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A man trying to organize a men's choir said I had a fine voice. Given a choice, he asked, wouldn't someone prefer a beautiful voice to a powerful mind or athletic body? I agreed, but was a bit embarrassed: since I've got two out of the three. My wife's opined that if bad hips hadn't kept me from excelling at sports: I'd be insufferable. She's probably right. Self-Esteem Run Amok Since pride is a sin, is it wrong to be proud of my voice? Yes — and no. It depends on what sort of "pride" is involved. When "pride" is self-esteem run amok, it's one of the seven capital sins: along with avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866 ) Ancient Greeks called it hubris . It's a bad idea in stories, from " Oedipus Rex ," to Milton's " Paradise Lost " and Paul Ryder's " Cosmic Monsters ." Most of us don't get the sort of reality check

" The avenger of blood may execute the murderer, putting him to death on sight. " ( Numbers 35:19 ) I ran into that bit from the Pentateuch in "Judas on a Pole," an episode in the second season of Bones . The writers used an 'Olde Englishe' translation that many Americans perceive as 'Biblical,' and that's another topic. If someone murdered a member of my family, I would be very angry. There'd be something wrong with me if I wasn't. Anger, Sin, and Getting a Grip Anger is a "capital sin," a sin that's particularly serious because it leads to other sins. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866 ) That doesn't mean that I've committed a sin every time I experience anger. I'm human, so I experience emotions. Emotions aren't good or bad by themselves. What matters is what we do with them. (Catechism, 1767 ) If I hang on to anger, let it build into a desire to harm or kill someone else: that's

Scientists at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo's Planetary Habitability Laboratory simulated Kepler-186f's sunsets. Others studied possibly-habitable regions in Jovian moons and around double stars. Meanwhile, some chap at Oxford trotted out opportunities for angst and dread.... ...Over the last million years, we've learned to use fire without killing ourselves, weren't cut to shreds by flint tools, and developed an alternative to horse-drawn wagons before burying London in manure. If anything, we're smarter now than we were in the 'good old days:' so I don't think that steam engines or integrated circuits will kill us all. ( November 22, 2013 ; July 9, 2011 ) The trick is using humanity's accumulated wisdom, and applying it to everyday life. Most of the time, we do a pretty good job: my opinion. Sometimes mistakes are made. Then, most of the time, we clean up the mess and move on.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America

Maybe some folks still have religious scruples about 'defying God' with lightning rods: but I haven't run into any, and I'm certainly not one of them. My house has a lightning rod , installed by a previous owner. I made sure it's in good working order, since our chimney is one of the taller structures in the neighborhood. Ben Franklin and Prokop Diviš 's invention is on most tallish structures in my part of the world. Lightning rods have apparently joined movable type and the moldboard plow as technology that 'we've always had.' Even the Internet seems to be gaining grudging acceptance: although I regularly encounter folks who don't seem at all comfortable about social media: and express their grave misgivings in online posts. My guess is that every generation has included a few with profound misgivings about newfangled technology: or change of any sort, and that's almost another topic. I grew up in a world of AM radio and dial te