January 3, 2008
I’ve officially started my house visits. It’s kind of cool, much easier than it would be in the States, I guess its because people really don’t have an “inside” of their house here haha. People here are really nice here though, especially once they realize I’m not an outside gringo haha. Although, it also helped that the power was out for 12 hours today, haha, people had to talk to me. Anyways, it was good, they all like to talk about the same things as other Salvadorans, so that made it easier for me to talk because I know those Spanish words haha.
It was fun having the power out today, but unfortunately it came on right before I got back to my house after dinner. I actually bought some candles waiting on this to happen during the windy season. It’s crazy, the wind here is ridiculous this week. Ripping off roofs, taking down power lines, there were four fallen banana trees crossing the walk to the latrine this morning. I also need to tie down some of the metal on my roof… it smacks up and down all night with an obnoxiously loud sound. Also, I spent about an hour this evening filling the spaces around my two ‘windows’ near my desk with newspaper to try and keep all the crud from blowing in (and that so the kid next door can’t yell at me through the cracks :)
I got a Christmas package from the parents today, and some other little things yesterday, so that was good, I got some snack food now….haha.
I started the Simon Bolivar book today, although, I’ve had to review my Latin America History class notes on the computer to get a footing on what the background was.
Going to the capital tomorrow…wahoo.
Here we have Dante being quizzed on his faith by St. Peter near the end:
“On hearing that light breathe, ‘Good Christian, speak,
Show yourself clearly: what is faith?’….
Then I: ‘So may the Grace that grants to me
to make confession to the Chief Centurion [Peter]
permit my thoughts to find their fit expression’;
and followed, ‘Father, as the truthful pen
of your dear brother [Paul] wrote—that brother who,
with you, set Rome upon the righteous road—
faith is the substance of the things we hope for
and is the evidence of things not seen;….”
Canto XXIV, Paradiso
This definition of faith is a little different from what people consider it today, yet its better. When the word faith remained undivided, but with two natures. Ha, ironic.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Dante's Divine Comedy! (This will bore most of you)
January 2, 2008
The end of the Divine Comedy!
I figured I would take a few minutes and devote an entry to a very surprisingly, very good set of books that were very different from anything I had ever read. Anyone who gets bored by talking about books, I would go ahead and skip this entry :)
I’ll start with the problems. There were two problems that persisted in the books that I took notice of….one for Dante, and one for me. First, Dante seemed to have a problem throughout the books with the fact that the Church (to which I will reference one large C Church as he does) never could say that it was possible for non-Christian souls to enter his levels of Purgatory or Heaven….he portrayed even the best of them as having to remain in Limbo, the highest level of Hell for lack of belief. He did bend the rules here and there, as his guide was Virgil throughout Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, as well as a select few others that were either prayed for by earthly souls, or in one case of a Trojan warrior, given a preview of Redemption so as to be saved through that belief….part of the commentary says this:
“In reward for his love of justice, God, in His unfathomable Will and infinite grace, has made him an astonishing exception to the law that, in pagan times, no one could be saved.”
….haha crazy stuff. Nowadays, and I’m not 100 percent positive on this, I think the Catechism says that the Sacraments are basically definite passageways of God’s Grace, but just comes out and says that God is not limited or confined to the them. Therefore, if someone living as a Moslem in the remote area of Vietnam never comes to hear of a Christ, yet was a pious soul etc., all we can do is pray that God’s grace work there, but there is no guarantee of salvation, nor of condemnation. Usually the rule is, if you don’t know the specifics, make a general statement and move on :). Now, that might just be me talking out of my butt, but I feel like I’ve read something like that before…if not, it sounds good haha.
Now, my problem. So, reading the Inferno was first, and there were different levels of Hell, depending on the degree of sin attached to the soul at his time of death, of course this is all chosen by Dante, but he basically bases it on the offenses against the nature of things….usually broken up into the sins against God, against yourself, and against others…..a mirror of the triadic reality if I’m not mistaken….in our lives we mirror the Trinity in our relationship with God above, within ourselves, and to others (the image of Christ within us relating to God the Father, us understanding the image of Christ we have within ourselves, and then coming from those two springs a love towards others….a mirror of the HS). Anyways, I digress. In Purgatorio, there were also levels, portrayed as a mountain, in which the soul could only climb during the day (the light of the Sun was a parallel to God’s Grace, without it, nothing is possible). Each level was devoted to one of the seven deadly sins, and the scars that the particular sin had made on the soul were worked out on those levels. All that I understood. In Paradiso though, there also exist levels. In Paradiso, Dante experiences the same questions when he comes to the first level, where he meets those religious who had broken their vows due to violence of others, of no act of their own…an example, being of a nun who was kidnapped from a convent and forced to marry a political figure. Dante poses this question to the soul:
Which brings me to the last parts…. The parts I enjoyed. Dante did a really good job of including throughout all the books, especially the last two, that the human is just not capable of comprehending all of this stuff, that as much of our faith is, we know things exist, but just not able to understand the fullness of how….hence, the mysteries of faith. For example, to my knowledge, the Church has never proclaimed anything about Purgatory….just that there is some necessity for some sort of purification before entering heaven where nothing unclean shall enter. It could happen in the snap of a finger, could be a long process, only God knows, but as C.S. Lewis says in Letter to Malcolm, our soul’s should beg for it before entering the final rest. The same mysteries reside on the topics of the Eucharist and Salvation, and all we do is grasp the parts that Grace (the sunlight, in the Divine Comedy) allows us to…as Peter did in his profession of faith.
