Musings of a Little Redheaded Girl

What is making me smile today?

From Black*Eiffel

Salivating (once again) over whiteowl’s Etsy shop. I love this piece…which is your favorite?

Moving day is tomorrow. I can’t believe it is already here!

The surreal photography of Rune Guneriussen. Check it out.

God is very good — I’m just sayin’.

My #1 guilty pleasure is definitely fashion blogs, and I am loving the trend of looking at what REAL people where in REAL life for what is fashionable, rather than looking at the runways. Face Hunter (my most recent discovery), The Sartorialist (the photography is lovely), garance dore (cute and chic! This gal is wonderful), Urban Weeds (direct from Portland, the new artsy center of the US of A), and LOOKBOOK (worldwide street fashion!) are some of my favorites.

Our first RCIA session last night was awesome. :)

This gal’s art and textile work is quirky and fun.

Cool song from Jem that my sisters showed me two nights ago.

Letter from Brother Josef! (Ugh, I have six letters from different people to answer now…)

Tooooooooo cute!

Our new associate pastor pointed the RCIA team to this awesome resource: an online searchable Catholic catechism! Sweetness.

The prospect of a human baby with three biological parents has moved closer after scientists created monkeys using a technique that one day could stop children from inheriting severe genetic diseases.

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The successful experiment in a close human relative suggests that it should be possible within a few years to use the method to help women who carry genetic disorders to avoid passing them to their children.

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It should allow scientists to replace faulty “cellular batteries” called mitochondria, which affect about 1 in 6,500 births. While most mitochondria defects have mild effects, some can trigger severe brain, heart, muscle and liver conditions, as well as cancer, diabetes, blindness and deafness.

The technique is controversial, however, because the children it creates would inherit genetic material from three parents. The mother and father would contribute most of their child’s DNA but a small amount would come from a second woman donating healthy mitochondria.

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“The only way to treat these defects is to replace the genes,” he said. “This is gene transfer involving the germline, which is a concern, but we are pursuing it not for general use but for patients with mutations they will pass to the next generation. We believe this technology will prevent that.”

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In the research, published in the journal Nature, the modified eggs containing chromosomes from one female monkey and mitochondria from another, were fertilised by injecting a sperm. The resulting embryos were transferred to the wombs of surrogate mothers.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Wait — inheriting genetic material from three parents is the only controversial factor here?

I am all for healthier babies and less genetic disorders, but not done this way. This is genetic design, and (the religious issues aside) regardless of whether these guys say that it is “not for general use but for patients with mutations”, they are effectively raising the bar of what it means to be physically perfect. As we discover more and more about genetics, we find more and more imperfections or “mutations” to fix. At the genetic level – sorry to burst your bubble – no one is perfect. Everyone is a victim of genetic mutation. Are you going to fix every single person? Are you going to try to repair me? Red hair is a “sorry” result of a genetic mutation, too, you know.

Grumble grumble.

St. Francis of Assisi, Apostle of the Mixed Life

Thomas Merton, in his book No Man Is An Island, describes St. Francis in glowing terms as the exemplary “Apostle of the Mixed Life”.  I found this to be the best title for my dear patron St. Francis that I have ever heard. What does Merton mean by the mixed life? To paraphrase, the mixed life for Merton is a middle way between the contemplative life/vocation and the active life/vocation. To live the mixed life is to ground oneself firmly in the Rock that is Christ (the contemplative side), and allow daily life to flow out from this central point (the active life). Daily activities never impede the recollected soul from uniting itself with Christ; daily activities and goals never distract from the ultimate goal of salvation.

From this description, it seems that most of us – young singles in particular – live the mixed life. Perhaps we haven’t thought about it before, being anxious about discerning one of the two major vocations. But we are living a vocation in the here and now, the one to the mixed life. Whether or not God calls us to another later is His business, and He will do it in His good time.  That said, let us take a look at St. Francis, the Apostle of the Mixed Life.

St. Francis felt called to live the Gospel out in his daily life. Originally, he did not want to become a religious; he did not want to start an order. For most of his life as a brother, he was constantly arguing that he did not want to write a rule for his Order; rather, he wanted each of his brothers to read the Gospel and discern how to apply that to their own lives, wherever they were. (Of course, when Francis did finally write the rule, the broad terms he used led to an almost immediate fracturing of the Order into many facets, as we see today.) As Merton points out (and this is interesting to meditate on), St. Francis never became a priest. He never celebrated the Mass; he attended His Lord in the Eucharist as part of the congregation.

St. Francis, Apostle of the Mixed Life, pray for us as we go about our daily activities.

(I will try to post the actual text from Merton later…he says it all so much more eloquently than I ever could.)

Our car broke down last night on the way home, so my dad and I took the bus into work today for a change. It has been *ages* since I’ve ridden that bus — every time I do it brings back memories of when I interned on Capitol Hill for the President’s Council on Bioethics (which has unfortunately since been boarded up by our illustrious President who does not care much for bioethics, but I will not grumble more about that).

There is something so charming about DC early in the morning. The weather hasn’t changed much in 200+ years: despite the paved roads and modern office buildings, the city is still rather swampish and the air hot and humid even in the early morning. Shopkeepers are starting to open their stores, people are cleaning the sidewalks, early risers are standing sleepy-eyed outside coffee shops, joggers run back and forth, men in suits and women in high heels (everyone dressed in professional black, of course) rush to their offices with a Starbucks in hand. When I am living downtown, I hope to take the metro downtown to pick up a coffee at a local cafe just for old times’ sake.

Speaking of coffee shops, I had a great time meeting my old friend and “mom away from home”, Mrs. B, at Starbucks yesterday. She elbowed me when we arrived and told me I “wasn’t allowed to be boring today” and had to “order something other than plain coffee”. (Sorry, but I go to Starbucks for ambiance, not coffee, and the cheaper my ticket to sit at one of their tables the better!) As always happens when someone forces me to “stop being boring” at Starbucks, I listened with growing apprehension to those ahead of me in line rattling off their orders: “I’ll take a vendi mocha cappachino with double expresso and skim milk please, and hold the added sugar” or whatever they say. When I reached the counter, I still had no idea what I wanted.

Barista: What do you want, honey?

Me: :::long silence::: Um….do you have anything…with chocolate in it? I think I’m in the mood for chocolate.

Mrs. B (at my elbow, sipping her caramel macchiato): :::giggle:::

Barista: :::looking over her shoulder at the menu on the wall and pointing::: Yes, the Double Chocolate Chip Frappachino has chocolate in it.

Me: Umm….Frappachinos are those blended coffees…with coffee in them, right?

Barista: :::nods with raised eyebrows:::

Me: Hmmm…okay…I’ll take a tall one of those then.

Mrs. B: :::gigglegiggle:::

As you can see, I am pretty much a failure as a Starbucks-ian. Oh well.

Coming out of China today…

The majority of transplanted organs in China come from executed prisoners, state media reported Wednesday in a rare disclosure about an industry often criticized for being opaque and unethical….

Condemned prisoners are “definitely not a proper source for organ transplants,” the report quoted Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu as saying. He has publicly acknowledged that most transplant organs are taken from executed prisoners, but only with prior consent.

Foreign medical and human rights groups have long criticized China’s organ transplant trade as being opaque, profit-driven and unethical. Critics say death row prisoners may feel compelled to become donors.

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China has acknowledged that kidneys, livers, corneas and other organs are routinely removed from prisoners sentenced to death, but gave no details. Chinese transplant specialists estimate at least 90 percent of transplanted organs come from executed prisoners, human rights groups say.

Read the rest of the article here.

Sigh. What do you do when people need transplants to live, but the living are not nearly meeting the demand as donors? I for one would love to be an organ donor (not a living donor, mind you, but donate my body after I’m dead) but there are no cut-and-dry laws in Maryland about when exactly someone is dead and their organs can be removed. And this is not the case in MD alone; unfortunately there is no consensus on the definition of death.

Is a person dead when they are brain dead?

Is a person dead when there is no brain stem function?

Is a person dead when their heart stops?

Is a person dead when a combination of the above occurs?

