Living with Deborah: Both Sides Now

Part 2 of the Deborah chapter from my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — let's take a look at how two versions of the same story help us have a nuanced view.

Part 1 is here.

LIVING WITH DEBORAH
Both Sides Now

There are only two chapters about Deborah, and the second one retells the first, but in poetry.

The prose chapter is a well-constructed, complete story. We get the religious and historical setting, Deborah’s and Barak’s roles, God’s instructions, battle strategy, and Sisera’s death. It’s a nice, tidy package.

The poetic chapter is dramatic and fun because it’s a celebration song. This is when it gets personal, immediate, and full of interesting details. Deborah stops bandits plaguing travelers, tribes are shamed for skipping battle, and “the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon” washed away the enemy.

What I find most poignant in Deborah’s song is a bit imagining Sisera’s mother when he never comes home.

Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?” (Jgs 5:26)

Deborah clearly sings this triumphantly, especially since the next lines are from the mother’s maids saying that Sisera’s probably just picking out the best slave girls and loot to bring home. For me it brings home the fact that Sisera is someone’s son, just like all those other warriors. It makes all those people feel vividly alive for me. It’s a touch, however chilling, that we don’t often get.

These two versions are like reading the book and seeing the movie. Each has a slightly different attitude, while both communicate the truth. Scripture does this all the time. That’s why Genesis has two versions of Adam’s creation, and four Gospels tell Jesus’ life story.

What can’t be ignored in either version of this story is that it is God’s story, first and foremost. Deborah, Barak, and Jael are important, but the storytellers are really talking about God’s protection of his beloved people. In case we don’t get it, right after Jael nails Sisera with that tent peg, we’re told, “So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel.” Bam. The victory is God’s.

As much as I love looking at Deborah’s story from several angles, I tend to resist this sort of view in my own life. The big picture of my own story is so often told from different points of view by my husband and children, family and friends. If I’m not too wedded to my own version, I can learn more about myself, good or bad. My life is enriched when I open myself up to community and allow myself to be known more fully.

Tomorrow in part 3 we'll take a closer look at the two ladies who crush it for God - and what that means in our own lives.

Don't forget the book giveaway! Sign up here!

If you liked what you've been reading, don't wait. Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

What I'm Humming: Guys and Dolls

Here's what I've been humming for about a week. Mom hadn't seen this before and so we watched it and have been singing bits of different songs to each other ever since.

Not too classy, but what're you gonna do? Here's the one that keeps coming back ... I love the guy with the poodle.

Look, what's playing at the Roxy?

I'll tell you what's playing at the Roxy.

It's a picture about a Minnesota man so in love with a Mississippi girl that he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi.

That's what's playing at the Roxy.

The Odd Volume

The Odd Volume (1894). Henry Stacy Marks.
Via Books and Art

We All Loved This One: Kumbalangi Nights

I'd read a good review of this Malayalam language Indian film and knew only that it was about four brothers in a tiny fishing town. And that it is a comedy-drama, a confusing yet common Indian description.

So none of us had any idea what to expect. It quickly became apparent that this was a movie you had to be prepared to let just wash over you in a state of confusion for the first 20 or 30 minutes. Luckily we were all willing to do that. After that it all came into focus and turned into a great movie with some twists that put us on the edge of our seats.

As my mother said:

The movie was beautiful to watch. Lovely, almost dreamlike landscapes instead of the usual crowded streets and scenes of many Indian movies. Good twist to the plot. This one is eye candy that relaxes and charms, making the story even more realistic.

I grew to love the four brothers from the wrong side of the tracks and the way they were dealing with their various dilemmas. I also was fascinated by their contrast with the family of one brother's girlfriend who seemed so perfect in every way and yet felt "off" from the beginning.

As the story goes on it is clear the director is telling us about families, how they are formed, and how they grow. The movie's twists were truly unexpected and there is a clear religious element that interested us as Kumbalangi is about 40% Christian.

All four of us kept talking about it the next day, so it did a great job of capturing our imaginations and hearts.

I feel lucky that it is streaming on Amazon so we were able to see it. I see that this director's first film is also streaming there and I want to watch that soon.

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.) 

Hannah and Rose discuss Kumbalangi Nights at An American's Guide to Bollywood.

Deborah — Kicking Ass and Taking Names

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — we looked last week at Jonah. Now, let's take a look at how the ladies can crush it when it comes to the prophet business.

We're going to read about Deborah. She's going to change your mind about ancient Jews and gender roles.

DEBORAH

Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

Judges 4:4

What to Read

• Judges 4–5

Deborah’s story is two short chapters that turn popular ideas about ancient Jews and gender roles upside down.

You know how you have bad habits, vow to reform, and then fall back into the same things over and over? Once Joshua (the leader after Moses) dies, that’s the Israelites’s main problem. With no single leader to keep them on the straight and narrow, the tribes fall into a recognizable cycle. They idolize pagan gods, and God lets them reap what they sow. Nearby nations invade, and God doesn’t stop them. Eventually, the Israelites get the point and repent, wailing for help. God raises a hero (a.k.a. judge) to restore his people.

