R.I.P. Mary Cebalo

A week ago today was the funeral of Mary Cebalo, my Grandmother. Grandma was born in 1921 in Kalgoolie, Western Australia. Her parents, my great parents, were from the island of Korcula, in what is now the Republic of Croatia, that said, Grandma would be quick to tell us that she was Yugoslav, not Croatian.

Grandma had, from an early age, a deep love of literature and history. The first stirrings of my love of poetry began around her dining room table where she would read of recite or read some of her favourite poems and then encourage me to recite one of my favourites.

My interest in history and my belief that the current state of the world can only be understood was likewise nurtured by her and my grandfather's long talks which would cover everything from Alexander the Great, to the Roman Empire, to the history of Balkan Region to 20th century Australian History.

Grandma loved school and hoped to become a teacher herself; I don't doubt that she would have been a good one. Unfortunately, economic necessity forced her to leave school at only 14. I suspect this was one of the things that formed another key aspect of who she was, her strong sense of social justice. Grandma talked a lot about what life was like before the war, how difficult things could be for people from poor families if they became sick. She also, in spite of growing up in the Australia of the 'the White Australia Policy' was always adamant that anyone, regardless of colour, was welcome in her home and around her table. I know some people wonder why, in spite of my relatively conservative views on a number of social and cultural issues, I continue to identify with the political left; I think a good part of the credit or blame, depending on how you view it, belongs to Grandma.

I've mentioned her table, without a doubt my fondest memories of her have to do with her cooking. Grandma made an amazing pasta, she cooked a traditional Croatian recipe, similar to what the Italians would call Bolognese, although it would have taken more courage than I've ever possessed to call her pasta Bolognese within her hearing. Likewise, she made an excellent rissott. Yes, that is the same thing most people call 'rissotto'; no, we're slavs, we spell it without the vowel on the end.

Grandma, like most Croatians, was baptised and confirmed a Catholic. She didn't practice the faith, at least not as far back as I can remember. She did however, retain a deep love for the sacred heart. A picture of the sacred heart, which belonged to her parents, hang over her bed through most of her life. When she was unable to stay at home anymore and had to move into a hospice, that picture came to me. I'm not generally one for sentiment but I do love to think about the fact that I know have a holy object which belonged to my great parents is something that touched me deeply.

I ask you all who read this, please pray for the soul of Mary Cebalo.

 

A Day in the Life of Jason

TW: Mental Health Stuff

I had plans today for writing two posts today, one on the Book of Isaiah and the other a continuation of my response to James White. However, stuff happened, so you get this post instead.

Most of those who know me know about my long term mental health problems. To be specific, my diagnosis (or one of them) is Borderline Personality Disorder. BPD is a complex animal, giving a full explanation of what it's like is difficult, but the worst part of it, is an extreme emotional instability. On a bad day my emptions can swing back and forth at a really scary speed.

This morning, when I started composing this post I was feeling like there was an incredible weight that had somehow been attached to my stomach. The pit of my stomach felt horribly heavy and I had no idea what to do about it.  There were a whole lot of things I wanted to do, instead I just lay on my bed thinking about what a horrible person I am. I was pretty certain that if I got up and did something productive, this would have make me feel less horrible, yet there I lay.

Why don't I get up? In large part the answer is because I was scared. Scared of what, I honestly can't tell you, but that's a big part of my condition, frequently, when I try to do something to help me snap out of the condition, I frequently have an awful panic attack, but I can't tell what I'm panicking about.

So, that's been my day, or at least a large part of it. Here's the weird thing, however, I'm not depressed. I've never been depressed, at least in the strict clinical sense, so, if you suffer from depression, I apologise if I get this wrong, I'm going by second hand accounts. If I understand depression correctly, one of the symptoms is anhedonia, or an inability to gain pleasure from the things one would normally enjoy. This isn't a problem for me. I can be in a state of really deep emotional pain and self loathing and still enjoy all the things I would normally enjoy.

