Back home again!

Deo gratias! - Thanks be to God!

Our little Wayne has improved enough that he was able to come home today! (Well, technically yesterday, meaning Saturday, as I am writing this at 1am on Sunday, lol.)

It seems all the prayers I gathered from friends and family, and those I asked of our friends in Heaven, had the good effect hoped for! Indeed, prayer does more good than we shall ever know.

Lord, thank you for this mercy. Thank you for this profound grace. I pray you grant Wayne a speedy further healing, as he continues to recover from what could have been his fatal illness. Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!

To Our Lady, Sts. Francis and Clare, St. Martin de Porres, St. Thérèse, St. Brigid, Bl. Kateri, St. Gertude, and St. Jude -- thank you, thank you for your prayers for our Wayne! I know they did him such good! And thank you, too, dear Michael. :) And all ye holy angels, for guarding him.

And thank you to any of you who may be reading this who also prayed for Wayne's healing. I ask you to please continue praying for our kitty as he is still very ill, but out of immediate danger. My mother and father will have to keep a close eye on him for a good deal of time, as he recovers. Pray that he heals quickly and that whatever pain he has will lessen and fade also quickly.

Thank you again, all of you!

Again, thank you, my God, for this mercy! This incident has only served to illustrate how we carelessly, not meaning to, take loved ones for granted. I pray I grow in awareness from now on and cherish the time I have with my "furry-purry" family members. They mean so much to me. <3

That I hid away on the inside

This song = ♥

This band = ♥


Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights), by Anberlin



Live, I want to live inspired
Die, I want to die for something

Racing toward the heavens
I fell into a pitch black
Moments from landing and now I’m
Shaking like a heart attack

Is there time
Can I turn back
I made mistakes in the past
Need a chance
Can’t say goodbye
Wish I could set things right tonight

Live, I want to live inspired
Die, I want to die for something
Higher than myself
Live and die for anyone else
The more I live, I see
This life’s not about me

All I know spins out of control
Wonder what’s next for a hardened soul
Nothing I earned can save me now
Here in what may be my final hour

Is there time
Can I turn back
I made mistakes, well, in the past
Need a chance
Can’t say goodbye
(Wish I could) set things right tonight

Live, I want to live inspired
Die, I want to die for something
Higher than myself
Live and die for anyone else
The more I live, I see
This life’s not about me

Don’t want to leave this world
Knowing I breathed in vain
Looked out for myself
So sorry, so ashamed

Don’t want to leave this life
Knowing I barely tried
To chase down all my dreams
That I hid away on the inside

Live, I want a live on fire
Die, I want to burn out brighter
Brighter than the Northern Lights
Wanna live to feel the daylight
The more I give, I see
This life’s not about me.

To bathe in it, to become part of it

I came across this quote today. I sure do need to someday read everything he's written. My book list is only ever getting longer.... xD
How true this is, too...I know how this feels with every inch of me...

What more, you may ask, do we want? … We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.

—C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

I hate not knowing what will happen

....and so I wait. And so we wait, my parents and I.


Does he recover and live? God, he's not quite 6 years old! Still a young kitty....

Or does he succumb to this sickness and die, leaving us here bereft and weeping?

Oh my darling Wayne, how I love you.

I know in my heart that I would see him again, that in Heaven, God catches up all His creatures in His loving embrace, and delights in them. He forgets not the least sparrow...

But not yet! No, not yet. How can God want Wayne back? What would Nicholas do?? They are best friends, and I know some cats and other animals grieve so extremely they stop eating....they starve themselves....

Come to think of it, some people do that sort of thing, too. sigh.



Does this post remain just my fears and desperate pleas?

Or does it become one of nightmare made real, a post "in loving memory of..." with more bitter tears streaming down my face?

Oh, God, please! I know this is so small a thing, in comparison with other things, other prayers. My loss would be so slight compared with say, the cross that Haiti now bears....

but still I ask. Still I plead. Still I weep and hurt, all my insides twisting with fear and dread....

and here I am, so far from home.

