Dizzying Developments

Posted on by charliej373

dizzy

By Charlie Johnston

Late in the colorful baseball career of pitcher Dizzy Dean, a reporter remarked that he wasn’t throwing as hard as he did when he was younger. Dean indignantly responded that he was throwing as hard as he ever did; it just wasn’t getting there as fast.

In normal times, I’m pretty good at turning a vivid phrase. They just pop into my mind as I mentally run along on high, dry ground under sunny, mild skies. When I get a bad cold, suddenly my mind starts mucking through mud. I’m thinking as hard as ever, but the vivid phrases don’t pop. I hate boring prose. This last month, I have had as nasty a cold as ever I have. Finally, yesterday morning, I started to have an appetite again. Then in the afternoon, the clouds cleared off and the ground dried up in my head – and vivid phrases started popping again.

Not to worry…I didn’t have the Coronavirus. As I told my team, I had the Dos Equis virus – the most interesting virus in the world. I don’t always get a virus, but when I do…

*********

President Trump unveiled a detailed Middle East Peace Plan earlier this week that would give Palestinians their own home state, with twice their current territory and a capitol in East Jerusalem. Astonishingly, as of this writing, 23 nations have endorsed the plan, including Eqypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.

Of course, one of the entities that has rejected the plan out of hand is the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian leaders will accept no plan that does not wipe Israel off the map and expel all surviving Jews from the Middle East. Even so, this meticulous plan could very well be a game-changer. Arab nations have generally backed the Palestinians since the 60’s, when the failed Arab war of extinction against Israel left so many refugees in the area. They preferred to foment trouble for Israel while refusing repatriation to their own failed countrymen. That so many of the most prominent Arab nations have signed onto this plan sends a signal to the Palestinians that gamesmanship may be over. If they can’t count on Arab support, the Palestinians will have to get serious about peace or find themselves wiped off the Middle Eastern map.

Two other entities that have rejected the plan are Iran and…the Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land area because…Orange Man Bad, I suppose.

*********

Bishop Robert Barron, an auxiliary in Los Angeles and a popular Catholic apologist, wants to set up a system to police Catholic laymen on social media, establishing a mandatum to show which sites are approved by the Bishops. There are a host of serious problems with this. I will quickly address just three.

First, under canon law, every baptized Catholic has the right to publicly express his opinion on matters of the faith and current controversies. If he ventures into mystical or theological matters, his Bishop has the right – and sometimes the duty – to correct matters that are contrary to the faith or speculative in a manner that could endanger the faith of others. But a Catholic even has the right to publicly advocate for a dissident interpretation of faith and morals EXCEPT on those matters that are defined. No mandatum can change that. It would be unjust to honorable laymen.

Second, any time you give formal endorsement from a position of authority to a site, you end up sharing in the responsibility for what that site publishes. To give that sort of status to an unsupervised site is a formula for disaster, either intentional or unintentional. I know something about being under obedience. I am neither approved nor condemned by my Bishop – and do not submit anything to the Diocese in advance. I do not pretend to have Diocesan approval and the Diocese does not interfere in my work – except to comment afterward if I have strayed. It has sometimes done that publicly and at other times privately. Only I am responsible for what I write here – and part of that responsibility is to my Bishop, who has authority to make sure I follow the rules under point one above, but does not accept responsibility for mere opinions of mine, even if they are provocative and different than his, provided I respect the boundaries of his authority on faith and morals. Bishop Barron’s proposal would impose responsibility on Bishops for things they do not control. It would be unjust to honorable Bishops.

Third, in a time when few are satisfied with the hierarchy’s response (or lack thereof) to myriad abuse and financial scandals; when many Catholics doubt the hierarchy’s commitment to defending the Magisterium and the Deposit of Faith, setting up a formally approved roster of social media sites is liable to have the opposite effect of what Bishop Barron thinks it will. Everyone can easily determine what the formal position of various Church authorities are by checking their formal sites. Best leave it at that rather than further muddy the waters.

I know many people here take great comfort from the good work Bishop Barron has produced through his Word on Fire Ministries. I particularly am grateful for his orthodox shepherding of the Mundelein Seminary before he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. Yet I have some serious concerns on some of his pronouncements. First, there is his famous statement that we have a “reasonable hope” that all are saved in the end. He has spent much time trying to explain that, but on the above link to his site, he confirms that that is what he believes. Apokatastasis is the heresy that all men might be saved, denying the eternity of hell. Barron avoids outright heresy by saying that he does not insist that all men actually are saved, but only on the reasonable hope that all men might be. Jesus, on the other hand, insists that there is a hell, that it is eternal, and that it will be well populated. “Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” – Luke 13:24

With respect, when I have to choose between what Bishop Barron has to say on the subject or what Jesus Christ has to say, I will stick with Jesus every time.

Again, I appreciate the good and consoling work Bishop Barron does. I just pray that he adds docility to Scriptural and Magisterial teaching to his many virtues.

*********

I have been working on a strategy for this year’s elections. I believe the over-arching electoral desire for this cycle is a return to some semblance of normalcy. This is complicated by what I also believe is the electorate’s growing rejection of the screamers on the left (and the right) and its rejection of the uncertain trumpets on the right who are always suing for peace with activist ideologues who will only accept victory or destruction.

The biggest complication, though, has been the sudden GOP collapse in the suburbs. Three cycles showed that the collapse is real, however much GOP strategists want to dismiss it. I have thought that with the obvious over-reach on impeachment and Democratic refusal to do anything but attack Pres. Trump, along with fanatical extremism in Virginia on both abortion and gun rights after Democrats took legislative control, the left may well be squandering an opportunity to cement the suburbs into their camp. To avoid wishful thinking, though, I like to wait on hard data that supports my theories – especially in such a volatile and shifting time as this. I now have some hard data.

There was a special election in Texas House Dist. 28 last Tuesday (Jan 28, 2020). It is a suburban district just southwest of Houston. Personally, I had rated it an R+3 district (that is, Republicans have a three-point generic advantage). With the ongoing GOP collapse in the suburbs, this district seemed a perfect target for Democrats to show that their dreams of turning Texas blue are more than just fantasies. Houston suburbs have been the first and fastest to turn left, so this was the logical showplace for Democrats to show their stuff. They went all in. Beto O’Rourke made it his top priority, while Democratic Presidential contenders Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg all came in to endorse Democrat Eliz Markowitz AND funneled over a million dollars into this statehouse race. Republican newcomer Gary Gates won by 16 points, 58% to 42%, double the margin of the previous Republican incumbent.

In an object lesson on the corruption of polls as tools of political advocacy rather than honest snapshots of voter sentiment, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee released a poll two days before this blowout election showing that Markowitz and Gates were statistically tied.

I am confident that the shrieking extremism of the left has caused a lot of buyer’s remorse among suburban Republicans who went Democrat. It is a volatile situation, though, and traditional “safe” methods are not going to win the day. I now have the last piece I need for a proposed generic strategy that will win the day for Republican candidates throughout the country, avoiding the shoals and reefs to gain safe harbor. The Democrats have put themselves in position to suffer a transformative and comprehensive defeat if they don’t correct course. Republicans must navigate with a sure hand, though. I will publish this within a week or two.

*********

Earlier this month Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin shook up the entire Russian government. Most Western observers interpret this as a move to facilitate Putin holding onto power past 2024, when his current term expires. This may be part of his motive, but I have a contrary view.

When Putin took control, Russia was coming apart at the seams under former Pres. Boris Yeltsin. Job number one for Putin was to establish stability – to ensure that Russia would survive. In a nation under sway of ravenous wolves, the west criticized Putin because he was not a fluffy bunny. Had Yeltsin been succeeded by a fluffy bunny of a leader, that leader would have been deposed within a month and Russia’s collapse would have been epic.

Don’t get me wrong. Russia is a serious competitor with and sometime opponent of the United States. What a shock! Russian interests are not identical to American interests. I think the safest, most predictable way to conduct foreign policy is from the perspective of national interest – and diplomacy is best conducted by candidly understanding and acknowledging a foreign power’s legitimate interests (and what its leaders rationally believe those interests to be) and then finding ways to accentuate mutual interests while de-emphasizing and managing divergent interests.

I frankly think that Putin is the most gifted geo-political thinker in top leadership in the world right now. Nothing he has done has seemed irrational to me when examined in detail. Much of it has been spectacularly deft under deeply trying circumstances.

When analyzing these things, I like to posit various alternative explanations to myself to see which fits best. Putin IS a tough and often brutal man. Not what I would like for my national leader, but kind of a prerequisite for holding post-Soviet Russia together. During the Obama years, when widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa went viral, Russia was the nation that did more to defend those Christians than any other, including the U.S.

What if Putin genuinely loves Russia and is genuinely Christian? Well, being a shrewd man, he would first make sure that the nation could survive. Then, dealing with an unreliable America, he would have to manage the uneasy encounter with both China and Islam, potentially hostile forces right on his border. After having achieved stability and managed border rivalries, he would want to establish sufficient reform to give his fellow Russians and their posterity real hope and prosperity.

I have predicted often that, ultimately, alliance between America and Russia would be indispensable to establishing a new global stability. Right now, Russia is the most useful potential alliance I see for establishing a new balance of power. China is determined to become a hegemonic power. Israel, Japan, Hungary and Poland are noble allies, but lack the raw power to decisively tip the scales toward liberty. Western Europe is a shell, a paper tiger, incapable of defending its own, much less anyone else’s, interests. With Brexit, England has reclaimed its sovereignty. The fact is, though, that if ISIS were to seriously re-constitute itself, the safest place for it to do so would be in Western Europe, including England. Western Europe has already fecklessly facilitated a massive Jihadist invasion into its borders.

For good or ill, restoration of Western Civilization is dependent upon a vigorous alliance between the United States and Russia.

Of course, the satan attacks most violently what he most fears. It is notable to me that the two leaders treated with the most contempt these days are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. There is more here than meets the eye.

 

 

 

 

405 thoughts on “Dizzying Developments”

    4. Hi y’all just passed a church of Christ.., nice✝️close to Charleston somehow made me think of Charlie & y’all.. bad weather ahead yikes plz pray for nice young man,Collin, who served us in Columbus Ohio last night… good kid

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        1. Thanks so much my angelic Beckita.. def feel Gods hand en route and all of you at TNRS ASOH this is random, but I’ve been wondering what Colorado is like ??? Charlie??? Desmond??? Any fellow steppers???

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            1. I bet it is beautiful Beckita Always amazes me when I get away from lil oh Ohio and see Gods grandeur…imagine the universe or heaven or new earth new heaven 🤗 hard to believe Charlie walked all this but actually probably safer except for wear & tear on joints etc!!! must’ve been something pretty special!!! bing…first palm tree🌴Georgia on my mind 😂

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          2. I love the mountains, Linda. They are stark and beautiful. However, every time I get into the Midwest – flatlands with lots of cornfields and lots of woods – I feel a very pleasing homey nostalgia. Of course, when a very little boy and then on vacations in hilly Alabama, I loved to follow creeks coming down a small mountain to their source. The mountains of Colorado – and the rather sparse vegetation in very rocky soil, is a little alien to me, but I have come to love it.

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  2. Re the Palestinians working for any form of peace plan, the two parties in place, Hamas and the PLO, are motivated to maintain hostility, because that is their raison d’etre for holding power and leadership privileges. The proposed tunnel connecting Gaza to the W Bank must actually intensify Hamas’ motivation to reject this plan, because the PLO society on the W Bank is far better off than those in Gaza, so travel by those from Gaza to the W Bank would generate rebellion against Hamas.

    With Iran as a real enemy to surrounding Arab states, Israel has emerged as a defender in common. The Palestinian “cause” thus becomes an irritation instead of any asperational goal for these states. For example, Egypt’s agreement to the plan was made contingent on Israel maintaining itself on their border by Gaza as a buffer against subversives and terrorists. The net result is that Arab funding to Hamas and the PLO will wither, while Iran tries to help out, further alienating the Palestinians from the surrounding Arab states. With economic improvement in the W Bank, the appeal of terrorism ought to eventually wane, bu the Palestinians will need to stop inculcating hatred in their children to enable any future peace.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. @Jack Hiller: You say, “the Palestinians will need to stop inculcating hatred in their children to enable any future peace.” I agree. At the same time you say, “Hamas and the PLO, are motivated to maintain hostility, because that is their raison d’etre for holding power and leadership privileges.” I also agree but perhaps the even greater obstacle is the more fundamental cause of this raison d’etre and the need to inculcate hatred in their children: the Divinely Mandated world-wide hegemony of Islam.

      When I listened to some of the pieces involved in the Two-State Peace Plan, I was struck that this Divine Mandate of Allah and his prophet was not specifically acknowledged as one of the primary obstacles for peaceful truly ‘equal-dignity-type’ coexistence of Islam anywhere in history ever since Muhammad traveled to Medina and became a warlord himself. The plan’s noble requirement that the Jewish State be recognized by Palestine struck me to be as unattainable as requiring Catholics to deny the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I myself hope to die before I would do that and I have tried to teach my children to do the same.

      Of course with God, anything is possible and perhaps the plan will give rise to a level of peace that the area has not known for decades. And maybe even the impetus for reforming the hegemonic tenets of Islam. That would be a blessing.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. You have here identified a first principle that bars the possibility of peace that extends universally, not thus limited to the conflict over the existence of Israel. The current Pope, contrary to this principle, has declared all religions equal. For myself, I feel without reservation that the foundation of love in Christianity makes it profoundly special.

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        1. Jack, my research in the NDE literature has turned up many reports of a Being of Light. Some people who see this Being state unequivocally that it was Jesus. Others who have made public reports privately state that they believe the Being who met them was Jesus, but they didn’t want to say that publicly. These reports of Jesus are often made by Christians but in fact this appears to be (more) universal, with NDEers of all religions reporting that they saw Jesus.

          I have never come across reports from NDEers that the Being of Light they met was any other figure, such as Buddha or Muhammed. I would be interested to know whether my observation here, based on some decent degree of research I have made, is accurate within your own research, or if other religious figures in fact do show up in the reports. What say you?

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          1. Steve, Your review is consistent with my own. I have surely read over 5000 NDE accounts, plus hundreds more classified as OBEs induced by meditation or sudden visions without any trauma involved, and Jesus is sometimes met (sorry I had not counted, but Buddha and Muhammad never. Therefore, I just reviewed the 62 most recently archived NDE reports on NDERF at ( https://www.nderf.org/Experiences/1jean_k_nde_8759.html ) to develop a sample frequency estimate.

            As I started to work, nine categories of information appeared to be worth coding as represented or not.
            1. Agnostic, atheist, New Age, or nothing
            2. Christian affiliation
            3. Non Christian to include Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist
            4. Experience of a mystical light
            5. Experiencing God as a huge zone of light that enveloped the spirit
            6. Experiencing God as a being with personality
            7. Experiencing Jesus as a personality
            8. No experience of light or a deity, just an OBE
            9. A hellish experience.

            Unfortunately for “clean” scoring, these categories proved not to be mutually exclusive, as multiple elements were reported for the experience; for example, in one report there was a mystical light at first, then it developed into a huge zone and was experienced as God, and then Jesus was also experienced, so 4., 5., and 7. were checked.

            Results

            One unanticipated finding was a glaringly disproportion of NDEs for those who did not profess belief in God. According to a 2017 USA research estimate by Pew reported by The Atlantic ( https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/american-atheists-religious-european-christians/560936/ ) 63% definitely believe in God regardless of religious affiliation, leaving 37% who do not or are uncertain. A recent academic study ( https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/4/13/15258496/american-atheists-how-many ) estimated that 26% of Americans do not believe in God. So, it’s fair to set 37% as an estimate of the agnostic/atheist percentage. In this sample of 62 NDE reports, 56% were agnostic or atheist or not willing to commit to belief in God (category 1.). A test to estimate if 56% is statistically significantly different from 37% (using 26% would have produced a higher level of significance) yielded a Z value (2.6) which is significant for a reliable difference at a probability of .009, which is a stronger result than the .05 level generally used to decide if there were a reliable difference. Thus, it appears that NDEs are more frequent for those who did not already have belief in God, suggesting that they were getting a wake-up call for a life course correction.

            There were four Muslims in this sample. Two experienced only a mystical light, and the other two had an OBE without contact with God experienced. Muhammad was not experienced.

            There was one Buddhist and his experience was in category 5 of immersion in a huge zone of light that produced “incredible joy.” He did not see any image of Buddha, but decided it was apt to label this light as Buddha.

            Jesus was reported to have been experienced by 13 %, while God was experienced (from categories 5 and 6) by 29%, with two experiences as personal. There were two hellish experiences reported.

            One striking result was the dominance of category 4, the experience of mystical light in which they were immersed by 63% of the reports. I interpret this as support for the Tripartite Domain theory theorizing that the 2nd Domain of Heaven is a universal field of consciousness functioning as a medium for light, with all entities existing in this Domain manifesting as forms of light.

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            1. That’s quite interesting, Jack. Thanks for checking on this for us all.

              Just to be clear on one point, though. For the Buddhist who experienced the Light and Joy, I just want to confirm that your description meant to say that the interpretation that that was Buddha was not your conclusion but rather self-characterized by the Buddhist himself (herself?). If the latter, my hypothesis that only Jesus gets identified can stand because of inherent bias or of course, a filtering of the experience by the Buddhist’s own beliefs. If the interpretation was by someone else and based on a number of other factors reported to have been in the experience itself that did in fact point to the Light as being Buddha, then my hypothesis takes a big hit. Even one exception to my hypothesis kills it and allows for other religious figures to exist. I myself have not seen such evidence, but if it does exist and I just simply had not come across it, I will have to alter my own position quite a lot. Do you have further information about this particular person and experience?

              We have many miracles around the world reasonably connected to Jesus and other associated beings. I’m not aware of any miracle being associated with Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Zoroaster, or anyone else, nor any NDEs or other reports. Self-reporting vs reality in judging these reports is extremely hard to do of course. Did the Buddhist feel the Buddha with him in the Light as contemporaneous knowing of truth, or was that interpretation done by the Buddhist after the event in trying to make sense of it? So I would appreciate it if you would check the report out a little more and see if you can figure out whether this report is like those that report the knowingness of meeting Jesus that came while in the experience and in His presence, not afterward as interpretation. Charlie has warned us of the dangers of interpretation of such events after the fact of their occurrence. Interpreting this report too loosely could harm the hypothesis and its implications without due cause.

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              1. Steve,

                I specifically chose the most recent collection of NDERF reports to study, because over the past few years the questionnaire they include has substantially improved, thus minimizing need for inference by researchers.

                Regarding the identity of the deity perceived or experienced (it is more of an experience in the 2nd Domain than perception as we do with bodily sense-perception in the 3rd Domain of materiality, as I explain when addressing the solution for the qualia issue in my book), they specifically ask these questions (among many more):

                ” Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)?

                During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God?”

                Regarding their religion and belief system before their NDE, that has an explicit question:
                ” What was your religion prior to your experience? ”

                Regarding especially bright and/or unearthly light, they pose these questions explicitly:

                ” Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin.

                Did you see an unearthly light? ”

                The Buddhist was self-identified, and here is the question and his answer that I coded and referenced:
                ” Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice?
                I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin. I was met by a being who had a friendly and welcoming voice. It seemed to be familiar, but it didn’t come from a person of earthly origin. Buddha appeared to me. ”

                You can see from his vague answer that he did not have any clear picture of the Buddha or any other deity.

                Overall, because of the high quality of the extensive NDERF questionnaire, my scoring was easy , and thus I believe accurate (valid and reliable). NDERF is going to post this study report which I edited to include a request for further research, as follows:

                ” CONCLUSION
                This pilot study appears to warrant further research to increase the sample size and scope of investigation about the perceptions and implications for deities occurring in near death, spiritually transformative, and out of body experiences. “

                Liked by 4 people

              2. Steve, For further clarification, here is a set of Qs and answers that I also considered for the Buddhist:

                Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin.

                Did you see an unearthly light? Yes I saw a light at the end of a ‘tunnel’ and which did not originate from the terrestrial world.

                Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm. It was an infinite white space, having no beginning and no end. Everything was flooded with light.

                What emotions did you feel during the experience? I first felt anxious and unsure and then was suddenly filled with Happiness. Never before in my life I was as happy as that.

                Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

                Did you have a feeling of joy? Incredible joy

                Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

                Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe. I felt as if all secrets of the universe were opening up in front of me and that I could absorb all knowledge of the world.

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                2. As an adult I have had 5 OBE’s to my understanding, though I’m not sure if they had a spiritual connection (well, I suppose anything involving the soul is spiritual). 3 were in close succession and each was progressively briefer than the last. I’m still not entirely sure they weren’t imaginative, but they were experiences without comparison and had a smooth fluidity about them. I’m happy to share them.

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                  1. PD, I’m interested to hear about them, because I have had a number myself. They are quite clearly different from a normal dream (I always had mine while asleep). I was able to play around in some of mine, to the point where I have become absolutely certain that we are not our bodies, that we are separate and go on without them when our bodies die. That one realization has been enormously helpful to me.

                    Doug has persuaded me that our bodies may very well be an integral part of our long-term spiritual life, but my experiences with these OBEs informed me that my consciousness is not body-based. It is a mystery.

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                    1. This presentation by prof Bruce Greyson, UVA, MD, (a pioneer in NDE research starting with prof Ken Ring at UConn) on multiple lines of evidence for discarnate consciousness is very good ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aWM95RuMqU ). The fairly recent text (2016 ) The Self Does not Die, is also said to be very good (sponsored by IANDs) and I have a copy now in the mail to me from Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/Self-Does-Not-Die-Experiences/dp/0997560800/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PNM128S86YM19MGY20VP )

                      By the way, my pilot study on frequency for God, Jesus, and other religious figures in NDEs was posted on NDERF, and Kevin Williams is going to post it on his IAND’s sponsored NDE web site.

                      I have never had an OBE, despite trying, and as I described in my book, the best I get out of trying to meditate is good sleep.

                      Liked by 4 people

                    3. Well BD, I aint wishing that hard right now, as I have my wife of forty five years (Who’s counting), two Sons, one dog, and two birds to look after. But I’m approaching 82 now, so somethings gonna happen before too long. I trust it will not be too bad, because I have already been “saved” once.

                      Little war story on point. I have been reliably late all of my life, to Kindergarten, grade school classes, on up thru grad sch and Law sch. It’s who I am, just too busy doing nothing till it gets late. One day for my morning drive from my house near Reston, VA to my office in the Pentagon, I’m late again, and driving too fast for the country road, even w/o traffic after the commute hour, but the road is wet from morning rain. I approach a T too fast where I have to make a sharp left to climb a small hill onto a narrow two lane bridge. I take the left, but then have lost traction, and so the car is skidding to hit the right side guard rail in the middle of this bridge. I’m immediately concerned, because if a vehicle were approaching, I might bounce off of the rail into a head-on. Sure enough, I next see that another car is approaching, and I am bound to bounce into a head-on. However, just as I see I’m about to hit the railing, my car straightens out and so we pass each other without a scratch. Now, my car did not do that by itself, because I could feel it being grabbed and righted– there was no way without intervention that it did not hit the railing. I was yet then agnostic, and did not know what to think, so I just wondered a while, and forgot about it.

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                    5. OK, Steve. Here’s one that was pretty good. If you like it, I’ll share one that was pretty stunning.

                      The year was 2004 and I was in Salt Lake City attending the Utah College of Massage Therapy. During one afternoon class, we students partnered up to practice craniosacral therapy on each other. I always like to be the first to give the treatment so that I can relax when we switch. So when it was my turn, I lay on the table clothed and face-up and my classmate began treatment. It is a passive modality where the practitioner gently holds the head — there is little moving going on. Within 1 or 2 minutes of starting, I slipped into a dream state.

                      I felt I had traversed a great distance, although I saw very little. All these years later I cannot recall much detail but do remember having the sensation of floating. Because I was in a fairly deep dream-like state, I was unaware that I was aware of any of this until waking.

                      When I reached my “destination”, I was maybe 15 feet off the ground? I don’t know. But wherever I was, it was nighttime, quite distinctly. Calm weather, black sky. And I could see shadows of a couple people near a vehicle but really no detail because of the darkness. I heard these people speaking German, although I could not make out what they were saying. It sounded like mundane but thoughtful conversation in a style common to Germans — and my brain placed it outside of a nightclub (Binsfeld?) as that was a scenario I had personally experienced when stationed there in the Air Force.

                      Suddenly, abruptly, and quite violently, I felt as if I was jerked by a tether — an extremely long tether — and “I” slammed instantly back into my body which was lying on a massage table in a classroom in Salt Lake City. It felt like transitioning from free falling to landing on the ground. Whump! And I was immediately awake like I had just been slapped across the face

                      Dazed, my eyes opened and I found myself looking up at a ceiling. “Whaaaaat?…. Where. Am. I?” For the life of me, I had absolutely no idea where on the planet I was. I stared for a few moments at that tile ceiling with the fluorescent lights turned off, desperately trying to figure out my location — even what state in the U.S. I was in. I could feel someone holding my head. I looked at my classmate’s face upside down — it was familiar. Then I had to look around, and as I processed seeing my friends engaged in cranio with each other and seeing the row of massage tables, I got my bearing and recovered my senses. And I started to cry softly. Why? Because wherever I was and whatever just happened, I wanted more of it and it was abruptly taken away from me.

                      Having no idea what transpired, my classmate put her hands on my shoulders reassuringly and said smilingly, “You were out like a light!” I told her, “I just went on a trip far, far away.”

                      Turns out it was indeed the middle of the night in Germany when this occurred.

                      Does this experience sound like an OBE, Steve?

                      Liked by 1 person

                    6. Patrick, I’m sure you are familiar with the hypnogogic state associated with driving while sleepy or waking after a good sleep; it’s dreamlike and confusing. By contrast, during an OBE, the consciousness or spirit does not function from sense-perception, but instead by being a participant in its field of existence. When in the body, the eyes require light to function, whereas out of body information is much more readily accessible, not relying on physical energies and the body’s senses of those energies. The out of body state is characterized by extremely clear consciousness, and vivid perception (really experience as a participant embedded in what is).

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                    8. Beckita, I appreciate your attention to the nature of the indicators distinguishing an OBE. In my Ebook, I identified a dozen:
                      ” Knowledge acquired during an OBE, or from intense meditation, or from a dream in which the soul has detached to exist in the universal field of consciousness, exhibits definite features which may be applied to assess whether the knowledge acquired was transcendental or ordinary and mundane:
                      1 Time no longer has meaning, does not flow, and the past and present, even some future events, are available to see and experience;
                      2 Visits may be made to Earth locations distant from the body, or out to the cosmos (visits made to distant Earth locations may be checked later for accuracy of the knowledge acquired; visits made beyond the Earth in which previously unknown people are met, may be checked for accuracy about those people, such as by photograph and name).
                      3 Consciousness is much more acute than normally experienced;
                      4 Perception is radically enhanced, e.g., colors are brilliant, and have greater variety, likewise all of the other senses are enhanced.
                      5 Visual perception is 360 degrees, with an ability to focus down to atomic particles or up to the cosmos;
                      6 Everything seen appears to be made of light;
                      7 Movement by thinking to move is instantaneous, and thinking is radically speeded higher, as if also instantaneous with no time running;
                      8 All entities experienced exude consciousness, not just people and angels, but animals, plants, and even rocks and water;
                      9 The world experienced is multidimensional, more than space-time;
                      10 If “going” all the way thru the “tunnel” to the other side, once there it is recognized as an eternal home that was left to have an Earth life.
                      11 By existing in the universal field of consciousness, all knowledge is felt as available.
                      12 By existing in the universal field of consciousness, one feels they are part of God and feel His love for all.
                      ”
                      Keven Williams has now updated the IANDS NDE website to include review of my research findings and theoretical conclusions:
                      “The link to your article is in my Article Directory is located here:
                      https://www.near-death.com/science/articles.html
                      https://www.near-death.com/science/articles.html

                      And your article is located here:
                      https://www.near-death.com/science/articles/nde-of-space-time-and-consciousness.html
                      <https://www.near-death.com/science/articles/nde-of-space-time-and-consciousness.html "

                      Liked by 2 people

                    10. Patrick, I would not myself make any definite decision about the nature of your experience. However, based on my research, you might consider the common features I found to guide your own judgment.I think that any one of the 12 features listed is sufficient to distinguish between a dream-like experience and an OBE:

                      Knowledge acquired during an OBE, or from intense meditation, or from a dream in which the soul has detached to exist in the universal field of consciousness, exhibits definite features which may be applied to assess whether the knowledge acquired was transcendental or ordinary and mundane:
                      1 Time no longer has meaning, does not flow, and the past and present, even some future events, are available to see and experience;
                      2 Visits may be made to Earth locations distant from the body, or out to the cosmos (visits made to distant Earth locations may be checked later for accuracy of the knowledge acquired; visits made beyond the Earth in which previously unknown people are met, may be checked for accuracy about those people, such as by photograph and name).
                      3 Consciousness is much more acute than normally experienced;
                      4 Perception is radically enhanced, e.g., colors are brilliant, and have greater variety, likewise all of the other senses are enhanced.
                      5 Visual perception is 360 degrees, with an ability to focus down to atomic particles or up to the cosmos;
                      6 Everything seen appears to be made of light;
                      7 Movement by thinking to move is instantaneous, and thinking is radically speeded higher, as if also instantaneous with no time running;
                      8 All entities experienced exude consciousness, not just people and angels, but animals, plants, and even rocks and water;
                      9 The world experienced is multidimensional, more than space-time;
                      10 If “going” all the way thru the “tunnel” to the other side, once there it is recognized as an eternal home that was left to have an Earth life.
                      11 By existing in the universal field of consciousness, all knowledge is felt as available.
                      12 By existing in the universal field of consciousness, one feels they are part of God and feel His love for all.

                      I think that feature 3. is especially critical for assessing the character of the experience. As compared to dreams which are hazy and often erratic, the clarity and continuity of consciousness is hightened during an OBE over ordinary consciousness.

                      Now, my assessment is purely academic, because I have never experienced an OBE myself, and from what Steve wrote about some of his, I am content never to experience the nasties–although like Steve’s “funny” encounter, I like to think that I would also hit back, but in faith I could call on Jesus for backing me up.

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                    11. Thank you Jack. You have such a technical understanding of this subject, whereas I know virtually nothing beyond some pretty wild trips or visions or whatever’s.

                      Now numbers 4 and 5 struck me. I have one remarkable and profoundly precognitive vision that occurred the very moments the Space Shuttle Columbia was disintegrating over Texas, and I happened to be at a roughly 100-mile altitude over the Pacific and given eagle-eye vision, but I’ll save that gem for another day.

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                    12. Second reply. I didn’t know about this hypnagogic state, but looking it up I am familiar with that feeling. I’d have to say this was something quite different, not to say it was an OBE. The very odd thing was the thorough disorientation to place, something I rarely experience upon any type of awakening. Still, it had a dream like quality to it.

                      One of my other experiences was in response to a dream where I was in a stairwell of the WTC with others when a rumbling began, and I knew the building had begun its infamous collapse. This time, I shot out of my body and tent (I was homeless at the time) at a diagonal on an X-Y-Z axis, hovered about 4 or 5 stories in the air looking at my tiny tent. I could distinctly see the morning light hitting it and the nearby motel, I could see grass and adjacent trailers. Then when I realized I was in the air at a height unsupported and vulnerable to falling, I shot back into myself in the tent and snapped awake, as I perceived it.

                      Well, if not OBEs, I’ve got one hell of an imagination!

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                    13. Patrick, Your second example reads as an NDE, because, if I understood, you consciousness was keen, as was tour perception of the scene and your movement flowed, and these are all hallmark features of the OBE. By contrast, dream states are hazy for consciousness and perception, and activity is erratic, not flowing.

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                    14. This is all so fascinating, Jack! That World Trade Center incident felt like a survival response, self-preservation. I was catapulted out of the doomed stairwell instantly, but then I found myself in another dangerous predicament hanging up in the air, which was equally frightening, so then I involuntarily shot back to my body lying on the hard Colorado soil in my tent: I yo-yo’ed!

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                    15. PD, that is quite interesting. I have seen many reports of being strongly drawn back to one’s body like that. It does indeed appear that you went somewhere else. Most reports of OBEs by living people (meaning, not NDEs) take place during sleep or when in a particularly relaxed state like yours.

                      Mine have taken place during sleep. I’m deeply asleep and unaware, when (most times) I become aware that my body is filled with a deep and somewhat discordant vibration and I’m aware that I am fully conscious, in my body, and that my body is still deeply asleep. Other times have no vibration, I’m simply fully awake inside my still-sleeping body.

                      In one of my last OBE’s, I became aware in my bedroom. As usual, though my body was still asleep with my eyelids closed, I was able to see around the darkened room and see all but small details. I decided to get out of my body, so I ‘rolled’ out and stood up next to my bed. I took a couple of steps to my nearest bedroom window. I knew as spirit that I should be able to put my head through the window, so I did. As my head and upper body moved through the glass pane, I felt it as a kind of surface tension on water. Then I was outside and able to look around. I was on the second floor, and I found I could look down on the sidewalk below my apartment and look along it to see if anyone was out walking. Since it was 3 am, the sidewalk was empty of people. And then I was back in my body as it awoke.

                      That was the OBE where I had the most control. Normally, emotion takes over and anything could happen to end the experience. My first couple of experiences were extraordinarily joyful and even ecstatic. Then I had three very scary experiences, the first of which was being tempted by a succubus, the next being attacked by a wind that wanted to blow my soul out of my body so bad people could possess my body (very scary), and a third one which was more like a fantasy OBE where I was directly attacked by the satan. OBEs are fun and rewarding but can be dangerous – If you find yourself in one, it’s always a good idea to ask for help and protection from those who love you. However, even the one where I was attacked by the satan was (eventually!) rewarding because once one sees the satan directly, it is impossible not to believe that God also exists.

                      The funniest one for me was when I was sleeping in my bedroom on the Cape. I already knew there was a little spirit critter living in my room and it was angry at me for invading its space. One night it decided to try to scare me out of its space. I was sleeping on my back with a few layers of sheets and blankets over me. I “awoke” inside my sleeping body and became fully aware of where I was. I was drawn to movement under the covers near my left foot, which scared me quite a bit. I watched as the disturbance under the sheets made its way up to where the sheets ended just below my chin. By this time I was both very frightened and also absolutely furious that this thing would try this on me. Suddenly, it lifted up the covers by my chin so I could see it and *screamed* at me to terrify me. I was totally fed up by this time, so in the spirit world I *screamed* right back into its face. It was so surprised that its eyes went very wide and its jaw dropped open, and then it disappeared poof. My body woke up at that point and I started to laugh. I never saw the thing again. Oh, by the way, it actually did look like a squirrel. 😀

                      PD, I would bet that after you digested your experience (and others, too) your perceptions about bodies and spirits were altered pretty strongly. For me, it’s impossible now to believe that all we have is the physical world and that all we are is our physical body.

                      Would you say your perceptions of spirit and body changed after your experiences? In some ways that is really the most important outcome, that our perceptions change in a positive manner as a result.

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                    16. PD, Jack’s above description of OBEs is exact and exacting. I said in my post below yours: “PD, that is quite interesting. I have seen many reports of being strongly drawn back to one’s body like that. It does indeed appear that you went somewhere else. Most reports of OBEs by living people (meaning, not NDEs) take place during sleep or when in a particularly relaxed state like yours.”

                      I believe, given the description of your awareness during the experience, the strong draw back to your body, and the surrounding therapy and your willingness to relax for it, that your experience *was* an OBE. I don’t know if Jack would agree, but aspects of your description are consistent with aspects of my own such experiences and with other people’s OBE experiences.

                      If you are fully conscious as in your normal life and elsewhere in your location, and have such a profound drawing back experience, I would say that your consciousness was indeed out of your body during that experience.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    17. Cool story about the critter! You know, each one of my experiences was unique from the others, but all had a common sensation of physical separation.

                      One experience I had in 1988 did involve a mild green hallucinogen, where I was lying supine, relaxed but awake. First, my hands felt like they were on backwards, then my feet detached, then my legs, slowly rising into the air, then my torso. I had the feeling my body from my neck to my feet was inclined 70 degrees with my feet pointing at the ceiling.

                      But there was one part of my body would not let go: my head. My physical head and my non-physical head remained completely attached, stuck together. I remember gently trying to encourage my head to let go. I felt certain that I would’ve then floated up to the ceiling like a balloon filled with helium, but no matter how carefully I coaxed it, my head stayed put. I felt contorted as a result like my chin was on my chest! I tried to reproduce this affect the next evening without the assistance of the hallucinogen, and this time I got everything up to my neck to let go, but it only last a few moments and my body settled back down into itself. I tried again another time and only my legs rose into the air. After that, the best I could do was get into a relaxed state and feel my hands on backwards. 🤗

                      Cool stuff!

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                    18. Steve, to your question: “Would you say your perceptions of spirit and body changed after your experiences?”

                      Since childhood, I have had some sense about the mysterious relationship between body and spirit and time. The set of three OBE experiences (only 1 of that set have I mentioned with the WTC vision) coincided with a whole host of other inexplicable phenomena that coincided with new personal spiritual growth. It was a period of intense physical suffering which prompted a closer walk with Jesus, the beginning of my return to the faith. These OBE occurrences were more a notable complement to the recent spiritual changes that were underway.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    20. It sounds like it could certainly fit in that category, although I’m not completely sure what Illumination of Conscience is. It showed me the possibility of this reality (or the reality of what had been a possibility) of our existence as spiritual creatures, of this ability to have a consciousness that can separate from the physical. But I did not derive any personal moral insight from it directly.

                      Although Doug, I have a knack for misunderstanding what you are saying sometimes through no fault of your own. Did I answer your question?

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                    21. Patrick, I guess I can be very laconic in my response some times.  Sometimes it is my laziness and sometimes I intentionally am this way so folks ask, “what does he mean?”.  Best to hold back and respond if one truly wants to understand.  Since you asked……  🙂   To me it means when God enlightens our interior to see ourselves for who we really are and understand we are sinners in need of repentance and change, but at the same time, glimps the unfathomable love and mercy of God.  In a sense, we see ourselves as God sees us.  We then have to make a choice.  Do we want to change and serve God or continue in our errant ways?  I think we all go through this at varying times of our lives and at varying intensity.  However, many a saint and recent visionaries talk about a particular event that will occur where the whole world will collectively experience a divine illumination of conscience prior to a series of chastisements.  At that point, we will be given the opportunity to choose without coercion.  I understand it to be a great divine grace and kind of a last chance opportunity as God wants to save us.  Here is a good link from a nun who I think describes it in proper context.  Lambzie shared the link with me. (edit, link deleted) —- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    22. I’m generally familiar with the term translated from the Garabandal visionaries’ prophecies. I believe this illumination would be a most useful experience in the spiritual journey that would propel our faith to new heights. Should it come to pass, I’m looking forward to the insight it will bring AND I’m expecting to be deeply mortified by what I will be shown.

                      So, I’d say “no” then to your question. My little launch into the air and back was simply a brief, wild ride that suggested that something about human nature is other than physical. (I’m just interpreting here, of course, so it could also have been purely imaginative – I just don’t know).

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                    23. On some of the tv programs that cover paranormal topics, they have playing interesting EVPs and showing videos of objects moving, and even ghostly images, such as at cemeteries (Gettysburg is a popular location). Not being an on site witness to events when we now have computer technologies that can fake any effects, such as for UFOs, we cannot be certain about the truth of any specific recording. However, in principle, given the reality of a world beyond are normal sense perception capability, such are possible.

                      I expect that dreaming and meditation may achieve contact with the spirit world, but memory about such experience may also be blocked as not conducive to our life mission. After all, if God wanted us to communicate with the spiritual world as an ordinary feature of life, our mortal being would have been designed with that functionality– but obviously that was not God’s design. We likely do get glimpses, and these may be intentional instead of random.

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                    24. Well Patrick, if it inspired you to live your faith, then it sounds like God allowed it for what you specifically needed at the time.  So in a sense, I see that as an illumination of conscience.  So it’s good.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    26. Sorry, Doug, I had to delete the link. I know this good woman, now in a temporary lay state, means well with what she shares and I absolutely know you mean well in sharing it. I listened into 37 minutes of this presentation and appreciate the various prophecies she uses to make the point that the Illumination of Conscience has been foretold by many saints and blesseds. A major error, however, is Mary Kathleen’s statement that the prophecies she cites are all Church approved, yet, when a saint is canonized, Church approval of all that holy one’s statements in life are *not* Church approved. This is a mistaken assumption. She also throws in the 3 Days of Darkness as part of the Illumination which may or may not occur at that time – and there’s vehement disagreement about this point. Most of all, it was when she began speaking to the appearance of the Antichrist that I recalled Desmond Birch’s piece, The Middle Coming, in which he clarifies that this *cannot* be the time when the Antichrist will appear. So, after the 37 minutes, I decided to delete the link lest we start going down rabbit holes.

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                    27. Oh man.  I’ve been snubbed.  Choke, choke, cough, cough.  Sigh…….   ok.  I’ll get over it…….Seriously,  I understand.  Although  I did not think she presented necessarily as fact more so as she posited some good reasons about the illumination.  It’s the 1st 10 minutes(ish) that I thought made a lot of sense. Although I also did not agree with everything, I thought she made some good points and that she did try and balance her statements.  Ok.  You have the last word.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    28. Thanks, Doug. I agree that she did make some great points. She really did. Still, the things she was off on were significant.

                      One bottom line: if God does deem that an Illumination of Conscience is an intervention which will bring about good… and it’s no secret around here that I think there will be a discrete event yet to come and I’ve often said I see it as, most likely, His last call for the hardest of hearts, although it will come to all and purify us to enter into the fullness of the Triumph of Our Lady’s Heart (similar to being purified before entering heaven), then Blessed be God. Still, He Alone has the full Plan in the dynamism of how He’s working with us as He honors each one’s free will. If He is introducing something even more effective to reach out and save as many souls as possible, then Blessed be God. No doubt, He’s been reaching out to us in so many ways throughout time to reclaim us when we stray.

                      Another bottom line for me: Why wait until an Illumination of Conscience in the future? Why not ask Holy Spirit to begin revealing *now* what needs to be corrected? Fr. Ripperger once tossed out a great challenge for building a relationship with one’s guardian angel. He suggested asking our guardian angels to somehow reveal to us an area of spiritual growth that would be good to recognize and work on.

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                    29. By the way, I got Desmond’s book this past week, “Trials, Tribulation & Triumph” and started reading it.  So far, very well done.  Good use of logic and reason.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    31. It does shine through and snail pace is accurate.  It will be a while before I get through 700 pages.  I am underlying some key points.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    33. For everyone on this thread, I would like to summarize my take on this stuff.

                      The main point I want to make is that we should not confuse an OBE with an NDE. A Near-Death Experience is what Jack described in his multi-point list. NDEs *include* the OBE effect but are far greater than a “Strict” OBE. In other words, NDEs include OBE effects but OBEs are not necessarily NDEs. Also, in my research it seems to me that NDEs generally should be restricted in definition to other-worldly experiences that are triggered by physical crisis of some kind and involve features related to mortality and religious matters. Strict OBEs are not like NDEs, and in my experience and research, “Expanded” OBEs do not particularly resemble NDEs either, if at all.

