Ok *gulp* here goes...

Hello! This is my first posting for Little Dorrit's Diary! I am pretty excited to be a contributor although I will admit I am not fond of people reading what I write...Yes, I was one of those people in college that never, ever, ever let anyone read my papers before or after they were handed in or graded. So here it goes...My first musing of 2011. Enjoy!

Truth, Conversion, Death, Life

As a melancholic I have decided that it would be appropriate to write my first post on this blog about death. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that I just attended a beautiful funeral this week (yes, beautiful can describe a funeral). Don’t worry, this post is not going to be a depressing one; on the contrary, death gives way to new life when you spend your entire life in pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. And this is exactly what Dr. Warren Carroll did. He gave every ounce of his being and every moment of his life in pursuit of Truth. In an age of chaos, confusion, and cultural upheaval (i.e. the 20^th century) this man was as optimistic as they come. Anyone who was privileged to have known him, either in person or through his writings knew exactly why; because “Truth exists. The Incarnation happened!”

Truth and Conversion

Sometimes I wonder whether, if I had not been born into a Catholic family, I would have been brave enough to seek the Truth. Would I have stared it in the face and asked, “Quid est veritas?” or would I have recognized Truth and followed with all my heart? Shortly after his marriage, Dr. Carroll came into the Church because he sought the Truth in its fullness. He saw the face of Christ in the Eucharist and declared with every action of his life that Christ IS Truth. Truth is alive in the world and, as creatures of God, we are made to glorify Him and participate in the Beatific Vision. This is what we are created for. So even though in 1968 when the world was still being torn apart by communism, atheism, and the sexual revolution, Dr. Carroll came home to the Church and to the Truth. The world is indeed a dark place. But there is no darkness that can extinguish the Light of Truth. If we want Truth badly enough we’ll find it no matter how hopeless the world may seem to be.

Death and Life

Several months ago I was teaching my Fourth Grade class about Original Sin and its consequences. Man, I told them, was not originally supposed to die. In fact, death is a very unnatural thing. I was chuckling to myself as I looked out at the 24 pair of eyes staring at me in complete disbelief. “Wait a second”, they say, “Everybody says that death is natural, a part of life, everyone has to go through it.” Yes, that’s true in a certain sense but God didn’t intend for our lives to end. The Baltimore Catechism tells us that, “He created us to know, love and serve Him and to happy with Him in Heaven.” I don’t see the words, “And die and go to heaven.” Nope. Death is a result of sin. It is something that signifies decay and an end of life. Thank you Adam and Eve. However, there is twist in the story. Enter Christ and His redemptive mission. God’s love is so strong that there is nothing that can keep it from giving life. Even our sinful behavior and our unfaithfulness to our Creator does not stop God from loving us and giving us another chance at Heaven. Christ sanctified death by submitting Himself willingly to it for our sake. So death instead gives way to a new, eternal life.

Dr. Carroll, as I said already, proved in a myriad of ways, his absolute dedication to the Truth. Wherever he saw problem in the world he found a remedy. American education in the 70s? Yeah, not too many institutions of higher education were paying attention to the truth. Dr. Carroll’s solution: found a Catholic college with a mission to “restore all things in Christ.” Modern history? Hmm, pretty sure “they” are trying to erase redemptive history from the books. Ask any public school kid today what A.D. means and they will stare at you blankly. According to history books today it’s called CE or the Common Era. Dr. Carroll’s solution: write a 5 volume history of Christendom (ahh, yes, Christ is back in the center of history). Of course we are not all called to found a college or write a massive series of books, but imagine what we are capable of if one man can do so much for Christ in a lifetime.

Pope Benedict XVI said in January of 2006 that, “Man’s unique grandeur is ultimately based on his capacity to know the truth…[And truth] cannot be attained without profound consequences for the way we live our lives.” It is often difficult to live a Christian life because the culture around us is so anti-God and anti-Truth. If we want the Truth we are going to have to suffer for it. But even though the world is crumbling around us and things look a tad bleak, God blesses us with heroic men like Dr. Carroll who show us how to concretely live a truly radical Catholic life.

Blue and Grey Ball

My sister and her boyfriend

In celebration of  the sesquicentennial of the First Battle of Manassas a "Blue and Grey Ball"  was held tonight in Old Towne Manassas. It was a spectacular sight! I will post more about it tomorrow.