Keep my little Wayne in your arms, sweet Mary, our Mother. Mother of all things, I know you do not spurn my prayers or tears. Instead, you weep with me. Please, please pray for my baby Wayne. I entrust him into your care, along with the loving intercession also of Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi, St. Martin de Porres, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Brigid of Kildare, St. Gertrude and St. Jude. And yes, Michael - who loved animals so dearly, please pray. All ye holy angels of God - please, spare a prayer for my Wayne.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not my pleas! Look with mercy on us, my family and me, and grant healing to Wayne, a beloved member of our family since we took him in August of 2004.

Amen.

As so freaking hard as it is for me to say this: Thy will be done.


I love you forever, my little Waynie-pooh. No matter what.

This is Wayne as a kitten, on the very first day we brought him home in 2004. He was exploring the house, and here we caught him talking about it all. He has since grown into a big boy and is still very vocal.

(l-r) Wayne and Nicholas, best buddies. This was before Nicholas grew a large fluffy "mane" around his neck, apparently, so Nicholas is still somewhat a kitten.

Wayne over Christmas break, looking cute in a funny position while he sleeps.

This is for all the lost children

One of the signs I saw at the March.

When you lay me down sleeping and my heart is weeping
Because I’m keeping a place...

For all the lost children
This is for all the lost children
This one’s for all the lost children, wishing them well
And wishing them home...

This past Friday I walked in the 37th Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.

It was so many things for me: an honor, a joy, a fun experience, a humbling experience, an affirming and empowering experience, it gave me hope, it gave me courage, it made me laugh, it made me smile, it broke my heart and made me think...

It's been almost 4 decades since abortion - the killing of children in their mothers' wombs - was made legal in this land, the United States of America.

In the same land where we now routinely operate on these not-yet born little ones, to save their lives in the womb. In the same land where if someone kills a pregnant woman, they are charged with two murders.

But even that last one is no guarantee. Last year, when 14 people were killed at Fort Hood, only 13 were "counted" against the man guilty of the crime. Which goes against the law. (That article was written before the formal charges were made, which in the end left out the unborn child.)

I had to watch a video on the Tate/La Bianca murders of 1969 in a class in high school. If I remember correctly, they never seemed to count Sharon Tate's unborn baby, even though she was 8 months pregnant when she was killed. This has always baffled me, since in other cases the baby's death would be counted. Unless I am just getting it wrong, somehow, and they were counting the baby.

The murder of already-born persons is illegal. Granted, it still happens. Even if Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion would sadly continue, though in lesser numbers, to be sure. To end abortion we must change the culture.

At any rate, how has the legal killing of anyone managed to go on for nearly 40 years??? Science agrees: life begins at conception.

And so we fight. We pray and we fight to spread the truth, to spread awareness, to change hearts.

We have lost nearly one-third of my generation to abortion alone.

That just floors me every time.

I remember when I first saw that statistic, plus others, like the fact that about 50 million "legal" abortions have occurred since 1973.

50 million??????????????

And that is just in the United States alone. This does not include all the other countries around the world.

That is far more than the number of Jews killed by Nazis in WWII, which is about 6 million. Even if one includes all the other non-Jewish victims of the Nazis, that number is "only" 7 - 11 million.

This is not to disregard their horrific deaths. Not at all. That makes me sick, too. This is just to try and put it in perspective.

We have killed more children "legally" in the US alone in less than 4 decades than were killed by the Nazis in their concentration camps. And that genocide is in history books and countless other books and movies and has its own museums and memorials and remembrance days ..... all to remember the dead, and that we might never do that again.

But what about all the little children in their mothers' wombs??? Who will remember them?

The Jews were dehumanized. So were the slaves.

And the baby in the womb is definitely dehumanized.

How can we warn about the dangers of drinking alcohol or doing drugs while pregnant, because of the effect it will have on the unborn baby, and still allow abortion??????

We live in a world of double standards and disconnects, of two-faced lies and selfishness.



