You know you really care about someone when you do something for them and just them saying thank you is all the reward you need.
I realized this last night when a little something I did to brighten someone’s day came to completion. I’ve never felt so satisfied by something so simple. It was the type of reward that you dream of really. When you hear people say that their job is really rewarding, you imagine that they have this type of feeling every day. And sitting at home, watching TV and having a beer, I got this great voicemail from someone miles away and it just warmed my heart a little. Or maybe it was the alcohol kicking in. Soulful satisfaction like that should last forever…but, alas, it does not.
I wanted to talk today about something of great importance to me. To talk about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind for several days now. To discuss something which threatens to throw my life into oblivion. But, there really isn’t anything like that going on in my live. So let’s talk about…The Rangers. For you readers outside the Metroplex (DFW, Dallas/Ft. Worth), those are The Texas Rangers of baseball. Having dropped two on the road to those pail-hosers from the windy city, the Chicago White Sox, the Rangers are threatening to get on my bad side. Last night’s loss was a little irritating for me to say the least. Sammy Sosa hit his 592nd career home run in the second inning, but the Rangers still lost for the fifth time in their last seven games. They finished 2-4 on the current road trip, and they are heading into a five-game homestand. Rangers starter Vicente Padilla, who gave up a three-run home run to A.J. Pierzynski in the fourth, is still looking for his first victory. He went 6 1/3 innings and only allowed four hits, but he tied a career high with six walks. Rangers pitchers walked 10 on the night, including Jim Thome five times. Thome and Paul Konerko both walked to start the fourth, and that set up Pierzynski's three-run home run. That gave the White Sox a 3-1 lead, but Michael Young, snapping an 0-for-18 skid, drove in a run with a double in the sixth. Texas then tied it in the seventh as Sosa doubled, went to third on Hank Blalock's blooper that fell into left field and scored on Kinsler's sacrifice fly. Feldman then kept it that way in the bottom of the seventh when he came in and struck out Konerko with the bases loaded for the third out. Instead, Feldman fell behind with two quick balls to Dye. Then he came in with a fastball, and Dye lined it into the right-center-field gap for a leadoff double. Pierzynski lined out to center, but Crede smacked a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a hit that scored Dye with the go-ahead run. That brought up Rob Mackowiak, a left-handed hitter, and Washington had left-handed reliever C.J. Wilson ready in the bullpen. But he stayed with Feldman, and Mackowiak hit a 1-2 pitch into the seats in right to break the game open. Rangers manager Ron Washington blamed one person for this one. Himself. Washington was the one second-guessing the manager for the way he used his bullpen. Scott Feldman may have been the losing pitcher, but Washington made it clear that he could have done a better job managing his bullpen in that eighth inning. Leaving Feldman in to face Mackowiak was what bothered Washington the most when it was all over. The Rangers only made him feel worse when they scratched out a run against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks in the ninth. It just bothers me that we actually woke the bats up last night to get some hits and it was all for not because the pitching took a huge nosedive.
Is this what we have to look forward to in the next 150 games or can the Rangers actually knock off the dust and make something happen? I know I speak for a lot of Rangers fans out there who aren’t ready to hang up there jerseys in mothballs just yet, but are skeptical of what the Rangers will do. They are a team in flux, so to speak. New management was supposed to bring new life to this team, but now it just seems like they are up to their old tricks again. I’ve got some advice for them, games are not won on good offense or good defense alone. It takes the perfect mix of offense and defense to win in baseball (and maybe some luck). Let’s see what this five game homestand will do to these boys.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Catholic Answer Series: Transubstantiation – The Doctrine by Which the Real Presence is Experienced
The American Heritage Dictionary defines transubstantiation as the conversion of one substance into another.
Last week we discussed idea of The Real Presence and how the Catholic Church sees the reality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Besides the Real Presence which faith accepts and delights in, there is the doctrine of transubstantiation, from which we may at least get a glimpse of what happens when the priest consecrates bread and wine, so that they become Christ's body and Christ's blood. At this stage, we must be content with only the simplest statement of the meaning of, and distinction between substance and accidents, without which we should make nothing at all of transubstantiation. We shall concentrate upon bread, reminding ourselves once again that what is said applies in principle to wine as well.
