View from a Train Track

Thank God I have the internet...

2008-04-13T15:34:00.003-04:00

To tell me what my theological worldview is.

Here's mine.

What's your theological worldview?

You scored as a Roman Catholic

You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.

Roman Catholic

100%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

86%

Neo orthodox

61%

Reformed Evangelical

39%

Emergent/Postmodern

39%

Classical Liberal

39%

Fundamentalist

32%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

29%

Modern Liberal

25%

Find out what yours is here.

Faith

2008-01-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Philosopher Mom's post about faith, I want to share with you a quote from John Paul II (I'm not sure what it is from originally, but it is included in Go in Peace, which is a compilation of some of his writings):

"The apostles asked of Jesus: "Increase our faith!" This too must be our constant prayer. Faith is always demanding because faith leads us beyond ourselves. It leads us directly to God. Faith also imparts a vision of life's purpose and stimulates us to action. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a private opinion, a remote spiritual ideal or a mere program for personal growth. The gospel is the power that can transform the world.

This gospel is no abstraction: it is the living Person of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the reflection of the Father's glory, the Incarnate Son who reveals the deepest meaning of our humanity and the noble destiny to which the whole human family is called. Christ has commanded us to let the light of the gospel shine forth in our service to society. How can we profess faith in God's Word, and then refuse to let it inspire and direct our thinking, our activity, our decisions, and our responsibilities toward one another?"

Well, I marched today

2008-01-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

With two friends and my underwhelmed husband. What amazes me about this event is that despite the gruesome "theme" of the march, people are so peppy and joyful as they move along. Of course, this has a lot to do with the large number of high school kids who attend, but I'd like to think there is something more to it - we are a people of life, and life is a beautiful thing. It is something to be joyful about. Life is good, period. How backwards and upside down and painful our world can be, and still life is so very good. And that is why we march.

2nd Sunday of Advent

2007-12-09T10:38:00.000-05:00

In quiet, in stillness, in solemn expectation, we wait. Come, Lord Jesus!

Happy Feast Day!

2007-12-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us sinners. Help us to love your Son perfectly as you do.

Well, I've gone and done it.

2007-11-17T13:09:00.000-05:00

I jumped on the House bandwagon. I’m not an aficionado by any stretch of the matter. I couldn’t quote lines from House like I could from, say, Friends (I think I just revealed more about myself than I’d care for you to know, but whatever), but this week’s episode was a real corker - a brilliant treatment of the relationship between perception and reality. The show addressed the human tendencies to both see things the way we want to, even though our perceptions don’t correspond to reality, and to try to make others see things the way we want them to, regardless of how things actually are. Umm, guilty as charged.

I totally meant to post this on Wednesday, by the way.

Good movie

2007-10-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

If you would like to see a very sweet and very well-done movie, see bella. Although I do have a couple of beefs with it, really only one, I enjoyed it immensely.

By the way

2007-10-12T20:19:00.001-04:00

We spent a week in Ireland last month. See link to the pics at right. Also, did I mention how wonderful my husband is?

Something to chew on

2007-09-10T18:01:00.000-04:00

"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment.... For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.... His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." Gaudiem et Spes 16

Yeah, about that...

Things we'd rather not think about...

2007-09-03T12:48:00.000-04:00

Read this. It's horrible.

Homosexuality

2007-07-08T19:34:00.000-04:00

Here's an extremely interesting article: Homosexuality and the Church: Two Views. I must admit, it's a little unsettling to me. I definitely need time to digest it. But I wanted to pass it along (as if anyone really reads this).

Thoughts on the Eucharist

2007-07-08T17:58:00.000-04:00

As you may have guessed from the title, the topic of today's post are my thoughts on the Eucharist. I wonder how many people believe that it is actually the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. I wonder how many people even know that is what the Church teaches. I know I didn't until I was in college. No one ever told me.

Ok, that reminds me of an anecdote. I used to teach kindergarten Sunday school. We had a lesson on the Eucharist and I made it a point to tell the kids that yes, we actually do believe it is the body of Jesus. It's not just a symbol. Not that kindergarteners would understand it. I don't know what I was thinking. But anyways, I got a lot of "eeewww's" and "yuck's". Some weeks later, one of my students asked me why she never got to eat the potato chip at church. I just shook my head and it took everything in me not to laugh out loud.

Alright, now for some semi-substantial thoughts. So our Lord came to us in a manger 2,000 years ago or something like that. He was born into a poor family and the circumstances of his birth were, shall we say, not ideal for normal human beings. Basically, he was born and laid into a trough that animals eat out of. Humble, right? Fast forward 33 years and Jesus hung on a cross and died to save us from our sins. Selfless, right? Fast forward to now, you and me sitting in Church. The priest elevates the host, speaks the words, and He's there. Really. It wasn't enough for him to take on human nature in such a humble way. It wasn't enough to suffer pain, humiliation, desolation and death for us. He finds a way to pour Himself out for us even more and in an even more simple and humble form. He comes to us as bread. So simple, so humble. Oh yeah, and there's also all that stuff about being the bread of life and nourishing our souls as well as our bodies. It just strikes me that in addition to satisfying our hunger, He also provides such a radical example of what it truly means to pour yourself out for others. It means so much more that we think we can give.

Sometimes I wonder if we're crazy for believing that something that looks like a piece of bread is actually God. Sometimes I even doubt it. When I was in Italy I went to Orvieto, where a Eucharistic miracle occurred a long time ago (I don't remember when). The priest saying mass was struggling with believing that the Eucharist is actually Jesus' body. As he elevated the host, it actually turned into flesh. A study was done on the flesh (many years later, obviously) and it was determined that the type of flesh was that of the heart. Wow. Also, doesn't it just make sense in your heart that God would give Himself so radically to us? Knowing that satisfies our deepest needs. At least it does for me.

Final thought: I read somewhere (don't remember where - as you can tell, my memory is not terribly good) that usually when we eat something, it becomes a part of us. With the Eucharist, the opposite thing happens. When we eat the body of Christ, we become a part of that body. We are united with all who do the same. Holy smokes. I wish everyone understood and had this joy.

How to tell if you have a good husband

2007-07-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

So we spent most of the day dealing with plumbing problems. We have a toilet in our basement and apparently, last night the seal between the toilet and the drain that takes all the water from the toilet out of the house broke, resulting in water all over the basement. I didn't worry since my husband is such a do-it-yourselfer, especially when it comes to plumbing. So I went about my day as he fought the toilet downstairs. In the middle of the afternoon he called me down because he needed my help. The toilet was on its side in the middle of the floor, and the drain going down to God knows where was exposed. He needed my help because he was going to carry the toilet over to the drain and I had to tell him where to put it down so that it was directly on top of the drain and the screws, which were sticking up from the drain, came up through the holes in the bottom of the toilet. Now this doesn't seem complicated, but it was very hard to see and must admit, that I did not do a very good job doing what he asked of me. I was very stressed out about the whole situation and ended up telling him the wrong direction and not being much help at all. He had every right to get frustrated with me, but if he was, he didn't show it. It was obvious that the toilet was very heavy and he was straining to hold it up as I shouted out wrong directions to him, but he didn't say a word. In fact, once we got the thing in place, he even cracked a joke about the whole situation. Do I have myself a good man or what?

I know it seems like a really small thing, but it was and is huge to me. This self-control is not atypical for him. I think it's these types of small things over the course of a marriage that really make things work. Would you rather live with 30 years of your husband yelling at you because you did a bad job of helping him out with his plumbing, carpentry, whatever projects, or 30 years of him being patient and kind with you, even when you fail living up to what he needs you to be?

This seemingly small event also got me to thinking about the relationship between human action and human emotion. I think that human emotion drives human action a lot of the time, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. But I also think that one of the great things about being human is that we don't have to live our lives this way. We are aware of ourselves and our emotions. We can choose to act based on love instead of how we feel at any given moment. I think this is one of the key things that people miss in their search for happiness.

With all this being said, I have to say that my husband is much better at grounding his actions in love rather than in how he feels than I am. I know he definitely wouldn't articulate it that way, but that's what I see in him every day. That's the man I live with and that I have given myself to. I think I got myself a good one ;)

Blogger Extraordinaire!

2007-07-07T16:06:00.000-04:00

Who knew that this girl had a blog? If anyone is entitled to post their thoughts on the internet, it's her. It's heavy stuff at times, but "be not afraid!" It's totally worth it!

Yes, yes, I know...

2007-06-15T18:12:00.000-04:00

...I haven't been much of a blogger. Hey, a lot has happened in the past month. For one thing, I got a new job (yay!). It's at a large asset management firm and I'm doing accounting for them. I'm not passionate about it or anything, but so far it's better than where I came from in a lot of ways (also worse in some ways, but overall I think it's a net gain). So what's going on in my little brain that might interest anyone out there? Not much. I am definitely warming up to my new book, which analyzes JPII's writings on sexuality, marriage and family. I'm just now reading a summary of Familiaris Consortio, and it's really interesting. I should probably read the actual document. So basically the pope said that living family life is a sacrament. The family is the domestic Church. It's the mystical body of Christ in a specific form. A family images the relationship of the Holy Trinity and the relationship of Christ with the Church to the world. Whoa. A family lives out the priestly, prophetic and kingly offices of Christ specifically, in its own situation, in the acts of love that each member performs for the others, every day. A family is a communion of persons and should be a communion even to the extent that the Trinity is. Not "Oh, we're only human so we could never be in such intimate union as the Trinity so it's ok if we're mean to each other once in a while." No, we really are called to be a communion of persons just like the Trinity is, because ultimately, we're made to be drawn into that communion of persons that is the Trinity. Again, whoa. The thing I love is how our dear late Papa is so practical. This isn't some theoretical teaching that's thought about and talked about in a vague way. This is actually meant to be lived in each and every individual set of circumstances. In taking out the trash and doing the dishes, in driving the kids to soccer practice and ballet and piano lessons, in working all day to at a job that you may not necessarily love to put food on the table and clothes on bodies and pay the electric bill, in giving kisses and backrubs and yes, even in, especially in, having sex. It's meant to be lived in difficult circumstances, when a couple discovers they are infertile or that their child has a severe disability or they find out they are pregnant AGAIN and it's SO SOON or there is a death in the family or whatever. Each member of the family is called to, has an obligation to, surrender himself completely to the others. Specifically. In each decision that is made. In every situation, every day. This is what we're made for. It sounds kinda hard, but so beautiful, right? Is this really what I signed up for? I kind of knew all this already, and I'm sure you did too, but we all need reminders, right? This is so huge. This is it. This is what makes us who we are, what makes us happy, what makes life worth living. And since we're fallen, how easily (and sometimes conveniently) we forget. How can it be that this is at the same time the most simple thing but also the most earth-shattering thing ever? I think there was more, but I can't remember it right now.

Check this out

2007-05-17T09:43:00.000-04:00

I'm sure anyone who might visit here (if there is anyone at all) has already seen it, but WHAT?!?!? And on MTV?!?!?

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?name=news&id=1559081&vid=123144

Wow

2007-05-17T09:35:00.000-04:00

Doesn't the human body amaze you sometimes? I won't go into the details of why this thought was triggered in my little head. Suffice it to say that mine, at times, does. Amaze me, I mean.

Closing Time

2007-05-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

So today was my last day. What I wasn't prepared for was the sadness and sense of loss. I guess I should have figured I would feel that way, being the emotional woman that I am, but I didn't. Anyways, I think that's all I really have to say about that. My new job doesn't seem real to me yet. I suppose it will when I start on Monday, but not yet. On another note, I went to the most beautiful mass on Mother's Day in the beautiful and newly renovated basilica in our beautiful city. The rendition of Laudate Dominum that was sung during communion nearly broke my heart. I love mother's day. I can't wait until the day I can be honored with the title of mother, and my mom is probably the most amazing person I know. She's so humble and holy. She served our family with such quiet devotion for the past 32 years, she keeps a perfect house and is an awesome cook. My mom is truly my hero and I hope I can be half as good a mother and half as true of a lady as she is someday (I have a lot of work ahead of me!). I love mother's day because motherhood is truly a vocation that is worthy of honor, but I don't think it is recognized as such today. Being a good mother is about the most important thing a woman could possibly do with her life. I once heard or read something somewhere that went something like this: A woman can be a good doctor or lawyer and still not be a good person. It is impossible to be a good mother and not be a good person as well. True, no? Well, it comes very close, at least. Happy mother's day, mom, even though it's a little late. May Mary, mother of God and model for the entire human race, keep you in her heart and commend you to her Son.

