Feeling a Bit Bombarded

What a glorious day God gave us today. We went on a picnic at a local state park this afternoon with some friends and had a wonderful time. I am so thankful for the grace of sunshine these days! I am thankful that God kept me on task today to enjoy His gifts because it is getting more and more difficult to do that with all the distractions about, particularly as we enter into Holy Week.

This post is more about the distractions than the graces, but I wanted to start with how beautiful the day was because that is what God wants us to know, His Truth and Beauty given to us in abundance each and every day if we only just open our hearts and eyes to see it.

I almost missed it... Last week was both blessing and ugh (can't think of a better word, sorry, I guess technically that is not a word, but you get the idea). Usually my heart becomes quite vulnerable when I sense divisions, so you can imagine my state with all of the back and forth on the healthcare bill and with the growing media intensity on our beloved Pope Benedict XVI. Even while I was standing in line to buy some picnic necessities (you know, granola bars, juice boxes, trail mix, etc... to go with our sandwiches), I had to shield my eyes from the current Cosmopolitan magazine that has a very scantily clad woman on the front that looks like she has no clothes on at first glance. I was thankful that our oldest son cannot read yet to be tempted to know what the 55 (or however many it said) things you can do butt naked are. Maybe some of you have also encountered this problem with magazines in the grocery store aisle. Frankly, I could care less about the personal lives of Sandra Bullock or Tiger Woods, but at least I can say a prayer that they can find healing, so maybe it is not all bad. But I digress, back to the other distractions I was writing about.

I don't know what is worse, frustration by lies and inaccuracies by the mainstream media, or sadness of the truth of the state of our country and divisions within our faith. What I mean when I say that is that while I am glad to find sources other than mainstream media that will tell the truth, finding that truth also sheds light on the major challenges that we face these days, both in our country and in our faith. The good news is that while our country may be headed for decline, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Catholic Church established by Our Lord Jesus Christ. And shedding Light (notice the capital letter, so for me that means shedding God's Light) on these problems is actually a good thing because that is the only way to shatter the lies.

Here are two really good articles regarding the media intensity on Pope Benedict. The first by Michael Cook really hits home about the true scandal of the media and oversexualized culture which they helped to create and even ties into my rambling about the grocery store aisle above. HT Sheila Liaugminas at Inforum Blog.

Second, is an article by John Allen that sets the record straight on how the media is not accurately reporting the historical facts. HT Fr. Andrew at Catholic Vision.

Please go read both to get some good insight into the truth on this matter.

So even though these things weigh heavily, thank You God for not letting me miss the true gift of today and for good friends who inspire me to go outside and enjoy the sunshine to bring me back to the Truth of Your always present Grace and Love in the midst of the noise.