When the world is too much with me, I retreat into Victoria and Southern Lady magazines. They pile up in tucked away towers around the house for months at a time, unopened. Sometimes even six months fly by with nary a ruffling of the pages by yours truly.
But then, suddenly, I will feel so dried up and crispy from this worrisome world that I will grab a couple from the stacks and scurry off to the patio, like I did Saturday evening.
With birds flitting and chirping, chimes resonating, and the horn of a distant train lending a bass line, I melt into the loveliness of elegant words, elevating thoughts, and picturesque scenes.
I startle myself from my reverie by whispering gorgeous phrases, savoring each word-picture as it rolls off my tongue.
Oh! A feature story on demitasse spoons! Readers writing in about their lovely book clubs, peopled by ladies endowed with exquisite manners. An article on artful stationery.
I am charmed and feel the the nectar of life filling my cells, moistening my very marrow.
While walking down the sidewalk, enjoying a festival in an economically-depressed small town, I came upon the scene in the photo to the left.
I stood there mesmerized while the little girl plunked away at the tired keys. She obviously had never had a piano lesson, but that did not dampen her enjoyment at all. It probably heightened it.
I was struck with the idea--so simple--that We Can Do Little Things That Make a Big Difference.
There is the possibility that the opportunity to play this piano will lead to an interest in studying music. This would undeniably be a great return on the investment of making the piano available to festival goers. But even if no one was inspired to learn music, what a fabulous expression of goodwill! I believe that such acts create good returns, even if they appear to be invisible.
Recently I noticed an old and scarred baby grand piano on display in my local community center. It was roped off, but there was a small placard on it that explained that the instrument had been used to teach piano lessons to local children for 30 years. I marveled at the remarkable impact this piano most likely has had on our town, probably with immeasurable ripple effects of goodness that have echoed throughout the country. I am grateful to whomever had the insight to put it on display. So often we are encouraged to publicly admire the big industrialist. His impact can be measured in dollars, so he easily gains recognition.
I struggle to remember these lessons. I have gotten caught up in all the national election hoopla. Yes, the president of the United States is important. But we cannot discount the importance of the little local things that we can do. Locally, we can have a far bigger impact than nationally.
I have been reminded since the election that even a smile matters. With all the news about the animosity of different groups, I realized that I was beginning to expect people to be unfriendly to me. I have been enormously relieved to have my expectations proved completely unfounded. Representatives of the different groups have gone out of their way to greet me with warm smiles and welcoming eyes--to politely and cheerfully say, "Excuse me," as they pass by me in the grocery store.
I happily return the greeting and remind myself to take a break from the news, even the alternative news, and to make decisions on my own experience.
One can be a citizen of the USA (that is, CUSA) and be a Catholic, and most CUSAs are Americans. One cannot be a Catholic and an American. To be an American is to believe in American principles before the teachings of the Church, or in other words to accept the Enlightenment ideals as superior to the teachings of the Faith.~ David Wemhoff, "Joseph Ratzinger's American Mind"
Although I do not agree with Mr. Wemhoff's contention in the full article that the Conciliar church has not changed doctrine, I heartily agree with this quote. It sums up all that I have figured out in my studies over the last few years. Listening to two of Wemhoff's interviews on how Americanism was purposely inserted directly into the circulatory system of the Church, finally helped me see how John Courtney Murray, an American Jesuit priest and "theologian", was able to get Religious Liberty approved at Vatican II, an idea that had always been condemned by the Church. The interviews are based on Wemhoff's book, John Courtney Murray, Time-Life, and the American Proposition. I haven't read the book, but the Amazon description of it is helpful background for listening to the interviews. Here's a portion of it:
In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his famous "Four Freedoms" speech. In that speech, FDR set forth a vision for the reengineering of societies around the globe. The means was psychological warfare, involving the manipulation of ideas, words and symbols to divide target societies and convince these societies of the ideology that formed America. The most important society America targeted was the Roman Catholic Church. Media mogul Henry R. Luce, founder and publisher of enormously influential magazines like Time and Life, used the CIA's doctrinal warfare program to turn the Catholic Church into a promoter of American ideas. This struggle reached its culmination at the Second Vatican Council with the promulgation of the document Declaration on Religious Liberty.
The first interview I listened to was this one, "David A. Wemhoff on Henry Luce and the American Century." Chilling.
The second interview that I listened to was this one:
The introduction by host Peter Helland is slow going, but once Wemhoff starts talking, it's good. One of the more startling revelations he makes is that John Courtney Murray actually wrote "The American Proposition" speech for Luce, a fact that lends credence to the assertion by one of the Time reporters who covered Vatican II that John Courtney Murray was part of a conspiracy.
The American Proposition speech set forth the American principles for a good society based on no established religion. I found it interesting that it was delivered in 1953, the same year that Cardinal Ottaviani, head of the Holy Office, delivered his speech on the Duties of the Catholic Confessional State, which directly contradicted the principles of The American Proposition.
Reading Solange Hertz's, The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism finally wove the last threads together for me into a recognizable pattern, as she lays out the sordid history of the heresy of Americanism from its beginnings in revolutionary America among the Catholic hierarchy. I thought I knew a good deal about that, but I truly was shocked by the quotes she used from these so-called Catholic churchmen.
It's quite disheartening. However, it is a great advantage to know the problem.
Without a Catholic confessional state, we do not serve Jesus Christ. We must recognize Him as King, and the Church He established must be free to ensure His reign over our affairs and provide a check on the government. If we do not serve Jesus Christ then we serve Mammon. That is why everything revolves around money in America and why it does not matter who gets elected to office. The founding principles of America are in direct contradiction to Catholic doctrine.
In the very heart of the Passion He [Christ] was pleased to show us “democracy” in action, manipulated by the instruments of Satan. Pilate, turning to the people in hopes of saving the Prisoner he knew to be innocent, asks, “What, then, am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ?” And they answered, prompted by their leaders, “Let him be crucified!” (Matt. 27: 22-23) and elected Barabbas. Thus was our Lord’s death demanded and ratified by Jews who had espoused the democratic process, preferring human rule to God’s. Let there be no mistake. The real objective of the liberty, equality and fraternity touted by the forces of humanism is always the death of God. ~ Solange Hertz, The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism
I've really benefitted this Lent from doing the Total Consecration to Mary according to St. Louis de Montfort while also reading The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism. It's made the contrast between Catholicism and Americanism much clearer to me. True freedom lies in Holy Slavery to Our Lord through His Blessed Mother. It is not in the American idea of freedom, which is of Satan. (The American founders met in a Boston tavern called The Green Dragon, which Daniel Webster called the “Headquarters of the Revolution”. It was the seat of Massachusetts Masonry's Provincial Grand Lodge, according to Mrs. Hertz.)
I will close with a gorgeous recording of Ave Maris Stella. Saying that prayer every day is a requirement of the Consecration. I have found that if I sing it, it will come to me on its own frequently throughout the day.
When I first got on Facebook, my friends posted statuses about what they were doing or thinking. Gradually, I've watched those personal statuses mostly disappear and be replaced by memes. I am guilty of this as well. Who wants to write when you can share a professional-looking graphic with a pithy saying already in place? You can brighten someone's day or make them re-think a serious issue with just a click of the keyboard. And there are wonderful Catholic ones too, making it so easy to share the faith.
My fear, though, is that the use of memes further diminishes our ability to form and express our own thoughts, just like with store-bought greeting cards. Worse, I've realized that memes keep my thoughts within certain channels. What would I be thinking if there were not these pre-formed snippets of ideas confronting me? It's not that I think Facebook is some fabulous medium for exchanging meaningful ideas. I just have noticed the changes and find them regrettable.
That's why I have put myself on a meme fast. I am only posting things I write myself. It's a little thing, but I saw a meme yesterday with a picture of Gandalf and a message about doing little things with love and kindness to change the world.
See, I told you I was worried about memes channeling my thoughts!
Titian’s tribute to feminine beauty, the fleshy "Flora."
Those jiggly thighs you've been grieving over are actually storehouses of omega-3 fatty acid DHA for optimal development of your baby's brain during pregnancy.
That's right! Rejoice my sisters!
Quit fighting your body's God-given purpose: Stop buying into the globalists' media idea that women should be rail thin to be attractive. Read more about how women's fat is stored and used differently than men's HERE.
And before you decide to follow the modernists' advice to finish college and "see the world" before you marry, you might consider that it's possible that God had something else in mind. "Frequent and early" pregnancy may help prevent endometriosis. This treatment was even suggested by a gynecologist to a young friend of mine who already has Stage 2 endometriosis. So it is not just for prevention, and it's not just some crazy internet advice.
We are wonderfully and fearfully made to conceive and nurture children.
I never read the New York Times, but I decided to this morning just on a whim. As someone who has long been disturbed by the way Disney twists classic stories and promotes sexuality to children, this article about a Disney cartoon caught my interest. First, I studied the picture. I noticed several Masonic symbols. On the bed are two pillows. One is in the shape of a pyramid, and the other is a pentagram shape. There is an all-seeing eye right at the middle of the girl's stethoscope. In the background there is a table with the doctor's equipment. Take a few seconds and look at it. It's clearly a workbench with tools on a pegboard. My gut reaction was that this is about torture, not healing. On the second page is another picture of McStuffins toys for sale . On the top right corner of the package it says, "Doc really makes Lambie Talk". Spine-chilling. The doll says, "Time for your checkup!"
I have never seen the program. The points I made were based solely on the pictures in the article. For those readers who think I am imagining things and overreacting, here's a description of the show that you can feel good about:
Disney Junior’s “Doc McStuffins,” an imaginative animated series about a six-year-old girl who runs a clinic for stuffed animals and broken toys out of her backyard playhouse, was the #1 most-watched preschool series launch in cable TV history in Adults 18-49, which means moms and dads were tuning in and making sure their kids got to see the little female African-American doctor who was helping her stuff animals feel better about visiting their physician.
