Take me back to the place where my heart was only about You
And all I wanted was just to be with You
Come and do whatever You want to
Further and further my heart moves away from the shore
Whatever it looks like, whatever may come I am Yours
Then You crash over me and I’ve lost control but I’m free.
I’m going under, I’m in over my head
Whether I sink, whether I swim, it makes no difference when
I’m beautifully in over my head
Lighthouse Offer
Today I wanted to publicize the deal currently being offered by Lighthouse Catholic Media. If you sign up to their mailing list, you will get to download an MP3 which has probably brought more people into the Catholic Church than any other. It’s the talk by Dr. Scott Hahn explaining why he stepped down from being a Presbyterian Pastor and became a Catholic:
Whom shall we send?
This last week, we had Kenn and Laura Cramer visiting Seattle. Laura and I first became friends about eight years ago in Washington DC when I first arrived in the States. Laura moved to Colorado and met Kenn and the two have been married for about three years now.
While they were in Seattle they gave a talk at “Drinks with Dominicans”, describing how they’ve decided to leave their lives in Colorado and become missionaries on the Indian Reservation in Montana. I wanted to share something of their story here, so here’s the article written about them on Denver Catholic:
The 3%
I once read a quotation about statistics which said that “a politician uses statistics in the same way a drunk uses a street lamp, for support rather than for illumination”… I thought that this was an appropriate quotation to begin the subject of today’s post. You see, it’s quite impossible to speak out against Planned Parenthood for long before hearing the following response:
“But abortion is only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does!”
This objection has been raised by many of my friends and you hear this statistic rattled off by politicians and Planned Parenthood advocates. 3% seems so small and insignificant! The argument is that if you defund Planned Parenthood then women would lose access to all the other services they provide as well. This assumes that abortion and healthcare can only come together as a package, treating pregnancy as though it’s just another disease.
How is it that Planned Parenthood is known for being the nation’s premiere abortion provider if it’s only 3% of what it does? Isn’t that incredible?! In fact, if it’s such a small percentage of their work, you can’t help but wonder why Planned Parenthood doesn’t just get out of the abortion industry altogether and save themselves the constant annoyance of having all those pesky pro-lifers outside of their clinics all the time!
There is a problem with the 3% statistic. While there is a certain veracity to the statistic, it’s incredibly misleading, so much so as to be positively meaningless!
Brother Lawrence
At the end of last week I went on another silent retreat. I spent lots of time reading “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence, a lay Carmelite brother. I’ve found it really beautiful. I would like to share with you a portion of Letter Seven:
…[God] requires no great matters of us; a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration. Sometimes to pray for His grace. Sometimes to offer Him your sufferings. And sometimes to return Him thanks for the favors He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles. Console yourself with Him the oftenest you can… The least little remembrance will always be pleasing to Him.
You need not cry very loud. He is nearer to us than we are aware. And we do not always have to be in church to be with God. We may make an oratory of our heart so we can, from time to time, retire to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love…
…You are nearly sixty-four, and I am almost eighty. Let us live and die with God. Sufferings will be sweet and pleasant while we are with Him. Without Him, the greatest pleasures will be a cruel punishment to us….
Gradually become accustomed to worship Him in this way; to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time; in the midst of your business, even every moment if you can. Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules or particular forms of devotion. Instead, act in faith with love and humility.