This Just In: Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler

Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It by Jennifer Fulwiler


Snagged a review copy! This got here yesterday afternoon.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I have to say I flipped to the first page, where the camp counselor is going down the line publicly asking the little girls if they give their heart to Jesus, and realized already that Jennifer and I had common attitudes at similar ages. Not gonna join something we can't really believe in. As well we might since both of us grew up in atheist households and wound up converting to Catholicism.

However, her road is definitely different than mine and I'm looking forward to reading this.

UPDATE — page 111
Obviously from the fact that I got this yesterday, had a Skype video chat last night with my pal Sarah Reinhard, and still got to page 111 ... this is an enjoyable and interesting book thus far.

So what resonates with me is that Jennifer Fulwiler is just as hard-headed and stubborn as I am when it comes to wanting full-on, no holds barred truth and logic.

Watching her have to literally read and argue her way into belief in God makes me appreciate my own parents' atheism much more than I did already. (And the New Atheists have ensured that I will be thankful to my dying day for having old school atheists raise me, rather than the proselytizing sort.)

I had my own struggles to overcome but luckily not due to religion. For atheists my parents had a surprisingly tolerant "hands off" policy. They didn't bring up religion unless asked about it and, even then, would have pretty open-ended, vague answers about their own lack of belief. I mean to say, when I fell in with the local Church of the Nazarene for a couple of years, thanks to my best friend belonging, they never said a word to me about it. Even after the minister and his wife came to call. Even after I went crying to my mother about being afraid she'd go to hell. ("Oh Julie, thank you, but you don't need to worry about that. Just worry about yourself. I'll be ok." Conversation done.) Not a word. That must have taken tremendous forbearance. And like many youthful enthusiasms that phase soon passed, for reasons we won't go into here.

To be fair, this was also my parents' way of dealing with other big issues, such as politics. They might end up voting for different tickets than each other during trying political times but we never knew about it. It just didn't make for interesting conversation. So we all could go our own way, which brought its own set of problems but feels much freer than what I see Fulwiler having to struggle with, thanks to her unflinching belief in science as all that is true and good and honest.

It isn't that Fulwiler's parents seemed to do more than tell her to think for herself or to question anything that didn't add up. But that in itself was enough to produce a dedicated atheist, especially when told to an intelligent youngster who applied herself with the passion that only youth can muster to facts and logical conclusions.

So far it is really interesting watching the process of reluctant acceptance as one "fact" after another gets put into doubt. It occurs to me that this might be a good book for atheists who just don't understand how any sensible, logical, intelligent person could embrace the "lunacy" of Christianity. Fulwiler is a good spokesperson for that transformation.

More as I continue ... with updates at Goodreads as I go. Full review when I finish.

Worth a Thousand Words: Key West

Key West
taken by Scott Danielson

Scott, who I podcast with at A Good Story is Hard to Find, doesn't post much on his blog. But when he does, it's choice. Isn't this just a perfect moment? I can feel those breezes, smell that salt air ... I want to go to there!

Religion is about Reality — and so is the Black Mass

One of the striking features of Harvard’s planned Black Mass, being hosted by Satanists who don’t believe in Satan, is that the exhibitors don’t actually believe their own religion.  If Catholics are concerned about the event, it is because we do believe ours.

The Catholic faith is not a set of feelings or preferences.  It is a series of statements about reality.  About things that are true. Things that are real.  The occult is gravely dangerous not because it is pretend, but because it is not pretend.  The faith is worth explaining and defending and practicing not because we especially like it, or have found it helpful, but because, like all real things, it has consequences.

Jennifer Fitz at Sticking the Corners

I've gotta say that when I heard about the story the Satanists had already backed down over plans to desecrate a consecrated Host, saying that they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I was confused. What kind of Satanists were these? 

"Be nice" is the sign of the times we live in and what it really means much of the time is a lack of deep understanding and commitment to one's beliefs.

Of course, this is an extremely brief commentary from me which doesn't cover the whole issue. But if you go read Jen's post then you'll have what I would have said if she hadn't saved me the trouble by writing it first.

In which we wonder if we have entered the land of the giants.

Chapters 18 and 19 of The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard take us into a place no one was sure existed. No one except that wicked old witch Soa, that is. Hear it now at Forgotten Classics podcast.

What I Write, Why I Write, How I Write: The Meme

I blame Sarah Reinhard for this since she tagged me. Talk about something that makes me reveal a part of myself that I don't think anyone cares about.

I suppose I am a writer but I don't really embrace that description. That's like calling myself a "breather." It's what I do but I don't know if I do it well enough to define me.

Heaven only knows that I never read these when other people write them.

Curmudgeonly sounding I know, but it is simply honest.

So ... here we go.

1. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?
Imagine my surprise to realize that I have 5 books in the works.

1. A movie book about how to see below the surface and find Catholic themes whose sample did not excite any publisher ("we can't make money on those"). Just last week I decided I'd finish it anyway ... sometime ... and self-publish. My friends want to read it.
2. A devotional following the liturgical year. It combines art and text to show how our calendar year and liturgical year go hand in hand. No one wants this one. They all love it. But "we can't make money on those." I amuse myself by working on it and perhaps an art house would pick it up. But it is unexpectedly large at this point. The Fall book is about 100 pages. (I love it. It is my baby. My friends actually pester me about buying this one.)
3. Historical Fiction. This one is a mission from God and I don't want to talk about it really. But it is harder than hell, people, because it is something I never ever do. Use my imagination! What? But I have no doubt this has been assigned by the Divine Editor, whether or not I do it well or it ever gets published. And as a consequence I've been dragging my feet and feeling guilty for not working on it because ... you know ... it's harder than hell.
4. A book about reading spiritual classics, but with my twist of luring you into it with a popular book and a movie, all of which have related themes. No sample written yet but the person I ran the idea by was not thrilled. Outline and sample in the works for that person, for other publishers maybe, or for self publishing later.
5. An idea that a publisher IS interested in and which I should be working on instead of this. If they like it, then you'll know later. But for now mum's the word. My priest really wants this book, by the way.

2. WHAT MAKES YOUR WORK DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS’ WORK IN THE SAME GENRE?
Let's see. Why am I wonderful?

(Gee, I don't know why Catholic authors would find that question awkward.)

Maybe because I say it like it is. (Much more charming when I do it on paper than in person, I can assure you! Rewrites are essential and then you can make it funny.)

Maybe I'm funny. Not sure how well that comes across. But I make myself laugh sometimes.

Maybe because I range wide and throw everything into the pot from pop culture to everyday life to nature and somehow make it all go together, with God always just under the surface waiting for us to catch a glimpse? As Rose would say, my auteur moments.

I don't know. You tell me. I've got nothin'.

3. WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?
Blogging: it just comes out.

Ghostwriting: I have an assignment.

Book: I've only done one and I came up with something the editor wanted that was also a reflection of me (evidently). The devotional mentioned above was an idea I was captivated with which has become a sort of spiritual reflection as I work on it.

