A Deo et Rege

Today, Monday January 21st, is regarded by some as the worst day of the year. I’m not surprised since the psychologist who figured this calculated a variety of factors including time since Christmas, failure of New Year’s resolutions, debt (i.e. credit card spending from Christmas comes due), weather, and a couple more. Thus, this is the worst day of the year! Woo hoo. Let’s see how my day stacks up:

Time since Christmas: I love Christmas and seeing the two people who still have decorations up made me a tad sentimental yesterday. However, I have moved on from Christmas; in fact, I’m looking forward to Lent. It’s one of the beauties of the entire Church year!

Failure of New Year’s resolution: I didn’t really make any formal resolution, except to continue working out and being healthy. I’ve kept to these.

Debt: I have a mortgage, student loan debt, and credit cards. But, I pay the cards off every month and I didn’t overspend at Christmas. As hard as it is to pay any bill, I’m ready.

Weather: I live in the snowbelt. I’m terribly sick of snow by now. This weekend we received 14 inches of snow, but I was out of town. So, I get to return to my house to some serious cold and shoveling. I am not terribly excited at the thought, but I can handle it.

So, a bad day? I’m not playing golf in 80 degree weather followed by a dinner with my family, but it’s ok!

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Wishing all readers of this blog a wonderful Christmas!

I have been thinking a lot about politics lately, probably because I believe our country needs a change and the election season is fast approaching. Although at this point committed to Ron Paul, he may not be a viable candidate by the time I vote (since Ohio is such a late primary state). So, I’ve been thinking a lot about who else would be a viable option. I am interested in Mike Huckabee in a way. I like his disavowal of torture and his willingness to call the Bush administration what it clearly is: arrogant. On the other hand, I think he is largely a “compassionate conservative” in the mold of Bush (including “compassionately” spreading democracy around the world). And, although I think Ron Paul’s response to Huckabee’s recent ad was over the top, I do get sick of how much the candidates seem willing to try to see who can be the most Christian to win over evangelical voters. As strongly Catholic and Christian as I am, I also can see pandering a mile away. Peggy Noonan pretty much sums up my take on the whole Huckabee ad controversy.

One final thought: if it’s Huckabee vs. Obama in November 2008, it will be the battle of the lightweights.

This article is proof that some people are completely lacking in rational capacity. Here is the story: a 10 year old girl brings a steak knife to school and uses it to…get this…cut steak. Her punishment? She was reported to the Sheriff by teachers, hauled off to a criminal processing facility, and suspended for ten days. Oh, and she now faces felony charges because of a “weapon” on campus. There was overreaction at every level.

As a teacher, I am concerned about school violence. However, just as going after law abiding gun owners does nothing to stop gun violence, suspending and charging a student for cutting steak with a steak knife does nothing to reduce knife violence (or any other type). I guess this girl’s suspension and the felony charges mean the parties involved can say they’re “doing something” to make the world safer at the expense of a little girl who just wanted to cut some steak. Oh, and at the expense of liberty, but we don’t want to say that too loudly, now do we? Zero tolerance and all.

I saw Tommy Makem in concert two years ago and loved it. In addition to playing great music, he was an all around entertainer, cracking jokes and telling stories. I was supposed to see him in concert again yesterday at the Dublin (Ohio) Irish Festival and imagine my shock when I visited their website on Thursday and noticed his concert had been changed to a “Tribute to Tommy Makem.” The tribute was well done with some great memories and renditions. However, it wasn’t the same without Tommy there. He will be sorely missed. Some of my favorite Makem songs include Red is the Rose, Willie McBride, Four Green Fields, and Bread and Fishes. I’ll leave you with a quote from the latter:

Sadly, I left them, in an old country lane
For I knew that I never would see them again
One was an old man, the second a maid
And the third was a young boy who smiled as he said:

We’ve the wind in the willows, and the birds in the sky
We’ve a bright sun to warm us, where ever we lie
We have bread and fishes and a jug of red wine
To share on our journey with all of mankind

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

On the show America’s Got Talent, they have moved “Boy Shakira” to the top 20. Huh? An overweight guy who dresses up in a blond wig and shakes it like a Latin woman. This is what happens when you let two English people judge an American talent contest.

Welcome to my new blog! Please update your links accordingly.
This is the former home of Ancient and Catholic Musings and those posts have all been imported. So, why did I create a new blog? There are several reasons. First, as much as I enjoy typepad, I’m a family man now and the typepad fee could be put to better use. Second, the AFCM blog started when my primary focus was Protestant “ancient future” style worship. Since I’m not longer Protestant and have moved away from that style of worship, I figured a change was necessary. Third, my blog frequently focused on religion and politics and I figured I might as well make that formal with a new title. The name A deo et rege or “from God and the King” sums up the blog’s primary focus. However, I will still post on other topics too.

I had a ton of links to many great blogs and I will get those up gradually. So, if you don’t see your blog up yet, please be patient!

I absolutely love the Animal Planet’s show Meercat Manor. I don’t get cable, but I catch it at the YMCA as often as I can. It’s more like an adventure show than a documentary about the interesting meercats of the Kalahari desert. They are very social animals and form "gangs." They forage, dig burrows, plunder rival gangs, and even attack the territory of those gangs. It’s all quite fascinating and addicting. The researchers have given them all names so it draws the viewer in even more. I really want to know what happens next!

For beautiful photos of meercats, go here.

This is Isadore (named after St. Therese’s uncle), our newest resident:

Here are few preliminary wedding pics taken by Jennifer:

The high today in Charleston is 80 degrees F. What a blessing!

Here are some of our photos from Mt. Airy, North Carolina (fans of the show should appreciate these):

Bluebird Diner (Juanita worked here)

Need I say anything about Floyd the barber and his shop?

The Snappy Lunch restaurant was mentioned in the first season of Andy Griffith.

Carmel and I are officially married. It was a beautiful ceremony! The photos will come when friends get us photos. I now have 6 Sacraments under my belt too! We’re currently on the honeymoon. We are going to Charleston, but stopped through the town of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, which has assumed the image of Mayberry, North Carolina since Andy Griffith was born here. We saw Floyd’s Barber Shop, the Blue Bird Diner, and the Snappy Lunch (Cafe). For a huge fan like me, this is very exciting (once again, photos will be coming). Today, we’re off to Charleston, South Carolina to get some sun and fun!

…Oddly enough, it came from a judge too. A judge ruled that a state law removing city employee residency requirements applies to Cleveland city employees. This seems like a common sense freedom to me. You should be able to live where you want. Forcing people to live in a city (especially one with lots of crime and other problems) just because they work there strikes me as wrongheaded. Bravo Judge Peter Corrigan!

Carmel is coming tomorrow and it’s a one way ticket! Please keep her (and me) in your prayers as we travel. The wedding is coming up soon (March 10th), so we could use a few prayers for that as well.

On another note, I can barely walk! Since I was snowed in, I decided to jump rope for an hour yesterday instead of going to the YMCA. It was murder on my hamstrings and calves and today I’ve been walking with a limp. How embarrassing.

But, I’m happy because Carmel is coming!