2.09.2011

I Phone App: True Confessions



While thar' is an I-Pad app for the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office)
I woan't need the app for Confession that the Vatican approved--I already know how to go to confession an' how to examine mah conscience. Sr. Serena seen to
that decades ago. The app ain't a substitute whar' ya can jes' call in to report yore sins. It's jes' a cheat sheet that "reminds" backsliders how to fruitfully examine they consciences an' how the format goes onc't ya git into the confessional to confess to a live, not virtual, priest.


Whenever I'se tempted to go light on mah sinful ways (which ways? Well, I ain't about to be confessin' heah!) thar' is a fella on a innernet channel I can dial into to git the hell scared outa me --he is more scary that Sister Stanislaus who tried to make me eat mah spinach in first grade.


However, I does frequently check in on the
Vatican's YouTube channel.

BTW, the Vatican 's website is one of the world's most frequent targets fer hackers. Hackers should save their efforts, the whole thang is under the stewardship of the Archangel Gabriel, patron of communications.




What I could use? An app fer procrastination. That ain't the same BTW as the sin of sloth. Some folks labor (heh) under the misapprehension that sloth means not gettin' yore work done--if that be so then Martha had a case against Mary, I reckon.

Sloth --or more accurately, the Latin noun
acedia, applies to the spiritual work we's all supposed to be doin--workin' toward greater holiness, ya know? Fail to do that? y'ain't nuthin' but a three toed sloth.




Ooops! I done it--I confessed. One of mah worst sins is one of the Seven Deadly's: Sloth. Mah favorite definition be this one: “sluggishness of the mind which neglects to
begin good.” Bingo! Thas' me.

St. Thomas Aquinas has a grip on it, too, an' notes how Sloth is the temptation to a world-weariness. He speaks of bein' so put out wif' all the real evil, that thar' surely is, that ya git into a state of despair.

Yeah? No kiddin' St. T Aq!

Iffin' this world doan't make one weary, what would?

But ole' St. Thomas further coaches me, "sorrow, which is about a real evil, is evil in its
effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds. ( git that? if we let ourselves git overwhelmed by all the bad stuff, then we doan have the gumption to fight back wif' good thangs, thas' the evil effect Thomas means--the good we COULD have done, is left undone)


Hence the Apostle (2 Corinthians 2:7) did not wish those who repented to be “swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”

Git aholt of that, now. Repent, but doan be so overly maudlin' repentant that youse "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow" 'cause too much sorrow or worry or anxiety paralyzes a soul such that they ain't able to git thangs together an' go forward. Folks is told by the scripture to repay what ya owe, make amends to those ya' wronged, an' restore what should be restored, but then move on. Move on to do well by others an' yoreself.



While this ain't a hall pass to "Don't worry, be happy" mindlessness, it is a reminder fer me to look for the good around me, to see whar' I can help, be encouragin', instructive, an uplifitin'. Huh? Heck NO, I doan feel like it--I see the same news on the box that youse seein'. But it is precisely when I doan "feel" like it an fail to act against that feelin' that I'se guilty of sloth. I let acedia take me over. Holiness ( what an ole'fashioned term) happens where we
choose to transcend our feelin's (at some cost to our comfort) an git some good stuff goin'.

Bake a pie an' take it to a neighbor. Read a book to a shut in. Shovel snow fer the ole' fella across the street.Make a new friend. Be a better butcher/ baker/ candlestick maker.

Now if only I could invent an app like that--the Go Make A Good Thang Happen app.

26 comments:

Pam said...

Aunty, you should invent that app on things people can do to be good, kind and resourceful to others. I'd buy it. A very thoughtful post. I have basically given up on watching the news because I just can't bear it. Get enough through osmosis. Hope all is well with you and hope Granny is still holding her own! Our friend's wife is still in a fight for her life with swine flu and it breaks my heart to read his updates. But the human spirit is strong. And your spirit is uplifting.

Aunty Belle said...

Thanky PamOKC!!

Swine Flu? Whar' is this woman bein' treated? Prayers for yore friends,

I read a forum whar' the argument went back an' forth on Keynesian vs. Austrian theories of economics.

One fella said his eyes wuz "glazing over an' I need to go do something useful like clean the gutters."

Thas' how the news makes me feel these days--glazed over, an' wahr can I git some one wee thang truly an' really accomplished??

moi said...

Here's what would impress me: an app that could make a chocolate eclair magically appear in my hand just by wishing it so, with no caloric gain whatsoever.

Milk River Madman said...

Wonderful post Aunty.

Buzz Kill said...

There's no way I ever want an app that encourages me to record sins. Just ask NY Congressman Christopher Lee if that's a good idea. No, I'll just deal with sin the old fashioned way - hold it inside forever until I have a heart attack from the guilt.

@Moi - They do have that. Haven't you been watching the State Farm commercials?

Jenny said...

there's an entire generation that is experiencing life virtually and I feel sorry for them. Tapping a computer is NOT living, I agree with you. But if it goes bring someone closer to their God, you have to hope they'll go beyond the screen.

That said, Moi does have a great idea with that eclair......

darkfoam said...

i just got back from work and i'm afraid i feel very, very slothful. i'm in danger of fully embracing the sloth ....
and there i go .. sinking ... sinking .... sinking ....
it's apparent that i could really use that anti sloth app ...
and moi's app too.

Aunty Belle said...

Moi? Well, when that app is invented, the Louboutin app cain't be far behind.

MRM,

thanky, sir.
Have to say, when theology is done well it is so logical it makes Euclid envious.


BuzzK,

heh. heck no, never record anythang ya doan wanna see set to music on YouTube. On the other hand, I favor lettin' the non-productive guilt go.

I'se a HUGE fan of good guilt--ya know, the stuff that makes ya change yore ways. What the world needs now is more good guilt, fer Pete's sake. It is a sign of a conscience, ya see--an we shure need a few billion more folks with a decently formed conscience. Too many ain't conscious of their conscience.

Boxer-Babe,

"Tapping a computer is NOT living"

Ain't that the truth! And oh yes, they DO have to go beyond the screen -that 'puter screen jes' gives them a little reminder of the need to examine they hearts--then git thee to the real confessional 'cause the virtual doan count.

Foamy,

ya' slay me.

I know yore type, an' ya doan fool me none. : )

chickory said...

oh the indispensable T Aquinas. He really does make a great case for goodness being its own reward. Im sure we all know the unique feeling that comes from doing just what you advocate. as a matter of fact, i made cupcakes tonight for the two boys next door. their mama and daddy split just last year, and he has the boys and that is a very bachelor like household over there. i doan think there will be any valentine fixins. anyhoo - i saw these boys just the other day and had a very satisfactory conversation with them -the first in a while.

being happy and finding things to cherish and pay attention to and nurture is a revolutionary act in this siege of endemic corruption and just plain bad behavior.

this was a wonderful and mindful post. I wouldnt mind reading more about aquinas from your POV.

iphone app: gps that tracks dog implanted with chip.

chickory said...

LOL LOL LOL!!! @ buzz

SophieMae said...

Thanks, I needed that. 8-}

And I love that angel pic. Way too many frilly, delicate, low-cut garbed feminine depictions. Gimme a much more realistic strappin' warrior any day.

Aunty Belle said...

Chick9

well now, to me, youse got a pretty decent grip on what Sloth needs as antidote: noticing the beauty of the world that is GIVEN ( not made by man)--an then sharin' it wif' us'uns.

Another good definition of Sloth:

"sluggard soul, despairing willfulness against joy, inability to take joy in those things that should bring us joy."

not St T.Aq, directly,but from Josef Pieper with nod to Aquinas. Very interesting that Pieper says a culture totally obsessed wif' work work work, falls into a "spiritual torpor" unable to recognize or appreciate the pure gift that creation/ life/ love is.

Such torpor mired societies value only the manufactured, manipulated, controlled processes whar' outcomes can be precisely measured an' planned for, apportioned an' regulated-- a militant utilitarianism. Iffin' ya know yore history, ya recognize it: scientific materialism. Cosmos as clockwork (Asimov).

It is the opposite of Aquinas' "care action, an' work" for the things of the soul. (oops--this is turnin' into a whole post)

A mere glance at yore Chickory pages informs us that youse a soul pointed the right way--how ya delight in the given-ness of the thangs ya never made, but did take time to discover--and share wif' other via yore art an' commentary of wonderment--yore chicks, the beauty of yore woods, the care ya take over yore garden...

heh, well, now, that brings us circled around to Annie Dillard--Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

I'se gonna send ya' Pieper's LEISURE: THE BASIS OF CULTURE. prepare to be shocked.


Sophie Mae!!

Whar' ya been? oh oh, youse right on the angels--no wimpy, wispy beings fer me --mah favorite depiction is
St. Michael the Archangel (Michel) in Paris, straddling a vanquished Satan

Aunty Belle said...

Chick9

Youse a dear--forgot to say how IMPORTANT it is that ya made them cupcakes fer the boys--that is, ya brought joy which ain't got no measure other than the heart.

fishy said...

Aunty,
This were a fine posting. I ain't too sure what all I think about the confessions app but I can see where it has the potential to help folks raise awareness of their daily doings. Both good and bad.

Somewhere early in my life I received the "make a joyful noise"
directive. Certainly there are times, this generally being one of 'em, where to be "joyful" is not just a decision it is a struggle.
But like you have so eloquently pointed out, this is an anti-sloth movement of choice!

By the way, I agrees with your statements about Chicky's lifechoice and art. The cupcakes for the neighbor boys is icing.

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