Finally, I also enjoyed how he chided pretty much everyone in all three books, from Popes to Emperors, to politicians, lay people, etc. You find some of each in each level. I find it funny that he blames the Holy Roman Emperors for the chaos that is Italy and Europe for lack of keeping order as is their job… as well as chides them for leaving temporal power in the hands of the Popes during this time. He then turns around and blasts the latest Popes for letting that temporal power corrupt the curia in Rome…their jobs are as spiritual shepherds, not temporal senators. He also hit on the fact that this temporal corruption had caused them to disregard their duty to call another crusade and take back the Holy Land. That kind of goes against the whole negative notion we give to the Crusades nowadays.
The last thing he pushes throughout the last two books is the fact that no matter the person, no matter who it is, always has the choice to repent, up until the last seconds of their life….so we should not pass judgment, in the Hell or Heaven sense. He uses the example of someone who had been excommunicated, but was found in Purgatorio. The use of excommunication is to protect the Church, and guard the deposit (when used correctly). It also serves as a warning to the person that if they continue in a certain manner, they are endangering their soul when they stand before God in judgment. If they continue, and die, then we assume they are sizzling, but no one knows their final thoughts. This was the case with Manfred?, I think, in Purgatorio, and the commentary relates that Dante is reminding the Church to pray for these people anyways (or at least be not quick to condemn), in the case that they did have a conversion in the end.
Oh yeah, and pretty much the theme of all three books….prayer. Those in Hell wish that prayer could help them, those in Purgatory all chase Dante down so that people might pray for them, and Dante is soliciting prayers while in Paradise.
It was a good time reading them, it makes things realer, even if it is just his possible interpretation of things. (haha, yes realer is a word) I will say though, these kinds of books are the great thing about history….especially Church History, in that we have so many PRIMARY sources. If you want to know about Greek History, you can read a summary by some contemporary author, but after read the accounts of Livy (well more Latin), or Socrates, or Thucydides, or Homer or countless other authors from that time. If you want to know about Church History, you can read general stuff by contemporary authors, but by all means read Against Heresies by Irenaeus, read letters of Justin Martyr, Ignatius and Clement, read the writings of Jerome, Cyril, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Athanasius, councils…and read them in their entirety. That’s where you’ll find the good stuff, and less bits and pieces that the authors have picked through to support a point.
Mary was hit and miss throughout the books, but she came in heavy in the last few chapters of Paradiso when Dante reach the highest parts of heaven.
The end of the Divine Comedy!
I figured I would take a few minutes and devote an entry to a very surprisingly, very good set of books that were very different from anything I had ever read. Anyone who gets bored by talking about books, I would go ahead and skip this entry :)
I’ll start with the problems. There were two problems that persisted in the books that I took notice of….one for Dante, and one for me. First, Dante seemed to have a problem throughout the books with the fact that the Church (to which I will reference one large C Church as he does) never could say that it was possible for non-Christian souls to enter his levels of Purgatory or Heaven….he portrayed even the best of them as having to remain in Limbo, the highest level of Hell for lack of belief. He did bend the rules here and there, as his guide was Virgil throughout Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, as well as a select few others that were either prayed for by earthly souls, or in one case of a Trojan warrior, given a preview of Redemption so as to be saved through that belief….part of the commentary says this:
“In reward for his love of justice, God, in His unfathomable Will and infinite grace, has made him an astonishing exception to the law that, in pagan times, no one could be saved.”
….haha crazy stuff. Nowadays, and I’m not 100 percent positive on this, I think the Catechism says that the Sacraments are basically definite passageways of God’s Grace, but just comes out and says that God is not limited or confined to the them. Therefore, if someone living as a Moslem in the remote area of Vietnam never comes to hear of a Christ, yet was a pious soul etc., all we can do is pray that God’s grace work there, but there is no guarantee of salvation, nor of condemnation. Usually the rule is, if you don’t know the specifics, make a general statement and move on :). Now, that might just be me talking out of my butt, but I feel like I’ve read something like that before…if not, it sounds good haha.