The other ideas began as ways I could maybe earn more of a living by writing, but since I seem to be told, "we'd love to work with you, but not on that" while never being told what they actually might want me to work on ... this is not as clear to me. And, to be fair, I pursue it in fits and starts rather than determinedly full-bore.

4. HOW DOES YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORK?
Process. Hahahahahahaha ... oh, you were serious.

As Rob Long of Martini Shot podcast has affirmed, the worst part is beginning. Not beginning a book. Beginning to write anything. Sitting down. Starting. Not stopping to check email because writing is ... you know ... work.

Once I make myself do that then I just do it. And I'm getting better at doing it in different locations, at different times, and so forth. As long as I do it as if it is work, instead of extra curricular activities (still how I tend to label it), then I'm ok. I tend to combine techniques of hand writing in front of the tabernacle and when putting that in the computer then I take off and continue from there.

Except for blogging. That is: sit down, turn on computer, log in ... and blast off.

And when I think to write books that way, as a blog post, it is magic.

Hey, thanks guys! I wouldn't have remembered that without doing this.

=======

If you want to pick this up, just let me have the link and I'll put it below.

SYNC's Free Audiobooks Begin May 15

SYNC offers 2 FREE audiobooks each week May 15 - Aug 20, 2014 – a current Young Adult title paired thematically with a Classic or Required Summer Reading title.

Just wanted to get this on your radar.

SYNC may be aimed at young adults but they offer a wide range of books that appeal to everyone. For example, their upcoming schedule offers classics like The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie.

And you never know when one of the current books is going to grab you. I was particularly pleased to see that I'll be able to nab Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (my review here).

They use Overdrive (beloved of libraries everywhere it seems) to deliver the books but the software is free and I've had no problems using it.

Worth a Thousand Words: Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China, via Wikipedia

This is a pretty good photo of one of the world's wonders. However, it is not nearly as interesting or personal as those which can be found at Ambrose-a-rama where Jen Ambrose and her family regularly set off to explore different sections of the Great Wall. Jen's photos inspired today's piece of art and I encourage you to check out her blog for a more personal feel.

Happy Birthday to Tom!

Via Wikipedia

It's Tom's special day today.

As we know, I take birthdays very seriously, especially when it is that of the love of my life.

We'll have been married thirty years next month and I have been realizing the happiness that comes from spending so much time with one person. I should say, with that one person who is practically perfect for me in every way.

We will fete him with Chinese food from a favorite restaurant in Richardson's Chinatown. He has asked for Tirimisu which the Central Market makes superbly ... and so I have no need to cook. Just to wrap, wrap, wrap his gifts.

Which I hope he enjoys very much though they are truly a token of the joy he brings to us and to everyone who knows him.

Happy Birthday, dear Tom!

What We've Been Watching

URBANIZED
★★★

This director's best documentary remains Helvetica, perhaps because the topic was fairly focused. In Urbanized he gathers a lot of different opinions from around the world about different urban areas and problems and solutions. It was interesting, but in the end it all seemed to come down to the fact that urban areas that work are those where the concerns of residents are met effectively. And I think we knew that already, didn't we?

MUD
★★★★½

I'd heard this was Matthew McConaughey's return to showing his potential as an actor so I was somewhat interested in seeing it. My husband saw it was streaming free on Amazon Prime so we watched it and it was a rewarding story indeed. The acting was top notch and the story was like a cross between Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird, set on the Arkansas River.

It is a coming of age story defined by a 14-year-old boy's knowledge of what constitutes true love in the best sense. As the adults around him fail to live up to that understanding, he and a friend encounter the mysterious Mud living on an island. And things both fall into place and get more confusing, as is the way of both movies and of life. Excellent performances, especially from the local Arkansas boy who plays the best friend of the protagonist.

Although this is good, it seems like a standard coming of age story in many ways until the final scene of the movie, which redefines and broadens the entire story. It is that scene which suddenly makes one realize the masterpiece which is Mud.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
★★★★★

I'm not crazy about Shakespeare but when I got done watching this I wanted to own the DVD. If only Joss Whedon would do more Shakespeare to follow this project ... then I might learn to love Shakespeare.

Dance and Life Lessons 2

Our second month of dance lessons finished last week. I actually now know what that couple in the picture is doing during their Tango because that's one of the dances we learned. We practice it in rudimentary style, but it's a beginning.

We learned the Tango, the Cha Cha, and the Waltz. My favorite: the Cha Cha. Love the crossover variation with the turn at the end. So much fun!

The other dances did not come so easily to me, especially since both required more of the follower. At several points I had to simply waltz with my eyes closed so I was following the movements of the leader instead of where I thought he was going to go. Randomly mixing the box waltz step with the regular waltz will show a girl just where she's not paying attention, believe me.

As with the previous dance lessons, we realized there was a life lesson to be learned here. This is one we know but have not had to practice for some time.

Practice makes perfect.

If at first you don't succeed then try, try again.

Somehow we'd gotten it into our heads that abject failure to really grasp a dance and perform it with ease after one, two, or even three lessons meant that perhaps we were doomed. We would never pick it up. Certainly we would never do it well so perhaps we needed private lessons.

What we found, of course, is that by doggedly keeping on trying suddenly resulted in a break through. On the fourth set of lessons.

And the next month, all the new dances were just a bit easier to pick up.

I used to know that lesson. Somewhere along the way I got so comfortable with everything I was doing ... and not trying enough completely new things ... that I'd forgotten. It is something I've been applying to my life in general and it's actually a bit relaxing. Eventually. I'll get better at all those things I'm not naturally drawn to, eventually. Prayer, virtues, following in Christ's steps. Eventually.

I just have to keep trying.

=========

On a related note, I want to point you to Jennifer Fulwiler's book, Something Other Than God. I was really, really impressed to see that Dean Koontz is included among the usual suspects in the blurbs.

I was impressed most of all, though, that Jennifer shared the discouragement she had to overcome during the drafts which took several years to reach fruition. I am acquainted with Jennifer and she's obviously intelligent, accomplished, and ambitious (which is not a bad thing, I'll just mention right here).

So it would have been easy for her to gloss over her struggles. But I'm glad she didn't. Because it is a reminder of the life lesson we picked up at dance class. No one is perfect at anything the first time and it when we pick ourselves up and try again that we get a little closer to our true potential.

I've heard only good things about the book and I bet that's because it is imbued with the honesty we have grown to expect from Jennifer in her blogging. Check it out ...

In which we encounter Mavoom and discover the secrets of several longing hearts.

Yes, more of The People of the Mist to satisfy your desire for adventure in deepest, darkest Africa.  Get it at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Well Said: The Crashing Together of The Visible and Invisible

As I went to Mass and slowly began to understand the liturgy, every word and gesture resonated more and more. I stared at the Host as the priest took it in both hands and raised it to heaven. That little wafer now seemed like a diamond chip, a point of intersection, a cross between the visible and invisible universe, and as he raised it in consecration and the little bell rang, it seemed that two supertankers were crashing together in a single, glorious moment. I was dazzled — and grateful that I was dazzled.

