Thunderball

1961, original dust jacket, via Books and Art

Library books and the power of good stories

It had that comfortably sprung, lived-in look that library books with a lively circulation always get; bent page corners, a dab of mustard on page 331, a whiff of some reader's spilled after-dinner whiskey on page 468. Only library books speak with such wordless eloquence of the power good stories hold over us, how good stories abide, unchanged and mutely wise, while we poor humans grow older and slower.

Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot

You'd think this was written by Ray Bradbury instead of Stephen King. Or at least I would've. King tells his vampire story with a prose style that is direct and to the point, for the most part. However, every so often he veers off into a bit of poetic prose like this. Those are gems of captured image.

Pangur Ban: Praise of Cats in Ancient Poetry and Art

You don't have to be a cat lover to love this poem about writing and cats by an anonymous 9th century Irish monk. It's often thought that the monk was working on the Book of Kells when he made this poem.

He describes perfectly the striving and dedication all writers feel, as well our triumph at solving a problem in just the perfect way.

Pangur Bán

I and Pangur Bán, my cat
‘Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
‘Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.

‘Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur’s way:
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den,
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

Unknown 9th century Irish monk, translation by Robin Flowers

Cat catching mouse, illustration from Book of Kells

Cat Sleeping

Cornelis Visscher, Cat Sleeping, 1657

Don't miss the charming little creature right behind the sleeping cat.

Notes on Mark: The Mustard Seed

Mustard in Bangladesh

MARK 4:30-32
We are all familiar with this because we have heard so many comments on its meaning for us today. But how about what the Jews of Jesus' time would have thought when they heard it? Barclay elucidates.

There are in this parable two pictures which every Jew would readily recognize.

First, in Palestine a grain of mustard seed stood proverbially for the smallest thing possible. For instance, "faith as a grain of mustard seed," means "the smallest conceivable amount of faith." This mustard seed did in fact grow into something very like a tree. A traveler in Palestine speaks of seeing a mustard plant, which, in its height, overtopped a horse and its rider. The birds were very fond of the little black seeds of the tree and a cloud of birds over a mustard plant was a common sight.

Second, in the Old Testament one of the commonest ways to describe a great empire was to describe it as a tree, and the tributary nations within it were said to be like birds finding shelter within the shadow of its branches (Ezekiel 17:22ff; 31:1ff; Daniel 4:10, 21). The figure of a tree with birds in the branches therefore stands for a great empire and the nations who form part of it.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

The photo above is of a mustard field in Bangladesh which is what I'm used to seeing in Indian movies. It is one of the ultimate romantic places for couples to run toward each other in the movies. It isn't a tree but I love seeing the bright flowers.

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Sources and Notes Index   

Scott and Julie go on an epic adventure encountering a villain who shall not be named, one bad priest, two good priests, a crazy nun, star-crossed lovers, and Gothic castles. ...

 ... Thank goodness Father Stephen is there to guide them! Episode 347: The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, with special guest Father Stephen from Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey.

Louisia's idea for a TV show

He went to fetch more beers, and by the time he got back Louisa was telling Shirley her idea for a TV show, which would open with a view of Tom Hiddleston walking down a long, long, corridor, shot from behind.

River waited. "Then what?" he asked at last.

But the women had misted over, and didn't hear him.

Mick Herron, London Rules

What? Oh, sorry. I was mentally picturing that view of Tom Hiddleston and misted over.

Chicago Snow

Chicago Snow by Karin Jurick

 Be sure to look at this close up. It is delightful. Or maybe that's just because I'm in Dallas where we don't get much snow.

Fire proves iron and temptation fires the just man

Fire proves iron—that's the kind of point Jesus son of Sirach liked to make (31:26)—and temptation fires the just man.

Often we don't know what we can do until temptation opens us up to what we are.

Stand sentinel in the intellect we must, before temptation strikes. Engage the Enemy at the earliest possible moment. In the chapel. In the dining hall. At the gate. On the road. In the field.

That's how temptation works. A simple thought enters the mind. A vivid imagination goes to work. After that it's a nudge, a wink, and a nod.

Right from the start you should resist strongly. When you don't, the Enemy bearing evils tiptoes in unawares and wins the day. And so it is every day. The slower your response, the quicker the Devil's step.

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis

Transl. William Griffin

After Christmas

After Christmas” by Fritz von Uhde
via J.R.'s Art Place

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Baptism of Christ. 1844-45

Via Olga's Art Gallery

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes.

Read more about this feast day at Catholic Culture.

Christmas - finishing the season

Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for -- I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times.

Kate L. Bosher

Return of the Holy Family from Egypt

Giovanni Baglione, Return of the Holy Family from Egypt