Worth a Thousand Words: Sun and Sundial

Sun and Sundial, Wettenhausen monastery emblem

To go with today's quote!

Well Said: May the gods confound the man ...

May the gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish hours, and the man who put this sun-dial here to cut my day to pieces.

Plautus

Well Said: If you feel like fighting fire with fire ...

If you feel like fighting fire with fire, remember real firefighters use water.

Anonymous

via Lynn Underwood

I love this. It goes hand in hand with the quote someone used at dinner last night.

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

Anonymous

(attributed to many, confirmed for none)

Genesis Notes: Esau's Resume

I've already talked about my soft spot for Esau. Let's look over his resume to see what we can apply from his example to our own lives.

I haven't mentioned this before, but one of my favorite parts of these resumes is at the end when we see where else a person is mentioned in the Bible. I like to read up on how others use their examples also.

Francesco Hayez, Esau and Jacob reconcile

Common sense isn't all that common. In fact, the common thread in many decisions is that they don't make sense. Esau's life was filled with choices he must have regretted bitterly. He appears to have been a person who found it hard to consider consequences, reacting to the need of the moment without realizing what he was giving up to meet that weakness. He also chose wives in direct opposition to his parents' wishes. He learned the hard way.

Strengths and accomplishments:

• Ancestor of the Edomites
• Known for his archery skill
  
• Able to forgive after explosive anger

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• When faced with important decisions, tended to choose according to the immediate need rather than the long-range effect
• Angered his parents by poor marriage choices
  

Lessons from his life:

• God allows certain events in our lives to accomplish his overall purposes, but we are still responsible for our actions
• Consequences are important to consider
• It is possible to have great anger and yet not sin
  

Vital statistics:

• Where: Canaan
• Occupation: Skillful hunter
• Relatives: Parents - Isaac and Rebekah. Brother - Jacob. Wives: Judith, Basemath, and Mahalath.

Key verses:
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears." (Hebrews 12:14-17)

Esau's story is told in Genesis 25-36. He also is mentioned in Malachi 1:2, 3; Romans 9:13; Hebrews 12:16, 17.

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.

Study reports beautiful churches important in young people's conversions

Inside of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

Now that there's a study proving what most of us already knew, can we return beauty to our churches?

The Telegraph revealed the results of the study, stating that, “Around 13 percent of teenagers said that they decided to become a Christian after a visit to a church or cathedral.”

Even more surprising was the report’s finding that the “influence of a church building was more significant than attending a youth group, going to a wedding, or speaking to other Christians about their faith.”

In fact, “The study suggests that new methods invested in by the Church, such as youth groups … are less effective than prayer or visiting a church building in attracting children to the Church.”

Philip Kosloski reports on this as well as considering how U.S. parishes have begun building traditionally beautiful churches again.

I still remember being in Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal and seeing a young man standing in the center aisle with tears running down his face. His concerned girlfriend was asking if he was ok. He looked somewhat embarrassed, responding, "No, I was just having a moment. It just hit me all at once."

Yes, that beauty does hit you and hits you hard. If we are open to it, often God's presence is using beauty to touch your soul.

More than beauty is converting young people

The Telegraph reports on the study's other points. Interestingly, the British are dumbstruck that one in six young people are Christian, saying how high these numbers are. I was interested in the point that it is not youth groups or guitar masses that pull people in but having read the Bible or being taken to visit a church.

The study suggests that new methods invested in by the Church, such as youth groups and courses such as Youth Alpha, are less effective than prayer or visiting a church building in attracting children to the church.

One in five said reading the Bible had been important, 17 per cent said going to a religious school had had an impact and 14 per cent said a spiritual experience was behind their Christianity.

“Things which we would class as old hat methods are some of the more effective ways."

Yes, the good old fashioned ways of personal encounter with Christ still work just fine.

Lagniappe: The Anti-authoritarian Authority

“Commander, I always used to consider that you had a definite anti-authoritarian streak in you."

"Sir?"

"It seems that you have managed to retain this even though you are authority."

"Sir?"

"That's practically zen.”

Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Well Said: Blandings Castle and the original garden

The gardens of Blandings Castle are that original garden from which we are all exiled. All those who know them long to return.