Although every sin-oppression-repentance spiral is depressingly the same, the heroes God raises each time are startlingly different. Trust God to handle each problem with creative flair. And he’s willing to keep on doing it as long as they need. The Book of Judges is one long, action-packed look at God and his heroes.

Deborah is one of the lesser known judges and prophets, but her short story is one of the most unusual. Among other things, the only other person in the entire Bible to be both a judge and a prophet is Samuel, so she’s a rarely gifted individual.

Quick Take on Deborah

With Deborah, God is at his most surprising because, first of all, he gives the Jews an unconventional female leader. Not a man. Not someone like Miriam, who’s always mentioned alongside her brothers. Deborah’s a married woman, but her husband is just mentioned in passing. Her personal life isn’t the point here. She sits under her palm tree in the mountains, judging Israel and laying down some of the most immediately provable prophecies in the entire Bible.

For twenty years, Israel has been in the power of the Canaanites. Their general, Sisera, is oppressing the heck out of everyone with his nine hundred iron chariots, the newest thing in military tech.

Deborah summons Israel’s top general, Barak, giving him God’s command to take ten thousand men and march to the Kishon River, where Sisera will be delivered into his power. Barak says, “OK, but only if you come, too.” Without missing a beat, Deb replies, “No prob. But now a woman is going to kill their general. Coulda been your gig, but … there you go!”

With that intro, we all think it’s going to be Deborah dealing the final blow, but surprise! It’s a new player, Jael, with her handy tent peg and hammer!

It goes down like this: God sends rain, which floods right down the Kishon River and washes away those awesome chariots. All the Canaanites are slaughtered on the field of battle, except Sisera, who runs away on foot. Smart or coward? You decide.

He winds up at a tent where his ally’s wife, Jael, is home alone. She offers him a jug of milk, and when he’s off guard, she takes a tent peg and drives it through Sisera’s temple with a big mallet.

One translation says the peg went through his skull into the dirt beneath his head. That is graphic. And impressive. Barak shows up too late, but he can’t say God didn’t warn him. He leads the warriors, but the special glory goes to Deborah and Jael.

Then Deborah and Barak sing a victory hymn that poetically retells the story. This is the high point of a huge celebration party with lots of roasted sheep, wine, and Bollywood-style dancing. OK, the party isn’t described in the Bible, but that’s how it goes in my head. You can just feel the joy and triumph coming through.

And there was peace for forty years.

Tomorrow in part 2 we'll compare the prose and poetic versions of the story and see what why two versions are better than one.

Don't forget the book giveaway! Sign up here!

If you liked what you've been reading, don't wait. Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

Night Show

Night Show, Finnish Lapland/Northern Finland, Remo Savisaar

GIVEAWAY! For my new book — Thus Sayeth the Lord

I ran the Jonah chapter last week to give you a taste of the book. And for the rest of the week, I'll excerpt the Deborah chapter.

But there's nothing like the whole book in your very own hands!

So we're giving away a copy here on the blog! 

And I just discovered, checking the copyright page of my own copy, that it scored an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. All of which are official declarations that it is free from doctrinal or moral error.

Of course, if you've been reading the excerpts you know that doesn't mean they are agreeing with all of my takeaways and opinions — but we're totally starting from the right place in looking at these prophets.

It's just one more reason for you to want to read the whole thing!

Leave your name in the comments box and I'll do a random drawing on Friday. Or send me an email if the comments box is giving you grief - julie [at] glyphnet [dot] com

Note: Continental U.S. only

Mandarins with Vase

Mandarins with Vase, Duane Keiser

Love Drama or Power Drama?

We tend to think of Shakespeare's plays as being tragedies or comedies but this opens things up a bit.

If the distinction is not held too rigidly nor pressed too far, it is interesting to think of Shakespeare's chief works as either love dramas or power dramas, or a combination of the two. In his Histories, the poet handles the power problem primarily, the love interest being decidedly incidental. In the Comedies, it is the other way around, overwhelmingly in the lighter ones, distinctly in the graver ones, except in Troilus and Cressida--hardly comedy at all--where without full integration something like a balance is maintained. In the Tragedies both interests are important, but Othello is decidedly a love drama and Macbeth as clearly a power drama, while in Hamlet and King Lear the two interests often alternate rather than blend.”

Harold Clarke Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, Volume 2

I never thought of it this way but Goddard is right. This is a very interesting way to look at the Bard's work. I just can't praise Goddard's books highly enough, by the way, for anyone who is interested in digging deeper into Shakespeare. Insightful, illuminating, and stimulating literary criticism which always respects Shakespeare's text.

Living with Jonah: Which Hand is Which and Running from God

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — the final part of the sample chapter we've been reading this week. (Previously:  part 1, part 2, part 3.)

Let's dig into Jonah's story and see what else it can tell us about our own lives, here and now.

Living with Jonah

Which Hand is Which?

