Here's that follow-up I promised you:
This Is Just to Say
Erica-Lynn Gambino
(for William Carlos Williams)
I have just
asked you to
get out of my apartment
even though
you never
thought
I would
Forgive me
you were
driving
me insane
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
4.29.2012
4.04.2012
Closest to the Cross
"Great men we need like Paul with a two-edged sword to cut away the bonds that tie down the energies of the world, and men like Peter who will let the broad stroke of their challenge ring out on the shield of the world's hypocrisy, and great men like John who with a loud voice will arouse men from the sleek dream of unheroic repose. But we need woman still more; women like Mary of Cleophas who will raise sons to lift up white hosts to a Heavenly Father; women like Magdalen who will take hold of the tangled skeins of a seemingly wrecked and ruined life and weave out of them the beautiful tapestry of saintliness and holiness; and women, above all, like Mary, the Lady of Equity, who will leave the lights and glamours of the world for the shades and shadows of the Cross where saints are made. When women of this kind return to save a world with equity, then we shall toast them, we shall salute them not as the modern woman, once our superior now our equal, but as the Christian woman — closest to the Cross on Good Friday, and first at the tomb on Easter Morn." Communism and Woman, Fulton Sheen
3.27.2012
Detachment
As my grandfather says, "It's not easy..."
"Because love is a choice, it means detachment from a previous mode of life, a breaking with old bonds" (The World's First Love, Sheen, p. 162).
"Because love is a choice, it means detachment from a previous mode of life, a breaking with old bonds" (The World's First Love, Sheen, p. 162).
3.14.2012
The Unreal Hotel
"Each body possesses within itself precious strands of human history: all the generations that have resulted in their physical beings are, as it were, ready to emerge again to the shores of light. They are doing the baby-making thing. They are doing what no human being can do on his own, nor can two members of the same sex do it. They are forming “one flesh,” organs cooperating in the complex interplay that is oriented towards the future. The seed of the man is being sown in the field of the woman’s womb, where it may well bring forth fruit."
Wow. Anthony Esolen is incredible.
Follow the link below to read for yourself:
THE STRANGE HAPPENINGS AT THE UNREAL HOTEL.
Wow. Anthony Esolen is incredible.
Follow the link below to read for yourself:
THE STRANGE HAPPENINGS AT THE UNREAL HOTEL.
2.10.2012
Wild Creatures & Abortion
I read this yesterday and immediately thought of the tragedy of abortion:
"Wild creatures have a nature that is simple and one which has no concern in the perversion of truth. And so the Lord has ordained that those creatures to whom He has bestowed a minimum of reason are endowed with the maximum of feeling.
What wild animal would not willingly face death in defense of her young? What wild beast, although exposed to countless armed men advancing 'in wedge formation,' would not protect with her own life's blood her own progeny? With her body she sets up a wall of stout defense around her little ones, so that they are immune from peril in the midst of 'a harvest of spears'? What has man to offer--he who pays no heed to what is enjoined on him and is oblivious to the dictates of nature? A son despises his father; a father disinherits his son. An occasion when a man's own progeny is condemned to death is regarded as an act of justice. A father actually passes judgement on himself by treating his own child as something without substance."
Saint Ambrose, Hexameron, VI (22).
"Wild creatures have a nature that is simple and one which has no concern in the perversion of truth. And so the Lord has ordained that those creatures to whom He has bestowed a minimum of reason are endowed with the maximum of feeling.
What wild animal would not willingly face death in defense of her young? What wild beast, although exposed to countless armed men advancing 'in wedge formation,' would not protect with her own life's blood her own progeny? With her body she sets up a wall of stout defense around her little ones, so that they are immune from peril in the midst of 'a harvest of spears'? What has man to offer--he who pays no heed to what is enjoined on him and is oblivious to the dictates of nature? A son despises his father; a father disinherits his son. An occasion when a man's own progeny is condemned to death is regarded as an act of justice. A father actually passes judgement on himself by treating his own child as something without substance."
Saint Ambrose, Hexameron, VI (22).
1.16.2012
He hastens to Her
Referencing yesterday's Gospel reading, John 1:35-42, in the Catena Aurea Saint John Chrysostom worthily talks about the Bridegroom:
"Observe too, when John says, Behold the Lamb of God, Christ says nothing. The Bridegroom stands by in silence; others introduce Him, and deliver the Bride into His hands; He receives her, and so treats her that she no longer remembers those who gave her in marriage. Thus Christ came to unite to Himself the Church; He said nothing Himself; but John, the friend of the Bridegroom, came forth, and put the Bride's right hand in His; i.e. by his preaching delivered into His hands men's souls, whom receiving He so disposed of, that they returned no more to John. And observe farther; As at a marriage the maiden goes not to meet the bridegroom, (even though it be a king's son who weds a humble handmaid,) but he hastens to her; so is it here. For human nature ascended not into heaven, but the Son of God came down to human nature, and took her to His Father's house."
"Observe too, when John says, Behold the Lamb of God, Christ says nothing. The Bridegroom stands by in silence; others introduce Him, and deliver the Bride into His hands; He receives her, and so treats her that she no longer remembers those who gave her in marriage. Thus Christ came to unite to Himself the Church; He said nothing Himself; but John, the friend of the Bridegroom, came forth, and put the Bride's right hand in His; i.e. by his preaching delivered into His hands men's souls, whom receiving He so disposed of, that they returned no more to John. And observe farther; As at a marriage the maiden goes not to meet the bridegroom, (even though it be a king's son who weds a humble handmaid,) but he hastens to her; so is it here. For human nature ascended not into heaven, but the Son of God came down to human nature, and took her to His Father's house."
11.09.2011
Knowing and Loving
According to Fulton Sheen's, "Knowing and Loving":
"The first difference between a man and a woman is that a man is concerned principally with things and a woman with persons. Hence a man talks business and a woman of how another woman is dressed. A man's interest is more remote; a woman's interest is more immediate. A man's interest leans to the abstract; a woman's to the concrete and intimate. A man is concerned with ends, goals, and purposes; a woman with something that is very proximate and close and near and dear to her. Because man centers on things and woman on persons, a woman is more inclined to gossip. A woman does not believe everything she hears, but at least she can repeat it ...
These are differences, but they actually complement one another, and very beautifully. The man is interested in the sowing of wheat in the field; the woman in making the bread. Both the bow and the violin are necessary for good music.
A second difference between the love of a man and the love of a woman is that a man will always give reasons for loving, but a woman gives no reasons for loving.
A man will say, 'I love you because you are beautiful; I love you because your teeth are pearly; I love you because you are sweet.'
The woman just says, 'I love you.' Period.
Man's love is always mixed up with his reasons. Men generally write the love sons. Hence such titles as 'That is Why I Love You' or reasons like these: 'You're the cream in my coffee...,' 'You're my Shakespeare sonnet..., my Mickey Mouse...'
These are not very good reasons for loving, but at least they are reasons. Man's love is always tied up with his intellect; but for a woman, love is its own reason. 'I love you because I love you.' A man gives reasons because he compares one woman with another; a woman just prefers. A man sees one peach in a basket of peaches; a woman sees only the one peach. A father's love for a child varies with the child's obedience to his commands; a mother's love is more immediate and more ready to overlook the faults. If 'love is blind,' it may be because it gives no reason. But it has a reason, which is choice, election, preference. As Our Lord told His Apostles, 'I have chosen you.'
A woman never tells why she loves; she just tells you how she loves...
A third difference is that defects get in the way of a man's love. But defects never hurt a woman's love. A man hears somebody talk about the woman that he loves or is going to marry, and he will say, 'Well, after all, I have got to know that woman if I am to marry her; and I had better listen to this.'
But a woman won't listen to anybody 'running down' her intended. She knows the man has defects, but she loves him anyway. Her attitude is that of the popular song, 'He's Just My Bill.' He may be a good-for-nothing blankety-blank-blank, but he's my Bill, anyway. A man's love decreases with the revelation of defects; a woman's does not. A woman gets angry when a man denies his faults, because she knew them all along. His lying mocks her affection; it is the deceit that angers her more than the faults.
There is something divine in that kind of love, because God loves us in spite of all defects, our failings, and our sins. A man may stand for the Justice of God, but a woman stands for His Mercy."
Do you agree?
I am not sure what role my feminine pride is playing here, but the way he describes a woman's love sounds pretty accurate to me. I've always felt a little silly saying, "Just because," as a reason for loving, but I've never really had any other reasons. Way to go Fulton.
