Day 4

Accidentally deleted the last one. I got a bit behind, because I was busy...but while I'm waiting for my rice to cook (curry), I'm doing Day 4.

Today's thing to squee over: the whole confession thing.

And as to why it's something to squee over, I'd like to share the story of my first confession. I was in 2nd grade. This was when I was having problems in school, and my teacher had discovered that the reason why I was having problems in school was because I was horribly bored. I loved my second grade teacher. But there were still problems. One such problem happened, and (as is wont to happen), my parents found out about it. Now, in hindsight, it wasn't a big deal, and my teacher wasn't overly bothered about it. But my parents (who weren't winning any parenting awards), raked me over the coals for it. Like I still have nightmares about that "discussion." Every time thereafter when I'd annoy them or do something wrong, they'd bring it up.

So when it was time for our first confessions, I was scared. Now, forgiveness isn't a concept that exists in abusive families. There's nothing that you can ever to do mitigate the consequences of your actions. You are always at fault, no matter what. Love is also conditional upon how good you are. When I had to tell my parents what I had done, it was literally hell on earth.

So when it was my time, I was terrified, and I confessed that incident. I remember crying, when the priest asked if I were sorry. I remember him telling me that God still loved me, which made me cry all the more.

After that day, my parents never mentioned that incident. I never told them what I confessed, either. I don't remember the priest's name, but I wonder if he ever knew what a grace I'd received.

30 Days of Squee, Day 1

So I'm really not feeling the blogging thing. It seems like the blogosphere is dominated by those who shout the loudest, and I'm really not interested in trolls. That having been said, I'm declaring a month-long ban on polemics in my blog. I'll save the bitching for my LJ, and I'm ruthlessly deleting comments that bitch on my blog. Y'all have your own blogs you can bitch on for a month.

That having been said, I'm going to do a "30 days of squee." In other words, each day I'm going to post something that keeps me coming back to the RCC through all the bullshit.

Day 1: There are people like Fr. Tom in the RCC. I know my LJ is probably tired of him by now, but I've never met a more saintly, wonderful person. He lost his battle with cancer yesterday, and although it's sad, I can't help but be happy that I knew him, however brief. I think either this picture or this one sums up how a lot of people remember him.

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2417

Everyone's probably already seen this, but there's some good stuff in there. (If you can stand Yet Another Post about the last presidential election.) Like:

A hate-filled blogosphere, on the other hand, feeds a politics of odium, misleading people of faith and good will, diminishing and at times obliterating our ability to know one another. Our faith urges us to presume the stranger is kind, and to seek out opportunities to manifest love of neighbor.