In Memoriam

George Tiller, victim of assassination, you will be missed.

Undoubtedly you were loved.  But your life as a human being had infinite value, and no one, I repeat, no one, had the right to take that away from you.  You stood as a challenge - a man firm in his beliefs, a test for us to not give in to our weaker natures and end the slaughter you performed through equally violent means.

A large number of us are faithful Christians who oppose abortion - but a faithful Christian can never take the life of an innocent brother or sister.

Your death will be used as propaganda against us, and against our tireless war on a culture that sees human life as something capable of being owned or disposed of at will.  The shame that is now upon your killer will be cast upon us all, and our persecution as a movement will be nearer now than before.

But you were loved.  By everyone who believes that in each of us, born and unborn, there exists something that has a value too great, too precious to even be measured.

Our love must see beyond all distinctions of circumstance to He Who Dwells Within, for only in others can we truly love Him, even in his "most distressing disguise of the poor," and even more in his most distrubing disguise of the abortionist - He Dwelt within you, and anytime the Light of Christ goes out in the world it is a great tragedy.

In God's unending and everlasting mercy,

May you Rest In Peace.

[Context in case you do not know: Yesterday, Sunday, May 31st, 2009, at about 8am Dr. George Tiller was gunned down by an unknown (and assumed "pro-life") assassin as he was walking into his Lutheran congregation for Sunday services.  Dr. Tiller was one of three doctors in the USA who performed late-term abortions.  Now there are only two, and the pro-choice cause has a martyr.]

What do you see?

I have a question for folks, and I'd like to hear some responses (via comments if you please) - and in a few days there will be some theological consequences a.k.a. reflections.

The question is: in the image below, three reliefs are pictured; what do you see in each of them?

Unto Death - and beyond.

I've been doing a bit of reading today about some of the more interesting Northern European folklore (reading about the Morrigan, some Norse myths, some swedish, etc.) and came across the following.  For reference, Vikings were cremated with their personal belongings, though some were buried as corpses.  A draugr was a creature believed to be the body of the deceased, i.e. a person can come back as a draugr, which have all kinds of mythical traits (can change size, shape-shift, etc.), but nonetheless, check this out:

It was Christmas Eve, and Ola went down to his boathouse to get the keg of brandy he had bought for the holidays. When he got in, he noticed a draugr sitting on the keg, staring out to sea. Ola, with great presence of mind and great bravery (it might not be amiss to state that he already had done some drinking), tiptoed up behind the draug and struck him sharply in the small of the back, so that he went flying out through the window, with sparks hissing around him as he hit the water. Ola knew he had no time to lose, so he set off at a great rate, running through the churchyard which lay between his home and the boathouse. As he ran, he cried, "Up, all you Christian souls, and help me!" Then he heard the sound of fighting between the ghosts and the draugr, who were battling each other with coffin boards and bunches of seaweed. The next morning, when people came to church, the whole yard was strewn with coffin covers, boat boards, and seaweed. After the fight, which the ghosts won, the draugr never came back to that district.

Communion of Saints anyone?  I also always have liked how in some of the transitional cultures (i.e. old Pagan cultures that have by-and-large converted to Christianity but still have some of the survivals of the Old Ways) the idea exists that both the old Gods/spirits/demons exist alongside the Christian ones, and it seems that usually the Christian Saints and/or Angels and/or Faithful always triumph.  But that story, man - entertaining and cool in its implications.

Ascension Sunday

"So when they had come together, they asked him 'Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?'  He replied, 'It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own Authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'  When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight."

Acts 1:6-9

And when the Son returned to the Father, the Father greeted Him with open arms and asked "My Son, so good to see you!  What have you been up to down there?"  And the Son replied, "Father, I have taught a group of my closest friends to take care of your children, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, teach the ignorant - and I have arranged for our Love the Paraclete to go to them, to guide them.  They are to continue all that I have started from now until I return."  And the Father said "Why Son, that's wonderful!  But what's your back-up plan?  What if they don't do it?"

And the Son replied to the Father "There is no backup plan.  If they don't do it, it won't get done."

Christ has no body now but mine,
No hands, no feet on earth but mine,
Mine are the eyes with which he must look with
Compassion on the world,
Mine are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Mine are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

-Adapted from St. Theresa of Avila

And if we don't do it, it won't get done.

The Advantages of a Community

Last night I had a poignant experience of one of the advantages of being in community:

Strength.

Mutual, strength.

I nearly broke my fast - but with some encouragement, did not.  On my own, I would have failed, but together, I did not.

I find an echo of this in our community with Christ - on our own, we are bound to fail to love as we should.  But through Christ, all things are possible.  Through Christ, even bliss is possible.

On our own, we fail.  Together, we triumph.  With Christ as with Each Other, de nunc ad infinitum.

