Fat Chickens and Other Interesting Things...

Every so often I come across information that catches my attention -- like the article I mentioned in yesterday's post about the toilet found in the Temple of Ba'al. Of course, it shouldn't have surprised anyone who reads his Bible and believes what he reads. Yes, right there in Chapter 10 of 2 Kings is the description of the pagan temple's destruction and the addition of a latrine to desecrate the temple and make it unusable.

Fat chickens. But some things are not so predictable. For example I recently discovered that today's chickens owe their chubbiness not to Frank Perdue but to the Catholic Church. That's right, until about 1,000 years ago, chickens were not widely domesticated in Europe. Most folks in medieval Europe preferred wild and hardy birds such as pheasants and geese. But back in the 10th century, as a result of monastic reforms, the changing rules for fasting required abstaining from the meat of four-legged animals: cattle, sheep, goats, etc. To us this might not seem a very big deal. After all, today's Catholics are required to fast only two times each year: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But in medieval times fasting was mandated about 130 times each year. This reform, therefore, made the two-legged chicken a far more attractive alternative and people began to domesticate (and fatten) these tasty critters. Read more here.

Palmyra photos from 1864. Also in yesterday's post I described the destruction by ISIS of so many ancient sites in the Middle East, especially in Syria. One of the cities I mentioned is Palmyra, an important ancient trading center with a history that stretches back 4,000 years. Palmyra's ruins were among the most visited in Syria and one of the highlights had been the ancient temple of the god Ba'al, a pagan god mentioned frequently in the Old Testament.

In 1864 Louis Vignes, a young lieutenant in the French navy, took 29 photographs of Palmyra, surely the first photographs ever taken of the city. Last year the Getty Research Institute acquired the photos and made them available. Since virtually everything in Palmyra was destroyed by the barbarians of the Islamic State, these photographs provide us with a glimpse of what the site looked like 150 years ago. Here's a link to an article which includes many of the photos: Ruins of Palmyra. You can also examine these photos and others taken by Vignes by visiting the Getty website. I've included one of these photos below:

Temple of Ba'al in Palmyra (1864)

Ten Commandments auctioned off. Yes, indeed, I guess everything does have its price. Just a few weeks ago, at an auction in Beverly Hills (where else?), a 1,500-year-old stone tablet, weighing in at over 100 pounds, was sold for $850,000. Although dating from early medieval times, it is the oldest known stone inscription of the Ten Commandments.

Interestingly, after its discovery in Israel in 1913, the tablet was used as a paving stone for 30 years. This wore down some of the chiseled inscriptions, blurring many words. It eventually made its way to the U.S. and was owned by the New York's Living Torah Museum, which put it up for auction. The terms of the auction require the unknown buyer to display the tablet in a museum open to the public. Presumably that will happen, so we can all check it out up close and personal.

Ten Commandments Tablet (c. 500 A.D.)

I recall watching one TV reporter who, when describing the sale, asked the remarkable, presumably rhetorical, question: "Could this be the actual Ten Commandments from Moses?" The fact that Moses predates the tablet by at least another 1,500 years was apparently lost on him. Or perhaps he was just trying to justify the high price. Read more here.

Concealed Carry Permit Holders Most Law-Abiding. Here's one that will cause some of my friends' heads to explode. All those people -- and there are now millions of them across the USA -- who have concealed-carry permits turn out to be the most law-abiding of Americans. A recent study by the Crime Prevention Research Center examined two key states, Florida and Texas, comparing crime rates of gun owners, police officers, and other groups, as well as the general population. In its results the study declared that “It is impossible to think of any other group in the U.S. that is anywhere near as law-abiding" as concealed-carry permit holders.

Just to give you an idea of the rates involved, among the general population the overall crime rate was 3,813 per 100,000 people. For police officers the crime rate was 103 crimes per 100,000 officers and the firearms violation rate was 16.5 per 100,000 officers. But among permit holders in Florida and Texas, the firearms violation rate was only 2.4 per 100,000.

Just an FYI, I own several firearms but do not have a concealed carry permit...although that could change.

To read more about the study, click here.

A Christmas Gift

In the event you're trying to decide on a worthwhile charity for a Christmas donation, here's a particularly timely one that you might consider.

