What I've Been Reading ...

... catching up ... on this list of what I've read this year.

• Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch**** ... the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora which was like Indiana Jones goes to sci-fi adventure land. The Booklist review of "Lies" describes the series best:

  On a distant world, orphan Locke Lamora is sold into a crew of thieves and con artists. Soon his natural gifts make him an underworld celebrity, leader of the flamboyantly larcenous Gentleman Bandits. But there is someone who covets Locke's talents, his success, his very life, forcing him to put everything on the line to protect himself. With a world so vividly realized that it's positively tactile, and characters so richly drawn that they threaten to walk right off the page, this is one of those novels that reaches out and grabs readers, pulling us into the middle of the action. With this debut novel, Lynch immediately establishes himself as a gifted and fearless storyteller, unafraid of comparisons to Silverberg and Jordan, not to mention David Liss and even Dickens (the parallels to Oliver Twist offer an appealing extra dimension to the story, although the novel is no mere reimagining of that Victorian classic). Fans of lavishly appointed fantasy will be in seventh heaven here, but it will be nearly as popular with readers of literary crime fiction. This is a true genre bender, at home on almost any kind of fiction shelf.

  This is a worthy successor, set in another part of Locke Lamora's world and Lynch pulls it off again. A series to treasure, but be sure to begin with the first one or you will be hopelessly lost.
  
  
• Police Operation by H. Beam Piper, read by Mark Nelson *** ... novella-length story about the agent who is to clean up the problems a criminal caused when he went on the lam to another dimension. I don't think I really like Piper's style as this is the third or fourth of his works I have sampled and found uninspiring in general. However, Mark Nelson does a very good job reading the story.
  
  
• White Night by Jim Butcher***** (reread) ... just as good the second time around. It looks as if a group of magic practitioners is committing suicide one by one but Harry can tell it is actually murder, and possibly being committed by a member of the Council. Naturally, that's just the tip of the iceberg. A good hard-boiled detective novel as usual.
  
  
• Magic Street by Orson Scott Card***** (reread) ... also good the second time around. Probably the most creative connection I've ever seen of Shakespeare to our modern world. My previous quick review is here.
  
  
• St. Dale by Sharon McCrumb*** ... an intriguing concept for looking at modern pop culture, McCrumb's story has a tour bus on a modern day pilgrimage of the "sainted" seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt. It is very clear that McCrumb is not only interested in racing and pop culture but pilgrimages from all times as the priest on the tour can only relate to the entire experience by relating similar pilgrimage experiences from history. Interesting and one certainly learns a lot about racing ...
  
  
• Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely*** - I have enjoyed Neely's previous Blanche mysteries but this one grated on me. As the last book in the series, Blanche's personal issues with her mother and men get sorted out here. However, what I found annoying was her quick and unrelenting charges of racism based simply on a person's appearance, whether black or white. It is tough to meet Blanche's standards and this is the one are where she is apparently blind.
  
  
• Jerome and the Seraph*** - I read a rave review of this somewhere which I am now scratching my head over after having read this book. It is delightful as far as it goes. Brother Jerome dies and then discovers that he is not in heaven or hell but in a midway ground as a sort of a ghost. Advised and guided by the monastery's cat, who has amazing abilities to bend time and space, Jerome goes on to solve an extremely minor mystery (which I figured out very early on in the book). The big mystery is barely touched upon which I found extremely annoying, especially for a $15 price tag. Clearly this is half of an entire book and the second half was later published a year or so later. I don't mind that as a general rule, as witness my extreme fondness for Pamela Dean's Secret Country trilogy, but at least Dean gave us something of depth and complexity. This book, I find, is lacking in both.
  
  
• Uncle Tom's Cabin--A Reader's Companion to the Novel***** - a wonderful resource that answers various objections, both old and new, to Uncle Tom's Cabin as great literature as well as explicating the novel itself.
  
  
• The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb***** - McCrumb has a series of mysteries set in the Appalachians which are titled after old folk ballads. The book generally follows the idea of the song in some way but this one is superior as it tells the story of Frankie Silver and also gives a parallel in modern times which is being investigated. Recommended both to mystery lovers and those with an appreciation for Appalachian folk culture in modern times.
  
  
• Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan***-fun to read as Corrigan's looks back at the books she's read throughout her life elicits similar reviews from the reader. However, I would have found it more interesting if woman-centric political subjects weren't so much to the forefront all the time.
  
  
  
• Castleview by Gene Wolfe**** - the town of Castleview gets its name from the apparition of a castle that occasionally is sighted by locals. A group of townspeople get caught up in the affairs of Faery on a particular fateful evening and adventure follows. Wolfe tells this story with a minimum of explanation and the reader must be ready to make mental leaps and hold on for dear life as the tale takes up wild momentum. I quite enjoyed it although am going to have to read it multiple times to really understand just what was going on in the middle of the book.
  
  
• Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe*** ... intriguing concept. A soldier, Latros, in ancient Greek times has had a head injury that causes him to have extreme short term memory loss. Every morning he must read what he wrote the night before to know what has happened to him lately. He also can see and interact with local gods and goddesses as he attempts to work his way home, if only he could remember where that was. A good book but not intriguing enough to make me want to read the sequels.
  
  
• Small Favor (The Dresden Files, Book 10)***** - ten books into the series and Jim Butcher is still coming up with fresh and interesting challenges for Harry Dresden, hard-boiled Chicago detective and wizard. It begins with underworld boss Johnny Marcone being kidnapped, ostensibly to gain control of him as he is a member of the Accords (trust me, start at the beginning of the series if you're a newcomer to these books). Harry is dragooned into tracking him down by Mab as one of the two remaining favors he owes her. As with most Dresden books, just when you think you know where you're going, the plot takes an abrupt left turn into new territory. Most interesting to me is Nicodemus' interest in recruiting Harry and Harry's new revelations about relationship with God.

Read reviews of food-ish books here.

What Happens When Parents Neglect a Proper Education in the Classics?

This is so, so very sad.

Worth a Thousand Words

Flowers and Moleskines

Shown by permission
For more from one of my favorite artists, visit Edward B. Gordon.

Superhero Highlight: Ramen Girl

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

Ramen Girl

Power: Ability to instantly cook instant ramen

Back-story: Ramen Girl was a typical college student in that her diet consisted mostly of ramen noodles. She was less typical in that she had not yet learned not to put seven ramen cups in the microwave at once. Ramen Girl learned this lesson the hard way, when she overfilled her microwave and it EXPLODED. She instantly became the least popular resident of the dormitory because the fire alarms were set off and it was 3 am. However, she came away from the experience with a new power, a gift seemingly bestowed upon her by the microwave gods. Ramen Girl now had the power to INSTANTLY cook instant ramen. At first, she simply used her powers to more efficiently cook ramen for herself, but after playing a hilarious joke on her friends, in which she scalded them with ramen, she realized that her selfish behavior was a waste of her potential. So she began her life of fighting crime.

