ABORTION

Some people are so preoccupied with the topic of abortion that they talk of little else on social media and elsewhere. Nearly every political and cultural conversation gets hijacked onto this topic, due to the tunnel vision of the abortion-obsessed, and I am tired of continually taking that detour, so I have written this statement of my position on this issue. From now on, every time someone tries to wrestle a conversation from the price of cilantro at my local market to THE HORROR OF ABORTION, I am posting a link to this blog entry and moving on without further comment.

I do not like abortion

I am not in favor of killing babies. I do not "support abortion." Abortion is horrible. DUH.

Nor will I abandon every commandment of Christ in order to vote for people who say or insinuate that they will make abortion illegal. Making abortion illegal was never a successful method of eliminating abortion. When you make it illegal, you only make it less safe. Because abortion has always been available to women and they will resort to it if pushed.

If we really want to eliminate abortion, we could make our country more family friendly and follow the examples of the rest of the industrialized world by making maternity and paternity leave available as well as free child care. Instead, we behave as if each one of us is in competition with every other American. We behave as if we hate one another and must fight each other to the death for limited resources.

We do not have limited resources. It is just that all the resources have been handed over to a tiny number of people while the wages of the workers that create the wealth are suppressed. When asked, women say that they get abortions because of MONEY. They can't afford to raise a child. It is IMPOSSIBLE. Most workers in our country do not receive a living wage.

The right wing uses abortion as a lure to capture voters when their real agenda is to accelerate this enrichment of the wealthy while they torment, starve and further impoverish the poor.

For instance: In the two years Donald Trump has been in office, Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion provider in the U.S., has been funded by the government something like 9 times. He's seated one truly wretched supreme court judge, whom I firmly believe DID sexually attack Dr. Ford during a party. (In addition to my customary research, I watched all the videos of the hearings.)

The GOP treated Dr. Ford shamefully and, indeed, as I watched the debacle on television, I felt I was witnessing a second rape.

Watching Kavanaugh sputter and riot his way through a decidedly partisan, voluminous defense, his puckery red mouth, wet with the spittle of his outrage, made me want to retch. I vowed never to vote Republican ever again, when everything was said and done. Will Kavanaugh deliver the promised abolition of abortion? He is dishonest enough to renege on his subtle promise in that regard, but he WILL likely save Trump from being thrown into prison for criminal wrongdoing. The whole vile mess makes me sick.

Catholics are not required to vote Republican

The Republican Party, as it is currently constituted, stands for positions that are directly in opposition to everything Jesus advocated. The only quasi-Christian position on their platform is the supposedly "pro-life" position, which actually boils down to a very weak anti-abortion position that only makes it illegal, when illegality has never prevented abortions. It only prevented SAFE abortions.

Anyone that claims that Catholics "have" to vote Republican is lying.

Pope Benedict clarified this during his term as Pope. (See the quote below his picture.)

A catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation

in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy

communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a

candidate precisely because of the candidate's

permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia.

when a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand

in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes

for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered

remote material cooperation, which can be permitted

in the presence of proportionate reasons.

~Pope Benedict~

My opinion: Criminalizing abortion does not solve the problem

There is no corroborating research or statistic that supports the idea that making abortion illegal is a working method because, as history has borne out, women get abortions, whether legal or not.

American laws, generally speaking, reflect the will of the majority of the people, in concert with the guiding principles laid down in our Constitution.

Abortion is legal, but it is not mandatory. This isn't china, where parents are only allowed to have a certain number of children and are thereafter forced to abort subsequent children.

If no one wanted an abortion, we could have an abortuary on every street corner and they would be empty, and this fact relates to my central position.

The remedy must address the needs of both mother and child.

Pro-lifers and pro-choicers are equally vehement in their insistence on the rightness of their respective positions. Pro-lifers are advocating for the babies. Pro-choicers advocate for the mothers. It is a furious pitched battle between them, which is why we need a nuanced approach that advocates for BOTH.

How can we do that? Well, first of all, stop obsessing about whether or not abortion is legal. Even when illegal, is it STILL available, and pretending otherwise is just naive and unrealistic.

We must evangelize the culture

As religious people, we need to stop behaving as if we can (or should) try to force other people to obey our moral laws when it comes to sexual behavior.  Sexual immorality and the pregnancies that may result from it are beyond the pale of what Christians can expect to manipulate. We need to remember that Jesus did not force anyone to follow him. He invited them.  We should do the same by working to evangelize the culture to gain the hearts and minds of a majority, which is absolutely within the mandate given us by Jesus.

Thirdly, we have to be realistic about the limitations of the American legal system when it comes to impressing Christian norms on it. The separation of church and state has been a fundamental criterion from the very foundation of our country and, while I agree that the founding fathers probably did not anticipate that many Americans would one day belong to non-Christian religions (or no religion at all), the overriding conception of individual freedoms can't be ignored.

In the arena of abortion, even if the law were to recognize the rights of the unborn child, you cannot divorce the baby from the mother until it is born. The law will never again allow the rights of the unborn baby to circumvent the rights of the mother, regardless of whether or not we believe that an abortion murders a child. That ship has sailed.

If you want to make laws, enact laws that support moms and babies.

