Clap your hands except to that.......

Hey all,
Now I know some of you think I am going to tear into clapping for the band or choir after they finished their song at the end of Mass. Yes I know that clapping is not to be done in Church but this is not my subject today. Today I would like to talk about how through out life Christ shapes you. Now I do not mean by the Sacraments I mean by his hands. Ever look back with awe and think to yourself "Man I used to love that and now I don't" often it feels weird so we shrug it off. However should we? Or can we pray to God with great fervor and realize we are the jars he is the maker. For some this is a very tough thing to acknowledge in our lives due to the fact we like to think (with our I centered ego) that we run things and God is like the sports trainer and sits on the sidelines until called. If you carry this idea and only talk to God when you need something lose it! God is the head coach and we run the plays he gives us, now does this mean we are a robot? No because you are only really free once you have accepted that God runs the show. So yes you could turn away from God's advice and do your own thing "there is that ego word again" but I highly recommend against it. Each of us are human, Christ came to save us and to prove that a life without sin can be done. So when I say ego I do not always have to use the word ego because anytime you choose self over God you have used ego. I know better how to deal with this than Christ, Many will deny it because ego does not like to be exposed. You see if it can be admitted to and exposed it can be defeated. A deep examination should be under taken anytime you mind and heart present that ole feeling of "well I'm not that bad" or any such excuse dig deeper ego hides well in excuses and the lies we tell ourselves to make us feel good.

A little change of gears here on God being the maker and we being the jars. It begins almost unnoticed and we fail to see it for many years. You used to love that trike but it is headed for the trash when you get a bicycle. You like the bike because you can go further and explore more of the world. So realizing there is nothing you can do without God. At this very moment in your life he increases your exposure to the world so you can begin to see his mighty work. Years pass and other things do also, you want a XBOX with kinect instead of playing tag. why you may ask? simple everybody else is doing it. These are the most dangerous years of life. From 11 to 20 you will make some of the most important and challenging decisions of your life and many will take a toll on your own life. It starts as a "hey everybody does it man". This is when you face decisions on alcohol,drugs,pre-marital sex and how you learn to treat other people. It is also where you learn to be a sheep or a leader. A sheep wears everything the popular people wear act like them talk like the and even treat others the same as them. Being yourself and handing God the controls is so much easier it is something I wish I had done at that time. I was a bit of a loner in high school and to this day I am much the same. After many weeks in the mental and detox wards in the mental hospital I saw things that will have a lasting effect on me. I was there for depression many were there for addiction. I saw a 20 year old who thought nobody cared for him as his Mother put down everything he did and most of his friends did not want to hear of his problems. He was suicidal explaining to him in group that we was never alone was at times was difficult. However you would not believe the things we had in common it was Erie. So as I was sitting there we became a Band of Brothers, sometimes yes we have issues but we know that in this group we are never alone God is with us and we are with each of us always.

So you have a car and you avoided most of the snares of childhood and the late teen years. Your taste in music has changes 3 or 4 times as you went from what your parents liked to your early taste of music and then you settled. However if your over 50 please don't give me any of this rap stuff. it is pathetic to watch. Then you see her (the one) is it love or lust? If your divorced within 1-3 years yeah it was in all likely hood it was lust. Marriage is something God gave us that is very special and should never be ended by divorce. It is a time when two become one and yes you do change it usually is never noticed how big a change of life it is. If you are one of these party mongers who party every weekend and every night. You become after time more and more home centered and your party buddies fade away. Suddenly you have new friends and even with these new friends is a danger. Many "Born again" evangelical faiths seem to think you need to be rescued as a Catholic and try to get you to accept their faith. These are not friends they are glory hounds who will let the world know that they converted a Catholic notice I did say they converted not God converted. Sometimes it is sad to see but these converts go home to the Catholic Church because they just don't feel right. There is a whole deep inside them that must be filled and that is the Catholic Church.

What brought me to this point is no more that 5 years ago I was a solid country western fan, I liked all the songs that went to NR one and listened to the newest hits possible. Toby Keith was on the radio today (One of my favorites) singing a song called Red Solo Cup. I had to change to channel to a classic country station. This somehow said allot to me as I began to realize that I am not done yet and Christ is still working with the clay that I am. The changes in life are never hard to make because they often are never noticed. Perhaps if we see that Christ is still working with us and our race is not done we could all stand up and say enough and fix the near porn on TV the cussing in video games and release the hold that the world tries to pin on us so we may move deeper into a relationship with Christ. Dare we dream of a day that TV was like it was in the mid sixties. Or radio was like it was in the middle sixties. And every person was treated equally and judged upon their skills not the color of their skin. Amen I say Lord let it come let it come.
God Bless you all in your lives and be as the mouse. serve God in secret so he can see in secret and reward you.

