Have you ever gotten all the way to the end of the day on the Thursday before Labor Weekend and only then suddenly and finally realized that the greatest Monday of the year was indeed just around the corner? What a glorious feeling! I'm a news reporter for a weekly publication that comes out on Fridays, which means that Thursdays are always longer than a Charles Dickens novel. This evening, after finally putting this week's issue to bed, I felt a sudden euphoric rush as I realized, "Wait a minute, I have Monday off!" O Joy! Made the whole day worthwhile. In other news: The count is now at just under 42 hours. By the time anyone reads this it'll probably be closer to 30 or so hours. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the kickoff of the 2007 University of Texas Longhorn Football Season. This year, Bevo Strikes Back. My roommate just observed that I've been sitting in front of my computer at work all day, writing. And now I'm sitting in front of my laptop, writing. I'm a sick individual. Good night, everybody.

I have been told many times in the course of my life that I tend to be rather “scrupulous.” I readily admit that I have some pretty strong moral convictions. And I still think that I am right to have those moral convictions. I hold myself to pretty high standards. I try to be a good person, and when I fail (which is not rarely) I’m pretty hard on myself. I try to avoid evil, and when I fail (which is not rarely) I’m pretty hard on myself. And most of the time, I still think that’s appropriate.

Now here’s the part where there’s a word I have to say, even though I really don’t want to. The word is “but.”

Holiness is a great thing. The desire to avoid sin is a great thing. But we should never be so naïve as to think that the devil cannot use our desire for holiness or (more often) our desire to avoid sin to his own dastardly ends.

I first discovered this, of all places, in seminary. It was there where I first asked myself the question, How many times in my life have I convinced myself not to do something because I was afraid of the possibility of it leading to sin?

I’m not talking about real near occasions of sin here either. I’m not talking about buying a skin magazine “just to read the articles,” or snorting a noseful of crack just to see what it’s like. I’m talking about singing. Getting up on stage and actually singing in front of people. I’m talking about talking to a girl. Really talking to her.

“No no,” the voice in my head would tell me. “If you do that who knows where it will lead? To all measure of wickedness, no doubt! Surely this is not worth the risk of losing heaven.”

I used to think that that was the voice of God talking to me. Now I know it is someone far less mighty, and with quite an opposite agenda. Those words I would hear, they are the devil’s favorite trick, the one he especially loves to use on people who try very hard to be holy and to avoid sin.

The devil loves to use our fear of sin to keep us from doing the things that God really wants us to do.

An example: Lately I have been on a huge singing tear. I have discovered (again, for the first time at seminary) that I love to sing. Love it. And not only that but I love to get up and lead people in singing. Just recently I got to help lead (stress the word “help” there) a praise and worship jam session, and I’m hoping I get to do it again soon. I positively love doing that.

“No no,” the voice in my head tells me. “If you do that who knows where it will lead? To all measure of wickedness, no doubt! Why, if you continue on this course, and heaven forbid you are successful, you will certainly become a narcissistic prima dona (to the extent you are not already)! You must be humble! You must be quiet! Surely this is not worth the risk of losing heaven!”

How truly amazing. If I had never gone to seminary I would never have learned from my spiritual mentors to question that voice.

It is true of course that those who perform theatrically and or musically have to direct their work towards a higher purpose and not merely to the glorification of themselves. But for them decide that it is proper not to direct their work towards anything at all—by not working in the first place—would only result in there being a little less good art in the world.

And really, that’s quite satisfactory for the Evil One. He doesn’t always want us to go out and do something wicked. Sometimes he is quite content to see us simply not do anything at all. Not go up on that stage. Not sing that song. Not pick up that phone. Not talk to that person. Just sit there and watch our videos. Listen to our Ipods. And go to sleep.

God can take a broken relationship and bring some measure of good out of it. It doesn’t make the evil that led to the broken relationship righteous, but God being the cosmic genius that he is can take a person’s misguided and wicked deeds and use those to bring the person (and his victims) closer to Him. It’s messy, yes. It’s painful, yes. But it can happen.

What can (or perhaps more properly will) God do with a nervous kid who sits on his laurels all day playing Xbox because he’s too afraid to pick up the phone and call her? With a young woman who won’t admit to herself that she’s really got a gift for inspiring an audience and so never sings that song, or goes out for that part in the play? With a kid who doesn’t try out for the team because he doesn’t want to be the reason someone else doesn’t make it?

Any of that sound familiar?

Don’t let the devil scare you into doing nothing. He wants you to keep still. He wants your soul to gather moss. Jesus wants you to get rolling.

I haven't had access to the internet at home the last few days, since I have recently moved into a new pad. It's flippin' sweet. It'll be even flippin' sweeter when I and my roommates get some luxurious frills in there ... like ... chairs. Anyways, here's a few thoughts from the last few days. You have to read them. It's my birthday. Not long ago I was at Barnes and Noble browsing the magazine rack, as I am wont to do at times. A couple of highlights. The latest issue of Muscular Development Magazine has one of the scariest covers I've ever seen. When I first saw it, I threw up a little bit in mouth. This body-builder guy, the only way I can think to describe him is he looked like Jaba the Hutt. You couldn't tell where the dude's body ended and his face began. He was just so bulgy and veiny and fakety bakety I actually for a couple seconds thought he was a character from Star Wars. And in big letters on the cover it reads, "500 HARDCORE PAGES! MASS FREAKIN' MUSCLE!" Okay, having good tone and all that, being physically healthy, that's one thing. But do guys actually look at Jaba the Hutt there on the magazine rack and actually WANT to look like him? Ew. Sorry folks. I know I've been going on about the cultural preoccupation with physical appearances, but it's just been jumping out at me from everywhere lately. Completely unrelated: I also saw a college football magazine called "Scout," which had on the cover the quarterback for the USC Trojans. I forget the guy's name. Anyway, the headline is "TROY RISING: USC is back on top." Sheesh. Here we go again. Everyone loving on USC. Oooohing and Aaahing over USC. "Whoo, USC! Those Trojans have so many weapons! Is USC the best team EVER?" Or might we be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves with all this "back on top" mumbo jumbo? Being ranked #1 in the coaches' poll and whatever other poll there is out there at the beginning of the season does not mean you're the best. Just ask Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Assuming Mr. Leinart has finally admitted to himself that the best team actually did win back in '06. Facebook is awesome. Today I've gotten more postings on my wall than in the last three or four months or so. It must be my birthday. Thanks everybody!

