Better Angels

I just joined this organization.  I wonder what it will come to?  But maybe it is a case of God shutting a door and opening a window for me.  I'm gone from the American Solidarity Party.  They just had their election of national committee officers.  The pro-life Democrat leaning side lost to the Monarchist-Chestertonian side.  I tended to side with the Pro-life Dems just on their more practical approach.  I think the monarchists* are absolutely absurd and honestly, I didn't want to be in such a small party that has such a big group of this type of people.  I can't even begin to tell you how absurd I find people wanting to identify as monarchists in a U.S. political party.  That tells me these people are living in a fantasy land that has little connection with reality.  First of all our country broke away from monarchy and deliberately created a different form of government.  So I find the idea of being a monarchist rather treasonous.  But on top of that, just how would we select a monarch if we decided that a constitutional monarchy was somehow a more superior form of government than a republic?  It's ludicrous.  And these people are really deluded by Chesterton's vague and general ideas of distributism.  I love Chesterton, and while I think some of the things he said about distributism are spot on, it is the not a realistic and complete view of how to humanize economics.  And to operate as if it were, is again to be disconnected from reality. 

I do really like the woman they elected to the national committee.  Maybe she can work a miracle.  She is practical, well-spoken and determined.  And unlike the pro-life Democratic-ish wing, she has much better people skills. They simply were too angry and insulting to others to build a consensus.  Not that I actually believe there was a possibility of consensus lurking somewhere.

So instead of going via third party, I think I'd rather work on promoting civil discourse.  We'll see!


Also, I kind of believe 'scratch a monarchist, find an anti-Semite. ' At least, when I did a little bit of research into monarchist groups, that's what I noticed.

Our Crowd by Stephen Birmingham

Our Crowd by Stephen Birmingham is a well written and often amusing social history of the rise of Jewish bankers in New York beginning in the mid 1800s and continuing through World War II.    It is really a story of a certain part of the history of New York City.   I had never really been interested in the rich people of New York.  I think because I was really more influenced by reading books like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and being interested in the muckraking and labor movements rather than the financial history of the city and those who struck it big.  For instance, I've never had any desire to read Edith Wharton novels.  They seem boring to me from the start!

Birmingham sets out to dispel the myth that there is some great international Jewish bankers conspiracy.  Jewish immigrants were a minority in the banking and finance industry dominated by such folks as J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller.  However some did hit the jackpot of being in the right place at the right time with the right skills.  There were German Jewish peasants or tradesmen who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1800s and by hard work, frugality and making felicitous and clever choices were able to profit from the booming, freewheeling economics of the time.

Birmingham focuses on the handful of families that made it big.  They intermarried like crazy, as they were socially isolated by their Jewishness, and their Germanness.  The author really focuses on the Seligman family, among others.  I'd never heard of these people before. The son of a German cloth weaver, the oldest son Joseph with two younger brothers immigrated to Pennsylvania to become peddlers.  They literally walked from town to town in the Allegheny mountains selling goods they could carry on their backs.  They slept out under the stars many times.  Slowly through clever business decisions and lots of sacrifice, they acquired a store.  The really big break came during the gold rush.  Instead of going out to California to pan for gold, they decided they set up a shop to serve the suddenly booming population.  One of the brothers, who had a fear of fire, rented one of the few brick buildings in downtown San Francisco.  When the great fire broke out, his store survived and he was essential to the recovery afterwards.

Oldest of 11 siblings, Joseph is the patriarch of the Seligman dynasty. 

From store keeping, which also dealt with loans and IOU's, they moved into banking.  I didn't quite understand the banking stuff.  I kind of glossed over the technicalities.  I don't understand money.  But this book really doesn't focus on that at all.  The author loves telling a good story.  These people are quirky, smart, lucky and colorful.  It's a fascinating story.  I learned a lot.  For instance, I had no idea that the Metropolitan Opera in NYC is basically the work of one rich Jewish banker, Otto Kahn who loved music and decided to devote his wealth to promoting it.

