What I Really Think

Posted on by charliej373
Joan of Arc Preparing for Battle

By Charlie Johnston

Whew! Getting a big organization up and running is like walking through mud underwater. I’m just hoping the mountain of paperwork I’m going through doesn’t grow taller than Mt. Meeker. I’ve been through it before – and look forward to that day when everything starts to flow easier and easier. It does come, but only after the laborious slog. I’ve got enough of the paperwork and stuff going now that, with a full court press, I think we should be fully operational by the end of this month. That is what I initially figured based on prior experience; that it takes three months to get things moving consistently and coherently. (Sheesh, I have been so consumed by this, it is hard for me to fathom that we are only going into the third month since I came up with the concept.)

A couple of cool things. Our CORAC Team in Region 15 (California and Nevada) is busy getting a new ongoing initiative going. They are going to be holding rallies outside local police departments, bringing donuts, pastries and coffee for the police on the day of the rally. Of course, they are checking with each station they will go to ahead of time. I love it. Hat tip to Justin Paroski who came up with the idea and is leading the charge.

Another activist suggested we set up counter rallies to the Antifa-BLM rioting scheduled to begin at the White House. While I respect the concept, I do not want to go for direct confrontation right now. I do not expect the election to settle things, but I do expect it will illuminate just what the nature of the battle before us is. I don’t want to put any of our people at serious risk until I know what battle we are fighting and we have gotten some experience on the ground.

Our own MP has put up a CORAC Youtube Channel. Ha! Subscribe today! It’s free – and cool. I have also added it to the Menu Items on the site.

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A friend asked me how I could say that the data from the CDC’s own website shows that Covid is serious, but not a great threat. Well, the headlines that some CDC officials spout sound horrifying, but like most clickbait, they don’t reflect the actual data onsite.

At the time I wrote it, I was thinking, in particular, of the CDC’s study on the effectiveness of facemasks. Their conclusion, based on data going back to 1946, is that facemasks are ineffective in preventing the spread of viruses. Don’t get me wrong, facemasks have uses which are effective, but preventing the spread of viruses are not among those effective uses. The CDC says so. It appalls me that so many medical employees are shocked and angered when I cite the only major serious study the CDC has done on the subject (although I DO love it when they challenge me by asking, “where did you get that information?” It’s like teeing up the golf ball for me to drive.)

I’m sure most of you saw last week when the CDC tried to quietly update its website to note that only 6% of reported Covid deaths actually come from Covid alone. Speaking generously, that means that less than 11,000 deaths can be unambiguously attributed to Covid. Now, the fact is that Covid is kind of the hyena of the virus world – it preys primarily on the already wounded or weakened. There is no doubt that Covid was a contributing factor in a lot of people who died from respiratory ailments this year. But the flu and other viruses are also often contributing factors in the death of people who are already significantly compromised. What we don’t do is say that a man who had the flu when he died of a heart attack died of the flu. We do say that he died of Covid if he was infected when the fatal heart attack hit. We don’t say that a man who had the flu when he was killed in a vehicle accident died of the flu. We do say it if he had that accident while infected with Covid. I don’t trust any of the data coming from the corrupted, politicized CDC – but even on its own terms, while trying to fan the flames of panic over this virus, it is not worth panicking over. Frankly, I think the reason for the update was that the CDC knows that all of this is going to be fully exposed in the next few months and wants to be able to deny that it dealt in panic porn that was not supported by the data.

Though the FDA is a different federal agency, I am appalled that it is pushing to ban hydroxychloroquine regimens, which frontline doctors and serious studies overwhelmingly show to be the most effective treatment for Covid when proper protocols are followed. Why would the FDA want to ban the most effective treatment, which comes in at $20-$50 a pop, to push the experimental and unproven drug, Remdesivir, which comes at $3,000 a pop? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Panic over Covid, a virus with some significant variations from the norm, (most of which make it comparatively harmless to the healthy, while being unusually dangerous to the already sick) has been used to justify the destruction of much of the US economy and for minor officials and public health officials to unconstitutionally seize unprecedented unilateral power over citizens. I believe, with Dennis Prager, that it started as a colossal error and, after the left saw how it could be used and abused, has become a criminal assault on the very concept of self-government and liberty. A lot of people need to go to prison for this one. If I were still a local official, I would be pushing to gut all the politicized, corrupt public health departments under my purview and replace them with employees who care about public health and follow the actual science.

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I loved being a newsman. Tracking down the facts to break a solid story with compelling evidence was, I thought, a noble pursuit – and a thrill, to boot. It was like solving a tough puzzle. When I was a managing editor, I would often talk to the reporters under me about the noble calling they had entered – and our obligation to get it right for the public.

In radio, I remember, with real pride, after interviewing a demagogue who was masquerading as a Republican, getting a call from a Mayoral office he had been blasting. The City Administrator told me that everyone at city hall had been listening after they heard this guy was scheduled for an interview. I asked him why such enthusiasm, when everyone knew I was a Republican. “We knew this would be his Waterloo, Charlie, because everyone knows you are fair and you just can’t abide open BS from anyone.” Yes, it was a Democrat administration – but life was different then.

Now, there is no honor in the profession. Activists who call themselves “journalists” routinely decide what they want the story to be before they know anything and then relentlessly try to pound square facts into the round holes they have drilled – and think we are all too stupid to notice. Intellectually and morally, I hate fake news, but I hate what these poseurs have done to a profession I was once very proud to be a small part of. I have a friend who won a coveted, major award that she used to display proudly on her mantle – and now keeps hidden in the basement. I can count on two hands the number of reporters today that I would not have fired with furious anger if they had turned in two stories that are as egregiously and flatly biased and wrong as today’s “reporters” routinely turn in.

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A prominent cleric took issue with me a few weeks ago because of my statement, in passing, that 20-30 percent of the people lost to the Covid scare are never coming back to Church. Rather surprised, I told him I was being generous – that I think the actual number who won’t come back is closer to 50 percent…and would not be shocked if it was even higher.

He replied that all they have to do is reinstitute the Sunday obligation and people will have to come back. I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it. I explained to him that for decades, the hierarchy has been preening and making ill-considered and feckless political statements that they have no authority for while neglecting the matters of faith they do. I know they thought they were expanding their authority, What they were actually doing was eroding their actual authority in the minds of the faithful. Now, with many Dioceses being even more draconian than their governments in lockdown restrictions, they have made it clear that they can’t be counted on to defend the faithful, either. The net result is that a LOT of people have decided that the hierarchy is far too leaky a vessel to entrust their faith to. The people that WILL come back will be those who are most solidly orthodox – and those are the very people who are least tolerant of virtue-signaling and meaningless word salads when fortitude, candor and resolve are called for. My friend is a good guy, but he was shaken by this possibility. I fear many of even the best of our hierarchy have gotten too bureaucratically remote from the faithful to understand how their pronouncements come off.

The much smaller Church Pope Benedict spoke of back in 2009 is going to soon become a reality. I read last week (and can’t remember what publication, so I can’t link to it) of the serious financial crises that are striking many Dioceses, leading to many Chancery layoffs, school closings and forestalling or abandonment of capital projects. Very soon, the hierarchy will no longer have the luxury of feckless virtue-signaling and political posturing. They will be fully engaged in trying to keep the Church afloat – and if they don’t lead on the things that matter while foreswearing the things that don’t, they will have no one following.

Turns out the path of least resistance is not always the safest course in a crisis.

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In this time of deep unrest, many are turning to various prophecies, some dire, some strange, and some comforting to try to find a path forward. Others put excessive trust in ideological imperatives, while still others put their hope in some public figure or “white knight” to come in on a charger and rescue us all. There is no white knight: it’s all hobbits now.

From the time I started writing, I have emphasized the ordinary. Yes, I spoke bluntly about the Storm that was approaching, the global civil war fought on cultural lines, the greatest crisis in the history of the world up to this point. But my prescription was constant and emphatic: the only formula we get for this is to acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around you. The Storm comes to all. No family will be left untouched by it. While so many are waiting for a deus ex machina, I have maintained that we do not get it until we have stepped up and lived our call with courage and fortitude. For me, a lot of the gyrations and pleadings are a form of trying to bargain with God over why we should be exempt from the storm we have summoned upon ourselves. I understand the instinct, for to anyone who really understands the depth of the disorder we have brought down upon ourselves, they also understand that it won’t be lifted without divine intervention. So they would rather that be sooner rather than later. Not gonna happen until we step up.

This is the time of the hobbits, the apostolate of the laity, the ballad of the ordinary man. And it is just that it should be so. We can talk about how all of our institutions have failed us – and they have – but we have failed to exercise the basic oversight over those institutions that could have prevented it. It is not only the hierarchy that has to learn – and live – that the path of least resistance is not the most effective way to safety and prosperity.

I think God is both mocking us and revealing us to ourselves. We went into such a raw panic over what is, at bottom, a relatively mundane virus. We allowed public officials who never lift a finger to do their actual jobs because they are too busy opining about social justice and things that they are not responsible for to let many of our cities go up in flames while these officials cheered on the rioters. We kept taking the path of least resistance until we let things deteriorate to the point where it would take a violent crackdown to restore any semblance of order. It would take a sustained and painful austerity program to have a chance at averting a global economic meltdown. Yes, I know all the happy talk about the economy getting back on track – and it is. But we have so damaged the fundamental mechanisms that any prosperity now is like the blissful ignorance of a man walking around unknowingly with stage four cancer before the symptoms manifest. It would take a disciplined unity to have a chance at fending off the challenges that are about to beset us from without. Do you really think that China, the Jihadists, and other enemies have not been paying close attention to what is happening in the west? If I were a strategist for the evil regimes, I would stand back for as long as the west is tearing itself apart, but I would have a plan to strike hard (whether covertly or overtly) as soon as there is any hopeful sign of respite. The west looks like it is ripe to be toppled from without right now. If you don’t think China is making plans to do so, you just are not paying attention.

Now I am a committed Trump supporter. You might ask why, since I have such a gloomy short-term outlook. Just because you know you are about to face a withering assault is no excuse to neglect fortifications. Trump is the best, perhaps the only, strong fortification we have. It won’t stop the assault, but it will buy time and give us some room for maneuver in the defense of Western Civilization.

In Leo Tolstoy’s magnificent War and Peace, the section on life in society and the institutions just before Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow is starkly evocative. With doom right upon their doorstep, the glitterati of Russian society were plotting and scheming against each other, back-stabbing and seeking to undermine whoever was on the next rung of the ladder above them. It was a glittering spectacle that was utterly corrupt – and incapable of grasping the existential threat that was engulfing them. Like the famous rotting mackerel in the moonlight, it both shined and stunk. And doom came to engulf them all. Their plots, their dreams, their pretensions, their manners were all swept away in an instant by the horror and pathos that followed – and they had to humbly work to survive and then rebuild. For a couple of decades afterward, Russia was a far better country than what she had been before the crisis. But, human nature being what it is, like Old Testament Israelites, they were soon back to their old treacherous, pretentious, backstabbing ways.

I think we have three or four years of intense strife before us. Right now, politicians and activists are trying to maneuver the various disorders and scares to their advantage, They think themselves strategic masters of the universe. Before next year is over, I think all will be scattered like the Moscow glitterati in the aftermath of Napoleon’s invasion. You will know deprivation. You will know want. You will know hunger. It will take all our fortitude and resolve to endure the trials that loom before us. There will be no rescue until we have stepped up and acted as children of the living God, publicly acknowledging Him, taking the next right step and taking full responsibility for all the decisions we make before God, and applying ourselves with passion to caring for our neighbor in desperate times. That is not prophecy. You simply need to read the now visible signs of the times. Oh, we have become such a superficial and invincibly ignorant people!

I worry about people who are restlessly searching for some escape hatch that will exempt them from the vicissitudes of the storm that has risen around us. Yes, it seems harmless enough, even if a little feckless. But many may be lost because of their waiting for their exemption card instead of humbly doing what God calls all to now – to acknowledge Him, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope.

When I was on my pilgrimage, I did not think of my ultimate destination very often. I could only make 10-21 miles per day. Rather, I applied myself to the challenges of the day with fortitude and persistence. If you can gird yourself to focus on the challenges of the day before you, knowing that sufficient to the day is the evil thereof, without going into fantasies of sudden rescue, the day will come when you live to see the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the renewal of the faith and face of the world. But you will not get it by pleading for it: you will get it by living your duty with fortitude, resolve and humility each day. Do your daily work with fidelity, without expectation, and you will have good cause for supernatural hope. After 3,200 miles and a year and a half I DID stand at the foot of Mt. Meeker, the terminus of my pilgrimage, and entered in to make my terminal Novena in the mountain. But if I had daily expected to see what could only come after a persistent long and arduous journey, I would have been disappointed each day, and may have become so disheartened that I would have given up what was in my grasp with sufficient work. Instead, by focusing on the day, I often reveled in the beauty of each long and arduous day – for there is real beauty to be found in the midst of trial. Learn from my pilgrimage and do not spend your days worrying about what God is going to do for you. Rather, do your daily work well, offer it up to God, and trust that, in His time, He will refresh your spirit and renew your heart. That is what I really think.

286 thoughts on “What I Really Think”

  1. Thank you so much, Charlie, for all your groundwork efforts in pulling CoRaC together and getting us on our feet. Those are interesting conversations you share and the topics bespeak the whirl of misinformation and disinformation we must navigate in this Storm. And Oh! How we need this Storm.

    I especially appreciate the refocusing of our attention away from those things that can become decoys, pulling us from who we are called to be and the core message which you and we, together, have fostered here as the means of passage- with purpose, dignity and God’s Grace – that will see us through to the Shores of Rescue. And Oh! How we need this Storm.

    So true that, “We can talk about how all of our institutions have failed us – and they have – but we have failed to exercise the basic oversight over those institutions that could have prevented it.” And every time I see a statistic about how long the most disrupted cities with the rioting and violence have been governed by Democrats, I shake my head at the question: And what is in the minds and hearts of the people who elected their governing officials? And Oh! How we need this Storm.

    So agree that it IS going to get a lot tougher and I pray each of us will hold fast to the truth that God is Love. He didn’t cook up this mess. We did it to ourselves. But for God, His Love, His Mercy and His Grace, it’s likely we would destroy ourselves. Instead, all along, and even now, He is tamping down the most severe consequences of what we have wrought. And Oh! How we need this Storm.

    And I pray for the resolve to keep in our ruminations the truth that God NEVER leaves us… even when it s.e.e.m.s. He has and all s.e.e.m.s. lost. He is faithful. We, who are made of dust, are the feckless and fickle ones. And in all our inconsistencies, the Living, Loving God N.E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R. gives up on us. It is we who reject HIM, refusing to repent and begin anew. And Oh! How we need this Storm.

    My heart and my prayers remain with the ones who yet need to make a return, who need to give up on being woke and live Ephesians 5:14: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” Fully realizing that there are too many who will persist in their errors (The new and wonderful Fatima movie has included Our Lady’s words that this will be so.), I’m hangin’ on with all my widow’s might in the ways exhorted by heaven… For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion… that He will have mercy us and on the whole world because Oh! How we need this Storm!

    Liked by 11 people

        1. Very interesting that you just posted “You Are Not Alone,” as I’ve been pulling vital info together from that post of CJ’s of the same name that went beyond the basic mission, presented in his fill-in-the-blank, storytelling style. Thus, this (though it’s unlisted at the moment):

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          2. Very well done! One suggestion: I think this video would be more impact-full if it was Charlie narrating it, like if he was being interviewed.

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              1. Indeed we are blessed! I didn’t realize others had suggested that for the other video. I’m actually okay with the narration the other video. I’m trying to watch these from the perspective of new recruits.

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            2. Yes, it would be nice MrJ, though the difference in coordinating and producing these with Charlie’s voice or live persona (and doing it it half way decently) vs. simply using a handy AI app, means at least a day per video, time that neither of us really has. That said, it’s amazing what can happen with a startup seed under the right conditions. I expect a field of corn in no time, at which point maybe we’ll plow some of the excess corn under and build ourselves a baseball field (my suggestion)… at which point I suspect some will think us nutty and in need of supervision then too. I kid obviously, but it ain’t my first planting season.

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                1. You’re all most welcome. Just this one bit (which is near and dear to my heart… er, sense of humor), and then something special next week featuring Charlie’s mug and voice. For real.

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                    1. Well, I thought of your clan in some of the opening frames. You know if DP was around, he’d have homed in on the one, brief essential thing in that whole video, thus winning the free prize.

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                    2. Thanks, MP! By the way, are those “your” wild horses in the video? Have you seen them lately? For some reason, I was thinking about them the other day, and I’m hoping that they’re alright.

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                    3. Those are some other wild horses from a cooler clime, Mick. Thought it meshed nicely with the other wildlife in the vid. The Rio Verde mustang herd is a bit scattered, but the bulk worked its way upriver on the East side where there’s a very thick, but tangled greenbelt stretching onto the Yavapai reservation. Checked in on them twice, though it’s been hot as blazes here and tough to ride that far out while the sun is up. Not prudent to do it when the sun is down in this neck of the woods, and I’ve been going out solo most of the time lately to scout some bugout spots.

                      Came across Big’un and Blondie closer in the last two times out. For whatever reason, they prefer to keep to familiar grounds away from the rest of the herd. So happens to be right by one of my secret fishin’ holes.

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                    4. Thanks for the horse update, MP. It’s funny, because I’m not really an “animal person”; but I’m very fond of your horses, and I worry about them when we haven’t heard about them in a long time.

                      Speaking of “haven’t heard about in a long time”: How’s Br. Gideon? Has he fully recovered from his accident?

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          3. “A CORAC Media Production”: I love that!

            Another masterful job, MP. I like that there is a female voice narrating this one; it balances nicely with the male narration of the other video.

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            1. I thought the female voice lent itself well to this one, especially since it ended on the Marian note. I’m also currently customizing one of the AI voices to sound like an angry squirrel, since the app builders apparently haven’t thought of it yet. Just to match our hoodies.

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          4. Thank you for this, MP. I love the three CoRaC videos you created.

            FYC Perhaps it is just me, but, the back ground music didn’t stay in the background in places and my ancient ears struggled to hear. Good thing i had the “cc” on. 🙂

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    2. Beckita this really inspired me to love this storm!!! What a positive place to be!!!

      “And in all our inconsistencies, the Living, Loving God N.E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R. gives up on us. It is we who reject HIM, refusing to repent and begin anew. And Oh! How we need this Storm.”

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        1. Yes that for the salvation of souls but also for us who already know what is happening and how to daily see it for a blessing and not a curse!!! Just wow!!! It’s going on my mirror to remind me daily! Great insight Beckita!!!🤗

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      2. Linda, I am reading Catherine of Siena…the section of her nursing the patient and feeling nauseated from the smell. To force her body to submit to her spirit she drank the putrid washing.(My stomach turns at writing this.) Anyway, an example of loving the storm. Lord have mercy.

