In the Care of Angels

“At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book."
~ Daniel 12:1

Today, September 29, is the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael on the Church calendar. Being a bit of an angel nut, it's a tradition for me to acknowledge their special day.

There are many levels of angels, and several more archangels. But if I may be irreverant for the purpose of description, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael represent the "trifecta" of angelic prominence. They are all mentioned by name in the Bible, and each one has a special focus for their divine duties. Archangel names all end in "el," which means "in God."

Raphael heals and guides, Gabriel announces, and Michael protects. I think we're covered.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

~ Psalm 91:11

A Rose Remembered

Gloria Stuart died last night. She had turned 100 this summer, on July 4.

Although most famous for playing "Old Rose" in the 1997 blockbuster movie "Titanic," that role came to her more than 60 years after her starlet days in "Old Hollywood" had ended. At age 87, she became the oldest Academy Award nominee.

No disrespect to "Young Rose," co-star Kate Winslet, but I think the young Gloria Stuart's appearance left most actresses of any era in the dust. As her early publicity photos prove, she was flat-out gorgeous.

Stuart's late-life celebrity was one of those uplifting stories that proves how fate sometimes keeps bright surprises hidden for us. A joyful moment may emerge when we least expect it, or perhaps after we have forgotten the possibility might even exist. Such was Gloria Stuart's Oscar-nominated portrayal of Rose Calvert, a marvelous role in a world-famous movie, one that Stuart embraced and made her own. She will be remembered.

Photo from DigitalHit

Pledging Improvement

National Review Online has posted an editorial analyzing the Republican "Pledge to America." There are five components in the pledge, each of them compelling and timely. If your time doesn't allow you to read the full article, a quick review of the key points appears below:

1. Jobs - stop tax increases, require congressional approval of all new regulations, give small businesses a tax break.

2. Budget restraint - cut spending to pre-bailout/stimulus levels, impose a federal hiring freeze, require a full accounting of Social Security and Medicare funds.

3. Obamacare - (this is a biggy) - repeal Obama's healthcare bill, require medical malpractice reform, allow purchase of insurance across state lines, increase funding for high-risk pre-existing conditions, ban federal funding of abortion.

4. Transparency - require that all new legislation be available for public review online for 72 hours before any action is taken by Congress.

5. National Defense - keep troop funding bills clean, support military courts, improve missile defense systems, maintain sanctions on Iran, introduce legislation for combined state-and local control of illegal immigration.

There's nothing for me to argue against in any of those five points. I wonder how Democratic competition will manage.

Time for Tea

"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."

~ Victor Hugo

Anyone for tea?

Politicians of both parties would do themselves a favor if they took the time to read and--key word--understand Clark Judge's article, "Tea With Sympathy," posted at Hugh Hewitt's blog.

To use the kids' term, American voters are "over it." They are finished and done with talk, spending, talk, unemployment, talk, bailouts, talk, stimulus, talk, deficits, talk, and forced legislation. And, it bears repeating, talk. The voters are sick of talk. As Judge astutely notes, this is why there is a Tea Party.

The coming elections will be fascinating. I'm going to watch the returns on television over a toasty cup of tea.

42 days to the 2010 mid-term elections

776 days to the 2012 presidential election

Photo from Republic for which it stands

Can You Spare a Dime?

President Obama made a promise about not raising taxes "one single dime," and he's keeping it. If you pay taxes, they indeed will not go up "one single dime."

Taxes are going to go up by many, many dimes after Jan. 1 and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. For everyone, at every income level. But then, most of us who have been paying attention had figured that out already.

47 days to the 2010 mid-term elections

781 days to the 2012 presidential election

The Way Forward

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

~ Romans 12:21

Photos by Getty and Associated Press (linked here)