Are you in a bubble?

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/lifestyle/2011/12/28/fashion-in-a-bubble

A while ago, I wrote on this blog a description of hell. Hell has been on my mind lately as I had to have what some would think is a minor operation, but as I almost died, (and did once and came back, as it were), in operations owing to being sensitive or allergic to anesthetics, I prepare for the worst going into all ops.

The reality of death stares me in the face because of the dangers I face with such drugs. Thankfully, as I am writing this today, I did not have any serious reactions.

But, when one faces death or the possibility of death, one has to be real about one's salvation.

I also wrote about purgatory on this blog a while ago. Again, the truth that "only the perfect see God" dictates that if we do not go through purgation on earth in order to be purified, we must go through this in another manner after death. This separation from God and pain owing to punishments for sin and for past missed opportunities for accepting graces is what we call "purgatory". See my other post here on this blog.

The problem many of us have is the sin of "rationalization". We want to dodge and weave our ways out of consequences for sin. Younger generations than myself, whose members either sat on "time-out" benches or had no consequences in the home for bad behavior, being virtually ignored by parents for whatever reasons, have no idea of the meaning and reality of consequences.

http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

Consequences form part of the "natural" part of life. If I knock this mug of coffee off the kitchen table where I am typing, coffee will spill all over the floor, and, most likely, the mug will break. I shall then have to clean up the mess.

As a former Montessori teacher, in real schools, not play groups or day-care centers, I could help the little ones sweep up crumbs after snack, put their "work" away, and so on. In the best Montessori schools, there is no plastic. I repeat that-no plastic. Bowls and cups, trays and materials are made of glass or wood. These things break when dropped. And, that is the entire point of using such. The children learn to be careful and to clean up if something is broken.

Too many Catholics live in "plastic worlds". They have surrounded themselves with plastic of a different kind.

Sin separates from God and from other people. Sin makes us live in plastic bubbles.

These plastics are relativism, individualism, Pelganism, neo-Pelagianism and so on. These ideas deny the consequences of sin.

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/lifestyle/2011/12/28/fashion-in-a-bubble

Just as a child surrounded by plastic never learns consequences in a natural way, so too, adults who surround their souls with false teaching, uninformed consciences, and, yes, bad friends, create a bubble world of plastic in which they can exist in a fake comfort zone.

We need to break out of these comfort zones and then, to help others break out of these plastic bubbles. We need clergy to speak to the real sins which plagued Great Britain's Catholics-contraception, fornication, homosexuality, pornography, greed, selfishness and so on.

Sins add to the plastic bubble, making it almost impervious to grace. Bad habits and habitual sin turn a plastic bubble into steel, and in that bubble, a person travels slowly but surely to hell, or to a long time in purgatory.

People say, "I shall be glad to make it to purgatory." 

This is an error in thinking. When one sins, one not only creates the plastic bubble, but one weakens the Church from within.

If one is full of egotism, one cannot, cannot build up the Kingdom of God.

We have too many people walking around in plastic, or even steel "bubbles".

Lent is a time to break out and let God be God in our lives, by allowing Him to destroy our self-made bubbles, and make us walk out into the light of truth.

Is this painful? Yes, this is painful,  but much less painful than purgatory. And, the process of purgation is much less final than hell.

Just some thoughts in the beginning of Lent.....

http://www.selectism.com/2011/07/29/melvin-sokolsky-fashion-in-a-bubble/