Happy Father's Day

I cannot say thank you enough to my father, Charles Higdon.  If I knew how to say "Thank you" in every language ever used on this planet I would not begin to say it enough.  While I am not a father myself, I learned all about how to be a man from my dad.

What he taught me was not the "how to be a man" you see on TV or on the big screen -- especially in this day and age when men are portrayed as weak and dumb.  The manhood my father taught was not Rambo and was not According to Jim.  The manhood my father taught me was that it doesn't really matter what you say, but what you do.  It matters that make decisions that benefit those you are responsible for, even if it means degrading and demeaning yourself.

The manhood my father taught me was to be patient with everyone, even yourself.  I was taught to help those around you, even if it cost you money.  I was taught that family means more than materials.  I was taught to stand up for your principals.  The manhood my father taught me was to never lose faith in God.

The one story that has always stood to me regarding my father was but a fleeting moment on vacation.  I don't remember how hold I was, but we were on vacation on the beach.  My father and I were walking when these kids, older than I was, probably teens, came up to him and asked him a question.  I don't remember what it was, I only remember that the question and my dad's answer was calculated to make him look stupid and give them a giggle.  I remember being embarrassed because my dad had no idea what was going on. As an adult, I know that it didn't matter.  I know that my dad didn't have the first care what those kids thought of him.  By answering their question he was trying to help them.  I know he would have done the same even if he had known the whole thing was designed to make him look foolish in those kid's eyes.  My dad only cared about spending time with me and helping someone else where he could. 

Of the multitude of things I have to be thankful for in my life, one of the things I am most faithful for is the chance to get to know my father as an adult. I cannot imagine what my now 73 year old father sees when he looks around the world, but I know he looks at it with a rock solid faith and an unwavering devotion to his family.  My sole goal every day is to try and be a fraction of the man my father is. 

When I look at society and see what it is becoming.  When I look at a world that has zero use for a man's role in raising children.  I only need think of one of the numerous examples of what being a real man is that were taught to me by Charles Higdon and pray. 

"If you want to be happy, really really happy, use your talents to serve others." - Eduardo Verastegui

Saw this twitter post a while back.  It struck home that day and continues to everyday:

I struggle to not let my increasingly dim view of the future not envelope my life.  I pray that the Holy Spirit will come and give me Christ's peace and joy.




"If you want to be happy, really really happy, use your talents to serve others." - Eduardo Verastegui

Praying for America

With each passing day I become more and more gloomy on the outlook for America. 

*Each day it seems that the current administration takes an act that can only be seen as a shockwave to the Constitution and/or individual liberty.  I would be willing to bet that a cursory glance at almost every President's actions would result in some law that they refused to enforce laws.  President Obama has taken it to a level never before seen.  From his limited enforcement of Obamacare, to his failure to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, to not prosecuting medical marijuana, Obama has refused to enforce the legally passed and signed laws of this nation that do not fit his political narrative.  Now, he has said his administration will not deport certain illegal immigrants.  Certainly, there would be a firestorm raised by those on the left were a president refusing to enforce certain gun laws or certain anti-discrimination laws.

*I live in a nation that is divided. The reaction to the immoral and illegal acts of politicians and celebrities is not proportional to the degree of the bad act, but whether that person has a D or an R beside their name.  President George W. Bush water-boards a few people and liberals demonize him while conservatives praise him.  President Obama kills people, including American citizens, with unmanned drones in foreign country who he decides no longer deserve to live which is hailed by liberals and deride by conservatives when it is politically expedient.

*I live in a world where a man that believes he is Napoleon is locked away and medicated into a stupor, but a man that believes he is a woman is celebrated and given special treatment

*I live in a nation that spends billions a year on research to cure an illness (AIDS) that could be all but eradicated in a generation by the simple exercise of individual chastity. 

*I live in a nation where individual freedom no longer means a lack of governmental imposition on the lives of citizens, but now is the freedom to do what you want, as long as it in line with those in power.

*I live in a world where who you sleep with is more important than any other individual trait.

I surely do not know how atheists get out of bed each day.  I cannot imagine how I would be able to live if I thought there was nothing more, nothing worth striving for, nothing worth believing in.



"If you want to be happy, really really happy, use your talents to serve others." - Eduardo Verastegui

Lets try again

I have been posting on this space for 34 months.  First it was a politically themed blog, which caused blood pressure issues.  Just two (2) months into that concept I was moved to make it about being Catholic, about my journey to discovering Catholicism as an adult.  It has been an amazing and wonderful journey -- as I told a Protestant acquaintance a few weeks ago, the Catholic Church I knew as a child is nothing like the one I am discovering as an adult.  Sadly I have not found the inspiration or opportunity to share that journey here.

There were problems with my concept from the beginning.  I hope to overcome those by being more myself on here and by being more vulnerable on these pages.  Despite the fact that I believe that the Holy Spirit called me to blog, I twisted that inspiration by thinking I had to be something I simply am not.  I don't know if it is sad or exceptional that I am still having a-ha moments about who I am and what I need to be at 40.  I don't know, maybe it is routine, but I tend to think there is no middle ground here, I am either an exceptionally blessed person by continuing to have these self realizations into middle-age or I it is a pitiful thing that I didn't "grow up" earlier in life.  I have no idea which, I can only try to deal with it.

So, moving forward I am not going to advertise about this blog.  If people find it, they find it. If no one finds it, it will be the digital rantings of what I assume will become a mad man one day.  I don't know what the topics will be.  I don't know if they will be long or short -- I used to have this idea that a post had to be long, I am getting past that.  There may be five (5) one day and then four (4) days without one.  Posts may have a theme or they may be ramblings. I will take the time I have to post what it on my mind.  If you stumble across it, I hope you find it helpful.  But since I am paying for the www.growingcatholic.com name, I am going to put something on here.  Something that I hope will help me grow as a Catholic and will help someone else grow as a Catholic. 

"If you want to be happy, really really happy, use your talents to serve others." - Eduardo Verastegui