HerbEly

Chuck Norris on “Chuck Norris Facts”

I had heard a few of these -

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."

"Chuck Norris' tears can cure cancer. Too bad he never cries. Ever."

- but I didn’t know that Chuck had responded to them until I read it on Relapsed Catholic. I admire his faith. As a 65 year old Tae Kwon Do student, I also admire his outside blocking kick.

(Partially) Controlling Nuclear Proliferation

    If you want a better understanding of nuclear proliferation and what can be done to prevent it, read George Perkovich’s review of Gordon Corera’s Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network.

    An assessment of the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction should be preceded by an intelligence analysis of the programs to develop WMD’s and an estimate of the current and projected status of the program – a question which the Bush administration never even asked.  (Had it done so, the administration might have realized that incomplete programs do not constitute an immanent threat.)

    In his brief review, Perkovich (vice President for studies at the Carnegie endowment for international Peace) gives a concise picture of how Pakistani engineer A.Q. Khan developed a program to build nuclear weapons:

Voting: A Basis for Choosing Among Candidates

    Central Virginia voters face repellant choices in both the house and Senate races. Virgil Goode, the independent candidate for reelection as representative, has taken (and then returned) large campaign contributions from MZM Corporation. MZM was connected with the bribery scandal with former California congressman Duke Cunningham. Democratic candidate Al Weed strikes me as a doctrinaire liberal.
    Republican Senate candidate George Allen, his foot planted firmly in his mouth, removed it and attempted to counter charges of racism by charging his opponent with sexism. He now says he wants the campaign on the issues. His Democratic opponent, James Webb, has an honorable record – but I worry that his election might send a message of surrender to terrorists.
    Paying attention to campaign ads and debates means descending into and endless swamp of unverifiable claims and counterclaims.
    Now Ralph Peters steps forward with a rational basis for deciding. one that stands apart from the issues and focuses on the process.

IT'S time to get a grip. And to be honest with ourselves. The fear-mongering and juvenile nastiness we, the people, endure from both political parties would have us believe that disaster looms in November.
    It doesn't. You, the voters, are going to make your individual choices based upon your private beliefs. And our country is going to be better for it.
    The Republicans are going to get a dose of castor oil. They need it. If we, the people, are lucky, the Dems will take the House, while the Republicans will hold on to a majority in the Senate. That split-decision would be good news for America.
…
    When either party - it doesn't matter which one - controls both houses of Congress, we get two very bad results. First, the party in power becomes arrogant and exclusive. Second, half of our population feels it doesn't have a voice in government.
    The result is polarization of the sort we suffer now. Extremist voices are too influential in both parties and the rest of us - in the vast center - are treated as irrelevant. When either party controls everything, it ignores the wishes of the majority. A monopoly of power isn't democracy.
…
    It would be unfortunate if the Dems captured both houses of Congress. But even Republicans should hope they get the House.
    Why? For all of the reasons cited above - and one more: For six years, the Dems have had a free ride, criticizing everything while accepting responsibility for nothing; with control of the House, they'd have to get serious at last.
    Let's see Nancy Pelosi & Co. offer serious legislation instead of sound-bites. Show us what the donkey can do when it has to stop braying and shoulder a burden.

Gotta love Ralph. He is always straighforward and clear about his opinions. Thanks. Give him a reading.

Intercessions at Our Son’s Wedding

    On Sunday, Oct. 8th, our son, David and new daughter-in-law, Katherine celebrated their wedding at the Wren Chapel at William and Mary - the most romantic spot in the State of Virginia. For wedding photo’s, go here.

    I was privileged to write, and read the intercessions (prayer of the faithful), based on the readings and my own hopes for David and Katherine as well as for all of us. The readings were:

Genesis 2:18-24 
Psalm 145
1 John 4:7-12 
John 15:9-12 

Here is the prayer:

For the church, may it always support, encourage, and challenge David and Katherine – and all couples – to continually grow in their love of one another, we pray to the Lord:

Response: Lord hear our prayer

    For leaders in government, business and academia, may they strive to provide a climate of peace in which all families can prosper and grow in love for one another, we pray to the Lord:

Response: Lord hear our prayer

    For all assembled here – and all who cannot be here – may they be encouraged in their love, return home safely and continue to grow in their own love, we pray to the Lord:

Response: Lord hear our prayer

    For Katherine and David as they begin their life’s journey as husband and wife, may they continue to grow in love with all their hearts, all their minds and all their strength, we pray to the Lord:

Response: Lord hear our prayer.

Amen

Sexual Harassment at the Air Force Academy, the Archdiocese of Boston and the US Congress

As I think about these recent scandals:

• Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) resigns after his harassment of a young male page is exposed
• Cardinal Bernard Law is transferred to Rome and placed in a Basilica after numerous news stories and investigations of priests sexually harassing young boys

I’m reminded of this statement concerning a series of rapes at the Air Force Academy:

DENVER, March 26, 2003
(AP) The top two leaders at the Air Force Academy are not responsible for the sexual assault scandal at the school, but they should be held accountable for the culture that allowed the problem to continue, Air Force Secretary James Roche said Wednesday.

"Still, change must occur, and a new leadership team to implement these changes is in the best interest of the academy and the Air Force," Roche said in a statement.

The top two academy officers - Lt. Gen. John D. Dallager and Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III - are among five officers involved in the shake up. Dallager is expected to remain as superintendent and the top official at the 4,100-cadet institution until his scheduled retirement in June.

The Air Force announced Wednesday that it will replace the other four, at least two of them by women, and it will implement a series of directives aimed at making the school safer for cadets.

Air Force officials declined additional comment until a news conference scheduled later Wednesday.

Roche said he and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper would monitor the academy closely.

"You can't just fire a couple of generals and think the problem is solved because you've missed the point," Roche said. "The culture at the academy absolutely must change. We're going right at the culture, but you don't change the culture with one memorandum."

Based on these examples, which of the three institutions holds its leaders to a higher ethical and moral standard? Where would you rather have your son, or daughter, serve?

Class: The Practice Of Spirituality In The Workplace

Starting on January 9, 2007 I will part of a team offering an 8 week class/workshop on the proper practice of spirituality in the workplace. The class will take place on Tuesday evenings at  Richmond Hill

an ecumenical Christian fellowship and residential community who serve as stewards of an urban retreat center within the setting of a historic monastery. Our mission is to advance God's healing of metropolitan Richmond through prayer, hospitality, racial reconciliation, and spiritual development.

We are a diverse group from many Christian traditions, with a variety of occupations and interests, but all touched with the need for a spirituality which addresses the issues of modern urban life. The residential community lives by a modern Benedictine rule which is based around three common prayer times each day.

The class will be based on Gregory Pierce’s Spirituality at Work: 10 Ways to Balance Your Life on the Job

    The religious blogosphere is filled with debates over the role of the church in the political arena, along with stories about the IRS and voter guides published by the religious right and left. 

    Most of us, it seems to me, will influence more people through our work than we ever will as campaign workers or in the voting booth. Given this, it seems that the institutional church’s primary effort should be focused on helping its members to insure that their work is a service to God’s kingdom and a sharing it God’s creative effort.

    To see how this might be done, please read my review review of Gregory Pierce’s book.

Cut It Off – but What is It?

    Last Sunday's gospel gives us a startling and challenging image:

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.Mark 9: 43-45

    What is there, in our lives, that so strongly holds us that it will cause us to sin – either by omission or commission? If you want to know, try rephrasing the saying, substituting some other parts of ourselves that might cause us to sin and the nature of that sin.

If your dedication to your job causes you to work 24/7 ignoring your family and your own health, cut it off.

If your desire for power and prestige causes you to fail to tell your boss the truth when the public safety is on the line cut it off. (I suspect that there a large number of Enron employees and Presidential aides who wish that they had heeded this verse.)

If your need for possessions causes you to encumber your own life and home, cut it off.

If your need for esteem and affection causes you sacrifice your legitimate needs in order to gain someone else’s approval, cut it off.

If your need for safety and security causes you to avoid taking up a new profession or changing your lifestyle, cut it off.

The immediate objection is that dedication to job, power and prestige, and “worldly goods” can all be positive goods that help us to care for ourselves, and others, in this world. It is through our jobs that we provide service, care for our families and find ways to be creative.

In order to see past this objection one must discern whether dedication to job, etc. are “causing one to sin.” The best way of discerning this comes from the first principle first principle of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by doing so, to save his or her soul.

All other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings in order to help them pursue the end for which they are created.

It follows from this that one must use other created things, in so far as they help towards one's end, and free oneself from them, in so far as they are obstacles to one's end.

To do this, we need to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no other prohibition.

Thus, as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for which we are created.

If we are indifferent to goods, power and prestige, or health and security, we are surely ready to “cut it off.”

    The challenge of the gospel is for us to learn what it is that causes us to sin by omission or commission. Given the power of the human soul to fool itself, we need to understand that it is only with time, prayer and perhaps the help of a spiritual director, coach or trusted friend.

    Cutting it off is a daunting prospect. Gerald May’s Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions is an excellent source of advice, both for distinguishing legitimate needs from disordered attachments and for meeting the demands of Mark 9:43-44 in "cutting it off."