Snowflakes

               “You are not unique and beautiful snowflakes”. This statement from the movie Fight Club is to a great extant true. Everyone is unique. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is special. But when everyone is special, is anyone special?

               One of the monks here was pulled aside by a tourist and asked “In all reality brother, what difference do you make?” The monk did not give an answer. Instead he replied with the same question: “What difference do YOU make?” Although this at first struck me as a very rude dialogue, I think it is also quite profound.

               Growing up, I expected to change the world. I neither expected nor desired power, fame, or influence per se, but I did expect to make a great difference. I then began to realize that one can work as a homemaker, an accountant, or an ordained religious for 30 years and have very little to show for it. True, you may have raised law abiding citizens, earned your firm some money, or ministered to those in need, but at any time along the way, you could have been replaced by some other snowflake. You could die tomorrow and business would continue as usual.

               The importance of our lives does not come from what we do, but how we do it. Mother Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that “we can do no great things; only small things with great love”. Our uniqueness and beauty comes from the ordinary, mundane, everyday actions that are done out of love. The occupations of homemaker, accountant, or monk, are merely the backdrop of our lives.  The real beauty in our lives is derived from the loving relationships we that no one will remember in 100 years.

                So today, take a little extra time and effort and spend a few moments for the sake of someone else. 

Views on the English Translation of the Roman Missal

               Catholicism is a little bit like a secret club. Catholics have rites of initiation, regular meetings, and it seems that people who aren’t Catholic don’t know exactly what Catholic doctrine is. After all, the majority of Catholics don’t know what their church teaches… but that is neither here nor there.

               The kicker concerning Catholics is that their worship is so different. The standing up, the sitting down, the kneeling, the standing back up… It is like Simon Says without a winner. As if this wasn’t enough to confuse the ordinary visitor, the flood of call and responses can be quite overwhelming:

The Lord be with you. –And with your spirit

Lift up your hearts. –We lift them up to the Lord

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. –It is right and just  

The Lord be with you. –And with your spirit

Go in peace. –Thanks be to God

               This is only a small sample, but the list could go on and on. Somehow Catholics just simply know what they are supposed to say. Yet, all that is changing.

               With the start of advent, the new English Translation of the Roman Missal is now in use. And now, for a few weeks at least, everybody will be equally confused. I see this as an opportune time to join the church. Of course I think that all the time is an opportune time to join the church.

               It is mildly amusing to be in a seminary at this historic time. For many of us, it is a matter of pride to get all the responses correct. “And with your Spirit” tends to be a little bit louder in order that all the bumpkins who are saying “And also with you” are drowned out. For quite a while, there will be a lot of “and also with your spirit” going around.  It is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Especially a dog as old as the Church.

               I think it is going to end up being a little bit like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luU9j6mPKe4

Thanksgiving Break

               Thanksgiving is a much needed and well appreciated break from the academic year. This does not mean that it is a break in any other sense of the word. Thanksgivings are always big affairs at my house. This year was a small Thanksgiving with only a dozen people showing up. A couple years ago I counted over fifty people in one room.

               The frantic rush of preparing meals spills over into the rest of the break. It may be due to the 20 plus hours of traveling time, but I never feel as though the break is long enough. I never seem able to finish the things I need to do or see the people I want to see. This year I made a list of things I wanted to do on my break. I did half the things on that list.

               Things I need to get done are not necessarily on this list. I need to study for an exam, write dozens of letters, and get a new tire put on my car. There is a hierarchy in the things I do. There are things I want to do. Above that there are things I should do. Above that there are things that I must do. Someday, I will be a responsible adult and start at the top of that list instead of at the bottom. Today is not that day. Today, I update my blog.

Flat Tires

            While I was driving home this Tuesday, I had my first flat tire. I was on the west side of Wichita Kansas and still had almost 250 more miles to drive. I was not so much as worried as I was aggravated. I had already been on the road for 6 hours, and simply not in the mood. It seems that my patience had blown along with my tire.

 After pulling over, and moving all my things out of my trunk, I was finally able to reach my spare tire. I spent another 10 anxious minutes trying to find my tire iron, but I had never done so from my car, so I was unsure if I even had one in the car. I vaguely remember checking the trunk when I bought the car, but couldn’t recall ever finding one. After what seemed like an eternity, I did find my tire iron.

A kind Lieutenant from the Sheriff’s department stopped while on his way home from work. After a few minutes, we had the tires changed out only to find out that my spare donut did not have any air. Whether this was due to a leak or simply because of age was yet to be seen. I spent half an hour waiting for the county’s downed motorist rig. It ended up that my tire did hold, and I was soon on my way.

I felt quite ridiculous praying about such a trivial matter, but I think that God really appreciates these prayers. I imagined an angel with its lips on the Schrader valve blowing air into my tires at the same rate that it was leaking out. I ended up trying to do the math of how fast such an angel would have to barrel roll in order to keep up with the revolutions of my tires. Such is my mind.

