Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell

Forced to move every twelve days, what would happen to your life?

It’s 1927. Rembrandt is the only child in the tiny community of Three Farms and his two aunts grow desperate for babies of their own. Hope and Hell arrive in a mysterious black bottle, and on a moonless night a dark spell is cast. The devil seeks payment, and a dangerous wager is made. Until they can defeat him, Rembrandt, Pa, and Uncle Thompson must embark on the journey of their lives, for if they stay in one place for more than twelve days terrible things happen. But where and when will they find a champion capable of defeating the Black Bottle Man?

Time ticks.

Lives change.

Every twelve days.

What a treat to be almost at the end of the year and read a book that instantly leapt to the top of my 2017 favorites list. I finished it and wanted to give a copy to everyone I knew who loves a good folk tale, a good deal-with-the-devil tale, good historical fiction, or (most of all) a story that speaks to the reader on several levels.

As we learn the story of the deal with the devil and how Rembrandt, his father, and uncle take on the task of saving souls, we are also taken on a trip through American history with special emphasis on the Great Depression. Rembrandt's voice is strong and vivid. I felt I knew this boy as we traveled together seeking redemption for those he loves. The scenes on farms, in factories, and in small town America were also vivid, as were the present day scenes when we flash to 90 year old Rembrandt.

Any story where someone is dealing with the devil opens the door to considerations of faith and that is handled both honestly and delicately in this book. The insights and observations throughout the book underlie the main story in a way that lends itself to considerations of gratitude, mercy, selfishness, sacrifice, and much more — all without being too obvious for those who just want to read a great story. There's also the fun of trying to figure out just how one can outsmart the devil in a deal that seems unbreakable.

It is is marketed to teens but I'm not the first reviewer to mention that label is too limiting because it is also a great read for adults.

I can't adequately describe this book but it is simply wonderful. Get it. Read it. And give it to those who love a wonderfully told good story.

Heroism and Genius by William J. Slattery

'But my home, such as I have, [said Aragorn] is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt in long line unbroken from father unto son for many generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters — but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only.

'If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dúnedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?

'And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.

'But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur's Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged.'

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

They had me at Aragorn. This quote launches the book's introduction and gives you a sense of the spirit of the work.

The subtitle really tells you what the book is about: How Catholic Priests Helped Build — and Can Help Rebuild — Western Civilization.

This book looks at priests' roles in building and maintaining Western civilization. The author begins with modern historians' assessments and then goes on to tell the stories of some of these remarkable men. I was impressed with the lengthy list of historians who recognize the Church's pivotal function throughout much of Western civilization.

The Catholic historian cannot empty his heart when he writes about the Church; he has the eyes of a lover, enchanted by the beauty of his bride, and they remain the eyes of a lover even when she has been dressed in rags by treacherous men; he will always chronicle as a builder who wants to learn from history how to renew the institution he loves.

I especially enjoy William Slattery's romantic style of writing, which we don't see very often any more. It conveys the passion he feels and the romance of the faith and the Church. It would seem over the top, perhaps, except that it is grounded in solid understanding of the faith and of human nature. Slattery looks at history with the eyes of a realist but also with the eyes of someone who knows we can again be great as our forefathers were. Here's just a bit more...

Hence the purpose of this book is not lionizing and nostalgia, a yearning to live in some mythical "good old days," an attempt to find excuses to handcuff progress to obsolete standards. Instead, it is a shout to contemporary priests—"Remember!"—as they stand at a crossroads of history and confront the Western civilization of the past and the dictatorship of relativism of the present: Remember who you are and what you once achieved; recall the crucially important social consequences of your priesthood; remember that the priest, by being truly teacher, sanctifier, and shepherd, changes society and builds Christian civilization—that he simply cannot fail to change the world by being an authentic priest of Jesus Christ!

The book covers the course of history in Western civilization including the Dark Ages, Chivalry, Romanticism, and Free-Market Economics, among other topics. Slattery also never lets us forget that for every important name, there were hundreds of anonymous priests laboring for their flocks. I enjoyed the heck outta this. Now go get this book and enjoy it for yourself.

Worth a Thousand Words: Roar!

Roar!, Remo Savisaar

Worth a Thousand Words: View of Earth from Apollo 4

View of Earth from Apollo 4, NASA

Well Said: Railways and the Church

Railways and the Church have their critics, but both are the best ways of getting a man to his ultimate destination.

Wilbert Vere Awdry

A History of the Church in 100 Objects - Mike Aquilina and Grace Aquilina

The history of the Church didn't take place shrouded in the mists of time. It actually happened and continues to happen through things that we can see and sometimes hold in our hand.

This is the Christian answer to Neil MacGregor's New York Times bestseller A History of the World in 100 Objects.

This is a brief history of the Church, complete with pictures of the items which serve as touchstones for bringing up important historical events. The items include the Christian things you might expect but also range into seemingly non-Christian things like Islamic coins, an Egyptian boy's math notebook, and a medieval science beaker.

Two or three pages of brief yet comprehensive commentary accompany each item. It is easy to read and even-handed, yet never dumbs it down. At the end of each entry, there are two recommended books listed for those who would like to pursue a topic in greater depth. That was a thoughtful feature I really liked, even as my reading list grew and grew.

I especially enjoyed the way the authors fleshed out our understanding of events, often with thought provoking questions or comments. For example, in the instance of the Islamic coin, we see that the Roman emperor may have given their subjects reason to see Islamic conquerors as a decent governing option.

All these people had suffered persecution under Justinian and his successors. And they had been taxed heavily to support Justinian's wars in the West. Is it any wonder that some welcomed the Islamic Arabs as liberators? And is it any wonder that some chose to submit to Islam?

The conquered didn't turn Islamic all at once. In some places, they were given a stark choice: convert, submit to the tax, or die. But the Umayyads were more tolerant, recognizing the value of Christians and Jews as a steady tax base.

This allows us a more nuanced picture of history than we're often given. And it opens the door for questions of how the modern world tempts me to let my Christianity wither slowly away under gentle pressure. The authors do this again and again. A wedding ring brings considerations of how Christian marriage differed from pagan marriage. Armor brings a consideration of how Pope Gregory gradually moved warrior culture from waging war to knightly behavior.

There are also nuggets of information I'd never heard. I didn't know that Napoleon kidnapped Pope Pius VII from the Vatican. Or that Pius VII later gave shelter in the Vatican to members of Napoleon's family. I knew Cardinal Cisneros was a stalwart defender of American natives but not that he cooperated with the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain. In almost every entry there is something showing that history is more complex than we realized.

In essence, what one learns reading this book is that "The Church on earth is always in motion. Catholic doctrine and devotion are always developing. And every age presents particular challenges with require a creative response." As earthly pilgrims heading toward heaven, we can draw inspiration and strength from where the Church has been on that same road.

I've got more pages marked in this book than you've got time to read. So just go get this book and read it! It made a great devotional for me. I read an entry (or two or three) daily and found it invigorating and centering as a start to the day.

Worth a Thousand Words: Aisle of Tintern Abbey

Aisle of Tintern Abbey, Roger Fenton
via Getty's Open Content Program

The Form of Emptiness

Tomorrow begins the novena leading up to the solemnity of Mary's Immaculate Conception. This is a good place to begin.

That virginal quality which, for want of a better word, I call emptiness is at the beginning of this contemplation.

It is not a formless emptiness, a void without meaning; on the contrary it has a shape, a form given to it by the purpose for which it is intended.

It is emptiness like the hollow in the reed, the narrow riftless emptiness which can have only one destiny: to receive the piper's breath and to utter the song that is in his heart.

It is emptiness like the hollow in the cup, shaped to receive water or wine.

It is emptiness like that of the bird's nest, built in a round warm ring to receive the little bird.

The pre-Advent emptiness of Our Lady's purposeful virginity was indeed like those three things.

She was a reed through which the Eternal Love was to be piped as a shepherd's song.

She was the flowerlike chalice into which the purest water of humanity was to be poured, mingled with wine, changed to the crimson blood of love, and lifted up in sacrifice.

She was the warm nest rounded to the shape of humanity to receive the Divine Little Bird...

It is the purpose for which something is made that decides the material which is used.

The chalice is made of pure gold because it must contain the Blood of Christ.

The bird's nest is made of scraps of soft down, leaves and feathers and twigs, because it must be a strong warm home for the young birds...

The material which God has found apt for it is human nature: blood, flesh, bone, salt, water, will, intellect.

It is impossible to say too often or too strongly that human nature, body and soul together, is the material for God's will in us...

Think again of the three symbols I have used for the virginal emptiness of Mary. These are each made from material which must undergo some experience to be made ready for its purpose.

The reed grows by the streams. It is the simplest of things, but it must be cut by the sharp knife, hollowed out, and the stops must be cut in it; it must be shaped and pierced before it can utter the shepherd's song. It is the narrowest emptiness in the world, but the little reed utters infinite music.

The chalice does not grow like the flower it resembles. It is made of gold; gold must be gathered from the water and the mud and hewn from the rock, it must be beaten by countless little blows that give the chalice of sacrifice its fitting beauty.

The twigs and fluff and leaves of the bird's nest are brought from all sorts of places, from wherever the brave careful mother alights, with fluttering but daring heart, to fetch them, from the distances and explorations that only the spread wings of love know. It is the shape of her breast the moulds the nest to its inviting roundness.

Thus it is with us -- we may be formed by the knife, pared down, cut to the least, to the minimum of our own being; we may be marked indelibly by a succession of strokes, blown from the gold-beater's hammer; or we may be shaped for our destiny by the love and tender devotion of a devoted family.

Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God

I don't know why no one has ever mentioned Caryll Houselander among all the wonderful Catholic writers that are quoted so often. I have seen her mentioned only in Magnificat and every time that I have read an excerpt it has spoken right to my heart. If I had let myself go I could easily have put the entire book on this site. I had to stop myself from underlining practically everything in it. It is a wonderful contemplation of the Virgin Mary and, through her as always, we get a clearer and better look at her son, Jesus. The excerpt above says better than I can what sort of a writer and thinker she was. It is simple but provides many opportunities for our own contemplation.

Well Said: A Student

A student is not a container you have to fill but a torch you have to light up.

Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions

Worth a Thousand Words: Golden Leaves

Golden Leaves, Remo Savisaar

Interview on Catholic Mom

Nancy Ward interviewed me after Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life came out. It is now featured on Catholic Mom! It was great fun talking with Nancy and I really appreciate the publicity for the book — which makes great Advent reading or a Christmas gift!

Well Said: Say It Again

Say what you have just said, but in a different tone, without anger, and your argument will gain in strength and, above all, you won't offend God.

St. Josemaria Escriva

Well Said: Peter the rock and Peter the denier

We have grown accustomed to make a clear distinction between Peter the rock and Peter the denier of Christ — the denier of Christ: that is the Peter as he was before Easter; the rock: that is the Peter as he was after the Pentecost, the Peter of whom we have constructed a singularly idealistic image. But, in reality, he was a both times both of these... Has it not been thus throughout the history of the Church that the Pope, the successor of Peter has been at once Petra and Skandalon — both the rock of God and a stumbling-block? In fact the faithful will always have to reckon with this paradox of the divine dispensation that shames their pride again and again.

Pope Benedict XVI

Worth a Thousand Words: Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel, Remo Savisaar

Well Said: Judas

Judas is neither a master of evil nor the figure of a demoniacal power of darkness but rather a sycophant who bows down before the anonymous power of changing moods and current fashion. But it is precisely this anonymous power that crucified Jesus, for it was the anonymous voices that cried, "Away with him! Crucify him!"

Pope Benedict XVI

Artemis by Andy Weir

Jazz Bashara is a criminal.

Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

This was a huge disappointment as Andy Weir's first book, The Martian, was a real favorite of mine and I was really looking forward to seeing how he did with a different sort of story. Unfortunately, for me the new book is something of a cross between a YA book and an engineering manual featuring aluminum manufacturing. If this sounds like an awkward mixture, it is because it is.

Weir obviously loves engineering and how our lives depend on it, often in ways we don't think about. In the The Martian the story drove our need to know about engineering so the hero could survive. In the case of Artemis, our need to know is not obvious as the heroine engages in a shady deal to score 1 million slugs (lunar currency). However, the story often pauses to point out how aluminum provides more than enough oxygen to keep humans supplied and so forth. By the end, we do indeed need to know details about aluminum manufacturing, however I am fairly sure I needed to know less than half the information which we stopped so often to absorb.

Enough of the engineering side. But what of the story itself? It is a heist tale with tendrils that sink into the seamy underbelly of the lunar economy. Unfortunately it is told to us by Jazz, a young woman who has the virtue of being a genius and very stubborn but who otherwise has almost no personality. She has a secret — why does she need a million slugs? But we are told so little about it that I soon forgot she had a secret at all. And I never cared about it or her. I don't mind YA, or as they used to call them in Robert Heinlein's day, juvenile stories but this had little of Heinlein's skill which always told the story about engaging characters first and filled in details/science only as necessary to keep things rolling along.

In fact, by the time the final big plan was being laid out for the assembled gang, I had become so bored that it was only by a sheer effort of will that I finished the book at all.

That isn't to say that the book doesn't have good points. I thoroughly enjoyed the worldbuilding. Artemis and the way citizens lived was really interesting. The letters between Jazz and her penpal were wonderful at giving us information briefly but evocatively. If more of the book had been like that, it would have been much more interesting. There was one sequence which grabbed me when Jazz was doing a job for a local mob-boss on the lunar surface. Obviously one of Weir's authorial skills is creating high tension moments and making readers care about their outcome. Unfortunately this book only pulled that off once for me.

I appreciate that Weir is trying something different and it has to be insanely difficult to follow up a first novel that was also made into a big movie. More than anything this book makes me interested to see how his next book turns out.

Worth a Thousand Words: Doggy!

Doggy!, Karin Jurick

Well Said: Trouble

Trouble is so hard to bear, is it not?—How can we live and think that any one has trouble—piercing trouble—and we could help them, and never try?

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Listen Up — Wolf 359, Gone with the Wind

As I mentioned, I've been working on a big project lately. Luckily, it's the sort that lets me listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I work. Here are one of each that have been the backbone of my listening.

Wolf 359 is a radio drama in the tradition of Golden Age of Radio shows. Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the misfit crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought.

Early episodes begin as Communication Officer Matt Eiffel's audio diary, broadcast into space at large to break up his boredom. He's a slacker, but an entertaining one and we learn about the crew and life aboard an out-dated space station. Day-to-day activities are more wide ranging than you'd expect and the growing sense that something sinister is intended from the employers on Earth keeps things jumpy — especially as star Wolf 359 begins acting unpredictably.

I'm hooked on this and have been binge listening, only slowing down in the last week or two as the suspense began to get to me. I've been especially impressed with the way that the show can take you from loathing to liking ... and sometimes back to loathing ... particular characters with each new revelation of backstory.

Gone with the Wind was on my parents' bookshelves when I was growing up and, as happened with so many classics, at some point I picked it up and devoured the whole thing. I've probably read it three times during my lifetime, enjoying it more each time.

Having been written in 1930 by a Southerner, some of the characters have attitudes that were unpopular when I was growing up, much less during these cracklingly divisive times. And that includes the author who will break out in little asides occasionally for commentary about the South. That's when it turns into a look into the mind of those who lost the war. At least, that's what I remember. It must have been 20 years since I've read this.

No matter what, it remains a wonderful story. I had just finished listening to the audiobook of Kim and it immersed me me in an exotic place and mindset. I missed being in such a different world. Since I'd heard several people recently mention they were listening to Gone with the Wind, it somehow seemed like it might fill that gap. And it did. I'd forgotten how many details Mitchell put into her novel and every time I felt as if I couldn't stand Scarlett for one more second something would happen which would pull me back into the story.

I'm about halfway through since I'm taking it slowly but if you've never tried this book I encourage you to pick it up. If you have read it, you'll discover, as an acquaintance said recently, "Every time you read it you find something new there."

Worth a Thousand Words: Lion Resting

Lion Resting, Rembrandt
via Lines and Colors

Apologies for my absence!

So sorry I haven't been around much lately. It's my annual crazy time doing layout for the Worthington Direct catalog. 162 pages this year, my part takes about a month and a half with intensity increasing as we go. It will go to the printer the week after Thanksgiving so lately I've been working nights and weekends to make sure I'm keeping up my end.

I really enjoy the work but it does take its toll on available time and also memory! I meant to post this apology last weekend!

I'll be back to normal soon, hopefully getting us back to normal around here next week.

Thanks for your patience!

Well Said: Sun, Rain, and the Holy Spirit

Just as the sun shines and the day brings light, the stream irrigates the soil and rain waters the earth, so the heavenly Spirit pours himself into us.

St. Cyprian of Carthage

Worth a Thousand Words: Forest Wilderness

Forest Wilderness, J. E. H. MacDonald

Worth a Thousand Words: Outside the Embassy

Outside the kitchen entrance of the Russian Embassy in Berlin…
Edward B. Gordon

Lagniappe: The mention of ourselves being naturally affecting

"But you can't take your own time to die in, Brother," began Mrs. Waule, with her usual wooly tone. "And when you life speechless you may be tired of having strangers about you, and you may think of me and my children —" but here her voice broke under the touching thought which she was attributing to her speechless brother; the mention of ourselves being naturally affecting.

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Roasted cougar anyone? It's food-on-the-go for anyone stranded on a snowy mountain.

Unless you forget to take it along with you.

I watched The Mountain Between Us with Hannah and Rose and can attest they are telling the absolute truth about this bad movie in their More is More discussion.

Well Said: The speck of self

Instead of wondering at this result of misery in Mr. Casaubon, I think it quite ordinary. Will not a speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? I know no specks so troublesome as self.

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Thank you for the gift!

I've had my eye on this for some time.  I really love the whole Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series so it is natural that this book would be on my Amazon wish list. Imagine my surprise and delight yesterday when I ripped open an unexpected package and found this!

Not only do I have the delight of a new Bible study but it is so thoughtful of the giver. Since the advent of Facebook and Twitter, any long time bloggers can tell you that comments have gone way down. It's not a big deal in and of itself, but it does make things different than they used to be. Lately I've gotten some wonderful feedback which is priceless in itself.

A tangible compliment like this is delightful on a lot of levels. My sincere thanks to whoever went to the trouble and expense to give me this gift!

Genesis Notes: The New Covenant is Fulfillment of the Old

We're at the end of the Genesis study and amidst all the stories there has been a clear thread for us to follow — God's covenant with us.

Watching from the beginning of creation to the establishment of God's family through covenant  has given me a much better understanding of how the old covenant was achieved in the first place ... which then leads to a better understanding of how the New Covenant completes the old.

First Day of Creation (from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle)

The New Covenant in which we live is not a different covenant but a fulfillment of the Old. God still is a Father who makes and keeps promises and who is building His family by covenant. The New Covenant is all the promises of the Old, wrapped up in one and sealed by the sacrament of Christ's death and resurrection. In it God promises:

1. To restore creation: not just turn back the clock to Genesis 2 but to replace the old with new life, His own life, a life that is greater than anything we could have hoped for without the Fall.
2. To defeat Satan, the Serpent who started the whole problem in Eden;
3. To save us from sin, as He saved Noah from the wickedness of the world before the flood;
4. To give us not just a homeland on earth but an eternal home in heaven;
5. To make us not a powerful earthly kingdom but a kingdom of priests, a royal nation that will encompass the whole world and be a blessing to all nations.

Best of all -- these are not only promised, they are offered together with the power we need to keep our part of the covenant, which is to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves; to be holy as He is holy. Only the divine nature flowing through us can accomplish that.

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.

Ryan Gosling and Papyrus

From the SNL premiere comes a piece that could have been tailor-made for our household. Remember, we're the people who loved the documentary Helvetica.

Well Said: Religion, Prayer, and Bubbles of Protection

This quote has been coming to mind repeatedly as one violent act after another are committed upon innocents. I am emotionally reeling and the worst thing is that I last posted this quote in July 2017 for the same reason. However, it continues to give me much needed perspective. He is with us through everything.

Only bad religion promises that if you pray enough, give enough or serve enough, God will put a bubble of protection around you ... That’s what got virgins thrown into volcanoes and it’s what gets TV preachers rich. It’s still a lie, though, no matter how loudly or piously you say it.

What good religion teaches instead is that there is a Power at work in the world that is greater than the power of the world. It’s a power that renews and restores. It heals ... It gives life ...

George Mason, Lakewood Advocate

George Mason is the pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church which is only a few blocks away from my house.

We never miss reading his column in our area newspaper, The Lakewood Advocate. As Tom says, this man preaches to every Christian with his common sense, sensitivity, and understanding of living Christian faith. Believe me when I say that Tom doesn't bestow that praise lightly or often.

Click through and read the whole piece for a sample of why we like him so much.

Worth a Thousand Words: Windy Autumn

Windy Autumn, by Remo Savisaar

To Light a Fire on the Earth by Robert Barron and John L. Allen, Jr.

Secularism is gaining influence and increasing numbers of people see religion as dull and backward. Robert Barron wants to illuminate the beauty, intelligence, and relevance of the Catholic faith.

Touching on everything from Jesus to prayer, science, movies, atheism, the spiritual life, the fate of Church in modern times, beauty, art, and social media, Barron reveals why the Church matters today and how Catholics can intelligently engage a skeptical world.

