From The Art of Manliness: "Are the Suburbs Killing Your Manhood?"
posted by Pro Ecclesia 12:06 AM
4 comments
A convert to the Catholic Church who became Catholic because of a belief in and devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. * A graduate of Baylor University and the University of Virginia School of Law. * Former Mayor of the Town of Columbia, Virginia. * Married with four children: two boys and two girls. * Primary interests include the Catholic Church, family, Early American History, and law/politics * Primary purpose of this blog is fostering enlightened discussion about the roles played by the institutions of religion, family, and state in our daily lives. * Under the protection of St. Thomas More, martyr, and patron of lawyers, judges, civil servants, politicians, statesmen, and large families (not to mention troubled marriages).
Thomas More, counselor of law and patron of statesmen, merry martyr and most human of saints:
Pray that, for the glory of God and in the pursuit of His justice, I may be able in argument, accurate in analysis, keen in study, correct in conclusion, loyal to clients, honest with all, courteous to adversaries, trustworthy with confidences, courageous in court. Sit with me at my desk and listen with me to my clients' tales. Read with me in my library and stand always beside me so that today I shall not, to win a point, lose my soul.
Pray that my family may find in me what yours found in you: friendship and courage, cheerfulness and charity, diligence in duties, counsel in adversity, patience in pain -- their good servant, and God's first. AMEN.
______________________________
Prayer to St. Thomas More for Lawyers and Judges
Dear Scholar and Martyr, it was not the King of England but you who were the true Defender of the Faith. Like Christ unjustly condemned, neither promises nor threats could make you accept a civil ruler as head of the Christian Church.
Perfect in your honesty and love of truth, grant that lawyers and judges may imitate you and achieve true justice for all people. AMEN.
*****
"Give me the Grace Good Lord, to set the world at naught; to set my mind fast upon Thee and not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths. To be content to be solitary. Not to long for worldly company but utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of the business thereof."
*****
Litany of St. Thomas More, Martyr and Patron Saint of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers
*****
______________________________
"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
*****
"What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by Reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?"
*****
"The things that we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labour for."
*****
______________________________
4 Comments:
My wife and I are looking at buying a house and she's utterly dismayed by my refusal to buy in a location that requires membership in a neigbhorhood association/housing covenant.
She's even less thrilled with my intention to put up a flag pole for a Don't Tread on Me flag.
Let's not place this outrage at the feet of suburbia. The original suburbs were merely subdivisions where everyone could own their own house and a good chunk of land around it. In the original suburbs, houses were sold with clean deeds and you actually had full ownership of the property (could basically do whatever the hell you wanted with it).
It was the later neo-urban developers (i.e. Democrats and liberals) who came in and established homeowners' associations and imposed deed covenants requiring membership for the newer-constructed neighborhoods.
To keep one's manhood intact, one should buy an older home in an older established neighborhood in a large town or small-to-mid-sized city.
Such a purchase requires one to hone such manly skills as home repair and/or remodeling, electrical work, plumbing work, painting, etc.
And there's nothing more emasculating than having to pay an association fee to have a landscaping crew do your yardwork for you. A real man cuts his own grass, so long as he's physically able to do so (i.e. is not restricted from doing so as a result of age or health-related problems).
Speaking of age and health-related problems, I recently threw out my back digging up some paltry looking azaleas from one bed and replanting them in a better location.
I've been worthless around the house ever since.
Actually, I'm pretty worthless around the house anyway. I'm not "honing" those manly skills that I mentioned in my previous comment; I'm having to learn them on the fly. It's probably a good idea to know what you're doing BEFORE you buy an older home.
Post a Comment
<< Home