Communism or Capitalism?

"........... reduced man to a force of production. ...It reduced gifted and talented people to nuts and bolts of some monstrously huge, noisy and stinking machine...."

This quote from Vaclave Havel, former president on the Czech Republic on the Communist regime. I read it in an editorial by Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus in his monthly column back in March of 2005 of Columbia.

I don't believe I ever used it in a post-I was going over my 'drafts' which never got posted and this quote figured in one of them. So I use it today.

Of course Vaclave Havel is talking about Communism-but we have a society and government which is very utilitarian with respect to its citizenry. And it will get even more so as we help it along by our living, spending, and voting habits. And then it we won't be much different from the quote above. Already corporations view their employees (no matter how educated or talented) as tools-which are replaceable.

Don't mean to be pessimistic about the future today (see post below). Actually, although we need to continually to strive to bring God to our neighbors and to save souls, the ultimate future for those who hope may be very bright-May God have mercy on this sinner!

It all boils down to this ...

I want my children to know that they can do things themselves-or that their local community can do things themselves.

More and more laws are being passed to mandate that the government control our lives (for example, contemplate the possible ramifications for Catholics and families when governmental universal health care comes to pass-and it is coming)

More and more goods production and distribution is in the hands of just a few-thus we may be made subject to their methods of business (slave labor, chemical additives, etc.) and their prices and quality.

But it doesn't have to be so. As more and more of us give away our freedom and very ability to make decisions-based on our self-imposed ignorance, there must be pockets of people who can do things on their own and make decisions on their own. There must be a remnant of people who can marry Faith and Reason to discover and worship the true God-not the gods given (and virtually forced) us by secular and neo-pagan society.

Ultimately, this is why we moved to Bethune, SC and are trying to back away from the the materialistic lifestyle. Not every endeavor has been successful (you can say that again... and again), but we are trying and will get it eventually. And our children will know they can survive even if they live differently. They will know that they can buy the processed chicken from the superstore or can grow and butcher their own. They will know they can hire someone to fix the plumbing or the floor or the car-or they can do it themselves.

Of course we aren't islands, each possessing all the talents and know-how to survive. We absolutely need each other-but as individual persons to each other-not as numbers to a governmental social outreach organization. The community must share goods and talents.

And let me reiterate-it is not about individualism-it is more about community and guaranteeing the preservation of true Christian community. I.e.: you can go to a movie or you and your friends can put on a play yourselves. You can go to a concert, watch music videos etc.-or groups of friends and families can gather and sing together, and certainly pray together.

We can't forget how to do things ourselves-after all big government is not going to work out our salvation for us.

Sometimes we can lose sight of the goal, wrapped as we tend to become in our daily chores. It is good to take a step back and see where our life and our society is going-and then redirect our own path. Of course this is why beginning the day with prayer is the only way.

Oremus pro invicem!

Couldn't resist ...

Finished "The Silent People" yesterday evening and got right into the first of the trilogy: "Seek the Fair Land". This one is about Cromwell's invasion and destruciton of Ireland.

Have much work to do. Am not going to the CMN (Catholic Marketing Network Tradeshow, but am sending a flyer along to be placed in a friend's booth. Have been twice before, but the budget director (me) hasn't allowed me to go last year or this year. Interestingly, it is in Cleveland this year. I would love to go cause I lived in Cleveland in the mid-to-late 80's for a couple years during graduate school. I know it has changed and wouldn't mind seeing it.

Back on the homefront, we are trying to plan a trip to our only local Marian Shrine: Our Lady of South Carolina - Our Lady of Hope. A recent article in the diocesan newspaper mentioned that the chaplain at the shrine just took evangelical vows and is a eremitic state, or recognized as a hermit by the Catholic Church-his ministry is to limited to working with pilgrims who come to the shrine. Maybe we'll get there some day next week?

Oremus pro invicem!

In Saturday's post I said something about making a shoe rack for our side porch. Never happened. We had another project which took more of the day than I anticipated-but I will share it (sorry no picture). We had bought a crucifix as a gift for our friend's daughter who is heading off to college. It was unclear whether the college dorm would allow a crucifix (or anything else) be nailed to the walls, so we wanted something versatile. We could buy a crucifix on a stand, but we like some of the wall hanging ones better and again versatility was a factor.