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    3. I’m new to commenting but am go encouraged, thank you all for your thought filled comments. My two
      Favorite verses are Roman’s 12:12 and all of psalm 27! Plus the joy of the Lord is our.

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    4. As you say, Beckita, oh how we need this Storm.

      Truth!!!!

      I am so sick of our society! Television is sickening! I would turn it off completely if I could. Even Hallmark has been polluted.

      We can’t go on like this. We need the storm.

      A thought occurred to me, why aren’t post COVID19 patients making a noise saying no masks? Everyone seems to be just going along with this mask narrative. There has to be many recovered based on the positive tests.

      Any thoughts? Or will this be addressed by CORAC?

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Littleone, while CORAC is a national organization, the ideas which will be – as Charlie has written – “largely self-sustaining and defending in small groups, the challenges we face,” these “ideas for projects that reveal the absurdity and undermine the effectiveness of authoritarian orders and malignant neglect of basic rights” have yet to be generated on a local level. Then, as news of local efforts spread, they can become a template to copy and/or adapt anywhere else in the country/world.

        I think we all are sick of the things you mention. Each of us must find our ways to unplug from the crazy stuff and, as well as praying and doing, also make time for Sacred Silence, that is contemplation. Studies shared and anecdotal stories told in some of the studies and discussions we’re having in my online groups with the Direction for Our Times Apostolate speak to the value of contemplation for connecting deeply with God AND greatly reducing anxiety. We are a silence-deprived world and it wearies the spirit while revving up anxiety. Too, I like to engage in activities which set me in “flow mode” that state where you can get lost in creating something. So refreshing and so good!

        Liked by 2 people

  2. As you set up your new CORAC and for all else here, I thought you may want to check this out:

    Dr. Robert Epstein is a Harvard-trained researcher who believes the four major tech giants have become too dangerous for our democracy. He thinks the massive amount of surveillance, censorship, and manipulation carried out by the likes of Google is a threat to free speech and personal autonomy. They talk about how Google keeps a copy of all you emails whether sent or not and they analyze them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwmYQr-HiYU

    also the article they were referring to: https://medium.com/@re_53711/seven-simple-steps-toward-online-privacy-20dcbb9fa82

    A friend of mine who is a Techy and deals a lot with email servers highly recommends switching to Proton Mail https://protonmail.com/

    God Bless,
    John

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Thanks for this information, John. Of course, the intrusion into our privacy had been going on years and years before the general population was even aware. I would LOVE to see serious moves to rectify this problem.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Proton Mail also allows encrypted private messaging between other proton mail users. Could be handy and also may help with keeping sensitive CORAC info private.

      Liked by 4 people

  4. Charlie, thanks for the grand, accurate summary of the day.

    I’d rather be positive in tone, but on Nov 4 I’d appreciate seeing Fauci, who just reiterated that all the 180 K deaths are due to Covid, fired, along with the heads of many federal health offices who are self-promoting at the expense of killing public welfare in general and the economy in particular.

    Re the prophecies of doom and gloom, they may provide a form of mental recreation, but I they really do not add any useful guidance for day to day living. After all, we all will pass away soon enough regardless, whether from old age, or illnesses, or accidents. Our personal job is to make the best of what we have available now to acknowledge our Creator, and to help each other get thru life honorably, finding ways if at all possible to add joy for each other in service of our God given lives.

    And I pray that all Democrats who promote baby murder, rioting and looting, are turned out of office in the November elections.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Actually Jack, they DO offer critically important counsel in these times. When people are looking for external palliatives to avoid trials, it is important that we talk about what will avail us and get us to the other side. Advice that I deem critical to how to respond to God’s call and accurately describes what we face is important to our salvation. I am, obviously, a great optimist in the long term. But if we do not accurately assess what the challenge before us is and act to meet it effectively, that long-term optimism is not justified, however comforting the short-term illusion might be. So I say, gird your loins because we have serious stuff to deal with – right now and just ahead.

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          2. So awesome, Charlie. always excellent analysis, and reminder of what we’re called to do. Your comment about your pilgrimage, and finally getting to Mt. Meeker reminded me of some training I had to do the “one day at a time”, not looking to the end just yet. My husband had deployments in the Navy, two of them when I had babies while he was gone. I remember my system to get through the time, by saying so many days down, so many to go, which helped me not expect the end to come faster than it could; just doing what I had to do each day.

            Regarding Jack’s wish that the “bad guys” will be turned out of office in 2 months, it doesn’t look good that progressives are winning primaries and ousting moderates. They’ll have to have eyes opened some day; it will take God’s doing!

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            1. That is from the Democrat pool alone, Annie, so it just tells you where the Democrats are these days. Louisiana had a “jungle” primary last week – which is where all candidates are on the same ballot and the top two go to the general, even if they are of the same party. Conservatives crushed it, wiping out Democrats AND sending home a lot of RINO Republicans. That is a better indicator of where the electorate as a whole is.

              Liked by 11 people

        2. Jack: Have you seen or heard of the documentary that was released on August 14th while its producer, her husband, and her brother were being arrested in Portage County, Ohio? Via two whistleblowers, Tore Lindeman and PFC Patrick Bergy, it presents a most plausible and trustworthy explanation for the continuity government, aka Military Industrial Complex, aka Deep State, aka Fourth Unelected Bureaucratic Branch of Government, aka Shadow Government for which the CCP (bad actors all) are a mere front.

          It’s quite got me seeing things from a slightly different slant that has allowed peace as pieces fall into place. If Bekita would allow, I’ll post a bitchute link since youtube has banned the video world-wide for “community standard violations” after it had over a million views in less than 48 hours. Last I looked you could find a bitchute link via youtube by putting #ShadowGate Full Banned Documentary in the search bar. The link shows up in the description under this short video by Gabriel Ng.

          Liked by 3 people

          1. Actually, Islam, you’ve given the needed search words for anyone who may be interested in finding the one hour and twenty minute video so it’s there for the viewing.

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          2. No, I had not seen the video you mention, but from your context I might mention a feature of our government that took me by surprise when I attended law school in the mid nineties at what is now the Anton Scalia School of Law (Class of ’95 myself). I took a course in Administrative Law from a top administrative law judge (a friend of Scalia) and found that basically a fourth branch of government had been created over the past century, i.e., administrative law run by the agencies, such as the EPA. Because of true expertise required to manage complex areas of society, the Congress empowers the agencies to apply a broad topic charter to write regulations (which as a practical matter function as law), and supervise their execution. The agencies now form a vast and powerful unelected legal body.

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            1. “administrative law run by the agencies”

              Jack, we are seeing this with the local recreational soccer club! The zeal with which the little napolean who runs the club is going after anyone not masking, even AR refs while reffing, would make that dictator proud.

              This fourth arm has now spread past gov. agencies and entered private ones of all levels, down to volunteer agencies such as a local rec.soccer club. So many little napoleans, aaargh!

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            2. Yes, Jack. I look forward to your insight and input into what is revealed in the documentary as well as the ongoing revelations of the documentary’s whistleblowers and their team of faceless, front-facing heroes. The plans of the Cabal are known fully to Our Lord and Our Lady has already told us that in the end her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

              The satan has one playbook and one play: infiltrate through any opening and then lie, lie, and lie some more.

              Liked by 3 people

  5. “The people that WILL come back will be those who are most solidly orthodox – and those are the very people who are least tolerant of virtue-signaling and meaningless word salads when fortitude, candor and resolve are called for.”

    raises hand.

    Although “least tolerant” , a bit understated.

    Liked by 8 people

  6. Charlie…I have been reading this book that just came out. Got it from Amazon. Haven’t finished but chilling facts as to this pandemic. His new book about Russia also just came out.
    The China Resolution
    John Murteson

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Every time I read a new Charlie post, I think, oh, this is the best one. Proven again!
    Being a sign of hope is quickly becoming one of the most important as I hear people panicking or sinking into despair. Some are not even wanting to vote anymore. Going to church was over for them months ago and they don’t plan to return.
    I thank God for the 1st step, acknowledge God…my heart singing every time I acknowledge Him. O, what joy!
    Thank you for the training Charlie.

    Liked by 8 people

  8. I am starting to believe the covid virus killing the elderly in nursing homes is a blessing in disguise. Especially for the ones in the states where governors forced positive patients into their nursing home. They are martyrs in this fight, in my opinion. They also will not go through the suffering period upon us.
    These governors are pro abortion so why should they care about people on the other end of the age spectrum.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. You know, HttP, I, too, have had your sense of how the death of the elderly may be a blessing of protection from severe suffering. Still, the way they were left to die is an abomination and God alone has the right to determine when and how – whether in His perfect or permissive will – someone will die.

      Liked by 9 people

  9. We are truly in interesting times. Thank you for your commentary, Charlie. I do look forward to your posts as they are very thought-provoking. They also give me some kind of road map to navigate and not be disheartened when these current events plunge us over the cliff. I sometimes get so lost in the trees that I don’t see the forest. You help me see the forest for the trees.

    I also wanted to post the very inspiring video of Fr. James Altman. Most that read your site probably have already seen it. But, in case some haven’t, it’s fortifying to hear a priest talk about our political reality in our nation. The imagery in the video is also awe-inspiring. So comforting to see a priest speak the TRUTH from the pulpit…

    Liked by 13 people

      1. My apologies for the repeat post on the video. I didn’t realize. Hopefully, others will see it that have not seen it yet this time around.

        Liked by 7 people

        2. Texas, I just sent that video to my Catholic friend yesterday. She replied last night that she had just finished walking and praying about whether or not she should vote for Joe Biden(!) and then watched this fantastic video by Fr. Altman. It made her decision clear that she should vote for Trump. So, thank you for posting this again. You never know who needs to hear this. I was shocked that she had even considered Biden. God bless you.

