"The Devil's Own" at Notre Dame

Now, now, I’m not calling President Obama the devil. Or, for that matter, “the devil’s own.” I’m just thinking of my Auntie Lillie, who would not be at all happy to hear that Obama will be speaking at the commencement for Notre Dame, where he will receive an honorary doctorate in law.

Auntie’s take on it, I’m quite sure, would be something like, “…and isn’t Old Scatch stampin’ his foot in glee to have his own one standin’ in the place named for Our Lady!”

Hey…my take on it: scripture says she strikes at the devil’s head. I ain’t worried. Mary is no one to be messed with, as many and many have found. Her son loves his mama, who said the ultimate “yes” and who – as a mere human doing the unthinkable and birthing her own God – is the premier lesson to humanity on being open to His Mysterious Ways.

That’s pretty much how I feel about the Notre Dame thing. I know many people are really upset about it, but I say “do not be afraid.” Yes, so Obama will be able to say, “as I said in my commencement speech at Notre Dame” and that will impress some – the world is easy to impress. The Holy Spirit moves in Mysterious Ways. Confounds us all, most of the time, by using the most surprising circumstances to turn a heart or bring about His will.

In that vein, though, I did get an email from a reader saying she did not know what to think about this video and this one, wherein the words “Yes, we can” are reversed and heard as “Thank you, satan.”

Well.

I told my Elder Son about it, and asked if we should be worried about Bob the Builder. “I never did like that Bob the Builder,” he smiled.

Yes…not the devil, but certainly his Imp!

After listening to the videos ES said, “It’s short a syllable. I don’t hear ‘Thank you, satan.'” I hear, ‘THINK HUSSEIN.”

Either way, it’s an interesting bit of weirdness in an era of weird. And yes, theater in an era of cheap political theater.

What do you hear?

Of course, when you record “Thank you, satan” and play it back, it does sound like “Yes we can.”

Who THINKS of this stuff?