Safe Haven

Benedict Like you I know the sting Of dreams deferred. I have waited my turn As justice blurred. I have been engulfed With the flame of Self, Sold my comrades For a dime, Treating these gifts like passing fads. But today, I shake no traitor's hand. I gave no fort, I kept my honor; The test was short.

What did I think of the State of the Union last night? Boring. Flat. Minimalistic. This was a candidate who electrified America 2 years ago. Now, he sounds like a younger Walter Mondale. Part of this is that he has the completely wrong ideology. He can name the problems we face, but his mind is totally closed off to the workable solutions. "Investment" is progressive code for spending, "Infrastructure" is code for central planning. On education, he may indeed believe enough Democratic heresy on school choice to do something positive. We'll see. The foreign policy section was his best, but it was too brief and vague with respect to Afghanistan. They are making a big mistake regarding Egypt; Mubarak is no democrat, and the US pulling the plug on the 1.3 billion annual dollars propping up that regime would be among the most heroic actions ever taken by the United States. (Revisiting our aid to Israel would be wise also.) Obama is on the wrong course, but the Fox Ne...

The Holy Hour My friend Bryan Cross invited me to a Carmelite monastery where the consecrated host was in the room with us. I cannot say exactly what I believe concerning this; I neither am neither a believer or disbeliever. What I did sense was the nearness of Jesus Christ; it was to him I desired to bring my petitions; it was his peace with which I left. I held in my mind's eye the Canaanite woman; I sensed somehow that I was her. In one sense, this is risible. Part of me knows that I am part of the household of faith. And yet, I wonder if, by ignorance and an accident of history, I lack a fullness of Christ that he wishes to give. Thom told me that most conversions or other radical changes he has seen when people are "crazy for God" flow from fear. I have kept watch on my thoughts in this direction, and on balance, I would say that I have felt not fear but Love. I lacked nothing before this began. But I wished to know, if the primary means of growth in the Christian l...