          Liked by 4 people

          1. Thank you so much, audiemarie, for your comment. Little do we know what impact our little actions have that will convert people. I guess in a small way that this is what Charlie is talking about, the prayer of doing. Your comment made my day so thank you for taking the time to share this with me. It is very comforting to me that this had such affect on your friend. Makes me want to do more. So thanks, again!

            Liked by 6 people

      2. As an aside, does anyone know what music is playing in the background? I can’t place it! Thanks so much

        Like

        1. I am not sure, but, while I listened to the video of Fr. Altman, the music reminded me of The Passion.
          If that is true, then the background music is very appropriate for the message.

          Like

        2. Tim, that was bugging me, too. I knew I had heard that music before. I figured out that it is the music used in the movie, The King’s Speech. In the movie, it’s used to help King GeorgeVI overcome a crippling stutter. It’s Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7-11 Allegret.

          Liked by 2 people

          1. That’s it! Thanks so much…..it’s been years since I’ve heard it….really appreciate your reply! Boy, there are a lot of smart people on this forum!

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Yes, Tim, I agree, there are a lot of smart people on this forum, but I don’t consider myself one of them. As my husband says, I have a brain stuffed with little trifle bits of a whole lot of trivia. 😁

              Like

              1. For what it’s worth, Texas, I consider you one of them. I guess it depends on what each one considers is smart. We’ve all got smarts of some type or nature. I’m just So grateful for your contributions!

                Liked by 1 person

    2. James altman is a very bad priest. He talks about the wildest conspiracy theories. He and Taylor Marshall, the schismatic, are good buddies.

      Like

      1. Dendrite, you’re welcome to voice your opinion in terms of what you think and believe as we discuss various themes and topics. However, simply coming by occasionally to drop some name-calling bombs is not welcome here. First of all, the respect shown to a good priest calls for adding “Fr.” to his name as you express agreement or disagreement with his views. Secondly, because he expresses ideas – about what is happening around us – which are different from your own does not make him a bad priest. There are some ideas in Taylor Marshall’s writing with which I also disagree but name-calling is not only an unfruitful way to address any concerns, it goes against our comment policy.

        Liked by 10 people

      2. and Dendrite there isn’t a single idea expressed in Father’s video that is not exactly what we learned from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He’s not the only priest saying explicitly that you cannot vote for any politician who supports abortion and remain a Catholic.

        Liked by 6 people

  10. Why is it that after Charlie puts a meaty piece up such as this one, And I read it…afterwards I feel that I’ve just been to counseling and confession and it feels sooooo good and calms all my crazy fears!!! Thank you, Charlie for being that sign of hope for me today!!! Great piece per usual!!!

    Liked by 4 people

  11. Wonderful commentary.. Indeed today’s troubles give us enough to deal with…. As Jesus said..
    Thank you for your post ..also I’m still trying to touch base with a local group.. I live in Indianapolis.. Thank you, God bless you

    Liked by 6 people

  12. Charlie, your last few sentences are heartening; reminds me of this Galatians’ verse..

    Liked by 6 people

  13. So, it was really my sister’s baby save. Yesterday was my sister’s birthday, so I offered my day on the sidewalk for her. So, right at the end of my time, we had a save – My SISTER’S BABY SAVE!

    It was right at 2:20 something when Lucy* drove up. Her window was already down a little, so I didn’t hesitate with my spiel. My mask was in my hand, but not on yet, so I social distanced and yelled. Seems she had MISSED her appointment at PP. She was hoping to be able to reschedule. (She thought I worked for PP; I did not disabuse her.) I told her we could see her in the Blue Bus, as I glanced at my watch – 2:24. It would be free, but that it would not count towards her abortion.

    “Will it show me how far along I am?”

    I assured her that it would, if she came right now, we could get her in. While she parked, I hurried over to the bus, where the ladies were packing up to leave!

    “Got you one,” I cried. “Get that trash out!” (The trash was on the sofa, ready to carry out.) Nurse Cheryl came from the back room, yes, they would see her! It had been a very slow day, and Lucy had an appointment! (We call it an “appointment” when a woman comes in who is abortion-minded, so others easily allow her to the front of the line.)

    She was hurrying in, also, and forgot her mask. Thank you ladies of St. Joseph, we gave her a mask. 2:30 and I left.

    Text came in about 3:10 YES, WE HAVE SAVE! Yes, My sister’s FIRST baby save! My very liberal Democrat sister’s first baby save!

    * Not her real name.

    **Update on Aria. Aria has had a set-back and is back on the ventilator. Please pray for Lucy AND continue your prayers for Baby Aria.

    Liked by 12 people

  14. Thank-you, Charlie!
    Thank-you for mentioning us Hobbits. I was praying and asked our loving God what is ahead? Remember the the book, The Hobbit? With my eyes closed in prayer I could see the path through the dark woods. The way was dark with breaks of sunlight on the path. At the end I could see light, but had/have no idea what the light is…my end? the end of the storm? Then I recalled the advice given to the Bilbo and the dwarves, “Stay on the path.” And I said Yes, Lord! I will be a good Hobbit and stay on the path!
    I will continue to walk around my neighborhood and the neighboring neighborhoods with my rosary in my hand, praying for our families, our country and the Church. I am trying hard to hearten the faithful, acknowledge God, be a sign of hope and take the next right step, never straying from the path.
    Thanks for leading us, Charlie! And thank-you, Beckita, for all you do!

    And God bless us all and all our endeavors,
    Katey in Oregon 🙏🏼✝️

    Liked by 10 people

    1. Love this, Katey. I LOVE your next right steps as you walk around neighborhoods praying the Rosary. Really, Wow! Hidden in the bosom of the Church you are. Brings to mind my friend, Esther, who is currently making a walking pilgrimage in France. The trail is in the form of an “M” and encompasses many apparition sites of Our Lady. Ordinary people claiming territory for Christ and His Mother.

      Liked by 6 people

    2. I’m wondering what a hobbit badge is going to look like? Hmmm
      Probably one that looks like some of those firefighters battling the wildfires. Roughed up, scratches, smudges on its face and dirt under fingernails.

      Liked by 3 people

  15. My oh my what a great read. I really needed this one. Thank you Charlie. Yes many strange things are going on in this country and the world. My iPad is also acting strange. I can’t explain why but several times a week when I open my email it defaults to ASOH “The Time for Choosing is at Hand” even though I close out daily on another email. I believe divine fingers have been in my iPad. Our Lord knows I’m a slow poke so he’s been active keeping me in the game. Now I’m ready to play.on the CORAC team and am looking forward to meeting with my Oregon and Washington teammates. God bless all.

    Liked by 6 people

  16. Yep… Amen to that Charlie, no hot buttons today.

    People up here are expecting everything to go back to normal soon, especially after a vaccine, they don’t understand. Unless there’s a vaccine to immunize people against leftist mentality of liberalism, socialism, communism, and rebellion against God, things won’t get better, we’re reaping a plentiful harvest of leftist rebellion against God that the majority did nothing to minimize when it sown years ago, but in many cases approvingly helped it along.

    There’s nothing like honest work around home to reduce the stress of these crazy days, home renovations & chores have been helping to take the edge off. I have a suspicion things are going up to ramp up to the next level soon, and trying everything to find peace & not let it bother me.

    Aknowledge God any & every way we can in thanks, appreciation, aknowledgement, the present, in choices, in thoughts, in deeds, in prayer, in spirit, in conscience, and as a ever present companion.

    Liked by 7 people

  18. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! – 😉

    https://www.newsmax.com/frankpavone/aclu-fda-naral/2020/09/01/id/984922/

    YEP!!!
    https://americanmind.org/features/the-racial-marxism-of-blm/the-war-on-america/

    Ths Canadian is Right-On. The Global/DeepState is rich & powerful but it may well have unleashed forces of Evil it can’t control. Nor have these Usual Suspects planned for the Forces of the Righteous that, I hope/pray, will rise up to counter this Evil Op.
    St Michael be with US!
    https://galganov.com/2020/09/02/its-not-just-a-small-revolution-or-peaceful-protests/

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/the-democrats-explain-their-voter-fraud-plans.php

    This is interesting. I’ve wondered over the past two months if qualified (retired, former or defunded by Marxists) Police Officers (MPs) could be appointed Deputy US Marshals.
    Politics has become so corrupt, at all levels, that it is probably impossible to remove elected officials for failure to uphold their Oaths of Office or even failure to be competent ;-(
    https://www.koin.com/news/protests/oregon-state-police-troopers-federally-deputized-amid-renewed-portland-protest-response/

    https://www.wnd.com/2020/08/put-bullet-donald-trump-watch-2-minutes-dem-threats-violence-president/

    https://spectator.us/npr-without-evidence-trump-cnn-associated-press-kenosha/

    I’m guessing that just about all The folks aboard Mighty Mo that day are spinnin’ in their graves ……… including the Japanese ……. about the State of Earth 2020?”
    https://stream.org/world-war-ii-end-75-years/

    https://www.wnd.com/2020/09/first-ever-joint-sabbath-celebration-israel-united-arab-emirates/

    https://pjmedia.com/
    https://saraacarter.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. For years, Federal Marshals have ‘Deputized’ local police officers to arrest susects. Usually on a case by case basis when working with each other. JTTF, Joint Terrorist Tas Force(s) have a local cop(s) assigned to mediate local laws such as traffic violations. The same goes for the deputization, a local police shall effect an arrest based on Federal Law and litigate within a Federal Courthouse.