                      My experiences (and I believe PD’s as well) were mostly “strict OBEs” and contain few if any of the points made by Jack in his 12-point list. Strict OBEs can be precognitive (as PD describes and as I appear to have viewed the future 300 years from now) or other-locational, but in my case most of my experiences involve *only* my currently available sense of awareness – I know who I am, that I am fully awake and aware while my body is asleep, that I have full free will choice and the ability to make reasoned choices and take voluntary actions. I do sometimes have access to unusual knowledge but it is restricted to the experience’s needs, not generally expansive as I would if it were an NDE. They are surprisingly normal in some ways and generally deal with our world as we know it but from a very different and much less restricted perspective.

                      I have not spoken much of several ecstatic experiences I have had (call them “Expanded OBEs”) which again are not NDEs (driven by physical crisis) but where I did have access to vastly expanded awareness. Those experiences were wonderfully awesome, but in no way would I compare their features to the list Jack has set forth here.

                      In thinking over these distinctions I’m struck with the idea that we are dealing with the two-spirit phenomenon, that there is a soul and a spirit involved. OBEs seem to be associated with the lower spiritual awareness that is associated with the body during life, and they generally involve a less restricted experience of our normal world (even the Expanded OBEs I have had relate in some fashion to the Universe, not Heaven or Hell). If so, then NDEs would involve the deeper spirit of the person that includes the lower awareness (nothing is lost) and that continues on during and after death. If so, then NDEs would almost have to be substantively different in features and feel from OBEs, which we are finding here (at least I am). I’m speculating on this, of course, and I’m not sure of the correct terminology. Nor do I want to limit OBEs as always separate from NDE-type experiences. In my case, though, the distinction is worth making.

                      I’m hoping I’m getting my points across here. 🙂

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                    34. Steve, Your points are both clearly stated, and I think accurate for distinguishing between OBEs that are not induced by extreme trauma from those OBEs caused by trauma.

                      The NDE, because of the associated trauma for the individual, family and friends, appears to have deep spiritual significance. However, for relatively “casual” OBEs, there is no such reliable cause.

                      As I mentioned to Patrick, any one of the 12 features listed could signal an OBE to be distinct from a dream or hallucination. I do think that the key feature is a clear and hightened sense of consciousness (3.), which contrasts with the fuzziness and erratic nature of dreams and hallucinations. Basically, I expect that you would “know” you had an OBE, whereas you would wonder about the character and significance of a brain-based dream or hallucination. A true OBE would place the spirit in contact with the field of universal consciousness, although once back in the body the memory of that experience might be clipped.

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                    35. Jack, you make a couple excellent points. First, I agree that NDEs are of great personal spiritual significance. They change the lives of those who experience them and in many cases are really more like or directly are illuminations of conscience. The OBE framework is really not particularly important.

                      OBEs are more like extensions of our supposedly “real” physical plane lives, more like adventures in an expanded universe. Doug was asking if OBEs are like illuminations of conscience, and I would give a nearly definite “No”. They *can* have spiritual significance, but that is mainly from the trappings or events of the OBE indicating that there is more to life than the merely physical. That can show up in many ways, of course, from very mundane to quite detailed or ecstatic, but overall, I would have to say Strict and Expanded OBEs differ fundamentally from NDEs in this manner, that they are more outwardly focused without the kind of inwardly focused illuminations that NDE’ers experience. In NDEs it’s more about the lessons or the illumination rather than the adventure, while in OBEs, it’s more about the adventure and not necessarily about lessons or illuminations. Of course, there is a very wide range to the NDE experience, and some are much more akin to Expanded OBEs, but still, they are triggered differently and have a more personal, inward effect.

                      A last point where I disagree is on one item you mention. You say that the memory of an OBE might be clipped, but that has not been my experience. In any intense experience in our “real” lives, we may have memories where parts are incorrect or that fade over time, but they are not “clipped” due to a change of consciousness of the types we’re discussing here. My memories from my OBEs are no different. NDE’ers do say that some of their experiences are so different, so foreign to our “real” lives, so complex that they cannot be brought whole back to “real” life even in their own heads. My OBEs were never like that. I remember them as well as I remember any of my mundane memories and sometimes better than most when they are vivid or unusual. My brain handles my OBE memories as well as my “real” life memories in the same way. I don’t see or experience the two types of memories as differing in any way. Note that the Extended OBEs, the mystical and ecstatic ones, can involve experiences that anyone would have difficulty describing to someone else in any adequate way, but the memories of experiences like that are not clipped in my head.

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                    36. Steve, You identified one of the key differences between an OBE triggered during the trauma that induces an NDE, and an OBE not associated with any trauma. You wrote, ” In NDEs it’s more about the lessons or the illumination rather than the adventure, while in OBEs, it’s more about the adventure and not necessarily about lessons or illuminations. ” Let me extend that important insight to point out that NDE “life reviews” are “common” (I do not have at the ready a statistic for the proportion of NDEs that included a life review), but in the NDERF site for OBEs not keyed to an NDE ( https://www.oberf.org/new_stories.html ) I have never read any accounts that included a life review.

                      Referring to my mention that the OBE “may” be subjected to memory clipping, two points. First, I included the waffle of “may” on that mention. Second, the reason I did that was that folks having the NDE sometimes report that they acquired “privileged” knowledge that they were told they would be made to forget when restored to life, so, I have to guess that if a person tapped into such privileged knowledge during an OBE, it would be clipped from their memory, whether or not they were informed that it would be clipped.

                      Just saw that someone gave my Ebook a 5 star rating–I can live with that.

                      Liked by 1 person

                3. Jack, are you referring to your book, “Space, Time, and Consciousness”, or have you authored another book? Your perspective opened my eyes to the awesomeness of all three elements/concepts…. thanks! Bill

                  Liked by 2 people

                  1. billbad42, The paperback Journal edition of my research ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1698062621/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=quainc0f-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1698062621&linkId=dc55a74bbc282a0acf4b1ca61363199b ) had that title (Space, Time, and Consciousness).

                    The updated version I posted as an Ebook ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081T7D7LQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jack+Hiller&qid=1574353884&s=books&sr=1-1 ) was titled, “Near Death Experience of Space, Time, and Consciousness.”

                    If you have any questions about my conclusions, just ask and I’ll do my best to answer.

                    Liked by 2 people

                4. Hi again Jack. This thread is getting stretched thin by comments. Have to scroll high up to find a reply button. I’ve opened the links you gave so I can read more about this fascinating topic and one of your books is now in my Amazon cart.

                  Since around 1978 (age 10), my paranormal preoccupation was with EVPs (electronic voice phenomena for those who may not know). A Buffalo DJ named Tom Bauerle had a late night program on GR55 AM radio called “Hourly with Bauerle”. Once every few months, he would go to haunted locations around Western New York like houses or old military forts bringing along analog recording equipment. He would stay overnight at various sites making hours of seemingly mundane records. Then on the radio he’d tell us stories of what happened and play for us the small EVP’s he had captured. As a young boy I found this incredibly fascinating. One of the wilder moments (for me) came when, after he played an EVP, a lady called in right away and said that when the host played that particular sound bite, her dog began barking frantically at the radio! Wow, did that impress me!

                  Years later, I also followed Art Bell for many years, too, with his “Coast to Coast Am” program, which I affectionately called “Kook Radio.” Thanks to Art, I heard many more, better recorded EVPs with even more fascinating stories from the researchers. I know we cannot know if these voices are from good or evil beings, but this EVP stuff instructed me long ago that there is more to life than meets the eye…or ear.

                  It was this interest in the paranormal that has helped push along my faith: EVPs, exorcisms (“Hostage to the Devil” by Fr. Martin), the existence of the Incorruptibles starting with St Bernadette, and Marian apparitions starting with Zeitoun. And now the scientific analyses of the Shoud and the Tilma, plus Fr Spitzer’s work in NDEs, have helped solidify my faith. Science and faith, faith and reason, are tightly connected!

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      2. III, you’ve focused on a serious issue. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is addressing this issue directly. From what I can tell, this tenet of Islam can be interpreted as saying that it is incumbent on all muslims to bring Islam to everyone in the world but that that tenet does *not* require that everyone in the world be *converted*. MbS is saying that because of the last several decades of attacks, media efforts, and the movement of Muslims to every country in the world, that the requirement of this tenet has been already fulfilled. Therefore, muslims are allowed to stand down.

        Now if this were anyone else, it would gain no traction. However, he is the government leader who has (or will have) enough power of rule in Saudi Arabia to work on persuading the religious traditionalists who gained power in the early Saudi Arabia and who have a significant degree of control over the interpretation of Islam in the Sunni world to re-interpret their current teachings on this subject and give muslims all over the world the opportunity to rest from their labors.

        I do *not* know the details of this and whether he has been able to continue to work on this project of his, but I will say that I think it could actually help blunt the violence. Support for the fanatics would drop significantly in terms of contributed money at the least. Even many of the fanatics would have the opportunity to save face or simply accept the new interpretation and go home quietly.

        Let us hope and pray that he is successful.

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        1. I wish I could agree with you STEVEBC but sadly I cannot. I have studied Islam since 1962 and what has happened in their world and history. Wishful thinking will not work. I believe the wisdom that when the world stands up against Moslem advances and aggression in its many forms, it will collapse. It will never evolve. jas

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        2. JAS, before hearing about the efforts of MbS, I was completely in agreement with you. I don’t particularly believe that he will be successful, but it is the first approach I’ve seen that might have an effect. The degree of effectiveness could be anywhere from 0% to 100%, only time will tell. However, any good effect is worth pursuing in this way, and I hope and pray it will save at least some. I certainly don’t want to cut myself off from supporting his attempt, since as far as I can tell, there is no downside and possibly significant upside. Who doesn’t like that kind of odds?

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          1. STEVEBC I based my position on everything I have ever read (I keep a lot in my mind) and that includes prophesies and revelations. It also includes (if memory serves me, not being 100% sure so I didn’t quote the source) a much earlier statement by Charlie to the effect of the Moslem collapse when given real opposition. The Moslem purpose to convert the whole world through force has never been abandoned except by a few less than fully committed. They have been the most dedicated and patient people in dealing with their loss of power with the stopping and decline of the Turkish caliphate. They have been biding their time and slowly rebuilding power when able. Their current position is steadily building in power with many predicting their take over of Europe if trends continue. Reminds me of the ancient and persistent Jewish self promise, “Next year in Jerusalem” It never ends and Islam will not collapse until the Triumph period ending. I don’t know the details of your reference but have no reason to put any credence in it. I do not believe the Saudi you quoted has any real or powerful influence. Islam has a diabolical power all its own. I am reminded of the many conversions of Moslems by Jesus appearing to them. God has his own plan. jas

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            1. I now have some time to add a little more. The Sunni group of Moslems and their opponent group disagree on significant fundamentals but they both share the basic aim of conquering the world for Allah. Islam does not have any central authority and only very influential Mullahs hold any real sway over their own group. Any appeal is to the Koran and its interpretation. The Saudi crown prince has no real religious power. The Iran religious leaders also hold political power and can enforce their will on both religious and governmental matters, but as you can see, the people have their own loyalties and are beginning to rebel. Things are much too complicated for a Saudi crown prince to have a wide spread effect on the entire Moslem world. jas

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              1. In talking to my son about our exchange of comments on Islam STEVEBC, it occurred to me that the stated efforts of the Saudi crown prince could perhaps be a ploy to placate us and assure us not to be defensive of the incursion of moslems throughout the world especially in Europe and the USA so as not to prepare a defense until it was too late. It makes no sense to me that the Koran could reasonably be reinterpreted to mean it was only necessary for there to be moslems throughout the world when the Koran clearly and at length spells out how infidels are to be subjugated and treated throughout the world.. How we think or accept this would have no effect whatsoever on changing Islam from a very aggressive to a peaceful religion. The Koran clearly spells out how peacefully moslems are to treat each other but how to treat infidels (those who refuse to submit to Islam) are another thing entirely Hoping that Islam will change is just whistling into the wind I’m sad to say. Having no entry zones even for police in London and other cities deeply disturbs me. jas

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                1. Well, JAS (and Islam is Islam), I’m kind of shrugging my shoulders here because for the vast amount of points being made here, I absolutely do not disagree with you. I simply was pointing out that of the various things going on that will eventually tame and (I hope) extinguish Islam (such as Jesus and Mary appearing to muslims, missionaries bringing the Gospel to them, their own desire to leave Islam in some cases, and the naturally brittle inner structure of a totalitarian cult), one such possibility that was worth watching was the Crown Prince’s efforts to reform Islam.

                  I do disagree with you on two points.

                  First, to say that the Saudi crown prince is powerless to ease issues with muslims misses the long history of the interdependent/codependent relationship between Ibn Saud and his royal descendants on the one hand and the Sunni religious leaders on the other. The King and his crown prince are reformers, both civic and religious, and they are definitely having an impact on Saudi society. They wield considerable power in civil *and* religious matters in the Middle East, but it is evolutionary, not revolutionary. I know that women can now drive, the religious police have been reined in, and a number of other modest but important changes have been made by the Crown Prince with the blessing of the King, and the changes have largely been welcomed in SA.

                  Second, since these two Saudi royals do have real influence, mostly subtle but sometimes direct, their push to loosen Islam will impact people who are ready to be influenced, even if the harder core people refuse to change. I believe there are *many* muslims who are looking for cover to withdraw their coerced support for violence. These two royals are also part of a definite effort on the part of a number of Islamic governments around the Middle East to start down the road to accepting Israel, a process that is working slowly but surely, especially as Israel is their natural ally against Iran.

                  I once saw an estimate that if present conversion trends continue, by 2030 Iran will be a majority Christian country. That would be a true earthquake and explains to some degree why the Iranian government is so desperate and recalcitrant. I also gather that many countries, especially the Saudis, are sending operatives into Iran to help the people overthrow their horrible government. The killing of Solemeini, supposedly by the US but possibly as cover for the Saudis, has had a significant effect on the Iranians, probably positive. I see God’s efforts and the efforts of the two Saudi royals and the many other efforts in that area to bring down the more violent structures of Islam as worthy of recognition, support, and prayer. I believe that the last few years have seen some positive efforts building, and we can be more effective at resisting Islam itself if we are more nuanced in our view of who out there might actually be allies in our effort.

                  I believe all of us should open ourselves to hope that these efforts will not only temper the worst violence of Islam but also increase the brittleness and weakness of Islam so that it can fall completely and pretty much disappear, but we have to do so without giving an inch to the bad side of Islam. You are welcome to continue to believe that there are no real efforts to temper and bring down Islam other than those of God and Jesus and Mary, but I just feel I want to nudge you a little bit to start looking for the human efforts that are part of this larger effort of God’s. God doesn’t do these kinds of things on His own generally but instead enlists humans for much of the work. We can hope that the reformer King and Crown Prince are consciously applying themselves to these efforts, and if we see good effects, these two are worthy of our support and prayer to do more.

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                  2. I agree with you, Steve. I have been rather enthused by this Crown Prince. No, he is not a freedom-loving westerner or a gentle fellow. But he seems to understand how much damage Sunni fundamentalism has done and does to his country. I think it is one thing to note that Islam is an irreformably failed system – and quite another to argue that no Muslim can be a genuine reformer. The latter misses countless opportunities to dial back the madness.

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                    1. I’m willing to accept a whole lotta’ flaws in a potential reformer for the good (even if I have to wince often) but draw the line at duplicity. Unfortunately, we don’t know if there’s duplicity there or not. Time will tell. Meanwhile, what are the genuine Christians in the world actually going to do about it?

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                  3. STEVEBC Some of your allusions to my thinking are incorrect and since my purpose is not to argue or persuade, I will not address those. I will say however that I have daily mass intentions for the conversion of Moslems and Jews to Christ and His Church. Peace to you and all here. jas

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                    1. JAS, I’m sorry for the misinterpretation. That was never my intent. Like you and III, my research tells me that Islam is flawed, fatally so, all the way down to its core. The sooner it disappears from human history, the better. I was simply disagreeing with your opinion about MbS and the possibility that he might be able to calm things down a little or a lot. He’s a very bright guy, and I believe he is a genuine reformer who wants peace and peaceful behavior. But as MP says in his comment nearby, only time will really tell if he is a true reformer and if he turns out to be effective in his efforts. We can all pray that this problem gets handled spiritually and in our world as expeditiously as possible. 🙂

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                  4. @SteveBC: To be very clear, I do not believe that “there are no real efforts to temper and bring down Islam other than those of God and Jesus and Mary” to do so would be to deny my own position as stated in an earlier reply that in order to be most effective in evangelizing individual Muslims, with the help of God and Jesus and Mary of course, we would do well to know that Islam (as Charlie says) is an irreformably failed system and (as I said) that those who follow it rely on Muhammad as their perfect example.

                    I don’t think that I disagree with you so much as that our emphases may be different so that I appear to you to be a ‘wet blanket’ of sorts to those valid attempts of God “enlist[ing] humans for much of the work.”

                    I cannot speak for JAS, but the clear and present danger I see is that so very many well-intentioned (and not so well-intentioned) people deny this core hegemonic reality of Islam and hence the “elephant-in-the-room” Divine Mandate presents a danger not only to infidels but to Muslims themselves. Namely, how do we deal with it if we deny it or whisk it away with wishful thinking? With your last paragraph it is clear to me that you are neither a denier nor a wishful thinker.

                    However, to my point and I think to yours, too, for example, our own Pentagon in reference to the recent jihad attack in Pensacola by a Saudi national who was being trained with our government’s blessing and invitation says that “[f]oreign nationals participating in U.S. training go through a vetting process [that] includes screening for any illicit drug activities, support for terrorist organizations, corruption and criminal conduct.”

                    You well say and I agree that we need to “not only temper the worst violence of Islam but also increase the brittleness and weakness of Islam so that it can fall completely and pretty much disappear”. With that said, I also concur with Robert Spencer’s observations that “[c]learly the screening process is inadequate, in large part because of the Pentagon’s denial and willful ignorance regarding the motivating ideology behind the jihad threat.”

                    I think you also recognize the need to face reality of Islam that JAS and I state because you say, “but we have to do [God’s work] without giving an inch to the bad side of Islam.” Acknowledging that Islam even has a bad side I think, shows just how much we do agree with each other for to “not give an inch to the bad side of Islam”, I think you would agree that we need to recognize that that bad side exists first. Again, I think on this point we agree more than we disagree. I could be wrong.


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                    1. III, I agree with your assertions and appreciate your careful wording even though I would not express some aspects quite the same (no significant difference, just a difference in style). Some of my attempts at injecting a bit of levity in my earlier postings did not come out as I had intended and I apologize to Steve for that. If I could, I would go back and delete or modify them. I meant no disrespect. I do have some problems when anyone restates my thoughts in different words that change my original meaning. I appreciate your quoting my words verbatim in your earlier postings. Interpretation can be an issue that is much easier to deal with in the give and take of verbal communication which tones etc. help clarify. In these times of heighten tensions, we all, especially me, need to maintain a higher level of charity and consideration in order to insure smooth and respectful interchanges. I do appreciate the valuable exchanges of this site and read every comment carefully. My poor typing ability and overly busy life only add to the burden. Peace to all here. In Christ’s love, jas.

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                    2. Yes.  The truth with charity.  I must keep reminding myself too.  Was it Pope emeritus Bennedict who said, “truth without love is not truth and love without truth is not love”?—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    3. III, you are correct that we are not in disagreement on the main issue. You are correct that there is a core hegemonic problem here that *appears* to be immutable. Like you and JAS, I think far too few people take this seriously enough. It is very real. As I said above in apology to JAS (and now to you), I never meant to imply that we were in disagreement on this point at all.

                      My disagreement was related to MbS. The reason I pay attention when he moves on something related to Islam and its interpretation is because he is taking a very interesting and possibly effective approach to denaturing that core hegemonic impulse, saying that now that Islam is in every country and is known to everyone, the *push* to expand is no longer needed. That push has caused Islam to expand through conquest that led to conversion or dhimmitude enslavement. If he can persuade people that this push is no longer needed because the tenet to expand has already been fulfilled, he may be able to peel away many muslims who are not comfortable with the push and enable even some fanatics to take the teaching from him and some of the Sunni imams and let go of their belief that *violent* jihad is needed.

                      He may have no effect, but his interpretation of the Koran and these tenets is positively creative and potentially fruitful, so as long as he shows a genuine interest in reforming Saudi religious and secular society and advancing this interpretation, I will applaud his efforts.

                      One of the reasons I was against the Obama Administration’s handling of the Islam issue is that they deliberately removed training materials that would have helped our law enforcement personnel understand Islam’s flaws and dangers better. Good people have died because of that. They also deliberately brought people into the administration who were more loyal to Islam than to our Constitution. There are two ways to destroy the USA: Overwhelming destruction that harms most of the rest of the world at the same time, or burrowing from within. We almost lost our country to burrowers over the past century. The previous administration’s policies along these lines were significant parts of the burrowing. I’m happy that the Trump Administration is undoing much of that, but a lot of work remains to be done.

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                    4. @SteveBC: As MP says, time will tell and as you say “a lot of work remains to be done”. Perhaps through the Crown Prince’s influence and work, the desire to follow Muhammad’s divine example of the ‘hajj’ and thus the geographic spread of Islam will fall away. Perhaps, along with the President’s two-state peace plan, the Crown Princes’s influence will move the terror-weary populations away from acting on violent jihad, which as you know is the Lesser Jihad. These are good and very good propositions that along with the action of superabundant grace that is drawn down through the means given to us by the Church bring hope.

                      In what ways do you see the Crown Prince’s reformation steps directly addressing the spread of Islam by way of the Greater Jihad, da’wa? This is not a ‘gotcha question’; rather, in light of the advance of the heresy of ‘Chrislam’ in the West and especially with the advent of the Abu Dhabi Statement, it is a sincere question.

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                    5. III, you said, “In what ways do you see the Crown Prince’s reformation steps directly addressing the spread of Islam by way of the Greater Jihad, da’wa?” That’s a great question to which I currently have no answer. 😀

                      My original comment about the Crown Prince’s attempt to recast the Jihad as complete was not to give an answer but to point out that his work appears genuine, his specific formulation might actually have a chance to tone things down, and that therefore he was worth watching as we head into our future.

                      My comment came in response to 1-2 comments about Islam that seemed unreservedly dark, when in fact there are many things going on within Islam to alter or shrink it. As JAS discusses elsewhere, Islam and the Islamic world are wildly variable. If the Prince’s formulation doesn’t work in one place or culture, it may work in others. Or he may come up with other actions and ideas that work well in still other areas.

                      Lastly, I think Islam is (ab)used regularly by the Deep State, which constantly acts to irritate Islam and elicit bad responses. The Prince appears to be working against the Deep State, so he actually does have an opportunity to help halt that DS irritation, which could also quiet Islam down. Again, that makes him worth watching in the same sense as Donald Trump is worth watching.

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        3. @SteveBC: I have one significant but reliable addition in restating JAS’ observations (which realistically hit the nail on the head). JAS observes: “It makes no sense to me that the Koran could reasonably be reinterpreted to mean it was only necessary for there to be moslems throughout the world when the Koran clearly and at length spells out how infidels are to be subjugated and treated throughout the world. How we think or accept this would have no effect whatsoever on changing Islam from a very aggressive to a peaceful religion [ideology]. The Koran clearly spells out how peacefully moslems are to treat each other but how to treat infidels (those who refuse to submit to Islam) are another thing entirely. Hoping that Islam will change is just whistling into the wind I’m sad to say.”

          The significant addition I wish to point out is that not only do Muslims and infidels have the Koran as a ‘Divine’ resource for reference we also have the actions and words of who the Koran tells us is the perfect example: the prophet Muhammad. Why is this so significant? Simply as Catholics/Christians we ask, “What would Jesus do?” while Muslims ask, “What would Muhammad do?”. For non-Muslim, infidels all, we need to deal with the reality of the answers to that question which we find in the Hadith and played out daily in the normative words and actions of the PLO, Hamas, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, the recent jihadi knife attackers in London as well as the gangs of Pakistani, Moroccan, Syrian, Somali, Nigerian, etc… ‘Youth’ in their ‘adoptive’ countries around the world.

          Also, for lovers of Christ and of His creatures, it is good to know Islam so that we can present it in its entirety to Muslims many of whom do not know its teachings; thus, they can choose between Islam and what Jack Hiller finds so attractive in Christianity: the law of Love in its totality.

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          1. III Like any comments all are open to misinterpretation. You seem to understand very well what my sometimes poorly stated points are aiming toward. God is leading us all to convert to Him and His revelations to us through a long history of leaders and prophets and finally His Son Jesus Christ. Moslems who convert to Christ are no longer Moslem, they don’t evolve, they fundamentally change. There appear to be different wavelengths that make it difficult to clearly understand each other at times. I’m glad that we are on the same wavelength here III. You presented your points (which I fully agree with) better than I. My comments are not about me and if they serve to encourage further thought and insights, I see that as good. All honor and glory be to God whom we all seek to serve. May God continue to guide and bless all here as we struggle along on the path of the process of the Rescue. May its fullness come soon. Lord save us lest we perish. jas

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    2. Jack, Islam is in a perpetual state of war based on their beliefs. I just don’t see a road to peace with them. It is a wedge to get in the door. No matter what the deal, this will not change until Islam changes. This would take an act of God like the warning or something.

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      1. I think any act of God such as the warning would not change Islam but would put an end to it. It is a false religion based on made up claims of divine revelation. Both Christianity and Islam cannot both be true and I think you can strongly suspect which side I come down on. It is one thing to respect the sincerity of a Moslem and to assert he is trying to do the will of God as he sees it but it is entirely another matter to give credence to his misguided beliefs. jas

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    3. Just wierd day I 64 to I 77 was shut down all day something with bridge gone bad…so we drove 8 hours but moved 3 , still in West Virginia lol I started complaining and remembered the Israelites out of Egypt God has plans eh??? Strange day..surely will get stranger. Go president Trump woo woot👍

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      1. Linda, By gosh, I hope it doesn’t take you forty years to get home now.
        Your mention of Trump in this context made me realize that he is akin to our Moses leading our escape away from the Dim hoard led by Empress Nancy and Emperor Chuckydoodles.

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        1. Oh jack Hiller now that is truly FUNNY 😁 YES I do see the correlation Finally out of West Virginia so far so good plz keep Virginians in ur prayers lots of flooding onwards Charlotte NC plz Pray for brandy waitress last night she was getting sick n her little 7 yr old boy had flu… bless her… mommas went to be with their babies when sick…Jesus please change our world✝️❤️😅

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  3. Bishop Barron’s universalism was already reason to question his orthodoxy but his recent interview with Ben Shapiro really put Barron over the edge. When Shapiro asked Barron directly about his (Shapiro’s) chances of salvation, his excellency opined that Our Lord was merely a “privileged” way to God! So much for THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life!

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  4. I immensely enjoyed listening to Farage’s tastefully blunt “up yours” addressed directly to the corrupt EU body — a middle finger with the Union Jack. 🇬🇧 It was sweet. “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!” 🇬🇧

    I liked Nigel’s speech for the very same reason I enjoy Trump’s humorous, energetic, improved, down-to-earth, patriotic rallies: they’re blunt and upbeat. 🇺🇸

    So, a new poll shows Trump at 42% approval among black Americans. And since people typically hide their support for Trump when asked for fear of getting attacked about it, I suspect this number is closer to 50%.

    Landslide.

    Trump packs the house, Biden holds a — yawn! — round table. Ha!

    Landslide.

    (IMO)

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      1. He is, and good humored too, with classic British style. (…”you stopped laughing in 2016…”) This was a pleasure to watch. I pray, in the best interest of all the wonderful, unique, sovereign countries of Europe, that the EU crumbles. I think this move by the UK will help.

        So the Union Jack comes down, and up goes a colorless EU flag to fill the void. Did they change the EU flag to reflect the loss of the UK by removing a star? And if they did remove a star, which one was removed? How can we tell since all the stars look the same?

        Wait! What? Are people actually crying about this?!
        They got snowflakes in Europe too, I guess

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    3. The guy in flip flops, limply holding the United sign, is hysterical to me. Why didn’t the Democrats learn to come up with a good campaign slogan? HER. That was Hillary’s slogan, right? Sheesh.

      Nigel Farage’s speech was fantastic and I can’t help thinking that Trump’s style was an impetus to “go for it” and break the rules with the little flags and ties.

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      1. ….I think, wait …I think that’s a woman in those snazzy Romanesque Birkenstocks. But with Libs you never can tell. (S)he reminds me a bit of Benny Hill.

        “I’m with HER” and an arrow pointing to the person’s left was her motto. That’s more vague than “Hope and Change”

        But HER just reminded me of this South Park character:

        Doomed to fail. Now, let’s look at a brilliant slogan:
        “Make America Great Again.”
        To the left, this is a nonsensical statement; to the Right, it’s a patriotic rallying cry.

        Trump is inspiring Republicans to change and move back right, and he’s inspiring many world leaders to follow suit.

        (Couple little puns there: Trump…follow suit…)

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        1. Oh shoot! I should have squinted a little harder. She is indeed a SHE and was probably with HER back in 2016. I didn’t mean to poke fun specifically at the person. It was the overwhelming sense of half-heartedness in the posture and manner of holding the sign that was so funny to me compared with the Trump supporters.

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    1. Ha, Matthew. I wonder if I’d make the cut. Getting on those lists can be harder than you think.

      Years ago, I was close friends with a top staffer at the Illinois Republican Party. She was a moderate – and was shocked when one group accused a conservative state senator of being a RINO. I chuckled and told her they were on a hair-trigger – and would call anyone a RINO who irked them. “They would never call you a RINO,” she said. I chuckled and said sure they would if I aggravated them. “Charlie, you are good at ticking people off, but none of these groups would ever call you a RINO,” she retorted. So we made a bet. I had a week to provoke them into calling me a RINO. Son of a gun…I got them mad enough that they called me all sorts of names – but never came close to calling me a RINO. She was right…I could make them call me an SOB, but I could not provoke them to think me anything other than their team’s SOB.

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      2. Our church practices SOB. Our priest announces it from the pulpit. When new people come into the church. Don’t make them step over you. Slide Over Babay!

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  6. Charlie, Can’t wait to read your tactics for the upcoming elections. I worry about Texas, my state. Too many liberals from Cali have moved in and brought with them all their dirt and junk. And it does not help that our Texas Catholic Bishop Conference is definitely not conservative or pro Life. This world has truly changed, and people are beginning to realize not only their life styles are changing, but their mindsets and how they think. When you look at Virginia and California and a few others, it is creeping in so fast, it will over take us if we are not prepared. I just am blown away at how, no matter the disaproval, the left continues to do what they want and completely disregards what citizens want. I think I missed something when I was becoming a grownup, happily though! I was listening to Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and his program, Counterthink on Brighteon.com about the demonic take over of the democrats and he goes on to actually explain the possession process. Very informative and intentsive information on this possibility. HMMMMM. OK good people. Stay well, and be alert. Ave Maria, Blessed Mother, pray for us!

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  7. Oh my goodness Charlie I am so sorry you’ve been so sick for so long! I do understand it because I too have been so sick for so long… years actually lol but I like to think of you as well and vibrant so I am so sorry
    glad you are doing better dear friend of God. Sad to hear about Bishop From Cali Barron? But no worries… he won’t stop us. God bless you dear man… you hang in there now! Spring is coming… yeah👍

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  8. Charlie, I share your observations on both Bishop Barron and Putin. When Bishop Barron first came out with the Catholicism video series, I was thrilled to finally see the rich history and major contributions of our Church intelligently presented. I’ve grown increasingly disquieted, however, over what I sense is a growing tone of accommodation towards the Church’s critics. Also, he seems to be turning his evangelization into a major business. Trust me, I understand the need to make money. But few there are who, like Mother Angelica, built a worldwide Catholic business on the engine of faith and prayer, surviving primarily on donations. Too many of our Church leaders today are following a business model with prayer as an add-on. As for Putin, I like you have been watching him for a while now, especially his opening of the churches and having the government give women financial incentives to have children (after seeing what abortion was doing to the demographics). Whatever his motives, and I suspect the first one is pragmatism, I think we would do well to cultivate him as an ally, with all due caution, of course.

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    1. DD: I like him as a leader also. Is he communist disguised? I don’t see that, yet. I do see a man who loves his country, very loyal to his people, and holds his ideas and plans close. Will or could he be considered an ally? Maybe. He wants to be the best, and it is what we also want for us. I think the Blessed Mother has told us to watch out for communism, maybe not so much Russia in this moment. There was a time when communism was Russia and still could be today, however, we still need to pay attention to the ‘communism’ right in front of us. As we politely call socialism today. It is what it is…satanism. I was listening to a person the other evening, he, I believe is a scientist, does not mention how he comes upon his information. However, he pointed out that March many people will die. Does not say from what, just millions and millions. Then he says at the very end of his interview, something I thought was so profound “People will soon realize the prophecies have been understated”. (He was referring to Biblical). He also mentioned that this trial is not getting enough awareness to the people. He said the people involved do not like to loose and this will change every – thing/mind and how we view life after this. Now, that was not especially prophetic as it was profound and thought provoking. We are so easily lulled into complacency when it seems the worst is over. Yet, it is not. It is only beginning. After watching the hysterics of the Left’s determination to create lies and more lies in desperation to remove the Prez…and the fact, I think they believe themselves, ya gotta wonder. What did they do??? What did they trade for their success, and what will happen to all if they don’t get what they want! They actually seem terrified. When you realize that some authorities are already taking liberties that are not constitutional and are brutely wrong…but because we are moral and decent people, we are not sure how much liberty we take to stop this. Once we start, we will need to continue, because they are not going to stop. It is a serious conundrum that requires deep prayer and thought. And each must decide. God Bless Charlie! Ave Maria, O’ Blessed Mother.

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        1. Charlie, Babylon Bee has some excellent writers! We can all use a good chuckle in time. I think my husband has them on speed clic.They hit hard and quick and have the best quips. Good for them.
          Puts SNL’s junk to shame!

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      2. Good points about communism, Robill. Mark Mallett had an article recently about Our Lady of Fatima’s words. She once said “….when communism returns.” As you point out, it’s under our noses poorly disguised as socialism. These poor young people, duped by the education system that has brainwashed them. We are told that millennials prefer socialism.

        Another fantastic analysis, as always, Charlie. It is good to hear about the things that are hopeful! I pray that those who speak of a Trump landslide are correct. But it is true that the evildoers will not stop even if there is an acquittal vote. So glad to see Brexit underway. Am I the only one who connects the EU with “one world government”?

        Come, Mother Mary, with your Triumph! Come, Lord Jesus!

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  9. I’m guessing that Bishop Barron doesn’t include the Fatima Prayer at the end of the Glory Be when he says the rosary. In addition to the biblical basis for hell, our Lady granted the children a vision of it during the July 1917 apparition. The Church would not have approved Fatima if it had an issue with hell. I will side with our Lord and Lady on this one.

    Charlie, you should keep an eye on New York’s 27th Congressional District. This district is going to have a special election in April to fill the seat vacated by Chris Collins when he was convicted of insider trading. This is a solidly Republican (suburban/rural) district. The Republican candidate is Chris Jacobs and the Democrat is Nate McMurray. Our home was in the 27th district before we were gerrymandered out when they re-drew boundaries with the last population drop in the state. From chatter in the local news, the Republican constituents of the 27th are unhappy with the candidate who was chosen by the GOP leaders. He is a never-Trumper who usually votes pro-choice. I am pretty sure he is also a Catholic as he co-founded the Diocesan-wide scholarship fund and was on the board of one of our Catholic parochial schools.

    I loved the name Dos Equis virus! It has been unusually warm in WNY so far and there are lots of bugs going around. Praying that if the coronavirus spreads, the virus isn’t as bad as the media is making it out to be. The University at Buffalo is in our backyard with 1,500 Chinese national students enrolled. It’s a little unnerving to see people walking around the grocery store wearing a mask.

    Peace and good health to all, Cathy

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    1. Hi, Cathy – I used to work at UB. Still a WNYer. Been wondering what, if any, precautions universities were taking upon students’ return from winter break. My daughter attends NU & said a few int’l students walking around with masks. I guess repeated reminders re steps to take for preventing spread of a virus is all they can do right now given the current info (or perhaps misinfo). Have read opinions that span the spectrum: corona virus being way worse than reported; a false flag to instill panic; a way to cover up other evil deeds occuring in China… and interesting combinations of those theories. Hard to know what to believe so just praying & washing my hands & praying while washing my hands 😉

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    2. Bookmark, while the vision of hell might give Bishop Barron pause, the Fatima Prayer added to the rosary is completely compatible with universalism. In that prayer we pray “lead all souls to heaven” – universalism believes that prayer is answered. I have sometimes struggled with this since I believe that this prayer is requesting something that is in fact impossible – like a square circle.

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      1. Just because God wills that all mankind be saved and Jesus suffered and died to give us that possibility, how many submit to the will of God? It is not without purpose that Jesus gave us in the Our Father the words “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” as something to be brought into reality with the help of the Father, something which clearly has yet to be achieved. It is always part of my earnest and multiple daily prayers for myself and the whole world. Jesus made it very clear that many do not take the narrow path and in many other references. May God continue to bless and guide us all in this intensifying process of the Rescue culminating in the Triumph of The Immaculate heart. jas

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        1. It is interesting JAS. That is a prayer I think most of us take for granted without thought to its meaning, but when actually pondering it, there is a lot of profundity. I think it takes walking on MPs trails and picking up a few rocks on the way to think and understand its meaning and implications.

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          1. Doug There is a further consideration to the less than obvious meanings to the OUR FATHER, Jesus told us the Kingdom of God was already come on the earth but the degree to which it exists on the earth is tied to the degree to which the will of God is done. Thus “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We know that the will of God is fully done in heaven. jas

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            2. Doug, Another insight into the Our Father, I had very long ago noticed the phrase, “lead us not into temptation.” In English this might infer that God may lead us into temptation but I knew that wasn’t true so I just let it go. When some time ago Pope Francis noted this and suggested it needs changing, the Germans opted to keep it the same while the Italian offering was pretty complicated wording. I gave it some thought but came up with no suitable solution and so gave up. The next morning at adoration, the words, out of the blue without my even thinking of it, clearly came to me, “lead us away from temptation.” That was about a month ago or so. Earlier in this week, it came to me that in the original wording, the “not” referred to direction and not to the action of tempting, supporting the appropriateness of “lead us away” in English. I am always thankful for my gifts of insight and have to resist the temptation of pride to take credit. May God continue to guide and bless all here. jas

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              1. Yes JAS, that makes sense.  I imagine when this was first translated, the idiom made sense.  I kinda recon it like, “guard us from temptation”, “help me avoid temptation”, “keep me from falling into temptation”.  Yes.  God would never intentionally lead us into temptation which other scriptures support as in James 1:13 where it says “no one, when tempted, should say, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he, himself, tempts now one”.  Pretty clear to me.  Think I’ll keep that one in my backpack.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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      2. Yes.  Salvation is for all and God desires all to be saved.  However, that is not the same as all souls will be saved.  One of the Fatima messages has also stated many souls go to hell due to lack of people praying and sacrificing.  I am paraphrasing a bit, but should have the essence.  We are indispensable and needed for this task.  This is a mystery given we all have free will, but we all have a job to do based on the talents we have each been given.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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        1. Salvation IS a mystery as God bends over backwards in sublime humility to work with each of us in the great mystery of human free will. Soul as are, indeed, lost and I believe it is why Our Lady has openly wept for her children in her apparitions. We can rely on official Church teachings to instruct and guide us in forming our conscience and in conveying that our life choices have consequences.

          At the same time, we have stories such as the one Kathleen Beckman wrote about in her book released during the Year of Mercy. It’s about an elderly French woman who made a long journey to Ars and upon arrival at the church there asked those in the confession line how long was the wait before she could speak to St. John Vianney. The answer: 2-3- days. The poor woman, the widow of an official during the French Revolution who was responsible for much evil, trudged up to the communion rail where she knelt in a puddle of tears. Suddenly: THUNK! The confessional door opened and St. John V walked to where the woman was praying and said: “He is saved.” Befuddled she asked, “But how can this be?” Of course, they were speaking of her deceased husband who, in remorse turned to despair, had committed suicide by jumping from the local bridge. St. John then asked his question: ” When you were erecting the small altar to Our Lady in your home did he object in any way? Prevent you from this act of veneration?” The woman answered, “No. Not at all.” St. John then replied, “Well, based on that bit of goodness, the Lord appealed to your husband – in those moments before he broke his neck in the fall – to repent. And he did. He has been saved.”

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          2. Yes, thank you for sharing with clear eyes. Sin doesn’t have the last word. The Savior does. If we find ourselves perturbed by so much sin in the world, time to lock eyes on the Savior. With love and hope.

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          5. Oh that heartens me, Beckita. Our house has about 100 Saints in our bedroom window nook, Our Lady off Fatima biggest one..a crucifix in every room and so much more. When friends and family come over they shake their heads and say, Michael let’s you do this??? So I ask michael and he always says, “Why would I mind being surrounded by God and His !” It’s quiet lovely being married to a man who loves God. May the whole world get to experience this someday soon✝️☦️🛐

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      3. @Matthew Hill: I just recently saw that this reference to souls in the Fatima Prayer was not a reference to ALL souls, but rather a reference to the Holy Souls–meaning the ones in purgatory. I don’t know if something got lost in the translation, but to your point of promoting Universalism, as I learned the words, it might be something to research.

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  10. Project Veritas recorded Bernie Sanders S.C. staffers saying they want extreme action since they are like anarchists or Marxists; they want to stay together to strip power away from capitalists and direct violence toward property. They have to be quiet for now. We have to make sure everyone sees this ASAP., especially all moderate Democrats.

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    2. Sanders communist ideology represents the biggest threat to our Christian country as a whole, not only to the Democrat party (which doesn’t bug me too much), but to order and the Constitutional rule of law. “The Errors of Russia.”

      Still, Sanders deserves to be given a fair shot if people support him because that’s how our republic should work.

      But of all the candidates running, Sanders troubles me the most because of his radical supporters.

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  11. Bishop Barron’s theology is well researched and articulate. With the many “newer” devotions and institutions of salvific prayers, novenas, intercessory prayers, victim souls and other opportunities like Mass offerings, Divine Mercy Sunday, confession, scapulars, and a host of “indulgences” it is quite likely through the “treasury” of the Catholic church that all COULD be saved. Charlie makes a good case for the other side of the coin though with scriptural passages and there are many mystics who tell of the great number of souls falling into hell (including the Fatima children).
    Scripture tells us to “give a sign of our hope” and I believe Bishop Barron is doing just that here. Jesus died for all….every last one of us. Because of this, we ALL have the chance to go to heaven and Jesus took on the sins of even those who went/are going to hell because of His great love for His people and because He cannot help but be who He is.
    Barron is just following in Christs footsteps by being who he is, an aler chritus . But he is a mere mortal man with a very big job to do….an apostolic job but without the benefit of Pentecost and three and a half years walking along side Jesus. Despite the Apostles having this, they still managed to mess up from time to time.
    Charlie has also made the point that it is in these periods of “error” that truths are distilled and defined.
    This may just be one of those times.

