The Difference of the Righteous...

I don't know all the details but this really got my ire up.

I watch, as my brothers are accused and accuse - openly, to the world. It is a despicable horror as the men involved in doing this are good and righteous. Did not Paul chastise us for taking our brothers to the courts? Yet this is one of the threats against my brothers - and they remain calm and quiet. They step back look at their actions, humble themselves, pray and repent.

Are they perfect? Probably not. Are they unteachable? Obviously no. Did they do something wrong? That remains to be seen.

But there is one thing that is done here that is so unrighteous. The posting letters, documents, and emails containing views, opinions, quotes, and rules on the Internet for the world to see. Twisted words and phrases, spoken by my brothers and others who are afraid, to use as weapons against them and threaten them. And this they say for peace. Peace...

Yet we can only see part of the story - that which is loudly proclaimed. We may never know the actual beginning of such things. For the verdict has been handed out - without a trial, without any defense, without the other side of the story being told.

Why do they do this? To puff themselves up? To gain something for themselves? Because they like it? Because it is in their blood to tear the church apart?

Moderns...

I pray for my brothers, may they be granted justice, may their accusers fall into their own trap. God be glorified.

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gracious Father,
we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior.
Amen.

I do not know what all has transpired, but this one thing be true: much is spread across the Internet, mostly from one side - and that is something we should never, never do - uncover the Body of Christ, the Church, in front of the pagans and heathens and the infidels.

May God grant my brothers wisdom, patience, peace, and prosperity as they work to establish God's Kingdom, in their homes, in their parish, and here on earth.


Po~

Plastic

Seems that things nowadays don't seem to hold up all that well. For instrance, some of the tools the owner left us were made with metal and have wooden handles. Granted, if you keep them out of the rain and the sun, they'll last a good long time - even a few decades. I can tell you, that some of the items we received, are well over fifty years old - and they are still quite useable. Then there are the items that (I just found out) are at least a hundred years old, and yes, this pair of items is also very usable.

Modern America has no want of anything - if someone desires or dreams of something, it can be made. This is partly due to plastic - a petroleum product. Plastic use to be an adjective - meaning the object was moldable. Plastic itself is moldable, both before and after it has been formed. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but to have that attribute, it gives up something else.

Strength and Beauty

Wood has a good deal of strength in it - and beauty, given time and effort. It is moldable to a degree - but only for a time. After that, you'll risk breaking it. Iron, on the other hand, has a great deal of strength to it, unless, when you are molding it into the shape you need - in the forge, you get it too hot - then it crumbles. Blacksmiths can mold and shape and reshape metal several times. Inbetween those times, the metal is... metal, and it is strong. You can leave metal out in the sun and it won't deteriorate, or at least very quickly (but try leaving it out in the rain unpainted). Try that with wood and it will soon bleach (and wood suffers greatly by getting wet and drying...), try it with plastic and the plastic bleaches, and then becomes brittle - so much for being Plastic!

So, there are some trade offs. Plastics can handle getting wet, dried off, and gettting wet again without rotting. Metals and woods have to have some sort of protective covering - or the water will destroy them. Plastics do much more poorer than wood in the sun and metals don't seem to be effected (generally).

In the final analysis (ugh! my work seeping out...) metal and wood last longer and look better, but that's not all. There is something about holding a tool with a wooden handle, or a wooden chess piece. Even glass feels better than plastic. While a glass glass will likely shatter should it fall from your table onto the floor, and a plastic glass(???) usually won't - the glass glass is heavier, less resilient, more expensive, in dwindling numbers in your cabinet, but it sure feels better in your hand (and doesn't add its flavor to your water!).

So, plastic may have its uses, but I have come to prefer the natural things.


Po~

What on earth?

I was surfing around one day - interested in finding out about nuclear blast radius (yes - even though I did work around them long time ago...) and so I stumbled across a list of U.S. nuclear tests. Of the ones listed, over 800 were conducted underground! (The number of tests above ground, was a great number as well).

Strange thing, I think now - to have done so many tests. We knew these things worked and that they were... powerful. What more do you need to know?

Never did find out what I was actually looking for, it was interesting reading some fo the results of the test detonations. And even now, I can't seem to find that page...