Today on "The Adventures of Shallow People": This morning I was watching the news, as I am wont to do at times. They were talking about the usual, ya know--the Iraq war, the stock market, the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, smart lipo... Wait a minute--smart lipo?? Yes, that's right. The news people thought it worth the morning commuters' time to talk about a new cosmetic procedure to remove the fat that in medieval times (and even up til about the 1920s) was considered sexy. They're calling it "smart liposuction." Their coverage of the procedure was purportedly an objective view of whether the procedure is legit or if it's "just another scam." Yet while they were talking about it they showed all these ladies frolicking on the beach and strutting blank-faced down runways. Hmm, what message does that send? What channel was it on, you ask? Why, the Fox News Channel of course! Like I said, I don't defend everything they put on their airwaves. I do respect them for giving voice to Father Jonathan, but none of these news outlets are exactly EWTN.

NOTE: In my profession before my bout at seminary, I used to publish a weekly newsletter which of consisted of my latest thoughts on popular culture. I haven't commented on popular culture in a while, but last night I was fortunate to have dinner with a few of my loyal readers from back in the day. They suggested that I get back in the business of highlighting and commenting upon the three-ring circus that confronts us all when we surf the internet or watch TV. Inspired by this affirmation, I've decided to take up this practice again, if only because there is so much good material out there these days--some of it refreshing, some of it outrageous. Here are some of the latest examples: Refreshing If anyone wants to know why I like Fox News, this is why. Do any of the other refined and intellectual news networks prominently display a Catholic priest blogging on their website? Well, I just went looking on the other big three--MSNBC, CBS, CNN. Not prominently. In fact, not anywhere on the main pages. Maybe I just didn't notice on those sites. All I know is I go to the Fox News website and without even having to scroll down I see this dude in a Roman collar--Father Jonathan Morris, featured blogger. "Whoa! Is this a news site?" In his blog Father Jonathan discusses how to raise your kids. The upshot: talk to them, pay attention to what they're doing, and my favorite: lead by example.

Children respect honesty and sincerity. They see through and despise hypocrisy. Parents who want children to listen to their advice must first make sure their own lives line up with what they are preaching. Would you like your children to eventually be church-going citizens? Go yourselves. Would you like your children to use the media wisely? Don’t waste your time on useless or salacious entertainment. Do you want your children to be faithful to their future spouses? Your own example, in every aspect of your life, is the most powerful educator and will make an indelible impression on your kids. They may wander for a time, but they will never forget what is good and true.

Now, I'm not going to defend everything that the Fox News Channel puts out. But this is why I at least at times do respect them. In most other news outlets these days, media relating to Catholic priests or Christian leaders in general usually don't approach them as sources of wisdom on how to live our lives. Which is why I read this and I thought to myself, this is a news website? I thought raising kids was a private matter. People don't want to know about that stuff anyway, right? They want to know about the latest pop diva to check into rehab or the latest football player to get indicted with burglary charges (or worse). Outrageous I mean if the people are interested in stuff having to do with their personal lives, it's more often going to be stuff like, a lady who lives with her boyfriend who prefers watching indecent material online to spending time with her. And gee, what should the lady do? Well our "relationship specialist" thinks it's a good idea to ask to be included in his porn-watching. (I'm not making this up.) Another example: There's a link on the CNN homepage today, under the heading "HEALTHY MEN," with a picture of this shirtless guy's pectorals, but not his face. His head is outside the frame. It's almost as if someone bumped into the cameraman just as he was taking the picture. Anyway the caption reads "Show us your guns! Show off your biceps and rock-hard abs. And tell us how you got them!" "Healthy" This is just a little more evidence of the rather maladjusted American understanding of what constitutes a "healthy man." I'm lucky to say I have many guy friends whom I would most readily and happily classify as "healthy men." Very few of us, I am afraid, can be said to have either "guns" or "rock-hard abs." We do engage in physical recreational activities, like Wednesday night volleyball for example. I love sports. Put a football in my hands and I immediately become about ten percent happier. But that's not what makes me or any of the good men I know "healthy," at least it's not the only or even the most important thing. As best I can tell, my guy friends and I are healthy because we know what we stand for, and what we want our lives to be about. And we know we do not want our lives to be about going to Sixth Street on Friday night in search of a good shag. And that's not to say that people who are very physically in shape are only interested in that, but it says something about a culture's priorities when our understanding of "healthy living" consists entirely of how big our guns are. It's just more enjoyable and more fulfilling, as best I can tell, to have other priorities. Just to try to be a good person, you know, a gentle man. If I ever have a son, I hope I can teach him at least that. Hopefully Father Jonathan will still be around.