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    1. Phillip: You wrote “an apostolic job but without the benefit of Pentecost and three and a half years walking along side Jesus”. This confuses me. Bishop Barron has received the Sacrament of Confirmation (generally a pre-requisite for Holy Orders) thus he has the complete benefit of Pentecost. I don’t know a lot about Barron’s biography but I believe him to be a cradle Catholic thus he has spent a good many more years walking along side Jesus than just three. While it is true that judging the depth of a personal relationship is near impossible, it is sobering to consider that we know more about God and Jesus than the 12 Apostles did. We have the blessed virtue of having the decrees of 21 Ecumenical Councils and the all the teaching of the Fathers the Doctors and the Popes. Thus while we can cut Origen some slack for pushing Apokatastasis, Bishop Barron has no excuse since this view has been repeatedly condemned throughout Church history.

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      1. Matt,
        I think my “apostolic” point was that the Apostles were given the last of the publicly revealed truths, and nothing else will be added. Yet this was accomplished in only 3-1/2 years with Christ and when the Holy Spirit decended upon them at Pentecost to “help them”. You must admit, theirs was a bit different than what you and I and Barron experienced during confirmation.
        I understand your point that after so many centuries of revelations and study we should “know” more about our faith than the Apostles…but do we really?
        “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
        (John 21:25).
        I do not presume to remedy that Scripture passage of infallible truth, but I don’t think we have written enough in the last 2000 years to overtake the whole world!
        It is John who makes the point that just three and a half years of walking with Christ was sufficient to render the whole world incapable of containing these Truths. Of course, he just “supposed” this- but it gives us some light into how deep his contemplation of Jesus was after just a few years with the Master.
        Barron does not commit heresy by saying that all men actually are saved, but only on the “reasonable hope” that all men “might” be. (And I give several points above on the church’s devotional treasury that may give us the graces to be!).
        Again, we are supposed to give an account of our hope. This should be especially true for a bishop and remember, it was Jesus Himself who gave just such a hope to the Gentiles over which Peter and Paul had a disagreement at first. Peter, dispite walking with Jesus and having received a special anointing during Pentecost, gave way to his human weakness that the “chosen people” did not include the Gentiles.
        Peter thus denying “eternal life” to the unchosen and Paul (before his conversion) denying physical life to those who profaned the “chosen people”. They worked it out, and now it’s in the Scriptures so God could give us a story of conversion and about His great love and desire to “save us all”.

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        1. When a loving child sees that a sibling’s relationship with a parent is estranged/broken, that child often will use all means available to help bring that relationship back into healthy communion. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. Certainly John the Apostle was a loving child.

          I can’t help but note this about your comment. Should someone print it out, seal it in a clay jar, and stash it in the wilderness somewhere, I suspect it would come to light (be rediscovered at the opportune moment for the benefit of someone and others), simply because it bespeaks healing with love.

          I once came upon an unusual rock in the sticks. It was painted with a tortured face and had a message on the back, including a number for a suicide hotline. Naturally, I had to get to the bottom of it, and did. Long story short, it was indeed a story of one such estranged/broken relationship… one that begged a whole lot of praying with hope.

          One other interesting facet about that stone. According to the story I was to touch base to let those people know where I found it, then return it to the wilderness in another spot. Apparently, similar stones were moving all over the place, far and wide. I complied with the request, so was a bit surprised, years later, when I once again came upon that same stone in a concealed spot way upriver. What are the odds of that?

          Woe to the family should all the children forget how to love with hope.

          Liked by 9 people

      2. Ohhhh. Lol I’m sorry Charlie… yours is FEB??? My poor mind gets things all messed up sometimes..now I have to try to remember when Beckita said yours was🥳🤯

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        1. It’s the 25th, Linda, yet, I recall our big online bash of wishing Charlie Happy BD in 2016. He was very gracious and also candid about his discomfort that birthdays can seem self-referential. I do admire the desire to keep the spotlight off self, I also see that being pro-life and thanking God for the gift of life includes honoring Charlie by thanking God for CJ’s life and the ways he has co-created with Christ in bringing life in abundance from this space.

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          1. His fb page says feb 26th but besides my mind going…my mom had Alzheimer’s and I do see so alarming signs in myself… my eyesight seems to be going south too lol. I’ll have to recheck. 🤓Sorry to bring you all into my crazy mind today 🤪😂😂 I’m laughing hard as I type this!!! Charlie should be celebrated. He has inspired me to want to go all out to help my fellows in this battle for souls… very thankful for him being a game little fellow🐶

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                1. The funny thing is I just am not big on birthdays. There have been several years where I have forgotten it altogether until a few days after. Of course, Facebook doesn’t allow that. Something about them just makes me uncomfortable.

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                  1. Charlie, my children reminded me one year that I had been 32 for several birthdays. Totally forgot or didn’t care, and now I really don’t care. Ha! Just blessed to be alive during these very interesting and challenging times.

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                    8. AudieMarie,
                      Wait ‘til you get to your forties. The forties are the best time of life. I ought to know. I’ve been in my forties for almost thirty years and each day is better — not necessarily easier, just better. God bless.

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                    12. Audie that’s funny! I did that when I was 36. The whole year I was 37 I told anyone who asked that I was 36. Lost a year and some marbles along with it, I guess. When I turned 40 I told my kids that I was counting backwards from there, so now I am 23! I figure we all start out in diapers and end up in diapers so…

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                  2. Aww it’s because you get a lot of attention and you feel it takes attention off of Christ . I understand that as I hate it when mine comes around too . But Christ likes our bdays I’m sure 🤗

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                  4. Charlie, this gives me the opening to ask a question that I have thought about from time to time based on things you have said or others have commented on. There seems to be a longing for a “Mayberry RFD” kind of small town world. But most small towns are just about as invasive as Google or Facebook, so why do some complain that FB or Google knows all this stuff about us when we want to live in a small town where all our neighbors know our business anyways?

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                    1. Ah…subsidiarity, I think, is a key element. In a small town, people know you in your fullness – your virtues, your flaws, your lovable quirks, your not-so-lovable quirks – but in the fullness of your humanity. When you have strangers able to put your life before them routinely, it is to look for the bad, to get you. They are more able to create gotcha moments than to make honest assessments. It is the same reason why I prefer charities administered very close to home. When it is people who know each other in more of their fullness, better judgments are made on who needs a hand up and who is gaming the system. Big charity often ends up rewarding those who best learn to game the system while often leaving the genuinely needy out in the cold. The principle of subsidiarity, marvelously amplified in Pope St. John Paul’s encyclical, Centesimus Annus does not just apply to economics.

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                    2. This morning, I was contemplating why I don’t use face book.  In my spirit, I was stirred up, but my mind (or maybe the evil one) was saying, there are all those people out there that you need to reach.  You have just filled in a gap I was missing.  My spirit is at rest.  Now….   There is always the TNRS virtual world here, but it’s different with you running it Charlie.  Besides, many have met you personally and know what you are here is what you are in person.  I enjoy the intellectual discussions here done with mutual respect.  —- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

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                    3. Thank you, Doug. One of the things I am most proud of is the establishment of this community which, indeed, does build each other up even while speaking candidly about the issues that are most important – and sometimes troubling. Even better, it is a real network that, I think, will be valuable in times of real crisis. God bless you and Jacquie, my friend. And yes, it is a great joy to me that I can see the face and hear the voice of so many here.

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                    4. This is the only true community save my Michael where I feel you all are true followers of Christ… everyone is so kind. It’s like a safe space… adoration, Mass, our home and this site

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                    5. This is an engaging question, Matthew, and I concur with Charlie’s response.

                      The unincorporated forest community (not exactly a town) where I was raised and to where I returned nearly eight years ago taught me a lot about civility. Yes, we know or find out about our neighbors’ “virtues . . . flaws . . . lovable quirks . . . not-so-lovable quirks ~ but in the fullness of [our] humanity.” Not only that, in some cases we know family histories (virtues, flaws, etc.) dating back to the early 1900s. In a community like this, accountability simply comes with the territory, and that’s not a bad thing. People know if someone else is the kind of person who does the right thing ~ or not.

                      I have also lived in some very large cities ~ Los Angeles and San Francisco among them. The anonymity granted in these places ~ where next-door neighbors don’t necessarily know each other ~ can lead to non-accountability and incivility. The anonymity of platforms like FB, Google, twitter, etc. can foster this kind of non-accountability and incivility. On the other hand, if accountability and civility are ingrained in a person, then the person will tend to act accordingly even on anonymous platforms.

                      Big cities aren’t necessarily a problem, however, if the neighborhoods within these cities make a point of forming good communities within the neighborhoods ~ kind of a subsidiarity within a metropolis.

                      I’d love to hear about other people’s experiences.

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                  5. Charlie, your birthday is the 26th? What a beautiful day to begin the season of Lent this year. My son turns 32 that day. Where does the time go?

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            2. Check out the book THE END OF ALZHEIMER’S, The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, by Dale E. Bredesen, MD. It’s excellent!

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          2. No, Beckita, Linda was right: it is the 26th. Though it could have been the 25th – my 15-year-old mother went into labor with me on the 24th. But she had the mumps, so the doctor gave her some medication to delay my birth, hoping to hold it off until she was healthier. She was in labor for parts of three days – and all day on the 25th. She was still on the medication to forestall me when, finally, on the 26th, I had had as much as I could stand and was born anyway. Mom said I was the hardest to birth and the easiest to raise.

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                3. Hehe I just got it…;-) oh my goodness, Michael and I had to go to ewTN fr Groeschel for 1/2 time…Def saw spirit of jezabel there. ..Lord have mercy on us all😣

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  13. Jesus = Good-News 😉

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/religious-freedom-supreme-court-hears-arguments-in-espinoza-v-montana-case/

    https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-on-the-defensive?mc_cid=bc885467a6&mc_eid=2a0b6c7ef6

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/never-trump-republicans-think-twice-before-you-vote-for-abortion-supporting-democrats

    https://stream.org/can-we-trust-chinas-information-coronavirus/

    https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/30/barr-the-real-people-trying-to-impose-their-values-on-others-are-militant-secularists/

    https://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2020/01/31/who-exactly-is-that-trumphating-worship-pastor-worshipping-n2560475

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/30/watch-pro-life-super-bowl-ad-fox-wont-air/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/how_did_gay_wedding_flowers_lead_to_a_supreme_court_battle_over_creativity_.html#ixzz6Ch1ew3ec

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/01/31/hindsight-folks-hindsight-compare-the-vindman-ciaramella-misko-mccord-and-atkinson-network-to-pelosis-rule-changes/

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/01/31/devin-nunes-the-schiff-staff-wont-quit-an-impeachment-acquittal-wont-end-this-this-really-is-a-hoax/

    https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/01/30/democrats-block-safeguard-against-cfpb-social-credit-system/

    http://www.floppingaces.net/2020/02/01/the-week-in-radical-leftism-1-31-2020/

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

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  15. I really enjoy reading your geopolitical and election analyses. It is usually spot on, especially in regard to Vlad and Russia. I’m looking forward to reading your strategy for November.

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  16. Very interesting commentary here, I hope to see more of it.
    Bishop Barron is our typical contemporary sellout. He’s gotten a taste of success and money and he doesn’t want to threaten it with Jesus Christ or the church He founded. He can’t be trusted at all.
    Putin and Russia herself really started to be hated right after the Olympics when they wouldn’t allow LGBT propaganda to be displayed. I remember right after that Putin-hatred and Russia hatred really ratcheted up. Threaten LGBT and abortion and stand back.
    Not since the Civil War have Americans been so divided. I see people whom I would consider to be solid God-fearing Catholics and Protestants, people in my family whom I greatly respect and admire, who live lives without scandal and who make sound rational and moral judgments, become visibly shaken just discussing Donald Trump. They seem to hate him on a visceral level, it’s personal. People literally stopped speaking to me for being a Trump supporter. There’s something demonic in that. How can anyone considering themselves any sort of Christian at all, support the party that endorses, no, cheers, late-term abortions.

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    2. Kate, I’ve noticed that also. …”They seem to hate him on a visceral level, it’s personal. People literally stopped speaking to me for being a Trump supporter. “… I’ve actually pretty much decided it is the ‘power of suggestion’. Every time they discuss Trump (Media), they constantly are saying “Even though you voted for him, you may not like him or but you don’t like him…” It is a constant quip that is attached to every article/mouth piece about the Republican party and anything that is about the Pres. or executive branch. When you listen next time, take note. Well, they have said it now for 3 years, and possibly 24/7 every hour of the day. Even Fox news. Never miss an opportunity to slide it in. I have 2 ideas about this however…they never have anyone come back at this and say …”hey I like this guy” or “I think most of America likes this guy”. It is almost a way to to say something about him, but not to make it too ingratiating or complimenting so you will still be one of ‘them’ fake news. No – No can’t have that. Or…just hoping people will bite and next time they will question why they want to put him back in. Well, for what it is worth, I like him, I like his style, and I think he is brilliant, and loves this country! Works hard, has good values and loves our Lord. So that pretty much takes care of all the necessary attributes, and if he can eradicate abortion, he will be the best we have had! And it will not be easy. He is up against alot! Yet, we will see. His angles are interesting, but effective so far. And if he remains true to his mission, I will back him up! And let’s not forget, everything we want changed is not especially left up to him. It starts with us. However, I am very glad his Republican party has finally gotten behind him. It has brought out some great sluggers, and good good men! And exposed some very evil ones. They have grown a back bone! Hooray.

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    3. Kate, I do not see the Bishop in that light. I’ve followed his daily reflections, and many podcasts and videos for years and years. His intellect and Latin/Greek… are often over my head and a bit overwhelming at times. It is cause for me to learn and grow. I had the good fortune of knowing him in Chicago. He offered to assist me as a Archdiocese Pastoral Council member with an undertaking without even knowing my name. My first hand experience was that of humility and kindness. I still witness this in his discussions and interviews today. As far as his ‘hell’ issue, I am not completely clear on Church Doctrine on the matter, however I am sure God does indeed desire the salvation of all of His children.
      I have had some lively discussions online, in limited 140 character venues, about the Bishop’s take on souls in hell. I have also had many complete strangers tell me online how the Bishop has brought them into or back to the faith as well. A quick review of the CCC indicated that there is no number of souls in hell given, if my preliminary search is correct. Although mystics and saints have been shown hell, our faith is not founded on these things. So is the Bishop justified? Does this negate his other fine endeavors? Like Mother Angelica/EWTN, the magnificent presentations Word on Fire provides costs money. Furthermore, his behind the scenes works and institutes are designed to give away the gifts he has had the pleasure of building upon for decades for the purpose of increasing/teaching attracting others to the faith.
      Thank God we have each other to hold our feet to the fire, when necessary, as I believe Charlie has graciously done in his article, although I had no knowledge of this endeavor being made by Bishop Barron, and I follow him fairly closely. I will keep this in prayer and discernment as things unfold.
      I am not a theological intellect by any stretch of the imagination. I rely on a few *giants* to be my go to guides here on earth and on our Heavenly Advocates in prayer.
      I would hope that we do not write off any one person, simply on the grounds of a disagreement. We have unique gifts and talents and ways to express them to reach the widest number of heads, hearts and souls. To ensure against harmful indifference, my school of thought is, if an action being taken does not cause harm to oneself and/or others, leave it be. If however it does, then take the necessary steps. This should be the occasion to bring awareness and regroup by the proper persons in authority. Just adding my two cents, after my self-imposed 24 hour rule to ponder issues that jerk my knee or tug at my heartstrings before responding. ❤

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      1. Hi JLynn, and all. I hear you, about Bp. Barron, and I get it, we form attachments, especially in these crazy times, to people who are helping our faith along in some way, or we meet them and they are kind to us. For me the “hell” issue is an important one, because our clergy have so watered down the faith we have arrived at Protestantism and even now, paganism, thanks to Pope Pachamama. These are not incidental issues, they are critical. So for someone visible such as Bp. Barron, to say we have reasonable hope all may be saved, he is to me, making the warning of Jesus about entering by the narrow gate, and how FEW there are that find it, sound irrelevant, as if He didn’t know what He was talking about. Many of today’s clergy make it sound as if compassion wasn’t invented until they were born, which is a great insult to God. Hell yawns before many souls today, because they are no longer told by our church that hell is real and exactly what gets you there. They no longer know, so we must know for ourselves.
        This is an undermining of truth, truth people need to hear before that last breath.
        I enjoyed Bp. Barron’s “Catholicism” series. If you or anyone finds him spiritually helpful, that is of course a good thing, especially today. My personal list of helpful, faithful clergy is extremely small. I listen, carefully, and look at their words and their actions. Most bishops today are in my “sellout” category, because they are. The USCCB is nothing but an arm of the Democrat party, so they’ve lost all credibility. To me they are clanging gongs. I don’t hear them anymore.
        There are a few reasons I don’t think he is a good bishop, not the least of which his recent statement that bishops should be working to restrict online Catholic content to Catholics. This is a repulsive notion, that we as Catholics need bishops to limit our access to online Catholic blogs that they find objectionable. One might guess a “Francis-bishop” may well want to restrict what Catholics hear about Rome today, but I doubt anybody here wants bishops deciding what we should be able to read. That was a disturbing impulse on his part. These men seem to think we are imbeciles.
        God bless you and all here. Thank you for the great discussion.

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        1. A couple of thoughts. With regard to what Bp. Barron’s said (if it boils down to that statement), one should consider the definition of “reasonable.” With regard to what Jesus said, one should consider not just the letter of His words, but the spirit as well. I’m thinking of the astonished Apostles wondering who then can be saved? “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26

          Meanwhile, confused souls continue running for exits and we need to seriously understand why and deeply contemplate how to help heal the Body of Christ.

          Liked by 6 people

        2. God bless you and yours, too, Kate. Thank you too for sharing further thoughts on the matter. I am generally an *old school* type and I love a good fire and brimstone homily, very much absent in Masses for too long. imho. However my real and sincere curiosity was/is what is the Church’s stance on people in hell? Bishop Barron does not deny hell, or that the devil exists and seeks our souls, or that it is a real possibility that ones own free will can place us in eternal separation of God’s love. He states God does not damn us/send us to hell and He desires all of us to be saved. I have heard him say many times over the course of several years, that *…the church is not obliging anyone to believe that a human being is in hell; we just do not know.* If this is true, if the bishop being disobedient?
          As far as restricting access to online information and/or creating a catholic bubble of approved reading, I am not on board. I simply have not learned about this endeavor and may discover more in my selected Sunday reading material.
          I keep our dear shepherds in prayer daily! ❤

          Liked by 4 people

          1. So every Father, Doctor and Pope up to about ten minutes ago has affirmed that there are actually people in hell. Every saint granted a vision of hell has seen the souls of the damned suffering there. Our Lady, Herself, (see Fatima) lamented the number of souls who are in fact damned as a result of sins of impurity. But we’re supposed to take Bishop Barron’s word that there is a hope that hell is empty except for the demons. Which of course raises the question does God love us more than the angels? If He loves the angels why can He not bring the fallen angels around to salvation? Are we to argue with our Lord when He says of Judas Iscariot, His betrayer, that it “were better had he never been born”? If Judas is in heaven that this statement is manifestly false.

            Liked by 4 people

            1. I do not speak for the Bishop. If he is hoping and not declaring, I can handle that as his way to express a point of view. That’s just me. ❤

              With Lent on the horizon, I will add, there are certainly bigger fish to fry. < 😉

              Liked by 1 person

          2. I’ve read the Bishop Barron’s (BB) January 29, 2020 interview transcript regarding social media @ https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/bishop-robert-barron-on-social-medias-power-to-build-and-to-destroy/26432/

            I highlight the following Q & A here and ask…

            PJS: Do you believe the Church needs to develop its vision and social teaching regarding social media? For example, Facebook and other social media companies rely on armies of people who are exposed to the worst of humanity in order to keep violent, horrific content off these platforms. Some of these platforms are accused of censoring viewpoints or facilitating propaganda that led to genocide. Are there moral responsibilities we need to cultivate with social media that encompass both our own use, but also to make sure that the dignity of human beings is protected and not violated by social media?

            BB: I’d like to make a proposal in this regard, knowing full well that, as a lowly back-bencher in the bishops’ conference, I have no authority whatsoever to make it happen. But just as John Paul II, in Ex corde ecclesiae, called for the bishops to exercise greater supervision of universities operating under the aegis of the Church, I would recommend that we bishops exercise some authority over those who claim to teach for the Church in the social media space. There are, to be blunt, a disconcerting number of such people on social media who are trading in hateful, divisive speech, often deeply at odds with the theology of the Church and who are, sadly, having a powerful impact on the people of God. I do think that the shepherds of the Church, those entrusted with supervising the teaching office, can and should point out when people on social media are harming the body of Christ. I wonder if it’s time to introduce something like a mandatum for those who claim to teach the Catholic faith online, whereby a bishop affirms that the person is teaching within the full communion of the Church.

            …I’ve explained to my husband what an imprimatur is and why I find it to be beneficial. Am I missing something, or isn’t that in essence what BB is suggesting only with websites claiming to be teaching Catholic faith?

            ❤

            Like

            1. Any publication is a form of teaching – and the Bishop spoke of social media in general. If he was limiting it just to overt teaching sites, there would be no call to speak of “hateful, divisive speech.” The point, J Lynn, is he first speaks broadly about social media – as to where it will apply. Then he speaks of the teaching role of social media, without actually constraining his proposal to formal teaching sites. It is a deft statement that first encompasses all of social media and then seeks to anesthetize opposition by speaking of teaching – figuring that people will think it is limited rather than counting all of social media that comments on such as having a teaching role.

              This is kind of like the “health of the mother” exemption for abortion – which sounds like it limits the practice but actually authorizes all abortions.

