Thursday, October 18, 2012

Just say no. A dog can.

I am not an eloquent writer and there are great books and articles written about the topic that I am about to broach but I heard something yesterday and I wanted to share it.
Society today is TOTALLY WARPED   

I believe in the 10 commandments.

In order to regulate ANYTHING, you have to have something on which to base your beliefs.

If you have no belief system, then what propels a person to do good?

A person is then driven by what has been labeled a "person's primal instincts."

Sound animalistic?

So sin and other disturbing behaviors are marginalized, rationalized and promoted on the grounds that a person simply CANNOT be asked to control their impulses or behavior.

They have raging hormones, couldn't help themselves, on and on.

If this modern idea is right, than nobody should have to refrain from controlling any primal urge they have.

If you want it, you should steal it.  

Animals do.

If it bothers you, you should attack it and possibly kill it.

Animals do.

I am sick and tired of hearing that people, mainly young people, cannot be held accountable and asked to be responsible for their behaviors.

So, I was speaking to a priest yesterday he told a story that completely sums up why this modern idea that we are primal animals incapable of controlling ourselves is completely stupid and irrational.

There was a young lady about 15 who was in a terrible accident.  For the rest of her life she was paralyzed from the waist down.  Father went to see her before she passed away. She had a guide dog who helped her out.  They were talking about this dog and the training that it must go through in order to become a guide dog.  
After extensive training the dog and the soon-to-be new master had to go to a very busy mall and perform a long and strenuous test.  If the dog failed EVEN ONE THING it was sent back for 6 months of training.  
Of course for the woman this guide dog meant freedom and help so the dog failing this test would be very disappointing to say the least. 

One part of the test involved . . . . a hamburger.   

She had to buy a hamburger, take the bun off and set it right in front of the dog.  She could only say "no" one time and see what happened.  If the dog so much as sniffed the burger closely, he would fail the test. 

We all know DOGS LOVE MEAT.  They are designed to eat. The dog has only primal understanding.  It doesn't understand the importance of this task.  It is not gaining anything personally from denying itself the meat.  It must just blindly obey his master because he was told "no" in a kindly voice. 

So, she bought the burger, opened it up and laid it in front of the dog. 

The dog looked at her with longing eyes . . . . . . . . but didn't even sniff the burger.   

HE PASSED THE TEST.


If the dog did not have purpose and direction then naturally it would be running WILD in the wilderness ripping small animals apart.

We are supposed to be civilized people with higher reasoning and intellect.  The dog cannot completely grasp the depth and importance of his job but blindly obeys.

We take things on faith and reason.  We too should blindly obey and control our "primal instincts and passions".  This is what makes us civilized beings.  We have a brain and most importantly a soul.  We are created in the image and likeness of God by God Himself.  He is our loving Master.  

If we as a civilization do not have our laws and ethics governed by God Almighty, just what is it based on?

I am not a hypocrite either to expect this line of reasoning.

I understand that we are human and do fail and must go back for more training of the will on a daily basis.

It is because we have souls with a body that we are driven to seek out and perform the duty our Master has created us for in this life.  

If we have no Divine Master, then yes, we are reduced to packs of wild beasts. 

But if a DOG can be expected to control itself, then we should too.

I pray this day for us all to persevere and the great gift of God's mercy and guiding grace when we do fail.



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The faith of a little child

The children's birthdays are stacked up in the summer.


My sweet little turtle.
As you read previously, one person didn't get their present for months.

One got everything on time.


Another one got their present 2 weeks early because it was needed sooner.

WHAT?!?!??!  My birthday present early?

Yippeeee!!  My own suitcase!
The excitement ensues as the suitcase rolls all over the house.

Going forward.

Backing up:  Making beeping noises of course

Then silence for a brief moment.

Shouts of excitement come from around the corner!!

MOM!

MOM!!!!

GUESSSSS WHAT!!!

What?


My suitcase came with a toothbrush holder  . . . . . . 


and 2 holy water bottles!!!!!!

God bless you little fellow.

So, I would have left it at that but a sibling piped up and said, "No, it is for soap."

Looking a bit perplexed he leaves and comes back a moment later.



"There.  I have my toothbrush, soap and holy water because you NEVER know when you might need it!"


The simple faith of a child is refreshing and sweet.

No, you never know when you might need holy water.

HUMMMMMM . . . . . . . 





Maybe, that suitcase should have come with a gallon container. . . . . .

No, wait, 2 gallon containers.

One for soap.

One for holy water.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

What a difference a year makes!

I used my flash drive the other day.  

I clicked on a folder.  This is what I saw:


It was ironic because it was exactly one year before that we had been standing in this very spot almost to the minute when I saw it.

It has got me thinking about my grand adventure.  Today, I perused my pictures to see where I had been today one year ago.

Looking at amazing jelly fish.


Feeding a very fat and demanding squirrel.
Never mind that crunched in corner of my poor car.


And trying to take a silly picture of a "sea monster" coming out of the ocean to eat an unsuspecting hootiekin.

We had been stuck at Hearst Beach off of Hwy 1 due to a horrific accident.  Several people had died right in front of us and traffic was at a stand still.  The children had been squabbling in the back.  I briefly pulled over and scolded them and pulled back out onto the road.  The very cars that had past me were involved in the wreck.  It was that close.  The children did not grasp our own possible outcome and how blessed we had been but one year later, I still think about it.  

The passage of time becomes more bittersweet as you get older.  You want to suck up and make the most of every second you have.  It is impossible not to take an inventory of it all occasionally.  Questions like:  If it had been us in that accident, was there any of us that needed to go to confession?  How do you impart to these young people the importance of making the best decisions in every moment because you cannot return and erase them?  On and on.
"Lost wealth may be restored by industry, - the wreck of health regained by temperance, - forgotten knowledge restored by study,  - alienated friendship smoothed into forgetfulness, - even forfeited reputation won by penitence and virtue.  But who ever looked upon his vanished hours, - recalled his slighted years, - stamped them with wisdom, - or effaced from Heaven's record the fearful blot of wasted time?"
I decided that I would look back and see what we were doing in years past.

 2007
  At a horse show.  Even Oreo is much younger then and poor Goldie's mane and forelock had been trimmed by an over exuberant boy.

2008 
Playing in the Atlantic Ocean at St. Augustine, Florida


2009 
 I can't seem to find the pictures but we were hauling a horse to Houston, Texas and playing in the Gulf water at Galveston, TX.

2010 
 Right around the same time - We were watching our very first Oratory football game.



As we neared the end of the trip last year, the finality of it all hit me.

I realized that for one month we had been taking pictures and had only 2 or 3 with the whole clan.
People were tired.  Two were needing a restroom that was nowhere in sight.  One didn't have any shoes and had a severely infected knee by now.  

Nobody wanted to sit for it at all.  They were done.  I was not.

I insisted that we take one picture with everyone.  My camera propped up on my purse and here it is.


A snap shot in time.

It makes me think of what we will have done and where we will have gone in this next year.

One thing is for sure, however, the passage of time waits for no man.  We do not know what our tomorrows may bring.  We are accountable to Almighty God for each and every second of our lives.  Those that were well spent and that time that was wasted.  It is a most precious gift that God gives us.  

So as each moment passes and with each decision we make, we should ask ourselves, "Will this help to lead me into eternity, where time is eternal, to spend it in heaven or into eternal damnation?"  

None of us know the hour which we will be called to give an account for this time here on earth.

God bless you all.