So, three months after her husband's assault, it comes out that Nancy Pelosi wants her house exorcised.

 I'm not sure if that's exactly how she put it, but that's how it was stated in the report I heard.

On the one hand, this is good.  Everyone should want their house blessed.

On the second hand, asking for an "exorcism" to drive out post-traumatic "negative energy" one might feel after what looks like a mundane home invasion by a violently mentally ill acquaintance--you know, that normal phenomenon of re-experiencing the feelings surrounding a painful event when reflecting on (or being "triggered" by) it--smells like one of those PR-tweaking performances that high profile people enact after realizing they've done something too alienating but are in truth too alien to hoi polloi, to the degree where their attempts to bridge the gap and garner empathy push people farther away.  

Think of when Mark Zuckerberg had to testify before Congress, and all the memes about him being a lizard person in disguise and trying to drink water not to calm himself but to appear more mammalian, which is a very non-mammalian way to go about it.  Or when a parent tries to be cool in front of their tween children, not realizing that whether or not they were cool themselves when they were younger, it's not something you can achieve by trying.

So it seems like just another part of her flawed campaign to appear a devoted Catholic, like all her "I love receiving communion like you other Catholics and I appreciate all the nuns at school who told me I could do that while still promoting abortion; what do 915 cannons have to do with anything?" talk.  She might be trying to fool voters or maybe just herself, like with her other publicity stunts such as that public act of repentance for being white she participated in during the Floyd riots where she wore "African colors" and went down on one knee but couldn't get back up.

But back on the first hand again, this could be the camel's nose in the tent of grace in her life.  Maybe she really was shaken up a bit and is reaching out in the only way she knows how, maybe all the prayers for her conversion and the end to her scandalous politicking are starting to pay off.

Let's hope and pray for more of that.

Prayer request

For my brother in law, and his family; for his job and his relationship with my sister.

The job he had for most of their marriage was not a well paying one, but they were saving money on day care by him going in to work very early and then coming home shortly before my sister would leave for the closing shift at her store, sort of a tag team arrangement.  After a few years it was starting to wear on all of them, with my niece's demeanor changing and my sister getting stress related illnesses.

Finally, last year a former boss of his asked him to apply for a position with his new company, one that sounded like it was created with him in mind.  It wasn't everything he hoped, but it was something he seemed well enough suited for him, and they had to make some kind of change, so my sister quit her job and they moved across the country.

A few months later it comes out that his boss seems to have adopted a "sink or swim" policy; he's leaving my brother in law to figure things out on his own, on the grounds that he'll learn it better, but it's to the point where he can hardly get ahold of his boss, and when he e-mails him, his boss waits until he leaves his desk and then leaves a note for him.

He's not the only one who feels this way; one of his other coworkers feels adrift and suspects their boss likes to travel on business to avoid whatever's going on at home or at least the home office, and has trouble delegating.

I've had bosses who had their own struggles at work before.  In the worst case, it cost me my job and then it cost him his (I can't blame him entirely, I wasn't quite ready for a job like that, but some timely mentoring might have made the difference).  So let's pray for his boss, too.

And this is weighing on the family as well.  Their kids--I'm back on my niece and nephew again--are doing better now than when he and my sister were doing the tag-team job thing where they're only all together about twenty minutes a day, but now my sister is home with the kids instead of being the breadwinner, which she's growing into, but my brother in law isn't used to having to shoulder all the financial responsibility alone.  I'm sure there's more going on that I'm just not hearing about, too.

Please pray, also, that he comes back to the church.  He's nominally Catholic but is pretty lukewarm; she goes to church every Sunday, but goes alone.

Prayer request

So, I took a new job back in July, moved across three states to do it.  I wasn't sure that I'd like it a lot, but it was a good career move.  The guy who interviewed me warned me that the hours would be long, which gave me some pause, but assured me that dedication and hard work were well rewarded.  So, I took the chance.

Things were okay at first.  I hadn't quite been trained on enough of my new responsibilities to fill the 60-72 hour work week by the end of my second month, but that didn't matter because they thrust me into a supervisory position.  My boss wasn't thrilled with losing me, and he was sympathetic because in every way except the most abstract I had no qualifications for the job or for the department I was now on loan to ("they figure," my boss said, "you're smart enough, you can figure it out"), but neither of us really had a say in the matter.

I don't want to go into details now about the corporate climate; suffice it to say our management was accurately described in an online review of the company as having "comic-book villain personalities."