Cover: Mild-mannered hair stylist (and a gorgeous hair stylist at that)

Cover name: Harriet Hildenbrook

Partners: The Klutz, H2Whoa

Introduction to partners: Ramen Girl, like the extreme fan-girl she is, one day decided to throw caution to the wind, sneak onto the a movie studio, and finally meet her idol, inspiration, and own personal heroine. Ever since she first saw the classic film The Brunette’s Revenge and its sequel My Neighbor is a Unicorn she has dreamt of the day that she would get the chance to stand in the same room as the beautiful, talented Mildred McEntire. She ducked, she dived, and she dipped to evade the security guards, but just as she was approaching that starred dressing room, the Po-pos caught sight of her. She fled the scene as fast as she could and seemed to be losing her pursuers, until Ramen Girl tripped on a large object that turned out to be famed heroine, The Klutz, who had recently thrown herself to the ground in an attempt to foil this trespasser’s scheme. Ramen Girl, stunned that she was so easily thwarted, began to examine the cause of her downfall, only to find that The Klutz and Mildred McEntire were one in the same. It was a dream come true. After explaining to The Klutz her situation, no charges were pressed, but instead, they decided to form a crime fighting duo. At this point, however, The Klutz already had a partner in justice, but Ramen Girl and H2Whoa! were able to get along with each other just fine, and they went on to be one of the most powerful trios of our day.

Arch-nemesis: The makers of Smooth shampoo, for making all her customers’ hair fall out
==========
Next superhero feature coming: The String

Worth a Thousand Words

Via Art Knowledge News.
Click through to see a larger version and learn more about the show.

Dollhouse - Joss Whedon

This clip is much better than the one I saw before. Now, I'm interested! Via Scott Danielson.

Worth a Thousand Words

Ural Owl

Shown by permission.
To see this larger and for more fantastic photography, visit pildiblog.

Ted Kennedy, the Our Father, and Me

A friend confessed to me that her dithering about praying for Kennedy has forced some introspection - the good old Catholic notion of “examining the conscience” forced her to look at where she was lacking. But of course, taking the time to make that examination, and to locate her fault, helped her to move past it and to find herself both willing and able to pray for Kennedy and for his family. It is funny how locating our own beams make it easier to look past other’s splinters.

The Anchoress and I were exchanging emails this morning and, while I may not have been the only one, my email is well represented by her in the above excerpt. She has a very good piece examining the reactions she has heard to Kennedy's illness and you should go read the whole thing.

I was shocked (shocked!) at myself this morning when realizing that my reaction upon reading about Ted Kennedy's brain tumor was a distinct disinclination to pray for him. Certainly not publicly! Why people might think that I agree with him politically. How startling to realize that this man's personal tragedy was solely looked at from the context of me, Me, ME!

How humbling. Or it should have been. I merely was ashamed and then went to pray. Did I remember to pray for Teddy? Nope. I had forgotten about it. (Ahem ... I mentioned it's all about me, didn't I?)

I must pause here to add an aside that Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life has been living up to my hopes and expectations. I have not been allowing myself to read it at any other time than as a sort of lectio divina (sacred reading) in the morning. As a result, where I once dutifully went to prayer time, I now eagerly "take up and read" a section and then ponder it with the intention of letting God guide me.

Appropriately, this morning, I was finishing up the commentary on Matthew 6:9-15, the Our Father, or Lord's Prayer. Specifically, the bit on forgiveness.

12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. If read outside of the context of the Lord's Prayer, the language of this petition sounds like something we might say in court to a bankruptcy judge: please forgive all that I owe, as I am forgiving what is owed me. But in Aramaic, the word debts was also used for sins; our sins create, as it were, a debt we owe God--damages owed to him. We pray that God will forgive us what we owe him, just as we forgive those who have harmed us and owe us recompense....

14 In order to emphasize the importance of one of the petitions in the prayer Jesus has taught his followers, Jesus expands upon it: If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. To receive the forgiveness we need from God we must forgive those who have harmed us.

15 To refuse to forgive others blocks out our being forgiven: But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. Jesus will later put God's forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others in perspective (18:21-35), making it clear that God extends his forgiveness first, and that the forgiveness we receive from God far outweigh all the forgiveness we will ever grant. Here Jesus is content to emphasize that we cannot expect God to forgiven us if we refuse to forgive others. Two centuries earlier Sirach had linked receiving God's forgiveness with our forgiving others (Sirach 28:1-5), and Jesus upholds this view.

Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Should a man nourish anger against his fellow
and expect healing from the LORD?
Should a man refuse mercy to his fellows,
yet seek pardon for his own sins?

Sirach 28:2-4

For reflection: Who do I find it most difficult to truly forgive? What step might I take to extend forgiveness to that person?

I didn't connect this with my self-realization earlier but it came back to me when reading this comment from The Anchoress.

But then I thought - how awful it must be to live out all of your mistakes and sins in public - to go through life with people presuming to know the state of your mind and soul, when all of our minds and souls are sometimes quite mucked up?

Suddenly, in my mind, Teddy Kennedy went from being a political figure with whom I vehemently disagree and became a living, breathing, human being. A person. For whom I could easily pray, despite my feelings one way or the other about him.

I had brought Matthew's Gospel with me to work so I could begin sharing some highlights with y'all and I dug through it to my morning readings. They became a finger shaken at me by Jesus as I read over them again. Another tiny step toward my trying to live my faith and not just give it lip service.

This brought me again to the hard truth that the Christian faith, truly lived out, is no easy road. John C. Wright said it quite well.

Have you ever had one of those days, where you are exasperated by the opinions and bad personal habits of well-respected artisans in your particular craft, and you find that you are an opinionated blow-hard who enjoys complaining and bellyaching about other people's shortcomings, and you also have a live-journal where you can express your most private thoughts of contempt and disdain for the yammerheads whose idiocy so richly merits insult ---- but then you remember you are a Christian, and so you are under orders not merely not to complain (for even the Gentiles are well-bred) but to love and pray for such people? Worse yet, you cannot pray for them in an ungenerous spirit, because Our Boss who art in Heaven does not accept sacrifices offered unwillingly.

What a difficult, annoying religion!

To those of you who think religion is a self-delusion based on wish-fulfillment, all I can remark is that this religion does not fulfill my wishes. My wishes, if we are being honest, would run to polygamy, self-righteousness, vengeance and violence: a Viking religion would suit me better, or maybe something along Aztec lines. The Hall of Valhalla, where you feast all night and battle all day, or the paradise of the Mohammedans, where you have seventy-two dark-eyed virgins to abuse, fulfills more wishes of base creatures like me than any place where they neither marry nor are given in marriage. This turn-the-other cheek jazz might be based any number of psychological appeals or spiritual insights, but one thing it is not based on is wish-fulfillment.

An absurd and difficult religion! If it were not true, no one would bother with it....

Lord have mercy on me and bless Teddy Kennedy and his family in this dark time for them.

As an apology for no LOST posts for every so long ...

... please accept this link to a post leading to the most comprehensive LOST theory ever.

And, yes, we're now about 10 episodes behind so I may never catch up. But I'm not quitting ...

Worth a Thousand Words

The Lookout
Used by permission.
Go to A Painting Today to see more of Karin Jurick's art.