      It is extreme to deputize an entire Police Agency, and in this case: warranted.

      {BREAK}
      Trump tasked (spring 2020) ALL Federal Agencies 82 of 83 agenices to direct their attention toward this mayhem. AG Barr alluded to this in his recent interview. Meaning: case folders, cross-link analysis, perpetrator tracking (location services) are all in play. Not to mention, $ money wire transfers, funding corporations, etc. to fund all this anarchy.

      As President Trump as stated, all he needs is a Governors request and he can get this over in a hour. Otherwise, he can do it on his own (Martial Law) but would rather locals act first.

      Each and every anarchist is evaluated, tagged and collatted for future investigations. 82 Federal agencies… a lot of available manpower, petabyte storage and bandwidth.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Charlie, I just saw this on my FB news feed…an advertisement for a new social media platform. With all the censorship that is going on with FB, this has to be a sign. I had to post it here. And just when you are starting up CORAC…is it a coincidence? …check it out…
    https://www.isquirrel.com/

    Liked by 6 people

  21. God created a gifted man and chose him for a very special post at this time in world history.

    Trump’s first three years were brutal. As difficult as the job of President of the United States is, God permitted that he suffer far more than any previous president has — with perhaps the exception of Abraham Lincoln. Naturally he was hit with personal attacks including impeachment from crazed and corrupt Democrats, but then also from an army of fake conservative Washington Republican politicians AND powerful intelligence organizations that conspired to overthrow him, not to mention with the relentless and unwavering assault from an insane media who have destroyed themselves in their effort to destroy him. (Whew! Is that all?! No, I left out China)

    So it was during these first 3 years that Donald Trump got toughened up, hardened, conditioned, refined by fire in a crucible — and that prepared him to lead us during the unprecedented events that hit us in 2020, which he is handling brilliantly.

    But that was just the beginning. These first 4 years of his presidency — as brutal and evil as they were — were just a shot across the bow, an opening act, a warm-up, a dry run, before the REAL challenge — the Tribulation — that we believe is about to come. Just as we are being prepared over these past many years, so has Donald — perhaps unwittingly. 🙂 We now know him well enough to know that he will try his best to lead us 🇺🇸 through the storm, with the help from our prayers and support. Not to say he will be able to save our nation. Nay, not super likely according to modern prophets and saints. But perhaps he may significantly mitigate, temper, diminish the damage and suffering that will befall us. And that would be a blessing.

    May God bless Donald John Trump and his family.

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Patrick, succinctly put. I, too, pray daily for the president and his family. They are all working tirelessly and without pay – true, they don’t need it – but still, they work. I consider them to be as you have said, created for this work at this time. As. Have. We. All.
      God bless us all as we work our posts in these trying times.
      God bless, katey in Oregon 🙏🏼✝️💙📿💟

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Ha Katy! After posting it, I realized I could have actually said it 3 sentences — THAT would’ve been succinct!

        It is SO humbling to think God, who knitted us in our mother’s womb, wanted us to walk the earth at this very time. St. Louis de Montfort wrote that in these latter times, God is going to raise up the greatest Saints that the world has ever seen. (No pressure! 😬)

        Liked by 5 people

    2. President Donald J. Trump has an impressive list of accomplishments as POTUS. From the start, I was pleased that he stepped into the role as President to get several balls in motion when he was only President elect and has not taken a salary. Determined and selfless are good fruits. 😉

      https://promiseskept.com/

      Liked by 4 people

  22. Some of the psychology of why looters join the “protests”.
    Pranesh Prakash was establishing the reason “looters” who are being lauded as just “regaining their disadvantage” being called looters was not a “white supremacist coined word”, but actually hails from India. He points out how loot is a driving force that can unite people of different faiths and races, not for a common purpose, but for “what’s in it for me”.
    “…but rather how mercenaries will fight (even against other “Indians”) if promised the spoils of plunder. This was to distinguish those who fought for loot from those who fought for honour, etc. ” (Pranesh Prakash).
    https://mobile.twitter.com/pranesh/status/1300009438611304448/photo/2

    Liked by 3 people

  23. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! – 😉

    Good One for These-Days — Heartlight Daily Verse – 3 September
    Isaiah 48:17
    This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”
    Thoughts on today’s verse:
    I sometimes long for the pillar of fire at night and the cloud by day to guide me as I make my way through this world. But I am reminded of God’s abiding presence in the Spirit and his promise to never forsake me. I believe that if I seek his glory he will get me where I need to be to do his will.
    Prayer:
    Guide me, O Father, guide me to the places you want me to be, the ministries you want me to offer, and the people you want me to touch. Capture my heart to do your work and never let me lose sight of your coming glory. In Jesus name. Amen.’
    Visit heartlight.org for more

    https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/prominent-italian-catholic-journalist-the-gospel-is-historically-reliable

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/02/four-ways-obama-biden-harris-team-has-attacked-catholics/

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-jp-ii-life-academy-pres-criticizes-vatican-archbishop-for-attacking-political-defense-of-life-in-us?

    https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/site-of-jesuss-miracles-may-have-moved-over-time-expert-says-640846

    https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/biblical-scholars-reject-face-of-god-claim-640706

    https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/jacob-blake-sr-dad-father-facebook-biden/

    I’ll say again! We know there is Voter Fraud and we know it’s mostly DEMOCRAT Voter Fraud! If there was any significant GOP fraud, Wolf and the entire DNC Media Cabal wouldn’t Shut-Up about it. Democrat’s Only Option this Election is to steal it ;-(
    https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/william-barr-gets-very-testy-with-wolf-blitzer/

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/
    https://stream.org/category/us/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 6 people

    1. How on earth can we keep the Dems from stealing this election? They’ll keep mailing in votes until they’ve gone past the number of votes that Trump’s received. Why is mail-in voting even being allowed? And if there’s no clear winner by mid-January….guess who will step in as president? Nancy! Yikes!

      Liked by 4 people

  24. Charlie,

    Wise counsel from Heaven and my sentiments exactly. ALL OF IT!

    I would prefer to call those who are dedicated to the Heavenly Cause (that you have been asked to spearhead) some name other than activist. The connotation of that name carries a real negative. Perhaps designated participants with a different as “Heaven’s children” or something with a supernatural light to it, would be more attractive and true, too. That’s just my humble thought on that.

    Keep up the good work, my blessed brother in Jesus.

    Charlie

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks Charlie. Actually, I am subtly trying to turn some of the Godless left’s favorite words on them, just as they have done with us on the word “gay,” the symbolism of the rainbow, and countless other things. (Liberal originally and classically was used to describe someone who opposed centralized government and emphasized natural law. I am actually a liberal under the original meaning of the term.) I want our language and culture back. You see, I am something of a “community organizer,” but I want to be God’s community organizer.

      Liked by 7 people

      2. Me too. Give us our language back. Understandable that some may want to soften it up. For those who do, pay not attention to the angry squirrel on the back of our hoodies when Mick and I and the rest of the Fighting 379 pass by.

        Liked by 2 people

  25. With regard to Hobbits, many would do well to bone up on “The Battle of Bywater.” Shoot, only four among all the hobbits set out on that harrowing quest to dispense with the ring. Five, if you count “Fatty” Bolger who turned back early on. I’d argue that “The Scouring of the Shire” is one of the least talked about, most often overlooked, yet most important chapters in the LOTR saga. Maybe think of it as the “Ballad of the Ordinary Hobbit.”

    Liked by 4 people

  26. “I’m sure most of you saw last week when the CDC tried to quietly update its website to note that only 6% of reported Covid deaths actually come from Covid alone. Speaking generously, that means that less than 11,000 deaths can be unambiguously attributed to Covid.”

    So already the MSM networks have put a spin on this information in such a way that folks still believe in the hoax.

    Prayer need- my husband believes the lies and considers me a conspiracy follower.

    Liked by 7 people

      2. We need a medical expert in authority to renounce masks!!

        Charlie, you say the truth about COVID19 and mask wearing will be revealed, correct?

        I hope sooner than later! I’m forced to do so because I work in a school. The side effects are awful!

        Crazy, but I get the sense that something major is going to happen soon to throw us into more Turmoil and chaos.

        Liked by 2 people

    5. There’ are virtually endless reasons why a person may not get onboard with a position we have. Could be they’re just obstinately avoiding the truth, maybe they’re just having a bad day/week/month/year…, could be we’re just ineffective at communicating our thoughts –– heck, we might even actually be wrong from time to time –– and a whole slew of other possibilities. Any time I run up against a wall, particularly with family, I take a different tack, almost instantly going quietly to prayer. Course’ that means I have to trust in God and be prepared to play the long game, though I take comfort in knowing that God is truly pleased when we focus our prayer on the people He put into our lives, and I reckon “spouse” is right at the top of the list.

      God can heal anyone, but I think it’s probably a great deal easier to heal an ear, than it is to heal a soul.

      During that process of prayer (doing), I also frequently notice other players involved that may or may not be helping. Regarding the unhelpful ones, I pray that God handles that too, whether a change of heart, or simply getting them out of the picture if necessary. Had one third wheel like that who was very destructive. So I prayed, and God answered that prayer by forcing that person out of our lives so quick and decisively, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, we must have really been on the same page on that one, God.”

      Liked by 4 people

    6. Praying for you and your husband, LittleOneInPA,

      And there is hope.

      My friend whom I described in the comments section of one of Charlie’s previous posts who was acting similar to your husband seems to have come around. I backed off for a bit and just prayed for her, and then recently she called me one day and we had a nice, friendly conversation … kept the chat to lighter topics, but to my mind that in itself is welcome progress.

