FROM THE CAVE

JAMES R. GRASSO Former Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26) in each one."

Pope Francis spoke to a general audience on Oct. 10, 2018, at a Wednesday general audience, "Is it right to take a human life to solve a problem? It's like hiring a hitman."

The loss of a life from abortion, it's the saddest indictment of the human race. Snuffing out a totally innocent life. It's gruesome, this abortion procedure. What was printed above leaves much to ponder for everyone.

offensive to the other side but don't give a wit as to how it affects the people who actually lived through the "card" and vote for them.

St. Pope John Paul II "nailed it" when he wrote in his wonderful encyclical Evangelium Vitae, "We are confronted by an even larger reality, which can be described as a veritable structure of sin. This reality is characterized by the emergence of a culture which denies solidarity and in many cases takes the form of a veritable 'culture of death.' This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency."

How about Pope Benedict who said in a 2006 address, "God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant

I read about how Governor Josh Shapiro (D. Pa) signed an executive order that abolished degree requirements for most jobs in state government. He follows two Republican governors Spencer Cox of Iowa and Larry Hogan from Maryland, who made similar moves in their states last year. Requiring a four-year college degree excludes nearly two-thirds of American adults, rarely for any good reason. Meritocracy is not the same as having credentials. Thanks National Review.

Here's one for your perusal. In 2021, Democrats across the country were livid over a proposed voting law in Georgia that Joe Biden described as "Jim Crow 2.0" and "Jim Crow on steroids." Then in January of 2023 a University of Georgia poll found that exactly zero percent of black Georgia voters described their voting experience in 2022 as "poor." Both white and black Georgia voters (96%) described their experience as "good" or "excellent." Using Jim Crow in our time is ridiculous. Blacks, whites, purples and greens really should be offended by its usage just to stir up political rhetoric especially with a Joe Biden, who lived a good part of his life accepting that horrid Jim Crow era never leading the charge to abolish it for several decades of his political life. Politicians love to use "cards" which are

Getting older story: Here's one for the annals of history. Since my mid-40s, some 30 years ago (Yikes), I've had to use "cheaters" eyeglasses for reading purposes. That lasted some 20 years which were greeted by 1.00 power cheaters and gradually moved to 2.75s! This coincided with the obligatory floaters that seemed to become cataracts, which led to surgery (easiest of my life). Oh, before the surgery, I spent a few years buying more and more powerful eyeglasses and frames as my eyesight deteriorated. The problem with cataract surgery is that you have to choose which kind of sight you want to have: the ability to see distance or the ability to, well, read. I took the ability to see distance because I like to drive and see scenery and maybe an off-leash dog while I'm walking or the occasional mountain lion or bear roaming the prairie/ foothills in which we live. So, about 6 or 7 years ago I was back to buying cheaters.

Okay, stay with me now because I like to roam. I call myself "crow" because like the bird I get distracted easily by shiny, or new things or ideas. It forces me to do quite a bit of extra walking which I hear is good for me. For instance, I'll get up from the t.v. or dining table to go to my room to get a bottle of water. In the 25 feet I have to traverse to get to my room I tell myself water, then when I get to the threshold of said room my mind goes blank and I come out with 2 or 3 things BUT not the bottle of water! This happens as many as three times before I get so angry with myself that I finally get that bottle of water. It happens constantly.

Now, wrapping up the two trends of thought, I'm outside moving hoses around getting ready for spring grass duty (yep, I use water for grass..... without moisture going into the air how do we get rain?...... plus I like the color green, with blue sky). So, I have the cheaters perched on my head as I'm moving the hose into place when lo and behold a limb from our beautiful locust tree that attracts all sorts of birds, especially owls who occasionally like to dine on Asian doves who are pretty but too noisy and prolific. See, crow!?

Anyway this limb grabs my perched glasses off my head and they flop on the ground which needs to be raked because of leaves and other dead vegetation that would have been dispatched by now if we didn't have to deal with some 25,000 tumbleweeds (no exaggeration). I finish placing the sprinkler and then search for the glasses. Did I tell you about my penchant for misplacing things, some actually go into the vortex? The crow strikes again! Maybe I'll write about that next month.

After searching for several minutes and not finding the glasses which I need to finish this rant, I get a rake and try to find them by spreading the detritus about to free them from their captivity. Still can't find those dang glasses. So, desperate, I fetch my wife to use her superpower which is finding my lost stuff about 90% of the time! Sure enough, she walks out, I show her the general area and she finds them within 5 seconds. I knew that would happen. Should have called for her immediately. Wish I had a superpower.

I guess you can call me James Crow, not to be confused with the above mentioned Jim Crow.

Don't forget my offer to you. Contact me at SRbeacon@gmail.com to receive your free, no strings attached sure-fire way to make heaven Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet pamphlet spoken by Christ Himself to a young nun from Poland. It will change your life. Just prayers, nothing more. See for yourself.

Godspeed to you and yours. Happy Spring.

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