Tarot, the Human Genome, and Relishing Life

I'd forgotten all about this piece, originally posted in 2014, but a recent comment brought it to my attention again. It seems to me just as valid now as then, perhaps even more so in these times when we seem increasingly fearful of everything from terrorists down to speaking incorrectly in a crowd.

We can't predict the future, we can't play it safe, and we can't control our fates. But we can live with joy and hope.

By Ernest F (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0],
via Wikimedia Commons

Doctors expect soon to begin sequencing the genomes of healthy newborn babies as part of a government-funded research program that could have wide implications for genetic research.

Scientists Will Study Genome Sequencing of Newborns,
Dec. 30, 2014, Wall Street Journal

"Wide implications," I thought, "and not just for research I bet."

I read on. "... a genetic blueprint to carry through life ... integrated into their care ... help save a child's life ... "

Doctors also face ethical dilemmas: Should parents be informed if reveal an infant has mutations that doctors aren't sure will ever cause disease?

That's the big question, isn't it?  And the reason for my uneasiness.

I know two people who had their breasts removed just because they found they had a gene for cancer. I shudder to imagine what might become "routine" for parents wanting to shield their babies from possible future health problems.

After all, we already have plenty of abortions caused by prenatal testing for genetic variations like Down's Syndrome. And we have plenty of perfectly normal babies born without that variation whose parents were advised to abort because of a test's prediction. I know just such a family.

I have also met families who found that after their sorrow when a less-than-perfect child was born, there were compensations beyond anything they could have dreamed. (Read here for one such example.)

That human genome project would be a real temptation for anxious parents to project their baby's future and possibly take immediate action.

My thoughts turned to a recent conversation about Tarot cards and Thomas L. McDonald's series about  their use as a game. (This is the last post of the series but this link shows the other posts in the series. Don't follow the built in links to other articles as they take you to a website which no longer has the articles.)

The series was about understanding Tarot in context but since they are often used for telling the future, he necessarily had to include a hefty warning about divination, which is gravely evil and strictly forbidden by the Catholic Church. This brought my thoughts on the WSJ article into a new focus.

I realized that the idea about mapping newborns' genomes, at least as it was presented in that article, is a new face for an old temptation. Divination. Let's tell the future so we know what to avoid.

The one thing we can never seem to foresee is the ultimate cost of acting on inexact predictions. We won't know the real price until long after the fact. And the fortune tellers won't be the ones who pay the price. They will be long gone.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against science. Science is my friend. I am thankful to be able to take aspirin when I have a headache.

But science is a tool. Like any tool it can be misused. Gathering information for general study is one thing. Specific application of "what might happen" to someone's life is completely different. It is hard to imagine that people won't use this science to try to improve the course of someone's life, despite the flimsy basis.

It's interesting to read what the Catechism says about divination and realize how well it applies in this situation.

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others – even if this were for the sake of restoring their health – are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

Scientific fortunetelling is inexact at best, even in cases where we're on well-trodden ground. We learned that last year when my husband had his gall bladder out. Unpredictable things happened which even his very experienced doctors could not foretell.

I realize these "what if" musings may sound alarmist or paranoid. Yet it isn't a bad thing to have in the back of our minds as we watch society sort out practical applications of our ability to map the human genome. It is an imperfect science and one which should be approached with caution before applying it to people's lives.

Over and above all, this project speaks to our innate human desire to control our fate. And that we cannot do no matter what tools we use. We do the best we can to plan for the future but the unexpected always leaps up and startles us, whether for good or ill.

For me the answer to all of the above is articulated superbly by two unlikely sources.

The human story does not always unfold like a mathematical calculation on the principle that two and two make four. Sometimes in life they make five or minus three; and sometimes the blackboard topples down in the middle of the sum and leaves the class in disorder and the pedagogue with a black eye. The element of the unexpected and the unforeseeable is what gives some of its relish to life, and saves us from falling into the mechanic thralldom of the logicians.

Winston Churchill

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.

Willie Nelson

If we approach the unknown with a sense of adventure and remember that even the darkest times may contain blessings we can't predict, then we have the key to relishing life.

Worth a Thousand Words: A Gift

A Gift, taken by the amazing Remo Savisaar

Well Said: Jack and Jill

If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty.

Benjamin Franklin

Isn't that great? Ben Franklin, master wordsmith.

Anti-terror music video sweeping the Middle East: Confront your enemy with peace, not war

CNN has the story. Here's a bit:

Kuwaiti telecom company Zain launched the TV ad on Saturday at the start of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, in an effort to counter terrorism.

Since then, the three minute music video has been viewed nearly 2.4 million times on YouTube.

The opening scenes show a man manufacturing a suicide belt, with the voice of a child challenging him.

"You've filled the cemeteries with our children and emptied our school desks," a young girl is heard saying.

Zain, a regional mobile operator with more than 45 million customers, did not respond to requests for comment.

But the message of the company's ad is unmistakeable. ...

The terrorist recites Islamic phrases but he is corrected by those sitting in front of him.

The ad also features survivors of previous attacks including a man from the blast at a Kuwaiti mosque in 2015 and a bride from an attack on a wedding in Amman, Jordan, in 2005.

The terrorist is chased away by the survivors while singer Al Jassmi extends a hand to him and sings "Let's bomb, let's bomb, let's bomb violence with mercy... let's bomb extremism for a better life."

Via The Deacon's Bench.

The Marian Option by Carrie Gress

Dr. Carrie Gress provides a thoroughly researched bird’s eye view of the significant cultural and military events mediated through Mary...

