Yes, I know it’s 40 years old and yes, Catcher in the Rye is more famous.  But, man.

I hadn’t read this duo of stories since my freshman year of college and my worldview has changed considerably in the years.  When before I appreciated the character studies and the perfect portray of phony English department types, this read let me bask in Salinger’s search for the sacred.

In the story, Franny is having a nervous breakdown of sorts after reading The Way of a Pilgrim.  There’s great talk about the Jesus prayer, which Jesus one prays to and religious education.

Go spend 5.95 and get Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger.  You won’t regret it.

Scott Martindale, over at the Orange County Register, reports here on a lawsuit alleging a high school history teacher made intolerant remarks toward Christians in the classroom. I had the great fortune to take both AP Art History and AP European History from Dr. Corbett my senior year in high school at CVHS.

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It is December 4th and we have no Christmas tree.   In years past, I would excuse this lack of Christmas cheer by saying that I married a man of no holidays and no traditions.  Our first Christmas as a married couple we decorated a palm tree.  Last year, we knew a move was imminent and didn’t bother to bring up a single box of Christmas cheer from the garage.  Some of my fondest memories as an adolescent involve decorating my parents’ home for Christmas, usually on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

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It came out in the news today that Cardinal Mahoney, of Los Angeles, was attacked back in July.  It appears that someone who was upset about the abuse scandal (and who isn’t?) reccognized the Cardinal on his way to a mailbox and attacked him.

The Daily Breeze has the story here.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t surprised by this news.  When my husband and I were seriously searching for a church, just about the only place we ruled out were the Roman Catholic churches.  Not because we disagreed with their theology or style of worship, but because I knew I’d want children someday and refused to raise them  in fear of the priesthood.

It makes me so sick just to think about.   I’m certainly not advocating violence, but I think Mahoney has much more coming to him–even if it isn’t in this life.