Truth?

One of the joys of living in the Washington, DC area is that our airwaves are filled with lobbying commercials. When funding decision are being made (as are many these days) we get ads trying to sway either the politicians, public opinion, or both. (Maybe these are all over the country now, I don’t know. But I don’t remember them being as ubiquitous as they are here.)

Which air-refueling tanker to buy? There’s a commercial for that. Should they cancel the new strike fighter contract? There's a commercial for that. Should Planned Parenthood be funded? Yup, now there's a commercial for that.

And I must say that with all these commercials - that are by their very nature one-sided - I have never heard an ad so blatantly deceptive as the Planned Parenthood one. I looked briefly for a link so you could listen for yourself, but haven’t found one as yet. But here’s the gist of how it goes:

A young lady is speaking. She went to a Planned Parenthood clinic while in college and had no health insurance. There they found she had cervical cancer and saw that she got the care that she needed. She would not have been here without Planned Parenthood!

Announcer: Call your legislator and tell them to stop playing politics and provide vital health services for so many people who cannot afford them through funding Planned Parenthood!

I am sure this is a true story. I am glad that she got the help she needed. But it is equally true that 98% of the “vital health services” that Planned Parenthood provides fall into one category: abortion. This is the unspoken reason why this young college student went to Planned Parenthood in the first place, why they were poking around her cervix, and how they found her cancer.

So here’s an alternate idea: take the 2% of the funds normally given to Planned Parenthood that are used for non-abortion health services, and use that to help fund Obamacare. That way, young ladies like these will be able to get the help they need, and babies (who so inconveniently can’t vote yet) will live long enough to get some of the help they need, too.

There's Always Another . . .

One of the good things about preaching, I think, is that there's always another sermon to write and preach. If I preach a sermon that I was unhappy with, that I just couldn't seem to get right, that didn't seem to connect and communicate, I cannot dwell on it (and get down on myself) - there's the next sermon to begin studying for and preparing. In the same way, if I preach a sermon that I was very happy with, that seemed to resonate with my people, I cannot dwell on it (and become prideful) - there's the next sermon to draw my attention. I think this is a great gift of preaching once or twice a week. Can it become a grind? Sure. Preaching is hard work. But the Word of God that comes each week keeps me focused on the future, not the past; on what God is doing, not what I have done. And that's good for me.

TDP Reminder

If you are a daily reader of the Treasury of Daily Prayer, please take note that there is a error tomorrow, the Saturday of Lent 1. The Old Testament reading is listed as from Genesis 15, but the text included is actually from Genesis 14. So to read the proper verses, you'll need to get your Bible out.

Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian

O Lord and Master of my life

take from me the spirit of sloth

faint-heartedness,

lust of power

and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity,

humility,

patience,

and love to Thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King

grant me to see my own errors

and not to judge my brother;

for Thou are blessed unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

The Great Litany Sung

As you are praying the Great Litany each day of this Lenten season, here is a video of it being sung that you can pray along with.

In or Out?

In or out? That's the question being asked by many college basketball teams right now, as the selection for the tournament approaches. My team, Villanova, has not ended the season well: 5 straight losses, and 5-10 after starting out the season 16-1. One local sports radio guy says they should be out of the tournament. Sadly, I agree. They played themselves out. Give another team a chance. And if they make it, I will not pick them to get out of the first round. They just haven't shown me anything for a while. Both offense and defense look terrible. They peaked too early.

Ash Wednesday

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:21