"The first difference between a man and a woman is that a man is concerned principally with things and a woman with persons. Hence a man talks business and a woman of how another woman is dressed. A man's interest is more remote; a woman's interest is more immediate. A man's interest leans to the abstract; a woman's to the concrete and intimate. A man is concerned with ends, goals, and purposes; a woman with something that is very proximate and close and near and dear to her. Because man centers on things and woman on persons, a woman is more inclined to gossip. A woman does not believe everything she hears, but at least she can repeat it ...
These are differences, but they actually complement one another, and very beautifully. The man is interested in the sowing of wheat in the field; the woman in making the bread. Both the bow and the violin are necessary for good music.
A second difference between the love of a man and the love of a woman is that a man will always give reasons for loving, but a woman gives no reasons for loving.
A man will say, 'I love you because you are beautiful; I love you because your teeth are pearly; I love you because you are sweet.'
The woman just says, 'I love you.' Period.
Man's love is always mixed up with his reasons. Men generally write the love sons. Hence such titles as 'That is Why I Love You' or reasons like these: 'You're the cream in my coffee...,' 'You're my Shakespeare sonnet..., my Mickey Mouse...'
These are not very good reasons for loving, but at least they are reasons. Man's love is always tied up with his intellect; but for a woman, love is its own reason. 'I love you because I love you.' A man gives reasons because he compares one woman with another; a woman just prefers. A man sees one peach in a basket of peaches; a woman sees only the one peach. A father's love for a child varies with the child's obedience to his commands; a mother's love is more immediate and more ready to overlook the faults. If 'love is blind,' it may be because it gives no reason. But it has a reason, which is choice, election, preference. As Our Lord told His Apostles, 'I have chosen you.'
A woman never tells why she loves; she just tells you how she loves...
A third difference is that defects get in the way of a man's love. But defects never hurt a woman's love. A man hears somebody talk about the woman that he loves or is going to marry, and he will say, 'Well, after all, I have got to know that woman if I am to marry her; and I had better listen to this.'
But a woman won't listen to anybody 'running down' her intended. She knows the man has defects, but she loves him anyway. Her attitude is that of the popular song, 'He's Just My Bill.' He may be a good-for-nothing blankety-blank-blank, but he's my Bill, anyway. A man's love decreases with the revelation of defects; a woman's does not. A woman gets angry when a man denies his faults, because she knew them all along. His lying mocks her affection; it is the deceit that angers her more than the faults.
There is something divine in that kind of love, because God loves us in spite of all defects, our failings, and our sins. A man may stand for the Justice of God, but a woman stands for His Mercy."
Do you agree?
I am not sure what role my feminine pride is playing here, but the way he describes a woman's love sounds pretty accurate to me. I've always felt a little silly saying, "Just because," as a reason for loving, but I've never really had any other reasons. Way to go Fulton.
10.16.2011
Poem of the Week CXVII
Marie Magdalene
George Herbert
When blessed Marie wip'd her Saviour's feet,
(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)
And wore them for a jewell on her head,
Shewing his steps should be the street,
Wherein she thenceforth evermore
With pensive humbleness would live and tread:
She being stain'd herself, why did she strive
To make him clean, who could not be defil'd?
Why kept she not her tears for her own faults,
And not his feet? Though we could dive
In tears like seas, our sinnes are pil'd
Deeper than they, in words, and works, and thoughts.
Deare soul, she knew who did vouchsafe and deigne
To bear he filth; and that her sinnes did dash
Ev'n God himself: wherefore she was not loth,
As she had brought wherewith to stain,
So to bring in wherewith to wash:
And yet in washing one, she washed both.
George Herbert
When blessed Marie wip'd her Saviour's feet,
(Whose precepts she had trampled on before)
And wore them for a jewell on her head,
Shewing his steps should be the street,
Wherein she thenceforth evermore
With pensive humbleness would live and tread:
She being stain'd herself, why did she strive
To make him clean, who could not be defil'd?
Why kept she not her tears for her own faults,
And not his feet? Though we could dive
In tears like seas, our sinnes are pil'd
Deeper than they, in words, and works, and thoughts.
Deare soul, she knew who did vouchsafe and deigne
To bear he filth; and that her sinnes did dash
Ev'n God himself: wherefore she was not loth,
As she had brought wherewith to stain,
So to bring in wherewith to wash:
And yet in washing one, she washed both.
9.18.2011
What's Wrong with the World
I've been reading a lot of things lately and have been pretty much all over the place, only I keep coming back to my first serious positive encounter with Mr. Gilbert Keith Chesterton.
I've started Orthodoxy a couple of times but just can't seem to get into it, despite it being one of his most famous works (and always highly recommended to me). These repeated failed attempts left me pretty skeptical of ol' Chesterton. Now, I really don't think it was some sort of rivalrous Clive issue, just a matter of maybe not being smart enough to get Chesterton, at least until I read, surprisingly, not a Chesterton book, but Alice von Hildebrand's Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In Man and Woman, von Hildebrand heavily quotes a Chesterton book called, you guessed it, What's Wrong with the World. I was so fascinated by the selections in Man and Woman that I decided to go straight to the source and re-attempt to read Chesterton. And here's what I have to say...
What's Wrong with the World gets off to a slow start, in my opinion, but quickly becomes incredibly fascinating, especially in Chesterton's section "Part Three: Feminism, or the mistake about woman". I love the way Chesterton just cuts to the heart of things. He certainly doesn't pretty things up for presentation. I love the matter-of-factness of this statement, "If Americans can be divorced for 'incompatibility of temper' I cannot conceive why they are not all divorced. I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. For a man and a woman, as such, are incompatible." Uh huh.
Now this is incredible. Chesterton writes, "I do not deny that women have been wronged and even tortured; but I doubt if they were ever tortured so much as they are tortured now by the absurd modern attempt to make them domestic empresses and competitive clerks at the same time." Thank you Gilbert Keith. He continues beautifully, "The shortest way of summarizing the position is to say that woman stands for the idea of Sanity; that intellectual home to which the mind must return after every excursion on extravagance. The mind that finds its way to wild places is the poet's; but the mind that never finds its way back is the lunatic's."
Chesterton makes a very shocking statement a little later, saying, "Most men if they spoke with any sincerity would agree that the most terrible quality in women, whether in friendship, courtship or marriage, was not so much being emotional as being unemotional." I balked at Chesterton when I first read that. Seriously? What does he know? But then, he absolutely convinced me when I turned the page and read this, "There is an awful armor of ice which may be the legitimate protection of a more delicate organism; but whatever be the psychological explanation there can surely be no question of the fact. The instinctive cry of the female in anger is noli me tangere [don't touch me]." Doesn't that sound about right?
Hey, you should really check it out and see for yourself. The full text is actually available to download here with Project Gutenberg. Let me know what you think!
I've started Orthodoxy a couple of times but just can't seem to get into it, despite it being one of his most famous works (and always highly recommended to me). These repeated failed attempts left me pretty skeptical of ol' Chesterton. Now, I really don't think it was some sort of rivalrous Clive issue, just a matter of maybe not being smart enough to get Chesterton, at least until I read, surprisingly, not a Chesterton book, but Alice von Hildebrand's Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In Man and Woman, von Hildebrand heavily quotes a Chesterton book called, you guessed it, What's Wrong with the World. I was so fascinated by the selections in Man and Woman that I decided to go straight to the source and re-attempt to read Chesterton. And here's what I have to say...
What's Wrong with the World gets off to a slow start, in my opinion, but quickly becomes incredibly fascinating, especially in Chesterton's section "Part Three: Feminism, or the mistake about woman". I love the way Chesterton just cuts to the heart of things. He certainly doesn't pretty things up for presentation. I love the matter-of-factness of this statement, "If Americans can be divorced for 'incompatibility of temper' I cannot conceive why they are not all divorced. I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. For a man and a woman, as such, are incompatible." Uh huh.
Now this is incredible. Chesterton writes, "I do not deny that women have been wronged and even tortured; but I doubt if they were ever tortured so much as they are tortured now by the absurd modern attempt to make them domestic empresses and competitive clerks at the same time." Thank you Gilbert Keith. He continues beautifully, "The shortest way of summarizing the position is to say that woman stands for the idea of Sanity; that intellectual home to which the mind must return after every excursion on extravagance. The mind that finds its way to wild places is the poet's; but the mind that never finds its way back is the lunatic's."
Chesterton makes a very shocking statement a little later, saying, "Most men if they spoke with any sincerity would agree that the most terrible quality in women, whether in friendship, courtship or marriage, was not so much being emotional as being unemotional." I balked at Chesterton when I first read that. Seriously? What does he know? But then, he absolutely convinced me when I turned the page and read this, "There is an awful armor of ice which may be the legitimate protection of a more delicate organism; but whatever be the psychological explanation there can surely be no question of the fact. The instinctive cry of the female in anger is noli me tangere [don't touch me]." Doesn't that sound about right?
