Shepherd of Souls 26 is now online.
Autumn Book Club
I am going to be participating in an Autumn Book club and a multi blog discussion about the book. I would encourage you to participate but time is running short.
The Book is: Olivier Clement’s Roots of Christian Mysticism and can be purchased from Amazon.com.
Huw has posted a schedule of readings on his blog. If you are going to participate please let me know in the comment section.
Motherhood & Politics
I have to start from the very beginning by saying I am not a woman and I have no children but the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as VP has brought this question to the fore. Why do we treat women in politics different than men?
Barack Obama has two daughters, George Bush had two daughters and by all accounts they were wild ones, Bill Clinton had a daughter and on and on and on. So why are we asking questions about Sarah Palin’s ability to do the job of VP while raising her family? Why is it that we were all over former Gov. Jane Swift of Massachusetts who gave birth whilst in office and some called her a bad mother for working.
As far as I know all of the people mentioned had a partner of some sort to help them out and as far as I know marriage is a partnership. Now not being married I could be wrong so please tell me. The VP’s only job is to have a pulse and break ties in the Senate unless the President gives her more to do. John Adams wrote that the one mistake they framers made was the position of Vice President.
I think time has come in this country that we begin to treat everyone the same no matter what you do at home. Why is it that we feel that the private lives of people running for office is any of our business. I am concerned about what they say as professionals and not what they do when they get home. We are in a mess in this country and if we start to hold our leaders to a higher standard we are going to be disappointed. We are all broken people and we all have done things in our pasts that we would rather not have dragged out into the open. And as I said yesterday, families are off limits. Ask Gov Palin how she plans to help Sen McCain if elected. Ask Barack Obama how he plans to solve the problems we have. Who gives a rats butt about what weather he does the dishes after supper or how he raises his children. Do you ask your plumber about his marriage or weather his children have children without being married?
If your decision to vote for someone is based on how they raise their children or what their children do I would rather you stay home on election day and leave the election to people who care about important issues.
Gov. Sarah Palin
Well news is out that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant that she intends to wed the father of the child. Good for her! We all make mistakes and we can learn from them. But imagine your mistakes being broadcast on international TV for the entire world to know!
Children of politicians should be off limits! The antics, not that this is an antic, of our children have no bearing on the kind of job she would do as VP. I will admit she is an amazing woman. Raising five kids, and one with down syndrome, and running the state of Alaska as well. Good for her.
So who cares about the daughter! The left came out right away and started flapping their gums about it and they should be ashamed of themselves. We are talking about a 17 year old girl here that is not a public figure. Back Off!
Gustav Part IV
Well it looks like much of Gustav has passed and now is more of a rain event then anything. From all reports it looks like there was not that much damage although there has been some reports. I read on one persons blog that a local station in Baton Rouge was using old footage of levee breaks. How despicable is that!
I posted yesterday that IOCC is soliciting funds as is the Red Cross and other service agencies. I have also been placed on alert as part of the Emergency Response Team to head south if needed, not sure about that yet. But with my recent health problems I am not sure about going right now.
The big task ahead is working with those folks who have gone through this twice now. This will trigger thoughts and memories from Katrina that many may have thought had passed. It will be important to deal with these issues as the come up.
On the up side, and you have no idea how hard this is for me to say, but it looks like the… my hands are starting to shake… the government… I feel faint… did a.. I can’t say it… good job! Okay now I need counseling! All kidding aside, if we learn from a disaster that is the best thing that could come out of it. Don’t make the same mistakes. The only problem now is next time many more people will not want to leave because this one was not so bad.
Keep praying it is not over yet!
IOCC Emergency Appeal: Hurricane Gustav Makes Landfall
September 1, 2008 The much-anticipated Hurricane Gustav arrived on the Louisiana coast today bringing with it 110 mile per hour winds and memories of the 2005 hurricane season. Officials called the storm a Category 2 (on a scale of 1 to 5) and said that it would severely try levee walls.
International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), which is monitoring closely the situation and is in contact with its partners on the ground, has alerted its Emergency Network to be ready to mobilize if the situation warrants.
IOCC is issuing an emergency appeal with cash funds going towards immediate clean up efforts. Orthodox faithful and parishes are encouraged to begin assembling hygiene kits and emergency clean up buckets to be shipped to the Gulf Coast (for information on assembling kits go to http://iocc.org/giftsofheart.aspx).
To help in providing emergency relief, call IOCC’s donation hotline toll-free at 1-877-803-4622, make a gift on-line at www.iocc.org, or mail a check or money order payable to “IOCC” and write “US Emergency Response” in the memo line to: IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225.
IOCC, founded in 1992 as the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), has implemented over $275 million in relief and development programs in 33 countries around the world.
1 September ~ St. Giles
An Abbot, said to have been born of illustrious Athenian parentage about the middle of the seventh century. Early in life he devoted himself exclusively to spiritual things, but, finding his noble birth and high repute for sanctity in his native land an obstacle to his perfection, he passed over to Gaul, where he established himself first in a wilderness near the mouth of the Rhone and later by the River Gard. But here again the fame of his sanctity drew multitudes to him, so he withdrew to a dense forest near Nîmes, where in the greatest solitude he spent many years, his sole companion being a hind. This last retreat was finally discovered by the king’s hunters, who had pursued the hind to its place of refuge. The king [who according to the legend was Wamba (or Flavius?), King of the Visigoths, but who must have been a Frank, since the Franks had expelled the Visigoths from the neighbourhood of Nîmes almost a century and a half earlier] conceived a high esteem for solitary, and would have heaped every honour upon him; but the humility of the saint was proof against all temptations. He consented, however, to receive thenceforth some disciples, and built a monastery in his valley, which he placed under the rule of St. Benedict. Here he died in the early part of the eighth century, with the highest repute for sanctity and miracles.
His cult spread rapidly far and wide throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, as is witnessed by the numberless churches and monasteries dedicated to him in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and the British Isles; by the numerous manuscripts in prose and verse commemorating his virtues and miracles; and especially by the vast concourse of pilgrims who from all Europe flocked to his shrine. In 1562 the relics of the saint were secretly transferred to Toulouse to save them from the hideous excesses of the Huguenots who were then ravaging France, and the pilgrimage in consequence declined. With the restoration of a great part of the relics to the church of St. Giles in 1862, and the discovery of his former tomb there in 1865, the pilgrimages have recommenced. Besides the city of St-Gilles, which sprang up around the abbey, nineteen other cities bear his name, St-Gilles, Toulouse, and a multitude of French cities, Antwerp, Bridges, and Tournai in Belgium, Cologne and Bamberg, in Germany, Prague and Gran in Austria-Hungary, Rome and Bologna in Italy, possess celebrated relics of St. Giles. In medieval art he is a frequent subject, being always depicted with his symbol, the hind. His feast is kept on 1 September. On this day there are also commemorated another St. Giles, an Italian hermit of the tenth century (Acta SS., XLI, 305), and a Blessed Giles, d. about 1203, a Cistercian abbot of Castaneda in the Diocese of Astorga, Spain (op. cit. XLI, 308).
From the Catholic Encyclopedia
Gustav Part III
It is 12pm on the east coast and CNN is reporting that the water is coming over the tops of the Industrial Canal. I have have heard from both priests I know in the area and all seems to be well with them. Keep those prayers coming.
A few days off
So here I am ensconced at my parent’s house, with Onchu, enjoying life. I have watched Nuns on the Run and one episode of Band of Brothers. Don’t why I just like Nuns on the Run it is a fun movie.
Tonight is an episode of Big Brother and other stuff. Tomorrow I plan, well nothing planned just relaxing and will be back in the office on Tuesday. I continue to track Gustav and keep praying.
Decision 2008
I promised in an earlier post that I would post links to the two Presidential Campaigns on the side bar, well there they are. I only linked to the Republican and the Democrat and not all of the other parties.