I loved this book. It's a quick read that left me enthusiastic about spreading the faith and inspired in my own faith. In fact, within one day of beginning to read I was quoting it around the house and changing my own actions based on the inspirations. I expected to learn more about Barron's life and ministry but not that it would begin to change me.

That's the quick take. Here's the longer version.

I'm a fan of Bishop Barron's homilies and his Catholicism documentary series which was shown on PBS stations around the country. But what he's really known for, and where he got his social media start, is his YouTube videos where he talks about everything from baseball to movies to Catholic doctrine. This has drawn an audience ranging from faithful Catholics to angry atheists. So he's a pro at discussing the beauty and truth of Catholicism with a diverse crowd.

This book looks at both Barron's life and his philosophy behind "proclaiming the Gospel in a secular age." It is the result of twenty hours of interviews conducted by John L. Allen, Jr., who is an acclaimed Catholic author and journalist. I was really looking forward this book — and it lived up to my expectations. As you can see from my opening paragraph here.

Barron discusses leading people into a "space where they may be ready to hear and embrace those truths" by remembering that what you're trying to do is introduce them to friendship with Jesus. He talks about the fact that his enthusiasm is because he's trying to bring something positive into people's lives - that he's so on fire about the truth of Catholicism that he can't stop from sharing it because he wants everyone to have the goodness he experiences. He talks about finding the role God has designed for us in life, much as a character in a novel finds they are key to the plot even if they aren't a "main" character. And there is is love of Scripture, of how beauty shows truth, and much more.

All these things resonated with me and some of them were vivid reminders at times when I needed a pick me up or a good point in a discussion with a friend.

I think you'll find those things in here too. Highly recommended.

What do we do in the face of great evil?

Like everyone, I was shocked and distressed at the massacre at the church in Sunderland Springs. I can't get it out of my mind.

There have been so many killings lately it not only boggles the mind but leads to serious questions of the sort Job threw at God when he suffered disaster on every front. "What the heck, God? Are you there or what? Because I could use some explanations here." (Generously paraphrased.)

Like Job, we receive no clarifying answer because maybe God can see the causes of evil, but we can't. And we certainly have no control over it.  Jesus' death on the cross shows he understands our pain and bewilderment and suffering more than we know ... and that he can use it to bring about victory over evil.

But, that's hard to see from our human standpoint.

So what do we do?

We help directly if we can.

We remember that those victims were received by Jesus at the moment of their death. He has conquered death and they are his sheep. Their lives were cut cruelly short but they are now in the place we all hope to be in the end.

We pray, always. For the souls of the victims, for their families and friends in the midst of shock and grief, and even for human soul who did evil's work. (That last is a hard one, but necessary for my own soul. I don't know how God metes out justice but I know that I'd be terrible at it. So that prayer is necessary for me to be able to trust God with it.)

We live our own lives fully and with confidence in Christ and for Christ. Every ripple for good we make in our own bit of the world helps Jesus enter the world with healing, making lives whole again. And it helps defeat evil.

Saint Michael Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
may God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell
Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Well Said: I have been bent and broken ...

Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.”

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

No wonder I love him. He tells the truth. This isn't one we want to think about in our own lives, but when we've gotten done hearing Dickens tell it ... we understand that truth a little better.

Worth a Thousand Words: Bullfinch

Bullfinch, Remo Savisaar

Genesis Notes: The Significance of Numbers

GENESIS 46
Jacob is moving the entire clan to Egypt and Genesis stops here for another of those endless lists of who is going along. Except, that it isn't so endless when you realize the significance of the numbers ... then it becomes very interesting.

Joseph and family moving to Egypt

The author of Genesis takes the occasion of this move to Egypt to record a list of all the descendants of Jacob. To the Hebrews, 70 was the ideal and complete number: it is the number of descendants of Noah after the flood, corresponding in the ancient world to the 70 nations of the world; it's also the number of elders of Israel and of the disciples of Jesus...

Not long ago, the family was just Jacob and Rachel and Leah. Now they are 70: the number of completeness, suggesting a complete development in God's plan. Why is this list here? This is the rootstock of the nation of Israel. As there are 70 nations in the world, there are 70 tribal units in Israel. Later on when Moses records all the family groups of the new nation, no one is mentioned who is not on this list. God is accomplishing His plan to form a nation, and we see here that the foundation has been laid.

[To come up with 70, the author takes out Judah's two dead sons (vs. 12) and adds in Joseph and his two sons already in Egypt and Jacob himself. He ignores the entire third generation except for Joseph's sons, who will become heads of two tribes in Joseph's place. The total is not "the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt (vs. 8)" on that particular trip, but all the family who ended up settling in Egypt.]

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: Chase

Chase, Remo Savisaar

Thank you, Mellie!

I don't have a way to do it through Amazon, but your kind gift made my day ... as well as the note you enclosed. Many, many thanks!

More is More - Prom Night

Hannah & Rose discuss prom dresses, wardrobes, and everything not to do when trying to catch crazed stalkers as they celebrate Prom Night (2008).

Are we ready to both laugh and scream? Of course - because we want more!

Episode 3 of More is More - a bad movie podcast.

Genesis Notes: Responding to the Test

GENESIS 42
What have Joseph's brothers learned in the time that they were parted from him? A lot more than I thought on a first reading. Digging beneath the surface shows how changed and repentant they are.

Benjamin being returned to Egypt">Add caption

A guilty conscience is worth little if it does not lead to change. A comparison of the two homecomings reveals that Joseph's brothers are not the proud, selfish, jealous brutes they were when they sold Joseph.

