... the Michael needs a new place to live.

It's a shame, really, since my little basement hovel is such a cute, comfy, and cozy little place when the water isn't flowing into some room, or the ants don't come marching a thousand abreast. But sadly, it becomes a bit wearing after a while when a big rain means wet carpet, and/or horror-movie like dripping of water from the walls. My latest misadventure? A flooding bathroom. Thought it was the toilet - broken seal or something - but it appears to be a bit more nefarious than that. I'v shut the water off, and flushed the water out of the tank, but to no avail. Water still seeps in from somewhere; in fact, it appears to be welling up from under the linoleum, and not coming from the toilet at all. That's right, welling up. Creepy, if you ask me. Not to mention a tad mysterious...

Thankfully someone will be looking at the situation today, and maybe I won't have to walk through a puddle to get my toothbrush...

Posted by Michael at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday marked a year in office for the new Pope, Benedict XVI. From the moment he was ordained as Pope, people on both sides of the theological spectrum began to speculate as to the nature of his papacy, and some became downright fearful that this notorious "hard-liner" would change things so drastically, that "one would hear a great flushing sound across the Catholic world as all the dissidents and liberals were washed out of the system." But so far, things have progressed at a rather slower pace, and while the expected hardening of the lines has come, it has come gently, yet firmly:

In the homily for his installation Mass April 24, Benedict said: “My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by him, so that he himself will lead the church at this hour of our history.”

The surprise for some appears to be that he meant what he said." (source: Catholic Online)

Now while I may not be a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I am indeed Catholic, and when a leader such as the Pope declares that he hopes to listen to God, and to do His will, I can only cheer him on and say, "May it be so." And may it truly be so, despite his opponents on either spectrum.

Given the state of the Roman Catholic Church over that past several years, one can only say that some hardening of the lines was necessary, and while he hasn't brought about change as people expected he has done a lot of good things in a gentle manner. For a recounting of this past year's events, and a listing of the Pope's hopes for the future (for Africa, for the Church's approach to Islam, and the rest of the world), read this article at Catholic Online.
[The article is long, but a good read. In case you wish to shy away from this article, at least read the excerpt below:]

In terms of content, no one has to speculate about Benedict XVI’s most important teaching concern. He told us, the day before his election, in his homily Pro Eligendo Papa on April 18, 2005: the challenge to a “dictatorship of relativism” in the developed West.

Job no. 1 of this pontificate, therefore, is the reassertion of objective truth in a culture often allergic to the very concept. The beating heart of his pontificate can be expressed in three core concepts: truth, freedom and love. Truth, as the pope sees it, is the doorway a human person must walk through in order to be really free, meaning free to realize one’s full human potential; and love is both the ultimate aim of freedom, and the motive for which the church talks about truth and freedom in the first place.

Posted by Michael at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night at Taize something happened. I had only the vaguest notion that I would preach during the day - even though it was Fr. Rich's turn - and so I came prepared, happy when at first it seemed like it wouldn't happen. And then God changed things around, and so I did, I preached. And then He had Fr. Rich have me pray for people, and so I did, I prayed.

Now, I happen to know the state of my own heart, the nature of my weaknesses, the cycle of my own sins and subsequent guilt/confession. So, to have God move me into an area outside my comfort zone drops the weight of responsibility squarely onto shoulders that feel, at times, too weak to bear it. And so I question:

Why Me?

Why me? Because God wills it, and nothing more. The fact that He knows all about me and my sin and still asks me to participate in the development of His will on earth makes the realization of what He is offering so incredibly poignant.

It is a gift that has nothing to do with me. It is a gift given despite my very nature.

Now that's amazing grace.

Posted by Michael at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since the news is wont to spin the truth, I suppose we could say that. Although, I'm not so sure that Caltech's response was so much as a prank as it was a rapidly executed Rescue Operation. True, Fleming Hovse had several great jokes in response to the MIT prank - like a miniature cannon, with a plaque that read "Here's something more your size." - but I think that by definition a prank needs to be done in secrecy, without the victim knowing what is going on. In this case, MIT knew that CIT was coming, and actually tried to prepare an impromptu barbeque so that both schools could have some fun together. In the end, most of MIT stood around watching CIT's Fleming Hovse crew put the cannon onto a moving truck, cheering them on. To me, that's more of a gracious response to CIT than a continued prank. Continued prank would have involved moving the cannon to some hidden location just hours before Caltech arrived. But alas, MIT proved to be very sportsmanlike about the whole thing, and everyone went away happy. Read more about it at http://www.flemingcannon.com/.

Posted by Michael at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So today marks the eleventh day since I last posted something to read on this blog of mine. Sadly to say, today's entry will also be a short one, just long enough to tell you that the Holy Days have been added to the lectionary pages, as well as all the movable Holy Days, such as Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, and the Mondays-Saturdays of Holy Week and Easter Week. Movable Holy Days are accessible from the lectionary page.

Posted by Michael at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So, MIT managed to pull off one of the best pranks ever, by stealing the Caltech cannon right from under the nose of security on our campus. For more details, view them here:
http://www.caltechvsmit.com

http://www.mitcannon.com

Posted by Michael at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Again, sent to me at work. GM had a "Create an Ad" Contest for the Chevy Tahoe. Here's the one's you definitely won't see on TV

Posted by Michael at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

On Wednesday at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.

You may now return to your (normal ?) life.

[sent to me at work today]

Posted by Michael at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)