Remember These?

Remember going to the library, and checking out a book?

First, you'd go to the card catalogue system, and thumb through thousands of index cards that were either handwritten, or typed with the title, author and other pertinent information. Then, you'd wander the stacks of musty smelling books until you found the one you were looking for - or the section that held your favorite author.

My favorite part of the old library system though, was the cards inside the book where you wrote your name and the librarian used a stamp to sternly imprint the date that this book was returned to the library.

I loved getting the older books that contained tons of names and different signatures. I'd try to imagine what the other people who had checked out the book were like. Sometimes I'd study the dates to see if I could tell if someone had NOT returned a book on time... or perhaps they returned it early because they hadn't like it. In this case, "Mamie" liked the book so much that she checked it out twice!

I just finished reading a book that contained an old receipt like this picture. The person I borrowed it from has but their name on the list.

The previous reader had borrowed it 31 years ago.

In Search of...

Catholic Culture.

Don't worry. This isn't a whiney, 'there's no culture anywhere' post. I'm actually looking for interesting Catholic traditions that might include semi-regional customs for Catholic feast days. For instance, see my earlier blog on the invention of croissants, and the introduction of coffee into the Western world.

I recently learned of a custom related to All Souls Day that involves children going from door to door offering to pray for the souls of departed members of the household in exchange for food. They were given pieces of bread made of water and floor that were called "dry bones" because they were baked in the shape of bones, signifying the dead, and because of their "lack" of tasty ingredients.

I'm particularly looking for All Saints Day and Advent customs. The more the merrier!!

No Cussin

Here's a good post about not 'cussing.'

I'd like to add my own thoughts to the matter.

1) Cursing does not make you a better baseball player. I'm sure that there was no cursing on this team!! (I know that this picture doesn't really go with the theme, but it was so neat that I wanted to post it and had to tie it in somehow.

2) There's nothing worse than hearing a woman or a child curse or swear. It totally strips the woman of any dignity and represents her to have an utter lack of decorum and grace. Its like watching a girl try to spit just so that she can 'fit in with the guys'. What I never understood - guys won't date other guys, so acting like one doesn't get you brownie points... or a date.

3) NOT cursing definitely sets you apart, and decreases the amount of swearing that goes on around you. I've never told any of my coworkers NOT to swear, but they try not to around me, and apologize when they do. Ahhh... the power of suggestion.

4) Cursing makes you sound like a broken record... as if there are no original thoughts in your head and you keep playing the same tune over and over again. Give it a break already!!

5) St. James said that if you can control your tongue then you have conquered the man. With that said, control of speech beginning with cursing and ending with gossip and detraction certainly are the basis for living a holy life.

6) People say that if they curse less, people pay more attention to them when they do curse. While that may be true... isn't it true that in times of anger, frustration or pain those words wouldn't even be on the tip of your tongue if you're not already in the habit of cursing???

7) My personal favorite: Do you kiss your mother with that mouth??

Just wondering...

There are Riches, and Then There's Money.

Simply put, I'm wondering if keeping a substantial savings account, with no particular purpose in mind, might be considered harmful as it lead one to rely more on their own power of providing than on God's providence.

Jesus makes it quite clear in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew that this life is fleeting . Further, since this life is simply a preparation for the grand finale, we need to spend our resources on preparing for that, and not spending our time on the dress rehearsal.

It made me think about my savings account. Usually, the number is around zero-ish but despite that fact I've had some great opportunities including travel to 7 European countries and a few areas in the United States. I had stayed at home, and not taken any of those trips, its hard to figure out how much richer I'd be...

On a limited income, these trips certainly made me frugal. When I had to buy my own lunch in Rome during my college semester, most lunches consisted of leftover rolls from dinner the night before (which were from breakfast the morning before), peanut butter brought from the States, and fruit - again, from dinner the night before. On feast days or for a treat, we might purchase cheese and nutella from the local market. There was also a trip in Spain where we ate a roll and coffee for breakfast, skipped lunch, and found an inexpensive dinner. Again, we had bread and peanut butter in case there were any real emergencies.

Of course, I don't think its really a sin to have a savings account, especially if one is saving for their family, future family or future plans. Yet, Jesus does point out that there is a virtue in living as if we may be taken from this world at any moment, and we should spend our resources, time and talent in becoming holier and closer to Our Lord.

I do remember a certain pride as I came home from my semester in Rome with a credit card small balance, and one US dollar in my purse. I had spent three months in Rome, and visited Florence, Subiaco, Venice, Florence, Assisi, Orvieto, Pamplona, Avila, Toledo, Madrid and southwest Ireland. I was able to attend daily Mass at St. Peter's, attend the station churches during Lent and celebrated Easter Week with the Holy Father.

All in all, you might say that I'd be richer if I hadn't spent the semester in Rome - but you could only say that if you were counting richness in dollars.

Why Some Women Don't Sew

There's a funny story about why the women in my family don't sew, and it goes like this:

My grandmother was darning socks one day as she sat in her rocking chair. She dropped the spool of thread, and she leaned over the chair to catch the thread which was rolling out of her reach. As she leaned, she tipped the chair over, catching her foot under the weight of the chair - and her own weight - breaking her ankle. She declared that she would never darn another sock again. Consequently, my mother doesn't sew.

It makes me wonder what other fine arts & family traditions have been lost due to similar tragedies...