V. for Veils and Vegetarianism

I feel like there is too much to say today.  I have lots going on and lots floating around in my head.

1. It's been a really, really, really tough week.  I mean, it was one of those weeks where the phrase "when it rains, it pours" aptly describes it.  First it was my car, and then I couldn't make it to work.  And then I upset my Mom over the car, which I'm not even sure how I did that. Then it was "we're not paying you until March 1," and I've used my savings to live off of for the past month, so for February, I have no money.  Which means asking my parents to borrow money. Which means no Valentine's Day supper to fix for Heathcliff.  I was going to go all out and make him filet mignon and buy a fondue pot for dessert, but there will be none of that this Valentine's Day.  Along with no V-Day present for him: a four way medal.  And then I found out I don't get a tax refund this year.  Somehow, I OWE the government money! :((((

Sometimes, though, I think we get dealt crappy weeks to be reminded that we need God. It seems like every time I slack up in the spiritual life department, I get slapped with crappy days, and it always has a way of driving me back to Jesus, calling on Him and the Saints to help me because Lord knows, I can't help myself. 

2. As per my last post, I realized I'm not really fasting anymore since I've pretty much transitioned to vegetarianism. However, I was reading about Saint Francis.  Saint Francis didn't eat meat because he wanted to respect all of God's creation. So, many vegetarian websites like to claim him as a "famous" vegetarian. What they don't realize is that he didn't actually subscribe to vegetarianism as a philosophy or as a form of protest like these people do.  The meat industry wasn't around when Saint Francis wasn't eating spare ribs.  Rather, it seems he took it as a permanent devotion to abstain from meat. 

My solution to the vegetarian fasting problem was to simply give up fish and soy protein since that seemed to be the most logical things for a vegetarian to give up. I tried to go without fish or soy today, and it was hard.  That basically eliminated most of what was in my fridge. I wasn't really tired, but I was hungry.  I gave in at supper and ate some sardines on a slice of cheese pizza. 

I'm well aware that we don't "have to" give something up for the Fridays year round, but I'd rather do it. Penance is good for the soul.  So, I feel like I have a couple of different options, one of which is to become an omnivore again.  But I do like the idea of vegetarianism as a devotion a la Saint Francis.  

I don't know.  More research, prayer, and contemplation is required before I take that option. 

Speaking of which, I'm going to visit my parents tomorrow, and they plan on buying BBQ for dinner. LOL.  I love my parents.  

3. I had a really profound moment tonight.  While reading up about veils as I so often do in an attempt to hype myself up to wear one, I came across this article: Veils

Most of those arguments I had come across before, but I had not heard the argument about the angels.  However, if you take a second to follow this man's logic, it is quite convincing.  But I cannot tell you the profound moment of "a-ha!" I had regarding this statement: Hence the idea seems to be that since the angels veil their faces (heads) it is fitting for women to do the same. But then the question, why not a man too? And here also Paul supplies an aswer that is “difficult” for modern ears: A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. In other words a man shares God’s glory immediately whereas a woman does as well but derivatively for she was formed from Adam’s wounded side.

You would think it would be so obvious.  Of course woman was made from man! But when you understand yourself in terms of "made in the image of God," this changes things.  It truly shows that if you are a woman, by default, you are different from your male counterparts.  You're lower down on the totem pole, but no less valuable. One way you can glorify God is to glorify the image of him: man. 

I can honestly say I've always had a bit of a rebellious streak when it came to submission to a man, and I've had problems accepting this teaching. Course, you  must consider, I am a product of a two income house hold; my mom grew up during the 70's, and all my college mentors encouraged feminism.  In fact, I used to be a bit of a raging feminist in my early college years (probably as a reaction against a boyfriend who was abusive).  However, in my own meandering way, I did come to the conclusion that some submission to a man is necessary in a relationship.  In fact, I can remember telling Heathcliff something similar to this during one of our many conversations when we first met: "No man can control me unless I give him permission.  And I won't give him permission unless he is a stand-up kinda guy and treats me with respect. And even then he won't be controlling me.  It'll be more like I'm choosing to listen to him because he's a good guy, and a good guy is never going to do you wrong." He replied that he really liked that answer, and I told him that I had learned that lesson the hard way. 

So you can see why this teaching has been a particularly hard pill for me to swallow.  Perhaps this is one reason why I haven't donned the mantilla yet.  Maybe I'm just not spiritually ready. 

The other part of this man's argument also really strikes me: a woman's hair is her glory; thus, as not to detract attention from the Eucharist, she should cover it up.  

This concept is not new to me, as I grew up in the backwoods with several Pentecostal friends.  Those girls don't cut their hair, and if asked, you would get schooled on why.  In seventh grade, I probably knew more Pentecostal doctrine than Protestant because of this.  And they took care of their hair too.  As if it truly were their glory.

I love my hair, and I do think it to be one of my better features.  In fact, most of my life, my hair has been my most complimented feature. And I am quite adamant about taking care of it, though it tends not to want to cooperate.  But I have had super short hair before (not by choice - I got lice from a rented theatre costume and had to lose all of it to be cured and finish school), and I can honestly say I've never felt less feminine in my entire life.   In fact, a good bit of my life, my hair has looked like this: 

(BTW, excuse the pose; this was the least offensive picture I could find as most of them are from my early years of undergrad) But you can see how long my hair is. 

So the argument that "a woman's hair is her glory" completely makes sense now, considering how strongly I feel about my hair. And the idea of covering it up makes sense as well.  It all comes back around to modesty and humility.  I don't want to detract from the Eucharist or divert another lay person's attention from the Eucharist because I decided to pull my hair into a fancy side chignon.  Time to cover it up, lady.  