Line dancing!

Ahh, Poetry... (part 2)

Sonnet 75
(Edmund Spencer)

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, 

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. 

Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay 

A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eek my name be wiped out likewise. 

Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise 

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

 Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, 

Out love shall live, and later life renew. 

So, basically, this poem is about a lover who out of affection for his wife/girlfriend, writes her name in the sand. But then, as is wont to happen to anything made out of sand, the tide comes in, and it is washed away. The lover writes his loved one's name again, and the same thing happens. At this point, the loved one points out that it is silly for the lover to try to keep writing her name over and over. She then directs the conversation to a more somber theme when she points out that just as her name is washed away, so too will her mortal body grow old and die. The lover responds by saying that he will write a poem about her which will eternize their love (which of course he does, although ironically enough we still don't know the woman's name). 


For several years now, I have enjoyed this poem, but it wasn't until recently that it became more dear to me.  It happened that I had (miraculously) arrived early for mass and was preparing in the chapel when this poem came to mind. It struck me then that it is a reflection of Christ's love for us (albeit an insufficient one). 


The whole premise of the poem starts out with a lover showing affection for his loved one. He is there figuring out a way to show his love for her that will stand the test of time and eternity. Christ is that Lover proving his boundless love for the Church. He, the Word, writes his eternal love for us through his death on the cross. This verse, written by the Word of God, will live on throughout all time and eternity for all generations to see ( My verse your virtues rare shall eternize And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Out love shall live, and later life renew). Whereas the sonnet became the monument of  a lover's affection for his wife; the cross, formerly a symbol of death, now becomes a monument and reminder of the Lover's affection for his bride the Church.

Ahh, Poetry... ( Part I )

I have never been one for poetry. 

Do not get me wrong, I do enjoy it, but I am not one of those people who takes up a book of poems in his or her free time just for the sake relishing some poet's use (or misuse☺) of poetic license. That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed that which I have taken the time to study in a classroom setting. Basically, I have enjoyed nearly all of the poetry I have read (which is not much), but I still have not taken the time to study it outside of the classroom.

 Several years ago, though, I studied the following poem in an British Literature course. Its imagery struck me and since then it has become one of my favorite poems. (You can probably tell from the premise of this post that the lists of  "poems that I've read" and "my favorite poems" are almost identical, so "favorite" probably does not mean much!)  Anyhow, tell me what you think!

This was taken last year early one morning at Onslow Beach, NC. It's rather an appropriate backdrop for the poem, don't you agree?

 Sonnet 75 by Edmund Spencer

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay

A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eek my name be wiped out likewise.

Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue,

Out love shall live, and later life renew.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

(Check out Like Mother, Like Daughter for other amazing posts!)

~Pretty~

Fishing along Fear River in Fort Fisher, NC 

(That's quite a mouthful!)

 ~Happy~

  

For the Fourth, a friend and I made this "red, green?!, and blue" watermelon salad. We got the original idea from watermelon.org, but adapted it ourselves adding fruit necklaces and bracelets. It was such a joy to make and was a big hit at the party.

(note the key!)

~Funny~

I am part of a Catholic young adult frisbee group which meets several times a week. This Tuesday I brought along my camera and was rewarded with some awesome shots. These photos were not taken during a game, but jump-dives like it are not uncommon.

 (As a side note, from Saturday through Tuesday, the group played at least 11 games of ultimate--which, I must say, is a bit much. What is neat, though, is that although we play in the Manassas/Centerville area we get players all the way from Front Royal and Arlington, VA. The group has really been a blessing!)

~Real~

Yesterday was my sister's 26th birthday, and she requested that we have a nice family dinner to celebrate. Her boyfriend (who is an amazing cook) volunteered to make steak while my other sister offered to make all the side dishes. Thus, I was left in charge of the cake. 

As my sister is partial to ice cream cakes, I decided to make the cake with two layers of ice cream sandwiched between three layers of deep dark chocolate cake. The bottom layer of ice cream was Wegmans' cappuccino chip and the top layer was homemade chocolate sherbet (probably the easiest and healthiest ice cream that I've ever made!). I frosted the cake with whipped cream folded into ganache. Here are a few photos:

 
The dinner was really amazing. 

Pre-frosting