When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning

I am used to the image (probably from movies) of a WWII soldier pulling out a book to read in a spare moment, any time, anywhere. However, I didn't realize the huge effort that went into helping our soldiers' morale stay high by providing those very books. The program was begun as book drives by librarians who were outraged by German book burnings and wanted to provide ammo in the war of ideas. It was later taken over by a council who coordinated between the War Department and publishers to began printing special lightweight editions.

A wide variety of books — everything from Tarzan to Plato — were supplied throughout the war, with millions being printed and distributed regularly. These provided comfort, distraction, and much needed entertainment while inadvertently teaching an entire generation of military the pleasures of reading in an age where many would not have picked up a book except in school. They were considered so important to morale that over a million copies were stockpiled before D-Day so that each soldier would have one when boarding the transports. I was surprised to find that paperbacks were normalized for society by this process and that the standard paperback sizes of old (6x4 and 5x3) were the sizes that would fit in uniform pockets.

All of this took me through WWII with an entirely new focus and gave me a feeling of what the soldiers went through in a way I've not felt before. My favorite bits were the letters from soldiers to authors or publishers describing just how a favorite book changed their life. I especially liked the one about the officer who began reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (a favorite among the troops) right when a battle was beginning and kept thinking about the plot all during the intense fighting and maneuvering that followed all night long. However, here is one of the most powerful stories of a soldier, expressed to author Betty Smith:

"Ever since the first time I struggled through knee deep mud ... carrying a stretcher from which my buddie's life dripped away in precious blood and I was powerless to help him, I have felt hard and cynical against this world and have felt sure that I was no longer capable of loving anything or anybody," he wrote. He went through the war with a "dead heart ... and dulled mind," believing he had lost the ability to feel.

It was only as he read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn that something inside him began to stir. "I can't explain the emotional reaction that took place, I only know that it happened and that this heart of mine turned over and became alive again. A surge of confidence has swept through me and I feel that maybe a fellow has a fighting chance in this world after all. I'll never be able to explain to you the gratitude and love that fill my heart in appreciation of what your book means to me." It brought laughter and joy, and also tears. Although it "was unusual for a supposedly battle-hardened marine to do such an effeminate thing as weep over a piece of fiction, ... I'm not ashamed," he said. His tears proved he was human.

Highly recommended.

More positive reviews for Thus Sayeth the Lord

I'm delighted to see these good reviews and wanted to share a bit with you:

She starts each chapter with passages to read from the Bible, kind of a "highlights reel," which is especially handy for those prophets who don't get their own named books (like Samuel or Miriam). Davis also points out that the best place to hear the messages of the prophets is the Catholic liturgy, where the readings are often paired up with their fulfillment in the Gospels. Best of all, she connects the prophets' messages and life examples to contemporary problems. Everyone has dealt with issues like when to speak up or how to be patient in adverse circumstances. She's honest and heartfelt, even using examples from her own life.

Joseph

========

his would make an excellent Bible study for adults or teens. There is much to be gleaned by longtime disciples, but Julie's down-to-earth, friendly, welcoming, and understanding point of view make this book suitable for those who are just learning about the Catholic faith for the first time, or who have serious reservations about certain aspects of the faith.

Jon

======

I was happy to find that this book is very accessible, with an incredibly conversational, colloquial style (Galaxy Quest and MCU references, anyone?) that makes these ancient stories feel timeless and relatable. At the same time, it's extremely informative and provides copious citations and annotations for further reference, and I learned a lot about the minor prophets and gained deeper understanding of the major prophets.

Oftentimes I find that I don't get as much out of the "further reflections" or "how does this relate to us" sections of modern prayer or scriptural study books as I am meant to. In this book, however, Julie Davis's discreet personal reflections (no over-sharing here), insightful analysis, and gentle questions really made me stop and think - and develop a greater reverence for the wisdom and example of the prophets. Definitely recommended!

Kimberly

If you haven't tried Thus Sayeth the Lord, it is available in both Kindle and print.

If you've found the book helpful and haven't left a review, please consider doing so. They really do help people find the book.

Quiet Pleasures

Quiet Pleasures (1898). Gustav Max Stevens
via Books and Art

Adam sleeps and Christ dies ...

Adam sleeps so that Eve may be made; Christ dies so that the Church may be made. While Adam is asleep Eve is made from his side; when Christ is dead his side is pierced with a lance, so that the sacraments, from which the Church is to be forme, might pour out.

St. Augustine, Homily 9 on John 2:1-11

A Movie You Might Have Missed #18 — Reign Over Me

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.

18. Reign Over Me

Don Cheadle is dissatisfied with his life. His marriage could be better, as could his dental practice in which he is being stalked by a patient. Trudging along through his routine he is surprised to see his college roommate (Adam Sandler) who he lost touch with long ago. Cheadle had heard that his roommate lost his family in the September 11 attacks and it is soon clear that Sandler welcomes his old roommate's friendship precisely because Cheadle never knew his family.

Although this movie has the potential to be a real downer as it examines grief from several angles, it does not fall into that trap. Thanks to the strength of friendships and comedy the movie wound up being uplifting.

Aiming at the Target

Aiming at the Target by Soyama Sachihiko, 1890
via J.R.'s Art Place

Having just finished The Odyssey in preparation for an upcoming podcast, this couldn't help but speak to me.

A man might eat bread forever and ever

Jerry took a large slice of wheaten bread, spread with golden butter, and bit into it with her small white teeth. It was a natural gesture—she was very hungry indeed—but to Sam there was something symbolic about it. Jerry was like bread, he thought. She was like good wholesome wheaten bread spread thickly with honest farm butter; and the thought crossed his mind that a man might eat bread forever and ever and not tire of it, and that it would never clog his palate like sweet cakes of pastries or chocolate éclairs.

D.E. Stevenson, Miss Buncle Marries

The stars at night are big and bright. Deep in the heart of Texas.

Via Traces of Texas

Identity — When you're mixed race but your name and looks mean you're "yet another white guy."

There is a frustrating aspect to the fact that in the US these days, discussions of background are so frequently tied up with discussions of discrimination and oppression. It means that someone like me, who doesn't look Hispanic enough to have someone making negative assumptions about me, and who doesn't have a Hispanic last name, ends up seeming like he'd be somehow faking to talk about coming from a Hispanic background.

As racial problems go, being dismissed as "yet another white guy" by politically active online warriors is the most first world of problems, so I'm not exactly here to complain. But it is a rather cut-off feeling at times. I'm proud of the stories of my ancestors who walked across the US/Mexican boarder around 1900. I'm proud of my grandfather who excelled at his studies despite having to go to the schools for Mexican kids rather than the ones for white kids in the little mining town in New Mexico where he grew up. And I'm proud of the American identity that he built for himself and his children, through a career in the Navy starting in 1945 when he has seventeen. I wish that the way that the US talked about race didn't mean that if you weren't oppressed because of your background, you can't claim it without seeming like a poser.

This is a good piece by Darwin over at Darwin Catholic.

I don't have this problem but was bemused once by a friend lamenting the fact that our parish was so white. I told her that over half the people I knew during the Mass time we both attended were Hispanic but didn't stand out particularly in any way. They looked like middle class Americans, that's all.

And then it occurred to me. "Hey, wait. You're part Hispanic. And so is your husband."

True enough. Their family name is Irish and if I hadn't heard many stories of their families I'd have thought they both came from Anglo-Irish backgrounds simply going on looks. She looked embarrassed and said, "Oh! I guess I was judging by class instead of ethnicity." It was an interesting moment for me. And, I think, possibly for my friend too.

Gospel of Matthew: Rowing into a Headwind in the Darkness

Matthew 14:22-23

I have heard many homilies about Matthew 14:22-33, when Jesus comes walking on the water in the night across the sea to the disciples in the boat where they have been battling the storm. Go read it for yourself. There are many details that I never considered about the timing which George Martin brings to our attention. Very, very interesting when we consider our own discipleship.

Also, when I look at this painting I realize that I'd forgotten just how dark it would have been. No wonder the disciples were creeped out!

Christ walking on the sea, Amédée Varint

... The wind-and-wave-battered boat bearing the disciples has long been taken as a symbol of the church (see also 8:213-27). Those in the boat have been sent forth by Jesus but face opposition and danger. Jesus is not bodily present; he is at prayer, at the right hand of his Father (26:64; Rom. 8:34). The church might seem to be making little headway despite hard rowing, but it has been so for disciples of Jesus from the very first. ...

We must presume that Jesus, atop the hill by the lake, is aware of the strong wind and of the struggle his disciples re enduring. Yet he does not cut short his prayer to come to his disciples; it is only during the fourth watch of the night that he came toward them, walking on the sea. The Roman way of reckoning divided the period from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. into four watches; the fourth watch of the night ran from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m. The disciples have been battling strong headwinds from evening until almost dawn. Jesus sent his disciples off to row into a headwind and let them contend with it through the night.

[...]

Jesus does not calm the wind and waves; he tells his disciples to have courage and not be afraid, despite the wind and waves, because it is I. In its simplest meaning, it is I identifies the one walking on the water as Jesus: it is I, Jesus, who have come to you and tell you to have courage and not be afraid. Even if you are battered by wind and waves far from shore in darkness, you have nothing to fear, because it is I. I will take care of you.

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

The best thing that can happen to anyone who is doing wrong is to be found out.

"If one of them is guilty—are you a religious woman, Miss Treherne?"

Rachel said, "Yes."

Miss Silver nodded approvingly.

"Then you will agree with me that the best thing that can happen to anyone who is doing wrong is to be found out. If he is not found out he will do more wrong and earn a heavier punishment."

Patricia Wentworth, The Lonesome Road

Madrid - near the Palace Gardens

Madrid - Near the Palace Gardens, Elizabeth Scalia

A Movie You Might Have Missed #17 — Pan's Labyrinth

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.




This definitely is a fairytale for adults. Do not let the kids watch this one.

During the Spanish civil war in 1944, a young girl and her mother move to their new home with the mother's new husband, cruel Captain Vidal. In the midst of a risky pregnancy, the mother can't do much more than rest in bed while the girl, Ofelia, wanders the grounds and countryside. She soon discovers an entire underground world and is guided by the persuasive Faun in his labyrinth. He offers to help her if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. As Ofelia begins her tasks the viewer is left with the question of whether this alternate reality really exists or is imaginary. Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer. I know what I think ... but I've seen the movie!