Finally back!

Hello all,

I am finally back from a beast of a stay in the hospital. Apparently I was suffering from a bad case of depression. If you have ever had it I need say nothing more. I am going to run a fine line between politics and faith here. As I have said Catholics have no business in politics but to observe is never a bad thing as unless informed we can all make a poor decision. I will ignore the Democratic side as they hold the oval office,  The Republican side is a big jumbo list of people. So here goes my handicap of the 2012 primaries and the who the next President will be.
Mitt Rommny - The current front leader of the herd, He is well spoken and has knowledge of most issues. His attempt at trying to create a social medication policy (like Obama's) is likely to drag him down by Jan-Feb.
Herman Cain- Loved this guy earlier on and was clearly second to Mitt in the run off. But with his terrible 9-9-9 economic plan was horrible followed by the accusations of sexual molestation has all but sunk him already. Yesterday he came in at third in national polls behind Rommney and Gingrich. He is already gone he just won't accept fact that he is done yet.
Rick Perry - Being a Texan it is hard to say it but Perry is already gone. Forgetting his 4th agency and then looking like a idiot before all America. He isn't toast just yet nah he is burnt toast.
Bachman (as much as I love her anti-abortion stance is done as are the rest). Everybody else accept one you must pardon me but I have forgotten them already. I still wish Rick Santourman was in there or got a massive attraction to his campaign but not going to happen. His VP chance is good and hopefully he will be in the mix.
Newt Gingrich- This is the man I expect to win. in less than 4 months the economy as well as foreign policy are going to be horrible by election day. Americans are (for some the first time) are looking at the issues and asking very direct questions. Newt Gingrich is the man just because he has the knowledge to fix it and put this nation back at the top in the list. Watching the debates he does not give in to these petty debate arguments he stands above staying above all the baloney and only when a how would you fix the problem does he reply. He gives facts and figures that add up to the end a answer that everybody understands. People like him but not at first he has to grow on you a second. Once there he ends up being the man. Now understand I am not saying he is your man actually nor mine but he will be the nominee.
I should say some about Ron Paul he is qualified and quite ready to be the next President. However if you read the polls behind the polls he is liked allot 58% approval rating. But if asked will you vote for him that approval number don't cook the turkey. He comes out with 22%. He is a self acknowledged rebel and people see him as a right wing isolationist wacko and will never elect him. I do promise back to the actual subject on Sunday.

A break for a needed hospital trip

I will be in the hospital from Thursday to friday after next. For issues related to my disability. I will repost a week from Saturday barring a longer than expected hospital stay. God Bless you !

For tonights post I tip my hat to www,getreligion.org

I advise you to watch the film clip as it is a horrific display of how these occuoy movements worldwide have fringe groups that do dispicable things while the world media to include the USA ignore these event as non-news worthy.

Politics and The Holy Roman Catholic Church and a few words about MS Sarandons error in refering to the Holy Father as a Nazi