      And a relative of mine no longer freaks out when I mention colloidal or sovereign silver as a good way to boost the immune system … because it turns out someone in her social circle is also now recommending it because some specialist/herbalist who’s published said so. (Relative was convinced I was going to turn blue or worse from drinking silver. Apparently you’re crazy if you’re the only one saying something’s true, but the instant a non-family member says the same thing is true, well now it’s true all of a sudden, funny how that works!) 🙂

      And like I told my relative, really, I don’t even have to tell you the news that comes from cutting edge sources that the mainstream media hasn’t picked up on yet to try and explain what’s happening in society … It’s reached the point now where all you have to do is look around and you can see for yourself.

      Anyways, keeping people who disagree with you in prayer can be so powerful … it sometimes takes time to see results. I have a habit of inviting people’s guardian angels to Mass, so you can bet that I’ve been inviting my friend’s angel and my relative’s angel.

      Hope things get better for you soon!

      Liked by 3 people

  29. According to a local news station the autopsy report on George Floyd came back reporting George had a fatal amount of fentanyl in his system. it would seem he had already entered his dying process before the Minneapolis cops ever laid eyes on him. Yes, the cops were probably mean to a dying man. They may even have shortened his death struggle by a few minutes.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. Hahahahaha I just shared this paragraph with my zoom 🏎 group but thought it too funny not to share here too!!! I’m still laughing 😂😂😂

    Hi ya’ll..this is a funny story! I was at Mass this morning and i had washed my facemark and the downy I used all of a sudden made me want to sneeze!!! So sneeze Idid but I tried my hardest to make it quite a quiet sneeze which only made it 1,000 times worse and it just blubbered and resonated throughout the whole church in this thunderous fail of a quiet sneeze!!!! hahahaha….boy oh boy…you don’t want to sneeze in these times right now! Oh the looks!!!! I’m still laughing soooo hard I’m practiacllly choking on my own laugh! I know you probably had to be there to really understand but it was/is really really funny!!!
    God Bless!
    Linda

    Beckita and Charlie I just printed out your last piece and comments! I have to admit Beckita I’m seeing the storm in a new light today!!! I feel much more joyful knowing this kick 🦵 in the buttocks is really such a great blessing to us all!!!

    Girding…laughing….sneezing in O-H-I-O!!! Woo woot!!!

    Ave Maria Stella Maris!!!

    Liked by 6 people

      1. Mick I laughed all day long over one Downey sneeze!!!😂😂😂 I’m like that though… I get nervous and do big blunders!!! Lol😂😂😂 there’s always that one in a family or crowd!!!😂😂😂

        Liked by 3 people

        1. I hear ya, Linda; in my family, I’m that one. My golden-haired sister-in-law has for years referred to me as “the family blonde.” Ah, well; at least I keep my family loose by providing them with ample opportunities for laughter. 🙂

          Liked by 5 people

          1. Ah yep!!! I can see you like that too Mick!!!😂😂😂 I remember once me & my dad were washing the fancy wine glasses after Christmas meal (my boys were like 4 & 5) and my dad told me whatever you do DONT drop any of these crystal wine 🍷 glasses!!! Well now…you don’t want to tell a nervous nelly NOT to drop something right in your nervous hands!!!😂😂😂 I assure you, laughter DID NOT ensue!!! It was more like..,”You did that on perpose!” Uh uh did not did not!!! Oh what a fight that followed! Dad could make a grown woman cry 😭 Lol!!! I like to joke about it today though🤗😂😂

            Liked by 4 people

            1. Hi Linda,

              You’re definitely not alone.

              My high school homeroom teacher lived down the street. One day, Mom sent me down there to tell my brother it was dinnertime. So off I went on roller skates, climbed up the concrete porch steps, and hung onto the railing for dear life after ringing the doorbell.

              My teacher came to the door and said, “Careful you don’t fall off the porch.”

              So of course that’s what happened. I fell backwards off the porch while wearing roller skates. To his eternal credit, my homeroom teacher kept it secret and never told the class … 🙂

              Liked by 6 people

              1. Oh Phoenix I cringe at that one!!! It must of hurt sooo bad and I think your guardian angel must have cushioned ur fall!!! Yikes!!! God bless your teacher!!!! ⛸

                Liked by 1 person

            2. Ha, Linda and Phoenix!

              My dad did something similar to me. He’s a jokester; and on my 39th birthday, he pulled one over on me but good. He sent me a card that said, “Happy 40th!” As soon as I read that, my mind became a tangled mess of utter confusion: “Wait… I’m FORTY?! I thought I was 39 this year! How did I MISS that? Where did that extra year go?” And so on and so forth, until I read what my dad had written inside the card: “I know you won’t be 40 until next year, but I just wanted you to have a year to get used to the idea.” Then I laughed my head off. But don’tcha know that for the next 5 or 6 years, I constantly messed up how old I was? I was always off by one year (and on the high side). So, yeah… thanks, Dad! 🙂

              Liked by 4 people

          2. Mick, did you hear about the two blondes who walked into a building? You’d think one of them would have seen it! (Sorry, couldn’t resist; I really laughed at that one recently.) 🙂 Laughter is the best medicine; especially these days!!

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Ha, Annie! That was pretty good. (For the record, I do walk into things like furniture, door jambs, and occasionally walls.) 🙂

              Like

  31. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! – 😉

    https://stream.org/joy-break-god-has-been-good-to-me-wwii-vet-celebrates-100th-birthday-with-drive-by-party/

    https://www1.cbn.com/pray-every-moment-matters

    It’s time for Churches in CA to DEMAND that they get The Same PASS that SanFran (Salon) Nanny gets …. especially the mostly Spineless Catholic “Shepherds”!!
    https://www.afa.net/the-stand/faith/2020/09/john-macarthur-is-obeying-the-law-governor-newsom-is-not/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/breaking-hair-stylists-hold-hair-dryer-protest-outside-pelosis-home-hang-curlers-tree-video/

    Rev Graham In the Fight:
    https://cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/rev-graham-whoever-funding-rioters-enemy-our-country
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/09/03/national-prayer-march-with-franklin-graham-washington-dc-saturday-september-26th-noon/
    …. & then we have this Guy ;=(
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/03/jesuit-priest-thomas-reese-stumps-for-catholics-for-biden/

    Just how many of these “Professional” Rent-a-Mobsters are we dealing with and WHO be paying the “Salaries & Per Diem”? …. Eh!!???
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/blm-protester-arrested-dc-also-kenosha-portland-riots/

    My CA ancestors must be spinnin’ in their graves ;-(
    https://stream.org/did-california-legislators-just-vote-to-protect-gay-adults-who-have-sex-with-minors/

    https://thefederalist.com/
    https://justthenews.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Praying and contacted Gov Newsom to VETO this horrid bill regarding sex with minors. Also asked him to VETO bill that would allow puberty blockers at an earlier age!! Dear Lord please save the children. In my opinion it’s past time for CA chastisement. I’m praying for an end to this insanity.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Rev Graham in Wash D.C. Sept. 26th to pray for our country. I hope all the faithful christians and people of goodwill join him. I’m on the west coast, or I would be there in a minute.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. I don’t see a major new action crying out for doing in the St Louis area now but in using the forum I would like to see here or elsewhere a place for folks in a given region or sub region to share thoughts. I suppose this is coming soon? With that I will be out most of the weekend, time for family and for a bit of quiet and prayer hopefully. Region 7 here.

    Liked by 4 people

    2. Really interesting, Phillip. Thanks.

      It reminds me a bit of activated charcoal, at least as used topically. I wonder if there’s a connection.

      Liked by 1 person

  35. CrewDog I appreciate the links you search out for us. I think you are right on danger of Vote Fraud in the upcoming election.

    A couple of things caught my eye in the last few days that have raised a red flag.

    First, Hillary Clinton was interviewed by her former press person on some obscure podcast. Her message/order to the Biden campaign: Don’t concede on Election Night UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES i.e., no matter how many votes he loses by.

    https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=msnbc+hillary+clinton+tells+biden+not+to+concede+on+election+night+2020#id=2&vid=ad760c01fa52aa45f0400f028df6ff39&action=click

    Second, I ran across this article at a website nobody wants to link to but the message is worth reading because I believe it reveals the game plan associated with Hillary’s directive to the Biden Campaign. Here is the excerpt:

    “Democratic Pollster Predicts a Huge Trump Win on Election Night — But Says Biden Will End Up Winning Within a Week

    By Rudy Takala Sep 1st, 2020, 2:06 pm

    President Donald Trump is likely going to win big on election night — including in traditionally Democratic states, such as Minnesota and Virginia — but will lose the election a week later because of mail-in voting, according to a Democratic pollster.

    “We are sounding an alarm and saying that this is a very real possibility, that the data is going to show on election night an incredible victory for Donald Trump,” HawkFish CEO Josh Mendelsohn said in an interview with Axios on HBO.

    One scenario modeled by Mendelsohn’s polling firm even shows Trump prevailing in the Electoral College on election night, winning 408 electoral votes compared to just 130 for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The model shows Biden winning California, New York, Colorado, Oregon, and the state of Washington.

    That scenario accounts for the idea that just 15 percent of mail-in votes will be counted by election night. In that event, the model suggests, Biden could prevail days later — if counting goes smoothly — by 334 electoral votes to 204 for Trump.

    “When every legitimate vote is tallied and we get to that final day, which will be some day after Election Day, it will in fact show that what happened on election night was exactly that, a mirage,” Mendelsohn said. “It looked like Donald Trump was in the lead and he fundamentally was not when every ballot gets counted.”