Any time that someone tells you the “Old Testament God” is cruel and vengeful, remember the Book of Jonah. Absolutely not. God is God, no matter which Testament we’re reading. The mercy he shows the Ninevites is the same mercy we see Jesus praying for from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

When I’m embarrassed over things I’ve done in the past, I remember God’s understanding words about the Ninevites, which I think are some of the most loving and hopeful in the entire Bible.

God knows that the Ninevites are ignorant, that they never had an opportunity to learn another way, and that they haven’t been given a real chance to be anyone other than who they are. And he knows that about me. As an agnostic, I made fun of people who remained chaste before marriage; called the Eucharist “that cracker”; and rolled my eyes over the pro-life movement. It has taken a lot of time, a lot of reading, and much internal prompting from God for me to be able to see things from his point of view. I appreciate now how ignorant I was and how obnoxious I must have seemed to Christians around me.

It’s why I also appreciate his gentle correction as I try — sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes halfheartedly — to live my life as a faithful Catholic, in Jesus’ footsteps.

Running from God

I’m like Jonah in more ways than one. I can be pretty quick off the mark in the wrong direction when God calls with something I don’t want to do.

What’s worse, a lot of the time I’m pretending to myself that I’m not turning my back on God. For all Jonah’s faults, he never pretended he wasn’t defying God. He even understood his own motivations. I’m not that honest a lot of the time. My problems are all pretty small compared with having to go declare God’s word to a hostile nation: the acquaintance that I don’t want to invite to a party because she is awkward to be around. The evenings I don’t want to give up to volunteer. The sick person I don’t want to visit because he can be pretty critical.

These petty problems can loom large, and I know I sound exactly like a sulky teenager when I’m coming up with excuses. And, come to think of it, so does Jonah, when he’s on the hill overlooking the city. Just as Jonah only cared that the plant was dying because he  lost the shade, not for the plant’s sake, we often think of everything (including people) according to how it affects us, not for another’s sake. That is where God’s thought-provoking question to Jonah comes in at the end.

We’re not given an answer to God’s question. Instead we, like Jonah, are left to ponder God’s ways and our own. Do I want to be like Jonah? Or just go ahead and try it God’s way? Because the only one I’m fooling is myself.

Next week, I'll share another chapter so you can see how a different prophet might show us something about our lives today.

If you liked what you've been reading, don't wait. Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

St. Peter's Basilica at Night

St. Peter's Basilica at Night, Scott Danielson

Living with Jonah: Mad as Hell

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — I''m sharing a sample chapter this week. (Previously: part 1, part 2.)

Let's dig into Jonah's story and see what it can tell us about our own lives, here and now.

Living with Jonah

Mad as Hell

Let’s face it: Jonah himself is not a great person. He hates the Ninevites so much. It’s hard to blame him, because the Ninevites are the worst, a lot like ISIS and the Nazis rolled into one. So he runs.

Jonah isn’t simply being disobedient. He knows Scripture well enough to deeply disagree with God’s probable attitude to the Ninevites. In Exodus, God gives Moses the tablets and describes his nature: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”

It’s the only place in the Old Testament where God describes his own nature,* and you can bet Jonah knew it. Did Jonah want that for the Ninevites? Heck no!

It’s ironic that Jonah’s absolute faith in God’s true nature is horribly justified when God forgives them at the first opportunity. Jonah comes right out and says, “Is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil.”

Mic drop.

What a powerful message this is for the Israelites reading this book. Their whole culture revolves around being God’s chosen people, whether or not they actually obey him very well. Now this clever book preaches a subversive message of God’s equal love for all peoples, all nations, and all creation.

Unfortunately, I understand Jonah all too well. I haven’t had a lot of violence enter my life, but his feelings about the Ninevites match the thirst for vengeance I felt on 9/11. I hated the terrorists, and I equally hated the Middle Eastern women I saw on TV exulting in the death and destruction of my beloved countrymen. How dare they!

It seems to be human nature, doesn’t it? We want justice. Mercy isn’t even on our radar. The troubled look in a gentle friend’s eyes when I told her my feelings finally made me stop and reconsider my lust for vengeance. I was able to let my hatred go when I leaned on the truth expressed by God at the end of Jonah: “And the Lord said … ‘And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?’” Those women didn’t know any better, and I did. That made it my responsibility to take control of my feelings.

* J. Carl Laney, “God’s Self-Revelation in Exodus 34:6-8,” Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (January-March 2001): 36-51, https://www.galaxie.com/article/bsac158-629-03

Tomorrow in part 4 we'll see what Jonah shows us about God's nature toward us and looking at our own behavior compared to Jonah's.

Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

Roman Forum

Roman Forum, Scott Danielson

Quick Take on Jonah

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — I''m sharing a sample chapter this week. (Read part 1 here.)

Let's get a quick look-see at what the book of Jonah is about.

Quick Take on Jonah
God tells Jonah to preach in Nineveh. Nineveh’s the capital of Assyria, the most powerful and ruthless nation of the time, which all Israelites reading this book would’ve known. Not a place you just want to pop into. Jonah, as we have seen already, hot-foots it in the opposite direction to a ship at the edge of the known world. God raises a huge storm, causing the pagan sailors to toss Jonah overboard, where God saves him by having a huge fish swallow him. Bonus: The sailors begin worshipping God.

After three days and three nights, the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land. (Vomits. You’ve got to love the way the Hebrews keep it real. Jonah gets zero respect.) God repeats his command and, unsurprisingly, Jonah finally obeys.

And — are you ready for this? — the people of Nineveh surprise everyone, probably including themselves, by believing Jonah the very first day and promptly doing penance. They also make their animals do penance. These Ninevites are all in. This might be a first in the history of biblical prophecy.

God forgives them, which makes Jonah hopping mad. He furiously sits on a hill, watching the city, wishing he were dead, and complaining to God that this is why he ran away. “I knew you would forgive them,” he says. God has a plant grow, providing Jonah with much-needed shade, and then has a worm attack the plant so it withers and dies. Jonah gets even more infuriated, giving God some great talking points. The ensuing conversations provide God’s point of view.

We'll skip tomorrow since it will be Ash Wednesday - and pick up on Thursday in part 3 we'll see what Jonah has to do with our own lives.

Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

Rome at Night

Rome at Night, Scott Danielson

Jonah: Mad as Hell and Running From God

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — I'll share a sample chapter over this week. Let's start with someone we might all be able to relate to — a less enthusiastic prophet we'll never see.

JONAH

Mad as Hell and Running from God

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

What to Read

• All four short, exciting chapters.

I’ve got to hand it to Jonah; he doesn’t mess around. God gives him a prophecy to deliver, and in the second sentence, Jonah’s on the run, “fleeing.” Look at how the next verse almost trips over itself to get all the information out. No question about it. Jonah’s getting away from God as far and fast as he can.

The Book of Jonah is not only short, it is a story. That’s a huge win when it comes to the prophets, who usually just give us their long, long speeches. Jonah is suspenseful, exciting, and funny. It also invites us to examine our own response to God when we’re asked to do something we don’t like. That’s a lot for four short chapters, but Jonah delivers.

You might think you know the story. Who doesn’t hear “Jonah” and think “swallowed by a whale?”

But Jonah’s packed with details I never noticed until I sat down and read it with full attention. Every one of them matters. The last time I read it I fell in love with the sailors, because they try rowing to shore instead of automatically tossing Jonah overboard, even when they know he’s the reason for the storm. I never even noticed those sailors before. It’s always worth reading Scripture more than once, because you don’t know what you’ll find that makes the story come alive.

Tomorrow in part 2 we'll get a quick overview of the whole story.

Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!

Orvieto Neighborhood

Orvieto neighborhood, Scott Danielson

Scott Danielson, my partner in crime at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, went to Rome and took some great photos. I'll share a few of my favorites this week.

Khakee - it's not just a color, it's a Bollywood police movie

So, of course, Hannah and Rose are discussing it as part of their cop movie series. It's about four police officers who have to transport an accused terrorist safely to trial in another city. Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai - what a cast!

Get it at An American's Guide to Bollywood.

MY NEW BOOK! Thus Sayeth the Lord: A Fresh Take on the Prophets

This fresh take on the prophets will introduce you to our biblical role models in a way you might find startling, challenging, and probably not to your grandmother's liking. In this book, you will meet:

• Moses - eighty-year-old freedom fighter
• Elijah - nuking the pagans
• Deborah - kicking ass and taking names
• Hosea - not family friendly
• Samuel - the only hope in a desperate hour
• Amos - sticking it to the man
• Anna and Simeon - God's tag team
• Jonah - mad as hell and running from God
• And a dozen more

We’ve lost touch with what it meant to encounter a prophet, or to be one. Let’s take a fresh look at the familiar prophets in our Bible. Every single one has a message for us in our lives today, because that’s how God rolls. He’s a multi-tasker, and the Bible is one of his main tools in speaking to us. Those very same prophets aren’t just for everyone who came before. They’re for us, too. These ancient, Hebrew prophets can help bring us closer to God’s love and his purpose in our lives — right here, right now.

I'm really excited about this book. I can't tell you how I've come to love the prophets while I was writing about them. It turns out they're not just a bunch of grumpy-pants who want to yell at us. Eighteen good prophets. One bad one. And every single one can help you today in very concrete ways.

It comes out March 31, though, of course, you can order it now.

And I'll have a giveaway so stay tuned for that!

Excerpts available here:

• Jonah: Mad as Hell and Running from God — part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
• Deborah: Kicking Ass and Taking Names — part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

===================

And I just discovered, checking the copyright page of my own copy, that it scored an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. All of which are official declarations that it is free from doctrinal or moral error.

Of course, if you've been reading the excerpts you know that doesn't mean they are agreeing with all of my takeaways and opinions — but we're totally starting from the right place in looking at these prophets.


Here are a few people who've had an advance look and liked it enough to say so.

