Results

For every action there is a reaction. For every sult, there is a result?

I learned, for the umpteenth time, the result of procrastinating. I will be enjoying a late evening finishing my spanish paper. I only have 300 more words, but need I remind you, those words are in Spanish.

The gospel on Sunday just proved to me, for another umpteenth time, that Jesus is awesome and he never procrastinated. In fact, he was always vigilant and sober, ready for anything. He fasted and prayed for 40 days in the desert (not much else to do in the desert, according to Father Peter at mass), so that even when he was face to face with Satan himself, he could ignore those temptations. In fashionable internet speak amongst young people, Jesus pwnd. Everything the devil tossed out, Jesus had his response made ready.

One of my favorite verses in the bible is 1 Peter 3:15, which reads "Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence" (NRSV).

Procrastinating is certainly not being prepared for anything. Fortunately, I am what society calls a college student, and we can run off minimal sleep for extended periods of time. This knowledge of my ability to function on little sleep, as well as knowing I procrastinated by going to the gym for an hour and a half, and writing in this blog, help me rationalize this terribly silly habit of procrastination.

So tonight's actions and results?
Paper-not done
blog- DONE!
sore muscles- DONE!

2 out of 3, not bad.

Holy Report Card

I am a terrible procrastinator.
Like I said in my previous post, I am visiting home this weekend, but instead of going out to enjoy this wonderful city, I resolved to stay in and get homework done.

Oh, I stayed in, and in the 7 hours I have been awake, I have accomplished 3 paragraphs for a 4 page paper. Granted, it is in Spanish, and Spanish is not my first language. It is also a history paper and I do not particularly care for the history of the Iberian peninsula and how it affected the Aztecs. It will take un milagro for me to finish this paper tonight.

So 3 paragraphs in 7 hours. That's pretty pathetic. Assume 6 paragraphs a page, 4 pages total, I need 21 more paragraphs. At this rate, it will take me about 2 more full days to write this. Don't worry, I will speed up. Those 7 hours that only produced 3 paragraphs were interrupted by my sick dog, my family, and eating, lots and lots of eating the yummy leftovers from the casino party last night.

This measuring of academic achievement today prompts me to think about my Lenten achievements. The problem with this is that it isn't quite as measurable. There isn't a word count or a page limit, in fact the achievements necessary for holiness are endless. You never reach a holiness 4.00 or a holiness limit, it is constant growth. A good friend of mine has said to me many times, "There is no standing still on the path to holiness. If you aren't moving forward, you are moving backwards."

We do not have the convenient tool of a time sensitive check list, but we have other wonderful resources for how to grow in holiness, like the Bible (I'm a fan of the NRSV), and a whole slew of documents and teachings of the church to guide us on our way. I am currently reading Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical on economics (ok, not exactly economics, but there is a lot of good stuff for econgeeks like me).

I must conclude this post and return to my Spanish paper and/or watch my school's basketball team on ESPN.