Hillary, Confessions, Blogs, Popes, Priests & more

Heh. John Hawkins has a post up with 10 reasons why this blog is not succeeding while others do.

I try! I don’t feel comfortable networking, but I link out! I try to be interesting and varied – most days I post at least three or four new things. Seems I’m just not all that provocative, and undoubtedly I’m too long-winded. Still – it blows my mind that other people manage to support themselves blogging. This little endeavor nets yer girl something under $2,000 per year, and with two kids in college I’ve more and more begun to think all this fun must soon end for a job managing an office, somewhere…but I’ll plug gamely on for a while yet, because you know it and I know it…I’m hooked. So is Melissa Clouthier who is also pounding her head on the desk over Hawkins’ piece!

Speaking of successful bloggers, my dear blogfather, Ed Morrissey who writes brilliantly every single day (ahhh…there’s how you succeed! Be brilliant and steady!) mostly about politics, has written a very good piece on confession – and more specifically on the Vatican’s advise to the faithful to consider modernity and the “new sins” when examining their consciences. In his cleverly-titled piece, Ed writes beautifully about his personal adventures with the sacrament and then:

the addition of sins based on political correctness demeans the process. If pollution is a sin, do I have to give up driving a car? Lighting my house? Burning wood in the fireplace? Or is there a level at which sin arises; if so, will the Vatican provide the formulas? It’s silly, because excessive consumption is already covered by gluttony. This looks like a desperate attempt at temporal relevancy when the Church should be concerned about eternal truths. It’s like watching your parents try to rap.

If the Vatican wonders why Catholics feel that reconciliation has become less relevant, perhaps it’s because the Church tries to impose faddish notions of sin on its members. If the Vatican doesn’t take sin and repentance seriously, why should Catholics?

Perfectly said.

Margaret Cabannis over at Inside Catholic has a little fun with the excesses of the British press, and then writes:

I think I’ll wait until I hear something a little more concrete — preferably from the pope, rather than the British news media — before I start confessing my sins of recycling.

Margaret is referring there to what Amy Welborn calls Rule 27: If the news story is from the British press and involves the Pope….DON’T BELIEVE IT.

Speaking of Welborn, (another very successful blogger) she links to a much more interesting (and off-the-cuff) homily from Pope Benedict, speaking yesterday while visiting a youth center in Rome:

I am confident that [America], established on the self-evident truth that the Creator has endowed each human being with certain inalienable rights, will continue to find in the principles of the common moral law, enshrined in its founding documents, a sure guide for exercising its leadership within the international community.

Amy has a new book coming out soon that looks pretty scrumptious, Mary and the Christian Life. You can pre-order it at Amazon (see below – and whoever ordered the lazer jet printer – THANK YOU!).

Last bit on confession, from Siggy, who is actually writing about larger issues.

Speaking of priests, Deacon Greg has a poignant story about what they need from us.

Secularly, Ace brings us a 19 year old soldier who has earned the Silver Star. Props to Spc. Monica Lin Brown, who – while under fire – pulled wounded to safety and saved their lives. If you need a “female hero” you don’t need to look to politics to find them.

Obsidian Wings looks at all the ways Hillary Clinton is no hero and where Rwanda is concerned, she is even less. Jake Tapper suggests Hillary is going to go My Lai on the Democrats and “destroy the party” to save it – or at least to serve her own ambition. Andrew Sullivan goes a little purple on the subject of Clintons.

Bob Owens disagrees with the idea that if you don’t vote for Obama you are a racist and probably a religious bigot as well. Bob also has a very helpful post up on Fair Use situations and the Associated Press. He suggests bloggers go through their posts. Good advice.

You see that coffee ad just to your right, in the sidebar? The Mystic Monk Coffee? It really is the best coffee I’ve ever had. Made the Hazelnut this weekend. It was unbelievably good! We drank too much of it, then brought a pot to the neighbor’s house and had some more! Please patronize those talented Monks. We want to keep that coffee coming!

Finally, my Elder Son notes that (just in time for his birthday – funny how that happens) a new Dresden Files book, Small Favor, is due out this April 1! I thank reader Busy Bee for the recommendation of two book for my musician sons, Barry Green’s The Inner Game of Music and The Mastery of Music: Ten Pathways to True Artistry. This reminds me of a joke Julie at Happy Catholic posted this weekend:

St. Peter’s still checking ID’s. He asks a man, “What did you do on Earth?”

The man says, “I was a doctor.”

St. Peter says, “Ok, go right through those pearly gates. Next! What did you do on Earth?”

“I was a school teacher.”

“Go right through those pearly gates. Next! And what did you do on Earth?”

“I was a musician.”

“Go around the side, up the freight elevator, through the kitchen…”

I’m currently reading a wonderful bio of John Adams and will be writing more about it soon.