Richard Cole, Catholic By Choice

He's speaking my language. I already had this sense of the moment but love having these words to use for it.

Why Science Does Not Disprove God by Amir D. Aczel

Why Science Does Not Disprove God by Amir D. Aczel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Short version: I want to believe Aczel's arguments. However, some of the inaccuracies in nonscientific areas made me wonder if he was trustworthy in the science.


Full Review

THE GOOD

The purpose of this book is to defend the integrity of science.

Amir d. Aczel, mathematician and science journalist, was on stage listening to prominent biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins when he decided he'd had enough of hearing atheists misuse mathematics and science for their own agenda. The result is this book which examines the New Atheists' claims that scientific progress has proven God does not exist.

Aczel devotes chapters to quantum theory, string theory, probability, chaos theory, and much more. Each time, he examines the New Atheists' claim, explains the scientific theory involved, and then shows where the logic of atheists' claims falls short. In so doing, Aczel quotes other scientists, some believers and some what we might call "friendly" atheists, to show that the loud claims of the New Atheists are far from being universally acclaimed by the scientific community.

In each case, he logically shows that a zealously pursued agenda is sullying the beauty of pure scientific truth.

I especially liked the way that Aczel didn't strive to "recruit" scientists to his cause. He simply would point out when a fair minded scientist was leaving open the possibility that science didn't have every fact locked down and God locked out. This was often really helpful in showing the methods of New Atheist scientists who were determinedly tweaking interpretations to support their own agenda.

THE BAD
"But wait," I can hear you thinking. "Anyone who punches holes in the reasoning of so many atheists in order to stand up for the idea of God must have a vested interest. Right? Surely he's Christian."

Good news, everyone!

Aczel is so far from being a Christian or even a theist, as far as I can tell, that he just tosses out shallow sound-bytes of pop-history "everyone knows" about religion and, indeed, European history. A lot of the time it's unspecific, inaccurate, and pounds the church whenever possible for being closed minded. So no need to worry that he's on our side and just sticking it to the (science) man for the sake of his faith.

I'm not gonna lie. If you know about religion and history, you are going to do some serious eye rolling. And possibly have to struggle to not get insulted over some of Aczel's unthinking simplifications.

In many ways I enjoyed Aczel's early chapters about the development of science and religion. His comments about the rise of nature cults as people noticed more cause and effect prompted me to think of God using that way to speak to the earliest people through his creation, nature. I liked that image. However, I often struggled to give Aczel the benefit of the doubt, such as when he linked the Virgin Mary to fertility goddess worship. Perhaps, I thought, he was completely leaning on anthropological thinking in these instances.

My assumption was ruined by the next paragraph when he said that Catholic saints "resemble the Greek and Roman pantheons—each saint with powers and a specialty similar to a god." A good anthropologist would know that is not how Catholic saints were viewed in the past or present. (I can't help that we all seem to know some random Catholic lady who treats St. Francis just the way Aczel mentions. That lady? She's in the same state as Richard Dawkins. Uninformed. I expect more from a book like this.)

I also expect more than this unthinking historical gloss from a book like this.

When this great culture [Greek civilization] declined and the Western world sank into the Dark Ages, Scripture assumed the role of the explanation of truth, and freethinking was shunned. This mode of thought continued through the late Middle Ages, when except for the development of crude notions about medicine ... there were few attempts to pursue science. Deviations from established belief were not tolerated in a culture dominated by the church and Catholic Monarchs. Simply put, the "order of things" was not up for debate.

Right. Albert the Great who helped develop experimental science, Roger Bacon (a friar) who helped develop the empirical scientific method, all those Catholic universities and scholars and scientists. Pfft. Forget about them!

Historians like Paul Johnson, Regine Pernoud, and others have pointed out lately that what "everybody knows" about the Renaissance, the Dark Ages and the Middle ages is often quite wrong. When only the Renaissance guys are left to define how things fall out, guess who's going to come out smelling like roses? In fact, this is well enough known that pop culture sites like Cracked have been telling us about it (Renaissance, Middle Ages).

THE QUESTION
And that brings us to the bad news. With such unthinking inaccuracies, can we trust the science?

That is a question only other unbiased scientists can answer. And I'd love to hear from some because, I admit, I wanna believe.

Aczel makes a great case for shallow, inaccurate, and tweaked science being used by the New Atheists. I didn't get the feeling that Aczel is out to get religion. I just felt that he didn't care enough about the religious side of the story to look any deeper. I really wish that someone, anyone, who cared about religion and history had taken a look at this book before it went to press.

I am trusting that Aczel's stated goal of restoring scientific integrity is one that he cares passionately enough about to treat these subjects with integrity about details. After all, his peers are going to be zinging him about this book if they don't agree.

On that basis, I am recommending it as a way to understand the false claims that are being made by people with atheist agendas. As a course in logic, it is superb and that is also a good reason to read it.

NOTE: This was a free review book. I think we can all agree I didn't let that fact influence my review.

Blogging Around: Grab Bag

Here are a few things that caught my eye last week.

As always, I'm counting on you to click through for the whole story and not just depend on these little tidbits to truly inform you. 

The Atlantic slips — somehow — inside mind of Benedict XVI
Not being an Atlantic reader I completely missed a piece they did, “The Pope in the Attic: Benedict in the Time of Francis” but luckily I was able to read about it at GetReligion. They point out it isn't journalism but an essay. And not just any essay but, as GetReligion puts it: "This piece is a love song to all of the Catholics who suffered so much during the terrifying reign of St. John Paul II and his bookworm bully, the future Pope Benedict XVI."

Now you can see why I say you need to read it. I hadn't seen this quote by Peggy Noonan before but it is so wonderfully expressive that it is going into my quote journal.

Do you remember that famous Peggy Noonan quote about Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing,” a show for which she served as a consultant?

A reporter once asked me if I thought, as John Podhoretz had written, that “The West Wing” is, essentially, left-wing pornography. I said no, that’s completely wrong. “The West Wing” is a left-wing nocturnal emission — undriven by facts, based on dreams, its impulses as passionate as they are involuntary and as unreflective as they are genuine.

That’s kind of what we are dealing with here, especially in the passages in which essayist Paul Elie all but claims to have read the mind of Benedict, perhaps while driving past his abode (I am not making that part up, honest).

 Fire of the Spirit for Catholic Teens 

This hit my in-box and it looks interesting.

"Fire of the Spirit" is a Catholic teen group devoted to the evangelization and awakening of Catholic teenagers everywhere to the reality of their faith, and the world we live in. Currently, our mission encompasses a bi-monthly e-magazine, and a group Catholic teen blog; all of which is produced "for teens by teens."

An Atheist's Case for Religious Liberty

The oldest rule of free speech is: I may disagree with every word you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it. Because if I don’t stand up for you, then by my silence I am accepting a system in which might makes right. I am helping to establish the rule of the jungle in the realm of ideas.

