Former Female Basketball Star Now Cloistered Nun
In honor of the Women's Championship Game tonight...
ajc.com | Sports | Pennefather heeds her calling
Once upon a lifetime ago, Shelly Pennefather was the sweetest of shooting stars, an All-American at Villanova and the 1987 national player of the year. Since 1991, she has lived here, in the Poor Clare Monastery, at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a very modest middle-class neighborhood.
Pennefather has taken her vows and the name Sister Rose Marie of the Queen of Angels. She renounced her worldly life, including a six-figure salary as a professional basketball star in Japan, to answer her true calling: To serve God as a cloistered Poor Clare nun...
...the Colettine Poor Clares are one of Catholicism's most austere orders. They sleep no longer than four hours at a time, eat one full meal a day and don't use phones, TVs, radios or any publications except religious texts. They sleep on a bed of straw; they're barefoot except for an hour each day, when they don sandals to walk into the courtyard, where they're allowed to converse with each other.
Poor Clares have little, if any, interaction with the outside world. During Lent, the order has virtually no contact at all. So when Sister Rose Marie spends this Sunday as she does every day -- primarily in prayer and meditation -- she'll probably be blissfully unaware of the Final Four semis.
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
Positive Spin Award
In war the battle is waged in what the media reports (and neglects to report) as much as the actual bombs and bullets that fly in the battle field. During this short war we daily here of reports of chemical finds, cities occupied, and the death of Saddam only to be retracted a few hours later. The cycle has become predictable with the end result that it is hard to follow the news without being skeptical of anything that you are hearing is actual fact.
Last night the attack on Saddam Hussein was reported first of all on MSNBC and then quickly picked up by all of the news networks. They seemed unaware that video of the results of the attack were readily available. I had watched the video that was released about an hour after the "breaking story" about three hours before on the International News Network which had run the story as an attack on a "residential area" of Baghdad and therefore a place where civilian casualties had resulted. The American press which has avoided any reference to such stories evidently also missed out on having the video of the results that in fact turned out to be an attack on Saddam Hussein himself.
In the midst of all of this one wonders if the media will need to be "liberated" once this war is over with or has the government found a way to keep them under wraps? One has only to look at the almost comical reports of the Iraqi foreign minister who yards away from American tanks continues to give positive reports about the great successes the Iraqi military is enjoying. I say it is comical until you realize that our media is quickly becoming the same kind of joke.
Anyway the government, the church, corporations should all take notes on the positive spin this guy can put on the worst situation. So we give the "Positive Spin Award" to the Iraqi Information Minister, who Fox News has nicknamed Baghdad Bob but who's real name is Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf.
Today he has given a ultimatum to the American troops who must surrender he says or be burned in their tanks...
b>The Agonist Provides a Timeline for the Reporting of the Saddam Bombing
The Agonist:
1.) 7 April; 3 pm Baghdad time / 1:00 GMT / 7 AM EDT
Airstrike occurrs (according to NYT).
2.) 7 April; 18:35 GMT / 2:35 EDT
Reuters reports "Homes Razed..." (posted by The Agonist @ 3:37 PM EDT)
Other links to the story break:here, here and here.
3.) 8 April; 1:56 GMT / 9:56 PM EDT
Reuters reports "Saddam Targeted..."
4.) 8 April; 2:44 GMT / 10:44 PM EDT
Reuters reports "U.S. Bombs Target (Saddam)..."
(this article subsequently appended at 3:32 GMT).
In war the battle is waged in what the media reports (and neglects to report) as much as the actual bombs and bullets that fly in the battle field. During this short war we daily here of reports of chemical finds, cities occupied, and the death of Saddam only to be retracted a few hours later. The cycle has become predictable with the end result that it is hard to follow the news without being skeptical of anything that you are hearing is actual fact.
Last night the attack on Saddam Hussein was reported first of all on MSNBC and then quickly picked up by all of the news networks. They seemed unaware that video of the results of the attack were readily available. I had watched the video that was released about an hour after the "breaking story" about three hours before on the International News Network which had run the story as an attack on a "residential area" of Baghdad and therefore a place where civilian casualties had resulted. The American press which has avoided any reference to such stories evidently also missed out on having the video of the results that in fact turned out to be an attack on Saddam Hussein himself.