It comes every four years and starts earlier every year. Yep you guessed it the Presidential Primaries are on their way. The promises flow enemies are made and strange partnerships arise. But as a Catholic what is our role in politics? To my understanding my opinions are formed by reading the Bible and looking at canon law etc... It is a somewhat tricky subject. Many will hang me in effigy for my opinions but here we go. One caveat I do not speak for the Catholic church and have no authority to do so. What I do is pray and what comes to my heart I voice. With that said here we go.
In my humble opinion the Holy Roman Catholic Church has very little to do with politics. "Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's. Now this does not totally remove raising our voices to our Congress person when a bill is to be voted on that Catholics as a whole have a opinion on. Bills or this nature would include bills on Abortion, Education, the welfare of our old and young, euthanasia and bills that create a social policy that  The Holy Father finds either just or objectionable.
Let us take a look at one example. Please understand I do not take a political position in the coming statements. On my car sits a bumper sticker it is not kind but makes a very important statement. The bumper sticker reads Nancy Pelosi is a ardent Catholic and I'm the Easter Bunny. Still yet there is a less kind bumper sticker that reads Catholics who support abortion giving Christ a bad name since 1973. Yes these are harsh but the stated position of The Holy Roman Catholic Church states that abortion is the taking if a human life, so we can all call it what it is murder of a unborn child. 4,000 fetuses die by the cruelest means ever seen. They are basically torn apart by suction remember this is 4,000 souls killed each day. That is more people that died on 9/11. We hold memorials to them but who mourns the 4,000 souls? I know one who definitely does. In the Bible God states. I have known you before you were born and I know the numbers of hair on your head. Wow we as a nation are killing children who God has known for a eternity. As you see the Catholic has a right to opinion as long as it does not stand against the main teachings of the Church as I have just shown. This is far different than taking up a liberal or conservative cause that acknowledges violence and marching down the street being violent also. Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world if he would bow before him. But Jesus sent the Devil away empty handed and rejected the power over all those kingdoms. It seems to me he was not real interested in politics. Some accuse Catholics just puppet what the Pope says. Catholics have opinions like anybody else however we are bound on issues like abortion, the death penalty or other such decrees of the Holy Fathers Church. Some don't like a new priest in the parish. Their opinion true but it should be kept to himself to not bring dissension to the Church. We are sitting here in this world but we are told not to be part of it. So politics is an arena we should leave alone unless we feel drawn by Christ to enter that arena to fulfill his desire to work with you to bring about his plan. Sometimes it seems so hard to escape this world and not be a part of it. When you feel this way remember you are human and all those bad things are still roaming around out there waiting to trip you up. When you trip pray ask God to help you in any matter he will never allow you to fall by these means. And if you do fall perhaps God is trying to teach you something or prepare you for greater graces so you may bring him glory in all you do.

I was going to stop here but a event occurred in the past 24 hours that is detestable in my view. Susan Serandon speaking at a film event called Pope Benedict XVI a "Nazi". I have to comment on this as I have a great deal of experience and knowledge concerning WWII. I have been in Berlin and spoke with many Germans about WWII as well as Hitler's rise to power. I actually had a chance to speak to a old lady who lived across the street from my base about Krystal Nacht. The night of the broken glass or long knives as some have learned was when he eliminated all opposition in a single horrible night or murder. She was able to hear the firing squads at Andrews Kasserne all night. If you have never seen a movie entitled "Swing Kids" I beg you to watch it. It is a very authentic view of the early Nazi movement and how kids who liked swing music from the US resisted being sucked into the Nazi nightmare. Service in the Hitler Youth was required of all German children male and female, To be so ignorant of this fact Ms Serandon comes across as both foolish and somebody who is desperately trying to hang on to the limelight. She is to be pitied not condemned. For we hate the sin but love the sinner but with a statement so vile I am hard pressed to do so. This is paramount to accusing President Lincoln of being pro-slavery for the first two years of his Presidency because he waited two years to sign The Emancipation Proclamation until 1963. Nothing could be further from the truth. In 1861 thru 1862 the north had many defeats and the poorest of military leadership. In the Battle of Sharpsburg the South's attempt to invade Maryland and gain support there was turned away and Lee was forced to withdraw. It was only then that President Lincoln had both the initiative as well as proof of ability to enforce this bill. So the one day Pope Benedict was forced as with all the other children to join the HJ (Hitler Youth or HJ as this was the slang term for it). Calling him a Nazi for having to do this is like declaring that all abortions are the fault of the child in the womb it makes no sense. I will pray for you Ms Sarandon that you may be forgiven. I will have allot to answer for before God when I get there. Thankfully this will be hers to answer for not mine.

Remember to be the mouse that whispered!
Good night and God Bless you all.

PS
I apologize if the post seems more disjointed than usual. It is so due to the fact of being human myself I was embroiled on anger at Ms Sarandon's statement. I will try to do better in the future. So that makes two actresses who.s movues will never be seen in my house Jane Fonda (My Father came home a disabled vet from Vietnam) and MS Sarandon's movies yes I do forgive them both however it is my choice to never put a dime in their pockets from my money.

Are you the mouse that roared or the mouse whispered?

