Oh. My. God.

Is she for real???

Not quite wordless in the Dominican Republic

When our ship pulled up to the Dominican Republic, we were welcomed by dancers on the dock:

We then went to Altos de Chavon, which is stunningly beautiful.

We then went to downtown La Romano's street market. Tourists can't walk more than a few feet without someone stepping in front of them and trying to get them to buy something. I enjoyed Altos de Chavon FAR more!

Tzatziki

Ingredients:
Kosher salt
Garlic cloves - 2 medium
Yoghurt, plain - 1 1/2 C, Greek yogurt if possible
Cucumber - 3/4 C. peeled, seeded, & finely chopped
Red wine vinegar - 1 Tbsp
Mint leaves - 2 tsp, chopped. (Add a few more for garnish, if desired.)
Dill weed - 2 tsp, fresh, chopped
Olive oil - 2 tsp

Spread 3/4 tsp salt on a cutting board. Peel the garlic & finely chop it on top of the salt. Transfer the garlic and salt to a medium bowl & stir in the yogurt. Put the cucumber in a colander and squeeze as much liquid out of it as you can. Add the cucumber, vinegar, mint, dill, & olive oil to the yogurt mixture. Stir to blend & season with salt. Cover & chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Serve cool, garnished with mint leaves (if using) and accompanied by fresh pita wedges or toasted pita chips.

Guest post: Punxsutawney Phil: The Tumor That Changed My Life

As a cancer survivor myself, I remember the sense of shock and dismay I felt when I received the diagnosis at age 23. As a 30+ year survivor, I've learned, as my guest did, that there is reason for hope. And, as Heather did, I found that a cancer diagnosis can be a blessing in disguise.

Read her story, and be sure to visit her blog; the url is listed below.

If there is one word that friends, family, or even acquaintances would use to describe me, it is optimistic. While some may think that seeing the world through rose colored glasses or picturing the glass as half full is a childish, unrealistic way to go about life, this optimism has, quite literally, saved my life.

On November 21, 2005, a little over three months after I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma; cancer. During a time in my life where the absolute joy of becoming a mother had consumed me, the last words I ever expected to hear from my doctor were “you have cancer”.  Yet once said I knew that I had two choices.

I could curse God and drown myself in self-pity, letting my entire life, no matter how short, slip by me as I asked “Why me?” Or, I could fight this disease with everything I had in me. And you know what? The idea of not being able to raise my baby was enough to force me to dig down deep and find that inherent optimism that I’ve had my entire life. It was enough to push me to fight.

You’ve probably heard about the awfulness of cancer. And honestly, it’s all true. However, it can also be a blessing in disguise. Cancer completely changed my life for the better, even if it didn’t seem like it in the thick of things. I honestly believe that this is because I made the conscious decision not to be a victim. I worked daily to find my sense of humor, and vowed that I wanted to help others who received this terrible diagnosis as well. Hope is one of the first things to go when cancer enters the picture, and I worked furiously to hold onto it and to try to help others do so as well.

I worked with the world’s leading mesothelioma doctor who, in 2006, recommended surgery to remove the tumor. When I found out that the procedure was going to take place on Groundhogs day, my tumor earned the nickname Punxsutawney Phil, and the day itself was knighted Lungleavin’ Day. Every year since then, my family and I have a party to celebrate the day I lost one of my lungs. We celebrate life as well as conquering fear.

The turn that my life has taken, and the definitive purpose that I now possess, were worth every stumble and fall on the way to this place. All I want to do now is raise my little girl and give others the hope that they need to fight. 

To read more of Heather's experience, strength, and hope, visit her blog.

I'm not surprised.

An abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama has posted a sign advising its supporters to be prepared to defend themselves against pro-lifers, but to use "deadly force... only if necessary".

Signs such as this are a call to violence. I find this to be appalling. Unfortunately, I don't find this surprising.

People who would kill an unborn and defenseless child have already lost an appreciation of the value of life.

 

No "happily ever after" here!

I know our attitudes towards marriage have undergone tremendous change over the past century. As proof of that, think of prenuptial agreements, the escalating divorce rate, and same sex "marriages"... things that would have scandalized people just a few generations ago.

But this? 

 

Yikes.

Just for today...

Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my luck as it comes, and fit myself to it.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just for exercise.

I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it. Just for today I will be agreeable.

I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit. I won’t find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it.

I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself, and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective on my life.

Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

– Anonymous.