Helping Us Through the Catechism

Church Speak

Catholic and catholic (with a lowercase "c") mean two different things. The first refers to someone who is a particular type of Christian who adheres to three basic things: (1) the tenets of a faith started by Jesus and continued by the apostles and their successors in the college of bishops, (2) forms of worship that date from the apostolic age, and (3) a particular system of governance. The second definition, the one used in the Nicene Creed, refers to "universality." The Church is "catholic" in that it is on a mission from Christ to bring salvation to all of humanity. The Eastern Orthodox Church, in its nearly identical creed, also uses the term "catholic," even though members are not in communion with the Catholic Church, and Protestants who pray the creeds also understand "catholic" with a small "c."

I have to admit that I'm a real sucker for "the basics" books. I like the little call-out boxes (where the above info came from) with extra information. I like the outlines. I like the lists of things to remember. What can I say? I'm obviously the target these books were designed for. Especially when they come with an nihil obstat and imprimatur (meaning that an expert has looked it over and found nothing against Catholic teachings in the book) ... like this book does. Quite often, between reading a "basics" book and reading the real thing (in this case, the Catechism), I will get a more complete understanding than I would have with simply one reference alone.

I really enjoyed reading this book and also enjoyed the author's true enthusiasm for her subject. Mary DeTurris Poust writes with clarity about the catechism and demystifies it for anyone who might be intimidated by cracking open "the Catholic rule book" as some might think it. Reading through her book reminded me that the Catechism is so much more than merely a rule book, however. It has not only guidelines to what Church teachings are but also guidelines to prayer life for example. I was reminded that I once heard Cardinal Arinze say in a podcast that he read some of the Catechism each day as a prompt to contemplative prayer.

The only problem I found with the book was when I turned to it for clarification on a question brought to me by someone. Just why was it that Protestants couldn't partake of the Eucharist with Catholics? I knew the basics but was curious to see how this book worded it.

Turns out the book didn't mention that at all that I could find. And I scoured it. Completely. Several times. (If someone does see where I missed it, be sure to let me know).

Now, I found this quite surprising. This is always a sore subject when my Protestant friends bring it up. And when not-so-friendly Protestants bring it up. Or how about when choose-your-own-menu Catholics pop it at me? In an election year, after the Pope visited our country, we have seen these questions come up time and again as to who can have Communion and why or why not.

So I went to the source to see where it was listed. Sure enough, it is very clearly spelled out, down to the last detail. I was especially pleased to read 1401 which allows for charity in emergencies in this matter.

1398 The Eucharist and the unity of Christians. Before the greatness of this mystery St. Augustine exclaims, "O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!" The more painful the experience of the divisions in the Church which break the common participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our prayers to the Lord that the time of complete unity among all who believe in him may return.

1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, "given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged."

1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders." It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial communities, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory."

1401 When, in the Ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick to other Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church, who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required dispositions.

Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church

The book covers the Catechism section before this and the section after this but completely ignored this part. Which is puzzling and also rather troubling. I did not see any other omissions of this sort, however, one must remember that I wouldn't have found this had I not had a specific question. One hopes that this is an inadvertent omission or unfortunate cut mad by an editor one of those things that is corrected in the next edition.

This also illustrates the reason to always go check the source, even when dealing with a very good "basics" book. One gets much needed access to original information without the interpretation that another book adds. I often tend to gloss over this step and this is a good reminder to me that skipping the original is just cheating myself.

All that said, there is much to like in this book. It gives a good overview of main points and continually points back to the Catechism as the authority. I think that it will do much to help people understand that the Catechism isn't as daunting as they may believe.

I recommend it as an overview but with caution to be used to check the Catechism for complete teachings. Which is the point of the book in the first place, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Some Quick Revelations ...

Half-Price Books: is there anything better than going to the used book store and watching Hannah buy $44 worth of old science fiction that she first read from your book shelves? Talk about the ultimate flattery. Meanwhile, Rose and I continue to scour the shelves for old Georgette Heyer books to begin her collection. No luck there. People just don't wanna let those books go and I understand why.

Guys & Dolls: I never was that interested in this but Rose recently watched it. She liked it so much she asked for it for her birthday ... and then insisted we all watch last night. She was right. It is great ... and Marlon Brando was amazing in it. Says the Marlon Brando hater. Clearly I hadn't watched him in the right movie. As Tom said, he added that dangerous edge needed for the part. According to IMDB, Frank Sinatra threw a hissy fit because he wanted the main part. He was wrong. The casting was just right.

Rose Would Survive ....

She and her gang are going on an extended camping trip to celebrate graduating.

As they will be some distance from civilization, Tom required a plan before approving this venture, which the two Eagle scouts running the trip provided. All was well and we approved.

However, thanks to our modern day and age, I have seen trailers for too many horror movies where the innocent band of campers is set upon by monsters/zombies/aliens ... or my worst fear ... a crazed person ... and mayhem ensues.

Worse still, some time ago Tom told me all about a book by a Texas ranger in which that sort of thing actually happened.

Now, intellectually I know that these sorts of incidents are as scarce as hens' teeth. However, as a mother I have this nagging worry.

I try to relax. I try to let it go. I pray and turn it over to God ... and then find myself with that nagging worry again.

So I told Rose about it. She began laughing and said, "Well if it makes you feel better, I would be the person who survives."

I asked how she thought that would be.

She said, "Well, I have the bad back and so would have the most difficult time getting away. That would make the most interesting story line and so I would survive."

We both laughed merrily. I said, "If only real life happened like movie plots."

"Oh it does," she said. "Debbie is blonde so she'd go first ... Thomas might also survive because he's so smart that he'd do some McGyver-like thing to stop the killer. Unless he felt he needed to sacrifice himself to save the rest of us."

"And I like that he would sacrifice himself if that was absolutely needed to save the others," I said.

"Oh, he would," she replied.

Funny. But now I do feel better.

Postscript
Speaking of Thomas, he is a brilliant kid. Not only did he do award-winning research on nuons when he was a sophomore, but he then went on to do further research and will have a paper published on it next month. Harvard came asking him to attend their school. He turned down Stanford because they have a strict policy on not letting undergrads do research. I think they'll be sorry later. Notre Dame is quite happy to let Thomas into their labs when he gets there later this fall. He'll be majoring in Latin and physics.

The thing I like about Thomas is his ability to evaluate facts and make up his own mind. He turned down Cal-Tech and chose Notre Dame because he felt a broad education was wiser. He has been evaluating political policies on some of the issues that are most important to him (nuclear energy, etc.) and recently did an about-face on long-held political allegiances based on his findings. That shows the true scientific spirit, I believe, and I honor him for it.

He was the valedictorian of Rose's class and, as is the tradition, he selected his favorite teacher to speak about him. He chose Sister Cecilia who is a brilliant and honored scientist in her own right. It is from her speech that I got many of the details I just mentioned. Thomas is a frequent visitor with all of Rose's friends, but he doesn't talk about himself. She mentioned that he met Stephen Hawking a few weeks ago. Naturally Thomas was quite honored to meet the most famous scientist of our day. Sister reflected that her thought was that it was perhaps an unknown honor for Hawking as well to meet someone who may well become his successor in scientific achievement. Sister does not give out praise lightly and that added to the impact of her comments. I agree.

For Tom ...

Cafe Romantico

... on our 24th anniversary.

It seems like no time at all ... and then thinking back to what we were like then (and no Hannah and Rose!) it seems like forever ago.

But what a wonderful time we've been having so far on the way.

