Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Thoughts on Liturgy

My old friend and writer Christine Ansorge has a very nice meditation on the liturgy (she's currently protestant) on her excellent blog Weedy Garden here (you may need to click "Show original post". Here's the direct link. It was posted Jan 1.

Lewis on Reading Old Books

One of my favorite short pieces by Lewis about the necessity of reading Old Books

LINK

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Great article from Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate, Priests for Life, and niece of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Our learning experiences in life shape our understanding and our methods of communicating with and relating to others in our world. As a post-abortive mother, who has spent over 20 years as an educator, with many of those years as a teacher, I find it natural to consider learning styles when seeking more effective ways to share the pro-life message. Learning styles are an integral part of working to share the “culture of life” in every community. Because I am an African-American woman, I am especially interested in reaching the people of my communities.

It has been said that African-Americans have a particular learning style that causes them to be global learners in that they want to see the big picture and not necessarily all the small details. They also tend to be better writers than speakers because they excel in non-verbal communication. In addition, they tend to use approximations frequently and focus better on a person rather than an inanimate object (Wilson, 2004). One of the characteristics of our African-American culture is an emphasis on visual learning. We are particularly impacted by visual imagery.

For many years, I have been an outspoken advocate for the unborn child, because in a culture of abortion, the child is like a slave. The new civil rights movement of our time is the pro-life movement, and as I seek to preserve the dream of my uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and of my father, Rev. A.D. King (Martin’s brother), I ask the question, “How can the dream survive if we murder the children?” I grew up seeing these two great men fight for the equal rights of their people.

But equality is not something you can see. What you can see are people. My uncle knew that the ugly reality of segregation had to be seen visually by the American public. He therefore organized events at which the eyes of the media could broadcast the way our people were treated when water hoses and dogs were unleashed on their peaceful marches. People responded to those images, not simply to abstract concepts of “segregation” and “equality.”

Likewise, people – and especially African Americans – respond to the disturbing images of aborted children. Sure, some people get angry when we show them. But everyone who fights injustice has to be ready to pay a price. My uncle did, and so did my Dad. So does everyone who has the courage to show the ugly reality of abortion. Don’t be afraid to do so. Many people are grateful. As a woman who has had two abortions, I am grateful that the truth is being shown, so that others can avoid this pain in the first place.

For more information visit www.priestsforlife.org

Saturday, January 13, 2007

The Seaside in Winter

I have been a part of this blog for over a year but have hesitated to post anything because I wanted my opening salvo to be something interesting, meaningful or in some other way special. I have finally encountered something that I can not help but want to pass on to others. I have recently finished reading Peter Kreeft's "The Sea Within - Waves and the Meaning of all Things". Please find a way to get you hands on this wonderful devotional reflection. It will reward and refresh your soul just as a day at the beach does your body.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

C.S. Lewis on Creation and Evolution

"For long centuries God perfected the animal form which was to become the vehicle of humanity and the image of Himself. He gave it hands whose thumb could be applied to each of the fingers, and jaws and teeth and throat capable of articulation, and a brain sufficiently complex to execute all the material motions whereby rational thought is incarnated. The creature may have existed for ages in this state before it became man: it may even have been clever enough to make things which modern archaeologist would accept as proof o fits humanity. But it was only an animal because all its physical and psychical processes were directed to purely material and natural ends. Then, in the fullness of time, God caused to descend upon this organism, both on its psychology and physiology, a new kind of consciousness which could say “I” and “me,” which could look upon itself as an object, which knew God, which could make judgements of truth, beauty, and goodness, and which was so far above time that it could perceive time flowing past. This new consciousness ruled an illuminated the whole organism, flooding every part of it with light, and was not, like ours, limited to a selection of the movements going on in one part of the organism, namely the brain. Man was then all consciousness."

C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain. Chapter 5 "The Fall of Man."

Works for me.