    He pointed out that this outcome may shake the losing side’s faith in the integrity of the election.”

    This Democrat Pollster is “sounding an alarm” ???? Rather, it looks more like he is revealing the game plan. Just 15 percent of mail-in votes will be counted by election night. How does he know? Who told him that? That is what you might call an expedient fact made up out of thin air. It fits the narrative with plenty of room to spare. Unlimited room to spare.

    First, Biden and his ragtag campaign team are bucked up by Hillary. No conceding under any circumstances.

    Second, the “Base” is bucked up by Pollster Dude.

    This Democrat Pollster is “sounding an alarm” ???? Rather, it looks more like he is revealing the game plan. Biden and his ragtag campaign team first are bucked up by Hillary. Under any circumstances. Next the “Base” is bucked up by Pollster Dude. Don’t go in the tank on Election Night. We got an Insurance Policy. “ …. this outcome may shake the (preordained and set up) losing sides faith in the integrity of the election…. “ “ …. That scenario accounts for the idea that just 15 percent of mail-in votes will be counted by election night. “ Say what? Say “ … just 15 percent of mail-in votes will be counted by election night…. “. Ummmm. Yeah.

    Finally, the Washington Post has put up a Op Ed opinion piece “warning” that, based on war gaming the situation after the election, America is headed for violence UNLESS Joe Biden wins by a landslide. Under any other outcome scenario gamed by the Washington Post we get violence. Well, such an outcome is not going to happen. The Wapo is signaling the game plan. Post-election violence. Thi not an analysis. This is a directive.

    The American people are being psychologically conditioned to accept the “outcome”. If Biden doesn’t win violence.

    In my reading on Vote Fraud over the years the one constant has been the idea that you can’t rig a landslide. You can only shift a few votes here and there. You need a race that the public has been prepped to expect. A “ too close to call.” race. The polls and the cable network reporters and assorted “journalists” are tasked with pounding this idea into the electorate over weeks and weeks of psy op disinformation. Voters will accept whatever the result is without making too much of fuss about it.

    Rush just said that all we need to know about Mail In Balloting is one thing: You don’t need an ID to vote.

    Think about that. States are mailing millions of ballots to anonymous voters. What could possibly go wrong?

    It seems to me that the Leftists are planning to challenge that presumption that you need a race that is too close to call. They are planning on rigging a landslide. We live in a new election environment now – mail in ballot fraud — which on a big enough scale will be completely undetectable and irreversible.

    Liked by 7 people

    3. Yes, that is the obvious game plan. They are so giddy about its probable success that they keep giving clues and hints. They all keep saying that Trump will never leave office. Of course, if Pres. Trump knows that there has been fraud, he will likely fight it. In the meantime, as Pelosi has said (very early on) that she is second in line and “there is a process” and she has stated that Trump does not know it yet but he will definitely not be in office….. I have no words to describe how very disgusted I am with the political corruption in this country.

      Liked by 5 people

    4. “Setting up the narrative,” and perhaps more.

      I’ve read that satanists have a code which I’ve heard referred to as a kind of “karmic law” they follow such that they tell you in advance the evil they plan to do to you, and in their minds, your silence means agreement, giving them permission to go ahead without fearing a backlash from the “karmic law.”

      The battle is at its base a spiritual one.

      ” For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12

      Liked by 5 people

      1. I never heard that before, but it is interesting re satanists….The battle is most definitely spiritual but manifesting itself in psychological and material ways in society.

        Liked by 4 people

      2. The Phoenix,

        I’m not sure where I learned it but exorcists reveals a lot about spiritual warfare based on their fields and experience.

        It seems evil must reveal itself so people can choose willingly to participate.

        Thank you for articulating what we are up against.

        Pray and fast!
        🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

        Liked by 1 person

  36. I watched the last video on U tube channel the “We are not alone” one. The image with the discussion of the tipping point with the car was very compelling. Maybe We could post a few more on the background we have been studying about the storm, the deep division, the cultural civil war also. Some U tube videos tend to go viral and may gather more of those in our camp over time? Just a thought as images sometimes communicate in ways prose doesn’t and some are more impacted by this way. That one was very well done indeed!!

    Liked by 3 people

  38. This has absolutely nothing to do with any discussion at hand. But it made me laugh on a day when I needed to laugh. Thought you might enjoy this comedian mother in her role as school administrator and addressing the format of this school year.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/school-2020-mom-funny-video_l_5f4ffc72c5b62b3add3b5fc3?utm_campaign=share_facebook&ncid=engmodushpmg00000003&fbclid=IwAR1cKLL8sjDk1FmqrpAP3nOAozuMaTaogaoUap2piYv5rabApz1PDM_qvhs

    Liked by 4 people

    4. You know, in a very weird way, this video is somewhat symbolic of so much of the craziness going on just about everywhere. But it is not nasty. It is just plain funny. This comedian did a great job. It is hard to say which part I like the best. Maybe the part that they were sending a survey about the 76 surveys they had already sent. 🙂

      Liked by 4 people

    1. JoyfulHope, saying “Ok, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to work 😦” goes totally against your screen name. Just sayin’. 😀

      It did work, by the way. I normally can’t read anything on Medium because I don’t have an account there and they hide most of the article. This time, though, the entire article was there for me. I actually found someone laying this out in terms of the effects, calling Covid-19 a vascular disease, way back in June, I think, on Twitter. He didn’t have the bradykinin connection, though, so I couldn’t do anything other than put his info in the back of my mind for later use, if any. Your article here makes that connection for me, so I thank you very much.

      This idea that Covid-19 is a bradykinin storm first and a cytokine storm only secondarily is very interesting, and it explains why Dr Marik’s group has had to elaborate his original treatment protocol for sepsis (which is a simple cytokine storm) in order to get to a successful treatment.

      Fortunately, researchers didn’t need to know about the bradykinin issue in order to come up with many ways to prevent, ease and cure Covid-19 infections. The connection to Vitamin D3, though, is quite interesting, as that has appeared for some time to be a key, perhaps in fact the keystone, for prevention and cure.

      I’m always looking for simple actions to take. One action if infected and if taking an ACE inhibiting drug is to stop taking that drug and begin taking something to counteract the overly strong ACE inhibiting effect of the Covid virus. I prefer to look for supplements to use instead of drugs, so I went looking for a supplement that acts against bradykinin, breaking it down faster. Turns out that Bromelain appears to break bradykinin down, so I’ll be suggesting that in the next update of my paper. For all you chocolate lovers out there, some of the polyphenols in chocolate break down bradykinin, so you now have an excuse to binge on chocolate if you get infected with Covid-19. 🙂

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Thank you, Steve 🙂 I am so glad that it was useful for you. My daughter’s husband received it from his best friend who is married to a nurse. Last night I think I was “joyfully frustrated” because I am sometimes so inept with computers. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

          1. Does anyone have details on the pineapple. I have heard that pineapple does but it is fresh only, or canned, juice? Also, how much.
            _________
            Does this mean I can not feel guilty for eating pineapple upside down cake??? 🤣

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Just looked up “Carolina Reaper” … methinks I’d prefer some nice cool peppermint instead! 🙂 Are you Southern, Littlelight?

              Like

              1. Haha, moi, Southerner! I’ve been to the Carolinas, once. For better or worse I am a CT native, from Italian and Russian immigrants.

                Liked by 1 person

        2. Maggie, milk chocolate isn’t really chocolate in the true meaning of the term. Dark chocolate means I think something like 70% chocolate or higher. 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

    2. An absolutely fascinating article, JoyfulHope20!

      Thank you very much for posting it! 🙂 Another article stressing the importance of vitamin D3, from a whole new perspective …

      Liked by 3 people

    3. Joyful, that’s a fascinating article! I was able to see the whole article also and bookmarked it. Hope I can get back to it next time. Yes, I’m sure Steve will appreciate it. Thank you!

      Liked by 3 people

  42. I stopped, re-fortified, the first day of Charlie’s post, just reading about the (paperwork)slog endured for whatever. I’m back in the paperwork/claim forms/deadlines slog in the mud underwater again with little break after it started with my husband’s passing; stewarding the “estate”; and two ‘forced’moves to a new home — this time as voting registration approaches crunch time! With all the live stations Covid closed. Plus it’s Seattle! Lol

    Beckita knows that my first neighborhood find was a coffee shop mug featuring a ‘Mighty..’ squirrel! God wink.

    My point is yes, the slog with no expectations — the end game could be Purgatory or Heaven instead of Mt Meeker — blessed be God! To use the slog and watch for the breaks of glory.

    Amen. From Laudate today: Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. – Mother Teresa

    Liked by 7 people

      2. So many of us in the same boat, HTTP. Just chain them to Mother Mary with every rosary you say. I think it was Father Gobbi’s messages that said to do that. Mama won’t let our “babies” be lost if we pray for them every day!

