In these few remaining days of Advent, I read and re-read the words of St. Paul about the futility of sacrifice and oblation or offering to God. First, he quotes the words of Christ himself: You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices […]
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Our dog Seymour when we adopted him What is it it about dogs? Some call it the ‘cute factor’, others talk about the unconditional nature of their love, while still others maintain that their dog (s) is the best friend they have ever had. A recent survey reveals that many of us spend more for
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Happiness: Feeling or decision? “So, how exactly, do you decide to be happy?” My friend looked bemusedly at me as she replied to my statement that I thought happiness was a decision we made. “LOOK at that tree!” I exclaimed loudly and with vehemence, knowing that my reply to her question required more than a
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Justice and politics Ideally the concept of justice is considered to be independent of contextual factors like politics. And the notion of correlating the two feels somewhat odious, or at least repugnant. But the recent Speilberg movie, Bridge of Spies, is a fascinating tale. of the oxymoronic twists of our government and its desire to appear
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The Martian and Pope Francis It’s a strange correlation, The Martian and Pope Francis. But there is a striking parallel between the most unusual movie adapted from novelist Andy Weir’s self-published novel The Martian, and Pope. Francis’s speeches. The power of the person. If there is a single theme that seems to symbolize the insistent
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Dog rescue Until our dog Shadow appeared outside the fence we were building and timorously decided to take a chance on us, I’d had no experience with rescue dogs. Certainly none with dogs from dog rescue shelters. Shadow is known as the dog that everyone wanted in our little valley. He is such a mellow, patient,
Thinking about thinking As a recovering bibliophile, I made a promise to myself to read each of the books purchased in the last decade or two. And I am now making my way through After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre. Despite the density of the philosopher’s prose, reading this book is bringing me back to a place
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Creativity is something most of us cannot get enough of, right? Because each day we are placed in situations requiring us to be inventive, imaginative, innovative. Whether a stay- at- home- mom, engineer, salesperson, mechanic, or a writer, we are immersed in situations which require imaginative responses. Angry customers, bored kids, touchy husbands and new
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Making a difference To leave our rural valley in northern Nevada, we drive for about thirty minutes. Upon turning north on the freeway, after about fifteen minutes or so, we pass a bulletin board on the left asking about one person making a difference. The caption is written over a huge image of Nelson Mendela.
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Christ asleep on a pillow The first time I actually thought about being in a fishing boat in a raging storm with Christ asleep on a cushion, was during a meditation given on that Gospel passage shortly after I converted to Christian Catholicism. The Legionnaire priest giving the meditation guaranteed my undivided attention because of