John Schultz: February 2004 Archives

...only stupid people.

I was listening one of Fr. Benedict Groeschel's tapes on spirituality yesterday and he said something funny and profound. It was something like this:

It's easy to be stupid. But in order to be very stupid, you need to be very smart. Being very smart enables you to add depth to your stupidity.

He was referring to Theologians in general and was slamming the rationalism of the Enlightenment.

And I thought of that today when I say this link on the ABC News site:
"Who Killed Jesus? Theologians develop answers to this 2004 year-old question."

Several areas where someone is being very stupid.
The "Who Killed Jesus?" question is a valid one and the answer is I did, you did, we all did.

So to have it followed by the rest is like asking,
"Why is the sky blue? Climatologists debate something I can explain to a four year old."

"Why does my dog beg at the dinner table? Animal behaviorists struggle to understand what Pavlov knocked out decades ago"

"Why are French Fries called French Fries? Culinary anthropologists and linguistic specialists discuss polymorphic language parameters."

I prefer St. Augustine for my theological development. Throw in a few encumenical councils, Doctors of the Church and more recent encyclicals and it's all covered. But don't tell that to the PhD at the Washington Theological Union - he's busy trying figure out how old Jesus was when he realized he was God. And - again to quote Fr. Groeschel - that's just latent Arianism.

And very stupid.

I think Andy Rooney used to be the kind of guy who kicked dogs when no one was looking.

Now he doesn't care if people are watching - he just lets fly the loafer until it connects with Spot and sends the poor pooch across the room.
"It's raining!"
"I'm hungry!"
"Nader is running again!"
"That's for Pearl Harbor!" ...are all the things he says when he kicks the dog, blaming his bad mood on everything around him.

Now this from Rooney is not inspiring, entertaining or even perspicacious.

It's just nasty.

And it makes me wonder why CBS bothers to have him shake his boney finger at America on a weekly basis offering nothing but the ill-mannered mutterings of someone who is just mad at the world.

Updated this entry with a better picture - so the comments below might not make sense (Sorry guys!)

This is Steve, me and my bride at the final moments of the toast (roast?) at our reception. Steve still watches our wedding video just to see the toast again.

We didn't get to spend the birthday together because he's studying for midterms at St. Charles in Philly. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Steve. I couldn't have shared the womb with anyone better.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

You can bet there will be more politcal postings here at CL over the next several months.

NRO linked to this Reuters story containing a quote so stupid it makes me want to move to another planet.

The gist is that a Kerry presidency would be good for financial markets because the deficit would come back under control.

Here's the quote:

"'Kerry (policy) will probably be similar to a Clinton economic policy, which would be more focused on balancing the budget,' said Gus Faucher, a senior economist with Economy.com, where he tracks elections.

'That would bring down interest rates and drive up bond prices,' he added."

Mr. Faucher - how far down can interest rates go from here?

Will rates be so low that they'll be counted in handfuls of cheetos rather than American dollars?

Or perhaps I'm missing some valuable information that only trained economists have... (Someone please tell me if I am.)

Sheesh. I can't wait until the Bush campaign gets in gear.

I recently picked a hymn from Ritual Song for Mass, it was a familiar tune and looked like a good choice. But when we sang it in rehearsal, I got the full impact of the words. Sing along if you know the hymn tune "Beach Spring."

As A Fire is Meant for Burning - v1.
As a fire is meant for burning
With a bright and burning flame,
So the church is meant for mission, Giving glory to God's name.
Not to preach our creeds or customs, But to build a bridge of care,
We join hands across the nations, Finding neighbors everywhere.

Let's break it down now.

As a fire is meant for burning
With a bright and burning flame,
Nice metaphor, but redundant use of the word burning. Fire burns - no need to remind us. How about bright and glowing? How about bright and holy, ie - Easter candle? You will be singing this during Liturigcal functions, right? How about bright and warming? So much promise, so many possibilities...

So the church is meant for mission, Giving glory to God's name.
I prefer my church to be "Church" but other than that this phrase is ok.

Not to preach our creeds or customs, But to build a bridge of care,
This is the line that almost set me into convulsions. Perhaps the author (Ruth Duck, b. 1947) meant creeds like the Boy Scout Pledge. Or perhaps the Shriner's Oath. Or maybe the promise to take out the trash. Even so, "preaching Creeds" it pretty much what Jesus wanted us to do when He instructed the disciples to go to all Nations. Nothing wrong with preaching, Creeds or customs per se. And they certainly aren't trumped "care" as though Paul wrote in Corinthians about how the "Greatest of These is Care."

We join hands across the nations, Finding neighbors everywhere.
Did I just go from Mass to an "Up With People" concert? Is this the background music for a ride at Disney Land? I know "joining hands" is pretty important to people from Ms. Duck's generation but the last phrase doesn't even make a bit of sense. "Neighbors everywhere" is an oxymoron. I have few neighbors. They are within walking distance of my house. Or if I'm traveling far from DC and run into someone from my town, I might call him a "neighbor" in a general sense. But, I don't make a habit of holding hands with them. And they aren't everywhere because I'm not Mr. Rodgers.

And this gets to the real issue: This hymn is nothing but nice, and in being it takes a broad slap at our Creed. Nice chases real prayer and authentic theology out of the room.

So whoever feels up to it: go ahead and write three verses that make some sense and glorify the Kingdom of God instead of the God of the Nice. Maybe I'll print it in program and we'll sing those words instead.