About Funky Dung
Who is Funky Dung?
29-year-old grad student in Intelligent Systems (A.I.) at the University of Pittsburgh. I consider myself to be politically moderate and independent and somewhere between a traditional and neo-traditional Catholic.
I was raised Lutheran, spent a number of years as an agnostic, and joined the Catholic Church at the 2000 Easter Vigil.
Why Funky Dung?
I haven't been asked this question nearly as many times as you or I might expect. Funky Dung is a reference to an obscure Pink Floyd song. On the album Atom Heart Mother, there is a track called Atom Heart Mother Suite. It's broken up into movements, like a symphony, and one of the movements is called Funky Dung. I picked that nickname a long time ago (while I was still in high school I think), shortly after getting an internet connection for the first time. To me it means "cool/neat/groovy/spiffy stuff/crap/shiznit", as in "That's some cool stuff, dude!"
Whence Ales Rarus?
I used to enjoy making people guess what this means, but I've decided to relent and make it known to all. Ales Rarus is a Latin play on words. "Avis rarus" means "a rare bird" and carries similar meaning to "an odd fellow". "Ales" is another Latin word for bird that carries connotations of omens, signs of the times, and/or augery. If you want to get technical, both "avis" and "ales" are feminine (requiring "rara", but they can be made masculine in poetry (which tends to breaks lots of rules). I decided I'd rather have a masculine name in Latin. ;) Yeah, I'm a nerd. So what? :-P
Wherefore blog?
It is my intention to "teach in order to lead others to faith" by being always "on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful" through the "use of the communications media". I also act knowing that I "have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors [my] opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and [I] have a right to make [my] opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward [my and their] pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons." (adapted from CCC 904-907)
Statement of Faith
I have been baptized and confirmed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I, therefore, renounce Satan; I renounce all his works; I renounce all his allurements.
I hold and profess all that is contained in the Apostles' Creed, the Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
Having been buried with Christ unto death and raised up with him unto a new life, I promise to live no longer for myself or for that world which is the enemy of God but for him who died for me and rose again, serving God, my heavenly Father, faithfully and unto death in the holy Catholic Church.
I am obedient to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. That is, I promote and defend authentic Catholic Teaching and Faith in union with Christ and His Church and in union with the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of St. Peter.
Thanks be unto Thee, O my God, for all Thy infinite goodness, and, especially, for the love Thou hast shown unto me at my Confirmation. I Give Thee thanks that Thou didst then send down Thy Holy Spirit unto my soul with all His gifts and graces.
May He take full possession of me for ever.
May His divine unction cause my face to shine.
May His heavenly wisdom reign in my heart.
May His understanding enlighten my darkness.
May His counsel guide me.
May His knowledge instruct me.
May His piety make me fervent.
May His divine fear keep me from all evil.
Drive from my soul, O Lord, all that may defile it.
Give me grace to be Thy faithful soldier, that having fought the good fight of faith, I may be brought to the crown of everlasting life, through the merits of Thy dearly beloved Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Behind the Curtain: an Interview With Funky Dung (Thursday, March 03, 2005)
I try to avoid most memes that make their way 'round the blogosphere (We really do need a better name, don't
we?), but some are worth participating in. Take for instance the "interview game" that's the talk o'
the 'sphere. I think it's a great way to get to know the people in neighborhood. Who are the people in your
neighborhood? In your neighborhod? In your neigh-bor-hoo-ood...*smack* Sorry, Sesame Street flashback.
Anyhow, I saw Jeff "Curt Jester"
Miller's answers and figured since he's a regular reader of mine he'd be a good interviewer. Without
further ado, here are my answers to his questions.
1. Being that your pseudonym Funky Dung was chosen from a Pink Floyd track on Atom Heart Mother, what is you
favorite Pink Floyd song and why?
Wow. That's a tuffy. It's hard to pick out a single favorite. Pink Floyd isn't really a band known for
singles. They mostly did album rock and my appreciation of them is mostly of a gestalt nature. If I had to
pick one, though, it'd be "Comfortably Numb". I get chills up my spine every time I hear it and if
it's been long enough since the last time, I get midty-eyed. I really don't know why. That's a rather
unsatisfying answer for an interview, so here are the lyrics to a Rush song. It's not their best piece of music,
but the lyrics describe me pretty well.
New World Man
He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine
He's got a problem with his poisons
But you know he'll find a cure
He's cleaning up his systems
To keep his nature pure
Learning to match the beat of the old world man
Learning to catch the heat of the third world man
He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know what's right
But young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it ---
He's a new world man...
He's a radio receiver
Tuned to factories and farms
He's a writer and arranger
And a young boy bearing arms
He's got a problem with his power
With weapons on patrol
He's got to walk a fine line
And keep his self-control
Trying to save the day for the old world man
Trying to pave the way for the third world man
He's not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He's noble enough to know what's right
But weak enough not to choose it
He's wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it ---
He's a new world man...