Now, my problem. So, reading the Inferno was first, and there were different levels of Hell, depending on the degree of sin attached to the soul at his time of death, of course this is all chosen by Dante, but he basically bases it on the offenses against the nature of things….usually broken up into the sins against God, against yourself, and against others…..a mirror of the triadic reality if I’m not mistaken….in our lives we mirror the Trinity in our relationship with God above, within ourselves, and to others (the image of Christ within us relating to God the Father, us understanding the image of Christ we have within ourselves, and then coming from those two springs a love towards others….a mirror of the HS). Anyways, I digress. In Purgatorio, there were also levels, portrayed as a mountain, in which the soul could only climb during the day (the light of the Sun was a parallel to God’s Grace, without it, nothing is possible). Each level was devoted to one of the seven deadly sins, and the scars that the particular sin had made on the soul were worked out on those levels. All that I understood. In Paradiso though, there also exist levels. In Paradiso, Dante experiences the same questions when he comes to the first level, where he meets those religious who had broken their vows due to violence of others, of no act of their own…an example, being of a nun who was kidnapped from a convent and forced to marry a political figure. Dante poses this question to the soul:
“But tell me: though you’re happy here, do you
desire a higher place in order to
see more and to be still more close to Him?”
Together with her fellow shades she smiled
at first; then she replied to me with such
gladness, like one who burns with love’s first flame:
“Brother, the power of love appeases our
will so—we only long for what we have;
we do not thirst for greater blessedness.
Should we desire a higher sphere than ours,
then our desires would be discordant with
the will of Him who has assigned us here,
but you’ll see no such discord in these spheres;
to live in love is—here—necessity,
if you think on love’s nature carefully.
The essence of this blessed life consists
in keeping to the boundaries of God’s will,
through which our wills become on single will;
so that, as we are ranged from step to step
throughout this kingdom, all this kingdom wills
that which will please the King whose will is rule.”
desire a higher place in order to
see more and to be still more close to Him?”
Together with her fellow shades she smiled
at first; then she replied to me with such
gladness, like one who burns with love’s first flame:
“Brother, the power of love appeases our
will so—we only long for what we have;
we do not thirst for greater blessedness.
Should we desire a higher sphere than ours,
then our desires would be discordant with
the will of Him who has assigned us here,
but you’ll see no such discord in these spheres;
to live in love is—here—necessity,
if you think on love’s nature carefully.
The essence of this blessed life consists
in keeping to the boundaries of God’s will,
through which our wills become on single will;
so that, as we are ranged from step to step
throughout this kingdom, all this kingdom wills
that which will please the King whose will is rule.”
Paradiso, Canto III
His guide, then tempers their statement, with her own:
“These are the questions that, within your will,
Press equally for answer; therefore, I
Shall treat the most insidious question first.
Neither the Seraph closest unto God,
Nor Moses, Samuel, nor either John—
Whichever one you will—nor Mary has,
I say, their place in any other heaven
Than that which houses those souls you just saw,
Nor will their blessedness last any longer.
But all those souls grace the Empyrean;
And each of them has gentle life—though some
Sense the Eternal Spirit more, some less.
They showed themselves to you here not because
This is their sphere, but as a sign for you
That in the Empyrean their place is lowest.
Such signs are suited to your mind, since from
The sense only can it apprehend
What then becomes fit for the intellect.
And this is why the Bible condescends
To human powers, assigning feet and hands
To God, but meaning something else instead.
And Gabriel and Michael and the angel
Who healed the eyes of Tobit are portrayed
By Holy Church with human visages.”
His guide, then tempers their statement, with her own:
“These are the questions that, within your will,
Press equally for answer; therefore, I
Shall treat the most insidious question first.
Neither the Seraph closest unto God,
Nor Moses, Samuel, nor either John—
Whichever one you will—nor Mary has,
I say, their place in any other heaven
Than that which houses those souls you just saw,
Nor will their blessedness last any longer.
But all those souls grace the Empyrean;
And each of them has gentle life—though some
Sense the Eternal Spirit more, some less.
They showed themselves to you here not because
This is their sphere, but as a sign for you
That in the Empyrean their place is lowest.
Such signs are suited to your mind, since from
The sense only can it apprehend
What then becomes fit for the intellect.
And this is why the Bible condescends
To human powers, assigning feet and hands
To God, but meaning something else instead.
And Gabriel and Michael and the angel
Who healed the eyes of Tobit are portrayed
By Holy Church with human visages.”
Paradiso, Canto IV
The commentary of these lines does a good job explaining this part:
“Line 28…the Seraph…the highest angel in the highest order of angels, the Seraphim, who are closest to God (Par. XXVIII, 99). The souls whom Dante has seen in the Moon live eternally in the same Heaven (the Empyrean) as the angels, the greatest Jewish prophets, and the greatest Christian saints (including both St. Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist). They are in the Moon now only for the benefit of the living Dante,so that his human senses can perceive that theirs is the lowest degree of bliss. Each soul in Paradise is perfectly happy, according to its individual capacity to receive and enjoy the vision of God.”
