Advent

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

And with fear and trembling stand.

Last Sunday began the Advent season. Advent, for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and most Protestants has a twofold meaning, both related to the coming of Christ.

The first meaning is that this is a season of preparation for Christmas. We get ourselves ready for the observance of the birth of Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. He wasn't born on December 25 - not if angels appeared to shepherds in the fields that night, he wasn't; it's cold in those parts. No one really knows what the date of his birth was. But, December 25 works nicely. It was, in Roman times, the date of the feast of the Saturnalia. It was a time for a drunken orgy. The genius of Christianity has always been its ability to co-opt what it found in culture, and to turn what it found to the purposes of the faith. One of the rowdier days of the year became one of the holiest times of the year.

Besides, the shortest, darkest day of the year is December 21. Four days later, the light has started to return. "God from God, light from Light. . ." "And the light has shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

So we prepare. We heed the words of Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist. Advent is one of the two great penitential seasons (Lent being the other.) "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"

Ponder nothing earthly-minded

For with blessing in his hand. . .

We don't just prepare for Christmas during Advent. We are reminded anew of something we say at Mass on Sundays through the year:

Christ has died;

Christ is risen; 

Christ will come again.

Christ will come again. We don't know when; even Jesus didn't know that. And we don't really know how, despite the claims of mssrs. LaHaye and Jenkins. But we are firm in the faith that he will come, at a time and in a way of His choosing.

From the readings from the First Sunday of Advent:

It is the hour for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.

And:

So too, you must also be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

And so we prepare, for the celebration of Jesus' first coming, and for His second coming. And we hope - we celebrate hope itself embodied and lived. I am wrestling much just now with demons and darknesses of my own. But it's Advent. Soon to come is the birth of the One who was the Living Witness that our demons do not win, and that the Darkness cannot overcome Him.

Christ our God to earth descended

Our full homage to demand.

May we all have a holy and blessed Advent.

Thank you for hanging out for a few!

Thanks be to God

There are days that are just made for reflection. Thanksgiving is one such. Thus, reflection on things for which I'm thankful.

I am incredibly thankful that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. Yes, I do mean to be shouting that. It still excites me.

I am thankful for my faith, the Catholic faith, that sustains me and encourages me. I didn't come to the Catholic faith until I was verging on middle age, so I have been able to maintain a view different from the view of a "cradle Catholic". I had been considering joining the Church at the 1993 Easter vigil. But, in September of 1992 I was advised that I had developed a severe stenosis (closing, for those of us who don't speak doctor) of the aortic valve, and would need open heart surgery. That rather violently accelerated the consideration process, so on September 26, 1992 I received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and my first Eucharist. Yep. Pretty accelerated.


I am constantly thankful for my wife, my best friend, my lover, the mom to our kids. She has put up with me for 35 years, and living with me has not always been a bowl of cherries. I am trying, though, and Cindy does let me know that I'm more trying on some days than on others. I have no doubt that marriage is a gift from God, and my wife most certainly has been such. I love you, Cindy, and eagerly look forward to our next 35 years.

I am thankful for our five kids. They've had their rough spots, and some of them are in such patches even now. I pray for you daily. In your successes I see my successes and your shortcomings, such as they are, are a reflection of my own. You will come through this. I did. I love you, and will go to my grave (not soon, I hope!) knowing that I couldn't have been prouder.

Thank you, God, for grandkids - 12 so far, to be 13 in February - that are way cooler than any Papa could ever ask for. I love you. Vanessa, Jasper, Olivia, Kylie, Meri, Logan, Jada, Jordan, Payton, (soon-to-be) Autumn, Derek, Jessilynn, Megan - thanks. Just for being you, just for being my grandkids, and for making my life more alive. I love you just the way you are.



I am incredibly glad for the family I grew up with - for parents that had a set of values that they lived by, and imparted to us. They're both gone, and I bless their memory every day. (And, yes, I think I am a Coats. Of everyone in the family, I think I bear the most resemblance to Uncle Kenny. IMO.) I am thankful for my sister, Sheri, who is most definitely one of my heroes.