Congratulations to Rose!

Rose graduated from high school yesterday. She was in the top 10 of her class.

We are so very proud of all that she has accomplished. Of course, we are even prouder of the young woman she has become ... but that goes without saying doesn't it?

I think I would have done much better with the whole thing if I had not had a dream the night before about little, 3-year-old, adorable, toddler Rose ... which left me rather weepy throughout the day (and, yes, lasting into today, truth to be told). You know, loving the young woman who is here now and who I can talk about books and movies with ... but still missing that little one from long ago.

Onward and upward, Rose will be interning for a post-production studio this summer and then off to Columbia College in Chicago this fall to begin studying film editing.

City of Ember Trailer

Now this also looks interesting ... kind of a family movie set in an environment that feels like an old-time sci-fi movie set. Also, it's the last place I'd expect to see Bill Murray.

Check out the trailer at Ain't It Cool.

There's Many a Slip Twixt the Book and the Movie

Lars at Brandywine Books points out a major flaw he noticed in the adaptation of Prince Caspian for the movie world ... and why it matters.

[...] What set me off was a statement that director Andrew Adamson decided to make Susan Pevensey a warrior in the battle (in the film), though Lewis had made it a point to keep her out of it (in the book).

The more I think about this, the more it bothers me. I understand that I’m touchy and obsessive on the subject, but there are times when madmen (like me) can see the truth that sane people can’t, because we look where nobody else is looking. If it’s true that the truths that are most important to defend in any age are precisely those that are most despised, then madmen are sometimes the bloodhounds who smell out what the truth-hunters don’t see.

The decision to kick aside a plot point that mattered to Lewis, just because it’s unfashionable, is not a minor matter (or so it seems to me). In this situation it’s a declaration that there is no special calling for a man to be warrior and protector in the world. Nobody seems to see this, but to me it’s obvious—such a view has dangerous, catastrophic consequences, not only for boys and men but for society as a whole. It’s an assertion (one at which Lewis would have snorted in contempt) that there is no essential difference between men and women; that there are only interchangeable hominid units. [...]

Read it all here.

Superhero Highlight: Halfsies

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

Halfsies

Power: Ability to walk half way into a wall

Back-story: As a matter transistor repair man, Halfsies spent much of his time repairing matter transistors. As a result, his days were usually quite mundane. Little did he know, however, that once he entered THIS matter transistor, he would never be the same again. Halfsies began his day, like so many others, with a visit to a mad scientist’s humble, unstable technology-filled abode. He began his routine inspection of machine, screwing in this, unscrewing that, etc. When he entered the matter transistor to investigate its inner workings, however, he heard an ominous humming begin to emanate from the machine. He whirled around to see the mad scientist cackling maniacally and pulling numerous sinister levers. Realizing that the transistor was not broken at all and that the scientist merely wanted a test subject, Halfsies leapt heroically out of the transistor, but not before being struck with its power. Because he was not fully exposed to its influences, Halfsies was only partially affected, leaving him with the ability to walk into walls, but only halfway. Realizing the amount of crazy wackjobs that infested his fair city, Halfsies dedicated himself to the defense of repairmen everywhere.

Cover: Mild-mannered matter transistor repairman (and a handsome matter transistor repairman at that)

Cover name: Malachai Montgomery

Partners: The Scrabbler, The Lincolnator

Introduction to partners: After a successful day of foiling mad scientists, Halfsies decided to relax at a local soda shoppe. He was sitting at the counter, enjoying his strawberry malt, and thoroughly minding his own business, when he felt a shower of copper raining down on him. He turned to see a young lass with a crazed look in her eyes pelting him with pennies for no reason he could discern. Halfsies leapt into action, and did what he did best: ran into the walls to hide. This tactic was more effective when the person being hid from was not already staring at him, though, so it didn’t help a lot. If anything, it lessened his mobility and retreat options, cornering him halfway in the wall. Luckily, the young lady eventually realized her mistake and ceased her attempts to knock Halfsies unconscious with pennies. The two laughed about the hilarious misunderstanding for quite some time, and Halfsies readily joined The Lincolnator, as he learned the young miss was called, and her partner, The Scrabbler, to become a fabulous trio, defending all that is just and right. Upon meeting The Scrabbler, Halfsies discovered that they had served jury duty together some months ago. As the only jurors dedicated to justice and not spellbound by room service, Halfsies and The Scrabbler formed a firm friendship, after they went jogging. So it was a pleasant surprise to both that they were now partners in fighting crime.

Arch-nemesis: Mad scientists
==========
Next superhero feature coming: Ramen Girl

Worth a Thousand Words

Two Headed Toffee Coo

Found at Flickr Scotland.
Check out the fantastic photos they have there.

Worth a Thousand Words

Sir Joshua Reynolds. Lucy, Lady Strange. 1755.
From Olga's Art Gallery.

Superhero Highlight: The Lincolnator

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

The Lincolnator

Power: Can turn any form of currency into pennies

Back-story: As an adamant coin collector, she was demanding specialty coins from a nearby antique shop. She was so adamant that the shop owners pulled out all the stops and bestowed upon her their rarest of coins. Little did The Lincolnator realize that this PARTICULAR coin had been recovered on an archaeological dig in the cursed temples of the ancient Incan civilization. This coin, created by an extremely visionary shaman (and a handsome shaman at that) gave its owner the power to alter currency. At first, the coin possessed great power, enabling the owner to make change in whatever manner they wish, providing them with the best currency for a given situation. Over time, however, the coin has lost some of its power; now, it enables the owner to change any type of currency into pennies and pennies alone, which is odd, considering that the Incans did not use pennies. Upon discovering this new ability of hers, she set about to annoy all of her least favorite friends, acquaintances, and business associates by turning all of their currency into pennies. One day, when The Lincolnator went to a vending machine and was unable to purchase anything because it would not take pennies, she realized the error of her ways and set about using her power for good from then on.

Cover: Mild-mannered magician (and a gorgeous magician at that)

Cover name: Melinda Minkfoot

Partners: The Scrabbler, Halfsies

Introduction to partners: After joining forces with The Scrabbler, having met in an intense game of Scrabble, The Lincolnator rejoiced at her luck and walked into a nearby soda shoppe. There she saw a man she thought she knew, quickly recognized him as the Masked Marauder, and devised a plan to foil his crime. The plan was simple, so simple it was genius: pelt him with pennies until he surrenders. She quickly set her plan into action, sending wave after wave of pennies hurtling towards the man. She was then ASTOUNDED to see the man retreat back into the wall, not all the way through the wall, but about halfway into it. “The Masked Marauder can’t walk into walls,” she thought quite cleverly to herself. On closer inspection of this supposed villain, she realized he was no villain at all, but none other than Halfies, a beloved hero famous for his ability to walk halfway into a wall. Needless to say, The Lincolnator’s cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment, a cute bright red, though, endearing her forever to Halfies. At that moment, Halfies joined forces with The Lincolnator and The Scrabbler to become a terrific triad of heroes.

Arch-nemesis: Carmen Caldwell, the city’s most prominent coin collector
==========
Next superhero feature coming: Halfsies

10 Prayers God Always Says Yes To: a touching review

Y'all may remember that I was quite surprised to find myself a big fan of this book.

Ma Beck over at WardWideWeb also gives it a thumbs up.

Her review is the prelude to an endorsement of the book that is both touching (yes, I cried) and a testimony to God's persistence and goodness in giving us what He knows we need. Do go read it ...

Worth a Thousand Words

Pen Drawing by Charles Maginnis
Via Lines and Colors
Click on drawing to see larger, click through art title link for the free ebook from Gutenberg.

Like ... tragically inarticulate, you know?

The Anchoress thought I'd like this. She was right. I say that with complete conviction.

Worth a Thousand Words

Gebera Daisy
by Hey Jules who recently was awarded Image of the Week by Bird Photographers.net. And well deserved too!

Iron Man ... the Catholic Batman?

Or so Enbrethiliel's pal points out ...

"I guess I was never interested," my friend continued," because he has no innate superpowers. I read a description of him somewhere that fits perfectly: the Catholic Batman. I mean, like Bruce Wayne, he just built everyth--"

I practically knocked Skairuz's glass over in my excitement. "The Catholic Batman??? Why? How? Speak!"

"Well . . . his motivation to fight crime is based on his discovery of how his past actions have caused others, including innocents, to suffer. He's trying to atone for his sins, do penance, as it were."

As you can see, Skairuz got the best out of fifteen years of Jesuit education. ...

She's not alone. Well, The American Culture doesn't go so far as to call Iron Man a Catholic Batman, but it does a very nice piece on the redemptive quality of the movie and concludes:

It's no surprise that Iron Man benefits from impressive special effects and action sequences, but it is somewhat surprisng and pleasing that it has some truly serious ideas and characterizations and explores them with sincerity, wit, and sophistication.

Decent Films concurs:

... Here is a popcorn movie with a will to entertain, at turns evoking James Bond, Batman Begins and Transformers; if it’s not in the same league as Batman Begins, it’s better (and shorter) than Transformers, with a redemptive angle foreign to James Bond.

Directed by Jon Favreau (Zathura), Iron Man is a rare superhero origin story that is also a conversion story. ...

I have been trying not to read reviews because I really want to see this in the movies and not know every turn of the plot. However, even a cursory scan of these reviews shows that this is a superhero movie with a lot of heart. Do go read them all for a good look behind the standard superhero story.

Oh, and to answer Enbrethiliel's question ...

Is there anything more embarrassing than having Barb Nicolosi beat me to posting about a superhero movie?

No, no there isn't. As I can say from experience right now.

The Crystal Skull in Indiana Jones

For anyone worrying that the crystal skull in Indiana Jones might be based on something real ... check out one of my favorite podcasters, Skeptoid, who gives us the whole scoop.

Yep, you're right. They are fakes and they were never Mayan. But listen or read it anyway. Then you'll have the facts when someone starts worrying about ancient Mayan religions.

Opening the Scriptures: A series that lives up to its name

Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life:
Insight and Inspiration
(Opening the Scriptures series)
by George Martin

"Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?"

Luke 24:32

"Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life" is a commentary that made the above verse from Luke occur to me again and again. George Martin has given us a thorough and fascinating yet highly accessible scriptural commentary that truly does let us see the Gospel of Matthew with new eyes.

The structure of the book follows this outline as Matthew is covered, section by section:

• An orientation, if needed, of the scriptural passage.


• The scriptural passage in its entirety


• Listing of Gospel parallels, Old Testament related passages, and New Testament related passages


• Verse-by-verse explanation of the text. Occasionally this is a phrase-by-phrase explanation when necessary for clarity. The Gospel phrase or verse is always bolded within these so that one can see easily what is being explicated. The explanation will often reflect a connection to the present day life in the Church. If an explanation has not been agreed upon by scholars, Martin may offer his own possible explanation or clarification but this is always within Church teachings.
  
  
  • Full quotations of related Old Testament passages within the explanations when they are necessary
  • Cross-references to Old and New Testament passages that are related to each explanation
  • Listing and page numbers of related background information that might be in other sections
    


• Reflection questions that provide opportunities to relate the scripture to one's own life


• Boxed-in background information which provides contextual information on such varied subjects as farming life in Palestine, the meaning that the word messiah had for Jews at the time of Jesus, how cosmic signs were interpreted, and what the roles of servants and slaves were in that time.

Over the years I have used many scriptural commentaries, some Catholic and some Protestant. Each has their advantages but this is the first I have encountered that has gripped me with such interest that I read it to the exclusion of all else. After perusing so many commentaries, I thought that I had a grasp of the basic considerations for many of the most commonly quoted gospel passages. Although Martin definitely covers what I already might have known from other sources, he does so with many citations to Old Testament passages that other sources have not necessarily included. As well, he is continually surprising me with a consideration that I had not thought of before. It may be a subtle point but is usually a telling one and has given me much food for thought already. I am positive that Tom already is tired of me piping up with, "Hey, listen to this!" after only reading 80 pages so far. For example:

[The Homage of the Magi
1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, a magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." ...]

2 The magi come to Jerusalem saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." They observe a star at its rising--at its first appearance in the sky. What might they have seen (a supernova? a conjunction of planets? a comet?) is a matter of conjecture, but Matthew's concern is the significance of what the magi saw, not its nature. The magi interpret the rising of the star as signaling the birth of a king of the Jews. There was ancient belief that heavenly signs marked the birth of great men. Some Jews applied the Scripture passage, "A star shall advance from Jacob" (Num 24:17), to the coming of the Messiah, and the magi may have known of this. The magi come to Jerusalem and ask about the newborn king of the Jews so that they may do him homage. The star alerted them to his birth, but Matthew does not portray it guiding them on their journey. The magi simply come to the Jewish capital city -- Jerusalem -- looking for its newborn king.

This may seem obvious to everyone else but it simply never occurred to me that the star was what began the magi on their journey but that they simply had to apply their own logic after that in going to Jerusalem since that would be a good place to begin looking for the king of the Jews. Later in the commentary, Martin points out that Herod hears about the magi, calls the priests and scribes to him to ask where the messiah was to be born, and then calls the magi to tell them to look in Bethlehem. Now, he is doing all this for his own reasons, which we know through hindsight are nefarious. I had never caught that sequence of events so clearly ... that Herod ascertained the location and then summoned the magi. I just never read the text that clearly.

Then Martin sums it up for us in another connection that I'd never made, and couldn't have made without having the previous sequence pointed out to me.

9 After their audience with the king they set out. The magi begin their quest for Jesus because of a star, a revelation through nature. (Paul writes that God reveals himself through his creation: Rom 1:19-20.) Natural revelation goes only so far: it leads the magi to Jerusalem, but not yet to Jesus. God's revelation through nature must be completed by God's revelation to his people and through their writings, the Scriptures. The prophet Micah [quoted to Herod by the scribes and Pharisees] provided the link that leads the magi on their next step toward Jesus. ...

Could you hear my mind blowing? That made such sense, clicked into place so perfectly, yet I had never come across that before.

It is not a slender book, clocking in at 668 pages, however not one page has been wasted. As you can see from above, the care which Martin gives to the commentary requires length in order to be easily understood. His thoroughness also can be appreciated when one considers that the selected bibliography contains 89 books. This book also has both a Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur which are like a Catholic Church seal of approval on the accuracy with which the facts reflect Church teachings.

Word Among Us and George Martin are to be lauded for this series which I hope will continue at least through the Acts of the Apostles. I especially appreciate having relevant Old Testament passages quoted in their entirety so that the flow is not interrupted while I dash to the Bible to see the related text. Let's face it, few of us go to the actual trouble of doing that, although we should, so this is doubly welcome. As well, I like having the background information reference given wherever it might come up as a question. It is wonderful not having to thumb to end notes or search the index to find extra information.

It is still true that no one commentary covers every aspect of scriptural commentary. Others have a more specific focus on Church fathers or archaeology for example. I will still be using them. However, this is probably the most complete I have come across yet and will be the one I recommend for anyone who is interested in really learning what scripture can show us when we take the time to read through it slowly, with attention, and with prayer.

Word Among Us also generously sent Bringing the Gospel of Mark to Life, mentioning that they had heard some comments that the books were "too scholarly" and this concerned them as the books are specifically meant to be easily accessible to any level of knowledge from beginner to scholar. After reading some from both books, the only explanation I can imagine for those comments are that perhaps the purchasers expected the commentary to be similar to that of Word Among Us devotional magazine. You can see, by clicking through on the link, that the commentary in that publication is entirely personal and designed for reflection on relationship. Martin's commentary, although based on explaining the scripture verses, is no less accessible and no less suited for personal reflection. In fact, in the introduction he says that his "fondest wish" is that readers will be able to use these books for lectio divina (sacred reading) and prayer. I believe this is an entirely valid use and, in fact, am planning on this use myself.

I do have one criticism. The scripture passages from Matthew quoted in their entirety at the beginning of each discussion need to be visually delineated more clearly. Currently these sections simply blend into the overall pages which makes it very difficult to pick out where a section begins or ends. As I begin each chapter, I have been using a red pencil to box in the scripture. This has made a big difference in helping to organize the page visually, for me at any rate. Certainly it makes each chapter less intimidating when one can leaf through and see the many "sections" into which it is actually divided. Although this quibble would seem minor, I hope that the publishers of future editions would consider it.

Highly recommended.

I will be including nuggets on this blog as I continue reading through Matthew. For those who wish to begin with Mark, I leave you with this background information which, again, blew my mind, as I hadn't ever considered what he says about John the Baptist. I also appreciate the fact that Martin spends almost as much time reminding us not to read into Mark what we know from other sources as he does in other commentary. This section also gives an excellent example of Martin's extension of his commentary to an idea for our personal reflections.

COMMENT: TO READ MARK We will be most sensitive to the message Mark wishes to proclaim in his gospel if we read it as a Gospel in itself. We bring a great deal of knowledge to our reading of Mark, including what the Gospel of John tells us about John the Baptist. In the fourth Gospel, the Baptist recognizes and proclaims Jesus as the one who comes after him (John 1:26-34). In arriving at a final assessment of John the Baptist, we need to take into account all that is said about him in all four Gospels. But reading Mark's Gospel for the message it proclaims is a different matter. To do so we need to pay attention to what Mark says--and doesn't say-- and not automatically import information into Mark's Gospel from the other Gospels.

There is a second, related requirement. In reading Mark's Gospel we need to distinguish between what we know because Mark tells us and what the characters in Mark's Gospel know or do not know. Mark has told us that John the Baptist is the one sent to prepare the way for Jesus (1:1-3). But John the Baptist has not read Mark's Gospel and might not know what we know. Mark has told us from the very beginning that Jesus is the Christ (1:1), but those Jesus meets in the course of his ministry will be slow to recognize who Jesus is.

If John did not recognize Jesus, what does that tell us about the Baptist's call? Perhaps it tells us that God asked John to play a particular role but did not inform him of the full implications of his role. Something similar may well be true for many of us. We have been given certain responsibilities by God, perhaps even a clearly defined mission in life. But we may be in the dark about the ultimate outcome of our actions. We know what to do but not what it will accomplish in God's perspective.

Happy Birthday, Rose!

Dearest Rose, for your eighteenth birthday I'd love to make you an elegant cake featuring two of your favorite things ...



... however, we both know that isn't going to happen. That is for people lucky enough to live near this bakery which I would surely shop at if it weren't in New Jersey and we were in Dallas.

It will be homemade and made with love ... but will be more of a basic cake ... a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting per your request.

Have a wonderful birthday and may the cake be the least part of your blessings today.

There's No Fool Like an Old Fool ... or Seeing Through Jesus' Eyes

My father is a difficult man to love.

I will not bore you with details. Suffice it to say that he is not a violent man but in other ways he gave all his children considerable reason to struggle with forgiving him over the years.

I believe that the fact that we all became Christians gave us reason to continue struggling until we, in fact, were able to forgive him and move on. Certainly in my case the Holy Spirit's intervention was key in allowing me to realize just how much of my "forgiveness" up to that time had been lip service and how easy it could be to let go of past hurts with His help if I would let it happen.

However, as is often the case when illness strikes, one's worst character flaws come forth. In my father's recent extended illness this has been the case. Once again we found ourselves struggling, not with the past, but with the present examples of behavior that is completely and unrepentantly unlovable, quite often directed at our mother.

A week ago, after a call from my sister telling me of behavior so outrageous that we could hardly believe it (as we kept saying to each other), I found myself so angry that I could hardly focus enough to speak to people in the video rental store or grocery store. I always say that I don't give up on anyone until they die ... and then I'll still pray for their soul. However, at that moment I was ready to turn my back on him forever. Period.

After a short time of indulging in composing remarks to cut him to the quick (which I knew full well that he would ignore or hang up on), I began to remember that I really should be able to take a larger view ... a Christian view.

I thought of Mother Teresa and how she could see Jesus in any soul. I thought of my father and tried to see where Jesus was in him. It was an extremely brief attempt as I quickly realized that I am no Mother Teresa and it was impossible for me to make that stretch. Sad but true.

I then thought of Jesus and how he sees our true selves, not the often unlovable exterior we show the world. I thought of Anne Rice's book and her examples of Jesus' ability to do that very thing. Heaven only knew that I wasn't going to be able to do this on my own. So there, in the prepared foods section of the Central Market, I told Jesus, "Help me see my father through your eyes. It's the only way I can get through this."

I'd like to say that I had an epiphany ... angels sang ... golden light illuminated everything ... but no. I left it with Jesus and then went back to struggling with myself to stop indulging my own temper in this matter. That struggle lasted, off and on, until I went to bed.

However, in the morning I woke up with a phrase in my mind, "There's no fool like an old fool."

You wouldn't think that would be a calming thought but somehow it removed the personal element and put my father into a category that was so common there was a folk saying about him. I remembered my friend, L, nodding wisely when listening to each tale of my father's outrageous behavior. Her grandfather was much the same and it drove his family to distraction. It really was so helpful. I wasn't angry any more.

And then, a bit later in the morning, I was thinking over the parable of the Prodigal Son. In my mind's eye my father was the one in the pig sty, but when people came to help him out of it, he would turn his head and plunge straight back in ... stubbornly ignoring everyone's best efforts to show him a better world, a better life, if only he would take a little advice.

I was able to feel pity and sorrow for him. This may be a very Catholic point of view, I don't know. He has had great opportunities given to him in his illness. And he has wasted them. Completely. He could have been restored to much greater health than he has enjoyed for about a year. He could have opened his eyes to see what a faithful and loving wife he has been given. This could have been a chance to broaden his world far beyond the ever-shrinking boundaries he has been settling for in the past years. But he has chosen to ignore it all.

This all passed through my mind in the space of a few minutes. Then I realized that my prayer had indeed been answered. I had been shown how Jesus sees my father ... with love, and pity, and sorrow ... for all the times he has been given a chance and turned away.

What a boon, a blessing, a gift ... and how it made me love and thank Jesus yet again for all that he has given to me. And for not giving up on me when I indulge in tantrums like I had the day before.

So I do not give up on my father. Not now. Not ever. He may not enjoy the fact that I do not give up on him as he will be hearing a bit more of the truth than he cares to whenever he gives me an opening. That's the price he pays for having people who love him anyway.

My father is a difficult man to love ... but I will never give up.

Worth a Thousand Words

Sun and Bird

Found at Flickr's Cream of the Crop.
Click through title link to see more of this photographer's photos.

Maybe It's About the Tow Truck Driver.

Ah yes. Words of wisdom again from Jen at "Et Tu?". A very good catch phrase to remind us that it is not about us. It is about serving God ... go read it all.

Worth a Thousand Words

Assisi taken by My Roman Adventures

Click through the title link to see more photos and also to read a charming blog.

Not Quite Such Recent News, But Also Surprising

Y'all know that I am second to none in my admiration for The Anchoress.

Now we all can know just who it is that we have been admiring under that alias. Yep, she's out. And isn't that a wonderful photo? Just brimming with personality.

Sheez, You Go Out of Town for One Day ...

... and when you come back you see that the Internet Monk's wife is converting to Catholicism.

Now, how's that for surprising news?

This is, understandably, a struggle for the Internet Monk and he is open about it. I have this couple in my prayers as they undergo this test of their relationship ... and also offer a warm welcome to Mrs. Spencer as she goes through RCIA classes.

Why One Should Always Take the Time to Read the Article

Otherwise one displays one's complete lack of thoroughness to the world when linking a passionate article about The Adverse Effects of Infidelity on Society to an article like Ivy's post I can't even be faithful to infidelity.

Without realizing that Ivy is talking about things like this in the post:

Instead, I started cheating on the sweater (bad monogamous knitter) with a pair of socks. I had been loyal to the socks at least until…

Truly this is a problem of knitting discipline, however, hardly dangerous to society. And that is the second paragraph ... not that one couldn't have told it by merely clicking through and reading the first paragraph.

As Ivy points out here with her display of those she has been unfaithful to ... yarn and knitting projects.

I am dying laughing over this y'all.

Talk about egg on your face!

Some Art for Siggy

Ten Miles to a Garage by Cassius Coolidge

Click through on the title link to see more of Mr. Coolidge's art.

Because he's a tad quick to claim that people who are not fond of modern art only like art that makes them feel "comfortable." (Not that I'm bitter or anything ... ha!)

Oho, Now Here's an Interesting Question ...

... from the comments boxes. Was Bathsheba a pagan?

If you have the scoop, go let them know.

So That's What's Wrong with the American Church

A good article from Russell Shaw about the problem of clericalism in the Church. He does define it partway into the article, but for those who, like me, haven't got a clue I will provide the definition that broke the article open for me:

Main Entry:
cler·i·cal·ism
Pronunciation:
\ˈkler-i-kə-ˌli-zəm, ˈkle-ri-\
Function:
noun
Date:
1864
: a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy

I just love Merriam-Webster online don't you?

Now go check out that article!

Ever Seen the Message in a Movie? – New Catholic Website Launches

This new site is just my cup of tea. Mark has thoughtful essays that look below the surface of movies to give us insights into the bigger picture. Y'all know that I love that because it is what makes movies into art that stretches our souls instead of simply entertaining us.

A new Catholic website, SoulFoodCinema, launches today with the aim of educating and evangelising through the medium of the movies.

Soulfoodcinema differs from other faith and film websites, in that the focus is on providing education and insights for those that are curious after having watched a film, rather than providing extensive ratings and reviews for those that are curious before watching a film.

Managing Editor Mark Banks is keen to remind people that the worldwide film industry now produces hundreds of films each year that can primarily be described as ‘character studies’, and says that these films, whether we are aware of it or not, are all communicating a message to us, either implicitly or explicitly, on how to lead our lives. In such a world Mark believes it important that Catholics filled with the Holy Spirit and a love for Jesus Christ, use their wisdom, knowledge and discernment to understand these messages and to communicate them to as wide an audience as possible; especially amongst young people. For this reason Soulfoodcinema enables readers to contribute essays on one of over 700 films already viewed by the Managing Editor, which can then be published on the internet.

Soulfoodcinema also features weekly updates of links to news stories in the field of faith and film, as well as a community chat room dedicated to discussing all aspects of the movies from a Catholic-Christian point of view.

Through his letter to the Romans Saint Paul reminds us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will" (12:2). Mark asks that Catholics pray Soulfoodcinema will assist the Church in doing just that.

Worth a Thousand Words

Indian Blanket

Shown by permission. For more of Qiang-Huang's art, click on the title link.

"We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

The results of Gov. Sarah Palin's prenatal testing were in, and the doctor's tone was ominous: "You need to come to the office so we can talk about it."

Palin, known for a resolve that quickly launched her from suburban hockey mom to a player on the national political stage, said, "No, go ahead and tell me over the phone."

The physician replied, Down syndrome," stunning the Republican governor, who had just completed what many political analysts called a startling first year in office.

[...]

The doctor's announcement in December, when Palin was four months pregnant, presented her with a possible life- and career-changing development.

"I've never had problems with my other pregnancies, so I was shocked," said Palin, a mother of four other children.

"It took a while to open up the book that the doctor gave me about children with Down syndrome, and a while to log on to the Web site and start reading facts about the situation."

The 44-year-old governor waited a few days before telling her husband, Todd, who was out of town, so she could understand what was ahead for them.

Once her husband got the news, he told her: "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

There was never any doubt the Palins would have the child, and on April 18 she gave birth to Trig Paxon Van Palin.

[...]

Read the entire AP Press story here

An inspirational story that I have been meaning to mention. Kudos to the Palins.

Thank You Blogger for the "Scheduled" Feature

Blogger has added a feature that I have long desired. Until now, if you wanted to set up a post ahead of time, it had to stay in "draft" mode and be manually published. Meaning that you had to remember to go and make it show up on your blog at the right time.

However, this weekend I was prepping the remaining Holy Spirit Novena posts and inadvertently pushed "publish post" instead of "save" for something later in the week. Imagine my delight when I hastily went to unpublish it and found instead that it was listed as "scheduled."

Ahhhh, it's the little things in life that make it wonderful sometimes.

Thank you Blogger!

I'll be on Fausta's blog talk radio next Tuesday ...

... chatting with her and Siggy about a subject I know nothing about but have strong opinions about (so what else is new?). Art.

Wow, am I busy right now!

So I'll leave you with three fun things I found at Mental Floss blog a while ago but never had time to post ... a little something for everyone.

Five Superhero and Supervillain Origins ... including my favorite superhero, Batman.

Canaletto's Entrance to the Arsenal ... six interesting pieces of information about the painting and the artist.

What's the Connection Between Dalmatians and Firehouses? ... I'll give you a hint. It's immensely practical.

Thank You Anne Rice

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
by Anne Rice

[Jesus speaking to the devil in the desert]

"Those aren't your nations," I said. "The kingdoms of this world aren't yours. They never were."

"Of course they're mine," he said. It was almost a hiss. "I am the ruler of this world and I always have been. I am its Prince."

"No," I said. "None of it belongs to you. It never has."

"Worship me," he said gently, beguilingly, "and I will show you what is mine. I will give you the victory of which your prophets sang."

"The Lord on High is the One whom I worship, and no one else," I said. "You know this, you know it with every lie you speak. And you, you rule nothing and you never have." I pointed. "Look down, yourself on this perspective that is so dear to you. Think of the thousands upon thousands who rise each day and go to sleep without ever thinking evil or doing evil, whose hearts are set upon their wives, their husbands, their fathers and mothers, their children, upon the harvest and the spring rain and the new wine and the new moon. Think of them in every land and every language, think of them as they hunger for the Word of God even where there is no one to give it to them, how they reach out for it, and how they turn from pain and misery and injustice, no matter what you would have them do!"

"Liar!" he said. He spit the word at me.

"Look at them, use your powerful eyes to see them everywhere around you," I said. "Use your powerful ears to hear their cheerful laughter, their natural songs. Look far and wide to find them coming together to celebrate the simple feasts of life from the deepest jungle to the great snowbound heights. What makes you think you rule these people! What, that one may falter, and another stumble, and someone in confusion fail to love as he has striven to do, or that some evil minion of yours can convulse the masses for a month of riot and ruin? Prince of this world!"

"I'd laugh at you if you weren't unspeakable. You're the Prince of the Lie. And this is the lie: that you and the Lord God are equal, locked in combat with one another. That has never been so!"

He was near petrified with fury.

"You stupid, miserable little village prophet!" he said. "They'll laugh you out of Nazareth."

"It is the Lord God who rules," I said, "and He always has. You are nothing, and you have nothing and rule nothing. Not even your minions share with you in your emptiness and in your rage."

He was red faced, and speechless.

If I were to excerpt all the sections that presented new, stirring, and inspiring ways to consider Jesus as fully human and fully God, I would have to include about two-thirds of this book. Time and again I was astounded at Anne Rice's mastery of delicate subtlety in conveying a truth in her meditation of Christ among us as he comes to his ministry.

Some reviewers have mentioned their difficulties with various aspects of events portrays in village life such as a stoning or of Jesus' attraction to a local maiden. However, for me these were believable incidents. Perhaps that is because I was prepared by having read Two From Galilee by Marjorie Holmes long ago in my truth-seeking days. I enjoyed that book, and the sequel as well, but those books contain nothing near the power and insight that Rice has when conveying Jesus to us in everyday life. I especially enjoyed the contrast between his tendency to "hang back," as his relatives termed it, while still being able to love and appreciate the people around him. Even when being chewed out by a fellow villager, Jesus can still appreciate the beauty with which the enraged fellow gesture. This gives us the feeling that he can always find something to love in his fellow man, even when we would not under similar circumstances.

The vivid contrast between "hanging back" and his sudden assertive command after baptism is definite and startling. We see this emerge in the way Jesus speaks with the devil in the desert and then later when he is asserting that the Messiah is working in time to bring God to everyone. One gets a sense that in Jesus' complete trust and willingness to do God's will, that he is becoming fully "himself" and all is becoming clear to him on the journey.

Rice's writing is so masterful that readers may need to remind themselves that these are personal meditations of Jesus' life. She makes remarkably few false steps and these are not a matter of lacking adherence to the truth as much as when her personal meditation may not match step with those of the reader.

It is no secret that I did not enjoy the first book in this series (Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt), as the midrash felt false and forced to me. Therefore, I was stunned but quite pleased to find this book such a personal revelation of inspiration for my own meditations on Jesus. Anne rice has given us a treasure if we use it wisely. Personally I can tell you that it will be going into my regular rotation of meditative reading to provide ongoing food for thought.

I wish I could write as good a review as this book deserves. I cannot. All I can do is to exhort you to read it for yourself. And, of course, to thank Anne Rice for sharing her talent in this area.

Highest recommendation.

Superhero Highlight: Backwards Man

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

Backwards Man

Power: Ability to do anything backwards

Backstory: As a teenager, Backwards Man was quite the ladies’ man. He was always out on the town, looking for a good time. Backwards Man was rather reckless in his youth, and, more than once, was known to keep a lass out past curfew, sometimes by a whole fifteen minutes. One day, however, he trifled with the wrong ethnicity. Backwards Man became enamored with Gina Gerina, the daughter of local gypsy family, so he took her out on a date, which was the style at the time. Wild and irresponsible as ever, Backwards Man took no notice of the time until it was TOO LATE. They arrived back at her caravan at 9:13, a whole THIRTEEN MINUTES past curfew! The gypsies, notorious for their family loyalties and wrathful curses, bestowed one of their most feared curses upon him: he was fated to do all things BACKWARDS. Thus was Backwards Man created! Having been forcibly shown the error of his ways, Backwards Man decided to give up his life of foolishness and began to use his powers to help those less fortunate.

Cover: Mild-mannered racecar driver (and a handsome racecar driver at that)

Cover name: Roger Richardson

Partner: The Queen Bee

Introduction to partner: One day when Backwards Man was minding his own business, walking backwards in the park, he noticed an inordinate amount of bees in the vicinity. He chalked up this odd situation to the blooming of the wildflowers. Had he been more concerned with his surroundings, he may have actually tried looking around for a source of the bees and seen The Queen Bee watching him. Because Backwards Man is pretty dense, he did not actually notice that he was being followed for a large number of weeks. It seemed as though he would never figure out that The Queen Bee ever existed. One day, however, he decided foolishly to mix things up and actually try walking forwards. This proved impossible, and he fell immediately. The Queen Bee helped him onto his feet, and the rest is history. However, since it is not the history that is widely known, I’ll let you know that they got married and started fighting crime together.

Archnemesis: The police, since they do not appreciate people driving backwards.
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Next superhero feature coming: The Lincolnator

Worth a Thousand Words

"The Ermine Portrait" of Elizabeth I, 1585, by Nicholas Hilliard

Happy Birthday, Dear Tom!

That is not a photo of my cake but it looks as if chocoholic Tom would like it ... so we'll see how close I can get to reproducing it with Chocolate Buttermilk Cake and Chocolate Malt Frosting.

Happy Birthday to my dear and darling husband!

Thank You St. Francis and St. Anthony!

For your intercessory prayers ...

Unto us a prodigal daughter has been returned ... after over 24 hours disappearance in the wilds of outdoors, after Rose walked the streets for over an hour yesterday seeking and not finding ...

... this morning she opened the door to the garage and in bounded our wayward cat, Truffles, with her tail held high.

As if we hadn't each looked in that garage many times!

However, no matter where that silly cat was, she is home and all is forgiven. Whew!