November 2007 Archives

I had hoped to relaunch the blog next week, but that’s gonna have to wait a bit more. Over Thanksgiving, my whole family got sick. By the end of the long weekend, it had gotten me. Of course, my entire department at work is out sick too, so guess who gets to hold the fort.

I got nothing done over the long weekend, and haven’t been able to get much accomplished this week either. The fever is finally gone, so hopefully I can catch up some this weekend.

And if you get a mild sore throat that lasts for about 36 hours, start taking pills immediately. This cold that’s running around is a nasty one. Five days of fever, and I’m still trying to figure out where I left my appetite. And I'd really love to have even one nostril working full time...

Back in a few.

Many things about this blog have been reconsidered over the past several weeks. One of which, you might have noticed already, is the name. Why change the name?

First off, Rafting the Tiber got me many interesting hits based on the name itself. I quit counting how many hits I got from people looking for white water rafting tips.

Second, it still gets at the main idea behind this blog – a place to catch your breath on the biggest swim of them all. Sometimes, we all could use a little help. (We’re still using the swimming analogy here.)

Third – and most importantly – it conveys something new. Bear with me for the explanation.

If we’re looking at Catholicism with the idea of conversion, what is the Raft in the river? What is the help that keeps us afloat during one of the most difficult decisions of our lives?

Is it me or this site? Surely not. Conversion is the work of the Spirit, not something that I can directly influence. I can cast seeds, I can put out ideas, I can try to make you think, but I can’t actually draw someone to the Church through any action of my own.

Over time, I’ve come to see the Bible itself as the raft. What other raft could there possibly be? The Bible is our common language and common heritage, the God-breathed gift that all should know and love. To that end, this site will be rededicated to a bible-based understanding of Catholicism. I certainly am not the first to do this, and I’ll likely not be the last, but I hope that visitors will find something unique here anyway.

In addition, I really hope that this new format will be of serious interests to Catholics as well as potential converts. Why? Well, the simple fact is that many Catholics really are biblically illiterate. This is through no fault of their own – modern Catholic catechesis is pretty miserable in general, and particularly when we talk about the Bible. But I’ve recently noticed a real hunger amongst Catholics that want to understand the Bible more deeply.

As to schedule, I’m still probably three or four weeks from the official relaunch. Why so long? Simple. I have to clean up a few things here and there. I need to get the categories reorganized under the new format, for one. With the change of templates, I have to go back over my old posts and clean up some issues with those as well. This isn’t a small chore. Bear with me a bit longer. I hope the result will be worthwhile.

It seems that there will be a series of tests run here for a few days. I'm going to test out some new templates with RC's help. Please bear with us.

I appear to have gotten a few hits recently from the Vatican. You are most welcome!

I’ve been working on the re-launching of this blog since it crashed a few weeks ago. I’ve delayed it because of an fundamental question that’s come up. This has happened prayerfully, so I have to give this a great deal of thought.

This blog was originally conceived to help people who were thinking about joining the Catholic Church. As such, it had a very limited scope (and an even more limited readership). But this scope may be, in fact, too limited. I think there’s room for more apologetics and some evangelization as well. The apologetics would be aimed at both Catholics and non-Catholics. This Catholic aim would be new, but there is a crying need for catechesis that I might be able to help with. The evangelization effort might aim at other non-Catholic areas as well, something I’ve studiously avoided in the past because of the often pugilistic nature of such stuff on the web.

True, it may be a bit ambitious for a guy who took five months off to look at expanding his blog. But it’s also true that there are other elements involved here, and I think the expansion might be good. The readership has dropped to levels that are, well, shockingly low at times. An expansion might help bring more people by. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll tank the blog and take up embroidery. My wife is always trying to get more people interested in embroidery anyway.

Bear with me a bit longer as I discern and work through the last elements of the re-launch.

It's First Friday again, and the Dallas bloggers are fasting against abortion. Please join us in prayer, even if you can't fast.

"It all began here in Dallas - in our home town, where we raise our families, where we go to church, where we live, and love, and learn, and work.

"We are three bloggers who also live in the Dallas area. We are deeply committed to ending abortion in this country. To that end, we have committed ourselves to the following: On each First Friday for the next eleven months, we will fast and pray before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. This will culminate at the annual Dallas March for Life in January of 2008, where we will join our bishop and the faithful of this city in marching to the courthouse where Roe was originally argued."

I decided to update the dot races files for the summer months that I was gone (or forgot). I doubt anyone else cares, but I find it interesting how many other people find their way here from all over the world.

Thanks for visiting!

1. Canada - 84
2. Japan - 48
3. Germany - 42
4. UK - 36
5. Australia - 21
5. Hungary - 21
5. Israel - 21

Wow! A five way tie. I don't think that's ever happened before. Also, I think this is the first time Hungary and Israel have landed on the top five. Welcome to the newcomers!

1. Finland - 339
2. Canada - 145
3. Italy - 38
4. New Zealand - 36
5. Germany - 25

Welcome back to the Italian visitors!

1. Finland - 1530!
2. Canada - 180
3. New Zealand - 121
4. Australia - 78
5. Japan - 55

How 'bout them Finns!

1. Finland - 315
2. Japan - 249
3. Canada - 146
4. New Zealand - 129
5. Germany - 128

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After three months in first place, the Germans drop to fifth. After a long time off, the Kiwis are back as well. And Japan makes a strong surge - domo arigato!

1. Germany - 510
2. Japan - 327
3. Canada - 89
4. Australia - 47
5. Finland - 43

Three months in a row for Germany.

1. Germany - 461
2. Canada - 127
3. India - 80
4. Japan - 79
5. Poland - 78

One hit seperating India, Japan and Poland. Very tight month.

1. Germany - 430
2. Canada - 131
3. Japan - 117
4. Australia - 84
5. Netherlands - 67

I think this is the first time that the Netherlands has scored so well.