Talk Matters

In Is Talk Cheap? Thomas Sowell warns that talk matters, words matter, and the ability to express oneself in speech matters tremendously.  He calls to mind the gripping power of Winston Churchill and the enormity of the  impact his powers of speech and expression had on history.  With will and words, Churchill carried the Britons to heights of hope and endurance against Hitler and his juggernaut.

Sowell’s thoughts:

“Talk matters for good reasons as well as bad…..Unfortunately, people on the make seem to have a keener appreciation of the power of words, as the magic road to other power, than do people defending values that seem to them too obvious to require words.

“The expression, “It goes without saying. . .” is a fatal trap. Few things go without saying. Some of the most valuable things in life may go away without saying– whether loved ones in one’s personal life or the freedom or survival of a nation.”

Sowell points to the shell game Obama and his new administration play with words.  Cloaked in vocabulary, this administration hides the blatant reality of legislation that would take away workers’ right to a secret ballot by calling it, “Employers’ Freedom of Choice Act.”  “Choice” what a lovely word.  Where have we seen it go wrong before?

Obama’s budget of deficits is labelled “A New Era of Responsibility.”  Sowell says of Obama, “You want responsibility? He’ll give you the word “responsibility.” Why not? It costs nothing.

Those of you who want your country back, be on the lookout for a Presidential candidate who can handle the language without speaking in the “patrician style of country club Republicans.”  Look, too, for someone with a good non-apologetic offensive.”  According to Sowell, “General Douglas MacArthur gave a one-word definition of defensive warfare: defeat!”

Last and most important!  Look out America!  I believe that the gift of gab that got Golden Mouth elected won’t stop with words.  Deception breeds deception, whether in word or deed.

Lenten Reading Plan – Day 5- Mar 2

crucificionicon12Day5  Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 3/2/09

St Ignatius of Antoch: Letter to the Ephesians: complete

Day 5 Lite Version

St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Ephesians:15-21

Compilation of Lenten readings

Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF

Lion’s Roar:

This morning I’m thinking about the Church.  I love Sundays.  I hear the lion’s roar, “and then he cried out in a loud voice as a lion roars.”(Rev. 10:3)  The lion thunders out, crying “full-throated and unsparing like a trumpet blast…”  “When He roars his sons shall come…”  (Hoses 11:10)  On Sundays,with tremendous power, the Lion of the tribe of Judah summonses the gathering of the Church from all corners of the earth for a great feast.  Even in Lent, the season of fasting, the Church prepares a banquet.  The Lion, Himself, provides the meal, prepared Himself of Himself.  It is here that the Lion becomes the Little Lamb that was slain, but now lives.

Ordination Ceremony – Prostration & Litany of the Saints

Ordination _ Kiss of Peace

Notes from the Fathers

From Epistle to Diognetus – chapter 6

To sum up all in one word–what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible.