The Romance of Good Order

I've been reading a little bit of G.K. Chesterton lately. I love him! His wit and wonderful common sense are so refreshing. This is an excerpt from his book The Man Who Was Thursday (A Nightmare). 

Gregory resumed in high oratorical good humour.

"An artist is identical with an anarchist," he cried. "You might transpose the words anywhere. An anarchist is an artist. The man who throws the bomb is an artist, because he prefers a great moment to everything. He sees how much more valuable is one burst of blazing light, one peal of perfect thunder, than the mere common bodies of a few shapeless policemen. An artist disregards all governments, abolishes all conventions. The poet delights in disorder only. If it were not so, the most poetical thing in the world would be the Underground Railway."

"So it is," said Mr. Syme.

"Nonsense!" said Gregory, who was very rational when anyone else attempted paradox. "Why do all the clerks and navvies in the railway trains look so sad and tired, so very sad and tired? I will tell you. It is because they know the train is going right. It is because they know that whatever place they have taken a ticket for that place they will reach. It is because they have passed Sloane Square they know that the next station must be Victoria, and nothing but Victoria. Oh, their wild rapture! oh their eyes like stars and their souls again in Eden, if the next station were unaccountably Baker Street!"

"It is you who are unpoetical," replied the poet Syme. "If what you say of clerks is true, they can only be as prosaic as your poetry. The rare, strange thing is to hit the mark; the gross, obvious thing is to miss it. We feel it is epical when man with one wild arrow strikes a distant bird. Is it not also epical when man with one wild engine strikes a distant station? Chaos is dull; because in chaos the train might indeed go anywhere, to Baker Street or to Bagdad. But man is a magician, and his whole magic is in this, that he does say Victoria, and lo! it is Victoria. No, take your books of mere poetry and prose; let me read a time table, with tears of pride. Take your Byron, who commemorates the defeats of man; give me Bradshaw, who commemorates his victories. Give me Bradshaw, I say!"

Princess.

So Helen and I were talking the other day and she was describing one of her friends "She always dresses so nicely...she always looks like a princess." I kept thinking about it the rest of the day and I realized that I have really changed. I used to be one of those girls who would get angry and shut out anybody (especially giving an all-girl talks at a retreat) saying "You're all princesses! You're all worthy of love! You're all beautiful!" While other girls would get all happy and hug each other, I would turn off all emotions and refuse it. "No. You don't know me. Stop telling me those lies." Obviously deep down I knew I wanted to be those things but I felt they were unobtainable for me. I felt like I was being taunted. 

When Helen described her friend as "like a princess" I didn't feel jealous. I've changed. By growing closer to God I've learned to see myself as what I am. HIS. 

I am not my own - I am His! 

Words cannot describe how much comfort that brings me. I am not my own.  It doesn't matter what others think of me or what my worth is in terms of this world. My value is determined by Somebody unchanging. I am His and so I have an undeniable worth as His creation. 

God doesn't create things that are worthless. All of His creations are to be treasured, protected, admired, valued and taken care of.  

Now when I think of somebody with a "princess mindset" I do not think of some pretty, bratty girl thinking she is owed the world saying "I'm worth soo much! Give me your love cuz you owe it to me. I'm so dang special." <.<... No, now I think of a calm acceptance and an aknowledgement of one's worth or at least I think that is ideal. 

I think that type of mindset is truly feminine and that dressing well and modestly is a great way to reflect that and reminding yourself and others of the great dignity you have as God's creation.

A Rant

I went to my little brother's first Confession a couple weeks ago. On the way into the church, I said to him, "Ready, Henry? Do you know your Act of Contrition?" "No," he said, "they said it was going to be written on a sheet for us so that we didn't have to memorize it." And then last night, I asked Henry and Julia if they ever had to recite prayers by themselves at school. Did the teacher ever test them on it? No, but sometimes the kids who goof around at prayer have to say the prayers by themselves. But only in Kindergarten. Could they recite the Our Father? The Hail Mary? What's grace? What's the Eucharist? What happens to someone's soul at Baptism? What's a Sacrament? Who made you? Why did he make you? Many times, Catholic children can't answer these questions or even recite the simplest prayers. Why aren't they taught these things?

I think it's because so many Catholic teachers and parents are eager for their kids to have a personal relationship with God...to have him as a Friend and a Father. To love him! They don't want to bore their children by making them memorize things they don't understand. They don't want to make studying God distasteful. They want their children to fall in love. Knowing your Baltimore Catechism isn't the same thing as knowing God intimately. You can know tons of things about people without actually knowing them personally or loving them, but that's not enough. If you really want to know someone, you have to speak to them, get to know them. And it's like this with God, too. (Fr. Barron from Youtube has such a great video about this that I just have to post the link. Watch it PLEASE!) Knowing your Catechism is not enough. It's not the end.

....but it's the beginning! It's indispensable! You can know lots of things about someone without actually knowing them, but you can't, can't, can't know someone intimately and know nothing about them! It doesn't work that way! Whenever you meet someone, begin to know someone, you say, "What's your name? Where do you go to school? How old are you? Have any siblings?" You gather little facts about them, and you begin to know them better and better. If you meet someone and only say, "Gosh, I want to be friends with you," over and over again, you will never get there. That's just a weird and unnatural thing to do. Of course parents want their children to love God, but how can they love him when they don't know him? And how can they know him if they know nothing about him? "Gee willikers, kiddo, you should get to know God. He's really a great guy. He loves you a lot. Really."  "...."

Many parents and teachers neglect the foundations of Catholic education. They're so eager to get to what comes after the bare bones that they just neglect the bare bones. The bones are what give the body structure; the foundation is what the rest of the building rests upon. Frank Sheed says, in his book Theology and Sanity, "A maximum love cannot be obtained with a minimum knowledge." (Or at least that's close; I didn't look it up.)

We need teachers, desperately! We need reason! We need good education! G.K. Chesterton says in the introduction to his book St. Thomas Aquinas that each generation seems to be converted by the saint least like itself. "..each generation seeks its saint by instinct; and he is not what the people want, but rather what the people need...Therefore, it is the paradox of history that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most....So, as the nineteenth century clutched at the Franciscan romance, precisely because it had neglected romance, so the twentieth century is already clutching at the Thomist rational theology, because it has neglected reason. In a world that was too stolid, Christianity returned in the form of a vagabond; in a world that has grown a great deal too wild, Christianity has returned in the form of a teacher of logic."

Now You're Free...and it Sets You Apart

 "Now you're free and it sets you apart" This song got across a very important point to me right when I needed it. For years I had been struggling with certain sins that had really (it's sad to say) consumed my life. Last year, God changed alot of things in my life and helped me conquer those sins. But one thing kept nagging at me, luring me back. "Now that I don't have those problems," I thought " There's nothing special about me any more." It felt as if I had lost the only things that defined me or set me apart. 

*sigh* That's the devil for ya.

Once he loses the grip he had on you, he tries to make you think "you are nothing without this. you aren't special. you are nothing." He sees you growing stronger and breaking free but he won't give you up easily. He wants to keep you in his power. He knows how dear you are to God who is his enemy. God will give you all the strength to fight but you must choose to fight this battle and not bow down to the enemy.  

"Now you're free and it sets you apart." Freedom is what sets you apart. Being yet another soul trapped in sin, believing lies, is no freedom. Never go back to those sins that held you captive. You are free! You are one step closer to our glorious Lord... and it sets you apart. :)

Ladies and Gentlemen!

At my school, we have a dress code. The men must wear dress slacks, dress shirts, and ties, and the ladies must wear blouses with skirts that fall below the knee. Whenever I talk about my school with someone, they hear the word "Catholic" and almost inevitably ask if we have a uniform. And I explain the dress code. "What? You mean...you never get to wear pants? Gosh, I could never do that." "Wow, how can you stand it?" "That'd be so uncomfortable. Even in the winter?" "Why can't you wear pants? Do you think there's something wrong with that?"
Some people think that it takes away some of the freedom that women have worked so hard for. Women worked for so long to be able to vote, be payed fairly, and....wear pants! Is the school trying to take that new freedom away from its girls?

So, why do we wear skirts?

It's true that women can look modest and professional and even pretty in pants. Many women do. But I think that we lose something beautiful when we lose our long skirts and dress more like men.

Being a woman is different from being a man, and it is good! It is in no way less, and it is very beautiful.
"I do not understand why some people are saying that women and men are exactly the same, and are denying the beautiful differences between men and women. All God's gifts are good, but they are not all the same.
"What a woman can give, no man can give. That is why God has created them separately...Woman is created to be the heart of the family, the heart of love. If we miss that, we miss everything. They give that love in the family or they give it in service, that is what their creation is for." (Mother Teresa)
"Man and woman have been created, that is to say, willed by God: on the one hand in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. [...] But the respective "perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and a husband." (CCC, 369, 370)

Human sexuality is different from that of animals; it affects us body and soul. It's not just external. But it's not just internal, either! God created man and woman with different kinds of souls, and with different bodies which reflect the differences in the soul.
People have a real need for external signs. We naturally learn through our senses. We learn what things are by seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing, tasting them. We discover substance by means of accidents. ("Accidents" here doesn't mean car crashes, it means something's attributes.)
God knows this. He created us with this dependance on physical things, with this need for signs, on purpose. And the understanding and compassion that He shows us in this way is great. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." He gives us external signs of internal realities supernaturally in the Sacraments, and also naturally, in the things of the world!

So God has given us signs, and he provides for our nature and our need for signs. But because man is a rational animal, He left us to do some things on our own. He gave all the other animals fur, for instance, to protect them and make them look beautiful (imagine a bald dog or a bear...gross!). They are born with clothing, but we are not, because we can make it. Clothing is a certain perfection of man. Because men and women are different, and our bodies reflect those differences, it makes sense that
our clothing also should.

Look at the differences between men's and women's bodies. In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Kate says (Act V, Scene II),

"Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,

Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,

But that our soft conditions and our hearts 

Should well agree with our external parts?"

("Conditions" means something like "qualities of behavior".)

Men's bodies are suited to physical labor, and women's bodies aren't. So it would make sense for men to wear clothes that are better for that. Even when a man isn't actually working or fixing cars and moving bookshelves, he is still a father and a husband; he is the protector and laborer of the family, his wife's and children's defender, and his clothes should be a sign of that. (Sorry, Scotland! ;-) ) Also, we seem to cover up things we want to protect. Men's sexual organs are even on the outside, but women's are on the inside, veiled. Clothes could reflect that, too. Even the word "woman" means "veiled man." (Of course, moderation is always necessary...I'm not saying we should cover ourselves up entirely!)

But above all, skirts are just pretty. They really are. Clothes are supposed to make you look beautiful! That's mostly why we wear them. I'm not saying that women can't look nice in pants, but if you take any woman and put her in a nice dress (that fits!) and then put her in a nice pair of pants, the dress will always look better. Guaranteed. 

A Man's Promise

Watch this video. Really. It's awesome.

http://vimeo.com/36926654

Healthy Breakfast!

Long time no post! I thought I would start posting simple and healthy meal/snack ideas. I love baking but I wouldn't be treating my body very well if all I ate was cookie dough and sugar now would I? :) I hope you find these posts helpful and informative. I do not claim to know too much about nutrition but I'm trying to learn more and find it all very interesting.


Cinnamon Apple Sandwich/Wrap.
- 1 apple ( contains fiber and since a medium sized apple is about a cup of fruit it helps get in your daily recommended dose. Apples are also very filling not to mention tasty:) )
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter ( although it is high in fat that's not all bad;peanut butter contains healthy fats which help promote "good" cholesterol among other things. Also, it contains protein, vitamin E, vitamin B3, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and calcium.)
- 1 wrap / bagel / whatever type of bread you'd like ( I don't always choose whole wheat bread but the main benefit is that it takes longer to digest, keeping you full longer and helping with weight management.)
- cinnamon ( actually a great source of manganese, iron, fiber and calcium. And I mean, it tastes awesome too! )

A good article.

If anybody wants a clarification or just a good article to read on what the Church teaches about homosexuality, please read this article : Catholic and Gay. It's really wonderful.