I kind of think of the whole system he presents here as gauges of wire that you would use for your entertainment center. From the socket, the same amount of energy is always being pumped out, but each gauge can be completely filled, but each one has a different capacity….yet all together as part of the same system. I guess the reason he presents as to why we have different gauges/capacities are the temporal effects of sin on our soul (intellect and will)…..with a little bit of well that’s just the way it’s going to be…haha.The commentary of these lines does a good job explaining this part:
“Line 28…the Seraph…the highest angel in the highest order of angels, the Seraphim, who are closest to God (Par. XXVIII, 99). The souls whom Dante has seen in the Moon live eternally in the same Heaven (the Empyrean) as the angels, the greatest Jewish prophets, and the greatest Christian saints (including both St. Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist). They are in the Moon now only for the benefit of the living Dante,so that his human senses can perceive that theirs is the lowest degree of bliss. Each soul in Paradise is perfectly happy, according to its individual capacity to receive and enjoy the vision of God.”
Which brings me to the last parts…. The parts I enjoyed. Dante did a really good job of including throughout all the books, especially the last two, that the human is just not capable of comprehending all of this stuff, that as much of our faith is, we know things exist, but just not able to understand the fullness of how….hence, the mysteries of faith. For example, to my knowledge, the Church has never proclaimed anything about Purgatory….just that there is some necessity for some sort of purification before entering heaven where nothing unclean shall enter. It could happen in the snap of a finger, could be a long process, only God knows, but as C.S. Lewis says in Letter to Malcolm, our soul’s should beg for it before entering the final rest. The same mysteries reside on the topics of the Eucharist and Salvation, and all we do is grasp the parts that Grace (the sunlight, in the Divine Comedy) allows us to…as Peter did in his profession of faith.
Finally, I also enjoyed how he chided pretty much everyone in all three books, from Popes to Emperors, to politicians, lay people, etc. You find some of each in each level. I find it funny that he blames the Holy Roman Emperors for the chaos that is Italy and Europe for lack of keeping order as is their job… as well as chides them for leaving temporal power in the hands of the Popes during this time. He then turns around and blasts the latest Popes for letting that temporal power corrupt the curia in Rome…their jobs are as spiritual shepherds, not temporal senators. He also hit on the fact that this temporal corruption had caused them to disregard their duty to call another crusade and take back the Holy Land. That kind of goes against the whole negative notion we give to the Crusades nowadays.
The last thing he pushes throughout the last two books is the fact that no matter the person, no matter who it is, always has the choice to repent, up until the last seconds of their life….so we should not pass judgment, in the Hell or Heaven sense. He uses the example of someone who had been excommunicated, but was found in Purgatorio. The use of excommunication is to protect the Church, and guard the deposit (when used correctly). It also serves as a warning to the person that if they continue in a certain manner, they are endangering their soul when they stand before God in judgment. If they continue, and die, then we assume they are sizzling, but no one knows their final thoughts. This was the case with Manfred?, I think, in Purgatorio, and the commentary relates that Dante is reminding the Church to pray for these people anyways (or at least be not quick to condemn), in the case that they did have a conversion in the end.
Oh yeah, and pretty much the theme of all three books….prayer. Those in Hell wish that prayer could help them, those in Purgatory all chase Dante down so that people might pray for them, and Dante is soliciting prayers while in Paradise.
It was a good time reading them, it makes things realer, even if it is just his possible interpretation of things. (haha, yes realer is a word) I will say though, these kinds of books are the great thing about history….especially Church History, in that we have so many PRIMARY sources. If you want to know about Greek History, you can read a summary by some contemporary author, but after read the accounts of Livy (well more Latin), or Socrates, or Thucydides, or Homer or countless other authors from that time. If you want to know about Church History, you can read general stuff by contemporary authors, but by all means read Against Heresies by Irenaeus, read letters of Justin Martyr, Ignatius and Clement, read the writings of Jerome, Cyril, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Athanasius, councils…and read them in their entirety. That’s where you’ll find the good stuff, and less bits and pieces that the authors have picked through to support a point.
Mary was hit and miss throughout the books, but she came in heavy in the last few chapters of Paradiso when Dante reach the highest parts of heaven.
End of Canto XXXII, Paradiso: St. Bernard talking of Mary to Dante:
“‘But lest you now fall back when, even as
You move your wings, you think that you advance,
Imploring grace, through prayer you must beseech
Grace from that one who has the power to help you;
And do you follow me with your affection—
So many my words and your heart share one way.’
And he began this holy supplication:”
Canto XXXIII, Paradiso
“‘Virgin mother, daughter of your Son,
More humble and sublime than any creature,
Fixed goal decreed from all eternity,
You are the one who gave to human nature
So much nobility that its Creator
Did not disdain His being made its creature.
That love whose warmth allowed this flower to bloom
Within the everlasting peace—was love
Rekindled in your womb; for us above,
You are the noonday torch of charity,
And there below, on earth, among the mortals, you are a living spring of hope. Lady,
You are so high, you can so intercede,
That he who would have grace but does not seek
Your aid, may long to fly but has no wings….