            Although the ordeal was stressful, I ended up being a little bit more thankful this Thanksgiving than I would have been.

Happiness As a Priority

               Priorities are incredibly difficult to define. The difficulty is not in defining what I should think my priorities are, but the hard part is taking stock of what I actually value the most. I can say my highest priority is serving God, but when examining my actions, it is quite apparent that this is not the case.

               I would say that my own happiness is my number one priority, but this leads into a logical mess. From my own experience, I realize that I am unable to make myself happy through following my own desires. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions do not necessarily follow reason, but this is not to say that they are always unreasonable either.

               It is easy to understand that sometimes we feel happy and have no tangible reason why. Sometimes we feel happy when everything around us is crashing down. I do not intend to imply that feelings have no cause and that human experiences of joy are subject to the wrathful randomness of the cosmos, but only that the causes for emotion are not always clear.

               The conclusion from this is that one’s desires are not directly connected to one’s happiness. Happiness is not about getting what you want. We think that something will make us happy, but that is not the case. This desire is at its heart lust and greed. We believe a lie that God is holding out on us. If we only had a better job, a bigger home, better friends, if we were only more productive, or a better person we could be happy.

               God does not have our emotions as his top priority. This isn’t to say that our emotions aren’t a priority. This is reassuring. After all, a parent should not be wholly concerned with the happiness of their child, but should care about their entire well-being. God’s priority number one is our well-being. Our service to God is working towards our own well-being as well as the well-being of those around us.

Top Ten Video Games

               I figure that half of my readers are looking for some spiritual insight. The other half is simply wasting time online. If you belong to the former group, take a hint from the title and skip this. If you are wasting time, I would highly recommend the following.

               Looking at my blog, I am surprised at how incredibly religion oriented it is. To take a break from this spiritual monotony, I will do what I normally do: turn to video games. Hey, the fact that I can’t get married does not make me any less of a boy. So for no particular reason and in no particular order: a list of my top ten PC video games.

               10. Assassin’s Creed- A brilliant blend of role-playing, stealth, and combat, Assassin’s Creed provides an epic open world environment that even sandbox games have a hard time replicating.

               9. Star Craft- An incredibly well balanced classic that is the measuring stick for every RTS that comes out. Three unique and playable classes keeps things fresh.

               8. Bioshock- Amazing plot, good characters, innovative combat system. What isn’t to love about the grand city of Rapture?

               7.Modern Warfare- The point where Call of Duty made its resurgence. Although the new games are just as good, they are mere carbon copies of the original.

               6.Rainbow 6 Vegas II-Rainbow 6 has long been king for tactical shooters. Hunting terrorists can be hard as nails and is guaranteed to keep you busy for hours.

               5. Portal 2- A wonderfully new concept, gut-busting humor, and a surprisingly nice plot for only having one human character. Notice that this is the only game on my list that doesn't require killing things. Its that good.

               4. Team Fortress 2- A hysterical and incredibly in-depth shooter with 9 playable classes. The best part? IT IS FREE.

               3. Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast- It is simply the best Star Wars game I have ever played. I mean who doesn’t enjoy dicing up a platoon of stormtroopers?

               2. Battlefield Bad Company 2- The single player is mediocre, but the squad-based multiplayer is the best I have ever seen.

               1. Half Life 3- Simply the best FPS in the world. 

Being Nice>Being Right

               Religion is incredibly important to some people, and for good reason. This importance often manifests itself in defining doctrine. After all, it is difficult to be passionate about a thing that is vague or ambiguous. Unfortunately, doctrinal distinctions can be quite detrimental to unity. This is, of course, only natural, and I do not intend to imply that such distinctions should not be made.

               My point is that many of these distinctions end up being a way to ostracize others. I belong to the right and true religion which worship within the vein of orthodoxy. This is a comforting thought but only to the exclusion of everyone else. Would I be so proud of my religion if no differing party existed? After all, this is how it will be in heaven.  Too often one develops a sense of superiority over others. It should be clear that this air of superiority is in no way Christian.

               We must realize that nearly every movement in the church has some sense of legitimacy. Even if the movement is utterly absurd, there is a legitimate motivating factor behind it. It is a pastoral work to address these motivating factors. For example, there is a great tension in American Catholicism between using traditional music and contemporary music in the mass. There is tension between Catholics and Protestants over the role of works in salvation. One could generate hundreds of examples.

               Often I find that people will argue a point when they are in fact saying the exact same thing. Each side is simply emphasizing a different aspect. For example, Protestants fear that Catholics do not understand the wonder of grace. Catholics likewise fear that Protestants will simply fail to uphold moral standards.

               I don’t mean to say that doctrinal differences don’t exist, but to put it simply…

Being nice>Being right.

But sometimes you need to pull a Mattathias

 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Maccabees%202:22-26&version=GNT