Scorpion-Hedgehog controversy heats up - literally

I had to send this via my cell phone PDA because someone is using the computer to Christmas shop.

Dear Readers:

Below are two notes sent to me by the parties involved in last week's scuffle during evening prayers:

Dear Mr. Dadwithnoisykids:

We scorpions are intellectuals, and while reading poetry to the noisykids to lullabize them to sleep, we discovered this note, which reflects the true opinion of hedgehogs through the ages:

You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen.

From Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

It is obvious hedgehogs have always been nuisances.

Your friend,

Mr. Scorpion

Mr. Hedgehog replies:

Dear Mr. Dadwithnoisykids:
Thank you for the opportunity to reply to Mr. Scorpion's letter. I am pleased to see that Mr. Scorpion has found my favorite reference to hedgehogs in one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies. What amazes me more is that Mr. Scorpion can read.

Here are two famous quotes regarding hedgehogs which indicate the esteem that we hedgehogs receive:

The fox knows many things - the hedgehog one big one.

From Archilochus

and....

Sir Isaiah Berlin's commentary on Archilochus:

There exists a great chasm between those, on the one side, who relate everything to a single central vision...and, on the other side, those who pursue many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory...the first kind of intellectual and artistic personality belongs to the hedgehogs, the second to the foxes.

Intellectual and artistic personality are synonymous with hedgehog.

With warmest regards,

Mr. Hedgehog

A Prayer of Ingratitude

Thank you Lord for this bountiful rainfall.
But did it have to happen today?
For months your blazing sun dried us out.
Until the hour I wanted to play.

Thank you Lord for these wonderful children
If only they'd all be quiet.
I need time to think, to grow, to learn
In a household that sounds like a riot.

Thank you Lord for the multiple gifts
That you bless me with each day
If only I would take them and use them
Rather than pushing them all away.

Habemus Nuevo Tractor

I forgot I promised someone a picture of the new acquisition over the weekend. Steel, 18 hp, shaft drive, 42-in. deck, low hours, only used by an atheist to cut grass on Sundays:)

The Big Blue and the Aardvark are in the background.

It was Mother Theresa who said it, then her words were changed for a good cause, but the quote was originally,




"How can you say there are too many tractors?
That is like saying there are too many flowers!"


This quote is much more famous:


"How can you say there are too many children?
That is like saying there are too many flowers!"

Is this humorous or inspirational?

It all depends on whether you are behind the wheel or in front of it.

Another entry for the contest put on by the Lapped Catholic...if Roman Sacristan consents.

Our FIRST Family Photograph for the Blog

I said I would never do it, but here it is, a picture of my family. As you can tell in the picture, I am beaming with pride.







Can you find the ingrown toenail in the picture?

Motivational Entry #1 - Inspirational

The Roman Sacristan tapped me to make a motivational poster for a contest The Lapped Catholic is having. Here is the first entry:




"Every day, without fail, I shall pray for the Pope, my bishop, my parishioners, my parents, and for my fidelity to my vocation."

Mrs. Dadwithnoisykids came up with some better ones....stay tuned!

More Evidence of a Conspiracy of Conspirators

This is a conspiracy of Conspiratorial Conspirators.

This is the Crest of Pope Benedict XVI.

Note the character in the upper left of the shield. This is known as the Moor, which has some significance to the Pope because of his former position as a bishop in Germany.








But some see it as a hidden symbol of this character instead:






The similarities are uncanny. Just take away the crown and earring.










If you flip the picture around to look at the crest, it becomes even more obvious that it is not the Moor, but rather the Hedgehog, that is represented in the Pope's crest.

























More evidence of the Conspiracy noted before, and the recent confrontations during evening prayers. The evidence shown here would suggest that the hedgehog is not just a pious little creature, but rather a cog in the wheels of the vast right-wing/drumstick/thigh conspiracy.

THE NOISYKID IS ALL RIGHT

Thank you for your concern. The boy noisykid is all right. We thought he had appendicitis, but he did not. We have a very low threshold for suspecting appendicitis, since two of my girl noisykids have had appendectomies in the last year. I wanted someone else to look at him. Thanks for your prayers.

SCORPION VIOLENT REACTION TO BREVIARY

Religious Intolerance Cuts Both Ways?

