Das Rapsfeld

Das Rapsfeld, Edward B. Gordon

Ninth-Century "Well Adjusted"

In recent years it has been remarked by two or three professors — and as something of a corrective to the general academic consensus — that we should not forget that Vikings were under no obligation to observe the Geneva Convention; that while Vikings were not mad, they were often bad and always dangerous to know; even that there was something "psychopathic" about Viking culture.

To which one need only add that twenty-first-century "psychopathic" could be ninth-century "well adjusted."

Tom Shippey, Laughing Shall I Die

European Beaver

European Beaver, Remo Savisaar

No one benefits from staying inside their comfort zone, not even academics.

Academics have laboured to create a comfort-zone in which Vikings can be massaged into respectability. But the Vikings and the Viking mindset deserve respect and understanding in their own terms — while no one benefits from staying inside their comfort zone, not even academics. This book accordingly offers a guiding hand into a somewhat, but in the end not-so-very, alien world.

Disturbing though it may be.

Tom Shippey, Laughing Shall I Die

FREE 6-Day Pass To The Online Screening of CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players, Vol. I...

I got this in email and they're asking us to share it with everyone, so here you go! I'm looking forward it - a lot!

Friends, Over the course of Catholic history, there have lived people who were so influential,  so pioneering, that it's hard to imagine what the Church would look like without them. In 2016, I began filming CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players to trace the  steps and explore the lives of some of these remarkable historical figures. To celebrate the impact of these pivotal players, I'd like to invite you to  a free online screening event. From May 10-15th, my Word on Fire team will be screening all six episodes  of CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players, Vol. I at PivotalPlayers.com/free-screening. I hope you'll join me on this global adventure to live the stories of   some of the Church's greatest men and women, and to discover the  beauty of Catholicism that they exemplify. Peace,

Grapevines, White and Red

Grapevines, White and Grapevines, Red; William Hughes

via Lines and Colors

If I'm humble, I do without my pride.

All fasting, poverty, obedience, humility — all of the virtues have everything to do with doing without. If I'm humble, I do without my pride. If I'm obedient, I do without my will. If I'm poor, I do without things. Doing without suddenly makes you possess all of those virtues: obedience, humility, poverty and freedom.

Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures

A Bouquet of Poppies By the Window

Olga Wisinger Florian, A Bouquet of Poppies By the Window
via Arts Everyday Living

Being Obedient

Some of us think we have to like what we're doing to be obedient. You're not being obedient until you do what you don't like to do.

Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures

Woman Reading

Fernand Toussaint, Woman Reading
via Gandalf's Gallery

The power of evil arises from our refusal to love God.

If we really wanted to summarize very briefly the content of the Faith as laid down in the Bible, we might do so by saying that the Lord has initiated a narrative of love with us and wants to subsume all creation in it. The counterforce against evil, which threatens us and the whole world, can ultimately only consist in our entering into this love. It is the real counterforce against evil. The power of evil arises from our refusal to love God. He who entrusts himself to the love of God is redeemed. Our being not redeemed is a consequence of our inability to love God. Learning to love God is therefore the path of human redemption.

Benedict XVI, The Church and the scandal of sexual abuse

Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story by Nancy Ward

“Each of us is an unrepeatable expression of God’s presence in the world, with a unique story.”

With those words echoing in her heart, Nancy Ward began thinking of conversion stories as an evangelization tool. The culmination is this book. The first part has tools and tips for sharing your own story in a way that isn't weird or stilted. That's we all worry about, right? I've shared my story a zillion times and yet always have that bit of uncertainty at the beginning of yet another time. Nancy shares her own story here as an example.

The second part has over thirty faith stories from all sorts of Catholics — converts, reverts, clergy, etc. — who tell how God got their attention and drew them close. My own story is in that section.

I haven't read the book yet, so this isn't a review, but it is a recommendation to check this book out. If you love a good conversion (or reversion) story ... and who doesn't ... and would like to know how to be able to talk about your own faith experiences more confidently, then this is for you.

Find it on Amazon Kindle or paperback.

Here's Nancy's blog: Joy Alive

From the Archives: Boxer Report

This was originally posted in October of 2009. I did it to update the girls, both of whom were living too, too far away.

Coming across it, looking for a boxer picture to post for Tom's birthday today (his favorite kind of photo), I enjoyed it so much that I'm rerunning it. Oh those double-Boxer days ...

How our baby has grown!

Baby Wash and almost year-old Zoe.
This is probably from late June? Maybe early July?

I think this is from about when you both left to go to school.
Maybe a bit earlier than that.

So in answer to questions about how big Wash has gotten ...

He is now taller than Zoe. Though you can't tell it from this photo.
They were "watching" the game yesterday with us.

And as you may recall, though this is an old photo,
they both are usually much more active.
That hasn't changed a bit, no matter what the age!

Nobody Walks Slower Than You

"Who did you pass on the road?" the King went on, holding out his hand to the Messenger for some more hay.

"Nobody," said the Messenger.

"Quite right," said the King: "this young lady saw him too. So of course Nobody walks slower than you."

"I do my best," the Messenger said in a sulky tone. "I'm sure nobody walks much faster than I do!"

"He can't do that," said the King, "or else he'd have been here first. ..."

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Irises

Irises,Vincent van Gogh

You're not being obedient until ...

Some of us think we have to like what we're doing to be obedient. You're not being obedient until you do what you don't like to do.

Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures

An easy way to help rebuild Notre Dame

The Catholic Company is supporting the restoration of the Notre Dame cathedral by donating 20% of their proceeds from select items to the Archdiocese of Paris.

Elk in Profile

Elk in Profile, Remo Savisaar

Roman Pilgrimage by George Weigel

There is a Lenten practice that I'd never heard of until reading this book. From Ash Wednesday through Divine Mercy Sunday, Catholics go to the Roman "station church" assigned for that day's Mass as a pilgrimage. Rome's got a lot of churches and this must be a lovely trip through history as well as a spiritual journey for those able to participate.

George Weigel uses this framework to provide a wonderful daily devotional for Lent, complete with photos and a page of information on each church. It is much more than a simple set of devotional reflections, however. The Mass readings and Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the hours are interwoven in an insightful commentary. Weigel doesn't stop there. He includes papal comments, saints' stories and quotes, and much more. I was taken on a Lenten journey which was rich in food for thought and meditation. Very highly recommended.

Note: as many other reviewers have noted, most of the photos are in black and white. Which is really dumb considering the churches are a key part of the book. I used my iPad for further church images.

Pigeons

Pigeons, José Ruiz Blasco (Pablo Picasso's father)

Kalank

"When someone else's loss seems like our victory, then there's no one in the world who's as lost as us."

Set in 1944 pre-partition Lahore. When a wife learns she is dying she asks a young woman to join the household to give her husband support after she's gone. The young woman not unreasonably insists on being married as a second wife so that she won't be cast off when the wife has died. (These being the days when you could have more than one wife.) This sets events into motion which will cause not just one but two love triangles to intersect. Intertwined with this is the story of general unrest over industrialization and possible partition.

Lush, well acted romantic piece set against the backdrop of pre-Partition unrest. In that sense, it made me think of Doctor Zhivago, which I've never seen but know the basics about.

Lavish sets, swirling fabric, and several large dance numbers with 500 performers made this a visual feast. The performances from everyone were wonderful, especially from Varun who I'd only seen as the younger brother in Dilwale (not my favorite movie specifically because of his subplot). Not to mention Madhuri Dixit's spectacular dance (she did have some other dancers swirling around her but it felt as if it were an amazing solo piece).

We were interested to see some of the conversations happening that argued different sides of the partition question. We've seen enough movies to show the results with Pakistan and India divided by barbed wire and steady hostility. But this early history was new to us and sent us to research the events of partition themselves.

The critics gave this so-so reviews overall. We didn't agree. Taken as love stories, taken as a look at people determined to control events (with results they never intended), taken as a movie-going experience - we liked it a lot. As did the six Indian teenage girls behind us at the theater who were sniffling and clapping as it ended.

Rating — for viewers with medium Indian film experience. (It's not rocket science, but without any cultural background at all you might feel kind of lost.)

Lucy Signals to Catwoman

Belinda Del Pesco, Lucy Signals to Catwoman

The Golden Shrub

Edward B. Gordon, The Golden Shrub

Notre Dame Burns - Updated

Just got back from running errands and Rose and Tom told me about the Notre Dame Cathedral burning. I've been there twice ... but am surprised at how upset I am. It's almost as if I were French ... or Catholic.

