Well Said: Hamlet and Moral Relativism

Morality especially has come to seem to [Hamlet] completely dependent on his own opinions. "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so," he declares.

How wild was this? Shakespeare had predicted post-modernism and moral relativism hundreds of years before they came into being! ...

But there was one big difference. Hamlet said these things when he was pretending to be mad. My professors said them and pretended to be sane. Shakespeare was telling us, it seemed to me, that relativism was not just crazy, it was make-believe crazy, because even the people who proclaimed it did not believe it deep down. If, after all, there is no truth, how could it be true that there is no truth? If there is no absolute morality, how can you condemn the morality of considering my culture better than another? Relativism made no sense, as Shakespeare clearly saw.

Andrew Klavan, The Great Good Thing:
A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ

Worth a Thousand Words: Ships

Franklin Booth, Ships
via The Franklin Booth Project

Well Said: God is not susceptible to proofs and disproofs

Anyway, God is not susceptible to proofs and disproofs. If you believe, the evidence is all around you. If you don’t believe, no evidence can be enough.

Andrew Klavan, The Great Good Thing:

A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ

Worth a Thousand Words: Snow Light

Snow Light
by The French Sampler

Punk rocker describes his return to Catholicism

Terry Chimes, the drummer for The Clash, has written a book about returning to Catholicism.

Chimes describes stumbling across a copy of CS Lewis’s book Mere Christianity at a car boot sale in 1998 and reading about Lewis’s analysis of the sin of pride.

Chimes said: “There was a chapter entitled The Great Sin. The great sin is pride, the tendency we all have to think we are better than someone else. I had always known that pride existed but wondered why it’s referred to as the great sin. That was until I realised the significance of pride as an obstacle to spiritual growth.

“The problem with pride is that those who have the most see it the least. CS Lewis said that if you have done some good works, read some spiritual books, perhaps practiced meditation or given up drinking and you take pride in that, thinking that you are more spiritual than someone else, then Satan will rub his hands with glee, because he will have caught you in a spiritual trap from which escape is very difficult.”

He continued: “As I read those words I had the chilling awareness that I have been in just such a trap for twenty years. I put the book down and went to sit on the sofa. I was reeling from the realisation that I’d been in a trap for all of that time. Within minutes I was having the most extraordinary experience of my life.”

Read the whole article in The Catholic Herald. It was also C.S. Lewis who said in Surprised by Joy:

In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. . . . God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.

Indeed.

A Daily Defense by Jimmy Akin

A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist
by Jimmy Akin

The history of Christianity is one of debate. As the gospels reveal, Jesus was challenged right from the start. Rival schools like the Pharisees and Sadducees posed pointed questions to him, trying to trap him in his words and even to get him in trouble with the authorities. ...

Our world is very different from the one in which Jesus lived, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. If people posed challenges to Jesus, they will do so to us as well.

I'm really glad I received a review copy of this book because otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up. This excellent book provides an easy daily reminder of our beliefs and how to defend and explain them. Each day presents a challenge to the Catholic faith, a (one-sentence) defense, and an explanation of the belief. Sometimes there is also a final one-sentence tip which may range from a cogent summary to a reading recommendation to directing the reader to a related page with a different wrinkle on the topic.

Some of the objections are that I just don't encounter such as "Matthew's genealogy of Jesus omits some generations and thus is wrong" or "The Bible originally taught reincarnation, but the relevant passages were struck out by the Council of Nicaea." For me the answers to these are academic, but interesting.

Many, though, are those I am familiar with. I love the way that Akin's defense statements often turn my usual thoughts on the subject into a new direction. The explanations are thorough and often include information or positions I wouldn't have thought of. And I thought I knew a lot about how to explain some of these topics.

Highly recommended.

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy: A Notable Story of Redemption and Joy

This is one of my favorites by one of my favorite authors. This review ran back in 2007 and I'm rerunning it since a lot of Rumer Godden's titles have just been released for the Kindle. Get this one and In This House of Brede (my favorite) and maybe also China Court. You won't be sorry.

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy

by Rumer Godden

"I took Vivi home." Why? Lise had asked herself a thousand times. "There's a little church in England," she told Soeur Marie Alcide, "at Southleigh in Oxfordshire, which has an old, old mural painting showing a winged Saint Michael holding the scales of justice. The poor soul awaiting judgment is quailing because the right-hand scale is coming heavily down with its load of sins: but on the left our Lady is quietly putting her rosary beads in the other scale to make them even. I saw it long ago, but in a way I suppose something like that happened to me.

"It happened to me," and Lise started to tremble. "How did Vivi come to have those beads?" Lise asked that for the thousandth time. "She wouldn't say. She never said ..."

Now, in the cafe, Lise seemed to hear Soeur Marie Alcide's firm voice. "Put it behind you. That is one of our first rules. You will probably never see Vivi again." and, "It's time you caught your train," Lise told Lise.

This is an inspiring tale of conversion and redemption told in flashback sequence. We meet Lise when she is being released from prison where she has served her term for murder. She is going to join an order that ministers to those on the fringes of society. Through Lise's thoughts, we watch her go from being a young WWII staffer in Paris, become seduced by a man who has a brothel and eventually turns her into a prostitute where later on she becomes the manager. The reasons behind the murder become clear as the threads come together again in the people around Lise in current time.

The first third of the book can be tough to read as Godden is devastatingly emotionally honest as always. Despite the fact that much of the book takes place in a brothel the words used are unobjectionable so one needn't worry about that. As I read, I suddenly realize that I must have tried this book at least once before but always stopped as it was too painful. However, I was selling the book short by never pressing on as the last two-thirds took an upward swing that surprised and enchanted me.

Throughout it is strung the rosary, sometimes in surprising ways and always as a pointer toward action to be taken. Interestingly, Lise doesn't even enjoy saying the rosary but it is somehow integral to her journey of faith despite that. She cannot seem to escape it no matter how she might try.