In the midst of all of this one wonders if the media will need to be "liberated" once this war is over with or has the government found a way to keep them under wraps? One has only to look at the almost comical reports of the Iraqi foreign minister who yards away from American tanks continues to give positive reports about the great successes the Iraqi military is enjoying. I say it is comical until you realize that our media is quickly becoming the same kind of joke.
Anyway the government, the church, corporations should all take notes on the positive spin this guy can put on the worst situation. So we give the "Positive Spin Award" to the Iraqi Information Minister, who Fox News has nicknamed Baghdad Bob but who's real name is Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf.
Today he has given a ultimatum to the American troops who must surrender he says or be burned in their tanks...
b>The Agonist Provides a Timeline for the Reporting of the Saddam Bombing
The Agonist:
1.) 7 April; 3 pm Baghdad time / 1:00 GMT / 7 AM EDT
Airstrike occurrs (according to NYT).
2.) 7 April; 18:35 GMT / 2:35 EDT
Reuters reports "Homes Razed..." (posted by The Agonist @ 3:37 PM EDT)
Other links to the story break:here, here and here.
3.) 8 April; 1:56 GMT / 9:56 PM EDT
Reuters reports "Saddam Targeted..."
4.) 8 April; 2:44 GMT / 10:44 PM EDT
Reuters reports "U.S. Bombs Target (Saddam)..."
(this article subsequently appended at 3:32 GMT).
The Future Freed Iraq?
Here is an item that will test the resolve of the coalition forces to allow the Iraqi people to "govern" themselves. A potential "Ayatollah Kohmeni" could be in Iraq's future if the majority Shia Muslim occupants of the country are give the "right to vote." This would make the future Iraq if it becomes a fundamentalist Muslim country a real threat to the United States--so I'm guessing that our "liberation" of the Iraqi people won't allow that to happen.
From BBC NEWS:
The leader of Iraq's main Shia Muslim opposition group, Ayatollah Mohammad-Baqer Hakim, announces he will return home after living in exile in neighboring Iran for more than two decades.
For an interview with the Ayatollah, here is one that MSNBC did awhile back.
Here is an item that will test the resolve of the coalition forces to allow the Iraqi people to "govern" themselves. A potential "Ayatollah Kohmeni" could be in Iraq's future if the majority Shia Muslim occupants of the country are give the "right to vote." This would make the future Iraq if it becomes a fundamentalist Muslim country a real threat to the United States--so I'm guessing that our "liberation" of the Iraqi people won't allow that to happen.
From BBC NEWS:
The leader of Iraq's main Shia Muslim opposition group, Ayatollah Mohammad-Baqer Hakim, announces he will return home after living in exile in neighboring Iran for more than two decades.
For an interview with the Ayatollah, here is one that MSNBC did awhile back.
Lenten Meditations
I continue to post daily meditations. I especially like today's post. You can visit this site by clicking here or on the picture of the "entrance gate" marked God Alone in the right hand column.
I continue to post daily meditations. I especially like today's post. You can visit this site by clicking here or on the picture of the "entrance gate" marked God Alone in the right hand column.
Monday, April 7, 2003
I'm Quoted in the Chicago Tribune
From Chicago Tribune | `A day of clouds and whirlwinds':
Sandstorms, dust storms, whirlwinds: All suggest more than a hint of an angry deity's wrath, of the earth itself being turned against its disobedient inhabitants. Little wonder, then, that some observers in the Arab world hailed last week's sandstorm as evidence of God's displeasure with the invaders.
No matter what one's political or religious perspective, however, a sandstorm must evoke awe at the wind's magnificent sculpting power, its relentless sweep and scoop and spin and push, turning day into night and night into chaos.
"It obliterates everything, creating darkness," says Michael Dubruiel, a Christian writer based in Ft. Wayne, Ind. "Sandstorms certainly make one think of a simpler faith where nothing happens without God willing it or allowing it. The `whirlwind' idea is standard not only in the Islamic faith, but in the Judeo-Christian tradition as well."
From Chicago Tribune | `A day of clouds and whirlwinds':
Sandstorms, dust storms, whirlwinds: All suggest more than a hint of an angry deity's wrath, of the earth itself being turned against its disobedient inhabitants. Little wonder, then, that some observers in the Arab world hailed last week's sandstorm as evidence of God's displeasure with the invaders.
No matter what one's political or religious perspective, however, a sandstorm must evoke awe at the wind's magnificent sculpting power, its relentless sweep and scoop and spin and push, turning day into night and night into chaos.
