My Soul’s Body, Is God

The last paragraph of Book 19 of St. Augustine’s "City of God", struck me as it summed-up the need to belong to the City of God.  “But, on the other hand, they who do not belong to this city of God shall inherit eternal misery, which is also called the second death, because the soul shall then be separated from God its life, and therefore cannot be said to live, and the body shall be subjected to eternal pains. And consequently this second death shall be the more severe, because no death shall terminate it.”  

The analogy of my soul leaving my body at natural death, to this second death, where the soul then pulls-away from God, as if, He is my soul’s true body: “Wow!”  I have presumed to take comfort, that when the pains of our first death cease, we will have “passed-over”, like they read at funerals, “where there are no more tears... “ But Augustine says the second death will be more severe.  I need to nurture and appreciate this sympatico existence between God and my soul, before I experience natural death.  I have to come to terms with; God needs to be my soul’s body.  

I had heard the term, “second death”, but I was not really familiar with the concept. So, I searched its source in Revelations. Rev 20 12-15 “... and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works. [13] And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up their dead that were in them; and they were judged every one according to their works. [14] And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire.”

Now, modernist theology seems to have little need for a “second death”, and I had never thought of how this eternal torment could take place after the soul had left the natural body.  The next to the last sentence in the book however, clearly describes the eternal torment, “But in the world to come the pain continues that it may torment, and the nature endures that it may be sensible of it; and neither ceases to exist, lest punishment also should cease.”  I really don’t see how we as Catholics can have a reasonable hope that all men are saved, unless of course, they are in the City of God.

Upside Down

Thirty-seven years ago when I graduated from Dental School, I was excited about my new profession, which seemed to blend health care, artsy techniques, and business skills.  Every exam we took in the four year program, had a banner at the top stating: “Dentistry is an exacting profession ....”, and it has been.  The training seemed to create an atmosphere of experiencing our own anxiety, which culminated in a three day practical “Board” exam, taken amidst an army of North East Regional Board dentists, wandering through the clinic in gold blazers.

Things change with time.  Over the years, I often have found myself confiding to patients, “Performing the actual treatment, is not as difficult, as dealing with the patient’s anxiety.”   Extracting a tooth, taking an impression, doing a difficult restoration can all take more time, and become more difficult to complete, when the patient is fearful.  They sometimes subconsciously constrict their lips, thrust their tongue, or even pass-out.  Luckily, most patients learn to relax after the first few appointments. 

Things change with time.  Since we resumed our schedule since the “lockdown”, I noticed a difference in my patients anxiety in my office.  When they sit in my dental chair and remove their mask, they relax and smile,  After unloading their frustrations on this imposed isolation, they seem to melt in the chair as I examine their teeth and mouth, all the while I am touching their oral cavity with my gloved hand.  They seem to unconsciously hunger for human contact.

Things change with time, but this is upside down.  

Bob is gone, the first of ten. RIP

To me, Bob was a caring, smart, big brother, who knew about contentment. 

I bonded with Bob: waking to his inquisitive stare, “Who wet this bed?” 

A built-in playmate:  I begged him to be a bronco for me, and he did.  He bucked me, flying head first, across the basement. (I only asked once),   Our worlds started diverging as he went off to Loyola High School, adding over two hours of travel-time each day from my big brother.  His preference for light laughter, rather than a heated argument, may have saved us both, when CJ took us in the back yard, with twitching biceps, after our first and only, fantastic, unscheduled, Ocean City extension.  We kinda grew apart, as he and I had our own families.  At larger family gatherings, he never shied away from an opportunity to speak.  He fought off a slight stutter, but you wouldn’t know it, when he recited Corinthians 13 to a full church, at Mom & C. J.’s anniversary service.  

Later in years, he thankfully tweaked my conscious.  With that same, “Who wet the bed” look. He  simply mentioned a “competitiveness between us”.  I didn’t sense it; we took different paths?  Could it be?  Could it be my adolescent mantra: “Mom liked him best”!  It made me deal with this coping block, concluding:  Even if, why not?  Moms are human too!  This realization allowed me to love Mom, more, and more.  Thanks Bob!  

I admired his enduring giving of his time, by contently visiting family members, when they became immobile, or confined to home. Bob seemed content!    

Philippians 4: [11] I speak not as it were for want. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content therewith. [12] I know both how to be brought low, and I know how to abound: (everywhere, and in all things I am instructed) both to be full, and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need.

RT America: SOS

For the past nine months we have become quite the RT News fans.  We originally found them on You Tube, then on the Pluto channel, where we could watch them live.  We especially found, "The News with Rick Sanchez" to be unique, as they seemingly presented a news alternative, that was not agenda-driven as the Main Stream Media.  They coined their fresh, somewhat unbiased, approach with the catch phrase, "It's Time to do News Again!"  

RT is constantly critiquing the major networks, thereby virtue-signaling their sole persistence to journalistic excellence.  Their two main criticisms are context and crickets.  Stories that are presented to convince the viewer, without providing the full "Context" of the issue, isn't real news.  And they rightfully criticize the selective ignoring of an issue, that has apparent news worthiness: no coverage.  All you hear...."Crickets".  Rick Sanchez even presented, a few months ago, at the Ron Paul Liberty Report's D.C. Conference, we attended.  He was good.