(Warning: the Captain is a extremely violent and cruel character. If you think that he is going to do something terrible, just figure that he will. I didn't watch when violence threatened and didn't miss any important dialogue in the subtitles.)

Scott and I discussed this at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, episode 70.

Piano Poster

Piano poster for Club. Mads Berg.
via Books and Art

Chesterton and American Idealism

There is one thing, at any rate, that must strike all Englishmen who have the good fortune to have American friends; that is, that while there is no materialism so crude or material as American materialism, there is also no idealism so crude or so ideal as American idealism.

G.K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens

He hit that nail squarely on the head!

Tea in the Studio

Tea in the Studio by Bertha Wegmann, c. late 1800s
via J.R.'s Art Place

Lagniappe - Delicate Enjoyment

Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment.

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

If the fact of O’Connor’s racism, and Dickens’s, has any importance, it is because they were both capable of transcending it in astonishingly beautiful and lasting ways.

It is futile to deny that both O’Connor and Dickens “lacked comprehension” in many ways. You won’t find one person anywhere, at any time, about whom that’s not true. If the fact of O’Connor’s racism, and Dickens’s, has any importance, it is because they were both capable of transcending it in astonishingly beautiful and lasting ways. What’s remarkable about O’Connor’s racism, and Dickens’s, is how inconsistent it is with their fiction. By now, the sins of both of them have been burned away. Their art is a far more fitting monument to their largeness and ability to defend the inherent worth of human persons.

Scott Eric Alt,
Racism and transcendence in Charles Dickens & Flannery O’Connor

On the heels of yesterday's letter defending Flannery O'Connor, warts and all, comes this very good piece about Flannery O'Connor and Charles Dickens. I'd long known about charges of anti-Semitism against Dickens and how he corrected himself once he understood what he'd been doing. However, I guess the fault has been resurrected as something new. Anyway, I liked the examples and comparison in this piece — do go read it all.

Gospel of Matthew: The Cockle of False Doctrine

Matthew 13:9-11, 15-22

I love the fact that the cockle and the wheat looked so much alike and that this would have been a common form of revenge so everyone knew what Jesus was talking about. Context that is much needed for our lives which are far from that sort of agriculture or even from agriculture at all.

And, of course, it is applicable to our times no matter the context.

The enemy sowing weeds, Heinrich Füllmaurer

In the Gospel of today's Mass or Lord teaches us the parable of the wheat and the cockle. The world is like a field where God is continually sowing the seed of his grace; this divine seed takes root in the soul an produces fruits of holiness ... But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

The weed in question -- cockle-seed -- is a plant that is often found growing in cereal crops in the Middle East. It resembles wheat so closely that even to the farmer's practised eye it is impossible to tell the two plants apart until the stalks begin to mature, at which stage the cockle can be recognized by its slender ear and emaciated grain; it is quite toxic to humans, and if mixed with flour will ruin bread. Sowing cockle among the wheat was a form of revenge not unheard of in those countries. Periodic plagues of cockle were very much feared by the peasants, because they could cause them to lose their entire harvest.

The Fathers of the Church have understood the cockle to be a metaphor for false doctrine, which is not easy to distinguish from the truth, above all at the beginning, because it is proper to the devil to mix falsehood with truth; (St. John Chrysostom) and if error is allowed to flourish it always has catastrophic effects on the people of God.

This parable has lost none of its relevance nowadays; we can see that many Christians have fallen asleep and have allowed the enemy to sow bad seed with total impunity. There is practically no truth of the Catholic Faith which hasn't been called into question. We have to be very careful indeed, both with ourselves and with anybody we are responsible for, in the whole area of magazines, television, books, and newspapers, all of which can be a real source of false doctrine and which required us to make a special effort to look after our on-going formation in the doctrinal area.

If we are to be faithful to all the requirements of the Christian vocation we have to be constantly watchful and not let ourselves be taken off guard, because once false doctrine manages to take root in the soul it quickly gives rise to sterility and to estrangement from God. We need to be watchful too in the area of our affections, and not fool ourselves with excuses about how at our time of life "things don't affect us"; and we should be careful also about the effect of such false ideas on those whom God has entrusted to our care.

Francis Fernandez
In Conversation with God: Daily Meditations, Vol. 4

From my friend Patsy come these wonderful insights into the painting.

The picture, labeled "Math. 13," shows the fence of the field broken, and the awful demon with chicken feet sowing cockles, very scary and terrible. The poor woman in the shabby house is faithfully kneading her bread, unaware of how threatened the bread could become as the wheat grows.

The worst part of the picture is the very rich house where the guardians of the field are asleep. The pope is lying down, fully asleep (his responsibility abdicated?), with a cleric in the background who should be watching over him (inadequate protection for his holiness?). The King is sleeping, more or less sitting up (thinking he is still in charge?). On the floor there seems to be a misused chalice almost covered with a black cloth (lack of providing the True Bread). Then there are the priest and the two bishops, who seem to have fallen asleep over what they should be preaching from that podium (from boredom, disinterest, giving up?).

Up in the sky we can barely make out the Lord God coming on the clouds of heaven, with all his angels, but a long way off. It is the time for getting ready for the final separation of the weeds from the wheat. The chimney of the woman's house is sending up smoke which seems to merge with the clouds around the Lord God. Maybe her life of faith and duty are calling for his mercy. There is a very large bee hive beside her house, whose honey is a symbol of wisdom and preaching the Word of God.

This series first ran in 2008. Quote source info is here. I'm refreshing it as I go.

We must honor Flannery for growing. Hide nothing of what she was, and use that to teach.—Alice Walker, statement issued to Loyola University Maryland, July 27, 2020

I'm sharing this since Loyola University's decision to take Flannery O'Connor's name off of a building with very little thought and very great haste dismayed me a lot. A lot of this is the result of at least one article about her being racist. First Things has been commenting on this really well.

However, I was delighted to see this letter sent in Flannery's defense to Loyola, signed by 200 noted writers, literary scholars, theologians, professors, religious leaders. Scroll down at the link for the letter itself. A little excerpt:

Walker praises O’Connor “for growing,” for having the courage and humility to confront, through her writings, her own shortcomings and prejudices and to critique them, via the characters she invented in her stories. Finally, Walker, consummate teacher that she is, urges us to use this as a teachable moment. We are all desperately in need of conversion and transformation. O’Connor died young, 39 years old, in 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights movement. As she lay on her death bed, she was writing story after story about white racists who arrive at the difficult knowledge of their sin. Reading these stories, we watch her coming to a painful but necessary understanding of herself.

For anyone who is interested, Scott and I have several episodes of A Good Story is Hard to find where we discuss some of her short stories.

Victorious even when we are defeated

With him [Christ] we can do anything. We are victorious even whnen we are defeated. This is the optimism so characteristic of the saints. ... Cast away that despair produced by the realization of your weakness. It's true: financially you are a zero, and socially another zero, and another in virtues, and another in talents ... But to the left of these zeros is Christ. And what an immeasurable figure it turns out to be. (Josemaria Escriva)

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, vol. 4

A Movie You Might Have Missed #16: Regarding Henry

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.

One of Harrison Ford's attempts to avoid typecasting shows just what a good actor he is, in this, our next stop. 

16. Regarding Henry

In one of his best performances, Harrison Ford plays Henry Turner, a top notch lawyer who is selfish and cold in his personal life with his wife and daughter. He goes out for some cigarettes and when displaying his trademark self-centeredness to a convenience store thief, Henry gets shot in the head. As Henry begins to struggle through recovery we see that his personality has undergone a distinct change. He is now human and humane although also slow mentally. Watching him unravel the mystery of why he always paints Ritz crackers as well as adjust to where he does and doesn't fit in at home and at the office are the heart of the story as we also reflect upon true humanity and how the truth often comes in ways we don't expect.

When I write of hunger ...

When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one.

M. F. K. Fisher

It's Pouring

It's Pouring, Remo Savisaar

Who has taught you to live well?

The Lord sends us out to proclaim his message to the ends of the earth. We are to bring it to those who do not know him personally, on a one-to-one basis, just as the first Christians did with their families, their colleagues and their neighbors. To do this apostolate, we need not resort to strange behavior. And when they see that we live the same life as they do, they will ask us, "Why are you so happy? How do you manage to overcome selfishness and comfort-seeking? Who has taught you to understand others, to live well and to spend yourself in the service of others?" Then we must disclose to them the divine secret of Christian existence. We must speak to them about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Mary The time has come for us to use our poor words to communicate the depth of God's love which grace has poured into our souls (Christ is passing by, J. Escriva). ...

We should also consider the fact that the leaven has an effect only when it is in contact with the dough. Without being indistinguishable from the dough, but working from within, the leaven does the work of transformation. The woman not only inserts the leaven, but she also kneads it into the mass and hides its presence. In like manner, you have to mix in with other people and become identified with them... Just as the leaven is hidden but does not disappear, so, little by little, all of the mass is transformed to the proper degree (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. Matthew's Gospel). Only in the middle of the world can we bring all things to be renewed by God. it is for this task that we have been called by divine vocation.

Francis Fernandez,

In Conversation with God

Volume Four: Ordinary Time: Weeks 13-23

Woman Seated

Woman seated, Gaston Lachaise

I tend to think of the Amon Carter Museum as having mostly western art, especially since it originally was built around Carter's Remington collection of paintings and sculpture. It's always a pleasure to be reminded that there is a lot of other art ranging through America's history and with some playful modern pieces like this one. I feel as if it should really be titled "Woman with attitude."

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out.— C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

I remember being surprised and interested to learn that Dorothy Sayers and C.S. Lewis were friends who exchanged comments about writing and many other things in their acquaintance. I was intrigued by the idea of what the famous mystery writer and a famous Inkling had to discuss. That's because, while I knew a lot about C.S. Lewis's life, I knew only the basics about Dorothy Sayers. I'd forgotten that when she'd taken the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries as far as she felt she could, Sayers turned to writing theological books and plays, translating Dante, and in general serving her Christian faith. So, of course, she and Lewis were on the same path.

This book does a good job of tracking their friendship, what it meant to each of them, and how they supported and critiqued each other's work. It also does a good job of giving brief but comprehensive biographies for each, so I learned a lot more about Sayers' life. And, in the context of that friendship, it helped me see C.S. Lewis more clearly.