It is not logical to stand in the way of legislation that financially supports poor moms and their babies, either through direct money or services such as free day care, and at the same time pretend that we care about the babies that suffer because its parents are poor and we refuse to fund their relief.

Babies need food, shelter, utilities, clothing, transportation and day care. If a young woman does not have the income to give a child those basic things, abortion will be the only way out. Forget adoption. Most women know they couldn't give up their child, once they've given birth, and if they don't have the money to support a child, they don't have the money to get themselves through a pregnancy either.

Women do not "want" to kill their children, either through abortion or, in the alternative, through poverty, illness and disease. They are forced into this decision because financial difficulties are the primary reason women cite for choosing abortion.

Legislation doesn't solve every human issue

People who resent tax dollars being earmarked for the poor are resentful because they are selfish, first of all, but in the case of the American Christian, it is often the mistaken belief that supporting illegitimate babies will 'encourage" young women to have lots of children they can't afford. There is no proof of that and, even if it were true for some, the number would be quite small.

I would remind my fellow Christians readers that if there are a few "extra" babies in the world, it's not a bad thing. Right?

Hear this: There is nothing you can do about anyone else's larcenous heart or grifter tendencies. There will always be a small percentage of people who are like that. You can't do anything about it.

There is also nothing you can do about lazy people. I know a young, healthy woman, only 20 years old, who refuses to get a full time job. She says part time is "enough." When I ask her what she'll do if she has an emergency, she asserts that her mother will have to pay the bill! I wonder if she got her mom's agreement to that? (I know her mother. She has one full time job and one part-time job. I'm guessing she's not happy about any of this.)

In any case, nothing is perfect, and we cannot sacrifice a great good because it can't be perfect. Someone will take advantage of our generosity. Someone will steal. Someone will lie and cheat. We have to do the best we can. Here is what Saint John Chrysostom says about it:

"The poor man has one plea, his want and his standing

in need: do not require anything else from him; but even if 

he is the most wicked of all men and is at a loss for his

necessary sustenance, let us free him from hunger."

~St. John Chrysostom~

Obviously, a baby is entirely innocent and, even if I agreed with you that it is a bad thing to encourage immorality by supporting moms who are having sex outside of marriage, for instance, we would still have to support the babies, right? Part of supporting the babies necessitates supporting the mothers. You can't separate the two.

Don't scream at me.

Now, I can hear people screaming at me already, and I haven't even posted this yet. There are some of you who are singularly focused on the fact that abortion is murder, and you can't SEE anything but that, you can't HEAR anything but that, and you can't TALK about anything but that. Just know that, as long as you refuse to see, hear or discuss anything but the fact that abortion kills a baby, you will be a miserable failure in your attempts to win people over to your way of thinking. You cannot sway people over to your side by hitting them over the head with a hammer. That approach does not work.

Stop spreading superstitious lies about pro-choice advocates and talk to them instead.

I am sick of watching the right and the left fling insults at one another and lie about each other. The right says the left just "wants to kill babies." The left says the right "just wants to control women." They are both off base. Instead of imagining the motives of the other side, it is time to listen. Get on the same page somehow and start using the same language to have the discussion.

At present, the pro-choice people are just as disgusted with you as you are of them, and it isn't because they are, supposedly, evil. it is because the anti-abortion people refuse to see the issues that bother those on the left.

The peculiar quandary in which we find ourselves is that both sides think they are arguing for the greatest good and that the other side is malicious. This is an impossible impasse that we must overcome if we are to make any progress in lessening the numbers of abortions.

Somehow we have to arrive at solutions that respect and dignify every human person. The rights of the mothers and the babies have got to be supported at the same time. At present, the pro-choicers advocate for the rights of the moms while the anti-abortion crowd speaks for the babies. We need a comprehensive approach that supports both.

God save us all

Silver Rose

SAINT PASCHASIA AND DONALD TRUMP

WINTER IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

When I was a nun in the Hindu convent, we didn't have a television or a radio until shortly before I left. A well-meaning devotee gave us an old television on which to watch educational things, and for some of us, it was a problem.

Lunch at the convent.
No television in the dining room!

It was a great, heavy ugly box, and the picture wasn't too good because this was in a big, crowded city and we had no cable for reception - just the rabbit ears. One of the middle aged nuns could not resist the temptation and was often found ghosting around the library, waiting for an opportunity to watch it. It was a real problem when we had overnight guests, because their bed was in that room, and every once in a while a guest would go back to the room to take a nap mid-day, only to find this random nun lolling about.

I never watched that television. I was so in love with the life of being a nun, devoted to God. I couldn't imagine taking my mind off bliss and onto commercials. Now, although I am no longer part of an institution and there is far more quality programming available on television and other screens, I am STILL highly selective. Last night, however, I had to tune in to what what I anticipated would be something embarrassing, at least - and horrifying, at worst.

Trump, during his address to the nation

January 8, 2019

Despite his continuous slander of American journalists, Trump exhibits no shame or sense of hypocrisy when he requests special, prime-time media coverage so he can start his bid for re-election in 2020 with a misinformation campaign calculated to gin up his "base."

Typically, a president will address the people on prime time when he actually has something to announce - something real, but last night, I watched in disgust as Trump lied his way through a smarmy announcement that appeared to serve no perceivable purpose, other than to terrify the unwitting and gain enthusiasm for a wall on our southern border. 

Trump announced a "humanitarian crisis" that doesn't exist and ignored the actual crisis that Trump himself started. He shut down the government in an effort to hold us hostage and force Americans to pay for the wall that he insisted MORE THAN 200 TIMES that Mexico was going to pay for. 800,000 government employees are not receiving their wages because of this. THAT is the "crisis" which threatens to destabilize our economy while it takes food out of the mouths of families and endangers their housing.

Most of us are appalled by all of this, but Trump's supporters resolutely listen only to him and swallow his penny-dreadful, melodramatic version of life, without suspicion or fact checking. He said it. It must be right.

Well, it isn't right by any stretch of the imagination. Wedged between his self-inflated and bogus tales of how he marvelously comforted scores of Americans who've supposedly had their family members murdered by hordes of illegal alien terrorists in gruesome fashion, he inserted some "statistics" that were already disproved by his own government's data! Instead of tens of thousands of terrorists captured at the southern border, there was actually only SIX (6) persons that were suspected of having terrorist ties. I would be embarrassed for him, if he wasn't such a deliberate con artist - which has been  his reputation his entire life.

I long for the days when I could afford to ignore what was happening in our government, when I could proceed through my days with paintings and prayers, while leaving the business of governance to our expert representatives, confident that they would carry out the mandates given them, more or less. Now, I can't help but watch as this political version of a daily 10-car pileup happens on the freeway of American life, because I have to be better informed and prepared for the letters and emails that I thereafter must send to the few government officials who haven't entirely lost their minds in this insanity.

I have a theory that it is much harder to become a saint these days - partly because of all this media: television, kindles, computers, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon. There is a lot of distraction, combined with a rather high degree of comfort. It makes it more difficult to focus than in the early days of the church, for instance.

The Martyrdom of Saint Alban

by

Matthew Paris

If we'd had television or even a printing press when Saint Paschasia was alive, then we might know more about the saint I have chosen for today. There are at least ten saints we celebrate on this particular day, as there are more saints than there are days in the year, so they all have to share.

Saint Paschasia, yet another young virgin martyr for Christ, was killed for her faith in Dijon, France toward the end of the second century. Saint Gregory of Tours later mentioned her, when she had been a saint of constant veneration for many years by that time. Other than that - bupkiss. She was evidently well known, but her fame was spread by word of mouth, and people don't live forever. Eventually, the history of her life fell out of the mouths of the people. It can't be helped. We had the written word, but it was expensive, being hand lettered on animal skins.

Saint Gregory of Tours

stone

by

Jean Marcellin

We take "the media" for granted, but there were more than 1,400 years between the birth of Christ and the invention of the printing press, which was just a faint portent of "the press" that Donald Trump rebukes daily.

There ARE some media outlets, like Fox News, that have a definite corporate agenda, but not all of them do. The really professional news outlets tell us who, what, when and where, i.e., the facts of the matter, and they do try to be as reliable as possible, relying upon proven data and statistics that has been fact checked in several ways before being published. 

Historia Franconum

by

Saint Gregory of Tours

(30 November, 538 - 17 November 594)

If you avoid the cultish purveyors of conspiracy theories and sample all of the big reputable outfits, you'll find the truth about a topic and can feel fairly sure of your conclusions. This is how I know that Trump was lying like mad throughout the entire broadcast last night. I read and watch a wide variety of media offerings these days, and proof of his lies are regularly trotted out for inspection on the news programs that Trump tries so hard to discredit.

We live in an alarming era and I can't afford to ignore the news while I float around the hermitage, singing and praying. The news that I ignored while I was in the convent was not scary news like we have these days.

Silver Rose

Contemplating Ananias and Saphira in the light of Epiphany

The Adoration of the Magi

by

Sir Edward Burne-Jones

I am writing this on Epiphany,which celebrates the revelation of Jesus as "the" Christ and the visit of the Magi (the three kings from foreign lands) who came to worship the Christ Child. There are various stories and traditions about the observance of this day, but it has to do with the announcement of Christ to the world, including to the gentiles (which the kings represent, since they are not Jewish.)

So, here I am, a gentile, an adopted daughter of Christ, the Jewish Messiah, looking back upon that time when Jesus was first "announced" to me. I was a nun in a Hindu convent and happened to read works by and about numerous Catholic and Orthodox mystics. At that time, I imagined that Catholics would naturally aspire to the love embodied in Jesus, but in the ensuing years, I have learned that, instead of being holy reminders of Him, some very public Catholics are unholy reminders of what happens when people allow wealthy political animals to manipulate their beliefs and values.

While I have met and do know many beautiful Christians; Catholic, Orthodox, and every other sort, the public persona of the typical Christian is vile because a large segment misrepresent our faith on the national stage and in social media. If we were to believe their version of Christianity, then their Jesus was a mean dude who wanted us to take food away from hungry people and lock up migrant children as a means of disincentivizing the stranger from finding safe harbor among us.

Their Jesus is a liar who spouts constant falsehoods, misrepresentations and misleading comments as a means to an end because he teaches that the ends justify the means.

Their Jesus values money and wealth above all else. Rich people are the good people, in his scenario, and they are the ones that are entitled to all the help - lots of lovely tax breaks and the removal of every obstacle that stands between them and their greed, because greed is a good thing for this jesus.

"You shall give generously to [your poor brother], and your

heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for

this thing, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work

and in all your undertakings."

Deut. 15:10

Since every end justifies every means, it is perfectly acceptable to this jesus that the planet, its flora and its fauna, and even other people should suffer and die so that a few people with gold plated toilets can have control of all the money and enslave the rest of us.  Those few wealthy men at the top of the heap are the chosen ones of the god of that disgraceful jesus.

Jesus and the Wealthy Young Man

"One thing is wanting unto thee: Go, sell whatever thou hast,

and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;

and come, follow me."
Mark 10

Their jesus mocks and despises people of color, disabled people, unattractive women, and old people.  Their jesus only cares about the American economy. The rest of the world sucks.

An odd feature of this counterfeit "Jesus", is a stiff-necked obsession about abortion. The cult that worships this fabricated jesus decided that the only solution to the vast number of abortions being performed was to make it illegal, while at the same time refusing to give assistance to poor mothers and babies, putting poor women and their babies in an impossible bind: kill the babies slowly, through poverty, hunger and disease or kill them quickly in abortion and save everyone the agony.

Bogus Jesus believes that bending people to his will by painful coercion is preferable to any other method of conversion because this sham Jesus enjoys tormenting people who are already suffering. Their Jesus would not consider supporting poor moms and babies as a deterrent to abortion because he wants to punish poor people who have sex outside of marriage.

Jesus at the door of the heart

Fake Jesus doesn't want good, comfortable white Americans to have to sacrifice their hard earned dough for stupid women who don't keep their legs closed or the brats that are born from her. Their Jesus believes that poor women will stop having sex and won't get pregnant to begin with if they just hold the line and make everything as painful as possible.

I don't recognize their Jesus because he sounds an awful lot like Satan to me.

Donald Trump

The fake Christian

Worshipers of Bogus Jesus have gotten behind a contemptible, appalling "political" figure whose personal values and public positions are right in line with their Jesus, and it is horrifying to the rest of us who do not adore the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to

the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he

speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father

of lies."

John 8:44

I have been in an agony of disappointment, fear, rage and apprehension since becoming exposed to the bogus jesus and his lovers.  I've been wringing my hands and my heart daily, in fear that "Christian" supporters of the deceitful, autocratic dictator-wanna-be will aid him and cheer him on, as he throws America into some war or that the turmoil in our culture will reach some tipping point that tumbles us headlong into an even more fascist government than we currently have.

But today, while reflecting on the latest horror from that freak show called the Trump Administration and the public "Christians" that support him, I was suddenly reminded of the story of Ananias and Saphira.

Ananias dies after lying about the money

Among the apostles and their followers, Christians held all things in common. They sold their land and possessions and gave the money over to the community. Funds were distributed according to the need of each person. Ananias and Saphira decided they would hold back some for themselves. They lied about the money and each was struck dead on the spot.

This stark, cautionary tale from the earliest Christian era gives me much comfort because, although an antichrist is currently being worshiped in the public square, our God is not oblivious. While He may not strike down the evildoers on the spot, there WILL be a reckoning of some sort. I am sure of it.

Jesus and the Money Changers

I received a telephone call, in the midst of these ruminations about this faux jesus and his cult. The manager of the grocery store where an employee had claimed I am not disabled because Trump doesn't think I am, called to bring me up to date on the disciplinary action they took. He has been suspended without pay. If there is another problem with him, he will be fired. It seemed a good omen, though on a very small scale. I felt encouraged to relax a little, nonetheless.

While I will not stop protesting and objecting to the harm being done by this spurious Jesus and his mesmerized devotees, my confidence in the oversight of our Good Lord has been restored. We can't get complacent, though. Much prayer and sacrifice are needed. It is necessary to fight evil with Good.

Bless us all.

Silver Rose

EVANGELIZATION

A few days ago, an acquaintance told me, essentially, that the reason why she would minister to her neighbor is to bring them to Jesus Christ. In her mind, Jesus told us to love our neighbor, not for the sake of the love that mirrors God's love for us, but as a method of bringing that neighbor to the church.

She made it clear that she wouldn't feed the hungry, clothe the naked or visit the prisoner without making a big deal out of the fact that she was there on behalf of Jesus Christ. Actually, she was in a white hot fury when she said it. She went on to insist that, by God, those damn people were gonna know about Jesus Christ, whether they liked it or not.  Hoo boy.

Fortunately, the woman is as selfish as she is misguided, and the closest she comes to actually doing anything for anyone else is flapping her gums after the sermon at the local big box church. She doesn't get a lot of opportunities to give the poor yet another reason to despise the Christians for their hypocrisy, ulterior motives and the way they look upon the souls of the converts as some sort of currency.

My impression of Jesus is that people loved him precisely because he loved them without conditions. He radiated love. He WAS love personified. It didn't matter if they'd been a prostitute or a tax collector. He turned his love on them and BAM!

If you believe that God is just a spiritual merchant, you're going to assume that if you bring him converts, you're going to get something in return and if you are kind to the poor, then God owes you something.

I feel sorry for people who have such a narrow (and false) picture of the Almighty because it means that He is very far away from their hearts.

Here is the fact: If you are close to God, you radiate God's love because that is what naturally happens. You cannot swim in the ocean of God's Love without becoming saturated with Him. Then, when you turn your face onto the poor and suffering, you are turning God's love on them.

God does not say, "I will only love you if you follow me." God is Love, and He loves all his creation.

He DOES say that those who love HIM will follow him and those who follow him naturally go to Heaven because where He is, there is heaven.

Jesus told us that the two most important commandments are to love God and love one's neighbor as much as oneself. The first commandment naturally leads to the second one He mentioned.
         
If we love God, we have already received our reward. We don't need to love our neighbor as a method of obtaining something from God. We have already received everything there is to be had.

This acquaintance I mentioned at the top of this diary entry DOES look upon God as a merchant. She has said, many times, that if she does certain things, then God will "bless" her. It's that stupid "prosperity Gospel" - the modern heresy. I tried to help her see that God is NOT a merchant and that our reward is being able to go to heaven, NOT having enough money to buy a vacuum cleaner. But she refuses to see God as anything but a spiritual merchant. Her relationship with Him is pervaded by sadness and regret because of her misunderstanding about his nature.

Please don't make the mistake of this acquaintance. Jump right into God with both feet. Soak yourself in the Ocean of Divine Mercy and Love. Prayer, meditation, and all the other methods recommended in scripture, help us to do this. Most people are not instantaneously purified when they embark upon the spiritual life. Even the people close to Jesus, in the flesh, were not immediately divested of all their defects. Just look at what Judas did! But, if we would all just follow what Jesus said, taking special care of the first two commandments, then no amount of artifice, double-dealing or ulterior motive will come into play.

We will become more and more like Jesus, as time goes on. Our evangelization will arise out of our very being. But it isn't a business arrangement. It is far more organic and simple than that.

You cannot swim in the Ocean of Mercy without getting wet.

Silver Rose

BRING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SOME QUIET SAINTS

SAINT EUPHROSYNE

Although today is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, there are more than enough books, articles and blog posts about our Blessed Mother, so that I don't feel I have much to offer on that score. But I DO like to highlight the little known saints, as you know - and talk a little bit about them, especially if they are female and monastic, because I relate personally to those stories.

Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria

As is the case for many saints of the early church, especially FEMALE saints, we know very little about Euphrosyne, other than she was the virgin daughter of Paphnutis, a merchant of Alexandria, Egypt, sometime in the early 5th century. Rebelling against her father, she took to monastic life and went about in the disguise of a monk, in order that no one would know who she was. She used the name "Smaragdus," a name which means "emerald" and which has some significance.

I that think one reason she sought to hide the fact that she was female was that it was particularly dangerous for women to flout societal expectations of marriage and motherhood. Obviously, she did not wish to be caught by her relatives and forced to marry against her will, and the only loose association of monastics nearby was all-male.

Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria

Euphrosyne fits into the paradigm of a storyline repeated about several of these early female saints, i.e., that her own father didn't know her, her disguise was so expert, and that he consulted with her on many occasions. Finally, as she was about to die, she divulged her true identity to him, and he was so overcome by the revelation and all that it meant, that he took her place in her hermitage after her death and continued as a monastic from that day forward.

This story about her is not considered specifically valid for her, but the underlying paradigm of the wealthy man who seeks and receives spiritual instruction from a person of lesser social status and then becomes confirmed and abandons his wealth to follow Jesus is a type of parable that Christians continue to tell one another since the early Christian era. The message, therefore, is bona fide, even if the details of the story and the participants are not.

An old fresco, depicting portions of Saint Euphrosyne's life

Euphrosyne WAS likely a female hermit of Alexandria. Many other things are inferred, such as her surreptitious taking of the veil without her father's consent, since NO ONE was consenting to their  young daughter throwing away her life (at least substantially shortening it) by devoting herself to a life of prayer and meditation, least of all the fathers of prosperous merchant class families. If Euphrosyne was a monastic, chances are good that her father didn't approve.

The bit about her father becoming a hermit after her death and occupying her monastic cell for the last ten years of his life is what stretches the imagination. Few genuine tales are that neat, and grand spiritual conversions in which the wealthy abandon their money for the sake of God remain few and far between. Even the young, wealthy man couldn't bear to part with his gold and possessions in order to follow Jesus. We aspire to this high spiritual metamorphosis, however, which is why we really like this paradigm and have used it in many stories about the saints.

Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria

Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria's story is authentic because it stirs authentic Christian feeling in our hearts and pushes us toward Jesus and away from filthy lucre. It is a "true" story because it is true to the Christian message.

SAINT ZDISLAVA OF LEMBERK

1220-1252

Here is another female saint who is not terribly famous, but a bit more well-known than Euphrosyne of Alexandria, and I am enjoying learning about her. She was ALSO the daughter of a well-to-do and aristocratic family, this time in Czechoslovakia, in the middle ages. 

Like Euphrosyne, she longed to become a hermitess and went to the forest at the age of 7, resolved to do just that, but her family tracked her down and brought her back to the castle, from whence she later married a nobleman, the Count of Lemberk.

Lemberk Chateau

Zdislava and her husband had 4 children, but her domestic life did not dampen her religious ardor, since she received Holy Communion every day, as much as was possible, and she experienced regular ecstasies and visions.

Of special interest for Zdislava was the care of the poor, the sick, and the homeless. Her husband wasn't too thrilled with having to share his personal space with the many destitute people she invited to live with them while she treated their illnesses, and even threatened to throw a sick beggar into the street, on one occasion, but when he approached the beggar's resting-place, all he found was a crucifix among the bedsheets. The beggar was nowhere to be found.

Whether that apocryphal story is accurate or not is also up for debate, but it is cited as the reason why he allowed Zdislave to contribute money to a foundation for the new Dominican convent nearby.

Please note the echo of the similar story to the first saint I discussed in this blog post. A person of lower social stature (the beggar) causes a high-born and/or wealthy person (Count Lemberk) to relent in his persecution of the saint's activities, and even assists the saint in accomplishing some aim, becoming converted to our Lord's work in the process.

Saint Zdislava's resting place

Basilica of St. Lawrence and Saint Zdislava

Zdislava was still fairly young when she died on January 1, 1252, and her husband is said to have experienced a vision of her "in glory" upon her death.

BASILICA OF SAINT LAWRENCE AND SAINT ZDISLAVA

Zdislava's remains are housed in the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Jablonne, to which they had been transferred in 1731. The Basilica endured many hardships and operates as a type of museum for sacred art.

The Lemberk Chateau, where Zdislava lived with her family, is also located in Jablonne and can be toured during certain parts of the year.

Lemberk Chateau - the home of Saint Zdislava

Zdislava is the patron saint of the Czech nation, and her visage can be seen throughout the country, in various public venues. Here is a picture of her, emblazoned on a well, which I found in Wikimedia.

I hope my readers will pay special attention to this saint, since I hear from many women that they too wish to live a life completely devoted to God, but it is hard to do when the demands of domestic life come into play. My position is that an intense spiritual life is still possible in the bosom of the family. It may not reach the mystical heights of a monk or nun whose entire day is devoted to prayer, meditation, and serving the Lord in a monastic institution, but it can come darn near to it.

Keeping in mind that this particular saint (and others of the upper classes) most assuredly had servants to do the hard work of domestic maintenance. Others were cooking and cleaning, no doubt, leaving time and space for the saint to care for the sick and the poor. We shouldn't be too ambitious for ourselves, as far as establishing monasteries and serving large numbers of poor people.  Experiencing ecstasies and floating around the house like angels are also not reasonable to expect, since most of us live rather pedestrian lives that make ordinary demands upon our time, but we CAN devote every action to the Lord by an action of the will and the heart, reminding ourselves to remain humble in our aspirations.

In my life, these saints help inspire me to stay focused on the Lord and his service, and to develop more kindness to the poor, sick, and disadvantaged. I highly recommend them.

Saint Zdislava, with child

Today, it is snowing in Albuquerque, and it is rather fun, since we don't get much of the white stuff and, when we do, it rarely sticks for long. While writing this post, I saw a large flock of Canadian geese walk across the snow-covered grass in single file, in their own gray version of the yearly Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. I prefer the quiet, stately walk of the geese.

House keeping duties of cooking, cleaning and laundry occupy my day, between the prayers, meditations, and episodes of dog walkies.

I pray for a much improved year in 2019, in every respect.

God bless us all

Silver Rose

A MORE TRANQUIL CHRISTMAS VISION

WINTER IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD - 2015

The other morning, I was horrified to hear newscasters advocating for the best way to DISPOSE OF Christmas cards, in light of the need to recycle paper goods. I had a quick vision of friends tossing my cards in the recycle bin, along with all my effort (and expense!)

I spend many hours on my Christmas cards and typically write a personal note in each one. Choosing just the right card was, for every year of my adult life, a really special tradition. I treasured every card I was given in return, and although some personal catastrophes forced me to eliminate nearly all of my possessions at three separate points in time, I eventually resumed the habit of saving the cards I was given each year.

"Nativity at night"

by Geertgen ton Sint Jans

1490

Not many people put as much effort into their cards as I do. Many just sign their names, but the cards themselves are often graced with the most exquisite art works! In years past, I have cut the picture side from the card and placed it in a beautiful little frame, displaying it in a pretty corner or on my desk during the Christmas season. I may even frame it informally in a little wooden frame and hang it on the wall above my writing desk or cosmetic vanity.

I remember one year when I cut the image from the cards I'd been given and wrote "thank you" notes for Christmas presents on the reverse, using them as post cards, while affixing a thrifty post card stamp on it.

L'ADORATION DES BERGERS

by Georges de la Tour

1644

Currently, I am saving cards and images from magazines to use in several decoupage projects - applying the images to some lightweight wooden boxes, to be later displayed and used as jewelry boxes, hair tie boxes, and the like. [This is the type of project that is especially suited to your older children, by the way - being a lesson in the "reuse" portion of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra.]

While it is true that most Americans are drowning in little bits of this-and-that (even poor people) I think it's important to differentiate between the generic machine-made, artificial blobs of STUFF and those things into which people have infused some effort and personalization. If it is really the thought that counts, then let's act like it!

If you receive a card, it means someone thought of you. There was some effort in picking out the card, the right pen, the stickers, the stamps. On top of all that inherent value, sometimes a personal note from someone like me will be layered. There are so many coats of thought and intention applied to those Christmas cards, they're like little paper vitamins for the soul and the mind! It isn't just about the holiday, though it is the reason for the season for which there is plenty of meaning imbued on its own.

CHRISTMAS TIME - THE BLODGETT FAMILY

by Eastman Johnson

When I was a little girl, my mother, my sister and I spent several Christmas seasons making our own Christmas cards at the kitchen table. We loved it! Being poor as church mice, we couldn't give anything but our time, a few sheets of paper, a little glitter, and some postage stamps. If you have a lot of time on your hands, and your Christmas card list is not long, you may become ambitious and make personalized cards uniquely your own. It's a risk that all your work will still end up in the rubbish bin, though, so keep that in mind.

Looking at this from yet another angle, I want to encourage each person who reads this to stop and consider how cavalier most of us have become about the astonishing availability of beautiful images on commercially made objects.  We take them for granted, for the most part. A couple hundred years ago, none of this was possible. How easy it has become to throw away images originally created by the great masters! There was a time, not so long ago, when you only got to see that image if you stood in front of the original painting.

NATIVITY

by Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre

(1714-1789)

Classical works of art, and many modern ones, as well, have particular lines and shapes organized along the geometric planes of whatever ground one chooses to hold the images, which lines and shapes stimulate the mind, as there are particular organizations of structure that appeal to the brain in an organic, natural fashion.

How does this translate to a more tranquil Christmas vision? I offer to you a lesson I have learned since become disabled 15 years ago. Here it is: I am not rich, and neither are you. Instead of flogging ourselves to buy as many people as much stuff as we possibly can squeeze out of our meager funds, how about all of us reduce the number of presents we feel compelled to buy and, instead, do one thing really well? I am not suggesting we should tank the economy by withdrawing all purchases entirely - just focusing our attentions more narrowly so that we are not perpetuating that constant stream of junk that is entering into the world.

THE NATIVITY

by Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

late 1550's - reworked 1570's

Since I don't have money to supply all my necessary wants, I am relieved from buying presents for anyone, since everyone knows my situation. I did give a few tokens of affection this year (mostly scarves I crocheted), but Christmas has become, for me, all about the CARDS. What I concentrated upon was writing personal notes in each of the 50 cards I sent out. They weren't expensive cards. A postage stamp cost a lot more than most of them, but because I am relieved from giving presents, for the most part, I made an effort with the cards, in which I tried to instill as much of the LOVE of Christmas that I could muster.

It occurred to me, while I was hunkered down with all those cards, that a good rule of thumb would be for everyone to give people what would fit in a card. If the person has plenty of junk clogging their shelves and cupboards and really needs nothing that you know about in particular (like most Americans) donate money to a good cause that appeals to you or to them, and include a note to that effect in the card. If you are close to the person and would like to render personal services, make your own "redeemable upon demand" coupon, and slip that into the card. If the recipient is someone whose needs exceed their income, then put some crisp bills in that person's card and you'll have their undying gratitude. They can go out and purchase the exact thing they need and love.

CHRISTMAS PAINTING

by Stefan Baumann

On Christmas Eve day, I made East Indian spiced tea and modest snacks at my house for a few other disabled ladies in my apartment complex. We savored our simple snacks, the Christmas music and our cheerful conversation. On Christmas day, I spent time with a cousin and his mate, relishing a surprisingly expert meal and the company of a few lovely people who went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. The best Christmas ever.

Throughout the Christmas season, I am making an effort to be available to friends for conversation and simple friendship, taking one out for a short grocery shopping excursion, being attentive to another who is suffering with a personal difficulty, etc. Because my Christmas has become modest, in terms of shopping and preparations, I am better able to serve others in a quiet manner, since I have the time.

Victorian Christmas Mantel

I am really enjoying the  Christmas season this year more than any other Christmas I've ever had. I am feeling really happy, and I attribute it to paring down purchases to the bare minimum, concentrating on giving a small piece of myself in Christmas cards and spending time with people, reveling in Christmas cheer. I highly recommend it!

Silver Rose

I WAS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY SMITHS MARKET EMPLOYEE

Yesterday, I stopped by Smith's Food on Constitution and Carlisle in Albuquerque. All of the handicap parking spots were taken. Several of the cars parked in those spots were not exhibiting any handicap placard or license plate. The lot was jam packed, and I was in too much pain to walk from the faraway spots that were available. I resolved to return the next day at an earlier time.

Today, I drove back to that market at about 10:40 a.m.  Again, the lot was packed, and handicap spots were few and far between, with all but one occupied. I noticed a trim and energetic young woman park in the spot reserved for pregnant ladies next to the handicap spot I was able to get, and then RUN into the market.  She was dressed in exercise gear. She had dark curly hair and appeared to be about 30 years old, or a bit younger. I called out to her but she ignored me. It reminded me that I had intended to speak to someone at Smith's about the parking situation for handicapped people.

I noticed two Smiths employees standing outside the market, apparently shooting the breeze. Perhaps they were on a break. One was very tall and of stocky build, with gray or blonde hair. The other was shorter, with dark hair.

Approaching them, I asked politely, "hey, do you guys ever keep track of the non-handicapped people using handicap parking? I see people using handicap parking all the time."

The tall man, with a derisive look on his face, said to me, "I believe in Trump's law. If you don't have two arms cut off or two legs, you're not handicapped."

The other man appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable by the tall man's comments. He shuffled his feet and avoided my gaze.

I said to the tall man, "Well, that's a mean comment!"

