[benj]

Wow, that looks amazing. Do you cook a lot, Nate?

I need to eat some dinner.

[Tony]

Okay, when did you turn your blog back on?

*Adds Nate back into his subscription list*

[Nate]

Originally Posted by benj

Wow, that looks amazing. Do you cook a lot, Nate?

Yes. I cook quite a bit. I love to cook.

In His love,
Nate

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Tony

Okay, when did you turn your blog back on?

I didn't. Lee reopened it so that he could post a survey in here, and I figured that I might as well start posting again since it got reopened.

In His love,
Nate

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Nate

I didn't. Lee reopened it so that he could post a survey in here, and I figured that I might as well start posting again since it got reopened.

In His love,
Nate

So it's Lee's fault (again)?

Coolness...

[Nate]

Yes... it's all Lee's fault.

I ordered some mandolin strings today, 'cause I'm getting tired of the craptastic Martin's that are on it now. That's all Guitar Center had in stock last time I changed the strings (which was really only the first time I changed the strings, if you don't count the initial change from whatever the crap was on the thing when I bought it). I got D'Addario FT74's, which are essentially semi-flatwound strings. I bought them mostly because I've been picking up a slightly noticeable tone-quality change between my G and D strings and my A and E strings. Typically, the G and D are wound and the A and E are just plain steel, and I think it's the fact that the A is not wound that's giving me the sort of uncomfortable sound. The E is high enough that it sounds just fine, and it couldn't possibly be wound anyway. The FT74's were about the only set of mando strings I could find that had wound G, D, and A strings. I'm going to check them out and see how they sound. Now I just have to work on my technique so that I can actually make the strings sound as good as they ought to.

In His love,
Nate

[Nate]

I've been mulling over something that was said at my piano professor's funeral. My professor's daughter read a eulogy-ish thing that she had written. It became clear throughout the reading that my professor's daughter was a pretty staunch feminist and pretty anti-religious as well. She spoke pretty irreverently of the priest that was there (though not in a derogatory way) [she also did not follow the standard "The Word of the Lord" declamation when she participated in the Scripture readings during the Mass, if I remember correctly], she praised my piano professor's "living of feminism" (which I never really noticed, actually, and still don't really see), and she ended her reading with something that I found pretty offensive and thought was highly inappropriate. She ended the reading by speaking about my piano professor's love for her husband, and she concluded the entire reading with something that read something like "I know that even now she will find a way to guide you... and heaven help the God that tries to stand in her way."

To me, that was a blatant mockery of everything that Christianity stands for. The hope of Christianity is eternal life with God, the beatific vision of Christ, and the glorification and transformation of ourselves. It is that very hope that I did, in fact, see at times in my piano professor. If my piano professor was truly a Christian, that is what she is enjoying right now and Christianity would have us believe that that is enough for her, and will be enough for us. It's nice to entertain thoughts about the dead trying to come back and reach us or guide us, and it can certainly be comforting, but it flies right in the face of what Christianity clearly teaches us. It's like people such as my piano professor's daughter want to believe in the eternal happiness, peace, and rest that heaven entails, without having to believe in all the tougher stuff such as the majesty of God and the saints' and angels' eternal worship before His throne. She thinks heaven will be boring, apparently; something that the saints will wish to draw themselves away from in order to come back here and see their loved ones again. How crazy! How absurd! How ridiculous! When we truly see God as He is, we will have seen the best that there is to see, and we will have seen true love. I can't help but think that at that moment, we will realize all the things we thought were best and truest here on earth were mere shadows cast by the eternal light of the glory of God. Why on earth (or, why in heaven, actually) would anyone want to leave the light to return to the shadows?

Furthermore, the feminism in her closing remarks did not escape me. Modern feminism holds as its central belief, not the inherent rights of women, as feminism once did, but the inherent independence and self-authority of women. This, once again, flies directly in the face of what Christianity teaches. We are taught that one of the defining characteristics of a truly feminine woman is submission, submission to her husband, to others, and to Christ. (we are, of course, also taught that we are all to submit to one another out of love, and, most importantly, that we are all to submit to Christ as a Bride to Her Husband) True femininity, according to Christianity, consists not in independence or in self-authority (I think self-determinism might be a better word here, actually), but in submission, to a husband, to others, but primarily to Christ. We are all feminine in regards to Christ, insofar as we rightfully submit to Him. It is not truly anti-feminist to submit to God, or to anyone else, for that matter. It is, however, truly anti-feminist to say "heaven help the God who tries to stand in her way." And, yet, that was my piano professor's daughter's closing remark, which sounded from her voice as though she fully intended it to be a feminist battle cry.

I just thought that it was particularly odd to hear these things in the context of a Catholic funeral, where we are gathered, supposedly, to celebrate the passing of a saint from this world into the world without end. Her speech came off as very anti-Catholic, very anti-Christian, and very anti-religion in general, to me. It's just been rolling around in my head for awhile because I found it so striking and disturbing.

In His love,
Nate

[Kati]

That is disturbing. And, unfortunately, sounding awfully similar to a Catholic funeral I attended a few years back. It upset me at the time too...although I was more busy being disgusted with the "everyone will end up in heaven no matter what" idea that seemed to pervade the entire thing.

Originally Posted by Nate

I just thought that it was particularly odd to hear these things in the context of a Catholic wedding...

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Kati

Ahahaha.... oops.

[Nate]

Random thought of the moment:

I think that I think too much. Seriously. Do you think so?

[Leboman]

Originally Posted by Nate

Random thought of the moment:

I think that I think too much. Seriously. Do you think so?

I thought about it and then realized that I was thinking too much. What do you think?

[benj]

I think too much at night. My mind races. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I hate it.

[Leboman]

Originally Posted by benj

I think too much at night. My mind races. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I hate it.

My mind used to race a lot but it kept hitting the wall in turn four. It has now been permanently parked in the garage.

[benj]

Did you have ads plastered to your brain like they do in NASCAR? I do.

[Leboman]

Originally Posted by benj

Did you have ads plastered to your brain like they do in NASCAR? I do.

No....but I could've gotten cigarette and beer endorsements back in the day.