Heavens To Betsy

The history of Betsy Ross definitely deserves this new look.

As the article discusses...the only image of her we have in our minds is that of a dutiful seamstress.  Not a whole person.  Not a vibrant woman.

Never Give Up; Never Surrender!

When last visiting Keera's blog, A Roll In The Universe , I saw a very funny video !  Hope Beyoncé doesn't mind the spoof :)  It shows some middle-aged women dancing to one of B.'s tunes, with their own lyrics ;)  Check it out!

One day I am sure these lyrics will apply to me...um, like today, maybe.  I have very few mirrors in my home and I plan on keeping it that way so I won't be quite sure what I look like.  I have a bit more confidence that way.

And I dance, sometimes, when I'm home alone.  With the curtains closed.

  I know I rarely think of what anyone actually looks like; I think of who they ARE, at least who I think they are!  But I also know I'm kind of a ditzy airhead and that a lot of people judge by whether or not one's appearance is close enough to the current ideal.

Hopefully some people can see beauty somewhere within even the sagging soggy waters of aging, and of what life does to us when we are not looking.  I'm never going to give up looking for those people. Or give up dancing, even if only in my dreams.

Catholic Priests And Children

My mother is a good Catholic and I was raised to be one.  I was pretty devout, for a child.  But when I made my Confirmation I expressed some doubts and was reassured by a west-coast, laid-back, easygoing priest.  Not like some of the fireandbrimstones I'd seen in some east coast churches.

I guess I'm still Catholic because the Rosary is an important part of meditation and spirituality for me.  I also can access my spiritual side in cathedrals, around stained glass windows, and in humble places as long as they have the familiar Mass going on which brings me back to my childhood and makes the timeline of my life a circle instead of zip line.

But there are so many areas where I disagree with the Church that if I were famous enough to be noticed by the Pope I would be excommunicated.  And the Pope, along with the Churce hierarchy, have always made me uncomfortable in that they seem to have a lavish lifestyle and quite a bit of pride in their worldly power, things which don't remind me of Jesus Christ.

I have thought for a long time that priests should be allowed to marry if they so choose.  Not because I am horrified by the thought of gay priests, but because I think having some married priests would help the Church to become more savvy about what hetero couples and their children experience in life.  And yes I think Catholics should accept gays and treat them simply as other human beings; look how Jesus treated the then-despised Samaritans.

Needless to say, the abuse of children by priests makes me literally sick.  And the cover-up of such actions makes me extremely angry.  How dare the Church not put the children, the innocent victims, first.  Imagine having this happen to you as a child and then having your devoutly Catholic family not believe you when you tried to tell them about it.  Too horrific to even contemplate, and this is coming from someone whose life has not really been the proverbial bed of roses (except for the thorns.  I know a lot about thorns.)

I lived in Rhode Island for a year in 1969-70.  What this woman experienced as a girl was...for the grace of God, there go I.  My heart goes out to her.

And what the Church did?  An abomination before God.

Pedophiles are not always able to help their compulsions.  I can understand and even sympathize with mental illness.  I know there are some who have begged to be locked up or even put to death.  This is the kind of thing I think the mental institutions we used to have might be good for.  With the caveat that the enforced lockup has to be for lifetime, not some legalistic definition of lifetime as four or five years.

Anyway.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/17/ireland.abuse.abroad/index.html