Sometimes I think that all Rush Limbaugh's name-calling and downtalk of liberals is a little over the top, but then I meet someone who proves him right in every way. "Hey sweetie," she says, preying on my curiosity as to why a complete stranger would address me in such a way, then proceeds to shift her handshake to a hand hold, even beginning to caress it. Meanwhile, I'm thinking this girl is a hooker or is trying to sell me something. But me being the nice guy, or sucker, as these terms seem to become synonyms here in New York, I give her the opportunity to have her say.
It did not take long after hearing the name Greenpeace, a statement as to how terrible we are being to the world, and how incomplete the United States is compared to the rest of the world with their Greenpeace involvement, not to mention our discussion about "global warming", for me to realize that I would gain nothing from this conversation. And from the way the girl had approached me, I was not sure that I would want to pursue a friendship with her in any way.
So I expressed my disagreements, pointed out the fallacy in her reference to the idea that we went to war in search of more fossil fuels, and explained that based on our shared premise that we do not know how global warming began, there is no possible way we can stop it. After this she said, well it looks like we have a "conservative Christian" here with us. Now, is that not a form of stereotype? Would I not get in trouble for addressing her as a feminist, tree-hugging liberal? Ok well, maybe my label is a little stronger and more loaded, but my point is that the whole idea of political correctness is a sham. She can call me whatever she wants, but the minute that I label her, it is gender-stereotyping, or dare I say it? Profiling. An evil that must be avoided, except when it allows liberals to further their agenda. And this was the case with this reputable Greenpeace representative.
And so, I was solicited in a way that played on my sexual drive, fed some universally agreeable commonplaces about the environment, then given some faulty arguments to chew on (e.g. we went to war for oil; which she obviously knew to be untrue as she readily withdrew her claim after I pointed out its falsity), all in effort to bring me to conclude that I should join this organization. Yes I acknowledge these groups generate a lot of research that help our environment, but her comment that I must be a conservative Christian, removes any doubt that I am in the right camp.
Why would she say that? Because I responded intelligently to her scripted questions, intended to draw in those less likely to really know the issues? Because I know the truth behind global warming? Because I did not falter despite her somewhat sexual advance (she continued to massage my hand until I politely removed it from her grip)? Because I saw through her offered untruth? Because I stood up against something I disagree with?
Hmm, this then makes me an intelligent and informed, principled, truthful, and confident young white middle-class American man. So in a sense I can take her abandonment of my cause as a compliment. Yet how many people will be drawn in by her solicitation, and for what reasons?
Remain strong my brothers and sisters in truth, deception will come from all sides, but it is always to us to love those who would seek to deceive us, and reveal to them the untruths they speak. I do not say that this particular individual describes the methods or thought of all liberals, I think even Rush Limbaugh would admit that good comes from the liberal camp, but this experience exemplifies the group of "libs" out there who would do anything, no matter how unethical to get our support, and support means money so they can hold power. Yet what would they use it for? I simply offer the situation and ask the question. I pray that we would all choose prudently, to the best of our knowledge in the upcoming election.
May God bless and keep you all.
30 October 2006
29 October 2006
Chesterton is amazing...
Gilbert Keith Chesterton blessed our world with his wealth of knowledge, and along with his close friend C.S. Lewis brought incredible insight into living a Christian life. So this week I leave you with some of Chesterton's wisdom, taken from an anthology of his work:
“Self-consciousness of necessity destroys self-revelation. A man who thinks a great deal about himself will try to be many-sided, attempt a theatrical excellence at all points, will try to be an encyclopedia of culture, and his own real personality will be lost in that false universalism. Thinking about himself will lead to trying to be the universe; trying to be the universe will lead to ceasing to be anything. If, on the other hand, a man is sensible enough to think only about the universe; he will think about it in his own individual way. He will keep virgin the secret of God; he will see the grass as no other man can see it, and look at a sun that no man has ever known."
---G.K. Chesterton
“Self-consciousness of necessity destroys self-revelation. A man who thinks a great deal about himself will try to be many-sided, attempt a theatrical excellence at all points, will try to be an encyclopedia of culture, and his own real personality will be lost in that false universalism. Thinking about himself will lead to trying to be the universe; trying to be the universe will lead to ceasing to be anything. If, on the other hand, a man is sensible enough to think only about the universe; he will think about it in his own individual way. He will keep virgin the secret of God; he will see the grass as no other man can see it, and look at a sun that no man has ever known."
---G.K. Chesterton
28 October 2006
"The" New York Times
I had to make this comment. Front page of the Metro section features a story on a rock. That's all.
22 October 2006
Truth is a beautiful thing
I am in the midst of writing an essay about the war in Iraq. What is it about now? Some have asked me, others just like to say "Yeah Bush is taking us to hell in a handbasket" to put some of their views quite lightly. For me personally, there has to be a deeper truth in all this. I cannot believe that this war was a grandly composed scheme to claim oil rights, nor that we entered the war to finish the wars of our fathers, and in many cases people claim one particular father-son relationship to play a large part in the reason for this war. The media bombards us with carefully crafted words that fall so sweetly on our ears and eyes, and yet they never seem to present both sides of the story. Thus one thing I learned from this foray into the realm of politics and the powers that be, is that we must look at original documents. They are at our disposal, and yet isn't it so much easier just to flip on the television, or fill out a subscription to National Review? I do not denounce these as great ways to keep up on what's going on in the world, yet truly who decides where they put their focus, or shall I say what? For as it has been put so aptly, "Money makes the world go round". We cannot exempt the realm of news reporting from this reality.
On that note, for those of you thirsting for a new viewpoint, and in my opinion some material that hits at the truth of why we went to Iraq, check out the points of Michael Novak. He is a Catholic theologian who gave a public address in Vatican City on the invitation of the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (would be a sweet job by the way!!!) as to how a war with Iraq was obligatory for the powers that were based upon the just war theory of the Catholic Church.
Check it out at the following link: http://www.nationalreview.com/novak/novak021003.asp
Let the truth be heard!!!
And yes, maybe ironically so after what I just said, his address was reprinted in the National Review magazine. Oh well!!!! Maybe that's a commentary on the magazine as a whole, I do not know, my Dad gets it and I have read it on occasion and it is generally very conservative and consequently good for me. Still I learn daily to open me eyes, so I would appreciate any of your suggestions!!!
God bless,
Tim
On that note, for those of you thirsting for a new viewpoint, and in my opinion some material that hits at the truth of why we went to Iraq, check out the points of Michael Novak. He is a Catholic theologian who gave a public address in Vatican City on the invitation of the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (would be a sweet job by the way!!!) as to how a war with Iraq was obligatory for the powers that were based upon the just war theory of the Catholic Church.
Check it out at the following link: http://www.nationalreview.com/novak/novak021003.asp
Let the truth be heard!!!
And yes, maybe ironically so after what I just said, his address was reprinted in the National Review magazine. Oh well!!!! Maybe that's a commentary on the magazine as a whole, I do not know, my Dad gets it and I have read it on occasion and it is generally very conservative and consequently good for me. Still I learn daily to open me eyes, so I would appreciate any of your suggestions!!!
God bless,
Tim
15 October 2006
A Day in New York...
I have been wanting to write this blog for a long time, well for about 48 hours now, and have finally made the time. I hope you enjoy...
So I describe this past Friday, October 13th, yes Friday the Thirteenth, yet strangely, or maybe as evidence standing against the supposed bad luck we all inherit on this particular match of day and date, it was a tremendous day. I note here that I turned one year old on Friday the Thirteenth of December 1985.
I woke up, left the apartment at about 10am in search of a haircut. Across from the train stop, I found my place. For $10 I got a cut and a great conversation flying from Dominican Spanish with Maria, to Spanish and Hindi from the other employees of the small shop that sees both the morning light and the streets of night. A tip later I flew on the F train to St. Vincent Ferrer, an affluent Catholic parish run by Dominican brothers who never cease to challenge me with their homilies. The day before, I will never forget, a brother priest spoke of the will of God in our lives. He always answers our prayers, it is in the times that we do not get what we want that we question this, but truly God knows better in those situations and so has chosen to give us something we did not ask for and that we often recognize only later.
Jumping off from this, I met with Fr. Carleton Jones after Friday's mass to decide whether I would ask him to be my spiritual director, and at this point I have no doubts that I will continue. Rarely have I heard truth so clearly delineated, and had so many of my insecurities and uncertainties in regard to the discerment of my vocation explained so well. One point we discussed was the idea of holy determinism. The idea that God already has a plan for our lives, and that we have to determine what he would want with each choice we make, and there consequently being the possibility for choosing incorrectly. For me, I had always wondered as to the truth of this reality, because for me, no matter which vocation I would choose, God will bring the most out of that. I could go either way, though God may ultimately know what I will choose, since he exists outside of time, that has no bearing on the reality of the free will I possess to choose either and have His blessing therein.
A little philosophical, but a point I wanted to make, and see how you reacted.
From there I dashed up to my school, Hunter College, only about three blocks up, dropped my stuff, caught up with some volleyball buddies who were hanging out around the locker room. Jumped on the train directly from the basement of the school, went down to the Board of Elections turned in my form to vote in New York on the 7th, then ran from Battery Park all the way along the Hudson on the west coast of Manhattan to 42nd St. then took the train back to Hunter. A great run in a great city on a beautiful day. And possibly one of the few times that I will get to look out upon the Statue of Liberty as I stretch, and salute the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings as I whiz past. It is all almost surreal at times, but the truth is that it all exists, and in the end it is just another manifestation man has made upon God's beautiful creation.
So I showered up at school, then happened to see one of my volleyball buddies still hangin around outside the locker room, and much more dressed up than is usual. Turns out that he was to sell concessions to persons coming to see the "Roller Derby" which was to take place in the gym of our school. Random? I think so!!! I would have hung around, but the tickets were more than I wanted to pay to see a bunch of not so friendly looking women beat up on each other. Oh well, maybe other opportunities will yet arise. From there it was off to see yet another of my free movies in a church, this one particularly in that of the "Holy Innocents", pastored by Monsignor Donald Sakano who helped me tremendously in figuring out how to enter the New York living scene. Unfortunately he was not present, but the movie was good, "Love Comes Softly", on a completely different level than the tasteless Broadway show I saw with my family a week ago.
I was tempted afterward, but the fact that I was one of only two people under 50 led me to leave before the discussion session began. As it turns out, the other girl who appeared my age had left early too. I went maybe a few blocks down in search of the Museum of Modern Art or MOMA, asked a man in a souvenir store if he knew of its location, but the fact that he had been here in the city for even less time than I meant that he was no help in finding the place. But I gave him my email address, and he promised to contact me soon. He speaks primarily Hindi, and has studied various other languages, and we were able to share about our linguistic interests. Following the encounter I went to turn a corner, and there was the girl from the church movie. She was on the phone, so trying to look not too creepy I waited for her to finish and then introduced myself. Found out her name is Nadia, and in excellent English she described how she was born in the Ukraine and speaks Russian and Ukrainian in addition to our mode of communication. I just sat and marveled at the reality of meeting two people from two very different parts of the world, while I come from a place that does not even compare. These occurrences seem to happen every day by the way, but this was definitely one of the more pointed experiences I have had.
After her friend picked her up and she was safely on her way, I took off. I found it funny too, that she was shivering as we sat chatting on the street corner. I'll have to look up where the Ukraine is exactly, but I imagine that early fall weather does not compete with the cold of that part of the world!!! I read the paper and had a nice "Boylan" creme soda in a little cafe that closed shortly after I arrived, so I moved on to bigger and better things. Wendy's makes the best burgers, even here in NYC! I sat there afterward while a grumpy employee swept the floor and occasionally my feet, and people from various walks of life came to keep me company, one particular woman even asking me a question!!! I say that in jest, I have found it incredible both that people can be so cold and that they are willing to help so much as well. For example, the grumpy worker would not tell me how to get to Madison Square Garden, but another man I met in searching for apartments got me hooked up with the job from which I write this blog right now, and recently told me that he has connections with further possible employment when I would finish here!!!
Yes, I visited the Garden next, found out there is a 9 train that is not noted on the subway map, mainly because it runs on the exact same route as the 1 train. I learned from my roommate this morning that there was also once an 8 train, but it got cut off. Dad, these facts are for you, and all you other train and mass transportation enthusiasts. Karen?
I also had to see where I had come in on the first day so I ran through Penn Station, and found the place where I undertipped the red cap who helped me carry my five boxes of junk, then caught my first taxi with a man that had come straight from Africa.
Of course I then called my friend Raquel, and after a little scenic tour of Little Italy found the hole-in-the-wall she and some of her friends had discovered and enjoyed some of the house red wine. Yes it was the cheapest on the list, but it was very good, and hey I forgot to pay anyway!!! That is true, but I plan to go back in the near future to try some other varieties and overpay for whatever I would have.
After assuring that Raquel, who by the way is a friend that came from Spain, but was born and grew up in Venezuela, had made it home ok, I decided to have a meeting with my pillow. This figure of speech is literally translated from something commonly said in Spanish. I am learning so much from my roommate, friends, and my translation class, and last night received an awesome complement. It came from my Argentinian taxi driver, who commented that I was one of only two U.S. people he had heard speak Spanish without an accent. That I sounded almost exactly like a Latino!!! I have sought to accomplish this for a while, and so I of course got really excited!!!
For all this I have some thanks to give, first to Edward who first encouraged me to check out the National Student Exchange Program, and for all of you who continue to be a forces in my life, even though we are so far away from one another. Yet most of all to God, who has made this all possible and continues to bring good into my life on a daily basis here. To Him be all the glory and praise. To Him I offer all this up in Thanksgiving!!! God bless and keep you all, and thanks for bearing with me through this long entry.
TM
So I describe this past Friday, October 13th, yes Friday the Thirteenth, yet strangely, or maybe as evidence standing against the supposed bad luck we all inherit on this particular match of day and date, it was a tremendous day. I note here that I turned one year old on Friday the Thirteenth of December 1985.
I woke up, left the apartment at about 10am in search of a haircut. Across from the train stop, I found my place. For $10 I got a cut and a great conversation flying from Dominican Spanish with Maria, to Spanish and Hindi from the other employees of the small shop that sees both the morning light and the streets of night. A tip later I flew on the F train to St. Vincent Ferrer, an affluent Catholic parish run by Dominican brothers who never cease to challenge me with their homilies. The day before, I will never forget, a brother priest spoke of the will of God in our lives. He always answers our prayers, it is in the times that we do not get what we want that we question this, but truly God knows better in those situations and so has chosen to give us something we did not ask for and that we often recognize only later.
Jumping off from this, I met with Fr. Carleton Jones after Friday's mass to decide whether I would ask him to be my spiritual director, and at this point I have no doubts that I will continue. Rarely have I heard truth so clearly delineated, and had so many of my insecurities and uncertainties in regard to the discerment of my vocation explained so well. One point we discussed was the idea of holy determinism. The idea that God already has a plan for our lives, and that we have to determine what he would want with each choice we make, and there consequently being the possibility for choosing incorrectly. For me, I had always wondered as to the truth of this reality, because for me, no matter which vocation I would choose, God will bring the most out of that. I could go either way, though God may ultimately know what I will choose, since he exists outside of time, that has no bearing on the reality of the free will I possess to choose either and have His blessing therein.
A little philosophical, but a point I wanted to make, and see how you reacted.
From there I dashed up to my school, Hunter College, only about three blocks up, dropped my stuff, caught up with some volleyball buddies who were hanging out around the locker room. Jumped on the train directly from the basement of the school, went down to the Board of Elections turned in my form to vote in New York on the 7th, then ran from Battery Park all the way along the Hudson on the west coast of Manhattan to 42nd St. then took the train back to Hunter. A great run in a great city on a beautiful day. And possibly one of the few times that I will get to look out upon the Statue of Liberty as I stretch, and salute the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings as I whiz past. It is all almost surreal at times, but the truth is that it all exists, and in the end it is just another manifestation man has made upon God's beautiful creation.
So I showered up at school, then happened to see one of my volleyball buddies still hangin around outside the locker room, and much more dressed up than is usual. Turns out that he was to sell concessions to persons coming to see the "Roller Derby" which was to take place in the gym of our school. Random? I think so!!! I would have hung around, but the tickets were more than I wanted to pay to see a bunch of not so friendly looking women beat up on each other. Oh well, maybe other opportunities will yet arise. From there it was off to see yet another of my free movies in a church, this one particularly in that of the "Holy Innocents", pastored by Monsignor Donald Sakano who helped me tremendously in figuring out how to enter the New York living scene. Unfortunately he was not present, but the movie was good, "Love Comes Softly", on a completely different level than the tasteless Broadway show I saw with my family a week ago.
I was tempted afterward, but the fact that I was one of only two people under 50 led me to leave before the discussion session began. As it turns out, the other girl who appeared my age had left early too. I went maybe a few blocks down in search of the Museum of Modern Art or MOMA, asked a man in a souvenir store if he knew of its location, but the fact that he had been here in the city for even less time than I meant that he was no help in finding the place. But I gave him my email address, and he promised to contact me soon. He speaks primarily Hindi, and has studied various other languages, and we were able to share about our linguistic interests. Following the encounter I went to turn a corner, and there was the girl from the church movie. She was on the phone, so trying to look not too creepy I waited for her to finish and then introduced myself. Found out her name is Nadia, and in excellent English she described how she was born in the Ukraine and speaks Russian and Ukrainian in addition to our mode of communication. I just sat and marveled at the reality of meeting two people from two very different parts of the world, while I come from a place that does not even compare. These occurrences seem to happen every day by the way, but this was definitely one of the more pointed experiences I have had.
After her friend picked her up and she was safely on her way, I took off. I found it funny too, that she was shivering as we sat chatting on the street corner. I'll have to look up where the Ukraine is exactly, but I imagine that early fall weather does not compete with the cold of that part of the world!!! I read the paper and had a nice "Boylan" creme soda in a little cafe that closed shortly after I arrived, so I moved on to bigger and better things. Wendy's makes the best burgers, even here in NYC! I sat there afterward while a grumpy employee swept the floor and occasionally my feet, and people from various walks of life came to keep me company, one particular woman even asking me a question!!! I say that in jest, I have found it incredible both that people can be so cold and that they are willing to help so much as well. For example, the grumpy worker would not tell me how to get to Madison Square Garden, but another man I met in searching for apartments got me hooked up with the job from which I write this blog right now, and recently told me that he has connections with further possible employment when I would finish here!!!
Yes, I visited the Garden next, found out there is a 9 train that is not noted on the subway map, mainly because it runs on the exact same route as the 1 train. I learned from my roommate this morning that there was also once an 8 train, but it got cut off. Dad, these facts are for you, and all you other train and mass transportation enthusiasts. Karen?
I also had to see where I had come in on the first day so I ran through Penn Station, and found the place where I undertipped the red cap who helped me carry my five boxes of junk, then caught my first taxi with a man that had come straight from Africa.
Of course I then called my friend Raquel, and after a little scenic tour of Little Italy found the hole-in-the-wall she and some of her friends had discovered and enjoyed some of the house red wine. Yes it was the cheapest on the list, but it was very good, and hey I forgot to pay anyway!!! That is true, but I plan to go back in the near future to try some other varieties and overpay for whatever I would have.
After assuring that Raquel, who by the way is a friend that came from Spain, but was born and grew up in Venezuela, had made it home ok, I decided to have a meeting with my pillow. This figure of speech is literally translated from something commonly said in Spanish. I am learning so much from my roommate, friends, and my translation class, and last night received an awesome complement. It came from my Argentinian taxi driver, who commented that I was one of only two U.S. people he had heard speak Spanish without an accent. That I sounded almost exactly like a Latino!!! I have sought to accomplish this for a while, and so I of course got really excited!!!
For all this I have some thanks to give, first to Edward who first encouraged me to check out the National Student Exchange Program, and for all of you who continue to be a forces in my life, even though we are so far away from one another. Yet most of all to God, who has made this all possible and continues to bring good into my life on a daily basis here. To Him be all the glory and praise. To Him I offer all this up in Thanksgiving!!! God bless and keep you all, and thanks for bearing with me through this long entry.
TM
08 October 2006
Learning
Every day is a learning experience, some days it makes me sick, some days I cannot think about how today counts, as much as I may or may not want it to. That this is a day that I am living and will never be able to live again, never be able to get back, so live it to the fullest. Yet, this often leads me to a fatalistic mentality, that I must try and do everything at once, but only if I let the mentality overcome my better reason. In my heart I know this is all cursory, all a preview to the life to come.
Last night, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, with my family around me, anticipating the beginning of Catholic Underground here in New York I felt so loved, so important, and yet so insignificant. Look at all the people God has moved to His heart, I thought as I looked from person to person adoring our God and father on the altar, yet how incredible would it be if I could help bring this number of people to Christ. From those who do not yet know Him. Do we possess the strength to do such things? I believe so, and I also believe that we cannot think too much about the end, and gravity of our lives when we do it, that is the best way to scare others away. Yet our evangelization must be both active and genuine, and then, only then will others feel drawn to what we have. Still, I often find myself falling back to a "normal" state after I have these experiences of God, but what should be our norm state. What should we fall back to if everything else goes away? What did Job fall back to? "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!" Would we be able to say this if we lost everything? What is everything? What should everything be?
How often do we hold on to things that really do not matter? Do we put God at the center of our beings? My mom always likes to say that our faith is like our health, if we exercise occasionally, eat well every once in a while, we will not stay in shape. Similarly, if we pray and attend mass occasionally, God easily loses importance in our lives and our faith weakens. This has happened to us all. I just wish there were others out there who would challenge us to come back to our faith. Too often we heed the enticing beckoning of the prince of this world, still when we sit down and think about it, the truth sets us free, and we live lives full of purpose and happiness. And more than anything else, we know we are loved, and do not all of us seek that?
Last night, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, with my family around me, anticipating the beginning of Catholic Underground here in New York I felt so loved, so important, and yet so insignificant. Look at all the people God has moved to His heart, I thought as I looked from person to person adoring our God and father on the altar, yet how incredible would it be if I could help bring this number of people to Christ. From those who do not yet know Him. Do we possess the strength to do such things? I believe so, and I also believe that we cannot think too much about the end, and gravity of our lives when we do it, that is the best way to scare others away. Yet our evangelization must be both active and genuine, and then, only then will others feel drawn to what we have. Still, I often find myself falling back to a "normal" state after I have these experiences of God, but what should be our norm state. What should we fall back to if everything else goes away? What did Job fall back to? "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!" Would we be able to say this if we lost everything? What is everything? What should everything be?
How often do we hold on to things that really do not matter? Do we put God at the center of our beings? My mom always likes to say that our faith is like our health, if we exercise occasionally, eat well every once in a while, we will not stay in shape. Similarly, if we pray and attend mass occasionally, God easily loses importance in our lives and our faith weakens. This has happened to us all. I just wish there were others out there who would challenge us to come back to our faith. Too often we heed the enticing beckoning of the prince of this world, still when we sit down and think about it, the truth sets us free, and we live lives full of purpose and happiness. And more than anything else, we know we are loved, and do not all of us seek that?
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