And I, who never burned for my own vision
More than I burn for his, do offer you
All of my prayers—and pray that they may not
Fall short—that, with your prayers, you may disperse
All of the clouds of his mortality
So that the Highest Joy be his to see….
May your protection curb his mortal passions.
See Beatrice—how many saints with her!
They join my prayers! They clasp their hands to you!’
[now Dante speaks] The eyes that are revered and loved by God,
Now fixed upon the supplicant, showed us
How welcome such devotions are to her;
Then her eyes turned to the Eternal Light—
There, do not think that any creature’s eye
can find its way as clearly as her sight.
And I, who now was nearing Him who is
The end of all desires, as I ought,
Lifted my longing to its ardent limit.
Bernard was signaling—he smiled—to me
To turn my eyes on high; but I, already
Was doing what he wanted me to do,
Because my sight, becoming pure, was able
To penetrate the ray of Light more deeply—
That Light, sublime, which in Itself is true.
From that point on, what I could see was greater
Than speech can show: at such a sight, it fails—
And memory fails when faced with such excess….”
“‘But lest you now fall back when, even as
You move your wings, you think that you advance,
Imploring grace, through prayer you must beseech
Grace from that one who has the power to help you;
And do you follow me with your affection—
So many my words and your heart share one way.’
And he began this holy supplication:”
Canto XXXIII, Paradiso
“‘Virgin mother, daughter of your Son,
More humble and sublime than any creature,
Fixed goal decreed from all eternity,
You are the one who gave to human nature
So much nobility that its Creator
Did not disdain His being made its creature.
That love whose warmth allowed this flower to bloom
Within the everlasting peace—was love
Rekindled in your womb; for us above,
You are the noonday torch of charity,
And there below, on earth, among the mortals, you are a living spring of hope. Lady,
You are so high, you can so intercede,
That he who would have grace but does not seek
Your aid, may long to fly but has no wings….
And I, who never burned for my own vision
More than I burn for his, do offer you
All of my prayers—and pray that they may not
Fall short—that, with your prayers, you may disperse
All of the clouds of his mortality
So that the Highest Joy be his to see….
May your protection curb his mortal passions.
See Beatrice—how many saints with her!
They join my prayers! They clasp their hands to you!’
[now Dante speaks] The eyes that are revered and loved by God,
Now fixed upon the supplicant, showed us
How welcome such devotions are to her;
Then her eyes turned to the Eternal Light—
There, do not think that any creature’s eye
can find its way as clearly as her sight.
And I, who now was nearing Him who is
The end of all desires, as I ought,
Lifted my longing to its ardent limit.
Bernard was signaling—he smiled—to me
To turn my eyes on high; but I, already
Was doing what he wanted me to do,
Because my sight, becoming pure, was able
To penetrate the ray of Light more deeply—
That Light, sublime, which in Itself is true.
From that point on, what I could see was greater
Than speech can show: at such a sight, it fails—
And memory fails when faced with such excess….”
Happy New Year!
December 30, 2007
Happy Birthday Elija! 4yrs, craziness.
Not that he’s going to be reading this or anything, but it’s the thought that counts right? Haha. My first little nephew, ah. Anyways, sorry Cari about the call today. It cut me off because I ran out of money on my phone apparently. Oops, the only house he that recharges the phones was out of saldo (what they call the balance on your prepaid phone), so I had no way really of calling back. Such is life.
January 1, 2008
Happy New Year People! I hope everyone had a wonderfully enjoyable time ushering in another year of awesomeness (that encompasses the good and the bad).
Here has been pretty nice during the holidays. Lots of Masses, but thats cool….its the Christmas season. There was Mass on Christmas day, then that Sunday for Mass of the Sacred Family, then today for Jan. 1 and the feast of Mary, the Mother of God, and then the Epiphany which luckily falls on a Sunday this year so one less Mass haha! Just kidding of course, its always a cool experience, although today was the last day of the dude from Colombia visiting.
They call the day before New Year’s day, straight up 31 (and Christmas Eve 24). It was nice, I hung out with the fam during the day, then chilled in the hammock and washed clothes and dishes during the afternoon, with a little bit of reading on the side. Before heading over, as has become my tradition on special days here, I made a dessert to bring to the evening events haha. This time it was flan and chocolate pudding. The chocolate pudding was left by Aaron, but I found the stuff for the flan in the supermarket when I went to refill in the capital of the department on Sunday. As is 31 custom, they get things started later on, and people are spread out all of the houses on the street visiting other family members, and later in the night some of the guys go missing while they are drinking “troika”….apparently the liquor of choice here. It’s the first time I’ve run into to any local families and alcohol so it was a good learning experience to see how that works. I didn’t get to try any of it though. Sad….I would like to have compared it with the stuff from the states. I don’t know if its sugar based or what….I’d imagine so though.
