The immigration Question

Prompted by Clashing Symbols post, I thought I'd post this poem, which I always think of whenever the immigration question comes up. The New Colossus Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) "Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame..." Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" If I were to list the criteria that seem to me necessary for US citizenship, I think, other than the usual safety issues, I would have only one: Do you believe in the American Dream? Do you believe that every man, no matter what race, what religion, what parentage, deserves the chance to stand on his own two feet and say, "I cultivated this land. I made it bring forth the food that feeds my children. I tamed the wild and put it to my service. I stood shoulder to shoulder with the children of my forefathers enemies, and together we have made this land our own, a land of promise -- a land of hope." We live a privileged life, we Americans, such as only the few most wealthy and privileged have ever had in centuries past -- we live this life, and yet even in its privilege we become dull-witted and wish for our old bondage. "We had food to eat back in Egypt, Moses!" If I were in charge .... Citizenship is not a right but a privilege. If I were in charge, I would teach people that -- teach them to love their country again, to love what it promises and the hope it provides. I ask one thing of immigrants -- that they love the American Dream.

50!

Today is my father's 50th birthday! (Every year I get closer and closer. Two years ago I was exactly half his age; this year, I'll be 13/25ths his age, more than half by 1/50th.) 1/2 a Century! .00000005 eons! That's my dad! If you could keep him in your prayers today and this week in particular, that would be wonderful. Thanks so much.

Thanks!

Thanks, everyone for your prayers. I think I did well enough to pass, so that's a relief.

Ora pro nobis

Tomorrow through Friday I will be taking comprehensive exams, 2-6 pm each day. I beg your prayers for myself and for those others who will be taking the exams as well. I am cautiously confident, but I am quite nervous as well. Here is a prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino that I heartily recommend to you as a great way to come before the Lord when preparing for a test. Please pray it and spread it to others so that all can love St. Joseph, who is so worthy of love.

O Great St. Joseph of Cupertino who while on earth did obtain from God the grace to be asked at your examination only the questions you knew, obtain for me a like favour in the examinations for which I am now preparing. In return I promise to make you known and cause you to be invoked. Through Christ our Lord. St. Joseph of Cupertino, Pray for us. Amen.

While looking for this prayer, I also found this great account of St. Joseph's life. He is quite an inspiration to me, and I wish I could imitate in some small way his holiness. Thanks so much, everyone. You all are a great blessing to me.

Martyr

Michelle Malkin has a story up about a fellow in Afghanistan who converted to Christianity from Islam and is being threatened with the death penalty. Let's pray for him.

Contest *Updated*

I will give a dollar to the first person who can correctly identify why the trees in the center of this picture look brown. *Update* Windmilltiller gets the prize. The trees are covered in Monarch butterflies. Go here for more information.

The Simpsons

For the inner fan (I know he's in you somewhere).

Genius

From Fox News: "To curb kids' risk of dog bites, a new study recommends that parents delay getting dogs until kids are old enough to go to school." They also recommend not letting kids eat until they are old enough to go to school, to curb the risk of choking. They recommend that adults not drive, to avoid the risk of crashes, and that presidents not appear in public, lest they are forced to lie.

Metaphysics

Sapientiae Amator and I have been having a rambunctious discussion here and here about God's will and whether God is in any way the cause of sin. While these conversations are fruitful in one way, I often find them unfruitful in another. Of course, it is important to know that God is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and so forth, and it is a great boon, it seems to me, to the spiritual life, to see clearly how much He does love you. But when I get into these conversations, I find that I become angry and anxious. I lie awake at night, thinking about the argument; I can't concentrate when others are talking to me about their day or the problems they are facing; I don't do my other work. Worst of all, I begin thinking about God as an object. God is not an object. God is not in a genus. God is not a substance. God is not a being amongst beings. God is beyond substance, beyond being: God lives in the cloud of unknowing. Who indeed can speak of God? I always feel in these discussions like I am being unjust to God, that I am acting in an extraordinarily presumptuous way, and that I in fact am drawing away from God rather than drawing towards Him. I know that many of the reasons for this are personal and bad -- I am selfish, I want to win the argument, etc. But I also think that these discussions lend themselves to the objectification of God. God is made immanent in speech. This has led me to realize the wisdom of God regarding the manner in which the Bible is written. The Bible is mostly composed of stories, and those parts which are didactic point back, as I see it, to the stories as the ground and source of their truth. This has the wonderful rhetorical effect of making God present, not as an object for us to master as well as we can, but as a person (or three -- I don't know how to talk about this) who is the most lovable of all things and who loves us, every one of us, more than we could possibly know. I therefore believe that for us fallen and short-sighted beings, the Bible is written in the best manner possible, not simply because those who have difficulty in understanding abstruse philosophy can see the divine truths in stories with greater ease, but also because it's mode of writing is most conducive to helping us thing about God as a person and not as an object. [I suppose the theological ground for this post is that for us in this life, loving God is the highest perfection we can achieve.]

A proposition

Suppose I have a choice at time T between two alternatives, A and not A (I can eat a slice of pizza or not eat it). We cannot conclude, from a consideration of the event at some time after time T, that what I actually chose is what God's will was before time T for me.