40 Days of Almsgiving

In Part 1 of this series I spoke of the notion of almsgiving during Lent as I am practicing it this year. This week's lucky charities are: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty: At the Becket Fund we like to say we’ve defended the religious rights of people from “A to Z,” from Anglicans to Zoroastrians. Our supporters represent a myriad of religions,...

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Monday Joke

Always looking for souls to save, a priest goes into a pub in a less reputable part of town and approaches the first man he sees. "Do you want to go to Heaven?" he asks. The man says, "Indeed I do, Father." "Then for God's sake," commands the priest, "leave this pub right now." The man immediately gets up and leave, and the priest turns to the...

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40 Days of Almsgiving

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This year, in addition to the usual prayer and fasting I'm trying to get more serious about almsgiving. My plan is to donate to a different charity each day for 40 days. I thought I'd share some of them with you, but blogging a charity a day is kind of, well, tough. So, I'm batching them up. Feel...

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Monday Joke

A frog goes to a fortune teller and asks if he is going meet a young girl...

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Be careful what you wish for

As expected, the usual characters are calling for a Pope who will "make some changes" and by that they mean change Church doctrine, generally in matters of sexuality. I can't help but wonder if they have any idea what they are asking. The thing is, the Church is not just another political system, like a government. Without understanding that, and...

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On Papal Resignation

I was as shocked as anyone to hear today the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation. As usual, the usual people have the usual things to say. The AP says that he is a failure, and his papacy is marked by scandals that the Pope was either complicit in or ignorant of. Tom Peters has a good post on what it means, with links to Ed Peters on...

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Monday Joke

A man climbs to the top of a high mountain to get close enough to talk to God. Upon reaching the top, he looks up, he asks the Lord, "God, what does a million years mean to you?" The Lord replies, "A minute." The man then asks, "And what does a million dollars mean to you?" The Lord replies, "A penny." Then he asks, "Can I have a penny?" And...

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Gifted Hands

It's not such a great movie, but it's a great story, and it's true. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is the biography of Dr. Ben Carson, renowned pediatric neurosurgeon. From Amazon.com: Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (Actor in a Supporting Role, Jerry Maguire, 1996) stars in this true story about a renowned brain surgeon who overcame obstacles...

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Monday Joke

A Pennsylvanian man dies and winds up in hell.The devil put the man to work on a rock pile with a 20-pound sledge hammer in 90 degree heat with 90% humidity. At the end of the day, the devil went to check on the man, only to find him smiling and singing as he pounded rocks. The man explained that the heat and hard labor were very similar to working...

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