              Liked by 4 people

              1. Thank you Charlie for helping see the context from a new perspective. It is easy to inadvertently gloss over details when you are a stranger to potential misleading verbal tactics. I tend to take things at face value, which has not always served me best. Live and learn. ❤

                Liked by 2 people

                1. Oh, it is a good question, J. Lynn. If Bp. Barron said that this was only to apply to genuine teaching sites and was not going to define all social media as a teaching site, it would largely be harmless. But yeah, I have lived parsing statements my whole life to find the catch.

                  Liked by 2 people

            2. Hmmm.  I think I get what he is saying, but how do you put an imprimatur on it?  It is easy when a book is published, but on something that changes daily?  How are rogue priests and bishops handled?  I am not trying to criticize BB.  I can imagine a sense of frustration with our culture, but many in the clergy are compromised.  I think we need to start with our own house before considering outside.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

              Liked by 3 people

              1. I love that, Doug!

                My dear mother, God rest her soul, was raised as an orphan by loving Catholic clergy and religious, and had a great domestic and professional work ethic. Although she was only in my adult life for a hand full of years, I remember her instructing me as a child while doing my Saturday chores (dusting and scouring) to *start from the top and work your way down.* It makes good sense. However I was not to walk away until the job was completely done satisfactorily. This included dirt/dust free baseboards, clean floors, and the underside of the toilet and sink, and the pedestal had to sparkle.

                We’ve been alerted what to watch for and I do hope and pray that Bishop Barron, in his unique role, does what has been entrusted to him with the same vim and vigor with grace and charity. ❤

                Liked by 1 person

                1. What a lovely sentiment, J. Lynn! I think sometimes we get caught up in holding effective Catholic apologists to the standards of theologians. Very few actually pass muster as theologians – but many are effective apologists.

                  Liked by 2 people

  17. Thank you JLYNNBYRD for your comments. I too have great admiration for Bishop Barron. His videos have been used in our prayer group and we are not theological intellects either by any stretch but have gained much insight and further love of our Faith. God Bless.

    Liked by 4 people

    2. Judith, you wrote “we are not theological intellects”. But this is precisely the group for whom Bishop Barron is the most dangerous. If you do not have an intellectual grasp of the truths of the Faith how can you hope to sort out what is sound doctrine and what is not? It is certainly true that Bishop Barron is learned, articulate and has a winsome manner of presentation. That does no mean that what he says is true. You say you have gained a “further love for our Faith”. I certainly hope this is true and that you have not simply gained a love for Bishop Barron’s interpretation of the Faith.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. Dangerous?

        I believe Scott Hahn from the St. Paul Center to be another great theologian. When they both speak Latin, Greek, Hebrew…, quote/reference Fathers and Doctors of the Church, history and science, I frequently am perplexed, yet intrigued with their vast knowledge and accept it as a challenge to learn more. Our former TNRS resident Bishop YD and Charlie are also among the *giants* I referred to recently, that I look(ed) to for guidance, not hand holding. As Charlie says we will all make mistakes, even the elect.

        I trust God knows our hearts and minds and He is the one above all others that I trust. Thank God for our ASOH family. It is a joy and pleasure to be a fellow pilgrim on a glorious journey with you all as we navigate down some rocky roads, step by step! Some steps will be right, some left and other times our feet may be grounded, yet we forge ahead together. ❤

        Liked by 6 people

  18. Trump’s a genius!: Right after the impeachment outcome has been made certain, he just now expanded the travel ban to a few more African countries, and the knee-jerk Dems are “outraged” and crying racism again. He was waiting for the perfect moment. Poor bastards just can’t get their footing, constantly responding to the narratives he sets. All that most Americans will see are the Left’s endless squawking and threats and investigations and hearings. Dems seem utterly blind to how easily Trump is manipulating them. If they haven’t caught on by now, they never will. Or perhaps they quite literally have no choice, so ingrained and hard-wired is their swampy Washington thinking.

    Shoot. This is no longer a fair contest….I’m actually feeling a little sorry for the lot on the Left. They look like cartoons.

    Liked by 9 people

    2. PD, you are right, Trump is the ultimate trolling dude. Amazing to watch him. I know a lot of people judge him badly because of this, but it’s important to distinguish between the public Trump and the private Trump and between being mean or boorish and being strategic. I don’t know his private person, having never met him, but in watching his public trolling, I know he is *always* strategic in those comments. No matter how funny or boorish his comments, they always have a purpose. Discover that there always is a purpose, and one’s opinion of his comments can change markedly. It took me a couple months to discover this in 2016. Since them, I have both enjoyed what he does and how he does it and been in awe of how utterly effective this strategy is in his hands.

      Liked by 5 people

    3. I SPOKE WAY TO SOON ABOUT TRUMP. Turns out the result was an even more brilliant stroke than anyone suspected (of course). Here’s the replay:

      * Dems fail to convict Trump

      * Trump initiates travel ban on a few more African countries

      * Dems and Leftist media scream “racist.” on Saturday
      (I didn’t witness this, but assume it occurred from 1 report)

      * Then, on Super Bowl Sunday, the world meets Alice Johnson.

      And by Monday morning, one would imagine the Left kicking themselves for publicly calling him a racist the day before because they just made the contrast between them and the Right even starker. He forces them, not to play the game like statesmen, but to run around the field like streakers, exposing themselves for the world to see.

      Genius.

      Landslide.

      Liked by 4 people

  19. On Babylon bee😂😂😂 WASHINGTON, D.C.—After House Republicans formally called for an investigation into the investigators investigating the Trump campaign, congressional Democrats quickly responded by calling for a new investigation into the investigators investigating the original investigators.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. THIS IS PRICELESS! I just laugh my head off…it is like…’whose on 3rd’! These idiots can’t get anymore comical and ridiculous. What must their mommies think. Very funny, Linda and Patrick Daniel. There is nothing like being played and Prez T. does a great job. Rounds it up and they fall into it every time. But the whole thing is they either are very sad nincompoops or or or wait for it…puppets.
      He doesn’t just set them up, he is ten steps ahead and enjoys every moment of it. But I believe it is not that easy or harmless. Something nefarious seems lurking and is about ready to raise its evil head.🤬
      Can you guess! Thanks good people for stimulating and thought provoking discussions. It has been fun. I have nothing to say about Bishop Baron. May our Lord Bless our Bishops and bring their hearts and minds back to His Love and Divine Will. CandleMass today, and it was beautiful.
      Ave Maria, O’Blessed Mother.

      Liked by 5 people

  21. February 2, 2020 to Mirjana Our Lady of Medjugorje… message for the world

    “Dear children, by the act of the decision and love of God, I am chosen to be the Mother of God and your mother.

    But also by my will and my immeasurable love for the Heavenly Father and my complete trust in Him, my body was the chalice of the God-man.

    I was in the service of truth, love and salvation, as I am now among you to call you, my children, apostles of my love, to be carriers of truth; to call you to spread His words, the words of salvation, by your will and love for my Son: that with your actions you may show, to all those who have not come to know my Son, His love.

    You will find strength in the Eucharist—my Son who feeds you with His Body and strengthens you with His Blood. My children, fold your hands and look at the Cross in silence.

    In this way, you are drawing faith to be able to transmit it; you are drawing truth to be able to discern; you are drawing love that you may know to love truly.

    My children, apostles of my love, fold your hands, look at the Cross. Only in the Cross is salvation. Thank you.”

    Liked by 8 people

  22. Today is the Feast of the Presentation.

    I would venture to say that most average Catholics don’t fully understand the symbolism of this Feast.
    It actually details three different ceremonies that occurred after the birth of a child. The first ceremony was Circumcision; the second the presentation of the child in the temple; the third the presentation of the mother at the temple.

    1.) I believe the first ceremony the Circumcision was typically performed in the home and did not require a trip to the temple.

    2.) The presentation of the first-born son is the second ceremony which our text reports. This, too, was a requirement of the Law, which Luke cites:

    “EVERY first-born MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD” (Luke 2:23; from Exodus 13:2, 12; cf. Num. 18:15-17).

    From the context of the passage in Exodus we know that during the final plague which God brought upon Egypt, all the first-born of Egypt were slain, both man and beast, while the first-born of the Israelites (that is, those who applied the blood of the Passover Lamb to their door posts and lintel) lived. The redemption of the first-born was required because the first-born were spared by God and thus belonged to Him. When an Israelite family redeemed their first-born, they were acknowledging that this child belonged to God.

    The redemption price for a first-born male Israelite a month or more old was set at five (sanctuary) shekels in Numbers 18:16. Apparently presentation of the first-born never occurred earlier than 31 days after birth. Thus, the presentation of the child and the purification of the mother (the third ceremony), could be done on the same visit to the temple.

    3.) The third ceremony was the purification of Mary, required by the Law after the birth of a child. In Leviticus chapter 12 we are told that a woman is ceremonially unclean after the birth of a child. For a boy child the woman is unclean for seven days (12:2), and unable to enter the sanctuary for another 33 days (12:4). For a girl child the time doubles. She is unclean for 14 days and unable to enter the sanctuary for 66 days (12:5). This means that Jesus would have been approximately six weeks old at the time of his presentation. The sacrifice of the two turtledoves indicates that Mary and Joseph were poor people, as this was a provision for the poor (Lev. 12:6-8).”

    The priest today connected the Presentation and the Baptism at the Jordan. Both were acts of obedience to the Law of Moses. He particularly addressed the Presentation of Mary. Her ceremony involved the offering of the Two Turtle Doves. One was a sin offering and the other was a burnt offering. The sin offering was to atone for one’s personal sins because the price of sin is death. The burnt offering was to indicate one’s complete dedication to the Lord. The animal was to be completely burnt on the altar symbolizing that completeness.

    The connection to Jesus’ and Mary’s presentations? They each had no need of it. Mary was sinless.
    Jesus was sinless. But as at the Jordan the ceremonies were necessary so that “all righteousness” was to be observed.

    Obedience is a theme that we should all meditate on with respect to how we are going to negotiate the worst blasts of the Storm in our lives. St Lucia in her memoirs says several times that she first Trusted the Lord and next those who represented the Lord. Obedience. As I read through her 6 memoirs over a lifetime I began to think of Obedience as a kind of cop out on personal responsibility. Lucia firmly believed that obedience to her superiors would never be condemned by God. She saw Obedience as her life boat which gave her the courage to tell the story of Fatima.

    Charlie clearly follows St Lucia’s school of thinking. Trust God and obey those who legitimately represent Him.

    The Feast of the Presentation and the Baptism of Jesus are examples of Obedience that we should all be prepared to emulate even if it galls us beyond belief. My guess is we will all have to practice up on Obedience to get through what is coming with confidence that we are on a straight path which God will never condemn.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. A lot to Ponder Ed. I have thought on Saint Joseph’s consecrating Jesus to God in his official capacity being responsible for Jesus’ upbrining. Imagine Joseph bringing God to the Temple! mind boggling.

      ********
      Latest Medjugorje Message, February 2, 2020 – Apparitions to Mirjana
      https://www.medjugorje.ws

      “Dear children! By the act of the decision and love of God, I am chosen to be the Mother of God and your mother. But also by my will and my immeasurable love for the Heavenly Father and my complete trust in Him, my body was the chalice of the God-man.

      I was in the service of truth, love and salvation, as I am now among you to call you, my children, apostles of my love, to be carriers of truth; to call you to spread His words, the words of salvation, by your will and love for my Son: that with your actions you may show, to all those who have not come to know my Son, His love.

      You will find strength in the Eucharist-my Son who feeds you with His Body and strengthens you with His Blood. My children, fold your hands [in prayer] and look at the Cross in silence. In this way, you are drawing faith to be able to transmit it; you are drawing truth to be able to discern; you are drawing love that you may know to love truly. My children, apostles of my love, fold your hands [in prayer], look at the Cross. Only in the Cross is salvation. Thank you. ”

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Circumcision generally took place on the 8th day after the birth of the child. Thus for many centuries January 1, eight days after Christmas, was the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord.

      Liked by 3 people

        1. @Doug (or his backpack): I’ve wondered if the healing of the belly button counts as a wound. It wouldn’t have caused a loss of blood as the circumcision did, but… I don’t know. Which calls to mind a joke. How could you identify Adam and Eve in a police line-up? They wouldn’t have belly buttons.

          Liked by 2 people

        2. Yes, in my private recitation of the Litany of the Precious Blood, I include it as an invocation.
          Blood of Christ, first shed for us in the circumcision, save us!

          Liked by 2 people

  23. Given date format of

    YYYY.MM.DD

    Today is…

    2020.02.02

    which reads the same forward or backward.

    Happy palindrome day!

    Do we have a Saint or Angel for such occassions?

    Grace and peace.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. Oops…faux pas there, Patrick. The scenario you suggest could not happen because both KC and the Pats are American Conference teams – and the Super Bowl is between the AFC Champion and the NFC Champion. KC and the Pats could meet in the AFC title game, though, to determine who would represent the AFC in the SuperBowl.

      Liked by 2 people

          1. ….something I could live to regret for the rest of my life. But the ASOH folks are such a merciful bunch.

            And you know, I’m (sadly) a Bills fan and really should have know better. I haven’t been thinking much of the NFL past many, many years so am out-of-touch a bit with the league…just don’t care anymore. But I would watch those nifty 10-min highlights video so have been secretly enjoying the game again this year. I assume that anthem-kneeling BS is over?

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Ha PD. I bet you had fun up there in the great state of Montana. I don’t watch football as much as I did just 2-years ago. I did go to Miami this past week because I was invited to two Superbowl parties hosted by Franco Harris, the former Pittsburgh Steeler. It was insane in Miami. I really enjoyed talking to some of the old time greats. It’s surely is a different world now. 😎

              Liked by 1 person

  26. Hehehe this morning micharl, in regards to holy statues and pictures and holy art said, the more the merrier but it is starting to get a little crowded in here😂🤣😅

    Liked by 4 people

  27. Jesus = Good-News 😉
    Psalms 59:16
    “I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.”

    https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/02/religious-freedom-group-objects-navys-christian-talk.html

    https://nationalinterest.org/feature/promises-kept-trump-administration-has-paved-way-promoting-culture-life-119471

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-indonesia/pope-plans-indonesia-trip-to-promote-inter-religious-dialogue-idUSKBN1ZX13L

    http://allnewspipeline.com/A_Nightmare_In_Paradise.php

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/plea-lay-church-esther-caswell/

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/freedom_from_freedom_from_religion_the_intent_of_our_founding_fathers.html#ixzz6CmxPG7u5

    https://stream.org/on-20th-anniversary-of-trafficking-victims-protection-act-trump-signs-executive-order-on-combatting-human-trafficking-and-online-child-exploitation/

    https://stream.org/planned-parenthood-ad-monetizes-hatred-towards-mike-pence/

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/minnesota-priest-apologizes-for-calling-islam-greatest-threat-in-the-world

    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/kidnapped-nigerian-seminarian-has-been-killed-44478

    https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/church-of-england-apologizes-for-restating-christian-doctrine-on-marriage/

    Perverts & their “Protectors” claim another Diocese ;-(
    https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=186790

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/01/swiss-air-drops-christian-chocolate-supplier-following-protests/

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/01/washington-democrats-push-mandatory-lgbtq-focused-sex-ed-for-kindergartners/

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    Liked by 6 people

  28. Yikes patrick madrid was just talking about the lewdness of dance at the superbowl halftime…ShakIra just a tiny bit…coudnt stomach more than 30 seconds…didn’t dare go to jlo…I think they Shouldve had Kanye West. …hmmmmm…wouldnt that have glorified God rather than glorifying jezebel

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Halftime booty show with stripper poles and crotch-grabbin’. Classy. Guys were whooping and throwing dollar bills at the screen (not really). A couple I had met at church that morning were sitting next to me….awkward all around. “Oh, she’s got a nice voice” or “they are really talented dancers.“ Please.

      For me, it was painful to my soul that I (and children and young men and women) had to see that. I instinctively love a beautiful booty (who doesn’t?), but I do not want to be sexually tempted like that. It’s as awkward as watching 2 people make out. Didn’t ask for it, didn’t want it. I turned my eyes away (repeatedly — ha!) and tried (in vain) to chat with people instead.

      Sex sells, but there was no need for it because everyone tuned-in to watch football and commercials; it was completely unnecessary.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Fortunately, I did not even know about the controversy until it was over. I don’t like Super Bowl halftime shows, period…so I use that time to do some reading. I was reading Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates while all the shaking was going on. Last time I watched a Super Bowl halftime show was in 1986 (Bears vs Patriots). They had the then popular “Up With People” group do an extravaganza. I thought it nice enough, but insipid – and when I come to watch football, I wanna see football. At halftime, give me Terry, Howie, Jimmy et al to talk about….football.

        I did look at an online clip. This year it was not just insipid, but offensive and vulgar. Man, have we got a lot of wood to chop.

        Liked by 10 people

        1. speaking of chopping wood

          Jesse Romero’s Blog
          DAILY REFLECTIONS WITH
          ARCHBISHOP FULTON SHEEN
          The argument of holiness

          In other parts of the world, our brothers in Christ are suffering for their faith And here we are at ease, just undergoing a slight test and dividing our loyalty between Christ and the world. We must realize in minds and hearts that this is a new age, that we will have to be a creative minority, and that the only argument that is left to convince others is holiness. The world has heard every other argument, and it is ready to reject them all, all except one: holiness.

          Liked by 9 people

        3. Booger McFarland had a gem of a football Maddenism comment for the ages with, “If the Eagles want to win this foitball gane they are going to have to beat the Giants.”

          I am with you on the tv porn. It is done on purpose to subjugate and humiliate us. Reject it.

          Liked by 7 people

      2. I am lucky to have a husband who loves modesty … actually he had to make me aware of it long ago. I think of Our blessed Mother here…I bet she had only 2 pieces of clothes… most beautiful woman in the universe… covered from head to toe…there is our model. I’m truly sad for the little girls in this culture that think this way of dance and dress are ok and even to be praised in this culture. They think nothing of it because their parents love it too. You are right Charlie, we have a lot of wood to chop… as crew dog says, God save all here .. yikes… like sodom & Gomorrah out there on steroids and almost worldwide 😬 Mike and I ended up watching Fr Groscell lol timeless

        Liked by 7 people

        1. AS A WOMAN IS, SO IS THE MAN.

          Men and Women

          Ida received a message concerning the proper role of men and women:
          “The Lady forms two rows of people. Now I see men standing to her right and women to her left. Then she points at the row of women with a compassionate look on her face. She shakes her head in pity and says, as though addressing those women:

          “Do you still know your task?”

          She then explains the extremely significant influence that women have on men:

          “Listen carefully. As a woman is, so is the man. You women, set the example. Return to your womanliness… Abandon all of your egoism and vanity, and try to bring to the center, the Cross, all children and those who are still wandering around grazing. Make sacrifice.”

          Then she looks at the row of men and says:

          “I have one question for you, men: where are the soldiers for Christ?… from you, men, has to come the strength and the will to lead the world to the sole Prince of this world, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

          from Our Lady of All Nations.

          Liked by 7 people

          1. Interesting passage, Patrick. Every time I was with Maria Esperanza she expressed a heartfelt plea to pray for men. At first, we thought she meant mankind, but no. She said “men” specifically for too many are in great need of conversion. And not to pit one God-given gender against another, for if Adam had sinned, Eve could have taken the course of encouraging and insisting that he repent and she could have stood by him, interceding as they spoke with the Father. I still can only imagine how the Fall in the Garden would have ended had Adam stepped up and protected Eve by correcting her error and insisting that they go to the Father so she could repent. Jesus, Divine Mercy, came to reveal to us the Father so I sense deeply that Eve would have been forgiven. Back to Maria’s request to pray for men… In the breakdown of families, the leaders of the domestic churches have been deeply wounded and cycles of sin have been perpetuated. Lots of wood to chop for sure AND the Dawn of a New Beginning is begun. Every man and woman in this community – and those who are also little lights all over the world – who embrace God’s Will and are taking every NRS – with the little each can do right before us – is a smooth stone, rippling in the waters of conversion, redounding to reform, renewal and holiness all over the world.

            Liked by 8 people

            1. Marvelous, Beckita. There is much that can flow from this. When men abdicate leadership (not dominance) everything starts coming unglued. When women abdicate nurturing leadership in the family, men start coming unglued. Much to ponder here.

              Liked by 7 people

        2. This generation may be judged more harshly as we have the Church and Holy Spirit.  Sodom and Gomorah did not have this.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

          Liked by 9 people

          1. A while back, my teenage godson asked for a subscription to Sports Illustrated for his birthday. I explained no can do b/c of the swimsuit issue, so I substituted it with Sports Spectrum which is Christian based. (Don’t think he was too happy as no ty note, but not gonna happen on my watch.) Sample article…
            https://sportsspectrum.com/sport/football/2020/02/03/chiefs-super-bowl-owner-clark-hunt-thanks-lord-mvp-patrick-mahomes-glorify-him/

            Liked by 6 people

              1. Yes jlynnbyrd. Parents/grandparents must set an example for the youth of this world. Ironically my Mother just made me cancel my subscription to Sports Illustrated for the very same reason. 😁✝

                Liked by 2 people

          2. This culture is horrible for women. Although I think things never change. Notice gospel yesterday with herodious’s daughter…so very sad and yet I personally think that goes on all the time today but for slightly different reasons

            Liked by 1 person

      3. Why do they persist? It is so apparent to us that the relentless anti-Christian words and images presented by pop culture performers comes from one common author, the father of lies. Target: Jesus Christ and his followers. Like Madonna before her, J Lo poses like our Suffering Savior…on a stripper pole:

        Subtle, ladies. Can’t think of anything original?

        😧 The one part of the NFL “ass-time” Show that literally sent a shudder down my spine was when the dancers clustered around J-Lo, writhing in an orgy of flesh. They were all dressed in white, no individuality and little difference between the men and the women, limbs intertwining, moving like snakes in a pit, as if they were worshipping the star. It was like looking at souls in the torturous pits of hell. Deeply, deeply disturbing to me.