2. What do you consider your most important turning point from agnosticism to the Catholic Church.
At some point in '99, I started attending RCIA at the Pittsburgh Oratory. I mostly went to ask a lot of
obnoxious Protestant questions. Or at least that's what I told myself. I think deep down I wanted desperately
to have faith again. At that point I think I'd decided that if any variety of Christianity had the Truth, the
Catholic Church did. Protestantism's wholesale rejection of 1500 years of tradition didn't sit well with me,
even as a former Lutheran.
During class one week, Sister Bernadette Young (who runs the program) passed out thin booklet called "
Handbook for Today's Catholic". One paragraph
in that book spoke to me and I nearly cried as I read it.
"A person who is seeking deeper insight into reality may sometimes have doubts, even about God himself.
Such doubts do not necessarily indicate lack of faith. They may be just the opposite - a sign of growing faith.
Faith is alive and dynamic. It seeks, through grace, to penetrate into the very mystery of God. If a
particular doctrine of faith no longer 'makes sense' to a person, the person should go right on seeking. To
know what a doctrine says is one thing. To gain insight into its meaning through the gift of understanding is
something else. When in doubt, 'Seek and you will find.' The person who seeks y reading, discussing,
thinking, or praying eventually sees the light. The person who talks to God even when God is 'not there' is
alive with faith."
At the end of class I told Sr. Bernadette that I wanted to enter the Church at the next Easter vigil.
3. If you were a tree what kind of, oh sorry about that .. what is the PODest thing you have ever
done?
I set up
WikiIndex, a clearinghouse for reviews
of theological books, good, bad, and ugly. It has a long way to go, but it'll be cool when it's finished. :)
4. What is your favorite quote from Venerable John Henry Newman?
"Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."
5. If you could ban one hymn from existence, what would it be?
That's a tough one. As a member of
the Society for a Moratorium on the Music of
Marty Haugen and David Haas, there are obviously a lot of songs that grate on my nerves. If I had to pick
one, though, I'd probably pick
"Sing
of the Lord's Goodness" by Ernie Sands.
Thank God for that I can submit my prayer request here, and thank you for your prayer, may God bless you.
Firstly, please pray for that my mother was cheated by Mr. Kwong, Mr Ho, Hin Chai and Anna the year before, she went to a company and worked as an Office assistant, but they cheated my mother, and compelled my mother to give her money out to them(they cheated my mother that the money was used for investment, and the investment was failured), and went away, thank God for that the policemen arrested Mr. Kwong now, but the Mr. Ho , Hin Chai and Anna were still not arrested, please pray for that God can help the policemen in the investigation, and find the evidence to accuse the Mr. Kwong and his helper in the judiciary court, thank God for that the policemen sent us several letters till now about that the investigation is in the progressing, please pray for that God can move their heart, Mr. Kwong , Mr. Ho, Hin Chai and Anna will regret about that they cheated my mother, and they can have pity on my mother , and return the money back to my mother , thank you.
Secondly, (1) Please pray for that I can improve my working efficiency, and please pray for and thank God for that God can protect my family members and I will not to be hurt by my workmates and supervisors in order that I can have psychological health during working and I will have a stable job after my contract due, and pray for and thank God for that I will not be suffered in the marital problems in my job, please pray for that I can further my contract, please pray for that God can help me to make my every effort in keeping my job, please pray for that God can protect my job – which is as a Contract Office Support Assistant, I need this job very much, please pray for that God can have mercy upon me, please pray for that God can help me to tackle with the wrong I make in my job, include I break a pen when I feel very stressed, please pray for that God will forgive my fault and will not punish me about my fault, and I will not make this wrong or others again whole life times, and help me to keep the job after the end of my contract and further my contract for one more year, and please pray for and thank God for that I can have talent to do a job if I will not further the contract later, because I want to earn living for my family members, and please pray for that my mother and I can use our all our spare time to study bible, distribute the gospel pamphlets and pray, so that we can have spiritual growth up. (2)please pray for that my mother, my brother and I can have safety during working hour, God can protect our job, and please pray for that my mother can find a new job , and please pray for that God can protect my family members and I to have a job, my sister lost her job also, and please pray for that she can find a new job. (3)Please pray for that I do not want to eat the psychological medicine and my boss will not command me or accompany me to see the psychological doctor and eat the psychological medicine, I will explain that I could not accept the side effect of the psychological medicine, so that I will not eat the psychological medicine, if my boss command me to eat the medicine,I will say I want to see the psychologist rather than eat the psychological medicine, please pray for that God can keep my tongue, help me to answer to the psychological doctor and boss, because he command another boss to accompany me to see the psychological doctor, please protect me not to be hurt by the psychological medicines, psychological problems and my bosses, also please pray for that my family members and I have wisdom to tackle with it too, and please pray for that my family members can understand my psychological situation, because my bosses now force my family members to persuade me to eat the psychological medicines, please pray for that they force me to see the psychological doctor on 4 May 2006, I am afraid that they will place the psychological medicines into my food when I am carelessly, and I am afraid that I will hard to find another jobs if my future bosses know that I have take in the psychological medicines and I am afraid that I will face the prejudice from other people, because if I can answer to the others that I had not eaten any psychological medicines but just see the psychological doctor only, the others