Psalm 22

I was reading the Greatest Story Ever Told for an Advent project.  Don't ask me to explain this book for Advent rather than Lent, but I couldn't explain half the things that I do or for that matter half the things that don't do. Anyway, I in the Greatest Story the reader gets to the Cruxifiction and he mentioned the "My God, my God, why has Thou abandon me" that Christ says at the end of his life. I have heard that countless time, but for some unknown reason, I do not recall hearing the fact that it is a reference to Psalm 22 and I suppose if I had read the Psalm in whole, I would have found it by myself. But I suppose like some people I have only read a line or two of  the Psalms as they related to a particular service. Psalm 22 states much of what Christians believe is the Old Testament vision of the coming of Christ, and his suffering, death, and resurrection. It is pretty astounding stuff. 

Forgiveness and That Man Is You

A wonderful old book that was very popular with priests, religious, and lay Catholics was That Man is You written by Louis Everly who was a Monk at the time of its writing. I tried to track down who owns the copyright, but had no luck. You can still get used copies from Amazon. This is one page from the book that I thought was wonderful:

I belong to the new Catholic group called That Man Is You that was started by Steve Bollman. There is no connection between this old book and Steve's organization. Mohammedans are mentioned on this page as one group who the author believes had problems with forgiveness. Today, there are many who have problems with forgiveness just as there are many who believe that "anything goes" that there are no sins. There are many people today who feel abandoned by their church--their hurt and frustration turns to anger. The sides are at times drawn out and no one is the victor. Solving the problem is not easy and frankly requires help from above. 

Bad News is Good News

In some ways, bad news can motivate people to work towards improvements that lead to good news. I just have a brief thought for today about young parents who want no part of church.  Many of them have had some exposure to church, and they are themselves non-believers in a sense that they just can't seem to align themselves with a faith.  They might have a certain amount of belief that has not worn away, but it was going to be a hassle so they checked out. People leave their religion for hundreds of reasons, so I don't want to simplify the notion as leaving for lazy reasons.  Certainly, many people may be leaving because of the commitment that comes with association with a church, but the "hassle" that keeps them away might be about having to align themselves with a group they are not proud of associating with today (some churches have PR problems today). It might be their faith is not really looked on as contemporary with lots of people--it has lots of "old" ideas. It might be that they have never gotten too deep with the faith business so the exit was quick and painless.  It might be one of their parents was always criticizing the church or even making fun of it when they were growing up. [A lot of bad news today is often mad PR, not bad faith.]

My generation was one that grew up looking at everything with cynicism and questioning things that had been accepted for generations or even millenniums. For many people there is a period of total unbelief that takes place as they reach adulthood and then they circle back--not all of them, but some come back. If you think that is not true, go read about some of the most noteworthy Christians today and you will find many "conversion" stories. In some churches they have various names for the experience. But  getting back to the point of raising children, the one thing that comes to mind for me is that if you raise your kids without faith because your may be a low point yourself, they might have a conversion experience later in their lives, but it might not be one that you are comfortable with. Maybe you are one of those open minded parents, that want your kids to find their peace without you, but you might just be abandoning generations of trials and tribulations that meant everything to your ancestors. Again, that might not be important to you.  

I just think when you have kids, what you pass down to them is very important.  And what you don't pass down to them might be very important as well. If you think that all religions foster hate, I'd have to disagree with you, but some of them do. Just as some forms of non-belief can lead to acceptance of other "haters." It all starts with you and your spouse. 

Loss of Faith May Lead to More Obsesity

A silly headline isn't it? Or is it? 

A popular architectural magazine published an article at the end of 2018 that touted the fact that architects were finding good use of former churches. The high ceilings, big spaces, and repurposed stained glass are prefect for restaurants. 

Of course, people who are concerned with the reduced state of faith in 21st century America might see the article as more bad news. Many churches in urban areas are closing, especially in areas where young people are moving in. In many ways, statistics show that many of our youth either never had much faith or lost it on the way to adulthood.  

A friend of mine who is a priest tells me that the reduction in faithful people today is a good sign towards the future because those who are faithful today are making a decision to do so. And as my cousin might say, they are more grounded in faith as opposed to many of those previously who followed the faith going forth blindly. We have committed faithful people going forward. 

So where are the young people headed who are much more concerned with restaurants that salvation? What happens when  your life is more about the interest in a gourmand that God? 

And purhaps even more troubling, what happens when our young people satisfy their basic need for the supernatural with thoughts on vampires, aliens, witches, and magic? 

There isn't really an answer to these questions. I think what inevitably happens when faith hits a low point, is that we see problems and horrific events and suffering that brings people back to God.   But it can take quite a while. 

One on One Social Media

What we attempt at Sporting Chance Press is to keep publishing books that promote the good. We write about people with faith who lead exemplary lives.  Good thoughts replace bad thoughts on the media sites.    We believe it is a worthwhile struggle.                                                     

Saint Kevin: A Story of the Ages; A shirt for tomorrow!

We have created a "Saint Kevin and the Blackbird" shirt. The image was created by Curt Rabinak and I think it is a winner. We are including a brief story on Saint Kevin in our next book in our Sports and Faith Series called Worthwhile Struggle. 

Seamus Heaney wrote a poem based on Irish-Catholic tradition called “Saint Kevin and the Blackbird.”A blackbird landed on the Saint’s hand while his arms were extended in prayer—the bird laid its eggs in his hand. The kindly saint holds the bird until the eggs hatch and the young birds leave.

The actual story dates from roughly 800 years ago. 

Order our shirt at sportingchancepress.com

The publisher of Sporting Chance Press is Lawrence Norris. 

Don't Wear a Saint Patrick Shirt on Saint Patrick's Day, Wear our Saint Kevin Shirt!

Wear Something Different this Saint Pat's Day

Hah! You are saying, what kind of nonsense is that--wear a Saint Kevin shirt on Saint Patrick's Day. 

Well maybe it is not as daft as it sounds?

Saint Patrick did his work in the 5th century and there was lot of cleanup to be done in the late 6th and 7th centuries--and who was more patient to serve than the Irish Saint Kevin who according to tradition stuck his arm out in prayer one day and a blackbird landed on it and nested.  And what did Saint Kevin do, but keep his hand up and waited weeks for the bird's eggs to hatch and the birds to grow feathers and fly away. 

And who better to show the Irish the best tactic to avoid sin on Saint Patrick Day then Saint Kevin who one day found his mind wandering in the wrong direction when a pretty girl entered the woods, he hightailed it to a patch of itchy nettles and dove right in as an outdoor substitute for a cold shower. 

Some might dismiss the story of Saint Kevin and the Blackbird as myth, but not us. We had this beautifully serviceable shirts made up for all Saint Kevin fans and you can get yours now in time for Saint Patrick's Day as sportingchancepress.com But don't wait too long, we don't have many and the feast day is barely a month away. 

Sporting Chance Press Covers the Irish Saints

Copyright Sporting Chance Press

We have a new book in the Sports and Faith Series by Chicago Bears Vice President Patrick McCaskey called Worthwhile Struggle. The book includes a number of stories of excellent athletes who lead exemplary lives. The author also shares a number of his family stories and his experience growing up in a Catholic household and going to Catholic Schools.  It has long been our belief that sports is an excellent metaphor for life lessons. 

Worthwhile Struggle also includes stories of inspirational saints.  Some of the saints are Irish ones: Saint Columba, Saint Kevin, and Saint Patrick.  We cover a little of Saint Kevin and also discuss Seamus Heaney and his famous poem, Saint Kevin of the Blackbird.  With the permission of Heaney's publisher, we also include the poem itself. 

See our shirt.