2008 November archive at Being Frank

Archive for November, 2008

Nov

Musical Bites

By eyeWitness 10 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

It seems the Vatican newspaper is bias in its music taste. I’m not sure what age group expresses its musical opinion in the Vatican newspaper, but I’m guessing it is people who were young in the sixties.

In particular the Vatican seems to be pushing the Beatles, the newspaper saying the musical compositions of the Beatles are far more creative than the “standardized and stereotyped” pop music of today.

Apparently 40 years later the Beatles album is “30 songs you can go through and listen to at will, certain of finding some pearls that even today remain unparalleled,”. The newspaper goes on to say the modern pop music industry is too willing to sacrifice originality and fantasy in order to satisfy the consumer models it has adopted and promoted, it said.

I’m not sure if you beg to differ or not… One thing I would say is the words of songs that were once thought shocking or provocative now seem tame to our desensitized ears. You have to be careful what you listen to, because even subconsciously lyrics sink in, and can be quite shocking.

Speaking of music, I went to see the movie “Young at heart” this week. If you want to go to see something that will make you think twice about moaning that you’re getting old, there is nothing better than watching elderly people in their eighties and nineties perform modern rock songs to sell-out crowds.

A documentary film, it is truly uplifting and humorous. It forces the viewer to face the reality that life inevitably brings pain and struggles, and we have the choice to embrace that with grace and optimism or otherwise.

That made me think about attitude to life in general. There is pain and suffering that is hard to understand sometimes. But though it there is growth, a test of faith, and a witness to hope.

Or perhaps if you are struggling with something today listening to old Beatles albums will make you feel better?

Nov

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you.

By On the Road 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Feeling lonely? You aren’t the only one….

“Loneliness appears to have become particularly prevalent in modern times. At the beginning of the last century families were typically larger and more stable, divorce was rarer and relatively few people lived alone. Today, the trend has reversed direction: over a quarter of the U.S. population lived alone in 1998. In 1995, 24 million Americans lived in single-person households; by 2010, it is estimated that number will have increased to around 31 million.

A 2006 study in the American Sociological Review found that Americans on average had only two close friends to confide in, down from an average of three in 1985. The percentage of people who noted having no such confidant rose from 10 percent to almost 25 percent; and 19 additional percent said they had only a single confidant (often their spouse), raising the risk of serious loneliness in case the relationship ended.” - Wikipedia

Loneliness is a massive problem in our society today, and one that has serious social and health consequences. From fewer children, to divorce rates and the breakdown of the traditional family, to alarming increases in depression, loneliness usually finds its way into our lives at one time or another.

I am certainly not immune from loneliness. Over the last four years, I have lived in multiple different places with different people, seen friendships grow and fade, and rarely spent time with my family in the States. Spending almost all of 2006 in New Zealand, and now coming up to a year since I arrived in the country this time around, I have certainly had times of loneliness. Being so far away from family is incredibly difficult and even though I have been wonderfully cared for by many people in New Zealand, sometimes for me the only cure is family. 2006 was especially challenging as it was the longest time I had ever spent away from family and at times I yearned to be back in the States with them, even though I was having a great time with people here. No one was really able to help me truly get rid of the loneliness. Thankfully, this year has been a different story.

I was at a talk this week and the priest said something that really put this into perspective. While speaking on how to live your life with Christ, he remarked that if you are feeling lonely, get out and help someone else and forget about yourself. How true this statement rings! It is so obvious, yet seemingly the opposite natural reaction of someone feeling lonely.

Contemplating this and thinking back to my times of loneliness, it was not a result of being far away from family and friends, but rather it was because I was looking inwardly, becoming consumed with myself and my thoughts. It is quite easy to overlook how Christ’s call requires complete self abandonment, including offering our emptiness to be filled by Him.

Next time I start to feel lonely, I will stop, pray, remember that Christ is always at my side and provides all I need, and get out to help someone who needs it.