        Liked by 2 people

    4. Well it won’t be Mt Meeker for me, LeslyeK,

      I can’t breathe at high altitudes! 🙂

      The rest of you who can make it there will have to enjoy it for me …

      Liked by 3 people

  43. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! – 😉

    https://thosecatholicmen.com/articles/will-the-men-break-or-will-they-lead-the-historical-opportunity-of-covid/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/gonna-want-hunt-eradicate-opponents-victor-davis-hanson-americas-future-democrats-win-2020-video/

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/09/invitations-voter-fraud-2020-joseph-klein/

    https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-the-big-guns?mc_cid=ed39a40dad&mc_eid=2a0b6c7ef6

    I hate to guess these things ;-( I’m expecting Open-Season on members of The Thin Blue Line and those that support them.
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/09/04/antifa-activist-suspected-of-murder-killed-during-shoot-out-with-task-force-attempting-arrest/

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/diocese-asks-parishes-to-promote-catholic-lgbt-ministry-in-parish-bulletins

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/09/the_nefarious_purpose_behind_the_atlantics_trump_and_the_military_hoax.html

    https://videos.whatfinger.com/2020/09/03/if-democrats-win-the-mob-wins-fast-new-gop-commercial-with-awesome-clips

    https://culturewatchnews.com/the-reason-why-a-u-s-air-marshal-was-stopped-from-boarding-a-plane-will-make-patriotic-americans-furious/

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/09/04/oh-so-leftist-protests-are-only-violent-ten-percent-of-the-time-n2575695

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 4 people

  44. The line from “The Hobbit” that essentially launched it all:

    “I am looking for someone to share an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.” — Gandalf

    Liked by 6 people

  45. “I think God is both mocking us and revealing us to ourselves. We went into such a raw panic over what is, at bottom, a relatively mundane virus. We allowed public officials who never lift a finger to do their actual jobs because they are too busy opining about social justice and things that they are not responsible for to let many of our cities go up in flames while these officials cheered on the rioters. We kept taking the path of least resistance until we let things deteriorate to the point where it would take a violent crackdown to restore any semblance of order.”

    Charlie, I’ve read and re-read your post and this part bothers me. Just “who” are you referring to? All of us? I for one did not “panic” over the virus. I for one did not “allow” public officials to go rogue. I have wrote letters, emails, and numerous complaints to govt officials and my Bishop on how this is being handled. I walked with like minded people to protest and pray the rosary.

    What “exactly” can we do other than the above to “resist” further?

    In CA, with fines for not wearing a mask and being within 6ft of others–it’s more like we have been forced.

    I believe we’re all being painted with a wide brush by your statements. I also believe that Our Lord knows who trusts in Him and who doesn’t.

    Mea culpa if you’ve already addressed this.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. I too have been taking similar steps, SanSan. I believe the article is addressing the collective *we*; society as a whole. Too many people I know even to this day do not want to make an effort to see and deal with the elephant in the room, despite what history has shown are extreme adverse consequences of the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil mentality. It is heartbreaking and I fret thinking even what I will have to face while accounting for what I have/have not done to get us where we are at in the world now in my lifetime. And I consider myself a piece of dust on the table of a piece of dust. Still how much have I contributed to it all? Lord have mercy! ❤

      Liked by 4 people

    2. That’s a great idea, Maggie! Like Beckita, I think it should be possible, but I suspect the CORAC group would have to request to be designated as such on Amazon by whoever it is at Amazon who clears charities for inclusion. Beckita, can you make sure Charlie gets a reminder on this and puts it on his ToDo list? (After all, it’s not like you’re busy or anything!). 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. And to add more exciting adventure to my kind of busy, I’m tending to three granddaughters during the week as they live the hybrid model of schooling at this time: 2 days on campus and 3 days with Nana as they work their way through distance learning modules. 🙂 But, surely, I’ll highlight this idea for Charlie.

        Liked by 6 people

        1. Your granddaughters are probably tickled pink to have you as their ‘tutor’ when homeschooling and with the kind but (most likely) no nonsense principal, Fr. Wang. 🙂 May St. Elizabeth Ann Seton intercede for all students/ teachers to have a joyful, healthy and productive school year, unique though it may be.

          Liked by 2 people

          1. We’re all loving it, Maggie. Father is the youngest granddaughter’s “recess buddy.” All three love him, yet, there’s a special bond with the youngest. There’s eight-four years between them and, still, they are best friends. Amen to your prayer!

            Liked by 2 people

  47. Prayer request:
    I have a big decision to make in the next couple of weeks. Please pray that I discern this with proper objectivity. I’ll be back with more once I’m at liberty to go public.

    TIA and I love you all!

    Liked by 9 people

      1. Thanks to all for your generous prayer response to my above request.

        Beckita; A well-timed image you posted. I’ve been asking for the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker in my discernment. Btw, that’s a hint as to the nature of the decision I need to make…wink wink. In a week or so it will be a done deal and I’ll come back here (probably a new thread) and tell you all how I’m second guessing myself and publicly exhibit a gross lack of trust in God’s providence.

        Just kidding about that last part…kind of. 😉 Scary times to be making a big change, isn’t it?

        Liked by 3 people

        1. It truly is, Christopher. At the same time, I’ve been pondering again about how “normal” times can cause us to be lax in trusting God, as if we were accomplishing things on our own. When Charlie first said a purpose of this Storm is to refocus us on the reality that every iota of good has God as its source, it made perfect sense. Here, I think of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection and the interior habit he developed by practicing the Presence of God in all waking hours. As the brief description of his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, states:
          Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth century Christian who had a dramatic spiritual awakening at the age of eighteen. Seeing a tree in winter, his soul suddenly opened to the presence of God. Within six years he had entered a Carmelite monastery in Paris, where he worked chiefly in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning. He practiced a simple and natural method. He merely turned his attention to the Divine Presence available at all times during any activity. He reports that he was as fully present with God while washing dishes in the kitchen as he was when partaking of the sacrament in worship.

          The profound peace and joy evident in Lawrence’s life attracted many visitors, who sought to learn the secret of his unique spiritual practice. Originally published shortly after his death, this volume consists of personal conversations and letters, which communicate how one can experience God at all times. Also included in this edition are his Spiritual Maxims, a document that was discovered among his belongings after his death.

          I love this beautiful way to describe the first principle/act of our core message in our TNRS-ASOH community: “Acknowledge God.”

          Like

      1. Do catholics follow the doctrine if the lesser magistrate?

        Thx for the linked essay, in it, this “Canon law establishes that a person who “provokes subjects to disobey” their ordinary “is to be punished by an interdict or other just penalties.”” got my attention.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. When there was a neighboring diocese where masks were optional, I drove an hour for Mass. Now that masks are mandatory statewide to my knowledge to attend Mass, I wear one … below my nose. Socially, I don’t care what people think, always thought for myself, have enjoyed being an eccentric who didn’t follow the crowd, and have never been popular with high school clique types.

      That said, as a Catholic, I was brought up to obey the Pope, obey the Bishops, and obey the Teachings of the Catholic Church. Another consideration is that I want to receive Jesus in Holy Communion. So now, since there’s a dispensation and we’re under no obligation to attend Sunday Mass, I attend with a mask, receive Communion, then immediately walk out the door and take off the mask.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. We all do that here The Phoenix. We even have a cantor and a singer accompanied by piano or organ. We are 6 masses every Sunday. I’ve been to 3 different time ones. Although the church holds at least 4x’s the number that show up, the attendance number remains at @120. Mass is still accessible with full dispensation on line. They still have a daily mass.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I trust what father is saying about the masks is true. I do think that there are several ways and perhaps a proper pecking order to deal with such matters. I can’t imagine what our good-hearted, God fearing shepherds are going through. My confessor at a parish within my diocese, yet not my own, almost made a counter confession for our Church, clergy and hierarchy last weekend for the foolishness of these restrictions. Father M is the pastor of this quaint parish and during his daily Masses, he only masks at Communion and I do the same for the sake of the Priest/Eucharistic Minister. We were both mask-less (the only ones) at Reconciliation too. He is a bit more subtle in his *ways* of handling the matter. I do not envy our priests and pray daily for them and for our Church.

      As I confessed and through my tears and frustration, Father told me that I am sitting on a gold mine and implored me to offer it up for the restoration of the Church. I also confessed that I knew I was going to commit to being at Confession that day no matter what and really laid into my husband before I left the house, to unload anger and to vent. Father also suggested that when I get home to give my hubby a big kiss. 😉

      This isn’t easy. We are not alone! ❤

      Liked by 5 people

        1. On a flip side, how joyful! Here are pictures I just took of our spring 2020 clearance counter Easter Lily that I planted in our backyard Trinity garden space after it had finished blooming. Lo and behold I have not had a store bought transplanted Easter Lily return and bloom for me. Some faded away, others just the greenery came back and this year, a whole new stem formed from the withered one and my first Easter Lily has rebloomed (same year)! Here it is among the morning glories and impatiens. I noticed a faint glow to the lower right in the first picture too. Wonders never cease. ❤

          Liked by 4 people

    4. Personally I don’t see mask wearing for most of us as something to “fall on the sword” about. a total lockdown and violation of freedom and personal and religious rights yes. Even if we think they don’t help much or are silly, I consider it a small price to receive Jesus and as many are conditioned to be overly afraid of this thing, the mask makes them feel more comfortable and that is a good thing in my estimation. But I do remove it as soon as I am out of a church or store which requires it. And yes I do consider obedience as there is no moral evil in wearing a mask for most of us. And we should obey unless we are being asked to do evil.

      Like

      1. That’s a very prudent attitude, Bob. While I push back on the masking nonsense, I don’t think it is worth falling on the sword for while the others are. I kind of roll my eyes. I saw a mask online that read, “I’m not panicked. I just want to buy groceries.” I wanted it.

        Like

      2. BobG,

        It looks like you missed a post I made in another thread describing what happened when I tried to explain to the ushers in my home parish about my medical issues with wearing a mask … and I even told the ushers in detail what the medical condition was, and described what might happen if I had to sit in the middle of a pew while wearing a mask. Long story short, I now attend Mass elsewhere. Haven’t officially changed parishes but have considered doing so over this.

        May God continue to bless you with good health.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Thanks Phoenix. While mask wearing is no big deal for most of us some have health issues which should be respected. God bless and good health to you.

          Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.

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.