===================

Here is Julie Davis at her best: reading stories and telling stories. She knows that narrative is the lifeblood of a family. She shows us where we fit in God’s grand scheme. The words of the prophets were music and poetry when they were first delivered. They hit the heart with a wallop — in this retelling they still do. Highly recommended. – Mike Aquilina, executive vice-president, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Julie Davis is inviting us to take a walk on the wild side of the life of faith by investigating the prophets — those major and minor “Mouths of God” — who populate scripture. Davis’ wit and the casual accessibility of her language make this a galloping read that is both fun and intelligent. Spending time with the prophets was never so painless. – Elizabeth Scalia, Editor-at-Large, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, Author of Little Sins Mean a Lot

Julie Davis offers an innovative perspective on a time-honored but often misunderstood tradition in our Church. Accessibly executed with terrific storytelling and useable takeaways, this book helps us learn ever-current lessons from ancient prophets, while keeping our hearts open to new encounters with modern prophetic opportunities. – Lisa M. Hendey, Author of I Am God's Storyteller

Julie Davis’s latest book is an energetic, wise, and utterly delightful look at the Biblical prophets, a guide that explores why these holy men and women are relevant today and why they are so important in the development of our own spiritual lives. Thus Sayeth the Lord not only informs, it entertains and inspires. – Gary Jansen, author of Life Everlasting and MicroShifts: Transforming Your Life One Step at a Time

If you've run screaming from the Old Testament prophets, but you have a niggling idea that there has to be something there, this is the book for you. If you find yourself wondering why those OT guys are such a hot deal, this book is for you. If you like diving into scripture so deeply that you float inside and laugh outside, this book is for you. Julie Davis has successfully and artfully woven together what we know, put it in context, and jumped in with both laughs. Enjoy! - Sarah Reinhard, author and blogger, SnoringScholar.com

I hear all the time how the prophets of the Old Testament are a vast treasury waiting to be unlocked, but I've never been able to find the key. Thankfully, Julie Davis has come to the rescue with her book Thus Sayeth The Lord. Finally, I have a way to approach and appreciate the prophets that is clear, accessible, and captivating! – Tommy Tighe, author of The Catholic Hipster Handbook and Catholic Hipster: The Next Level

Hannah & Rose discuss high school romance, the ravages of cancer, and ...

... how to woo the most obnoxious boy in school as they watch A Walk to Remember (2002) on More is More bad movie podcast. It's the perfect bad love movie for Valentine's Day!

Coffee, Two Creams

Coffee, Two Creams; Duane Keiser

The Destiny of the World

The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in.

Harold C. Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, Vo. 2

Listen Up: Bix Banderson Vs. The Universe

The biggest, baddest, most-all consuming Cosmic Empire ever known is about to meet its match:

An eleven-year-old Earth Boy, on the run from summer camp.

Decoder Ring Theatre presents Bix Banderson Vs. The Universe, an intergalactic adventure par excellence.

I've enjoyed Decoder Ring Theatre for a long time, specifically for the noir-style adventures of Black Jack Justice and girl detective Trixie Dixon. Gregg Taylor writes and presents all-new audio adventures in the tradition of the classic programs of radio's Golden Age. They are full-length, full-cast tales of mystery and adventure.

Right now, I've been enjoying the adventures of Bix Banderson. Cleverly playing on a lot of the tropes we know from science fiction, Bix Banderson is both an adventure and comedy. It is really well done and perfect for both kids and adults.

Their website is here. And you can find them on iTunes or other podcast providers.

Imaginative literature and our reactions

Who has not caught some odd resemblance in an ink blot — to a tree, or a lizard, or a map of Florida? A Swiss psychologist has devised a personality test based on the "reading" of especially receptive ink blots prepared in advance. You tell what you see int he blots and unconsciously you expose your innermost self. The psychologist need not have taken all that trouble. The supreme imaginative literature of the world is a survival of the fittest ink blots of the ages, and nothing reveals a man with more precision than his reaction to it.

Harold Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, vol. 1

Anemones in a Vase

Leon Jan Wyczolkowski, Anemones in a Vase
via Arts Everyday Living

Black Woodpecker

Black Woodpecker, Remo Savisaar

We want the definite ...

To our age anything Delphic is anathema. We want the definite. As certainly as ours is a time of the expert and the technician, we are living under a dynasty of the intellect, and the aim of the intellect is not to wonder and love and grow wise about life, but to control it.

Harold Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, vol. 1

Gospel of Matthew: Building on Rock

Matthew 7:24-29

The practicalities of how Galilee is physically situated shed interesting light on this parable. Martin's comments make me think about how this also ties in with Jesus' previous words cautioning against taking "the broad and easy way."

Illustration by "Miss Stevenson", Bell Rock Lighthouse

24 ... The Greek word for wise could also be translated as "prudent" (see 24:45); this man's prudence lay in his choice of a site to build his house (real estate has always been a matter of location, location, location). Galilee is dotted with limestone hills covered by an uneven layer of soil. Houses commonly had stone walls; an outcropping of rock provided a stable base for such walls. This wise builder picked a site where he could build his house on rock.

25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. The rocky hills of Galilee do not readily absorb rain; a heavy rainfall can become a flood of water crashing down hillsides and filling ravines. A stone house built on rock can withstand floods and windstorms.