So, this morning, after laying on my bed feeling like crap for a bit and writing a first draft of this post, I put some funny videos on YouTube. I enjoyed said videos, and I cheered up, but only to a point. So, for most of today, I've been doing fun things to distract myself, and it has mostly worked, but again, only to a point. For most of today I've been doing things that I've really enjoyed, and my main focus has been on those things. But, always, in the periphery of my attention, that feeling has been there, that feeling that I'm a horrible person, that I hate myself and that everyone would be better off if I killed myself. I've managed to keep those thoughts out of the centre of my consciousness, but I haven't been able to fully escape them.

And that, friends, has been my day.
 

A Good Summer Meal

Last night, I cooked chicken for my family.

The specific dish I cooked is called a Thai Pepper Chicken, although the name may not be entirely accurate; I'm not sure how authentically Thai it is and while the recipe does include pepper, the dish is not particularly peppery.

Anyway, the dish makes an excellent meal, particularly for spring/summer.

My recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

8 Chicken thighs
150 mls olive oil
100 mls soy sauce
6 cloves of garlic
a handful of coriander leaves (basil is an acceptable substitute)
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns

Cooking

Chop the garlic and coriander leaves reasonably finely. Put all the ingredients other than the chicken pieces into a bowl and stir until it all seems to sit together. Then add the chicken and allow it to sit. It can sit for as little as 20 minutes but I think 40 minutes is better, giving the marinade longer to sink in. I cooked the chicken on a BBQ, which I think gets the best results but, if a BBQ is unavailable, the pieces can be cooked in a fry pan or oven.

To accompany the chicken, last night I did some large mushrooms which I marinated in a mix of olive oil and soy and the sprinkled with granulated garlic and rosemary and then did on the BBQ along with the chicken.

To this, add a salad. I think the ideal salad to go with this chicken dish a Waldorf Salad. Fans of classic British Comedy will remember the Waldorf salad from Basil Fawlty's famous apology that the hotel was out of Waldorfs.

The Waldorf salad consists of walnuts, apple, celery and grapes in a mayonnaise sauce. Exact ratios vary. My recommendation: one apple for every two people who will be eating the salad (rounded up), enough grapes to roughly equal the volume of the apple and walnuts and celery to each make about half the volume of the apples.

I make the sauce from 500mls of mayo and the juice of a single lemon, stirred together until they are integrated.

Chop the apples and celery up into small pieces and simply mix everything together.

 

R.I.P. Wayne Goss

I've been meaning for a while to set up my own YouTube for a while. As providence would have it, I finally set that channel up on the day that Wayne Goss, a significant figure in Australian politics, and someone I once deeply admired, passed from this mortal life. So, my first video is my response to his passing. You can find the video here. Please watch and please pray for Mr. Goss' soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKehvSJPU24.

 

A Wonderful Afternoon

Well, I had a wonderful day today. I had lunch with my friend Lyle, a top bloke with whom I have not caught up in far too long. I went over his place and he cooked quite a meal.

For entrée, Lyle cooked up a recipe that I'm going to have to try sometime. He started with a fry-pan with butter and some bacon rinds for flavouring. He then chopped up a black-pudding into reasonably large pieces, fried the pieces, then fried some large scallops. He then placed a scallop on top of each piece of pudding and a slice of apple on top of each scallop. The flavours of the pudding, scallop and apples went surprisingly well together. If you want something a little different to serve for an entrée to a nice meal anytime soon, I recommend trying this.

For main course, he made a dish consisting of small fillet steaks, each wrapped in a strip of bacon (held in place by a toothpick) with a small strip of pate placed over the steak (where it quickly melted) and then a large, fried, mushroom was placed over the pate. Again, great food (served with asparagus spears and potatoes) and something I'm keen to try making myself.

What made today something that just had to go on the blog, however, happened at the end of the afternoon. After lunch, Lyle and I spent the afternoon talking about philosophy, religion, politics, you know the stuff. As the afternoon was starting to turn into evening, we were talking about my blog and I showed him my post from last week about cocktails. I was (pleasantly) surprised to discover that he had some Apple Brandy (not actually Apple Jack, but close enough) and that he was rather enthusiastic about making up a Jack Rose. So, thanks to Lyle, I have now tried all six of the "Standard Cocktails"

So, the Jack Rose:

Embury calls for a recipe of eight parts Apple Brandy to two parts lime juice and one part Grenadine syrup. We didn't have any Grenadine so Lyle made up a substitute by mixing pomegranate molasses with raspberry cordial. The three ingredients were mixed in roughly the ratios given above (we actually ended up putting slightly more syrup than was called for but not by much). This was then shaken over ice and served neat.