I hope that someone finds my...

2007-04-27T18:05:00.000-04:00

message in a bottle.... do, do, do, do, do..... message in a bottle... I actually don't like Sting that much and this song doesn't really have anything to do with my post, but it's what came to mind when I was trying to think of a title. I'm so glad it's Friday. I'm probably about 3/4 of the way through a job search, and it's so exhausting. Plus I feel so guilty about not being 100% present at my current job. It's at the point in the year where it's gotten a lot better, but I've decided the bad times outweigh the good and so I bit the bullet. I found out that I'm definitely getting offers from 2 places where I interviewed. The problem is that I don't really want to work at these places. I think I need to pray. Instead of blog. I'll be back.

wind

2007-04-16T17:05:00.000-04:00

It is WILDLY windy today! And I love it! I would have taken the name Sr. Wind if it wasn't already taken. The windy weather is fitting for me today because it seems that the winds of change might be blowing through my life. I really dislike my job and have been thinking about looking for something new for a while. I put my resume up today and got a call about it within minutes. Literally. Then I went on this quasi-interview with a "head-hunting" agency. It all happened in such a whirlwind fashion, I don't yet know how I feel about it. If change is going to happen at all, I like it to happen slowly. Don't we all? Since I know that's not the way it works, I'm going to switch topics.

I just started Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water. I'm not yet 30 pages into it and I already love it. She says, "As far as I can see, the reproduction of chaos is neither art nor is it Christian." I often wish I had the soul and talent of an artist, preferably a musician. I love music and art. And I love this quote because it implies that there is such a thing as "bad" art. But that is another post for another time. What the few pages that I've read of this book really triggered inside of me was a question. How the hell did I get onto this path that I've chosen? And why do I stay here? I'm not talking about my choice of a spouse or of marriage over religious life (I love my DH more than ANYTHING - except God, of course, and couldn't imagine life without him). I am talking about my s0-called career. I never wanted a career. Why do I now have one? Sometimes I wish I could just run away from it all and go take ballet and poetry and music and creative writing classes and learn philosophy and theology and do completely useless, but beautiful, things for the rest of my life. Of course, I know the answer to this question. I'm so easily influenced by the opinions of others. But now, when these winds come blowing through my life, I wonder if I should take this plunge, or at least move in that direction? And I wonder what would be less cowardly - to pursue something in which I have no experience, about which I know very little but at the very idea of which my little heart beats a little more quickly, or to stick with this tried and true path that, among other things, would probably be the best and most sensible thing for my newborn family. Mrs. L'Engle again has inspiration to offer: "Jesus, too, had to make choices, and in the eyes of the world some of his choices were not only contrary to acceptable behaviour, but were foolish in the extreme." Now there's some food for thought.

Musings from our treehouse

2007-04-13T17:54:00.000-04:00

So I was in our treehouse last night with Hubby and a bunch of friends, and we were having a convo (as we have been known to do) about God. I went to the Easter Vigil at St. Dominic's this year with Hubby and family, and I was really disturbed by a comment that the priest made during his sermon. He was welcoming the catechumens to the parish family and compared the parish to God, who welcomes us with His wide open arms "or her wide open arms." Her. So I went home and broke out the catechism. It says that "God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective 'perfections' of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband." First of all, I think it's quite telling that the catechism specifically says that God contains the perfections of a husband but not of a wife. Was the reference to wife left out by accident? I don't think so. I think this cuts to the heart of why it is not appropriate to refer to God using feminine pronouns. In order to understand my argument, one must first accept the premise that there is a difference between the masculine and the feminine. Those words mean two different things. The masculine soul is the initiator, the leader. God is the ultimate initiator, our creator, the first mover. Because of this, I believe it is more appropriate to refer to God using masculine pronouns. I think this is a point of great theological significance. But as my friend pointed out to me last night, in the words of St. Augustine, God is more unlike us than He is like us. Anyways, just a concept that has been pretty heavily on my mind recently.

To blog or not to blog...

2007-04-11T19:24:00.000-04:00

That is the question. I've been toying with the idea for a while, just to have a creative outlet, you know? I'm worried, among other things, that I might become too obsessed or something. But I decided to take the plunge, just to have the option open if inspiration strikes. I can always just not post, right?