Amen.

That In Which We Cannot Be Overcome

Having begun my nightly reading, I came across this and decided to share:

"Once Abbot Macarius was on his way home to his cell from the marshes, carrying reeds, and he met the devil with a reaper's sickle in his path.  The devil tried to get him with the sickle, and couldn't.  And he said: I suffer great violence from you, Macarius, because I cannot overcome you.  For see, I do all the things that you do.  You fast, and I eat nothing at all.  You watch, and I never sleep.  But there is one thing alone in which you overcome me.  Abbot Macarius said to him: What is that?  You humility, the devil replied, for because of it I cannot overcome you."

 - The Desert Fathers, p. 53

Seriously - this book is some good stuff.

In Titulum

A brief note on the title

Over the summer I am attempting to the best of my ability to discern where my Love is calling me - and as part of that I will be spending two weeks at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota with the Benedictine Monks there.  But more importantly perhaps, I am attempting to live a contemplative life in the everyday - through my daiurnal practices and through my job (waitering at a local restaurant).  I'm doing my best to make it to mass every day, confession et al. once a week, some labor daily (2-3 hours), and the rest of my days I'm trying to spend reading and praying - what hopefully amounts to an approximation (except for the waitering) of the contemplative life.  Oh, and the Liturgy of the hours.  For my purposes, I'm calling it the Experiment.  And i've decided to share the results of my time and prayer via this blog.  And hence,

The Everyday Contemplative

My Bookbag

So as I packed my bag tonight, I actively thought: "Only the essentials, bring no books you will not read at least a little of tonight"

And still, my bag is full.  So I thought I'd share the contents as a way of letting folks know on some level where I'm at:

 - Holy Bible (Constant) - Like a good catholic, my personal bible is the NAB.  Though NRSV can be very useful too - I keep a copy of the Oxford Annotated as a school-academic bible, and use my NAB for personal/spiritual reflection

 - Journal (Constant)

 - Note-book (Constant) - a notebook specifically for taking notes on other books, vs. journaling/doodling, etc.

 - The Desert Fathers, by Thomas Merton (Merton) - I highly recommend this book.  Its a bajillion little snippets of wisdom from the early desert fathers (think 100-300AD) - and they have been so very helpful to me already.  Kind of sucks that it belongs to Swem, actually...

 - Thoughts in Solitude, by Thomas Merton (Merton) - a tiny Shambala Pocket Classic (seriosly, investigate that series, they're all excellent) - which is precisely what its title implies: thoughts (usually only a few pages or less) written during periods of solitude.  And oh are they thought-provoking...

 - Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West (Theology Slot 1) - assigned as penance by Fr. Rob Cole.  Smart man...smart man...

 - Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger (Theology Slot 2) - Benedict XVI's treatment of the Historical Jesus - I can't wait! (Slot 2 means its in queue for when I finish Theology of the Body - which should be in the next three days, God willing...)

 - The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (Philosophy/World History) - So I'm kind of sneaking in a year of what amounts to Pre-Theology at any seminary at my secular undergrad - and as I'm not that in-depth in the world and history of philosophy, I figured a complete introduction by one of the most well-known philosophers of the 20th century wouldn't be a bad place to start.

 - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Fiction) - Yossarian Lives!!!  I don't quite yet know the significance of that, but I trust that in three weeks or hopefully much less I will.  Good literature is nourishment to the soul.

And this one I don't have with me, but to give you an idea:

 - The Life of Greece, Story of Civilization Series Vol. 2 by Will Durant (World History Slot 2) - oh I can't wait to sink my teeth fully into the Story of Civ series...oh, the drool...it begins already.

Silence Is...

One thing that I have learned in my brief stint as a waiter...and I should have figured this out a long time ago:

Silence is not an external circumstance - it is an inward attitude.

Quiet is not an external circumstance - it is an inward orientation.

We can have peace and quiet, solitude, silence even amidst the noisiest and busiest bustle of life - and believe me, a popular restaurant gets pretty busy, especially for a new server such as myself.

And yet - I find my peace of mind not to be determined by how many guests I have, how many tables I'm waiting on, how backed up the bar is - but instead determined by my own choices in how I am going to live each moment.  Am I going to let myself get distracted from the people I'm serving?  Or am I going to remember always that no matter what may happen, He is Risen?  The choice is mine every day and every moment - and yours too.

Titles Like Whoa and Hello

Unintended subject line rhyme for the win.

That is all.

Just kidding.

Each entry will hopefully be a coherent and cohesive reflection.  Some may simply state facts.

Oh, and yes, I know - I only thought the title catchy, not the blogger worthy of it.

I hope you enjoy at minimum, and perhaps at best gain some insight through your reading.

Pax Christi Vobiscum