"Everyone Against Abortion, Please Raise Your Hand!"

This is a hand that will never wave "hello" or "goodbye". A hand that will never pet a dog or a cat. A hand that will never catch a ball. A hand that will never write a poem, paint a picture, play an instrument. This is a hand that will never hold another hand.

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Semper Gaudete!: The Chicken Said "Thank You"



Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Books Read in the Past Week

"What Jane Austen ATE and Charles Dickens KNEW
From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life
in 19th-Century England"
{reading a little at a time; I may, however, put it aside
until I start on some 19th-Century English novels.}
by Daniel Poole
(non-fiction)

"Betsy and The Great World"
{started on Thursday, finished on Monday}
"Betsy's Wedding"
{started on Monday, finished on Thursday}
by Maud Hart Lovelace
(children's/young adult fiction)

"The Betsy-Tacy Companion"
by Sharla Scannell Whalen
(non-fiction, biographical)
{finished on Thursday}

"The Home Has A Heart"
[February chapter only]
{read on Tuesday}
(non-fiction)

"Rose In Bloom"
{started on Thursday}
by Louisa May Alcott

"A week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers"

{started on Friday}
by Henry David Thoreau
[Google e-book (free!) ]
(non-fiction)
So far, I'm enjoying this book, although I do not
agree with what Thoreau says about religion.

The Chicken Said "Thank You"

Since this is the Chinese New Year, I'd like to share
something that happened in Chinatown when I was a little girl, perhaps nine years old.
I don't really remember why Mom and I were in Chinatown that day. A promised treat, or a
spur-of-the-moment impulse? Oh, well. That doesn't really matter.
At one point during our for-whatever-reason, (or for-no-particular-reason)trip to
Chinatown, Mom and I stopped at a place whose name I can't remember (If I do, I will
edit this post! :) ). It may have been an arcade, or perhaps it was The Chinese Museum.
{Note to self: Stop rambling and tell the story already!}
Okay. On with the story, then. Among the attractions at this arcade? museum? was a
Fortune Telling Chicken. Anyone wanting his or her fortune told by this chicken would
deposit a coin, (I think it was a dime, but it may have been a quarter) into a slot.
This would cause some grain to pour into the chicken's dish. The chicken would pluck a
little cardboard fortune, and then eat the grain.
Well, on this day that poor chicken hadn't been doing much business, apparently. The dish was empty, and people were passing her by with hardly a glance. I felt sorry for her; she seemed
so hungry.
Okay, to (belatedly) make a long story short, I dropped a coin into the slot, and the grain trickled into the dish. Now, let me tell you, that was one conscientious chicken! She gave
me my fortune BEFORE eating any of the grain, even though she was hungry.
And now, I come to the part where the chicken said "Thank you."
After she had eaten, she cocked her head at me, and then she plucked a second fortune and
handed (or should I say beaked?) it to me!
From then on, that chicken had a loyal customer whenever I went to Chinatown.
I never realized it fully until just now, but I learned a couple of things from that chicken:
Always say "thank you", even if you can't say it with words.
Whenever you can, give a little more than is required or expected.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

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Thanks once again to RAnn for hosting!

Semper Gaudete!: Philadelphia police nab abortionist, nine others on infant murder charges :: EWTN News



Semper Gaudete!: Try Contemplating Your Navel



Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Week of January 23-29, 2011

Books Read in the Past Week

"What Jane Austen ATE and Charles Dickens KNEW
From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life
in 19th-Century England"
{started week before last}
by Daniel Poole
(non-fiction)

"Papa's Place"
{started last week, finished on Sunday}
by Margaret Jensen
(nonfiction, Christian, [Protestant] )

"The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein"
{started on Sunday, finished on Monday}
by Carol Ryrie Brink
(children's fiction)

"Eight Cousins
or
The Aunt-Hill"
{started on Monday, finished on Thursday}
by Louisa May Alcott
(children's fiction)

"Betsy and The Great World"
{started on Thursday}
by Maud Hart Lovelace
(young adult fiction)

"The Betsy-Tacy Companion"
by Sharla Scannell Whalen
[Chapter Twelve,
On Betsy and The Great World
only]
(non-fiction, biographical)

Try Contemplating Your Navel

That's probably one of the last post titles you'd expect to see in a Catholic blog, but I was contemplating my navel today. In other words, I was thinking about my belly button, about
why I have a belly button.
I have a belly button because, when I was born, my umbilical cord was clamped off.
So from contemplating my belly button, I went on to contemplating my umbilical cord. I thought of how I received nourishment and oxygen through that umbilical cord while I was in the womb.
And the fact that I needed nourishment before I was born is, to me, another proof that life begins at conception. If life began at birth, we wouldn't need to be nourished while in
the womb.
"For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb." [Psalm 139:13]
A belly button is a wonderful reminder of how God provides for us, cares for us, from the very beginning of our lives.
So, yes! Try contemplating your navel.