Swimming

If a mother has a son and wants to teach him to swim, does she throw him into the deep end alone? No! She starts him out in the shallows and works with him until he has learned to swim on his own.

And, once he has learned, can he not swim anywhere? Pools, rivers, lakes, and oceans are his for the exploring.

It is the same way with your Father.

If there is a man who knows all about swimming--the name of every stroke, the physics behind every motion--yet he has never been in the water himself, what good is his knowledge?

Is it not worthless if he never dives in to experience the changing ebb and flow himself?

Think on that.

Then jump in.

French 101: Words Ending in É

As someone who knows French--and is obsessed with grammar--I find it particularly disturbing when I see words borrowed from French that are spelled incorrectly. In order to remedy the situation, I shall offer a series of corrective lessons as a sort of public service announcement.

Our first topic?

Disparities between the masculine and feminine forms of words ending in é, most notably the word fiancé and the name Renée.

The rule is quite simple:

In order to make a word ending in é feminine, add an extra e to the end.

Therefore, fiancé (masculine) becomes fiancée (feminine).

The same rule applies, consequently, to the name René; French for "reborn." René (masculine) becomes Renée (feminine).

Please note that the accent remains over the first e in all cases.

Naming your daughter Reneé, Réneé, Rénéé, or any other variant besides Renée makes France cry.

No, I lied. Crying isn't a very French thing to do. Misspelling Renée makes France stick up her nose and scoff at your ignorance.

You don't want to be scoffed at, do you?

You have now been educated. Spread your knowledge.

Four Topics, None Related

I just completed my study abroad application for the spring semester and turned it in with a sizable $350 deposit (refundable if I am not accepted into a program). I'm excited and nervous about the whole thing, so if you wouldn't mind throwing a word or two in my favor up to the Big Guy, I would appreciate it.

I applied to the American University of Rome, a school I got accepted into after high school but couldn't attend because they wouldn't give me money. Stingy Europeans. They have a strong International Relations program, so I was able to find lots of useful courses to take.

Not to mention, it's Rome.

Think of the art. And the history. And the Pope.

. . . Okay, so maybe that last one isn't a big selling point. But still.

*starry eyed*

Pray for me to get in . . . it could mean shiny souvenirs and postcards for you. :D

. . .

On an altogether unrelated note, I was walking across campus earlier today and overheard a girl telling her friend about a conversation that had apparently taken place the night before. And I quote,

". . . and then she was all like, 'Don't make me confiscate your Streisand collection!' So I had to be all like, 'Mom! Leave Barbra out of this!' . . . "

. . . Really? Are you serious?

I just had to shake my head at that one.

. . .

Fall break was good, but not nearly long enough. Spent the first part of the weekend with the family at Standing Stone State Park, somewhere we hadn't been in ages . . . the last time we went as a family was probably when I was in the 4th or 5th grade.

Needless to say, everything looked a lot smaller than I remembered.

When we got back I managed to get a little reading done and tried to keep from overcrowding the social calendar.

And, of course, I avoided getting any serious work done like the plague.

. . .

If I can get all my homework done, I intend to watch the debate tonight. Not because I don't know who I'm voting for, but because--like many Americans--I've developed a sick fascination with this election.

If this isn't the most important election of my life, it will at least be the most groundbreaking (whichever side wins).

As a nation, we are currently balanced on the blade of a very precarious knife (to borrow an analogy from The Lord of the Rings). The decision we make regarding our next president will either set us down the path of reconciliation with the international community and lead to a peaceful, respected withdraw from the position of hegemon, or erode what little remains of our image abroad into nothingness thereby destroying our ability to get anything done in the world . . . without guns.

And guns, my friends, are a very poor international bargaining chip.

Especially in the long run.

Always from the child's hand the sword
should be removed.

I think every nation
is an infant.

-Saint Francis of Assisi

Epiphany

An ant, lifted from his home beneath the grass to see the wonders of the wider world, must know the same awe and confusion encountered by man when his soul is lifted by God to ponder the vast, beautiful expanse of His countenance.

Thoughts on the Feast of St. Francis

Too often people view nature as something separate instead of something of which they are a part. Nature--mountains, trees, squirrels, frogs--is not something beneath you for you to control or bend to suit your needs. It is something around you in which you are meant to participate.

How many people, looking at a tree, see something more than part of the backdrop? Something more than an object that needs trimmed, maintained, or put to "better" use?

How many people hear the laughter of their leaves when God tickles them with the breeze?

Too few.

I wonder how long and how much it will take for humanity to realize their interconnectedness with the rest of Creation.

I wonder if, by then, it will be too late.

I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the Sacraments--
he got so excited

and ran into a hollow in his tree and came
back holding some acorns, an owl feather,
and a ribbon he had found.

And I just smiled and said, "Yes, dear,
you understand:

everything imparts
His grace.

--The Sacraments, St. Francis of Assisi
(translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

Talking to other people,

I often pause and wait

for the "Ooh, I get it!"

but it never comes,

leaving me no course of action

but to write a silly poem

to ask You

"Why?"

So which is it?

Sometimes I feel You

right next to me

laughing


And at other times

it seems like You are

a million miles away

and crying.


So which is it?


Both?


I know You never leave,

but I'd appreciate it if

--right now--


You'd give me a hug.