A Plea From The Heart...

James Preece has pointed out that there is a general rule of thumb when It comes to blog comments. 90% of readers are "lurkers" who show up on stats but never, ever comment. Then there are the 9% who occasionally comment when really exercised about a topic. And the remaining 1% of readers are responsible for the greater proportion of comments... and this can make comments seem very argumentative and inward-looking, because the regular commenters get to know each other...

I don't have very many spats in the combox - my commenters tend to address specific points in the posts rather than having a go at each other. Nevertheless, I can sympathise with James' view: the lurkers are extremely welcome, but just occasionally it is nice to have some sort of a response from a few more of one's readers... so do go over and comment if you have a minute!

Gender Differences...

My car had to go in for its MOT today.

My heart sank when the chap at the garage invited me over to the office to see the paperwork. He was very sweet, and started to go through the list of all the bits and pieces which needed to be addressed. He seemed really keen to explain it all. In detail.

After three items were mentioned, I decided that I could bear it no more. I had to stop him in mid flow. I'm female. And blonde. "Can it be fixed?"

The poor man looked at me as if I were mad. "Oh yes, of course we can fix it..."

Gentlemen, it is a car. A box on wheels. I need it to start, go forward (and back when provoked) and stop. I need to know where the petrol goes... and (I suppose) the oil and water. Anything else is superfluous...

And if you don't believe me, then allow me to explain the intricacies of shopping for clothes...

Advent On The Bandwagon...

Psy has turned out to be a rather unlikely YouTube sensation with his odd dance moves and "Gangnam Style." I'm a bit wary of the video - but the tune is catchy. Someone had the interesting notion of using part of the soundtrack on this video about the meaning of Advent (and Christmas too!)

Twitch of the mantilla to Kate at Australia Incognita... and to Xt3 who made the video, and also a really snazzy interactive Advent Calendar.

A Small Victory...?

It's not much, but it seems that a federal appeals court reinstated two of the top legal challenges to the HHS mandate (more commonly referred to as "Obamacare".) This mandate requires religious employers to pay for drugs that may cause abortions.

The court also ordered the Obama administration to report back every 60 days until it carries out its promise to issue a new rule that protects employers' religious freedom. The Obama administration now has to rewrite the HHS mandate by March 2013.

It would appear that the Americans trust their Government about as much as we Brits trust ours... in other words, about as far as one can throw them with both hands tied behind their backs...

A Little Night Music...

"O Holy Night" is one of my favourite Christmas songs - so it was with a little trepidation that I heard that ooberfuse had done a cover version. I needn't have worried: it sounds really lovely...

I haven't heard how the dance session for the video for World Youth Day 2013 went. I'll post on it as soon as I hear more...

And Now For The Cardinal...

I'm delighted to see that Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor has also decided that enough is enough, and has written a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, published in the Daily Telegraph.

I don't actually think Mr. Cameron will pay any attention: his arrogance in deciding to push the legislation through has been simply breathtaking. However, what is vitally important is that the hierarchy actually stands up to defend Church teaching in moral matters.

Deo gratias, they have started to get their act together... Pray that our bishops may continue to speak out.

Sermon Snippet...

We are extremely lucky at Blackfen - with a Seminary Professor of Sacramental Theology for a Parish Priest, the Sunday sermon is never made up of trite platitudes. Of course, sometimes a point or two from the sermon hits home more than at other times...

Today there was plenty to think about, but one bit really did stop me in my tracks.

Our Lord chose to be born into a human family. Things were arranged so that Joseph was there as Jesus' foster-father, so that Jesus grew up within a family.

Think about it.