So I decided to buy the crucifix we wanted and make a stand so it could be used either way. The crucifix was mahogany, and fortunately I had some scraps of the same in the shop from some years ago projects. Here's what we did (the boys were helping where possible):

1. cut 2 pieces (~3x5") to stack on top of each other.
2. Before stacking, drilled almost 20 1/4 inch holes (depth ~ 1/2 inch) in the base piece.
3. Filled holes with lead shot from our fishing gear. We flattened the shot first so it could be packed tightly. We wanted some weight to the stand.
4. Glued and clamped the two 3 x 5 pieces together, matching grain directions on the ends.
5. We beveled the front of the stand at about 25 degrees.
6. Drilled two 1/2" diameter holes through the center of the base directly (about a 1/4 inch apart) next to each other, and then cleaned out the excess would with a chisel. This is the space the crucifix is placed in.
7. Sand until smooth like glass.
8. Stain (in our case cherry) to match crucifix as closely as possible.
9. Apply final finish. Usually I would use a polyeurothane varnish-apply several coats sanding with 0000 steel wool in between coats, and this is the best way. But I was pressed for time. By this time it was after dinner and the gift needed to be ready for Sunday. Further, varnish may not cure as fast as it should in the weather we were having. So I opted for a clear laquer spray from Minwax. Drys in 30 minutes and doesn't need sanding between coats. However, you pay a bit-it doesn't come out so smooth either.

Good project. Wish I had a picture to share.

Ponderings on blessings and sufferings

This morning I was up pretty early and got an hour or two of patent application work done. Then it was time to fill some book orders. One was just picking the books and packing them. Another we had to print some of the books. You know we print, stitch (staple), fold and trim some of the small booklets we sell. If a booklet really starts to make a hit, we will then go get it printed. We're pretty conservative in our projections. I must have personally printed, stapled, and trimmed almost 2000 copies of The Chapel Veil before I was convinced we'd be able to sell a bunch more and got it professionally printed.

In those early days my printer didn't do double-sided copies, so I would print 50-100 copies of page 1 and then re-load it in the printer for page 2, etc. Now I have a great workhorse which does double-sided automatically (Brother HL5250DN). We loved getting those orders for 50-100 copies or more, cause it meant we could eat. But boy I dreaded those same big orders; by the end of stapling 200 copies, my back would be killing me.

We had another booklet which I almost sent out for printing after I had done about 1200 copies. Fortunately I didn't, because in the next year, we didn't sell more than about 25 or so after the first 1200.

Today I was filling an order for 25 booklets we print ourselves, not too bad. But I was printing an order of 200 of another booklet. We had a quality problem due to a defect in the drum. Fortunately I caught it before too many booklets were printed.

At this point, I've just returned from the post office, shipping out a couple orders. I have to change the toner in the printer before finishing the printing job on that 200. But I am sipping a beer, so I'll finish it up tomorrow.

I was reminded (in an opposite sort of way) of the joy and relief (and thanks to God) we used to experience in the past (and even today at times) when those big booklet orders would come in when this morning I read of the despair which accompanied the potato famine in Ireland. I am still reading The Silent People (see post somewhere below) by Walter Macken. The Irish (most of whom didn't own their land and if they didn'tt have a crop they would not make rent and would be evicted-no mercy here) have just gone through the first winter after the first year of blight. It is July and everything is looking good. Then one morning:

And so he was crying, 'They are gone! They are gone!'. the replies to him were like an echo in the valley. They saw other men in the fields. It was five o'clock in the morning. and they paused and heard and ran to their own fields behind the house, and could not believe their eyes. For the green fields were blasted to death. The strong stalks and the broad leaves were lying like brown muck on the ground, and the same smell was with them that had been there last year. They were blighted to death. Every single stalk. It was no use going digging with your fingers. You didn't have to look under the stalkes to know. You knew what wasn't there. It couldn't be true. Not now! After all the sacrifice! After all the pain! After all the beggary! No again!

