Up the Stairs for a cup of Tea

Yesterday we had a fresh layer of snow that blanketed the area hiding all the imperfections below. It is always so beautiful the hours right after a snow storm. Of course my daughter seeing this wanted to go out an play in it. Although I may have lost some of my zeal for snow play, seeing her excitement, throws kindling on my embers of desire. She gets all dressed up with the snow pants, boots, gloves, hat, and jacket, reminding me a bit of the stay-puft marshmallow man. Just as we are about to leave the door she reminds me " Daddy you need to put your jacket and hat on."

Soon enough we find the sled and embark on a journey around the "Arctic Circle" (our property) Sledding down the hills and being pulled up the hills by me. There is always the pitstop to make snow angels , the token face plant in the snow(with a few tears) , an attempt somewhere to make a snowman ; which never works well with powder and after our long ride we always end up at my daughters house to warm up and have hot chocolate.

First we walk up the front stairs and go inside which I always seem to hit my front head on the lintel. Then my daughter closes the doors and turns on the stove . She then walks out the back door to get wood brings it inside,closes the door and puts it in the stove and lights the fire with a match. We both warm our hand as we see the flame getting warmer and larger, at which time she points out that the smoke goes out the chimney (which she is pointing at ) the same one that St Nicholas will come down next year. She then gets some milk and chocolate mixes them together on the stove and serves the piping Hot Chocolate to me and we sit together in front of the fire. She then points out where all the appliances are in her house and how we have to stay in to keep warm .

We then leave her house and travel back to our house for actual warmth and relaxing in front of the real fire or So I hope. But the reality hits. "Mom I'm hungry " or" I need a drink " or " Can I watch a movie?". Other duties await us when we come back inside. I must say I do so much enjoy the hospitality she shows me when we venture off to her house through the snow. Although it is all in her imagination, sometimes I can go there too

Is there any such thing as a fool proof arguement?

The Human person is such a complex being. God gave us a brain to reason with and make logical conclusion as well as a "heart" which I guess is actually part of the brain too with which we "feel" things. A beautiful system that I supposed can be analogized to a marriage some times they gel and sometimes not so much. It is said that men tend to be more rational and women more emotional but in modern time those line see to blur to none existence sometimes. ( I also so see it in politics Republicans tend to be more rational and democrats emotional)
Now to the point of this post. In my life I have come to certain conclusions about the choices I have made and the beliefs I have and I believe them to be correct.(who does believe there choices to be correct or else why would you choose them) When I find that I have believed something in error I am more than happy to put my old thought aside and adapt to my new one. But it takes a little convincing to do so. I need to see evidence. I try not to be persuaded through emotions because they tend to be unreliable although there is most certainly a time and a place for them and even where we must rely on them (easiest example is proving that love exists)
Ok now to the real point of this post. The other day I re posted something my wife posted(about the negative effects of the birth control pill) on her face book page and of course a small debate began with one person in particular. She was fairly livid about this posting and the "bogus" information and research behind it. I got to thinking that to everything there is a negative and positive. The effect is objectively true(i.e. the effect the chemical has on a woman's body but the perceived positiveness or negativeness is dependent on the persons state of emotion or where they stand on the issue.
The"pill" has had many effects on women and men(for it is clear to see, any one who has a wife or mother, whatever effects women in this world eventually effects men )since it first began being used 50 yrs ago
There are physical effects, emotional effects, and sociological effects , many of which were predicted by Pope Paul VI in Humane Vitae an encyclical written in 1968 re emphasizing the churches constant teaching on the matter of contraception among other things. I wish I had more patience with writing for I would love to get into the nitty gritty detail but that not my goal.
When presenting an argument both positive and negative points must be presented and given equal standing until root arguments are settled
For example lets say we want to debate a position upon which 9 other conclusions must be drawn to get to this tenth one. It is pointless to debate the 10th point because fundamental differences may lie at the 4th or 5th point that prevent you from coming together at the 10th point.
This is getting really long and I guess I am saying that yes you can have a fool proof argument but it must be a long and systematic check list of ideas that bring you to that conclusion. Some of it may come down to "my opinion is ....." but that better have a lot of experiences to back it up or else its not worth too much. That's why its always hard to have a good debate because who really wants to invest the time into it. Well I do. I am a searcher for truth. I pray that I am never to proud to say I was wrong. At the same time I believe firmly in those conclusions I have come to because I have put time and effort and research into them.

Into the Wild

Last night I saw a movie directed by Sean Penn (gagging) called Into the Wild about a guy wh0 nicknamed himself Alexander Supertramp. He rebels against his parents wealth and materialism and tries to find himself relinquishing everything he has and experiencing the world as a "free spirit". His greatest desire is to go to Alaska to experience the wilderness by himself. Towards the end of the movie, just before he actually goes to Alaska, he meets this gentleman who lost his wife and child in a car accident and has been alone since, and befriends him. Alex tells the man that he needs to get out and explore the world and that (paraphrasing) " Life is not all about human relationships but it is only truly lived through new experiences " and encourages the guy to get out and live not stay cooped up in his house. This man in turn give Alex some advice about forgiveness and how you cannot love unless you forgive. Long story short, when Alex is in the wilderness in Alaska It appears as though he reconciled himself and decided to head home unfortunately he becomes trapped and ends up dying of starvation. But at least he seemed to have made his peace and in the end he wrote Some thing like "happiness is nothing unless you have some one to share it with" Which is in contrast to his earlier thought when talking to his friend.

Truth in the movie is man is a communal being ( theology of the body stuff) a profound truth

I liked the movie A-

The Beginning

Who knows how often I will write here. Often I find myself wanting to vent or discuss and no where to go. So I will try this venue. Warning If anyone ever reads this *** my grammar and spelling leave something to be desired **** so don't be dissuaded from reading. I have many thoughts on many things some important and some not. I truely enjoy honest debate and exchange of ideas. I like to think my ideas are somewhat well thought out (hence the reason I hold them) but none so blindly held that I won't listen to a competing idea. I don't really do well with people who just throw out an opinion with little or no thought . Some times my thoughts are scattered but that is the beauty of my blog. I have thoughts on all sorts stuff from movies, games, child rearing, religion, philosophy, people who have an obsession with politics, food, gardening.
Today I have an opportunity to do this because I am home and under the weather. I figured I would start with a bit of my background and point of view that I come from. I have a "conservative" ( but that term is relative to who is labeling) background but try to have a Catholic perspective on life. Yes I am a proud Roman Catholic or as some would say a "Papist" I revere the Churches 2000yrs of wisdom and Have found that whenever I find something the Church speaks on that doesn't seem right it has always been due to my ignorance. Upon researching the position the church has always shown me up. There opinion always makes more sense than mine and is definitely more well thought out. Especially when you consider I might think about a topic for 10 min and the church take months if not years to formulate a position..
I am An American with Polish heritage. I love my country and thank god that I was born and raised in the USA. This is a place where you have an almost infinite ability to succeed and conversely and almost infinite ability to fail as well. But it seems to be true that Hard works pays good dividends.......eventually. It always scares me when a Government start to "help" by not allowing people,businesses, and government programs to fail because conversely it prevents them from succeeding. (Tension of paradoxes- and idea from John Paul II's Theology of the Body )
God Has truely Blessed America. And like any child who has it good they can either learn to appreciate it or become a spoiled brat. I pray that I can teach my children to be appreciative because for now that is all I can do, Worry about how to raise my Family.
Well that is all I have for now . We will see that next time I get on here and what I have to think about.