Tony Blair on Americans and America ~

Americans can be all that the rest of the world sometimes accuses them of: brash, loud, insular, obsessive and heavy-handed. But America is great for a reason. It is looked up to, despite all the criticism, for a reason. There is a nobility in the American character that has been developed over the centuries, derived in part, no doubt, from the frontier spirit, from the waves of migration that form the stock, from the circumstance of independence, from the Civil war, from a myriad of historical facts and coincidences. But it is there.

That nobility isn't about being nicer, better or more successful than anyone else. It is a feeling about the country. It is a devotion to the American ideal that at a certain point transcends class, race, religion or upbringing. That ideal is about values: freedom, the rule of law, democracy. It is also about the way you achieve it: on merit, by your own efforts and hard work. but it is most of all that in striving for and protecting that ideal, you as an individual take second place to the interests of the nation as a whole. it is what makes its soldiers give their lives in sacrifice. It is what brings every variety of American, from the lowest to the highest, to their feet when "The Star Spangled Banner" is played. Of course the ideal is not always met—that is obvious. But it is always striven for.

Time Magazine— September 13, 2010

Praying Problem ~

Why not consciously make a prayer out of all those pieces I practice on the piano?

Who He is Not ~

That is not my God who looks after a Chosen People and has no concern for the rest of mankind.

St. Therese Taught us How to Pray ~

May Altar ~

Come to think of it: Back in the 3rd grade I used to steal flowers from people's front gardens on the way to school to put them on the classroom May Altar . . . and never gave it a thought.

Lawn ~

Decided not to cut the first grass and look what happened . . .

Constancy ~

. . . and even if I would betray You, You know that I still love You.

Thomas Merton ~

Last night I had this funny dream: I was beside Merton in a choir stall and he was bent down low over a tape recorder and started to play a tape of a hundred children voices laughing lightheartedly. All the other monks started laughing, too. Merton looked up at me with a knavish smile on his face. Someone said: That's Merton again, up to another one of his tricks.

De diligendo Deo ~

At every corner of the day I am waylaid by things that distract me from You.

On Waking ~

6:30 a.m.: It is dark outside. I lie in bed listening to the birds singing the Divine Office outside: Lauds.

Meaning ~

The Wise Old Monk said: "He will get at you with things that make you struggle: an insuperable problem, a divorce, cancer, a loss . . . That will make you return to Him, where you belong".

Open Mine Eyes ~

Despite all my neglect, He lets spring come again to greet me at my window.

Morning News Report ~

In North Carolina Edward Cantrell, 36, a soldier, wrapped a blanket around himself and ran into the burning house to save his two daughters, 4 and 6.

He and his daughters perished in the flames.

Earthbound ~

Even when in complete solitude the banal concerns of each passing hour keep me from rising aloft to You.

Thérèse of Lisieux

When she found out about a lady lavishing little attentions on her husband she wrote:

"Let it never be said that a woman in the world did more for her husband than I for my Beloved."

Wannsee Conference ~ January 20, 1942

As if for a routine business meeting 15 high ranking Nazis met in this house to finalize plans for the "Endlösung", the deportation and extermination of all European Jews, the monstrous crime that anticipated the murder of 11 million human beings.

Winter Darkness ~

Jupiter hangs over the neighbor's roof and the oncoming planes on their approach to the Zurich's airport skirt around it like winter fireflies.

Christmas Thought ~

Arlington National Cemetery

He was born, they fought and died.

Those Who Sacrificed ~

Was I reading correctly, that the remains of hundreds of Air Force personnel had been dumped into a Virginia landfill?

Remnants of WW II ~

Forty-five thousand people evacuated today in the city of Koblenz on the Rhine.
In the shallow water of the river [no rain in months] bombs have been uncovered from World War II. They are hoping to defuse them today.

22 November 1963 ~

There were these special few who consoled me that day forty-eight years ago when the President was shot.

Siege of Leningrad ~ 1941 - 1944

When the German Wehrmacht blockaded the city for two and a half years thousands of people starved to death.

