"Beauty will save the world." - Fyodor Dostoevsky

I believe in everything the Catholic Church teaches. This does not mean I'm a saint or holier than thou, or even a passably good Catholic. Moreover, this does not mean I condone the assaults on beauty seen at too many Catholic liturgies, especially regarding music.

Once upon a time, I fought the sacred music fight to near-burnout. After some time away from creating music, I am once more directing Gregorian chant within its proper liturgical context, Deo gratias.

Nowadays, I'm a ballroom dance teacher because it is perhaps the most graceful expression of the truth that man and woman are made for each other. In today's world, the ballroom dance floor is one of the last bastions of male supremacy - if the man takes the lead. What's more, the women aren't about to change it.

But there's a problem: We've all been to a party and have seen a woman pull a hapless guy onto the dance floor, back-leading him. I don't know about others, but to me watching such a scene conjures flashbacks of Mom nagging me to clean my room, wash the dishes, mow the lawn, etc.

And we wonder why partner dancing is a subculture instead of mainstream.

So gentlemen, learn to lead. And women, learn how to follow. While it may no longer be the way of the (Western) world, this is the way of the partner dance floor, per omnia saecula saeculorum, Amen.

I am a college dropout, but I'm a better teacher than most. My students confirm this.

Money can't buy you happiness. However, happiness can, and does, attract money.

You must care about the other person first. Whether they return your favor - and it is a favor - is up to them.

Honest selling without excessive concern for a positive outcome is a form of evangelism.

Charity can never be forced. If it is, it becomes extortion - a mockery of charity.

To act beautifully, whether in personal or business dealings, look to Christ. Turning the other cheek and overthrowing the moneychangers' tables in the Temple are actions that do not contradict each other. How can God contradict himself in word, thought, or deed?

So, by extension, that is really God on the altars of Catholic and Orthodox churches and cathedrals. Because he said so, not I. Search "Lanciano miracle" for starters.

Thanks for reading...if you like what you've read, let me know. I hope to meet you someday. May the Triune God bless you and those you hold dear, and let us pray for each other.