First must apologize for being away so long but at times these times of reflection as well as a deep look into your introspective on yourself and your abilities in serving God can be life-changing. Today I would like to get started on the subject of whether we want to be a mouse that roared for a mouse whispers. There are peaks and valleys within our reach religious lives and in our faith that we must deal with. While these are not uncommon or even rare they do challenges from time to time to strengthen our faithor prepare us for a future task that Christ has for us to do. When we leave these times of spiritual dryness we are often fired up and looking for the task that is set before us. Just like those who make it through the RCIA program are also fired up to serve their God. In this sense they all want to do something great in the eyes of God and man so they can show just how fired up they are. These people are called the mice that roared. There are some who God gives graces to that are supposed to be a roaring mouse. You can see these people because every task they undertake turns to gold. However it should be noted that in all of these cases these people who can hit the home runs are people who do their tasks for the love of God and not to display before man. This is often where many new Catholics or many beginning Catholics make their mistake. They too want to swing for the fences but this is not the role that God gave them. their role is much smaller they continually try to swing of the bleachers and never hit the ball out of the infield. This can lead for many feelings of frustration, anger, unworthiness and can destroy their faith because they want to talk about their failures to those they know in church and can't talk to anyone else because they would not understand. So instead they quietly withdraw from the church and become one of the millions of Catholics who were no longer active within their faith. This is the evil ones favorite tactic to destroy a member of the church and render him useless. And useless to the body of Christ.

This is because in our rush to show God to prove to God and to those around us how great our faith is we often skip the one question we should always ask. What is your will for me God? It takes many players to make up a baseball or football team each has his own special assignment and that is why he's on the field. The player that is very fast usually bats first because he get on base and steal bases to get into scoring position. The second and third batters are both good contact batters with limited power their task is to get on base safely. The fourth batter is often the strongest and can hit the ball out of the park more times than not. Batters 6,7 and 8 are batters of usually limited abilities but can get on base to boot the rotation of batters around. The ninth better(no I don't believe in the designated hitter role) is usually the worst hitter of all the picture. He can't hit worth a lick but can prevent the other side from scoring and thereby help this team to win. A mouse roars is the fourth batter who didn't hit it out of the park more times than not God gives him the graces to complete his large projects and when he does them he will give the credit to God as wills the glory. Between the picture and the clean up hitter are usually the ones that led to the news paper. But remember the distinction between that home run hitter for the picture they do it for the glory of God not for self. Often a brother or sister unless they are very blessed claim their desire is to serve God and do so for these few there are no thoughts of self however often it is 100 times more the case that although they do not realize it these new Catholics or those who are new to the Scriptures are wanting to serve God and wave a flag screaming hey look what I did. In the remain in this frame of mind until a brother or sister tells him which is rare because the desire to not hurt them is stronger than his desire to correct him in love. So there is a failure on both ends and often this results in the anger and frustration of the new Catholic and often pushes him over the edge to where he becomes an ineffective Catholic as well as a nonactive Catholic. There are some who go through this period of anger and frustration and turn to God for the answers. It is here that they find they are one of the mice that whispered.

Being one of the mice that whispered is it first difficult and leaves the individual asking God if this service is the enough? For those that often wondered that I would like to introduce to you St. Therese the little flower of Liseoux

The answer to this is simple she was assigned by God to be a mouse that whispered into the smallest of things without notice or without praise. She served God with love in her assigned position and never wanted to be a mouse that roared. In reading the books about her as well as her own private writings it is known that she was content in her role as a mouse whispered and trusted God in all things.

The list of things you could do as a mouse that whispered is very very long and to try to write down every job we would both be asleep within the hour. But I do want to bring up a few. One of the greatest ones in my mind and it pulls at my heartstrings the hardest is to talk and bring company to an elderly person. I am sure we have all had the experience of an elderly person that basically talk carrier off and the lease at that time we were thankful to get away! These elderly who are talkative are often very lonely it matters not if they are an old folks home, a veterans hospital, in church or even just down the block. A few minutes of time that you can spare daily or even every couple of days to sit and talk to these people for them is gods greatest blessing. I ask you to pay attention to what I just said to them these talks are God's greatest blessing. Somehow being a mouse that whispered is not so unimportant anymore. The other possibility is to smile everywhere you go and treat every person you meet like you would want to be treated. I admit this is sometimes difficult when a waitress makes a error on your order but what does it cost you to be kind in your correction rather than to scream and yell and complain to the manager? Treat everyone how you want to be treated. It is not so hard to do once you get used to doing it. Another is to smile and tell people God bless you! Those who do not want that blessing will turn away and say nothing but to others those few words can make a bad day a good day because they know somebody cares for them. The last suggestion I have is difficult for some myself included so it is rarely I can do this. The next time you walk into a Denny's or a village inn or any other such type restaurant look around if there is a person in uniform possibly having lunch or dinner with his family ca a manager over and tell him that you want to pick up his check and ask him to make sure it is a anonymous gift. You never know whether or not that husband or wife or mother is about to deploy overseas for a year's tour in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Military families are some of the lowest paid people in this nation. However they do not do this job for pay they do it out of a sense of duty to their nation and the people of our nation. So it never hurts to pick up a check and free up a little money for them to use elsewhere. As I said being a mouse whispered doing something for God's glory and receiving no credit or even being noticed suddenly seems a lot more important than when we began this blog. God gives us graces to our abilities. But because being a mouse that roared sounds to our ears so impressive we swing for this go first. But if you would only step back and look at what it means to be a mouse whispers I think you could join me in saying. Lord God I thank you for the many gifts you have given us in the many graces that you stored upon us. I thank you Lord for making me a mouse that whispered. Help me with your graces to always be a mouse whispered for in this service I find that I may bring you many glories to your name. I asked this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

by brothers and sisters I hope that you find some use in these words written by someone as unworthy as myself it is my greatest hope that while I pray for you you are praying for me. God bless you and good night

Part two of our three garbage in garbage out

When we first secure employment in our careers we have to realize that there are certain trade-offsbetween our morals and our need to support our families or our career goals. Trade-offs are wherever you find them if you are the lower end of the total goal trade-offs may contain training time with family to work often with no choice as you work in a secular environment you also must hear words, conversations, as well as the every day gossip. The issue here becomes if you remain according to your morals aloof from these conversations you will be seen by coworkers to being for lack of a better term stuck up. Being labeled such means that you are socially dead within your the working world or at least this job. So you must choose between your morals and the idle gossip of the world room floor and often the choice is to accept the idle gossip of the floor this is often our first surrendering of our morals on the job. However it does not end there there is also the social side of the work place. It is often popular for people to want to go out on Friday evening to drink down a couple beers, blow off steam and in this process you can develop two areas of difficulty. The first be spending time away from your family and taking money that could go for things you need and spend it on drinks instead. Therefore you sacrificed to morals time with family and stewardship money. The fact that alcohol is there leads to many other issues. It is said alcohol loosens, the tongue However this is not all it loosens. You also lose your ability of decision and your ability to control your own mouth. It is said in the Bible that what comes out of a man's mouth comes from the heart. Alcohol in moderation is fine too much alcohol is not. Good. If you are intoxicated and without your ability to control what you say there is the obvious chance will offend someone or let go of information from your life that you would rather nobody knows about. The problem in this situation is what you release in a intoxicated state will be turned against you at a later date. We has humans take great value in being liked. So much so that we are willing to believe that when we are part of the social group everyone within our group likes us However the next time you feel this watch what happens when one of the group goes to the bathroom. He becomes the subject of conversation and nowhere is there now a kind word instead anything that can be used to reduce his stature is brought out. When he returns from the restroom it is back to everybody being friends. If you think this never happens to you for lack of a better term you are a fool. At work everyone puts up a front they want to be head of the pack or in the know so they can trade information for brownie points with management. Management for its part condone such behavior to find troublemakers, dissenters and those who they feel are disrupting harmony.