When I first learned this, this 50 million, it made me weak in the knees. I felt quite literally sick, sick to my stomach. Like I wanted to throw up. I remember just being completely and utterly overwhelmed. I still cannot fully wrap my mind around it. Part of me feels like fainting, another part wants to die, it's so horrific and awful and ....human words fail to describe it.

Yes, I remember that day, first learning these numbers, these statistics. I remember how instinctively, I reached for my own womb, clutched my own body, as if I had a baby there. Of course I didn't, but still, I felt this need to protect, to shield... I felt personally violated, as if my own womb had been desecrated, my own baby ripped from me.

I remember, too, when the tears began to fall, and how my heart was breaking and bleeding inside. How I choked out a plea to God to stop it, and asked Him "why?"

Why?

And how?

Then I stumbled into my room, feeling sick and weak and confused, and fell onto my bed and sobbed.

Still, still I cannot fathom it all. Still, I start to tremble when I think about it. Still, I feel personally violated and the need to shield my womb, my baby, though there is no baby there.


I am a survivor. In more ways than one. I was born after Roe v. Wade. Anyone born after January 1973 is a survivor in this way. We could have been legally killed.

I am also a survivor because I was born prematurely by C-section. I was 6 weeks early, making me 7 1/2 months in the womb. I weighed 2 lbs., 11 oz. Preemies don't always survive. Some have problems in life. I did not, I was lucky. Besides the fact that I had to be born then to save the life of both me and my mother, who had toxemia.

When I learned just what "partial-birth" abortion meant, and was equally sickened, and then learned that it was legal in Britain (I think it may still be, too)....that was when it dawned on me that at the time I was born, I could have been "legally" killed by partial-birth abortion in the UK.

Partial-birth abortion is basically what it sounds like. If you need graphic descriptions, look it up elsewhere, I'm pretty sure Abort73 tells about it. Basically, the baby is too far developed in the womb for the "usual" abortion procedures, so the baby is partially delivered, then killed. But babies born at these stages are usually called premature babies. I was one. But some don't get to live and be called "preemies." Some are killed.


ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....


And so this is why we march. This is why I marched. This is why we do what we do, why we learn all we can, seek to educate, change public policy, change hearts, save lives. For the 1/3 of my generation alone in the US who has been lost. For all the children lost.

Holy Innocents, killed at the orders of King Herod, first martyrs for Christ, though you did not know it, pray for all the little ones here in danger of abortion. Pray for their mothers and their fathers. Pray that this carnage will end. Pray, dear Holy Mary, Mother of Life. Pray.




This is for all the lost children.

A "Madonna and Child" in the Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception. They, like hundreds upon hundreds of us,
were sitting on the floor. It was packed to bursting for the Vigil Mass for Life.
This scene was as an icon of the Blessed Virgin and the Baby Jesus to me, bespeaking their presence in all things.

(song quoted is 'The Lost Children,' by Michael Jackson.)

At the edge of these two worlds

Excusing his few typos here and there (lol), Jonathan Mark Foreman has yet again managed to strike a chord deep within me and make me think and ponder, pray and wonder. Thank you for writing this, Jon. Thank you for being so utterly and beautifully human. ♥

Click here to read his article "What's in a Word?"



(and one can see how pro-life he is; he uses that language of pregnancy and birth, etc that I so love.)


Thank you, God, for leading me to this today. The little graces you send me keep the fire burning in my heart, even if the shadows threaten and leer. <3

it hurts where he stands

So I went to the March for Life in DC this year! I have wanted to for some years now. :)

And now that I am back, I have no idea where to even BEGIN in terms of talking about it. So darn much happened in a few days! At least, it seemed so to me.

So while I try to collect all my thoughts, or even just a few of them, here I will post one of my new favorite songs. God gave me some new music to love during this trip... it was so unexpected, and this song is so beautiful. It truly is. I heard it sung live, shall we say, and in person, by the man you will hear singing it. It's called "On My Way," written and performed by Vince Scheuerman of the band Army of Me.

