The Anchoress

Just been a busy few days of doctor’s appointments and you know, the usual stuff like grocery shopping and trying to figure out what to do with the huge amount of mail and paper my hubby seems to generate and never throw out. I don’t think anything is more time consuming than getting rid of paper…everything needs looking at before it can either be thrown out or relegated to a smaller, more organized pile of paper that will sit on the desk(s) for a while until I get fed up and go through them again to see what else can be thrown out. I’d rather scrub a floor than sort through household paperwork.

I’m also having computer problems that are making me very cranky - this machine is increasingly slow, unresponsive, locking up and otherwise driving me to distraction. May need new equipment, here, and that’s not really in the budget.

A few interesting things while I play catch-up:

Apparently there are polls out there that are upsetting people. If you are one of those upset people, you’ll want to go over to Ankle Biting Pundits, where Bulldog has an analysis that seems to be the stuff to keep one from slitting one’s wrist (which is always a silly thing to do about a poll, btw.)

William F. Buckley takes a look at what the Dems may face in 2008:

The record of the Bush administration in spending and in advancing the social agenda leaves the Democrats with not much room to position themselves as the party of social concern.There isn’t much left to advance after the GOP policies of No Pimple Left Behind. The result is that Democratic strategists, warming up this time around for the major stakes in 2008, haven’t any clear goal to associate themselves with.That’s why we hear nothing much more that clings to memory than that President Bush and his legions must be replaced.

So? Hate Mr. Bush. Is that truly enough as the agenda of the Democratic Party?

They believe it is, apparently. But hate, in the end, consumes the hater, too. Achoo, achoo, we all fall down!

Meanwhile…maybe if we once again just offer to build NoKo a nuclear reactor… this time they won’t pull the football away! They’ll be trustworthy! That’s it! Just like Lucy!”

Former Democrat satirical filmmaker David Zucker (Airplane!) has become a Republican. Brilliant.

What, you think there’s something new under the sun? Michael Novak retells the battle of Lepanto, when things looked not terribly different than they do, today. Miss Kelly also has a two-parter on the battle, the anniversary of which just passed on October 7. And if you want, you might take a look at an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and see if it speaks to you at all re our times.

AJ Strata says this is how things will be under a Dem majority: he means sexual McCarthyism…and lots of other “isms” too, I bet.

Texas Rainmaker, on the other hand wonders why the Dems can’t be as forceful about our enemies as they are about hating/killing President Bush. Malkin says this was less a “Kill Bush” fantasy than a lame attempt at humor. Either way, I’d say it’s a stinker. But wow, John Kerry’s face looks remarkably smooth!

And yes, in case you’ve missed the story, the economy is doing very well, thanks.

A very fine column from Rod Dreher, because it’s too damn soon to forget about five slain Amish girls and those still fighting to live, or about their remarkable community of faith:

“…the Amish community, which buried five of its little girls this week, is collecting money to help the widow and children of Charles Carl Roberts IV, the man who executed their own children before taking his own life. A serene Amish midwife told NBC News on Tuesday that this is normal for them. It’s what Jesus would have them do.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of faith is beyond comprehension. I’m the kind of guy who will curse under my breath at the jerk who cuts me off in traffic on the way home from church. And look at those humble farmers, putting Christians like me to shame. ”

And me.

Let’s end on a faith note, then, one that can teach all of us something. Today’s reading at Mass was Luke 10:38-42, the part of the Gospel where Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is just sitting at his feet listening to him, instead of working with her. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Jesus says in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

There is a pretty wise commentary on the reading, in this month’s Magnificat Magazine, written by Fr. Robert Barron, a professor of systematic theology at Mundelein Seminary:

The familiar story of the conflict between Martha and Mary has often been interpreted as an account of the play between the active and the contemplative life, Jesus signaling his preference for the latter over the former. But I don’t think that reading gets to the heart of it. It is rather a narrative concerning the spiritual problem of the one and the many. Martha complains that her sister is not helping her with the numerous and time-consuming tasks of hospitality and tells Jesus to do something about it. [...]
Martha’s problem is not that she is busy or that she is engaging in the “active” life; her problem is that she is uncentered. Her mind, quite obviously, is divided, drifting from this concern to that, from one anxiety to another; there are many things that pre-occupy her.

As is so often the case in the spiritual life, the issue is not what they’re doing, but how they’re doing it. Indeed, the surest sign that something is off in Martha’s soul is that she even tells God what to do!

Today is a good day to try to get focused on the unum necessarium, the one thing that is necessary, and to let the rest of the whirlwinds whirl.