As you surely know -- unless you're been in hiding or watch only MSNBC -- the Christian community in Mosul, Iraq has suffered greatly since the forces of the Islamic State (aka, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) took control of the city two years ago. Thousands who fled in advance are now refugees while many who remained in the city were slaughtered by ISIS simply because they were Christians.

The refugees are in dire need of help as they face a cold winter. They need kerosene for heaters and stoves, warm clothing, and funds for rent and other basic necessities. These people, who hope to return to their homes, fear that much will have been destroyed by ISIS and by the fighting between ISIS and the Iraqi forces trying to liberate the city.

Asia News, a Rome-based Catholic news website run by the P.I.M.E. missionaries and focusing on Asia, has re-launched their Adopt a Christian from Mosul campaign with the goal of relieving the severe difficulties faced by these suffering people. Go to this link and scroll down to the bottom of the page for donation information: Donate.

Share your Merry Christmas with another who probably hasn't experienced one in some time.

Ancient News

If you're among the handful of regular readers of this blog -- my loyal and holy remnant -- you will know that I often write about certain archaeological discoveries that give us a glimpse into the distant past. It's really a life-long fascination with the work of archaeologists, one that began when, at the age of ten, I found a flint arrowhead amidst the gravel in our driveway in suburban New York. I still have that point, and I count it among my treasured possessions. But this early fascination with things archaeological was no more than an interest and I never considered becoming an archaeologist. I have absolutely no desire to dig in the dirt to uncover the lives of our ancient ancestors. Over the years, though, I've become acquainted with several professional archaeologists who enjoy doing just that. They have not only taught me many wonderful things but also whetted my appetite to learn more. This growing interest paralleled my interest in Sacred Scripture, especially since so much of what we know about the ancient world of the Bible has come to us through the work of archaeologists. More importantly, though, their work continues to confirm much of what the Bible tells us.

I haven't posted anything archaeological in quite some time, but in recent weeks the field has made the front pages on several occasions. And so I suppose it's time to share my thoughts on these and other news stories. Here are a few for your enjoyment, enlightenment or surprise:

UNESCO's Bias. Just in case you're not yet convinced that the United Nations is the most useless of all international organizations, here's some news that should change your mind. UNESCO -- the UN's so-called "Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization" -- has condemned Israel because it has conducted archaeological investigations at the Temple Mount and other locations in Jerusalem. UNESCO apparently believes Jerusalem is sacred only to Islam, something they insist all those pesky, imperialist Jews must also recognize. This, of course, ignores the fact that Jerusalem is the far more ancient center of the Jewish people. UNESCO also refers to Israel as the "occupying power" and condemns it for conducting any excavations in the old city of Jerusalem. UNESCO, it would seem, is staffed by Jew-haters who parrot the Islamist line that Israel is a rogue state that must be eliminated. Nothing more need be said.

Jerusalem Exists! As long as we're talking about Jerusalem, it has risen up once again and embarrassed some who consider themselves Scriptural scholars. Yes, believe it or not, many of these experts have long downplayed the biblical record that focuses on the importance of Jerusalem. Some have actually assumed that Jerusalem and Israel were never all that important because there is no contemporary record that mentions Jerusalem. No longer! Sci-News, a site that covers the latest scientific discoveries, describes the discovery of a papyrus fragment in which Jerusalem is mentioned prominently. This extra-Biblical reference to Jerusalem dates to the 7th century B.C., the time of the first temple.

The Jerusalem Papyrus

Discoveries that confirm the Biblical record have been going on for decades. Prior to the 20th century, the only place one encountered the Hittites was in the Bible. Naturally, most scholars, therefore, rejected the very idea that a Hittite empire had ever existed. Their general rule was: If it's in the Bible, it must be wrong.

Then, in 1906, the Hittite capital of Hattusha was discovered in modern-day Turkey. The discovery included a library containing over 10,000 tablets that confirmed the Biblical record and led to further discoveries. Yes, the Hittites were a powerful people with an extensive empire.