Anyways, so as I’ve come to realize Pan Rellenos is the big thing here on holidays for food. That’s the sub sandwich like thing with chicken (with bone) and lettuce, tomato, cucumber. Very tasty. Everybody hung out blow up “cuetes” …fireworks… and dancing…til about midnight, when all of a sudden I think every household in the municipality began to set off there m80 on steroid fireworks about 3 mins before midnight. It was crazy, they are much for colors here, just the bang for their buck. Actually the big ones here, which they call “morteros”…not like our mortars, are only 20 cents. They are basically a crapton of gunpowder put in the middle of wrapped up newspaper, with a fuse…haha. Its all good.
At midnight, every one gives each family a hug wishing them happy new year….then they fire off more cuetes and eat more pan rellenas…..how awesome is that…..fooooooood.
Although, right now I’m drinking hot powdered milk with cinnamon sticks, and I made the peanut butter, banana, and honey (substituted for molasses) mix to quickly get rid of some more bananas that are maturing way too quick in my house. I tried a new type of banana today though, oh so good. Add it to the list.
Today, there were only two exciting things…..well three. First, the Masses were packed!....craziness. Second, the Jehovah Witnesses invaded! I was watching the video of the wedding with some of the kids after lunch, and when I came out one of the kids gave me a leaflet and then ran off, and I saw Don Raul sprawled out in a hammock, shirt off, both hands on his belly, quoting Scripture to two well dressed ladies…..HA. I wish someone else could have saw that (by the way, just found out he has no top teeth, not sure about the bottom). He called me over as I was leaving to come listen to them “discuss the Word of God”. I listened, and these two were actually really nice, they just kept bringing up the fact that the world could end any day, but never really would address any of the touchy issues. After they left, I told him he was too nice, and he said that yeah, but these ladies were nicer than the ones that normally come…. “repugnant towards Catholicism” I think is how he phrased some of the evanglizers that come every once in a while. I left somewhat quickly, thinking maybe they hadn’t got to my house yet, but they all walked on by, I think they were finishing up. When I got back later for dinner, Don Raul and Dona Amalia were discussing a book they had left when they passed by a second time as a group…..it was called “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived”….MAN (HOMBRE) being in the biggest letters. He was laughing when he showed it to me, because I had told him to ask about the Trinity if they came back. Oh well, fun times with the crazies.
Its frustrating and comical at the same time for me, when it comes to these house to house evangelizers. I say that for two reasons. Its frustrating to me, because these well intentioned (sometimes, I think) people come in search of Catholic households with a primary and secondary goal. Primarily, I’d say most come to bring the basic message of repentance (immediate) because the world could end soon. The secondary goal is usually to show how most of what you Catholics believe is unbiblical and hogwash (therefore immediate repentance is required haha). The secondary goal though is usually where the discussion ends up though, because I can’t think of a Catholic household that wouldn’t agree with the primary goal….preparedness and perseverance have always been key teachings. The second however, haha, obvious problems. The frustrating part though, is that they are just trying to break to bonds the families have to the Catholic Church. Most don’t believe their church holds all correct teachings, but that they are better than Babylon reborn. There isn’t a real conversion to anything, just a breaking away from something (hence, the moral dilemma of the world today). And then comes the second reason…and I find it comical. The community I have been posted into, I can only say from Him who has the greatest sense of humor, is nearly 100% Catholic, and unlike most in the US, actually very well organized and well read on the Bible. Its actually the opposite of the US….there we have many people who are familiar with the history of the Church, and the concatenation of teachings from the beginning, but who are very weak when it comes to the Bible. These people actually quote Scripture to these people off the streets the whole time, but really have no idea of things outside of the Bible, mainly because of the economic situation they live in, access to these kinds of things are basically nonexistent.
Whew. On that note….awesome news. I finished Dante’s Divine Comedy. It took me about a month to read a little under 800 pages (250 pages of it was endnotes though hah). I know right, ouch. It’s thick stuff at times. I would highly recommend it though. It brings the whole responsibility of one’s actions into a whole new light, how they affect your soul, and how that all works itself out after death. I’m going to save that whole thing for the next entry though.
PS…my phone came back on this morning in celebration of the New Year….hoorah.
Rock on. This book has so many good quotes, but…. More than one just bores people… d’oh!
Happy Birthday Elija! 4yrs, craziness.
Not that he’s going to be reading this or anything, but it’s the thought that counts right? Haha. My first little nephew, ah. Anyways, sorry Cari about the call today. It cut me off because I ran out of money on my phone apparently. Oops, the only house he that recharges the phones was out of saldo (what they call the balance on your prepaid phone), so I had no way really of calling back. Such is life.
I didn't take any pics of the holidays, so here's a new one of coffee drying. Eat your heart out Megan.