In sum, I’m for religious liberty because there really is no such thing as religious liberty. There is just freedom of thought and freedom of conscience, period. For all of us. And if we let the left knock it down, they are coming for all of us in the end.

Robert Tracinski at The Federalist

As always, it is about conscience and allowing each other the "right to be wrong." Really that book just keeps applying to everything. Via Jen Fitz at Sticking the Corners.

A Public School Bible Curriculum
A fascinating and well balanced story from Religion News Service about a proposed public school Bible curriculum. I'd say one needs this sort of thing just to be literate in timeless, classic literature which has influenced the great authors of Western civilization. And on that mixing religion and government issue? We're covered.

Contrary to popular assumptions, there is nothing unconstitutional about teaching about the Bible in public schools. The same Supreme Court ruling that outlawed school-sanctioned prayer in 1963 qualified that “Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible … when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”

The key words, of course, are “objectively” and “secular.” Haynes suggested that, constitutionally, “the bar is actually low — I think it’s hard for judges to get beyond the surface to questions of what a sound academic course looks like — but much more difficult to develop materials that actually both reflect constitutional principles and are academically solid.”

It can be done. I'd like to think my reading at Forgotten Classics of Robert Alter's translation of Genesis, requested by an atheist listener, looking at a book of the Bible as literature.

Via GetReligion whose own article about this piece you'll want to read also so you can appreciate just how good the original is at fair and balanced reporting of a touchy issue.

A Better Way to Say Sorry
It's instructional but also inspirational. A must read from cuppacocoa for parents, spouses, employers and employees, for everyone who ever made a mistake and needed to apologize ... so that's all of us! Even if you don't need feel you need work in this area, read it for the inspirational bit toward the end. Via Melanie Bettinelli on Facebook.

Evangelical Poverty, Fasting, and The Foods We Eat
Again from Jen Fitz at Sticking the Corners. A look at uncluttered living, Christian poverty, and the places we choose to spend our money. Like Jen, we're into real food which costs money. Read it all and check out the linked story which started her thinking about the topic. As for me, I'm going to try to lay my hands on a copy of Thomas Dubay's book which she mentions. I'm a fan and this is a topic about which we all need more inspiration.

Speaking of Food ... Our Wacky Dietary Prejudices 
Our attitude to food reflects just how privileged our society is and, in my opinion, just how little of substance many of us have to occupy our days.

This WSJ article about how many people are picking "Elimination Diets" hit a real chord for me. You wouldn't believe how these sorts of food preferences make life harder when doing food prep for retreats. We ask people to tell us if they have allergies. Many wind up telling us their "elimination" preferences as if they were allergies.

In a related piece (again from Melanie on Facebook) from TNation looks at our food fads from the 1980s until now. When you see how the older fads have been disproved, it makes one take a more jaundiced look at the current trends.

Suspect by Robert Crais

Suspect by Robert Crais

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book any dog lover will enjoy. That is if they also enjoy thriller/mystery books.

A traumatized police officer and a traumatized war dog (German Shepherd Maggie) help each other get back to full life while working on the case that killed the officer's partner.

This sounds sappy but is not. It occasionally shows the dog's point of view and it is as canine as one could wish. This is nothing like the Rita Mae Brown series where the animals sound like little people talking to each other. Having had to learn something about how dogs think in order to manage a boisterous pack at our house, this book felt really "true."

The mystery is, as many reviewers have noted, telegraphed early on and, frankly, for me that was the least interesting part of the book. However, I appreciated the way that Crais added touches of humanity to characters who usually are handled in a stock fashion. A small time criminal's grief over his brother's death especially comes to mind.

The real story though is that of Scott and Maggie, each equally tough and vulnerable and needing a new pack in order to survive.

I was going to give this three stars but it has stuck with me to the point where I was recommending it to a gentleman who brought his Chihuhua to the grocery store today. I can do no less than give it a star for memorability.

Worth a Thousand Words: A Little Twig

Ein kleiner Zweig (A Little Twig)
painted by Edward B. Gordon

I don't know about such things, but this is practically perfect. Right? I just can't stop looking at it.

Thai Good Stories ...

... these are the ripples we are here to make in the world.



Via my sis on Facebook.

2014 Campbellian Anthology - Free

This has been around since February evidently but I'm just catching on. The good news is that this file is free (and DRM-free) until the Hugo voting closes. So get your copy now at StarShipSofa.

Worth a Thousand Words: Brown Bear

Brown Bear
taken by that photography genius we love, Remo Savisaar

Cognitive Anchoring

Namely, that doodling helped her research subjects remember up to 29% more than non-doodlers. And while doodling and knitting or crocheting are quite different activities, they share one trait: they can easily be done with some level of automaticity.

Take that, everyone who has been in meetings with me, wondering why I was knitting.

Oh, also, since it isn't just about me, just discovered my pal Heather Hutchinson Ordover is writing a book about this.

Read about it at Newsday.

Sign up for advance notice when the book is ready here. I did.

She's been blogging the book as she goes. Not my style. I'll wait until the whole thing is done.

Easter Reading

So we all chatter about what we're reading for Lent. What about Easter? Is there anything joyful, inspirational, informative that seems as if it would be good for the Easter season?

Naturally I wouldn't bring it up if I didn't have at least a couple of ideas. (Links go to my reviews.)

• Conversing With God In The Easter Season by Stephen Binz. Binz brings his wonderful lectio divina guidance to the Easter readings for each Sunday of the season.


• Jesus: A Pilgrimage by James Martin. Martin considers Christ's question to his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" as we journey with him through the Holy Land.


• In Conversation With God by Francis Fernandez. I've praised this series of daily devotionals before but the Lenten/Easter one may be the best of the group. I find it good for keeping Easter top of mind in daily life.


• The Ultimate Self-Help Book: Dante's Divine Comedy by Rod Dreher. This is an article from the Wall Street Journal but it reminded me that I'd been interested in rereading Dante's masterpiece. I recall finding Purgatorio extremely uplifting. I like John Ciardi's translation, but this time through will be using another so I can compare them.

What else? Leave comments with Easter reading ideas. And please include fiction. None occurred to me, but that just means I'm missing something.

UPDATE
Melanie Bettinelli's comment made me recall this book:

• The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Galilee by C. Bernard Ruffin. I haven't read the whole thing, but the chapters I've read are pretty amazing. 

Well Said: I ask forgiveness ...

I ask forgiveness of anyone I have offended, but especially from those I have not influenced for good.

Blessed John XXIII

That's something good for each of us to keep in mind. It's not enough to be inoffensive. Our vocation is to influence for good, simply through our lives if in no other way.

The Hound of the Baskervilles ...

... at SFFaudio ... a simply superb mystery. And I had tons of fun talking about it with that simply superb gang of story lovers.

In which we get to the bottom of the Devil's Nest and the path of romance does not run true.

