The Clam Rampant

admin August 31st, 2006

One more brief post…why I need a job with the Church

In addition to a whole bunch of other reasons, because I’m just too darned helpful, and I should only use my powers for good. Maybe I’ll make a comprehensive list some other time, but that’s the immediate reason.

I currently work for my university’s alumni association. An alumna came in wanting to join so she could get a library card. OK, great! I’m signing her up. Then she asks if I can help her find out which library the books she needs are in. I said sure - I mean, it’s all about customer service, right?

So she hands me a list of books about St. John of the Cross. I say “Oh! He’s a remarkable figure. I’ve just started reading some Teresa of Avila myself.” Meanwhile I’m looking up books, writing down call numbers, etc. She agrees, then says she’s writing a paper about him. Then she mentions she’s in seminary.

(I have to admit, when I first was talking to her I had a brief thought that she seemed like a potential ‘womanpriest’, but I figured that (a) it was an unfounded assumption, and (b) it was none of my business if she was, at least until she gets onto a boat in the Detroit River. And I still don’t know if she’s Catholic; if she’s in seminary, she probably goes to the local ecumenical seminary, so she really could be anything. If she’s Episcopal or Lutheran - do Lutherans ordain women? - then God bless. In fact, if she’s Episcopal, Heaven help her.)

Anyway, so I have this irrational feeling that I’m somehow complicit if she does try to become “ordained” in the Catholic Church. Honestly, it just seems to me that I’m using my talents to help the world, not to help God’s kingdom. That’s not what I want, and I seriously doubt it’s what God wants. So…and yes, I have been reading the Archdiocese’s job postings. Nothing yet, but I’m keeping at it.

Funny postscript: when she said she was writing a paper about him, she said she originally was planning to write about Dietrich Bonhoeffer but decided he was “too deep” for her. I stared at her like she had just sent kittens out her ears and said “So you switched to St. John of the Cross?!” Methinks the lady knoweth not what she getteth herself into…

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admin August 31st, 2006

Disturbing street name…

I shouldn’t be blogging right now; not only am I at work, with plenty of work-related things to do, but I have personal e-mails that are sitting unanswered. However…

I’m covering our front desk right now (we’re presently between receptionists), and someone gave me some outbound mail. As usual, I gave it a quick “is everything in order?” glance before tossing it lightly into the mail tray.

*ominous music* …and THAT’s when I saw it. Charring Cross Circle. At first I thought someone had mistyped it. So I checked the post office’s Web site. Nope - it’s right.

Now, I think the Brits do pronounce “charing” (as in “Charing Cross Road”) like “charring”. So I expect this is just a (slightly pretentious) effort to make sure people pronounce the street name as intended, since we-all here in the colonies are just too ingerant…um, ignernt…er, well, stupid?…to say it right. But really. “Charring Cross” - doesn’t it sound a bit…well…Klan-ish?

At least it wasn’t “Charred Cross”. That would have REALLY been indefensible!

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admin August 29th, 2006

Broken window, stronger faith

You know that old cliché about the Lord working in mysterious ways? Sometimes things are cliché because they’re true. I think that’s one of them.

So I stayed quite late at work today, trying to get a mailing printed. (Our color printer/copy machine is ridiculously slow.) I left at about 10 minutes to 10, and started walking for my car, which was uncharacteristically parked on a street just a little north of campus. As I got close, I saw something glittering in the street next to the car. “Please, Lord, let it be a puddle,” thought I. As I’m sure you guessed by the title of the post, it wasn’t. Someone threw a chunk of concrete through my front driver’s window.

Fortunately (I might have thought Providentially), a campus police officer was just driving by and saw the glass. He took down my information for the police report while I, grumbling about people not having anything better to do, started checking for missing articles (nothing’s missing) and trying to clean up the glass. Incidentally, the perpetrator also appears to have whacked my driver’s door with the same chunk of concrete, which appears to have affected the exterior locking mechanism. I hope that’s not permanent, ’cause it’s expensive to repair. However, mercifully, the door still locks and unlocks from the inside, so there’s hope.

So the good and kind officer makes sure I start up and we both start heading out. However, my car is acting funny. It’s rumbling and grumbling and generally not sounding good. Then the “check engine” light starts flashing. It’s never flashed before - it’s come on, but not flashed.

I pull over. The cop, who I am starting to think is my guardian angel in disguise, is still behind me and pulls up next to me. I explain the situation (sliver of a silver lining: I didn’t have to roll down the window!), and he agrees that the car doesn’t sound good. I kill the engine and reach to pop the hood…which…oddly…yes, very curious…seems to ALREADY BE POPPED. So I get out, walk around to the front, the cop brings a flashlight, and we open the hood.

Our window-smashing chum took nothing. All s/he did was unplug one of my spark plugs. Which took me back to my original gripe about people not having anything better to do.

I don’t know why this person did that. I don’t know if it’s someone who doesn’t like me (possible, but I don’t know offhand of anyone who dislikes me personally enough to do that - well, at least not who knows what kind of car I drive), some random hoodlum with nothing better to do (seems the most probable), or someone who works for a towing or auto glass company (that’s just a shameless nod to the conspiracy nuts).

But I can tell you what I do know. I know that the Lord was with me, and that He was protecting me. As I was grumbling and brushing glass around, the cop observed that it could have been a lot worse, and I immediately acknowledged that he was right. It could’ve been. Think about it:
- the car was still there;
- nothing appears to have been taken;
- most importantly, the crime was against my property, not my person;
- the cop was on the scene at the same time I was, so I wasn’t standing in the dark in midtown
Detroit at 10 p.m. waiting for the cops to come;
- and the cop was there and able to identify and correct the spark plug issue before the car
conked out (and possibly was damaged; I don’t know if that would damage the engine).

Thank the Lord! That’s all I can say: thanks be to God!

I really feel sorry for the poor soul who did this. I can’t help thinking that s/he must have a really crummy life if this kind of pointless vandalism is appealing.

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admin August 29th, 2006

Update on Joe’s dad

So the hospital did a transesophageal ultrasound today. Good news - while there is some fluid in and around the lungs, it’s not nearly as much as the doctors had originally thought, and they’re going to deal with it with medicine, not drain it with a pleural tap. He’s responding to commands, and the hospital is thinking of weaning him off the ventilator. They still haven’t isolated the infection, but apparently his belly is less distended and his hand (which had been looking kind of yucky because of an IV that wasn’t changed for several days) is looking better too. So they may never know for sure what the problem was, but I guess as long as it clears up that’s plenty of reason for thanksgiving. Praise the Lord!!!

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admin August 29th, 2006

Hymn exercise

So I realized recently that, while I know and love several hymns, it’s much more of a passive than an active knowledge. I think it hit home when I recently started singing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God and had to revert to “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah-blah-blah blahh…” for half the lines.

I could excuse myself if I were one of the many people who honestly don’t remember lyrics or dialogue well, but I’m not. I could probably sing at least 75% of Les Misèrables from memory. I could probably still recite at least 50% of Beetlejuice along with the actors. And I could tell you 9/10 or more of the lyrics to every Simon & Garfunkel song ever recorded, not to mention the fact that I still remember the lyrics to We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister.

This is, then, an issue of what I have devoted time and energy to learning. Seems to me that songs that praise God are at least as deserving of my time and energy as Wind Beneath My Wings and You Can Call Me Al.

So my goal now is to learn - truly learn, text and music - one hymn per week. Seems like a reasonable and manageable feat. This is my experiment from now until Easter; I’ll review the effort and its success at that time, and decide whether to modify, continue, or cut.

This week’s hymn: Holy, holy, holy! (I love this one!)

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee!
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who is, and was, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory shall not see;
Only Thou art holy. There is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love and purity!

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea!
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

That’s from memory. I shall now go back and check myself against the text I found on the Internet yesterday…

Aaannnd…looks like I still don’t have the punctuation quite right, but I’ve got the text almost nailed. So a little more drilling is in order before I really can say I know it, but I’m getting there. This is the text, directly copied and pasted, from the source I was using (http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Holy_Holy_Holy/):

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Then, when I have this down…the music! (And next week: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God!)

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admin August 29th, 2006

Update on Joe’s dad

They’ve read the CT, and there appear to be no serious issues (no perforated or knotted bowel), although there’s still fluid in or around his lungs. They’re working on that. In the meantime, however, he is no longer on the arrhythmia medication and his heart rate is great; he’s on a very low dose of the blood pressure medication and his blood pressure is great; and they’re weaning him off the sedative. (They’re still going to keep him mildly sedated because he’s intubated, but he won’t be completely unconscious now.) And while Joe and his mom were in visiting, he moved several limbs, so they’re pretty sure there’s nothing wrong in the brain. Hurrah!

Thanks be to God for all this. Please keep praying!

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admin August 28th, 2006

Update on Joe’s dad

Well, I did not end up spending the weekend in Chatham, as I had planned. Instead I spent the weekend in London. Apparently Friday afternoon the doctor in Chatham was having trouble diagnosing the infection and was conferring by phone with a doctor in London. She walked out of the room to take the call, saying she just wanted to ask the London doctor a question, and walked back in five minutes later saying “OK, they’re sending the helicopter.” WOW.

Really it’s a good thing that he’s in London. Chatham is a small city; think Ann Arbor but without U of M. Chatham’s hospital doesn’t even have a dedicated cardiologist. London, on the other hand, is Ann Arbor with U of M (except it’s UWO), complete with one of the best teaching hospitals in the country. It’s better-staffed, better-supplied…just better.

So that’s good. However, as of yesterday evening they hadn’t been able to diagnose the infection or its location. Fortunately he isn’t septic (no fever, normal white-cell count, etc.), so he’s stable and they’re keeping him sedated for the time being. However, prayers are still very much appreciated. They’ve taken some blood cultures and another CT scan, so hopefully we’ll know something soon.

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admin August 24th, 2006

Joe’s father needs prayers!

(Anyone who doesn’t know, Joe is my lovable Canadian boyfriend. You can see pictures of him, along with a host of pictures he and I have taken, by following the “My Sweetie’s Flickr Page” link to the right.)

Anyway, his dad has been in the hospital for just about two weeks now. At first it was pretty routine; he had a heart valve replaced a few years ago, and every so often he has some problems with it. They know him by name at the hospital, and only partly because he’s lived in Chatham all his life and knows half the people in it. Mostly, I gather, it’s because there’s this recurrent issue with his heart. Apparently once in a while the medication he’s on stops being effective and his heartbeat gets irregular (usually the heart starts racing). Joe, feel free to correct me if I’m getting this wrong…

So he went in two weeks ago. They got him on a new medication by phone conferencing with a specialist in London - the Chatham hospital does not even have a dedicated cardiologist, much less someone with this kind of sub-specialization. They got him stabilized. They were going to release him and get him an outpatient appointment with the specialist in London, to discuss a pacemaker.

But then he got one of those nasty hospital infections. So they were dealing with that…etc etc…then they noticed that his legs were swollen. OK, that can be about the heart, especially since with the infection he can’t walk around like he was. Then they noticed that his stomach was a little distended…

They got a CT scan, but since he’s stable they’re not reading it until tomorrow morning. He may have to have surgery; it depends on what the CT says. It could be a lot of things, ranging from a blood clot to a perforated bowel. SO: I will (obviously) be in Chatham this weekend, with less opportunity to blog than usual. (Not that I blog so frequently anyway…) Please consider saying a few prayers for Joe’s dad; his name is Fred.

Thanks…

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admin August 21st, 2006

My superhero test…apparently I am an interesting hybrid of major male superheroes. Ah well - figures I’d be confused in a test just as I am in life…

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 60% Spider-Man 60% Batman 55% Robin 55% Hulk 50% Wonder Woman 47% Supergirl 42% Green Lantern 40% Iron Man 25% Catwoman 20% The Flash 10%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

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admin August 17th, 2006

The Hound (Dog) of Heaven

Courtesy of my sister…

August 16th Feast of St. Elvis the King

So, once again, a crowd of people has gathered at Graceland for a candlelight vigil in honor of Elvis Presley, to remember the 29th anniversary of his death. WHY? I’m sorry, but really, WHY? Sure, the man was a great singer and performer. But people are acting as if he was some kind of saint. I don’t understand the mentality of people who do that kind of thing. He was a celebrity - a rock star (granted, the first rock star). That’s it. He didn’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked or let the homeless crash at Graceland. He didn’t even visit prisoners, like Johnny Cash. He was just a man, and apparently one with some serious problems.

And I can’t even say it’s a generational thing, because of course the next generation does the same thing each year for John Lennon (the second-coolest Beatle) and my own generation does the same for Kurt Cobain.

I guess my major problem with this whole phenomenon is that these same people basically ignore the truly good people around them. How many of these people lit a candle in remembrance of Mother Teresa, who actually did something important during her life? Step outside our culture for a moment - what do you see? People who become racked with grief every year over the death of someone they have never met, people who immortalize a dead NASCAR racer on their cars. You must admit, it’s more than a little strange. All this emotion for people who got rich off you, who don’t know you, and who you don’t really know either.

Me again. I have to say I basically agree with Caroline, but I do have a humble explanation for at least part of the phenomenon…

I think we are starved for God. I also think we are starved for love. Really, though, it comes down to the same thing: deep within ourselves we need to worship our Creator, and if something blocks that it becomes perverted. We then have this immense longing for SOMEthing or SOMEone, but since we do not accept or honor God, we look for other avenues. It becomes love of self, love of money, love of power, or love of earthly heroes, including Elvis, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Dale Earnhardt, and yes, even Mother Teresa. If I focus my adoration on Mother Teresa instead of on God, to whom she dedicated her life and every great work she did, it is a perversion of that love (and one that Mother Teresa herself would disavow). I think in our culture it’s just more common to focus that love on a secular icon than a religious one, because ours is largely a secular culture.

What I’m saying here isn’t new. Smarter people than I have said this much better than I am saying it. But I think we would do well to remember it more often, and not just when people are out paying homage to St. Elvis.

We live in a horribly impoverished society, and I don’t mean materially. Since we’ve said so much about Mother Teresa, let’s use her words: “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

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