saving snippets…

A blurb from an article I was just commenting on:

Today, I see that nothing about my religious anti-choice views did anything to prevent abortion. They did a lot to shame myself and my friends, but nothing to prevent abortion. Today, I hear anti-choicers talk about the babies and the unborn and the American genocide, but what I really hear beneath all that is slut-shaming and fear of female sexuality. I hear that language clearly because I spoke it once, myself. It is a familiar language to me.

my response:

November Love

I love November!! I don’t really know why… well, sure I do! It’s FALL, and growing up in Southeast Texas, it doesn’t get cool here until November. It’s the month of Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping and decorating. Leaves are changing colors and it’s time for scarves and sweaters! (Like I said, Texas is a little behind on the action. I like it.) I’m not a big fan of Halloween, but I love hayrides and wrapping up in blankets, drinking hot cocoa and cider, special drinks at Starbucks, and did I mention…. getting ready for CHRISTMAS?! My favorite!! SO, I am a very happy girl now that Halloween is past and November is here!

Today is All Saints Day, and it’s the first year I feel like I have a really good grasp of the meaning of it. I’ve known what it was since… well, kindergarten, I’m sure! I was a Catholic school kid, afterall. We had projects that were tradition! In the 3rd grade, I made a paper towel tube version of a saint (I don’t remember who… but I think she wore blue, so it might’ve been Mary). In the 5th grade, I made a poster with an awesome sword on it and wrote a report on St. Agnes. And in the 7th grade — the greatest of all saint projects in school that EVERY kid looked forward to — I wrote a long report, prepared an oral presentation, and dressed up as St. Helen of the Cross! Seventh graders get to process down the aisle at the all-school Mass on the morning of All Saints Day to the litany of the saints, and then visit classrooms throughout the school, impersonating and telling your saint’s story! I’m telling you… it was the greatest. I even had my own cross to carry around all day. LEGIT.

But anyway, this All Saints Day makes me so thankful for all the REAL LIFE people out there that have made the choice every single day to be God’s! I just recently learned about Blessed Chiara “Luce” Badano via this news post. What an inspiration!