Learn From Your Mistakes

"If you don't learn from your mistakes, there's no sense making them." - unknown

Sacrifice

"Sacrifice is giving up something good for something better." - unknown

Second Track Meet

We had our second track meet today on our home track - Hinsdale South. Both of my boys got ribbons. My oldest son got one for the mile and my youngest son got one for the 100 yard dash. It was a drizzly rainy cloudy day. We did pretty well. Our 7th grade boys took 1st and 2nd place in shot put. Our 7th grade girls took 1st in discus and our 8th grade boys took 1st in discus. Both grades got ribbons in discus and shot put.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

We watched the DVD "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I liked the high tech stuff in it.

Synopsis

John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie) Smith are an ordinary suburban couple with an ordinary, lifeless suburban marriage. But each is hiding something the other would kill to know: Mr. and Mrs. Smith are actually highly paid, incredibly efficient assassins, and they work for competing organizations. Mr. and Mrs. Smith discover a new source of excitement in their marriage, when they're hired to assassinate each other... and that's when the real fun starts. The result is the ultimate action spectacle, as Mr. and Mrs. Smith put their formidable skills to work and their marriage to the ultimate test.

Kicking and Screaming

I watched the DVD "Kicking and Screaming" with Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall and Mike Ditka.

Synopsis

Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) is an average Joe who's had to put up all his life with his overly competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall). When Phil decides to coach his 10-year-old son's soccer team, he goes head-to-head for the league championship against Buck, who coaches his own young son on the preeminent team of the league. Phil asks Mike Ditka to help. Old scores come into play as Phil and Buck find themselves going to extreme measures to win the championship trophy.

I have an autographed picture with Mike Ditka and me, a football autographed by him and his book. I've met him a couple of times.

Things Turn Out Best

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Hard Work

"The daily grind of hard work gets a person polished." - unknown

Top Of A Mountain

"Remember when you see a man at the top of a mountain, he didn't fall there." - unknown

Rest

"He who seeks rest finds boredom. He who seeks work finds rest." - unknown

Management

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." - Peter Drucker, American (Austrian-born) management writer (1909 - 2005)

An Atheist

"An atheist is a man who looks through a telescope and tries to explain what he can't see." - O.A. Battista

Atheism

"Atheism is the death of hope, the suicide of the soul." - Anonymous

If There Were No God

"If there were no God, there would be no Atheists." - G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Sin City

We Watched the DVD "Sin City." It was very graphic and very violent.

Synopsis

Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark. Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home. Crooked cops. Sexy dames. Desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge. Others lust after redemption. And then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care. The central story follows Marv (Mickey Rourke), a tougher-than-nails street-fighter who has always played it his way. When Marv takes home a Goddess-like beauty named Goldie (Jaime King), only to have her wind up dead in his bed - he scours the city to avenge the loss of the only drop of love his heart has ever known. Then there's the tale of Dwight (Clive Owen), a private investigator perpetually trying to leave trouble behind, even though it won't quit chasing after him. After a cop is killed in Old Town, Dwight will stop at nothing to protect his friends among the ladies of the night. Finally, there's the yarn of John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) the last honest cop in Sin City. With just one ticking hour left to his career, he's going out with a bang as he makes a final bid to save an 11 year-old girl from the sadistic son of a Senator... with unexpected results. Based on the Sin City graphic novels by Frank Miller.

First Track Meet

We had our first track meet today and the weather was perfect. Our 7th graders took first place and our 8th graders took third place. Both of our 7th grade shot-put teams took first place and both of our 8th grade shot put teams took 4th place. We finished at 3:00 p.m.

Inspiration Practice

Starting an Inspiration Practice Five ways to live each day 'in Spirit.'
By Wayne Dyer

Excerpted from "Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling," with permission of Hay House, Inc.

These daily practices will help you move toward Spirit in your thoughts and actions.

1. Commit to at least one daily experience where you share something of yourself with no expectation of being acknowledged or thanked. For example, before I begin my daily routine of exercise, meditation, or writing, I go to my desk and choose my gift for that day. Sometimes it’s just a phone call to a stranger who’s written to me, or perhaps I order flowers or send a book or present to someone who has helped me in a local store. On one occasion I wrote to the president of the university I graduated from to start a scholarship fund, on another day I took a calendar to the yard man, on another I sent a check to Habitat for Humanity, and on another I sent three rolls of postage stamps to my son who’d just started his own business. It doesn’t matter if this activity is big or small—it’s a way to begin the day in-Spirit.

2. Become conscious of all thoughts that aren’t aligned with your Source. The moment you catch yourself excluding someone or having a judgmental thought, say the words “in-Spirit” to yourself. Then make a silent effort to shift that thought to match up with Source energy.

3. In the morning before you’re fully awake, and again as you’re going to sleep, take one or two minutes of what I call “quiet time with God.” Be in a state of appreciation and say aloud, “I want to feel good.”

4. Remind yourself of this statement: My life is bigger than I am. Print it out and post it strategically in your home, car, or workplace. The “I” is your ego identification. Your life is Spirit flowing through you unhindered by ego—it’s what you showed up here to actualize—and is infinite. The “I” that identifies you is a fleeting snippet.

5. Dedicate your life to something that reflects an awareness of your Divinity. You are greatness personified, a resident genius, and a creative master—regardless of anyone’s opinion. Make a silent dedication to encourage and express your Divine nature.

Heroism

"Heroism consists in hanging on one minute longer." - Norwegian proverb

Be Absolutely Determined

"Be absolutely determined to enjoy what you do." - Gerry Sikorski

Guitar Lessons

We picked up a Giordano's stuffed pizza and went over to my brother-in-laws and he gave my youngest son guitar lessons. They made a lot of progress in one lesson.

How We Spend Our Days

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." - Annie Dillard

Living

"No one grows old by living, only by losing interest in living." - Marie Beynon Ray

Be A Good Listener

"Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble." - Frank Tyger

Purpose

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." - Robert Byrne

He Is Risen

THE FACT OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
The main sources which directly attest the fact of Christ's Resurrection are the Four Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. Easter morning is so rich in incident, and so crowded with interested persons, that its complete history presents a rather complicated representation. It is not surprising, therefore, that the partial accounts contained in each of the Four Gospels appear at first sight hard to harmonize. But whatever interpretation as to the visit to the sepulchre by the pious women and the appearance of the angels we may defend, we cannot deny the Evangelists' agreement as to the fact that the risen Christ appeared to one or more persons. According to St. Matthew, He appeared to the holy women, and again on a mountain in Galilee; according to St. Mark, He was seen by Mary Magdalen, by the two disciples at Emmaus, and the Eleven before his Ascension into heaven; according to St. Luke, He walked with the disciples to Emmaus, appeared to Peter and to the assembled disciples in Jerusalem; according to St. John, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalen, to the ten Apostles on Easter Sunday, to the Eleven a week later, and to the seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. St. Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) enumerates another series of apparitions of Jesus after His Resurrection; he was seen by Cephas, by the Eleven, by more than 500 brethren, many of whom were still alive at the time of the Apostle's writing, by James, by all the Apostles, and lastly by Paul himself.

Here is an outline of a possible harmony of the Evangelists' account concerning the principal events of Easter Sunday:

The holy women carrying the spices previously prepared start out for the sepulchre before dawn, and reach it after sunrise; they are anxious about the heavy stone, but know nothing of the official guard of the sepulchre (Matthew 28:1-3; Mark 16:1-3; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). The angel frightened the guards by his brightness, put them to flight, rolled away the stone, and seated himself not upon (ep autou), but above (epano autou) the stone (Matthew 28:2-4). Mary Magdalen, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome approach the sepulchre, and see the stone rolled back, whereupon Mary Magdalen immediately returns to inform the Apostles (Mark 16:4; Luke 24:2; John 20:1-2). The other two holy women enter the sepulchre, find an angel seated in the vestibule, who shows them the empty sepulchre, announces the Resurrection, and commissions them to tell the disciples and Peter that they shall see Jesus in Galilee (Matthew 28:5-7; Mark 16: 5-7). A second group of holy women, consisting of Joanna and her companions, arrive at the sepulchre, where they have probably agreed to meet the first group, enter the empty interior, and are admonished by two angels that Jesus has risen according to His prediction (Luke 24:10). Not long after, Peter and John, who were notified by Mary Magdalen, arrive at the sepulchre and find the linen cloth in such a position as to exclude the supposition that the body was stolen; for they lay simply flat on the ground, showing that the sacred body had vanished out of them without touching them. When John notices this he believes (John 20:3-10). Mary Magdalen returns to the sepulchre, sees first two angels within, and then Jesus Himself (John 20:11-16; Mark16:9). The two groups of pious women, who probably met on their return to the city, are favored with the sight of Christ arisen, who commissions them to tell His brethren that they will see him in Galilee (Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:8). The holy women relate their experiences to the Apostles, but find no belief (Mark 16:10-11; Luke 24:9-11). Jesus appears to the disciples, at Emmaus, and they return to Jerusalem; the Apostles appear to waver between doubt and belief (Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-35). Christ appears to Peter, and therefore Peter and John firmly believe in the Resurrection (Luke 24:34; John 20:8). After the return of the disciples from Emmaus, Jesus appears to all the Apostles excepting Thomas (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25).The harmony of the other apparitions of Christ after His Resurrection presents no special difficulties. Briefly, therefore, the fact of Christ's Resurrection is attested by more than 500 eyewitnesses, whose experience, simplicity, and uprightness of life rendered them incapable of inventing such a fable, who lived at a time when any attempt to deceive could have been easily discovered, who had nothing in this life to gain, but everything to lose by their testimony, whose moral courage exhibited in their apostolic life can be explained only by their intimate conviction of the objective truth of their message. Again the fact of Christ's Resurrection is attested by the eloquent silence of the Synagogue which had done everything to prevent deception, which could have easily discovered deception, if there had been any, which opposed only sleeping witnesses to the testimony of the Apostles, which did not punish the alleged carelessness of the official guard, and which could not answer the testimony of the Apostles except by threatening them "that they speak no more in this name to any man" (Acts 4:17). Finally the thousands and millions, both Jews and Gentiles, who believed the testimony of the Apostles in spite of all the disadvantages following from such a belief, in short the origin of the Church, requires for its explanation the reality of Christ's Resurrection, fot the rise of the Church without the Resurrection would have been a greater miracle than the Resurrection itself.

www.newadvent.org

Easter Vigil

The night of the vigil of Easter has undergone a strange displacement. During the first six or seven centuries, ceremonies were in progress throughout the entire night, so that the Alleluia coincided with the day and moment of the Resurrection. In the eighth century these same ceremonies were held on Saturday afternoon and, by a singular anachronism, were later on conducted on Saturday morning, thus the time for carrying out the solemnity was advanced almost a whole day. Thanks to this change, special services were now assigned to Holy Saturday whereas, beforehand, it had had none until the late hour of the vigil.

This vigil opened with the blessing of the new fire, the lighting of lamps and candles and of the paschal candle, ceremonies that have lost much of their symbolism by being anticipated and advanced from twilight to broad daylight. St. Cyril of Jerusalem spoke of this night that was as bright as day, and Constantine the Great added unprecedented splendour to its brilliancy by a profusion of lamps and enormous torches, so that not only basilicas, but private houses, streets, and public squares were resplendent with the light that was symbolic of the Risen Christ. The assembled faithful gave themselves up to common prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns, and the reading of the Scriptures commentated by the bishop or priests. The vigil of Easter was especially devoted to the baptism of catechumens who, in the more important churches, were very numerous. On the Holy Saturday following the deposition of St. John Chrysostom from the See of Constantinople, there were 3000 catechumens in this church alone. Such numbers were, of course, only encountered in large cities; nevertheless, as Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost were the only days on which baptism was administered, even in smaller churches there was always a goodly number of catechumens. This meeting of people in the darkness of the night often occasioned abuses which the clergy felt powerless to prevent by active supervision unless by so anticipating the ceremonies that all of them could take place in daylight. Rabanus Maurus, an ecclesiastical writer of the ninth century (De cleric. Instit., II, 28), gives a detailed account of the ceremony of Holy Saturday. The congregation remained silent in the church awaiting the dawn of the Resurrection, joining at intervals in psalmody and chant and listening to the reading of the lessons. These rites were identical with those in the primitive Church and were solemnized at the same hours, as the faithful throughout the world had not yet consented to anticipate the Easter vigil and it was only during the Middle Ages that uniformity on this point was established.

My oldest son and I went to the Easter Vigil Mass at Christ The Servant. It opened with the blessing of the new fire and lighting of candles in the foyer and then there was a procession into the church. Three scriptures were read and three Psalms sung and there was a baptism of a new catechumen. It was a very nice service.

Doubt

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." - Yann Martel, from Life Of Pi

Keep Your Mouth Shut

"When you are in deep water, it's a good idea to keep your mouth shut." - St. Louis Tribune

Fever Pitch

We watched the DVD "Fever Pitch" with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. It was very good.

Synopsis

High school teacher Ben Wrightman (Jimmy Fallon) is a good catch. He's charming, funny and great with kids. When he meets Lindsay Meeks (Drew Barrymore), an ambitious business consultant whose spirit is as luminous as her beauty, their attraction is immediate. Sure, they have their differences. She's a workaholic; he loves his summers off. He lives and breathes the Red Sox; she doesn't know Carl Yastrzemski from Johnny Damon. But true loves overcomes all... at least until Red Sox Spring training rolls around. As Ben's beloved Bosox launch one of the most incredible seasons in baseball history, Ben and Lindsey must decide if they, as a couple, will strike out or fight to keep love alive through extra innings.

Possible

"So many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible." - Norton Juster

Stepping Stone

"Failure is a stepping-stone to greatness." - Oprah Winfrey

Success

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

Hope

"Man can live for about forty days without food, and about three days without water, about eight minutes without air ... but only for one second without hope." - Hal Lindsey

Life Is Tough

"Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it." - Salma Hayek

Champs

We went to 4:00 p.m. mass. It was packed. We had a gift certificate for Champs in Oakbrook Terrace and had dinner there. It's been a long time since I've been there. I'm not wild about restaurants that let you smoke anywhere in the restaurant. I guess that's what can you expect from a sports bar. The food was okay nothing great. We ran into some old friends on the way out. They were going there to celebrate an anniversary.

Time Is A Great Teacher

"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils." - Hector Berlioz

How You Spend Your Time

"How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever." - David B. Norris

Wasted Time

"Regret for wasted time is more wasted time." - Mason Cooley, O Magazine, April 2004

Girl In The Cafe

I watched the DVD "Girl In The Cafe."

Synopsis

The Girl in the Cafè is both a romantic character drama with comedic elements, and a powerful political wake-up call. The Girl in the Cafè literally addresses one the most important questions of 2005: Will this be the year when world powers seriously address the issue of world poverty once and for all? The film is a passionate plea to humankind - wrapped in a love story, a comedy and a unique drama. It is a call to arms that shamelessly sets out to entertain, inform and challenge audiences to act. Above all, the film seeks to raise awareness about the important political choices facing the G8 leaders at the next Summit, in Scotland in 2005, and for all of our actions to match our principles. Set and filmed in London and Iceland (where the fictional G8 Summit of the film takes place), The Girl in the Cafè follows the journey of Lawrence (Bill Nighy), a lonely bureaucrat working for the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, after he meets an enigmatic woman named Gina (Kelly MacDonald) in a cafè. After a couple of dates, he takes a chance and invites her on a weekend trip to Reykjavik, where he'll be working the G8 conference. His team's hope is to push an agenda the Millennium Goals agreed to at the 2000 G8, which if met will greatly decrease world poverty by 2015. This conference is especially crucial, as little has been pledged so far, but compromise is almost always a given. As she learns more, Gina (to Lawrence's initial horror) becomes increasingly outspoken at the conference, challenging his boss, representatives of other nations, and even the English Prime Minister to do more to end poverty and save dying mothers and children. For his part, Lawrence begins to wonder who Gina really is, even as their physical connection intensifies. Lawrence's bosses warn him that Gina may cost him his job - the one thing he ever cared about until Gina. While the romance reaches a bittersweet place, Gina's courage ends up changing Lawrence's staid life - and perhaps even influences the politicians who wield the power to save millions of lives.

Try To Learn

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." - Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)

A Single Step

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao-Tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu

Biggest Adventure

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams." - Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine

One Of The Best Ways To Persuade Others

"One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears - by listening to them." - Dean Rusk

Seeds

"Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds." - Norman Vincent Peale

Time

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg

I have a book I found at a booksale autographed by Carl Sandburg.

Family Birthday Get Together

We got together at my brother and sister-in-law's house for a birthday get together. He made beef, sausage and mostaccioli. I ate way too much. We watched George Mason lose to Florida in the NCAA Tournament Final Four and some of the Bulls Celtics game and a lot of music videos. The Bulls ended up winning. We got home after eleven.

Count Your Blessings

"Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life God intended for you with grace, strength, courage and confidence." - Og Mandino