Allen R. Hunt's Blog, page 14

Summer Reading Review, part 4: Terrific Resource

Just finished In His Spirit by Fr. Richard Hauser. What a terrific little book on prayer. Fr. Hauser provides excellent teaching on the Holy Spirit in a simple, helpful way. A rarity indeed. Accessible rather than obtuse or esoteric.

He provides very clear assistance on personal prayer. I've been looking for a book that does this kind of aid for a number of years. In addition to good wisdom on your spirituality and your relationship with God, Hauser also analyzes and digests Maslow(spirituality as trusting self) and Freud (spirituality as repression) and their theories of personality and formation in a way I have not seen elsewhere. This area of the book is very insightful. 

Best of all, Hauser's practical wisdom regarding your prayer life is enriching. Highly recommend this book.

AHS Grade:   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Oft-Ignored Reminder

A friend mentioned that he actually sat down and read the Declaration of Independence yesterday. I realized I could not even remember that last time I read it in its entirety. So I read it too. 

What an eye-opener! I bolded the parts that struck me in the edition pasted below. When I heard that our esteemed bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security study, recommends keeping a watchful eye on Americans who are  “reverent of individual liberty” and others adamant about protecting their personal freedoms and categorizes them as extreme right-wing terrorists, I recognized that 2012 is not so different from 1776.

 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Heather King and the Sacred Heart

Since becoming Catholic nearly 5 years ago, I have been increasingly intrigued by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Not something I had ever heard of as a Protestant Christian. But I love the Sacred Heart for focusing my gaze intently on the center and motivation of God in His love for His children.

This week, I came across the writings of Heather King. What a gift she is! Brilliant, poetic, moving, and intensely devout. Completely fresh view point, unlike any other I have encountered.

This excerpt touched my heart - may it touch yours:

I love a good statue of Jesus with a hole ripped in His chest and His sacred heart hemorrhaging blood. Nobody knew better than Christ that people to whom everyday things like holding a job or interacting with another human being are never-ending sources of torture and anxiety are exactly the ones most in need of healing. A guy who hung out with lepers, paralytics,   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Help for Parents

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky verdict, last Sunday's show featured some very heart-wrenching stories of adults who were abused as children and still struggle to come to terms with that. David Smith, Director of the Summit Counseling Center, shared some of his wisdom with callers on how to find hope and help to move toward healing.

In an effort to equip parents to safeguard children while not sheltering them from life, his team put together helpful coaching advice for moms and dads. Click here to read it.

And many thanks to the courageous callers from Sunday who took the risk to share their stories in their own searches for a whole future. You can listen to that show   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Summer Reading Review, part 3: Hard Work but Worth It

Since I had so much fun on vacation with family, friends, Harry Potter World, and Walt'z Fish Shak, I am still making my way through my summer reading regimen.

The latest has been most worthwhile even though it is challenging work. 

Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder is a dense, 400 page history on Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Snyder provides detail in the history and mass slaughter of the peoples in the Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States and other areas as Stalin and Hitler moved into power and the build-up to World War II began. Most stunning are the facts regarding Stalin's policies of starving regions and populations to death in order to subdue areas he found to be strategic for his interests. He makes Hitler's early years look almost humane by comparison.

Second most fascinating is the chronicling of Hitler's failures in invading Russia and the severe toll that catastrophe took on   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Christ-like Chiara Corbella

Chiara and Enrico yearned to have children. Married, and having already suffered the deaths of two children to severe birth defects, they were overjoyed when Chiara became pregnant again in 2010. All signs pointed to a positive, healthy baby.

Then Chiara, just 28 years old, was diagnosed with cancer. She decided to delay aggressive cancer treatments because they would jeopardize the life of her unborn son, Francisco. He arrived in the world, a bouncing baby boy, in May 2011. Soon after, Chiara's health began to deteriorate, and she lost sight in one eye.

Two weeks ago, Chiara died. Her challenging struggle with cancer ended. In her final days, she wrote baby Francisco a letter he can read when he is older. Her message: that she is going to heaven to be with his brother and sister and will pray for him and look forward to seeing him on the other side of the river. Her husband, Enrico says, ‘I will tell him   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Religious Liberty on the Gurney

As we near the announcement of the Supreme Court's decision on ObamaCare (likely to be announced on Monday or Thursday of this coming week), a recent piece highlights just how much religious liberty is under attack in the United States.

It is clearly time to pay attention.

Here are a few highlights:

Religious Liberty Under Attack—Concrete Examples

Is our most cherished freedom truly under threat? Sadly, it is. This is not a theological or legal dispute without real world consequences. Consider the following:

HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. The mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services has received wide attention and has been met with our vigorous and united opposition. In an unprecedented way, the   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Stand Up this Friday!

Just added to the speakers list for this Friday: Senator Johnny Isakson and Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Join me at Atlanta's Stand Up for Religious Liberty rally this Friday, June 22 at 7:00PM at Marist School’s football stadium. Speakers will include Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta,Congressman Tom Price, Catherine Davis from the Restoration Project, and the Rev. Jay Hackett from Peachtree Corners Baptist Church.

Catholics around America have entered 14 days of prayer for the protection of relgious freedom in the USA and for the ending of the HHS mandate.

Stand Up for Religious Liberty rallies have spontaneously arisen across America in response to a number of assaults on the first freedom enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights:   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Your Role with the Coal is crucial to the Goal

During WW II, in Britain's darkest days, Winston Churchill faced a leadership crisis. Lots of men wanted to serve in the war, but very few wanted to work in the coal mines to help supply the country's needs for energy and heat.

Most coal miners wanted to give up their dirty, thankless jobs in dangerous mines to join the military and be on the front line. After all, the public was praising and supporting those valiant men and women waging the war against Hiter and evil. Yet the work in the coal mines was critical to the success of the whole war. Without coal, the people at home and in the military would be in trouble.

So Churchill faced thousands of miners one day and painted a picture of what it would be like when the war ended. He described one grand parade in London to honor all the people who had bravely fought to save freedom. First – the navy sailors – then the pilots of the Royal Air   >>>>>   Read Entire Post

Stand Up for Religious Freedom

Join me at Atlanta's next Stand Up for Religious Liberty rally on Friday, June 22 at 7:00PM at Marist School’s football stadium. Speakers will include Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Congressman Tom Price, Catherine Davis from the Restoration Project, and the Rev. Jay Hackett from Peachtree Corners Baptist Church.

Catholics around America have entered 14 days of prayer for the protection of relgious freedom in the USA and for the ending of the HHS mandate.

Stand Up for Religious Liberty rallies have spontaneously arisen across America in response to a number of assaults on the first freedom enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights: Freedom of Religion. For example, the Department of Justice has taken on Christian schools and their right to determine the religious compatibility of those whom they will   >>>>>   Read Entire Post