"It obliterates everything, creating darkness," says Michael Dubruiel, a Christian writer based in Ft. Wayne, Ind. "Sandstorms certainly make one think of a simpler faith where nothing happens without God willing it or allowing it. The `whirlwind' idea is standard not only in the Islamic faith, but in the Judeo-Christian tradition as well."
An Evangelical Preacher Asks "Where is our Humility?"
From Covenant News:
This spirit of faith and humility has seen us through the best and worst of times. True Christians are neither pompous in victory nor broken in defeat. We recognize that God is our hope and we rest in His sovereign will. We are also determined to follow His direction, and to resist those who try to supplant His authority. Anything less is pseudo-spirituality.
How is it, then, that in the face of a national crisis, it seems that the overwhelming majority of professing Christians today display not humility but overt arrogance? Instead of crying out for national repentance, we seem intoxicated with our own power and prosperity. Instead of recommitting ourselves to following God's laws, we seem determined to follow the Pied Pipers of self-glorification.
Christians in America seem almost fanatical about removing the speck from the eye of other nations while ignoring the beam in our own eye. Our petitions to God take the form of demands. We act as if God is our servant instead of the other way around. How long will God tolerate this insolence?
That God has blessed our country with superior wealth and power is no assurance that it will always be this way. We must never presume on God's patience or protection. What took two hundred years to build could be destroyed in two hundred days! With God, it is a small thing to build up or to pluck down. We are protected at His pleasure, not ours.
The national sins that plagued America before September 11, 2001, yet plague America today. There is no change in the overall direction of the country.
In fact, the pace of the race toward "big governmentism" (once known as socialism, fascism or communism) has quickened significantly. We are in more danger of losing our freedoms and liberties now than we were before those terrorist attacks. Furthermore, the principal threats are not from forces without, but from forces within, and Christians seem either oblivious or actually supportive of them.
Contrary to popular opinion, our leaders are taking us further away from constitutional government. The risks associated with many of our country's actions are huge. Despite the propaganda, America is vulnerable! We are vulnerable to the judgment of a righteous, omnipotent God!
Instead of beating our chests in pride and arrogance and exalting our own power and glory, we should be humbling ourselves before God and seeking His will. Our greatest threat is not al-Qaida, Iraq or Saddam Hussein. Our greatest threat is the judgment of God, and we have no army capable of victory against Him!
From Covenant News:
This spirit of faith and humility has seen us through the best and worst of times. True Christians are neither pompous in victory nor broken in defeat. We recognize that God is our hope and we rest in His sovereign will. We are also determined to follow His direction, and to resist those who try to supplant His authority. Anything less is pseudo-spirituality.
How is it, then, that in the face of a national crisis, it seems that the overwhelming majority of professing Christians today display not humility but overt arrogance? Instead of crying out for national repentance, we seem intoxicated with our own power and prosperity. Instead of recommitting ourselves to following God's laws, we seem determined to follow the Pied Pipers of self-glorification.
Christians in America seem almost fanatical about removing the speck from the eye of other nations while ignoring the beam in our own eye. Our petitions to God take the form of demands. We act as if God is our servant instead of the other way around. How long will God tolerate this insolence?
That God has blessed our country with superior wealth and power is no assurance that it will always be this way. We must never presume on God's patience or protection. What took two hundred years to build could be destroyed in two hundred days! With God, it is a small thing to build up or to pluck down. We are protected at His pleasure, not ours.
The national sins that plagued America before September 11, 2001, yet plague America today. There is no change in the overall direction of the country.
In fact, the pace of the race toward "big governmentism" (once known as socialism, fascism or communism) has quickened significantly. We are in more danger of losing our freedoms and liberties now than we were before those terrorist attacks. Furthermore, the principal threats are not from forces without, but from forces within, and Christians seem either oblivious or actually supportive of them.
Contrary to popular opinion, our leaders are taking us further away from constitutional government. The risks associated with many of our country's actions are huge. Despite the propaganda, America is vulnerable! We are vulnerable to the judgment of a righteous, omnipotent God!
Instead of beating our chests in pride and arrogance and exalting our own power and glory, we should be humbling ourselves before God and seeking His will. Our greatest threat is not al-Qaida, Iraq or Saddam Hussein. Our greatest threat is the judgment of God, and we have no army capable of victory against Him!
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