Advent Begins

Today we begin the period of preparation for the coming of Baby Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, who became Man, entering into His creation to redeem us.

We should use this time not only to look forward in joy, but also to look into our own hearts and prepare them to be a place fitting to receive Our Lord.

It's hard in today's world, filled with violence, hatred and distrust. Here in the U.S. protests continue, some peaceful but some otherwise, over the grand jury's decision not to indict a Ferguson, Missouri policeman (who is white) for the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager (who was black).

Though I am disturbed at the decision, it baffles me how setting fires and looting and other violent, lawless acts can possibly help the situation. I'm not even sure what good peaceful protests can do. The grand jury isn't going to reverse its decision. The people of Ferguson, the county and the state need to engage in some hard thinking and equally hard work if they want to correct the conditions that led to this latest outrage, not to behave like mindless hooligans. But smashing things is always easier than designing and building them.

In this season, perhaps more than any other, we need to concentrate on thinking, on designing and building the kind of environment around us and within us where Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love, the four daughters of Truth in Medieval thought, can thrive.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Shorn of parades and football games, it is a day of reflection and, well, giving thanks for one's blessings. These things aren't so popular in today's world - perhaps they never really were, I can't tell. But in the mad press of commercialism and politics and celebrity news and all the rest of the rush-rush, gotta fill the twenty-four hour news cycle, exploit-umentary, mostly empty blather of modern life it is nice to be reminded to pause and think.

Catreona in Quizziland

As you know, Dear Reader, for some time I've belonged to Fun Trivia. Indeed, I received my Old Timer badge for five years of membership in March, though I haven't been active all that time. Took a sabbatical of several months along the way. I'm active now, playing quizzes and games, taking on challenges to earn badges, participating in discussion threads and, rather absorbingly, playing in The Global Challenge,Quizziland's periodic tournament.

I also write quizzes, with twenty-four under my belt. Currently working on Silver, a general quiz with questions from across Fun Trivia to celebrate No. 25. It's not easy. The great majority of my quizzes are on Pop music, with a couple on Literature. One needs to stretch one's wings now and then, I suppose. And naturally, there is a book question and a song question in Silver; those were the first questions I thought of. Still, I'll be glad to get back to my comfort zone. Several Music and Literature quizzes are awaiting my attention. Always so much to do!

Link

Visit me on Fun Trivia

Dreaming with Linda

Recently I read and enjoyed Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt. Her descriptions, especially of the Arizona desert where she grew up, are vivid, her portrait of the California Folk and Rock scene in the late '60s and early '70s, equally clear and engaging. This is not one of those dreadful tell-all books. Her friends and romantic interests make brief appearances if at all, though she does tell a funny anecdote involving Jerry Brown and a dinner invitation to Rosemary Cluney's house. Instead, Linda concentrates on her music and the career path it led her on, though not without one or two insights into her inner self, such as her interest in Berlin between the Wars. Warm, gentle, serious yet with a lighthearted touch, Simple Dreams is an easy yet absorbing read.

St Hugh of Lincoln

Today is the feastday of St. Hugh of Lincoln, a Carthusian monk, the first of his order to be canonized (1220).

A man of sanctity, uprightness and great energy, Hugh accomplished much in his life being an abbot, a bishop, a diocisan and educational reformer, a defender of human rights and a diplomat. At the time of the Protestant Reformation, he was the second most venerated english saint, behind only Thomas à Becket.

St. Hugh of Lincoln is the patron saint of sick people and especially sick children, shoemakers and, curiously, of swans.

Links

Hugh of Lincoln at Wikipedia Hugh of Lincoln at The Patron saints Index