The results: The sidecar's position as my favourite among the big six is no immediate danger, but I certainly found it a pleasant drink. Lyle shared my enjoyment, although his wife found it too sour. It did have a rather sour taste, with only a slightly bitter aftertaste. Having said that, as I noted last time, I'm more of a fan of sour drinks than most; if you are planning to make one of these yourselves and you don't share my love of sourness, you might consider a higher ratio of syrup.

"Basic" Cocktails

This morning, before going to confession, I had an old fashioned. "What's that?" I hear some folk ask. An old fashioned is a cocktail. To be more precise, it is one of the six "basic cocktails" listed in David A. Embury's classic book "The Fine of Mixing Drinks."

After having drunk my first old fashioned, I've now tried five of Embury's six basic cocktails. My list, as follows:

The Martini:

Arguably the best known cocktail in the world and the classic before dinner drink. While variations on a theme obviously exist, I think the simplest form is the best. That simplest form involves a mix of six parts gin to one part of dry vermouth. I know that some people substitute vodka for gin. If such people enjoy drinking vodka mixed with vermouth, I wish them well, but I'm traditionalist enough to think they should call it something other than a martini. The classic garnish is an olive (or group of olives) but I personally prefer a twist of lemon peel.

Interestingly enough, the original recipe called for equal, or almost equal parts. Over time the ratio of vermouth has shrunk. I believe someone said that the ideal martini was made by waving a glass of gin in the general direction of a bottle of vermouth, but, I think the current ratio is actually pretty good.

I assume most people know that James Bond orders his martinis "shaken, not stirred". In season three  "West Wing" episode, "Stirred", fictional President, "Jed" Bartlet proves that even the most heretical of Catholics will occasionally get something right when he points out that the reason for stirring the martini is to prevent the ice breaking and the martini from being watered down. Bartlet doesn't quite go so far as to call the most famous of fictional spies a wimp, but it's pretty strongly implied.

My thoughts; the Martini is my second favourite among the basic five and one of my favourite before meal drinks. The great thing about it is that because it is so well known, you can order it just about anywhere and feel reasonably confident that it will be well done.

The Manhattan:

I'll always think of this as the drink which Bart Simpson acquired a reputation for his skill in making, in the Season 3 episode "Bart the Murderer". The basic recipe consists of a mix of North American whiskey (most commonly rye but others are acceptable) with sweet vermouth, between one and three dashes of bitters and a maraschino cherry as garnish.

The exact ratio of whiskey to vermouth can vary with taste but will normally be somewhere between two and three to one. My personal preference is for a relatively large amount of vermouth, but I'm, perhaps, a little weird.

Variations on a theme include replacing the American Whiskey with Scotch (making a "Rob Roy"), replacing the vermouth with port wine (making a "ruby Manhattan") or replacing the sweet vermouth with dry and the cherry garnish with a twist of lemon peel (to make a "dry Manhattan").

My thoughts; my experiences with this drink have varied. I've had some Manhattans I've really loved, and others where the aftertaste was far too bitter for my liking. The multitude of variations possible means that each Manhattan drinker will probably need to make sure that he or she knows what he/she likes and be sure to tell the bartender making it. I should add, I've tried the dry Manhattan only once, when the bar I was drinking at was out of maraschino cherries and found it very enjoyable.

The Daiquiri

Perhaps the most open to variation of the basic six, the daiquiri is famously mixed with various forms of fruit drinks to create the "strawberry daiquiri", "peach daiquiri" and many other variants, ad nauseam. The basic daiquiri, however, consists of a reasonably simple mix of white rum, lime juice and sugar syrup.

As with the Manhattan, the exact ratios will vary; Embury suggests eight parts rum to two parts lime and one part syrup, but more modern authorities seem to advocate mixes with relatively large amounts of lime juice and syrup, although the rum should always be the single biggest component.

My thoughts; I don't have a lot to say. This is my least favourite among the basics that I've tried. I once attempted to improve it by adding a dash of egg white, but this didn't help.

The Old Fashioned

The one I tried today. Perhaps the simplest among the basics, this is a mixture of American whiskey, sugar syrup and bitters. As with other drinks, exact ratios will vary but the classic recipe calls for a single sugar cube with just enough water to dissolve the cube, two dashes of bitters and a jigger of whiskey. The traditional recipe calls for this to be stirred over ice and served "on the rocks" with a twist of lemon peel. I wasn't watching as they made mine today, so I can't tell you how closely they followed the traditional prescription, although they did substitute a large twist of orange peel for the traditional lemon.

My thoughts; Obviously, I'm judging this based on only one try and, as I said, I don't know how closely they followed the traditional recipe, but I liked it. They garnished it with an unusually large twist of orange peel which stuck up out of the drink. The fragrance of the peel was noticeable and its citrus scent provided an enjoyable context for the flavour of the drink. The after taste was a little bit bitter for my liking, but not so much as to spoil the experience. Overall, I recommend it.

The Jack Rose

The only one among the basics I haven't tried. Unfortunately, it requires Applejack, a drink made from distilled apple juice, which does not seem to be widely available these days. If anyone knows a bar in either Sydney or Canberra where they serve the stuff, you'd go several rungs up my favourite people list by drawing it to my attention.

The Sidecar

Saving the best (or at least my favourite) till last. The sidecar is made of a mix of brandy (preferably cognac) some form of triple sec, and lemon juice. I prefer Cointreau as the triple sec of choice but Grand Marnier is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

As with many of these drinks, ratios vary with taste. The traditional French recipe calls for equal parts of the three ingredients, while Embury says eight parts brandy to two of lemon and only one of triple sec. My personal preference leans to the traditional side (equal parts) but that does produce a very sour drink. If you don't like sour as much as me then you might prefer a mix more in line with Embury's prescription.

My thoughts; my favourite among the "basic six" and my second all time favourite before dinner drink. This is simple to make, even bar tenders who don't know it will generally be willing to make it up since the directions are pretty easy to follow. If you haven't tried one of these, I defiantly recommend it.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hetherington!

I was all prepared to post something on a controversial topic today (don't worry, I have something prepared for tomorrow) but, while tracking down links for said post, I noticed the Doodle of the day on Google and discovered that today is the anniversary of the birth (he would have been ninety-three) of Norman Fredrick Hetherington. For those who do not know, Hetherington was creator, puppeteer and voice of Mr. Squiggle.

If you are one of the poor, benighted souls who grew up somewhere other than Australia, the name Mr. Squiggle may mean little to you and if you grew up relatively recently in Australia it may mean little more. For generations of Aussies, however, the name will immediately evoke happy memories of sitting in front of our T.V. shows, watching Mr. Squiggle drawing and trying to guess where his drawing was going.

Mr. Squiggle was a childrens' television show running for just over forty years on Australian television. Mr. Squiggle was also the name of the main character of said show, a man from the moon with a pencil for a nose, a playful sense of humour and a great love of using said nose to turn random squiggles, drawn by children, into creative works of art.

When I realised what today was, I tried to think of something to say that would encapsulate what Mr. Squiggle meant to me and to generations of young Australians. I tried to find words to verbalise how watching him turn those random lines into something clever would fire our young imaginations and creativity.... I got nothing. All I can say is, if you happen to have a spare, take that time to lay aside your adulthood and watch this episode.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hetherington, may you rest in peace, and thank you for the memories.

 

Mr. Repzion's New Direction

I was both interested and rather touched by this video posted by atheist "vlogger" (a term I dislike) Daniel "MrRepzion" Sulzbach, MrRepzion is, obviously, some I have my fair share of disagreements with, but also someone with whom I have a few things in common: we seem to share a few of the "nerdier" fan activities.  More importantly, he's talked a lot about his history with mental illness and a lot of what he has to say on the subject of his struggles has struck a real cord with me.

MrRepzion begins this latest video with the words "I really hate being a perfectionist." I definatly relate. I think a large part of my mental health problems are related to perfectionism. There are various things both in the past and now which I could have done or could be doing but which, when I attempt to do them, I find myself paralysed by the fear that I won't do them perfectly.