A dapper little man who was a great philanthropist, Otto Kahn.

From the gold rush, to cotton, to railroads to oil, the bankers and financiers of rough and tumble Wall St. of the day, were taking huge risks and making huge amounts of money.  The book also focuses on the antisemitism the Jewish immigrants had to face and how they dealt with it, each in their own way.  And for the German Jews, who had been so proud of their German heritage, the Holocaust and World War II were devastating and heartbreaking to them.

Reading about old New York made me really appreciate the video I have below.  I happened upon this on the internet while reading this book.  Birmingham is a fun writer who really creates a feeling of the time and all the personalities at play.

This book was written back in the 1960s, so it is a tad dated when it gets to talking about things like the great success of Sears, Roebuck and such.   Interestingly, this book was recommended to R by our pastor!  R is now reading another Birmingham history on the Russian Jews to New York.

Two thumbs up.  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

How Can We Foster Inspirations?

I'm reading the most wonderful book for my morning meditation.  It's called In the School of the Holy Spirit by Jacques Philippe.  I had never heard of this author.  But a couple weeks ago I asked Father Paul (sob:  he's moving in a few days to be pastor at another parish - we will miss him!) what book they were reading in his spiritual classics book club.  I joined that book club when it first started but then got too busy to stay in it.  Anyway, he said this book by Philippe.  Now that I've heard his name, I'm noticing people mentioning him all over the place!  It's like when you hear a new word and suddenly notice it everywhere. 

Anyway, this is such a lovely book.  It is written very simply and with wonderful depth.  I'm only in the second chapter but I am seeing connections to all sorts of things as I read.  I've been especially struck by his list of ways that we foster promptings of the Holy Spirit.  I just feel like listing them all out.

1. Practice praise and thanksgiving - a grateful heart opens you up to hear God's voice.
2.  Desire and ask for them -pray all the time to hear and do God's will.
3.  Resolve to refuse God nothing - God is love - we should be obedient to love.
4.  Practice filial and trusting obedience - if we are faithful in responding to God's call, he will send more.  Ask and you shall receive.
5.  Practice abandonment - even when bad things happen, we can discern God's voice in how to respond to them.
6.  Practice detachment - we can't receive motions of the Holy Spirit if we are rigidly attached to our possession, ideas and points of view.
7.  Practice silence and peace - maintain a peaceful heart as much as possible.
8.  Persevere faithfully in prayer - these attitudes that help us listen to God can only be acquired little by little - patience is key!
9.  Examine the movements of our hearts - learn to discern what is from God and what is from your own imagination.
10.  Open our hearts to a spiritual director

The little explanations that Father Philippe gives for each point are so rich and wise.  #3 made me think not only of my own attitude towards obedience to the Holy Spirit but a parent's relationship to a child and how to cultivate the desire for obedience in a child.  It tied right into the group read of Hold On To Your Kids - a purely secular book! 

And it also made me think of Catholics who have replaced the authority of Pope Francis and the USCCB, because they are too 'liberal,' with Trump as their moral compass, even to the point that they think his approach to dealing with immigrants and refugees is more sound morally than the hierarchy of their own Church!!!  Which is exactly, of course, the kind of disobedience that pro-choice people who claim to be Catholic do!!!!  There is a closed mindedness that champions obedience to their own point of view over obedience to the Holy Spirit. 

Anyway, this book is beautiful.  I am so glad the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask Father Paul about the book club!  It is just what I need at this point in my life.  Thank you, beloved Holy Spirit!

Update

The USCCB opened up their conference, which they just happened to be having, by denouncing Sessions' move as immoral.  Amen.

We don't know what is going to happen but it will probably take some months before anything does happen.  I had visions of ICE breaking down the door or something, but V is perfectly legal right now.  Her case is pending and her hearing date hadn't even been set, so we've got time.  It's just that when her hearing does happen, if the judge follows Sessions' announcement, her claim would be denied. She'd then have the right to appeal and according to Sessions, that appeal would then also be denied.  But she still must move through the process.  All this will probably take a while.  However, it is under Sessions' power to order that all these asylum cases be moved ahead scheduling-wise.  Even under that scenario, it will take some months.

