"Home, home, on the range...."

Greetings from the desert! It's nice to be a way from the city for a few days, though the work hours out here are long! Utah has beautiful sunsets, and I'm about the head out to see one.

But, my comments on Roe (below) will be published in Lifelines, the PA pro-life e-pub. Excited! Also, this weekend, I'll be playing in the DC Think Tank Softball Tournament. Not to mention, CCD starts this weekend!

So, busy times when I return from "the range." Pray for all those catechists when you have a chance. This is "back to CCD" time which is both a joy and a stressor for the legions of volunteer teachers in the world. To all my fellow teachers, remember those wonderful words of Pope John Paul II, in Catechesi Tradendae and teach courageously:

I am anxious to give thanks in the Church's name to all of you, lay teachers of catechesis in the parishes, the men and the still more numerous women throughout the world who are devoting yourselves to the religious education of many generations. Your work is often lowly and hidden but it is carried out with ardent and generous zeal, and it is an eminent form of the lay apostolate, a form that is particularly important where for various reasons children and young people do not receive suitable religious training in the home. How many of us have received from people like you our first notions of catechism and our preparation for the sacrament of Penance, for our first Communion and Confirmation! The fourth general assembly of the synod did not forget you. I join with it in encouraging you to continue your collaboration for the life of the Church.

Living in the Shadow of Roe v. Wade

A friend of mine passed on this question of "What does it mean growing up in the shadow of Roe v. Wade." Here was my reply:

I remember quite profoundly the moment I stopped saying, "I personally would never have an abortion, but I don't think I have the right to impose my beliefs on anyone." It was in the spring of 2000. Two friends and I were walking out of our statistics class, and we were greeted by another friend of ours, "Ruth." Ruth announced with some trepidation that she was pregnant. The first sentence anyone uttered was, "Are you happy?"

Eight years later, I often dwell on that day, because I wonder how our society could have evolved so far as to allow happiness to dictate whether someone can live or die (Ruth was happy, incidentally). I also wonder how I had reached 21 years of age thinking that it was wrong of me to advocate the right of a human to live. Roe vs. Wade not only legalized genocide, it installed relativism as the belief system of choice. We weren't taught absolutes in school, we were taught that everyone's truth was equally valid. Because of this, far more of my contemporaries embrace apathy over empathy. If all positions are equal, why should I bother to understand yours? It's evidenced in the detachment of those of us who live, who shout for change, but are unwilling advocate any position. It's in the "me" attitude that keeps us isolated from one another, rarely bothering to learn our neighbors names, let alone listen to their stories. It's in the neverending pursuit of "happiness" that results in promiscuity, serial monogamy, and insecurity. And for those of us rejecting Roe vs. Wade, it means often being the lone voice at the lunch table, the person known as a "religious zealot," and the "judgmental" one.

In truth, Roe yielded a generation of lonely people--our parents robbed us of siblings and friends, and our Government institutionalized an isolating philosophy. But, as in all things, there is hope. Those of us who have spent all our lives in the shadow of Roe are slowly stepping into the light--we are learning in adulthood the lessons we should have learned as children. That happiness comes in service. That all life is precious. That there is an absolute truth. We are combatting loneliness by banding together, and we will stare down the shadow of Roe. And, in time, the only response to the utterance, "I'm pregnant," will be, "Congratulations!"

Twice in One Night? McCain/Palin = Tigh/Roslin?

Mostly because my love for sci-fi and Sarah Palin have quickly intersected. I'm said I missed this before:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/09/tigh-roslin-2008/

http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2008/09/tigh-roslin-08.html

The McCain/Palin ticket is the Battlestar Galactica Tigh/Roslin ticket. At least Roslin became president. There is hope for Sarah Palin.

Enjoy!

It's Irrational....

Now that I've completed nearly a month of mourning (Brett Farve is dead to me) and survived vacation (Disney World), I'm back to the real world. And there is nothing more real in my world right now than the election. POTUS, if you are unawares. To be honest, I could have cared less until last Friday. Hillary was obnoxious, and Obama doesn't really do it for me anymore. Change. Hope. Blah, blah, blah. I expected better from the Junior Senator. I even gave him a pass on that whole "clinging to their religion and guns" comment. I like my religion, thank you very much, and I'll own a gun if I darn well want to.

Then of course there was Obama's refusal to back the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. He also wouldn't want his daughter "burdened" with an unwanted child. And his flip-flop on wire tapping. And the fact that I'm still not convinced he has a plan--all the plans I've seen smack of Marxism. Not to mention that it offends me EVERY TIME someone highlights that Sen. Biden is a Catholic born in Pennsylvania.

But I wasn't sold on McCain, either. He's aged since 2000. He'd need help on the economy. I'm not sure he'll change Washington.

And then I met Sarah Palin. Okay, I didn't meet her, but I did. Via the TV. And it's absolutely irrational how much I like her. I would love to quit my job and move to Alaska and work for her. Or go to work for the office of the VP if she wins. It's irrational, I tell you. So be it--she's living the pro-life life. She's got a family, she runs a state, and I bet she drives a minivan. I want to be her when I grow up.

She's resonating with a lot of young, conservative, pro-family women I know. All of us feel revived. Like Sarah Palin can accomplish what we've all dreamed of. It's irrational, I know, but I can't help feeling like Sarah Palin has the potential to be my hero. Sigh. I'll let you know.