Away

I've been away for awhile.  Our home computer now has a virus and a worm.  I cannot keep up with the technology or the security.  I don't understand why I can't just turn it on and use it.  That's what it's for right?  Apparently, it is actually for the amusement of computer geeks with too much time on their hands.  They have to mess with the rest of us--minding our own business.  Anyway, some pent up ramblings...
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I've been think alot about the HHS nonsense lately.  I can't imagine what women like Fluke are thinking.  Do women nowadays really think that contraception is a matter of health care?  If that is true, I believe our young women are poorly educated in the truth about contraception.  Contra means "in opposition to; against".  The vast majority of contraceptive methods for women do not prevent or are not "against" conception.  In fact, the devices put in a woman's body are there specifically to prevent pregnancy (at least they say that honestly in the commercial for one of the devices); they do not prevent conception.  IOW, you are making sure the baby you have conceived does not implant in the uterus, and then dies.  The chances of these devices puncturing your uterine wall, causing sterilization, infections, bleeding, etc, besides killing the baby, doesn't matter, as long as you don't carry a baby to term?  The pills can kill you by heart attack, stroke, cancers, blood clots, etc, doesn't matter so long as you don't have that inconvenient baby?  Our society is making women into men and we don't seem to care.  Not only has our society said sex for pleasure is our highest pursuit in a "relationship", but it says that there should be no consequences of that "free" expression of "love." 

Pregnancy is not a disease, but a gift.  A gift of life that is taken for granted nowadays.  It is not just because I am Catholic that I feel this way.  Years before my conversion, I felt that contraception and sleeping around were wrong.  It goes against why there are difference between men and women and how the two become one--physically and spiritually.  It is not just a health issue; it is a moral issue.  If a person can't see that, they are willfully blind to the facts.
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Teaching my second graders about forgiveness has given me a different perspective on the Sacrament of Penance/Confession/Reconciliation.  (For the record, I like penance).  Saying sorry to God and really meaning it is so vitally important to our spiritual well-being.  It cannot be ignored.  Do you have a better or worse relationship with your spouse when you are guilty of something?  When you say, "I'm sorry", you feel so much better, and you feel closer to each other.  It is the same way with God.  Our relationship is much closer to Him when we say we're sorry.  In the Sacrament of Penance, we can actually hear God say, "You are forgiven" through the voice of the priest.  What a huge gift we've been given.  Why don't we take advantage of it more often.
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This school year has been a crazy roller coaster.  At times, I've felt like I've been hurtling down a huge hill.  At others, just coasting around level curves.  I wish I could get off, rest for a while, and be able to get back on right where I left off.  Life, however, doesn't work that way.  This year I'll be half a century old.  Where did the time go?  

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I've been studying John 6.  What a blessing!  I must dig dip for the theological meanings of the Eucharist in John.  It has been a labor of love.  I hope my latest paper reflects that. 

Gotta go, I hope to be up and running again soon.