At the beginning of each show, RT presents three questions which they think the viewers will be asking, after they watch Rick and his guests "drill down" on various topics.  Well, we have three questions we believe our readers may ask, after we do our own drilling.

1. Does RT America have its own agenda?
2. "Is RT anti-Catholic?  
3.  Is RT America anti-Pro-Life? 

A couple months ago, Rick decided to "drill down" on celibacy in the Catholic Church.  His guest was some defrocked ex-Catholic Priest, supported by Rick's admitted "Catholic" misunderstanding of the need for celibacy.  "Context?"  After their hit-piece, I tried to contact their offices via Facebook,  to suggest several good  competent sources to present the real value in priestly celibacy:  No response.

This past Friday, "The March for Life" paraded several hundred thousand marchers, just a few blocks over from RT America's Washington Headquarters.  That evening, Rick went on for several minutes about the hundred thousand, that demonstrated in Iraq, to demand that the U.S. leave iraq.  This was a good story.  But, why wouldn't a crowd of three to five times as many, as a President of the United States, with all his security, for the first time in the March's forty-five year history, address this annual crowd "in person", not merit coverage?  "Crickets!"

My wife complained on their You Tube channel: No response.

RT America: "It's time to do the "Same Old Shit" again."

Don’t Get on the Truck!

I went to a hardware store today, and while I waited for my items, I started a conversation with the owner.  I live in one of the more conservative counties in Maryland, Frederick County, so I touched upon our second amendment.  I mentioned that talk of anti-gun legislation has gotten the attention of law abiding citizens in several states, and after rumored reports of the Virginia Governor’s plans to confiscate guns with UN troops or the National Guard, over 20 counties and towns in Virginia have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities.  His opinion, simply put was: “Assault weapons are unnecessary for non government personnel”, but “If they take our gun rights, there will be a war.”  Really?  The disturbingly strange thing is, about 6 years ago, I got almost the exact conclusion from another business owner in our County:  Assault rifles bad, but don’t take our guns.  

Many compassionate conservatives fail to see the flaw in this logic.  If you give them, or allow them to take, your AR, what are you going to use to stop them when they come to take your 22, 38 or BB gun?  If there is to be a war after surrendering the semi-automatic rifles, my money is on the government guns. 

I have twice had the pleasure of being with Sheriff Richard Mack, outspoken champion for our second amendment rights.  This man took the gun-grabbers to the Supreme Court, and won.  Our second meeting involved us giving him an hour ride, to the airport.  He talked most of the ride and he left us with this advice: “What ever you do, never, ever ,give up your guns!”

If we do lose our second amendment, at least keep one.  After watching “Missing”, based on a true story of a missing American in Chile, during our CIA sponsored coupe.  This missing young man’s father, and wife, were systematically dragged through multiple bureaucratic roadblocks, only to find his body rotting in the basement of a stadium with a bullet in his head.  The last time he was seen, was when they rounded him up, and put him in the back of a truck.  Therefore: “Don’t get on the truck!”  

Coming Soon!

I just finished an Advent retreat, but for some unknown reason, my mind keeps coming back to an old friend, Neal.  About twenty years ago, I became friends with a Shri Lankan 7-11 employee, who was a distant relative of the owner: kind of an indentured servant.  He  was working in the States to make money for his kids’ education, back home with his wife.  He was torn, but he was here for them.  He also knew that I was looking forward to that seasonal, long awaited, Pumpkin Spice coffee.  Every time I would go to 7-11 to get my coffee, he would smile, and melodically announce loudly, with his “Indian” accent, “Coming Soon!”  “Coming Soon!”

Can you feel it coming?  As a Christian do you sense the increasing anti-Christian culture?  As a fiscally responsible citizen, can you sense the hopeless inability of the FED to print fiat money, to inflate our currency, fast enough to keep-up with our virtual debt?  As a peace loving American, are you sensing the inability of anyone in government, to stop the nuclear saber-rattling war machine, that dominates both political parties?  Is it, “Coming Soon”?  Is He, coming soon?

For me, I would say, "yes"!  Maybe not the end times, but as Psalm 90  states, “Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty if we are strong,..”  So either way, as I zoom through my 69th year, Christ is coming to me, soon.

If it is the end times, Luke says, “When these things begin to happen, stand erect and hold your head high, for your deliverance is near at hand.”  Lk 21;28.  And if its not, Jesus instructed the delivered man, formerly possessed by "Legion", “Go home to your family and make it clear to them how much the Lord in his mercy has done for you.” Mark 5:19

Well, here goes!  Prayer, and the grace provided by Jesus Christ, has helped me overcome: an addiction to porn, an affinity to “Mary Jane”, a social crutch of alcohol, a scrapping and reordering of moral norms, and more..  In His mercy, He has given me four children, eleven grandchildren, a beautiful wife who loves me, and a Church that continues to provide a channel for grace, reverence, and a refuge.

“......Happy are all who take refuge in Him.” Psalm 2