Hey, you should really check it out and see for yourself. The full text is actually available to download here with Project Gutenberg. Let me know what you think!
9.05.2011
Judith
The Catholic Church oppresses women?
Judith Beheading Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi
"Her sandal ravished his eyes, her beauty captivated his mind, and the sword severed his neck."
Judith 16:9
6.10.2011
The Coronation
"A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars."
Revelation 12:1
When we got older she had a sticker on her car that said, "Auburn Princess" (I think). I have always admired the confidence of women who were aware of their relation to the Father and said things like, "I'm a princess because I'm a daughter of the King."
Well, I think this is why I love the Coronation so much. Mary is crowned our Queen Mother, and I am reminded of my identity as a princess. In Mary's crowning I am reminded of my own destiny, "to receive the unfading crown of glory," as Saint Peter promises in his First Letter.
There is something really beautiful and innocent about a young girl's desire to be a princess. She doesn't seek ambition. She doesn't desire wealth. She desires to be splendidly arrayed, but not so that she can rule over others. She longs to be looked on with admiration. She longs to be beautiful in body and soul, content to be loved perfectly and unconditionally. She longs to be blameless, spotless, radiant, as she stands before her Lord and Lover.
This Spring I had the privilege of singing in a friend's wedding with my lovely sisters. The responsorial psalm was selected from the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. My sister Amanda sang beautifully, and I must admit every time she sang I could not help but cry thinking about how our destiny is Mary's. It went a little something like this:
R. The queen stands at your right hand arrayed in gold.
V1. The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
V2. Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father's house.
V3. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord.
V4. They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king.
Beautiful! Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us.
Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia:
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia,
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
Guade et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
5.30.2011
Why I am a missionary...
As I was sitting in class on my first day of my second year of FOCUS New Staff Training (NST), I had this great moment of clarity for my role as a missionary. There are a lot of things that are being offered by campus ministries, bible studies, retreats, etc., but today, as I listened to Dr. J Reyes quote Blessed John Paul II, I was reminded of my unique and unrepeatable missionary call. This is basically why FOCUS exists, and why I am a missionary...
"People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers, in experience than in teaching, and in life and action than in theories. The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission" (Redemptoris Missio).
I certainly haven't always lived it right, but this is exactly what I have tried to do this past year as a missionary-- to live my life as a Christian and hope that somehow I have been able to demonstrate at least the sort of "getting up when you fall" behavior that is essential to the Christian life. May the Lord continue to bless my efforts to answer this missionary call.
Please pray, as I do today and throughout my missionary life, that, like Saint Paul, I, too, may say to those I am serving, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). O, that the Lord might grant it!
4.23.2011
"Something strange is happening..."
Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
2.20.2011
Where Have the Good Men Gone?
The Wall Street Journey online is asking the question, "Where Have the Good Men Gone?"
This is a question that has come up in my own life and discussions a lot, especially in the past couple of years, in light of the documentary Demographic Winter or sparked by John Paul II's Theology of the Body.
My good friend Alejandro alerted me to the article, whose content honestly isn't that surprising or earth-shattering until I consider the source. Christian writers have been thinking about this question for a while now, and I have personally heard many speakers discuss the "man-child phenomenon" especially as it relates to domination of the virtual reality and pornography industries. What is remarkable to me is that writers at the WSJ have noticed and are not just describing the problem, but really looking to explore its roots.
I encourage you to read the full article here, but as a primer, here are some interesting quotes from the article:
The knowledge economy gives the educated young an unprecedented opportunity to think about work in personal terms. They are looking not just for jobs but for "careers," work in which they can exercise their talents and express their deepest passions. They expect their careers to give shape to their identity. For today's pre-adults, "what you do" is almost synonymous with "who you are," and starting a family is seldom part of the picture.
...and...
Unlike adolescents, however, pre-adults don't know what is supposed to come next. For them, marriage and parenthood come in many forms, or can be skipped altogether. In 1970, just 16% of Americans ages 25 to 29 had never been married; today that's true of an astonishing 55% of the age group. In the U.S., the mean age at first marriage has been climbing toward 30 (a point past which it has already gone in much of Europe). It is no wonder that so many young Americans suffer through a "quarter-life crisis," a period of depression and worry over their future.
...and finally...
Relatively affluent, free of family responsibilities, and entertained by an array of media devoted to his every pleasure, the single young man can live in pig heaven—and often does. Women put up with him for a while, but then in fear and disgust either give up on any idea of a husband and kids or just go to a sperm bank and get the DNA without the troublesome man. But these rational choices on the part of women only serve to legitimize men's attachment to the sand box. Why should they grow up? No one needs them anyway. There's nothing they have to do.
I find this last quote particularly interesting. She seems to, at least partially, answer her own question, "Where have the good men gone?" by examining the responsibility of her own sex. Women will reap what they sow. If women continue to sell themselves short by failing to make demands and set high standards for men, then they simply, "legitimize men's attachment to the sandbox." Perhaps the author, in her 'feminine genius', has stumbled upon the truth behind Archbishop Fulton Sheen words, "The level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood."
1.26.2011
12.12.2010
Poem of the Week LXXIII
In honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe; as Archbishop Fulton Sheen so perfectly called it, the most revolutionary song (or poem) ever written--
The Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
- My soul magnifies the Lord,
- and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
- For he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
- For behold, from this day all generations will call me blessed;
- For the mighty one has done great things to me, and holy is his name.
- And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
- He has shown strength with his arm;
- He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts;
- He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the holy;
- He has filled the hungry with good things,
- and the rich he has sent empty away.
- He has helped his servant Israel,
- in remembrance of his mercy,
- as he spoke to our fathers,
- to Abraham and to his seed forever.
10.08.2010
The ruthless war of promiscuity
"A society in which conjugal infidelity is tolerated must always be in the long run a society adverse to women. Women, whatever a few male songs and satires may say to the contrary, are more naturally monogamous than men; it is a biological necessity. Where promiscuity prevails, they will therefore always be more often the victims than the culprits. Also, domestic happiness is more necessary to them than to us. And the quality by which they most easily hold a man, their beauty, decreases every year after they have come to maturity, but this does not happen to those qualities of personality -- women don't really care twopence about our looks -- by which we hold women. Thus in the ruthless war of promiscuity women are at a double disadvantage. They play for higher stakes and are also more likely to lose. I have no sympathy with moralists who frown at the increasing crudity of female provocativeness. These signs of desperate competition fill me with pity" (We Have No 'Right to Happiness', Lewis, 1963).
This was the last essay that C. S. Lewis wrote for publication, and it is definitely one of the most interesting Lewis essays.
I've been doing an informal study about this quote in particular. I've been asking people what they think is the "biological necessity" of monogamy for woman. I've gotten a lot of interesting opinions, and I really enjoying hearing what people have to say. There is also the question of what did Lewis mean by the "biological necessity" and what do we know now in science about the biological "necessities" of monogamy. Overall, I am very intrigued by the idea. I would love to hear your thoughts.
What is woman's "biological necessity" for monogamy?
9.05.2010
Poem of the Week LIX
Sonnets from the Portuguese 7: The Face
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The face of all the world is changed, I think,
Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul
Move still, oh, still, beside me, as they stole
Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink
Of obvious death, where I, who thought to sink,
Was caught up into love, and taught the whole
Of life in a new rhythm. The cup of dole
God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink,
And praise its sweetness, Sweet, with thee anear.
The names of country, heaven, are changed away
For where thou art or shalt be, there or here;
And this ... this lute and song ... loved yesterday,
(The singing angels know) are only dear,
Because thy name moves right in what they say.
8.12.2010
Have a Listen 8.0
Hello friends, meet and listen to my friend, Rebecca Roubion. I saw her in a show one of the first nights I had here in Nashville. She is amazing. Enjoy her sweet music vidlette.
7.28.2010
Something beautiful.
On Sunday Brittany, Joanna, Katie, and I went to Babs' (a parishioner at St. Michael's) house. We enjoyed a delicious Italian lunch, and then began the endeavor of making rosaries. It was awesome.
Here are a couple pictures of what we created.
My rosary. I love the flower beads for the "Our Fathers":
All the rosaries together. I love how different each one is and how the individual rosaries capture our personalities. Clockwise from left: Brittany's "beachy" rosary, my rosary, Katie's rosary, and Joanna's rosary.
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