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I agree! Since I've heard it, when I'm going through something I don't want to endure, or have to do something unpleasant I'd rather not do, I hum this song to myself. And it helps get me through!

This is amesome.

The Forbes Family is/was another gospel group, often classified as bluegrass, although there's nothing particularly bluegrass-y about them except the instrumentation and the harmonies. David Marshall, from the group just above, worked with them as producer, arranger, guitarist, and on vocals. There are a lot of similarities between the Marshalls and the the Forbes Family - the lead singer has one of those very pretty, sweet voices like Judy Marshall has, and the close harmonies are similar. The best song on the album, by me, is "Outside the Gate," but I'm not crazy about the mandolin work on it - the Forbes brother who plays it came up with some licks that sound like a staggering drunk. Nonetheless, I like the song very well, and the vocals. This link provides the whole album. To listen to just "Outside the Gates," slide up to 7:15 and hit Play.

Coming out of New Zealand: https://rumble.com/v3ynskd-operation-m.o.a.r-mother-of-all-revelations.html In some instances, they are claiming as many as 30% of those who took the Pfizer shot are now dead. Statisticians say the odds that it's not the shot killing these people are 100 billion to 1, which is considerably less likely than you winning the Powerball. Is everyone awake yet?

Advent—that season of longing, penitence, and expectation—is upon us. The Advent candles and the purple altar linens and vestments are taken. In the coming weeks, the Advent readings will walk us through the story of John the Baptist and continue on to the angel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary. But before that the lectionary point us to the apocalyptic. Traditionally, Advent is a period when the church reenacts the great yearning and expectation for the Messiah articulated in the Hebrew Scriptures while simultaneously looking to the second coming of Jesus. The weight of anticipation for divine deliverance is perhaps even more keenly pronounced in the passage from Isaiah 64: “ Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!” The desperation of the prophet is almost palpable God, when will you return? When will the second coming of Jesus take place? When will you rend the heavens and come to liberate us all? The gospel reading for today from Mark addresses just this question. Initially, The instruction is not to spend time and energy trying to make predictions of the future, but instead, the injunction is to keep watch. But what does this keeping watch mean, if not to interpret the signs? Jesus, as he so often does, offers a parable. He describes a landowner going away on a journey and commanding the doorkeeper to keep watch. The doorkeeper is instructed to stay awake, but there is no indication of when the landowner might return. Jesus concludes this parable by instructing the disciples, “ So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” But this is an impossible task. One cannot keep constant vigilance without fatigue. And yet, three times in this passage, Jesus instructs his disciples: Keep watch. This injunction in Mark 13 to keep watch is literarily connected to the events that unfold in the Garden of Gethsemane one chapter later. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus thrice tells his close disciples to keep watch with him. And thrice they fail. They fail to stay awake with him in his final hours. So, what’s Mark doing here? Mark is setting up this literary to let the reader know that the apocalypse is wrapped up in something bigger than knowing when the End will come. Keeping watch does not mean paying attention so one can be “in the know” about what is happening or what will happen next. The call to be watchful, alert, and aware is an invitation into the unfolding divine mystery. This mystery is somehow personal yet universal, offering glimpses of a boundless God amongst a groaning creation. St Mark makes it clear that it is impossible to fix our eyes on the moment of the Messianic return. And in that uncertainty, we fix our eyes on the one thing we can: The person and promise of Jesus Christ. The mystery of the Incarnation is impossible to disentangle from the mysteries of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Fixing our eyes on Jesus means embracing these mysteries in all their fullness and in their incomprehensibility. This Advent, let us heed this call to keep watch both spiritually and also within the physical world. Jesus directs us to keep watch in Gethsemane. He directs our gaze to the anguish around us: to the destruction of the temple; to the horrors of war; to the anxieties borne from all threats to human life. In this holy uncertainty, Christians are called to be attentive to the suffering of the present. The failure of the apostles in Gethsemane becomes our failure when we turn our gaze away from those in anguish. The church is called both to wait and to bear witness bearing witness is an active stance; waiting is a passive stance. Both are part of the message of the herald of the age to come. In keeping watch, we will find ourselves waiting in the depths crying out, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” That suffering, death, and agony will not have the final say. And for that promise, we also keep watch. There will be suffering around us. There will be pain. There will be anxiety. And in those moments of feeling like the world is crumbling around us, there comes a whisper of Messianic hope: Keep watch.

"Amen, There's a Higher Power" was written (apparently) by Charlie & Ira Louvin - great bluegrass musicians - in 1959 or so. This version was recorded by the Marshalls, a.k.a. The Marshall Family, in the late 1970s. That include Pop (Chester), Mom (Donna), David (guitar, banjo), Judy (guitar), Ben (bass), and Danny (mandolin), and everyone on vocals, although I think this recording is just the children without Mom & Pop. I didn't hear it until 2023. THIS is bluegrass! This is a great arrangement, great mandolin pickin,' and great harmonizing. Enjoy!

Seems everything is unravelling... Conspiracy theorist: 15, sheeps: 0

L4.6 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

Texas sues Pfizer: https://www.pro-memoria.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/Causa_-Texas-lawsuit-against-Pfizer-over-covid-19-vaccine-_Ken-Paxton-procuratore-generale-del-Texas.pdf From the lawsuit: (a strikethrough seemed to be added from what I copy/pasted that ruined the rest of the post. I can't seem to get rid of it.) I added emphasis on the points I find to be highly troubling. But really every single point here is criminal. Are people awake yet? Would you still take the shot?

"Keep on the Firing Line" is a classic, first recorded almost 100 years ago, in 1928. Here's the Turner Family Band - Mom on vocals & keyboards, Dad on guitar, Big Brother (maybe 14 years old) on bass, Big Sister (maybe 12? and barefoot!) on vocals and trumpet, and Little Sister (maybe 6?) on vocals. Completely amateur - looks like it was recorded in a basement studio - but putting their hearts and souls into a sound I'd call New Orleans Mardi Gras. The little sister is just a stitch! I doubt she even understands the words she's singing, but she belts 'em out anyway. And I certainly didn't expect the big sister to deliver the trumpet solo she did. This makes me happy every time I watch it!

L4.5 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

Thanks for the update! One more detail about the song nailed down!

That's by Fr. Thomas Joseph White. All the best original lyrics are by him and he usually sings solo on them too.

Speaking of musical Dominicans, have you heard of the Hillbilly Thomists? A group of friars from the US eastern province (St. Joseph), all of whom sing and play stringed instruments. They formed the group as a fund-raiser when they were in formation; one of them is the rector of the Angelicum in Rome, so the group may include friars who weren't in formation together - I don't know all the technicalities. They've made two or three CDs, and I hear there's another in the works. They sing Black spirituals, classic hymns from the Great Awakening, and their own compositions. All of them are intended to preach some aspect of the Gospel one way or another. This one was composed by one of the friars - on YouTube, they never specify who the composer is, which I find frustrating. In any case, I think this one - "The Weight of Eternal Glory" - is hysterical.

L4.4 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

https://meaww.com/forbes-mocked-for-honoring-brand-tankers-as-trans-influencer-dylan-mulvaney-named-in-30-under-30-list Please note: Woman of the year, the W O is silent

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I met a Dominican friar (Central Province of St. Albert the Great) some years ago. We're not friends, but I keep up with where he is and what he's doing. One of the things he does is play electric guitar, of the progressive rock variety. Another thing he does is pray the psalms. The most recent thing he's done is compose a progressive rock version of Domine Refugium. It's almost 14 minutes long. I'm not sure I like it - I'm not big into progressive rock - but I don't dislike it. And here's a link to an article about the song, the process, the goal, etc., from The Catholic Spirit, Madison, WI's archdiocesan newspaper. https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/dominican-priest-uses-heavy-metal-melodies-to-reach-people-for-christ/?fbclid=IwAR164kqc6xmHzD9dar_6Q1Z53zf_fWuxmVf25aLZCeI1m6V_cTwOo2ekX8U

L4.3 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

Sounds like satan is alive and well, as one might expect, throughout the world at this time. There certainly can be. But not everyone is called to have a good life, and especially not through a personal relationship with Christ. His followers embrace suffering (or at least try to). He said, "pick up your cross and follow Me" - not "you're going to feel really good if you love Me". So yeah, if the end goal is the concerns of this life, you're not going to want that personal relationship with Him. And if you don't want it with Him now, you're not going to want it with Him for all eternity, and He's not going to force Himself on you. But it sounds like you already know that. That makes it sound like your biggest source of pain is the guilt you feel about your sinful life, and the only good things that you experience are worldly things. But all good comes from God, including good worldly things. I think if the relationship were not there, the good things would suddenly become mediocre, at best. They would lose their flavor and/or pleasurableness. And the pain would likely only increase. (Although, it's a fair point that God sometimes allows people to have a wonderful life because He knows they are going to Hell so He allows them to experience more joy and happiness on Earth before they are doomed eternally.) That's sad, and it makes me contemplate my own life, and how many graces I've received. I think if you were in my shoes, and had as many graces as I've had, you'd be much holier than I hope to be. And if I were in your shoes, I'd probably already have given up the fight and despaired and apostatized. So let me ask you - do you want to desire a closer relationship with God? Or do you want to completely lose the desire for a closer relationship with God? If you at least want a holier desire, then God has something to work with. Don't give up on Him yet. He can and will take away your pain, even in dramatic ways, if it's for your spiritual good.

This is a very, very, very dangerous road. When the government is given the power to define for a nation what constitutes an "abuser", and what constitutes "safety and protection", then the nation loses. Period. It's not just likely that such power would be used against good parents, it's absolutely inevitable. In fact this very argument is already being used against good parents, even here in the USA. You want to keep kids safe? Keep them out of public school.

Identity politics at its finest. We have seriously got to stop using feminine pronouns to refer to men who are pretending to be women. Fixed.

L4.2 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen