Just found this old poem... don't even remember what it means!

Be realistic.

How long do you think we can act like this?

Our world is breaking at the seams.

It’s like we’re trying to play baseball in a house of cards.

It won’t stand forever like this.

Truth and goodness always win.

It’s only a matter of time.

What you think makes you happy will be your fatal flaw.

Instant gratification is simply that: Instant.

Learn to live in the long term before the short term ends.

One Day, While on my Soapbox...

Today I'm cleaning. Not just organizing and making my room look neat, but really hardcore, sort-through-my-life, cleaning. So I pulled out my boxes of crap from under my bed, and I've been sitting for 2 hours going through everything; garbage-pile, save-pile, what-the-heck-is-this-pile, this-is-definitely-not-mine-pile... you get the picture.
Going through stuff like this is one of my favorite things to do. Not all the time, mind you... I hate deep cleaning all the time. But every once in awhile, to go through everything and see old things and wonder why the heck I ever saved that thing... I like it. And when I'm done, I feel really accomplished.
So, the reason for this post... One day, I was apparently on a mental Soapbox, and wrote my feelings on moral relativism in a notebook. I just found the notebook, and before I rip out and toss the few pages I used in order to reuse the notebook, I thought I should type up my political rant... It seems like far too much thought went into it to just let it go to waste. So, at the risk of allowing my blog to become another "I have thoughts on politics, and if the world could just hear them, I could fix everything" type of blog, here's the product of my soapbox moments:

Moral Relativism: The great oxymoron of the culture of Death.

"Truth is always truth, even if no one believes it." -G.K. Chesterton
Truth is truth is truth is truth. It is not subjective. It is objective. Morality cannot be relative to the individual, because morality is truth. It applies to all people, in all cultures, every day. It is always wrong to kill. It is always wrong to steal. Circumstances do NOT make an action "less wrong." This is a great misconception. Circumstances, rather, change the level to which a person is held accountable or morally responsible for the action. Circumstances affect culpability, not morality. For example, a person killing in self-defense has not done a good and moral thing. Of course not; killing is still wrong. But his need to protect his own life or the lives of others keeps him from being held morally responsible for his action. Similarly, a man stealing food to feed his starving family has not done a good deed. But he is less culpable because of his grave circumstances.
The idea that "what's right for you is right for you, and what's right for me is right for me," is a great lie woven by the culture of death, and society is caught up in the threads. Political correctness keeps the truth from being told. But truth needs to be told. Yes, we need to respect those around us. But to what extent? At the expense of our morals? At the expense of others' lives? Political correctness, however it began, is no longer about tolerance and respect. It's about catering to a particular political agenda. And it is demoralizing our society. Everyone is so worried about offending someone (and probably getting sued, since that seems to be America's new favorite pasttime), that no one stands up for their beliefs anymore.
Yes. Tolerance and respect of those around us is important. In fact, it is vital. If we had practiced more of it in the past, maybe we could have been spared the race riots and other such ghastly events. But morality is non-negotiable; killing is wrong, at all times, whether it's an unborn child, a 95 year old man with a terminal illness, or just a murder on the streets. Moral relativism is a lie. If you believe in something, speak up. Speak out. Give truth a voice. Give the victims of this lie - countless unborn children, their mothers, millions falling prey each day to sexual immorality, victims of euthanasia and the death penalty - give them a voice.
But, in tolerance and respect, do it with love. As Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "We can do no great things. Only small things with great love." Small things and great love can start a revolution. And this society could use a revolution.

October 6, 2009

Today I...

-Took a math test, the chapters for which I never did homework. I stayed up really late and got up really early to study, and I think it went well. 3 cheers for procrastination!

-Saw 2 Mormon missionary white boys in white shirts and ties walking through the predominantly Hispanic Catholic and Haitian Voodoo town next door. Best of luck to them.

-Ate a taffy apple. I'm not giving up on Fall yet.

-Took a 3 hour nap to make up for my lack of sleep the last two nights. I feel human again.

-Bought mickey mouse pumpkin string lights for my dorm room. Again, i WILL have Fall, if it kills me.

-Irish danced hard shoe for the first time. I pretty much suck, but it is fun. I shall try, try again.

-Drank apple cider. ...Fall will come to Florida, so help me.

-had Oreo night with my roomies! We sat on a rug with mugs and a half gallon of milk and a package of halloween oreos. It was pretty close to perfect.

-sang at Mass. We have no monitors...so it's always an adventure. :)

-played with a baby. I recommend doing that every day.

Today was good. :) Hope everyone else had a good day too!

untitled.

i'm scared i'm scared
I'm here I'm here
i can't i can't
but I can I can
they go they go
but they don't they don't
they do they do
i'm sad i'm sad
Me too, for you
help me help me
I am I am
Don't you see? you're still standing.

LIFE is beautiful!

I have recently re-discovered hope and joy. I know it sounds emo; bear with me. It's been a crazy few months since the spring, and things were getting difficult to deal with. But I was dealing with them in my own head, without God, and it was not working. I have since let the guard down from my stubborn, stubborn heart. Here are a couple of quotes I am obsessed with currently:

"Have no fear of entrusting yourselves to Him! He will guide you, He will grant you the strength to follow Him every day and in every situation."
--- This is so very true. So often we are afraid to trust God, because we are afraid of the unknown, of where He might lead us. But why? As someone very wise once said to me, "God isn't there to deny you your dreams." He wants better for us than we could ever want for ourselves. Maybe He will lead me somewhere that I think is outside my comfort zone; but that's just it: HE is my comfort zone. And where He goes, I will follow. Because He gives me the strength.

"It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness, He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal."

When It Rains, It Sure As Hell Pours.

And I could really use an umbrella.

All of my friends are gone and I'm bored out of my mind.

So...when I was at school, all of my friends were home. I came home, and all of my friends were either back at school or on their way very soon. Now there are only a few left home, and I don't really have time to see them! What a crazy world. Anyway, I'm bored, so instead of feeding my arts and crafts addiction, I decided to do one of those note things that everyone on Facebook does. But on here. Because...that's not annoying or anything ;)

25 random facts about me... because i'm THAT self-absorbed.

1. I really like big hoodies. I feel safer in them.
2. I could live on green beans and be totally, blissfully happy. But my favorite meal is bratwurst on the grill, in the summer, with my moms cauliflower and bacon salad.
3. I crack my knuckles. a lot.
4. Tigers are my favorite animal. I don't know why. but I have a stuffed one that looks really real in my bedroom at home.
5. Orange is my favorite color. Again, I don't know why, because I don't own a significant number of orange clothing or anything. But...my room is painted orange.
6. I need a watch on my wrist. At all times. I must know the time. it's obsessive-compulsive.
7. I've traveled across an ocean many times already in my life. All for religious purposes.
8. I really like hometown coffee shops. A lot.
9. I have a weird accent, because it's a mix of Minnesota and Chicago. A big thank you to my parents -- I sound like a freak.
10. I skipped Kindergarten, so I'm always a year younger than everyone else in my class.
11. I like chalk. Sidewalk chalk, chalk boards, whatever. I like writing/doodling with it.
12. I love baseball. Watching it, I mean. I love playing soccer. And watching high school football.
13. I'm a theology major. And I want my masters in clinical psychology. to be a Jesus-lovin' therapist.
14. I'm kind of a phase person when it comes to habits. sometimes I bite my nails a lot, then it totally grosses me out. sometimes I swear all the time, then I never curse at all. sometimes I really want to knit, then it bores the crap out of me. Etc.
15. I really like comfy clothes to be navy blue. Navy blue sweatpants, navy blue sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc. Otherwise I really like bright/bold colors.
16. I like parties. But not every night. I need alone time. And I need my few very close friends.
17. Sometimes I have a hard time trusting people. But I didn't always have that problem. But there is a small handful of people who I trust completely, which is the greatest blessing in my life.
18. My WHOLE family (immediate family, me, grandma, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc) thinks fart/poop jokes are really funny. And they are. Base humor as it may be.
19. I'm in a huge arts and crafts phase right now. And I'm not a creative person. But I'm getting better with practice, I must admit.
20. I really like community service. It gives meaning to my life, honestly. But I don't like when people say they are humbled by service. Because, to quote Anusia, "it implies you were above them to begin with, which is not true."
21. I'm a firm believer that Taco Bell only tastes good after 10 pm.
22. Fall is my favorite season in Chicago. Spring is my favorite in Florida.
23. Palm trees eventually get old, as snotty as that sounds. I really love and miss the city of Chicago, everything about it: white sox baseball, chicago style hotdogs, the too-busy-to-give-you-the-time-of-day attitude in the city, the brick buildings, the suburbs with the corn...everything.
24. I sleep on my stomach, with one leg straight and one leg bent, like the number 4.
25. I really really really love my family. No matter what.



You're welcome.