        I know, we’ve made our point….lots of wood to chop.

        Liked by 4 people

          2. I had to look away due to what I had once been teased about “virgin eyes” and they didn’t know my true sins. I thought a good answer was to say I wouldn’t want my daughter or my wife to show themselves and their body parts in public. Nor should I want other’s wifes or daughters to do this either.

            Liked by 6 people

            1. Some silly poster on SM quipped that it is not a stripper poll unless you are stripping, to which I responded that just because it has clothes hanging off of it does not make a treadmill, a closet. I usually choose the delete button at this point and instead felt prompted and hit send. Sigh.

              ❤

              Liked by 6 people

            2. Bob, here is a quote I keep posted by my computer. It is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi:

              “ As it is not possible for a person to walk barefooted over burning coals without being burnt, so it is impossible for a person to keep his heart pure if he does not guard his eyes with extreme vigilance. As the eye, so is the heart.”

              I work on this a lot, Bob, this extreme vigilance. I will sometimes “allow” that incidental first glance which can be difficult to avoid sometimes — meaning I will not beat myself up for the reflexive mistake; but I realize that if I return my gaze a second time, even for a moment, I have committed adultery with her in my heart. And that’s just in the grocery store. What we saw during the Super Bowl, well, that’s pornography, plain and simple. I know it when I see it.

              Liked by 5 people

      4. I hope JLo and shakira have a conversion.. thought of them yesterday in car Mass readings from Magnificat… Herodias daughter did that dance for Herod he found pleasing and I bet it was similar and our dearest Sat John the Baptist list his holy head over it…St John the Baptist, pray for our men and women of this corrupted sad world🙏🙏🙏

        Liked by 1 person

        2. Beyoncé, Nikki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, J Lo, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga….etc, have common behaviors and themes in their art that consistently involves nudity, BDSM, Magic, people wearing animal costumes, covering of one eye, showing of their tongues, Illuminati references, demonic iconography, insertion of Christian imagery…etc, etc. Common author, it’s as plain as day.

          Liked by 3 people

    2. For sure, Linda. After 1 min of watching, was reminded @ Our Lady of Fatima’s warning: “More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason,” she told Jacinta. She also warned, “Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.” One of my daughters is hoping someday they’ll have cute skits with retro music like this one: (she’s a Carrie Underwood fan) The medley starts at 2:22.

      Liked by 5 people

  29. I have had the luxury and the grace to be out of town and out of media attention this last weekend on retreat, where I realized I much needed time of quiet and of prayer. Opus Dei folks do put on good and reverent retreats. I was thinking that we all should have a primary strategy of praying more before the next election, starting now, as our politics, as is our world, is in such a mess and a muddle which only God can help us solve. As for Russia and for for Putin, I have long had a certain respect for Mother Russia after it left the former Soviet Union and am also praying for our relations.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. I read the review last night and it was very good. Reading Mr. Royal’s reviews of the various books gives you a good shorthand look at the various positions that people have taken concerning the goings on and statements coming out of Rome over the past few years.

      JT

      Liked by 3 people

  32. I didn’t watch it and never intended to. Used the time to do something in the kitchen! Spiritdaily called it demonic; don’t doubt it with the cross symbolism.

    So very sad to hear about Rush Limbaugh!! Dear God, we need good people who speak the truth! Please Lord, give him a miracle.

    Liked by 8 people

  33. A commentator said right after that it was the best halftime show in a long time which I thought was so wrong; they even had Hispanic children in cages. So bad!

    Liked by 3 people

  34. Just a thought, it’s Tuesday morning and there’s still no results in the Iowa Democratic caucus.
    Shouldn’t someone be blaming the Russians by now?

    Liked by 9 people

      1. Ha! It was only a matter of time.

        Just watched the State of the Union, one of Trumps best.
        Pelosi couldn’t hide her anger the whole time. Some of it seemed directed at her Democratic house, a sort of “I told you we shouldn’t impeach, look where we are now”. Her tearing up the speach at the end seemed like a statement, as if to say we don’t have a hope in November.

        Liked by 5 people

        1. I think every Republican should put that scene in an ad and run it over and over, it would resonate.  The left is so full of vitriol and this shows their true colors.  —- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

          Liked by 5 people

        3. Considering how polarized things are, that’s an interesting take, Andy. I did notice at least one instance where she appeared displeased with an outburst from that pack of hyenas in white. Maybe that voice from deep down in her soul managed to break free momentarily over the din of demons plaguing her. I count at least two. A dumb and mute one to explain the hollow eyes, rolling and unable to actually focus on anything, as well as the unintelligible muttering under her breath. The other, hidden behind that, and far more sinister, as it keeps her chained in obstinate denial and sin. The speech tearing might suggest a third, or maybe that bit of petulant histrionics was all her own. V.P. Pence is a saint in the making, having endured that with his good nature and steely-eyed focus on the Truth. Heck, many of us would have lost it at some point and doused her with Holy water.

          As for that pack of hyenas, I admit to being terribly disgusted at their lack of honesty. I get that they’re trying to make a statement wearing white as the women suffragists did, but it’s completely dishonest. Clearly, their party has been the party of disaster and enslavement when it comes to women, minorities, children, the unborn, and all those they pretend to support. Mark Mallet recently had a good column entitled “The Death of Woman,” which does a nice job of elucidating the topic and their crimes in this regard. He pegged such as those to a tee.

          Surely no one can argue with Trump’s policies and accomplishments in the same regard as he continues to lead the real effort of honest folks everywhere for the dignity and rights of all souls. And I don’t blame him a bit for not shaking hands with the demon.

          Liked by 7 people

          1. The transgender phenomenon is the biggest assault on women yet as it steals it away and gives it to men.  Interestingly, the majority of radical feminists have realized this and are very much against the transgender craze.Birth control is an assault on women too.  Now men can use them even more as sex objects and not have to take responsibility.  Abortion does the same.  Many, many woman are wounded and hurt as they have to pick up the pieces of shattered lives from abortion consequences and men who walk away from them.  So in reality, woman is more enslaved.  How clever is the evil one to delude them into thinking they have more freedom.  In the beginning,  God made them.  Male and female he made them.  When seen in proper context of the church, men and woman are gifts to each other.  Rejecting our uniquely designed role is a rejection of the gift giver and has a ripple effect of negative consequences.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

            Liked by 4 people

            1. Well, some (too many) folks preferred deception and they sure got the deceiving spirit, didn’t they. Unfortunately, the scope of the damage probably caught us all off guard on some level for the sheer horror and gut-punching breathlessness of it all. Don’t go back and tell me any of this nonsense decades ago, ’cause I’d think you stark raving mad!

              Lately I’ve been recalling this episode more and more…

              We were hiking, so there’s the beauty in that, but we were coming up out of a place I dubbed “Hell Canyon” at the time. Straining, cramping, sputtering for air and toting a 60 lb. dog to boot ’cause his legs were failing him. Might have even been in the best shape of my life, but seriously doubted whether I could make that ascent. Worse, my future wife was with me and ready to simply plop down and let the elements claim her. She’s a trooper, but really only went on that excursion ’cause she was apparently fond of me. We were in that predicament, ’cause some unforeseeable twists and turns took their toll, resulting in me taking a gamble on a fairly bad route up and out. Either that way of looking at it, or me just opting for the shortest distance between two points.

              Gosh, the setbacks we encountered on that final ascent are almost hard to put into words –– even now –– but there was a moment finally when we crested that ridge. Victory!

              Had I been alone that day, there may be naught left to tell the story, but a set a my bones blanching on the side of that cactus infested canyon. As it stands, I credit her unique spirit, and the One Who sustains it, with getting us out of that mess.

              Sometimes, even now, when we’re really up against it, I can tell that we’re both thinking it, if not actually blurting it out at the same time. “Hell Canyon.”

              Been there, done that… we can do this.

              Liked by 1 person

  35. Jesus = Good-News 😉

    https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/02/03/new-not-normal-counterprotest-pro-life-art-hits-new-york-city/

    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/02/03/nicaraguan-catholic-church-demands-restoration-of-freedom-of-the-press/

    https://cnsnews.com/commentary/allen-west/its-black-history-month-something-different-time

    https://townhall.com/columnists/markdavis/2020/02/04/a-prayer-for-rush-limbaugh-n2560665

    The Left In-Action! I can assure you that “These People” despise People of Faith just as much, or more, than Rush L.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/classless-liberals-gleeful-over-rush-limbaughs-cancer-announcement-cheering-on-cancer/

    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/gabriel-hays/2020/02/03/sorry-cancer-no-one-deserves-rush-media-swipe-limbaugh-after

    &, of course, there is little/no reporting from the MSM on the slaughter of Christians Over-There ’cause … Ya Know?! … The Perps are Religion of Peace Types …& as we know well are favored Victim Group Members of the Democrat Party ;-(

    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/02/02/catholic-church-in-nigeria-appeals-to-the-west-make-known-the-atrocities/

    https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2020/02/03/archbishop-protests-slaughter-of-christians-nigeria-is-drifting-toward-anarchy/

    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2020/02/03/msnbcs-theology-corner-trump-enablers-belong-satan-democrats-jesus

    https://stream.org/actual-vs-counterfeit-intolerance/

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    Liked by 5 people

  36. Another excellent article over at Catholic World Report by Dr. Eduardo Echevarria. Dr. E teachs at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/02/01/making-sense-of-pope-francis-on-faith-evangelization-and-proselytizing/
    The article is a little dense and philosophical at times but is calm and even-handed in its analysis.
    It is the first of two parts. I am looking forward to the second part.
    My primary take-away at this point (and this is my conclusion not Dr. E’s) is that whether we like it or not Pope Francis seems to fit the definition of a “Modernist” as given by Pope St. Pius X a century ago.
    PAX,
    Matthew

    Liked by 2 people

  37. I’m in one of those mixed-religion and culture families.

    I’ve so far arrived at that all venerated main religious figures (apart from Satanism) are potential —through Purgatory — sort of patron saints for family members. At best.
    Jesus has that unique ‘ most privileged’ status, it looks like..

    Budda — likely ‘saved’— seems venerable…to them, as I discern it.
    I pray he was so saved and then, now praying back for us and our partly or full Buddhist fellows. Like a low-level patron saint; like many, probably.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. For sure, anyone who’s in Heaven is a saint, leslyek. One line that then Fr. Barron said in his Catholicism series which struck me was: “To his eternal credit, Buddha did not promise to give eternal life.” We know God has written His Law on every heart, so if Buddha really was who he presented himself to be, his Damascus experience was at death and he would then surely be praying with all the Church Triumphant for the conversion and salvation of those on earth.

      Liked by 6 people

    2. Yes.  Scripture says, and Catholic teaching upholds, as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father but through me”.  Now, how does Jesus open doors to those not professed to be Catholic?  He looks at the heart and some how at some point, folks outside the faith, acting with sincerity must recognize him.  It is a mystery.  Can’t under estimate Gods mercy.  Does this mean all will be saved?  Nope.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

      Liked by 8 people

  38. Will the 2020 election be a contest about God and in particular whose side God is on?

    I ran across this article in the Metro Section of the Washington Post the other day. It’s placement is quite curious because the Metro Section is all about local news which doesn’t normally hit the digital edition for the rest of the country because who cares???

    The Washington Post is a message board for the Left. Washington is full of Leftists ( i.e. communist atheists) as we all know. The WP provides the talking points and the themes the Democrat Leftists are to pound away at to the rest of the country. So, we should examine this article about Dorothy Day from that perspective of developing and running ear tickling political themes up the flag pole to see if anyone is going to salute.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/28/being-communist-socialist-anarchist-sympathizer-once-made-dorothy-day-radical-now-many-want-vatican-make-her-saint/

    Here is the bit that pricked my interest:

    “Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Day wrote for socialist and communist newspapers, yet converted to embrace the hierarchical Catholic Church…….

    Yet many on the religious left considered Day a hero, and big names in the sphere of antiwar and anti-poverty activism, including Abbie Hoffman and Cesar Chavez, mingled with bishops and nearly 1,000 others at Day’s funeral in New York’s East Village……

    Today, as socialism, activism and anti-institutionalism surge into the American mainstream, a new campaign has begun to honor Day as a saint — literally. Catholics pressing the Vatican to canonize Day are beginning a nationwide tour, promoting a new documentary about her and hoping that a new generation will see Day as someone ahead of her time.

    Among older Catholics and Americans in general, Day is among the most famous modern-day Catholic religious figures. During the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s she was best-known as a radical and best-loved by the Catholic left for focusing not on clashes with cardinals about sex and marriage but instead on workers’ rights, food and housing for the poor, and war protests — butting heads with church hierarchs who took a more nuanced view of military conflict. She wouldn’t even vote because she saw it as participating in a system she was trying to upend, her family says.”

    Here we see the Left cozying up to a Catholic Worker’s movement co-founder. Odd couple. The question is: Why?

    Interesting is that the Marxists who fled to the U.S. in the wake of Hitler’s persecution of them who founded the New School of Social Research at Columbia University cozied up to the Catholic social justice agenda and the Democrat Party in an alliance to gain political power. Marxists, Democrats and the Catholic Church marching arm in arm so to speak. Karl Marx himself urged the Marxist “Left” political parties in Europe to participate in elections when they had no chance to win. To ally themselves with stronger elements and undertake alliances of convenience to ride the coattails of stronger allies into elections to achieve power. But these alliances were only to be Temporary. Temporary. Per Karl Marx.

    Think about it. What does Communism and Catholicism have in common? What do committed atheists and committed Christians have in common? One is Anti-God and one is Pro-God. What they have in common ….. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Until that enemy is defeated when my enemy becomes …. my enemy.

    The Catholic Church and catholics in the pew had better wake up to the fact that the Marxist Left which has captured the Democrat Party has no use for them. It has kicked the Church to the curb and has no more need for it. During the last Presidential election the Leftist Democrat Party booed God out of its platform. Why? Because it thinks Christians and Christianity are in the minority in the country and in particular now in the voting minority. We live in a Post-Christian world. You don’t have to cozy up to Christians in a Post-Christian world . You cozy up to the NFL half-time crowd. You co-opt their votes.

    Then came Trump who attended and spoke to the Right to Life rally. Strong with Evangelicals. Then came Pete Buttigieg and the Pro-life Democrat Woman in Iowa

    Woke Catholics could be a major problem for the Left in the 2020 election. Could be.

    So, how do you “moderate” the Left’s political agenda to mollify people like the Pro-Life Democrat Woman? You conflate yourself with and wrap yourself around the flag of somebody like Dorothy Day.

    A radical. An activist. “Today, as SOCIALISM, ACTISM, and ANTI-INSTITUTIONALSI SURGE INTO THE AMERICAN MAINSTREAM a new campaign has begun to honor Day as a saint” …. workers’ rights, food and housing for the poor, and war protests … (immigration?) ”

    Pimping out the Catholic social agenda once again. The Left will try to portray itself as the living embodiment of Dorothy Day :

    …. She was one of us and the Catholic Church is going to make her a Saint … this legitimizes our Marxist social agenda … More government will deliver the goods that Catholics and Christians want but which the nonexistent God and the Catholic Church have failed to deliver… and by the way you can ask the Bishops about that … They agree with us. …. Always have agreed with us ….

    Will the 2020 election be a contest about God and in particular whose side God is on?

    This will be a test for the Bishops. An uncomfortable test. This will be a test for the Pope.
    This will be a test for every single voting age Catholic in the U.S. A really, really uncomfortable test for Mr. and Mrs. Catholic Joe Sixpack. Because the eternal fate of their souls is at stake. No place to hide.

    God isn’t on anybody’s side? Really?

    Time to choose.

    The WP article and the Town Hall set up questions by Fox News are testing the themes the Left will be using during the general election to sway those Christians to choose Not-God. A mess of porridge for their birthright. Such a deal.

    Don’t look for the msm to cover this blossoming aspect of Campaign 2020. Not with a 10 ft pole. And do expect most Bishops to run silent, run deep and to adopt extreme evasive maneuvers to avoid taking a firm stand for God. Especially on the coasts and in the Deep Blue states.

    Liked by 5 people

    2. Well articulated Ed.  Though, I kinda like to think of it as being on God’s side rather than thinking of it as God being on our side.  I say this because, in a sense, God is on both sides from the perspective of wanting his wayward children back.  I don’t see it as winning or losing per se.  However,  those on the left with their antagonistic anti-God beliefs are not doing justice.  God will bring justice.  This is how I see it if that makes sense.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

      Liked by 5 people

  39. I chuckle & shake my head on how Country Music singers & writers get it all wrong…

    The measure of love (between husband & wife) isn’t a measure of what’s done in the bedroom, but the exact opposite of everything else done outside the bedroom. Love is forgiving your spouse of all their imperfections & shortcomings (that are not mortal sins), and choosing to treat them the way you want to be treated. Love isn’t about avoiding conflicts in marriage, buy learning to discard those unrealistic societal ideals of perfection in a spouse, and humbly accept them as they are, only then can couple’s love grow…

    Liked by 3 people

  40. Today I found out that I have colon cancer. Next Monday I get a cat scan with contrast to see if it has metastasized. Please pray for me that the results are good. Thank you in advance, because I know that my friends won’t let me down. Dee

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Praying for you, Dee. Praying for good results in the testing and for comfort and peace as you navigate this health issue. Beginning my prayers for you with a PMT and sending you St. Raphael to remain with you.

      Liked by 8 people

      1. Thanks Doug,, I liked that “behind the scenes fixture” comment Yes, I’ve been praying for any intention asked since 2014. And just to add again, I’m still saying the St Bridget 12 yr. prayer that you and Sean brought to my attention. Maybe it was meant to be , just in time. But I sure will keep everyone posted of the outcome. My love to all, Dee

        Liked by 6 people

        2. That warms my heart Dee.  It reminds me of the 5 promises associated with it.  Nothing to fear.  This April will have been 3 years for me praying St. Bridget.  Lambzie and I pray it together now.  It seems our day is not complete unless we pray it together.  Much better than praying it alone.  Lamzie and I both praying for you.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

          Liked by 3 people

    4. Not letting you down, Dee. Praying. Faith, Hope and Courage. It is times like this when the rubber hits the road for Christian believers. Whatever the future path be calm in the sure knowledge that God has you in the palm of His hand.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Thank you, Narnialion. And, Dee, if you would simply like healing prayer without joining The Anointed Life, I can arrange that as well. (But not saying not to join if you’re interested in becoming part of a another dynamic community of believers who are interested in being Christ’s Light in the darkness.) Many of us are stepping out in the healing ministry now and are delighted to bless whatever God is doing in the life of the one to whom we minister. You can write to me at TNRSAnswers, Dee, and we could communicate more: tnrs.answers@gmail.com

        Liked by 3 people

        1. Hi Dee,
          Yes, it’s me way out here in Colorado now! I remember our meeting at Dennys, was it about 3 years ago?? or 4? I will be back in PA for the summer, so maybe we should meet at Dennys again!
          Love,
          Narnialion

          Liked by 3 people

          1. Hi Narnia,
            Would love that. Can’t wait to hear all about your big move.I’m sure Carmelite would love to come also. Surgery is Tuesday already, And if everything goes well, it’s a date. But I think it might have even been five yrs. Time has really sped up. Love, Dee

            Liked by 2 people

    6. dolordee, I am sad to hear this. I have offered a Prayer of Miraculous Trust for your health and healing and I will keep you and yours close to my heart in prayer as you undergo testing and possible treatments. ❤

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Thank you so, so much for all the prayers. And my six kids are all saying St. Rita’s novena for the impossible for me. With so many prayers reaching heaven for my situation, how could I not be given the grace to accept any outcome.

        Liked by 7 people

    9. Prayers for you, Dee, from here also! Colon cancer can be beaten. My father had surgery for it, and living until the age of 90, it did not impact his life again. May Raphael’s healing balm help you!

      Liked by 4 people

    14. DOLORDEE, Whatever happens here, it is only a passing incident, granted hurtful now to all. I just read a newly posted NDE report, and wish to share a few of its observations with you.
      Brom’s report posted as of Feb 5, 2020 ( https://www.nderf.org/Experiences/1brom_w_nde.html ) while simple is yet powerful:

      ” During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes that the light is god made manifest. ” John 8:12 English Standard Version (ESV) I Am the Light of the World:
      “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

      “Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes the concept of a living light seems preposterous here but there, it just is the natural state of things. ” Consistent with above quote.

      ” During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes light, love and god are all the same thing; accessible and free. There may be a greater understanding of love to aspire to by being more loving. ” Clearly explains the unity of God as light and love with us naturally experiencing God when we leave here. I wish I had known this when my parents died from a house fire some sixty years ago, although had I known, I would never have thought to do research about the nature of life and death.

      Liked by 3 people

    15. Dolordee, An NDE report was just posted on the IAND’s web site, and is worth sharing for reinforcing faith.

      NURSE, DEAD FOR 20 MINUTES, SEES GOD BUT CAN’T ENTER

      Created: Wednesday, 05 February 2020 22:29
      In 1989 I had graduated nursing school and was working as a nurse in a hospital. I had a patient that was in isolation with pneumonia. Somehow I contracted the same type of pneumonia, even though I used all necessary precautions. I was sick overnight. I woke up with severe chills and a fever of 102. I still lived in the nursing dorm, so I woke up another nurse who took me to the hospital across the street. The doctors in the ER admitted me immediately.

      By the next day I was running fevers of 104. The highest my fever got was 105.2. I was very sick. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose or mouth. The infection control doctor said I had Klebsiella pneumonia, which has a high mortality rate. I was in the hospital for about 2 months. One day I was running fevers of around 104-105, couldn’t breathe, and just wanted to be out of the sickness. I wanted to get better. I’m an only child, and my mother was told by the doctors that I wasn’t improving, even though I was being given massive doses of antibiotics. They even told my mother I would probably die, because I was septic by then. She was screaming, “But she’s only 23!!”