I think of how crowded it is around the cathedral and hope that the fire doesn't spread. Watching the spire fall hit me hard but at least it fell down and not out to cause more damage.

UPDATED

Le père Fournier, aumônier des @PompiersParis, est allé avec des pompiers
dans la cathédrale #NotreDame pour sauver la couronne d’épines et le Saint-Sacrement...

Translation:

Fr. Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Firefighters, went with the firefighters into Notre-Dame cathedral to save the crown of thorns and the Blessed Sacrament.

Etienne Loraillère, editor at France’s KTO Catholic Television,
via Catholic Herald

My hero! Thank you, Father Fournier!

Almond Blossom

Vincent van Gogh, Almond blossom

What the world needs ...

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Howard Thurman

The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse — Pope Emeritus Benedict

In his most significant pronouncement since he resigned the papacy in 2013, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written a lengthy essay on clerical sex abuse in which he explains what he sees as the roots of the crisis, the effects it has had on the priesthood, and how the Church should best respond.

[...]

The essay is divided into three parts. The first is an examination of the “wider societal context” of the crisis, in which he says he tries to show that an “egregious event” occurred in the 1960s “on a scale unprecedented in history.”

A second section deals with the effects of this on the “formation of priests and on the lives of priests.”

And in a third part he develops “some perspectives for a proper response on the part of the Church.”

National Catholic Register

I feel as if this is old news already since it is all over mainstream media, but I wanted to give a heads-up for anyone who wanted to read sources instead of sound bites.

I read the National Catholic Register summary, which is quite thorough, and it made a lot of sense to me.

You can read the whole essay at the Catholic News Agency. I've not read the actual essay yet but have printed it out.

Just glancing through it, this looks like classic, thoughtful, thorough Benedict XVI ... and it makes me realize how much I've missed his writing. With a few zingers like this one which made me laugh out loud:

What must be done? Perhaps we should create another Church for things to work out? Well, that experiment has already been undertaken and has already failed.

(Thanks to Mark for pointing that one out to me.)

Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book

Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book, Vincent van Gogh

A Particular Love

It is hard to believe in this love. In a book by Hugh of St. Victor, which I read once on the way from St. Paul to Chicago, there is a conversation between the soul and God about this love. The soul is petulant and wants to know what kind of a love is that which loves everyone indiscriminately, the thief and the Samaritan, the wife and the mother and the harlot? The soul complains that it wishes a particular love, a love for herself alone. And God replies fondly that, after all, since no two people are like in this world, He has indeed a particular fondness for each one of us, an exclusive love to satisfy each one alone.

Dorothy Day, On Pilgrimage

Firenze Cucina

Firenze Cucina, Belinda DelPesco

Trading Recipes

I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock.

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Straight thinkin' is a delusion

Hoddan began suddenly to see real possibilities. This was not a direct move toward the realization of his personal ambitions. But on the other hand, it wasn't a movement away from them. Hoddan suddenly remembered an oration he'd heard his grandfather give many, many times in the past.

"Straight thinkin'," the old man had said obstinately, "is a delusion. You think things out clear and simple, and you can see yourself ruined and your family starving any day! But real things ain't simple! They ain't clear! Any time you try to figure things out so they're simple and straightforward, you're goin' against nature and you're going to get 'em mixed up! So when something happens and you're in a straightforward, hopeless fix—why, you go along with nature! Make it as complicated as you can, and the people who want you in trouble will get hopeless confused and you can get out!"

Murray Leinster, The Pirates of Ersatz

I love this book so much. It is really funny.

Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon, Black Mask, Sept. 1929

Prescribing the right book

Between ourselves, there is no such thing, abstractly, as a "good" book. A book is "good" only when it meets some human hunger or refutes some human error. ... My pleasure is to prescribe books for such patients as drop in here and are willing to tell me their symptoms. Some people have let their reading faculties decay so that all I can do is hold a post mortem on them. But most are still open to treatment. There is no one so grateful as the man to whom you have given just the book his soul needed and he never knew it.

Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop

Changes

Changes, Remo Savisaar

The End of An Era — Goodbye to Zoe

Last week, Zoe succumbed to cancer, as will surprise no one who has had Boxers. It is an ill that breed bears with their own particular merry cheer.