     The main point is that if we hold our morals we are soon social outcast and many will want you removed from your position. In management the issue is made twice as baas there is a level of politics within management. This is caused by competition to rise above the current level of managers around you and those seeking to replace you. In the management political world you tell your boss what he wants to hear and at every possibility you kiss his rear. This becomes a way of life as well as a survival skill. Those who cannot develop such skills are doomed to failure. It is rare in today's world for a manager to promote you simply on the basis of hard work. Managers are expected to be the first in and the last out family time all but dries up. Perhaps this is the price we pay for giving up one of our most basic command of humility. It is said by one of our greatest church doctors to remain small. To not seek power for ourselves but to do the little things of God perhaps this is why she is called Little flower. I also believe that this is why many are not happy in their jobs trading morals for advancement and position goes against the very fiber of our Catholic beliefs.
time that our physical losses on our body are replaced by a tenfold increase of wisdom within our brains and spirits. My only wish is to learn this fact sooner rather than later.
     In a world of impure thoughts and selfishness we must remember that we are not of this world. The world we see full of pornography vial language and sell over others is not a world that any of us wish to be in. Yet Christ has sent us to this world to be a light shining as a lamp in a very dark world. Last night it was reported on the news that New York City had over 30 gunshot deaths in one day. Chicago also had the same issues but to a lesser extent. most of those killed one wounded were teenagers and children who had never been shown the light of Christ. we all including myself must do a better job of spreading the gospel of Christ to the young of this nation so that they may repair all the damage we had  done. in the past 100 years were less we have gone from the world of caring for others to caring for ourselves only. I am sure that when Jesus looks upon what we have done with this world  he  cries. we will all answer for this great injustice upon our fellow man between the ages of 20 and 50 we are capable of changing the world in one way or another . the majority of us let this time pass until we cannot change anything . however I believe that with God all things are possible and we should not give up this fight to change our world to a world of  love of others and denial of self no matter our age no matter our situation no matter our political convictions. We can no longer as a member of the body of Christ have one leg in the secular world and the other in God's kingdom we must all make a choice I hope that those who read this make the correct decision is not difficult all we must do is the little things and if we all do the little things love will spread selfishness will die and all shall come to the realization of Christ and his Grace and mercy and love for us all.
 On a separate note I apologize for being away for my blog as I have been working with voice recognition software. this software goes through a time of training so if you see line that makes no sense please forgive and   bear with me until the software gets an idea of my voice patterns .
until then God bless you and may he keep your family and home safe  amen. 
.Ye

Garbage in and Garbage out Part III

Hello and welcome to Part III Garbage In Garbage Out.