There is an emphasis throughout holding up Sayers' and Lewis's friendship as an ideal proving that men and women can be friends without succumbing to sexual attraction. The idea that my friendship with a man would lead to us automatically flinging ourselves into each other's arms was a very strange idea to me. I understand prudently keeping an eye on anything that might strike a spark. It is a very rare circumstance in my experience. I actually tend to have as many male as female friends. However, I discovered it is evidently a well known assumption in some Evangelical circles. So much so that you should've seen the Facebook page for the book launch light up with passionate (haha) arguments about the book promoting incorrect ideas. It doesn't detract from the book overall but it is an odd thread woven throughout. And I suppose if this is a thing you care about, then this book will be of extra interest.

All things considered, I enjoyed filling in the story of these strong-minded but mutually respectful famous friends. Their friendship is the sort that I have with a few people myself and I liked reading it.

If You Can Get It by Brendan Hodge

Jen Nilsson has an MBA, a nice condo, and a fast-track Silicon Valley job. Then her sister, Katie blows through the front door, dumping cardboard boxes and drama onto Jen’s just-swept floor.

Maybe Jen can turn aimless Katie into a model adult. But when her own life hurtles off the tracks, Jen turns to Katie for support and begins to reassess the place of family, and love, in her life.

I couldn't put this book down, which is really surprising when you consider it is the sort of story that I usually avoid (2 sisters making their way in the modern world today).

These sisters are polar opposites who are 10 years apart, so there is a generation gap also. We follow Jen through career crises which shake her confidence in herself. Her experience in China made me laugh. I can easily believe the scenario is true to life. I really liked all the business experiences — they were well explained and I was on board. Meanwhile, Katie plays X-box all day until told to get a job. Which she breezily does at a Starbucks. I liked watching Katie find her levels of competence, none of which had to do with a job in the business world.

The parents are no help. They recently found deep faith and are creeping the girls out with their holier-than-thou-ness and convenient lack of memory about early parenting failures. (I especially enjoyed that reminder for us faithful in the completely secular world. As Blaise Pascal said, "One must have deeper motives and judge everything accordingly, but go on talking like an ordinary person.")

The publisher compares Jen and Katie to the sisters in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. (I'd say the book is more like Emma, actually, considering Jen's journey from having the perfect life to realizing others might have more on the ball than she thought.)

Thinking of that helped me see why I liked this book. Jane Austen talked about normal, ordinary life with regular people who were out of money, had lost their boyfriends, had silly parents, and who thought they were in control of their lives. This book is the same sort of story. It is not Jane Austen to be sure. But it doesn't try to be. In some senses it reminds me of the gentle novels by Elizabeth Caddell or Enchanted April or Miss Buncle's Book. Although it is not those novels either. They are hard to categorize and so is the appeal of this one.

Author Brendan Hodge is weaving threads of providence, faith, and how to best live a fulfilling life. Those things are often found in domesticity, the work-a-day world, and family. This story does that very well.

Definitely recommended.

Christ and the Woman of Samaria

Christ and the Woman of Samaria, c. 1619-20
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)

Tom and I took a day trip to Fort Worth last Saturday. We went to the Kimball Museum and the Amon Carter Museum. Both were free and it was lovely to be able to wander around on a long date, albeit with masks most of the time.

Standing face to face with this large painting, I was captured by the expressions. I'm familiar with the story but hadn't ever imagined it, hadn't thought at all about the mood of the conversation. Here we see the woman drinking in Christ's words with an open, intelligent expression. She's captivated. Her face is in the dark but the light is creeping over it slowly as she begins to understand. Christ has a thoughtful, tender look and you feel his gentle sincerity. Of course, his face is in the light.

The flavor of scripture

To get the full flavor of an herb, it must be pressed between the fingers, so it is the same with the Scriptures; the more familiar they become, the more they reveal their hidden treasures and yield their indescribable riches.

Saint John Chrysostom

The Art Critics

The Art Critics by Michael Ancher
via Gandalf's Gallery

Second Hand Booksellers

Second Hand Booksellers, Spring by T. F. Šimon

Mr. Pancks, whose resources seemed equal to any emergency...

I am always fascinated by how sharply Charles Dickens can draw minor characters. Mr. Pancks is one of my favorites from Little Dorrit. He is immensely practical and I really love the way he handles Mr. F's Aunt in this scene. She obviously has some form of senile dementia and he is completely unflustered while surprising the reader (or at least me) with his solution.

“Therefore Flora said, though still not without a certain boastfulness and triumph in her legacy, that Mr F.'s Aunt was 'very lively to-day, and she thought they had better go.' But Mr F.'s Aunt proved so lively as to take the suggestion in unexpected dudgeon and declare that she would not go; adding, with several injurious expressions, that if 'He'--too evidently meaning Clennam--wanted to get rid of her, 'let him chuck her out of winder;' and urgently expressing her desire to see 'Him' perform that ceremony.

In this dilemma, Mr Pancks, whose resources appeared equal to any emergency in the Patriarchal waters, slipped on his hat, slipped out at the counting-house door, and slipped in again a moment afterwards with an artificial freshness upon him, as if he had been in the country for some weeks. 'Why, bless my heart, ma'am!' said Mr Pancks, rubbing up his hair in great astonishment, 'is that you?

