Do Not Debilitate Yourself

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” –J.K. Rowling

(This is part two of a post discussing negative reactions.  Here's part one if you haven't read it: React)

We’re in such an advanced technological age where nothing is long lasting.  Cars, iPads, iPods, tables, computers and almost anything technological are always changing and updating.  Updating doesn’t mean we fix our current possessions and make them better.  It means we drop we have to buy the latest and greatest. 

                So now we’re so used to dropping what we have when it is broken, outdated, or problematic that we tend to do the same thing with our very lives.  When something bad happens in life, we tend to “drop” the lives we have now and pick up the next false sense of comfort we can.  Essentially we discard our lives for a pseudo-reality: one that will last as long as our technology today. 

                So here’s the list of the negative reactions we take in life that are often debilitating and unnatural to our ultimate end. 

                Withdrawal—Withdrawing is essentially a complete stepping back from something which, in this article’s case, would be a negative event in our lives.  When we withdraw we are, in a way, trying to step back from reality by drawing away from the problem.  We are in denial of the negative that exists and step away from it in the hopes of just happening to step upon some false reality where the problem doesn’t exist.  This never lasts long.  Hence the common phrases like “then reality hits” or “and I woke up.” Withdrawing from the problem withdraws from reality, so we become like weakened shells or shadows of our true selves until we finally accept the reality we have. 

                Guilt—Guilt is the inability to forgive ourselves usually due to the blame and responsibility we put on ourselves.  If we can’t forgive ourselves, then the guilt will always weigh us down.  Obviously when something weighs us down it makes it difficult to move,  so guilt makes us immobile.  Maybe the guilt is merited but perhaps it isn’t.  In any case, long-lasting guilt makes us think our actions are unforgivable unmovable—and we become immovable ourselves; we debilitate ourselves. 

                Anger—I do not mean a just anger toward somebody at fault, but a strong resentment and begrudging that inhibits anyone from being able to forgive.  Anger can be just at times, but if you hold onto it for too long it festers and becomes a hurt—an emotional scab of sorts.  Whenever the topic is brought up, or a touchy subject reminds us of those negative memories our emotional scabs are being pulled open; we bleed our anger. 

                Just anger calls for justice, but justice (or our conception of justice) cannot be attained for many reasons.  Who do we punish for an accident?  How can we punish our parents for something they did not understand or already regret?  How can we punish somebody who has already been tried?  Who do we punish for a biological deformity?  These “justices” cannot be answer and either we live in a perpetual scabbing/bleeding out cycle or we form a false sense of justice that goes beyond the justice given; either we are emotionally bled dry (and how can we move on if we are bled dry?) or we seek revenge.  Both of these are debilitating and unrealistic. 

                Inconstancy—inconstancy is the opposite of decision.  It is irresoluteness.  But by being irresolute, we naturally cannot move forward.  How can we when we’re stuck in our own place without any desire to move forward?  Hence we are again immobile and weakened, lacking the future goods we can receive in life. 

                Envy—Resentment at those more fortunate than others.  This is not to be confused with jealousy, which is a self-reflection of our feelings or attitudes toward another person.  Instead envy wants what the other person has, or that the other person did not have it; you desire for a worse off life for the other person.  Until we can see the fortune in our lives (and there is fortune in everyone’s life) we will live life in perpetual envy of others.  We will never be our true selves, but only disfigured imitations of those better off than us. 

                Despair—All hope is lost.  We give up on hope and figure that nothing can solve the problem, or that nothing good can stem from it.  For example, with death we hold on too strongly to the object of the death and not the life that was lived before and the desired life to be lived afterward.  By despair we never find happiness, because nothing even matters.  This usually leads to withdrawal, and we are again nothing more than shadows. 

                Depression—Depression is often the result of all of the other reactions combined.  But this is harder to tackle because there may be many other biological factors for depression.  Still, there are other biological factors that can make us happy (which will be discussed later. 

                So we know how these negative reactions can be debilitating and prevent us from moving on to our greater goal.  How can we convert our negativity to positivism?  How can we make a habit of reacting positively?  I’ll write about this next post!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. lemme know!  Remember, life is beautiful and life is good; look for the beauty and you’ll find it without much difficulty!

Thanks and take care!

 -Dameo

React

There are two types of people:

                                                Those who say: “If only you knew.”

                                                And those who say:  “Here’s why.”

Take a look at your life and consider: what moments have shaped your life the most? 

 Oftentimes the most beautiful things come from factors that might be deemed painful and negative.

Subjecting graphite to high pressure/ high temperature (HPHT) environments gives you a diamond.

Erosion gives us beautifully-smooth rocks, glass, and touristic views such as the Grand Canyon.

Extreme acidic and basic cleaners make everything sparkle. 

Pearls come from oysters reacting to irritants. 

Even our creation started from dust.

Our lives work in the same way:  most negative events that occur in our lives are the shapers of who we are.  This can result in something beautiful, like a diamond, or we can let the negative events shape us into something worse…

And so, we have two types of people:

               

                Those who say, “If only you knew my story.” 

                And those who say “Here’s why I am.”

These two types aren't necessarily that different from each other.  After all, the theme in this article is “past” and we all have our fair share of a past (whoa!) that always leads into our person today.  This isn't a new concept; we've got loads of quotes on it:

"The past is never dead.  It's not even past." -William Faulkner
"Study the past if you would define the future."  -Confucius
"Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real." -Cormac McCarthy
"The past isn't passed.  It's still shaping the present." -John Green

But while our past may have shaped who we are now, the affect could have been positive or negative.  Certainly, the affect could not have been neutral by the simple fact that we are emotionally neutral in life (at least, I have not yet encountered entire societies composed of robots or of  Keanu Reeves). 

Making diamonds, smooth rocks, and even our creation from dust are all examples of naturally harmful and negative environments creating something beautiful. 

But we are beyond nature.  We are beyond nature in that our senses, emotions and (most importantly) will can make us react differently to these negative events in our life.  Still, they will always affect us. 

If I cut my hand off, I can react a number of ways—all of which would involve frantic screaming—but my hand will always be a hook or wooden hand in the future (I’d choose hook). 

So we know that while we all react differently, we are all still affected, and that affect—coupled with its reactions—make up our character today. 

In chemistry, we have negative reactions and positive reactions.  In humanity, we have the same thing.  People can react negatively by withdrawal, guilt, depression, despair, anger, and inconstancy.  These negative reactions often keep one at his same place; they prohibit moving on to build character or—at least—from truly becoming our true selves as we were designed to be: happy. 

On the other hand, those who react positively—through patience, fortitude, empathy, and forgiveness (of self and others)—can continue through life and build better character that is geared toward their own happiness. 

Later, I will discuss how these negative reactions are debilitating (and leave us a shadow of our true selves), how we can grow from negative to positive reactions, and how to combat future negative events in our lives.  

Thanks for stopping by and reading.  If you have any questions or comments and would even like something related to be discussed I will be happy to reply! Hey, you can even leave a comment just to say hey back! 

Take care,

Damien 

Continuing Martin Luther King's Work

As a holy man, Dr. Martin Luther King asked men to seek God and to find God's love so that--in loving God and finding God's love--we can love all men without barriers of any kind. 

 Today marks the day of an important man in our life--Dr. Martin Luther King.  Even after his death, Dr. King serves as an historical example of living, serving, and even offering life for the life of others.  His emphasis on civil rights has saved the hardships, toils, and even lives of many people, and has continued to do so.  If the great Dr. King were to still be alive, he would have continued his fight for true civil rights--his fight for life in the midst of destructive humanity; Dr. King would have especially fought for the lives who had no voice.  He would have fought for the unborn.

It can be easy to say that Dr. Martin Luther King accomplished his goal of providing civil rights for everyone, but we hardly ever ponder what he would have continued to do had he still been alive.  We can get a good guess from his niece, Dr. Alveda King.  Dr. Alveda King was living in Birmingham when her house was bombed by anti civil-rights members.  After a few more incidents, including being jailed during the Chicago Open Housing Movement, she joined her uncle, Martin Luther King, in protesting civil rights abuses.

Dr. Alveda King knew her uncle through firsthand experience.  She knew him as an uncle, colleague with a same goal, and as a great reverend and minister.  With all these in mind, she knows that Dr. Martin Luther King would have kept up in his pursuit for civil rights for all members, including the unborn. 

We should mark today as an examination point.  We should ask ourselves how much we love God--God who gives us our humanity.  We can seek this answer by looking at how many self-made barriers stand between our selves and members of other groups--members of a different race, gender, religion, social class, political class, and of the womb.  How human are we? 

Our purpose is to serve God, not ourselves.  This we know from our conscience, from our desire to seek deep and meaningful relationships with purpose.  This we know from our desire to be happy and at peace.  Seek God and find God's love for others.  Then, imitate God's love and spread it to others.  Dr. Martin Luther King sought this and fought to break down the barriers between members of a different race, and we should continue his work on all the spectrum of civil rights.  We should continue his work of finding our humanity through God.  

For Those with Qualms...Mary

  A sad misfortune falls upon many Christians when the name of Mary—in reference to the mother of Jesus Christ—is mentioned.  Most hear the name without any special or high regard, quite unlike the apostles, Paul, or the prophets.  Some may even mutter under their breath that Mary must be devalued in reference, or else one may be nearing idolatry.  There are even fewer, though, who see Mary in the light that Catholics see her.  It is in this light that I am proud to have an example of one who wishes to see us with her Son, Jesus Christ
In our day and age, we have become a person striving for deeper intimacy with life.  This is done so much, to the point, that we lose the meaning when we riddle ourselves—via facebook, twitter, and the like—with deep quotes that have the potential of impacting a moment in our life, but are headed or even implanted in self-taken photos that desire nothing more than attention.  Imagine someone posting a picture of her (or his; guys can do it, too) new haircut with the caption:

“It is harder to judge yourself than to judge others.  If you succeed in judging yourself, it’s because you are truly a wise man.”
Or
“We’re best friends not because we don’t fight, but because we forgive each other.”

Okay, okay.  I’m apt to quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery often, so forgive me.  Still, no one is going to comment on the quote; the quote is lost in the photos and all the comments about the new look. 

Better yet, think of anything with the caption, YOLO.  “You only live once” they say, but this means that you can do whatever the hey you want.  It no longer means, “think of the Big Guy upstairs and the long run you’re taking.  Is this what you really want?”  But what am I getting at? I rant. 

As we strive to become deeper within ourselves, it is a comfort for Catholics to know that our faith is built upon the deepest religion in history—extending from the time of the Jews and Christ’s foundation on the rock, which Peter built it, to now.  We’ve got it deep, and that’s where I’m going at, with Mary. 

Mary’s life was not just blessing to us because of her fiat (Luke 1:38), it is a continual blessing to us.  Her acceptance brought us Life.  She brought us Christ, who is Eternal Good, and who saved us from eternal death and damnation.  Her fiat brought forth the Means of redemption.  If Jesus is eternal, then it would go without saying that His mother is also eternal as His mother.  As she is eternal, her fiat remains a continual and eternal blessing.  Everyday her fiat is revisited when we think, speak, or feel Christ’s identity within our lives.  If we don’t think, speak, or feel His identity, her fiat is still revisited when Christ forgives us for not thinking, speaking, or believing in His identity. 

              

Here’s some deep for you:

                Eve rejected God’s will, bringing us death, disease and danger. 

                God said He would put enmity between the woman and her seed against Satan’s.

                Her (or her seed’s) heel would strike the Serpent’s head. 

                Life over death.

                Mary accepted God’s will, bringing us Jesus Christ, our source of life. 

                Jesus redeems us from eternal death, disease, and danger.

               The Serpent’s head is crushed.  Life over death.

                            Mary, with her acceptance, is the new Eve.  

                            The Perfected Eve.

Some may scoff and say we’re worshiping the wrong person.  Others may agree only to a certain extent.

“So what,” they can say, “ Isn't she just one of the lucky ones? She’s nothing special; she wasn’t a perpetual virgin (as Catholics believe).  Isn't this just a string of coincidences that were bound to happen so somebody anyway?”

Let me propose some answers.
 Catholics, at least the Catholics that know what they are doing, do not worship anybody but the one God.  Nobody else.  Nadie.  Nein.  Only God.  When we refer to Mary, we refer to her with honor, grace, and esteem.  This is how we would for any high-esteemed person in this world but—c’mon here, people—this is the mother of God we’re talking about!  As Catholics, we try to imitate Christ.

How would Jesus Christ treat his own mother? 

How would Jesus treat His own Mother?  After she raised Him up and He began His work with the public, how would Christ still treat His Mother?  After His death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, how would Christ still treat His Mother?  After her death, how would Christ still treat His Mother? 

Aren’t we supposed to mirror Christ’s love?

A: We don’t know for sure, (so we’re okay in assuming that Jesus wouldn’t mind either way)

B:  What does it matter?  They’re both upstairs so we can act whichever way! 

C: Jesus is full of love, but wouldn’t respect His own Mother. 

D: Jesus is eternal love and respect.  Let us eternally love and respect like He does.

  

“Okay, okay.  Apart from being the Mother of God and deserving of our love, what else?  She’s still not special.”  

Au contraire, she is more than just another person who happened to be Christ’s mother (wait, there still has only been one mother of Jesus, hasn’t there?). She is the New Eve—the Perfected Eve.  Not only this, but she’s the Mother of God.  Besides this, she is still a virgin. 

               

“Whoa!  How can you say that?  Look, look!  Mt. 1:25 says her hubby, ‘Joseph knew her not until she bore her first-born.’ After Jesus, Joseph knew her intimately through intercourse, it says so right there!” 

                Yes and no.  Take it seriously, because it is the Bible, but don’t take it too literally.  If you do, we’ve got a problem with Mt. 28:20 (among other verses).  The specific verse has Jesus saying “And behold, I am with you, unto (or—synonymously—until) the end of time.”  Uh-oh.  Jesus is going to abandon us, at the end of time?  Of course not!  It’s imagery, as is want in the Bible.  Jesus revealed His love for us and His dedication to us in Mt. 28:20. 

                So what does Mt. 1:25 mean?  After seeing that his virgin wife conceived, gave birth to his Lord, and witnessed Christ’s presence, Joseph was revealed Mary’s true spiritual identity.  He didn’t have to have relations with Mary to become intimate with the woman who raised his Lord. 

Take a mile in Joseph’s shoes: 

Before Mary, there was the Ark of the Covenant. 

If anyone so much as touched the Ark, they would be struck down and killed.

After that, Mary’s womb held the Most Sacred Thing in the world.

Knowing that, would you even contemplate having that womb be touched by something else?

“Christ’s birth didn’t end Mary’s virginity (or her intention to remain a virgin)

Christ’s birth sanctified it”

Catechism: 499

                Still say she isn’t something special?  Well, Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Think of it this way.  In the Old Testament, the kings had many wives; it would be impossible to have that many queens.  Imagine the chaos if each wife were a queen?  So who was significant enough to be the queen?  Well, the mother of course!  After all, each king had only one mother, so the mothers were regarded as the queens in the Old Testament. 

                Take a quick look at Mt. 1 in the New Testament, and we see that Jesus a genealogical descendent of the kings.  He’s definitely going to be the perfect king, right?  The King of Heaven and Earth?  If you answered yes, you are correct.  Who else could be the queen, but His mother?  This ties in the way Christ would treat his Mother/Queen—with decency, respect, honor, and love.

                “Well,” you may say, “we don’t need to honor her.  We can just go straight to God.”

                True, but here’s another interesting tidbit:

                In the Old Testament, queens acted as respected mediators between the people and their king.  One example of this is in 1 Kings 2:12-20.  Somebody named Adonijah went to the queen, Bathsheba, to petition a request.  Adonijah says that the king, Bathsheba’s son Solomon, “will not refuse you” and Bathsheba agrees.  Get this, Bathsheba goes to her son, Solomon. 

“There is a favor I ask of you, my son.  Don’t refuse me.” She says.

“Ask it, my mother.  I will not refuse you.” The king replies.

He could have refused, but Solomon’s respect for his queen was so much, he knew he couldn’t disrespect.

This is the same way Jesus reacted to Mary at the wedding in Cana.  She asked, Jesus said yes.  How could He refuse His own mother?  He couldn’t, he wouldn’t.  Jesus is so filled with love; of course He would listen to His mother.  Go to the mother, and you’ve gotten another aide in your request to the Son. 

“But Jesus called Mary ‘Woman.’  Surely He can’t be respectful—in the least—He’s not exactly going out of His way to be friendly with Mary.  Right?”

                Well let’s first target the absurdity of this statement.  Imagine you were a living saint attending a wedding (don’t get too entertained by the idea of being a living saint…).  Your mother came to you and asked you to do something you knew was in your power.  Would you roll your eyes and say, “omg, WOMAN! C’mon, mom!  Why should I do that?”  Or would you say something along the lines of, “you know me too well. Thanks for recognizing my abilities and being proud of your son!” and then complete the task?   What would others expect of you? 

                Exactly. 

                So when Jesus says “Woman” what does He mean?  Jesus has a way of speaking that usually alludes to something more, right?  So why should this be any different? 

                Go back to Genesis 3:15. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

                Could it be?  Could it be that Jesus was referring to something of this when he spoke at the wedding?  Could it be that Jesus was referring to Mary as the Woman—the New Eve?  If this is true, than Jesus was referring to Himself as the one who would crush Satan’s head?  The One to defeat the evil one?  Again, Mary’s fiat brings Life over death.

                Seeing how Jesus does this in other instances, could this be a possibility?  In any case, it is more of a possibility that the Son of God would publicly disrespect His own mother. 

               

We can go straight to Jesus, to God.  But we can also ask His mother to help us out.  After all, we’re the low-lifes asking God for a request.  Shouldn’t we give it to His mother so she can make our words just a little bit more eloquent? 

A pastor once told me, “If I were to walk down the street and happened to see Mary, the Mother of God on the other side, I would cross over to her and raise my hat in honor. She would then say to me, ‘do not give me the honor, but give it to God instead.’ And that’s why I wouldn’t do anything special for her.”  

I was young, afraid and too ignorant to respond wisely to him at the time, but now I would say,

“And I will do no such thing for you mother!”

Just kidding!  I would agree that Mary would show humility, just as many holy people living in this world.  But it doesn’t mean we don’t give honor and respect where it is due.  God gave us this sense of respect not so that we give it only to Him, but that we can share it with others in the hope of sharing what our whole life represents:  good, and God. 

                Here’s one last little tidbit to get you thinking…

                In today’s day and age, everyone enjoys the story of someone’s fate being handed to them.  They didn’t choose it, maybe they didn’t even want it.  In any case, it came upon them.  Think of comic books, movies, tv shows.  All those stories with the usual line saying

                “I didn’t want any of this.  I didn’t wish for this.  I didn’t ask for this.”

                                Usually this results in the likely response…

                “Yes, but fate has a way of making the best of people.  It’s a matter of you accepting your fate.” 

What does it matter to us?  We enjoy the hero; just watch any movie, any show, or read any book. 

               

                Maybe Mary didn’t ask for it, but she did not doubt when she heard the angel’s words.  She had enough faith.  Her response was the epitome of faith. 

                Mary is that hero. 

                It could have been anyone. Maybe it could have been anyone. 

                But it still doesn’t mean we don’t root for the hero.  

“Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?  Are you not under my shadow and protection?  Am I not the source of your joy?  Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?  Do you need anything more?  Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”

Take care, 

Damien

Upcoming Performances

Ya'll!

I will be playing acoustic performances for the restaurant Peppermill Grill each Saturday night.  It's from 6:30 to 9:30--three hours!--so I've been doing a lot of research for songs that I can do acoustically.  It's not all of the songs I plan on doing, but here's a little peak ahead of what I will be playing those Saturday nights (preferably with a beer at my side)! 

Most importantly, I'm hoping I'll look like this when I play:

Also one star * will mean it's a song I'm not looking forward to playing, but must play to appease the mob--erhem--crowd.  Three stars *** mean that it is a song that I am really looking forward to playing!

Here you go:

1) Ring of Fire --Johnny Cash**

2) Rolling in the Deep--Adele*

3) Orange Sky--Alexi Murdoch***

4) First Day of My Life--Bright Eyes**

5) I Will Follow You Into the Dark--Death Cab for Cutie***

6) Crane Wife 1,2,3 --Decemberists***

7) Stable Song--Gregory Alan Isakov***

8) I'm Yours--Jason Mraz*

9) Ho Hey--Lumineers**

10) Last Leaf--Ok Go**

11) Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard--Paul Simon**

12) Hey There Delilah--Plain White T's*

13) Transplant Song--Tim Bluhm**

14) A Lack of Color--Death Cab for Cutie**

15) Hallelujah--Leonard Cohen**

16) Ivory Road--King Charles***

17) Pumped Up Kicks/Paradise--Foster the People and Coldplay**

18) Zombie--Cranberries**

19) Piano Man--Billy Joel***

20) Time After Time--Cyndi Lauper***

21) Don't Wanna Miss a Thing--Aerosmith***

22) Superman (It's Not Easy)--Five For Fighting**

23) Marry Me--Train*

24) Move On--Jet**

25) Sweet Caroline--Neil Diamond*

26) Sweet Child O' Mine--Guns and Roses**

27) Baba O'Riley-The Who***

28) Hey Ya--Outkast***

with more possibilities ranging from Katy Perry to Pearl Jam.  If you've got any suggestions, feel free to comment! 