Until now, books on the Virgin Mary have generally focused upon one apparition or various theological elements of this mysterious woman. But the scope of The Marian Option is far greater. Drawing from a vast array of dogmas, Vatican approved apparitions, and writings of the saints, Dr. Gress has pulled together the remarkable story of Mary’s overwhelming influence and intercession.

Using history, sound theology, and a detective’s eye, Gress brings to light the fascinating details of Mary’s role in major geopolitical shifts.

Rod Dreher's book The Benedict Option certainly touched a nerve. Christians started talking volubly about how to stem societal chaos. A number of new books came out in response, many with critiques and their own solutions.

The Marian Option is also a response to Dreher's book, but not a refutation. It is is part history lesson, part explanation of Mary's role in Catholicism and the world, and part suggestion for how to live the "Marian option." Carrie Gress suggests that turning to Mary simultaneously with any other "option" you may care to practice is a way to affect radical personal and societal transformation. Tracing Mary's intercession throughout history, Gress argues that venerating Mary makes cultures flourish.

I enjoyed the book and found a couple of concepts that were eye opening. First of all, I was  fascinated by Maximilian Kolbe's insights into Mary as the Immaculate Conception and what that meant about her relationship with the Holy Spirit. It's been a long time since I've come across a concept that I pondered the way I did this.

Secondly, Gress's proposition that we are living in "anti-Mary" times was revelatory. I knew all the pieces she discussed but hadn't seen them through that particular focus.

The Marian Option is well written and interesting. Although Gress is making a case for Marian devotion, you could certainly read it simply for the history and theological insights. Though you may, as I have, find yourself dusting off your rosary and leaning on Mary for her motherly intercession.

Wonder Woman: "a character built on idealism, unironically celebrating super-heroism as principled self-sacrifice"

I wasn't that interested in seeing Wonder Woman until reading Scott Renshaw's review. Here's a bit:

More significantly, Wonder Woman actually seems interested in applying a corny throwback sensibility to its storytelling. Diana's character is defined first and foremost through her sense of purpose, an unwavering commitment to the idea that humanity needs to be saved from the warlike impulses fomented by Ares. This isn't a character built on angst, but on idealism, unironically celebrating super-heroism as principled self-sacrifice. This is the sensibility that the DC TV universe has curried so effectively, offering something that feels precious and rare in a cynical era. Gadot may not be an actor with tremendous range—the jury is still out—but she sells Diana's morally-pure determination with energy and charisma. Also, considering the overall dourness of many of the DC comics-based movies to date, it's no small thing that this idea is delivered with a generous dose of humor.

Now that's a super hero movie I would like to see.

Grace Reading at Howath Bay

Grace Reading at Howth Bay (c.1900). William Orpen (Irish, 1878–1931).

Lagniappe: When Platypuses Fly

Dr. Maturin, who has a great naturalist bent, is speaking to Captain Jack Aubrey of the possibility of their sailing to New South Wales.

"Jack, I cannot tell you how I long to see a platypus." ...

"Never mind. It will be much better this time. You shall see great flights of platypuses at your leisure."

"My dear, they are mammals, furry animals."

"I thought you said they laid eggs."

"So they do. That is what is so delightful. They also have bills like a duck."

"No wonder you long to see one."

Patrick O'Brian, The Nutmeg of Consolation
(Master and Commander series #14)

Genesis Notes: Rebekah's Resume

Rebekah is a tricky lady to assess, in more ways than one. She is so willing and able when Isaac's servant needs water for the camels. She comforts Isaac for the loss of his mother. And yet she picks a favorite child and does all she can to help trick her other son out of his birthright. As with all real humans, she is complex. She does things we admire and things we deplore. I love this about the Bible. It shows us real people, warts and all, as I've said many a time.

Benjamin West (1738–1820), Isaac's servant tying the bracelet on Rebecca's arm

Strengths and accomplishments:

• When confronted with a need, she took immediate action
• She was accomplishment oriented
  

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Her initiative was not always balanced by wisdom
• She favored one of her sons
• She deceived her husband
  

Lessons from her life:

• Our actions must be guided by God's Word
• God makes use even of our mistakes in his plan
• Parental favoritism hurts a family
  

Vital statistics:

• Where: Haran, Canaan
• Occupation: Wife, mother, household manager
• Relatives: Grandparents - Nahor and Milcah. Father: Bethuel. Husband: Isaac. Brother: Laban. Twin sons - Jacob and Esau.

Key verse:
"Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death" (Genesis 24:67). "Isaac, who had a a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob" (Genesis 25:28).

Rebekah's story is told in Genesis 24-29. She also is mentioned in Romans 9:10.

All material quoted is from the Life Application Study Bible. 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: Doing Something for God

Remember, "doing something for God" might not be God's will.

Father James Yamauchi

It is very much in our modern mindset and also in our American character to show that we care by trying to "do something." And, of course, often action is needed to feed the hungry, help the ill, and so forth. But we like to apply action to every circumstance in our lives.

We're problem solvers and "do-ers" and also ... let's face it ... sometimes a frenzy of activity is the easy way out. We don't have to think or reflect or face ourselves that way. God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Sometimes, as Tolstoy says, time and patience are the best warriors.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Long Leg

The Long Leg, Edward Hopper, c.1930
via WikiPaintings, in accordance with the Fair Use guidelines listed there

Well Said: Bravery

People glorify all sorts of bravery except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbors.

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Worth a Thousand Words: Spring in a Hot Spring

Spring in a Hot Spring (Onsen no haru), Hiroshi Yoshida
via Lines and Colors

Well Said: Stop thinking about yourself

This is from a 1917 mystery featuring a female detective, Millie, who has an unusual way of dealing with cases. Here she has explained to a prospective client that she doesn't deal in divorce cases because they are too "high" (difficult). She goes on to give some advice instead.

"I will give you a piece of advice if you like."

"I am willing to pay well for it," he expanded.

"This is not for pay. No matter what your wife has done, go home and do everything you can that will be for her good."

The man stared.

"Stop thinking about yourself and your wrongs. I don't know what they are. I'd rather not know. Whatever they are, they are past. If it is best for your wife to leave you then help her do it. Stop thinking about yourself."

The man's narrow eyes widened a little as they studied the quiet face before him.

She nodded. "Help her to get away from you if you think she will be better off."

The man's eyes continued to regard her with a puzzled look.

"But I'd be pretty sure, if I were you, that it's best for her to leave you. It would be a silly sort of body if it's heart went wrong, that went to work planning to get rid of it, divorce it for good and all. That's a homely way of saying it. I'm a homely woman and when people are married they seem to me one just as truly as the body is all one. I don't divorce part of me unless it's too bad to be made right. If it is, I go to a good surgeon and tell him to make quick work of it."

She paused with a thoughtful look and smiled. "But the best surgeons now, they tell me, don't believe in amputating. They bring their cases to a serum specialist, don't they?" She nodded toward the card on the desk. "And you find out what's wrong and give them some more of the same kind, only different and they get well."

The look in the man's darted and broke in a little laugh. "You think I'd better give Rose serum treatment? Spiritual serum?" He chuckled. His face had cleared. "I wonder what kind," he said thoughtfully. His face had the keen look of a scientist attacking a difficult problem.

"Some brand of human kindness, I should say," responded Millie dryly.

The man laughed and got up. "I believe you've been giving me serum treatment." He held out his hand. ...

"I am going home," he said. "I came here with the idea that I was a desperate figure, a kind of modern Othello, blighted life and so on due to infidelity. You have made me see I'm sick, a kind of spiritual invalid that hasn't sense enough to take care of a common cold, just goes around suffering with it."
Jennette Lee, The Green Jacket

"Stop thinking about yourself."

If more of us put the good of the other person first, what a lovely world it would be wouldn't it? That's an interesting perspective for a detective who investigates murders and theft. Full of common sense and a knowledge of what makes people tick.

Note: I'm not sure what serum treatment meant in 1917. When I look on the usually reliable internet all I find is ads for skin and facial treatments so it clearly doesn't mean now what it did then.

Worth a Thousand Words: Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna

Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna,
sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, ca. 1880s
via The Corseted Beauty

Worth a Thousand Words: Point of Entry

Point of Entry
taken by Valerie, ucumari photography
Some rights reserved

Well Said: I have learned many things ...

I must confess that I have learned many things I never knew before ... just by writing.

St. Augustine

There's something about having to organize one's thoughts enough to write that sends them further than they'd have gone if everything just remained in one's mind. It is funny how that is. It is why keeping a journal, a blog, or writing letters (or emails) is so good for us. Like St. Augustine we learn things we never knew before.

Genesis Notes: Isaac's Resume

As I said last week, we tend to overlook Isaac because he's a fairly quiet, unassuming soul compared to the vivid personalities that come before and after him. And yet, God told his father, "I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." That's huge. That's everything, in fact, for the Hebrew people. And for us. God saw his heart and worked with him just as with the more active members of the family.

Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

Strengths and accomplishments:

• He was the miracle child born to Sarah and Abraham when she was 90 years old and he was 100
• He was the first descendent in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham
• He seems to have been a caring and consistent husband
• He demonstrated great patience

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Under pressure, he tended to lie
• In conflict he sought to avoid confrontation

Lessons from his life:

• Patience often brings rewards
• Both God's plans and his promises are larger than people
  
• God keeps his promises. He remains faithful though we are often faithless
• Playing favorites is sure to bring family conflict
  

Vital statistics:

• Where: The area called the Negev, in the southern part of Palestine, between Kadesh and Shur (Genesis 20:1)
• Occupation: Wealthy livestock owner
• Relatives: Parents - Abraham and Sarah. Half brother - Ishmael. Wife: Rebekah. Sons - Jacob and Esau.

Key verse:
"Then God said, 'Yes, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.'" (Genesis 17:19)

Isaac's story is told in Genesis 17:15-35:29. He also is mentioned in Romans 9:7, 8; Hebrews 11:17-20; James 2:21-24.

All material quoted is from the Life Application Study Bible. 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: Baking Bread

Baking Bread, Helen Allingham

Our Nation, In Numbers: USA Facts

Where does the money come from?

Where does the money go?

What are the results?

Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, has put $10 million of his own money into discovering the answer to these questions about government spending.

The result is USAFacts, a site which has wonderfully easy graphics to help us make sense of where our money goes.

The best part is that they aren't pushing an agenda, except aiding understanding.

We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. We provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future.

We rely exclusively on publicly available government data sources. We don’t make judgments or prescribe specific policies. Whether government money is spent wisely or not, whether our quality of life is improving or getting worse – that’s for you to decide. We hope to spur serious, reasoned, and informed debate on the purpose and functions of government. Such debate is vital to our democracy.

Spend some time browsing around. It's fascinating and surprising.

Lagniappe: Trying to negotiate with Beethoven...