(there is also a funny, rather awkward story in connection with this song. It will be told later.)

;)

Without further ado:

Click to listen (also has lyrics).

Lyrics:

"Head To The Heart" is the name of the road
'Cross mountains, valleys, switchbacks, and stones
The longest of journeys that I've ever known
To take me, take me home

I walked for many-a-miles, many-a-days
Months became years, they asked me my age
I said, "I couldn't see what difference it makes
Once we reach, we reach home."

Off in the distance, there must be a place
Somewhere to find rest, some light on your face
She said, "I've always been open
So come through my gate."
I said, "Love, I'm on my way
I'm on my way."

I started to doubt that I might arrive
Sometimes I wandered and one time I cried
On the breast of a woman who paid a high price
To say "yes"
"Yes" to home

I asked her, "What does it feel like?"
"And how will I know?"
"How long must I wait?"
"Which way do I go?"
She said, "I've always been open
So come through my gate."
I said, "Love, I'm on my way
I'm on my way."

One day in the distance, a mountain did rise
But one that was different, it wore a disguise
I saw my destination for the first time
Yes, I saw it clearly, but not with my eyes

And when I arrived I met a young man
He showed me his heart
He showed me his hands
He wore a strange crown
Said it hurts where he stands, but "welcome
Welcome home."

I said, "Show me the table
I'm a traveling man
I'll eat every last crumb
I'll take all that I can
And she said, "I've always been open
So come through my gate."
I said, "Love, I'm on my way
I'm on my way."

So, "Head To The Heart" is the name of the road
'Cross mountains, valleys, switchbacks, and stones
The longest of journeys that I've ever known
To take me, take me home

Virtual March for Life

I think this looks really neat! If you can't go to Washington, D.C. --join this! :D

That they all may be one

Today is also the beginning of the 102nd annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

John 17:21

Over here at Pious Sodality of Church Ladies they have the prayer intentions for each of the 8 days.

Pentecost, the "birthday" of the Church.

Let us pray that all Christians will soon come under the banner of One Church. Indeed, Christian disunity has often been described as wounds to the body of Christ; the Church, after all, is the Mystical Body of Christ, with Christ as our Head. Disunity, then, is akin to dismembering ourselves from the Body; dismembering Christ. How He longs for us all to be one!

And so I say again: Let us pray that all Christians will soon come under the banner of the One Church, and so cease hurting Christ (and ourselves, too) in this way. Just think of how many souls could be rescued from despair or darkness or sin if we all stood as one! What great and beautiful things could be accomplished. We can do so much more with a complete body.
We cannot dance if our legs are missing. We cannot sow seeds or gather the harvest or embrace another if our arms are gone.

That they all may be one.

Amen.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it

Today we remembered and honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I think he is something of a modern-day prophet, and we would do well to heed his words. He gave his life for what he believed in. He fought til the death. All men are created equal. We are all human beings, all endowed with certain inalienable rights.

A couple years ago I read an article about how the pro-life movement of today has picked up the banner of civil and human rights from Dr. King. Today, one of the most extreme abuses (and there are MANY) of human rights is the legal, encouraged, blatant killing of unborn children in their mothers' wombs. Many who are pro-abortion claim the child in the womb is actually not a human being. But even science tells us that life begins at conception! Then there are those whose consciences have become so eroded that they know it's a child - a human being, though tiny - and support abortion anyway. Heartless and jaded, they couldn't care less about the "fetus" killed in the "termination of a pregnancy." What's more is that minorities are targeted. (The poor, too.) A Black child in the U.S. has a 50% chance of either being aborted or born. That means 1 out of 2 Black children is aborted.


And Dr. King fought and died for their right to be considered equal human beings.

It's not just Blacks. It's Hispanics and the poor and impoverished in general. Drive around a city one day, and you'll find more "women's care clinics" (misnomer if there ever was one) and Planned Parenthoods in the poor parts of town, which are often where racial minority populations are highest. And P.P. had a racist, bigoted founder. Let's just say they are continuing her legacy well. This is not to say Planned Parenthood does not have clinics in wealthy parts of town or that white women do not get abortions. They do. But the percentages are higher for the poor and minorities.

And don't even get me started on how we are failing our black brothers with regards to their upbringing and life choices. They are far more likely to land in jail for various crimes, mostly drugs and theft, I bet (and many no doubt are innocent, too, but many are indeed guilty) than whites. One in every 20 black men over the age of 18 is in a state or federal prison. And these same men leave their families, or some are then taken away from their families to jail, and then those children, especially those boys, grow up, and the vicious cycle repeats.

God, what do we do???? Something must be done.

I read something earlier today about someone saying we should not sanitize Dr. King. For in sanitizing him, his legacy, and his message, we weaken it, "dumb it down," strip it of its power and relevance and the inherent challenge it poses to us.

Sounds like Christ to me. We sanitize Christ, make him just a "kind teacher" or "visionary" or "prophet" who had "nice ideals." He loses every ounce of His importance for us, then. He is none of those things. He is the Son of God, Christ the King. Our Saviour. Certainly, yes, He is also a teacher, a Divine Teacher in the Way of Life. But He is God. We cannot sanitize His message. We do it at our own risk. Why do we sanitize anything in this way, dumbing things down? Because we are too afraid to face the truth, we cannot bear to look in the mirror at ourselves and find that we do not stack up to the ideals, to the calling. We fear looking deeper into things. We fear looking within. But I do not run away from the ideals; we are called to Love, to eternal life, to a higher dignity. Dr. King knew this. I do not run away, no, I cherish my "ideals." No matter how many times I sometimes feel utterly wretched and teeter on the brink of despair or self-loathing for failing miserably to reach them, I know that God makes up for where we lack. If we but trust in Him and His love, His grace will fill up all that we leave out. He finishes what we leave incomplete. He perfects what we do imperfectly. We take the first step up the stairs, He comes down to us and carries us up the rest.

No, we cannot "sanitize" Christ's message, Dr. King's message, or any other one who calls us out of darkness. Theirs are messages of great urgency. "Sanitizing" them strips them of that urgency, that need and imperative to act and to live our lives in this better way.

As a society, we have long since wandered away from the lofty, noble ideals of Dr. King. We abandon them as fools only. As G.K. Chesterton said:

"Men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back."

And Dr. King's ideals and hopes and vision are grounded in God and essentially the old chivalric ideals. For though the knights of old did fight, true knights never fought unless necessary to defend themselves or others. There was no rampant killing, and mercy was considered a virtue. And they, ideally, believed in something greater than themselves, and were willing to die for it if need be.

Certainly, the past wasn't perfect and also had its issues and failings and lost sight of what truly mattered. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sounds like us now. Now, though, do we even have any ideals? Or have we sunk so low as to have vices disguised as virtues made our "ideals?"

Of course, in this life, we can never reach completely those high ideals set before us. And certainly not on our own. We must always depend on God, who will lift us up and strengthen us. Ask, as Lucy and the others did, for Aslan to breathe on you. As sinners, we will always stumble and fall, take a misstep, make a mistake. The key is not to stay there forever. Make an effort to get up, to start over, to ask God to help you and to heal you. As hard as it sometimes can be, sometimes we need to just lay there and in our hearts ask God to come to us and lift us up, set us back on our feet. I am saying these things to myself as much as to anyone who may read this. I need reminding, too.

As Christians, our Ideal is Christ. We look to Mary and the saints as models of how to follow Christ, and as friends who will pray for and help us along our way. Some of us will get very, very close to reaching those ideals. Mother Teresa comes to mind, as do others. Often these people are declared saints, holy ones. Often times not, as they just are not known. I am reminded of the words of a character in Harry Potter: "Constant Vigilance!" Don't give up.

Here I will offer just a few of Dr. King's many wonderful quotes. He said and wrote so much; the man had a gift for words and for speaking. May his words always inflame us to continue his legacy, to carry his banner high, to put his words into action, as he did, even unto death.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."


God bless you, Dr. King. Thank you for all you did. I know you continue your great work in Heaven.

And so it begins...

The second semester of my freshman year of college, that is. :P

Classes begin on Tuesday, as tomorrow...well, today, lol (Monday) is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

I am not sure how I feel about it all. I am hoping my classes will be good, and I really hope they will be better than last semester. -___-

I know that I will really have to work in my French class. I am hoping it will not take me long to brush up on my French skills, rusty after being neglected and unused for an entire summer and semester. :/ But hard work is required for mastery of the language. As far as I can tell, the class I am in is approximately at the level of my senior year of high school French class. Only more challenging, probably. Of course, if I need help, I know I can always get tutoring or something. I can do this! God help me.

I am also taking a Latin 101 class. You would think this would help with my French somehow. ;) I am looking forward to greatly adding to my smatterings of Latin knowledge, which is just that -- some words here and there, from singing many, many songs in Latin and being a Catholic interested in such things. I know nothing of verb conjugation, grammar, or anything in Latin, so this will be interesting! xD

Wednesday evening I leave with some other students as part of Loyola Students for Life/Campus Ministry's trip to the March for Life 2010 in Washington, D.C. I've never been before, so I hope it will be a great experience! Please pray for a safe trip both ways and for safe days there. :)

I am struggling again, somewhat similar to the beginning of the year, with homesickness. 5 weeks at home and now I feel weird being back here, as much as I like certain aspects of being here. Somehow, there is grace in this. Lord, train my eyes that they might see Thy workings in all things. Amen.

I also recently stumbled across more info on the disaster in Haiti - to be honest I haven't paid attention that closely, knowing without too many facts that the suffering and damage are profound. I hurt anyway. But this was more with regards to damage to the Church there, and my heart broke even more and tears welled up in my eyes.

The historic cathedral in Port au Prince has been destroyed, the archbishop and the chancery staff have died in the disaster. The seminary has been destroyed – the seminarians and their instructors have died. Catholic schools, hospitals and orphanages have been destroyed.

*taken from Will You Hear the Cry of the Poor in Haiti?

Oh, God, how You must weep! In Your Passion You suffer and weep with Your people of Haiti.

How cruel Mother Nature, cast into disharmony since the Fall, can be. Especially to the world's poorest! Oh, Satan, see the pain thou hast wrought? As much as my heart weeps, I pray and I rest in thinking upon the words of the Blessed Virgin at Fátima:

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

Amen. (so be it)

After all my searching, after all my questions, I'm gonna call it home...

Today I got my hair cut at the JC Penney salon. :) It needed it, and is now very cute. ^_^ I like it.


Pictures:





However, while I was getting my hair done, all of sudden on the radio (?) (the music that was playing, anyway), came the beginning piano notes of... This is Home!! Yes, the song by Switchfoot. :D :D I listened for a few seconds and then finally said "Mom..." and she said "I hear it!" :D That song means a lot to both of us. <3 <3

How unexpected to hear that song there!

Thank you, God, for that little grace today. It means so much. <3

A smile and a kiss from beyond the Veil

On a lighter note (compared to my last post), I'd also like to share something nice that happened today. :)

I went to Wal-Mart with my parents, to get a few things. I know, so terribly exciting! xD lol. Anyway, first thing, as we walked in, was a poster board by the carts advertising MJ's This Is It DVD premiere. :D I was happy.

Then, as we passed the electronics department, my mother's Michael-radar perked up. (I was off thinking about other things.) She said she heard Michael's voice, if softly. And sure enough, as we went around a corner, the 4 large, flat-screen TVs they always have right there were playing ... the music video for The Way You Make Me Feel!! I think we stood there, stunned, for a moment. Then, as we watched it, it went to a clip about This Is It and then played one of the extras that will be on the DVD. So apparently they already have the DVDs, but can't sell them, yet? xD We were not pleased, ahahaha. We must wait! But anyhow, what are the odds that would be playing? :)

Thank you, God, and thank you, Michael, for that sweet little surprise. <3 <3 It is such a comfort to me (and to my mother), especially on a night like this, which was not easy for me.

