Every so often we get another pseudo-intellectual talking about how we need to reduce the "over-population" of the world. So here's my solution.
Any person advocating population reduction to solve any problem in the world will be required, unless they are an only child, to commit suicide. After all, if China's barbaric one child policy really is the solution to global warming, as the article linked above proposes, then those who advocate it have a duty, if they are child two through whatever, to implement that policy or be considered elitist frauds. In addition, if they are an only child and have managed to bring more then one child into the world themselves they must choose which of their children must die therefore ensuring both the implementation of their policy and maintaining intellectual credibility. (BTW the author of the story linked above has two so we'll have to wait and see which one she wishes to get rid of).
Until this happens they should be ignored.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
My Favorite Christmas Carol...
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
Monday, December 7, 2009
We're waiting...
for the snow to come early tomorrow morning and into the evening. Up to a foot near LaCrosse and 4-6 inches around here. The shovel is by the back porch. The snowblower is gassed up and pointed towards the door. If you had anything left to do in the yard it'll have to wait until spring.
It's the trade off of life in these parts. The land is fertile in part because it rests in the cold for six months a year. Snow is water sinking in to the ground as spring emerges, ready for seed and growth and refreshing the lakes. Winter keeps the cockroaches around these parts small and always on the defensive and there's nothing like a night around zero to keep the thugs off the streets. Whether this makes up for the semi-hibernation of these days, the exasperatingly slow pace of traffic, and the possibility of losing a foot to frost bite is still up in the air. Somehow we just do it.
Anyway it was bound to happen. The weather has been wonderful for these parts all through November and whether we want it or not winter and snow are, like death and taxes, inevitable. My boots and snowsuit are ready. The shovel is right outside the back door. There's a full tank of gas in my car and a warm place to spend the night so let er rip.
It's the trade off of life in these parts. The land is fertile in part because it rests in the cold for six months a year. Snow is water sinking in to the ground as spring emerges, ready for seed and growth and refreshing the lakes. Winter keeps the cockroaches around these parts small and always on the defensive and there's nothing like a night around zero to keep the thugs off the streets. Whether this makes up for the semi-hibernation of these days, the exasperatingly slow pace of traffic, and the possibility of losing a foot to frost bite is still up in the air. Somehow we just do it.
Anyway it was bound to happen. The weather has been wonderful for these parts all through November and whether we want it or not winter and snow are, like death and taxes, inevitable. My boots and snowsuit are ready. The shovel is right outside the back door. There's a full tank of gas in my car and a warm place to spend the night so let er rip.
The coming ice age...
of 1975. Yes I do remember. The lesson here is whenever someone tries to panic you take a deep breath, stop running with the herd, and look for the larger picture. Knowledge changes. Wisdom endures.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A wonderful package...
was in the mail today, arriving much sooner than I expected. It was five vials of oil that had been in the reliquary of St. John Maximovitch whose incorrupt remains are interred at the Cathedral Church of the Theotokos, Joy of All who Sorrow, in San Francisco.
In his life St. John was a wonderworker, a person used by God to perform miracles, and following his death his intercessions have been coveted by many who are sick or in need of a miracle. My hope is that this oil, applied to the faithful as per the Scriptures and Tradition, will bless those needing health and restoration.
What a joy to possess even a small amount of this oil. What a blessing to share it with whoever is in need. Holy St John Maximovitch pray for us!
In his life St. John was a wonderworker, a person used by God to perform miracles, and following his death his intercessions have been coveted by many who are sick or in need of a miracle. My hope is that this oil, applied to the faithful as per the Scriptures and Tradition, will bless those needing health and restoration.
What a joy to possess even a small amount of this oil. What a blessing to share it with whoever is in need. Holy St John Maximovitch pray for us!
Simply the best fuitcake recipe...
Grandma Ely's Fruit Cake (Single Recipe 2 Loaves)
Pan Preparation:
Standard bread loaf pan 9 x 5 x 3
Line with heavy duty foil with extra above edges to wrap over fruitcake when done
No shortening or flour needed if you use tin foil.
Ingredients
Boil Together for Three Minutes
1 1/2 pounds fruit (citrons)
2 cups of water
2 cups of brown sugar or dark brown sugar
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
½ tsp of cloves
½ of allspice
1 tbsp of salt
2 cups of raisins (light raisins make the fruitcake less sweet)
2/3 cup of shortening or butter – needs to be a hard margarine or butter do not use Take Control, or Benecol
After mixture has cooled to lukewarm add:
4 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 ½ cup chopped nuts
Bake at 350 degrees for at least one hour
Test for done like cake with long toothpick. Clean toothpick indicates done.
Age at least one week, wrapped in tin foil, in the refrigerator before consuming.
Pan Preparation:
Standard bread loaf pan 9 x 5 x 3
Line with heavy duty foil with extra above edges to wrap over fruitcake when done
No shortening or flour needed if you use tin foil.
Ingredients
Boil Together for Three Minutes
1 1/2 pounds fruit (citrons)
2 cups of water
2 cups of brown sugar or dark brown sugar
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
½ tsp of cloves
½ of allspice
1 tbsp of salt
2 cups of raisins (light raisins make the fruitcake less sweet)
2/3 cup of shortening or butter – needs to be a hard margarine or butter do not use Take Control, or Benecol
After mixture has cooled to lukewarm add:
4 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 ½ cup chopped nuts
Bake at 350 degrees for at least one hour
Test for done like cake with long toothpick. Clean toothpick indicates done.
Age at least one week, wrapped in tin foil, in the refrigerator before consuming.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The service was small...
this Sunday, something to be expected following Thanksgiving. Yet what they say about "two or three gathered together..." in the Scriptures is true and size is no indicator of grace.
It is an awesome thing to stand before holy gifts and to lead the people of God in worship. Despite what would appear to the untrained or unknowing eye as repetition and ritual there is great power and presence flowing through, in, and with the liturgies of the Church. It is a calm holiness, a peaceful sense of presence, the experience of touching larger things in a moment out of time.
When I was actively seeking out and living in the charismatic movements of protestantism my heart and the hearts of those with me were genuinely seeking. Yet I could not endure the sheer volume, the confusion I saw around me in worship. I would stand, alone, surrounded by voices in languages without comprehension and wonder why I was left out, why the music went on without me.
As I traveled on to Orthodoxy I came to realize that it was not the earthquake or the whirlwind that mattered but rather the still small voice. A heart filled with the noise of the world or replacing that noise for noise with holy intent is still not at rest. In the quiet pacing of words and action larger than the moment and greater than the people completing them is a place where the still small voice can be heard and rest comes to those who seek it.
I am most whole, most complete, most real, when I worship.
It is an awesome thing to stand before holy gifts and to lead the people of God in worship. Despite what would appear to the untrained or unknowing eye as repetition and ritual there is great power and presence flowing through, in, and with the liturgies of the Church. It is a calm holiness, a peaceful sense of presence, the experience of touching larger things in a moment out of time.
When I was actively seeking out and living in the charismatic movements of protestantism my heart and the hearts of those with me were genuinely seeking. Yet I could not endure the sheer volume, the confusion I saw around me in worship. I would stand, alone, surrounded by voices in languages without comprehension and wonder why I was left out, why the music went on without me.
As I traveled on to Orthodoxy I came to realize that it was not the earthquake or the whirlwind that mattered but rather the still small voice. A heart filled with the noise of the world or replacing that noise for noise with holy intent is still not at rest. In the quiet pacing of words and action larger than the moment and greater than the people completing them is a place where the still small voice can be heard and rest comes to those who seek it.
I am most whole, most complete, most real, when I worship.
Friday, November 27, 2009
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