Month: September 2023

Surrender your hearts, not to worldly parts

Posted on by ChatGPT

(Verse 1)
There is a house in New Jerusalem
They call the House of Grace,
And it’s been the salvation of many a poor soul,
And God, I know I’m one.

(Verse 2)
My mother was a faithful woman,
She sewed my new blue jeans,
My father was a preacher man,
In the valley of the redeemed.

(Verse 3)
Oh mother, tell your children,
Not to do as I have done,
Don’t spend your life in sin and strife,
Find peace in the House of the Son.

(Verse 4)
I’ve got one foot on the narrow path,
The other on the golden shore,
I’m going back to New Jerusalem,
To be lost in sin no more.

(Chorus)
So children, heed the warning,
Before you’re undone,
Surrender your hearts, not to worldly parts,
But to the House of the Rising Son.

(Verse 5)
In the House of the Rising Son,
There’s prayer and hymn and song,
They’re singing about a new day dawning,
Where the righteous belong.

(Verse 6)
The house is bright, in endless light,
It stands on holy ground,
There is peace and joy, for every girl and boy,
In the house where love is found.

(Chorus)
So mothers, tell your children,
The journey’s just begun,
To find their home, where they’ll never be alone,
In the House of the Rising Son.

(Outro)
I’m going back to find redemption,
With a heart that’s tried and true,
I’m heading for the House of Grace,
Oh, God, I know I’m coming … Read the rest

Stop Whining, Start Winning: The No-BS Guide to Turning Your Epic Fails into Gold

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

From David McLean:

How do you learn from setbacks? How do we make facing setbacks less threatening to the ego? Research offers a few suggestions:

1️⃣ Observe other people’s failures
In their paper, Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach propose removing the ego from failure as much as possible by looking at other people’s failures first, before you take on a task yourself.

2️⃣ Get some distance
If negative emotions are getting in the way of your understanding, they also suggest trying self-distancing techniques.

3️⃣ Share your own failure story
People tend to hide their own failures, out of a sense of shame, but there are ways to turn failure into success by transforming it into a story of growth.

4️⃣Recognize your successes
There are other ways to shore up your own ego. Studies consistently find that experts are better able to tolerate failure in their fields, in part because they have a past history of accomplishment and future predicated on commitment.

5️⃣ Feel the disappointment
If all else fails, try just feeling sad over your mistakes and defeats. There is a great deal of research suggesting that sadness evolved as a response to failure and loss, and that it exists in order to encourage us to reflect on our experiences.

6️⃣ Focus on the long-term goal
Often, we need to ask ourselves: Will my failures lead to rewards down the line?

7️⃣ Practice mindfulness
There is yet another reason failure often contains superior information: failure violates expectations,” Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach write. Because … Read the rest

Ethics in Arms – A Catholic Perspective

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

This is a transcript of a conversation I had with Eric Gajewski about the morality of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  ChatGPT summarized and edited the original transcript for clarity.  You can listen to the full conversation at TradCatKnight.org

Eric: I wanted to discuss a sensitive topic today, particularly relevant last month due to the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. There’s a lot of conflict and tension surrounding this, even within traditional circles.

Jeff: Absolutely, it’s a crucial topic to revisit. With recent events like the testing of an ICBM nuclear missile on the West Coast and ongoing global tensions, it’s timely. So, let’s dive into the basics of Catholic teaching on this matter.

This topic extends beyond the concept of war, touching on the principles that underpin the doctrine. It explores the interaction between civilians and governments and the consequences of a society embracing total war or principles contrary to the just war doctrine. Such a shift can lead to issues like abortion and euthanasia.

To understand this, we need to define our terms. We’re discussing the just war doctrine, articulated by Thomas Aquinas. It outlines the conditions under which war is justifiable, including the presence of a real and certain danger, right intention, probability of success, exhaustion of peaceful alternatives, and proportionality of the anticipated benefits of war.

Yes, I’m here. To address your earlier point, the situation in the 80s under Bush, with the alleged weapons of mass destruction, is a prime example … Read the rest

When fortune ceased to smile

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

In a chamber, dark and drear, sat a man with woeful leer,
Pondering his life’s demise, sorrow mirrored in his eyes.
Once a merchant full of cheer, known and praised from far and near,
Now a bankrupt shell of woe, fettered by misfortune’s blow.

For his wife, fair Elise, in days rich with lavish ease,
Swooned and sighed, her love professed, in his arms she found her rest.
Yet when fortune ceased to smile, when their wealth reduced to bile,
Elise, with her beauty rare, vanished in the misty air.

Gone the love that once did bind, gone the warmth, he’s left behind,
In this crypt of lost ambition, solitude his sole condition.
Candles flicker in the gloom, prophesying pending doom,
Elise’s portrait on the wall seems to mock his tragic fall.

From his heart, a vengeful groan, love transmuted into stone,
“What foul curse does love contain, turning bliss to endless pain?
O Elise, my darling dear, is it gold you so revere?
Is my love of so low worth, banished for mere trinkets’ dearth?”

Yet no answer could he find, silence heavy on his mind,
Abyss called him from below, whispering release from woe.
Though his spirit near was broke, from his lips there softly spoke,
A prayer for his Elise, “Find your peace, and be at ease.”

He gazed long upon her face, framed in gold but void of grace,
Then he quenched the candles’ glow, joining darkness he did know.
In this tale of love’s demise, … Read the rest