People are scrambling to address the issue.  I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man.  He is pulling out all the stops that he can.  He's got such a sharp legal mind and he's methodically going through and finding all of Sessions' legal errors and weak legal reasoning.  He's been consulting with lots of experts and immigration lawyers.   It's wonderful to see him go!  I'm in love with him all over again.

I miscalculated and today is actually V's birthday.  B made her cupcakes last night.  We are going to be as celebratory as we can muster today.  We've got time and we've got a lot of good people on our side.  We won't panic but we will trust and do all we can. 

Feeling Paralyzed

Jeff Sessions has pulled the rug out from underneath us.  V's whole asylum claim is now null and void.  Our only hope is 1) it will take a long time to get to her case or 2) hope that there is an uproar and appeals prove effective.  Both of these though are extremely uncertain.  We didn't even tell her the news yesterday evening.  I don't think she knows.  What do we do when they come to deport her?  That's the fear that is paralyzing me.  I am so afraid for her and I can't believe we'll be parted from D.  How will he grow up?  What if V is killed?  Who raises this little boy?  On the other hand, it is unthinkable that she should leave him here.  He needs his mommy.  That would be so horrible to tear them apart, but he is a U.S. citizen. 

We don't know what to do or even if we can do anything.  Holy Spirit, why did you bring V and D into our lives if we really couldn't help them?

I really am very bitterly angry at people right now.  I can't stand the Catholics who have embraced this very anti-Catholic stance against fellow humans.  Honestly, even if you were going to overturn this reason for asylum, anybody with any sense of justice would grandfather in those who had already made the claim.  Because you really shouldn't change rules in the middle of the game.  That's unjust.

And I really do think it boils down to bigotry.  We are at an 18 year low in unemployment yet we have something like 6 millions job openings?  This is going to effect our economy.  And the Catholics who are so quick to defend Sessions, and Trump who has fostered this, don't you realized you are hurting fellow Catholics?  The majority of those effected are Catholic and if not Catholic, Christian.  It is just as I have predicted, the pro-life movement has been turned into the Left's caricature of it.  They don't care about women or the poor.  They actively seek to hurt them. They don't even care about children.  The children of illegal aliens and refugees don't matter. They only care about controlling women.   They have become tools of the devil. 

V's birthday is on Friday.  What should we do for her? 

Reflections on the Psalms - Book 13

This book was my morning meditation book for a couple of months.  I read it slowly, so it took a while, even though it is a fairly slim volume.  I actually read this book a long time ago, I think right after I had my second son who is now 23!  I didn't remember much except that I had enjoyed it.  Since I've been reading the Psalms more and more as my daily prayer guide via morning lauds (which I am the most regular about) and sometimes the Office of Readings and occasionally I'll read evening or night vespers as well, when I spied this book on my shelf, I thought:  time for a re-read!

What I like about Lewis' style is that he tackles the puzzling things about the Psalms that I kind of gloss over because I'm so used to them.  Every Mass prays a psalm between the first and second readings.  And many hymns are based on the Psalms, so they are familiar.  But they do have very puzzling aspects which I hadn't really thought about.   For instance, Catholics, no matter how good we might be, realize that we are sinners as well, so we rely on God's grace to justify us.  But in the Psalms the author is often asserting his own righteousness, talking about how he always loves and follows God's law, how he is faultless and that he never hangs out with sinners, etc.  Lewis says the psalmist's approach is that of someone pleading a civil case, bringing evidence before a judge.  The psalmist is trying to persuade the judge to side with him.  Understanding this angle really makes things resonate more because otherwise one can think that the psalmist is not sufficiently humble before the Lord.

Lewis goes into other aspects as well, the cursing psalms, the way nature is used in the psalms, the way demands are made, and many other subtle aspects.  I especially enjoyed the essay on second meanings, which is basically a brief primer on exegesis. 