Somehow, this began long before tonight

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.




by Emily Dickinson.

Pray for Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The strongest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help and heavily damaging the National Palace, U.N. peacekeeper headquarters and other buildings. U.S. officials reported bodies in the streets and an aid official described "total disaster and chaos."

Click here for the whole article.

Please pray. :( Just please pray very hard for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. If you can give in other ways, then by all means, do. Though I know hardly any of us has much to spare right now. But we can spare our hearts and prayers. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, please pray for speedy relief and as few casualties as possible for the people of Haiti. Amen.



Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares...

We are the world, we are the children. <3

Random thoughts

Well, time for another post, methinks! But what to say? I have many ideas, but it would be silly of me to swamp my blog with them all at once. I just hope I don't forget them all...

This one might just be random thoughts. Which is okay. ^_^

My days here at home are fast disappearing before I return to school in Chicago. Part of me is ready to have something to do, lol, and still another part of me is nervous. I never know what to expect, and after last semester, I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. If everything goes well, then I shall be pleasantly surprised. There is one class I am looking forward to, though, and do not expect it to let me down. I pray it doesn't.

Here I could easily rant about something, but I think I shall save that for another day.

I'm not really used to having a blog anymore. I used to keep up my blog on MySpace pretty well, before the number of friends I had on Facebook far outnumbered MySpace. I recently checked - I haven't logged in to my MySpace since October 11, 2009. Wow. o_O

I hope I am faithful with this one. I think it might be good for me.

Tomorrow I get to get up way earlier than I am used to right now, as I get to go to the dentist for a check-up at 11am. woot. xD ahaha. I always hate that, I feel like telling them to get out of my face! But if all goes well, it should only take about half an hour.

That was certainly random. Hmm.

I really don't know what else to say right now. :/ I know that will improve in time, as I grow accustomed to having a blog...

I am currently reading a beautiful book, Maurice and Thérèse: The Story of a Love. It contains the correspondence between St. Thérèse of Lisieux and a struggling seminarian. It is a wonderful book and I encourage you all to read it! It will change you, I promise. Perhaps later I will comment more on it.

I guess that's all for now. I feel like this was a lame post, nothing very profound or observant in it or anything. Ah, well. I guess they can't all be like that, can they? ;)

Many blessings to you.

Greetings // Things That Never Die

This blog will be something of an experiment - trial and error. I will try to post fairly regularly, maybe aim for at least once a week? We shall see. It will be most anything, like my MySpace blog before this, and what my notes on Facebook often consist of. Poems, songs, articles and reflections of interest, quotes, and whatnot. Whatever may strike my fancy or pique my interest, give me pause or refresh my spirit.

This, my first post, will also explain where I get my blog name from. I take it from a poem written by Charles Dickens, "Things That Never Die." I sang a beautiful setting of it with my high school's Chorale. It was the "senior song" for the class of 2009. It will forever hold a special place in my heart for that reason alone - all the fond memories I have of choir, and of that year in particular. It was hard to say goodbye. The words themselves are a treasure, and I love them.


Things That Never Die, by Charles Dickens

The pure, the bright, the beautiful
that stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The streams of love and truth,
The longing after something lost,
The spirit's yearning cry,
The striving after better hopes—
These things can never die.

The timid hand stretched forth to aid
A brother in his need;
A kindly word in grief's dark hour
That proves a friend indeed;
The plea for mercy softly breathed,
When justice threatens high,
The sorrow of a contrite heart—
These things shall never die.

Let nothing pass, for every hand
Must find some work to do,
Lose not a chance to waken love—
Be firm and just and true.
So shall a light that cannot fade
Beam on thee from on high,
And angel voices say to thee—
"These things shall never die."