So here's my concern.  I left my last job for a lot of the reasons I don't like my current job.  I know it's not like this everywhere, but this seems to be endemic to the industry, if not to American business in general.  It's making me think that engineering isn't what I'm supposed to do for the rest of my life, if I can't go somewhere that isn't going to make me sick.

I ask, then, for your prayers:  that for now I continue to get by, and that I may discern what the rest of my career should be, and succeed in whatever that is.

Prayer request

My grandmother was admitted to hospice yesterday.  She's ornery and had a series of small strokes years ago, followed by a couple years of mismedication, so it was thought that she was merely getting more ornery and senile, but for reasons I'm not clear on they decided to get someone to review some test results taken about a month ago; it turns out she's got a cracked L4 vertebra, I think it is, and cerebrospinal fluid is leaking somewhere in her brain.  She's in pain but lucid; seemed happy to be admitted and is ready for an end to living with all that pain.

Pre-diagnosis, they speculated she might have a month left to live.  Knowing that she has actual medical problems and what they are, I'm not sure how it changes her prognosis; if she were younger, perhaps surgery could help, but they don't think she's strong enough to survive an operation on her back.  No idea what palliative options may even exist for her brain thing.

Prayers are requested, for a happy death whenever it comes and comfort in the meantime.  She gave up going to church a few years ago and agreed to see a priest when asked but didn't want confession because she still harbors a lot of anger.

On that note I would also ask for prayers for my grandfather and her relationship with him; I don't know what may have gone on between them but he is the target of much of her ire.  He may be a curmudgeon, but he doesn't have much else in his life than her.

Your prayers once again requested...

My dad informed me today that he's going to be moving out of the hospital--he's been in for several days to contend with pneumonia and an apparent abdominal infection--and into hospice care at home. He had abdominal surgery to remove some malignant tumors in the spring and has had fluid building up ever since. Right now all the readable signs are pointing to the infection actually being a recurrance of his cancer.

I haven't had a chance to talk with him in detail about what's transpired yet; he's supposed to call tonight. One or two medical cards may still be waiting to be played, but I think my parents have made a decision to scale back the treatments to less heroic levels. I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping for a non-mundane miracle, but after receiving several messages pointing to Dad being some kind of witness to God's grace and mercy, my folks are trying to prepare for the eventuality that he's not going to be doing so by going around and giving uplifting talks to groups of people.

A spontaneous recovery after all means known to medical science have been eliminated would be more glorious, I suppose, but we all know it doesn't always work in ways that make sense this side of the veil.

If you would send your prayers our way, especially strength for my mom and comfort for my dad and hope for both of them, I would be grateful. I'll also be praying for my readers, so if any of you have anything to ask for, feel free to mention it (or not, if you're confidentially minded) in the combox.

Another prayer request for the fam'

My dad recently got word that he's going to be heading back to Mayo to get those tumors on his liver removed. They're going to do a hi-res scan and then open him up to go over the organ with a fine toothed comb. It's scheduled for a month from now. Any and all your prayers would be welcome.

I'd be happy for them to actually find the tumors and finally get rid of them, although I'd be happier if they disappeared like the last couple times but didn't come back.

Saints Luke and Peregrine, pray for us.

Bleg, as they say

I could use your prayers.

I've been tapped to help someone who got himself into a bit of a crisis. He's the one who needs your prayers, really, but while I'm sympathetic, I'm not always the most helpful person when it's not a matter of "can I help you carry heavy objects and give you a lift across town?"

So, for both of us. That I can help point him to the graces he needs, and that he'll be ready and willing to accept it.

Prayer request

My dad got the results of a CT scan for colon cancer yesterday. He was diagnosed almost a year and a half ago, had surgery the Thanksgiving before last, and responded really well to chemotherapy. Three months ago he had a scan and it was clear--everyone was ready to say it was an actual cure, not just a hopeful case of remission. The most recent scan showed multiple spots on the liver (there were a few there originally, but they all were removed or had disappeared during chemo) around an inch across.

We don't know what it all means, especially after his recovery that even impressed the doctors, but his bloodwork also came back as abnormal, so it's probably not just an image artifact. We'll find out more when he actually goes to meet with his doctor, which I think is tomorrow.

Every prayer you'd be willing to throw our way would be most appreciated. If you want to trade special intentions with me, feel free to follow up with a prayer request for whatever's on your mind and heart, and I ask everyone reading to pray for you, too.