Reality...

Our eldest daughter has been home from university for the summer. She watches a lot of television.

I do not watch television, as a rule, and when I do I usually find it intensely irritating after a short time. Our daughter doesn't just watch television. She watches reality television. It makes me shudder.

I do not care much if a person is stuck in a house (with a full quiver, models, or otherwise), on an island, in a kitchen, or trying to lose weight. What is the attraction of having one's every move tracked by a camera team? What is the attraction of watching someone's every move?

As dd watches her "television" on the computer, I am frequently in a position to overhear. Dd cooks supper nearly every night. Her Dell, Pickle, keeps her company.

Listening to these people interact reminds me of rats in a cage that is getting smaller and smaller. Eventually they attack each other. Most of the reality shows I've 'seen' (heard?) have some sort of elimination process involved. These people are competing against each other. Their potential elimination from the competition is just the cage getting smaller.

This is not reality. At least not MY reality. My most frequent contacts are my family. We're a pretty clean living bunch, I think (not that there isn't much room for more virtue!), but I do not want my "moments"...private, inspirational, less-than-proud, paraded for all to see. Not for any money.

I need "dark". God tells us that what we hear in the dark, we must speak in the light (Matt 10:27). To do that, do we not need dark? I am not at all sure that God's "still, small voice" can be heard through the din of so much media.

I've gotten to the point where I like quiet. I don't usually follow the news. It causes me stress, as 98% of what I hear I am incapable of affecting. Sure I can pray about it, and probably should more than I do, but I do not need the details to be able to pray. God already knows all that. i don't need the mental and emotional clutter.

Another note:

As I was walking, alone, tonight (no i-pod or any other such device...although I should have brought my rosary) along the river, it occurred to me that at this time last year, I was confined to a wheelchair. Now, I'm moving on my own, and picking up speed. Several people have called my recovery a miracle. Now, I did have surgery, so the direct source of the healing is no secret, but I still have a powerful sense that God was guiding the process. It is a rare gift to know that there are people who see me as the recipient of a miracle.

I know that along the way, extraordinary steps were taken to get me 'fixed up' in a shorter than usual time. A nurse speaks to a doctor who finally makes the right referral. One specialist attaches a note to the referral to another specialist recommending quick action. And that last specialist, the surgeon, follows the request. And I can walk again. Thank you!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A strange evening

Last night found me driving on black asphalt, in driving rain and total darkness...except for oncoming traffic which merely showed that the detailers at the dealership had put something on the windshield which became smeary when wet. Lovely. It was so dark otherwise that the light from my headlights seemed to be absorbed. We were returning from a neighbouring community where we'd been watching a play.

Then I noticed things on the road. My first thought was leaves...but it was raining hard and the leaves were moving. Shoot! Frogs! They were all over! Avoiding them really wasn't a realistic (or safe) option, unfortunately. Ick.

We even hit a bit of fog, just to complicate things further. Did I mention that I don't like driving at night at the best of times?

What made me think of Scripture though (well, other than little prayers muttered while trying to make out the edges of my lane) was when I was undressing at home. I looked at what should have been my clean blouse. I had only been wearing it a couple of hours.

On the back was a squashed grasshopper. Just a little one. Ick again, but how? Then I remembered. As I approached the exit of the theatre where we'd been watching a play, people were around the door. Some were preparing to go out into the torrent, but someone said "Is it snowing?". It was far too warm to snow, even up here, but there was definitely something, other than rain drops, in the air. I was trying to find my kids so I didn't think anything of it until I got to the car and noticed people standing inside the building staring at the door. After confirming this with my daughter, I realize they were watching the tiny grasshoppers that seemed to be attacking. As I suspected, I found the rest of the insect, and part of another one, pressed into the upholstery of our new vehicle, as we got in for Mass this morning.

My daughter commented that we had better buy a lamb and sprinkle our doorpost or she might be out a brother!

It would seem we went from play to plagues!

God's Big Blue Marble

Here's something fun a friend sent. My score wasn't great but I will try again!

Heaven and Earth Shall Pass Away...

...but my words will not pass.

Sayeth the Gospel of Matthew (24:35).

You would never know that this has been pre-ordained by listening to some environmentalists.

Once again, I have been assaulted by all the hype on Global Warming (sorry...yet another season is passing here which is making me wonder if some warming couldn't benefit us). I read more on carbon credits which are, if I understand correctly, a way of buying the ability to burn more resources. I gather if you pay some environmental service enough, you can assume that whatever carbon you produce has been 'covered' or accounted for (environmentally speaking). No guilt, and it seems to me, no responsibility.

Funny...this is how some people see the practice of Indulgences in the Catholic Church. While this is a misunderstanding of Indulgences, the Church has been raked over the coals for years for this supposed practice. Apparently Environmentalists such as Al Gore feel "enviro-dulgences" are okay for them.

Yesterday, I decided that our electric kettle is pretty much done its useful life. This life has been less than five years. It's not really a cost issue that bothers me here. It's that it was such a short life...and now the kettle will be landfill.

Both dh and I remember our mothers having electric kettles that lasted our entire childhoods. This seems to me to be right in line with the first of the three 'r's...REDUCE, reuse,recycle.

I honestly think that this is another sign of the disconnect between the environmental hype and actual practice. The sign would be built in obsolescence. Things seem to be made to wear out. Imagine how much less garbage we'd produce if our furniture, appliances, i-pods, shoes, etc were built to last, rather than being built to break down.

To me, this is at least as nonsensical as by-laws prohibiting line-drying clothing, or the drive of increasingly small families to have increasingly large homes.

Large homes mean large amounts of money. Yet we squawk if we have to pay for something that will last...like a durable kettle.

We really do need to examine our priorities. God's word and graces are freely given. FREELY given and they don't pass away. Yet we refuse them. We balk at what embracing those words causes us to do...shun sin (and no, we are not always successful at that), spend time talking and listening to God, our creator (wow...quiet time! People pay big bucks to find that peace, too). Our Creator has our owner's manual. We run better when we consult the manual and follow its recommendations!

Despite all the doom and gloom environmentalists try to throw our way, they are correct about something. The Earth WILL pass away. Are we ready for what happens next?

God Bless