This Thanksgiving weekend is a happy one for my family. My niece’s husband returned safely from Iraq earlier this month. Tonya and Bob have four children, who as you can imagine, were ecstatic over their dad’s return. I thank you for your prayers for Bob and the other servicemen who are serving our country overseas. Below is a picture of Bob and Tonya at a “Cavalry Ball” for returning servicemen. The joy was mixed with some tears as they remembered soldiers who had died in combat this past year. Also, Tonya told me that, at the dance, one of the soldiers stood up at the podium and publicly asked his girlfriend to marry him. (She said “yes.”) Please continue to pray for Bob and his family – and for all other servicemen. If you have a family member who is in our military serving overseas, please place his or her picture on the bulletin board in the church vestibule.
For a somewhat odd reason, I have been thinking about Sharon Carriere these past few weeks. It was shortly before her death (June of 2003) that Scott Peterson was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife and unborn child, Connor. Sharon mentioned to me that she thought this trial would make people think again about the rights of the unborn child. A local National Organization of Women (NOW) President, Mavra Stark, had stated: “If this is murder, well, then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they could call it murder.” Ms. Stark later regretted the statement – but it does underscore the disjointed world we have created. When I pray for Sharon’s eternal rest, I sometimes also ask her to pray for us that we might form a world where every child is valued and protected.
Speaking of the sad world we have created, I understand they have made a film about the life of Alfred Kinsey. Rather than go to the movie, I would encourage you to read A Public/Private Life by James H. Jones. The book is not an attack on Kinsey, but a sensitive and sympathetic biography of the famous sex researcher. It reveals a tortured man who had in many ways created his own private hell. Dr. Kinsey strove to draw others into his tortured world, beginning with his wife and staff members. Ultimately, he sought the affirmation of the entire American society. Kinsey died a bitter man, convinced that America had not accepted his vision of guilt-free sex. Of course, we subsequently did attempt to create that type of society. If Kinsey were alive today, I wonder what he would think about the results.
On a more positive note, we begin Advent this weekend. It is a time for all of us to hear the Lord’s message of repentance and new life. As we light the first candle of the Advent wreath, we ask the Lord to open our heart for his Coming.
Kinsey's Nonjudgmentalism About Sex Raises Troubling Issues
The secularists did have one triumph on November 2
Advice for Bloggers (from Dante Alighieri)
Charles S. blogs about Buttiglione affair:
Rocco Buttiglione...caused an outrage when he told reporters that he agreed with his church's basic teachings on homosexuality, the sanctity of marriage, and abortion.
Richard John Neuhaus on the Catholic bishops' decision to join Christian Churches Together