Evelyn Waugh on P.G. Wodehouse's Blandings Castle series

Well Said: The prayer is like the river itself ...

The words [of the Rosary] are like the banks of a river and the prayer is like the river itself. The banks are necessary to give direction and to keep the river flowing. But it is the river with which we are concerned. So in prayer it is the inclination of the heart to God alone which matters ... As the river moves into the sea, the banks drop away. So, too, as we move in to the deeper sense of God's presence the words fall away and ... we shall be left in silence in the ocean of God's love.

Robert Llewelyn

I don't pray the rosary often but I do find it very helpful occasionally for getting me back on target, getting me back in the river so to speak.

Worth a Thousand Words: An Out of Doors Study

John Singer Sargent, An Out-of-Doors Study, 1889,
depicting Paul César Helleu sketching with his wife Alice Guérin

Worth a Thousand Words: The Artist's Father, Reading a Newspaper

Albert Engström, The Artist's Father, Reading a Newspaper

Genesis Notes: My Soft Spot for Esau

When you are reading slowly through a book the way we are through Genesis, you can never tell what might strike you.

In my case, reading Robert Alter's translation of Genesis what hits me are the details we're given about Esau. He's slow and simple, as we are shown, but darn it, he tries so hard to do what his parents want. And then he's always done down by his own mother as well as his twin.

I already was feeling this, pondering Jacob's theft of the birthright while knowing that at the end of their "twin" saga it is Esau who welcomes his brother home generously. It's one of the unexpected bits of the story that I love most — Esau's welcome home.

Then reading about Jacob going off to find a wife, I noticed for the first time that little insertion of Esau overhearing his mother's dislike of Hittite wives (which he's got two of) and how he went and got a wife from the tribe of Abraham.

And Esau was forty years old and he took as wife Judith the daughter of beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a provocation to Isaac and to Rebekah. ...

And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I loathe my life because of the Hittite women! If Jacob takes a wife from Hittite women like these, from the native girls, what good to me is life?" ...

And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him off to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there when he blessed him and commanded him, sayng, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan." ... And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father. And Esau went to Ishmael and he took Mahalath daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to his wives, as a wife.

Genesis 26:34-35; 27:46; 28:6, 8-9, Robert Alter transl.

Darn it. Just made me feel worse for him.

It is proof that there is always more in Scripture than we can absorb in just a reading or two. Slow reading allows time to ponder and for it to come truly alive. I have a real fondness for Esau that I'd never have thought possible before.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, 1624.

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: Lady Writing a Letter

Albert Edelfelt, Lady Writing a Letter

Well Said: Belief in the Middle Ages

From Introduction to Christianity by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) which is admittedly dense but is also simply terrific. One of the things that I love most about this book is the way that Benedict will casually admit a truth that many believers would like to ignore. He does it time and again and every time I mentally cheer because hiding our heads in the sand is not only unbecoming, the only ones we fool are ourselves.

...when today as believers in our age we hear it said, a little enviously perhaps, that in the Middle Ages everyone without exception in our lands was a believer, it is a good thing to cast a glance behind the scenes, as we can today, thanks to historical research. This will tell us that even in those days there was the great mass of nominal believers and a relatively small number of people who had really entered into the inner movement of belief. It will show us that for many belief was only a ready-made mode of life, by which for them the exciting adventure really signified by the word credo was at least as much concealed as disclosed. This is simply because there is an infinite gulf between God and man; because man is fashioned in such a way that his eyes are only capable of seeing what is not God, and thus for man God is and always will be the essentially invisible, something lying outside his field of vision. ...

Benedict never forgets that Truth can only be found by not ignoring all truth when we come across it, even when that truth is something we would rather gloss over. Such as the fact that people are people both in the Middle Ages and now ... and that nominal believers are not something only found in our time.

Lagniappe: Someone was trying to kill him ...

Vimes smiled. Someone was trying to kill him, and that made him feel more alive than he had done in days.

And they were also slightly less intelligent than he was. This is a quality you should always pray for in your would-be murderer.

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

My Interview Tomorrow on EWTN's Son Rise Morning Show

I'm excited to have a chance to discuss Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life on the Son Rise Morning Show. Son Rise Morning Show is a fast-paced morning program covering everything from current events to catechesis, with reflections on the saint of the day and the readings from Mass.