We look at the bread the priest uses in the Sacrament. It is white, round, soft. The whiteness is not the bread, it is simply a quality that the bread has; the same is true of the roundness and the softness. There is something there that has these and other properties, qualities, attributes…the philosophers call all of them accidents. Whiteness and roundness we see; softness brings in the sense of touch. We might smell bread, and the smell of new bread is wonderful, but once again the smell is not the bread, but simply a property. The something which has the whiteness, the softness, the roundness, has the smell; and if we try another sense, the sense of taste, the same something has that special effect upon our palate. In other words, whatever the senses perceive, even with the aid of those instruments men are forever inventing to increase the reach of the senses, is always of this same sort, a quality, a property, an attribute; no sense perceives the something which has all these qualities, which is the thing itself. This something is what the philosophers call substance; the rest are accidents which it possesses. Our senses perceive accidents; only the mind knows the substance. This is true of bread, it is true of every created thing. Left to itself, the mind assumes that the substance is that which, in all its past experience, has been found to have that particular group of accidents. But in these two instances, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, the mind is not left to itself. By the revelation of Christ it knows that the substance has been changed, in the one case into the substance of his body, in the other into the substance of his blood.
The senses can no more perceive the new substance resulting from the consecration than they could have perceived the substance there before. We cannot repeat too often that senses can perceive only accidents, and consecration changes only the substance. The accidents remain in their totality…for example, that which was wine and is now Christ's blood still has the smell of wine, the intoxicating power of wine. One is occasionally startled to find some scientist claiming to have put all the resources of his laboratory into testing the consecrated bread; he announces triumphantly that there is no change whatever, no difference between this and any other bread. We could have told him that, without the aid of any instrument. For all that instruments can do is to make contact with the accidents, and it is part of the doctrine of transubstantiation that the accidents undergo no change whatever. If our scientist had announced that he had found a change, that would be really startling and upsetting. The accidents, then, remain; but not, of course, as accidents of Christ's body. It is not his body which has the whiteness and the roundness and the softness. The accidents once held in existence by the substance of bread, and those others once held in existence by the substance of wine, are now held in existence solely by God's will to maintain them.
In short and put simply, the presence of Christ in the bread and wine achieved through consecration does not change what we perceive as the characteristics of bread and wine. Consecration changes what we cannot see, but what we know in heart and soul, the substance of the bread and wine that cannot be revealed by mere sense alone. Faith, which is the sense of the soul, reveals the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. And what of Christ's body, now sacramentally present? All we shall say here is that his body is wholly present, though not (so St. Thomas among others tells us) extended in space. One further element in the doctrine of the Real Presence needs to be stated: Christ's body remains in the communicant as long as the accidents remain themselves. Where, in the normal action of our bodily processes, they are so changed as to be no longer accidents of bread or accidents of wine, the Real Presence in us of Christ's own individual body ceases. But we live on in his Mystical Body. This very sketchy outline of the doctrine of transubstantiation is almost pathetic. But like so much in faith, what is here is only a beginning; you have the rest of life before you.
Last week we discussed idea of The Real Presence and how the Catholic Church sees the reality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Besides the Real Presence which faith accepts and delights in, there is the doctrine of transubstantiation, from which we may at least get a glimpse of what happens when the priest consecrates bread and wine, so that they become Christ's body and Christ's blood. At this stage, we must be content with only the simplest statement of the meaning of, and distinction between substance and accidents, without which we should make nothing at all of transubstantiation. We shall concentrate upon bread, reminding ourselves once again that what is said applies in principle to wine as well.
We look at the bread the priest uses in the Sacrament. It is white, round, soft. The whiteness is not the bread, it is simply a quality that the bread has; the same is true of the roundness and the softness. There is something there that has these and other properties, qualities, attributes…the philosophers call all of them accidents. Whiteness and roundness we see; softness brings in the sense of touch. We might smell bread, and the smell of new bread is wonderful, but once again the smell is not the bread, but simply a property. The something which has the whiteness, the softness, the roundness, has the smell; and if we try another sense, the sense of taste, the same something has that special effect upon our palate. In other words, whatever the senses perceive, even with the aid of those instruments men are forever inventing to increase the reach of the senses, is always of this same sort, a quality, a property, an attribute; no sense perceives the something which has all these qualities, which is the thing itself. This something is what the philosophers call substance; the rest are accidents which it possesses. Our senses perceive accidents; only the mind knows the substance. This is true of bread, it is true of every created thing. Left to itself, the mind assumes that the substance is that which, in all its past experience, has been found to have that particular group of accidents. But in these two instances, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, the mind is not left to itself. By the revelation of Christ it knows that the substance has been changed, in the one case into the substance of his body, in the other into the substance of his blood.
The senses can no more perceive the new substance resulting from the consecration than they could have perceived the substance there before. We cannot repeat too often that senses can perceive only accidents, and consecration changes only the substance. The accidents remain in their totality…for example, that which was wine and is now Christ's blood still has the smell of wine, the intoxicating power of wine. One is occasionally startled to find some scientist claiming to have put all the resources of his laboratory into testing the consecrated bread; he announces triumphantly that there is no change whatever, no difference between this and any other bread. We could have told him that, without the aid of any instrument. For all that instruments can do is to make contact with the accidents, and it is part of the doctrine of transubstantiation that the accidents undergo no change whatever. If our scientist had announced that he had found a change, that would be really startling and upsetting. The accidents, then, remain; but not, of course, as accidents of Christ's body. It is not his body which has the whiteness and the roundness and the softness. The accidents once held in existence by the substance of bread, and those others once held in existence by the substance of wine, are now held in existence solely by God's will to maintain them.
In short and put simply, the presence of Christ in the bread and wine achieved through consecration does not change what we perceive as the characteristics of bread and wine. Consecration changes what we cannot see, but what we know in heart and soul, the substance of the bread and wine that cannot be revealed by mere sense alone. Faith, which is the sense of the soul, reveals the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. And what of Christ's body, now sacramentally present? All we shall say here is that his body is wholly present, though not (so St. Thomas among others tells us) extended in space. One further element in the doctrine of the Real Presence needs to be stated: Christ's body remains in the communicant as long as the accidents remain themselves. Where, in the normal action of our bodily processes, they are so changed as to be no longer accidents of bread or accidents of wine, the Real Presence in us of Christ's own individual body ceases. But we live on in his Mystical Body. This very sketchy outline of the doctrine of transubstantiation is almost pathetic. But like so much in faith, what is here is only a beginning; you have the rest of life before you.
Monday, April 16, 2007
It's Race Time in Texas...and You Might Want Some Sunscreen
First and foremost, I would like to apologize for some off color comments I made in Friday's post. I realize that the word "queer" is offensive and the preferred nomenclature is "homosexual." These remarks were made toward one of the drivers in NASCAR's Nextel Cup. Many people may think that I was just throwing these words around because I don't like this driver, hence making them unfounded accusations. But, I tend to disagree and if you found what I said on Friday offensive, you better skip the next few sentences. Jeff Gordon sucks dick. There are only two types of people in the world who do that: women and queers. Though I am not sure whether or not Gordon is a woman, I am most definitely sure that he is a peter-puffing queer. Hence, since we don't let queers win NASCAR races in Texas, the "Rainbow Warrior" (Rainbow Splashed Queer) didn't win yesterday's Samsung 500 Nextel Cup race.
Now for a race recap: Jeff Burton became the first repeat winner in 13 Texas Motor Speedway races when he passed Matt Kenseth on the last lap for the win. Burton put his Chevrolet Monte Carlo alongside Kenseth's Ford heading to the white flag and made the winning pass in the second turn. It was Burton's 19th career Cup victory as he defeated Kenseth by 0.041 seconds. He scored his first career Cup victory here in 1997. Burton commended Kenseth for being a great driver, but felt that luck came on his side when there was a long run to the finish. Coming off a two-race layoff, Mark Martin finished third in a Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon (queer), who dominated the race leading four times for 173 laps (luck over skill), saw his chance at his first Texas victory ruined when he brushed the wall on lap 311 (queers like brushing up against hard objects). He was able to finish fourth (if you ain't first, you're last). Jamie McMurray was fifth in a Ford to give Roush Fenway Racing two cars in the top five. Kenseth appeared on his way to a weekend sweep after Saturday's Busch race winner passed Gordon for the lead with 13 laps to go. But he couldn't hold off Burton, whose car only got better on the long runs. Kenseth was disappointed in the loss considering he felt he had a great setup going into the final laps, but was happy for his friend's win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had another dominant car, leading three times for 96 laps before he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It started on lap 239 when Juan Pablo Montoya (asshole) ran into Tony Stewart's car as the two drivers were racing side-by-side. Jimmie Johnson also was involved in that crash and was knocked out of the race while Stewart and Montoya remained. But Stewart spun out again in the fourth turn on lap 252 while racing for a position he didn't have (he was 3 laps back and was jockeying for a position in front of someone on the lead lap) and Earnhardt slowed down. But Kyle Busch (dickhead) did not let off the accelerator and plowed into the back of Earnhardt's car. Dale Jr. trying to remain in the race, but the damage to his car was just too much. Ironically, after Busch's team repaired the Chevrolet, they couldn't find their driver and asked Earnhardt to finish the race in the No. 5 car with 10 laps to go. Earnhardt was credited with a 36th-place finish in his car and finished the race 37th in Busch's ride, thus proving that Dale Jr. is a master of the racing world. Despite the wrecks that involved the high-profile drivers, there were only seven cautions for 33 laps. That helped Burton, whose car wasn't at its best at the beginning of a green-flag run, but hit its rhythm over the long haul. And in the end, with stars such as Earnhardt, Gordon and Johnson victims of crashes and brushes to the wall, it allowed two former teammates at Roush to battle for the victory on the last lap. I'm proud of Burton for finishing the race clean when he had several chancing to take out Kenseth for the win. Burton knew he couldn't win the race with flat-out speed and is completely opposed to dirty racing, so he took a cerebral approach that ended in victory. Burton, who collected $526,766, told reporters that the money is cool after the fact but there is nothing cooler than having the trophy. "That's what wakes you up in the morning." What about my buddy, Clint Bowyer? He had a great starting position and had a good run up until the second caution when he went in to pit. After that pit stop he dropped about 15 positions and hung around 25th place for the majority of the race. With race leaders wrecking out all over the place, Clint had the opportunity to pick up a few positions. After the last two restarts, he used smart racing to move himself up to 16th place, where he finished the race. The points he picked up for finishing the race kept him in the top twelve in Nextel Point Standings, which is what is most important due to NASCAR's Race for the Cup style playoff strategy.
As for the experience…my arms and face are burnt red. We had a great time. I can't really explain it. It is just amazing. You really just have to experience it yourself to understand. We left from my brother's house around nine in the morning in order to beat the traffic, but there really wasn't that much traffic. We got parked in our Express parking and just hung around the truck for a while watching the cute girls at the Jack Daniel's tent mix drinks. Then we made our way to our seats. Our seats were on the opposite side of the track from our parking which meant we had a little bit of a trek, but we went around the front of the speedway where the midway was. We got to walk through all the fun stuff going on and all the trailers with merchandise. It's really funny because when you walk up on the Dale Jr. (yay!) and Jeff Gordon (douchebag) trailers there is just a huge crowd lined up to buy their stuff. I say that's funny because when you walk past someone like Denny Hamlin's trailer, there is no one there. We stopped by one of the raceway merchandise trailers to buy some earplugs (just in case) and then made our way into the speedway. Our seats were 15 rows up coming out of turn four. We could see practically the whole track and the pit entrance. We had brought our own coolers and were there about an hour and a half before start time so we just relaxed and ate our sandwiches. It was just awesome. I really don't know how to explain it. You can watch it on TV every weekend and it doesn't give you the same feeling as being there. There is a whole etiquette to being there too. Whenever they are about to start, whether it be the first green flag or the fifth green flag after a caution, you stand up and cheer them by. If you have, you share, and that includes your binoculars, beer, food, scanner, and the guy next to us even gave us the last of his funnel cake. I went through the first hundred laps without my earplugs before I had to put them in, just as a comfort thing. NASCAR is nowhere near as load as Indy or Formula 1, but on a long track like TMS the cars get so spread out that they are constantly passing by you, making it difficult to bear. We had an all-around good time out there. Could have used a butt pad for the bleaches there, but I have recovered. The sunburn, however, may take a little longer to heal.