Chapters 14 and 15 are now available for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Well Said: A day may come when the courage of men fails ...

Sons of Gondor, of Rohan. My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! by all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you, stand, men of the West!

Aaragorn, The Return of the King movie

For our brothers in the Ukraine, I fear that day has come.

Just as when Hitler took the Sudetenland and all that was heard were a few bleats of protest from weak leaders, so I see news coverage of Ukraine standing alone against a wolf while weak bleats come from all around ... and my heart breaks for them.

I mentioned this to a friend when the Crimean situation arose and he said, "Tough words."

But here we are with phase two, as I think of it. I can't keep this quote from my mind.

Then this weekend I was looking at the Kindle sample for Churchill's "The Gathering Storm" about the period between the two world wars and was struck by this.

THEME OF THE VOLUME.

HOW THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES

THROUGH THEIR UNWISDOM

CARELESSNESS AND GOOD NATURE

ALLOWED THE WICKED

TO REARM

And now here we are again.

Blogging Around: The Something Old, Something New Edition

Please note that none of these are complete in and of themselves. I'm counting on you to click through and read the whole story if you're interested.

"I’M A PATHOLOGIST ...

... which means that I run the lab, and I’m continually shocked by all the unnecessary lab work that comes my way."

There's more. get it at Humans of New York.

"I WAS SO FOCUSED ON BEING DEAF IN MY LEFT EAR ..."

A life lesson we all need reminding of, from Humans of New York.

BEST REVIEW I'VE EVER READ OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS
If you ever needed an excellent overview to give someone or wondered yourself why anyone would want to read The Lord of the Rings, go to Joseph's piece at Zombie Parent's Guide.

POPE FRANCIS AND THE CHURCH
A gaggle of stories worth reading. Notice how many of these are from The Deacon's Bench? It's my go-to for Catholic Church news and I can't recommend it highly enough.

• Pope Francis on priest sex abuse:

  I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests, quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests, to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children. The Church is aware of this damage, it is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even stronger.

• USCCB: nearly 1,000 abuse allegations last year, 136 substantiated
  
• Students ask pope: “What makes you afraid?” — I myself found most interesting the Pope's answer about a big mistake he'd made. Also his comment about the different sorts of fear is one that's come to mind several times since I read this.
• How Pope Francis is rebranding the Catholic Church

WANT TO BECOME A BETTER WRITER?

Copy the work of others says this article from The Art of Manliness, a blog which I find has many articles that are just as good for ladies as gentlemen. They are talking about copying someone else's work by hand.

Copywork, as it’s called, used to be the standard method by which students learned to write, and it is the “secret” to how many of history’s greatest writers mastered the craft. While it may sound unsexy and unoriginal, it really works, and today we’ll show you how to get started.

5 B.S. RENAISSANCE MYTHS YOU LEARNED IN HISTORY CLASS
One reason I like Cracked.com is that they tell us history like it really was, rather than simply repeating what "everyone knows" which so often turns out to be wrong. If you like this one, check out the links at the end of the article for similar myth-busting about other historical periods. Language warning.

GRACE ON A DESERT ISLAND
A high school theology quiz that makes you laugh and makes you think. This is just a sampling and the answer key is in the comments at DarwinCatholic.

1. Tom Hanks is stranded alone on a desert island with only a volleyball to keep him company. He knows that as a member of the Church, missing Sunday mass counts as "grave matter" for a mortal sin. He wants to go to mass, but when Sunday comes around, he doesn't go. Has he committed a mortal sin? Briefly defend your answer. (3 points)

2. Several months later, Tom Hanks is still stuck on the island. A storm comes and washes away his beloved volleyball, Wilson. After weeping over the loss of his best friend, Tom Hanks raises his eyes to heaven and curses God. Despite all appearances to the contrary, he is in full possession of his mental faculties, and knows what he is doing. What kind of sin has he committed? Briefly defend your answer. (3 points)

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MEL GIBSON? 
I had actually been wondering that very thing when I read this excerpt at (where else?) The Deacon's Bench. The heartfelt piece is from a reporter who used to think Gibson was public enemy number one, which also serves to make it an even more interesting meditation on the power of personal connection.

TESTING FOR THE KILL 
A good piece about the dark assumptions that underlie new developments in pre-natal testing for Down syndrome. The heart of it is at DarwinCatholic who sends you to read the whole thing.

THE SAINT OF THE NICU
A beautiful story of prayer and the way God surprises us with His answers from Jen Fulwiler at Conversion Diary.

Something Funny for Friday

From Catholic Memes

I can't help it. This just cracks me up.

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SHORT VERSION:
WOAH.

This is the worthy sequel to Patient Zero.

At one point, Rudy Sanchez says that "this has done something fundamental to the American people."

I'll tell you this. It did something fundamental to me.

It was exciting, suspenseful, terrifying, and haunted me in my dreams and at random moments in my day.

And it was satisfying. Very satisfying.

I'm not sure Maberry can top this. Though I'm already looking forward to his next attempt to try.

LONG VERSION:
It's been six years since Joe Ledger was secretly recruited by the government to lead a combat team for the DMS,  a taskforce created to deal with problems that Homeland Security can't handle. That story was told in Patient Zero. This was where we met a group of terrorists who had developed a bio-weapon that turned people into zombies.

Every year since then, like clockwork, Joe and Echo Team have returned to battle a variety of seemingly supernatural foes, all developed by villains who are somehow going to make boatloads of cash off of the terror.

The action-packed stories are full of evil super-villains, noble heroes, smart mouthed quips, a smattering of philosophy about "good guys and bad guys" and heart. Lots of heart. All this is told at a roller coaster pace that barely allows you to breathe until you get to the end.

I love them.

In many ways, this book is similar to the rest of the series. Mother Night, a villain you love to hate, is a super-genius anarchist who's strewing chaos throughout the country over Labor Day weekend. She's got the DMS's computer tied up in knots and old evils that were defeated in previous books are now popping their heads up all over the country. Losses are high and the odds are very much against Ledger and his team. We know Joe will win. It's watching it happen that makes it fun.

It is superior to the other books, I think, because the pacing is more measured and there is more character development. I also enjoyed the flashbacks into the DMS's years before Joe joined them.

But in one very important way Code Zero was very different for me.

I felt a level of anxiety that was all out of proportion. Maberry is an expert at ratcheting up the stakes until you just can't see how anyone decent is going to survive the maelstrom. I was used to that. But somehow this felt different. I got a bit jumpy. I couldn't quit thinking about the horrific chaos during the day when I had to put the book down. It stuck with me in a way the other books didn't.

In fact, after I finished Code Zero I had to go find a nice, gentle book to read. I just couldn't face anything hard-edged. (Hello, No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.)

Then I woke up this morning to news on my clock radio about multiple stabbings at a high school. And I figured it out.

Maberry has his finger on the pulse of the evil that Americans today know all too well ... that lurks below the conscious level of our lives ... violent chaos that can strike without a moment's notice. Shootings at Fort Hood, restaurants, schools, and more have changed the mood of our country and made Mother Night's chaos resonate more deeply than usual.

Along the way, he looks at why people choose good or evil. This has been mentioned in other books, but never with so many examples as in this one. Maberry doesn't spell it out much but this conversation between a DMS scientist and Joe Ledger gave the larger context, as well as defining everyone's actions in the book.

"I've watched the tapes of Rudy interviewing some of the people you and Col. Riggs and the others have arrested. Some of them seem so ordinary. How can they commit those atrocities if they have a conscience? Is it their nature? Or is it a nurture thing? Are they from an environment that makes it ok for them?"

Joe grunted. "I asked Rudy that same exact question once."

"What did he say?"

"He said that the nature versus nurture question is fundamentally flawed because it assumes that there are only two possible forces at work on a person. Sure, a person's nature is a factor and that could be a produce of their brain chemistry or whatever makes a person a sociopath or a psychotic or a hero. Just as the forces in a person's life have to be taken into some account. Some abused children grow up to abuse. There's math for that. But neither viewpoint covers all the possible bases."

"So what's missing?"

"Choice," said Ledger. "Rudy thinks that choice is often more important than either nature or nurture. Some people grow up in hell and choose to let others share in that hell. Some people grow up in hell and they make damn sure they don't let those in their care ever glimpse those fires. It's a choice."

"Not everyone can make that choice."

"No, of course not. But a lot more people can than you might think." ...

"Choice," she said.

"Choice," he agreed. "It's what defines us. And it's probably the most underrated power in the world."

Code Zero is full of people choosing to save the world or burn it down. In most of the cases, the motivation comes down to something that Maberry does not name, but which I will make bold to label: love. We want to know we matter, that we make a difference, that someone "knows" us. Not for our accomplishments but simply because our "selves" matter.

Mother Night gives it a different name, and she may not tidily fall into this definition but, let's face it, she's super-villain crazy. I believe that her ultimate fate bears me out. It shows most in Maberry's final scenario at the end of the book as the answer to Rudy's statement that the chaos "has done something fundamental to the American people.

Truly this is a great book, especially for the shoot-em-up genre. It is also probably one that can be read as a stand alone without reading the others that came before.


AUDIO NOTES
I listened to the audiobook read by Ray Porter who was superb, as usual, at portraying Joe and every other character along the way. In this book Porter dialed his urgent, driving, delivery down some and thank goodness for that. The action was intense enough without being shoved over the edge of the cliff by a continually urgent tone. Porter also was more nuanced and thoughtful in his reading than I recall in previous Joe Ledger books. If this sounds odd when considering our heroes are fighting off zombies, it actually worked to make me consider the full horror being faced. Once again, kudos to Ray Porter. He's the reason I always choose audio for the Joe Ledger books.

Worth a Thousand Words: Satyr Riding on Top of Dolphin

Satyr Riding Dolphin
via Barcelona Photoblog

It occurred to me that I hadn't gone digging around in Barcelona Photoblog's archives for some time. Look at the treasure I found in the first month I chose (April 2007). It was hard to make a final choice, believe me. But this photo most of all made me say, "I want to go to there." And I do.

Movie Review: American Hustle

My rating ★★★½

A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

Loosely based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, American Hustle deals with elaborate con schemes while showing us the sprawling mess that was the conmen's lives behind the scenes.

I was interested in finding out about Abscam which I recall vaguely noticing at the time it happened as headlines would fly by. I was interested in seeing Christian Bale be someone besides Batman. And, most of all, my husband was interested in seeing this. So we watched it.

As with director David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook," this movie was surprising because it had a layer I did not expect. As it says in the beginning, "some of these things actually happened." Those are the details about Abscam, which are mostly in line with actual events. The insight into the characters in the movie are the screenwriters' contribution.

I enjoyed watching the con build and build and build to a ridiculous level. I enjoyed seeing the characters flail around in reaction to their own desires, while giving little thought to true consequences. And I enjoyed watching it all come tumbling down.

It isn't a "must see" but it was entertaining and informative. The acting was great, especially that of Bradley Cooper. And it added a new truism to our household, "the more you tell people they can't have something, the more they want it."

Book Giveway! A Guide to the Passion of the Christ

UP Network (Uplifting Entertainment) is airing 21 movies as Easter approaches in their Easter Lives Here series. Check out the link for all the movies they will be airing.

This Sunday, April 13, UP will air The Passion of the Christ in its network TV debut.

As those of us who have seen the movie know, the dramatic events portrayed depend upon a deep understanding of Christianity, and in fact of Catholicism, for fullest appreciation. So it isn't surprising that perplexing questions may arise after seeing the movie.

A Guide to the Passion of the Christ helps you delve a little deeper into some of the movie's profound riches. It’s a NYT bestseller that’s a resource book and scene-by-scene analysis of the film.

And we're giving it away!

Sign up in the comments box for your chance to win. If you don't want to go through the rigamarole of the Blogger comments sign up, you can leave a comment as Anonymous. Just be sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win.

I'll draw the winner Friday, April 11, at 9 a.m. (central time) and announce it that day.

Book Bingo 5: A Book That is More Than 10 Years Old

Rumpole on Trial by John Mortimer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The bingo challenge gave me another that is familiar ground.

However, I let the decision wait for a few day. Then rearranging and cleaning out books I came across my collection of Rumpole books. I hadn't picked them up for some time, being familiar with the solutions to most of the mysteries.

When dipping into them I remembered the other reason for reading these delightful short stories. John Mortimer's style and Rumpole's personality are so engaging that it really doesn't matter if one knows the solution. These stories transport you to a different time with a rumpled knight in shining armor who just wants to get on with doing the one thing he may be able to control ... his job in getting various villains (and sometimes an innocent person) off of their legal charges.

What a joy it was to pick up this book at bedtime and dip into it before dropping off to sleep.

Well Said: The aim of art

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

Aristotle

This spoke to me after recording the next episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, which I just finished previewing this morning.

Essentially, we talk about Aristotle's premise. What inward significance, as Catholics, do we see in books and movies? Now, I have to agree with Freud that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But oftentimes, there is more to art than meets our first glance. N'est ce pas?

Firefly References on Castle

I was just thinking yesterday that I needed to rewatch Firefly. It's been a long time since I had a marathon. And then I came across this.




Yeah, it's been too long. I enjoy Castle, but I need the real thing.

Well Said: Conspiracy Versus Incompetence

I find [H. P.] Lovecraft's general paranoia a bit hard to empathize with -- I tend to think of the world as being ruled mostly by benign incompetence, rather than malicious conspiracy.

Alex, Goodreads

Indeed. I was struck by this when I saw it a few weeks ago on Goodreads. I'd recently had a conversation with someone who I really respect but who flabbergasted me by saying that he thought the Catholic Church was a vast, malicious conspiracy. Oh, and that the conspiracy began very soon after Jesus' death. This was supported by all the reading he had done.

I have to say that my experience of the Church ... and indeed of most organizations, whether secular or religious ... tends to fall in line with Alex's quote above. Yes, you do get evil sometimes. Hitler's and Stalin's legacies alone testify to that and we all wish those were the only two of their kind we could point to.

But for the most part, most people are generally good at heart. We're just not as good at being competent as we all think we are. And neither is the next guy.

Worth a Thousand Words: Goldcrest

Goldcrest
taken by Remo Savisaar

As always, to fully appreciate Remo's incomparable nature photography, click through and examine the image in full size. I just don't know how he gets these shots. I only know I'm grateful he shares them with us.

Catholic by Choice by Richard Cole

Catholic by Choice: Why I Embraced the Faith, Joined the Church, and Embarked on the Adventure of a Lifetime by Richard Cole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read this for the Patheos book club after they approached me because they needed more bloggers to participate.

Originally I thought, "another conversion story ... I've read so many, do I need to read another?" I forgot, of course, that every conversion story is the same, a love story. And every conversion story is unique because each of us is uniquely different. As it turns out, this was a very engaging reading experience, to the point where I read it in 24 hours.

I really enjoyed reading Richard Cole's very honest account of his internal struggles after it became clear that God was tapping him on the shoulder to invite him to a closer relationship, through the Catholic Church. I appreciated the way he'd tell sitting down at the kitchen table to ask honest questions about things troubling him and then would relate Jesus' answer. Usually direct, often surprising ... and that all rang very true to me.

I also appreciated Cole's honest accounting of dealing with his wife about faith. Interestingly she was in the process of moving away from Catholicism to new age spiritualism. This troubled Cole and led to several conversations which showed two people trying to move into greater relationship with God through very different paths. It seemed especially relevant to our times when so many people are moving away from the faith (or lack thereof) in which they were raised and find themselves adapting to "mixed marriages."

I would be curious to hear the author's wife's reasons for giving her husband that three-day gift certificate to a retreat at a monastery, which is what kicked off his conversion process. Since she herself was in the process of moving away from Catholicism it was a generous and interesting gift but those reasons aren't given in the book.

Cole was a lot more directed in his conversion that I was in mine. I'd just go along, something would happen to get my attention and I'd respond and then go off in whatever new direction seemed indicated, happy and oblivious until the next attention-getting bop on the head from God. Cole worked on his as if it were a Divine Assignment he'd be graded on, with a lot of worry and attention and introspection that would have worn me out.

Not that my own enthusiasm and gung-ho attitude probably didn't get wearing for my own family, it is just that I didn't work it like a program with boxes to check off a list. I might not have been thrilled about the idea of RCIA classes, but I just figured if that was what God wanted, then that's what I'd do. No wonder my spiritual progress during that time was a surprise to me, a welcome one to be sure but still not something I'd expected or worked to get.

And that's what makes each conversion story both different and the same, in some sense. This one is definitely worth reading. Ultimately it focused me on thinking about Jesus' own interactions in my own life, in a different way than I'd been doing lately. And that's a good thing. For me anyway.

NOTE ABOUT THE INTRODUCTION:
For some reason the introduction has a lot of details about how the author's life and family have turned out after his conversion. This was rather off-putting and left me in a distinct mood of not being interested in reading the actual book. Obviously, this was overcome with the first chapter, but there's no reason to put yourself through that. Skip the intro and read it after the rest of the book.

REVIEW COPY PROVIDED FREE
The review copy was provided by the Patheos Book Club. Publishers pay for Patheos to feature their books. My review is my own based solely on the book's merits.

Noah ... the Movie ... the Controversies - MORE UPDATES

I've been pretty excited about the upcoming Noah movie ever since I heard about it. Then I saw the trailer and got even more excited.

This looked like a classic Bible movie, the likes of which I loved watching as a kid. The Ten Commandments. Ben Hur. You know what I'm talkin' about. Eye popping special effects, miracles, heroic struggles, bigger-than-life stuff.

The fact that we were completely secular and didn't give God a second thought had nothing to do with it. These movies rocked.

I was ready for Noah to rock my world in the same way.

Then I began hearing swirling discontent coming from people who were afraid the movie wouldn't be purely Biblical enough.

Probably.

This is a Hollywood movie after all.

Film makers have lots of other considerations and even when they've loved a story since their youth, they make trade offs. This was recently called to mind when rewatching all of The Lord of the Rings movies for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast recently.

Director Peter Jackson made some choices I agreed with and some I didn't. He mentions in the extras that he actually got lost down the wrong track a few times and was able to return to the original message only at the last minute.

In fact, that's not a bad place to start when considering how stories must be adapted to move from one medium to another. Since the Bible was originally oral and then written down, Jewish tradition often chose to keep everything even when it conflicted. They didn't want to throw something out in case it was important in a way they couldn't see at the time.

And from that arose the tradition of midrash. Midrash is a traditional Jewish way of trying to understand the underlying spirit of scripture, sometimes connecting it to modern life, by creating parables. This allows for some imaginative storytelling as rabbis look for interpretations that are not immediately obvious but are nevertheless held within the original text.

I figured that as long as we got a good, entertaining movie Noah would, at the very least, be an interesting modern midrash on the story's applicability to our times.

Steven D. Greydanus, respected movie critic for the National Catholic Register, devout Catholic, has invested a considerable amount of thought into the flap over Noah.

Whatever the movie looks like, I expect some pious moviegoers, especially biblical literalists, will be upset or angry about anything in the film that goes beyond the biblical text, or that contradicts their own ideas about the story, or that doesn’t dovetail with their conception of the message of the Bible.

Is this really necessary? I don’t think so. By way of providing some perspective, here are a few points that I think thoughtful Christians, particularly Catholics, should consider in evaluating Aronofsky’s film and others like it.

We all grow up with this version of the story, we read it to our own kids, and many of us never look at the text any other way. (For example, picture books invariably stick with the “two by two” motif, ignoring the verses that refer to seven pairs of “clean” animals.)

There’s nothing wrong with this familiar version of the story. But we shouldn’t mistake it for the canonical story itself — nor should we be too quick to reject interpretative or imaginative approaches to the text that challenge our assumptions. A retelling that defamiliarizes the story, that makes us rethink what we thought we knew, can be a valuable thing.

Greydanus hits the nail on the head. He's got several good pieces which I read with interest as they came along. If you are curious about why the movie is worth watching, despite not being what might be called "strictly Biblical" then these may interest you also. Heck, they're interesting no matter what.

• Everybody chill out about the 'Noah' movie — this where the above excerpt comes from and he develops this theme quite well.
• Interview: ‘Noah’ Writer-Director Darren Aronofsky and Co-writer Ari Handel — this had to be fun for Greydanus because Aronofsky and Handel had read his "Everybody chill out" piece and loved it.
• SDG Reviews 'Noah' - I haven't read this yet. But SDG's reviews are always thoughtful and good.
  