Jesus says that those who listen to his teachings and act on them, "will be like" (verse 24) a wise builder whose house withstands a storm; the phrase "will be like" points to something that will happen in the future. Prophets used storms as an image for God's judgment (Isaiah 28:2; 29:6); 30:30; Exek 13:10-16). Jesus is again speaking of the last judgment (see verses 13-14, 19, 21-23), now by means of a comparison or parable. Those who take Jesus' words to heart and act on them will withstand God's judgment, just as a house built on rock withstands a storm.

26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. Rain flushed soil and sand down from hills to the floors of valleys and ravines, providing some temptingly level places to build a house. A foolish builder might choose such a site, laying the lowest course of house walls directly on sand.

27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. Storm runoff surged against the house, washing way the sand beneath its walls and undermining them, and the house collapsed and was completely ruined. Just as a house built on sand will collapse in a flood so those who do not live according to Jesus' teachings will face utter ruin at the last judgment.

Quote is from Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life by George Martin. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel (1578), Hans Hoffmann

Men of the ages and the unconscious mind

Only very ingenious persons will think that the wise men of the ages did not know of the existence of the unconscious mind because they did not call it by that name or formulate its activities in twentieth-century terms.

Harold C. Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, vol. 1

A Movie You Might Have Missed #4 - Serenity

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

4. Serenity

Is it a western? Yes. Is it sci-fi? Yes. 500 years in the future, society is a mixture of "core" planets with all the luxuries and those on "the rim" where life is more like living in a old time Western. The Alliance, the totalitarian government, controls everything in the core and would like to exert the same control over all the planets.

Simon and River Tam are on the run from The Alliance. They take refuge on a spaceship whose crew will do anything, legal or illegal, to keep fed and in the air. As a survivor from the losing side in the recent civil war, the ship's captain, Mal Reynolds, doesn't mind going against the authorities but has to rethink his decision when the Alliance sends an assassin to track River down. What follows is a fantastic, fast moving adventure crackling with wit. It is also one that examines what different men choose to put their faith in, how strong that belief is, and what it means to live an unexamined life. (My complete review is here.)

Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale,
from her "Golden Book of Famous Women", published in 1919.
Via J.R.'s Art Place

A Poem About Fire Ought to Burn

It is the crowning virtue of a work of art, as it is of a man, that it should be an example of its own doctrine, an incarnation of its own main symbol. A poem about fire ought to burn. A poem about a brook ought to flow. A poem about childhood ought not just to tell about children but ought to be like a child itself, as are the best of Blake's Songs of Innocence.

Harold C. Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare

Listen Up - The Episodic Table of Elements

The Episodic Table of Elements is a science-history podcast exploring the culture and chemistry behind every element on the periodic table. Explore wild tales of scientific adventure that stretch back to the beginning of time itself. We’re traveling the periodic table in order of increasing atomic number: Episode 1 is hydrogen, episode 2 is helium, and so on.

The episodes for this podcast range from 12 to 25 minutes each and that was almost a deal-breaker for me. 25 minutes about a scientific element? Booooring!

But not so. As it turns out these are wonderfully told stories that begin with an element and then follow it to surprising places. For example, the hydrogen episode looks at the development of balloonists, zeppelins, and ends up with the Hubble Telescope's first clear image of The Pillars of Creation. It ends with links to where you can do an experiment to get the element for yourself.

This is science in the way we all wish we could learn it, with engaging delivery and interesting stories.

The website is here. The iTunes link is here.

View of the Thames and The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters

Jacques Matthias Schenker - View of the Thames [1885]
Via Gandalf's Gallery, some rights reserved

Did anyone else flash on Our Mutual Friend?

The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters, already mentioned as a tavern of a dropsical appearance, had long settled down into a state of hale infirmity. In its whole constitution it had not a straight floor, and hardly a straight line; but it had outlasted, and clearly would yet outlast, many a better-trimmed building, many a sprucer public-house. Externally, it was a narrow lopsided wooden jumble of corpulent windows heaped one upon another as you might heap as many toppling oranges, with a crazy wooden verandah impending over the water; indeed the whole house, inclusive of the complaining flag-staff on the roof, impended over the water, but seemed to have got into the condition of a faint-hearted diver who has paused so long on the brink that he will never go in at all.

This description applies to the river-frontage of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters. The back of the establishment, though the chief entrance was there, so contracted that it merely represented in its connexion with the front, the handle of a flat iron set upright on its broadest end. This handle stood at the bottom of a wilderness of court and alley: which wilderness pressed so hard and close upon the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters as to leave the hostelry not an inch of ground beyond its door. For this reason, in combination with the fact that the house was all but afloat at high water, when the Porters had a family wash the linen subjected to that operation might usually be seen drying on lines stretched across the reception-rooms and bed-chambers.

Chapter 6

Gospel of Matthew: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets."

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place."

Matthew, 5:17-18

Maybe I've always loved this explanation from Jesus because I like to think of the people saying, "Now we can live a new way. No more of the 10 commandments!" Every time I see something that reminds me people acted just the way we do today, it makes me smile.