Let me know if you would like some help

Nov

“Well, maybe if he had better arch support, they wouldn’t have caught him”

By Methuselah's Beard 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

One of my favourite games is Sim City. Actually no, it’s Sim City 2000. For the uninitiated among you, it’s basically a town planning game. Plan and build your city carefully and you’ll be rewarded with happy citizens and a booming metropolis. Then the fun part comes when you can unleash numerous disasters on your city before starting again.

Is our world God’s Sim City? Well probably not because most of the disasters that happen today are brough about by ourselves… Sometimes I wonder if the world’s headed for a sticky end, what with all the global warming and general lack of care we humans are capable of showing each other. We seem to be far more capable and pulling down and destroying rather than building up.

I wonder what God thinks about all this. But then isn’t whatever is happening part of his will for humanity? We may be taking the wrong route but surely we’re on track for whatever grand plan he has.

I remember my days at university fondly. Between playing ‘calculator cricket’ and ‘count the sleepers’ in lectures, I actually managed to get an education and made lots of good friends. Now going through my degree, I tended to see a lot of the same people in lectures or tutorials and there was this one particular girl who always made me smile. She always had a big smile for everyone and just looked so bright and happy. I never did speak to her though and didn’t think I’d see her again after I finished my studies. 5 years later though, and this bright, happy girl is my wife.

It’s funny how God works. Who knows what he has planned for us. We just have to pray we make the right choices and have the faith to accept that everything happens for a reason, and that whatever comes our way is part of God’s plan.

Nov

So I read another bookâ€¦.

By Filia Day 19 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Well, I’m not proud to admit this (especially on a public forum such as a blog) but I read a self-help book for the first time a couple of months back. Equally, I’m not proud to admit that the book was to help me quit smoking (the infamous Alan Carr’s The Easy Way to Quit Smoking). His strategy is simply really, just make the choice not to smoke and stick to it. Well, if any of you out there have been smokers or are smokers – you’ll know that the urge for a cigi is rather hard to resist because it is so good. I’m not afraid to admit that. Unfortunately for me, I made a little agreement (with myself) that at certain point in my life (now) I would give up smoking. 9 days ago I finally made the choice to quit. I’ve tried before and fail so perhaps this time will be like all the others. I suppose time will tell.

Going though the rigmarole of the trying to quit smoking led me to quite a nice analogy, I think. Giving up smoking is analogous to the quest for sanctity.
1. The addiction could be liked to concupiscence – an inclination to smoke despite the fact that you really don’t want to do it) for a temperal and short lived pleasure.

2. It’s a choice one makes, a free act of the will that requires a hell of a lot of fortitude and an equal amount of grace. One makes a commitment in the first place (I will never smoke again) but this choice only becomes a reality if it is backed up by those little choices each day. These help one to become stronger.

3. It’s something that can’t be done alone (man, I have prayed that I will never pick up a cigi again!!!!).

4. When you fail in your attempt you certainly grow in humility (there nothing worse than standing outside smoking after you had â€˜quit’ and someone coming up to you and asking â€˜I thought you’d quit?’).

5. By persisting, despite the constant failures, one becomes free in the true sense of the word – they are free to make either choice (to smoke or not to smoke) unconstrained by the addiction. This happens after a long period of time.

Now look, I’m not dogmatic about the wiles of smoking or anything. If it wasn’t for a change in circumstance I would probably be outside smoking right now. I’m just saying it makes for a nice analogy.

Actually, a woman I really respect recommended another self-help book that I have just started reading called Seven habits of highly effective people. If you’re into self-mastery then this is definitely a great book to read. I think it’s fair to say that this kind of material, with its emphasis on the how of living the human virtues, is very worthwhile and has the potential to help one live the supernatural virtues better as well.

Nov

Mission team’s little ‘fiats’

By Tuppence 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

Instead of blogging myself this week, thought I’d draw your attention to the Connect Mission Project. Five months ago it was just an idea. As I write this, a bunch of young catholic Kiwis is slaving their guts out with the community of Eratap in Vanuatu. Each one of these young people said â€˜Yes’ to a call on their hearts, whether they realise it or not, to accept the invitation from the community of Eratap to build a new classroom for the primary school. In many ways, they made a â€˜fiat’ like Mary’s…to step into the unknown. And from all reports, God has blessed the whole thing immensely even after 48 hours.

Check out their blog here…

Nov

The effect of various effects on the effectiveness of the President

By The Dumb Ox 49 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

I read an article leading up the US elections about something known as the Bradley Effect – you can read all about it here – and now that the US people have elected the media sponsored Barack Obama as President, I have come up with some “effects” of my own that I think will be part and parcel of his time in office.

The Dickens effect…

Charles Dickens was the author of Great Expectations, and basically the US people elected Obama because they have been led to believe that all their great expectations would be fulfilled by the great Obama – sadly the end result is more likely to be a Hard Times and Bleak House (both Dickens novels) situation, finally ending with an Oliver Twist (yes, another novel by Charles Dickens) situation, where at the end of his tenure as President, the US people will be left asking “please sir, may I have some more?” because of the fact that Obama has failed to deliver on his utopian and messianic election promises.

The Murray Mexted effect…

There is no doubting that Obama is an excellent orator, and just like Murray Mexted, many people love to hear him waxing lyrical on live broadcasts, which is why he has gained so much popularity – but just like Murray Mexted, much of what Obama has to say is actually nothing more than hot air and meaningless puffery.

Let me give you some examples, firstly from Murray Mexted…

“Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw.”

“Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer.”

“Both sides are here to play rugby.”

“It’s all tied up at 14-13″

Now, here are some examples from Obama…

“I think when you spread the wealth around its good for everybody.”

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”

“Why can’t I just eat my waffle?”

“I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

SIDE NOTE: There are only fifty states in the US, and before you ask; no, he wasn’t trying to make a joke – see here for details

The Mandela effect…

On a more serious note, I do actually believe that the election of Barack Obama has some similarities to the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1994.

Firstly, there was a lot of hype about the Mandela presidency and what it would mean for South Africa, and how it was the dawning of a bright new era for that part of the world, but sadly South Africa is now in more of a mess than it was before.

Please understand that I firmly believe that apartheid was gravely immoral and that it had to be abolished, and I have a lot of respect for many of Mandela’s efforts to fight the racist apartheid system (I have no time for the terrorist acts he carried out as head of the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe militia unit though).

Mandela was a popular hero in South Africa who ended up becoming a great spokesman and a powerful figurehead for the anti- apartheid cause – the problem is that being a great figurehead for a political cause does not automatically make you a great political leader.

The end result was that the much hyped Mandela presidency (once again, the hype came mainly from the media) actually ended up delivering very little of any substance for the South African people. South Africa is now in a social, political and financial mess, and with each passing day it is looking more and more like many of its poorer corupt African neighbours who have battled to maintain social and political stability for generations now.

Like I said, apartheid was unjust and it had to be abolished, and there were always going to be social problems after such a sustained and overwhelming oppression of persons in South Africa, but the problem was that while Mandela may have been the popular choice, his popularity didn’t actually do a lot to establish a bright new era for South Africa.

I think the same will be true of Obama.

He is already showing this by the appointments he is making to his new government.

After all the pre-election talk of “being the change” and a new and different way of doing politics, he is now showing his true colours and simply appointing people to senior positions who offer no change at all – instead they are politically more of the same old, same old.

One of Obama’s first appointments was Chief of Staff, which he gave to Rahm Emanuel – a man who publically stated that he would have invaded Iraq even if he definitely knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction there beforehand – and as of a few days ago Obama was mooting the possibility of a senior position for Hillary Clinton in his new government.

If people think this is the start of a new and changed era of American politics they are seriously deluding themselves.