Now for a race recap: Jeff Burton became the first repeat winner in 13 Texas Motor Speedway races when he passed Matt Kenseth on the last lap for the win. Burton put his Chevrolet Monte Carlo alongside Kenseth's Ford heading to the white flag and made the winning pass in the second turn. It was Burton's 19th career Cup victory as he defeated Kenseth by 0.041 seconds. He scored his first career Cup victory here in 1997. Burton commended Kenseth for being a great driver, but felt that luck came on his side when there was a long run to the finish. Coming off a two-race layoff, Mark Martin finished third in a Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon (queer), who dominated the race leading four times for 173 laps (luck over skill), saw his chance at his first Texas victory ruined when he brushed the wall on lap 311 (queers like brushing up against hard objects). He was able to finish fourth (if you ain't first, you're last). Jamie McMurray was fifth in a Ford to give Roush Fenway Racing two cars in the top five. Kenseth appeared on his way to a weekend sweep after Saturday's Busch race winner passed Gordon for the lead with 13 laps to go. But he couldn't hold off Burton, whose car only got better on the long runs. Kenseth was disappointed in the loss considering he felt he had a great setup going into the final laps, but was happy for his friend's win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had another dominant car, leading three times for 96 laps before he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It started on lap 239 when Juan Pablo Montoya (asshole) ran into Tony Stewart's car as the two drivers were racing side-by-side. Jimmie Johnson also was involved in that crash and was knocked out of the race while Stewart and Montoya remained. But Stewart spun out again in the fourth turn on lap 252 while racing for a position he didn't have (he was 3 laps back and was jockeying for a position in front of someone on the lead lap) and Earnhardt slowed down. But Kyle Busch (dickhead) did not let off the accelerator and plowed into the back of Earnhardt's car. Dale Jr. trying to remain in the race, but the damage to his car was just too much. Ironically, after Busch's team repaired the Chevrolet, they couldn't find their driver and asked Earnhardt to finish the race in the No. 5 car with 10 laps to go. Earnhardt was credited with a 36th-place finish in his car and finished the race 37th in Busch's ride, thus proving that Dale Jr. is a master of the racing world. Despite the wrecks that involved the high-profile drivers, there were only seven cautions for 33 laps. That helped Burton, whose car wasn't at its best at the beginning of a green-flag run, but hit its rhythm over the long haul. And in the end, with stars such as Earnhardt, Gordon and Johnson victims of crashes and brushes to the wall, it allowed two former teammates at Roush to battle for the victory on the last lap. I'm proud of Burton for finishing the race clean when he had several chancing to take out Kenseth for the win. Burton knew he couldn't win the race with flat-out speed and is completely opposed to dirty racing, so he took a cerebral approach that ended in victory. Burton, who collected $526,766, told reporters that the money is cool after the fact but there is nothing cooler than having the trophy. "That's what wakes you up in the morning." What about my buddy, Clint Bowyer? He had a great starting position and had a good run up until the second caution when he went in to pit. After that pit stop he dropped about 15 positions and hung around 25th place for the majority of the race. With race leaders wrecking out all over the place, Clint had the opportunity to pick up a few positions. After the last two restarts, he used smart racing to move himself up to 16th place, where he finished the race. The points he picked up for finishing the race kept him in the top twelve in Nextel Point Standings, which is what is most important due to NASCAR's Race for the Cup style playoff strategy.
As for the experience…my arms and face are burnt red. We had a great time. I can't really explain it. It is just amazing. You really just have to experience it yourself to understand. We left from my brother's house around nine in the morning in order to beat the traffic, but there really wasn't that much traffic. We got parked in our Express parking and just hung around the truck for a while watching the cute girls at the Jack Daniel's tent mix drinks. Then we made our way to our seats. Our seats were on the opposite side of the track from our parking which meant we had a little bit of a trek, but we went around the front of the speedway where the midway was. We got to walk through all the fun stuff going on and all the trailers with merchandise. It's really funny because when you walk up on the Dale Jr. (yay!) and Jeff Gordon (douchebag) trailers there is just a huge crowd lined up to buy their stuff. I say that's funny because when you walk past someone like Denny Hamlin's trailer, there is no one there. We stopped by one of the raceway merchandise trailers to buy some earplugs (just in case) and then made our way into the speedway. Our seats were 15 rows up coming out of turn four. We could see practically the whole track and the pit entrance. We had brought our own coolers and were there about an hour and a half before start time so we just relaxed and ate our sandwiches. It was just awesome. I really don't know how to explain it. You can watch it on TV every weekend and it doesn't give you the same feeling as being there. There is a whole etiquette to being there too. Whenever they are about to start, whether it be the first green flag or the fifth green flag after a caution, you stand up and cheer them by. If you have, you share, and that includes your binoculars, beer, food, scanner, and the guy next to us even gave us the last of his funnel cake. I went through the first hundred laps without my earplugs before I had to put them in, just as a comfort thing. NASCAR is nowhere near as load as Indy or Formula 1, but on a long track like TMS the cars get so spread out that they are constantly passing by you, making it difficult to bear. We had an all-around good time out there. Could have used a butt pad for the bleaches there, but I have recovered. The sunburn, however, may take a little longer to heal.
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