Monday, September 28, 2009

Miscellaneous Stuff

I've wondered what my opening words should be after an absence of nearly six months and, truth be told, I have no idea what they should be. I will, however, start out by thanking all of you kind and compassionate cyber friends of mine who were conscientious enough to keep us in your prayers, especially my late grandmother. Your comments and well wishes were a tremendous source of strength for me during this very dark period in my life. Thank you and God bless all of you.

I continue on with my life because I know that is what my grandmother would have wanted. Seeing us grieve would have been unacceptable to her and would have certainly broken her heart. But despite this willingness to move on, I do so with the heavy drag of her loss weighing down on me. I guess it's too soon to feel "normal" again.

And now, to go off on a tangent with the following...

A Desire More Desirable than Any Satisfaction
The following passage, believe it or not, came from one of the many sources of literature that got C.S.Lewis on the path to Christianity:


"Oh God, bring me to the sea's end,
To the Hesperides, sisters of evening,
Who sing alone in their islands
Where the golden apples grow,
And the Lord of Oceans guards the way
From all who would sail
Into their night-blue harbors —
Let me escape to the rim of the world
Where the tremendous firmament meets
The earth, and Atlas holds the universe
In his palms.
For there, in the palace of Zeus,
Wells of ambrosia pour through the chambers
,
While the sacred earth lavishes life
And Time adds his years
Only to heaven's happiness."
~ Hippolytus by Euripides

Can you not detect a tremendous sense of longing in the above passage? This particular excerpt tells me that the pagan who wrote it, despite the fact that he had never heard of Judaism and lived centuries before Christ, longed for something beyond this world. I thought to include it in this post to illustrate just how innate the longing for God and Heaven can be and how that desire - fulfilled only by something beyond this earth - can be more desirable than any satisfaction. Most of humanity I think feels this vacuity in their lives. And not knowing what this hunger is, they fill the void with materialistic possessions and other earthly accessories.

I end my first post with one of the most beautiful chants that I have heard. It is the Parce mihi domine (Spare me, Lord) by Cristobal de Morales. I posted a version of this chant a long time ago.






And one last thing. You may have seen this short video somewhere else. I LOVE this one! It's celebrating new vocations.

18 comments:

Therese said...

it is so good to see you posting again Tom.

I have been praying for you during your absence.

Cathy_of_Alex said...

Welcome back! I missed you.

Tracy said...

Welcome back Tom, you have been missed!!!

Tom in Vegas said...

Aussie, Cathy, Tracy- Nice to be back and to know you guys are still in business! I have to catch-up with some of your blogs:o)

Melody K said...

Welcome back, Tom! I missed you.

Adrienne said...

About dang time!!! You were soooooooooo missed (and worried about)

Cathy_of_Alex said...

What's the news of Toby? Are you engaged? What did you and Terry do when he was in Vegas?Tell...tell....!!!!

Shirley said...

So glad you're back! And thanks for the music. I'm looking forward to pics of your puppy too!

Tom in Vegas said...

Melody, Auntie A, and Shirley-

Thank you. It's nice to be back. I'm drowning in school, however.

Cathy-

I was unaware of Terry's visit to Las Vegas. If I had known he was coming, I would have taken him to see the Las Vegas Strip's newest show: Cirque de la Dancing Nuns. I hear it's phenomenal and made up entirely of nuns who were excomunicated or (get this) feel they should be. LOL. And no, I'm not engaged yet, so any time you want to come and visit me, I'm your man;0)

Anonymous said...

Welcome back, Tom!! I missed you, too!

Cathy_of_Alex said...

LOL!

Rita said...

Oh, it is good to have you back.

You've been much missed over here too!

Katie Alender said...

Hey, Tom! Good to see you back!

Tom in Vegas said...

Georgette, Rita, and Katie-

Hello right back at ya! It's nice to be back to some degree. As I stated in a reponse, I'm DROWNING in school work but the pay out I think will be worth it. I'd like to do a post on Toby so you guys can see just how much he has grown.

Cathy-

I knew that would make you laugh:0)

Terry Nelson said...

Tom - I'm so glad you are back - I missed you. So many things have happened in the blogosphere - Cathy started most of them.

Mike and Kim said...

Thank God you're back!!!! You have so been missed!! I look forward to checking in on your blog often, again!

Love the chant~amazing actually. Makes me think of Kris' trips to the monastery. How powerful that would be to hear it in person. I hadn't seen the vocation video clip....so powerful and moving. I love our Catholic Church!

I pray that God continues to shower you and your family with peace.

Tom in Vegas said...

Terry-

I know all about our dear friend, Cathy. She is definitely a rabble rouser:0)

Mike and Kim-

Thanks for stopping by! Well, now you guys are AUNTS and UNCLES!!! Congratulations! If I'm excited over Ellis, I can only imagine that you guys are soaring on cloud nine. I'm so happy for soon-to-be Mrs. Kris and Garth!

Cathy_of_Alex said...

Don't believe a word of it. Terry is the center of trouble and partying.