Another interesting parallel is that Mandela ushered in, and then presided over, one of the most pro-abortion governments of its time – and just like US under Obama, International Planned Parenthood and others had a huge say in the drawing up of the new South African policy documents under Mandela.

Nov

Beware Greeks bearing gifts

By James the Least 7 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

My wife and I had the joy of attending Mass by ourselves this weekend, as friends and family looked after our son to give us a bit of a holiday – how lucky are we?

Anyway, we decided to go to St.Patrick’s Cathedral here in Auckland: partly due to the special place that magnificent church holds in our lives, but mostly because the morning Mass was at 11am, allowing an oh-so-precious sleep-in!

As if the beauty of the feast of Christ the King were not enough excitement, half-way through the responsorial psalm, the fire alarm went off! Too much incense? So, as we stood outside awaiting the fire brigade, I had a chance to read the newsletter for the inner city parishes. And, it is fair to say, I was quite surprised by what I read.

Fr Tony Dunn SM had written a fantastic essay that continues on nicely from some of themes I raised last week, and plan to continue next week. I have copied it below for you all to enjoy. It’s long, but worth the time. I’d be keen to know if any of you have heard of this Manichean spirit before?

One of the great sculptures of ancient Greece is the “Laocoon”. It was described by Pliny and rediscovered during the Pontificate of Pope Julius. Michelangelo was present to see it dug up, albeit in four parts and it became one of his great inspirations.

The story of Laocoon goes back to the fall of Troy. King Priam is perplexed as to what to do with the Trojan Horse left by the Greeks. Laocoon was a priest of the Temple of Apollo. He tries desperately to warn the King of Greek treachery. Attributed to him is the famous saying:” Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” ( I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts). King Priam ignores Laocoon’s warning and so initiates the fall of Troy. King Priam is an archetype descriptive of leadership throughout history; kings, governments and political leaders again and again pursue policy contrary to self-interest. This could be put more bluntly that wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a significant factor in human leadership.

Jesus, the King of kings does not over-turn this pattern. He in fact epitomizes it; from the beginning of his public ministry he seems to make all the wrong moves; surrounding himself with nit-wits, baiting the religious establishment, walking into danger, antagonizing the Romans and so eventually being brutally beaten, flogged and having his naked body obscenely displayed nailed to a tree.

God could not have become more incarnate than that. Throughout the story of the Church there has been a movement that rears its head time and
again; the same head wearing different hats and it is called Manichaeism. Manichees and their various sub-tribes have always had their teeth set on edge by the idea that God might really involve himself and be present in this manifestly imperfect world and rather obviously imperfect Church.

The Manichean spirit has rather repetitive traits; like the hats at Melbourne cup day at Ellerslie. They are very much on display in the Church of today; a habitual impatience with hierarchy and the institutional Church, a strong emphasis on Scripture (selectively read), upon community as against the Real Presence in the Eucharist, a relative tolerance of sexual licence and in particular homosexual and contraceptive practices, social anarchism, much talk about poverty, peace and love (used very loosely) and not much action, a dislike of Marian devotions, a rejection of grand church buildings and lofty ritual, a downplaying of sin or guilt and so a denial of Hell, claims for a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, a general impatience with the earthiness of the Incarnation- God made man and its implications.

The gospel today hits at the heart of this heresy where the King of kings identifies himself with the least and most unloveable and commands us to incarnate our spirituality in concrete action. This is where the rubber hits the road. God enters into the messiness of human life, in all its political and human imperfection and redeems it from the inside out.

G.K. Chesterton said that in front of every Church should be a statue of the compassionate Jesus and a statue of Jesus in full flight of fury. We believe, we say, he will come to judge the living and the dead, which biblically means bring into the light; it is uncomfortable to be reminded so soberly by St John that, “men prefer darkness to light so that their deeds may not be seen.”

Fr Tony Dunn SM

Interesting eh?