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"...it is important to reserve a certain time each day for meditation on the Bible so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth."

That's how much it is at this writing!

Proceeds go to the Pansy Fund.

Geoffrey Chaucer cracketh me uppe:

Ich wente up to bedde and sadlie closid my eyes, while Philippa burned our beste candles readinge of teenage sparklie vampyres. She was already on to the next oon, Compline....

In this fyne book of sparklie vampyres, Bella Cygne moveth from Essex to Yorkshyre to lyve with her fathir, who ys a sheriff and escheator.... Ther is considerablie moore sexual tensioun than in Piers Plowman.

Yt is reallie very good. Ich did reade al of Vespers, right through to Compline and ich have just startid Matins. This ys absolutelie the beste teenage sparklie vampyre love storye ich haue evir reade.

Hambet's teacher has suggested that he read and memorize some poems. Any suggestions of poems or collections? (Yes, "If" is on the list, but for the future.) Hambet, believe it or not, is seven years old.....

Curt Jester posts this letter by Bishop Hermann:

Save our children! More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.

Save our children! Many people in Germany supported Hitler for economic reasons even though, as his programs advanced, he put to death millions of Jewish people. He ended up wrecking the economy together with the country of Germany.

How are we different if we vote for proabortion candidates for office? How can we help change our political and legal situation to protect innocent children and support a culture of life?

Save our children! When I speak to some socalled good Catholics, I am shocked that they are quite ready to vote for a pro-abortion candidate under almost any circumstance. I find this hard to understand. We have heard the word "abortion" so often that perhaps we no longer associate procured abortion with the killing of children, yet that is what it is. The term itself can be misleading. The dictionary tells us that it comes from a Latin word that means "to disappear or to miscarry." Sometimes abortions simply happen because of natural causes. That is why this word abortion, for many people, apparently does not really connote the destruction of children. When a human agent induces an abortion, that human agent is taking the life of one of our children.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

In Chapter 10 of St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he states: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ... You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."

Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: "Thou shalt not kill"? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

Save our children! I have no doubt that there may be some so-called good Catholics who are reading this column and who may be really angry about now. I ask the question "Why would such a person be angry?" If we do good deeds, then our conscience is at peace. If we do evil deeds, then our conscience bothers us. It is my hope that this column will lead some of our so-called good Catholics to study the Catholic Catechism.

Save our children! Some of our so-called good Catholics may have hardened their hearts against the real understanding of induced abortions, that they can no longer see that this involves the destruction of our children. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!"

Save our children! Supporting induced abortions is not the greatest sin in the world. A greater sin is the refusal to repent of such a serious crime or the denial that this involves the killing of innocent children.

Save our children! I have used this terminology again and again penetrate the defenses of anyone who in the past may have put personal, economic or political interests above the issue of saving our children. The right to life is our most fundamental right, and to defend this right on behalf of the most vulnerable is a great privilege and is worth giving one's life for. Policemen and firemen always risk their lives to save human life. Why should we not risk our own reputation to save our children?

Save our children!You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don't debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

Save our children and save our so-called good Catholics who have abandoned Church teachings in favor of personal gain. Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day. Get the whole family to pray the Rosary daily. Prayer is more powerful than contentious arguments. Spread the word to other families. In praying the Rosary, children's votes count as much as adult votes. Sometimes they pray with purer hearts than we do. If you are disgusted with the TV news, then turn it off and turn on the prayer Internet. What we hear in prayer leaves us in peace. When we pray for our country and for our fellow citizens, we are filled with peace. St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the spirits of darkness.

Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say 'no' to the culture of death and say 'yes' to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!

...Of my ten children, a few I can raise by clearing my throat (Angel and Earnest). A few I need to carry a bazooka just to remind them who's in charge (Butkus and Conan). Most are somewhere in between. But I don't consider any of the ten unconquerably strong-willed.

How can this be? Simple. Their mother is stronger-willed. So even when they are at their relentless worst, ultimately she will prevail. And God willing, their intense personality will over years be channeled and tempered into a force for good. Tough little people, when socialized, make for strong big people.

~Dr. Ray Guarendi, from his book Discipline That Lasts A Lifetime

These are so cute!

Dear Dr. Esolen has posted an annotated list of "Twenty Books Nobody Reads. (unwritten subtitle: "But Should.") I am happy to report that I have read two books on this list (18, 4), have read parts of three more (20, 19, 14), and own three of them (19, 18, 14.)

The study of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was at the best of times a crowded room. It was even more crowded at the moment, being enriched by the presence of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt of the Aurors and a dumpy little man in a long black robe and shovel hat....

sorry -- I HAD to do it.

There, did that grab your attention?

That title's worthy of an essay, isn't it? Or at least a really long, well-thought out, annotated post. Alas, I won't be serving one of those up; just some scattered thoughts. I wanted to write something short on Deathly Hallows, and then with Pansy's post....