I've also got a real love of the Old Testament and I hate it when people say that the Old Testament God was mean while New Testament Jesus is nice and loving. I hear this a surprising amount, many times from a particular priest during homilies which finally led to a conversation afterwards.

Because Old Testament or New — God is the same. Three persons but one God and one essence. Also, that means that people haven't been reading their Old Testament very well. Yes, there are a lot of examples of the way ancient people settled things which doesn't match our ideas of justice or mercy very well. But all through out, God is saying the same thing over and over.

That is part of why Jesus follows the Beatitudes, which are so revolutionary sounding, with the reminder above. He's connecting the weight and meaning of his lawgiving ("I say to you...") with what came before.

Below are a few examples of Old Testament mercy that might sound familiar. There are many more examples, but these will give you a sample.

Moses and the Ten Commandments
±1600 - ±1624, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands

• Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. — Leviticus 19:18
• But the poor will inherit the earth, will delight in great prosperity. — Psalm 37:11
• If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat, if thirsty, give something to drink; For live coals you will heap on their heads, and the LORD will vindicate you. — Proverbs 25: 21-22
• It is good for a person, when young, to bear the yoke, To sit alone and in silence, when its weight lies heavy, To put one’s mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope—To offer one’s cheek to be struck, to be filled with disgrace. — Lamentations 3:27-31

Bible verses are from The New American Bible, Revised Edition. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Unexpected Meeting in January

Unexpected Meeting in January, Remo Savisaar

Writers and the states of their souls

All good writers express the state of their souls, even (as occurs in some cases of very good writers) if it is a state of damnation.

G.K. Chesterton, Appreciations and Criticisms 

of the Works of Charles Dickens

A Movie You Might Have Missed #3: The Castle

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

3. The Castle
(Australia)

An understated comedy about a man whose home truly is his castle. Any normal person would jump at the chance to sell his property when the local airport wants to buy, as it sits at the end of an airport runway and directly under gigantic power lines. However, this man fights in court for the right to keep his home.

The father's unconditional love and approval for every person in his family is reciprocated by each of them. Watching the local news the father turns to his daughter, the only family member with a "college degree" (from hairdresser school), and tells her that they have "ripping bodies" but their hair really could use fixing up to be like hers. Needless to say, the daughter's hair is horrendous but her pleased and loving reaction underscores the family's complete happiness. If they think about the outside world at all it is to be sorry that the world doesn't have a share in their contentment and "riches". If more families were like this one then the world would be a better place. This movie is rated "R" for language.

Green Gown

Childe Hassam, Green Gown

Separating Eggs

This recipe is certainly silly. It says to separate two eggs, but it doesn't say how far to separate them.

Gracie Allen

A Perfect Popcorn Movie — War

Top agent Major Kabir is the head of a team hunting terrorists. Khalid is the eager, new recruit who must overcome the stigma of a father who was a traitor. When Kabir suddenly goes rogue, Khalid is the student who knows him best so it becomes his job to track Kabir down and try to stop him.

This movie pairs Bollywood veteran star Hrithik Roshan with up-and-coming Tiger Shroff. The result is a wonderfully entertaining Borne/Mission Impossible/Bond style action thriller accented with Bollywood masala. There's a good dose of patriotism for Mother India, an actual mother who is as loyal a patriot as you're ever going to find, and plenty of dancing.

If you want an action thriller with a lot of over the top lines, big in Bollywood acting, and two top male stars in exotic locations doing impossible stunts ... then this is your movie. We really enjoyed it, including my 85 year old mother who laughed through a lot of it (as we did too - over the top, remember?) and said she never needed to watch another action movie. "This one captured the essence of all of them," she said.

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

Hannah and Rose discuss this in episode 41 of An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

Cliff Near Fecamp

Claude Monet, Cliff Near Fecamp
via Arts Everyday Living

It is not true to say that Mr. Reeder had ever engaged a secretary.

it is not true to say that Mr. Reeder had ever engaged a secretary. It was Miss Gillette who engaged him. By one of those odd coincidences which are unacceptable to the lovers of fiction but which occur in everyday life, she arrived at Mr. Reeder's office on the day and at the hour he was expecting a temporary typist. For some reason the agency lady did not arrive or, if she did, was interviewed by Miss Gillette who, fulfilling the practise of the young queen bee, destroyed her rival in the nicest possible sense.

Edgar Wallace, Red Aces

Figaro Dream

Jean Béraud, Figaro Dream
via Gandalf's Gallery, some rights reserved

Rice Noodles and Chopsticks

Duane Keiser, Package of Rice Noodles and Chopsticks

Gospel of Matthew: No Room for "Righteous" Anger

Matthew 5:20-21

I have come across many Christians who feel that righteous anger is justified by Jesus' anger at the moneylenders in the temple ... and that their own anger is equally righteous. I, myself, certainly have struggled with the impulse to nurture my own anger because it is justifiable. "Hey, I'm right! That makes it ok!"

However, this bit of the gospel from Matthew, as examined by George Martin, surely should give us all pause before we give ourselves permission to be angry. Or even to sling around a mild insult.