The first part or part I of this series was about dissension within the Church as well as within The Body of Christ. The second part was a look at what our children face in the secular homes and with school systems that are liberal biased and directed to teach the state directed knowledge tests. In Texas we know this as TAKS. The third part is going to be a little touchy because nobody (not even I) like to look at themselves. So for tonight take a second be honest with yourself and understand by the time I am through I will be mad at myself enough for all of you plus myself.
     Early on in this part I am going to use specific examples of times of our lives. If I do not cover your particular circumstance it is because there are so many variables. I will try to point out where variables set in. At some point most of us plod through High School and eventually graduate. Weather a GED or Diploma all the same. We (some of us) take the summer off to prepare for our charge into adulthood, the whole problem is most at 18 years old are in no way ready to handle adulthood. By the number of children who are killed yearly by driving drunk I do not believe a teen is ready for adulthood until 25 for a male and 21 for a female. I am not being biased at this point nor is my wife hanging over me with a huge frying pan. It is a known fact women mature faster than men (just ask your teens auto insurance guy!) So most end up in one of four places. The first is the military (not as popular as it used to be with a war on and such) but usually this ranks about first over all. The second is school either at Community College or at a University. The third is off to the working sector to try and begin to learn a living. The fourth is on your parents couch thinking what you are going to do (later on) to determine how your life will go.
     This stage usually lasts about four years and gives some each time to form what kind of world we live in. Usually in these four stages (unless Dad's boot ended plan number 4 as stated earlier) exists one big common ground problem for us at this time of our lives. It goes by many names but they are all the same drinking,partying or chilling with friends. Now there are exemptions from this. If you are in the military and deployed (sorry no drinking until you get back stateside). At this stage of life for me my Father gave me a choice military,school or working and moving out. I tried the school thing but I was not interested in school at that time. This was the time of the Iranian hostage crisis (yes I am that old) but for the younger here. The Iranians when Khomeini came into power attacked the US embassy and held a large group of Americans hostage for over 500 days. All I really knew was they had our people we looked as if we were going to war and I considered it my duty to my nation to be there. There is a old saying the apple falls not far from the tree. My Son saw 9/11 and the Twin Towers fall he made up his mind that day that it was his duty to his nation to join the military and he was in the Army thirty days later.
     They all have the party and drinking thing going, sadly some die in senseless auto accidents or at a party because you did not wear the right color of clothes or were just picked at random so some drunk jerk could prove just how macho he was. I knew a young man I had worked with him in the Post Office before I was injured. He lived a life of fornication and payed child support at the age of 22 for four children. He liked to party and since it was allot cheaper to drink in Mexico that is where he went every weekend. His said he was going on one weekend and everybody warned him not to. The drug gangs were in a hot war against each other (this war continues today) and it was very dangerous. He ignored the warnings and went. sometime Saturday night he was standing with friends in front of a night club when a car came by and fired over 200 shots at the bar. Everybody who was outside died of gunshots he never stood a chance, it was front page news and left four children without a Father and a new casualty count for the year. It was senseless and a waste of life, yet the same things happen here every night and nobody notices it because we are all numb (we will deal with this in part four).
     If we survive this time in our lives (more do than don't) we are considered young adults. Now at this sad stage there are two trails one leads to family, less drinking and a course set for our lives. The other is taken by those who just want to stop growing up. This leads to continued drinking,usually one divorce and allot of hurt people in their path. You will know who took the second path they are usually loud,often drunk and trying to prove they are just as much macho at 35 than they were at 18. It is during this time that we find out about the great mystery. No not girls, but close. One night we are out be it at a club (hopefully not) or at a friends house or just walking down the street and wow! Clocks stop time halts and you could swear you just saw your idea of a angel from heaven, the last point has yet to be seen. Next thing ya know you are married and this is where the fun begins. It does not begin any earlier because you are single and the only person you have to worry about is yourself.
     The first year of marriage weather you have a child or not is tough. Those little things that when you met your wife that were by her words cute. You know staying out with the boys until 3am and coming home roaring drunk, How you just tossed your soiled under ware in a corner and let it stay long enough to be a national monument and of course you were having "relations" about 5 times a week when you were engaged and this has trailed off to 1 or 2 times a week or zero if you were one of them who came in at 3am. It is these marriages I really wish there was a 18 month rule to have your first child. That way if your prince or princess turns out to be (in your eyes) a servant of the evil one. There would not be a child to suffer through and live with a divorce. Sadly much too many children live with this situation, often with the missing spouse not offering a dime to help raise his/her child.
     This is where one group has to wait on the other. Once a person meets his/her future spouse and it works (usually the man got wiser like in my case). Before you know it you have a child and now it is not just you anymore it is now three Husband,Wife and Baby makes three. This is where also the real garbage begins to flow at the force of a river and not just a trickle. So you begin to set on what will be the course of your life. You seek a profession not a job and benefits become just as important as salary. It is at this stage we begin to compromise. There are a million first steps. Perhaps it was fibbing a bit on you resume or you compromise a value to earn a living and become a stripper or drug dealer. Either way there is always a first step. You already know enough about lying to earn a masters degree in the subject because your parents taught you with such cute little sayings such as "just tell them I am not here" or the ever famous "Just tell Grand Ma that you love your lime green pajamas complete with footsies and bunny ears. To keep in training you have been telling your significant other that they are more beautiful than the day you meant them, a better answer is always you love them more than you did yesterday. The great thing about love (and perhaps it is because we as Catholics take it so seriously no matter how you look. Love makes you the most beautiful thing they have ever seen. When I was married I weighed in at 162lbs my Wife was 98 lbs. I won't even tell you at what level we tip the scales at now but I can assure you it is allot. But to me my wife is a supermodel and who knows how she sees me but we are together so it does not matter.
     So you now think you have set your course (Hopefully God is in your Marriage) if not it is allot tougher. You have lied on a application or tweaked your resume or if you are a type A person your family is second to your job and your desire to get ahead. Your Children see you only at night you are gone too early to see them in the morning. At night when they hope for time you are tired, have work to do, frustrated to the point of anger (please remember not to take this out on your family) or are too worried about money,trying to get that promotion or there is conflict with your spouse's family. So the children really don't see you at all except in passing. This is not true of many but if you are lucky enough to get time with your children don't waste a second because each is precious. I once spent 4 months on a job as a manager where I was gone before my children got up and got home far too late to see them when I got hope. I was working 18 hours a day at times more and I continued because money was most important in my life at that time. I worked until I actually physically and mentally collapsed and came close to death. It was not until I rejoined the Catholic Church and began to learn family values and the importance of having God there that I learned how actually stupid I was. I missed allot of days of my children's life and have regretted every minute horribly.
It is at this point I will stop for tonight and pick up Garbage in Garbage out Part IIIB. Until then God bless and keep you.