IT IS OFTEN said, accurately, that we are ruled by professional psychopaths, people who glory in lying and manipulating on an inconceivable scale. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Anthony Fauci are just a few of many psychopaths that have sat in the government. They have no conscience and no remorse about their lies. They are much more dangerous than serial killers. But as society degenerates on an inner level, we are more and more likely to encounter psychopaths in our personal lives. Family breakdown, atheism, militant political ideologies and a highly competitive spirit create manipulative personalities and an unleashed thirst for power and control over others. Tactics used by egotistical or "narcissistic" personalities are discussed here. Despite the psychological jargon, trendy wording and approval of family destruction in this piece (and the immodest image), it accurately describes some common strategies. One tactic is "name-calling:" Narcissists preemptively blow anything they perceive as a threat to their superiority out of proportion. In their world, only they can ever be right and anyone who dares to say otherwise creates a narcissistic injury that results in narcissistic rage. As Mark Goulston, M.D. asserts, narcissistic rage does not result from low self-esteem but rather a high sense of entitlement and false sense of superiority. The lowest of the low resort to narcissistic rage in the form of name-calling when they can’t think of a better way to manipulate your opinion or micromanage your emotions. Name-calling is…

The Lad’s Love By The Gate
— Fay Inchfawn

Down in the dear West Country, there’s a garden where I know
The Spring is rioting this hour, though I am far away —
Where all the glad flower-faces are old loves of long ago,
And each in its accustomed place is blossoming to-day. (more…)

"A client does all in his power to secure his patron's influence and favor. Art thou not weak and miserable in the highest degree? Dost thou not stand in need of the aid and protection of this gracious and powerful Virgin? Dost thou not need the intercession of this Mother of Mercy, to enable thee to find favor with her Son, thy Creator and thy Judge? Therefore I urge thee to render all possible homage to her throughout this month, and make it thy daily endeavor to become more worthy of her powerful intercession." ---The Very Rev. Father Beckx, Month of Mary; 1884  

"OUR fidelity to little things, commonplace duties, is a truer index of love than the acceptation of greater difficulties. It requires great strength of character and solid virtue to do little things well. There is no human applause to be won, nothing to arouse enthusiasm, no consciousness that we are doing something praiseworthy. To be gentle and patient at home, to keep one’s temper month after month amid the friction and petty annoyances which we encounter in our daily life, needs more courage than it requires to perform some heroic act at which the world marvels. All have not the opportunity of doing great things, but all can be faithful in little things, and so merit to hear from the lips of our dear Lord the 'Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" — Madame Cecilia, Cor Cordium  

The human heart craves and seeks unceasingly for happiness. Many find but a small measure of happiness in this world, because they lose sight of their eternal destiny— the object of their creation— which is to know God, to love Him, to serve Him, and to be happy with Him forever. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’’ (Matt, xxii, 33, gg.) The whole law depends on these two commandments; so Our Lord Himself assures us. The fullest measure of happiness even here on earth is attained by harmonizing one’s conduct with the commandments of God, by doing well one’s duties to God and man; for this means the possession of a peaceful conscience, a clean heart, a sinless soul; and this is essential to happiness." --- Rev. F.X. Lasance Remember: Thoughts on the End of Man, Four Last Things, Passion of Christ, Human Suffering, Humility and Patience (1936)  

  "SINCE the time he was a young boy and his grandmother sewed him a purple dress and told him how beautiful he looked, Walt Heyer had struggled with transgenderism. Through elementary school and high school, where he was a successful student and athlete with a beautiful girlfriend, he hid his secret identity as a woman, and continued to do so through college and prestigious careers at both NASA and Honda, until he went through destructive therapy sessions and became an alcoholic, losing his job and nearly all of his respect. But then something changed--while sitting with a friend who was praying for him, he saw Christ, who promised Walt that "you are now safe with Me forever."  

FROM A Folk History of Slavery in the United States, From Interviews with Former Slaves, compiled by the Federal Writers Project, 1936-38:

Cordelia lives in a small shack with some friends. She is quite an actor and a tireless teller of yarns. She still ties her head up in a white rag and has large eyes set far apart and a very flat nose. She is ebony colored. She is a firm believer in her religion and she enjoys shouting on any occasion for joy or for sorrow.

“White folks tells stories ’bout ‘ligion. Dey tells stories ’bout it kaise dey’s ‘fraid of it. I stays independent of what white folks tells me when I shouts. De Spirit moves me every day, dat’s how I stays in. White folks don’t feel sech as I does; so dey stays out. Can’t serve God all de time; allus something getting in de way. Dey tries me and den I suddenly draps back to serving de Holy God. Never does it make no difference how I’s tossed about. Jesus, He comes and saves me everytime. I’s had a hard time, but I’s blessed now—no mo’ mountains.

“Ever since I a child I is liked white folks. Dey’s good and dey does not know why dey tells stories ’bout Jesus. I got a heap mo’ in slavery dan I does now; was sorry when Freedom got here. I ‘specks I is nigh to a hundred, but dat’s so old. I jest calls myself any whars twixt seventy-five and a hundred. I recollects slavery, though. Ma was Charlotte Anderson and she lived in Union County wid de Tuckers, jest across from de Richards Quarter.

“Biggest sight I ever see’d was dat balloon when it come down on Pea Ridge. De man in it everybody addressed as Professor (Prof. Lowe—1861). He let uncle Jerry git in it. Mr. McKissick helped uncle Jerry up in it. It was de first balloon ever come to Union county, and ’til dis day I don’t like no balloons. (more…)

FROM The Undermining of the Catholic Church (Christian Book Club of America, 2007) by journalist Mary Ball Martinez:

Integral Humanism, not unlike the theories of Teilhard de Chardin, envisions religions of every kind converging toward a single human ideal in a world civilization wherein all men will be reconciled in justice, love and peace. Friendship among men will guide all life toward a mysterious accomplishment of the Gospel. As the French theologian Henri Le Caron explains, “Integral Humanism is a universal fraternity among men of good will belonging to different religions or to none, even those who reject the idea of a creator. It is within this framework that the Church should exercise a leavening influence without imposing itself and without demanding that it be recognized as the one, true Church. The cement of this fraternity is twofold, the virtue of doing good and an understanding grounded in respect for human dignity.

“This idea of universal fraternity”, continues Le Caron, “is neither new nor original. It was already advanced by the philosophers of the eighteenth century and by the French revolutionaries of 1789. It is also the fraternity beloved of Freemasons and Marxists. What distinguishes [philosopher Jacques] Maritain’s humanism [in 1936] is the role it allocates to the Church. Within the universal fraternity the Church is to be the inspiration and the Big Sister, and it goes without saying that if she is to win the sympathy of her little brothers, she must neither be intransigent nor authoritarian. She must learn how to make religion acceptable. She must be practical rather than dogmatic.” (more…)

"GOD wants one religion and many nations; the devil wants many religions and one nation." -- Fr. Denis Fahey  

TO AN OLD TEAPOT
— Fay Inchfawn

Now from the dust of half-forgotten things,
You rise to haunt me at the year’s Spring- cleaning,
And bring to memory dim imaginings
Of mystic meaning.

No old-time potter handled you, I ween,
Nor yet were you of gold or silver molten;
No Derby stamp, nor Worcester, can be seen,
Nor Royal Doulton.

You never stood to grace the princely board
Of monarchs in some Oriental palace.
Your lid is chipped, your chubby side is scored
As if in malice. (more…)

ANTONY C. BLACK at Unz Review has written a review of Nick Kollerstom's book: The Holocaust: Myth and Reality. Black's review is a good summary of the book and the issues involved.  

I WAS listening to Easter music on the radio while making dinner on Sunday when the programming was interrupted for a sermon by an Anglican minister. Her name was Judy or Elizabeth, I can't recall which. There was nothing particularly offensive about the text of her Easter message, but I wondered who was making Easter dinner at Canon Judy's house. Jesus chose only men for His Apostles for a reason. St. Paul enjoined against women preaching for a reason. We know that their momentous decisions had to do with hierarchy and social order. We know women have other things to do. There was a reason women were the first to learn of the Resurrection. They were favored by God -- men have said --  because of their ardent love. The Holy Women went to the tomb on Easter morning to dress the body of Jesus, a perfectly feminine way of expressing the depth of their devotion. It was for women to repair the damage done by Eve when they found the tomb empty. Women are not needed at pulpits or on altars. The fact that they dominate churches is one sign that we live in a wilderness without true altars. Mary Magdalene retired to a cave for the rest of her life after the events of the Resurrection. There, she contemplated the great mysteries she had witnessed. In the stillness, her love only grew.  

"FOR regular people, good architecture is about beauty. For contemporary architects, good architecture is an intellectual game." --- Architects Against Humanity  

"SIMON PETER, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked) and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the ship (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits) dragging the net with fishes." Paintings of the scene on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. The blog Ad Imaginem Dei features artworks depicting this scene: The setting on the shore of the great lake, the misty morning light, the catch, the recognition of the Risen One, the sharing of bread and fish, recalling both the miraculous feeding of the multitudes and the Last Supper combine to create the mysterious reality of this apparition. Ghosts may appear, but they don’t cook and share meals with their friends. It is surprising, then, that these verses have not inspired more works of art. One of the aspects of this passage, which may have caused difficulties for artists and their advisors is how to distinguish this scene from other, very similar, scenes, i.e., the miraculous draught of fish associated with the calling of the apostles or the scene in which Peter leaves the boat and attempts to walk on water.  The differences between these scenes and that of the post-Resurrection encounter described by John are sometimes subtle. Among the elements that hint at the post-Resurrection scene are:  Jesus stands on the shore, not on the water,…

ALAN writes:

My mother took this color slide on Easter Sunday in 1965.  It shows our good friend Lynn and her children Lori and Mark.  I wrote about them four years ago (“Remembering a ‘60s Housewife”, The Thinking Housewife, Sept. 4, 2018).

They are standing here in the back yard of the four-family flat on Dewey Avenue where all of us lived that year, in a residential area of south St. Louis.  We met them in 1963 and remained friends for ten years.

It was along the walkway in this picture (lower right) that I walked at the noon hour on schooldays in 1962-64, through the yard, up on the porch, and then into our kitchen where my grandfather had a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup ready for me.

It was in this back yard in July 1965 that we celebrated his 86th birthday.

It was in this back yard that my father and I set up our small telescope and taught ourselves to identify stars, planets, constellations, and artificial satellites.  It was here that we first viewed Jupiter and its four large moons, the ringed planet Saturn, the planet Venus, and stars like Altair, Deneb, Arcturus, Capella, and Vega.  On winter nights, we found Orion’s belt and followed it to Sirius, a scintillating beacon in the black sky.  In the hour before dawn and in my winter coat, I ventured outside to see planets in the eastern sky as the lovely melody of Bert Kaempfert’s “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” played in my head.  How well I remember the moon rising above the row of small houses on 37th Street and the challenge of viewing the brilliant red star Antares, low in the southern sky, through layers of air on summer nights.

It was here in this yard and this house that I discovered the joy of playing with uncorrupted children who were just discovering the ways and wonders of life.  Although I was terribly stupid, evidently I did something right, because Lori, at age 1½, trusted me from the day we met, as did Mark a year later.  Of course prolonged periods of peace between them alternated with occasional expressions of sibling rivalry.  And what a temper Lori had. (more…)