Who knows. I come down with those who assert that a person is actually dead when there is no longer holistic bodily function. Philosophically, at this point the human body no longer has a telos or end toward which it is working. Instead, different machines are keeping different parts of the body “machine” working separately. Nothing is integrated; the body is working like parts of car work, but there is no life, no soul.

In the end, though, it is the doctor’s call. Whether the rest of us without white coats agree with it or not, the doctor is the one who is there and who has to make the decision: is the thing in front of me on the table a person or a cadaver?

We need to pray for our doctors, that more of them recognize the weighty responsibility they carry, and we need to encourage them to continue to live their vocations as doctors rather than bow to the utilitarian society in which we live.

From the ADW blog this morning:

Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old. Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused. Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid. Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow. Job went bankrupt. John the Baptist ate bugs. Peter denied Christ! The Disciples feel asleep while praying. Martha worried about everything. The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once. Zaccheus was too small. Paul was too religious. Timothy had an ulcer. Lazarus was dead!

One of the most difficult things about life, I think, is being honest about our weaknesses and then – even harder – admitting that God can make something beautiful out of them, make something beautiful out of us, as small and incapable as we are.

But He does make something beautiful out of each of our lives. We only need stay close to Him and try to hear His whispers in our lives.We each have a role to play.  And that is a heartening thought.

I miss the weekend, but nothing can be done. It is long gone now, as 8AMish on Tuesday morning…

As usual, I spend Saturday at the Fort. It is hard to find things to do on tavern tent days (when we set up the” Schwartzauer tavern” tent on the foundations of the original tavern) or laundry days (my personal favorite). Thankfully my sister usually accompanies me so I have a partner in crime: this weekend we worked on our embroidery, chatted with other “citizenry” c. 1812 and read each other excerpts from a brand new work by a Miss Austen. Even the Prince Regent is reading it!

Last night was the RCIA prep meeting before the official sessions start on Thursday night.  I am really excited, as it looks like we are going to have an awesome team this year! The team is comprised of Mrs. P (the new director of religious ed at the parish who I have known since I was eleven), my dear spiritual bff MA, Deacon T (another beloved parishoner), Fr. F (my spiritual director) and Fr. C (the new associate, who is delightful). AND I was assigned some of my absolute favorite topics to teach — the Church year, the Feasts of the Saints, and the 5th Commandment (bioethics, anyone?).

Fr. C had a fabulous idea as well to go on a field trip to visit a convent. I hope we get to go…religious sisters are definitely misunderstood and I would do anything to give others the appreciation for them and their work that I have had throughout my life. Nuns are truly beautiful, deeply feminine women.

There are too many things going on this week, what with RCIA beginning, moving out, studying for the GRE, and these regular appointments with the eye doctor to cure my silly eye infection. God give me the grace to finish everything well.

I am hoping to post some lengthly excerpts from Thomas Merton tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Forever adorable – Fred and Ginger. This clip from the movie Roberta.

What is making me smile today?

Photo from Lobster and Swan

An advertisement for WYD 2011 in Madrid, Spain!!!!!

Got my room assignment at the boarding house. :)

Fashion predictions for the year 2000, made in 1930.

The book Vital Friends by Tom Rath. It is a quick read, but well worth it. Tom gives you eight friendship roles, and describes each to help you categorize your friends. It sounds odd at first, but in reality it is helpful: if you can see what roles your friends play in your life, you can contribute to those relationships in a very positive way. It also helps you appreciate the things that each person/relationship adds to your life, instead of focusing on the things that your friends do not provide. No one person is capable of being everything to another…to paraphrase Thomas Merton, every person is made to uniquely contribute to the salvation of every person in their life. No man is an island. (Sorry for the book review — I am quite excited about the whole idea.)

ADORABLE pencil case from Etsy seller rohmer.

Brainstorming about what to wear in all-too-fashionable Paris. Of course, this is *very* enjoyable brainstorming.

Working on my abstract to submit for the APS meeting in March.

A remarkable excerpt from Thomas Merton on St. Francis of Assisi that I will try to post later.

Chemistry review for the GRE is going surprisingly well.

Fort McHenry this weekend!

Anticipating a shopping trip with the sis on Sunday. :)

New pair of Privos on the way!

So proud of my mama.