I didn't realize how integral the rosary was to the book until I was very far into it. After I finished the book and thought about it over the next few days, I wondered about the title. What did it mean? Suddenly it came to me. Five [mysteries] for sorrow, ten [mysteries] for joy. It reflects the rosary itself. Reading the book with that foreknowledge might yield even more riches. I will have the opportunity to find out as I definitely will return to this book.

It was a revelation to the aspirants that the sisters, some of them elderly impressive nuns, filled with quiet holiness, should publicly admit their faults. Could Soeur Imelda de Notre Dame, that calm saintly person, really have snapped sharply at anyone? Could Soeur Marie Dominique have lost her temper? "Then do you go on being you until the very end?" they could have moaned. "Even after all this trying and training?" "Always," Soeur Theodore would have told them. ...

Fake News, The BBC, and Pope Piux XII

In a significant finding, the British Broadcasting Corporation has conceded that in their main evening news bulletin, seen by millions, it falsely described the Church as being ‘silent’ in the face of Nazism and that it has not reported correctly on the Church’s opposition to Hitler.

The finding was made by the BBC’s internal watchdog after Father Leo Chamberlain and I jointly lodged a complaint. Chamberlain, a Benedictine, is a historian and former headmaster of Ampleforth College.

The broadcast was made last July during a visit to Auschwitz by Pope Francis. The reporter stated as fact that, “Silence was the response of the Catholic Church when Nazi Germany demonized Jewish people and then attempted to eradicate Jews from Europe.”

No one who has read Church of Spies is surprised by the truth that the Church was not "silent" and gave the Nazis quite a bit of opposition. But that's the way it goes with even the most prestigious news organizations these days. They can be just as liable to perpetuate fake news and propaganda as everyone else.

Here is what it takes to make people report the real news — dogged determination. In the immortal words of Galaxy Quest, never give up, never surrender!

Read it all at Crux.

(Thanks to Scott Danielson for the heads up on this.)

Well Said: Show me

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint on broken glass.

Anton Chekov

Worth a Thousand Words: Quenching Thirst

Quenching Thirst
by Remo Savisaar

Well Said: The moral disaster of losing good manners

Good manners depended on paying moral attention to others; it required one to treat them with complete moral seriousness, to understand their feelings and their needs.

... How utterly shortsighted we had been to listen to those who thought that manners were a bourgeois affectation, an irrelevance, which need no longer be valued. A moral disaster had ensued, because manners were the basic building block of a civil society. They were the method of transmitting the message of moral consideration.

In this way an entire generation had lost a vital piece of the moral jigsaw and now we saw the results: a society in which nobody would help, nobody would feel for others; a society in which aggressive language and insensitivity were the norm.

Alexander McCall Smith, The Sunday Philosophy Club

Worth a Thousand Words: Sewing

Sewing (1898), William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Last Testament: In His Own Words by Pope Benedict XVI

Last Testament: In His Own Words by Pope Benedict XVI

I actually preordered this by accident or I'd never have read it. As it turns out, I'm glad I did.

Journalist Peter Seewald continues the interview format that he used for his previous books with Pope Benedict XVI. This book serves not only as Pope Benedict's last testament but as a good overview of his entire life. I was interested in reading about the decision to step down as pope and what Benedict's life has been like since.

I was much less interested in his life story but am glad that I read it because it gave me a much better understanding of his journey in faith. I never realized that as a young man Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict) was a progressive who was considered possibly dangerous and who was good friends with Hans Kung. Ultimately Ratzinger chose to adhere closely to the liturgy in his zeal to bring the church into better touch with modern times. And that has made all the difference.

I wasn't familiar with some of the theologians or controversies which Seewald kept coming back to. However, even in reading about those one gets a look at Pope Benedict and how he approaches conflict.

Very interesting overall, a super fast read, and I found it ultimately inspiring.

Something Delicious: Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

Pick it up at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Worth a Thousand Words: December in Provence

Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859–1929), December in Provence

Genesis Notes: Abram's Practicality

GENESIS 13
When Abram gives Lot the first choice of land, we begin to see not only his generosity but his wisdom. Abram is willing to put family peace above what he might want personally. We also see that there is a bigger lesson about wealth being taught here.

The Parting of Lot and Abraham mosaic from Santa Maria Maggiore

Abram's wealth meant that he and Lot could not dwell together on the land. This created strife in the family, which leads to a separation. It is worth taking note that this first mention of great wealth in the Scripture is associated with unhappiness and lack of peace. This will become a constant theme in the rest of Scripture. It is no surprise, then, when Jesus tells His followers not to bother laying up treasures on earth. If the heart of man is so closely connected to his treasures, better that he should build treasures in heaven, where there can be no threat to happiness or peace (see Matt. 6:19-21).

This also is a continuation of what God showed Noah through the rainbow, the use of physical things as sacraments.

If Abram's descendants were ever to become a "great nation," as God had promised, the first thing they would need was land. Tribes of people without land of their own remain just that-tribes of people. God told Abram to take a good look at the land itself. This was the concrete reality that lay before his eyes. The land was real to him; the promise of descendants to fill it was still a hope, which depended entirely on God's trustworthiness. This is reminiscent of God's use of the rainbow with Noah. He uses here a concrete reality within nature as a sign of His promise to act. In the Church, God continues to do this in the sacraments.

Abram may have been thinking the same kind of thoughts we think when we approach a sacrament. "All I see here is land-dirt, rocks, bushes. God says this will be the home of my great nation. I don't have any kids, and my wife is barren. Can I really believe this?" In the sacraments, we are always faced with these very human questions. "This is just water on a baby's head. Is this child really being washed from original sin and given the Holy Spirit?" "This looks and tastes like bread and wine. Can I really believe that I am eating the Body and Blood of the Lord and that it will give me eternal life?" When we think those thoughts, we are much like Abram, walking through that desert land, pondering the promises of God. That is why his response will be of interest to us.