First, Pansy's post. I'm not getting into the Harry = Evil Witchcraft!!!!! thing because there are plenty of other people who have responded to those concerns -- for example, Nancy Brown.

I read the first three books back in 2000. I didn't think they were The Greatest Thing Ever, but I thought they were clever and diverting and I could see why kids liked them. For myself, I enjoyed the funny stuff -- the dog-Latin, the details of the Wizarding word, the outrageous names -- and the satire. I was pleased to read a new book for kids in which evil was evil, good was good, and heroism was celebrated and not sneered at. And I enjoyed the mysteries, with the twists at the end.

My sister encouraged me to pick the series back up again, and I read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix in 2005. This time, I was hooked by the increasing complexity of the story -- and the increasing complexity of the characters.

And I think the characters are what I like best about the books. Good guys who act like bad guys; bad guys who act like good guys; bad guys who think they're good guys; good guys who are loving and giving and brave and still have very serious faults. I think it would be so much fun to read the books with a pre-teen or a teen -- what great discussions you could get into! "Was Harry being fair in that situation?" "Why do you think so-and-so's acting this way?"

Rowling has also laid her clues carefully. I'm rereading the books now with an eye toward all the clues I'd missed, the little details that seemed insignificant the first time around but have new meaning now that the series is complete. Again, I think you could have a lot of fun reading these books with teenagers and teaching them to read closely, paying attention to recurring phrases and themes and allusions. ("What do you think Argus Filch's name tells us about him? And the name of his cat?")

And yes, I'm very happy to read books aimed at teens in which dating couples sleep in separate bedrooms, in which babies are blessings, in which being open to life is presented as a sign of generosity.

So that's why I like the Potter books: clever puzzles, interesting characters, lots to talk about, and a world view that values duty, generosity, self-sacrifice.

Now for the other stuff, which will go in the extended entry because it's full of Deathly Hallows spoilers:

Vacuuming? Check.

Swimming lessons? Check.

Dinner? Check.

Receive and read the book?

CHECK.

Started reading at 3:50 PM; finished around 10:30. (I did take breaks to for dinner, bedtime stories, etc.)

Much to think about; much to discuss. But I just have to say...

1. Vacuum the family room.

2. Take Hambet to swimming lessons.

3. Make dinner (bratwurst on the grill.)

4. Wait for the THUMP on the doorstep that means the UPS man's brought my book:
.

Drop everything and start reading, remembering to take it slowly.

5. Kick myself for not having plugged this book when I read it in May:

I wish I'd had this book in college just as a general reference. The chapters on alchemy were fascinating, and the chapters on post-modernism were enormously helpful (and jargon-free.) I'm going to try to get my husband to read it, even though he will probably never open a Potter book, for its explanation of how symbols really work (as opposed to the this-equals-this "code" approach.

I understand that Granger will update the book post-Deathly Hallows. It will be well worth reading, both as a guide to Potter and a friendly guide to reading in general.

Dear Mr Luse has a post up in which he fails to share with us his feelings on finding his toothpaste tube emptied of toothpaste. He does allude to a thread somewhere on the Interweb discussing the relative intelligence of men and women, and then provides his own commentary, including a salacious confession to asking three -- three! -- women to be his Valentine.

Go read the post, it's good. Meanwhile, I am happy to report that two men asked me to be their Valentine and I said yes to both of them. So there. (Neither of them blog.) And on the topic of "are men smarter than women" I just have a few things to say:

1. Even if it's true that twice as many men as women have 120 +IQ's, that still means that the big differences are going to be on the skinny ends of the bell curve, where the extremes show up. Most men and most women are going to fall in the vast middle of the curve.

2. For most of us, lofty talk about averages and populations and medians and percentiles isn't going to be of much use in our daily lives. We'll never meet The Average Man and The Average Woman because they don't exist. We're going to meet individuals: Adam, Eve, Sally, Joe. And it doesn't matter where The Average Woman and The Average Man fall on the bell curves; what will matter is what Adam and Eve and Sally and Joe can do. They'll each possess their own unique constellations of intelligence and virtue. More men than women might be super-geniuses, but that doesn't mean Joe is a super-genius -- or that Sally is not.

3. Speaking of virtue, this would be a good place to note that without traits such as perseverance and self-control, the only thing a high I.Q. for good for is membership in Mensa.

3.5 Plus, as we know from comics and the movies, having a very high IQ puts one at risk for becoming a megalomaniac sociopathic super-villain.

4. Given how theories about average intelligence of populations have been misused in the past to justify mistreating individuals... well, maybe there was something to the idea of an Index.

I am happy to report that my Valentine is a really smart guy. After dinner on Wednesday, he announced, "Skip the dishes. Let's go watch 'Persuasion.' " (Because he knows how I love this movie.)

One of the best parts of Persuasion is a friendly debate between two characters on the differences between women and men:

..."I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps, you will say, these were all written by men."

"Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything."

The whole passage is in the extended entry.