From seraphimsigrist

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was,
'thank you,' that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

via aefenglommung

We were in Delaware this weekend, where we spent Saturday and Sunday at my in-law's place attending Punkin Chunkin. PK is an interesting phenomenon, to say the least. People build machines to launch pumpkins, and then have a contest to see which machine can throw them the farthest. There are so many entries that they are grouped into categories, including air cannons, trebuchets, and centrifugal force throwers. Some of these devices are enormous, there were a few air cannons that looked to be about the size of WWI era rail-guns. The contest is largely peripheral, as the contest is just an excuse to get together and drink beer in a corn field. A good time was had by all.

Tonight at dinner:

Cub: True or false- you still need to worry about your dog getting ticks over the winter.

Me: Ummmm... true.

Cub: Correct!

Me: I guess that makes sense, if all of the ticks don't die off in the winter. Where did you learn that?

Cub: The TV told me.

Bleah.

Naturally, I'm disappointed the Phillies lost. But I'm even more disappointed at the way this last game ended- a great season ended with a whimper, rather than a bang. I really have to shake my head at some of the decisions Charlie made, as well as some of the pitch calls.

However, all this maudlin whining aside, this was a really fun team to watch. After the mid-90s, I'll take a pennant two years in a row, and a win in the World Series.

As the Brooklyn Dodgers used to say:

"Wait 'till next year!"

OK, regardless of how the series turns out this has been an amazing post-season for the Phils. Two come from behind wins, and now this gem of a performance by Cliff Lee.




via The 700 Level

The Phillies begin their quest for a second World Series title tonight. If you are not a Philadelphian, New Yorker, or baseball fan, this bit of news will likely stir as much emotion as the statement "There is a chance of showers tonight". Nevertheless, folks around here are excited.

I won't give you my amateur analysis, as there are far better places to get that. It should be a good series, but I fear the good guys will come up short. The Yanks have an edge in offense, but a bigger one in starting and relief pitching. I agree with this guy's contention that if we at least split the first two games, we have a shot. If not, our chances are slim. But until the first pitch, there is hope. I'm predicting the Yankees in 6 games, but I hope I am wrong.

I apologize for the thin gruel of content of the journal of late, but to be honest, that's not likely to change. A family with two small to smallish kids and the demands of work have sapped much of my blogging enthusiasm. If you would like to defriend me as a result, I won't be insulted.

I hope you all are well on this fine October night. May the best team from Philadelphia win. :-)

This was going to be a post about how the Phillies just couldn't seem to solve the problem of Jonathan Broxton tonight, about a tough loss.

I really should have known better. :-D

The Phillies game tonight was a perfect example of why baseball is a great game. There's no playing defensively until time runs out, no taking a knee, etc. You want to win, you have got to get three outs.

Watching that one added several gray hairs to my head, but boy, was it exciting. Ben is really getting used to seeing the Phils win, which may set him up for disappointments later in life. :-)

Getting Cub to sit down and do his homework can be challenging at times, as his attention frequently wanders. He has been plugging away at his cursive homework for about a half hour now. When we went up to give him encourage him, he gave us the following statement of qualification about his effort thus far:

"It's not really my best work."

Suzanne's grandmother passed away last friday. We all knew it was coming, but it was still tough on everybody. She was home on hospice, but it became too difficult for my mother-in-law to take care of her as her conditioned worsened. The day before she died, she was admitted to the hospital to give her some hydration and IV pain medication. It seemed to help, as she was much more comfortable when she died. My mother in law was with her, so even though she wasn't at home, she was comfortable and loved.

Cub took it very hard, as did Suzanne. She was a very large part of both their lives, and it think Cub put it best when he said:

"Nothing will ever be the same."

It was difficult for him to see her during the viewing, but he was better following the funeral. He is down the shore with my in-laws this weekend, so hopefully he has a good time there following a tough week. The funeral was very nice- our pastor gave a very nice homily. He said that if we loved her, there were two things we should do:

1) Imitate her good qualities, so as to honor her life.

2) Never stop praying for her.

It was a welcome change from some funeral masses I have attended, where the priest eulogizes the deceased regardless of how well he knew the person. Better, in my opinion, to focus on Christ and His promise of eternal life, and leave the eulogy to everyone else.

Every one else is well. Ben is doing great, although he seems to love sleeping between 6-9 and then being up from around 1 AM to 4 AM. I haven't had much of a chance to update, but I think of you all often.

Suzanne's grandmother is not doing well. She developed breast cancer, which was diagnosed about six months ago. She is elderly, very frail, and suffering from dementia, so due to the advanced state of the disease when it was discovered, we elected not to treat the cancer aggressively. She is on hospice care right now, and is starting to deteriorate. She had a subdermal morphine pump placed today to better manage her pain. So far, it seems to be working well. Suzanne is taking it very hard- her grandmother lived with her family when she was growing up, so she's always been a big part of her life. I hope her final days are as free of pain as possible- at least she is at home, and surrounded by family.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help or sought your intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother;
to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Back in January or so, I joined the gym in an effort to exercise regularly, and hopefully stave off an early cardiac-related demise. I was pretty good about it for a few months, lost weight, felt better, yada yada. Then I went back on service in April, and it all went to hell. I managed to sneak in a few weekends here and there, but couldn't motivate myself enough to go regularly.

Fast forward to now, and I am off service again. I returned early this week to get back in the action. During the previous gym period I was doing some weight training. Nothing huge, but I had a good little rhythm going, doing pull ups, squats, deadlifts, some machine work, etc. When I returned this week, I picked up where I left off, using the same amount of weight I did when I stopped.

You really could have put me in the SNL skit "Bad Idea Jeans", featuring me saying:
"I'll just use the same weight I did before my 3 month hiatus. What could possibly go wrong?"

This morning, when I was doing squats, as I was ascending I felt a "pop" in my lower back, followed by excruciating pain. Not so bad that I couldn't walk, or drive myself home, but enough to make the day a real pain in the a-, er, back. Hopefully it'll feel a bit better tomorrow, but I spent the whole day kicking myself for my lapse in judgement.

Today is the feast day of St. Bonaventure, and the Liturgy of the Hours entry for today was taken from the Common of Pastors. I've always liked that particular common, in part due to the psalms involved, but also because of the Responsory:

This is a man who loved his brethren and ever prayed for them.

He spent himself in their service
-and ever prayed for them.

Not a bad epitaph, that. I hope someday, someone can honestly say the same of me.

Dream Variations

by Langston Hughes


To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me--
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

Probably apocryphal, but thought provoking nonetheless.

“What kind of government have you given us, Mr. Franklin?”

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, fathers-to-be, and spiritual fathers out there. I hope you had a good day.

Tonight's game has to go down in mikejj history as one one the worst I have experienced. To wit:

1) Ryan Madson blew yet another save, making me actually wonder how quickly Brad Lidge can return.

2) Both home runs came with two strikes against the batters.

3) It's not like it's Albert Freaking Pujols hitting these two HRs, it was a couple of scrubs with 6 home runs between them playing on a last place team.

Last year, a two run lead in the ninth inning would have been money in the bank for a win. This year, it's anybody's guess. The only reason the Phillies are still in first place is that the Mets are playing just as poorly. It may be in the nature of a pessimistic Philly Fan, but I am not optimistic about our chances. The starting pitching is worse, the bullpen is beat up, and the bench hitters are colder than day-old mackerel.