There was a silent wail went up from the valley that would have drowned the highest wind, if men had the strength to shout it.

.....It cannot be so. Where was God, they asked? What is He doing to us? What have we done to deserve this? Wasn't one year enough? Were there not enough of us eliminated from the face of the earth like much scraped off with a shovel? They would not forget this day.

After reading this, our petty struggles a couple years ago and last year seem trivial. God is good. God is with us even if we don't understand His plan. This is a hard lesson to learn-that you must conform yourself to God's will not the other way around.

Oremus pro invicem!

So yesterday one of our neighbors comes by. He has some dead chickens and saw a yellow lab-type dog in the area the morning of the chicken raid. Just wanted to let me know as he knows I have a yellow lab-type dog. He's not sure its mine, but just wanted to let me know before he did anything.

Now on one hand it could be mine. Bunny has killed our chickens. On the other hand, I don't think she has been roaming (can't keep her in the pen-she jumps over) of late. Several weeks ago she started to run with a couple wild dogs. But we took care of the problem. I don't believe she's left our property since we returned from MA on the 6th. But ..... once a dog tastes chicken, its almost impossible to cure it.

Of course keeping friendly relations with our neighbors is more important than any dog.

Will let you all know how things develop.

Oremus pro invicem!

In the Mail ...

... the spring/summer Catholic Men's Quarterly. You know I am a fan of this magazine-it is the only one I make a point to link to on my sidebar. (Not that CMQ is the only one worth reading-there are several). Haven't started in on this issue yet-I got it from the P.O. box only 10 minutes ago.

But I did have time to note an add in the front cover: now you can get CMQ gear: here. Personally I think I may like the large coffee cup or the hat.

More later... Oremus pro invicem!

For today....

Was telling someone yesterday how our buck (rabbit) had choked on a piece of carrot and died. She said, "That's nothing. We had a thirsty goose who went after some water in a tall bucket, fell in head first, and drowned.

Yesterday I spent the day with patent agent hat on. Today I will be a woodworker. We are making a cubbyhole-type bookcase unit to house shoes on our side porch. If we've been in the chicken coop and like places, we try not to track that in the house. The current situation (throw your shoes anywhere) is okay in the winter, cause if they pushed off the porch you can find them in the barren ground. But in the summer, the 4 o'clocks are so full, you don't know what you will find if you go searching in the bushes. (We don't have chickens at the moment, but are getting ready to try them again.

Read the following poem this morning (couldn't link to it properly, but it is from Long-Skirts- am sure she won't mind me reproducing the whole thing):

BEER

My cup runneth over
With debts and big bills.

My cup runneth over…
Insurmountable hills.

My cup runneth over
With worries and fear –

Dear Lord, no more cups -
Just a cold mug of beer!

Got some work to do (shipping a couple books) before the sun properly rises.

Oremus pro invicem!

Homeschooling

A couple years ago when my daughter was home on vacation from college, she commented that of all the homeschooled kids at school she knew (and at Christendom College there are plenty) she was the only one (or one of the only ones) who didn't get all "A's" in high school. In fact her friends sort of thought it was weird that her parents wouldn't give her all "A's". This surprised me. I thought we Catholic homeschoolers were an ethical bunch. My daughter was a pretty good student, but not all A's. In fact her college grades were almost identical to her high school grades. This gave us some comfort that the grades we gave were a fair assessment of her work.

I think some homeschooling parents make their child retake tests or whatever evaluation is used until they get an "A"-meaning they've mastered the material-I guess that is fine. But I'm sure this is not the case for all homeschoolers. I mean you have to move on eventually. I think other homeschooling parents just give their kids "A's", and thus colleges have to rely on SAT scores.

And what of people like us who try to grade fairly? Does a college then think my kids are dopes because even though they are homeschooled they don't have all A's? What to do?

********************

I have had a few years off from formal teaching of my children. I usually start helping out in the high school years. My daughter finished a few years ago and now my oldest son is entering high school. I will be tutoring him in history (Ancient Civ), religion (can't remember the subject at the moment), and math. I am looking forward to the next 4 years.