Airing Tuesday, June 13

6:50 a.m. (Central Time)

740AM Sacred Heart Radio in Cincinnati

and on the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network

If you miss the show, you can listen to the podcast.

Well Said: Simple and Stupid

Colon thought Carrot was simple. Carrot often struck people as simple. And he was.

Where people went wrong was thinking that simple meant the same thing as stupid.

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

My Interview Tomorrow on KATH 910 AM radio

When it rains, it pours! I've got another interview airing this weekend!

I got the chance to tour the local Catholic radio studio and, most importantly, talk with Dave Palmer.

We talked about Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life, but also a whole lot more: my conversion story, podcasting, connecting with Catholics online, and everyday Catholic life.

Here's where you can hear the interview.

Airing Saturday, June 10

3:10 p.m.

KATH 910 AM

North Texas, Guadalupe Radio Network

Lagniappe: "Wot a thing it is to be so sought arter!"

"Wot a thing it is to be so sought arter!" observed Sam, smiling.

"I don't take no pride out on it, Sammy," replied Mr. Weller, poking the fire vehemently, "it's a horrid sitiwation. I'm actiwally drove out o' house and home by it. The breath was scarcely out o' your poor mother-in-law's body, ven vun old 'ooman sends me a pot o' jam, and another a pot o' jelly, and another brews a blessed large jug o' camomile-tea, vich she brings in vith her own hands." Mr. Weller paused with an aspect of intense disgust, and looking round, added in a whisper, "They wos all widders, Sammy, all on 'em, 'cept the camomile-tea vun, as wos a single young lady o' fifty-three."

Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

The Wellers are both wonderful characters and when Sam and his father get together there are few better, or funnier, scenes in literature. I was laughing out loud by the the time Mr. Weller finished explaining to Sam why a coachman is such prime husband material. This is just a sample of the passage.

Christopher Closeup Interview - 2nd Verse - Better Than the First!

Or maybe I remember the second half of my conversation with Tony Rossi as being better because I just kept getting more and more interested myself! As I've said before, Tony is a great interviewer.

If you haven't heard of The Christophers before this is your chance to check out a very worthy group. Their motto is "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." And that's how we all should try to live, right?

Here's where you can hear the interview.

Part 2 of the interview airs 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!

Both parts of the interview also will come along as a podcast. Rest assured, I'll let you know when that happens!

Seeking Jesus: "Julie points to very particular aspects of Christ with each entry."

I've been slowly working my way through this book page-by-page, and so far I am really appreciating the ways in which Julie points to very particular aspects of Christ with each entry. It's all too easy to make Christ into an abstraction in prayer, and I love how the text is guiding me back to making that relationship more tangible and concrete. I'm so glad I have a lot more to go!

JoAnna, GoodReads

JoAnna's progress report makes me so happy! That is exactly what I hoped for, that the book would gently lead readers to open up and encounter Christ in their own way.

For a sample, more reviews, or interviews, go here. Or pick up a copy for yourself or as a gift.

If you've read Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life and liked it, please consider posting a review on Amazon or GoodReads. It makes a difference in helping others decide to try it too!

Genesis Notes: Jacob - Chosen By God

GENESIS 27 & 28
These two chapters are interesting in many ways. I remember reading about Jacob having that dream about the ladder and it always seemed as if it would be rather crowded for those angels ... I didn't know exactly what kind of ladder they had in mind.

The ladder described here is probably a ziggurat, the sort of tower built by the people at Babel. A ziggurat was a tall, stepped temple-tower believed to connect heaven and earth - hence the angels ascending and descending the steps. God himself was at the top of the ladder and spoke to Jacob in his dream, a sign that God would now be Jacob's God.

The reconstructed facade of the Neo-Sumerian Great Ziggurat of Ur
(I always wondered what a ziggurat looked like)

What always stood out most was the infighting that was going on in the family. Not only do we have Esau's and Jacob's sibling rivalry, but we have the parents favoring different children. Isaac wants to pass his blessing on to Esau and Rebekah is determined that Jacob will inherit everything, so everyone is working at cross-purposes. By this time, I have been trained to look below the surface just enough to know that Rebekah and Jacob are going to reap a whole lotta trouble for forcing their way through instead of letting God handle it in His own time.

Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands and tried to produce the promised son through Sarah's maid Hagar (Gen. 16). They were successful in the sense that they had a child, but it was not the son God intended and although God did bless Ishmael, the promises were not fulfilled through him. The results of Abraham and Sarah's efforts were bitterness and discord in the family; division between them; and long lasting trouble between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac. Rebekah's and Jacob's efforts to bring about God's will by their own efforts would be equally destructive to their family. Their actions would force Jacob to flee his brother's anger and be separated from his family for 20 years, and he would never see his mother again.

Rebekah's (and Jacob's) actions are not justified; a good end even if promised by God does not justify the use of trickery to get there. But God will make good come of it. (NOTE: we will read in Gen. 48 of a younger twin being blessed - by a blind Jacob this time - over the older without any trickery or double-dealing.)

Once again, it just doesn't seem fair that one person is arbitrarily chosen over another as God's favorite. However, that thinking is just not looking at the "big picture."

That God "loved" Jacob and "hated" Esau means not that Esau (the nation of Edom) was condemned arbitrarily but that Jacob (Israel) was chosen, not on the basis of any intrinsic good or merit but by God's sovereign will. Remember that all mankind is in a state of separation from God. All mankind is "hated," if you will, because of sin. But the love and mercy of God are so great that He reached down and chose one of those "hated" ones and made his family into a channel of blessing for all the world, so that all men might benefit. God "chose us in him before the foundation of the world," Paul told the Ephesians in Eph. 1:4-6, "that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

Throughout Israel's history, God had to remind them again and again that being chosen as His "firstborn" did not mean they were better or more deserving of His blessing than anyone else. They only needed to look at their past to see that God does not use human criteria of worthiness. More often than not He selects the young, the weak, the poor, and the undeserving on whom to bestow His grace. All favor is due to God's great love and grace, and not to any merit on our part.

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.

Well Said: It was an age of reform, and even radical reform

It was an age of reform, and even of radical reform; the world was full of radicals and reformers; but only too many of them took the line of attacking everything and anything that was opposed to some particular theory among the many political theories that possessed the end of the eighteenth century. Some had so much perfected the perfect theory of republicanism that they almost lay awake at night because Queen Victoria had a crown on her head. Others were so certain that mankind had hitherto been merely strangled in the bonds of the State that they saw truth only in the destruction of tariffs or of by-laws. The greater part of that generation held that clearness, economy, and a hard common-sense, would soon destroy the errors that had been erected by the superstitions and sentimentalities of the past. In pursuance of this idea many of the new men of the new century, quite confident that they were invigorating the new age, sought to destroy the old sentimental clericalism, the old sentimental feudalism, the old-world belief in priests, the old-world belief in patrons, and among other things the old-world belief in beggars. They sought among other things to clear away the old visionary kindliness on the subject of vagrants. Hence those reformers enacted not only a new reform bill but also a new poor law. In creating many other modern things they created the modern  workhouse, and when Dickens came out to fight it was the first thing that he broke with his battle-axe.

G.K. Chesterton, commenting on Oliver Twist,
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens

That national feeling sounds very familiar, doesn't it?

Worth a Thousand Words: The Oval Fountain in the Gardens of the Villa d'Este, Tivoli

Hubert Robert, The Oval Fountain in the Gardens of the Villa d'Este, Tivoli

From my inbox: Catholic Door Online Store

The New Way to buy Catholic ... shop Catholic ... evangelize.

Catholic Door is the premier Catholic store online. Here you will find the most popular items along with unique and even one of kind items. Whether you are studying up on your faith, getting something to help you during your prayer time, wanting to display your Catholic identity or find the perfect Catholic gift for a loved one, Catholic Door can help you. Our goal is to modernize the shopping experience.

It looks like they sell just about any Catholic thing you need. And they've got a blog with some interesting posts. Check them out!

SFFaudio - Dracula

Jesse, Jim Moon, Paul, and I dig into one of my favorite classics - Dracula by Bram Stoker!

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.

Worth a Thousand Words: Tuna Assortment

Source

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.