Dear Biff, Your most recent note betrayed you.\u00a0 Though you claim to be \u201coff to a downright peachy start\u201d as sophomore year commences, I can tell that your electronic grin is nothing but a fake smile.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid, my dear nephew; sophomore slump really happens (that\u2019s why the term exists).\u00a0 But you can use it to your advantage, if you take a lesson from today\u2019s feast. As you know, John the Baptizer was the greatest of prophets.\u00a0 He announced Christ\u2019s arrival and prepared the Jews to welcome him.\u00a0 He was so respected and such a paragon of virtue that the people thought he himself was the Messiah.\u00a0 In him the Old Testament reached its culmination; only Jesus could go higher. As all great men of God, John courageously denounced public scandals.\u00a0 Herod, one of the rulers of Palestine at the time, had embroiled himself in a big one, seducing his half-brother\u2019s wife (who also happened to be his niece) on a trip to Rome, and bringing her back to Galilee to become his own wife.\u00a0 When rulers go bad, it\u2019s contagious, so John made a point of rebuking the petty tyrant.\u00a0 It got him thrown into prison (a miserable dungeon in the basement of an old castle by the Dead Sea), where Herod actually began to consult him on spiritual and moral issues.\u00a0 This made Herodias (that was his niece\/sister-in-law\/wife\u2019s name) suspicious, and she plotted to have John executed.\u00a0 But Herod wouldn\u2019t go that far.\u00a0 Then one day he threw a birthday party (for himself), to which he invited everyone that he wanted to impress \u2013 all his rivals, peers, and collaborators.\u00a0 The extravagant feast reached its climax with the dance of Salome, Herodias\u2019 daughter (by her first marriage).\u00a0 So moved was Herod by the performance that right then and there he publicly manifested his noble generosity by promising to give the young lady the gift of her choice (a rash oath, to say the least) as a reward for her dance.\u00a0 Conspiring with her mother, Salome asked for \u201cthe head of John the Baptist, on a plate.\u201d\u00a0 Though reluctant to execute this obviously holy prophet, Herod was even more reluctant to become the laughing stock of his peers by not following through with his promise.\u00a0 And so, the great Precursor met his tragic death. The Church has commemorated this event as long as it has been around, for the honor due to John, and for its eloquence in speaking of the earthly drama of good vs. evil.\u00a0 And therein lies the lesson for you.\u00a0 Sophomore slump comes because you\u2019re still trying to live off the superficial excitement of college culture \u2013 but that excitement has dwindled considerably since your first year.\u00a0 Therefore, now is the moment when you have to decide who you are going to please.\u00a0 If, like John the Baptist, you make it your goal to please God above everyone else (including yourself) you will discover reserves of energy and enthusiasm that you never dreamed of.\u00a0 But if you fall into Herod\u2019s trap, pursuing personal whims and pleasures along with acceptance and popularity with the in crowd, you\u2019ll spin yourself a sticky, regrettable web.\u00a0 The choice is yours, and I\u2019ll be praying that you make it well. God bless, Uncle Eddy Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Biff, Your most recent note betrayed you.\u00a0 Though you claim to be \u201coff to a downright peachy start\u201d as sophomore year commences, I can tell that your electronic grin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n