Lewis writes in such an intelligent, straight forward, accessible way.  He really was brilliant.

Two thumbs up.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Health and Housework

I wanted to record my decluttering efforts, which haven't started up in full force yet.  I did clean out my dresser and a bit of my closet, but all those clothes are still in a basket in my room waiting for me to get them out of the house.  One obstacle is that I have only been buying these compostable plastic trash bags and they actually don't make very good discarding bags, but I keep forgetting to get the regular, non-eco-friendly bags.

This weekend a couple of things happened that made me feel a little raw emotionally.  I am still struggling with that.  I think it is compounded by the rainy weather we've been having for days.  I got very blue.  However, the sun came out yesterday and I think it is supposed to be nice today before it rains again tomorrow.

Yesterday, in an attempt to stop feeling so defeated by life, I determined to do something, anything to make the house better.  So I cleaned off one shelf of my fridge and I cleaned out my washer and ran it twice with very hot water, an extra rinse cycle and white vinegar.  I realized the washer was getting moldy and here we have B with mold issues.  The top of my dryer was piled high with lint and old bottles of detergent and sundry junk, so I cleaned that off too.

And while babysitting little D last night, I actually spent about 10 minutes just tidying, because junk just gets strewn all over the floor with an active 2 year old ruling the house.

I seem to have some weird cold where my head feels woozy off and on, my throat feels swollen off and on and I get really tired and suddenly have to take a nap.  Actually D had minor symptoms but then I took him grocery shopping with me last night and while we were in the store I could see him getting all stuffed up and beginning to develop a croupy cough.   S, too has been complaining of a sore throat and feeling really fatigued.  I am worried about him because we've dropped his med dosage in half and I think he's having a little trouble adjusting.  It wasn't apparent the first week, but I see glimmers of old issues coming back.  However, since he is at work all day and then hangs out mostly in his room once he gets home, plus the last couple of days he hasn't been feeling up to par, I'm not confident of my observations.

Today, I have to take my car in for two new tires.  V will have to drive me and we'll have to share the Suburu today while my minivan is in the shop.

Also today, B has to take a cortisol test.  She was feeling so much better and then she got a sudden anxiety attack or whatever you call it out of the blue.  I mean out of nowhere, she suddenly started hyperventilating and sobbing.  It was insane.  It only lasted a few minutes, but what the heck???  So now we are checking her cortisol.  We've done thyroid, mold, next thing is cortisol.  The test is crazy.  She has to spit enormous amounts of saliva into little bottles at 4 specified times today.  She can only have water one hour beforehand.  It must be frozen and then mailed off Fed Ex tomorrow morning.  So that's on the agenda today.  I am so nervous about sending her away to workcamp but she insists she'd more unhappy not going.  I think part of my problem is I have ptsd from dealing with my kids' mental health issues.

Ok.  I must make breakfast now.  Today I think I"ll do another shelf in the fridge and since the weather is supposed to be nice, I will clean off the back porch.  It is so gross.  It is covered in pet hair and pollen and the old, sick cat keeps peeing in the corners.  Sigh.  I've been avoiding dealing with that.  It's been too gross to face.  She's so old and sick and she looks horrible.  I'm so torn between having to put her down or not.  Ugh.  Also, I might spend 10 minutes dejunking the horrible, no good, very bad laundry room.

B has youth group tonight, so that will be her reward for spitting all day long and working on math, lit and history.

We'll see how the day goes.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie

This was a fun romp of a book.  In The Big Four, Hercule Poirot uncovers a dastardly plot to seize control of the whole world!  It's all recorded from the point of view of his earnest but slightly dimwitted side kick, Captain Hastings.  It started out a bit slow and Christie's outdated use and characterization of 'Chinamen" jarred a little, but overall a fun take off on international spy thrillers with Poirot at the helm.

This is the 5th book in the Hercule Poirot series.  Two thumbs up if you want a light mystery.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.