Your God Is The Belly

Today's Epistle warns of "enemies of the cross," and who are these enemies? People whose "God is the belly," bringing to mind someone gorging themselves at a restaurant or banquet. 

It's an unpleasant image but a good one, drawing our attention to the substance of the thing, worshiping the cravings and appetite of the empty cavity of our gut. What a hungry and jealous god. Euripides puts it well in the mouth of the splendidly wicked one-eyed monster, Cyclops:

Wealth, manikin, (Odysseus) is the god for the wise; all else is mere vaunting and fine words... I shudder not at Zeus’s thunder, nor know I wherein Zeus is a mightier god than I... The earth perforce, whether she like it or not, produces grass and fattens my flocks, which I sacrifice to no one save myself and this belly, the greatest of deities; but to the gods, not I! For surely to eat and drink one’s fill from day to day and give oneself no grief at all, this is the king of gods...

The Apostle describes this in terms of "flesh," listing its attributes in Galatians, and for sure, it's an attitude and state of mind, body and spirit which ends in destruction, being diametrically opposed to the selfless love of God evidenced on the Cross. 

Long story short, you can't worship your belly and God at the same time and with St. Paul, those who do, "glory in their shame." Go on, watch a Pride Parade on Youtube and dare to disagree. On second thoughts don't, it'll ruin your Sunday, but you get the point.

So we've i.d.'d the enemy, well done, and if we're honest we'll admit it's something very like the religion of our age. Drive into any one of our cities and behold the square miles of strip malls and their accompanying advertising, signs lifted up like the plastic standards of a conquering army, all of them telling you to gorge yourself.

Hideous, isn't it, and you don't need a degree in moral theology to sense it. But here's a question for all you Christians out there, people who go to church every Sunday. 

Do you walk the way of the cross, of sacrificial love, such that Christ will recognize you as his disciple or are you merrily wandering along the broad way, the way of the flesh that leads to perdition? Serious question with serious consequences.

Strive to enter by the narrow gate. 

End of sermon,

LSP

On The Road

Whoever said life'd be easy? No one, and with that in mind I left the sylvan groves of old Texas for the concrete metrosprawl of the DFW megacity, not once but twice. Why? Because I had meetings in the 'sprawl and duty called.

The first part of the drive on I35W isn't bad, a fairly empty 4 lane highway through rolling farmland, passing by Itasca and Grandview. Then you get to Alvaredo and the pace picks up as you drop into the Fort Worth lowlands.

Metroplex at Night. Yellow Line = Connecticut

There you are in the Metroplex, on a multilane racetrack dreamed up in bowels of Hell. It goes on for miles, 9,286 square miles to be precise, about two thirds the size of Holland and larger than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. It's growing, too, like a monster.

Well you can't blame people for moving here from socialist hellhole states, but I'd argue you can blame the so-called urban planners who decided that city and 20 lane highway were synonyms. You'd think, after several thousand years of Western civic culture, that we could come up with something better than the 'sprawl. Thank God I live in a road, said no one ever.

It Was Going to be This

Great, readers, will be the fall of it. I know, that'll never happen because the way we live now will go on forever and ever, per saecula saeculorum, but imagine the grid went down, which of course it never will because the grid's immortal, but say for example it did. And you're living in the 'spawl with no water, electricity and before long, food. How would you get out?

But Ended up This

Dirt bikes, on foot? Apocalypse aside, the meetings were good, though it seemed strange to be in the city. Back in the country, Mexican music's in the air and with it the delicious aroma of slow cooked carnitas. 

This makes fasting difficult and speaking of roads, Jack Kerouac was a catholic.

Drive safe,

LSP

You Better Start Fasting

Fasting's an important weapon in the spiritual armory, helping us to beat back and subdue the sins of the flesh. "Their god is the belly," says the Apostle to the Philippians, and their "end is destruction." 

With that in mind, fasting's recommended by Christ who tells the lackluster disciples that certain demons can only be driven out by "prayer and fasting."

Of course the practice is recommended by the Fathers, here's St. Basil:

Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness.

Well said, that Saint, and I've been trying to take the Lenten fast more seriously this year; get real in the fight against evil, LSP. At least two things have happened.

I've been shooting more and Andrew Weissmann's resigned from Mueller's witch hunt. Coincidence?

You be the judge,

LSP

****************************************************

BREAKING BREAKING BREAKING

Morris Dees Fired From SPLC For Misconduct, Internal Climate in Question. Prayer And Fasting Work.

This & That

The day started off well, with strong covfefe on the porch.

It moved ineluctably to guns, note health food.

And now? Stations of the Cross.

God bless,

LSP

The Russia Hoax

Well, well, as all the world knows, Nancy Pelosi's decided that impeaching Trump isn't such a good idea because "he's not worth it." Or, roughly translated, because she knows the entire Russian collusion story was just that, a faked up pack of lies. And what a story it's been.

I won't bore you with details. Fraudulent FISA warrants, wanton lies, at least one murder, the phony dossier, Ukrainian power politics, MI6, Australia, lies and yet more lies, money, DNC criminality and the ongoing $30+ million Mueller investigation itself. And far, far more, what a seething mass of corruption in pursuit of power even if that meant reinventing the Cold War.

That said, you have to hand it to the Democrats and their media clown show, Goebbels would be proud. Admit it, what a bold call, claiming without a shred of evidence that the US President is a Kremlin agent. That's right, a Russian spy.

You'd think there'd be something to impeach in that. Apparently not.

Vodka all 'round!

LSP

Monday Shoot

One of the good things about Mondays is you can shoot, provided the new Ice Age doesn't have you snowed in and it didn't, so off I went to the range. Nothing fancy, just a Ruger American .22 and a Glock 21 .45.