Jesus Speaks Near the Treasury, James Tissot

22 But I say to you: the I is emphatic; Jesus is proclaiming something on his own authority. Not only murderers but also whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. At issue is consciously harbored anger, not an unbidden and passing emotion. Deliberate anger can lead to murder; by prohibiting anger Jesus eliminates a source of murder. But what about when we think we have cause to be angry? Jesus does not seem to leave room for "righteous anger," which is often really "self-righteous anger," anger we wish to justify. Jesus' condemnation of anger is sweeping and covers whoever is angry. Matthew's first readers would have understood the word brother to mean a member of the church. For Christians to be angry with each other impairs the mission of the church to be the light of the world, which requires behaving in a way that leads others to glorify God (5:14, 16).

Jesus takes up verbal expressions of anger: and whoever says to his brother, "Raqa" will be answerable to the Sanhedrin. The Aramic word raqa is roughly equivalent to "blockhead" -- an insult, but not the worst thing someone can be called. Those who hurl this insult will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, which was the highest Jewish executive and judicial council. Similarly, whoever says, "You fool," will be liable to fiery Gehenna. The expression you fool is equivalent to raqa, not a worse insult, yet those who call another a fool will end up in fiery Gehenna. Some Jewish writings used Gehenna (the Hinnom Valley on the south and west sides of Jerusalem) as a symbol of punishment in the age to come. Jesus' words might be paraphrased in modern terms as, "A disciple who insults another disciple will be hauled before the Supreme Court in this life and go to hell in the next." Jesus seems to be exaggerating to make the point that abusive speech is a far more serious matter than one might think. (See 7:3-5 for another example of Jesus using exaggeration to make a point.)

Quote is from Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life by George Martin. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Singham

Dirty Harry meets Bollywood. Singham is a righteous policeman from a small village who takes on the biggest criminal in Goa.

This movie is ridiculously entertaining. I've seen this three times and it remains entertaining each time.  Ajay Devgn carries it all off with style. This movie added "tight slap" and "Welcome to Goa" to our household vocab.

This was, however, the first Indian movie I saw that made me realize just how deeply different the base cultural values can be between America and India. The ending is a troubling one for Americans as we see that our ideas of vengeance and revenge are in some ways very different from ones Indians celebrate. This has since been reinforced by other movies but this was the eye opener.

Regardless, Rohit Shetty (and team) know how to direct well choreographed fight scenes and over the top action that are tons of fun.

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.)

ALSO 

Scott and I discuss it at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Hannah and Rose discuss it as part of their cop movie series at An American's Guide to Bollywood.

An essential strength of America — transforming immigrant millions into self-confident citizens

The ability of America, led by New York, to transform immigrant millions, most of whom arrived penniless and frightened, into self-confident citizens, wealth-creators and social and cultural assets, was the essential strength of the expanding republic, which had now been doing the same for its own people for the best part of three centuries. As the culture of the New World became more complex, so more exciting combinations of talent—indeed genius—became feasible.

Paul Johnson,

A History of the American People

A Little Bit of Sun

A Little Bit of Sun, Remo Savisaar

The Catholic Faith of Kobe Bryant

I'm not a basketball fan but even I was shocked by Kobe Bryant's sudden death and the equally tragic death of his daughter and all the other passengers on the helicopter.

I had a more pleasant shock when I read he was a practicing Catholic who would attend weekday Mass and that he credited a priest with helping save his marriage.

Describing his fear of being sent to prison for a crime he believed he had not committed, Bryant told GQ that “The one thing that really helped me during that process—I’m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic—was talking to a priest.”

“It was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, ’Did you do it?’ And I say, ’Of course not.’ Then he asks, ’Do you have a good lawyer?’ And I’m like, ’Uh, yeah, he’s phenomenal.’ So then he just said, ’Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now. This is something you can’t control. So let it go.’ And that was the turning point,” Bryant said.

Read the whole story at Catholic News Agency.

Give them eternal rest, O Lord,

and may your light shine on them forever.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #2: Monsoon Wedding

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Monsoon Wedding

India

A large, Westernized, upper middle class Indian family is gathering for a wedding in a movie that includes Bollywood-ish singing, dancing, and romance. What may be unexpected are the strong messages about family love, protection of the innocent from sexual predators, doing the right thing and telling the truth no matter what it costs you.

 I love this movie but Tom is the one who added it to this list which tells you that it has a wider range than one might expect. The "R" rating is for the language, mostly that of the Wedding Event Coordinator and his help.

(A full review is here.)

Charlotte, Lady Milnes

Charlotte, Lady Milnes (1788-1792). Artist - George Romney.
Via Books and Art

God creates for a reason

Tollkien saw natural things freighted with the depth of meaning that all things possess, being rooted in the mind of God. God does not create things simply to fill up space. God creates for a reason, and the ultimate reason for his creation is love. Each thing, and especially each living thing, is a word, a symbol, a revelation. Each is a note, or a theme, in some great music. At any rate, it is more than itself: that is, more than the thing most people see when they look at it.

Stratford Caldecott,

The Power of the Ring