"Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad. But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins. When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one— happiness and love.
And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth— that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning. He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His city."
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1905
“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.”
Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death, 1849
"God’s light has come into the world, but people love the darkness more than the light when their actions are evil. For those who do evil hate the light and refuse to come into it for fear that their lawlessness will be revealed."
John 3:19-20
"What we would like to do is change the world— make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And to a certain extent, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute— the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor in other words, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world."
Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, June 1946
This is the holiday shortened Christmas trading week.
The Street is looking for a taste of Santa.
Stocks managed to put together a little rally.
The VIX took a further decline down to its 50 DMA.
The funds and banksters are going to be painting up the tape into the year end, so volatility is to be expected as they take some profits, and then try to mask their decliners.
Gold and silver managed to rally a bit, even as the Dollar took back the 108 handle.
Blinken and his merry pranksters seem determined to try and light the candle of their adventurism before they leave in January. Watch where they end up going after they leave the government.
I have some very thin hope that Trumpolini might stumble into doing the right thing for us, but we'll have to see how the rest of the clown car follows along, and where his volatile, random-seeming decisions end up taking us.
But in all, we who have left behind the bitter dance of death rejoice.
The Word has become flesh, and dwells among us.
Do not let your love grow cold. Harden not your hearts.
The field is won.
Have a pleasant evening.