Saca Suerte!

Damien

Because I'm Signed In

Right now, I'm living life.

I'm not just experiencing life, following it, or riding it. I'm actually aware of its presence and I feel like I'm living it; I'm not just with life.

Most of the time; however, I'm not living it. With God's grace and unending mercy, I'll be able to live life more frequently. After all, you can't live life without doing it God's way.

It's a good thing God is patient!

I'm glad for God's love, because living life is a good feeling

Cheers,

Damien

Family Guy "The funniest show on tv"

Not to mention the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, anti-religious, crudest show on tv.

Seriously, I cannot stand the indecency of this show. This show is the epitome of our culture today: down with religion, up with our own pleasures.

Family Guy absolutely mocks God in every single way. I'll give a few examples I saw just by flipping through the channels.



1. Apparently Peter stole a film from two Christians (who were dressed as priests for some reason). It evolves into a high-speed race through town in which the two Christians try to shoot Peter and his wife in order to get the film back. I flipped through the channels and as I passed through it again Lois is hanging on the edge of one of the presidents of Mt. Rushmore (Peter is nearby). One of the Christians points his pistol at them demanding the location of the film. Peter points across the mountain, the Christian nonchalantly walks over the cliff and falls to his death. Lois asks Peter how he knew the Christian would do that and Peter simply replies that "Christians don't believe in gravity."


2. Just flipping through the channels. All the guys of Family Guy are at a bar making gay-priest jokes. The joke said was absolutely crude, degrading, and raunchy. Peter looks up at someone hidden off-screen and says "Oh, no offense, father." and revealed is a shirtless priest (but still with the collar) who replies along the lines that it did not offend him.



3. (The worst of them, to me. Mocking a priest is an absolutely heinous thing to do, but I abhor this simply because they singled her out.) Stewie is absolutely frightened by something. He says it was the scariest thing that's happened since Mother Teresa OD'd in his car. There's a flashback to Stewie driving a car with two gangster looking people and a sick-looking Mother Teresa. Stewie tells the guys to push her out of the car. They're hesitant. Stewie turns around and tells them to "Push the bitch out." The guys push her onto the sidewalk and leave her there unconscious.



SERIOUSLY!!!!

Think about it guys...if anyone has any ounce of decency in his heart, then it's probably happened that he's felt uncomfortable when his best friend's mom or dad is scolding his friend...or telling an embarrassing story about his friend.

If anyone has any ounce of decency in his heart, then its probably happened that this person has or would intervene when someone is being completely mocked.

But how goes it, that our culture simply laughs and applauds a tv show that degrades our faith and our loved ones. A tv show that mocks one of the most peaceful and loving people in history--Mother Teresa--for no reason at all save for the sake of humor.

A tv that mocks our Dearest Friend.

This is just me flipping through the channels; I have never watched a full episode of Family Guy. I can't imagine what other blasphemous things I would see against the pope, priests, nuns, missionaries, or simply well-to-do people.

I don't know about you guys, but with my conscience, I can do nothing but abhor Family Guy.

For the sake of our God, I cannot enjoy it.

"She (The Church) is the Irish grandmother cooking us Italian meatballs in an African kitchen while singing Polish folk songs. And she scolds as she hugs, and calls us to grow when we least want to and to reconcile our hearts in matters which, in their hour of horror, appear beyond even a breath of forgiveness. She is patient. She knows what she is about and that this work is not, ultimately, hers but God's. She lives to see us home." --David Morrison



Face the fact that, with God, we can face anything.

“Life for you has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We’ve all been sorry, we’ve all been hurt
But how we survive is what makes us who we are”

The band Rise Against hits the mark exactly on the spot in suffering. While working, I’ve found more than plenty of time to contemplate such things.

As most everyone knows, we live in hard and trying times. There will always be suffering and hurt at many points in our life. This is due to our fallen nature. Oftentimes it is fairly simple to thrive on the hurt by venting, contemplating on your lowliness (throwing a pity party), or by enjoying the fact that others are acknowledging your depression (pity party); sometimes making situations worse.

I’m not saying these –especially venting and letting out your feelings—are harmful things in and of themselves, but that God has given and always will give us many ways to continue on towards feeling better and therefore towards happiness through other means than things that may be even more harmful for ourselves. Many of God’s aids are extremely simple. Consider:

It takes more muscles to frown than to smile—the less fatigue the better you feel

Holding a smile (even when you don’t feel like it) releases chemicals in the brain that signal relaxation and a better feeling—Facial Feedback

Walking briskly, keeping your back erect, and swinging your arms does the very same thing to make you feel better—Bio Feedback.

A happier person makes a healthier person, literally. Depression greatly increases chances of cardiovascular problems and diseases.

It is obvious by the ways our body reacts to environments that God designed us for happiness. It’s hard, but how we survive is the very epitome of who we are.

Face the fact that, with God, we can face anything.

Pardon Me As I Talk

I might've talked about this before here and there, but it's so important and it's constantly on my mind that I want to talk about. Forgive me for the very poor use of grammar and style of flow on this topic; I'm basically speaking whatever comes to my mind on the subject. I would grade myself a C+, but at least I can share my thoughts with you guys.


Our generation's culture has been known as the "Culture of Death" especially where regarding the number of abortions operated each day. And sadly, the reference "Culture of Death" isn't far from the truth. Beginning in the twenties something big happened...the industrialization of the car. What happened after that? The once common courtship turned into dating-a man can simply pick up his girlfriend in his new Ford Model T-4 and drive wherever he could without supervision. As a result, the number of unwed pregnancies went skyrocketing upwards. Of course, to solve this unwanted pregnancy crisis, there must be some form of blocking-now commonly referred to as protection-from the evils of conceiving. Birth control pills were being adapted as the better method to keep away from unwanted pregnancies and, therefore, reduce the numbers of abortions. Pope Paul VI, however, condemned the idea of birth-control. Especially in his encyclical writing Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI expressed that birth control was not the answer and that it would indeed bring harmful consequences. As we know, the birth-control still was popularly adapted and we now have in today's culture. Birth control (and the Model T-4) brought the idea that sex was a much more simpler and common thing. Sex was losing it's sacredness.

Our culture-the "Culture of Death"- is now the culture of sex: Children watch sex-educational videos at around the age of fourteen. Our popular media-magazines, movies, books, music, and television-generate the idea that sex (especially casual sex) is nothing new or wrong. Celebrities will gladly show their bodies for the sake of a "good" scene. On top of the fact that popularity celebrities sell their bodies for movies, they also get them published in magazines such as People, Inquirer, and so many other short-selling magazines that glamorize the flesh and the scandals (I will not discuss the eighth commandment in this post, however) of these celebrities. As you can see, our media makes a huge impact on the culture of sex. Sex sells!
As is known, as the sacredness of sex has decreased, huge factors have played out. First, abortions. They have literally skyrocketed as thousands of innocents are aborted a day. One of my liberal teachers himself said that abortion is to be pointed at as the result of obtaining a culture of sex, but that there is nothing wrong with a culture based on casual sex.
As the value of sex has gone down, there is also a huge increase of divorces. Many marriages are the result of unwanted pregnancies, and after the emotional bondage of sex has declined, the couple feel no need for each other and therefore divorce.
A third: the woman. Many women's right activists thrive on claiming their own freedom and civil rights, yet many of them don't know the facts that many women are not liberated, but in fact slaves of sex. Especially since the rise of abortion and birth control, women are (by others or, sadly, by themselves) turned into machines into which they have a hold on their most beautiful function: to procreate. An example: when birth control was first tested on both men and women, the men on the pill found some uncomfortable side-effects due to the pill. Immediately after, the pill was not an option for men. The women, however, had more drastic results; a few or more women had died as a result of the pill. And yet, that did not stop the pill being designed for women. What is the message here? That women are to be subject to birth control even though their side effects were far worse than those of a man? The value of a woman was (and still is) shot down to an objective being made for pleasure.

It's hard not to get sucked into the culture one way or another. With the influence given by the media-music, fashion, and film-it's hard to stay away. But with the help and grace of God, chastity can be attained. There are still people out there who fight for life and for morality regarding the sacredness of the unborn, women, and sex. It is extremely necessary to pray for the conversion of all souls regarding such issues.

Cheers.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Damien

2. What is your favorite season? Autumn
3. What is your favorite color? Green (it's a tie with blue)
4. Favorite drink? Coffee
5. Dream vacation? Assisi
6. Favorite Hobby? Whatever Works
7. What you want to be/do when you grow up? Nurse
8. What do you love most in life? Happiness
9. One word/phrase to describe you? Imperfect

Enjoy this and share it!
Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/)
b. Using only the first page of the result, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker(http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php)
d. Save the image and post it with the questions above!

Cheers,

Damien

Hello?

This is a call to all you bloggers out there: are you still alive?

I was gonna post something on my thoughts...but for some reason, I don't think they'll come into play with my fingers right now. I guess my thoughts are much bigger than my previous posts' thoughts. On another hand, I really enjoy and miss blogging. Stinkin facebook took control of that. Too bad, though.

Sorry I never wrote about love. I think I wrote part of it, and never got to it. So to save from disappointment, I resign from it. One day...one day it'll be up here though. In the meantime, I deny any responsibility on the issue.

Being responsible sucks. I envy those little kids right now. :-p

Patrick Madrid's Top Ten Favorite Non-Theological Bible Verses.

Courtesy of Envoy Magazine.

Cheers


#10 Do not eat anything you find already dead (Deut. 14:21).

#9 Give beer to those who are perishing, and wine to those in anguish (Prov. 31:6).

#8 Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [Elisha], saying, "Go up you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" And he turned around and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys (2 Kgs 2:23).

#7 "Dorcas" (Acts 9:36).

#6 Spend the money for whatever you desire...wine or strong drink, or anything else you would enjoy, and there before the Lord, your God, you shall partake of it and make merry with your family (Deut. 14:26).

#5 I will accept no bull from your house (Psalm 50:9).

#4 A fool's lips bring strife, and his mouth invites a beating (Proverbs 18:6).

#3 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, [but] it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth (Proverbs 26:15).

#2 Behold, you are beautiful, my love! ...You hair is like a flock of goats ...your belly is a heap of wheat ...your nose is like a tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus (Song of Solomon 4:1, 7:2, 4).