Got in bed last night, to a lovely family of ants that were chilling there. Jerks. Some were conglomerated around a box of tissues I had near the head of the bed from the night before when I had one of those lovely sneezing frenzies during the night. That came from my table, so maybe something had spilled or was on the bottom or something…whatever it was, it was an annoying mess. On that note, I’m pretty sure I have a bat that is living in my room at night. I always hear a bird flying around at night right before I fall asleep, but I’m too lazy to do anything about it. Don Raul and I were talking about it today…he told me I needed to kill it soon before it pooped all over my bed haha. Little does he know PC sends us out with mosquito nets that double as pooper scoopers.
Random pic of the front of the church building in town
Today was overall pretty good. I made banana pancakes this morning with blended bananas straight off the tree mixed in the batter…not too shabby. Went to Mass, where I was cracking up at the culture here….in a good way though. They had another guest priest, that make Colombia, Honduras, US and some other place in the last three Sundays for at least one of the Masses. What was funny, was that the guy was harping on the family as one of the most important Christian mechanisms etc etc, and then started to wail on the homosexual marriage deal, as has been popular in the past few weeks. He said, “I mean, there are men who actually want to marry other men, and women the same….I mean imagine that.” Then people kind of looked at each other and giggled as if….haha, that’s obviously craziness. I can’t but laugh in those moments, and be like… ha, little do they know that kind of stuff has already been breaking denominations apart in the US for a while….not to mention the public in general. Apparently though, there has been a council of the Central and South American bishops in Brazil in the not too distant past that has really put this ministerial level of the Church here in Latin America in gear, they are pushing quite a few agendas pretty hard.
Random pic of my wall.
Lets see, what else…. Oh yeah, I had cow stomach/foot soup today for lunch…. I know right!...it actually wasn’t terrible, but then for dinner they had pupusas, and I ate….well….more than I should have. AFTER though, Don Raul and his older daughters’ husbands invited me out to hunt ‘mapache’ and ‘cosuco.’ For a while during the night. Apparently cosuco is like armadillo, but mapache is supposedly like a dog, but lower to the ground and likes to climb trees. They love to eat it here. It was fun, we climbed all around the ridge… well really I had no idea where I was, but I followed along and acted like I wasn’t picking too many mandarins to eat. We didn’t find any though.
Tomorrow is another big day here, lots of family time here tomorrow for New Year’s Eve night.
I think they do hugs here instead of kisses. Palabra.
Beatrice speaking to Dante while exploring the First Heaven on what she considers God’s greatest gift in Canto V of Paradiso:
“The greatest gift the magnanimity
Of God, as He created, gave, the gift
Most suited to His goodness, gift that He
Most prizes, was the freedom of the will;
Those beings that have intellect—all these
And none but these—received and do receive
This gift: thus you may draw, as consequence,
The high worth of a vow, when what is pledged
With your consent encounters God’s consent;
For when a pact is drawn between a man
And God, then through free will, a man gives up
What I have called his treasure, his free will.”
Of God, as He created, gave, the gift
Most suited to His goodness, gift that He
Most prizes, was the freedom of the will;
Those beings that have intellect—all these
And none but these—received and do receive
This gift: thus you may draw, as consequence,
The high worth of a vow, when what is pledged
With your consent encounters God’s consent;
For when a pact is drawn between a man
And God, then through free will, a man gives up
What I have called his treasure, his free will.”
January 1, 2008
Happy New Year People! I hope everyone had a wonderfully enjoyable time ushering in another year of awesomeness (that encompasses the good and the bad).
Here has been pretty nice during the holidays. Lots of Masses, but thats cool….its the Christmas season. There was Mass on Christmas day, then that Sunday for Mass of the Sacred Family, then today for Jan. 1 and the feast of Mary, the Mother of God, and then the Epiphany which luckily falls on a Sunday this year so one less Mass haha! Just kidding of course, its always a cool experience, although today was the last day of the dude from Colombia visiting.
They call the day before New Year’s day, straight up 31 (and Christmas Eve 24). It was nice, I hung out with the fam during the day, then chilled in the hammock and washed clothes and dishes during the afternoon, with a little bit of reading on the side. Before heading over, as has become my tradition on special days here, I made a dessert to bring to the evening events haha. This time it was flan and chocolate pudding. The chocolate pudding was left by Aaron, but I found the stuff for the flan in the supermarket when I went to refill in the capital of the department on Sunday. As is 31 custom, they get things started later on, and people are spread out all of the houses on the street visiting other family members, and later in the night some of the guys go missing while they are drinking “troika”….apparently the liquor of choice here. It’s the first time I’ve run into to any local families and alcohol so it was a good learning experience to see how that works. I didn’t get to try any of it though. Sad….I would like to have compared it with the stuff from the states. I don’t know if its sugar based or what….I’d imagine so though.
Anyways, so as I’ve come to realize Pan Rellenos is the big thing here on holidays for food. That’s the sub sandwich like thing with chicken (with bone) and lettuce, tomato, cucumber. Very tasty. Everybody hung out blow up “cuetes” …fireworks… and dancing…til about midnight, when all of a sudden I think every household in the municipality began to set off there m80 on steroid fireworks about 3 mins before midnight. It was crazy, they are much for colors here, just the bang for their buck. Actually the big ones here, which they call “morteros”…not like our mortars, are only 20 cents. They are basically a crapton of gunpowder put in the middle of wrapped up newspaper, with a fuse…haha. Its all good.