Violence erupted earlier this week in North Texas after a hedgehog was overheard reading from a Catholic breviary, or holy book of prayers. Apparently, a scorpion took offense to one of the Bible readings that are part of the Divine Office. The Divine Office is the group of prayers said daily by priests as part of their religious vows. While Catholics who are not priests or nuns - referred to as 'lay' persons in the Church hierarchy - are not required to read the Divine Office, many choose to do so as part of their personal prayer.





A Mr. Hedgehog was reading prayers aloud when a passing scorpion took offense.








Mr. Hedgehog - file photo.




"I was reading evening prayers, and read from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, Verse 19, which starts with,

'Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.'

"The next thing I know, some scorpion is trying to sting me and push me off the book. I will have you know that we hedgehogs do not take too kindly to such behavior, and thankfully my prickles protected me from his stinger."

Violence spread as more scorpions heard of the species intolerance read aloud by the hedgehog.



"If it were a duck, or a hedgehog that Luke had written about, I assure you the words would have been changed to keep from exhibiting xenophobic tendencies," said Mr. Scorpion, a spokesman for the Scorpion And Insects of North Texas(SAINT) office. "We have studied the gospels, and have found them to be a literary work resplendent with the glorious interaction of God and Scorpion. Jesus even mentions in one of the gospels how it is far more desirable to receive a gift scorpion instead of a raw egg."











Mr. Scorpion - file photo.



"Mr. Scorpion is right," said a department chairman of a theology department of a Catholic University where the one-act play, The Elbow Soliloquies, has been playing to packed audiences for the past several years. "Luke is so passe. We need to get rid of this outdated concept of good and evil. We need to live and let live. Like so much else in the church, its teachings are old-fashioned, especially as we are growing in our understanding of the universe. Scorpions are good creatures; they are much more in tune with the environment and the natural rhythm of the earth than we are.

"We all could become fully and better human beings if we channeled our inner scorpion," said this famous theologian.

Meanwhile in North Texas, a group of scorpions vandalized the gift shop, overturning the basin that collects the water that some believe is miraculously flowing from a 15-passenger van owned by a Mr. Dadwithnoisykids. The curator of the gift shop, one Mr. Moose, was astonished by this turn of events. “We had just gotten a new shipment of the Roman Sacristan Game, T-Shirts, and the Roman Sacristan Monopoly Game, and a new soft drink, Roman Up! Now it is all ruined.”


“I don’t know how I am going to pay for this mess,” he said.















Mr. Moose - file photo.










Late this evening, there was another confrontation between Mr. Hedgehog and several scorpions. The scorpions tried to break up evening prayers by shouting down the lone hedgehog.









Several other animals came to the aid of the hedgehog, and there was a heated exchange between the two groups.











Violence was barely avoided as the scorpions, a duck, a crab, and a moose faced each other.





Fortunately, violence did not break out, and the prayers continued. The scorpions dispersed after joining claws and singing 'Give Peas a Chance."







"Give Peas a Chance!"








“We had an exchange of real words, which I see as the beginning of a dialogue regarding this touchy subject of scorpions and their role in the world,” Mr. Hedgehog said afterwards, “It gives me hope that we can reach a peaceful understanding of our differences, and grow in greater love for God and for truth.”







Mr. Hedgehog discusses the issues with our reporter.








“If he weren’t covered with prickles, he would look like a pin cushion right now,” was the only comment from the scorpions.

As further developments become known, we will keep you informed.

No matter what your work, remember to always do it with a smile.

I took this picture in June, 1988, on Kelly Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas. I was standing on the rental car's roof to keep the fence out ot the photo. This probably would not have been tolerated nowadays, but back then no one minded. Also, we were Second Lieutenants, the most irresponsible and immature of all officers, and were known to do silly things.

A few minutes later, one of these C-5 transports took off, and we positioned our car underneath the flight path to experience the takeoff of one of these monsters.

Years later, I would take the Noisykids down to the same base, park by the end of the runway, and watch the C-5's do 'touch and go' practices for hours. The noise restrictions are not as strict for military aircraft as they are for commercial aircraft.

Some flight surgeons I know told me that these 'touch and go' missions were the only way some would get their required hours of flight. They said it was awful, with the cabin dark - there are few windows in the top part of the aircraft - sitting backwards, with no air conditioning, and low altitude flying. Pass me an air sickness bag.

The aircraft seemed to like it, as you can see the first one in line is smiling.

Noisykid Grafitti

I had to take one of the noisykids to the emergency room last night, and I was amazed to see this picture the next morning. They are adding on to the hospital, and put pictures of children on the wall surrounding the construction site. Someone changed this picture with some spray paint.

'281' Your Life

Interstate 35

There are two ways to drive from Dallas to San Antonio, Texas. One is to drive down Interstate 35, passing through the state capital and several other cities on a road, which has two lanes for most of the trip. The speed limit varies from 60 to 70 miles per hour, but in reality, one goes as fast as possible in the left lane, while slower traffic crawls along in the right. The on ramps are notoriously short, so the unsuspecting (more likely uncaring) driver entering the freeway has little room to accelerate and merge with the stream of trucks and cars.

Delays due to accidents are inevitable, especially around Austin. A resident I know who used to be a policeman in Austin told me that there is a one-mile stretch of I-35 with more fatalities per mile than any other road in the United States. They referred to it as the 'valley of death.' Traffic is also unexplainably slow at both the south and north sides of the capital city.

The road itself runs over the rolling hills that represent the remnants of the Hill Country to the West. This makes cruise control more of a nuisance than a help, as our car would not accelerate in anticipation of the climb ahead.

In addition, this two hundred and fifty mile stretch of highway used to come at the end of a twelve or sixteen hundred mile drive from visiting family and friends in the Northeastern United States. After a week or two away from home, and coming at the end of the second day of driving, I would have to be more cautious and vigilant than I had been for the previous miles. I dreaded this part of the trip the most.


US 281

Contrast the above experience with that of US 281. US 281 cuts through the heart of San Antonio, climbing out of the northern suburbs and straight through the Hill Country, passing West of Fort Worth. On the open road, the speed limit is 70 mph, and one has to slow down to as low as 30 while passing through scenic towns and villages. The road is one lane going each way, but the shoulder of the road is wide and paved, and folks move to the side for faster traffic. Where the road climbs a long hill, there is an extra lane for slow traffic.

The scenery, when you crest the top of these hills, is beautiful. One can see for miles in every direction, with a long ribbon of highway stretching out in the distance. The sensation of being on top of the visible world is heightened by the presence of low-hanging clouds, and occasional mist in the early morning hours. Most of all, you can safely take your eyes off the road to appreciate the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.

In life, we often have a choice of how we want to live our lives. With age and experience, I find more often, that I am trying to '281' my life; to look for the more enjoyable or pleasant way of life. This is not say that I am becoming lazy or soft, but when given the option, I would rather spend time enjoying the ride as opposed to dreading it. No matter what way I drive to get there, or choose to live my life, I still have to make it to Dallas, and eventually come to the end of my own life.

Statue

Over the weekend I repaired this statue:






Our Lady of the Mysterious Decapitation.



















I call it mysterious because those who were near her when it happened could not explain how she lost her head.

She has been through a lot. She joined us in Michigan, and weathered more abuse than I can imagine. She bore the effects of children's hugs, and occasionally their playful tackles.

She stood tall as legions of Jehovah's Witnesses were turned away at the sight of her. Well, most of them. I had to ask a few of them if they knew who the beautiful Lady in the front yard was. They eventually got the picture.

She survived a move to Texas, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, and stood in the blazing South Texas sun for years. She single-handedly overcame the machinations of a totalitarian neighborhood association determined to enforce a policy of uniformity and atheism.

She moved once again, into the countryside, where the scorpions played and stalked ducks in her shadow. Then she moved up here to North Texas and got her head lopped off.

Just a bit of concrete sealant, and the job was done. I might make a platform for her to stand on out of the leftover bricks.













Ave Maria!













My five year old demonstrated a new mode of reverence by doing somersaults down the whole pew during the consecration. When I corrected him, he tried to go back by doing backward somersaults.

A Vast Right-Wing/Drumstick/Thigh Conspiracy

My wife just got home from shopping, and she got some fried chicken from a local place, and they make good chicken. Something struck me about the name, though, and so I went to work on some pictures I have of Pope Benedict XVI. Something seemed suspicious.



Within a few seconds, it hit me like a blow to the belly. It was obviously a vast radical Catholic conspiracy to control the world. Let me present the evidence.

This picture shows the name of the chicken store, Popeye’s. For most of us, Popeye is a cartoon character, a sailor, who is very muscular and gets a boost of strength from eating spinach whenever a crisis arises. He has a long-term relationship with a very skinny girlfriend, and there is a baby involved, although it is not clear whose child it is. But I digress.