After this opening admission, MrRepzion goes on to describe the way in which he feels he has been discussing religion in the wrong way. He says that he feels that his previous videos attack religion have come across as far too hostile. I have to say that I'm not certain I agree. I've seen a number of his videos and haven't found him overly aggressive. I've certainly seen worse. He goes on, however, to say that, while he still intends to make videos about religion he doesn't want to continue with such a polemical tone. His aim, he says, will be to take a more nuanced approach, exploring, for example, the reasons why people become religious.

I have to say, this former atheist convert to Catholicism is very keen to hear of MrRepzion's change of emphasis. I don't know what exactly his plans are but I'd be very excited to interact with him on this subject and I hope other Christians will likewise by interacting with his material in a positive way.

Happy Feast, Dear Sister!

Today (for three more minutes) is the feast of St. Maximilian Marie Kolbe, the great Franciscan martyr commonly called the Saint of Auschwitz. If you are unfamiliar with the great saint, you can read about here.
 

I mention him because, since it is his feast day, it is also the patronal feast or name day of my dear friend Sr. Maria Kolbe O.P. I first met Sister in early 2011, she had just moved to Australia from the United States. She ministered to students at the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney, for two and a half years before being transferred back to the U.S. At the end of last semester.

I had the honour of giving a speech at her going away party. One of the things I said about her was that she was, above all things, a religious sister, which made her a bride of Christ. This was one of the most notable things about SMK (as several of us, affectionately called her) she was a woman deeply in love with her divine spouse, who then helped to radiate and share that love with others.
 

I went on to say that, while that much was true of any religious sister, in SMK's case, it manifested in a specific way because she was not just a religious sister but a Dominican religious sister. As such, her sharing of God's love was reflected through the Dominican charism of preaching. Sister is a true preacher, not in the sense that she would get in people's face or brow-beat them, in fact she is usually very gentle, but she was constantly bearing witness to the faith that is hers. She is a very friendly person, open to everyone. Whether the person she was protestant, atheist, Muslim or whatever, she always showed a willingness to listen, a curiosity about the person and his or her beliefs, but also a strength in speaking about her own beliefs and the reasons for them.
 

She is a true daughter of St. Dominic, I am very proud to call her my sister and my friend, and I miss her very much.

I Have Some Cool Friends....

... And some of those cool friends write interesting, thought provoking stuff on blogs. So, in no particular order:

My fellow Campion graduate and philosophy nerd, Alexander Westenburg, has just started a blog. I don't always agree with him (he is, unfortunatly, a Platonist) but he always has something to say that's worth considering. I really like his first post, found here, and hope he will continue blogging.

Monica "MonJon" Johnson, is a theology student at Notre Dame and, in my opion, a very good writter. She's been writting a serise of posts on the rosary and I found her latest post particularly worthy of note.

Last, but by no means least, Laura McAllister is a fellow convert with whom I became friends as a result of reading her blog after MonJon posted some links to the same on FaceBook. Laura has, in my view, really good instincts, for all things Catholic. Her latest post on the liturgy is a must read.

Oh, and, speaking of Campion people who are, unfortunatly, Platonists, but who write cool stuff anyway, I really loved this piece, by Dr. Matthew Tan.

So, this has been my day.

So, I’m guessing that there will be some people who’ll read this blog post and feel that it’s a little too much information. I thought long and hard about posting it. What made me decide to post, in part, was the memory of something I read a while back. Someone, writing at the National Catholic Register, I can’t remember who, suggested that one of the best things that we ordinary lay folk could do for the cause of evangelisation was to be honest about struggles in following Jesus.

So, here goes the guy in the psycho-killer mask making an attempt to do his bit for the new evangelisation.

I’ve mentioned, at least once before on this blog, I have a long-term mental illness. The experts disagree about the exact nature of this illness, but there seems to be a consensus that its trauma related. It’s something that’s been a part of me since at least my late teens, and, while the symptoms come and go, it’s always there.

The past week and a bit has been especially bad, and today has been worse. I’ve had a number of really bad flashbacks. I keep, uncontrollably, thinking back to horrible stuff that happened when I was young. I can’t control the thoughts, and the emotions which they bring. I’ve had a couple of these memories on a recurring loop video in my brain and I’m struggling to get some kind of control over this. Largely I’m failing.

Running through all this is the feeling that I am worthless. The thought of suicide has also been there, don’t worry, I’m not in any danger, and I know who to call if that changes, but the idea is there.