At midnight, every one gives each family a hug wishing them happy new year….then they fire off more cuetes and eat more pan rellenas…..how awesome is that…..fooooooood.
Although, right now I’m drinking hot powdered milk with cinnamon sticks, and I made the peanut butter, banana, and honey (substituted for molasses) mix to quickly get rid of some more bananas that are maturing way too quick in my house. I tried a new type of banana today though, oh so good. Add it to the list.
Today, there were only two exciting things…..well three. First, the Masses were packed!....craziness. Second, the Jehovah Witnesses invaded! I was watching the video of the wedding with some of the kids after lunch, and when I came out one of the kids gave me a leaflet and then ran off, and I saw Don Raul sprawled out in a hammock, shirt off, both hands on his belly, quoting Scripture to two well dressed ladies…..HA. I wish someone else could have saw that (by the way, just found out he has no top teeth, not sure about the bottom). He called me over as I was leaving to come listen to them “discuss the Word of God”. I listened, and these two were actually really nice, they just kept bringing up the fact that the world could end any day, but never really would address any of the touchy issues. After they left, I told him he was too nice, and he said that yeah, but these ladies were nicer than the ones that normally come…. “repugnant towards Catholicism” I think is how he phrased some of the evanglizers that come every once in a while. I left somewhat quickly, thinking maybe they hadn’t got to my house yet, but they all walked on by, I think they were finishing up. When I got back later for dinner, Don Raul and Dona Amalia were discussing a book they had left when they passed by a second time as a group…..it was called “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived”….MAN (HOMBRE) being in the biggest letters. He was laughing when he showed it to me, because I had told him to ask about the Trinity if they came back. Oh well, fun times with the crazies.
Its frustrating and comical at the same time for me, when it comes to these house to house evangelizers. I say that for two reasons. Its frustrating to me, because these well intentioned (sometimes, I think) people come in search of Catholic households with a primary and secondary goal. Primarily, I’d say most come to bring the basic message of repentance (immediate) because the world could end soon. The secondary goal is usually to show how most of what you Catholics believe is unbiblical and hogwash (therefore immediate repentance is required haha). The secondary goal though is usually where the discussion ends up though, because I can’t think of a Catholic household that wouldn’t agree with the primary goal….preparedness and perseverance have always been key teachings. The second however, haha, obvious problems. The frustrating part though, is that they are just trying to break to bonds the families have to the Catholic Church. Most don’t believe their church holds all correct teachings, but that they are better than Babylon reborn. There isn’t a real conversion to anything, just a breaking away from something (hence, the moral dilemma of the world today). And then comes the second reason…and I find it comical. The community I have been posted into, I can only say from Him who has the greatest sense of humor, is nearly 100% Catholic, and unlike most in the US, actually very well organized and well read on the Bible. Its actually the opposite of the US….there we have many people who are familiar with the history of the Church, and the concatenation of teachings from the beginning, but who are very weak when it comes to the Bible. These people actually quote Scripture to these people off the streets the whole time, but really have no idea of things outside of the Bible, mainly because of the economic situation they live in, access to these kinds of things are basically nonexistent.
Whew. On that note….awesome news. I finished Dante’s Divine Comedy. It took me about a month to read a little under 800 pages (250 pages of it was endnotes though hah). I know right, ouch. It’s thick stuff at times. I would highly recommend it though. It brings the whole responsibility of one’s actions into a whole new light, how they affect your soul, and how that all works itself out after death. I’m going to save that whole thing for the next entry though.
PS…my phone came back on this morning in celebration of the New Year….hoorah.
Rock on. This book has so many good quotes, but…. More than one just bores people… d’oh!
“Christians, proceed with greater gravity:
Do not be like a feather at each wind,
Nor think that all immersions wash you clean.
You have both Testaments, the Old and New,
You have the shepherd of the Church to guide you;
You need no more than this for your salvation.
If evil greed would summon you elsewhere,
Be men, and not like sheep gone mad, so that
The Jew who lives among you not deride you!
Do not act like the foolish, wanton lamb
That leaves its mother’s milk and, heedless, wants
To war against—and harm—its very self!”
Do not be like a feather at each wind,
Nor think that all immersions wash you clean.
You have both Testaments, the Old and New,
You have the shepherd of the Church to guide you;
You need no more than this for your salvation.
If evil greed would summon you elsewhere,
Be men, and not like sheep gone mad, so that
The Jew who lives among you not deride you!
Do not act like the foolish, wanton lamb
That leaves its mother’s milk and, heedless, wants
To war against—and harm—its very self!”
Dante’s Paradiso, Canto V, p. 400
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