All quotes from Genesis, Part II: God and His Family. This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Chrysanthemums

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Chrysanthemums
via Arts Everyday Living

Well Said: To every life there eventually came a moment when one had to accept the fact that the future was entirely out of one's hands

In the morning when Mrs. Pollifax awoke she realized at once that a fateful day was beginning. She lay and thought about this dispassionately, almost wonderingly, because to every life there eventually came a moment when one had to accept the fact that the shape, the pattern, the direction of the future was entirely out of one's hands, to be decided unalterably by chance, by fate or by God. There was nothing to do but accept, and from this to proceed, doing the very best that could be done.

Dorothy Gilman, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

I've been listening to The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, which is the first in the series about the grandmother who becomes a CIA spy. It's been a real pleasure revisiting a beloved character anew through Barbara Rosenblat's excellent narration. When I was young my mother would bring home the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries from the grocery store and it would get passed around. We all enjoyed Mrs. Pollifax's personality and ingenuity, as well as the author's talent for weaving a spy novel with a light touch.

I reread these so many times that the plot is coming back to me, several decades later, but it doesn't diminish my enjoyment.

Lisa Nicholas's Omniblog

New website alert - Lisa A. Nicholas who has her fingers in a lot of pies but most especially in Catholic writing and editing has launched a new website. Of most interest to me is her Omniblog which gathers all her blog posts from various sites. Check it out!

Worth a Thousand Words: Snowball

Snowball
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

Living in Texas, the trees are just beginning to hit full color and we're hitting our first cold weather. Not only is this little fellow adorable but the snow on the branch reminds me that winter is in full swing in some places.

Well Said: Love can be hated when it challenges us.

God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic “good feeling.” Redemption is not “wellness,” it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price: the anguish of the Cross. The prophecy of light and that of the Cross belong together.

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

Lagniappe: Nature was absorbed in making cabbages when Mrs. Vesey was born

Some of us rush through life, and some of us saunter through life. Mrs. Vesey SAT through life. Sat in the house, early and late; sat in the garden; sat in unexpected window-seats in passages; sat (on a camp-stool) when her friends tried to take her out walking; sat before she looked at anything, before she talked of anything, before she answered Yes, or No, to the commonest question — always with the same serene smile on her lips, the same vacantly- attentive turn of the head, the same snugly-comfortable position of her hands and arms, under every possible change of domestic circumstances. A mild, a compliant, an unutterably tranquil and harmless old lady, who never by any chance suggested the idea that she had been actually alive since the hour of her birth. Nature has so much to do in this world, and is engaged in generating such a vast variety of co-existent productions, that she must surely be now and then too flurried and confused to distinguish between the different processes that she is carrying on at the same time. Starting from this point of view, it will always remain my private persuasion that Nature was absorbed in making cabbages when Mrs. Vesey was born, and that the good lady suffered the consequences of a vegetable preoccupation in the mind of the Mother of us all.

Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

My favorite Wilkie Collins' book is The Moonstone, especially because it is so funny, but The Woman in White also has touches of Wilkie Collins' humor. The passage above is a favorite of mine.

Worth a Thousand Words: Last light on the Guadalupe Mountains

Last light on the Guadalupe Mountains at Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Culberson County, Texas.
Taken by Jason Merlo Photography

Worth a Thousand Words: The Red Umbrella

The Red Umbrella
painted by Edward B. Gordon

Well Said: God delegates to His creatures

For he seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. ... We are not mere recipients or spectators. We are either privileged or compelled to collaborate in the work.

C.S. Lewis, The Efficacy of Prayer

Genesis Notes: The Call to Abram

GENESIS 11-12
Genesis now spends a long time studying Abram and Sarai. I never thought about the fact that these are the first two people whose lives are looked at in great detail and this is a sign of their extreme importance. We get to see God interacting with them and especially Abram in a way that has not been shown before. Therefore, not only do we learn more about these people but, through them, about God.

Life Application Study Bible tells us a bit about Abram's background.

Abram grew up in Ur of the Chaldeans, an important city in the ancient world. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of a flourishing civilization there in Abram's day. The city carried on an extensive trade with its neighbors and had a vast library. Growing up in Ur, Abram was probably well educated.

So when Abram followed God's call to the wilderness he was leaving a lot behind, a pattern we see over and over right up into our own lives.

I also never noticed before that everywhere Abram goes he is busy building altars. I like the fact that Abram's altars are a connection we still have with us today in the Catholic church.

It is worth taking note of the use of altars in man's relationship with God. Noah built an altar to the Lord and pleased Him with the sacrifice he made on it. Men after Noah everywhere built altars to deities. Through ignorance and perversion, many men worshipped false gods. Yet there was among men a common understanding that an altar is appropriate when men approach the Divine. Why? It is because men know instinctively that they owe God something. The altar represents man's desire to give something to God. In false religion, the offering is made to a deity out of fear or a desire for manipulation. When men worship from the heart, the altar is associated with praise and thanksgiving. In the life of Israel, the altar would take on a central significance in the relationship between God and His people. It would be a visible expression of atonement for sin and of thanksgiving to God. In the life of the Church, the altar continues to be a central, visible expression of the atonement that Christ won for us on Calvary, as well as the place where our offerings of thanks ("eucharist" means "thanks") are joined to His perfect offering as we renew our intention to be His covenant-keeping people.

Abraham's Counsel to Sarai (watercolor c. 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

One thing I never really understood in previous readings was the whole "Sarai is my sister" ploy that Abram trotted out ... she really must have been a looker which is something else I never considered. Still, God uses Abram's human weakness to lead him back on the right path. I like the point that is made here about how God shows Abram that He is everywhere.

It seems that God did what was necessary to convince Abram to live righteously. He shows great patience with Abram's weakness. He understood the fear that prompted the sin and so sets Abram back on the path to restoration. In addition, for Abram to see God at work in Egypt, following him wherever he went, would have taught him a profoundly new lesson. This God is not like pagan deities, who were associated with specific locations. This God is everywhere. God did not want to start over with someone more reliable; He wanted to make Abram into a more reliable man. Will Abram cooperate with God? This is the question God had put to Cain: "If you do well, will you not be accepted?" (Gen. 4:7). It is the question He asks each one of us. He shows Himself willing to work with us in our weakness; it is rebellion and turning away from Him that will exclude Him from our lives.

