"To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak"

Baby -- AKA Mr. Cuddles -- takes time out from working Tuck's dinner plate for some heavy petting.

Quotation of the Day #1 from our imail correspondent:

[Pope Benedict XVI] is a good man. Like Bush, everything he does and says is reported through a left-wing lens. Your posts are very valuable in highlighting the similarities of mission and ethics and not the namby-pamby sandbox fights of the Left.

Then it's back to employing the Think System -- and an occasional bit of outreach on the part of Mr. Paw -- to procure bits of Spring Chicken Delight and a host of small portions of colorful sweet and savory side dishes from the Cold Turkey Cookbook.

Quotation of the Day #2 from blogfriend Pam of Pamibe:

As a fallen-away Catholic, it’s not surprising that most of what I know about Pope Benedict XVI comes from another blogger: Sissy Willis. She has followed ‘Papa Ratzi’s’ career at least since his election three years ago and will not disappoint during his current visit to the U.S. Love the Matthew Cavanaugh photograph - pure joy!

Quotation of the Day #3 from another non-practicing Catholic, fellow sub rosa blogger Teresa of Technicalities in Pam's comments:

I do believe he will cause the libs to gyrate in dervish-like circles -- always fun to watch.

Quotation of the Day #4, one of our own in an email to fervently energized Catholic blogpals MB of Miss Kelly, Jill of The Business of Life and Gayle of And you thought YOU were cranky:

Like music itself, he hath charms to soothe the savage breast.

It was a thrill to see our own Papa Ratzi lead the local news this morning. 'Will have to see how it balances out during the coming hours between the TRUE lead story -- the Beacon of Light that is the Holy Father shining back upon the City Upon a Hill -- and the NOISE -- the so-called Dem debate last night and multiple wives' sob stories.

Quotation of the Day #5, Jill's response to #4:

To hear him speak is like a long, cool drink of water after being parched for too long. I'm amazed at the meat and substance of what he says and his way of making it so fresh and new.

You're right. He is a beacon of light, and everything else seems so noisy and tawdry. What an extraordinary man, probably the most erudite man on the planet. How lucky we are to have him, the Vicar of Christ.

Quotation of the Day #6, Gayle's response to #4 (she lives in DC):

Today has been a really good day for me on a lot of levels. Slew a few dragons, shed a few tears of joy, watched a very holy man transform -- at least for a brief time -- a very unholy city. AND the nightmare traffic that was predicted -- did not materialize.

I am traveling on a little Papal Energy Boost!

". . . To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak."

Update: We were gratified to recall that our very first "Pope Blogging" post, "Against a dictatorship of relativism" -- published the day before Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI -- referenced the same words echoed yesterday by President Bush in his South Lawn speech:

We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.

Our own conclusion in that post foreshadows a theme we have revisited often:

Whether or not you're a Catholic, the Cardinal's words ring true on a fundamental human level. "True joy" can come only from striving towards a goal higher than "one's own ego and one's own desires."

If a Leader of the Free World and a blogger reference the same things, there must be something true?

Update II:  There's more than one way to soothe the savage breast. Friday Ark #187 at Modulator is now boarding.

Comments

[pam]

I heartily agree with the first person quoted; your posts ARE very valuable! Thanks for being here!

...and thanks for the mention. ;)

[goomp]

Thank you for an honorable report of an honorable man's activities.

[Teresa]

As I have spent the last 3 or 4 weeks (it's rather a blur now) working like a maniac - I just take a little time to come over, see your posts (look at kitty pics too) and keep up that way with what the Pope is doing.

I'm going to assume the libs are spinning like dervishes right now - but I haven't had the time to find out - more's the pity. ;-)