The first thing to notice is the increased sense of family. The brothers seem to see themselves as all in this together, no longer every man for himself. ... whereas before throwing Joseph in the pit they called him "this dreamer" and to Jacob they called
him "your son," now they call Joseph "our brother" and "the lad" and say to Joseph "we are 12 brothers." Even though Joseph is thought dead, they consider him part of the family.

Second is the lack of jealousy or anger at Jacob's favoritism. Even though Jacob obviously prefers Benjamin now that Joseph is gone, there is no sign of resentment among the brothers about this or that Jacob kept him behind or that his absence endangers them.

Perhaps most telling is the sons' honesty with Jacob. When they "lost" Joseph, they were heartless liars; now they are honest. ...

Finally, there is a genuine effort to make good. When Jacob accuses them of bereaving him of his children, Reuben doesn't just try to offer comfort, he offers his own sons if he fails to bring Benjamin back. His solution may not move Jacob, but he is at least trying to make things right. 

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: Duties toward parents

I remember when I first read the book of Sirach. I really love the practicality of the advice to fathers never to have a lattice going past their daughter's second floor bedroom. You're just begging for trouble!

I've also never forgotten the advice below, especially the part about honoring your father even if his mind fails in old age ... it shows that humans are the same then as now and we all need those reminders as we go through life. And it spells out just what that the commandment to honor your father and mother really means.

I remember when I realized that commandment actually comes before "thou shalt not kill" which tells you just how important honoring your father and mother is in God's eyes. Kind of blew my mind and helped keep my priorities straight.

Listen to me, your father, O children;
act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety.

For the Lord honors a father above his children,
and he confirms a mother’s right over her children.

Those who honor their father atone for sins,
and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure.

Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children,
and when they pray they will be heard.
...
The glory of one’s father is one’s own glory,
and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.

My child, help your father in his old age,
and do not grieve him as long as he lives;

even if his mind fails, be patient with him;
because you have all your faculties do not despise him.

For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
and will be credited to you against your sins;

in the day of your distress it will be remembered in your favor;
like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away.

Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer,
and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord.

Sirach, 3:1-5, 11-16

Worth a Thousand Words: Corner of the Church of San Stae

Corner of the Church of San Stae, Venice; John Singer Sargent

Well Said: Poverty and Freedom

He who is not capable of enduring poverty is not capable of being free.

Victor Hugo

The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne

“What’s a godfather, Bill?” The Youngest Bad Man inquired. “What job does he hold down?”

“You’re an awful ignorant young man, Bob,” replied The Wounded Bad Man reproachfully. “A godfather is a sort of reserve parent who promises to renounce the devil with all his works an’ pomps.”

The Youngest Bad Man smiled wanly. “Well, Bill, all I got to say is that us three’re a lovely bunch o’ godfathers.”

This little novella has inspired at least five movies, two of them from the silent film era. The most famous is 3 Godfathers starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford, which inspired one of my favorite movies, Tokyo Godfathers. So the story has staying power even in modern culture and other lands.

This little story is the backbone of all those films. This is not the story of the Wise Men, it is the story of Bad Men, we are told on the title page. The three Bad Men are on the lam after a bank heist. Searching for water, they come upon a pioneer woman in labor and dying. Her husband is dead and the newborn baby is given into the care of the "three godfathers" who providentially showed up to help it be born. Their journey to get the baby to his relatives is the story of their struggles with their past and their possible redemption. It is heartfelt but also shows flashes of humor which I enjoyed a lot.

It is interesting to see how the films embellished the basics to give their own take and layers of complexity, which are all, nevertheless, still commenting on the basic story. You can get the book free at Project Gutenberg. I'm lucky because my library had it.

• The Three Godfathers free at Project Gutenberg
• My review of Tokyo Godfathers.
• Tokyo Godfathers discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Worth a Thousand Words: Girl at a Sewing Machine

Girl at a Sewing Machine, Edward Hopper

Genesis Notes: Jacob Meets His Brothers Again

GENESIS 42
If my brothers had hated me enough to sell me to traders I am pretty sure I wouldn't have welcomed them with open arms. At first that seems to be Joseph's reaction as he pretends not to know them and questions them. But we then can see there is a reason besides hurt feelings or revenge for Joseph's methods.

Joseph and His Brothers, Gustav Dore

So why does he pretend to be a stranger and question them harshly, if not to punish them? It is clear from his questions that before telling them who he is, Joseph wants to learn more about them and test them. ...

All Joseph's testing aims to bring them to repentance and reconciliation. Three days in prison gave the men real time to worry about their predicament. They were being asked to bring their youngest brother to Egypt, and if they had never sold Joseph, Benjamin would be with them now. They were confined in prison, which may have reminded them that they held Joseph in a pit regardless of his pleas and sold him into the prison of slavery. Their consciences began to accuse them. They realized that they did wrong against Joseph and deserve this punishment, which they see as coming from God. They have acknowledged their sin, which is the first step toward repentance. Evidence of true sorrow and a changed character remain to be seen.

As much as Joseph must have longed to see Benjamin, sending his brothers to get him posed a further test as much as it would bring about a reunion. Were the brothers still jealous, divided against their father's favorite? Had their relationship with their father improved? Would he trust them with Benjamin? These questions remain to be answered.

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: Carnival

Everything being a carnival, there is no carnival left.

Victor Hugo

Worth a Thousand Words: Persian Calligraphy

Persian calligraphy, Mir Ali Tabrizi

Well Said: Forgiveness or Excuses?

I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says "Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it agains you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before." But excusing says "I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame." If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgiven. In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites. ...

C.S. Lewis, "On Forgiveness," The Weight of Glory

Thank You for A History of the World in 100 Objects! Updated!

A very kind person plucked this off my Amazon wish list and it was a wonderful surprise when it appeared on my doorstep. Thank you!

The history of the Church didn't take place shrouded in the mists of time. It actually happened and continues to happen through things that we can see and sometimes hold in our hand.

The Christian answer to Neil MacGregor's New York Times bestseller A History of the World in 100 Objects, Mike and Grace Aquilina's A History of the Church in 100 Objects introduces you to:

• The Cave of the Nativity (the importance of history, memory, and all things tangible)
• Catacomb niches (the importance of Rome, bones, and relics of the faith)
• Ancient Map of the World (the undoing of myths about medieval science)
• Stained Glass (representative of Gothic cathedrals)
• The Holy Grail (Romance literature and the emergence of writing for the laity)
• Loaves and fish (a link from Jesus to the sacrament of the Eucharist)
• The Wittenberg Door (Martin Luther and the onset of the Reformation)

UPDATE
My take as of Oct. 20:

I'm about halfway through and wanted to encourage anyone who might be on the fence about this book. It is a brief history of the Church, complete with pictures of the items which serve as touchstones for bringing up important historical events. The items include the Christian things you might expect but also range into seemingly non-Christian things like Islamic coins, an Egyptian boy's math notebook, and a medieval science beaker. 

Two or three pages of brief yet comprehensive commentary accompany each item. It is easy to read and even-handed, yet never dumbs it down. I am really loving it.

Well Said: I have noticed something that is really, really cool.

You may also have noticed a lack of critical detachment. I am talking about books because I love books. I'm not standing on a mountain peak holding them at arm's length and issuing Olympian pronouncements about them. I'm reading them in the bath and shouting with excitement because I have noticed something really, really cool.

Jo Walton, What Makes This Book So Great

I can relate.

As you may have noticed here from time to time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Eye Contact

Eye Contact, Remo Savisaar

Well Said: Developing from within

Our being is not constructed from without like a clay mode; it develops from within, as a tree grows and blossoms with the rising of the sap. In us, the sap is the Spirit of Christ. Prayer stimulates its rise.

A. Sertillanges

And just this morning, reading the Gospel of John I read this which, of course, could not fail to call the above quote to mind.

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.

John 15:4-5

Chronological Bible Reading - Update

But how shall I speak of the glories I have since discovered in the Bible? For years I have read it with an ever-broadening sense of joy and inspiration; and I love it as I love no other book. Still there is much in the Bible against which every instinct of my being rebels, so much that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end.

Helen Keller

I'd never have thought this in my younger days, but Helen Keller's words resonate with me: "I love it as I love no other book." Reading the Bible daily — sometimes eagerly, sometimes grudgingly, but always reading it — has made me love it. The Word speaks to me through it and provides riches, consolation, inspiration, and surprise.

As I mentioned a while back, I have been reading the Bible in chronological order. This really has given me more of a sense of how God's relationship with his people has progressed, to how history has had a hand in bringing about our salvation.

And it has increased my love for this incomparable book. I'm not quite done but I'm within five books of the end — at which point I'll start over again.

I eventually came up with my own chronological list because the one I began with was set up to get you through in a year. (See post linked to above.) To that end and, as they explained, to alleviate possible boredom, they'd jiggered things a little. Things like moving Chronicles to way after Kings. This confused me no end, by the way, when I was reading along in their order and suddenly thought, "What is David doing this far into the timeline? He died long ago."

Boredom is not my problem as much as wanting to feel the flow of history. I loved the way their timeline placed prophets in the timeline so you could feel history and prophecy together. So I used their order as a timeline template and started putting the out-of-order elements back where they belonged. The result is below as a jpg that you can download or straight text that you can copy or print.

The Old Testament is in the order in which it happened (as nearly as one can ascertain). Job is the most problematic, probably, but once I saw some people placing it during the Genesis timeline it made the book fall into place for me better because of Job's relationship to God. (Knowing it is a fictional examination of Truth, and so forth.)

The New Testament is in the order in which it was written. That is because I was interested in seeing what order the Church experienced these things being written down and distributed. Kind of a "being there" experience because we know the oral stories were circulating from the beginning.

NOTE: The first time through I've been reading without notes or commentary. When I begin again I'll probably be supplementing my reading with a few of those.

OLD TESTAMENT
(Order in which happened)

• Genesis
• Job
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Psalms
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• Song of Songs
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• 1 Samuel
• 2 Samuel
• 1 Kings
• 2 Kings: 1-17
• 1 Chronicles
• 2 Chronicles: 1-28
• Amos
• Jonah
• Hosea
• Micah
• Isaiah: 1-39
• Tobit
• Nahum
• Zephaniah
• Habakkuk
• Judith
• 2 Kings: 18-25
• 2 Chronicles: 29-36
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Baruch
• Ezekiel
• Obadiah
• Daniel: 1-12 (minus prayer in 3:24–90)
• Isaiah: 40-55
• Joel
• Ezra: 1-6
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Esther
• Ezra: 7-10
• Nehemiah
• Isaiah: 56-66
• Malachi
• Daniel: 13
• Sirach
• Daniel: 14
• Daniel: 3:24–90
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees
• Wisdom

NEW TESTAMENT
(Order in which written)

• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessssalonians
• Galatians
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Romans
• Mark
• Philippians
• Colossians
• Philemon
• Ephesians
• Matthew
• 1 Timothy
• Titus
• 2 Timothy
• Luke
• Acts
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• John
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelations

Genesis Notes: Pharaoh's Dreams and Layers of Meaning

GENESIS 41
One of the things that I love so much about the Catholic approach to Scripture is the acceptance that there are layers upon layers of meaning to be found. This is very well illustrated when Joseph is needed to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. Until I read this I never would have connected the famine in Pharaoh's dreams with man's condition waiting for Jesus, the "Living Bread" but it makes a definite connection.