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Well Said: God and little green tree frogs

From the universe we learn that God is infinite, that we cannot compass him at all. From such things as insects, flies, little frogs, mice and flowers, we learn that to us he is something else. He is Father, brother, child, and friend.

If you have ever had a little green tree frog and watched him puffing out with a pomposity worthy of a dragon before croaking, you must have guessed that there is a tender smile on our Heavenly Father's face, that he likes us to laugh and laughs with us; the frog will teach your heart more than all the books of theology in your world.

Caryll Houselander

Someone was musing the other day, wondering what sorts of jokes Jesus laughed at. I think he must have laughed at a wide variety, considering some of the really funny things he said, such as about the plank in your own eye. This, though, is what sprang to mind. We've got examples all around us that whatever Jesus laughs at, it is never mean spirited but always a tender laughter.

Well Said: Dictating to the Holy Ghost

Everyone knows how terrible it is to come into contact with those people who have an undisciplined missionary urge, who, having received some grace, are continually trying to force the same grace on others, to compel them not only to be converted but to be converted in the same way and with precisely the same results as themselves.

Such people seem to wish to dictate to the Holy Ghost. God is to inspire their neighbor to see things just as they do, to join the same societies, to plunge into the same activities. They go about like the scriptural monster, seeking whom they may devour. They insist that their victims have obvious vocations to assist in, or even be completely sacrificed to, their own interests. Very often they unwittingly tear out the tender little shoot of Christ-life that was pushing up against the dark heavy clay, and when the poor victim has been devoured, he is handed over, spiritless and broken, as a predigested morsel for the next one-hundred-percent zealot who comes along.

The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander

A Priest and an Imam Walk Into Amazon Prime

You've probably seen this already but we liked it so much when it came on during the Cowboys' game yesterday that I thought I'd share it.

It's rare to see an ad promoting true understanding that has such a light touch. Yes, they are selling something, but the bigger thing they are selling is understanding each other as people. Really perfect.

Genesis Notes: The Tower of Babel

GENESIS 11-12

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

One of the familiar stories contained here is that of the Tower of Babel. According to Life Application Study Bible:

The tower of Babel was most likely a ziggurat, a common structure in Babylonia at this time. Most often built as temples, ziggurats looked like pyramids with steps or ramps leading up the sides. Ziggurats stood as high as 300 feet and were often just as wide; thus they were the focal point of the city.

When an atheist friend challenged me with this story as showing that God hates people gaining knowledge I didn't have any response. Too bad I hadn't read Genesis Part I: God and His Creation yet because they point out it is not the knowledge God disapproves of, but why the tower is being raised ... because of man's pride.

These descendants of Ham reached a high degree of technical proficiency. This seems to have created a great deal of power among them. They did not want anything to threaten that power. They especially seemed to dread having to move out over the uninhabited parts of the earth. Perhaps they feared their power would dissipate if they got separated. Perhaps they didn't want to leave the comforts that come with civilization. Their desire to build a tower to heaven speaks of an arrogance and autonomy that has been dangerous when we have seen it in others (Adam, Cain, Lamech, Ham). The tower represents a physical manifestation of the pride of man, which, in its birth pangs, leads to disobedience to God; when pride is full-grown, it can lead to a direct assault on God Himself, with the desire to be rid of Him for good. The tower comes provocatively close to that. Of course, when Heaven came to earth, in the body of the Son of God, Jesus, men actually were able to assault Him, putting Him to death ...

The diversity in human languages represents the pride and arrogance of man, who abused his original unity with others to work against God instead of for Him. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles to begin the work of creating the Church, it is of no small significance that there was a miracle that undid the effects of Babel. It was a thrilling sign that what God was about to do in men would now enable them to use their unity in the right way-to live as God's family on earth.

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Fighting Temeraire

The Fighting Temeraire. 1839, by Joseph Mallord William Turner.

I've been insanely busy, as is always the case this time of year, working on my annual catalog layout project. It does give me lots of time to catch up on audiobooks (Bleak House - Naxos recording - because twice is not enough times to read that wonderful book) and podcasts.

The In Our Time radio show (via iTunes podcast in my case) is a favorite. They cover a wide variety of topics, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Penicillin to the William Wilberforce and beyond.

Their most recent is about The Fighting Temeraire which I didn't even realize was a painting. But when I went to see what it looked like, I could see why it would get people's attention. So I thought I'd grab a few quick minutes to share it.

I'll be back full time by mid-December. Until then I'll drop in when I can with quick items.

Well Said: The Endless Variety of Motion

The order of God's Providence maintains a perpetual vicissitude in the material being of this world; day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life.

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

The chaos and uncertainty that seem so predominant right now are all part of "heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion." As St. John Paul II reminded us, be not afraid.

Thanks to my good friend Scott for bringing all this to mind recently. This is a favorite quote of mine from this wonderful book and so appropriate to the national mindset at the moment.

In which we find out where we are, hear prophecies, and plan an escape!

Deliverer or Destroyer. Chapter 2 of The Magic City, now playing at Forgotten Classics podcast!

Freakonomics — Trust Me

It's an understatement to say that we're seeing a lack of social trust in America these days. This Freakonomics episode came out the day after the election. It is interesting overall but the best part is the last few minutes. It will leave you inspired and hopeful ... no matter who you are and how you are feeling these days.

Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling for decades — in part because our populations are more diverse. What can we do to fix it?

(If you don't want to listen, they have the transcript at the link. But it's not that long.)

Genesis Notes: The Noachide Covenant

GENESIS 6-9
The Complete Bible Handbook gives a different perspective on the consequences of Noah's story than I'd seen before. It resulted in the Noachide Covenant which laid down laws for how the Jews would deal with Gentiles who kept their laws.

