Happy Friday Reading!

November 19, 2010 By

Another week speeds by, and I have a tabbar full of stuff I meant to share with you, opine on, or whatever. Is it just me or does it seem like time is speeding up? I am so not ready for Christmas, but Advent will slow us down a little, and help us to get into focus.

Today, let’s focus on what’s new:

You know Ed Morrissey? Nice guy from Hot Air, with the radio show, the great interviews and so forth? Well, he’s not the only writer in the family anymore! His wife, Marcia, recently answered a question from Patheos.com: What does God Really Look Like?

Her response seemed to touch people in a profound way, and so now she’s brought her nurturer’s voice to a weekly column at the site:

It took a year for me to lose my sight completely. During that time, I fought against the daily ebbing-away of my vision with medical intervention — both laser and major surgeries — and a lot of prayer. It was exhausting physically, emotionally, and mentally to endure the procedures, but to face the daily dimming of my whole world was a particular challenge to my spirit.

Physically, I kept going, and kept busy. I continued my job as a Montessori teacher; I drove until I could no longer responsibly do so. I tried to simply go on with my life, but I never stopped thinking about what was happening to me. I looked at everything I could still see with great intensity, trying to brand things into my memory, but also into my heart — the blueness of the sky, the color of new grass. I studied my photo albums over and over again, pressing each face, each smile, each shy or exuberant expression on the faces of my family members and friends into my memory like flowers between pages. Even today, all these years later, when I want to picture someone, these photographs come to my mind.

When I finally lost sight completely, I was very depressed, and angry. On New Year’s Eve, I needed emergency surgery on one eye, and the next day I lay in my hospital bed and felt like I had reached the end of myself. I felt like during the past year of my life, as I had anticipated this great loss, I had been only an existence; I had not really been living.

I think Marcia Morrissey is going to be a great source of comfort and practical advise for the life of faith, in the coming year! Funny how things happen, isn’t it? God works as He does!

And in a world where we have to consider “abortion stunts”, and Planned Parenthood offering an abortion to a woman who just needed a baby’s car seat, we need some Guided Sight!

Or some more people sharing their heavenly ones:

Colton, still 4 years old, told his mother “you had a baby die in your tummy didn’t you”, which completely shocked them both because they had never told him about their miscarriage. They asked him how he knew and he said that he met his sister in Heaven and she told him what happened.

Iraqi Martyrs: Frank Weathers is paying attention and also finding ways to send aid to Iraqi Christians

They can work when they wanna; and when it comes to shutting down dissent, they wanna!

As Wired reports, the Obama administration and Congress are engaged in a little hypocrisy here. Hillary Clinton just got done warning China not to censor the internet in almost exactly the way this bill would allow Eric Holder to do. It’s not the first time in recent weeks that we’ve barked at China for actions that the US has either proposed taking or actually has taken, like devaluing currency to boost exports.

And this is surprising, why?

Major themes of Verbum Domini. Pope Benedict sort of surprised everyone with this exhortation, didn’t he? It’s huge, and I am trying to read it in the wee small hours.

Nintendo in the Communion Line? Come on, parents! This is your job. Bring them to church and then teach them to worship by example, and tell them the electronics stay off or they are lost for the day! This one is a no-brainer!

The Age of Adoration. People who do not engage in it (or worse, sneer at it) don’t know what they’re missing!

21st Century America seems a lot like 18th Century England. Fascinating.

John C. Wright: the Age of the Accuser

Fr. George W. Rutler: 1943; Light the Candles

Thank you, Mrs. Pelosi

Obama’s DOJ: Does not inspire confidence. Eric Holder has been kind of a disaster since Day One

Joe Carter: Best Blogs of 2010

So now, we’re all crazy. Obviously, we shouldn’t be in charge of our lives, then!

Up for Harry Potter this weekend? I’m not, actually. Book 7 was my least favorite of J.K. Rowlings books, but I suppose I have no choice but join in! Meanwhile this is a thoughtful take on the Harry Potter series

More later…

Filed Under: "Remaking" Ourselves, Advent 2010, DOJ, Patheos
About Elizabeth Scalia
  • OLD FAN

    The Morrissey Family is outstanding.

    So pleased to see her well, and productive.

    Another great offering.

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  • OLD FAN

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  • F

    Out here the dad’s do text messages all during mass and the little kids are so entertained they are quiet. Neither dad nor the kids see or hear anything going on on the altar. I’ve spoken to priests and asked them to address this. They have not. The spiritual fathers are also refusing to father the fathers. Its a really depressing situation. I think some of the unformed men need to hear from the priests, fellow men afterall, what to do and not do in church. Lots of kids and young men wear hats in church now. They don’t know any better. Its scandalizing for me and depressing. My own pastor will not even genuflect. Just a scant and imperceptible bow. But I digress. Plenty of video games in mass, starting with the adults.

  • http://fineoldfamly.blogspot.com Sally Thomas

    Book 7 was my least favorite of the HP books, too, and my kids’, but the two oldest went to the midnight opening last night (it was the two of them and about ten other people — yee haw — included, they said, a bunch of middle-aged ladies in “Team Edward” t-shirts who may have been a little series-confused) and said the movie was actually quite good, better than the last two or three.

  • Lori

    Glad to hear the movie was good, Sally. Except for a few excellent bits, Book 7 was my least favorite too. Needed some serious editing and much less plot!

    Old Fan: People forget the reason Gov. Palin quit. She was facing numerous trumped-up charges from political enemies, and the cost of the necessary defense – in both time and money – was ruining her and her husband. Confident that her Lt. Governor would be able to carry on the policies she’d begun, she did the smartest thing she could and stepped down. Once a private citizen, she was free of the legal hassles – and also free to speak and act in the ways we’ve seen over the last two years. It was a smart move but unfortunately will always look weak to those who don’t know the whole story.

  • Ellen

    I actually liked HP and the Deathly Hallows, but I thought it was way too long. The last half was great but the buildup went on and on and on.

    My favorite book and movie was The Prisoner of Azkaban.

  • Rhinestone Suderman

    Old Fan, well, that’s nice for Mona Charen.

    I have doubts about Palin, too.

    But—but what? I sometimes think the GOP is just trying to nag us into the mind set where they can push yet another white-haired, male, septagenarian RINO (or loon) on us, and we’ll be urged to vote for them, for the good of the party: i.e., McCain, Huckabee, Romeny, etc., etc., etc.

    It’s too early to think about the upcoming election, anyway. I think a lot is going to happen, between now and then.

    I’ve had my doubts about Harry Potter, too; I do think the first book, and Prisoner of Azkaban, were the best, and the last book was the worst, and not really what the author originally intended to build up to.

    I’ve always thought Rawlings could have cut most of her books by half; they she had an unfortunate tendency to go on and on, covering the same stuff (or introducing new stuff in too obvious deus ex machina twists), and that she could have used a good editor.)

  • Rhinestone Suderman

    In my church, we’re told to turn off any, and all, cell phones during worship.

    Problem solved.

  • Rhinestone Suderman

    Lori, it’s interesting that Palin gets all the criticism for stepping down, whereas those who forced her to do it have gotten off scot free.

    In re harry Potter. . . I also found the books pushed some questionable moral values—and, no, NOT the witchcraft stuff! I love fairy tales, fantasy stories, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, so that wasn’t what I disliked! Also, an overabundance of creepy and grotesque imagery.