Toilet Desecration of Ba'al Temple. Once again, thanks to the work of  archaeologists, the Biblical text is proven correct. In 2 Kings 10 we find the following verses, describing Jehu's destruction of Ba'al temples in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century B.C.:

"Afterward they went into the inner shrine of the temple of Baal, and took out the pillars of the temple of Baal. They burned the shrine, tore down the pillar of Baal, tore down the temple of Baal, and turned it into a latrine, as it remains today" [2 Kgs 10:25-27].

Well, guess what? Archaeologists, digging at Lachish, in ancient Israel second in size only to Jerusalem, found a destroyed temple of Ba'al and right there in the middle of the inner temple they found a toilet where no toilet should be. Jehu had "turned it [the temple] into a latrine" because doing so was the ultimate desecration and made the temple unusable forever. Interestingly, the archaeologists, after conducting laboratory tests on the toilet, determined it had never been used. In other words, its placement was strictly symbolic, but would still desecrate the temple forever.

Temple Toilet - the "Jehu's Latrine"

ISIS Destruction of Antiquities. Driven by their fundamentalist Islamic faith, ISIS believes that all symbols of polytheism (and even those of non-Muslim monotheism) must be destroyed. After all, you never know when a bunch of Ba'al worshipers might rise up out of the sands of the Middle East and threaten Islam. They see idolatry as the greatest of sins, and any of its manifestations must be obliterated. History means absolutely nothing to these folks who consider only their version of Islam worth preserving. And so wherever these maniacal fanatics go, they leave infidel corpses and piles of rubble behind them. In the words of ISIS leadership, "These monuments should not be excavated and restored, but viewed with disgust and hatred...The sites were destroyed for disbelieving in Allah and His messengers.”

The Iraqi Army recently managed to push ISIS forces from the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and what they found was devastating. The city's history goes back over 3,000 years and has long been considered one of the treasures of the ancient world. No longer. Ali al-Bayati, a militia commander who visited the newly liberated site stated that “One hundred per cent has been destroyed.” This, of course, was expected since ISIS conveniently made videos of their destruction of Nimrud. I've included one below:

ISIS has repeated this destruction throughout the Middle east. In the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra ISIS troops went on a rampage of destruction. One temple of the Assyrian god Ba'al was completely flattened. The below photos show the temple pre-ISIS and its destruction.

When they entered Palmyra, the ISIS forces promised to leave the site untouched, but soon after staged a public execution of Khaled al-Assad, the archaeologist who for years had managed the excavations. They then began their systematic destruction of the ancient city.

ISIS continued their destruction wherever their forces went. They destroyed the Mar Elian Monastery in the Syrian town of al-Qayatain. They did the same in the museum in Mosul (see video below), and looted the ancient Roman city of Apamea, selling looted artifacts to fund ISIS military operations. The city of Dura-Europas with its ancient Christian church and synagogue was also systematically looted as was the Bronze-Age city of Mari. 

But the greatest atrocity committed by ISIS has been the equally systematic slaughter of thousands of Christians and others, including Muslims who don't share their demonic vision.

Christians About to be Killed by ISIS

We have been blessed by these martyrs who have kept the Faith in the face of certain death.

ISIS, al-Qaida, the Taliban, and their millions of followers represent Islam at its very worst and call to mind the early days of the 7th and 8th centuries when Muslim armies spread Islam by the sword. Unlike the early spread of Christianity, the spread of Islam was not a peaceful process.

There is much more, but it will have to wait. I am called to other work. 

Fidel, R.I.P.

What can one say after hearing of the death of Fidel Castro (90)? I suppose for those members of the Cuban nomenklatura, that little clique of Communist fawning toadies who helped Fidel create the island prison we call Cuba, the best response is: "The dictator is dead. Long live the dictator." After all, baby brother Raúl (85) has been running things for years and, despite President Obama's wishing and hoping, hasn't shown any desire to change the murderous policies of his brother.

The below photo of Fidel, his brother Raul, and their homicidal maniac colleague, Che Guevara, was taken back in their salad days.



The accolades and over-the-top praises that have poured in from many in the West, including our own president, are truly remarkable. Fidel has been called everything good and noble. Of course, like all those who have led Marxist nations, Fidel Castro was just another mass-murdering sociopath. If a Cuban citizen disagreed with him, Castro would imprison him, torture him, and, if necessary, kill him. And apparently it was frequently very necessary. Why so few of our elites are willing to admit this publicly is a mystery.

I will pray for the repose of the soul of Fidel Castro because I must; but I will pray more fervently for the good of the Cuban people who have suffered far too long.

Cuba libre!

Thanksgiving a Few Days Later

As we have for the past dozen years, Dear Diane and I spent our Thanksgiving at the Wildwood Soup Kitchen (that's Wildwood, Florida). It's not because we're such good and charitable people; it's simply one of those things that happens because Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday. Diane, you see, is the Thursday cook at the soup kitchen and I'm her #1 flunky, so we always have the joy of serving our many wonderful guests on Thanksgiving Day.

Once again we gave our usual team of Thursday volunteers the day off to celebrate with their families, while we recruited a large group of one-day volunteers to help us cook up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We prepared and served (or delivered) a total of 284 meals...and what a meal it was! We try to make it special by serving the meal restaurant-style, with servers who seat our guests, take their orders, and offer drinks, desserts and other frills. I've included the menu below.

We also got a little ink from the local newspaper, The Villages Daily Sun, thanks to a lovely, young reporter who interviewed both guests and volunteers and took a few photos during our Thanksgiving dinner. This link will take you to an abbreviated version of the article: Villages Daily Sun. The paper's website doesn't contain  many complete articles, but only offers brief teasers designed to get you to read the paper itself. 

We had a wonderful time and afterwards enjoyed our own Thanksgiving dinner at the home of some good friends. But my age is beginning to take a mild toll, and I needed a little more than a day to recover. I thank God that I'm retired and can rest when needed.

I trust you all had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving and are now looking forward to Christmas. Yesterday, the first day of Advent, Diane and I we put up the Christmas decorations inside and outside, and are now happily awaiting the Lord's coming. "Come, Lord Jesus!" [Rev 22:20]

Election Reflection

Well, it's over...and I can't help but add a little I-told-you-so when I point back to my post of July 18 in which I predicted a Trump victory. There! Enough patting myself on the back. Anyway, it's a bit painful thanks to my slightly damaged rotator cuff.

I suppose the first question a lot of folks have been asking is, "How did all the smart people get it so wrong?" Actually, I truly believe they didn't. I believe that all those pollsters saw what was happening but either couldn't believe it, or believing it, tried to change it. In other words, they lied to us. They tried to show the nation that Hillary Clinton had such a lead that all those undecideds might as well stay home on election day or just climb aboard the coronation train and vote for Hillary. Abetting this strategy were the mainstreams who continued to portray Donald Trump as the incarnation of a being they don't believe in (Satan) and Hillary as the elect of another they reject (God). And like all those who lack faith, they are deathly afraid. And so, yes, I believe what we witnessed was -- drum roll -- a conspiracy!

Happy Hillary? Not!

Now that the election is over, those who opposed Trump, all those fearful ones, have initiated a new two-pronged strategy. Okay, it's not so new. It's been used by revolutionaries for centuries. The first thing that must be done is to completely ignore the results of the election. Instead, get the "people" -- the easily led, the useful idiots -- into the streets. Show the world how dissatisfied, how angry, how hurt everyone is. Let the protests grow and evolve into cries for Revolution! Burn and destroy, tear it all down, keep the nation's attention on the protests turned riots so they won't think about the real task facing America.

Hillary Voter Protests Turn to Riots

This, of course, will fail. There will be no revolution. (One reason: unlike the protestors and others on the left, the folks who voted for Donald Trump are the armed citizens. This is the primary reason we have avoided revolution since that messy affair with King George III.) Anyway, it wasn't just Donald Trump who was elected; it was a movement. And I'm pretty sure Trump realizes this. It was this movement that I'm convinced the pollsters and wonks finally recognized and simply could not deal with. Now that the election is over, they realize their only chance to salvage something is to co-opt Donald Trump. And this goal will form the second prong of their strategy.