The rainbow is the sign of God's covenant with Noah.
It came from a spot where you can read the seven laws of Noah.

Within the structure of the Bible as a whole, the covenant with Noah is the beginning of god's work of repair and healing. Having come to regret making humans on the earth (Gen 6:6), God now blesses Noah and his descendants and makes promises of further blessings, tied to certain conditions that they must keep. Then God gives the rainbow as a sign of the covenant that they have entered into (Gen 9:1-17). This covenant later came to be understood as one that embraces all people, not just the Israelites and Jews, because in chapter 10 the three sons of Noah -- Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- become the fathers of all the nations of the world. Noah is thus sometimes seen as the "second Adam."

This all embracing covenant came to be known in later Christian and Jewish tradition as the Noachide covenant, and it was thought to contain seven commands. These are listed differently in different texts, because they are derived not from this chapter in Genesis alone but from the appeals in the rest of Scripture to the Gentiles (non-Jews) to live justly. The usual list of seven is the command to establish a system of justice, prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery and incest (regarded as one, and often interpreted as sexual immorality in general), robbery, and eating flesh torn from a living animal.

A Gentile who keeps these laws is already in the covenant with God and does not have to convert to Judaism in order to become a part of the "world to come" ('olam ha-ba). Jews have a special vocation to keep the 613 commands and prohibitions of Torah, not for themselves or for their own advantage (since "righteous Gentiles" stand on the same footing), but for the good of the whole world, in order to show what life lived under the guidance, or Torah, or God can be like.

At the outset of Christianity, a decision had to be made concerning how many, if any, of the laws in Torah a new convert was obliged to follow. It is possible that the decision in Acts 15:20 is an early reflection of the Noachide covenant.

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Ural Owl

Ural Owl
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

Well Said: The Music of the Lines

All I'm looking for is an excuse for certain experiments in dramatic dialogue. To justify them I have to have plot and situation; but fundamentally I care almost nothing about either. All I really care about is what Errol Flynn calls "the music," the lines he has to speak.

Raymond Chandler, letter 1948

And this is actually why I love reading Chandler. The plots are often convoluted and don't really make sense, but it is the poetry and dialogue and clever wit of his writing that I love.

After the Election: Let's Be Kind to Each Other

I received an email this morning hoping I would have something inspirational to say after the election.

That made me realize the reason I posted a delicious recipe was that sharing a meal is the best way to come together with those you love. When you don't have adequate words then cook for someone, right?

It goes to the heart of what has been echoing in my mind all morning.

Be kind. We need to be kind to each other right now. We need to shed light not heat. Whether our candidate won or lost, we need to be gentle with each other.

I think President Obama really hit those notes well in his remarks on Donald Trump's election.

I liked the reminder that this is how the process works, that when you've won then someone very different has lost. But we can all be adult about it.

Now, it is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences. But remember, eight years ago President Bush and I had some pretty significant differences. But President Bush's team could not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition so that we could hit the ground running.

And one thing you realize quickly in this job is that the presidency and the vice presidency is bigger than any of us. So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush's team set eight years ago, and work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a successful transition for the president-elect.

I especially liked the reminder that we are all Americans first, before politics.

Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we're actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We're patriots first. (Speech transcript is here.)

Just on a practical note, be careful about believing dire predictions. Remember how accurate the media was about this election? A little sense of perspective for us all as we head into the next news cycle.

I'm surprised to find, upon gingerly checking my feelings this morning, that I have a sense of curious interest. The future is uncharted. I'm curious to see how this will all play out.

In the meantime, we all have our own part to play. Right where we live and work and go to school ... and have dinner together. It's the same job we have every day and it can change the country just as much as a new president ... if we all do it as honestly and genuinely as we can. And it begins with being kind.

Beef Meatballs with Oricchiette, Kale, and Pine Nuts

Whether the election results have left you mourning, celebrating, or (like me) simply bemused, this recipe will make everything better.

Rose made it last night and we simply couldn't believe how savory it was, how satisfying, and what a nice blend of textures.  It is not difficult to do in stages but just complex enough that if you want to take your mind off your problems then it will take your full attention.

And it is nice to give people a delicious meal whatever mood they are in.

Blogging Around: Getting a Sense of Perspective Before the Election

For everyone who isn't a True Believer in one of the two major party candidates and needs a good dose of perspective. I know I found them welcome.

First, this is far from the worst set of elections we've had as a nation. I knew of the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson stories which can be hard to believe if one is used to thinking of them only as noble Founding Fathers. The piece below reminds us that this isn't the first time we've sunk low for candidates' behavior. Read the whole thing but here's something to get you started.

If 2016 won’t be remembered for its civility, the elections of 1824 and 1828 were no more ennobling. Mr. Guelzo thinks they’re the only ones that can compete with 2016 for “the sheer depth of the nastiness.”

Neither John Quincy Adams nor Andrew Jackson earned an Electoral College majority in the first round, throwing the election to the House, which broke for the son of the second president. Old Hickory spent the next four years assailing the “corrupt bargain” he said Quincy Adams had struck with the House speaker.

David Reynolds, who teaches the Age of Jackson at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, remarks: “Very improbably, the intellectual and rather snobbish John Quincy Adams was charged with being a pimp, because as minister to Russia he had allegedly offered his nursemaid to the czar as a kept woman in exchange for political favors. Then there was the scandal surrounding Andrew Jackson, who was charged with being a bigamist.” Jackson got his revenge on JQA in 1828, but he blamed the vitriol for the coronary that killed his wife the same year.

Joseph Rago, History Repeats as Farce, Then as 2016

Peggy Noonan wrote a good piece reminding us that life will go on and this is far from the end of the road. First her note of hope for the future. We've got nowhere to go but up.

A memory that stays with me is a college student down South who in September asked me if the young, experiencing national politics for the first time this year, should feel despair. No, I said, you should be inspired. You’re not even out of school yet and you can do better than this. All of you will have to set yourselves to saving us. It got a laugh but I meant it, and the audience knew.

Peggy Noonan, Democracy's Majesty and 2016's Indignity

This was followed by a good overview of why we wound up with these unpopular candidates and what they represent. It seemed impartial to me, since I'm a fan of neither.

I especially liked her ending note though. It has occurred to me forcibly since I've been reading the Bible in chronological order and recently got to a lot of prophets from around the same time. The point she makes below is one that God has been trying to make for thousands of years.

A closing thought: God is in charge of history. He asks us to work, to try, to pour ourselves out to make things better. But he is an actor in history also. He chastises and rescues, he intervenes in ways seen and unseen. Or chooses not to.

Twenty sixteen looks to me like a chastisement. He’s trying to get our attention. We have candidates we can’t be proud of. We must choose among the embarrassments. What might we be doing as a nation and a people that would have earned this moment?

Peggy Noonan, Democracy's Majesty and 2016's Indignity

Be sure to read the whole thing. The Wall Street Journal usually charges for online content but I'm glad both the above pieces are available free. They provide good perspective as we try to gain footing in the midst of chaos.

In which we meet Philip and Helen and build an amazing sounding city out of household items.

Chapter 1 of The Magic City by E. Nesbit ... at Forgotten Classics podcast!

Genesis Notes: Noah's Resume

The Life Application Study Bible profile helps us see the key lessons from Noah's life. I like best the extreme patience, faithfulness, and obedience that Noah must have had to accomplish his task. Also, I love the lesson that God does not protect us from trouble, but takes care of us in spite of trouble.

Noah giving the gesture of orant as the dove returns

Strengths and accomplishments:

• Only follower of God left in his generation
• Second father of the human race
• Man of patience, consistency, and obedience
• First major shipbuilder

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Got drunk and embarrassed himself in front of his sons

Lessons from his life:

• God is faithful to those who obey him
• God does not always protect us from trouble, but cares for us in spite of trouble
• Obedience is a long-term commitment
• A man may be faithful, but his sinful nature always travels with him

Vital statistics:

• Where: We're not told how far from the Garden of Eden people had settled
• Occupation: Farmer, shipbuilder, preacher
• Relatives: Grandfather - Methuselah. Father - Lamech. Sons: Ham, Shem and Japheth

Key verse:
"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." (Genesis 6:22)

Noah's story is told in Genesis 5:29-10:32. He also is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 1:3, 4; Isaiah 54:9; Ezekiel 14:14, 20; Matthew 24:37, 38; Luke 3:36; 17:26; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5..

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

What We've Been Watching: The Good Place

At last, a new television show that is light, engaging, humorous, and makes you think. All while celebrating the virtues that lead to being good.

After a freak accident, Eleanor (Kristen Bell) wakes up to find that she died and wound up in The Good Place (as opposed to The Bad Place, of course). Hearing the long list of humanitarian behavior that led to her arrival is a surprise to Eleanor. Because the system, overseen by immortal Michael (Ted Danson) had a glitch that assigned her the completely wrong history. Eleanor was never very nice and always selfish which means she is in The Wrong Place.

Luckily, she's met her "soulmate" who was an expert in morality and ethics. He agrees to give her lessons to teach her how to be good. Naturally complications arise and we meet other Good Place neighbors who, though perfectly good, are dealing with their own dilemmas.

What all this leads to for the viewer is a refreshing change from the usual sitcoms. The show is being allowed to develop at its own pace and this lets us grow along with it.

One thing we especially enjoy is the mini-philosophy lesson which Eleanor learns and which is echoed in each episode's general plotline. You get a sense, albeit surface level, of different philosophical concepts of virtue and being good. Which is, in itself, refreshing.

It's not just high minded though. The humor is loopy, oddball and fun, in the best way possible. And the set design is deceptively simple but done with the sort of attention that makes me think of Pushing Daisies which was another favorite of ours.

The show was developed and is being run by Mike Schur who's known for his involvement in The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine Nine.

NBC has all the episodes available on their website. I think they're letting it grow through word of mouth, which is also refreshingly different these days. You need to watch them in order because it is one big story.

Rose pushed us to watch this because she wants it to keep going. It only took a few episodes for us to see why. So I'm pushing it too.

Take a look. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

(For a more indepth look, check out The AV Club's pilot review.

Worth a Thousand Words: Halloween

Halloween, Grandma Moses
via WikiArt

You know, I've never been a Grandma Moses fan. However, I do love this painting because of all the little details of what the community is doing for Halloween. And that made me take another look at more of her paintings. Along that same line of thinking, I actually can appreciate them more now. Go to the link to see more of her work. And take a look at this one up close. Very enjoyable and Halloweeny.

"My marriage works and I'm going to tell you why."

This is a great reminder of the real priorities of our marriages. Thought I'd pass it along.

Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more about a term that’s become popular in reference to marriages. People are always asking, does (or will) this marriage “work.”

Everyone seems to speak like this, including couples themselves. But to think of marriage as something that does or does not “work” is to fall into the frenetic spiral of functionalism and utilitarianism that so characterizes our a materialistic world.

We don’t “make a marriage work.” We simply make a marriage. And, if I may, here is how it “works.”

1. My marriage works because my wife and I are different. This seems obvious, but it’s actually quite difficult to accept all this statement implies. We are different because each of us is unique and unrepeatable, both of us made in the image of Christ. We are different because I am a man and she is a woman. We are different because our bodies are different, because we enjoy life differently, because we listen to others and to God differently. We caress with different styles. What we think and even what worries us and stresses us is … different.

He's got six reasons and each one was good. Read the whole thing here.

Genesis Notes: Covenant Renewed

GENESIS 9-10
After all that Noah has endured and all that he has seen God do it is pretty disappointing to watch him get drunk and act just like a regular person. I always accepted it as part of Noah's human nature. However, there is a deeper lesson to be seen here.

I'll add that it took me watching the movie Noah to realize that wine wasn't invented until after the ark landed again — so we can soften our judgment of Noah. Though the commentary below still holds true in thinking of how we feel about flawed heroes.

Did you feel disappointed when Noah, a man so bright in faith and obedience, succumbed to drunkenness, which led to something even darker? In the bleak wasteland of a world given over to evil, Noah seemed like a man we could trust. He looked like a hero.

Why is it so difficult to accept flawed heroes? Is it because all humans long for a perfect human, one who will not disappoint us and let our dreams die? Ever since Adam, we have been looking for one who won't botch things up. We want to see a human be all that God meant for us to be.

The characters of the Old Testament, like Adam and Abel and Noah, begin to prepare us for just such a Person. Even though humans in the story until His arrival disappoint us from time to time, we should never let their humanity sour us or tempt us to be contemptuous of them. We must never forget that God's promise in Gen. 3:15 to defeat His enemy through humans means that step by step in this battle, God's work will have a human face on it. This is the magnificent condescension of God to man. It is also God's resounding confirmation that He did not make a mistake in creating him. God knows very well what weaknesses beset humanity. Nevertheless, He works relentlessly to make sure that someday our dream of human perfection will be a reality, not a dream. To be a Christian means not being squeamish about human beings doing divine work. This is especially true for Catholics, because sometimes our Protestant brethren protest that we have too many "mere humans" in our understanding of redemption. We have Mary, "just a woman," as Queen of Heaven and Mother of the Church. We have a pope, "only a man," who sits in the line of Peter and holds the keys of the kingdom. We have saints, men and women who are "just like us," to serve as our examples and advocates in their lives as God's friends. When this charge is raised against us, we should bow our heads, give thanks to God, and smile deeply in our souls. A "human" Church? Exactly.

I always loved the rainbow as a sign of God's promise to man. I never thought of it being a so called "risky" move on God's part until this reflection pointed out how man has a tendency to worship God's creation instead of the creator Himself. Certainly I never saw it as affirmation of the sacraments but that is pointed out as well.

Dankgebet nach Verlassen der Arche Noah, Domenico Morelli

Man, weakened by sin, has the potential to miss the messages God gives him. Was it possible that men would see the importance God attached to that beautiful rainbow and begin to worship it instead of God, Who created and used it? Certainly. We know for a fact that men regularly worshipped what God created instead of the Creator Himself. Nevertheless, God took that risk in order to communicate with man in a truly human way. As the Catechism says, "In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to communicate with others, through language, gestures, and actions. The same holds true for his relationship with God." (CCC 1146) In our human lives, we make use of natural and social symbols all the time. In fact, we can't imagine life without them. God, in the rainbow, joins Who He is and what He does to an element in nature that will have meaning to mortals. We call these actions "sacraments." Scripture is full of examples of God working this way among His people. The culmination, of course, is the Incarnation-God taking on the most profoundly human form of communication, flesh, to reveal to men Who He is. The sacramental nature of Catholic life is deeply rooted in this biblical truth about how God works among men, glimpsed first in the beautiful bow in Noah's sky. [emphasis added]

All quoted material is from Genesis: God and His Creation. This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Worth a Thousand Words: On the Sea

On the Sea by Edward B. Gordon

The Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk

Perhaps it goes without saying that it’s held in the dark. You must reserve tickets for the free event in advance and then groups of 8-15 people are let in at a time, greeted by a lantern-carrying grave digger who welcomes the participants and sets the stage for what they’ll encounter. During the approximately 40-minute walk, many familiar people show up, like St. Therese of Liseux, St. John de Brebeuf, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John of the Cross, St. Gianna Molla, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). There are souls in purgatory, two young children from heaven, and even a Screwtape devil. Sometimes these characters even know participants by name, which enhances the personal experience, and provides an extra surprise.

I'm not into haunted houses but this? This I would do in a heartbeat.

This is in Maryland so if you're near there give it a try. Read more at Bringing Back the Dead ... Catholic Style.

Worth a Thousand Words: Souvenirs

Souvenirs by Karin Jurick

In which we encounter deserted mansions, flying bullets, dancing, and arms about each other.

Chapter 5 of Oh, Murderer Mine by Norbert Davis is ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics!

Worth a Thousand Words: For president, Abram Lincoln

For president, Abram Lincoln. For vice president, Hannibal Hamlin
via Library of Congress

Print shows a large campaign banner for Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln and running mate Hannibal Hamlin. Lincoln's first name is given here as "Abram." The banner consists of a thirty-three star American flag pattern printed on cloth. In the corner a bust portrait of Lincoln, encircled by stars, appears on a blue field.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Green Parasol

Guy Rose, The Green Parasol, c. 1909-1911
via Arts Everyday Living

Lagniappe: Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings, where huge stone gods loomed above. Dust shifted in a strange downpour of tears from their eyes, tears made of sand and powdered rock.

The boys leaned into the shadows. Like a dry river bottom, the corridors led down to deep vaults where lay the linen-wrapped dead. Dust fountains echoed and played in strange courtyards a mile below. The boys ached, listening. The tombs breathed out a sick exhalation of paprika, cinnamon, and powdered camel dung. Somewhere, a mummy dreamed, coughed in its sleep, unraveled a bandage, twitched its dusty tongue and turned over for another thousand-year snooze ...

Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Genesis Notes: Symbolism in Noah's Story

GENESIS 6-8
In that glorious way that Scripture has, the story of Noah and the flood work on more than one level. There are worlds of symbolism therein as the early Church Fathers found. Genesis: God and His Creation elucidates for us.

Noah's Ark, Tecamachalco Church in Puebla, Mexico
via SMU

THE ARK AS THE CHURCH
The Fathers of the Early Church saw the ark as a figure of the Church. "God ordered Noah to build an ark in which he and his family would escape from the devastation of the flood. Undoubtedly the ark is a symbol of the City of God on pilgrimage in this world; that is, a symbol of the Church which was saved by the wood on which there hung the Mediator between God and men-Christ Jesus, Himself a man. Even the measurements of length, height, and breadth of the ark are a symbol of the human body in which He came ... The door open in the side of the ark surely symbolizes the open wound made by the lance in the side of the Crucified-the door by which those who come to him enter in the sense that believers enter the Church by means of the sacraments which issued from that wound." (St. Augustine, De civitate Dei, 15, 26; quoted in The Navarre Bible: Pentateuch, Princeton, NJ: Scepter Publishers, 1999; pg. 70)

THE NUMBER SEVEN AS REMINDER OF GOD'S COVENANT
The number seven should remind us of the hallowing of the seventh day of the first creation, which became a sign of the covenant God made with all creation. We are to comprehend that God is undertaking a re-creation of the earth and even of man himself, in a sense. He wants to renew the covenant. We should not mistake this for just another attempt to get things right. Rather, we are to absorb from all the details that evoke the creation that it is God Who desires to free man from his problems. God's unrelenting initiative in seeking to restore man to his original destiny is unequivocal proof of His love for us. The enormity of God's persistent love should rise up above all the details of man's early history as the sun rises in the morning sky. We dare not interpret any of it apart from the illumination of that bright light. Behind, above, beneath, before, and throughout everything is the glorious love of God for mere mortals. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy Name in all the earth!" (Ps. 8:9)

MOVING OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS AS RE-CREATION
"In the beginning," the earth was without form and void, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2). To read in Genesis 8:7 that "the wind" of God, which is His breath, the Holy Spirit, is blowing over the earth helps us to recognize the beginning of the re-creation. The repetitive use of language from the original creation story teaches us that God's original plan for the universe and for man was a perfect plan. That is why the re-creation scenes in Scripture, wherever they appear, always use language from the original one. God doesn't keep trying out new ideas until something works. He is determined to make His original plan work, no matter what rises up to derail it. No fault can be found with the plan. Human history will reveal where the problem lies.

THE DOVE AS THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Church helps us to see the Holy Spirit as the dove that looks for habitable ground. In the days of Noah, it was dry earth that the dove sought and finally found. The appearance of the dove with the olive branch was a sign that a new life for man on the earth was about to begin. At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descending on Him in the form of a dove is a powerful sign that finally the soil of the human soul will be fit for the presence of God's Spirit once again. Is there any thought more beautiful than this?

Worth a Thousand Words: Starling

Starling
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

Well Said: The Church is something alive ...

The Church is something alive, a force at work; but many pious people seem to believe, or pretend to believe, that she is simply a shelter, a place of refuge, a sort of spiritual hotel by the roadside from which they can have the pleasure of watching the passers-by.

Georges Bernanos
via Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South
by Ralph C. Wood

Worth a Thousand Words: Ceiling Fresco by Salvador Dali

Ceiling Frescoes by Salvador Dali at Palace of the Wind, Dali Museum
taken by Barcelona Photoblog

I love the way that Dali gives us unique perspectives that turn us upside-down.

Worth a Thousand Words: Vanity

Vanity, 1907, Frank Cowper

Lagniappe: Distressed Jeans

She wore the kind of distressed jeans they distress by rubbing money on them and a T-shirt that said HELLO, RUST BELT! in what looked like real rust and probably cost #300.

Timothy Hallinan, Crashed

Blogging Around: "Never Give Up, Never Surrender" Edition

Clinton's Campaign Team and a "Catholic Spring"

“There needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic Church.” – Sandy Newman, president and founder of the Voices for Progress, in an email to John Podesta, chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign for President.

In response, Podesta — a Catholic — tells Newman that structures have been put in place to work toward that end. A headline in the Washington Post would suggest that the line of thinking in these Wikileaks-obtained emails was mere joking, but the conversational back-and-forth appears to be in dead earnest.

It also seems shockingly ignorant.

Elizabeth Scalia

If you haven't heard of the email leaks about a disturbing exchange which shows an ignorance of Clinton campaign heads about both Catholicism and religious faith in general, you can read basics at The Washington Post. It also shows a sophomoric sense of humor. However.

For a thoughtful analysis and response, read Scalia's piece.

Interfaith Group Asks US Government to Reject Report that Stigmatizes Religious Americans

A letter to Barak Obama, Orrin Hatch and Paul Ryan was sent by a widely diverse group of religious leaders representing Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, the Church of Latter Day Saints, the African Methodist Church, Evangelicals, Krishna Consciousness, and many more. They were responding to troubling statements in a report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

The Commission asserts in its Findings that religious organizations “use the pretext of religious doctrines to discriminate.”

What we find even more disturbing is that, in a statement included in the report, Commission Chairman Martin Castro writes:

“The phrases ‘religious liberty’ and ‘religious freedom’ will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Christian supremacy or any form of intolerance.”

Read the whole letter. This is important.

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.

It's been a troubling last few days with a couple of stories about targeting Catholicism and freedom of religion. Luckily, this Sunday's readings are perfect for the situation. They're all geared to encourage and remind us to pray (while we do all we can) and to trust God.

In fact, it includes one of my favorite parables, about the judge who delivered a just decision because he was afraid the widow would "poke him in the eye" (specific translation from the Greek which is often toned down in different translations). Makes me laugh and recall that we often forget Jesus' sense of humor.

I was greatly inspired and encouraged after hearing commentary from two different sources.

• Bishop Robert Barron's homily at Word on Fire: The Integrated and Variegated Body of Christ
• Lanky Guys: Our Help is in the Name of the Lord

Well Said: Five Peas

There were five peas in one shell: they were green and the pod was green, and so they thought all the world was green; and that was just as it should be.

Hans Christian Anderson, Five Peas From a Pod

Who knew? Hans Christian Anderson foresaw social media.

Tacos of Tomatillo Chicken with Wilted Greens and Fresh Cheese

It's what was for dinner a couple of nights ago. Delicious! Recipe is at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Worth a Thousand Words: Mrs. Walter Rathbone Bacon

Mrs. Walter Rathbone Bacon, Anders Zorn, 1897

Worth a Thousand Words: Una Muchacha

Tom Roberts, Una Muchacha, 1883
via Wikipedia