Tis Lent

It's that time of year again. Growing up, my favorite time of the year was Christmas, bar none.  There were other special happenings for us, even if we weren't a family awash in endless traditions.  We had them, but my dad's chaotic work schedule on the railroad made it tough to have regular annual traditions.  Still, they were there.  Christmas, and Thanksgiving whenever we could get it.  Usually something around July 4th, but not always.  We didn't cook out much.  There was our annual trip to Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio.  And oddly, the annual viewing of The Wizard of Oz was almost on that level.  Dad would make chocolate and peanut butter fudge, and one year he bought a candy kit.  Go figure.  But above them all was Christmas. Though over the years, I began to fancy fall more than any season. 

Nevertheless, as a new Christian, I must admit Easter began to grow on me.  That really took off when I started attending the Florida church where I met my wife.  Not just because of her, but because they had their annual Sunrise Service (a popular tradition in Protestant churches). And it happened that their church and parsonage was on property that bordered a lake. The chairs were out, the cross was on the shore, and I can still remember seeing the sun come up over the palm trees.  Catholic though you might be, you have to admit just the sound of it seems pretty darn awesome.  And it was.  And it made Easter seem all the bigger deal than it ever had been.

Of course coming into the Catholic Church brought it all to a new level.  Sadly, I was taken by how many old world Catholic traditions weren't maintained, at least in our neck of the woods.  Yet the basics are there. And in Catholicism, the basics are still leaps and bounds beyond what most Protestant, and especially Evangelical, churches will ever experience. 

One of the strangest developments has been my appreciation of Lent. I'll admit not all Catholic practices have made a big impact on me.  But this has.  Something about it seems rooted; grounded if you will.  A reminder that be it living in a cave, a stone cottage, a third world shack, or a Manhattan skyscraper, or whatever fantasies the future does or doesn't hold, it all comes back down to the same reality - we're dust.  At this stage in my life, watching more and more I know pass, and seeing very few of my family left, that isn't just a quaint mantra.  It's to remind us what is and isn't important and real.

So to that end, I try very hard to follow Lent to the best of my abilities. Which are usually pretty lousy I must admit.  Truth be told, the hardest thing is what to give up.  At the end of the day, owing to my personality and just where our life has been over the years, there aren't many things I do on a regular basis.  Perhaps it's bad of me, but I've always jealously guarded my time with my family and my boys and would never do or not do something to compromise that.  But outside of that?  As I've said before, I have no hobbies, no ongoing regular interests, nothing I'm terribly invested in that doesn't include necessary things, nor any food or snack or indulgence I must regularly have.  That includes things I do, but on such an irregular basis that giving them up would seem like a typical month long hiatus. Most things I give up are things I'd almost have to start doing just to have them to give up. 

And no, the old 'replace it with something to do' doesn't cut it.  I get the whole 'giving up' part, and think it's valuable.  So each year finds me hitting my head against the wall trying to figure out just what thing I don't always to seldom ever do that I do enough for it to warrant being given up for the season.  Without, again, hamstringing some crucial aspect of life, especially time with the kids and family I have left. 

Well, this year I had a eureka moment.  I would give up Facebook and similar social media outlets.  I don't live on them, but I use them for material for the old blog, plus there are several pages that are interest based.  It is a bit of a cheat, since Facebook is the only one I belong to.  Others, like TikTok or Twitter have never interested me.  Though I will got to them if someone sends a link or reference or such.  But I do enough on Facebook - much of it being interest pages like history or movies or Beatles and the like - that I can give it up and feel like I'm not really cheating.  

It does come with a caveat: that there area a few things - like our own city government - that only operate through Facebook.  And sometimes, such as changes in services such as trash collection or weather alerts, only come through that.  So in those cases, where certain companies or institutions I interact with only go through Facebook, I reserve the right to go there and respond accordingly.  But nothing else.  Unless I'm informed they uploaded a photo of the grandkiddos. That will ever be a dispensation. Thus: 

But I will avoid all other pages, and that includes the few Catholic pages I still follow.  Which, with a couple exceptions, will be its own blessing.  There is one point to consider.  I seldom follow the MSM anymore.  Local channels in the morning, mostly to see weather and traffic, and through the week we'll catch the first half hour of the national morning news shows before getting on with the day.  But that's it. I get most of my news now from the Internet.  Not Internet pages, but people on social media who link to or reference various news stories.  When they do, then I'll look up the story and see what is going on.  But the MSM is so post-truth/post-journalism, I no longer waste much time with it.

So with that said, the number of stories I'll be exposed to will likely drop through the floor in the next weeks.  I'll still see them, since there are still blogs I visit that I don't count as part of the FB style social media.  But I'm sure there will be a drop.  There already has been on the blog in general, owing to life changes and new adventures and new chapters and all.  But this should see things really slow down.

There are a couple posts I've been kicking around for some time, and a couple follow ups I'll try to get out.  I might try to blog on frivolous things just to keep the habit going.  I'm sure there will be the odd story that doesn't require those social media sites to hear about (I recall the eye opening Kavanaugh reveal).  But on the whole, expect things to slow down from where they've already slowed down to.  In the meantime happy and blessed Lent to all.  I'll be around, if not as often. Just remember, Easter is not too far.  

Mea cupla

I've been remiss in calling out prayers for the victims of the Canadian school shooting.  I didn't even  hear about it until I saw it over on The American Catholic.  Usually my news consumption, unless I'm pointed to stories through various webpages, consists of watching the local morning news, and then the first half hour or so of the national morning news, usually, but not always, ABC.  Later on, if things aren't crazy, I'll try to catch an evening broadcast.  Every couple days, if I've not seen anything major on the few pages I still visit, I'll Google News and see what's up.  

But in this case, the press has dragged its feet for obvious reasons.  I've not seen it mentioned in any of the Top Stories round-ups on the morning broadcasts.  Perhaps they have covered it in the later hours, but let's face it. This is some MAGA type shooting up a gay bar or black church, do we really think that's left to the second hour of reporting?  And naturally, the Left's own Reality of Babel that it's been trying to push has further muddled things: 

Yeah. I weep.  And in an unusual turn, most of the coverage has focused on the shooter and mental health, with only a side focus on the victims.  Shockingly, several I know on the Catholic Left who are usually first in line to scream 'psycho gun culture' have been silent about this.  And we All. Know. Why.  But it is what it is.  The Left continues to unravel like a madman getting boxed into a corner.  Which can be dangerous of course.

Nonetheless,  this shouldn't keep people of good will and common sense and decency from focusing on the tragedy, the senseless death and the victims and their families.  I can't fathom what those parents and families are going through.  So do the right and decent and Christian thing - pray for those victims, their families, and all impacted by this horrible act of evil, that God will cover their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  And yes, pray for the victim of modern progressive madness who perpetrated this hellish act.  I can't imagine what it is to grow up with this today, and those particularly vulnerable need our prayers and intervention as much as ever. 

As we enter a welcomed thaw

After quite a stretch of near zero temperatures, I must admit a deep nighttime sky over a snow-covered landscape still strikes the right aesthetic for me. 

The view on my way home a few nights ago. 

Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess

 Obedience to the Political Left.   Woof:

Are we sure all ICE agents are psycho fascist murderous thugs?  And then, does that mean we're allowed to crow over the suffering of such vile criminals and even their loved ones who might be impacted?  I mean, that doesn't strike me as that portrayal of good old liberal kindness I grew up with, Christian or otherwise.  I remember when not a few Catholic apologists railed against those who cheered the death of Osama bin Laden, reminding us that real Christians never gloat over the suffering  of others, even our enemies. Or did that just mean gloating over the death of people who orchestrate the slaughter of thousands of Americans? 

