News Clips: December 2008 Archives

A mysterious image appears in a security monitor just as a 14 year-old girl begins a miraculous recovery. Was it an angel?

I'd like to see the rest of the video, to find out how the image appears and disappears. For example, does it move across the wall like the reflect off a door? Or is it gone one frame and present in the next?

I would like to believe this but I'm also rather skeptical. The image has all the artifacts of a light reflection, though admittedly it also has the shape of an angel with wings. Would be interesting to know if there was any sunlight in the area.

At least in my humble opinion: Apparently it has been virtually universal in some age ranges to be buried with one's cell phone.

One reason cited is because people like to buried with "things they hold dear". I guess it just seems a little strange to me that someone would be so attached to their cell phone that they'd want to be buried with it. As someone who has spent a large proportion of his time on the computer since he was eleven years old, it has never occurred to me to be buried with it, nor, as I think about it, do I have such a wish now. It is merely a tool. I suppose though it is understandable to be attached to what the tool connects you to -- for example, I suspect most people like their cell phones not as ends in themselves but because they can talk to friends and family. And the cell phone represents that, I suppose. So maybe the mindset is, "I'm being buried with all my friends and family."

Ah, how cultures change.

... apparently dating has been declared dead now. Replaced by what? Hooking up. (For you more traditional folks, that's when you have casual sex with your friends without an expectation of commitment.)

(Speaking of dating, for some reason the date stamps on my entries have disappeared. I will look into this.)

... or savior?

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

(Thanks to Amy Mc.)

Cardinal Avery Dulles has died at 90.

I don't necessarily disagree with His Eminence but he could work on using language that the average person will take seriously. At least if you want to preach outside the choir.

Woman finds and returns lost $97k and rightful owner claims it. Good news for once!

A quiet farmer in western Pennsylvania who lived in a mobile home died and left millions of dollars to his Methodist church.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, made comments recently on the importance of maintaining a quiet prayer life in the midst of today's technological innovation.

This reminds me of the time I sometimes spend reading my email on my phone while idle in line at a store when I could be praying or recollecting myself. Or maybe I spend too much time listening to podcasts on my way home from work when I could be doing the same. And there is something to be said for the fear of being "too" accessible. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul"?