I hadn't shot the Glock in a while and wondered if it'd work. It did, blasting rounds into the X Ring like a good 'un at around 15 yards. Things opened up a bit at 25 yards and I wasn't surprised, given lack of practice.

Then it was time for the old playing card trick at 10 yards and they met their match, thanks to Austrian engineering and the mighty .45 ACP. But my shooting was getting erratic, time to move on while the going was good.

And there it was, the humble .22, ready to go with a fixed 4 power scope. Was it on? Kind of ish but to be honest I'd forgotten what the little beast was zeroed for, so I unscientifically dialed it in at 50 yards.

After a bit of tweaking the scope seemed on enough and Little Green was taking damage. Sorry, fella, you lose this thankfully one sided firefight.

Then it started to rain and it was time to head back to the Compound, mission accomplished. Needed pistol practice and a pleasant zero-in plinkathon with the Ruger.

The trail out of the range always looks as though it'll present some target of opportunity, like a coyote, a small gang of pigs or even a rabbit, but it never does, oddly. Regardless, there it was, a good afternoon out in the country well spent.

Gun rights,

LSP

The World The Flesh And The Devil

What shall it profit a man?

To gain the whole world

And lose his soul?

Here at the Compound we hope you've enjoyed this photo homily and don't be scared, victory's assured.

Deus Vult,

LSP

What Lever Gun?

"Hmm. Have you got quite enough ARs for a village parson I wonder?" asked one of the many international readers of this popular mind blog and I have to say, good point.

That in mind, there's not a single lever gun in the Compound's armory, which is clearly wrong. So the question is, which rifle to get and what caliber?

I know, I know. What'll you be using it for, so-called LSP? Well, apart from hunting bear and monster hogs (45/70), mostly for fun at the range and as a handy truck gun when driving through the badlands of Ice Age Texas.

All advice welcome,

LSP

International Women's Day

It's International Women's Day and America's popular and glamorous First Lady gave an inspiring address at the State Department's Women of Courage awards.

“Throughout history women have contributed in so many ways to our society,” said Melania, before praising the virtue of courage.

“As I have said before, I believe courage is one of the qualities we need most in society. It’s what propels us forward. Courage is what divides those who only talk about change from those who actually act to change.”

Well said, First Lady, but speaking of women, what's with Ilhan Omar and AOC? Are they secretly working for Trump in a bid to destroy the Democratic party from within? Consider the evidence. 

Omar's been busy getting American Jews to do the unthinkable and switch over to the GOP, while AOC's Green New Deal could have been mistaken for a parody hit job on some late night comedy show.

And both have their coreligionists in Congress divided and angry as they do their bit to drive the Democrats, like Gadarene swine, over the cliff of insane leftism.

Perhaps they're working deep undercover for MAGA and doing such a good job that you'd think they were just another couple of crazy demented, comsymp revolutionaries infesting the Capitol. But that's as maybe.

In the meanwhile, well done First Lady for doing your part to make America great again.

Your Friend,

LSP

Do These Guns Work?

The weather finally cleared so I loaded up the truck with guns and headed to the range on a simple mission. To see if three deadly assault rifles still worked.

Big Green & Little Black

To find out, I set up two silhouettes, Big Green and Little Black, then got down to business at 50 yards to test a 100 yard zero. First things first, a lightweight carbine took out Big Green in the X ring with a decent little group and a better second one. 

X Ring

The rounds weren't touching but not bad for a red dot and a rusty gunman, the weapon was on. Next up, a rifle in the same caliber, topped off with an inexpensive Primary Arms optic (ACSS 1-6x24). 

It Still Works!

I was afraid the scope was off and wasn't expecting much but it worked just fine, producing a couple of decent groups on the twin terrorists, Big Green and Little Black. Take that, paper extremists.

Little Black

Then things shifted up a gear with an Aero Precision rifle chambered for 7.62. After a couple of rubbish shots I settled down and was pleased to see 3 or 4 rounds go pretty much through the same hole. Then I ran out of 7.62 and called it a day, pleased with the result. Well done, guns, you work.

7.62

And that was that. It's a neat place to shoot, with targets set up at 100 yards, a couple of benches, some steel plates and a small shooting house, which is on its roof at the moment thanks to a tornado. 

The Range

There it is, just you, the guns and the country. I like that a lot, there's a freedom in it.

Gun rights,

LSP

Ash Wednesday

Lent's begun and with it the invitation to enter the wilderness with Christ and commit ourselves to the spiritual battle against evil. I've found Benedict XVI's reflections helpful, here's an excerpt:

What is the essence of the three temptations to which Jesus is subjected? It is the proposal to exploit God, to use him for one’s own interests, for one’s own glory and for one’s own success. And therefore, essentially to put oneself in God’s place, removing him from one’s own existence and making him seem superfluous. Each one of us must therefore ask him- or herself: what place does God have in my life? Is he the Lord or am I?

You can read the whole thing here and while we're at it, the Ash Wednesday Collect which governs the season.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God bless,

LSP

The Pancakes

Terrifying, isn't it. That's right, the prospect of not one but two pancake suppers and such is life, here in the syrup marathon that is Shrove Tuesday Lspland.  A kind of Pre-Lenten penance if you like, but to be honest I always enjoy myself.

They're a good crew at the Missions and this year was fun, with everyone getting together to blast away at pancakes, bacon and sausage. Of course it'd mean something beyond an opportunity for church scoff if people actually fasted during Lent or at all, ever. But hardly anyone does.

Big mistake, not least because Christ himself recommends it by example and instruction, certain demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief... Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. (Matt.17: 18-21)

Speaking of demons, one of them didn't get elected in 2016 and it's been howling, shrieking and gnashing its teeth ever since.

God bless,

LSP