Trying to negotiate with Beethoven was like trying to take a steak away from a hyena.

Robert Greenberg,
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music

Worth a Thousand Words: “Over a Balcony,” View of the Grand Canal, Venice

“Over a Balcony,” View of the Grand Canal, Venice;
Francis Hopkinson Smith
via Lines and Colors

Well Said: This Stalinist Path of History-Flattening and Monument-Erasure

On the dismantling of monuments, specifically four Confederate monuments in New Orleans:

Most people seem to need this debate to be more simple. Not only Ivy League professors and descendants of Confederate veterans, but also those who should know better. Maybe Americans’ deep-rooted Puritanism drives them to view every person as either glorified or damned.

And so we spiral down this Stalinist path of history-flattening and monument-erasure, one side waving a battle flag that Robert E. Lee himself renounced, the other insisting that every man who wore gray was little different than Leonardo DiCaprio’s caricature in “Django Unchained.” Americans long ago abandoned Lincoln’s admonition—malice toward none, charity for all—and in some important ways the U.S. is less united today than in 1866.

In a world of demons and angels, we can’t agree on who’s which. And we don’t have the charity in our hearts to admit most of us are somewhere in between.

Tony Woodlief, Charity for All? Not in Today’s Debates Over Civil War Memorials

You may read the entire editorial at the Wall Street Journal or at Lux Libertas.

As my husband said, "Tyrants are always the ones who erase history. Now we don't have an individual tyrant. It's been institutionalized."

In my own case, having just finished rereading A Tale of Two Cities, I was put in mind of the mob in the French revolution and Madame Defarge in particular. Not a drop of charity there for anyone.

Worth a Thousand Words: Prelude in C Sharp Minor

Prelude in C Sharp Minor by Edward B. Gordon

Well Said: Our inequalities become openings to love ...

People are equal in one sense only, but it's a decisive sense deeper than any simple equations of worth. ...

Our dignity is rooted in the God who made us. His love, shared in every parent's experience, is infinite and unique for each of us as individual persons - because each son and daughter is unrepeatable. Only God's love guarantees our worth. And therein lies our equality. Nothing else has God's permanence. In him, our inequalities become not cruelties of fate, but openings to love, support, and "complete" each other in his name.

Charles J. Chaput, Strangers in a Strange Land

My Christopher Closeup Interview Airs Sunday on Sirius-XM and Relevant Radio

I was so honored when Tony Rossi from The Christophers asked to interview me about my new book, Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life.

First of all, because I respect The Christophers so much. Their motto, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness," is how I try to live. They've been promoting this mindset for a very long time.

Secondly, because I have so much fun talking to Tony. He is a first-rate interviewer and asks such interesting questions, many of which never would have occurred to me in the first place. And he's read the book — I could tell precisely because of the questions he asked.

We got in some extra talking time so my interview will air in two parts.

Part 1 of the interview will air this Sunday:

• Sirius-XM’s The Catholic Channel (129) at 6:00 am and 10:30 am (Central time)
• Relevant Radio network at 3:30 pm (Central time)

Tune in and get the inside scoop on Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life ... and me!

Well Said: God's and Satan's Battlefield

Beauty is the battlefield where God and Satan contend for the hearts of men.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Worth a Thousand Words: Mandarin and a Jar of Honey

Mandarin and a Jar of Honey by Duane Keiser

Worth a Thousand Words: Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff by Remo Savisaar

Well Said: Our battle-flag

The battle-flag is always placed among warriors, as a sign to which they look during the hardest fighting of the battle. We are continuously at war with the princes of darkness ... If anyone is troubled, vanquished, and overcome, let him look to the Lord hanging on the gibbet of the cross.

St. Thomas of Villanova

Amen.

Genesis Notes: Isaac, the Bridge Between Generations

GENESIS 25 & 26
Other than nearly being sacrificed by his father, Isaac's life seems pretty boring. He can't keep his sons straight, has trouble controlling "bad boy" Jacob, and generally doesn't seem as if we can learn too much from him. Wrong, as Catholic Scripture Study showed me. I fell into that same old trap of thinking that there is only a lesson if something is interesting. But God doesn't work that way.

"And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.(KJV);
  illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible

The life of Isaac seems insignificant next to the careers of his father Abraham and his son Jacob. There are few chapters of Scripture devoted to Isaac, and most of his story is entwined with the story of the other Patriarchs. Even the Catechism moves from "God chooses Abraham" (59-61) to "God forms his people Israel" (62-64) without mentioning Isaac by name. Yet he is a Patriarch, his name forever included when Israelites call on the name of God, the father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Isaac's main role seems to be one of a bridge between Abraham, father of those who believe, and Jacob, father of Israel. Isaac safeguards and transmits the promise through his own faithful obedience. He embodies the continuity of God's promise, the link through whom it passes from generation to generation. But there is more significance to him than that:

1. Isaac waits for God's promise, as indeed do all of the Patriarchs. Those 20 years spent praying for a son not only helped form Isaac in faith, they became an example for Israel as it waited for God's promised Messiah. As it is pointed out in Dei Verbum, "through the patriarchs...[God] taught this nation to acknowledge Himself as the one living and true God,...and to wait for the Savior promised by Him. In this manner He prepared the way for the gospel down through the centuries (DV3)."
2. Isaac is also the fruit, the evidence of God's promise. He is the impossible child, born of two people well past the age of childbearing. His name means "laughter," and his name is a perpetual reminder that God promises the impossible and keeps His promises.
3. And as the obedient son of the promise, Isaac prefigures Jesus Christ, the promised Son of God. He walked willingly and obediently up the hill to be sacrificed, even as Christ would so many years later. His life is a living testimony to "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were (Rom. 4:17)." He is the loving son and father and husband, the obedient son through whom God pours His blessing on a nation and on the world.

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.

Spicy Tuna Fish Cakes

Not yo mama's regular fish cakes ... these have a definite Asian style. Get them at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Well Said: Sacred Idleness

Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness.

George MacDonald

We don't really know how to react to such a statement in our rushed, busy world. That in itself is probably a sign that we need to practice sacred idleness. Otherwise, when do we even have time to listen, to hear?

Nerds, Start Your Engines: Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Firefly - and Boethius

Initial depicting Boethius teaching his students from folio of a manuscript of the Consolation of Philosophy (Italy?, 1385)

I never heard of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius until a couple of years ago when a friend mentioned, somewhat diffidently, that she was reading it. She said just enough to intrigue me and the book looked intriguingly short. It went onto my mental "read someday" list and that was as far as I got.

Until now. Corey Olsen's first Mythgard Academy class on The Consolation of Philosophy hit my iTunes feed. I've mentioned the Mythgard classes before, especially those to do with the Lord of the Rings and Dracula. They are really excellent and they are free.

As it turns out The Consolation of Philosophy is not only one of the most influential books through Middle Ages and Renaissance, but strongly influenced J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Not to mention that the ideas continue to filter through pop culture and can pop up in such unlikely places as Firefly.

You're not likely to find a better guide or an easier way to learn about this classic work.

Read more about the book and class at Mythgard Academy.

Here's where you can find the podcast at iTunes.

Worth a Thousand Words: Self-portrait with two pupils

Self-portrait with two pupils, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1785.

Well Said: Messengers of God

Malachim, or messengers. Christianity has defined these messengers as what we know as angels. The more ancient interpretation in Judaism is that the malachim could be anything. They could be heavenly spirits. Or not. They could come in the form of ordinary people, donkeys, a flame, or even a breeze.

Stephen Tobolowsky, My Adventures with God

Worth a Thousand Words: Self-Portrait in the Studio

Francisco Goya, Self-portrait in the Studio, 1790-1795
via Wikipedia

I have a thing for self-portraits. Also I love Goya's hat. And his hair.

Well Said: Relationships and the level of your greatest weakness

Relationships never operate at the level of your greatest strengths. They operate at the level of your greatest weakness. Whoever is unfaithful, whoever is more needy, whoever is late, controls the nature of the friendship. You can swing with it or not, but you can’t count on changing it.

Stephen Tobolowsky, My Adventures with God

Getting Closer to Jesus: His Mother

This beautiful, profound meditation on Mary and why we should imitate her is from The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander.

When we are attracted to a particular saint, it is usually the little human details which attract us. These touches bridge the immense gap between heroic virtue and our weakness. We love most those saints who before they were great saints were great sinners.

But even those who were saints form the cradle are brought closer to us by recorded trifles of their humanness ...

Of Our Lady such things are not recorded. We complain that so little is recorded of her personality, so few of her words, so few deeds, that we can form no picture of her, and there is nothing that we can lay hold of to imitate.

But it is Our Lady -- and no other saint -- whom we can imitate.

All the canonized saints had special vocations, and special gifts for their fulfillment: presumption for me to think of imitating St. Catherine or St. Paul or St. Joan if I have not their unique character and intellect -- which indeed I have not.

Each saint has his special work: one person's work. But Our Lady had to include in her vocation, in her life's work, the essential thing that was to be hidden in every other vocation, in every life.

She is not only human; she is humanity.

The one thing that she did and does is the one thing that we all have to do, namely, to bear Christ into the world.

Christ must be born from every soul formed in every life. If we had a picture of Our Lady's personality, we might be dazzled into thinking that only one sort of person could form Christ in himself, and we should miss the meaning of our own being.

Nothing but things essential for us are revealed to us about the Mother of God: the fact that she was wed to the Holy Spirit and bore Christ into the world.

Our crowning joy is that she did this as a lay person and through the ordinary daily life that we all live; through natural love made supernatural, as the water at Cana was, at her request, turned into wine.

In the world as it is, torn with agonies and dissensions, we need some direction for our souls which is never away from us; which, without enslaving us or narrowing our vision, enters into every detail of our life. Everyone longs for some such inward rule, a universal rule as big as the immeasurable law of love, yet as little as the narrowness of our daily routine. It must be so truly part of us all that it makes us all one, and yet to each one the secret of his own life with God.

To this need, the imitation of Our Lady is the answer; in contemplating her we find intimacy with God, the law which is the lovely yoke of the one irresistible love.

Well Said: A vision above material things

Projects undreamed of by past generations will absorb our immediate descendants; forces terrific and devastating will be in their hands; comforts, activities, amenities, pleasures will crowd upon them, but their hearts will ache, their lives will be barren, if they have not a vision above material things.

Winston Churchill

My Year of "In Order" - TV, Novels, Movies

I just realized that I've fallen into a number of long series that it seemed logical to do "in order." That's not normally my style for things like the James Bond movies, where it is completely ok to see most of them without any reference to the others.

And, on the other side of that equation, I'm usually perfectly fine with not finishing series. I never read more than the first of the Dune series, was able to abandon Community after Season 3 (the last good season), and so forth.

But, for these seemed like it would be fun, somehow. They all seem specially suited for summer which is just around the corner.

STAR TREK

This is actually Rose's project because she's never seen the tv shows although she knows the movies. At one point (the tragic period between the original series and The Next Generation), I'd watched these enough that I practically had them memorized. It's been decades since I've seen them, especially in order, and I'm really enjoying working our way through the first season.

We'll keep going until we're done with all the Trek series, making this possibly a lifetime project.

DISCWORLD novels

I've loved some of Terry Pratchett's novels for a long time. Witches Abroad was the first book of his I read. I still remember how delighted I was by his skewering our dependence on the patterns of storytelling while at the same time telling a wonderfully funny and insightful story. I noticed Rose has been reading some of his older books and I realized they are the perfect books for summer and letting the world go hang. I'd read the first few long ago and so launched in with Guards! Guards! and got to know the Watch of Ankh Morpork who I'd only encountered before as comic side characters in the witches stories.

BOND, JAMES BOND

Our household has seen tons of James Bond movies but we realized there are big holes in our viewing. George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, and even a few Sean Connery and Roger Moore movies are missing from our Bond experience. The movies we've individually missed overlapped so much that we decided to fill in the gaps in order. Which will be most of the movies by the time we get done. What says summer better than James Bond movies?

Well Said: Peasants Versus Philosophers

It wasn’t that they didn’t take an interest in the world around them. On the contrary, they had a deep, personal and passionate involvement in it, but instead of asking, "Why are we here?" they asked, "Is it going to rain before the harvest?"

A philosopher might have deplored this lack of mental ambition, but only if he was really certain about where his next meal was coming from.

Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

Worth a Thousand Words: El puente de Alcantara

El puente de Alcantara, Aureliano de Beruete y Moret - 1906
via The Athenaeum

There is something about paintings of these old Roman roads and bridges that always appeals to me. I can feel the shimmering heat and love the way that the the colors of the earth and bridge and buildings all meld together.

Genesis Notes: Sarah's Resume

One of the things I love about Genesis is that when it focuses on a story you get the sense of "real" people, not someone who's made up to make a point. Sarah's resume shows us a woman I can relate to in a lot of ways, both good and bad. She's a mass of contradictions, because that is how real people are. Genesis shows us these people, warts and all, and so carries their stories into our lives today.

Domenico Fiasella, Abraham and three angels
[See Sarah? She's peeking out of the door. I like this view of her,
keeping an eye on things and also curious about the visitors.]

Strengths and accomplishments:

• Was intensely loyal to her own child
• Became the mother of a nation and an ancestor of Jesus
• Was a woman of faith, the first woman listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Had trouble believing God's promises to her
• Attempted to work problems out on her own, without consulting God
• Tried to cover her faults by blaming others

Lessons from her life:

• God responds to faith even in the midst of failure
• God is not bound by what usually happens; he can stretch the limits and cause unheard-of events to occur

Vital statistics:

• Where: Married Abram in Ur of the Chaldeans, then moved with him to Canaan
• Occupation: Wife, mother, household manager
• Relatives: Father - Terah. Husband - Abraham. Half brothers - Nahor and Haran. Nephew - Lot. Son - Isaac.

Key verse:
"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age -- and Sarah herself was barren -- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise" (Hebrews 11:11)

Sarah's story is told in Genesis 11-25. She also is mentioned in Isaiah 51:2, Romans 4:19; 9:9; Hebrews 11:11; 1 Peter 3:6.

All material quoted is from the Life Application Study Bible. 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: Tolerating only the right religions

"What is, um, your role, madam?"

"I'm the godmother!"

"Which, um, god?" The young man was trembling slightly.

"It's from Old Lancre," said Agnes hurriedly. "It means something like 'goodmother." It's all right ... as witches we believe in religious toleration..."

"That's right," said Nanny Ogg, "But only for the right religions, so you watch your step!"

Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

Sounds familiar, eh?

Worth a Thousand Words: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925); Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
via Wikipedia

I've run this a few times before but I love it so much that we're getting it again today.

Vatican astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno calls on scientests to "come out" and share their faith.

“God is not something we arrive at the end of our science, it’s what we assume at the beginning,” he said, adding emphatically: “I am afraid of a God who can be proved by science, because I know my science well enough to not trust it!”

I've had the privilege of discussing books with Brother Guy (Episode 100, A Good Story is Hard to Find). Both that conversation and the book he co-authored, Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial, made me admire his good sense and faith.

Read the whole "coming out" story here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Descending

Descending by Remo Savisaar

Farewell, My Lovely - SFFaudio Discussion

Jesse, Maissa, Paul and I discuss Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler on the SFFaudio podcast. We discuss missing dames, stolen jade necklaces, who sapped Philip Marlowe, and much more. Join us!

Worth a Thousand Words: Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873–76, Winslow Homer

Stop what you're reading. Get this book: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I just finished rereading this for the third time, for an upcoming book club. I enjoyed it so much, even the third time around, that I thought I'd rerun the review in case you've missed this delightful book.

For those who'd like to hear more in-depth discussion, Scott Danielson and I discussed this on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast (episode 84).

THE ROSIE PROJECT
by Graeme Simsion

You know it's an unusual book when your mother forces you to read it by threatening you with guilt at her deathbed if you don't try it. (Ahem. Not that I've left any of my mother's book suggestions lingering too long on my "to read" list. No. Of course, I'd never do that.)

Guilt and mothers being what they are, plus the "after the 'goodbye'" reminder from her as I was hanging up the phone ... I looked around.

Heck, do people love this book or what? 21 copies at the library. All checked out. With 60 holds waiting for it to come in. Ok, Kindle make me love you. And I do love you, Kindle, I do! $1.99 and one click to download.

Where I literally laughed out loud by the beginning of the second chapter.

I guess Mom really does know best.

And it's a good thing because the description, while accurate, would never make me particularly want to pick it up. Hey, that's Don's problem. So accurate and we can't see what's really inside. Here's the blurb.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner.

Don tells us the story himself and that is a great part of the charm.

It is funny, it gives us insight into a completely different way of thinking, and it charms us while it does so.

I guess the test of a book one really enjoyed is that you don't want to start another book. You want to let the one you just read rattle around in your head and heart for a while. This, surprisingly, is such a book for me, thus forcing me to turn to nonfiction exclusively for a little while. Most unexpected.

NOTE: For quick explanation of what this book is, use Hannah's fast summing up to a pal: "It's an Abed situation." (Something for Community fans out there.)

Worth a Thousand Words: Sunflower and Scissors

Sunflower and Scissors, Duane Keiser

Through Darkest Zymurgia! A Ripping Yarn by by William H. Duquette

Through Darkest Zymurgia! is what you'd get if you crossed P.G. Wodehouse with H. Rider Haggard and sprinkled a generous dose of Douglas Adams over the whole.

Professors Thintwhistle and Carbuncle go on a ripping yarn of exploration and adventure in a world almost — but not quite — entirely unlike our own. When a determined University donor wields his influence, the professors are forced to abandon their planned summer tour of taverns of exotic cities in the Known World. Instead they must go where no adventurers have gone before. Not, though, without a certain predictability to their new goal as we find when an admiral falls into conversation with Professor Thintwhistle about their destination of Zymurgia.

The admiral sat back in his chair. “What do you expect to find?” he asked.

“Beer,” I said.

“Beer?” asked Wyburn, in surprise.

“Beer,” I said. “That’s what Zymurgia means, you know…the land of brewing. They’ve been selling beer to the Serosans for thousands of years. The trade is only carried on in a small way these days; just with the folk at the base of the plateau.”

“It seems a long way to go to get a drink,” said Wyburn.

Most of the humor tends to build upon long setups and so, as in many Victorian books, takes a while to hit home. Suffice it to say that this Victorian-style tale of exploration retains genuine mystery and adventure while being infused with humorous whimsy.

Full disclosure: I enjoyed it so much that I volunteered to do the layout. That's because I'll be rereading it in the years to come. This is a thoroughly enjoyable tale and I hope author William Duquette will favor us with many more featuring the famed Professors Thintwhistle and Carbuncle in the future.

Well Said: The Real Force

He felt helpless in the grip of this alien ritual, out of joint with his time. The confessional might have been a direct pipeline to the days when werewolves and incubi and witches were an accepted part of the outer darkness and the church the only beacon of light. For the first time in his life he felt the slow, terrible beat and swell of the ages and saw his life as a dim and glimmering spark in an edifice which, if seen clearly, might drive all men mad. Matt had not told them of Father Callahan’s conception of his church as a Force, but Ben would have understood that now. He could feel the Force in this fetid little box, beating in on him, leaving him naked and contemptible. He felt it as no Catholic, raised to confession since earliest childhood, could have.

Stephen King, 'Salem’s Lot

I don't know about "naked and contemptible." But I do know that I was struck by these words: "an edifice which, if seen clearly, might drive all men mad."

It almost sounds Lovecraftian but if one considers how unprepared humans seem to be to see an angel (they always have to say "do not fear") and the angels are simply messengers ... well, then there is something to needing to go through Earthly boot camp and then the purification of Purgatory in order to even to be able to take in the Heavenly reality.

Not what you expect from a horror novel but this is one of King's best.

Genesis Notes: Abraham's Resume

As always, I love these resumes which give such a good overview of a person's life, often with unexpected insights. Believe it or not, I often look to his example, especially when I am struggling with obedience to God.

Aert de Gelder, Abraham and the Angels

Abraham could hardly have been expected to visualize how much of the future was resting on his decision of whether to go [follow God's direction] or stay, but his obedience affected the history of the world. His decision to follow God set into motion the development of the nation that God would eventually use as his own when he visited earth himself. When Jesus Christ came to earth, God's promise was fulfilled; through Abraham the entire world was blessed.

Strengths and accomplishments:

• His faith pleased God
• Became the founder of the Jewish nation
• Was respected by others and was courageous in defending his family at any cost
• Was not only a caring father to his own family, but practiced hospitality to others
• Was a successful and wealthy rancher
• Usually avoided conflicts, but when they were unavoidable, he allowed his opponent to set the rules for settling the dispute

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Under direct pressure, he distorted the truth

Lessons from his life:

• God desires dependence, trust, and faith in him -- not faith in our ability to please him
• God's plan from the beginning has been to make himself known to all people

Vital statistics:

• Where: Born in Ur of the Chaldeans; spent most of his life in the land of Cannan
• Occupation: Wealthy livestock owner
• Relatives: Brothers - Nahor and Haran. Father - Terah. Wife - Sarah. Nephew - Lot. Sons - Ishmael and Isaac
• Contemporaries: Abimelech, Melchizedek

Key verse:
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6)

Abraham's story is told in Genesis 11-25. He also is mentioned in Exodus 2:24; Acts 7:2-8; Romans 4; Galatians 3; Hebrews 2, 6, 7, 11.

All material quoted is from the Life Application Study Bible. 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.

Seeking and Finding Jesus … Via Dracula?

Will Duquette interviewed me about Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life for Aleteia's Book Nook.  It brought surprising things to light!

Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a book I’ve read many times since my high school days. I’ve come to see what a master work it is in examining the difficulty modern man has in accepting the supernatural as real, in examining unselfish love and service to others as opposed to absolute selfishness, and in examining evil as a perversion of all that is good. Dracula isn’t the anti-Christ in the standard understanding of the term but he is definitely the anti-God. And, as in The Lord of the Rings, these messages are subtly communicated within the larger story. ... I reread Dracula when I was close to finishing Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life and never has it spoken more to my soul in terms of who Jesus is and why I am so grateful for his love and friendship.

That's not nearly all I have to say on the topic ... and others. Read Seeking and Finding Jesus ... Via Dracula at Aleteia.

Thank you, Will, it was fun!

I've Been Blogging for 13 Years? How Did That Happen?

The sentiments below (from 2014) are still ones I feel when I think about the blog. Much has changed in my life due to this blog. For one thing I've written some books. That never would've happened.

For another, social media is now king and blogs seem old and passé. Yet, a fair number of people still come by every day. So rumors of our passing have been greatly exaggerated.

With that in mind, let's celebrate!

I remember so clearly that Sunday afternoon when I sat down, filled with nervous excitement, and figured out Blogger well enough to write my first post.

Fittingly enough it was a quote about St. Joseph and work as a spiritual act. I say fittingly enough because over the years I have leaned heavily on sharing quotes about living our faith in everyday life. St. Joseph, who guided Jesus through his first years of everyday life, is a perfect saint to have helped me launch such an endeavor.

I don't have any grand thoughts on this anniversary, perhaps because it just struck me a little while ago that I should see when it was in May that I began blogging. And it was 10 years ago today! What're the odds?

I can say that I have enjoyed it a lot. Blogging continues to bring me new friends, new insights, open doors for God to be present in my life. And what can be better than that? Not much, really!

Many thanks to those who take the time to drop by, and even more thanks to those who comment. I love you all! Now, let's all get some cake!

CraftLit is giving away a copy of Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life!

A raffle for Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life ... done by Heather Ordover at the CraftLit podcast.

(She is the best - if you haven't listened to CraftLit then you are missing a real treat in literary enjoyment).

Giveaway ends May 5 so sign up!

Seeking Jesus review: Fall in love with Jesus all over again

This book is exactly what I needed at this point in my life! Each devotional tackles an area of Christian Living and surrounds the topic with Scripture, quotes from Saints and Scholars, and wisdom and reflection from the author's own experiences. It's a beautiful read that will make you fall in love with Jesus all over again. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Katherine Lyle, Amazon reviewer

Don't you want to see what the fuss is about? Get a copy ... and maybe one for a friend!

Worth a Thousand Words: Peach branches, Squirrel map

Peach branches, Squirrel map; Qian Xuan

Well Said: Perfect forms and lovely patterns

This is the age of science, of steel — of speed and the cement road. The age of hard faces and hard highways. Science and steel demand the medium of prose. Speed requires only the look — the gesture. What need then, for poetry?

Great need!

There are souls, in these noise-tired times, that turn aside into unfrequented lanes, where the deep woods have harbored the fragrances of many a blossoming season. Here the light, filtering through perfect forms, arranges itself in lovely patterns for those who perceive beauty.

Roy J. Cook, Editor, Preface to 101 Famous Poems

This was written in 1958. How much greater the need is now when we haven't stopped the speed, the noise, the barely-there communications. I'm beginning to reread this fine collection and this bit from the preface is as poetically beautiful as anything that follows.

Well Said: Learning from Children

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.

Franklin P. Jones

Just one more way families help us be better people!

Worth a Thousand Words: Le Morte d'Arthur

Le Morte d'Arthur Cover Illustration, Himmapaan

Through Darkest Zymurgia!

Will Duquette has a new book out.

My latest book, Through Darkest Zymurgia!, is now available in print or as an e-book. It’s a Ripping Yarn of Exploration and Adventure in a faux-Victorian world with some surprising features and a good deal of understated humor. You’ll like it, I promise.

It’s cheaper as an e-book, but buy the print edition—it’s gorgeous.

How much do I love this humorous take on a Victorian tale of exploration and adventure? So much so that I volunteered to do the layout.

I'll do a proper review soon but wanted to give y'all a heads up on this one. Check the link for a longer description. It's highly enjoyable.

Worth a Thousand Words: A Day Full of Rain

A Day Full of Rain, Edward B. Gordon

Pope Francis's TED Talk: "The future does have a name, and its name is Hope."

As I meet, or lend an ear to those who are sick, to the migrants who face terrible hardships in search of a brighter future, to prison inmates who carry a hell of pain inside their hearts, and to those, many of them young, who cannot find a job, I often find myself wondering: "Why them and not me?" I, myself, was born in a family of migrants; my father, my grandparents, like many other Italians, left for Argentina and met the fate of those who are left with nothing. I could have very well ended up among today's "discarded" people. And that's why I always ask myself, deep in my heart: "Why them and not me?"

If you'd rather not watch the video, you can read the transcript of Pope Francis's TED Talk.

Well Said: Stories and Spiders

Stories are like spiders, with all they long legs, and stories are like spiderwebs, which man gets himself all tangled up in but which look pretty when you see them under a leaf in the morning dew, and in the elegant way that they connect to one another, each to each.

Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys