The Catholic Things We Do: Reviewing "Catholicism" by Robert Barron

This review originally ran almost a year ago. Showing up to help with our parish's RCIA program, I was delighted to find it is occasionally going to be featuring a DVD from the Catholicism series that this book accompanies.

Watching the first one last week brought this marvelous book to mind. Surprised to find that no one had heard of it, I thought I'd rerun the review to remind all of us about it. I am inundated with new books these days and have fallen out of my former habit of rereading. That's a shame since a fast-reader like me often needs more than one reading to gain insights. I may have to pick up this book again. In the meantime, I recommend it to you.

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This review is also appearing in my A Free Mind column at Patheos.

Since my conversion, I have read many a book about saints, angels, prayer, virtues, and all those good Catholic subjects. Reviewing the list, however, I was surprised to see how few of them covered Catholicism as a whole.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, of course, is a reference I use regularly. The impeccable logic of Peter Kreeft's Catholic Christianity helped settle my mind about Catholic teachings on controversial issues. Catholicism for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism are favorite references.

None of them, however, are designed to be engaging, uplifting reading (although the Catechism certainly can perform that function).

Enter Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith by Father Robert Barron. Barron has the knack of articulating Catholic theology in a way that makes one sit up in astonishment and delight as well-worn concepts take on fresh, new life. Look at his presentation of what the Incarnation means to us, as human beings.

In their own ways, Marx, Freud, Feuerbach, and Sartre all maintain that God must be eliminated if humans are to be fully themselves. But there is none of this in the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation. The Word does indeed become human, but nothing of the human is destroyed in the process; God does indeed enter into his creation, but the world is thereby enhanced and elevated. The God capable of incarnation is not a competitive supreme being but rather, in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the sheer act of being itself, that which grounds and sustains all of creation, the way a singer sustains a song.

And the Incarnation tells us the most important truth about ourselves: we are destined for divinization. The church fathers never tired of repeating this phrase as a sort of summary of Christian belief: Deus fit homo ut homo fieret Deus (God became human so that humans might become God). God condescended to enter into human flesh so that our flesh might partake of the divine life, that we might participate in the love that holds the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in communion. And this is why Christianity is the greatest humanism that has ever appeared, indeed that could appear. No philosophical or political or religious program in history—neither Greek nor Renaissance nor Marxist humanism—has ever made a claim about human destiny as extravagant as Christianity's. We are called not simply to moral perfection or artistic self-expression or economic liberation but to what the Eastern fathers called theiosis, transformation into God.

God's noncompetitive love and our transformation into the divine are touchstones that Barron returns to throughout the book. As he presents Catholicism in all its complexity—from Jesus as warrior to Mary and the saints to the Eucharist and beyond—readers begin to grasp that love and transformation are indeed the core of the Catholic faith.

Barron's enthusiasm is palpable and his examples vivid. I especially enjoyed the way he wove imagery throughout his text, only to suddenly expand it to make larger theological points. I already was familiar with Noah's ark as an image of the Church, as a place of safety for all. However, it was a revelation when he took it one step further and pointed out how medieval architects reinforced the connection by endeavoring to make cathedrals look like great ships. He gave me potent, mind's-eye images that stuck with me through the rest of that section.

Here, Barron makes a similar leap, bringing the gospel to life, and into our immediate lives, with great enthusiasm.

Saints are those who have allowed Jesus thoroughly to transfigure them from within. Paul caught this when he observed, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). In chapter 5 of Luke's Gospel we find an odd story about Jesus and Peter. As the eager crowd presses in on him, Jesus spies two boats moored by the shore of the lake. Without asking permission, he gets into the boat belonging to Peter and says, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch" (Lk 5:4). What followed, as we have seen earlier when analyzing Mark's version of this scene, is the miraculous catch of fishes. Read with spiritual eyes, this story reveals the essential feature of sainthood. For a Galilean fisherman his boat was everything; it was his livelihood, his work, the means by which he supported his family. Peter's fishing vessel represents, therefore, his professional creativity, his link to the wider world, the key to his survival. Jesus simply gets into the boat and commences to give orders—and the result is the greatest catch Peter the fisherman ever made. Jesus' uninvited boarding of the vessel represents the invasion of grace, the incoming of the divine love into someone's life. Precisely because God is noncompetitive with creation, precisely because he wants human beings to come fully to life, this inrushing of grace does not destroy or interrupt what it invades; it enhances it and raises it to a new pitch. Peter, one presumes, had been successful enough as a fisherman, but now, under Jesus' direction, he goes out into the deep and brings in more than he could ever have imagined possible. This is what happens when we cooperate with grace, when we allow Christ to live his life in us.

The saints are those who have allowed Jesus to get into their boats and who have thereby become not superhuman or angelic but fully human, as alive as God intended them to be. The entire purpose of the church, as we have seen, is to produce saints.

The book is not perfect. Over a hundred black and white photos are included and they are well enough in their way, but color would have packed a greater punch. I would have traded the eight-page color plates at the center for colored photos scattered throughout the book, instead. Too many shots of great art were rendered unremarkable in black and white, which is ironic, as the book is a companion to a ten-part Catholicism television series. A key point of the series is the beauty of the Catholic faith as expressed through the work of human hands. While the book stands alone, it fails to amplify that beauty for its readers.

I also found that Barron occasionally couldn't resist diving instantly into complex concepts that might have done better with a more extended simple introduction. This is especially true in the chapter about prayer. He moves too quickly into the prayer lives of Thomas Merton, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila, all of whom may intimidate even seasoned Catholics with their far-reaching concepts. While Barron does address the sort of basic petitionary prayer that is the cornerstone of most people's experience, he quickly jumps to Merton. I was thoroughly confused halfway through and had to reread the chapter. Barron would have done well to recall that some readers may be completely new to prayer or may come from Christian backgrounds that might view the mystics with deep suspicion.

These points aside, Barron's book is a real treasure. His development of Heavenly imagery into a place I could actually imagine myself inhabiting has charged me with excitement about getting to Heaven. His points about Jesus as a warrior reminded me that I, too, am called to never give up, never surrender. His guide to Dante's Divine Comedy invested layers of meaning in the books about Purgatory and Heaven I completely missed when I read them.

Catholicism is a wonderful guide to the heart of the Catholic faith. It will no doubt explain the faith to many, and light the imaginations of those already on that journey.

Just Because I Like It - the Pope in Lebanon

From the Pope's visit to Lebanon. Something about this brings tears to my eyes ... it is that kind of jubilant feeling. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be inside the car?

This is from Margaret at ten thousand places who also excerpted three quotes from Pope Benedict's addresses so far. My favorite:

Why so much horror? Why so many dead? ... Those who wish to build peace must cease to see in the other an evil to be eliminated."

Pope Benedict XVI

Margaret links to a place with a lot more coverage. Drop by and browse.

Elsewhere ... Cooking and Booking

Here are some things I've got going on elsewhere.

Neapolitan Pizza Dough - at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen

The Unforeseen, chapter 1 by Dorothy Macardle - we begin an eerie novel by the author of one of the most popular books ever read at Forgotten Classics (The Uninvited).

Leave It To Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse - Bertie Wooster is in New York but he still needs Jeeves to consult for sticky problems. Read for Forgotten Classics by Will Duquette from The View From the Foothills.

Ora et Labora et Zombies - the first three letters read aloud at Forgotten Classics. Just a little something extra.

Latest Find: The Booth at the End

A mysterious Man sits at a booth at the end of a diner. People approach him because they've heard The Man has a gift. He can solve their problems: A parent with a sick child, a woman who wants to be prettier, a nun who has lost her faith. The Man can give these people what they want. For a price. The Man makes a proposition. In exchange for realizing their desires, these individuals must complete a task, return to The Man, and describe every step in detail. The trick is that these tasks are things that would normally be inconceivable to them. But The Man never forces anyone to do anything. It's always up to the individual to start - or stop. The Booth at the End asks the question: How far would you go to get what you want?

Seasons 1 and 2 are showing on Hulu now. Tom and I watched season one in one evening since there were only five 23-minute episodes. It was like a movie length show that way.

This is a fascinating premise that gives the writers opportunities to examine choice, free will, destiny, and similar questions. I was interested in the way that people's stories wound up being intertwined and the contrasts it showed in what everyone focused on once they were in the middle of trying to complete their tasks. I was also fascinated by The Man's relationship with The Book.

Rose turned us onto this although once I began looking around the internet I realized that this show has been intensely discussed by its viewers. And somehow I completely missed Joseph Susanka's column about it although I thought I'd read all his pieces.

That's ok, I don't mind coming late to the party and pointing the way for those who haven't come across it yet.

What I Learned During My Time Off

It wasn't the blogging time that was distracting me nearly as much as the reading time. I dumped my RSS reader and went back to an old idea, using my blog roll.

It's been updated from the reader I was using and it is infinitely more restful to click through to the places I want to read and not feel the pressure of all the posts that have been collected for me to read.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

I'm Baaack!

I missed you!

I'd find neat stuff and want to share it ... so let's catch up!

Untitled Web Series About A Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time

As a Community fan I love this!  It also will be enjoyed by Dr. Who fans, or so I'm told.

Inspector Spacetime Poster

In related news, via Dan Harmon, go see this fantastic Inspector Spacetime poster.

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Jerry Seinfeld's new series. Tom discovered this. Good thing he's following a film news website now that Rose is living in L.A.

The show is fairly new and there are seven episodes. Each is around eight minutes long. You can watch them on your computer at the site above or on Youtube or, since we have a Roku box which has Crackle free, on your TV.

Jerry Seinfeld sets off, each time in a different car which he tells us about, to pick up a comedian pal. Guess what? They go get coffee. And sometimes lunch. While chatting and cracking each other up. Some are funnier than others but we found them generally entertaining.

I don't think of Alec Baldwin as a comedian. In fact, this episode actually establishes him definitely as an actor but I loved this conversation between him and Jerry since they are clearly very old friends.

Prayer Request

Dropping in quickly to ask that you pray for a fellow who has been in the hospital since April.

SINCE. APRIL.

They don't know what it is. They just know that it's bad.

He says: I have infections that i can't shake cos the antibiotics hold onto proteins that my body won't keep. And the big drugs are now moving into the experimental category ...

I know that you don't have to know who he is to pray for him, but I call him Jonathan Harker because he was the superb narrator of that part in Dracula by Bram Stoker for the CraftLit podcast.

He's asking for prayers. Let's storm Heaven for him.

Taking a Week Off

Hey everyone, I'm going to take a week off.

Just need to have some off-the-interwebs time and am going to be scarce as I can to experience "real life."

They say it's great! (ha!)

See you in a week!

I'd have more to say, but I'm having too much fun ...

... working!

I know.

Unexpected right?

Alone in the office today as everyone else is off to the Drupal conference. (Sometimes there are advantages in not doing webwork, I feel.)

So Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko is blaring over my computer speakers (God bless you, KWIT-KOJI for providing the occasional Afternoon Classical as an iTunes podcast. Nothing better for stoking up the iPod...)

I'm finally getting a chance to come up with some page designs for a book I'm laying out. Is it wrong to love a design so much? (Don't answer that ... I will strive for detachment.)

Not only that but I have two other ideas. It's nice when you can be so happy about the daily grind!

Star Trek's 46th Anniversary ... and Google Doodle

Be sure to swing by Google and check out their tribute. Probably everyone has seen this but me by now (Tom had to send me an email from the convention he's at for me to notice it.)

When you mouse over elements a little adventure game plays out. Fun, fun, fun!

Cowboys-24, Giants-17. WOOHOO!

Believe me, I was as surprised as everyone.

More gratified than many, but surprised. Now if they can just clean up their penalty inducing ways we'll be in business if they stay focused.

And I would be remiss in forgetting to thank the many NY Giants receivers who had the ball bounce off their hands.

Blogging Around: To Your Health!

Jenny and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Bike Ride

Full disclosure: I know Jenny. You can trust her to tell it straight. She's level-headed, an engineer, and tells a hilarious story, which makes a point we should all keep in mind.

And while I hate to admit it, I'm pretty sure that my company's desire to certify the new headquarters as LEED Gold is the only reason that we have locker rooms and gym facilities. Don't get me wrong, I love that we have a gym and locker rooms, but other than the occasional yoga break during lunch time, I've never used them. I'll occasionally see someone in there when I'm passing through on the way to the parking lot, but it's mostly vacant. It's a nice perk, but sometimes I wonder if it was worth it. But by far, one of the easiest ways to get extra points towards certification is by installing bike racks on the property. It doesn't matter that my office is in the middle of a highly industrial area. It doesn't matter that it's surrounded by highways and other high-traffic roads, rife with unruly 18-wheelers, with no shoulders and few sidewalks**. It doesn't matter that these bike racks never get used (I've been at this office for a year and a half and have yet to see one bike), we have them now because we needed them for our LEED Gold status (I assume). I even tried to make them useful, once, but even though I live extremely close to work now, my one attempt at biking there was fraught with terror and was disastrously unsuccessful.

That's right, that entire rant of an intro was just a super long, rambling segue into an anecdote about a terrible bike ride.

Go on, you know you want to. Click through and read the whole thing at Pound by Pound.

Is Food Intolerance Testing For Real?

It can be, but listen (or read) as the Nutrition Diva serves some common sense with that blood test.

The first thing we need to do is distinguish between food allergies—which are quite specific and readily diagnosable—and food intolerance or sensitivities. A food allergy, such the type people commonly have to peanuts or shellfish, is what we call an IgE-mediated reaction. For whatever reason, your immune system has decided that a particular protein is a threat—a threat so dangerous that it has developed a special reconnaissance agent (the IgE-antibody) to be constantly on guard for it. Should that protein turn up in your blood stream, those IgE antibodies are going to sound the alarm and your body is going to react—sometimes quite violently.

[...]

But the type of blood test David saw advertised at the pharmacist’s is quite different. These type of tests claim to reveal food insensitivities or intolerances. According to promoters, most people suffer from undiagnosed food intolerances, which can be a hidden cause of everything from fatigue to acne to weight gain. The test, they claim, will reveal which foods are secretly to blame for whatever ails you. Avoiding these foods will clear up the problem. Magic!

Bootstrapping the Interior Life

Will Duquette at The View From The Foothills has begun a series of meditations upon the interior life. Meaning ... a life of holiness and connection with God. These are short and easy to absorb while giving us (or me anyway) some good food for thought. Begin here.

I’d simply say that my interior life is my life with Jesus. Being a Christian isn’t simply a way to live or a set of things to believe; it’s learning to live with Jesus. And by the nature of things much of that is inside, where it can’t be seen.

If you like those then poke around and read more of Will's pieces. He does lots of book reviews, but just before this interior life series he began one pondering marriage. It is excellent.

The Queen, corgies, books and ... Joss Whedon (yes again).

We're back with another episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

In Episode #42, Julie and Scott discover reading. Turns out it's kind of meaningful and fun. Who knew? The Queen didn't, but does now according to The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. At the end of the podcast, Julie talks a bit about the 2012 Catholic New Media Conference!

It's All Downhill From Here

A little humor for the middle of the week.

From the brilliant mind of xkcd
who graciously allows me to share these.

Hereupon Resolved: HC Receives all Catholic Zombie References ...

... and Matt Swaim receives, at his own request, Catholic Star Wars/Indy/Battlestar references.

(Where this leaves Father Roderick, I don't know.)

You know, I don't spend much ... or any ... time on Twitter. But when Matt Swaim brought up that he's trying to set up an interview about zombies on Catholic radio, I received a flurry of Twitter emails because people mentioned me.

I am proud to be the go-to gal for Catholic Zombie references.

And am taking dibs on Joss Whedon / Firefly / Nathan Filion references. I mean, c'mon. We can hardly get through an episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find without Whedon coming up in conversation somehow. At least I know we mentioned him in the episode coming up on Thursday featuring The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.

By the way, along those lines, I must get a review of Unholy Night up. For now, know this: amazingly good book. With a few zombies. But mostly it is a thought provoking midrash on the Holy Family's trip to Egypt. Simply fantastic.

CNMC: What I Learned

In no particular order:

• Adoration is essential before speaking to a large group (even if only for 2-3 minutes). I'm eternally grateful to Fr. Roderick for having a chapel on-site.
  
  
• I just get fonder of Will Duquette the more I hang out with him. And this isn't just because he's my buddy. He very politely was sure to remind me that paying attention to my writing was more important than taking on new projects (like helping with a new podcast idea ...). Drat. But the good friends are the ones who'll talk straight to ya (politely but straight).
  
  
• That when Sarah Reinhard spends the night at my house, it is literally possible for the two of us to never stop talking. For three days. And we still had more to say when she left. (Surprisingly Tom is not deaf. I don't understand it.) ALSO, she is not afraid of interactive materials for her talks. She gave a very hands-on presentation ... with actual beach balls ... and it provided a lively time that Tom enjoyed.
  
  
• Someone can meet your eyes, smile, and finger waggle at you ... and it is better than an introduction. Elizabeth Scalia did that to me through a little triangle formed of people between us, right before beginning her talk. I felt as if I'd been given a hug. (Of course, personal connection is one of her super-powers, but we can all attempt this ourselves.)
  
  
• Also, I had tears in my eyes when Elizabeth spoke about the moment every Catholic blogger has experienced: feeling as if one should stop blogging and then receiving an encouraging email. I've never mentioned that to anyone much because I fall into the "coincidence" trap a lot (don't want to assume miracles, dontcha know?). To hear it spoken of so publicly and matter-of-factly was a wonderful reminder and reinforcement of our common mission for Christ as bloggers and podcasters (because, yes, it has happened for the podcast also).
  
  
• Always put a photo so that the Pinterest gang can link to you. (Note the graphic above! I hear and obey.) I am not sure who the fellow was who was such a fan of Pinterest, but he piqued my interest because you just don't think of guys hanging out there but I absolutely loved his enthusiasm.
  
  
• Got to meet Shannon Hughes from Emmaus Road (for whom I do book design and layout). Face to face! Woohoo! What did I learn? That she values my enthusiasm for design ... I suppose that includes my passionate defense of my layouts. (Sorry about how that passion overflows sometimes, Shannon!) But wait till you see what I've thought of for our next project!
  
  
• Bishop Coyne stole my heart with his admission that continuing to focus new evangelization on Christ as a person has transformed his personal prayer life. Also, I never knew that that new evangelization is focused on bringing back those who left the Church instead of going to places where no one has heard of Christ. Not that there's anything wrong with that either. PLUS, Q&A is one of his super-powers. I'm just sayin'.
  
  
• God does miracles even when we're talking about tech and business and suchlike. Of course, for Him this is business as usual ... and noticing it should be the same for us. But is it? It's nice to have reminders.
  
  
• That guy you noticed and felt like you should go talk to because of his T-shirt and the fact that he's not sitting with anyone? The one you noticed three times? Do it. Because he's great and has a zombie story that'll kick your ... well, you'll like it. A lot. In the first letter: that thing about the cupcake? Got me and Hannah right there.
  
  
• Jennifer Fulwiler is gutsy enough to spend her entire talk pointing out all the ways the devil uses the internet to attack us. I like that in a talk. A lot.
  
  
• Being on a panel means you shouldn't grab the microphone every time a question is asked ... because sometimes you don't really have the answer. Ask me how I know. Wait. Don't. Although it did bring me into a very interesting conversation afterward. So maybe it all worked out ok.
  
  
• Jennifer Fitz ... have always loved reading her blog, Riparians at the Gate. Loved even more getting to hang out with her. She is generous with helping people make connections, giving them books with Roman churches (lovely photos) in them, and in laughing when I make a joke. Ahem. In no particular order ...
  
  
• Everyone should go through hair and makeup before going on camera. Or probably before giving a talk in bright lights, as I panicked about much too late to do any good. So I ignored it and sailed along anyway. Lesson learned from Rob Kaczmark from Spirit Juice Studios.
  
  
• Building community through interactive tools can be as simple as turning voting into a live "horse race." Fun and gets everyone engaged ... somewhat like off-track betting (in the movies, anyway) ... as we all see which answer "wins." A clever bit of illustration of their points from Lisa Jones and Shelly Kelly.
  
  
• Dorian Speed ... I like her in my living room at dinner ... I like her doing a presentation with hand drawn pictures. Wow. Clever, funny, sensible, and able to serenely handle equipment break downs on the fly. My new hero.
  
  
• Brandon Vogt looks exactly like his photo (you'd be surprised how few people that is true of). He's also as nice as he looks. AND gives a fantastic presentation. I wondered how he'd be able to handle his topic without saying anything negative ... and he did it. Really great.
  
  
• Blogger is disliked by a surprising number of people. Or is it that WordPress has an "Apple" vibe going on right now ... it's the cool kid on the block? I was stunned by the high level of "woah, people, use WordPress." Happy Catholic does not just happen to be left on Blogger because I ignore the lack of features. It is owned by Google. It's been updated. But a lot of people didn't check that before talking about it.
  
  
• It really is all about the people and the face-to-face encounters though. So many people that I met and didn't get to talk to long enough ... and that is what made me go around for the last couple of days feeling as if I had a "retreat high."

Here is a page where you can find lots of recaps and comments from CNMC attendees.

Catholic Bloggers: Are We the 1st Corinthians of the Internet?

And If So, What Can We Do About It?

My talk from the Catholic New Media Convention 2012. You may hear it along with the Q&A, the panel discussion I was on afterward, and every talk from that terrific conference, if you purchase their Virtual Ticket. The handout that went with the talk is available here as a pdf to download.

============

Apostle Paul,
Russian Orthodox icon,
via Wikipedia

Good afternoon everyone. I’m Julie Davis. I am very honored and pleased to be with you today.

I’ve been blogging at Happy Catholic for 8 years now where I’m not always happy but I’m always happy to be Catholic. I’ve been podcasting for 5 years at Forgotten Classics and almost a year at A Good Story is Hard to Find .

I’m here to ask the question: Are Catholics Bloggers the 1st Corinthians of the Internet?

First of all, what does this question even mean?

Let’s begin by considering this scenario.

=========================

Imagine that in a dream one night you find yourself in a parish where there are several drunks at Sunday Mass; where some members are claiming that there is no resurrection of the dead and that Jesus is not really present in the Eucharist; the president of the Altar Society is not talking to the head catechist; there is public unchallenged adultery; a group is dabbling in New Age spirituality; and Masses are abbreviated for the sake of Sunday football.

=========================

This sounds like the parish from Hell doesn’t it? It’s author George Montague’s updated version of the problems that Paul addressed in his First Letter to the Corinthians.

The 1st century Corinthian church was in such bad shape because they were enthusiastic but immature Christians practicing a brand new faith that didn’t have many guidelines. They were surrounded by a melting pot of cultures and religions in a city whose very name meant debauchery and drunkenness to the rest of the world ... and they allowed themselves to be influenced by them.

To top it off, they carried their squabbles into public court. It was not only driving away fellow Christians, but they were a terrible example to the Corinthian pagans who didn’t have any other idea of what Christians should be like.

So, now that we have the context: let’s talk about Catholic bloggers. Are we the first Corinthians of the internet?

Well, we exist in a vast melting pot of cultures and religions on the internet where it is easy to be tempted to compromise our faith so that we can “get along” or get something we’d like.

To the world of the internet, we are the face of the Catholic Church. We’re the Catholics they visit every day, watch as we live our lives, and judge the rest of the Church by. We might be the only Catholics they “know” … so in that sense we are as important or moreso as the Pope or a nun on the news or the local Catholic school. Just like the Corinthians were in their pagan world.

Now, we do have a lot more guidelines about our faith than the Corinthians did, but those guidelines are some of the very things we argue about ... to infinity and beyond. I’ve got to say if there is something that Catholics bloggers are great at, it is arguing. We aren’t always good at settling the argument but, boy howdy, can we argue. Some of the time, not very politely or forgivingly or kindly.

To be fair, Catholic bloggers come from as many different backgrounds and faiths as the secular environment we inhabit. A certain amount of confusion or misunderstanding is probably inevitable. …

But guess what?

Outsiders don’t care that we’re human, that we fail, that everyone makes mistakes and nobody’s perfect. They’re watching to see how we really live and what difference our faith in Christ makes every day, in all circumstances.

Tertullian, around 200 A.D. reported how outsiders saw Christians: “Look,” the pagans say, “How Christians love one another and how they are ready to die for each other.”

Can people today say that about the Catholic blogging community? Which Catholic bloggers am I willing to die for? It should be all of them, but is it? What about those “spirit of Vatican II” bloggers? Or the Latin Mass bloggers? How about the blogger who says I should forbid my daughters to date non-Catholics?

I’d like to pop off with a “yes, of course, I’d die for them” but what do my actions show? I can be a pretty big jerk. I’d like to say the answer is always yes for all of us Catholic bloggers. But we know that isn’t true either.

None of us sets out to cause discord, but like an avalanche, one hasty remark can lead to another, a few other people join in, and before we know it, we’re in the middle of a flame war.

It isn’t pretty. AND it isn’t any different than any non-Catholic blogger’s behavior.

Above and beyond our effect on outsiders, what does this behavior cost us? How do we affect the spiritual health of the Catholics we’re brangling with? Not to mention other Catholics who read us. It causes heartache and anger, and sows dissension. It can even turn people away from the Catholic faith or away from God altogether.

So I think that we could make an argument for the fact that the Catholic bloggers are the 1st Corinthians of the internet, to some degree.

So what do we do about it?

Easy. Just be better Christians.

Simple. Right?

Done and done.

Yeah, I wish ... We’d have heaven on earth if just saying that made it so. How do we get there, as bloggers, from where we are now?

Jesus gave us the short version: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Or to say it the way I sometimes have to think of it ... “Don’t be a jerk.”

Here’s the thing though. As he himself said, Jesus came not to replace the law but to perfect it. That “short version” came from Leviticus where it says:

“… You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:18 (NAB)

Now why do I bring that up?

Because although “love your neighbor” is beautifully simple and can help us keep our eyes on Christ ... sometimes we need more details.

And here’s what I love about that. We have Leviticus giving us “love your neighbor.” But at the same time, the Hebrews were also given The Ten Commandments.

God knew that we needed things spelled out sometimes, so he gave us “love your neighbor” as the perfect summary to the heart of His love and he gave us a list to help us dig deeper.

Now, I love lists. I love making them. I love reading them. I love crossing things off of them.

Even when I already know what’s on that list, sometimes looking at it refreshes my mind and helps me reorder my day. Just the way any of us might reflect on the 10 Commandments and get a new insight into how we’re living.

My Golden Rule for Catholic bloggers would be “keep your eyes on Christ and never blog without prayer.”

When I began thinking about it, I realized that I have broken that big statement down into an internal set of ... we won’t call them commandments ... but perhaps guidelines.

These are things that I turn to whenever I am tempted to strike out in anger, let hurt feelings guide me, or just generally be a jerk. Without these I’d be an even bigger jerk sometimes. Certainly I’d be a jerk more often. So they’re not only good for me, they’re good for you too.

I have 11 of them. Ready? Here we go!

11 Guidelines for Catholic Bloggers

1. Remember Christ chose you.
We all got into blogging for different reasons. But whether we realized it at the time or not, we were not the ones initiating the choice. Jesus said (John 15:16):

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.

Jesus chose Pat Gohn to show the right way, the Catholic way, to put women first. He chose the B-Movie Catechism blogger to share his love of his Catholic faith AND his passion for cult cinema and really, really bad movies. He chose Terry Prest (at Idle Speculations) to share a love of Catholicism, history, and art ... all entwined in a way that feeds our senses and opens our eyes.

He chose you and he chose me for this unique, public ministry in this time and in this place in history. It’s an international and public witness offering Christ’s friendship … and ours … to others in what St. Josemaria Escriva called the “apostolate of friendship,” … the idea that faithful friendship in everyday life shows God to those we love.

Now as to whether my blog is always worthy of God, that is a different story but because Christ chose me I have a greater responsibility than the average blogger. And so do you.

As a friend, telling the world about my faith, do I stand by Jesus in every trial? Is my friendship a credit to Him? Do I, as Madeleine L’Engle said:

Show them a light so lovely they will want with all their hearts to know the source.

I wish I could say yes. When I fail is when I know that I quit looking at my first and best friend and began looking at myself. Instead of listening to Christ, I’ve been shouting about me.

Which leads us to #2.

2. Know when to put on the brakes
Some you have met my brakes. My husband Tom ... say hi Tom ... is my safeguard against going off half-cocked. I’ve got a quick temper, a defensive response to criticism, am a dyed-in-the-wool contrarian and am super-stubborn. That’s a dangerous combination.

I count on Tom to slow me down, show me the other side of a disagreement, and stop me from lashing out. Now, I have to recognize the danger signals first and go to him, so that is my responsibility.

Sometimes I don’t see the danger. Sometimes, I deliberately ignore the danger. Because I want my own way. I don’t want to be stopped. Because, as Happy Catholic, I’m right and they’re wrong ... according to me.

It is pride and it is deadly — to me as a blogger and to the Catholic blogging community. Every time I go my own way, every time I don’t put on the brakes, I am sorry later that I didn’t fight that temptation.

Why didn’t I fight it? I stopped praying, I took my eyes off Christ and sometimes I forgot that that Catholic blogging involves the invisible world as well as the visible. Such as #3.

3. The enemy is prowling like a lion.
It follows that if we have a personal mission from Christ, then there will be powerful opposition, just as there was to Him. 1st Peter says:

Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8-10 RSV)

As Catholic bloggers we are tempted in subtle ways to be envious, to let others glorify us, to denounce without even asking a clarifying question first … to appear perfect.

Each crisis … whether a crisis in the world around us or a crisis of faith … is window of opportunity for God to show us how to die to self, to mold us a bit more into Christ’s likeness … and to be an example for the world.

The solution to defeating the prowling lion can be given in one word: humility. Jesus tells us exactly how to achieve that humility … which takes us to #4.

4. Turn the other cheek.
In theory, this is wonderful. In practice, we all know it can be excruciating. Jesus told us:

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Leo Tolstoy in What I Believe tells of reading the Sermon on the Mount to a rabbi who responded to each saying with, “This is in the Talmud.” But when Tolstoy read “Do not resist one who is evil” the rabbi was silent. He asked Tolstoy, “Do Christians ever keep this law?”

Do we? Or do we come up with reasons why “just this time” it’s ok to make an exception?

When we rationalize not turning the other cheek ... and we all do it ... I'm one of the worst ... we are placing ourselves and our desire to win or have our own way, above Christ. We are glorifying ourselves above his command.

The truth is that Christ didn’t stop and explain it. He just told us to do it. Whether we understand it or not. We are called to be obedient just like Christ was.

Which feels darned near impossible sometimes. And which takes us to #5.

5. Lord, have mercy on me and bless the other person.
As a blogger I’ve benefited from this prayer more times than I can say. It is remarkable how many times I have prayed it when I am frustrated with someone only to have examples of my own identically bad behavior pop into my mind. It is not only humbling, it reminds me that at some time I have probably upset someone else just as much, in an identical way.

It helps me to see that person through Christ’s eyes, to remember that Christ loves them just as much as He loves me. I often am reminded at these times of St. Therese of Lisieux, who also struggled to love those around her. In Story of a Soul: she says it helps her to remember that God is the artist who creates souls. And that there is no artist who is not pleased when his work is admired.

Because of that, I often find myself asking Christ to show me something lovable about the person I am upset with. What does He see in that soul He created that makes Him smile with tender love?

It all comes down to asking Christ to help you. Even if you are less than enthusiastic about the prayers, your willingness to pray at all is something that God will work with to help you.

Which, of course, takes us to #6.

6. Know how to gauge success.
It’s not about numbers. Or followers or comments or book deals or SEO or speaking engagements or any of the other ways we invent to gauge our success.

We were called to tell the good news. How are we doing at that?

I remember when I first began blogging I came across a blog, whose name I can’t now remember. But the person was reflecting on the past year of blogging, saying that they had only had about 6 regular visitors but they didn’t count the time wasted. I have always tried to keep that mindset.

But we all have those days. Those envious days when we need to regain perspective. Those days when instead of rejoicing at someone else’s success for the kingdom, we think, “What about me?”

I can prescribe nothing better for that than The Curt Jester’s Litany of Blog Humility. Jeff Miller, The Curt Jester, is a “must read” for me every day but it is his litany which speaks so much to the Catholic soul … which loves nothing better than a good litany, some humor, and a lot of sincerity … Here’s a bit:

From the desire of my blog being read
Deliver me dear Jesus

That other blogs may be loved more than mine
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it

That Google may never list my blog
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it

You get the idea. It is in your handout and, more importantly, on The Curt Jester’s blog where you may find it any time as long as you have internet access.

(That my internet may fail, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it...) Which leads us directly to ...

7. Do something face-to-face.
It is easy to think that blogging is all the “volunteering” or “ministry” you need to do. Blogging is important. As I keep saying, Catholic blogging is an important, public face of the Church.

But there is great truth in the saying that “actions speak louder than words.” Every parish, large and small, has a real need for Catholics willing to sacrifice something more precious than diamonds these days ... our time. All the blogging in the world is not as valuable sometimes as just showing up.

I will never forget reading Jen Fulwiler’s posts about being driven crazy by a group of little girls who rang her doorbell and ran away. Eventually she wound up inviting them into her home and becoming their friend as they did things like making cookies and talking. Her time gave those girls guidance and memories I bet they’ll never forget.

That personal time does something valuable for us too. We have to stretch in order to react to unpredictable requests, to work alongside someone you don’t click with, to answer questions out of left field, to keep the peace when volatile subjects arise. I really realized this when my husband and I helped with RCIA last year. No one could predict the sorts of questions and situations that arise when you’re in a small group as the “actual Catholic” facing 10 possible converts from all sorts of backgrounds.

There’s nothing like real world experience for sanding down your rough edges and helping you understand the other guy’s point of view.

Which takes us to #8.

8. Get outside your “Catholic” box.
Whether in real life or on the internet, don’t let yourself get into the habit of only hanging out with Catholics. That can skew your perspective in surprising ways. It is nice, for example, to discover that some people have no reaction at all when you say “guitar Mass” to them.

For one thing, being a well-rounded person is going to make your blogging more interesting and also more relevant, even if you are reading something as seemingly irrelevant as nature blogs. For another thing, God uses everything to weave a rich tapestry. Leaving the Catholic “box” is going to inform your worldview, your prayer life, your soul in ways that make life just plain more fun.

Also, simply by being a Catholic blogger, someone who is practiced in speaking up about faith and the Church, you’ll carry that worldview into places which might never see a Catholic otherwise.

This is one of my passions because I really believe you don’t have to have a “Catholic” blog or podcast to make a difference. For example, the knitters in the Ravelry forums know me as the Catholic who chimes in to mention that Catholics don’t worship saints. A recent StarShipSofa podcast, introduced a story as narrated by “our friend Julie from Happy Catholic blog,” … not a common thing for science fiction fans to hear. On Goodreads after 258 comments between me and six atheists ... a friendly discussion ... I was approached by a Muslim and a Hindu who wanted to be my friend. They said I was the only one in the whole discussion who made sense to them and they wanted to talk to be about God. And I must say that on the rare occasion when someone from one of these venues suddenly shares how God has touched their life, it has had a powerful impact on me.

Obviously knitting and science fiction are some of my passions, but pick your own passion and dive in. When you get outside that box, is when it can be very, very exciting to be Catholic.

Now, this does not lead us to another guideline. But here we are anyway ... at #9!

9. Apologize.
Here’s the thing. Blogging is a medium composed of writing. Misinterpretation is easy because we can’t use (air quotes) “nonverbal cues” to show additional intentions. [Did you get that ... air quotes ... nonverbal cues?]

Studies show if you write something positive, the reader thinks it’s neutral. When you write something neutral, they think it’s negative. And we’re blogging about religion ... so you’ve practically got a formula for starting a fight.

We make mistakes. It’s only human. I get angry, I make hostile remarks, I am unneccessarily critical. The most we can do after we have been jerks is to openly and honestly admit it, in public if it was a public disagreement. We apologize and hope that they will understand.

It can be really hard to apologize. Sometimes you’re admitting you were wrong. Sometimes, you are admitting you were a jerk. Always, you’re admitting that you were less than perfect ... and that is why we really don’t like to apologize.

We lost our focus on Christ, we lost our self-control, we lost our humility, and we don’t like to lose ... which takes us to #10.

10. Allow yourself to lose.
Madeleine L’Engle wrote a terrific book called Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. I recommend it to all of you. She tells this story:

One time I was talking to Canon Tallis, who is my spiritual director as well as my friend, and I was deeply grieved about something, and I kept telling him how woefully I had failed someone I loved, failed totally, otherwise that person couldn’t have done the wrong that was so destructive. Finally he looked at me and said calmly, “Who are you to think you’re better than our Lord? After all, he was singularly unsuccessful with a good many people.”

If, as we were just saying, we don’t like to lose, we must remember that it is because our focus is distorted. We are not looking at Christ and following His example. Because we’re gonna lose a lot of the time. And we tend to forget, it wasn’t about us in the first place ... which leads us to #11.

11. God grants the increase.

We’re all familiar with the parable of the sower from The Gospel According to Matthew. Jesus tells of seeds falling on the path, devoured by birds, scorched by the sun, choked by thorns, and as Jesus says:
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Later, explaining the parable to his disciples, Jesus says of the seeds that fell on good soil: As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

I had never noticed this detail until recently: all the seeds are sown on good soil, but all do not bear the same fruit. That’s nature. All seed does not yield the same amount. And yet Jesus regards it all as a good yield.

It’s a relief to remember that it is not all up to me. If I sow the seed as best I can then God will yield the increase. It’s especially a relief after I’ve been looking over a list like this one of all the ways I can go wrong as a blogger.

At those times, it’s good for me to remember what Caryll Houselander said:

Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives, that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing else but waste and weariness. But it may be that God has sent us there because but for us, Christ would not be there. If our being there means that Christ is there, that alone makes it worthwhile.

We … you and me as the public face of the Church … it may be that you being on the internet today means that for one person, Christ is there too.

And that person saw Christ because … we remembered Christ chose us … we put on the brakes … we turned the other cheek … we prayed … because we would die for each other.

And I hope, and I believe … Jesus will regard it as a good yield. Because it’s not about us. It never was.

If we are pointing to Christ, then we are being His good and faithful servants, as a public face of the Catholic Church. And that is what it’s all about.

Thank you.

Why Face-to-Face Matters

Because God works in subtle ways that we regard as mishap until we see the big picture. A great story from the Catholic Writers' Guild/CNMC/Catholic Marketing mashup ...

Wednesday at the conference, I wondered what I was doing there. The talks were interesting, but didn't seem to pertain to anything I was doing. I sat through a session on How to Pitch a Book to Publishers, and wondered if I'd ever get a chance to use that information. I went home satisfied with having met a few Catholic writers I had admired from afar, and a few I'd never heard of, but still unsure I really needed to be spending the time, energy, and money we didn't seem to have to be there.

Wednesday evening, as I headed for home, I prayed "God, if this is where I'm supposed to be, can you make it obvious? If writing isn't what you plan for me, can you make that obvious, too? I'm not doing too well with subtle here. I need you to whack me over the head with it." ...

Read it all in Rebecca's "Seeing the Hand of God."

(Though, having just read The Stand, the Hand of God means something completely different than this story ... one difference being that that was fiction and Rebecca's story definitely is real.)

Worth a Thousand Words: Resting Time

Resting Time
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

Perfect for Labor Day. This bear knows how to enjoy life.

CNMC: Wow!

We went to the Catholic New Media Conference in San Antonio three years ago. It was ok, but ultimately satisfactory. Somehow it didn't register at the time that that was only the second CNMC.

This year, suddenly registering it was the 5th CNMC, I am able to judge just how very far they have come.

And believe me, there is light years' difference between then and now.

This CNMC is a well presented conference, smoothly done but with plenty of personal contact available between everyone there. The content is simply fantastic. I spent yesterday wishing that Tom was there. As the perpetually curious guy who takes it all in and synthesizes information in a "big picture" way I think he'd have been fascinated by the talks.

As someone just taking it all in myself, just there for the face-to-face time, I found it well-rounded, informative, thought provoking, and mostly entertaining.

(None of us are ever going to forget the very ill-considered "elephant in the room" ... and in the video ... which was the only misstep I saw from a presenter ...)

I'm impressed and y'all know I don't say that if I don't mean it. Let me say it like this. I have no idea where the conference will be next year, but I actually would travel somewhere to attend. Seriously. It came on my radar because it was going to be in Dallas where I only have to drive 30 minutes to get to it. I'll be looking out for it next year, wherever it is.

Today is the Bloggers Day, at which I speak, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.

Congratulations to Father Roderick and the SQPN board and everyone who kept the vision, worked so hard, and gotten the CNMC to this point. I can recommend it without reservations to anyone who may be considering the Virtual Ticket which has audio recordings of every talk.

Gone CNMC'ing UPDATED

I'm at the Catholic New Media Conference ... may be able to check in here, but probably will be super busy the whole time.

If you're there, look me up and be sure to say hi!

Catch ya Monday!

UPDATE
Check out these great people who gathered at my place for some cocktails and pizza. What a fun evening! The rest of the conference just will not be able to match up. Period.

Well, except for that 2:00 slot on Friday afternoon for Catholic Blogger's Day.

Busy with the pizza, the cleaning ... the preparations ...

Since the Catholic New Media Conference is in Dallas (which is what made me even think of submitting a topic for the Blogging Conference Day ... I'm speaking at 2 p.m. on Friday if anyone is going to be attending who is also reading this) ... we're having a group of bloggers over for cocktails and homemade pizza (and suchlike) this evening.

AND Sarah Reinhard will be our houseguest for the duration of the conference. So very much talking as I anticipate ... oh yeah ...

Rides have been coordinated. Housecleaning has been done (do not look too closely in the corners, please!). Groceries have (mostly) been bought.

And now I commence wit da cookin'.

We're having Vesuvio pizza, Garlic Chicken pizza, and a Mexican pizza of my own devising. And some Caesar-ish salad and possibly some Tiramisu to follow.

What I'm Reading Now: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bleak House is on my personal challenge list, meaning that I should be chiseling away at some book from that list or I'll keep putting them off forever and never read one.

Having been surprised by how much I loved A Tale of Two Cities and having heard that Bleak House is Dickens' best, it is the next of his books I thought I'd try. However, it is so intimidatingly hefty that I've had the book on hand for several months before finally launching myself at it. (I'm about halfway through this 800+ page book at the moment.)

Dickens begins by introducing several strands of story and then settling on a first-person narrator, Esther Summerson, at least for this section. At this point we are just meeting Mrs. Jellyby and I actually laughed aloud. I know a Mrs. Jellyby. Don't we all? So much engaged in her African cause that she ignores the very real want in her own family gathered around her. I love the way that everything Esther picks up or tries to use garners the comment, "It was dirty." Children fall down stairs unnoticed, the carpet is coming off the stairs in a most dangerous fashion, dinner is almost raw, and all the while Mrs. Jellyby "fixed her fine eyes on Africa again."

However, as she at once proceeded with her dictation, and as I interrupted nothing by doing it, I ventured quietly to stop poor Peepy as he was going out, and to take him up to nurse. He looked very much astonished at it, and at Ada's kissing him; but soon fell fast asleep in my arms, sobbing at longer and longer intervals, until he was quiet. I was so occupied with Peepy that I lost the letter in detail, though I derived such a general impression from it of the momentous importance of Africa, and the utter insignificance of all other places and things, that I felt quite ashamed to have though so little about it.

I laughed aloud reading this.

Meanwhile, the fog is everywhere. One wonders if that fog which makes lawyers focus on details in the Jarndyce case until the money is gone although they are still making a fine living, is the same which clouds Mrs. Jellyby's vision. It is easy to ignore the real significance of life around you when focusing on the intangible elsewhere gives us the excuse to ignore the immediate demands we find less attractive, like a filthy home or crying baby. It adds a disturbingly eerie element.

I must concede Will Duquette's contention that Dickens characters can be very unrealistic. But who would give them up for the realistic ones? And Dickens does realistic very well, when he needs to. Esther is realistic. Mr. Guppy also ... although so amusing while one is sorry for him. And then there is Mr. Bucket. Possibly one of the best detectives I've ever seen (at this admittedly early point in the book) ... how is it I didn't know Dickens wrote a detective? And one so canny and good at blending in?"

You know, I expected that I'd read a few pages (slogging through them) and intersperse them with a newer book. But I'm hooked. I can never possibly convey how great, how riveting I am finding this book. It is a mystery, a horror novel, a romance, a look at character (or the lack thereof), and much more ... all laced with a self awareness that I find startlingly modern. O Dickens. And here I thought A Tale of Two Cities was sublime. How little I knew...

As a result of my amazement at how good this book is, it will be the November book for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. 900 pages of solid goodness. Ladies and gentlemen, start your reading now!

Ginger Chicken

Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Community - The Third Season

We got the fresh-off-the-press dvd of the third season of Community and have really been enjoying watching it in a concentrated dose.

One thing that hit me, now that we're four episodes from the end, is that I thought it was uneven when watching during the season. But rewatching I see that the entire season was good. It is just that three brilliant episodes made the others look below par.

1. Remedial Chaos Theory - you know this one, Community fans. Rolling the die to see who goes to get the pizza.
2. Pillows and Blankets - part of the struggle between Blanketsburg and Pillowtown, in Ken Burns' documentary style.
3. Basic Lupine Urology - Who killed the study group's yam in Biology? Investigated "Law & Order" style, with a special thank you to Dick Wolf at the end.

I am looking forward to another episode that may join these three in the Hall of Fame: Digital Estate Planning.  (Pierce and his friends must play a video game to see who will inherit his family fortune ... as part of the game.)

Joe Ledger: The Missing Files

This review originally appeared at SFFaudio.

The description for this brief collection of short stories says "... author Jonathan Maberry fills in the blanks in his action-thriller 'Joe Ledger' novels."

This isn't something I'd have picked up myself and, frankly, wouldn't have bothered if it weren't sent as a review book. I am usually disinterested in add-on short stories that sew up "loose ends" of novels or serve to tell us what a character's been doing between one book and the next. In my experience, those are toss-offs and these days, what with 99-cent stories on Amazon, they just serve as money grabbers.

However, we all know I'm a sucker for Joe Ledger and I absolutely love the narrator's way with these stories so if I wasted a few hours on mental cotton candy so be it. Also I was mildly interested in what seem to be two stories that aren't connected to any novels, "Deep, Dark" and "Material Witness."

Countdown: The prequel to Patient Zero and it told me nothing I didn't learn in the beginning of the book. Honestly, it seemed as if it were a story prospectus given to a publisher to gain interest.

Zero Tolerance: The second story added a little to Patient Zero's ending since it could have been called "What Happened to Amirah." (Pardon my spelling as I've only heard the audio for the novel.) Worth paying for? Not to me.

Deep, Dark: Finally, with the third story we get to something interesting. As is the case in Joe Ledger novels, it teeters on the knife's edge between probability and supernatural/horror fiction. The Army has a little problem in one of their underground complexes. A little bio-engineered problem. It's just a "bug hunt," as it goes in one of my favorite lines from Aliens, but one that has righteousness on its side.

Material Witness: This story was more interesting than anything preceding it (or following, as it turned out ... yes, foreshadowing!). However, that was mostly because Maberry was filling us in on another series of his, the creepiness that is Pine Deep, Pennsylvania. Imagine the house from The Shining, but ... it's a whole town! Maberry's melding of the two worlds was rather intriguing but not enough to make me want to get whatever book it was he wrote about Pine Deep. For one thing, spoilers abound. I wonder if I already knew all about that "world" if the story would have kept my attention as it did.

Dog Days: The final story and the one which was the test of whether Maberry had improved at short story writing or whether the previous two just created interest because of the unfamiliar material. Yep. Choose door number two. It wasn't a terrible story, just extremely easy to figure out as Joe Ledger goes to settle a personal grudge against the world's deadliest assassin. The most interesting thing about it to me was the introduction of Ghost, the wonder dog. One feels (at least I do) that this should have been a prequel or flashback in The King of Plagues. I especially feel this since I spent much of the beginning of that book wondering what the heck happened to Ledger's cat and why only one or two sentences gave us the dog's history. This almost reads as discovery writing or something that was edited from a book. Ghost is ok, but he is definitely "made" to be Ledger's dog, as he is a Wonder Dog with super-canine reflexes and understanding.

Summing up - these files could've stayed missing. It's only four hours long but that is four hours you could use on something uniformly good.

A sale to help raise money for a son's surgery ...

My son needs surgery.

Not planned surgery but that kind of kick-in-the-gut surprise surgery that is halfway between, sure okay and It’s An Emergency.

Heather Ordover is truly one of the most generous and giving people I know ... this is a deserving cause. Please take a look at her sale to help her raise money for her son's surgery.

Or you could just drop something in her tip jar. That works too.

Scott switches to Dapper Dan and Julie sings into a tin can.

O Brother, Where Art Thou is the topic at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

GeekLady, c'mon down. You won The Right to Be Wrong book giveaway!

Congratulations for winning our book giveaway! I'll be emailing you to get your contact info to give to the publisher of The Right to Be Wrong.

UPDATE
I can't email you because you are very private lady (which I salute). However, WordPress won't let me into your comments boxes (for reasons which I won't go into here except, really, WordPress? Really?).

Anyway, email me at: julie [at] glyphnet [dot] com

Robot & Frank: "like Philip K. Dick without the amphetamine-induced paranoia"

Now that's interesting.

The trailer shows so much of the movie that I had no fear of spoilers in reading this Tor.com review.

The movie sounds charming and the review completely wins me over by saying that instead of being sappy "The end result feels more like Philip K. Dick without the amphetamine-induced paranoia. If such a thing is conceivable."

That either completely mystifies you or makes you interested. You know which I am.

Social Justice and Ryan the Heretic

You know, I love it when I wake up and can read about relevant Catholic stuff in my paper's editorial section. I like that someone's staying on top of that stuff.

Oh, sorry Dallas Morning News, did you think I meant you? We all know I was talking about the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, about William McGurn's piece this morning.

"I'm not endorsing Paul Ryan," [Paul Ryan's] bishop told me later by phone. "People are free to disagree with him, and disagree vehemently. But it's wrong to suggest that his views somehow make him a bad Catholic."

Unfortunately, suggesting that Mr. Ryan is a bad Catholic is the entire case. Stuck with the fact of Mr. Biden, who has long since made his peace with the party's absolutism on abortion, progressive Catholics know that it would be laughable to try to present Mr. Biden as faithful to church teaching. They know too that clarity about church teaching does not work to their advantage. The only way to take on Mr. Ryan is to tear him down.

Think about that. In another age, Catholic progressives would have laughed at the suggestion that people were corrupted by reading certain works; now they believe Paul Ryan's soul is in peril for his having read Ayn Rand. Before, they would not have feared science; now they insist that a program such as food stamps ought to continue ad infinitum without consideration of its effects. And while they believe that the pope and bishops have nothing of value to offer about the sanctity of marriage or the duty of protecting unborn life, when it comes to federal spending, suddenly a miter means infallibility.

Do go read it all.

Review: Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The basic setup:

Once presided over by a flamboyant Hollywood mogul during the Roaring ’20s, the magnificent West Coast property known as Roseland is now home to a reclusive billionaire financier and his faithful servants. And, at least for the moment, it’s also a port in the storm for Odd Thomas and his traveling companion, the inscrutably charming Annamaria, the Lady of the Bell. In the wake of Odd’s most recent clash with lethal adversaries, the opulent manor’s comforts should be welcome. But there’s far more to Roseland than meets even the extraordinary eye of Odd, who soon suspects it may be more hell than haven.

I love the Odd Thomas books overall. However, what this book showed me above all is that I love the first trilogy of the Odd Thomas books. (Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd). Each of those were written as complete stories showing sweet, gentle but capable Odd Thomas fighting evil supernatural for the good of the innocent who were threatened. They have beginnings, middles, and ends ... or at least resolutions of an evil situation with Odd sometimes on the road to find somewhere that a simple fry cook can earn a living.

The second trilogy, as I've come to think of them since seeing another book, Deeply Odd, is on the way, are told in a completely different fashion which I find ultimately unsatisfying. Beginning in Odd Hours Koontz just drops us in the middle of the action, a la a thriller where we learn the back story later after having begun with a pulse pounding chase. I actually could forgive that if there ever seemed to be resolution to the story. There is a resolution to Odd's current predicament, however, nebulous hints about the "big meaning of things" are all we get, despite all the action. Ho hum ... and they drive off into the sunset ...

Odd Apocalypse picks up about a week after Odd Hours ended, we are finally told after a thoroughly confusing intro where we've been dropped into a series of very odd events (ha!). Poor Odd is put through a series of gyrations and problem solving tasks because no one can give him a single straight answer. Now, I expect this from the bad guys. But for Annamaria, his mysterious companion picked up in Odd Hours, to do the same is just annoying. She may have a mystical hold on everyone she encounters, but I am mysteriously untouched by it. Odd Thomas tells us this is a haunted house book but for my money it gets a toehold in the Lovecraftian universe before settling down solidly into H.G. Wells country. I won't say which book so as to avoid spoilers but it becomes very obvious toward the end.

Koontz seems to have just thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this book without remembering to give us what was so satisfying about the first three books. An actual story.

I will read the next one simply to see if this ongoing murk ever clears up, but at this point feel it will be more from a sense of duty than anything else. And to give Koontz a chance to pull it all together in a way that makes me like all three of the second trilogy in a "really one book" sort of way.

Weekend Joke: How to Be a Cat

From Dr. Boli's Celebrated Magazine.

The Book J.R.R. Tolkein Read to His Children: Snergs

Pssst! All fans of The Hobbit! And lovers of fantasy, in general...

My latest offering for "Project Kaitlyn" (stories for my niece) is an unabridged reading of The Marvellous Land of Snergs (1927) by E.A. Wyke-Smith, which J.R.R. Tolkien read to his children and acknowledged as a sourcebook for his The Hobbit. This is a most clever and delightful story. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Take Tolkien’s: “I should like to register my own love and my children’s love of E.A. Wyke-Smith’s Marvellous Land of Snergs...”

What's even better is that you don't have to take anyone's word for it.

Amy H. Sturgis, writer of the words above, read this book not only for her niece, but is generously sharing the files with all of us. She is a superb narrator as anyone who regularly listens to StarShipSofa knows. Just click through and download.

If you want to know more about the book itself, Amy's review on Goodreads is here. I have only listened to the first half-hour and already can see the great appeal of this clever, whimsical book which combines just the right amount of reality and sweetness, while never underestimating the intelligence of the reader.

A lot to say based on one half-hour? Yes. But all true. Download for yourself and give it a try. After all, J.R.R. Tolkein can't be wrong.

4 Things Science Fiction Needs to Bring Back

Beginning with optimism.

A great list from Cracked.com. Keep in mind that this is Cracked and they will use offensive language.

Still, it is a great list and perhaps the reason why I still enjoy listening to old science fiction from LibriVox. It's usually got those four things.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease: Myths About Atheism and Christianity

Third, the international polling outfit WIN-Gallup International has released a new global survey that shows atheism is on the rise, but 59 percent of the world's population still describes itself as "religious."

Taken together, the results seem to debunk two persistent myths about global religion:

• Atheism is mostly a Western phenomenon. Instead, Asia is by far the world's most atheistic continent, with China alone home to two-thirds of the roughly 900 million atheists on the planet.
• Christianity is in decline relative to other world religions, especially Islam. Instead, nine of the world's 10 most religious nations are majority Christian, and people who self-identify as Christian are more likely to describe themselves as "religious" than Muslims (81 percent to 74 percent).

A few of John Allen's cogent observations about myth and reality as exposed in the latest poll results released about international religion.

Western atheists are the loudest and Islamic terrorists are the loudest. And we let them define truth for us oftentimes.

In which we meet the unique detective team of Doan and Carstairs.

Holocaust House by Norbert Davis, part one at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Don't blame the Church for wicked Christians

This is from Day 201 in A Year with the Church Fathers by Mike Aquilina. Tom and I joke that at the rate we are working our way through this it will be more like 4 years with the Church Fathers. However, we continue reading them to each other at work during lunch whenever we get a chance.

St. Augustine has timely advice which also serves to remind us that human nature doesn't change.

Don't bring up against me those people who claim the name of Christian but neither know nor show any evidence of the power of their profession. Don't hunt down the numerous ignorant people who, even in the true religion, are superstitious, or so given up to evil passions that they forget what they've promised to God. I know that there are many who get really drunk over the dead, and who bury themselves over the buried in their funeral feasts, and indulge their gluttony and drunkenness in the name of religion. I know that there are many who claim to have renounced this world, and yet desire to be burdened with all the weight of worldly things, and rejoice in those burdens.

My advice to you is this: that you should at least stop slandering the Catholic Church by protesting against the conduct of those whom the Church herself condemns, trying to correct them every day like wicked children. Then, if any of them are corrected through good will and by the help of God, they regain by repenting what they had lost by sin. On the other hand, those who persist in their old vices with wicked will are indeed allowed to remain in the field of the Lord,and to grow along with the good seed, but the time for separating the weeds will come.

St. Augustine, Morals of the Catholic Church, 34

Book Giveaway! "The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America"

... Ask either faction whether it believes religious liberty is a human right and you’ll get a passionate, tub-thumping — mostly hypocritical — speech in favor of the idea. That’s because religious freedom is so familiar, so American a concept that nobody can really admit to opposing it. That would be like opposing apple pie. So even those who are at each other’s throats over religious liberty have to insist they all absolutely love the stuff. Instead of confessing that they’re actually opposed to religious freedom for all, the Pilgrims and the Park Rangers among us equivocate. When they say they support “religious freedom,” the Pilgrims mean the freedom of their religion, while the Park Rangers mean freedom from others’ religions. That way, they can all sound so very American — they can say they’re in favor of something called religious freedom — and still be as oppressive as they want to be.

I'm a huge fan of The Right to Be Wrong by Kevin Seamus Hasson, which has just had an updated paperback version released.

I believe if we respected each person's right to conscience, their "right to be wrong," our country would be a much more peaceful place. My ability to articulate this belief was both solidified and made easier to articulate when I read Hasson's book. It's a book we all need to read in these contentious times.

Hasson is a constitutional lawyer who heads up a non-partisan, public-interest law firm that specializes in defending free religious expression for all faiths. Hasson asserts, “We defend all faiths but we are not relativists. On any given day, I think most of my clients are wrong. But I firmly believe that, in an important sense, they have the right to be wrong.” This is not a very long book and it is written in a conversational and easy style, but it packs a heavy punch.

The updated book adds a chapter and afterward that discuss the latest set of religious struggles, which have been elevated past the tussles over Nativity scenes on government property to include federal healthcare insurance.

Read my original, indepth review here.

To enter for a chance to win a copy, leave a comment for this post!

Roger Ebert's Review of a documentary Rose edited

Curators of Dixon School (a documentary Rose edited when she was in college) premiered at the Black Harvest Film Festival and Roger Ebert gave it a great review.

(And no comments about pacing, so that's a win for the editing side!)

Thought you guys would want to read it!

Review: Holiness for Everyone by Eric Sammons

Friendship has a powerful impact on people's behavior. Parents often worry that their children will succumb to "peer pressure," implicitly acknowledging the power that friends can have on someone's life. Children aren't the only ones influenced in this way -- adults, too, allow their personalities and choices to be shaped by the company they keep. Communal-ness is part of human nature. We want to be accepted by others. We don't want to seem odd. Natural as this is, it, too, often leads people away from the Faith and into the culture of death in which we live. But friendship's power can work both ways: The Christian who remains faithful to his beliefs and stands up for Christ in this life can have a great influence over those closest to him, even without saying a word.

Very true. For example, I often ask myself "What would Mike Aquilina do?" Never have I been around a nicer guy who consistently sets me on the path of right behavior ... never through a word of criticism but always through his own behavior and words.

I am not a member of Opus Dei, the spiritual movement founded by St. Josemaria Escriva.. Never been much of a joiner really. However, I am well versed in the fundamental way that St. Josemaria Escriva thinks about holiness and every day life thanks to the In Conversation with God series, which I have used for over a decade. Written by a priest from Navarre University, which Escriva helped found, it reflects a lot of Escriva's spirituality which I like. The beauty of the ordinary, the everyday, offered to God is a very practical way to live, as Holiness for Everyone's subtitle reminds us.

Sammons gives a quick look at St. Josemaria Escriva's life and works. He then sets the foundations of what it means to have God as our father and what true love, freedom and holiness really mean. Finally, he comes to how to live a saintly life in our everyday, ordinary lives. Whether at work, at home, with family, with friends, or just driving to the store, the methods to becoming holy are all around us.

Mortifications are all those activities which help us to control our sinful impulses and desires. They can be as simple as denying ourselves a second helping at dinner, allowing others to speak first in conversations, or choosing the longer line at the checkout counter.

This is all interwoven with another theme dear to my heart, that we are all meant to be saints. Becoming a saint sounds like a lofty and unattainable goal because we have only seen the saints after they achieved their goals. Through stories, examples from his own life, and many other sources, Sammons gives us the tools to understand how we too can be saints-in-training right here on earth.

For example, I was struggling with grudgingly doing something I knew God wanted of me. (This is a continual struggle on this particular topic, by the way ... something of a thorn in my side which I must continually strive to overcome.)

A son or daughter of a king is uniquely privileged -- but bears a demanding load of responsibility as a result of his or her lineage. Just so, as children of God, we are called to act in accord with our nobility. Humble submission to the will of our Father will mark us as true children.

It was a real help in my struggle to suddenly see myself as a grown, royal princess, standing to the side of her father the king, awaiting his bidding. This is an image I call up time and again. It helps.

Even if you have no interest whatsoever in St. Josemaria Escriva, you will find something of value in this book. Few of us can pursue holiness aside from the demands of work, family, and friends. Holiness for Everyone gives help and the proper perspective to journey to heaven, together. Highly recommended.

Weekend Joke: Michael Phelps

Cartoon by xkcd