#1 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine (Isaiah 24:11).

Admissions Essay

Something I wrote for my psychology class. Fillers!


Everything about psychology fascinates me. Ever since I’ve learned to put it into the perspective of human life (understanding certain actions, causes, and reasons for experiences with myself and others), I can’t get away from using it. Because of all this, it was no surprise that I have been thoroughly enjoying Psych 1A since the first lecture hearing Ernest Baker’s “The Denial of Death.” But there was one section that attracted me more than I thought it would have; the human brain’s right and left hemisphere, whether as a whole or split down the middle.
I had already heard that the one side of the brain controlled the other of the body, that one side can be more “romantic,” or that being left-handed made you right-brained. The lecture, however, brought to me a new and deep insight as to how the brain actually functioned. I loved hearing that being straight-left-handed increased the chances of not only being right-brained, but the chances of being ambidextrous as well. This especially hit me because I myself am straight-left-handed, and always questioned whether I was ambidextrous or not (I write, eat, pour, and brush left while I do almost anything “physical” right.)
Apart from the lecture, I also had a fun experience reading the section in the psychology book. In module 5, when I read the section, Studying Hemispheric Differences in the Intact Brain, I thought the word associations were incredibly interesting. When I had read the words foot, cry, and glass, the word cut kept flashing in my mind before I even read the word. The same happened when the word camp stuck to me while reading the words boot, summer and ground. I was so fascinated by this that I tried it on two of my brothers and even my cousin- who are all right-handed. They couldn’t associate the words nearly as quick as I had- save for one of my brothers who is very musically talented-a feature that I learned was found in the right side of the brain! Either I had not explained the whole situation well enough beforehand to my family (which I proudly believe to have done so), or I experienced experimentation (and results) on the uses and affect of the left and right side of the brain.
Going along with the left and right hemispheres, it further excited me about learning about the split brain. First, I had never thought that anyone with a split brain could live. Second, I had no idea that something like that could actually be helpful to some cases such as epilepsy. I was so caught up in it that I tried explaining (unsuccessfully, I believe) to my friends just out of the blue. Looking back at my lecture notes on the case, I found out I hadn’t much to write about it. The first thing I wrote about the split brain was, “(the) Split Brain is weird.” As simple as that description was, I can go on with so many other words such as fascinating, awesome, deep, or-as an attempt for a joke of the thought of it-mind splitting! All-in-all, the subject of both sides of the brain has definitely blown my own mind. It has entertained me from the start, as well as given me a whole new insight as to the reactions of things. Strangely enough, I still don’t even know whether I’m right or left-brained. Although I don’t know for a fact, I can now make a much more calculated guess than before. After all the knowledge and facts brought to mind that I recently discovered, I must say one thing: that it is all right to be left-handed (this was a reference in the book about guesses that left-handers were to die early and had diseases and problems).

Fillers

2 Awesome Quotes...in my eyes anyways.


“There is no secure answer to the awesome mystery of the human face that scrutinizes itself in the mirror; no answer, at any rate, that can come from the person himself, from his own center. One’s own face may be godlike in its miraculousness, but one lacks the godlike power to know what it means, the godlike strength to have been responsible for its emergence.”
--Ernest Becker-The Denial of Death

"She (The Church) is the Irish grandmother cooking us Italian meatballs in an African kitchen while singing Polish folk songs. And she scolds as she hugs, and calls us to grow when we least want to and to reconcile our hearts in matters which, in their hour of horror, appear beyond even a breath of forgiveness. She is patient. She knows what she is about and that this work is not, ultimately, hers but God's. She lives to see us home."

--David Morrison

My Apology

I've been absolutely lazy at times. Busy at times. Lazy at more times.


Give me time. :-p

What's Become of God? Part I

What's become of God? Where is He? When has He shown Himself?

These questions are in no way to say that God has disappeared among us, but that today's society has nearly forgotten God in His circumstances--save almost for the wrong.

Popular Uses for God:
1. Blaspheming: "Oh my God!"
2. Blaspheming: Attacks on Religion and Church
3. Curses
4. Blame: Where was God when I needed him?
5. God-related humor.

What happened to prayer life? Religious discussions aside from apologetics? Some are considered Jesus freaks (though many of us are!) just for discussing faith among other topics. Here I will discuss what I believe to happen from a deep lack of faith.

Life goes down.

Depression and hate may be among the more common. Given that they are not only caused by a lack of faith, but I feel sure enough to say that a number of these cases are.
With faith in God, we can trust Him. We can feel Him. We can love Him and feel love because of Him! With true love in God, we can truly love all others. We see the image of God in all people ranging from ourselves to abortionists and orators on terms of abortion, euthanasia-anything against God! If Christ died for all men, and loved them all. Who are we to hate? We love, as our God loves.

Without God-who is the source of love-we find it harder to feel Him. Consequently, it is harder to feel love. A lack of faith in God may bring a lack of love: it can lead to depression; it's harder to see the good in everything, and it drags us down. Good intentions, good people, good wills-they can get thrown away. Instead they are presented as "wrong doings or back-bitings they've done."

Back to the "disappearance" of God, because the way much of our society views religion and God, God becomes a target for all sorts of things. Popular movies, songs, sitcoms, almost anything anywhere blaspheme by using His name in vain, by poking fun of Him, by mocking His name, and by blaming Him for every wrong. The popular phrase "Oh my God!" especially rings out among us. "Oh My God" was once a prayer, but is now used in place of the words "wow" or "Oh no."

What can we do about it? It's never too late to change it all-for ourselves, for loved ones-for the better. Finding a (stronger) love for God by prayer life and charity can really make a difference. Seeing the good in others, as well as ourselves, but acknowledging our faults at the same time. We must remember our duties to God; He created us! We are made to know, love, and to serve Him. We must also protect Him from harm as we and others sin. If a friend yells "Oh, God" ask him why he is calling on God. If a person hates, help him to love. If a person falls, help him back up. In a day and age where God is called on for all the wrong purposes, we must stand true to Him and fight for Him, not give in to the common uses which are now deemed as okay.

On a last note: I will talk about marriage and its sanctity for my next post. And I wish to thank all those who fight for God: for the unborn, on issues of euthanasia and Mary as well as countless other issues. The world seems to fall, but its never too late to hold it up.

Cheers

Start Looking Up

Forget about what you've done in the past. And if you can't, then just the same; use it for your own good.

When we look down the cliffs we've made, we only add to the depressions-to the erosions- forming amongst them. We set the rivers at a stronger pace-destroying what it can to make the gulch larger then we could have expected.

But when we look Up. We close the gap between. We build bridges. We fill the landscape one-hundred feet beneath. If we fail with our bridges, we still need to look up. We realise the faults in our bridge, and we build a new one. We keep building, we keep filling, we keep looking Up.

We all have our faults. But where can we go from them? We can meditate on them, growing worse in our state and adding to the depressions of our own cliffs. Or we can acknowledge them and grow away from them, knowing them as a thing of the past.

It's up to you decide.

With God, all things are possible.

Cheers

Easy

Life is simple and extreme. It's good and bad. It's got upsides and downsides....

Let's not try to make it harder for ourselves by focusing on the downs of life.

Cheers

Storytime, Kids!!

On the way to Chico (30 minute drive) and back (after watching the Dark Knight), Lance, Jonathan, Desiree and I were to write two short stories. Our purpose? Merely to have fun. These are their stories (cue in music from Law and Order).

Jonathan's First

Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end. Ahahahahaha!!

Desiree's First

Once there was a maiden who was stuck in a tree. The maiden ate a thorn because it had polyjuice potion in it. The maiden then turned into a spiked-animal and died. The end.

Damien's First

The car rolled over the edge and fell twenty feet. It was the most disastrous thing anyone could have ever seen. The man driving simply whistled at the wreckage and shook his head, hands on his hips. "Boy," he said. "I sure am glad I wasn't in the car at the time. I only wished I remembered to put it in park.

Jonathan's Second

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in the forest of Dustyville. And in Dustyville there were only walnut trees. So the children picked walnuts for fun. One day, this little girl named Nutty found a most peculiar nut. This nut had no "wal" to it, nor did it feel like an ordinary walnut. She asked herself, "What could this be!?" So she went to her friend Waly and asked him, "What could this be?!" AS soon as Waly's eyes gazed upon this most peculiar of nuts, he screamed in horror like a newborn baby would when he had first seen his birthing bill and turned tail, dropping the nut, running as as he could to Chuck E Cheese's. By now Nutty was quite distressed. For she still did not know what the nut was. So she put it in water to clean it and as soon as the nut touched the water, a large hissing noise ensued. Nutty stood back aghast and watched as something amazing unfolded before her eyes. The nut was shifting shape and started getting larger and larger. The nut was in fact, not a real nut, but a Decepticon nut. (A Transformer in layman's terms). As soon as the nut took shape and Nutty realized what it was, Nutty too transformed, with arms like giant cannons. Both of them fully transformed into their combative stages, taking stances, ready to take part in their dance of death. Just then a loud clap from the sky sounded as if the earth was being split in two. And Jonathan Crane appeared between the two transformers. He stared at both of them--taking it all in-- and said with his powerful voice. "I will end this absurdly random story now." And he did. The end.

Lance's First

Ummm I don't know. How can I tell a story when I haven't thought about it? I need more time to think. And if I think, that requires time. And I have no time.

Desiree's Second.

Right. Umm. Umm. One day a boy was swinging with his playmate. Then they went up a poison tree and played with three dragons. Then they slid down a thorn bush into a dungeon. And then they fought each other and jumped inside of a book. And then they saw Harry Potter. And then Harry said "Avada Kadavra" and they all died.

Lance's Second.

Once upon a time there was a new Batman movie and Jonathan tried out for it. But they said "Your voice is too high! Do you have a brother?" And Jonathan said, "Yes. I do." And so they called Jonathan's brothers up because they heard of two with deep voices and they couldn't decide who was better. So they decided that there should be two Jokers. And so there were two Jokers. And the movie was a multi-million dollar success. But most of the people liked Lance more. The end.

Damien's Second

His guitar was making history. Like he did. But all the songs he wrote to his girl. It was because his girl that he made history. And as he made history with his guitar he paid bills with his guitar. Not by becoming famous with music. He sold his $6,000 vintage Gibson acoustic for a price of 50,000 dollars to a crazy fan. He lost his guitar, but he made history as the best guitar-seller in the world. He made money and paid the bills. By doing so he won his girl. True love prevailed between the two, but he secretly missed his guitar more than anything. His guitar made him happy. So he bought an Ibanez two-toned acoustic with a beautiful fretboard inlay. Life was good.