From now until his inauguration in January we will hear nothing but calls to inclusiveness. We will be told that a divided nation demands a diverse administration, one that represents all the people, not just those uneducated white males who voted for Trump. (Actually, Trump got more of the Hispanic and Black vote than expected. He also got a majority of college-educated white males. And to the surprise of many Democrats, he received a majority of the Catholic vote. The complete demographic breakdown should be interesting.)

But Trump's opponents will be screaming for more than diversity. There will be more...much more. Because Trump has absolutely no experience in governance, they will tell us that he must mend fences with those in his own party who despise him and with the Democrats. He will need many of these wise men and women of the establishment to help him overcome his governmental naiveté and to guide him and his administration through the labyrinthine corridors of the federal government. As we heard often enough during the campaign: Build bridges, Mr. Trump, not walls.

And all those campaign promises? Really, Mr. Trump, you must now accept that most of them are unattainable, no more than useful bones to toss at the hungry masses, but not the sort of things you can actually accomplish. Compromise must be the watchword of the new administration if it hopes to be successful. Of course, our new president will succeed someone who refused to compromise with the opposition, and was praised for his intransigence by the same folks who will demand the opposite from Donald Trump.

We will hear all these things and much more from the not-so-loyal opposition, the media, the soon to be unemployed White House staffers, and from those the voters rejected. But I actually expect Donald Trump to ignore these calls to turn his back on those who elected him. He seems to be a man who, although willing to negotiate, also knows when he holds a winning hand. We shall see.

As a nation, we should be praying for God's continued help and thanking him for all He has given us.

We certainly live in interesting times. 

God's peace...

A Day for Prayer and Fasting

Today, election day, is a perfect day for prayer and fasting, a day when we should step away from the busyness of our lives and turn to God in praise and thanksgiving. 

No one can predict the results of our national election, but whatever the outcome we, as a nation, will face challenges unlike any we have encountered in our lifetime. We cannot address these challenges alone. We will need God's help; or, perhaps more accurately, God wants -- He certainly doesn't need -- our help. He wants us to turn to him in humility and to seek His will for us as a nation and as individuals. He wants us to abandon ourselves completely to Him. But, sadly, too many of our fellow citizens have evicted God from their lives, rejected any thought of humility before their Creator, and actually believe that man can solve all the world's problems without divine help. 

Take some time today to pray together as a family. Spend a few moments in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He's there in the Tabernacles of every Catholic Church, waiting for you in silence. And fast! Let God be your food today. Let Him fill you with His goodness.

Early this morning as I prayed the Morning Prayer of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours, I was struck by the appropriateness of the selection of the prayer of Azariah from Daniel 3, the prayer he offered from within the fiery furnace. The Church selected the following verses to include in its Morning Prayer:

O Lord, do not withdraw your favor from us.

Blessed are you, Lord God of our fathers: your name is glorious for ever for you are just in all you have done to us.

For we have sinned and done wrong, we have deserted you and done all things wrong.

Do not give us up for ever, for your name’s sake we beg you, do not dissolve your covenant.

Take not your loving kindness from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved; and Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one.

You told them you would multiply their seed like the stars of the sky like the sand on the shores of the sea.

But we, Lord, are made the least of all nations.Today we are brought low over all the earth on account of our sins.

Today there is no prince, no prophet, no leader, no holocaust, no sacrifice. No offering, no incense, no first-fruits offered to you – no way to obtain your mercy.

But in our contrite souls, in a spirit of humility, accept us, Lord. Like a holocaust of rams and bulls, like fat sheep in their thousands, let our sacrifice be like these before you today.

Bring to fruition the quest of those who follow you, for those who trust in you can never be confounded.

And now we follow you with all our heart and we revere you and seek your face.

Yes, indeed, "Today we are brought low over all the earth on account of our sins." We stand in a fiery furnace of our own making; and so, let us too call out to God "in the spirit of humility" and follow Him wherever He leads us.

Pray for our nation.

God's peace...

What More Can Be Said?

Here we are, a nation on the eve of the eve of what may well be the most important election in recent history, and everything is still undecided. In many previous elections the results were often predicted with some degree of assurance. Of course, there have been some big surprises during my lifetime. The John Kennedy win over Richard Nixon in 1960 was among the closest. Ronald Reagan's overwhelming victory over Jimmy Carter also surprised many. And the Bush vs. Gore squeaker certainly grabbed the headlines. But I suppose the biggest upset was Harry Truman's surprising win over Thomas Dewey in 1948.

Dewey greeting New Yorkers

In fact, the first presidential candidate I ever saw in person was the Republican New York Governor Thomas Dewey. I was only four years old in November 1948, and my family had just moved to Larchmont, a New York City suburb, from our previous home in Connecticut. I believe it was either election day or the day before. My mother, my older brother and I walked a couple of blocks to the Boston Post Road (US 1) where a large crowd had gathered. A few minutes later the governor's motorcade appeared and there was Dewey waving from an open convertible. It's one of those distinct, early childhood memories that have remained with me. Dewey, of course, went down in history as the losing candidate who was wrongly declared a winner by some in the media. Perhaps the most famous post-election photograph is that of Harry Truman laughingly displaying a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune and its mistaken headline.

Harry Truman enjoying his victory.

Today we're faced with an election that, regardless of the outcome, will certainly lead to significant change in our country.

Hillary Clinton, a woman whose personal ambition seems to outweigh every other consideration, has proven to be both dishonest and unethical. Remarkably, she and her sycophants don't deny the accuracy of the thousands of incriminating emails; they simply blame it all on the Russians. They seem to have fallen back on an unusual defense: "Yeah, it's all true, but the Russians made us do it" -- a remarkable response to the constant stream of nasty stuff that has revealed what she and her team are really like. It's also a bit curious to discover that even her closest associates don't especially like her. And let's not forget, the emails have shown us that the whole group of them truly despise the Catholic Church. Lastly, she can come across as rather shrewish, a trait that has probably left many men feeling sorry for Bill Clinton.

But it's not only Mrs. Clinton's personal traits that raise questions, it's also her less than stellar record of accomplishments as both a senator and secretary of state. As a senator she accomplished next to nothing. And her tenure at the Department of State was a time of consistent failure -- in Libya, Syria, Egypt, Israel, North Korea -- pretty much everywhere. And she and her boss only aggravated our nation's relations with two of the world's most important and powerful nations, Russia and China. 

Her only qualifications for the presidency seem to be her sex, her many celebrity friends, the deep pockets of her Wall Street and Silicon Valley donors, and her willingness to promise anything to any special interest group that appears on her doorstep with votes in hand. But all these negatives pale in comparison to her avid support for abortion, her future choices for the Supreme Court, and her apparent willingness to toss the Bill of Rights into the trashcan. For these reasons alone I could never vote for her.

This leaves us with Donald Trump, perhaps the least likely (and likable) presidential candidate since Andrew Jackson. And yet, like Jackson, he has delivered a consistent populist message to the nation, one that apparently resonates with a large segment of the population. Barack Obama was elected on a vague platform of "hope and change" and delivered nothing but despair and more of the same. In other words, he did nothing but make an incompetent and impersonal government bigger and more intrusive. Donald Trump promises to change all that, to dismantle, or at least restructure, the intrusive bureaucracy that costs so much and provides so little.

Mr. Trump can certainly be crude and rude, but I suppose this is what makes him so attractive to so many. His political incorrectness is actually quite refreshing despite the language in which it is often delivered. He "tells it like it is" even if the telling isn't always very polite. He's a twice-divorced Presbyterian, a New Yorker, a reality TV star, a billionaire, a hotelier and develop and casino owner, and a generally successful businessman. For many, these are all disqualifiers because they exclude the one prerequisite the establishment cherishes: he is not a lifelong politician beholden to the system and the special interests.

Yes, Donald Trump is no angel, but he seems willing and able to admit this to the world. When a lapse or a misstep is pointed out to him, he simply apologizes and then presses on. This is not typical behavior for politicians and so, again, he has ingratiated himself with a citizenry that is looking for honest, open leadership.

If Donald Trump wins the election, will he come through on all his promises? Probably not. The legislature and the bureaucracy are far more ingrained than he expects, and he must still work within the system. Our Constitution -- what's left of it -- demands this. But one can only hope he will succeed in making some progress and will bring wise and faithful people into his administration. 

If Hillary Clinton wins the election, our United State of America may never recover. God help us.

In the meantime, pray for our nation.

Aniversary Thoughts

Newly Married - Swords Held High

Today is our anniversary! Dear Diane and I married 48 years ago on November 2, 1968. You should not read anything into the fact that it was also All Souls Day, the day we are called to remember all the faithful departed. We didn't want to be married on All Souls Day, but the decision was based on my schedule at the time. I was in the final week of flight training and would be leaving Pensacola only a few days later. It was the only available Saturday. As I recall, Fr. Ryan, the Catholic Chaplain at NAS Pensacola, got a special dispensation to celebrate a marriage on that day. 

Remember the black vestments priests wore on All Souls Day and at funerals? Very somber stuff. Indeed, among liturgists there is still an ongoing discussion about the use of black or white vestments on such occasions. But because we were married outside of Mass, Fr. Ryan just wore a cassock and fancy surplice and stole. We had decided not to have a Nuptial Mass since only my parents, a few friends, and Diane and I were Catholic. Almost everybody else who attended -- and it was a good crowd -- were Southern Baptists.

The Wedding Party and Fr, Ryan

Our schedule today has once again made celebration a bit inconvenient. We decided, therefore, to celebrate tomorrow evening, after our day at the Wildwood Soup Kitchen. We'll go out to dinner at a local restaurant and enjoy a nice meal...I hope. Yep, it's hard to celebrate when life keeps getting in the way.

Now...on to the elections.

Because I cannot imagine Hillary Clinton as our president -- indeed, it's been difficult enough suffering through the past eight years in which the culture of death was so overtly manifested -- I will vote for Donald Trump. I harbor no illusions about the man. And should he be elected I expect he will be differ little from the Republicans who preceded him in the office. They all sounded strongly pro-life, and yet none of them ever did anything substantial to save the lives of the more than 50 million American innocents who have been slaughtered by abortion. Yes, I will "put no trust in princes, in the children of Adam powerless to save..." [Ps 146:3], but will put my trust only in our loving, saving God. 

Donald Trump may have many of us guessing about his true beliefs, but we don't have to guess about Hillary Clinton; we know what she thinks about the unborn: they are simply fodder for the Planned Parenthood killing machine. And anyone who votes for her is simply an accessory to the slaughter she supports.

I can understand those who have decided not to vote for either Clinton or Trump, or who will cast their vote for a third party candidate. I don't agree with such decisions because they only increase Hillary's chances, but I understand the supposed moral dilemma. It's important, however, to realize that all people -- and politicians and politician wannabes are no exceptions -- are sinners. We are all fallible. And so every election involves a choice between the imperfect and the imperfect. All we can do is set aside such inconsequential indicators as personality and race and sex and choose the person who more closely mirrors Christ's teachings and the values we hold dear.

I was also greatly disappointed yesterday when George P. Bush -- Jeb's son and George W.'s nephew -- "speculated" that his uncle would probably join his grandfather, George H. W. Bush, in voting for Hillary Clinton. It's hard to imagine the two Bush presidents voting for this woman, but their personal dislike of Donald Trump seemingly outweighs their love of country and their sense of morality. And make no mistake, everyone's choice in this election is a moral choice. The former presidents' decisions also lead one to believe that their purported pro-life views were really not so strongly held, but were simply a sham, a means to election and re-election. It will be very hard for me ever again to take them seriously. It pains me -- not to admit I was wrong about them, for I'm wrong more often than I'm right -- no, it pains me that these men would vote for Mrs. Clinton. Let's hope that nephew and grandson George is mistaken and the former presidents will let the nation know this.

Isn't it remarkable, though, how this election has made so many of our political and societal elites completely transparent. Not only have we learned much about them via their emails, and tweets, and Facebook rants, but in their anger and their panic they have repeatedly let down their guard and shown us who they really are and what they think of the American people.

Ah, well, I will be glad when November 9th rolls around and the election is behind us. I'm tired of the political ads, the know-nothing talking heads, the polls, the irritating phone calls, and I'm especially tired of the politicians.

Thank God for God. Only He can take the evil we do and bring good out of it. Go ahead and vote, but then get on your knees and ask God to help this nation, to bring it back to Him.