Yet here, from that bastion of Christian charity, we also have similar:

It's a shame because it could harm them, or their families or loved ones.  At least those in ICE who aren't gestapo murderers.  But again, this is the modern Left, which has done yeoman's work reducing everything to a bumper sticker; of eliminating the idea that problems could be vast and complex and instead distilling reality down to Group A v. Group B.  The Left that has done wonders by convincing so many, including our leadership and even Christian institutions, that there is no human race, only intersecting demographic groups through which all worth and culpability are measured.  

BTW, doxxing.  I had to ask my sons some years ago. It means finding personal information about someone and then plastering it online.  Usually with the hope that some harm comes to them or theirs as a result.   So when one of his readers, expressing the same concern about ICE, was nonetheless concerned about Mark's vengeful tone, his response was thus:

Eeek.  

Which reminds me of Mike Lewis and his post trying to score political points in God's name when Mel Gibson's home was consumed by the LA fires.  

Now, I don't know about you, but there are plenty people out there I don't care for owing to their politics or other belief systems and behaviors.  But I would never gloat over harm done to them, even disguising it as some prophetic utterance.  And that isn't from being Christian, but merely how I was taught growing up, both by my parents and society at large.  

Not all of it has to be a flagrant disregard for the wellbeing of those who dare dissent from the Leftist State of course.  Some can be the opposite, glorifying those who the Left/Press has beautified as the type of people Jesus tried to be.  For that, here is an example from Dawn Eden, reminding us that Ana Narvo is most likely correct, Alex Pretti was the most perfect guy. 

Thus only one side of the tragedy need ever be accepted.  

And for a bonus, when anti-ICE activists broke into a church to disrupt worship services, I assumed it would be one of those embarrassments that most on the Left would try to sweep under the rug.  And for the most part I was right.  For the Left Media, the arrest of Don Lemon became the focus.  Sort of like the press focusing on free speech when people were fired for wanting more Charlie Kirk killings as opposed to focusing on the the implication of those wanting the killing of Charlie Kirk.  

But kudos to Mark, who rushes in to mock those in the church who say they were upset, or their children frightened, when their worship service was so intruded upon.  Cosplaying martyrdom he called it.  I guess freedom to worship unhindered comes with the caveat that this freedom is contingent not on what one feels about Jesus or God, but whether one conforms to the political Left and its narratives or not.  Or, more shockingly, on whether or not the Left and its corporate instruments deem you worthy of such rights. 

As I've said before, none of this is to say there is nothing wrong with how President Trump has tried to correct the border crisis.  Or would I suggest that in an operation so vast, bad things could never happen, even to innocent people. And we don't need to point out every anti-ICE advocate's refusal to even acknowledge that some detainees have been violent criminals and many thousands of Americans have been harmed or even killed as a result of illegal immigration. We won't discuss the Left's ability, courtesy of a sympathetic media, to dehumanize those who get in the way. 

No.  All of this is to ask the question - what the hell went wrong with the great Protestant Converts to Catholicism movement of yore?  I mean, to varying degrees, none of these individuals were so immersed in the leftwing tank.  Not that they were all a bunch of radical right-wingers.  But I can distinctly recall some absolutely attacking the very things we're seeing:  Condemning everyone in a group, wishing harm to those in opposing groups, and of course anyone treading on Christian praxis in the name politics.  Because Catholicism don't you know.  That great fulfillment of the Faith that set the abuses of Protestantism and our modern secular state aright.  Yet there it is.  They are far more glued to the full secular leftwing movement than any religious right Christian ever was to the political right back in the day. 

I won't give my ideas about what happened, since I don't know for sure.  I was in a discussion with someone else about those high profile converts to Catholicism who have plunged into the vat of  the secular leftwing movement.  What he said isn't too far from the likelihood, but I'd be curious if there are any other insights.  I realize that this is a small portion of Catholicism, but it isn't a small portion of the Catholic Convert Culture that was so prominent back in the day, but today looks barely different from an average MSNBC broadcast. At least in these cases. 

BTW, it should be noted that in all of the rejoicing over potential suffering of the ICE agents and anyone to do with them, none of it has anything to do with even acknowledging the thousands of Americans victimized by illegal immigration. As we've seen from even much of the Church's leadership, many have embraced the leftwing media's dictum that it's not if we should care about the suffering and death of the innocent, but when.  And that is answered as only as long as it can be exploited, and not a minute more.  Chilling, if you think about it.   But you can hardly blame those here, when most in our leadership, including Christian leadership, apparently approves this message. 

I hope there was a reason he couldn't attend, just like I lamented those who were forbidden 
to attend weddings and funerals during Covid.  I wonder if Mr. Greydanus was as indignant then.

Like looking for Eldorado

Is finding a story in the modern MSM that doesn't help the Leftwing Narrative.  

Take for instance the story of Fox Varian.  A girl who was swept up in the transgender hysteria, given a double breast removal at 16 years old for her troubles, and moved into that glorious world of non-gender unreality - until she realized her problems had nothing to do with being the wrong gender.  She sued and - was just awarded a whopping 2 million dollars for malpractice.  

Now, that's a pretty sensational story, ain't it?  I mean, that's something that screams headline news.  Yet, take a snort of cocaine for every leftwing MSM outlet that has covered it, and you'll remain drug free.  I was going to post this the first day, but I figured fair is fair.  Wait and see.  But now we're heading into the third day and I've been unable to find a single MSM outlet that is covering this, apart from those that tack right of center (The New York Post, National Review).  

We won't get into the part of the case where Varian's mother only consented to the surgery because of the threat her daughter would otherwise commit suicide.  Weaponizing suicide and the staggering spike in suicides among our youth being a serious discussion needing to be had, but for another time. 

But what we have now is a propaganda ministry of lies and falsehoods and cover ups.  It goes without saying that the other big reveal here is that she endured this surgical procedure as a minor - something transgender activists insist never happens even as they loudly push for protection for these things to happen. Just like they insist parents will never be kept out of the loop even as they are in the State House trying to make sure parents are kept out of the loop.  

If there was no other reason to avoid the Left like the plague, it is that it seems to rely, almost to its deepest roots, on the principle of letting your yes be no and your no be yes.  That is, flagrant hypocrisy and mendacity and denial as the primary approach to activism.  Absolute free speech with censorship, violence is never the answer which is why it is justified, and nobody is doing what we're fighting to keep doing.  

The more I watch the moral collapse of the Left and the descent into such hellish levels of duplicity and almost always for the worst reasons, the more I'm reminded of this and why it makes more sense with each passing day:

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  Revelation 21.8 (emphasis mine)

UPDATE:  Apparently the Grey Lady has finally chimed in:

Note how it is framed.  The suit was over gender surgery as a minor. Yet somehow the suit was because doctors had deviated from accepted medical standards. Does that mean the surgery on a minor itself was a deviation?  Because that's what the Transgender movement insists, at least where surgeries are concerned.  Or was it some deviation within the acceptable standards, acceptable standards being surgeries on minors - which we're told never happens?  I can't access the story proper, so I don't know, though I'm curious.  Nonetheless, credit where it is due.  After four days, the NYT finally step in and addresses the story.

We wish those Nazis would tone down the rhetoric

 Exhibit A:

Just the hilarity of the jab 'not-toned down' followed by Ethnic Cleansing!  Why can't those sexist fascists stop being so divisive and admit they're racists?  Heh.  

The number one reason I left liberalism even before I became a Christian was because I started noticing a wide chasm between what they said to others and what they did themselves.  As always, hardly the only people in the world to do so.  But among the left, especially over the decades, it has become the universal defining characteristic of modern progressivism.  Standards for thee, but not for me.