Okay, so this isn't earth shatteringly important, but I've been wanting to ask ...

Illustrations show a crook-nosed mom with loose tummy skin under her half shirt picking up her young daughter early from school one day and taking her to a strapping and handsome "Dr. Michael."

Mom explains she's going to have operations on her nose and tummy and may have to take it easy for a week or so. The girl asks if the operations will hurt, and mom replies, "Maybe a little," warning she'll look different after the bandages come off.

The girl asks: "Why are you going to look different?"

Mom responds: "Not just different, my dear — prettier!"

I've blogged my reactions to the new Tudor Parfitt book The Lost Ark of the Covenant: Solving the 2,500 Year Old Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark. I'm very interested in your reactions!

Blog entry

Howdy folks,

I know this isn't a theological matter, but I'd love to hear your advice on something.

I have a digital camera, no color printer, and a burner... how do I archive my family photos? I had been burning pix to disk and ignoring my post-advantex photo albums because I couldn't get convenient hard copy, but now that I can order printed pictures online at Target & other stores, I might be able to work on family photo albums again!

But, do I just store my pix on disks, inna box, onna shelf, witha fox? I'd rather have an 'off-site data storage' option.

What web-based photo archiving systems out there are 1) free, 2)secure, 3) reliable, &/or 4) user-friendly?

Or, should I just bite the bullet and roll with an Iron Mountain-style off-site system back-up, which would include pix? ... in which case, what service do you recommend for two laptops of end-user data?

Your sage advice is truly appreciated.

Clueless in Philly,

Sarah

PS: The formatting tools are wicked cool. :-)

From Zenit.org:

Vocation and mission are inseparable and the Church's many vocations should have an "intense missionary character," says Benedict XVI. 

He contended that "it mustn't be forgotten that Christian marriage is also a missionary vocation: The couple, in fact, is called to live the Gospel in the family, in the workplace and in parish and civil communities. In certain cases, moreover, they offer their valuable contribution to the missions 'ad gentes.'" 

Commentary from CNN:

I was stunned and very disappointed to see an article on CNN.com with the blaring headline, "Modern black church shuns King's message."

Even more disturbing to me than the headline was the article's depiction and generalization that I, through my church The Potter's House of Dallas, had shunned the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, noted Jewish author and "star" of TV's Shalom in the Home lets loose at The Jerusalem Post:

A serious blow was dealt to the Jewish-evangelical alliance with the publication in Friday's New York Times of a full page ad by the World Evangelical Alliance - representing hundreds of evangelical Churches, organizations, and leaders, some being among the most prominent in the country - affirming their intention to proselytize Jews.

The ad said, "The most loving and Scriptural expression of our friendship toward Jewish people, and to anyone we call friend, is to forthrightly share the love of G-d in the person of Jesus Christ.... We recognize that it is good and right for those with specialized knowledge, history, and skills to use these gifts to introduce individuals to the Messiah, and that includes those ministries specifically directed to the Jewish people."

Oh brother, here we go again. Is this really what we all need right now?

OK, I can see I'm going to have to Fisk this article.

(And needless to say, one needn't approve of this cult at all (I don't) to appreciate the ironies of the article.)

ABC News: Children of Polygamy: Life on the Outside

That means having grown up on a compound where the rules of childhood forbid the joys of normal child’s play like television and radio.

 Television and radio are “the joys of normal child’s play”?!?

"And that women, particularly for members of this cult, matter and are not just baby machines."

"It can also be things like [fearing] they'll be raped by the outsiders, or that the outsiders will beat and torture you or that you'll get cancer or AIDS if you leave the compound," said Hassan.

Since it is past April Fools Day, I won't post these as real articles...

 From InsideCatholic.com:

Priest with Annulment Charism Starts Lay Movement

SAN ANTONIO -- A priest who claims he has been gifted with the charism of annulment has created a lay movement to help Catholics answer the call to invalidate marriages. Rev. George Finnegan of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in San Antonio said he got the call to start the movement, which he has named Annulitas, after several couples he counseled began having severe marriage problems and divorced. "I took that as a sign that I could be used as a tool for something," Finnegan said.