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1. Dixie Carter has passed away. She played on Designing Women, which my family watched when I was little. But I especially enjoyed her role on Desperate Housewives in 2007, for which she won an Emmy. She played Orson Hodge’s mother. She was cold, ruthless, shrewd, and intelligent. Yet, some moral compass guided even her worse acts. She killed Orson’s mistress because she believed that adultery was wrong, and she kept Orson from divorcing his wife because she opposed divorce as contrary to God’s will. That’s kind of like the Egyptians in Genesis 12: they’d kill Abraham to take his wife, Sarah, because they didn’t believe in adultery. When do our moral standards lead us to see ourselves as somebody else’s judge, jury, and executioner? And is there a way for us to have moral standards while not dehumanizing those who fall short? Perhaps Christians have it right when they say that we should remember something important: that we all fall short.
Dixie was also a good Republican. My Mom told me that when Designing Women was on, and, years later, Dixie appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor. Although I’m not as hard-core of a Republican nowadays, I admire conservatives who manage to succeed in Hollywood, a bastion of closed-minded liberalism.
R.I.P., Dixie!
2. For my write-up on Latin mass, I want to quote my church bulletin, which is from the J.S. Paluch company:
Thomas probably would be a good man to have in your corner in a modern-day courtroom. Even though he was willing to follow Jesus to death, he’s not going to go out into the world now and attempt to give witness to the risen Christ when all he has at his disposal is hearsay evidence from the other apostles. No, he wants immediate evidence, a hands-on experience of Christ risen and present. The risen Christ ultimately provides Thomas with the experience and evidence he needs…
Like the first disciples, we gradually become witnesses as we have more experiences of the risen Lord.
Doubting Thomas is often glorified nowadays. When I was at DePauw, the Dean of Chapel gave a sermon entitled, “Doubting Thomas: My Hero.” People who have doubts of their own about the faith are encouraged by the story of Thomas, whose doubts led him to a deeper experience of the risen Lord. And should not our questions lead us to new experiences with God, which affirm our faith?
But my impression is that Jesus was not all that impressed with Thomas’ doubt. In John 20:29, Jesus tells Thomas that he believed in the risen Lord because he saw him, but Jesus blesses those who do not see, and yet believe. Is Jesus saying that Thomas should have believed without proof?
On what basis? In John 20:8-9, we read that the disciple Jesus loved saw the empty tomb and believed, for the disciples did not know the Scriptures, which said that Jesus would rise from the dead. Should Thomas have believed in Jesus’ resurrection on the basis of the Old Testament Scriptures, without personally seeing the risen Lord?
Of course, Jews in those days largely presupposed the truth of their Scriptures, so they didn’t wrestle with whether or not their God exists. But do we arrive at faith as we admire the character of the God in Scripture, believe in his plan, and welcome the testimonies of those who experienced him? God may give us signs to let us know he’s real, but is it more admirable to believe in God through admiration of his character in Scripture?
3. Zosia Zaks, Life and Love: Positive Strategies for Autistic Adults, pages 185-186:
If you go up to a stranger and ask for her phone number, she will probably think you are weird, she may be scared, or she may quip, “But I don’t even know you!” You run the risk of startling her—after all, you are a complete and total stranger.
This doesn’t mean that strangers never talk to each other. Otherwise, how would we meet new people? But you do have to practice a few techniques so you can avoid freaking people out. Introduce yourself and talk for a few minutes before you bring up dating. What is the person doing? Does she have bags from a certain store, or a milkshake from a certain restaurant? You can use these facts to start a conversation. You could say, “Hi there. I see you like Joe’s Widgit Shop, too. I love that store. I like to shop in there all the time. Did you check out the new Ultra Widgits?”
Can’t say that I have, but you get the point: try to find a commonality with the person with whom you’re talking!