Here's another piece (WSJ: Ark-itectural Digest) which has nothing whatever to do with controversies, but has everything to do with how the filmmakers combined digital and physical elements for the special effects. For instance they actually built the ark to Biblical proportions. The ultimate test was when Hurricane Sandy came along.

In a clearing within a woodsy arboretum on Long Island, on dry land, Mr. Friedberg's crew spent about six months erecting the front entrance and sides of an ark about 60 feet high, out of steel and foam designed to look like logs. For scenes in the ark's interior, they built a three-story set to the same scale inside an armory in Brooklyn.

"We decided that it would be built to biblical proportions," Mr. Friedberg explains. That means it isn't a seafaring ship but a large rectangular box intended to keep Noah's family and the menagerie afloat, specified by scripture to be 30 cubits high, 50 cubits wide and 300 cubits long (a cubit is the distance from human elbow to middle fingertip). Sunk in a cement foundation, the "ark" was framed in I-beams.

In October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit like some kind of cosmic message and flooded parts of New York. "The ark did fine," says Mr. Friedberg. "It enjoyed its chance at some real weather. It did better than some of our own houses."

I can't wait.

UPDATE
Other Christian reactions to Noah, all via Brandywine Books.

• Phil Cooke: Why I'm Recommending Christians See The Movie Noah
  He's got many good reasons, but this was my favorite:

  9) Do we as a Christian community really need to “protect” ourselves from a movie that isn’t 100% Biblically accurate? Would the Apostle Paul have run from the challenge? Rather than withdrawing from the discussion, I suggest that we seize the moment, turn the tables, and use this to our advantage. Pastors should be preaching messages on the Noah story. Let’s use the film to share our faith with friends and co-workers. Like the Old Testament’s Joseph, who rose to remarkable heights in an alien and hostile culture, let’s not shy away from these opportunities, rather, let’s use them to demonstrate the power of God’s Word.

• Gregory Alan Thornbury: Darren Aronofsky's Noah.
  It's a long, thoughtful piece that you need to go read for yourself, but let's let this give the overall tone:

  Aronofksy's Noah is a way of putting ourselves before the Bible's "dangerous question" as Barth put it. The grim, gritty, and supernatural antediluvian biblical world takes us back into ancient history, of origins. Who are we? What has gone wrong with the world? Where is justice? Is God there? What does he have to say? That ancient world sets us back on our heels and forces us to take stock in this strange new world inside the Bible.

YET MORE UPDATES
Steven D. Greydanus is turning into quite the authority on the Noah movie. He's being interviewed everywhere, asked tons on questions, and has a couple more pieces written. I'm not reading either of these until I've seen the movie, but wanted to share these links.

• The Noah Movie Controversies answers the many questions he's being asked. If there's a misconception out there, he's addressing it.
• Noah: A Theological Reflection. Here's the description of the piece: Darren Aronofsky’s controversial film is sometimes divisive and divided, but is also deeply serious about Scripture and essential questions.
  

AND ANOTHER UPDATE

• Father Barron's take on Noah ... What is significant is that Noah remains utterly focused throughout, not on his own freedom, but on the desire and purpose of God. God, creation, providence, sin, obedience, salvation: not bad for a major Hollywood movie!
• Darwin Catholic's review ... which comes down halfway between Greydanus' enthusiasm and (as Darwin put it, taking the words from my mouth) "Barbara Nicolosi's bizarre rant." (Note: Nicolosi's piece made me long for Roger Ebert's witty, erudite reviews of movies he hated. Nicolosi is no Ebert.) At any rate, Darwin is always worth reading and I'll go past his spoiler alert once I've seen the movie.

Worth a Thousand Words: Shadow Play

Schattenspiel (Shadow Play)
by Edward B. Gordon

I simply love Edward B. Gordon's artistic style and the fact that he records everyday life in the city. This painting exemplifies both those traits.

Worth a Thousand Words: Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain detail
taken by Joseph at Zombie Parent's Guide

As I've mentioned before, I am thoroughly enjoying Joseph's pictorial records of his family's travels while they are living in England. I'm getting views of places like Pompeii and Rome, among others, that I might never get to see in person.

Book Review: The C. S. Lewis Bible

C. S. Lewis Bible: New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've never understood the enthusiasm for study Bibles on a single theme or with a single person's commentary. Obviously, they are popular because you can see them everywhere. When this Bible came to my attention, I blanched.

However, it seems as if 2014 is fast becoming my "year of C.S. Lewis" as I work my way through his books in audio format. So I took a closer look on Amazon where I found Brandon Vogt's review, which I encourage you to read. I trust Brandon's judgment a lot from having read his blog. His thoughtful comments also showed that he, too, was leery of this sort of study bible. He pointed out that, with care, one can view such a work as having midrash available on scripture and that opened up another way to consider it.

I'm not crazy about the NRSV translation but that is a matter of personal taste admittedly. Catholics will note that this is a Protestant Bible and so has fewer books than a Catholic Bible would. The committee who put this together does seem to have done an impressive job of carefully matching Lewis's comments in the appropriate spot without overdoing it. It is definitely a Bible first and foremost, with occasional C.S. Lewis comments from a wide variety of sources. It quickly became a favorite morning read.

I do want to mention that except for the cover, this book is a work of beauty. The typesetting, format, and overall look are gorgeous. The cover ... well, you can see that for yourself. Nothing can make it anything except ugly. But once the cover is opened, the interior is beautiful. This is the book that proves the old adage. Don't judge this book by its cover.

Well Said: Comedy and Diversity

Jerry Seinfeld responding to a question about a lack of diversity in his online series, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," on CBS This Morning, February 2014.

People think it's the census or something. This has gotta represent the actual pie chart of America? Who cares? Funny is the world I live in. You're funny, I'm interested. You're not funny, I'm not interested. I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that. But everyone else is kinda with their little calculating, "Is this the exact right mix?" To me, it's anti-comedy. It's more about PC nonsense than "are you making us laugh or not?"

Precisely.

Almost Brand New Puppies

These three baby boys came in overnight with no mom. The person who found them tried to care for them the best she could, but at just a few days old, they needed more care than she could provide. Thanks to your donations of heating pads, bottles, and formula they are still alive. It's touch and go, of course, but YOU are making a difference.

Dallas Animal Services Facebook page

This takes me back to the old days when my parents raised and bred Bulmastiffs for show. We sometimes had teeny tinies like this who needed extra care. I can still remember getting the feeding tube down a bitty baby and watching it suddenly go to sleep in my hands as I pushed the syringe slowly and it became ... full.

I've gotta say that no one uses Facebook to better advantage than Dallas Animal Services. They update it continually with pictures and stories that make me feel good, know their needs, and just generally keep them top-of-mind. Aside from our Boxer needs, we generally have adopted rescue pets from the SPCA. However, the next time we'll probably go to Dallas Animal Services. The SPCA has some very generous donors and now has a "no kill" policy but Dallas Animal Services doesn't have that luxury.