will accept me more and will not have prejudice. Please pray for that I can have privilege (as other common people have) to say to each other that I had not yet eaten any psychological medicines, so that I will need not to suffer the pressure of prejudice and inconvenience. And please pray for that my bosses spoke to me if I do not wish to eat the psychological medicines, they will not further my contracts, please pray for that God can protect me not to speak “no” to my bosses directly, so that I will not suffer from pressure that come from the opinions of others because I had eat psychological medicines or not . Please pray for that my brother and sister were contacted by my bosses, so that my sister tlod me that she will not be my sister if I do not want to eat the psychological medicines, and my brother said that he want to use violent to force me to see the psychological doctor and eat the psychological medicines, they now try to persuade me to eat the psychological medicines, please pray for that my family members and I will not hurt by my bosses, and will not suffer a loss at the judgement day. (4) Please pray for that I now use a sharp wood to cut into my skin in order that I can keep on prayer , please pray for that my bosses and family members can understand that I am just praying, so that they will not force me to eat the psychological medicines, the reason I do not want to eat the psychological medicines , because I want to gain the confident from my future bosses, and I will not suffer the pressure from it, please pray for that my family members will not be persuaded by my bosses, and stressed on me, please pray for that they can help me to overcome this problems arise from my bosses. Please pray for that my family members may understand the side effect from psychological medicines, and will not force me to eat it. (5)Please pray for that I can restore my psychological health, because I am always blame myself about the sins I committed before, I am afraid that God will punish me about the sins I committed before, please pray for that I can have biblical mind to know will God punish me one day or not, so that I can live out good witnesses and have peace to face the punishment from God one day, and please pray for that God can forgive me. (6)Please pray for that my father is at risk now, because the government in the China want to bought my father’s house, but my father don’t want to sell the building to the government at the cheap price, someone told my father that the government want to arrest him , please pray for that my family members and I can have wisdom to tackle with it, so that we will not be arrested and hurt by the government. (7) Please pray for and thank God for that I will not be suffered in the marital problems, so that I can seek the kingdom and the righteousness of God first, and have a spiritual growth up, and I will not regret about the decision I made in this marriage this life, that I will only choose the Christian girlfriend that was arranged by God, please pray for that if God had not prepare a Christian girlfriend for me, help me to keep alone whole life, so that I will not be hurt again in order that I can restore my psychological health and have a spiritual growth up. (8)Please pray for that the son of my brother will not hurt himself, my brother and my sister will not be suffered in the marital problems , my sister can have good psychological health, and we can maintain a good relationship, we will not be hurt by the husband of my sister and the wife of my brother, so that my mother and I can help my sister and my brother to accept the Jesus. (9)Please pray for that my computer can run well , and I can continue submit my prayer requests and study bible from the net, so that my mother and I can firmly believe in the bible ,and we can have assurance of the salvation. And please pray for that we will not suffer a loss in the Lord’s Judgement Day, thank God for that I can keep on use mind or mouth to pray in the office , please pray for that God can keep my stomach health if I pray with fasting for too long time, and please pray for that God can keep me not to hurt myself if I undergo stress because I found some blood come out of my body nowadays, please pray for that God can keep me if I need to see a doctor, please pray for that God can help me not to bleeding inside my body and I can restore my health, and please pray for that I can not only keep on use mouth to pray in the office but also in the whole life time, God can keep my health when I pray too vigorous, and I can pray at mid-night , and my mother and I can go to the church where God prepared for us and donate our money there in the will of God, so that we can have spiritual growth up , please pray for that I can maintain a good psychological and body health, and can keep on pray with heart this life, and please pray for that I will not suffer from disease ( such as heart disease) if I pray too vigorous. (10)Please pray for that my family members and I can have place to live and food to eat, we can have safety in using electricity and fire, pray for my sister that she want to born a baby, please keep her health and baby’s health, and please pray for that we can apply for compassionate rehousing in God’s will, may God have mercy upon my family members. (11) Please pray for that when I distributing the gospel pamphlets in the mainland China, the policemen come to me, and write down my Identity Card number, please pray for that God can help me to tackle with it. (12) Please pray for that I hurt my skin in order to keep on praying, please pray for that I can keep on pray with hurt my skin and will not infected by the SARS or other viruses; (13)Please pray for that my brother will not go on drinking the wine and gambling. (14)Please pray for that God can purify me and help me to have spritual growth up, and please pray for that my family members and I will not be hurt by my colleagues, classmates, church members and friends include Christian colleagues, so that they can be helpful for me to live out a good witness before my family members, my grandmother, my father, my sister, my brother and my relatives can all accept the Jesus Christ, and my mother and I can have a spiritual growth up and can strenghthen our faith.
And I am sorry for any inconvinience and wrong I made to submit my prayer request above, pray in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, A-men.
pls pray that i am finally pregnant right now… pls,
im so desperate to have a baby.. please help me…
pray that i am finally blessed with the gift of life.
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