Still with an arrogant attitude, a cruel smirk on his face, he said, "There's too many of you." He continued to talk about how Trump feels about the topic of disabled people.

I asked him how we are supposed to get our shopping done. He said that we WOULDN'T.

His meaning was clearly communicated to me. He is one of those people that thinks that all disabled people are living off the dole and that we are sissies and not deserving of any kindness. CLEARLY he does not agree with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is the law of the land, not some imaginary law of Trump.

His comments and hostile manner made my PTSD blow up. My heart started racing. I felt frightened, in danger, and prompted to FLEE.

As I left, I said to the man, "go back to Russia!" and I went into the store as fast as I could, given my limping, pained body. I would have gone directly to the manager, had the place not been exploding with people and had I not been suffering with a full blown PTSD attack which I was working on tamping down. I decided to report the incident later.

This blog is just the start.

Trump mocking the gestures of a disabled person

When Trump mocks disabled people in his speeches, he is mocking me. When he makes derogatory comments about the relative attractiveness of women, calling them "dogs" or "fat pigs," he is talking about me. When he brags about grabbing women "by the pussy" without their permission, he is talking about me. When he discounts the suffering of the disabled, he is talking about me, and when he likewise promotes the idea that poor people are worthless and criminally minded and a drain on society, he is ALSO talking about me. These lies that he spreads about the vulnerable classes filter down to cads like that guy at Smiths who treated me with CONTEMPT.

Trump has proposed and managed to effect many government measures that make the lives of disabled people much more difficult.  In addition to public policies, his lies and demeaning comments about vulnerable people, the disabled, the marginalized, women, the poor DO impact my life and the lives of other disabled people by emboldening his followers to feel entitled to bully us.

I am constantly being assaulted by Trump's ideas. My life has been rendered MUCH more difficult than it already is. People who are supposed to be giving me service treat me, not as a valuable customer, but as an unworthy person. They feel entitled to diminish me, mock me and hurt me; physically, financially and psychologically. My rights are continually being abridged or dispensed with entirely.

"When you give a crazed crying lowlife a break,

and give her a job at the White House, I guess it

just didn't work out. Good work by General Kelly

for quickly firing that dog."

~ Donald Trump, disparaging former female appointee

All of these indignities are being perpetrated against me while I am in awful pain, the inconvenience of which is compounded by mobility issues.

That stupid Smith's employee does not have x-ray vision. He cannot see that the valves of the major vein in my left leg DO NOT WORK. He cannot see that the valves DO NOT PUMP THE BLOOD THROUGH MY LEG and that, the longer I am standing upright, the more critical this issue becomes. The blood pools in my feet and ankles. The leg falls asleep and I gradually become more and more pale because of the improper distribution of blood. Often, if I stand for too long, I come close to fainting. I am not missing any of my limbs, but I might as well be, considering the effect.

That Smith's employee cannot see my scoliosis, or the fact that my left leg is shorter than the right, and that my right arm is longer than the left. He cannot know about the Ehler's Danlos type syndrome that affects all the collagen-based structures in my body, making me weaker than the typical person and more likely to fall and break bones, which I have done many times in my life. At this very moment, I am recovering from a break in a knuckle of my right hand, which became chipped when I fell. The x-ray showed a piece of bone, wedged in my muscles, causing me constant pain and reduced function. That Smith's employee cannot see any of that.

He cannot see that there is very little cushion between the bones of all my joints. When my doctor saw the x-rays, years ago, he said to me, "no wonder you're in so much pain." The doctors rely upon x-rays and other tests to diagnose me, but that Smith's employee thinks that his eyeballs are superior.

That Smith's employee perfectly demonstrated the gross and barbaric stupidity of many of Trump's supporters, who rely upon prejudiced and limited observations instead of facts. I had all my arms and legs, so I was therefore not disabled in his eyes. When he said, "there are too many of you," he was making reference to the Trumpian idea that most disabled people do not deserve the moniker, that we are faking it, that we have larcenous hearts and just looking to take advantage of more deserving citizens who work for a living, dammit.

Forget that I worked and supported myself for more than 30 years, that I am living on my Social Security insurance into which I paid money for everything I earned during 32 years. Forget that it is extremely difficult to retire early on your Social Security income because the Social Security doctors have strict standards of disability, and typically make you wait YEARS before approving you because the standards are so high and they make you jump through so many hoops!

Ignorant but opinionated people like that Smith's employee, who know nothing of the process, spread the rumor that all you need to do is lie about being disabled and "the government" just hands you money. When that man retires on HIS Social Security, he'll think nothing of it. He will think that it is somehow different than MY Social Security, that he "deserves" it but I don't.

Fortunately, the law is on my side, and I must have some kind of recourse. I'll let you know how it works out. In the meantime, perhaps it is best to stay away from Smith's Market in Albuquerque, at the corner of Constitution and Carlisle

UPDATE:

I called and spoke to the manager, Elena Sharbutt, who could not have been nicer. She too was shocked by the comments of that employee and assured me that those comments were unacceptable and do not represent the policies of Smith's. Several times during the conversation, she emphasized that I am a valuable customer and that Smith's wants me to enjoy my shopping experience. She was very warm and gracious, in addition to being efficient. She said she will look at the video. I told her the approximate time of the conversation and other pertinent details. We will talk again later, and I will keep you updated.

Silver Rose