Concentrate on the word Popeye’s. Note how the name could be broken into two words: POPE YES. The letters even turn a bit between the ‘e’ and the ‘y,’ making it even more believable.



This is not certain proof, but does corroborate with a picture of Pope Benedict XVI taken immediately after his election to the Papacy. Two things struck us as odd about this picture. Pay close attention to the area around the Pope’s right ear, and the coat of arms on the left side of the Pope’s alb.





Beyond his right ear, we did some technological modifications that are too complex for you common folk to understand, and by removing the darkness and adding in light, we came up with this interesting sight:



It appears that the Pope was using ‘Pope Yes’ brand ketchup or honey right before greeting the people in St. Peter’s Square on that fateful day.



Now direct your attention to the alb. By making the photograph bigger, and the area of concentration smaller, we noticed a certain pattern in the threads that make up the alb in this area.





This appears to be the President of the United States along with his wife. Need I say more? By controlling the fried chicken consumption in the United States, and who knows where else, the Church can influence the outcome of the Electoral College in the upcoming 2006 elections. The logic of this is flawless, and must be broadcast to the world.



You have been warned.

Hello to Y'all Across the Pond

Hello to bloggers from England.

Like this gentleman.

And this gentleman.

I like reading blogs that are homemade, and strive to do the same on this blog.

I played the 'pick up and read' game with the Breviary a couple of nights ago, and read the following for the Antiphon for the Canticle of Mary, Evening Prayer II for Religious:

"You have left everything to follow me;
you will have it all returned a hundredfold
and will inherit eternal life"

All well and good. But leaving everything can be a painful process, and if it were not for the remainder of the verse, it would be impossible to consider leaving everything.

A little history will make my thoughts even more confusing. Right now we are in the middle of the Novena for St. Therese of Liseaux, and She has been very generous in interceding for us in the past. So two years ago we were praying the novena asking for another baby, or at least to get an answer for why two years had passed since the arrival of the latest noisykid.

For us, a two year gap between children was a new and unwelcome event. I had joked in the past that one day my wife would be getting a workup for infertility, despite having a large number of children. It wasn't funny once it happened.

Anyway, on the last day of the novena, my oldest daughter came to me while I was working in the garage making a doghouse for Lassie. She said mom was lying on the floor in our bedroom, crying. This was not normal behavior. When I asked her what was wrong, she said her belly hurt, worse than the pain of labor. She had acute cholecystitis, inflammation of the gall bladder, and had it taken out a day later.

Within a few months, she was pregnant with out latest girl noisykid!

So now on this day which commemorates St. Faustina, of Divine Mercy fame, we are again praying for another noisykid. St. Therese has always been a great help to us, and I am certain that anything we have to give up will be rewarded more than a hundredfold.

I volunteer 25 pounds of extra weight for removal. My appendix lies ready to be liberated.

Touching on St. Faustina: We have recently added this to our prayers at 3 p.m. If I am at work, at least my PDA will alarm and let me know that it is time to pray(I do this for the Angelus also). It makes me wonder, though, why we are called to pray for Divine Mercy in particular, instead of for something else. I wonder if God is calling us to pray for mercy because the deadline for other petitions is past. Why else would St. Faustina record it, Pope John Paul II promulgate it, and people all over the world start praying it earnestly?

It is kind of like in C. S. Lewis' book, The Silver Chair, where a character mentions to Aslan that they were calling to him. Aslan points out that they would never have called for him unless he were calling for them.

Off to the store, to pick up the components of the Armageddon 4-pack: Toilet paper, bottled water, peanut butter, and cans of soup. The last time I did this(1999) our stockpile came in handy when the whole family came down with a nasty flu bug in early 2000.

Another Asperges Incident/Interruptions of Prayer Time

My three year old decided to avoid to get sprinkled with Holy Water after
night prayers yesterday. He ran from one end of the pew to the other until
his oldest brother grabbed him and held him. He started yelling, "I don't
want to get blessed!"

He also refers to Father as the 'messy guy' when he blesses us with Holy
Water. I guess he considers it too messy for him.

My five year old has started asking the darndest questions right after we
have received Our Lord in Holy Communion. Here are some of the latest:

What color is the Body of Christ?
Why do you have hair on your chest(I was wearing a shirt which showed all
three of my chest hairs)?
Why is there hair on your face?
Why do we have buttons on our shirts?
Why do you wear a tie?