I wasn't going to mention it but saw from the stats that several posts have been looked at a lot lately ... those from when both Wash and Zoe joined our family. It brought back such good memories that I thought I'd share the link here for any other Zoe fans who want to see a little more about the hurricane that changed our lives.

It is impossible to sum up Zoe in a few words or even a few paragraphs. She could be wonderful, she could be equally terrible, and her intense, larger-than-life personality filled our house. As my husband said, "She was a military-grade hyper-Boxer." She's now a family legend.

I'll also say that she's the only dog I know of who had an entire sex industry convention at her feet: which you may read about here.

Of course we miss her. Life is calmer without her as Wash and Kaylee can't possibly fill that void, though they are doing their best.

Not just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue

When you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.

Christopher Morley, Parnassus on Wheels

Tuft of Cowslips

Albrecht Dürer, Tuft of Cowslips, 1526
via lines and colors

Piku

Piku juggles her life as a successful architect and caring for her 70-year old hypochondriac father. When they take a road trip from Delhi to Calcutta, the owner of the local cab company has no choice but to drive them personally since none of his drivers are willing to endure Piku or her eccentric father. This crazy road trip reveals much more than a cure for the father's obsessive search for a good "motion" in the bathroom.

I wasn't sure about this one but the universal rave reviews made us give it a try. And they were right. Practically perfect in every way, this movie must have resonated deeply with Indian audiences whose cultural reverence for their elders must often put them in such fixes as we see Piku struggling with. Heck, it resonated with us, even though we probably didn't understand all the nuances of the family interactions.

Excellent acting all round, especially from Irrfan as the taxi driver who does more with a silence or simple glance than most actors do with their whole body. I was afraid Amitabh Bachchan would pull a Jack Nicholson and just play a broad version of himself. But no worries. He is simply fantastic as the elderly father obsessed with a particular aspect of his health. The way the big Indian family is portrayed is also pitch perfect to anyone who's ever been part of one.

No song and dance numbers because, really, how can you build a good number around constipation?

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Central California Farmland

Central California Farmland, Belinda DelPesco

The Mighty King

The Mighty King by Ken Kelly
via Not Pulp Covers (by way of SFFaudio)

King Kong is one of my all time favorite movies and Edgar Wallace, the screenwriter, is one of my favorite old time mystery/thriller writers. So you can see why I love this.

Holy Hacks by Patti Armstrong

Do you wish there was a more practical way to live your faith in the midst of a busy life?

“Holy hacks” were created to help. This fun and fast-paced resource is full of concrete tips for living the faith right where you are. With about two-hundred simple and creative ways to grow in holiness, you can find something to help you engage your faith and grow in Christ every day.

This little book is a gold mine of simple ways to focus our lives on living our faith more fully and growing closer to God. We all practice little shortcuts to shore up our faith and that's part of what makes this collection so appealing.

Topics range from relationships, avoiding gossip, humility, and liturgical seasons like Lent and Easter. It isn't just lists of hacks. Each chapter has more in-depth commentary which is often broken into different sections — relationships, for example include family, friends, and marriage — with, of course, holy hacks for each.

I'm reminded of nothing so much as St. Terese's "little way" of living the faith fully by simple "hacks" like always smiling at someone she disliked or methods she used to ignore someone else's unconscious, continual pencil tapping.

A few of my favorite hacks:

• Say grace in public — even at vending machines.
• Make a prayer pick of the day for someone who makes your skin crawl, and pray for them. No matter how heroic you feel, remember that "the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you" (Mt. 7:2).
• Gossip Hack: Give a compliment about a person being attacked. It will stop gossipers in their tracks.
• Marriage Hack: When you are about to complain about something, stop and say a prayer for your spouse instead.
• Say a prayer and make a sacrifice, as a perfect go-together. Don't overlook little things, such as skipping a cookie and saying a Hail Mary. 
• Do not address the devil unless you are renouncing him; speak only to God and the angels and saints. (This is one I already follow ... there have been times when I've responded to a temptation with, "You've gotta be dreamin. Just get lost." And then I turn to my guardian angel and St. Michael.

This would be a perfect gift for confirmation or someone just entering the church. Though it is also great just for everyday living. I know it is a book I'll be picking up often.

What else exactly did God want?

Faithfulness, obedience; but what else exactly did God want? Slowly, gropingly as it were, Abraham's descendants sought the answer, through episodes rich in symbols. Isaac's marriage signified that the clan of Terah was to remain pure and not mix its blood with any other; Jacob, "wrestling with an angel" for a whole night by the River Jabbok, was obliged to come to grips with his human condition and choose between the flesh and the spirit, personal interest and his vocation.

Soon the whole people was confronted by this problem. In Egypt, where famine led them and Joseph settled them, Abraham's descendants perhaps thought that, surrounded by idols with animals' faces, they would easily be able to preserve their faith. The answer they received was persecution, suffering, and anguish. Obeying God is not easy. But the seal put on His people by the Lord genuinely protected it.

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Louis Comfort Tiffany

Louis Comfort Tiffany by Joaquín Sorolla, 1911

Abraham and the ineffable call

The revelation began formally on the day when a nomadic Semite in the neighborhood of Ur of the Chaldees heard an ineffable call and obeyed the supernatural command. What call? The call of the one God, the true God, of God. He whom the human spirit discovers, but can know only darkly, selected Abraham, son of Terah, as the messenger of his Word and ordered him to break with the errors and abominations of polytheism. We are confronted here with an essentially mystical and inexplicable fact, as mysterious in its essence and as tangible in its results as the mission of Joan of Arc, perhaps for France. How, why, in a world soaked in idolatry, did a small Bedouin clan, led by its chief, opt for the truth? The answer is obviously to be found in the will of God, already at work.

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Another Marguerite

Joaquin Sorolla, Another Marguerite

Action Thrillers — Special 26 and Don

In the early 1980s in India, a group of con artists rob well-known businessmen and politicians by posing as officers of the Central Bureau of Intelligence or income tax officials. The gang stages fake raids during which they steal great amounts of money from their targets.

A good heist film based on a notorious jewel robbery in the 1960s in Bombay (as it was called then). It is a bit confusing at first but just hang in there and it will all come into focus. It made me think of Inside Man, especially in the fact that I wanted both sides to win.

If you watch this it is helpful to know that the CBI can come in, shut you down (including cutting telephone wires) and tear the place apart looking for hidden wealth. As early scenes show, this is justified by the high levels of corruption. A really excellent movie that is almost like a primer for this concept of tax collection, which is incomprehensible to Americans, is Raid.

I especially wanted to see this since I'd only seen lead star Akshay Kumar in Tashan where he played a dim-witted, but good-hearted, mob enforcer. In this he is a mastermind a la George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven and carried it off quite well. Of course, there is a romantic subplot which means several song and dance numbers. This may be a heist film but we're not barbarians!

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

DCP DeSilva sees a way to bring to justice the feared head of a criminal empire by recruiting a man named Vijay, who looks exactly like the crime boss. The ruse works too well, and soon Vijay finds his life in danger when DeSilva, the only one who knows his true identity, dies.

Really a fun crime thriller with some good plot twists. I enjoyed seeing Shah Rukh Khan play a psychotic, cold blooded killer as a contrast to his usually more charming roles. I think he enjoyed it too. Though, to be fair, this is a double role so he gets to play a warm-hearted good guy for a lot of the movie. The best of both worlds, perhaps?

As always, what is a crime thriller without four or five song and dance numbers? Yes, it can be done as Don proves. And I'm not complaining.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Blind Man of Toledo

Joaquín Sorolla, Blind Man of Toledo

The most exhilarating aspect of the Bible

Very often the Bible compares God to a potter modeling human clay: "As clay in the hand of the potter," says Jeremiah, "so are men in the hand of God." Scripture is thus the story of this progressive refinement, of this patient work by the Creator on His creature to bring him to greater perfection. And just as a potter does not transform the lump of clay that he is modeling into a vase with skillful curves instantaneously, so God reveals Himself at work throughout the Bible and seems to enjoy displaying His alterations, His momentary defeats, His regrets, and His fresh starts.

This is perhaps the most exhilarating aspect of the Bible; it gives a constant sense of progress. "The historian receives an extraordinary impression from the Bible," writes Fr. de Lubac. "The contrast between the humbleness of Israel's beginnings and the power of the — explosives would be a better term — it bears within itself; the concrete and at first somewhat veiled form taken by its highest beliefs; then the majestic progress, the confident if mysterious march toward something vast and unforeseeable; nowhere else do we find anything even remotely resembling all this."