I am thankful for having been able to reconnect with high school classmates. I apologize for not having known way back in 1971 how much you were to be treasured. I do so now. UT '71 ROCKS!!!! At the same time, I am saddened by the growing list of our classmates who are no longer with us. This earthly life is finite - but I cling to the hope and the thought that life itself is not finite. God is infinite.

I am thankful for our son-in-law, Chris, currently deployed. The count of days over there on this deployment has dropped into double digits. May those days pass quickly, and may you return home safe to your wife and your four kids.

I am thankful that I was able to serve, in the Navy.

To friends and coworkers, past and present, (you know who you are!), you make and have made my work life wonderfully rich and engaging. I hope I've returned some of that. You're all miracles to me.

I'm thankful for sobriety. I'm coming up on the 25th anniversary of my last drink. Thank you, God.

To everyone in this posting, to all Facebook friends, coworkers, classmates: I love you dearly. I wouldn't ever say that'cuz - well, you know - but I do.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God all creatures here below.

Praise God above, you heavenly hosts!

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

An addiction prism

There are several ways in which addictions are categorized.. One such is a contrast between "process addictions" and "substance addictions".

Substance addictions are what we usually associate with the term "addiction". Someone who starts smoking will have a very difficult time stopping. The body becomes accustomed to functioning with the substance, and does not easily adapt to the absence of the chemical. Nicotine has a powerful narcotic effect. Some alcoholics take years to develop their addiction, and some others were addicted with the first drink. Thus, the caution: THE ONLY DRINK (OR SMOKE, OR YOU NAME IT) OVER WHICH YOU KNOW YOU HAVE FULL CONTROL IS THE FIRST ONE YOU EVER TAKE! After that, it's a gamble.

Just to define a term I've thrown around quite a bit on this blog: Addiction. A common definition, and one that works for my purposes, is continued or intensified use of a substance or process in the face of escalating negative consequences. Someone knows a friend or relative who dies of lung cancer. They witness the whole painful process of dying of this disease. Still, they won't quit. Their line: "I'll quit when I'm ready." Um - OK. It would be nice to buy some food, but I gotta buy my smokes. Or beers. Or crack. Yeah, I'm sorry about my asthmatic kid, as the parent lights up. But, I'll quit when I'm ready.

And where, exactly, is the line crossed between use and addiction? At the point where you are no longer free to use a substance or not use it.

So far, this note has been about substance addiction. The other type of addiction is process addiction. Substance addiction is addiction to what you use. Process addiction is addiction to what you do.

Gambling addiction is the most obvious example of process addiction of which I am aware.

Can you be addicted to shopping? (I leave to you to answer.)

Exercise? Here's an example that comes to mind. On nice days - sunny, maybe 55 or 60 degrees - you see the joggers out in their Spandex suits. They're keeping fit, and that's well and good. On not-so-nice days - 35 degrees, windy, a cold cold rain-snow mix  - the exercise addicts are still out in those Spandex suits. Those only concerned with keeping fit are aware that the Y or other places may have an indoor track, or they can walk the mall. But, no. Process addiction dictates that they must jog on the same route, wearing the same thing, at the same time every day. Never mind that no doctor, no trainer, no exercise physiologist would dream of recommending this.

Process addiction. Smokers and drinkers that have not smoked or drank for a few days are past the physical craving. They're not past the process addiction, though.

Consider marijuana. Advocates for the recreational use of marijuana say that there is no known narcotic in marijuana, and this may be true. (Carcinogens are another matter, but come on, we haven't outlawed tobacco, have we?) So, you don't get addicted to the substance. You do get addicted to the routine of rolling the joint, of firing up that herb, of puffing. . .Think that's not a powerful pull? People who use often develop symptoms such as difficulty breathing and/or damage to nose and throat. Despite the absence of a narcotic, they can't quit, even in the face of these consequences. Process addiction.

As I have noted frequently before, I have no finger to point. This battle has also been mine. I am an alcoholic - a gratefully recovering one, but still alcoholic. So, I apologize if I  come across as judgmental. I have no judgment to make of anyone else. My objective is to point out that the subject of addiction is a very complex one, and addicts are very complex people. Also, most of us are addicts, and if someone knows you well enough they can tell you what your addiction is.

And never forget that there's hope. If you're caught up in some form of addiction, or if someone you know is, never ever let go of that lifeline called Hope. It's real.

Thanks for hanging out for a few! I'd love to know your thoughts.

Gotta go. The 9:00 Mass is calling.

Reading

One of my Facebook friends has a widget on her blog from GoodReads. I love the feature, and someday soon I will - I really will - figure out how to import that widget onto my blog. Meantime, what I'm reading, or have just read. . .

(really, I should ask Vanessa or Jasper how to do this. Grandkids, 13 and 11 years old, respectively. They could probably enlighten me. When I was 13 LBJ was in the White House, our deployed troops were in the 'Nam, and if you'd told me that every house had a computer in it, I'd have thought you crazy.)

ANYWHOOO. . .what I've just read: A book by Richard Elliott Friedman, entitled Who Wrote the Bible? At first glance the title seems a bit ambitious. The Bible is a collection of books, spanning about 2000 years. Asking "Who wrote the Bible?" is like asking "Who wrote the public library?" The question doesn't, on its surface, make any sense.

Friedman addresses a narrower topic. He starts by describing the four-source theory. It's not an hypothesis; it has found general acceptance among biblical scholars. In accepting that as his starting point, Friedman does nothing original. The theory states that the Torah - the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy - were not, in fact, composed by Moses. Those who would insist that they were written by Moses are left to explain how Moses wrote the passage describing his own death, or why there would be two different accounts of the creation, two different accounts of Noah's flood, or other seeming anomalies. The answer, supported by the internal patterns of the writing, is that at least two different writers were involved.

As it turns out, there were four identifiable patterns - four different writing styles, four different theological approaches: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Priestly, and the Deuteronomist. Friedman presents compelling evidence of this theory. But, then he takes it a step further. He tries to identify the exact writer, or at least the time and place when  this writer lived, and which group he would have been associated with. Here, while I found his evidence and arguments persuasive, I did not find them conclusive. Still and all, a good read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about study of the Hebrew scriptures.

WHAT I'M READING NOW: At most times I have my bookmark in three or four books. Right now, one of them is Newman 101, by Roderick Strange. Those who would gain an acquaintance of 19th-century British civilization would do well to make Newman's acquaintance. So would anyone who would understand modern Catholicism. He is one of the heavyweights in both arenas. Like many philosophers or theologians, he is, at times, not particularly accessible; one would do well to read something about him before trying to read him. I'm looking forward to the read.

A second book is by Peter Gay: My German Question. Gay was born in Germany in 1923 to a Jewish family. In 1933 Hitler ascended to power. Mr. Gay emigrated from Germany in 1939. He describes aspects of being a Jewish youth in Germany during the first six years of the Third Reich. I have always found studies of Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR fascinating. I'm constantly amazed at the willingness of the human animal, when it has unfettered control over any other group or individual, to exercise that control in the most cruel manner possible. See SLAVERY, AMERICAN. Or, NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION SYSTEM.

Love your thoughts. Love to know what you're reading. Thanks for hanging out for a few!

Vote. Please.

I'm going to date myself here. I cast my first vote when I was 19. I voted - are you ready for this? - for Richard Nixon.

I haven't voted for any Republican for any office since then, and I'm not going to start tomorrow. There have been times when I truly couldn't stomach the Democrat. I wasn't going to vote for Jimmy Carter in 1980, but I wasn't going to throw my vote at Reagan, either. I voted for John Anderson that year. If I had to do it again, I might vote for Carter, or I might do exactly the same thing I did then. But Reagan, or any Republican? Never.

But that's not the thing I want to say in today's conversation, friends. What I do want to say:

Vote. (Got that?) VOTE!! K, try this:

VOTE!!!!!

Whether you are on the left side of the continuum, or on the right, please vote. Whether you agree with me or not, vote. Show up. Don't be one of those mental cowards who stay at home, then put a bumper sticker: "Don't blame me, I didn't vote for him." I'd much rather face a lifetime of living with a government I don't agree with than live with a government that was selected by your voice being shut out or my voice being silenced (good luck with that!).

In South Africa, when blacks were given the right to vote, they stood in line for hours to exercise this right. They knew well what a precious gift this is. And we can't get 30% out?

Get out there. Please.

VOTE!!!!! 

Thanks for hanging out for a few! Love ya!