Scenerio: I was out on the street today and picked something up that looked like sugar. I sucked on its sweetness the whole way home. On arriving there I took it out and saw it was just a pebble.

Grande Chartreuse ~

Possible scenario:

After 45 years in this Carthusian monastery spent in contemplation and loving piety, Alzheimer's disease sets in and he changes. He begins to hate the habit he wears and refuses to don it, he stops singing the office and going to chapter and remains pouting in his cell, and the last thing he wants is to bother himself with the things of God.

Know Thyself ~

Often times I put my head in my hand and ask myself how You could put up with my wavering for all theses years.

Up To Date ~

I try to imagine Jesus jumping into a Toyota van and winging down to the Lake of Genesereth for a happening.

House of God ~

While visiting a church last week somebody stole our digital camera.

Seen on a Tombstone ~

"You are no longer where you were, but everywhere where we are."

Now That is Service! ~

Here in Germany they deliver the morning paper right into the mail box.

Learning Humility ~

How it hurts to think back fifty years and remember clearly all the stupid faux pas one has made.

De Diligendo Deo ~

It is not hard to side up with God when we get old and infirm.

So Early ~

A classmate of my son died today. He was 41.

General Petraeus ~

I liked one of his lines about fighting in asymetrical combat: "a soldier has to be comfortable in chaos".

Time Passing ~

Spotted the red tinge at the top of the maple tree--first saddening signs of autumn.

Happy Birthday ~

We uncorked a bottle of champagne and lifted our glasses and wished President Obama a Happy 50th Birthday.

Wise Old Monk ~

Understand this, he said: it is not what you do, what you achieve. I is what you are.

Freedom ~

The Wise Old Monk told me that freedom does not consist in ridding myself of pain and suffering but said that I would be free when I learn to accept them and let them give meaning to my life.

Women's World Soccer Tournament ~

Yesterday in Dresden, Germany they made it to the semi-finals winning over strong Brasil. 

Never-give-up spirit.

A Perfect Sunday Morning ~

. . . and a lark is flittering over the field.

click on picture to enlarge

What Others Think ~

What must a Muslim think when he walks into a church and sees a cross above the altar with a naked man hanging on it?

Perspective ~

What does the farmer think when he drives out to inspect the harvest? Does he think it is his achievement?

Wise Old Monk ~ When Calamity Strikes

We were talking about Japan and Alabama and I asked where God was. He said something like true, deep faith is arrived at by way of doubt.

Rebellion ~

How can you do the same job constantly, year after year, without at some point rebelling?

Municipality ~ Easy Money

They have come up with a clever new tax scheme:

1. Take aerial photos of our roof.

2. Calculate the size of its surface.

3. Levy a tax on the amount of water that flows off it into the municipal drain.

Destroying Beauty ~

Aren't there enough high tension masts streaking through the beautiful German landscape? No, they are planning 3,000 kilometers of new high tension wire masts as a result of the planned shutting down of nuclear power plants. No one mentions that we should cut back our usage.

De Diligendo Deo ~

The Wise Old Monk told me: "Don't rely on the community in your search for God. You must learn to search alone."

Reaching for Perfection ~

In the local competition they gave her the first prize but they didn't make much of a fuss about her in the local newspaper, as if this were nothing remarkable.

Wise Old Monk ~

During a conversation I asked him where he found all the wisdom he imparts to others. He was embarrassed but said: maybe one has to suffer.

The Now ~

Earth -- Europe -- Germany -- State: Baden Württemberg -- County: Waldshut -- Town: Höchenschwand -- Waldshuter Strasse 6 -- in my study -- at the window -- Saturday -- 4:38 p.m. -- I look out -- snow on the ground -- the sky is gray -- I hear a car passing -- then silence. . .

Active Passivity ~

All the nicks and scratches on my hands heal in time without my doing.

German Defence Minister ~ Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

They are at him for plagerizing on his Ph.D. dissertation. The Opposition is calling for his resignation, but the ruling CDU is out to keep him in office despite the heated fray he has caused here in Germany. Behold -- according to the latest public opinion polls he has risen to the top of the list of most admired German politicians.