Academic robes on the left are doctoral robes
Academic robes on the right are for the masters degree
2803/2021March 29, 2021
1602/2021February 16, 2021
The Question of Mary
Christian beliefs about Jesus’ mother Mary differ. I was watching an episode of The Journey Home last night. This is a program that interviews people who have converted to the Catholic faith exploring their journey. This particular program featured a former Evangelical pastor from the Holiness church. The question arose, as it usually does with Protestants, “Did you have difficulty accepting Mary?” The answer, as usual, was “Yes. We see her as simply the receptacle by which Jesus entered the world.” Do you suppose Jesus morphed from being a baby to a 30-year-old man? So who changed his diapers? Potty...
2901/2021January 29, 2021
Joe Biden and the American Academy of Nursing
This morning I received an excited email from the American Academy of Nursing – the Powers that Be in nursing. The jist of the message was how excited the board members were with President Joe Biden’s list of executive orders. I have always suspected that I did not think or value many of the things that the power brokers in nursing thought or valued and my nursing career was teeming with head butting. These past four years, under the Trump presidency, I came to understand just how divided we are as a nation. Where once we could argue differences, these...
1801/2021January 18, 2021
The Message, the Messenger, and the Platform
In our violently argumentative and abusive society, we not only disagree with each other, we want to destroy each other because we disagree. Our arguments are primarily emotional rather than rational or logical. We seem to have lost the ability to debate ideas and issues and instead resort to abuse and attack. As I read comments on social media, I am impressed with the strategies that are now employed to silence opposition. We used to be able to debate ideas. Ideas are the message. It is entirely appropriate to disagree with the message and put forward a counter-message believed to...
1401/2021January 14, 2021
Open Mouth Insert Foot: The Confusing World of Political Correctness
Apparently, I am obtuse about many things, especially when interacting with men. I am constantly in trouble with the things that I say. Incident #1:I once had an immensely helpful and friendly neighbor. It was he who welcomed me into the neighborhood, stopped in to chat, helped with things I could not do. One day as we were chatting in my living room, he shared with me that he had been physically abused by a Roman Catholic priest when he was an altar boy. We talked some more and eventually I invited him to come back to Mass. He became...
1812/2020September 6, 2021
Want to Lose Weight? Here’s a Plan
Most honest Diet researchers agree that “one size does not fit all.” Not everyone will succeed on the same diet plan. Each of us has a different gene pool, different metabolisms, different lifestyles and different access to food. The problem is that every diet guru believes and preaches that his or her program is THE BEST. So, which one do you choose and how do you decide? Here is an idea you might want to try: try them all for a minimum of four months each. Which one helped you to lose weight and which stalled weight loss? Pick the...
0512/2020December 5, 2020
An Argument over CO VID Rules
All organizations have their own CO VID rules. No exceptions are allowed to the rules. Sometimes the rules don't make sense.
2411/2020November 24, 2020
Growing up with Asthma
Asthma is a terrible, frightening disease. It is all about not being able to breathe–to not be able to take a breath. Exhaling is long, but inhaling is brief and unsatisfactory with your breath choking you. And it goes on and on with an interminable sense of never being able to breathe again. As a child, I had many frightening and painful asthma episodes. My parents were frantic to know how to deal with it. The best medical minds of the day believed it to be a food allergy. So, one by one, they eliminated my favorite foods from my...
2211/2020November 22, 2020
In Defense of the Roman Catholic Mass
(Originally published on Helium April 18, 2013) There are many criticisms on the internet of the Roman Catholic Mass by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This article defends the Mass. The two major criticisms of the Mass by Catholics (also called Eucharist by Catholics) are: 1) that it’s boring and 2) that it is no longer in Latin and in the format used before Vatican II. In response to the criticism that the Mass is boring, the most obvious counter is that worshiping God is not supposed to be fun or entertainment. For all Christians and Jews, worshiping God is...
2211/2020November 22, 2020
An imaginary visit with Jesus and his parents
In the sixteenth century, Saint Ignatius of Loyola wrote out instructions for prayer based upon his own conversion experience. A contemporary of Saint Theresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, all spiritual giants in the Catholic Church, Saint Ignatius’ legacy to the order he founded (Jesuits), were his written instructions on prayer called “Spiritual Exercises.” Unlike Saint Theresa and Saint John, Ignatius focused upon imagination as a way of personally experiencing the life of Christ. He wanted his followers to experience what it felt like to walk with Jesus, his parents and his followers. Anyone wanting to enter...