Oremus pro invicem!

Huh?

Fox news reports:

WASHINGTON — A new threat assessment headed for the White House says Al Qaeda is "better positioned to strike the West," but President Bush insists the terror network is not as strong as it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Details of the report revealed by an unnamed counterterrorism official who revealed its contents to The Associated Press said Al Qaeda is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001."

"They are showing greater and greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States," the official said. The group also has created "the most robust training program since 2001, with an interest in using European operatives," the official quoted the report as saying.

So what have we been doing the last 6 years? Am I niave? Should I have expected better results? I understand the difficulties-we are not fighting a country, but I can't help but think the war in Iraq (which I predicted would go almost EXACTLY they way it has gone) has taken our focus away from the real target. Even if only half true, this is a terrible indictment on President Bush's tenure.

Odds and Ends

In our area (Kershaw County-but not in Columbia, SC) you stay somewhere, you don't live somewhere. For example, a person does not say, "I live in Bethune". They would say, "I stay in Bethune." And you don't ask someone where they live; you ask them where they stay. Personally, I can't get used to it. I do my living wherever I am staying....

*******************

MacClouds Peach Farm in McBee (prounounced MacBee) is a big deal out here. They have more peaches than anyone else (and although Georgia is known as the peach state, SC actually grows more). They also sell cantaloupe, watermelon, blackberries, peppers, well everything. They also sell ice cream and and have free antique museum. Mostly the museum has old cars, trucks and tractors. But they also have old wood planes (in useable condition), windup phonographs, washing machines, washboards, wringers, you name it-anything old. Unfortunately none are demonstrated-you can't play a record for instance. Some of the wood planes I would love to use-I have a couple myself. But we go every time we get peaches-like we did today. (We won't get our own this year because we lost all the buds to a late frost.)

****************

Earlier we went up to the town of Patrick to a junk yard to get a new vent window for the big van. The latch had broken. The dealership wanted $90 + tax for a new one. (The give you the whole window). I got one up in Patrick for a about a 1/3 of the price in about a 30 minute wait. Not too bad. I remember sitting all afternoon in a junk yard outside of Camden a couple years ago when I wanted to replace the headlight module on the mini-van after Mrs. Curley killed a deer with it.

Walking, hats, and torturing your wife

We have a new routine this summer. I am of course up before dawn as usual. I get the kids and Mrs. Curley up a point past dawn-usually around 7:00 AM. After a quick prayer the kids all go weed the garden(s) (and after being a way for 10 days it really needs it) while Mrs. Curley & I walk. Its a cardo-vascular thing you know.

I used to run in the mornings when we lived in the city. I would run our neighborhood streets at 5:30 every morning. When it rained or was very cold, I would run in place in front of the TV watching the morning news. Out here, I really can't run the roads as they are too thin and the speed limit too fast to my liking. The cornfields are too sandy. So I walk. Its probably better for my aging knees anyway.

After we finish walking, I come up to the office to start or finish something. Mrs. Curley prepares breakfast, and the kids continue to weed until breakfast is ready. This way the weeding gets done every day-but in the cool (if that exists) of the day, and Mrs. Curley & I get some time and exercise without feeling we stealing time from other places. So far it has worked well. We started before our jaunt to Massachusetts at the end of last month and were able to pick it up again now that we are home.

*****************************

People who know me well or see me often, know I am not too fashion conscious, but they also know there are two things they will most likely see me with/in: a sweater vest and a hat. (Some people say that I wear a hat to torture Mrs. Curley-but its not true.) All this to introduce a picture I came across which shows I came by my habit of wearing hats honestly and at a young age.

I am the little fellow in the striped shirt with the hat (not the Indian headress). Some of my siblings and I are gathered around my Grandmother at my old home in MA. I wear similar hats to this day.

And now about torturing Mrs. Curley-wearing my hat may be torture for Mrs. Curley, but that is not the intent. But, this brings to mind HT Webster who was a cartoonist (NYTimes) in the early to middle part of the 20th century. He had a number of 'series', one of which as called "How to torture your husband", and another called "How to torture your wife." My mother did have a copy of "The Best of HT Webster". I was looking for it this past week when visiting, but it seems that she has given it away to one of my siblings. I wanted to show Mrs. Curley some of the cartoons from this series. Here is one I found on-line from the cover of one of his collections:

Have a great day. More on the topics posted below later. -- Oremus pro invicem!

Hadn't seen this one before...

Came across this one (Thomas More pic) from a book in the Gutenberg Project (I didn't note the title. Will have to go back and find it again.)

Had more rabbit and corn yesterday. Both delicious.

*****************

Oh and here is a quote which may be possible to use in any liturgical music wars you may be engaged in:

For someone like me, who was interested in both the spiritual and intellectual grounding of the Christian faith, I didn't need the "folk Mass" with cute nuns and hip priests playing Kumbaya with guitars, tambourines and harmonicas. And it was all badly done. After all, we listened to the Byrds, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan, and we knew the Church just couldn't compete with them. But that's what the Church offered to the young people of my day: lousy pop music and a gutted Mass. If they were trying to make Catholicism unattractive to yo9ung and inquisitive Catholics, they were succeeding. [Francis Beckwith in the July 2007 CWR]

Now the guitars, harmonicas, and tambourines are mostly gone-but the music remains.

There is a discussion here and here about buying at discount stores. (Discussion starts about buying at a "Goodwill" or thrift shop and migrates to the Wal-marts of the world). It finally becomes a discussion about buying Chinese goods and how small family businesses can compete. More discussion about that topic (and the ethics of a Catholic store buying Chinese goods) here.

I have never had a problem shopping at thrift stores. Part of "Goodwill's" mission is to provide a place where people can learn how to work retail, not just to provide quality used products to the less fortunate. With a large family and one income, even in better economic days, I never felt any guilt shopping at a Goodwill.

Now, Wal-Mart is a different story. Wish I could say I never shop there, but again, today's economy sometimes makes these decisions difficult. I remember when at the entrance to Wal-Mart there would be a huge sign proclaiming "Proudly Made in the USA". Now the sign is gone and very little there doesn't come from China. I am glad that there is no Wal-Mart too close, but even so we still shop there.

You can read about the concerns over toothpaste, pet food, and produce now coming from China and other places overseas. America can't compete on those prices, but it is a product of 'we want everything now'. We don't care if its junk as long as we can have it now. We are materialistic. Yet we don't want to pay much either.

Now there are a couple ways I could go on this post now. One way is talk about what we are trying to do at Bethany. Or I could very easily go into government control of say healthcare (I want everything now and don't want to be bothered with the details, so government can control all aspects of my life.) or I could talk about the book publishing business and how discounts, large distributors, and the like contribute to the demise of small independent publishers like ourselves .

However, I have run out of time this morning, so I will continue the discussion over the next few days, hitting these and other topics.

Oremus pro invicem!

Yesterday our neighbor stopped by with some squash. He also left a bag and told our boys to go down and gather corn from the field by his house. The racoons were eating it all so he wanted it to go to some good use. It did last night-the most delicious corn you ever tasted.

Finished the last Walter Macken novel and am now reading the second in his Irish history trilogy (of course I am reading them backwards, but they do stand alone.) This one is about the years of famine in the 19th century. This one is also borrowed from my sister. I always steal a book or two on my way through.

Of course I am still reading John Senior's "Death of Christian Culture"; brought it on vacation with me, but never opened it. It always seems that something my sister has on her shelf is more appealing to me than what is in my bag.

We are still recovering from our trip north. Most bags are unpacked, but not packed away. I am still recovering from my year of teaching. (The nightmares have not stopped, but I no longer have the shakes in the morning.- Ha! Ha! am joking.) I have a stack of 'non-pressing' but unanswered correspondence from the past few months-most of them book queries. Lots of work to do.