A godly response to evil

A Passionist priest - Fr. Daniel Senior, CP - recently shared these thoughts:

Right after the terrible days of September 11 I came across a newsletter sent out by an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi in New York to his followers.  The words stay with me and I would like to share a paragraph with you now:

Dear Friends,

What is the remedy to Wanton Hatred? Our rabbi of righteous memory answered this many times, with clarity and certitude: Wanton Love. Raw, cold-blooded, fanatical, baseless, relentless hatred can be matched and combated only with pure, undiscriminating, uninhibited, unyielding, baseless, unsolicited love and acts of kindness.

But we need not just plain love. We need love that costs us. Love that we get nothing back for.  There are people in the world that are committed to sowing their hatred. We need to be willing to lose sleep, to suffer losses, to be uncomfortable, to sacrifice our pleasures, in order to help another human being -- with at least the precision, determination and passion that Evil's compatriots employ to fulfill their mission of hate.

Every one of us can make a difference. Our Rebbe would always quote the Maimonidean adage: Each person should see himself as though the entire world is on a delicate balance and with one deed he or she can tip the scales. Only a few handfuls of evil people can seem to turn our world upside down. Let us not underestimate the power of each of us to turn it upright again.

Every good act, every expression of kindness and love, will be a thousand antibodies to neutralize the viruses put in place by the forces of evil. In response to darkness, we will fill the earth with light. To defeat evil we will saturate our globe with good.

And when we do our part G-d will surely do His part to protect us and transform our world to the one we all hope and yearn for, one that will be filled with His glory, like the waters fill the ocean.

                                                                                    Amen.

             The cross, ultimately, is God’s way of reminding us that the force of God’s love is more powerful than any force of evil or hatred or death.  That is a message of hope that is the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is the message we Passionists must strive to proclaim through the works of our ministry. 

            There is even something more…  The cross of Jesus did not end in lingering death but in the power of resurrection.  If we contemplate reality through the lens of the cross then we must also see our lives and our destiny in the light of the resurrection.  The conviction of resurrection is what gives hope and meaning to the cross of Christ.  We are Passionists but we are also people of the resurrection.

            In his beautiful homily at this year’s Easter Vigil in St. Peters, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the resurrection in eloquent terms worth remembering.  He noted that the reality of the resurrection brings an entirely new level of life and being to our universe.  He compared it to a mutation in evolution.  “…Christ’s Resurrection, he noted,…is the greatest “mutation”, absolutely the most crucial leap into a totally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its  development; a leap into a completely new order that concerns us, and the concerns the whole of history.”  The pope went on, “At the Last Supper Jesus anticipated death and transformed it into self-giving.  His existential communion with God was concretely an existential communion with God’s love, and this love is the real power against death, it is stronger than death.  The Resurrection was like an explosion of light, an explosion of love…which ushered in a new dimension of being, a new dimension of life in which, in a transformed way, matter too was integrated and through which a new world emerges.”

            This conviction that the cross is the unimpeachable sign of God’s love for the world, that it leads to an explosion of light and love that has changed our destiny and our world forever, is something that we should not only preach as an essential part of our message of the cross, but is something we need to take to heart ourselves at this moment in our Passionist history.  Confidence in God’s love for us.  Confidence that we are people of the resurrection—viewing the future in this way should ultimately dissolve our anxiety and enable us to plan and decide and build with serenity.  We are not dead—we are alive.  The Passionists are alive.  Saint Paul of the Cross province is alive.  And God is with us.  This is not hokum or whistling in the dark.  It is the deepest conviction of our Christian faith on which we have wagered everything. Whatever should befall us.  Whatever circumstances we may have to face—we will not die but live because of the Crucified Christ who gave his life for us and abides with us still.

                                                           

                                                                        Donald Senior, C.P.

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

Yes, Virginia, there is a Margaritaville.

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is found on the lovely little island of Grand Turk, which is one of the islands which comprise Turks & Caicos. Some islanders claim that Christopher Columbus landed on this island in 1492. At any rate, the arrival of Europeans led to the death of the entire indigenous population of Tainos Indians.

Turks & Caicos have at various times been under control of Bermuda, France, Spain, Jamaica, and Great Britain. Since 1973, however, the Turks & Caicos became a Crown Colony of Great Britain.

Up until fairly recently, the economy of Grand Turks relied heavily on salt mining and an American presence: a U.S. Airforce base and a second installation affiliated with NASA. (In fact, John Glen came down just off the coast of Grand Turk.) The U.S. pulled out a number of years ago, which was a blow to the economy. Not long before that, the salt mine industry on Grand Turk closed down. And damage incurred by sustained winds up to 200 MPH during Hurricane Ike was also significant. Today, however, the economy is showing signs of recovery, thanks in large part to their major industry: tourism.

Margaritaville's Trading Post

Really - it's there!

With our cruise ship in the background

The Carribean is full of color...

...and beautiful blooms

Bean & Pasta Soup

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 can cannellini beans
1 can whole tomatoes, chopped
½ cup to 1 cup water or low sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta - like rotini or penne

Directions

Heat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Saute the onions, carrot, celery, pepper flakes, and sage for about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes. Cook for another 5- 10 minutes, then add the beans, chicken broth, water, and pasta. Cook about 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serving Size: 8

 

Back home...

I had a wonderful opportunity to go on a cruise to 4 lovely islands: Grand Turk, the Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba. I'll be sharing some photos as I have the opportunity to go through them. These are a few I took as we returned:

Our last sunset at sea

Coming in to Miami before dawn

Assistance from one of the boys as I unpacked

The law of the garbage truck

This is not original - it has made the email rounds - but it IS wonderful!

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,

so ... Love the people who treat you right.

Pray for the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! Have a garbage-free day!

Pretty, or hot?

I've copied the text of an article that has apparently caused quite a negative outcry from many women. And I'm including it here to see what other folks think about it. Is this a rant by a sexist man who wants to keep women barefoot and pregnant? Or does what he says make sense to you?

I look forward to your comments.

The Death of Pretty

by Pat Archbold Wednesday, December 21, 2011

This post is intended as a lament of sorts, a lament for something in the culture that is dying and may never been seen again.

Pretty, pretty is dying.

People will define pretty differently. For the purposes of this piece, I define pretty as a mutually enriching balanced combination of beauty and projected innocence.

Once upon a time, women wanted to project an innocence. I am not idealizing another age and I have no illusions about the virtues of our grandparents, concupiscence being what it is. But some things were different in the back then. First and foremost, many beautiful women, whatever the state of their souls, still wished to project a public innocence and virtue. And that combination of beauty and innocence is what I define as pretty.

By nature, generally when men see this combination in women it brings out their better qualities, their best in fact. That special combination of beauty and innocence, the pretty inspires men to protect and defend it.

Young women today do not seem to aspire to pretty, they prefer to be regarded as hot. Hotness is something altogether different. When women want to be hot instead of pretty, they must view themselves in a certain way and consequently men view them differently as well.

As I said, pretty inspires men’s nobler instincts to protect and defend. Pretty is cherished. Hotness, on the other hand, is a commodity. Its value is temporary and must be used. It is a consumable.

Nowhere is this pretty deficit more obvious than in our “stars,” the people we elevate as the “ideal.” The stars of the fifties surely suffered from the same sin as do stars of today. Stars of the fifties weren’t ideal but they pursued a public ideal different from today.

The merits of hotness over pretty is easy enough to understand, they made an entire musical about it. Who can forget how pretty Olivia Newton John was at the beginning of Grease. Beautiful and innocent. But her desire to be desired leads her to throw away all that is valuable in herself in the vain hopes of getting the attention of a boy. In the process, she destroys her innocence and thus destroys the pretty. What we are left with is hotness. Hotness is a consumable. A consumable that consumes as it is consumed but brings no warmth.

Most girls don’t want to be pretty anymore even if they understand what it is. It is ironic that 40 years of women’s liberation has succeeded only in turning women into a commodity. Something to be used up and thrown out.

Of course men play a role in this as well, but women should know better and they once did. Once upon a time you would hear girls talk about kind of women men date and the kind they marry. You don’t hear things like that anymore.

But here is the real truth. Most men prefer pretty over hot. Even back in 6th grade I hated the “hot” Olivia Newton John and felt sorry for her that she had to debase herself in such a way. Still do.

Our problem is that society doesn’t value innocence anymore, real or imagined. Nobody aspires to innocence anymore. Nobody wants to be thought of as innocent, the good girl. They want to be hot, not pretty.

I still hope that pretty comes back, although I think it not likely any time soon. For every Taylor Swift, there are a hundred Megan Foxs, or Lindsay Lohans, or Miley Cyruses etc.

Girls, please, bring back the pretty.

H/T to National Catholic Register.