      I don’t remember the specific day, but after being sick for 2 months I remember saying to myself, I just can’t take this anymore. I remember hearing the doctors and nurses around my bed in ICU saying, “She’s not gonna make it.”

      I closed my eyes and then I was in another realm. No tunnel of light or anything. I was just there. At first I was slightly confused. Where am I? I was on a path and I could see hills, green grass, a flowing brook, and a low stone wall. I saw animals of all kinds and lots of flowers. The colors were very vivid, and there are no colors on earth like them. I could hear soft music coming from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I saw bearded irises on the path I was on, and I leaned over to smell them. They smelled just like lemonade!!

      All of a sudden a large golden coach appeared. There were people in it, and the door opened. I got in without any question. There were no drivers on the coach. In all the NDEs I’ve read, I’ve never heard of anyone else mentioning a coach of any kind. Well, we were taken to a mansion, that’s the only way I can describe it, and into a very large room with people of all ages, races, etc. The room was round and there were gold candles on the walls. The walls were a robins egg blue with gold trim. Two huge doors were on one side of the room. There were many, many people in this room.

      All of a sudden I felt a strong presence behind me. I turned around and there was my great-grandmother and my grandmother!! I grew up in the same house with them, so I knew who they were, but they looked like they were about 17-21 years old. My GG died in 1978 at the age of 100, and my grandmother, whom I was extremely close to, had passed away 3 years before in 1985. There was no way I could have recognised my GG, since I had no picture of her when she was 17 in 1895. But I knew them both. They wouldn’t let me touch them, but they said I wasn’t ready and would see them again someday.

      About that time the two huge doors opened. Beings appeared that somehow I knew were angels. They wore a very bright white and were very tall. About 10 feet or more. I was not frightened by their presence. They began to take groups of people through these doors. I wanted to go, but they said it wasn’t my time. I could see a very bright light, and somehow I knew it was God. All of a sudden everything I ever questioned made sense. I knew instantly we are one with everything. Another thing. Everyone spoke, but it was almost like telepathy. I turned around to see my GG and grandmother, saying I wanted to stay. They said again no, you’re not ready.

      And the next thing I know I was opening my eyes back in ICU. Just like that. I closed my eyes again wanting so much to go back, but I couldn’t. One of the nurses turned around and gasped. She said I was pronounced dead about 20 minutes ago. The doctors could never understand how I “recovered” in their words. I knew then I had died and I got a small glimpse of heaven.

      It has taken me over 30 years for me to ever tell anyone what I experienced. The first person I told was my husband, and that was after we had been married for years. I was not oxygen deprived, I was not on any narcotics, and I did not dream this!! I finally have opened up and told my NDE to others.

      I use this as an example of what I experienced. Did you wake up this morning and eat breakfast, shower, maybe drove to work? Did you really do those things or did you dream it? You really did. That’s what my NDE was. It was VERY REAL, very vivid and beyond wonderful!! And to this day, when I lean over to smell an iris, I still smell the scent of lemonade.

      Liked by 9 people

      1. Dear Jack, Since I’m not thinking clearly these days, after I read your first paragraph, I thought you were writing about me, but I thought, you got the date wrong, it was 1961, and it wasn’t pneumonia, it was hepatitis. Which the ER doctor told me it was the flu. I was put in isolation in my room , and it wasn’t until years later that I realized they had lied to me, and since my skin and eyes were yellow, and we were caring for young men just back from Vietnam, that were in isolation with Hepatitis, that was what it was. I reread it again, and finally realized what you were trying to tell me, and the article was beautiful. I truly appreciate all time it took to write this. And I truly believe that this is what I will see if my situation ends like this. Thank you again for your loving and caring writing. Love, Dee

        Liked by 5 people

  41. With regard to the canonization of Dorthy Day, I am surprised that no distiction is made between her pre-conversion positions and statements and her post-conversion. I can see the obvious that leftists would support her canonization in order to push and emphasize her earlier socialist and communist support. jas

    Liked by 8 people

    1. I completely agree, JAS. I had a very dear friend who worked with Dorothy Day after Day’s conversion – and it pained my friend to no end that the left loved to cite Day’s pre-conversion radicalism while completely ignoring her conversion – and the depth and breadth of authentic charity and commitment to building others up rather than tearing them down. My friend worked directly with Katherine Doherty at Madonna House for over 20 years – who became close friends with Day and collaborated on many things with her.

      Liked by 9 people

      1. Charlie, I was friends with this guy:

        http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/1999d/122499/122499n.htm

        Mike Kirwan walked the walk. He went out on the streets every single night to deliver soup to the homeless around the State Department. Rain or snow notwithstanding.

        I once asked him why he didn’t take advantage of the government programs just starting to take shape in those days. Billions were beginning to pour into “programs” to aid the homeless. He would have nothing to do with the government “programs” EVER. He was very suspicious of the Government and politics and politicians — at any level. He was just a practicing Christian.

        He ran his soup operation out of the tiny kitchen in the basement parish hall of our parish. It was there that we used to have after Mass donut hour for the ladies etc. Eventually, the street people began invading the Donut Hour and it began to intimidate the ladies. They came to me. I went to Mike while he was preparing the soup and said “Mike we have to have a talk.” He replied that he knew exactly why I wanted to talk to him and he said “Don’t worry I will take care of it.” He said that the ladies deserved to enjoy their Donut Hour in peace. He said something profound that I have never forgotten: “You can’t do two things at the same time in the same place.” Yup.

        The problem stopped over night.

        The thing that amazed all of us who knew Mike was how he could just mention that he needed some money for some project or other and it would just drop out of the sky into his hands. God looked out for Mike Kirwan.

        Perhaps few know that Mike Kirwan entered the seminary to study to be a priest for a short while. He would do his studies during the day and head out with his soup to the streets as always. The Archbishop eventually told Mike that he had to choose one or the other … the priesthood or the street people. Mike left the seminary and went back to serving the poor.

        Mike would be appalled at the mere idea of the Political Left pimping out his ministry to the poor and homeless as virtue signaling to obtain power. He never signaled his virtue to anyone. He just lived it.

        Liked by 7 people

        1. Beautiful tribute to your friend, Ed. ASOH has a policy not to clear links coming from NCR because it is an arm of the anti-Church spirit with which orthodox Catholics are contending in these days, but the beauty of your friend’s life can readily be a reason for the exception of letting this link through. Mike Kirwan’s choice not to seek or associate with government programs was wisdom. Many in leadership in the Catholic Church allowed themselves as well as the preaching and living of the Gospel to be compromised after tapping into government money and resources provided by government funding.

          Praying for the repose of Mike’s soul and seeking his intercession as we make our way through this transition to the full Triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.

          Liked by 6 people

  42. Jesus = Good-News 😉

    I don’t usually watch The State of the Union Show or any other political speeches ’cause they are mostly BS and I can see any interesting tidbits on FOX or internet blogs.
    Our duly elected Prez has undergone a 4 year Witch Hunt that has exploded in the face of Trump’s (& my enemies) …. & As we are in a Civil War! ;-( … I decided to watch just so I could focus on PruneFace Pelosi, AKA: SanFran Nanny. It was worth it to watch her antics, facial expressions and “Signals” she was sending to her White Clad House Slaves. It was a riot and she saved the best for last:
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/02/04/speaker-nancy-pelosi-tears-up-president-trump-speech-transcript-following-state-of-the-union/comment-page-1/#comments

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    PS The Democrat Party is in turmoil and Trump & Deplorables have driven them to distraction …. and Madness. This is Good News but Keep Your Powder Dry!!

    Liked by 11 people

  43. Re: The Bishop Barron thing about who goes to Heaven.

    This past weekend I attended a performance of the Fellowship of Performing Arts version of C.S. Lewis’ book “The Great Divorce”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Divorce

    It’s a fascinating treatment by C.S. Lewis about who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell. The story is about choice. People get to choose between Heaven and Hell.

    After the one act play there was a short Q&A with a C.S. Lewis expert who said that one of the sources for Lewis’ inspiration for this work was some 19th century writer/philosopher (can’t remember his name) who posited that people in Hell got periodic vacations to go visit Heaven for awhile. While there they were offered the opportunity to stay. In the play most people decided to go back to Hell.

    They get from Hell which is referred to as Grey Town via bus transport.

    We are given several scenarios of various personality types who make the journey along with the narrator/Lewis and the causes leading them to board the bus back to Hell.

    Anger. Vanity. Addiction. Etc.

    It’s a great night out and if this play makes its way to your area I highly recommend it. It will make you pause and reflect on your own excuses for choosing Not Heaven. Here is the schedule:

    https://fpatheatre.com/

    Liked by 5 people

  44. Holy Moly this is ominous:

    https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3871594

    If this report is not fake news then the world is in for a serious problem.

    Wuhan Virus: 154, 023 infections 24,589 deaths

    That’s a 16% mortality rate. About 1 in 6 of those infected will die.

    How bad is this? Here is a summary of the mortality rate of the Spanish Flu pandemic which hit in 1918:

    http://influenzavirusnet.com/1918-flu-pandemic/mortality.html

    “The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but it is estimated that 10% to 20% of those who were infected died. With about a third of the world population infected, this case-fatality ratio means that 3% to 6% of the entire global population died. Influenza may have killed as many as 25 million in its first 25 weeks. Older estimates say it killed 40–50 million people while current estimates say 50—100 million people worldwide were killed. This pandemic has been described as “the greatest medical holocaust in history” and may have killed more people than the Black Death.

    In the U.S., about 28% of the population suffered, and 500,000 to 675,000 died.”

    The population of the United States today is about 330,000,000, If, as in the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918, 28% of the population is infected that would be about 92 million Americans that would be infected. If the mortality rate is 16% as reported by the Taiwan News in China, that would be about 14 or 15 million deaths in the U.S.

    In China, with a population of 1.4 billion people an extrapolation of these numbers would be 392 million infected and 63 million deaths.

    For the world as a whole with a population of 7.8 billion those kind of numbers extrapolate to 2.2 billion infections and 350 million deaths.

    This is what has the health authorities around the world terribly spooked. Nobody knows of course. Extrapolations can be dangerous and badly off base. Even mine.

    But the magnitude of a problem like this at this time is …. ominous. Even at half the size and scale of the Spanish Flu.

    One thing to remember: nobody stopped the Spanish Flu. It only ended when it had spread through the whole world and killed all that it could. It burned itself out. Perhaps the world can stop the Wuhan Virus in its tracks. Let’s hope so.

    Liked by 6 people

    2. Hi StormTrackerEd,

      The numbers in the Taiwan News Article are an estimate, not the official reported figures. The confirmed numbers as of 2/6/20 are 30,830 cases confirmed. Mostly in Hunan province (Wuhan city is there) and Mainland China. The challenge is that it is likely that the real number is closer to the one you quoted. The numbers from Wuhan, China, have PROBABLY been vastly under-reported with many people not able to get any medical care, people dying with “pneumonia”, and wide-spread cremations, so the real numbers there may never be known.

      It appears that many people may get the Wuhan Coronavirus with relatively mild or no symptoms. This means that we don’t have accurate numbers of how many people are really getting sick. The best number I’ve seen based on the preliminary research for the Rate of Spread of the Disease or the R0 is about 2.68 – which means that for every one sick person, between 2 and 3 people become infected.

      The number of fatalities based on the infections is also vastly skewed at this point. This is because we are not seeing all of the cases of infection, but only those going to hospitals. So, the Mortality Rates being calculated are based on only the very sick, not the ones who are not sick enough to go to hospitals. The best number I’ve seen on this so far is about 2%, but this is still very preliminary. This means for every 1,000 people who get sick 20 people die.

      I’ve seen some concerning things coming out from China about their deleting any negative stories and accounts from social media about the virus and treatment. I’ve seen several stories that make me very concerned about the average person living in Wuhan and their access to needed medical care. They really need our prayers.

      In my opinion, the important thing to watch is the areas that are relatively controlled with the Coronavirus outside Wuhan, and probably outside China. So far, we have not been seeing wide-spread waves of infection in other countries. The western developed nations have a good head start to manage the cases coming in, at least the ones that we know about. One good step just taken in the U.S. by the CDC was to have regional testing for the Coronavirus, so it won’t all have to go through the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. This will help in case there is an outbreak in a locality before it can expand.

      Most of the sources I’ve been following that are following the facts, research, and evidence are concerned about outbreaks in countries with less developed health care systems. China has very close economic and business ties to many countries in Africa. Also, there are many African students who have been attending college in China. So, there is a lot of travel back and forth between these two regions. It’s interesting that there are no confirmed reports from Africa yet. I know that there have been several possible cases. Perhaps all of the cases have been negative, maybe flu or colds. Or maybe they are still waiting for results. Also, both Africa and South America (also no confirmed reports yet) are in the summer seasons. Most Coronaviruses don’t like the warm and humid summers, but cold and dry winters instead. This may be a help to limit the spread of the disease, if we are still fighting it, come summer in the northern hemisphere.

      An interesting note from epidemiologists is that many are saying that the peak for the Coronavirus in Wuhan will come in April. The other major cities in China about 2 weeks later, and then foreign “ports” (cities of connection to the Chinese cities) 2 weeks or more later. The steps we’ve taken to limit travel could slow and limit the size of these waves of illness. This means that this is a slow-moving event. We have time to take steps to prevent the spread of the virus.

      Best recommendations, good personal hygiene: Wash your hands, all over, front back, between fingers, around thumbs, 20 seconds, warm/hot water and soap. This will help with the other seasonal bugs of Coronavirus colds and flu viruses also. If you are sick, stay home. Avoid sick people. Clean surfaces which could have been coughed and sneezed on.

      There are good reasons to be concerned, but not frightened. I recommend praying each day for our health care workers who are on the front lines, especially in China. And also pray for the government and public health officials who are making decisions, which may have effects on many lives.

      Our Lord and Our Lady are watching over us.

      God’s blessings to all here and your families.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Thank you for this reasoned response to this issue Deon.

        I saw some drone footage of individuals suspected of being infected running from “health care providers” on the deserted streets of Wuhan. Pretty shocking. Why would people run from “the authorities”? They don’t want to go into the “shelters”. Go to you tube and search for Wuhan drone 4k for several very scary drone looks at what appears to be completely deserted streets in Wuhan.

        I have also seen reports suggesting China is planning Mass Quarantine Camps for those infected. Would you voluntarily go into a Communist Mass Quarantine Camp? Not on your life. Literally. What are the communists going to do for these people? They are going to watch them die at best. If it gets really bad there is another likely form of treatment the communists could provide for the infectees … involving a few ounces of lead.

        I’d run too. You bet.

        My Step-mother tested positive for TB back in the long ago age. She was rounded up and put into a forced quarantine in a TB Sanatorium (nice word for Mass Quarantine Camp) in Salem, Massachusetts. I don’t know how long she was held there but I believe it was for quite some time.

        So we have some experience with this sort of thing. It seems the military has set up 4 bases for returning Americans from the Wuhan area where they are being held for 2 weeks because that supposedly is the incubation period.

        I have seen one estimate that Wuhan Virus is going to slice 2% off the global economic growth rate. If true, another bold assertion/extrapolation, that would have huge implications. The stock market is not pricing this in.

        I agree that it is way too early to panic about this thing. But the Chinese response to it is seems increasingly alarmed and radical and they are certainly spooked and they are on the front line right now.

        Finally, I expect more false reporting from every place on the globe designed to prevent overt panic in the streets and loss of control. That includes here in America if we get whacked by this thing. So far the Trump administration seems to be on top of it.

        Liked by 4 people

    3. One additional point regarding the Spanish Flu in 1919-1920. There were 2 age groups which had a high mortality rate from this pandemic. (If you are familiar with the bell curve distribution, the Spanish flu was bimodal. It had 2 humps.) Not only did older people with underlying illnesses strongly impacted, but for some reason young healthy adults also had a high mortality from this illness. So far, this novel Coronavirus from Wuhan is strongly impacting the usual older adults, especially those with underlying illnesses.

      Also, in the last one hundred years many medical developments have been dealing with the pneumonia and breathing problems, secondary infection treatment with antibiotics, and methods for treating critical care patients. As long as we have a strong medical system which is not overwhelmed, we should be in good shape.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. My maternal Grandfather was in WWI in France.  He was a pilot who flew reconnaissance in those old biplanes.  That must have been exciting considering how new the technology was back then.  He bought his own plane later in the 20s and crashed it.  It was a good thing he survived or I would not be here.  I have a picture of him mulling over the wreckage.  I remember him talking and saying that on the transport ships home that more soldiers died from the flu than what died in battle in the war.  Again, good thing he survived, otherwise, I would not be here.  In his 90s when he was suffering dementia,  he continuously complained how the flight surgeon took away his pilot’s license so he could not fly any more.  I wrote my grand mom and told her how much truth and honesty were instilled in me by my mom.  She wrote back and said it goes back to my great grand father.  Throw a rock in still water and the waves can ripple pretty far.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

        Liked by 4 people

  45. As for hell and how many will go there. I have thought about this as I had a priest who also thinks that almost everyone can and will be saved and that is “Very” Difficult for a person to sin and to end up in hell. My response is that God’s mercy is more than sufficient for a person to be saved if he or she has goodwill and desires God, even if his knowledge is incomplete, but that the “mystery if iniquity” is indeed mysterious and that a person may give into this iniquity and, over time so harden their heart to truth so that being open to God becomes more and more difficult. I once read of a mystic, I forget which one, but she was regarded as reliable by the church. She commented that the largest number will go go purgatory first, before being purified, the next largest number will be in hell and the smallest Number will be holy enough to go directly to heaven. So let’s pray and remember of our need to make progress in loving God more each day, so we may advance toward God who alone can make us happy and complete.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. If this is true and you look at the math. If the greatest number goes to purgatory, then this means at least 1/3 or more of all people go to purgatory.   This means praying Lots of divine mercy chaplets for these souls……—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

      Liked by 5 people

      1. How true, Jack. My dear Father, John, God rest his soul, was a good, strong and quiet man. In October of 1987, shortly after my dear mother died suddenly at the young age of 46, God rest her soul, my dad was already almost two years into having had already lost his eyesight, job and kidneys function. This was just the beginning of how diabetes ravaged his body.

        Today would have been his 79th birthday.

        I can say that Rush was a lifeline for him,and a blessing to us both. I was 24 years old at the time and still a rebel (middle child syndrome). I discovered Rush on Chicago’s WLS radio program. Hearing Rush and what he was saying was blowing me away. I had to listen for several days just to believe my ears first. Then one morning when I picked up my father from my childhood home and took him to dialysis before I went to work, I happened to mention this guy on the radio who was incredible and saying things that no one else dared to! Dad and I rarely chatted, and politics was not something I was remotely interested in. Yet Dad immediately knew who I was talking about. He was already a listener, Ditto Head too. Because of Rush, we had an avenue for meaningful conversations. Rush gave Dad something to look forward to Monday through Friday from 11:00am to 2:00pm until the day he died. I have offered a Prayer of Miraculous Trust for Rush!

        I/we have corresponded with Rush on several occasions to let him know just how special he is/was for us. May he receive a miraculous cure, God-willing. ❤

        Liked by 7 people

  48. Still not sure how to use iPhone in WordPress we’ve been stuck in traffic in West Virginia for hours hardly moving but Charlie we have our survival book.,, could use a washroom though😭

    Liked by 3 people

  49. Interesting article observing Pope Francis. “Pope Francis, Wayward Shepherd”
    By Daniel J. Mahoney, February 6, 2020 10:18 AM
    https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/02/24/pope-francis-wayward-shepherd/#slide-1
    “I do not doubt the integrity of the Holy Pontiff. But he is a half-humanitarian who confuses the Christian faith with a secular religion of humanity. ”
    Last Paragraph:
    “A preference for left-wing dictatorships is not simply evidence of change in a change-obsessed papacy but a sign of foul moral corruption, part Machiavellian and part ideological, in the upper echelons of the Church. This moment calls for fidelity to enduring moral and theological truths, faithful adherence to the magisterium understood as the full weight of Catholic wisdom, and a firm rejection of the historicized and politically correct substitution for the magisterium that is evident in some curial circles. And we must stand up fearlessly for our coreligionists who continue to suffer under Islamist and Communist violence and tyranny. Let us uphold true Catholicism and not a mawkish substitute that owes more to the religion of humanity than to the faith of the martyrs. Let us hope that Pope Francis comes to see the need to uphold authentic continuity in the Church — fidelity to her old wisdom — and not a frenzied chasing after change for change’s sake. This is a hope that is fully in accord with the filial respect that faithful Catholics owe the Holy Father.”

    Liked by 3 people

  50. Jesus = Good-News 😉

    http://blog.adw.org/2020/02/did-you-help-the-saints-of-old-to-become-holy/

    https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/05/trump-delivers-the-most-pro-life-pro-family-state-of-the-union-address-in-history/

    https://www.catholicleague.org/why-are-democrats-so-unhappy/

    https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/02/07/Virginia-passes-sweeping-LGBT-rights-legislation/2671581060270/?sl=4

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/lets_talk_about_choice.html#ixzz6DGbON5HP

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/02/global-catastrophe-260-million-christians-raymond-ibrahim/

    https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/02/04/what-rush-means-to-us-and-to-me-n2560697

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/04/6-things-democrats-refused-to-stand-for-during-state-of-the-union/

    https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/tucker-issues-warning/

    https://stream.org/christians-dodged-romneys-bullet-he-wanted-us-marginalized-and-voiceless/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/the-rainbow-shakedown

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. CD, I’ve never read The Stream before, but this is an excellent article and analysis about Romney and those who came before him. It’s very thought provoking about some items I had not previously considered.

      Like

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Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.