Was contemplating blogging in general the other day. For some, it is a commentary on world or local happenings and/or cultural issues. For others it is more of an online diary. BethuneCatholic used to be a mix, but it has become more of a diary in recent months. It is not that I lack opinion on political/cultural issues, but opinion does take more time to write properly and that has been lacking around here in recent months.

Euphoria in Catholic blogosphere over the Motu Proprio is visible in many places. Some have celebrated by putting up some great pictures. I wonder what this will mean for our diocese. Bishop Baker has allowed the traditional Mass as long as there is a priest and congregation. Before he came, there were none (authorized that is) in the diocese. We have a weekly Mass already in the Charleston, SC area by a diocesian priest. There is a weekly traditional Mass in the Greenville area also, (don't know where the priest who celebrates the Mass is from.) Columbia has a monthly Mass from the FSSP.

Remember the fashion poll and free book offer in Saturday's post (which is actually dated today since I am leaving it on top).

Oremus pro invicem!

Poll and free book offer!!!!!!

You all need to settle an argument for Mrs. Curley and me. As an incentive for weighing in, I will give away either a copy of John Meehan's Two Towers, or Dr. William May's memoirs, Standing with Peter (read about these and other fine books: here) to all participants. [To get your free book, email me here i.e the the contact page on the Requiem Press website; just mention you participated in the poll, give your book choice, and name and shipping address.]

Okay, here's the question. In the picture below of Mrs. Curley and myself (taken many years ago when I had less pounds and more hair) does my outfit match, ie. the red shirt and sky blue coat? Don't want to bias anyone, so I won't say what I think-although I would bet many can guess...

What say you all? Do I match? (Poll will remain open and on top of the blog through Monday evening.)

Well, I read the translation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (here). It is short and of limited scope. The MP does not seem to anticipate that the 'freeing of the 1962 Missal' is going to change much...

Here is how I see the evolution (for what it is worth). I note that religious orders and institutes have more freedom in requesting and using the 1962 Missal. This will be the main growth area and consequently those communities frequenting these religious order liturgies will be most affected by the 'freeing'. The main outgrowth of use, and ultimately the impetus for a revised missal (which takes the good of the 1962 and the 1970 missals) will come mainly from this avenue. Although certainly, the parishes which are allowed to be set up with the use of the 1962 Missal will also figure in this movement.

I just hope that traditional Catholics will work charitably with those who are 'attached' to the 1970 Missal in their parishes so that this can be a point of increased faith and unity and not disunity and fracture among good-hearted people as I have seen in places over similar issues.

Thanks be to God for this development and to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for this letter.

Oremus pro invicem!

It is good to be home at Bethany

We arrived home today at 1:00 PM-leaving the DC area at 6:00 AM. Yesterday we traveled from Otis, MA to my sister's place in the DC area. No traffic or problems on either leg. Boy, it is good to be home after a couple days in the car.

Never got to either shrine mentioned in my post below, nor to the Divine Mercy Shrine mentioned in the comments (thanks Alicia)-even though we were a mere 15 miles from the latter. Everything was just too crunched together-even though we did extend our visit by 2-3 days.

We were worried about the garden while gone, but not to worry. It did rain some while we were gone. The corn is looking good; the tomatoes excellent, the peppers good, and the rest... well we shall see what a little tender card can do.

Much to do...Oremus pro invicem!

Spent a couple days with my brother and family in NH. Had a great there and at my mother's birthday party (75) on Saturday. Now we are at my mother's house in MA. This morning we visited my Dad's grave (also my Grandmother's) and said the rosary there as a family.

More visiting with family today and tomorrow. We hope to be home by the end of the week. (Gout-if that was what it was-is almost gone completely). We may visit the La Salette Shrine this week or the Fatima Shrine. We shall see. Both are within a half an hour or so.

Last night we visited with a family friend and priest from the Boston Diocese. Always a pleasure to talk with Fr. Tom. He married two of my sisters, my brother, and buried my father. Pray for him and all priests in their vocation of bringing us the sacraments. Fr. Tom spent time with my oldest son last night showing him how to pray the Office of Readings.

Finally, remember the special at Requiem Press. (See a post below ~22 June, or go to our website).

Oremus pro invicem!