Mere, Mere, On The Wall

Years ago while studying Theology at Aldersgate College, one of my textbooks was C.S. Lewis' masterpiece Mere Christianity. I recalled this book with fondness, and have wanted to pick it up again for some time.

I found it online for cheap cheap cheap and couldn't resist, and for the last few weeks I've been picking away at it. (It's hard to make time to read when you've got to balance family, work, faith, prayer, and that confounded pastime: blogging).

In going over this work and seeing Lewis' absolute perspective on the world, it occurs to me that we've really lost this sense of reality.

I laughed when I watched Star Wars Episode III (Revenge of the Sith) and saw Obi Wan and Anakin, newly turned to the Dark Side, meet and start yelling at each other. Anakin says, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," to which Obi Wan responds, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." And then we have an epic lightsaber battle.

But back up a minute... somebody better tell the Jedi Council: that statement is an absolute one itself. Besides, right before that, Obi Wan tells Anakin, "The Sith are evil!" Sounds pretty absolute to me.

Now, far be it from me, a pasty white computer nerd, to think that Star Wars dictates reality. What interests me about these comments is the fact that Hollywood generated them for our popular consumption. In all likelihood, many focus groups thought the lines were just fine.

But then I'm watching CSI tonight, the episode entitled "Fannysmackin'," and I see the characters talking in the locker room about a gruesome case they just solved. The discussion's theme was how the kids who had committed the murder were utterly remorseless when confronted with their crimes, regardless of how well these kids were raised. Then the main character, Gil Grissom, enters and spews forth some wisdom:

The truth is, a moral compass can only point you in the right direction; it can't make you go there. Our culture preaches that you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you do anymore, and unfortunately this city is built on the principle that there's no such thing as guilt. "Do whatever you want! We won't tell." So without conscience, there's nothing to stop you from killing someone. And evidently, you don't even have to feel bad about it.

I'm amazed that prime time TV allowed such a statement to be carried over the airwaves. The whole argument against the strict rules of the Church (contraception, divorce, sexual morality, etc) is blown away by its logical conclusion. For if we allow any one part of the conscience to be turned off, why should we be stunned when other parts turn off too? If "conscience" is not carefully formed, protected, and applied, it is useless.

Here's what C. S. Lewis has to say:

[Before becoming a Christian] my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? [....] Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too - for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies.

In other words, either there are absolutes, or there is anarchy. I cannot say that something is wrong for me but right for somebody else, for then I have no recourse when others do something to me which I consider wrong but they consider right. If I were to tell a woman seeking an abortion that she is seeking to murder her baby and is putting her soul in jeopardy, then I'd be immediately subjected to a plethora of criticism and labels of intolerance. But if I were to tell the angry mob, "By calling me intolerant you're offending me," they'd respond with, "We won't tolerate intolerance from anybody, bubba! It's one of those things that is never acceptable."

Here's the question, then (and be warned, the answer is what brought me to Catholicism): Who maintains this list of unacceptable things?

A Private Revelation

Many of you know of our miscarriage a few years ago, and our decision to name the lost baby Rachel. To get caught up, click here.

During a recent time of deep prayer, I sensed my little Rachel come up to me and snuggle into my arms. She looked up at me with her bright eyes and said, "Daddy, there's so many kids in heaven! Everybody's a kid, even your grandpa!" The tone was one of excitement and eagerness for me to join her, and yet there was an element of patience & perseverance, as if she knew I had some time to go through first.

Obviously this can't be taken as doctrinal truth, but it rings true to a certain extent. The Church tells us that unless we acquire the heart of a child, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. So if we can only truly approach Jesus once we've given up all our smarts and our worries and our tough-guy exteriors - all barriers that children know none of - then it stands to reason that we'll be restored to that child-like state in his eternal presence in paradise.

Lord, help me be like that more and more on this earth.

Prayers Needed

I'm doing another TEC retreat this long weekend (it's Canadian thanksgiving, for my foreign visitors), this time in more of a leadership role.

To refresh your memory, here is my description of the first TEC retreat I went on.

Please pray for all those in leadership and the retreatants themselves, that God would cause us to be open to what he has planned for us.

Sigh

Long story made short, in a picture:


Create your own at Big Huge Labs.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat a lot of something unhealthy.

Tina, or, Thank God For Sudden Strength

Please pray for Tina, a young girl who tried to solicit me today.

I managed to sputter out some of the Gospel to her once I realized what she was all about.

Also, a prayer of thanksgiving for a God who made me able to resist that temptation!

Spark

I'd like to call your attention to this inspired testimonial by Fr. Bob Bedard (which I've added to my blogroll), writing on parish renewal - but it's easily a message we can all incorporate into our lives. Specifically, he refers to how God asked him & the parish for permission. A sampling:

I felt that the Lord was giving me different ways to say the same thing as, week in and week out, I tried the best I could to get the point across. I talked practically nothing else. "Let God be God," I would tell them. "He’s good at it. God is very good at being God. Let’s let him do what he wants here."

This is one of the few links I truly pray for all my readers to check out.

Shared Struggles

Today is the feast of St. Jerome. He is a Doctor of the Church and is best known for his compilation of the Latin translation of Scripture, known as the Vulgate. As he was a prolific scribe & author, the Curt Jester has suggested we bloggers take him as our patron - I'm all for it.

But what really connected me to St. Jerome is this quote from a letter he wrote to an old friend back in Rome:

In the remotest part of a wild and stony desert, burnt up with the heat of the scorching sun so that it frightens even the monks that inhabit it, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of Rome. In exile and prison to which for the fear of hell I had voluntarily condemned myself, I many times imagined myself witnessing the dancing of the Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them: in my cold body and in my parched-up flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion able to live. Alone with this enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my tears, and I tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to disclose my temptations, but I grieve that I am not now what I then was.

This is a man who wasn't afraid to share his struggles - like St. Paul says, he boasts in his weaknesses. It's a useful tactic to combat habitual sins, such as my own battle with pornography & the "M" word. Secrecy only increases its hold on us. Openness lets our Christian brethren pray for us and keep us accountable, but moreso makes us humble, and forces us to rely on God for our strength.

So you may be wondering, how goes my battle? It's still a hard fight, and I'm pretty sure it will be to my dying day. Every time I fall, I'm reminded that I can never be invincible. If I tell myself that I've got things under control, that's when I'm in the most danger.

The most helpful advice I've received has been, unsurprisingly, in the sacrament of Confession. I've been encouraged to ask God to love me, especially in those times of heaviest temptation. When I do it, it works every time.

And I take a lot of comfort in knowing that St. Jerome struggled with fantasies of dancing Roman maidens. He suggests fasting... something totally foreign to my Protestant upbringing. Not that Protestants - or even Free Methodists - don't fast, but if they ever tapped into the full graces available through it, nobody ever taught me how to do the same.

Ah, St. Jerome - pray for me!

Imagine

If I were to say that there is, in this country, a Catholic elementary school that requested for a priest to come in to assess their suitability as a trusted venue for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, would you be amazed?

If that priest took a glowing recommendation back to his bishop, recommending the school be granted this privilege, would you be amazed?

If the bishop approved the request, would you be amazed?

If, when the announcement of the bishop's approval was made, the students "literally shouted for joy," would your eyes tear up like mine did?

This is no fiction. Maryvale Academy in Ottawa, Ontario is the school. Read the article here, page 18 in the PDF (page 16 if you print it). This is from the Companions of the Cross newsletter for Winter 2006.

Good Ol' Fashioned Values

A long time ago I used to provide technical support for Road Runner internet service customers. One bit of swag I got from the head honchoes was a Road Runner lunch bag, with a picture of the famous Warner Bros bird silk-screened on it. I still use it today.

The other day I started doodling and found myself looking at that lunch bag, and before I knew it, the Road Runner was racing across a piece of cardstock:


I showed the picture to my little girls - who were thrilled. I explained who the Road Runner was and how he was constantly running away from Wile E. Coyote, and I found some footage on YouTube:




So I sat at my computer with my three little girls on my lap (not an easy task, but I'm fortunate to have a sizable lap) and watched some Road Runner.

They were squealing with delight - they've never seen anything like this in their lives! The only kids' shows they watch are what's on Kids' CBC on weekday mornings, and it's all rather shallow, sappy stuff: Dragon Tales, Tractor Tom, Poko, Lunar Jim, The Save-Ums (ughhh), and those ~lovely~ Doodlebops with their ~catchy~ pop tunes (ughhh again). I do somewhat approve of Nanalan', although the show revolves around a little girl whose mommy drops her off at her Nana's while she goes to work. Despite that minor shortcoming, the show is full of fun and reality; portraying the world as a kid sees it. And of course, there's nature-themed Zoboomafoo, hosted by the animal-loving Kratt brothers, Chris & Martin. I even like that one.

Don't get me wrong here - all of these shows are done with the utmost attention to quality, demographics, and message. The ones that I don't like incur my disdain for their message alone. It's all about empowerment, self-esteem, growing, respect for others, etc.

Those are all very good things that children need to learn. But TV shouldn't be how they're learning them. That's our job as Mommy & Daddy. Instead, TV should be fun, exposing one to mainly themes of an artistic nature such as drama. Good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, predator vs. prey. As soon we allow television to develop the character within our children, we have failed as parents.

So as my girls shrieked in excited trepidation at the predicament of the poor Road Runner ("Is the coyote going to eat him?"), something clicked inside me. TV shows should be fun, and fun alone.

Somehow I caught myself staying up late watching Three Stooges shorts on YouTube that night.

I Shouldn't Be Commenting On This...

...but I can't resist. After all, it's not often that the two things (one, two) I dislike the most each have a prominent representative get in trouble together.

[snicker]