Love and Friendship - Part One

No, no, this post has nothing to do Jane Austen’s satirical short story. That is a post for another day. This post will address the difficulties that people face in their attempts to forge friendships that are lasting. In this day and age “social networks” such as myspace and facebook thwart these efforts every which way. Although these networks can be used as tools to connect and stay in contact with people, they do not facilitate very deep connections between people.


They can only operate on a superficial level, to check the status of the people on your friends list, to chat occasionally, etc. Such things help us to stay informed as to our friends' and acquaintance's movements in their day-to-day lives, but it cannot assist us in knowing the state of our friends hearts and minds. This can only be obtained through true conversation, whether face-to-face, in a letter or on the telephone.

There is an intangible, yet very real, connection of minds and hearts that is completely lost when posted for the whole world to see. True friends take personal interest in the feelings and ideas of those they have befriended, not just their recent activities. True friends are able to bear their souls to one another and feel safe in the knowledge of mutual understanding.

Cuteness

I don't know about you girls, but I'm determined to be the cutest one on the beach this year. :)

Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

This is the basic point of life!

It is good to know that she said "make sure your sins are forgiven" not "you need to be saved." The Sacrament of Confession is what perfects us and makes us ready for heaven.

Speaking of the Summit...

While avoiding the Archimedes props that I need to learn for the Lab final, I found this article by Raquel Welch about changing sexual mores in America after the advent of the Pill in the 60's. What's really interesting is that she doesn't approach the issue from an explicitly religious perspective, but she still doesn't think that all is sunshine and roses because of contraception and female empowerment.

Hat tip for the article to Father Longenecker.

Harry and Me

Finally, I've found someone who can summarize how I feel about Harry Potter.

From Left of the Dial:

"And what I’ve decided is that J.K.Rowling is one of the great storytellers of our time, able to spin a tale wonderfully, keep multiple plots in the air successfully, create interesting characters and worlds and situations. What’s she’s not, however, is a great writer, the way J.R.R.Tolkein, for instance, or Charles Dickens or Mark Twain or Willa Cather or Fred Chappell are; every one of them are both outstanding storytellers AND magnificent writers, whose language glows like burning coal, to borrow The Bard’s words. Rowling’s prose is never more than pedestrian. And that’s okay—Stephen King is one of my very favorite writers and he’s the same way: a phenomenal storyteller but a journeyman when it comes to the actual language.
[Interrupted for me to exclaim: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I totally and completely agree; there are some books (Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, for example) which, quite literally, made me cry with how beautiful the language was. Others, like the Harry Potter books, are marvelous stories without that same stunning impact: the language really IS pedestrian. And finally, there are the Tolkiens of this world whose language and story are equally full of goosebump-inducing, spine-tingling, make-me-hurt beauty.]
[...]
Now, breaking rules is no big deal, per se, as long as there is a consequence attached. You sneak out, you get caught, you get punished. That’s life. You run the red light, you get caught, you get punished. But Harry virtually never gets punished. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but they are comparatively minor. And here’s the thing: the rules he’s breaking aren’t arbitrary and foolish; this isn’t your basic civil disobedience here or minor schoolboy pranks. The rules are there for one very good reason: to keep the children from being killed. Yet time and again, Harry breaks the rules and, frequently, almost gets killed, or worse, almost gets someone else killed...and gets away with it because he’s such a skilled liar or because he’s Harry Potter and he gets special dispensation.
[...]
Again, I cannot stress strongly enough that I have enjoyed the books and that the witchcraft angle doesn’t bother me in the least; it’s part of a long and noble history in children’s literature. What bothers me is the fact that the hero is a charming boy who lies and cheats and gets away with it."


Now go and read the rest!!!

And then this follow-up piece.

And then this one.

Surprise, Surprise

You Are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: grumpy and stressed You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

But we knew that already, right?

What kind of coffee are you?

One more song!

This is one of my favorite songs.

Ever.

It is from Dan in Real Life, a sweet little love story.

Fiddler on the roof - Matchmaker ( with subtitles )

Here is a video

Why?

