Valentines Day was happy.
- heart-shaped chocolate cake with pink frosting and red sugary sprinkles
- a new travel mug from my gramma
- a Facebook message to out-do all messages in the history of Facebook in encouragement, consideration and intentionality
- one piece of Godiva chocolate from a kid in the library
- Starbucks latte with a good friend + a new friend
- fantastic workout in the afternoon
- two solid hours of (mostly cheesey) love songs streaming on Pandora
For this is the marriage of heaven and earth: Perfect Myth and Perfect Fact: claiming not only our love and our obedience, but also our wonder and delight, addressed to the savage, the child, and the poet in each one of us no less than to the moralist, the scholar, and the philosopher.C.S. Lewis, “Myth Became Fact,” God in the Dock
The Catholic Church regards human sexuality as a wonderful gift, to be treasured, respected and nurtured. Expressions of sexuality have physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. The abuse or misuse of our sexuality is to reject this gift in oneself or others. God created man in his own image… male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 26-28) Consequently we are free to choose. Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of body and soul. It concerns the capacity to love and to procreate.
Whether one is married, single or a vowed celibate, whether one is heterosexual or homosexual, and regardless of one’s age or maturity, dealing creatively with sexuality remains a fundamental and lifelong task. The art of loving wisely and well is multifaceted. In First Corinthians, Paul reminds us that love is “patient and kind, not self-seeking.” Laying down one’s life for the beloved is Jesus’ benchmark for love at its fullest.
All men and women are created in the image of God. Sexual violence is a fundamental violation of that profound God-given dignity. It is a most serious offense against the two commandments Jesus Christ himself left us: To love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Duquesne University enacted a required sexual violence information course to be taken online by all faculty and students. This struck my attention. My opinion is TBD. When someone takes the time to formulate their beliefs in written language, I find it at least interesting to read.
I do find “dealing creatively” to be odd wording… jus sayin’
February [Part 2]
“Black History Month”
The sounds of jazz music, the photos of Teenie Harris, the ideologies of Cornel West and Martin Luther King, “ordinary” women like Rosa Parks, the stories of those who stood up by sitting down… when it really mattered and cost them something.
I have some questions. (Are you surprised? My life is one big series of questions…)
Why does it exist? Why choose one minority over others? “We don’t have Native American history month…”
Personally I find this the world’s most hyperbolic cop-out. Want to have a Native American history month? Do something about it. Men and women have spent their energies to establish this month as a recognized practice. Stop complaining and comparing; make something happen. Don’t critique the value of an institution we do have while you do nothing to bring about reform. Limitations and flaws should only spur us on to make changes that consider other minorities. Adopt an expansionist, constructive view, not an exclusive attitude.
What’s the purpose? Is it really unifying? Because I’ve seen plenty of people use Black History month as yet another reason to be racist - to throw their race and culture in your face. A social good isn’t necessarily enacted to society’s benefit; it can be divisive too.
To Educate.
Ignorance is dangerous. A conscious effort to remain uninformed in intolerable. Simply being naive is not a simple matter - it is deadly to culture, interpersonal relationships and the individual himself.
“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.” -MLK, Jr.
We only come to recognize our culture as it truly is when we interact with another one. Engaging with difference enables us to learn about ourselves in a deeply meaningful way.
In grade school classrooms, individuals who fought with their very lives for justice are honored. Justice not just as a metaphorical, theoretical, morally philosophical term; justice as it intersects with how you shop at the grocery stores, the movies you watch, your salary, the cross-grain of daily experience.
On college campuses, well, I’m no expert. Its easy to see how we honor Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King in a classroom in 5th grade. But on a campus that is predominantly upper middle class white kids except for the basketball players… Its tough. The questions are there. Its just not as easy to pay attention to them.
Education comes through dialogue.
I’ll leave you to ponder.
February [Part 1]
[via It Thing]
glitter cards tissues paper sprinkles doilies red velvet cupcakes pink lace soundtracks romantic comedies tear-jerking love stories
LOVE
“…is more than just a game for two”
February 14th:
It’s commercialized. Like everything else in our world. Advertisers have had their way with products, messages, decorations, food, jewelry, cards, flowers, the list goes on. Cheesy hallmark cards, cheap stuffed animals, chocolate red tin cooked roses, and bad pickup lines. Those candy hearts that you love to hate - because they’re cool to read but taste like chalk.
Still, I hold to my belief:
February 14th is a day set aside to express affection and admiration for people in your life - boyfriend of not. Its like Thanksgiving, only love-ier. At least, that’s the view from my seat. And there’s no boyfriend sitting next to me.
This year I’ll be spending February 14th in night class, pouring over brand, identity and reputation readings and assignments. I do love what I do.
A friend expressed to me this week, “I’m terrified of being alone.” I thought, how sad. Knowing that this person has ample opprotunity to relate with a core group of friends, to reach out, to be apart of a community; yet, to see her real, gripping inner fear.
Feeling alone now due to coming up short in the boyfriend department is a red flag pointing right to where you place your identity. Worth can never be derived solely from a relationship (or the hope of one). No boyfriend does not equal “I am alone as a human being destined to live out my life in a desperate search for my soul mate.” I dislike the term “soul mate” anyway, but that’s another post…
My point: Looking to later relationships means missing out of really great ones right now. I’m preaching to myself on this one.
Here’s to the flowers, the cheap gifts, cards, and roses. Here’s to taking the opportunity to love people - as human beings & as just they are. That’s no easy task.
Today I would really like to just leave and go to Italy. That’s all I really have to say about that.
Everybody has family issues. Everybody has quirks. Even movie stars. Living with family shapes (and reveals) your character.
I speak from experience.
life:
Never-published photo | Though Brando was happy to stay in the bungalow, insisting he needed a homelike atmosphere while filming and not some swanky Beverly Hills hotel room, his aunt Betty Lindemeyer wasn’t exactly thrilled with her house guest. LIFE reported he stayed out till all hours and had a particularly insatiable appetite for a very messy fruit: “The Lindemeyers scoured pomegranate stains from walls, furniture, and ceiling for weeks after his departure.” Here, Brando lies with his grandma’s dog on his aunt’s couch, where he crashed while in production.
(read more — Marlon Brando’s Method)
I knew there would be rivers to cross and hills to climb and I was glad, for this was a fair land and I rejoiced that I would see it.Laura Ingalls