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Walking Through Holy Week by Karen May

This year I invite you to experience Holy Week differently. These events are real. They are historical. They are shocking and devastating. They are surprising and exhilarating. In Walking Through Holy Week, you will see how each day allows us to enter into the action and be a part of the story. Imagine how different Easter will be when you experience the days leading up to it as the apostles did.

The Holy week masses are carefully designed to allow us to walk with Jesus through His passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. I love it whenever I learn more about the context and scripture because it opens up the stories and helps transform it into a personal experience. But I know there's plenty more to discover.

That's why I was so interested in Walking Through Holy Week and I really love it. Each mass is broken down by section, with an introduction to each reading, brief commentary, and questions for reflection. I especially appreciate that full scriptural readings are included so you don't have to look anything up. (Because I already know I'm not going to take the extra step to go look stuff up.) And there are additional scriptural references in the back for anything else that's referred to. I also like that the questions are thoughtful. They make you dig deeper.

For example, the first reading for Palm Sunday has the phrase, "This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled."

Have you ever wondered who that prophet might be, and how the reader is supposed to know about it? This reference is a combination of two verses. Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9, and would have been easily recognized by the Jewish people.

Well, no, it never occurred to me to ask that question. I always just take the gospel's word for it. The quoted verses are included with scriptural references in an appendix so they are easily found ... and they give much food for thought, especially when paired with the next two questions:

1. Read the passages from Isaiah and Zechariah 9. After reading these scriptures, what would you have expected Jesus to do after he entered Jerusalem?
2. The Book of Zechariah continues with descriptions of battle and triumph, but changes suddenly from tales of success and glory to descriptions of grief and desolation. Read Zechariah 12:10-13:1. What are some of the things that point to what Jesus is about to do?

I suddenly understood why people expected a triumphal political leader ... and what the reality was that Jesus had come to achieve. It is all there, set up for us by the two ancient prophets.

Modern parallels are also included to help you relate to how regular people at the time would have thought and felt. They are particularly effective especially since they stay away from dwelling on the sentimental. For example, to give an idea of how Jesus' arrest would have struck faithful believers, we are asked to imagine that Pope Francis has been captured by ISIS and put on trial. There is a thrill of shock at the idea and it helps us remember the vivid horror of events covered in Holy week.

Since stations of the cross are traditional for Good Friday, each of them is covered with the same thoroughness.

Use it during Holy Week or use it all during Lent as a study. This book is a real treasure for anyone who wants to enter into Lent and especially Holy Week more fully. Although it is centered on the mass readings and Stations of the Cross, any denomination of Christian is going to get a deeper understanding of Christ's passion, crucifixion, and resurrection.

The Buccaneer

Since our discussion of the Ten Commandments airs today, I couldn't resist this wonderful poster (with so much shirtless goodness) for a favorite movie from my youth, though I only got to see it on Saturday afternoon movies on TV. And it stars Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner! Directed by Anthony Quinn who was Cecil B. DeMille's son-in-law at the time, since DeMille was too ill to do the project as a remake of his earlier 1930s version.

So there are many parallels with the Ten Commandments. Aside from the fact that this is just a really fun popcorn movie and the Ten Commandments is that and much, much more.

The Hebrew People and God's Special Protection

As human author of the Bible, the Hebrew people asserts that it is in receipt of spiritual assistance, inspiration; as an actor in biblical events, it declares that it enjoys God's special protection, the Covenant. To what extent does a historical view of the facts corroborate these two assertions?

From the purely literary point of view, there is a problem that is insoluble if we rule out divine intervention: how was this people without arts, philosophy, and any particular natural endowments able to produce this incomparable masterpiece, while people infinitely more advanced intellectually have left books full of gross moral and religious errors?

Fom the strictly historical point of view, how was this tiny people — in the time of Solomon's splendor, it never exceeded a million souls — able to exert such widespread influence? Persecuted, tortured, reduced in the dark days of the captivity "by the waters of Babylon" to fewer than a hundred thousand exiles, how was it able to survive right up to the present day, while mighty empires all around it have left us only ruins, inscriptions, and mummies? And why did the long trial that was its destiny lead it step by step, from suffering to suffering, ever upward toward revelation?

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Graveyards, Babies, and The Jungle Book

Jesse, Maissa, and I discuss Neil Gaiman's wonderful homage to The Jungle Book ... which manages to be both a tribute and altogether original. Get it at SFFaudio.

A Cloudy Day, Bluebonnets

Julian Onderdonk, A Cloudy Day, Bluebonnets, near San Antonio, 1918
via Arts Everyday Living

The Mass gave full expression to the truths and mysteries of Christianity.

As with beauty and imagination, the order and symbolism of public prayer were bound up with truth. The Mass gave full expression to the truths and mysteries of Christianity. The Cross was there, but so was our Lord's crucified body, with the pierced side, the bloodied hands, the scourged and welted back, the thorns cutting into the forehead. His sacrifice was present. And so was the Virgin, who had given him flesh from her own flesh, nursed him from her bosom and accompanied him to the last. She was our link to the Incarnation — how could we leave her out of worship? ...

Without Mary, Christianity risked losing the truth about Christ's own identity — the union of two natures, divine and human, in one person — and drifting toward Gnosticism of various kinds.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Coffee and potatoes

Albert Anker, Still life: coffee and potatoes
via Lines and Colors

Assyrian Horses

Assyrian horses, alabaster bas-relief from Nineveh, 7th century BC

Band Baaja Baaraat (Band Music and Revelry)

Bittoo meets Shruti when he crashes a wedding for free food and she tries to have him thrown out. He's interested in flirting but she's all business about her future, which does not include romance. That's ironic because she's going to begin a wedding planning service. When his father wants Bittoo to return to the sugar cane farm, Bittoo throws in his lot with Shruti's. It's strictly business. Of course.

This is a solid romantic comedy and a much better movie than the description makes it seem. The script often surprised me by taking unexpected turns. Probably the most refreshing bit was that it focused much less on the problems of running a wedding planning company than those of their relationship. Normally that wouldn't be a plus for me but these two actors elevated the movie and with the plot twists it all worked. Plenty of songs and dance numbers kept it fun and the item number is wonderfully over the top.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

 Hannah and Rose review this on An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

March Snow

Edward B. Gordon,
Today the snow blustered over land and sea. Flakes as big as handkerchiefs danced in the wind.

Nothing like that here so maybe that's why I like the painting!

"Freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God."

Too much autonomy was as likely to yield despotism as the hideous statist projects of the last century. True freedom, Benedict [XVI] taught, was something else. It was "freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God." To know what God wants and to bring oneself into conformity with the transcendent order of the universe, then, was freedom. That was the essence of Israel's joy, what set it apart from the pagans with their idols and god-emperors. The Christian, however, had the added joy of knowing the "face" of the law: self-sacrificial love. The road to fullest freedom ran through the Cross.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Rewatching Secretariat: "He holds not back at the sound of the trumpet."

I first reviewed this movie in 2010 after a preview screening but recently rewatched it. I was surprised at how much I loved it still and how inspiring it was. I shouldn't have been surprised. For one thing it was Roger Ebert's movie of the year. 

I thought I'd rerun the review in case you forgot it too ... or missed it the first time around.

Do you give the horse his strength, and endow his neck with splendor?

Do you make the steed to quiver while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?

He jubilantly paws the plain and rushes in his might against the weapons.

He laughs at fear and cannot be deterred; he turns not back from the sword.

Around him rattles the quiver, flashes the spear and the javelin.

Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground; he holds not back at the sound of the trumpet,

but at each blast he cries, "Aha!" Even from afar he scents the battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.

Job 39:19-25

These are the opening words of the movie, Secretariat. It is part of God's speech to Job when asking him where he was when God made the world. Unusual as it is to hear a long passage from the Bible quoted when showing us a racehorse glorying in running, it is nonetheless a perfect definition for the true story of Secretariat and his owner, Penny Chenery.

In 1969, Penny Chenery is a Colorado housewife and mother when she must take on the management of her ailing father's Virginia horse stables. Struggling to make ends meet, she hires veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) who is haunted by past big losses. When a crucial decision must be made about which colt may become a winning racehorse she goes against conventional wisdom in what will become a pattern for the future. Using her hard won knowledge, innate sense of what is right, and stubborn determination to never give up, Penny Chenery makes great inroads into the male-dominated business.

There are inevitable strains on family and marriage as Chenery continually commutes and runs the business as well as being a wife and mother. These are not a large part of the movie but are nonetheless important subtext for what Chenery accomplishes, as is the parallel journey with a daughter who is discovering her true self. Although most of the attention is on Chenery's struggles, we also become well acquainted with that incredible horse, Secretariat, including his prodigious appetite, trademark late start from the gate, sheer joy in running, and endearing love of the limelight.

It is no secret that Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, but just as in watching the movie Apollo 13, knowing the outcome in no way detracts from the tension when viewing this film. This is a true story that reads like a work of fiction with myriad unbelievable twists and turns. I remember watching the three races in which Secretariat ran and the truly amazing performance he gave at The Belmont, in the crowning victory. However, I had no idea of what was at stake or the road traveled to get there and this behind-the-scenes story was fascinating.

The overall message is that we must live life to the fullest, joyfully, and to strive with all that is in us to do our utmost. Emphasizing that message was the unashamed reference to religion in the movie. From the beginning when the book of Job is quoted at length, to joyous gospel songs at two crucial scenes, to the stable hand Eddie's comments about lifting each other up, there is a definite subtext of faith which is as rare these days as it is welcome. This is skillfully done without ever clubbing the viewer over the head, which is also welcome.

This is not a perfect movie. The missteps seemed to always be in a desire to "help" the audience understand the movie better. I am not sure whether it was the director or studio who felt that the audience wouldn't understand the speed and power of the horses in some of the close racing scenes without using modern editing techniques (removing frames perhaps?) to make the motion seem faster. The overall effect, however, was to give us less to see of the very thing that they wanted to celebrate, namely the power and speed of these graceful animals and their riders as they compete. Reality, in this case, did not need enhancement. Likewise, when one of the daughters said her mother was "Awesome," I winced. Not in 1973. She'd have said her mother was cool or groovy. We get it. Stay in character. Conversely, the place where we could have used the help was in including a long shot of the end of the Belmont race, where one really needs a visual demonstration to understand the enormity of just how that race turned out. However, these are relatively minor flaws and easily overlooked.

I was stunned when director Randall Wallace appeared at our preview screening. He spoke feelingly about his pride in making a family movie celebrating time honored virtues which anyone in America could watch. He can be rightly proud of this accomplishment in telling an incredible story in a captivating, inspirational way. As the movie began I was reminded of the movies that Disney used to make long ago. Toward the end, it had surpassed them in the richness of the storytelling.

The question on everyone's mind going into this movie is most probably, "How does it compare with Seabiscuit?" I can tell you that it would be like comparing apples and oranges. Both are enjoyable in their own ways. Seabiscuit was more of a period piece and multiple character study. This is a straight forward, inspirational movie of the same sort as The Blind Side. The actors are not called upon to stretch their talents in part because they are telling a straight forward story. The possible exception to this might be John Malkovich who, for a change, was not playing John Malkovich as is the trend lately. He turned in a charming and likable performance as the quirky, flamboyantly dressed, but overall normal trainer.

Highly recommended.

Courtesan

Courtesan (after Eisen), 1887, Vincent van Gogh

Its beauty was the work of human hands yet transcendent in effect.

This [church] was a holy place, set apart from the banality and corruption of human affairs. It was a place of right worship. Its beauty was the work of human hands yet transcendent in effect. Here beauty paid an enduring homage to the theological precepts that inspired and preceded it. And if metalwork and masonry and painting directed my imagination to spiritual realities, was that not because Almighty God had blessed me with a receptive imagination in the first place?

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Montmartre

Vincent van Gogh. Montmartre. Paris. Autumn 1886.

Garden of the Hospital in Arles

Garden of the Hospital in Arles, Vincent van Gogh

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Luncheon of the Boating Party, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This is a favorite of practically everyone, with good reason.

I completely agree with the sentiments of actor Edward G. Robinson who said, "For over thirty years I made periodic visits to Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party in a Washington museum, and stood before that magnificent masterpiece hour after hour, day after day, plotting ways to steal it."

For a wonderful look at who all these people are, check the link above.