For the sake of beauty, femininity, and a bunch of single girls who once decided to start their own blog...

Summer Attractions

After reading Desdemona's post about On the Verge, I commented, "Hurrah for femininity! When the collegiates get back, we should hold a summit on ways to add femininity to the world. ;)" Apparently Desdemona got an idea into her pretty little head, and she is now organizing:

The Femininity Summit 2010

Changing the World, One Catholic Gal at a Time.

Of course, the summit will mainly consist of eating pie, drinking coffee, and giggling our heads off, but we'll also be talking about what it means to be a woman, how being a woman affects our lives, how we relate to God as women, and what that means for how we dress, act, speak, etc. We'll tackle sticky wickets like the fine line between flaunting your body and wearing potato sacks; how to treat yourself with the dignity you deserve; and what to do in those oh-so-awkward moments in public when poise and confidence seem impossible. We'll post the results -- which most likely will be slightly edited and clarified ;) -- and show the world that not everyone conforms to its standard of "pretty", "hot" or "sexy".

Wonderfully Made

One very comforting thought I've had recently is that God loves the idea of each person. Loves it so much He had to create us.

There's a very special bond between the creator and the created, because when you make a work of art, you pour yourself into it. And there's a certain mark- a trademark, if you will- on your designs, because they take on a bit of your personality. Your creations smack of you-ishness. Take, for example, the different authoresses of this blog. I don't even have to look at the bottom of the post to know who penned the entry. Each of us have our own distinct voice, vocabulary and writing style. It's quite beautiful if you stop to think about it.

So stop.


Think about it.


Now continue reading.


Now, sometimes we'll create a piece of art that doesn't come out quite as we hoped. It's imperfect. Flawed. We wish it would be better-more like the ideal we envisioned in our heads. God, however, only creates perfect works of art. God's idea of, say, Catherine, is perfect. It's a masterpiece-a work of art that shows off, as no other work of His can, some particular aspect of Himself. He formed the idea of her-of Catherine, with her own Catherine-ish qualities and quirks, her idiosyncracies and beauties. He thought of them all; He laughed with joy; and He fell in love. He fell in love so much that He had to create her. That's truly mind-boggling. God loves us so much that He creates us. I don't even understand how that works.

God wants our love. And, (as I feel like we've discussed before on this blog, and as many greater minds have been discussing since time began,) love is a choice. We have to make the choice to love God, or else our "love" is nothing worth. He can't program it into out hearts that we love Him. Love cannot be forced or coerced, it is a gift.

"If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised." Song of Songs 8:7

God's love has breathed us into existence. Our love simply gives ourselves back to Him, since we really belong to Him anyways. The Creator who loves us so infinitely and indesciribably simply wants our love in return. But here's the catch: we've made the horrendous, disastrous, catastrophic, mistake of choosing not to love Him. How absolutely tragic. We only exist because of love, yet we constantly turn our back on Love himself. Imagine how desperate He would be to win our love, to woo us back to Himself.

I opened to my beloved;
but my beloved left; and had gone away.
My heart went out when he spoke.
I looked for him, but I didn’t find him.
I called him, but he didn’t answer.
The watchmen who go about the city found me.
They beat me.
They bruised me.
The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
that you tell him that I am faint with love.

And the Word became flesh, and lived and died for us. Because He loved the idea of each person so infinitely that He would stop at nothing to save us. He came up with of the idea of His mother Mary, of Pontius Pilate, of each Roman soldier who scourged Him, of Judas, of everyone of us sinners-of you and me. He thought of us. Every single person who put Christ to death was a precious being that He had thought of, and loved so much that He wanted to create them. We were His idea, and He loved us so much He gave up His life for us.

I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go,

The moral of the story: God loves you. We hear it so often, but we don't listen to these words. God loves you. He likes you-He wanted to make you! He's not like: "Well, since I'm forced to make someone, I might as well throw together a Becca." He fell in love with each of us so much that He wanted nothing more than to bring us to life, so that we might share in His life. Everything God makes is infinitely and incandescently beautiful, including us. We are a masterpieces, made by the Master Artist.

Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.

God loves you.