The Dan Brown Code

Okay, I promise this will be the last post that I make before I go on Spring Break...

But, I had this thought last night while lying in bed. The unfortunate thing is that I don't have the creative ability to do something like this. I tend to limit my stories to anecdotes that relate to a moral...ie a homily/sermon. So, here's what I think someone should do.

We should do to Dan Brown what he has done to the Lord. Now I know what people are going to say, "Turn the other cheek, Father" and "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you, Father." That's exactly what I'm doing. Someone needs to point out how evil this type of literature is and one way we can do it is by doing to Dan Brown what he has done to our Lord. God will forgive him for blasphemy...if someone shows him that he has been blasphemous.

Here are some ideas: Start off with the same kind of caveat that he has, "This is a work of fiction, but there are some facts in it. In fact, there are a lot of facts in it." Then go on to say that Dan Brown is, in truth, Adolf Hitler who faked his own death. No, that's too evil. What about Elvis? No, too corney. Even better, Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth and it's impossible to kill him. I also thought you could say that "Dan Brown" isn't his real name, it's a code. I thought of his initials D. B. and thought they could mean "Database", as in Dan Brown is compiling a list of people throughout time (since he is immortal) and killing those who discover his attempts at world domination. You could also show a picture of him like this one and make up a story about it. Do it all under the banner of "fiction - with a lot of fact mixed in."

I think there's huge potential...maybe even a movie starring Tom Hanks!

Britain gone mad

Yesterday, while listening to BBC on my trusty Sirius Satelite Radio, I heard that a group of European doctors are angry that the US army is "force feeding" Guantanamo detainees. They say that people have the right to refuse treatment. My immediate thought was: how sad when Europe, that was a strong voice of ethical morality at one point, has gone so far astray. I even thought that, if what I'm hearing is true, Europe will soon be dead. Their abortifacient/contraceptive lifestyle has caused so few children to be born that they are not only not replacing themselves, they are killing themselves. And these are the "moral voices" that we should hear about Guantanamo Detainees?

Then, while perusing other blogs, I found a story about a church being charge 75 pounds for a cross. The city claims that it is an advertisement. The bloggers are asking if the same fee is charged for minarets on the tops of mosques. I don't particularly care about that, to be honest, because I think this is a most unjust law. This is truly the act of people who have lost their way. When churches are fined for identifying markers, it displays the hatred for religion that has developed in England and all of Europe. When you lose sight of God, God looses sight of you. When terrible things happen to Europe in the next few years, they have no right to ask where God is. They turned him away. He didn't turn away from them.

Monastic Spring Break

I'll be leaving Saturday to take a group of students to a monastery in Northern Missouri. I'll try to blog a couple of times more but I am probably going to be a little busy packing and getting organized. Please pray for us and for the monks and nuns we are visiting.

offer one compliment

Do you ever get tired of coworkers that can't seem to do anything but point out every time you make the slightest mistake?

I think we should all make an effort to (in hope) tell someone that they are doing a good job. That's the way we build people up and build up the kingdom of God

weird day in Iowa

The dream that I remember from last night was so bizarre that I can't help but mention it. I was the real son of Hulk Hogan and his wife. No explanation but I felt like I was imposing on them the whole time. They would throw dinner parties and introduce me around but my age kept shifting from being in my teens to being in my thirties. I was glad when I woke up. Too weird.

So, then I went to work and, a rumor has started to spread that I'm leaving my current assignment to go to Waterloo. The rumor mills are usually wrong but it cracks me up that they think the archbishop would move me again after just one year in an assignment. I'm probably staying put.

Then, Today, on March 7th in Iowa, there was a thunderstorm with hail! Not snow or freezing rain but the stuff we don't expect for another month, those April showers that bring May flowers.

I'm trying not to see ominous sings in all this but the archbishop is coming to town tonight...

Bishops and immigration

See, the church is not the religious right.

The Desert

I found myself reflecting on the desert and the covenant yesterday.

I remembered five years ago when we stopped somewhere in the Sainai Peninsula and spent a couple of hours in the desert. I was in my third year of seminary with my class from St. Paul Seminary needing a little time alone. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life spiritually.