Talk about our fallen nature! There I am, trying to make the time after
Communion a time of prayer, silence and thanksgiving, and instead I am
suddenly trying to formulate a reason why I am wearing a tie.

But why do we have buttons?

....And Another Thing:

To add to the Milingo Musings:

My church will have to have a state of the art sound system, complete with
projector, multimedia capabilities, and a very fast processor for my
sermons.

All of my sermons will be packaged as Powerpoint lectures, and will run to,
oh, I figure about 10 slides per minute. It is important to keep the
attention of the parishioners.

I will certainly have video clips of theologically relevant(and
entertaining) things I can find on YouTube.

REPORT OF TREE BRANCH STRIKE

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL REPORT OF A TREE BRANCH STRIKE

APPROXIMATELY 0634 ON OCTOBER 4 2006

NORTHWEST BOUND ON I-35 SERVICE DRIVE 50 YARDS EAST OF MOTOR STREET IN
DALLAS TEXAS

WEATHER CLEAR WITH VISBILITY CEILING OF UNKNOWN MILES AND 74 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT TEMPERATURE

VISIBILITY LIMITED BY LACK OF STREETLIGHT OR MOONLIGHT

VEHICLE LIGHTS WERE ON AND FUNCTIONING PROPERLY

VEHICLE 1998 EXPLORER NOVEMBER VICTOR DELTA BETTER KNOWN AS THE AARDVARK

OWNER OPERATED

SPEED LESS THAN 20 MILES PER HOUR

BRANCH HANGING FROM TREE NOTED WITHIN 10 YARDS OF STRIKE

NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN DUE TO CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OTHER TRAFFIC

DRIVER INDICATES THAT BRANCH STRUCK RIGHT UPPER FRONT WINDSHIELD AND ANTENNA
DRAGGING ALONG TOP OF AARDVARK

NO LOSS OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE

NO DAMAGE TO VEHICLE

THIS REPORT HAS BEEN GENERATED AS A SAFETY MESSAGE TO ALL WHO MAY BE DRIVING
EXPLORERS

THIS IS THE FIRST TREE BRANCH STRIKE FOR THE AARDVARK

THERE WERE 1 REPORTED TREE BRANCH STRIKES WITH THE VAN BIG BLUE

THERE WERE 0 REPORTED TREE BRANCH STRIKES WITH THE VAN GREAT WHITE

WE WILL CONTINUE MONITORING THESE INCIDENTS

DADWITHNOISYKIDS

REPORT OF A TREE BRANCH STRIKE

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL REPORT OF A TREE BRANCH STRIKE

APPROXIMATELY 2207 CST ON OCTOBER 3 2006

NORTHWEST BOUND ON I 35 SERVICE DRIVE 50 YARDS EAST OF MOTOR STREET IN
DALLAS TEXAS

WEATHER CLEAR WITH VISBILITY CEILING OF UNKNOWN MILES AND 81 DEGREES
FAHRENHEIT TEMPERATURE

VISIBILITY LIMITED BY LACK OF STREETLIGHT OR MOONLIGHT

VEHICLE LIGHTS WERE ON AND FUNCTIONING PROPERLY

VEHICLE BIG BLUE 15 PERSON VAN WITH V-10 ENGINE

OWNER OPERATED

SPEED LESS THAN 40 MILES PER HOUR

BRANCH HANGING FROM TREE NOTED WITHIN 10 YARDS OF STRIKE

NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN DUE TO CLOSE PROXIMITY TO OTHER TRAFFIC

DRIVER INDICATES THAT BRANCH STRUCK RIGHT UPPER FRONT WINDSHIELD AND ANTENNA
DRAGGING ALONG TOP OF VAN

NO LOSS OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE

NO DAMAGE TO VAN

THIS REPORT HAS BEEN GENERATED AS A SAFETY MESSAGE TO ALL WHO MAY BE DRIVING
VANS

THIS IS THE FIRST TREE BRANCH STRIKE FOR THE BIG BLUE

THERE WERE 0 REPORTED TREE BRANCH STRIKES WITH THE VAN GREAT WHITE

WE WILL CONTINUE MONITORING THESE INCIDENTS

DADWITHNOISYKIDS

Bad Poetry in Honor of My Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my guardian dear
Throughout my life, you’ve been so near
All of my life, been at my side
Especially for the helicopter rides

You helped me with my fear of heights
To relax and just enjoy the sights
Made sure I prayed before each flight
To make it through another night

An act of contrition I would also say
In case this were my individual Judgment Day
for I knew that some are called to play the part
of passengers in a huge lawn dart

But most of all my guardian dear
You take up the Rosary that you find here
Once again I have drifted off to sleep
While praying to Our Lady so sweet

dadwithnoisykids

The Real Reason for Asperges?

Tonight, after Mass, the Rosary and Night Prayers, the noisykids were losing it.

Father came around for Asperges, the sprinkling of Holy Water, blessing us before we left for home. My five year old noisykid, full of questions, turned to me after the droplets of Holy Water struck us, and after we made the sign of the cross.

"Why did he do that?" he said, "does this mean we are now going to have another baby?"

I had trouble controlling my laughter. We are praying for God to bless us with more noisykids.

dadwithnoisykids

Milingo Musings

Milingo Musings

Let us now direct our attention to the concept of Father dadwithnoisykids,
which would doubtlessly lead to Bishop dadwithnoisykids.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Zambia recently �installed� four bishops over
last weekend. For more details on the Canon legalities of this issue, I
recommend starting at http://www.americanpapist.com/blog.html.

Archbishop Milingo seems to think that by allowing married men to become
priests, the lack of priests would be eliminated. I have given some thought
to this matter over the years, and would like to weigh in with my thoughts
in this debate. I consider myself an expert in the field of �married
priests� based on the following criteria which I have satisfied:

1. I am holier than thou. Not only am I holier than thou, but I have the
attitude to go with it.
2. As a 42-year old cradle Catholic, having listened attentively to sermons
every Sunday and holy days (and weekdays) since I reached the age of reason,
I know that I could give a better homily than most of the noise that
emanates from the man behind the pulpit.
3. I have a brother who is a priest. That sentence alone gives me the right
to say just about anything I want about the priesthood.
4. I am married to a wonderful woman, who is the mother of our wonderful
children, who are collectively referred to as the noisykids.
5. As head of the house, I am also the head of my own church, one John Paul
II referred to as the �domestic church.�

Having established my credentials, I must emphatically say to the esteemed
and beloved Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo:

You must be crazy, man!

There are several ways to look at this issue, and I will discuss each one in
turn: The �Spouse,� the �children,� and the �outside observer.�

When I use the term �spouse,� I am referring to the wife for married men,
and Jesus Christ for priests. Both of them have behavior which could be
described as jealous. Our Lord even refers to Himself as a jealous God in
the Old Testament. Both wives and Christ want the attention of the
husband/priest, and expect to have constant access to them for whatever they
need. No subject, no time, no place is off limits for them to launch into a
discussion of �what is going on� in their day, and �what are you going to do
about it?� If the man does not have an answer for that last question, the
Spouse will surely have some good suggestions ready for his review. I am
not saying that this is unfair; rather, the vows of matrimony and the vows
of the priesthood allow, or rather, demand that the man give his all to
either Christ or to his wife. This is where the concept of the married
priest falls apart. It is impossible to be married to a woman and a priest
at the same time. Each one is a full time job, and one will suffer for it.

Consider this example. While visiting my brother, Fr. BODWNK(short for
Brother Of Dad With Noisy Kids), there have been times when he had to cancel
plans he had with us and tend to some emergency call from a parishioner. He
could not brush off the call, or send someone else to take care of it. No
one else could go; it had to be him.

Consider the responsibilities of raising children, and then add to that
having to answer for the souls of all the parishioners. No, thank you. The
challenges of raising a relatively small number of children from birth to
whenever are daunting enough. As I mentioned before , Pope John Paul II
referred to the home as a domestic church, where the child first learns
about God, how to pray, and how to follow His way to eternal life. That is
what I do when I am not at work of doing other chores(including blogging).

Consider how the family of Father dadwithnoisykids would be under tremendous
scrutiny from the outside observer. Imagine, if you will, watching Father
dadwithnoisykids preaching on a topic while the noisykids openly disobey
him. Such behavior would be scandalous, and would make it harder for the
parishioners to follow his advice. The married priest would be easily
discredited: �How can you preach against the evils of <insert sin here>
when your child <insert child name here> is <insert sin here again>?�

If these arguments do not convince you, consider the last, and most
persuasive argument for most people living on this earth: Money.

Is the �outside observer� going to be content to pay my stipend, my salary?
I am not talking about the small sum most priests get for subsistence, I am
talking about a salary that would allow me to raise my family in a manner
that would provide for all their needs. Before saying �yes,� consider the
needs of my family. First, the children would have to always appear clean,
neat, and well-groomed. Clothes would have to be of high quality, pleasing
to the eye and of a current style so that the children would not be
considered �old-fashioned.� The same would apply to my wife and I.
Orthodontists would insure that all teeth in our heads are straight and of
an appealing white color. A priest would have to drive a vehicle reflecting
the importance of his office; a Lexus, or a Mercedes Benz, or something
Italian would do.

We would need a gymnasium, where we could spend a portion of our day
exercising. Each family member would need a computer, and the children
would have to attend the finest schools. Food would have to be of the
finest variety, and would be served by our parish cook. A family pilgrimage
to the Holy Land and to Rome, alternating destinations each year, would be
part of the deal. It would be difficult to preach on the Gospel without
ever having set foot in the Holy Land.

Now, before giving your answer, consider that I would get to do this, with
the money put into the collection plate, while most people can not afford
the kind of lifestyle I envision for my noisykids. Consider also that I may
have more than two, or four, or six children, and that some parishioners do
not like the idea of large families. If I became Father dadwithnoisykids,
the collections would have to increase substantially. I do take personal
checks!

dadwithnoisykids

I Raise My Voice In Anger

I raise my voice in anger, oh Lord
for the path to Your servant is long
and full of ruts and obstacles

Where Earth and Heaven unite
is far from my home
and I am weary of the road

Why do You allow Your servant
exiled, his work left in another's hands
forced away from those he served?

Answer me, oh Lord
for the path to Your servant is long
and I am weary of the road

In the silence of my heart
as my petulant cry died out
You answer me

I allow it for you and for him
for him to serve Me where it pleases Me
and it pleases Me greatly

To serve Me without distraction
far from the eyes of the world
far from those who love him so

For you to bring those you love to Me
never to forget that a man
yearned to stay with me

dadwithnoisykids

Kitty Pictures

Cattus Regina peeks out of her 'cave.' We made up several of these and put them on the back porch for her to select when the time came to give birth.

We will leave them around, since our cats tend to move the kittens every week or two. I put a heavy metal chair over the box, so no large animal could knock over the box.

Also, they would have little room to maneuver if they tried to enter the box - Regina would have an advantage in that fight.

















5 kittens





I, laughed, I cried, it was better than CATS!




The rarely functional 'Non Deere:'

Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian

Today is the Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damien, both Patron Saints of Physicians. Other doctor saints include St. Raphael, St. Luke, St. Panteleon, St. Joseph Moscati, St. Gianna Molla, to name all those I can think of immediately. Then there's Jesus Himself, the Divine Physician.

From Catholic.org:

Sts. Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia, who had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and never took money for their services. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they enjoyed the highest esteem of the people. When the persecution under Diocletian broke out, their very prominence rendered them marked objects of persecution. Being apprehended by order of Lysias, governor of Cilicia, they underwent various torments about the year 283. Their feast day is September 26th. They are patron saints of pharmacists.

Yes, and Physicians, too.

Here is a rather tame picture of them:

Yawn. Smile for the artist, boys!

But for all you doctor types, how about a little medical action?

Okay, then. here are two pictures from books I have at home, showing a miracle attributed to them. The transplant of a leg from a dead man to another man. So they might as well be the Patron Saints of Transplant Physicians as well.



The 'donor' leg is the black one. It looks like a calf-length sock.

And again:




People don't appreciate a working epidural enough.

Here is Fra Angelico's version of the martyrdom of Cosmas and Damian and brothers:



Sorry for the amateur photography. I hope you can see the one guy is just swatting off heads as if they were flies.

Here is a typical modern physician:



Get rid of the cigarette, substitute a styrofoam cup for the china, and there you have him.

Not likely to be martyred, but very likely to be sued.

Not working for free, sometimes.

Trying to see Christ in all his patients, but more often cynical, impatient, haughty, sarcastic - all the attributes Christ doesn't want to see when He goes looking for us.

Praying for the wisdom and fortitude to care for his patients, and praying for the repose of the souls of his lost patients.

Most likely to fall asleep during a sermon, most likely needing to hear what the priest is saying.

Spending much of his time at work, thinking about work when at home, and needing to be reminded that it's just a job, not his vocation.

Thanking God for what still is a privilege - to be a doctor. To be an instrument of healing in God's hands.

dadwithnoisykids