So, here’s the thing, how do I believe in a just and loving God in the middle of a trauma related episode. Part of me just wants to shout abuse at Him, although I know, from experience, how little that can help.  There’s a temptation to simply tell myself I don’t believe, that can last for about thirty seconds, but whenever I try to verbalise that in any way, I am reminded who I am.

A while back, I attempted to write a poem which processes some of what I experienced during periods like this. One of the things my poem emphasised, was my need to remember the fact that, however, I felt about it, external reality is what it always is, my feelings don’t change that.

Ok, so I believe, how do I pray? At the moment, my prayer-life pretty much consists of a declaration that I believe in Him, and an offering up of my messed-up brain. It’s nothing much, but it’s what I have.

And I’m truly grateful to Him that I have that.

On Being Same Sex Attracted and Catholic

I remember, years ago, sitting, minding my own business, but able to overhear a conversation between two fellow Catholic, one male and one female. The female mentioned a guy who regularly attended the same Sunday mass as her to whom she was attracted and from whom she she had thought she was picking up a “vibe” indicating that the attraction was mutual. Over time, however, she thought she had dropped some pretty clear hints which he didn't seem to pick up on or at least he wasn't showing any interest. The one she was talking to replied “maybe he's a fag.” Her response was “he can't be a fag, he's Catholic.”

I'm a practising Catholic. I accept, to the extent I understand them, all the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church, including the currently very unpopular ones on human sexuality. I'm also attracted to people of both genders.

My intention here is not to debate the merits of the Church's teaching on these matters, I've done that in other forums and I'm sure I'll do so again. What I want to talk about here, however, is something different.

The other day, Catholic Apologist, Mark Shea, had a post at the National Catholic Register dealing with certain issues relating to same sex attracted Catholics. I think Shea's article is a good one and I'd recommend everyone read it. I also recommend that you read the discussion underneath in the comment thread. One question that a few people raised could be phrased like this: “Ok, being same sex attracted is not a sin, but why do same sex attracted Catholics need to make a point of identifying themselves.”
 

A number of good reasons were raised in answer to this question, I'd like to raise one more reason, we need, to a certain extent, to identify ourselves and make ourselves visible because of the people I mentioned in the first paragraph. Those people weren't of ill-will, when I made clear to them how offensive I found what they had to say, they were apologetic, sincerely as far as I could tell. But what they said stung, sending the message that same sex attracted people aren't practising Catholics, aren't part of the Church. I've heard this, and worse, from a lot of well meaning Catholics. Other same sex attracted people have even worse stories to tell.
 

I dislike the term “homophobia”, which, as has been pointed out by many before me, literally means fear of the same. I dislike even more the way in which the label “homophobic” is frequently applied to any person who defends the traditional Christian teaching on the immorality of homosexual acts. Having said all that, homophobia is real. Acts of bullying towards people who actually are or are perceived to be same sex attracted are real. Uncharitable speech and behaviour by people, including by Christians, towards same sex attracted people are real. These things are real and they do a lot of damage to our fellow human beings. They also bring disgrace upon the cause of Christ and get in the way of the preaching of the gospel.

I don't advocate same sex attracted Christians announcing our attractions on our t-shirts, but we do need to be willing to talk about it and to identify ourselves when appropriate because we need to bear witness to fellow Christians.

Short Break

Hi everyone (or after my last post, should that be everypony?) . Just a brief not to let you all know that I won't be blogging for the next few days. Prayers for the study that I'm supposed to be working on would be much apreciated.

Thanks for reading me.

How not to Evangelise.

I'm a Christian. I'm also a sufferer from a long term mental illness. I can remember one day, many years ago, when my depression was unusually bad; I was walking through the Central Business District in Canberra when I was approached by a fellow who mentioned that I looked like I was unhappy. He went on to tell me that he was a pastor at a certain church. I won't name the church, but the senior pastor (presumably this guy's boss) was, at the time, a fairly well known name in Canberra’s evangelical community.
 

The gentleman told me that he could see I looked unhappy and assured me that, if I would simply embrace Jesus, he'd take away my depression, just like that. I didn't particularly feel like discussing theology at the time so I just smiled politely, thanked him, took a leaflet from him and went off to get some lunch. (If my memory serves, the lunch cheered me up considerably.)
 