James Tissot, Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream

Pharaoh's dreams are given in great detail and repeated several times in chapter 41. The net effect of the repetition is to focus our attention on them. "Notice the details!" it fairly shouts.

But why? What is there to notice, other than the fact that the dreams warned Pharaoh of an economic downturn that would wipe out all memory of prosperity and potentially wipe out the population? Wasn't it just a setup, so Joseph could be brought into power?

This is a good time to remember that there are layers of meaning in Scripture, and that understanding the literal meaning can be a springboard to illuminating a deeper spiritual sense. In this case, Pharaoh's dreams and the state of Egypt they represent gain significance when we realize that they are in microcosm a picture of the condition of mankind after the fall. We gain profound insight into the way Joseph saves Egypt by seeing it as sign of the way Christ will come to change that condition.

[...]

Returning to Pharaoh's dreams, it is significant that other than the account of the flood, which signifies baptism, all the major pictures of man's condition and the solution to come (the fruit in the Garden; the famine and grain; and later manna in the wilderness, bread from heaven, the feeding of the 5,000; etc.) are couched in terms of food. For what is it that gives us life but the food that Jesus provides, His Body and Blood? As we read in St. John's gospel: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." (John 6:51). As Catholics we take in this new life every time we eat the host at Mass. As the Catechism so aptly says,

"... when the faithful receive the Body of the Son, they proclaim to one another the Good News that the first fruits of life have been given.' Now too are life and resurrection conferred on whoever receives Christ." What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh -- given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit, "preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism." (1391-2)

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: Adversity and prosperity

Adversity makes men and prosperity makes monsters.

Victor Hugo

Worth a Thousand Words: Winter Geraniums

Winter Geraniums, Belinda Del Pesco

Chai-Spiced Pound Cake

I've never liked chai-spiced drinks but then I saw this recipe in the King Arthur Flour catalog which looked so enticing that I bought their chai spice so I could make it. Of course, I don't love to drink chai but I might like to eat it in a dessert.

The cake was straight-up fantastic. I've got it at at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Well Said: The advantage of front and back views

Mrs. Glegg had both a front and a back parlour in her excellent house of St. Ogg's, so that she had two points of view from which she could observe the weakness of her fellow beings and reinforce her thankfulness for her own exceptional strength of mind.

George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

She's got a way with words, you've gotta admit it.

Worth a Thousand Words: Double Date

Double Date, Karin Jurick

Well Said: Intolerance in support of tolerance

I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

So there really is nothing new under the sun. I feel he would find our times very familiar.

Worth a Thousand Words: Lutter & Wegner

Lutter & Wegner, Edward B. Gordon

Well Said: St. Francis and converting Christians

It is an old story that, while we may need somebody like Dominic to convert the heathen to Christianity, we are in even greater need of somebody like Francis, to convert the Christians to Christianity.

G.K. Chesterton, The Dumb Ox

Genesis Notes: A Few Facts About Egypt

GENESIS 39
I found this information about Egypt in Joseph's time interesting.

Workers plowing, harvesting crops, and threshing grain under the direction of an overseer,
painting in the tomb of Nakht.

WHEN DID JOSEPH ARRIVE?
The date of Joseph's arrival in Egypt is debatable. Many believe he arrived during the period of the Hysksos rulers, foreigners who came from the region of Canaan. They invaded Egypt and controlled the land for almost 150 years. If Joseph arrived during their rule, it is easy to see why he was rapidly promoted up the royal ladder. Because the Hysksos were foreigners themselves, they would not hold this brilliant young foreigner's ancestry against him.

PHARAOH
Pharaoh was the general name for all the kings of Egypt. It was a title like "King" or "President" used to address the country's leader. The Pharaohs in Genesis and Exodus were different men.

THE GOOD LIFE IN EGYPT
Ancient Egypt was a land of great contrasts. People were either rich beyond measure or poverty stricken. There wasn't much middle ground. Joseph found himself serving Potiphar, an extremely rich officer in Pharaoh's service. Rich families like Potiphar's had elaborate homes two or three stories tall with beautiful gardens and balconies. They enjoyed live entertainment at home as they chose delicious fruit from expensive bowls. They surrounded themselves with alabaster vases, paintings, beautiful rugs, and hand-carved chair. Dinner was served on golden tableware, and the rooms were lighted with gold lampstands. Servants, like Joseph, worked on the first floor, while the family occupied the upper stories.

All quotes from 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: Good Company

Good Company, taken by Remo Savisaar

SFFaudio - The Uninvited

We ain't afraid of no ghosts. Or are we? Jesse, Maissa, and Julie talk about The Uninvited at SFFaudio, episode 441.

(Get the audiobook here, my recording of The Uninvited originally done for Forgotten Classics.)

Worth a Thousand Words: Ludgate, Evening

John O'Connor, Ludgate, Evening, 1887
via Lines and Colors

Well Said: What we get to worship

In the day to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

David Foster Wallace