4. I'm thinking of a redesign of the site.  While writing this, I couldn't help but think of V. for Vendetta. 

Only mine would be:

V. for Veils

V. for Vegetarianism

V. for Veronica

Ahahaha. That's so corny and dramatic, but I'll probably do something similar because that's how I roll. 

And if you read all of this; God bless you.  You have to care a lot to get this far in my ramblings. 

Less than 3,

V. 

Post Friday Fast Thought

Some people may know this; some may not.  I am a closet vegetarian.  Or a 90% of the time vegetarian.
Technically, I'm a pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish), but let's not get bogged down in labels.

I've always had a problem eating meat.  When I was twelve, I tried to become a full vegetarian, but it just wasn't possible with my family's diet. Don't get me wrong - if someone has invited me over for dinner and they've fixed a meat dish, I'll eat it.  But I've always shied away from meat. If you asked me if I wanted a hamburger or fish, I would pick fish.  Chicken or fish, fish.  And even now, I feel kinda guilty eating fish. (But more on why I do later).

One reason I don't like eating meat is that it just makes me sad that there used to be a living, breathing, animal.  Granted, animals don't have souls, and if they're here for our sustenance, then people should have no problem eating them.  Still, I never liked the idea that I was consuming something that used to be alive, in the sense that it respired.

Over the past year, I've read books about what the meat industry does to their animals, and it makes me cry. And gag.  There is some really terrible stuff going on in our meat industry. So part of why I don't eat it is social protest, but it's not my only reason. (And no, I'm not in PETA).  :)

The other reasons: it is cheaper not to eat meat.  When I started living on my own, meat was one of the first things to get tossed off the grocery list because it was too expensive.

It's healthier. Getting rid of meat in my diet forced me to buy more vegetables and fruits to make up for what my diet would now be lacking.  Now, after eating a supper, I don't get the post supper -itis.  (You know, that feeling where you're so bloated you can't do anything but sit and then sleep).  But before, when I was eating meat, it made me feel gross and sluggish afterwards.

So to bring it back around, I do eat fish.  And I think it's because my father used to take me fishing as a child.  At six, I used to clean and gut the fish we caught.  Granted it did make me sad, but there is something about being around an animal while it's dying and making your peace with it (I think I might have actually told the fish "Sorry fish. But you sure are going to taste good").  I think this is why I can eat fish and be ok with it.

I know you're thinking - V.  where does Catholicism fit into all of this? Well, here's my quandary.  I do the Friday fast.

If the Friday fast means giving up meat for the day, and I give meat up on a daily basis and eat fish centered meals on the weekends (read: Fridays), should I be giving up fish or some other protein based food on Friday? Because getting to eat salmon or shrimp or catfish is a real treat for me compared to what I eat during the week (stir fry tofu, pb&j, meatless tacos, etc).  In fact, I look forward to eating my fish on Friday, but should I? Abstinence is supposed to be an act of penance, but I don't feel like eating my fish is.  And I know I could give something up and just offer up more prayers, but I know myself. I won't do it.  Cutting something out of my diet is something I can handle and will remember to do on a weekly basis.

So, I guess my question is this: is my Friday fast of fish still an act of penance even though I don't eat much, if any, meat during the week?  And if it isn't, what should I fast from on Fridays? My most heavily protein based foods?

Less than 3,

V.

Those Mormons...

Sure know how to dress!

Cute and modest, and dare I say - somewhat high fashion.

I MUST OWN THIS DRESS

There are lots of other cute dresses for sale on that site, but I am totally drooling over that one. It works for day and night. They also have it in black. What, what!?!?! A modest LBD??? Oh yes, with the Mormon online clothing stores, it's possible.

Anytime you google modest clothing, a plethora of online LDS shops come up, and they aren't afraid to put LDS Clothing Shop right up front in the google results.  And it's all super cute and (mostly) affordable, gosh darnit.

And this has always kind of baffled me - why, if we Catholics are supposed to have the same modesty guidelines as the LDS (which we do; I've checked), do we not have a plethora of shops that come up in google?  What is it that makes us so lackadaisical in our dress in and out of Mass?

I think the answer might lie in the fact that the Mormons consistently evangelize their young.  From what I can gather, the idea of modesty is not only reinforced by the parents, but there are online resources (like Jen, a modest young girl's answer to Cosmopolitan magazine), there are brochures handed out on a regular basis by LDS youth to their peers on LDS college campuses about modesty, and so much more.  They are constantly reminded by their community, whether it be elders or peers, that modesty is important, in dress or otherwise.

Which leads me to my next question - why aren't we doing the same thing? I really wish I had even an inkling of an answer for that, but I suppose, as a Faith, we're more worried about getting people in for confession or believing transubstantiation actually takes place during Mass (I think I read a recent pew study that an alarming ~40% of Catholics don't actually believe that what they receive at Mass is the body and blood of Christ). Source Here.  Granted modesty is not the be-all end-all answer for these growing concerns, but I would think it would help some. If people weren't dressed so sloppily or immodestly drawing other's attention to themselves, maybe people would focus on what's right in front of them at Mass: Christ!

I suppose this blog was stirred up by this article America's Next Top Model Contestant Lobbies for Modesty.  This lady has recently gone on to become a speaker for the program Pure Fashion, and I must say, I think their guidelines are quite reasonable compared to some of the other stuff I've seen floating around. Pure Fashion Guidelines.

Honestly, I still have problems with the no sleeveless thing during the summer, or I can't wear running shorts to go for a run, but I continually tell myself it's better for everyone if I slap on a little more clothing.  Besides, no one wants to be blinded by my pasty white legs anyway. :)

Happy Thursday and less than 3,

V.