papa ratzi

well, Pope Benedict XVI is the former Cardinal Ratzinger who was the right hand man of the late Pope John Paul II. it will be interesting to see where Benedict leads the catholic church. from what i read on the news and elsewhere the far-reaching hand of John Paul II is gone and the great unifyer is no more. Ratzinger is THE theologian of the Catholic church and he sees that it is his mission to defend the orthodoxy of the Catholic church where it is threatened. so what that means, i am assuming, is that the progressives and the moderates in Europe and America are rolling their eyes because the supposed dreams of reforms are vanquished while Benedict XVI is ruling (i was going to say "on the throne" and maybe that is only fitting because to me hearing the name Benedict revokes memories of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the name Benedict just doesn't seem to be a modern, 21st century title for a Pope, yet alas, it is.)

also about the name, from what i hear Benedict XV was a moderate Pope and yet maybe Ratzi is trying to fool all those that he is going to be a moderate yet in reality he sees his mission as to defend the orthodoxy. sounds pretty conservative to me, yet, i think that he would make a good interum Pope until they find one that wants to take on the challenge of reforming the doctrine of the Catholic church. as a protestant it shall be interesting to watch! (by the way, click here to see where i got the title of the post)

why georgia? why?

ok, so its the title of the John Mayer song that i am currently listening too, but i thought that it would make a great title, since part of this post is indeed going out to georgia.

i want to take a few moments to comment on the growing animocity between Christians these days. i think that the advice that a friend gave me in an email was the best advice for the current situation that me and friends find ourselves in. he said: "I miss just hanging out ... I also think that it would be good to just leave all of that behind, much the same way you leave your thesis behind ... lets talk about everything else too." i think that part of the conflict that i am having with my parents is that i do kinda sorta bring it upon myself.

i was reading corinthians this morning, 2 Cor 10 to be exact and this verse struck me:

2 Corinthians 10: 7&12
Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. ... Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

we, as christians, are to give God the glory in everything that we do and i know that i am guilty of this, of bickering over the details and worrying over the details, but i feel that from these verses in Corinthians that Paul is telling the Corinthians and other Christians to not boast and not to argue among one another because when we do, we are "without understanding." this life is about walking with God and bringing Him the glory! Paul says in Romans 11:34: "For who has known the mind of the Lord" we do not have God's wisdom because we are human; it is through faith in Christ that the peace of grace and the wisdom of God is given to those who believe. i pray that we all try to live as Christians, supporting and uplifting one another, not trying to tear each other down over the "correctness" of our belief over thiers.

"DeLay"gate

sorry but this just broke on drudgereport.com referencing articles that are from the NYTimes and the Washington Post. i think that the stories are obvious and well from my scanning the articles this evening, DeLay needs to go. he needs to do his best Nixon impression and "pull the pin" there are other Republicans in the house that are capable of being the majority leader. besides... looks like he has plenty of friends around the world that are able to support him. the only question is: Did the payments from the Russians affect the policy that he was steering through the House? the truth remains to be seen.

i'm not being lazy

i'm not being lazy really, there just hasn't been anything that i wanted to write about and i haven't really felt like writing. i have been busy working on papers and in fact i am currently writing an english paper comparing/contrasting the roles and view of women by two of the authors we have studied this semester. i was thinking about using Hemingway and contrast his view to Glaspell but i think that that would be a little bit unfair because Hemingway's view of women in general was in such sharp contrast to those who were writing around him. i think Glaspell and Porter or Cather would be better because they are all women writing about women or having women tell an important aspect about the story.

i've been sick lately, with the 24hour punnies and am feeling better today. just realizing that the semester is coming to an end and i have a lot to do until it does. we shall see and it shall be exciting. 32 days 'ril graduation! yay!!