Why I Love Money

I've been horrible when it comes to organizing our finances, but recently all that has changed. I've begun using personal finance software.

For a while I tried Intuit's Quicken, which is an excellent product, but, against my wishes, Microsoft has the better product for me: MS Money 2005.

I hate saying "Thank You" to Microsoft, because I'm pretty much anti-Microsoft (for the Redmond-based company is the Evil Empire from which Linux must deliver us). But . . . thanks, Microsoft (ugh!).

With Money, I quickly set up a budget that will work for me. It tells me what bills need to be paid when, and how much. It reports where all our money goes. On its start page it even tells me with a bar chart how close I am to reaching my preset monthly spending limit when it comes to groceries, dining out, and miscellaneous costs.

After every session, Money 2005 backs up my data to an external storage device of my choosing, so I don't have to worry if my computer crashes (MS Windows would never do that, would it?).

Having been the classic procrastinator when it comes to doing the checkbook, now I can't wait to receive our bills in the mail so I can crank out the payments that are already budgeted. I'm sure that feeling will pass soon, but at least now I won't dread taking care of our finances, because I will track it well and with the greatest amount of ease.

Also, tonight I enrolled in our bank's online services, so all of our up-to-the-minute information is at my fingertips.

Even with these marvels of technology, my mom does all of her checkbooking and bill paying by hand, using a skill she learned in school called "math." I don't know how she does it, but I'm sure she still does it better than me. Maybe some people don't need the computer crutch, but I definitely need Money.

Why I Don't Play With Jeff

Even though it's tempting, I'm not going to bother answering emails from Jeff.

He sent a couple of anonymous emails, signed "A friend," to my old email account before identifying himself as Jeff a few weeks ago. As a former Catholic, he has been trying to point me to some anti-Catholic writings on the Web. I read what he sends, and if he was serious I would be happy to correspond with him.

The problem is that his name is not Jeff, and he was never Catholic. I won't correspond with Jeff as long as he calls himself Jeff, or seeks anonymity, or makes up stuff. If someone has to play games by sneaking "the truth" across, I'm not going to participate -- despite my morbid curiosity.

What bugs me is that, in real life, this person (yes, I know who he is) will not discuss our differences because he believes the Bible teaches us not to "argue religion." While I would dispute even that, I can accept his refusal to discuss Christianity at any depth, because I have no choice. But I can't understand thinking it's okay to challenge another's views only if it's done anonymously via email.

I do appreciate his concern for me -- and I know his concern is genuine -- but I would prefer even greater genuineness. Truth is strong enough to stand on its own, without any help from untruth.

"Threw the Truth Away"?

A commenter who identifies himself as "Cbuser" had this to say after reading some of my blogs:

Purgatory isn't Biblical, just as Catholicism and it's holidays are not Biblical, just as their paganistic rituals at their "Christ Mass" is not Biblical. I saw children placing flowers in front of an idol of the baby Jesus (like anyone knows what he looked like). Looks pagan to me, and since I am a former pagan, I believe that I know what I am talking about. Activities like that are pure idolatry and break the commandment that says to not bow down or to worship any idols.
I find it difficult to believe that you threw the truth away for such iniquity. I pray that your thoughts will change, and your heart as well.
Peace,
Cbuser

I'm not clear why I should abandon my thoughts concerning Catholicism and its holidays. Is it a "pagan ritual" to place flowers around a statue of the newborn Jesus?

If so, what about placing flowers at the gravestone of a deceased loved one? Is that worshiping the dead? Or is the intent not to honor the person who is represented by the gravestone?

Is it okay to carry around a picture of your spouse, and even kiss it when you think of her during a business trip?

Is it okay to have a gigantic statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C., and to visit it to honor his place in history?

Can we salute the American flag and "pledge allegience" to it?

Anyone who actually worships a statue or representation of any kind -- even of Jesus -- is breaking the First Commandment, which forbids idolatry or the worship of any thing or any person other than the one, true Creator God. To do so is patently contrary to Catholic teaching. Should I change my mind about the First Commandment?

"Cbuser" alleges to be a former pagan. I'd like to know what kind of paganism celebrates the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became flesh. Is this the official doctrine of "pagans"? Or is Cbuser looking at surface-level similarities between pagan practices and Christian ones?

There are pagans who practice a form of meditation. So do Christians. Is Christian meditation therefore "pagan"? If there is a pagan rite that involves the use of water, does that make Christian baptism "pagan"? If there are Eastern religions that have a "holy book," does that mean the notion of Sacred Scripture is "pagan"? All this gets to be pretty silly, looking for superficial similarities in order to brand Christian practices with the "pagan" label.

If we insist on looking at the superficial, why not look at the other details? The Bible speaks of a Baby named Jesus, born of a virgin. Others visited Him and brought Him gifts. The angels in heaven rejoiced in song. Many other such words and details are associated with the observance of Christmas. According to Cbuser's logic, why don't these things make Christmas "biblical"?

It all boils down to this: When judging a practice, one must look at its heart, not its skin. A certain color of lipstick may be worn by both a chaste woman and a filthy prostitute, but the two women are fundamentally different. Their lip color means little. The two women are not cut from the same cloth.

When you strip away the seasonal decorations, and especially the commercialism that has invaded it, Christmas is a holy day that celebrates the Coming of Christ. That is the heart of it. And there is no scripture that condemns the celebration of Jesus' birth; the Bible only shows it to be worthy of celebration (Luke 1-2). If Sacred Scripture condemned the celebration of Jesus' birth, then the Catholic Church would condemn it as well.

PS: I do know what the baby Jesus looked like: a very tiny, adorable Jewish person.

Quick Thought: Role of Preacher vs. Priest

So often, we hear the criticism that Catholics depend so heavily on their priest, who, after all, is just a man and does not affect their relationship with Christ.

Yet, ironically, many non-Catholics will quit their church or stop attending altogether because they don't like or trust their preacher. They are tired of boring sermons, visible sins, or bad administration.

What does that say about whose leaders' sins, personalities, or habits more negatively affect whose relationships with Christ?

Even if a priest gives boring sermons or doesn't even speak English well, a faithful Catholic remains faithful because the priest retains the authority to offer the Eucharist, which is the central component of the community's worship.