How do you do, ma'am? You are looking charming to-day! I am delighted to see you. Favour me with your arm, ma'am; we'll have a little walk together, you and me, if you'll honour me with your company.' And so escorted Mr F.'s Aunt down the private staircase of the counting-house with great gallantry and success.

Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit

Gospel of Matthew: The Irony of the Pharisees' Decision

Matthew 12:14

This is a familiar story for us. In the temple, on the sabbath, the Pharisees ask Jesus, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?" There was a man with a withered hand in the synagogue and after responding to them with a question, Jesus heals the man. The Pharisees then resolve to put Jesus to death. Perhaps because this is so very familiar, I never caught the irony that George Martin points out below.

Christ healing the man with a withered hand, Byzantine mosaic.

Matthew does recount the reaction of those who had questioned Jesus about healing on the Sabbath. But the Pharisees went our and took counsel against him to put him to death. The phrase, "put him to death" could also be translated, "destroy him." By doing good and showing mercy on the Sabbath, Jesus has put his own life in danger. This is the first notice in Matthew's gospel that Jesus has mortal enemies. It is deeply ironic that those who consider healing a violation of the Sabbath then hatch deadly plans on the Sabbath. ...

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.

City News and Coney Island Diner

Neon signs, Mansfield, Ohio - City News and Coney Island Diner
Photographer: Brian Butko, Creative Commons License, some rights reserved

I love these old neon signs.

Independence

From my quote journal. This works no matter what the source, but it had extra resonance when I read it in The Last Monk of Tibhirine.

Independence is not freedom.

Elisabeth Lafourcade

Listen Up: Morning Glory

Gloria Purvis, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Msgr. Charles Pope, Fr. Bjorn Lundberg, Fr. Vincent De Rosa are talking about everything important to today's Catholic: Prayer, Life, the Church, Family, and the Culture.

This is essentially an hour-long Catholic morning show, hosted by Gloria Purvis and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers. There is always a third person joining them, usually a priest. They will discuss a current news topic including things like statues being removed, Black Lives Matter protests, and the Supreme Court decision for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Sometimes the current topic is not specifically tied to a headline, such as discussions about food deserts, authentic feminism, or Catholic responses to immigration.

They also will have brief psalm readings to open each half hour (the show is an hour long) and talk about Catholic stuff like devotions to help Monday morning back-to-work stress, how to talk to fallen away friends about the faith, or why nuns wear habits. Often there is a "saint of the day" discussion and they are good about tying them into real life issues or that day's topics. It is a really nice blend and I enjoy the hosts, who are very personable.

I first heard of Morning Glory via an editorial at Our Sunday Visitor after the show was dropped by a major Catholic radio network for being "uncomfortable to listen to." I'd never heard of the show and even if I had this wasn't one I would have tried. I don't love morning shows, news talk, or Catholic talk shows and I don't have a lot of listening time. I mean, how am I going to fit in Rachel Watches Star Trek if I spend all my time listening to EWTN? Priorities, people!

However, I was intrigued by an EWTN show that was so topical (and controversial?) that it was dropped like a hot potato. So I tried an episode about statues being removed. And was pleasantly surprised by the nuanced response, the informed give-and-take of the discussion, and the Catholic take on everything. I might not always agree in the details with someone's take but for the big picture, I was in agreement. They also don't talk everything to death. There is just enough coverage to give food for thought and then they're on to something different.

So I tried another. And then another. With each show my liking grew. I may not keep up with each and every day's show, but there is always a Morning Glory on my iPod for easy access.

Their website is here. It's available as a daily podcast through iTunes or various podcast providers.

Go Away - in hard language

How do you tell a man to go away in hard language? Scram, beat it, take off, take the air, on your way, dangle, hit the road, and so forth. All good enough. But give me the classic expression actually used by Spike O'Donnell (of the O'Donnell brothers of Chicago, the only small outfit to tell the Capone mob to go to hell and live). What he said was: "Be missing." The restraint of it is deadly.

Raymond Chandler in a letter to his British publisher

Rivals

Henry Woods - Rivals [1891]
Via Gandalf's Gallery

This makes me laugh at myself. The young man in the painting is smoking. However, to my modern eyes it looks for all the world as if he is on a smartphone.

Rouen Cathedral series

Claude Monet did a famous series painting the facade of the Rouen Cathedral studying the changes that time of day and light make to appearance. I love these. See more images and read more here.

What is an apostle really?

What is an apostle really? ... It is difficult even to consider them "great religious personalities," if by this we mean bearers of inherent spiritual talents. John and Paul were probably exceptions, but we only risk misunderstanding them both by overstating this. On the whole, we do the apostle no service by considering him a great religious personality. This attitude is usually the beginning of unbelief. Personal importance, spiritual creativeness, dynamic faith are not decisive in his life. What counts is that Jesus Christ has called him, pressed his seal upon him, and sent him forth. ... It is not he who speaks, but Christ in him.

Romano Guardini, The Lord

Corn Off the Cob

When you suddenly realize your one big pot is being used for something else, what do you do with corn on the cob? You take it off the cob and remember that fresh corn is another thing which frozen cannot substitute for.

Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Marguerite

Marguerite (1878) by Hugues Merle
Via Books and Art

You don't have to feel sorry to be sorry.

Sincere sorrow for sin does not necessarily require having to feel sorry. Just like love, sorrow is an act of the will, not a feeling. And in the same way as one can love God deeply without any emotional reaction, one can also be truly sorry for sin without experiencing anything sentimental. Real sorrow is seen principally in the way one unhesitatingly avoids all occasions of offending God and is ready to do specific acts of penance for any infidelities committed. These are the things to help us atone for the punishment our sins deserve, to overcome bad inclinations, and to strengthen us in doing good.

What are the acts of penance that are pleasing to God? they are: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, small mortifications, putting up patiently with the disappointments and difficulties of life, being ready to accept the monotonous aspects of our job and the tiredness that is part and parcel of work. In particular, we should always be ready and eager to go to Confession well, truly sorry for our faults and sins.

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God,

Vol. 4, Ordinary Time: Weeks 13-23

Lady with a Monkey on the Pier

Port Aransas, 1949. Via Traces of Texas

So many questions. First, that outfit. Second, the monkey.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #15 — Friday Night Lights

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.

15. Friday Night Lights

Texas, football, Billy Bob Thornton ... 'nuff said.

Well, maybe that's not enough for most people so I will 'splain.

Thornton is the coach of the Odessa, Texas, football team during a season where they have a shot at the championship. The locals are football crazy, especially as their economy has seen better days and this is their one outlet and hope for their children's futures. The fast, gritty, "real", jump-cut documentary-type style helps give a true sense-of-place. We see the coach's struggles on many levels as well as those of the players ... and it is a pretty accurate look at how Texans feel about football.

A memory of holiness

Alai suddenly kissed Ender on the cheek and whispered in his ear. "Salaam." Then, red faced, he turned away and walked to his own bed at the back of the barracks. Ender guessed that the kiss and the word were somehow forbidden. A suppressed religion, perhaps. Or maybe the word had some private and powerful meaning for Alai alone. Whatever it meant to Alai, Ender knew that it was sacred; that he had uncovered himself for Ender, as once Ender's mother had done when he was very young, before they put the monitor in his neck, and she had put her hands on his head when she thought he was asleep, and prayed over him. Ender had never spoken of that to anyone, not even to Mother, but had kept it as a memory of holiness, of how his mother loved him when she thought that no one, not even he, could see or hear. That was what Alai had given him: a gift so sacred that even Ender could not be allowed to understand what it meant.

Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

I love the idea about why Ender's mother's love and Alai's gift of himself is so sacred.

Summer Evening Whinchat

Summer Evening Whinchat, Remo Savisaar

What are the devil's usual effects?

What are [the devil's] usual effects? ... He is often called diabolos in the Greek of the New Testament, a word derived from dia-balein, (to throw apart, to scatter). God is a great gathering force, for by his very nature he is love; but the devil’s work is to sunder, to set one against the other. Whenever communities, families, nations, churches are divided, we sniff out the diabolic. The other great New Testament name for the devil is ho Satanas, which means “the accuser.” Perform a little experiment: gauge how often in the course of the day you accuse another person of something or find yourself accused. It’s easy enough to notice how often dysfunctional families and societies finally collapse into an orgy of mutual blaming. That’s satanic work.

Bishop Robert Barron,

Word on Fire Bible, commentary on Mark 6:6-13

Decks Awash

Montague Dawson - Decks Awash
via Gandalf's Gallery

Thursday

Thursday by Walter Dendy Sadler (1880)

This makes me smile —and it is supposed to. It is from My Daily Art Display which has a good piece on Walter Dendy Sadler.

Many of Sadler’s humorous paintings featured monks and monastic life. In his 1880 painting, Thursday, which is also known as 'Tomorrow will be Friday', he depicts a group of Franciscan monks fishing. These friars were forbidden to eat meat on Fridays, as a reminder that Friday was the day when Christ was crucified.

The "no meat" Fridays are still in effect for Catholics these days, by the way, though it is often mistakenly thought that rule was dropped after Vatican II. Read more here.

The Rocket

Edward Middleton Manigault, The Rocket, 1909
via Arts Everyday Living

Gospel of Matthew: Gut-Wrenching Compassion

Matthew 9:36

Translations that say Jesus was "moved" or "felt compassion" aren't really conveying the depth of the original Greek.

The Resurrection of the Widow's Son at Nain, James Tissot
Brooklyn Museum

When Jesus saw the crowd of ordinary men and women, he was moved with compassion. The word which is used for moved with compassion (splagchnistheis) is the strongest word for pity in the Greek language. It is formed from the word splagchna, which means the bowels, and it describes the compassion which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being. In the gospels, apart from its use in some of the parables, it is used only of Jesus (Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13). When we study these passages, we are able to see the things which moved Jesus most of all.

So that's our homework. Go look up those passages and see what moves Jesus to the depths of pity.

It is rich food for thought to me to consider that he was moved so much by people who were like sheep with no shepherd. That is equal to some of the other, possibly more understandable things that moved him so. I think of how it was when I was like one of those sheep and how happy I was to find that shepherd. How many of the people we know are the same? Searching, bewildered and dejected.

Quote is from Daily Study Bible Series: Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1 by William Barclay. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Jesus Calming the Storm

Lu Hongnian, 20th century, Chinese, Jesus Calming The Storm
via J.R.'s Art Place

I really love depictions of scriptural events by people from different cultures, especially those focusing on Jesus. Fascinating to see how recognizable the event is and to see the differences in how we'd usually see it depicted. For example — those waves!

Our soul's home

Prayer is not a stratagem for occasional use, a refuge to resort to now and then. It is rather like an established residence for the innermost self. All things have a home: the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a hive. A soul without prayer is a soul without a home.

Abraham Heschel,

Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity

Making life easier, not making life harder

We should always try to relieve others from whatever seems to weigh them down, just as Christ would have done in our place. Sometimes this will mean our doing some small act of service. At times it will mean giving a word of encouragement or of hope. at others we will help someone to glance up at the Master so that he comes to see his situation in a more positive light; it may be a situation which had seemed to overwhelm him simply because up till then he had felt he must face it alone. We should think too of those aspects of our behaviour with which sometimes, without really meaning to, we make life a little harder for others ... our whims and fancies, our rash judgements, negative criticism, an lack of consideration for others, an unkind word ...

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, vol. 4,
Ordinary Time: Weeks 13-23

Back Yard Happy Hour

Back Yard Happy Hour, Belinda Del Pesco

Missing Peace by N.K. Holt

The McKay family's idyllic life in Iowa is about to implode.

A mysterious rosary found by soldier John McKay in war-torn Iraq foreshadows an obscure prophecy. As the rosary’s mystique grows globally, his sister, Janey McKay, is threatened when a radical extremist group escalates the stakes by expanding their fight to the U.S. heartland.

But can terror destroy a faith that launches miracles?

This book is essentially an inspirational story wrapped in the tale of searching for a mysterious and miraculous rosary's origins. The main characters are a brother and sister from a solid, Catholic midwestern farming family, a Texas soldier without any family, and a priest struggling with thriving in a new assignment.

It is told in a basic, straight-forward style that I associate with Louis L'Amour westerns (which I like) or adventures from the early 1900s (which I love). You're not coming to this for high literary style. You're coming to it to follow the trail of the old beggar, his mysterious rosary, and the flash of green light that occasionally accompanies miracles. At least that's what held my interest. There is also a family saga of sorts and a love story, both of which I was much less interested in but which were good in their own ways. I enjoyed it and recommend it.

Full disclosure - this was a review copy.

The Gateway, Tangier

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Gateway, Tangier

Gospel of Matthew: Everyone Who Acknowledges Me

Matthew 10:26-33

Chapter 10 has Jesus' exhortation telling his followers not to be afraid. At the end of this section his comments suddenly change focus from God to himself ... and in that he reveals something more of himself to us.

Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles

32 Jesus adds a final reason for his disciples' carrying out the mission he gives them with confidence instead of fear. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. Acknowledging Jesus before others broadly includes the disciples' public witness and more narrowly refers to their testimony before tribunals (10:17-18). Jesus speaks of his disciples acknowledging me: after his resurrection, the message his disciples will proclaim will center on Jesus more than on the coming of the kingdom (see Acts 2:36, for example). Jesus promises that those who acknowledge him to others he will acknowledge before his heavenly Father. Jesus will make his acknowledgment at the last judgment, when God will sort out good from evil. Jesus will claim as his own those who acknowledged that they belonged ot him. He adverts to his special standing with God, whom he speaks of as my heavenly Father. Jesus is not an ordinary defense witness but the beloved Son of the Father (3:17). Because Jesus will vouch for them at the last judgment, his disciples can proclaim him and his message without fear, despite whatever persecution they encounter.

For reflection: How have I acknowledged Jesus by my words? by my actions?

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

The Banjo Lesson

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson

A Movie You Might Have Missed #14: How to Murder Your Wife

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.

14. How to Murder Your Wife

Tom and I both remembered this movie from our childhoods and it was even funnier than I remembered. Jack Lemmon is a cartoonist and the ultimate New York playboy who, in a drunken interlude at a bachelor's party, marries the girl who pops out of the cake. She disappears after he has fantasized about killing her in his comic strip and he soon finds himself on trial for murder.

The movie not only satirizes the proverbial "battle of the sexes" a la 1965 but the stereotypes of many other things as well. It is, literally, laugh out loud funny. A special pleasure is Terry Thomas as Lemmon's valet who is entirely too bloodthirsty for comfort at the idea of murdering Lemmon's wife.

It is seriously politically incorrect so you really have to keep the satire in mind, depending on your mindset and ability to remember the common context of the 1960s.

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City, Henry Ossawa Tanner

Well Said: A Marked Stop Brings Right Perception

Taking into account where he was, the interest that had first brought him there when he had been free to keep away, and the gentle presence that was equally inseparable from the walls and bars about him and from the impalpable remembrances of his later life which no walls nor bars could imprison, it was not remarkable that everything his memory turned upon should bring him round again to Little Dorrit. Yet it was remarkable to him; not because of the fact itself; but because of the reminder it brought with it, how much the dear little creature had influenced his better resolutions.

None of us clearly know to whom or to what we are indebted in this wise, until some marked stop in the whirling wheel of life brings the right perception with it. It comes with sickness, it comes with sorrow, it comes with the loss of the dearly loved, it is one of the most frequent uses of adversity.

Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit

I read this to Tom and he said, "That is just simply true." Yes. It is. Little Dorrit ... what a book.