A Salute to Those Who've Paid the Ultimate Price for our Freedom

I heard the following at the county Memorial Day observance we attended today, and thought it was a great reminder for all of us:

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

by Charles M. Province

A Dollop of Politically Incorrect Humor for the Season

This came through on our local Catholic homeschooling support group e-list and I thought it was too funny not to share.

"To All My Liberal Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice/Chanukkah/ Kwanzaa/etc. holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.

Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee, not to exclude joint tax-payers filing singly.

To All My Christian Friends:

Blessed Advent, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry to be so quiet here lately, we've been bogged down in negotiations on a house purchase. We've been going back & forth with the seller for a week & a half. We almost walked away from the deal twice now but submitted our "final, final, did we mention- final?" offer yesterday at the same price as our 2 most recent counters. Ugh, what a pain! The seller has been stuck on the price the home was appraised at back in August. We told them that we were not bidding on what it was worth last summer but rather where we feel the market is heading in the near future. If the seller truly believes that they can find another buyer willing to pay a higher price than us, by all means tell us no. But the home has been on the market for 45 days already so I really don't think they've got folks beating down their door. They need to sell the home more than we need to buy it (it's an estate sale). We're not trying to take advantage of the situation, we just don't want to overpay given the very real risk of a further market decline. But enough real estate venting!

Hope you all are enjoying a nice holiday!

Hats off to Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice for Freedom

Last year on Memorial Day I was in the midst of first trimester morning (noon, and night) sickness so I neglected to post a thank you on this blog to all those brave men and women who gave their lives so the rest of us could be free. My apologies for not feeling up to giving a more public display of gratitude!

This year, I've decided to share the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn as my Memorial Day post. Emerson was writing about the battle of Concord in the Revolutionary War but his beautiful poem is a fitting tribute to all those brave Americans who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We place with joy a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, --
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.

Welcome 2009

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope that 2009 sees a turnaround in the economy and soon :-)

Merry Christmas!

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.

This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child,

and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.

The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

From the humblest of births, the world was saved. Alleluia! Gloria in excelsis Deo!

One More Reason to Homeschool: You Can Recreate the 1st Thanksgiving in Peace

File this one under the category of "don't these people have anything more important to do?"

Police in Claremont, CA (an upscale suburb of L.A.) were called to Eleanor Daly Condit Elementary School after rival protesters clashed in front of the school. The dispute stemmed from the decision by the school board to cancel the construction paper costume portion of the four decades-old tradition of having the kindergarten students recreate the First Thanksgiving.

Apparently, one Condit parent, Dr. Michelle Raheja, who teaches Native American Literature at UC-Riverside, complained that the costumes were "racist". She compared the recreation to:

"asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis)"

Testifying in front of the school board in support of Dr. Raheja's position were Dr. Jennifer Tilton, professor of Race & Ethnic Studies at the University of Redlands, and instructors from Pitzer College and Riverside Community College.

Parent Constance Garabedian accused Dr. Raheja of:

"using those children as a political platform for herself and her ideas. I'm not a professor and I'm not a historian, but I can put the dots together."

The school board took the political correct position and ordered the students to forgo the costumes "in order to be sensitive to the Native American culture."

I'm of Irish heritage. My ancestors had to deal with oppression by foreign conquerors and when they fled to the U.S., they faced discrimination. But that was a long time before I was born. I wouldn't get my knickers in a knot if some kindergarten kids wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by making leprechaun costumes out of construction paper. True, it may be a bit cartoonish, but certainly not racist.

They don't call it "La-la Land" for nothing!

Defaulting on the Promissory Note

Today we set aside regular lessons in our homeschool for a discussion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the struggle for civil rights in this country. As I read Rev. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech to my five year old and explained its meaning to her, it occurred to me that many of those who attended schools named in his honor might not be able to do the same.

Jonathan Kozol gave statistics in his 2005 book The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America about just how segregated schools named for Rev. King or other civil rights heroes such as Thurgood Marshall & Rosa Parks are- typically 96-99% of students are African-American or Latino and most live in poverty. A shamefully large percentage of the students drop out, and many of those who do earn enough credits to graduate struggle to pass exit exams testing 10th grade English and 8th grade math skills. Kozol describes these schools as "tense, disorderly, socially unhappy, and often violent."

Rev. King's speech is filled with complex vocabulary and literary and historical allusions. For example, standing near the Lincoln Memorial he said:

"Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice."

To understand this passage, one needs to be familiar with Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the terrible conditions existing under slavery. One must also know the definitions of "momentous", "decree", "beacon", "seared", "withering", etc. Without the relevant background knowledge, the passage is not going to make much sense.

For somebody like me who attended one of the best public schools in the state where I grew up, it is easy to grasp. But too many students of color in the U.S. are not receiving the type of education that would permit them to comprehend Rev. King's poetic and inspiring speech. De jure segregation has been replaced by de facto segregation.

It is shameful that over four decades have passed since Rev. King's speech and there still exists in this country such inequality of educational opportunity.

Merry Christmas!

Adeste fideles, laeti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem!
Natum videte regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus Dominum!

TT: 13 Christmas Songs I'm Completely Sick Of

Thirteen CHRISTMAS SONGS I'M COMPLETELY SICK OF I love Christmas music and have had my car radio tuned to the holiday station since the day after Thanksgiving. By this point, however, there are a number of songs I've heard so many times that I don't want to hear them again at all until next year. I'm particularly frustrated by their heavy rotation given that there are several of my favorites that I've heard only a few times (Do You Hear What I Hear?, the Barenaked Ladies' version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, and Josh Groban's version of O Holy Night) or not even once (Mary, Did You Know? and New Song's The Christmas Shoes). I'm officially sick of: 1. Sleigh Ride, especially the Air Supply version (ick!) 2. Winter Wonderland 3. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow 4. Holly Jolly Christmas 5. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year 6. My Grown-Up Christmas List 7. There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays 8. Santa Baby, especially the Madonna and country versions! 9. Happy Christmas (War is Over) 10. Merry Christmas, Darling by the Carpenters 11. Happy Holidays (It's the Holiday Season) by Andy Williams 12. LeRoy the Red-Neck Reindeer by Joe Diffie. 13. Anything by the Trans-Siberia Orchestra, Manheim Steamroller, or Kenny G! Links to other Thursday Thirteens (please note I take no responsibility for the content of other blogs):

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Cute Article on my Hometown Christmas Pageant

As I mentioned in this week's "Thursday Thirteen", one of my favorite Christmas traditions is my hometown's ecumenical Christmas pageant. There's a great article about it in the local paper with some darling photos from this year's production.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let us give thanks to the Lord for all the blessings in our lives!

O Gracious God, we give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us. Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast today. Thank you for our home and family and friends, especially for the presence of those gathered here. Thank you for our health, our work and our play. Please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and violence. Open our hearts to your love. We ask your blessing through Christ your son. Amen.

by Mary Cronk Farrell from Celebrating Faith: Year-round Activities for Catholic Families.

Food for Thought on Veterans' Day

God and the Soldier, we adore,
In time of danger, not before.
The danger passed and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the Soldier slighted.
— Rudyard Kipling

May God bless all our brave servicemembers, their families, and all our veterans!

May God Bless America on Her 231st Birthday!

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

With these words, our great nation was born. We who are the heirs to these ideals ought to reflect a moment on their beauty and meaning.

May God bless America on this, her 231st birthday!

Happy St. John the Baptist Day!

Today is the feast of St. John the Baptist, and the priest who celebrated the Mass we attended this morning gave a very interesting homily about him. He reminded us that St. John the Baptist was not afraid to speak out against sin, even though it ultimately cost him his life. Recall that King Herod, who was married, publicly took Herodias (the wife of his half-brother Phillip) as his mistress. St. John the Baptist spoke out against Herod's wickedness and Herod imprisoned him as a result. Herodias then plotted with her daughter Salome to have St. John the Baptist killed. (Mark 6:17-28).

As Christians, how often do we take an unpopular stand about what is right and wrong? When modern culture celebrates immoral behavior, are we willing to speak out in opposition?

Obviously, we must take care to direct our criticism towards the sinful behavior rather than towards the sinner. We are all sinners by virtue of being human, and Christ calls us to be merciful. Let us not forget, however, that in the famous passage about the Pharisees and the adulteress where Jesus told the Pharisees: "Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone." (John 8:7), He went on to tell the woman "Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11). We are called to be merciful towards sinners, but they are also clearly expected to refrain to the best of their ability from repeating that sin.

Fortunately, in our country, we do not have to worry that speaking out against sin will cause us to become a martyr like St. John the Baptist. However, we may still have to pay a price for sticking up for our beliefs. Those caught up in the hedonism will likely insult us. We might not get a hoped-for job as it appears Dr. James Holsinger, Jr. may not or even lose our jobs as Gen. Peter Pace did. It is not easy following the "narrow way" that Christ calls us to in Matthew 7:14. May we look to the example of St. John the Baptist to help us find the courage to speak out for what is right regardless of the price we may have to pay for doing so!

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to take a moment to wish all the dads out there a very happy Father's Day!

Researchers have been studying the impact of fathers on their children for decades. They have found clear benefits to having an involved father including:

• higher scores on tests of cognitive ability
• higher likelihood of graduating from high school and from college
• better grades in school
  
• higher income as an adult
  
• greater financial stability as an adult
  
• lower rates of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality
• lower drug, tobacco, and alcohol use as teens
  
• less likely to engage in early sexual activity
• lower risk for teen pregnancy
• less likely to commit suicide
  
• higher self-esteem
• better social skills
• more involved with their own children when they become parents

References:
1. "The Hidden Benefits of Being an Involved Father" by Garrett Evans & Kate Fogerty
2. "20 Reasons Why Your Child Needs You to be an Active Father" at Kidsgrowth.net
3. "Father and Daughter Relationships" at GirlHealth.org
4. "The Father Factor" at the National Fatherhood Initiative

Certainly some women will become single moms through no fault of their own. Widows are the obvious example. In addition, there are marriages that cannot be saved- torn apart by domestic violence, substance abuse, chronic infidelity, and so on. Also, some women never get the chance to marry; adoption by them, while not the ideal, is still preferable to letting a child languish in an orphanage or foster care. My heart goes out to all those moms who find themselves, despite their wishes, struggling to raise kids on their own. These women need to make a special effort to find father figures for their children such as grandfathers, uncles, other relatives, pastors, youth ministers, teachers, sports coaches, Boy Scout leaders, Big Brothers, and so on.

May God bless all the fathers and father figures out there!

Freedom Isn't Free

On this Memorial Day, let us take a few moments to honor the noble sacrifice of all the brave servicemen and women who have given their lives for our country. Whether on a beach in Normandy, an island in the Pacific, a hill in Pennsylvania, the Lexington green, or so many other places, they died so that the rest of us could live in freedom. May God have mercy on their souls and may we Americans truly appreciate their sacrifice.

No, Freedom Isn't Free

by Cdr. Kelly Strong, USCG (Ret.)

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud,

With hair cut square and eyes alert

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,

When everything was still

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That taps had meant "Amen,"

When a flag had draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

No, freedom isn't free.

Have a Blessed Pentecost!

Tony Mantoan from Benedictus Deus shared a great idea for helping to explain Pentecost to kids over at CatholicDaily.org:

Cut twelve doves out of construction paper. On each dove write one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, you could do the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Hide the twelve doves around the house or yard and have a dove hunt. After all the doves are found discuss the twelve fruits with your children, or if they have already learned about them ask them to explain the ones they found. Hopefully this activity will remind them of Easter egg hunts and help them draw the connection between Easter and Pentecost.

For those of us in need of a refresher on the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit (guilty as charged), they are: Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-control, Chastity. The 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit are: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of God's hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts o'erflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and heaven.

Amen.