I thought about this today, for the first time in a while, while watching the most recent episode of the T.V. Show The Atheist Experience. You can find the episode here.

At approximately the twelve and a half minute mark of the episode, they receive a call from a gentleman who identifies himself as an atheist and as suffering from long term depression. As he tells it, various Christian friends and family who knew he was an atheist before this and never made any particular effort to convert him have suddenly started using is depression as a way to tell him that he needs God and blaming his depression on his atheism.
 

Now, obviously, I have to offer a caveat here that I haven't heard what his friends actually said to him and don't know their side of the story. Having said that, if they really have been blaming his depression on his atheism or suggesting that embracing Christianity will make it all go away then they need to wake up and discover reality. Christians suffer from mental illness, Christians get depressed.
 

I'd love to say that the behaviour of this gentleman's friends was an isolated incident, but I think we all know I'd be lying. I've met too many Christians who seem to think in this way. I also wish, as a Catholic, I could say that this sort of stupidity was confined to evangelical protestantism. Sadly, while thinking of this nature seems to jibe well with the prosperity gospel embraced by a certain for of evangelical, we Catholics are not immune it. I can well remember a Catholic telling me that they couldn't understand how any Catholic could be depressed because we are called to rejoice in the Lord.
 

I should also add, while I don't know exactly what his friends have and have not said to him in the past but, if he is accurate in saying that his friends never tried to evangelise him until the issues with his depression arose then the co-host of the show was probably fairly accurate in describing them as opportunistic (word I won't say.)

Word to the wise, my fellow Christians, embracing Jesus does not grant you automatic immunity from all of the crap that comes with being human. To suggest that it does makes us look like idiots. It also makes us look like jerks.

p.s. On a semi-related note, my friend Karl Hand recently had a post on unhelpful ways to evangelise. While I'm not sure if I agree with everything Karl says, I defiantly think he raises some points worth pondering.

Introducing Me

My name is Jason Cebalo. I’m Catholic. I was born in Canberra, Australia and currently living in Sydney where I study Philosophy at the University of Sydney.

I’ve decided to take up blogging, mainly at the advice of my spiritual director who thought I needed a hobby and suggested blogging might work for me.

So, some basic questions you might want to ask about me and my blog:

Q: Why the “Masked Thomist”?

A: Well, ‘Thomist’ because I’m a philosophical and theological follower of the one and only St. Thomas Aquinas. The ‘Masked’ bit is a little esoteric. A few years ago a good friend of mine had a party to which everyone was supposed to come dressed as someone from a movie. I suck at costuming and was in despair as to what to come as until, the day of the party, I happened to spy a plastic mask designed to look like ‘Jason’ from the Friday the 13^th movies. I decided that “Jason going as Jason” wasn’t a bad idea, bought the mask and so the Masked Thomist was born.

Q: Were you always Catholic?

A: No, actually I was an atheist for the first fifteen years of my life. Actually, I was quite a few things on my journey to Catholicism; I may blog on the subject at some point.

Q: So, what do you plan to blog about?

A: Whatever I feel like on a given day. Depending on my mood and on what is happening in the world I may blog about religion, philosophy or politics. Or I may blog on more personal topics like my favorite T.V. shows or my current spiritual struggles or simple what’s going on in my life.

Q: Anything else we should know about you?

A: Important facts about me that are likely to be relevant to the things I blog about include: I’m a member of the Dominican Laity; I’m active in the New South Wales Branch of the Democratic Labor Party; I suffer from a long term mental illness; I’m a graduate of Campion College; I’m a big fan of anything by Joss Whedon; I have very broad tastes in music ranging from sacred music, to Wagnerian Opera, to Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to The Cure; I regularly worship in the extra-ordinary form of the mass at the Chapel of the Maternal Heart of Mary, Lewisham.

Q: You are a Lay Dominican?

A:  Yes, I was received last September and will hopefully be making first promises this September coming. My religious name is Br. Thomas Bartolo. I assume you can guess who Thomas is after, Bartolo is after Bld. Bartolo Longo.

Well, that’s my brief introduction to me. I hope you will enjoy my blog.

Until next time.