Genesis is truth as story

Genesis is Judaism's foundational work, a philosophy of the human condition under the sovereignty of God.

This is a difficult point to understand, because there is no other book quite like it. It is not myth. It is not history in the conventional sense, a mere recording of events. Nor is it theology. Genesis is less about God than about human beings and their relationship with god. the theology is almost always implicit rather than explicit. What Genesis is, in fact, is philosophy written in a deliberately non-philosophical way. ... To put it at its simplest: philosophy is truth as system. Genesis is truth as story. It is a unique work, philosophy in the narrative mode ...

Judaism is about the democratization of holiness, the creation of a whole society in which everyone will have access to religious knowledge. Hence the importance of stories which everyone can understand.

Jonathan Sacks, Covenant & Conversation: Genesis

Just So Stories

1912 Edition

Garden Snail

Garden Snail, N Puttapipat Illustration

Why was man created last?

As the rabbis put it: "Why was man created last? In order to say, if he is worthy, all creation was made for you; but if he is unworthy, he is told, even a gnat preceded you."

Jonathan Sacks, Covenant & Conversation: Genesis

Psalm 15 — Who May Dwell with God?

If you wish to learn what sort of person is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, sing Psalm 15.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

No other sources this week, just my own thought about this immediately following Psalm 14. That psalm told of all the evil done by those who don't believe God exists. This psalm seems to act as a counterpoint by defining who is righteous enough to dwell with God. The line items seem to match up pretty well with the ones we were given before in Psalm 14. 

 We wind up with a concise and well defined list of traits for those who need not fear to enter God's presence. This seems simple but is well worth reflecting upon. I especially like the qualifying phrase added after "who keeps his oath" — "even when it hurts." I think that might apply to the other characteristics also.

David Composing the Psalms, Paris Psalter, 10th century

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

 

"How shall we live?" — Genesis: The Book of Beginnings by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Each week, synagogues around the world read a section from the Torah (the five books of Moses). The  cycle begins with Genesis and ends with the last verses of Deuteronomy 12 months later. The Covenant & Conversation series has essays commenting on each of the weekly readings. 

These essays are by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who was the Chief Rabbi of the U.K. for some 20 years. I'd read his editorials occasionally in the Wall Street Journal and always found them insightful, inspirational, and down to earth. When I discovered he'd done this series I began at the beginning with Genesis. What I found was a work of genius.

These essays have the same easy style I remembered while giving indepth, brilliant, compassionate commentary that often surprised me and sometimes changed my whole perspective on a Biblical person or their actions. Sacks is good at comparing ancient and modern worldviews. This not only clarifies Biblical context but often shows just how different our current ideas are. These are stories about people and Sacks never forgets that. He looks at what Torah is showing us that is the same not only in those ancient times, but in our own lives. After all, the word of God is eternal, applying to all time and all people.

I learned new ways of looking deeper at familiar stories such as when Isaac is tricked into giving his blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. I found deeper sympathy and new insights into lesser characters. Who knew she was not only crafty but also tactful? Or that Judah's encounter with Tamar led to a life-changing realization that helped him pass Joseph's test when the brothers all go to Egypt seeking grain? I already loved Tamar but now I have more sympathy and admiration for Judah's growth.

There is much here that resonates with the Catholic soul, simply because the Jews are our elder brothers in the faith. However, a Christian reading these essays will be sharply reminded that there is a Jewish way of thinking about the first five books of the Bible, and, indeed, about God and worship, which is particular to the Jewish people. That is a real cultural wake up call and one that I found sometimes jerking me to the realization that this is different. The thinking, the response to God and His call, the way of dealing with other people — it can be very different, while still being anchored in our common knowledge of the one, personal God.

A quick example is that I was surprised by the Jewish custom of reading Torah every year. Just like us! No, I realized. We're just like them. The first Christians were Jewish and I am well used to finding parts of Catholic liturgy that reflect they were patterned after those Christians' original faith. That was an easy mental adjustment, one that left me happy at another proof of our family ties.

Here are a few of the themes emphasized as being core parts of Judaism, which surprised me.

•  Love of words and language, both as forms of worship and of what make us human.
• Treasuring children. "Ours is a supremely child-centered faith" says Sacks.
• God making space so that people can exercise free will and make mistakes.
• The importance of the land God gave them, of Israel.
• The Torah is meant to be heard, not read silently. "Judaism is supremely a religion of the ear, unlike all other ancient civilizations..." says Sacks.
• The necessity of the struggle to do God's will and of going one step more than we are asked.
  

These might seem like no brainers, reading this list. It's not that Catholicism doesn't have these elements but they don't define us the way that Sacks made clear they define the Jewish people. I found myself understanding a little better their pride at their indestructibility, the ancientness of their faith, and their role as God's chosen people.

There is a fair amount of midrash considered throughout. Midrash is textual study and interpretation of scripture that uses questions, examines what is left unsaid, and fills in with their own stories to form a running commentary. I'm not crazy about midrash as it can range far afield sometimes. I'm not Jewish so perhaps that is understandable. Sacks sometimes includes midrash in order to keep following the logical train of thought and sometimes so that he can introduce a different interpretation.

Quibbles about midrash aside, this is a work of genius. Highly recommended.

Note: A few excerpts are shared here.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoléon Bonaparte by Andrea Appiani

Since I'm reading Les Miserables right now and there are many characters who continually define themselves and others by their support (or lack thereof) for Napoleon, this hit me just right when I came across it.

A Sure Foundation for a Beautiful Friendship

There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.

P.G. Wodehouse

A Spiral Staircase Inside One of the Vatican Museums

A spiral staircase inside one of the Vatican Museums

Well Said: The Riddle of Fiction

The riddle of fiction comes to this: Evolution is ruthlessly utilitarian. How has the seeming luxury of fiction not been eliminated from human life?

Jonathan Gottschal, The Storytelling Animal

Jonathan Gottschall measures everything against evolution, which is the only measure he really trusts for giving scientific answers about people and story. Therefore, he isn't able to answer some of the questions he poses in his book because some things just can't be measured by science. (It's still an interesting book. You don't have to answer every question all the time.)

That was what made it entertaining when, some time later in his books, he inadvertently answered the above question with the conclusion that I, as a Catholic, already knew.

Why do stories cluster around a few big themes, and why do they hew so closely to problem structure? Why are stories this way instead of all the other ways they could be? I think that problem structure reveals a major function of storytelling. It suggests that the human mind was shaped for story, so that it could be shaped by story.

Jonathan Gottschal, The Storytelling Animal

Yep.

European Common Frog

European Common Frog, N Puttapipat Illustration

 

Psalms — The prevailing Western worldview is no more "modern" than the worldview of the first Christians.

We're going to take a brief break from covering the Psalms themselves to consider Biblical worldview versus modern Western worldviews. This is long but was really eye-opening for me. 

N.T. Wright, in his book The Case for the Psalms, put forth the idea that we're not looking at the clash of an ancient worldview versus a new one, but of two ancient ideas. Praying the Psalms, he asserts, helps us live in the mindset of one, while helping to combat the other.

The Romans in their Decadence, Thomas Couture

At this point it is important to head off a regular misunderstanding. People have often supposed that the main difference between the worldview held by the early Christians and the worldview most of us grew up with is that the first is "ancient" and the second is "modern." It is then often assumed that because we "live in the modern world" we are bound to dismiss the "ancient" worldview as out-of-date, prescientific, and based on ignorance and superstition and accept the "modern" one as, supposedly, up-to-date and based on science, technology and all the wisdom of a modern "free" society. This, however, is radically misleading.

The main difference between the worldview of the first Christians and the worldview of most modern Western persons has nothing to do with "ancient" and "modern." It has almost nothing to do, except at a tangent, with the development of modern science. The main difference is that the first Christians, being first-century Jews who believed that Israel's God had fulfilled his ancient promises in Jesus of Nazareth, were what I and others call "creational monotheists": that is, they believed that the one creator God, having made the world, remained in active and dynamic relation with it. What's more they believed that this God had promised to return to his people at the end of their long, sad years of desolation and misery to dwell in their midst and to set up his sovereign rule on earth as in heaven. And they believed that in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the power of his Spirit at work in their lives, this God had done exactly that.

The ancient Jews who shaped this belief in creational monotheism, and the early Christians who developed it in this startling new way, were doing so in a world of many philosophies and worldviews. One of these, every bit as "ancient" as that of the first century Jews, was the philosophy known after the name of its founder, Epicurus. The philosophy of Epicurus, particularly in its developed exposition by the great Roman poet Lucretius (who lived about a century before Jesus), proposed that the world was not created by a god or the gods and that if such beings existed, they were remote from the world of humans. Our own world and our own lives were simply part of an ongoing self-developing cosmos in which change, development, decay, and death itself operated entirely under their own steam.

At a stroke, this philosophy offered liberation from any fear of the gods or of what terrors might be in store for people after their deaths. But by the same stroke, it cut off any long-term or ultimate hope. At a popular level, the message was this: shrug your shoulders and enjoy life as best you can. Sounds familiar? This is the philosophy that our modern Western world has largely adopted as the norm.

The problem we face when we read, pray, or sing parts of the Bible is not that it is "old" and our current philosophy is "new" (and therefore somehow better). The problem is that, out of many ancient worldviews, the Bible resolutely inhabits one, and much of the modern Western world has resolutely inhabited a different one. Our prevailing modern Western worldview is no more "modern" than the worldview of the first Christians. All that has happened is that many leading scientists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, who were attracted to Epicureanism for quite other reasons (not least social, cultural, and political), have interpreted their perfectly proper scientific observations (for instance, concerning the origin and development of specific species of plants and animals) within an Epicurean framework. It has then been assumed that "science" actually supports this view of a detached "god" and a world simply doing its own thing. But this is profoundly mistaken.

Epicureanism, then, is of course an ancient worldview, but it has been retrieved in Western modernity as though it were a new thing. Creational and covenental monotheism is likewise both ancient and modern, rooted in God's covenant with Abraham as described in the book of Genesis, elaborated in the great covenental writings of the first five books of the Bible, developed in the traditions we find throughout the Old Testament, and still thriving where the followers of Jesus learn to pray and live his Psalm-soaked gospel. Part of my reflection in this book is that when the Psalms do their work in us and through us, they should equip us the better to live by and promote that alternative worldview. The biblical worldview, I will suggest is both far more ancient than Epicureanism and also far more up-to-date.

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Jupiter's Great Red Spot, NASA

NASA tells us:

Jupiter's Great Red Spot

As Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter, it captured this photo of the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot is an anti-cyclonic (high- pressure) storm on Jupiter that can be likened to the worst hurricanes on Earth. An ancient storm, it is so large that three Earths could fit inside it. This photo, and others of Jupiter, allowed scientists to see different colors in clouds around the Great Red Spot which imply that the clouds swirl around the spot (going counter-clockwise) at varying altitudes. The Great Red Spot had been observed from Earth for hundreds of years, yet never before with this clarity and closeness (objects as small as six hundred kilometers can be seen).

A Movie You Might Have Missed #40 — The Sea Hawk

It's been 11 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.

Can a dashing pirate defeat the Spanish, serve Queen Elizabeth, and find true love? You know he can!

Errol Flynn is a swashbuckling pirate in the service of Good Queen Bess. His mission: to overtake Spanish ships, steal their booty, and sink them.

Until the day he meets a lovely senorita on board ... you think you know the rest and to some extent that is true. Except that this has a more complicated plot and the actress playing Queen Elizabeth invested her with a sense of intelligence and awareness that raised the movie to a new level.

I haven't seen every Errol Flynn movie, to be sure, but this is definitely my favorite of all those I have seen. Robin Hood? Don't make me laugh. The Seahawk's the movie you need to see.

Celebrating the Paschal Mystery in the Liturgy

From that time onward [of the apostles] the Church has never failed to come together to celebrate the paschal mystery, by reading what was written about him in every part of Scripture, by celebrating the Eucharist in which the victory and triumph of his death are shown forth, and also by giving thanks to God for the inexpressible gift he has given in Christ Jesus, to the praise of God's glory.

Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, Second Vatican Council

I always think of the first and second readings as being there to open up and eludicate what comes in the Gospel reading. I somehow never thought of it in the words used above — that these readings are seen as being specifically about Jesus. 

On the one hand, well duh! On the other, well I never! I love how there is always more to learn that opens our eyes and hearts. And how deeply the Church gives us opportunities on every level to encounter Christ.

St. George

St. George, Solomon J. Solomon

This image is from the Royal Academy where they tell us:

Solomon's painting depicts St. George slaying the dragon and carrying a maiden out of its claws to safety. The model for the saint was Solomon's younger brother Albert. Solomon creates a swirling composition with the maiden's dress and the dragon both encircling the figure of St. George. The artist's interest in the work of Rubens and Velasquez is demonstrated through the broad brushwork and brown-grey colouring with its red and gold accents.

A gift to the loved one

A gift to the loved one, Remo Savisaar

Municipal Market of São Paulo city

Municipal Market of São Paulo city

 Isn't this gorgeous? Click on the photo or through to the link to see a larger size.

A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More: Advice from a Debt-Free Family of 16

A husband-and-wife team shares their extraordinary story of raising fourteen children on a modest income while living in an expensive metropolitan region. Their practical wisdom, hard-won spiritual insights, and Catholic perspectives on how they have created their own plan.

• Break free of debt—even if your family lives on one income.
• Pay off your mortgage and other big-ticket expenditures.
• Save for long- and short-term goals.
• Enjoy fun family vacations without going into debt.
• Cultivate interior virtues such as gratitude and generosity to prevent resentment and hoarding.
• Help your kids become good money managers and discerning consumers.
• Achieve a happier marriage and family life through Catholic principles of good stewardship.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book which is easy to read and has a lot of good advice. Some of it is standard and some is interestingly creative. However, all of it is interwoven with spiritual reminders that practicing things like temperance, generosity, and prudence are ways to grow closer to God.  That's the Catholic part and what that makes this book go deeper than the average "spending less" advice. I especially appreciated the section on living the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

During Lent I came across the idea that Americans are addicted to comfort, which I think is true. I reflected on it and tried to break little addictions during that very appropriate time of sacrifice. This book continues those reflections in showing us how that we may be addicted to comfort in ways we never realized. That makes it valuable in yet another way.

My husband and I already learned many of the suggested techniques through our years of marriage and making ends meet. However, there's always something new to pick up. I was intrigued by the idea of a spending fast where you choose two months of the year to buy nothing that is non-essential. So food and toilet paper and utilities. We live relatively frugally but this will mean rethinking things that I never consider — such as, what about store brand peanut butter instead of my favorite kind? My immediate, unthinking rejection of that idea made me realize that I'm rather spoiled. If nothing else, this already has me looking at my regular expenditures in a new way. 

I received a review copy which I am, in best frugal fashion, going to pass on to my daughter and her husband.

Psalm 14 — Fools Deny God

When you hear some people blaspheming against the providence of God, but do not make common cause with them in their impiety, but on the other hand, intercede with God, saying Psalm 14.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

This psalm delighted me by beginning with the well known lines:

The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."

Therefore, I was extra interested to read the rest of the psalm. It is a meditation on the first sentence in examining how the wicked have chosen their lifestyles based on the mistaken idea that they don't have to worry about righteousness because there is no God at all. 

My goodness, these psalms can be so modern! Or, to put it more accurately, humankind hasn't really changed at all.

I like the acerbic comment below on these fools, as the psalmist calls them.

Gerard van Honthorst,
King David Playing the Harp, 1622

14:1. Fools Deny God

A History of Fools. Asterius the Homilist: It was the fool who said through Pharaoah, "I have not known this God"; and the depth of the sea became a tomb for him. The fool said through Sennecharib, "God is not able to snatch Hezekiah from my hands," and he was killed by his sons. The fool said through Nebuchadnezzar, "Who is this God who can snatch you from my hand? Who is the most powerful of men?" ... Judas the denier of God was destroyed by a noose because he had deemed God as a man to be betrayed. Homilies on the Psalms

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

Mavourneen

James Tissot, Mavourneen

A Movie You Might Have Missed #39 — Offside

It's been 11 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.  

In Iran, all women are banned from men's sporting events. Can they sneak in to see Iran qualify for the World Cup?

 This little movie is a real charmer.

A number of Iranian girls attempt to enter Tehran's Azadi Stadium dressed as boys in order to watch a qualifying match that will get Iran into the World Cup competition. Several are arrested and the movie largely consists of watching their attempts to escape or talk the guards into letting them go.

Ironically, the ostensible reason for keeping women out of the stadium is to protect their delicate sensibilities when the men become overcome by excitement and begin swearing at missed goals and the like. A stadium entryway is tantalizingly close so that several guards are able to watch part of the game and naturally ... swear when goals are missed. No one blinks an eye.

Likewise, when one woman engages the head guard in a logical discussion about why the law is nonsensical, he knows she is right but is unable to do anything but his duty.

What was most interesting to me was this look into Iran as this was filmed on location during the actual sporting event. The men are all dressed Western-style in shirts and slacks while any women we see are sporting terrible attempts to pass for boys. Also interesting was that all the other men we see (with the exception of one father) are largely sympathetic to the girls' attempts to see the match in person. They routinely attempt to help them slip into the stadium or refuse to turn them in.

As I said before, this is a small movie but ultimately it is one that is a lot of fun, especially during the scene when one hapless guard has to find a way to get one of the girls into the all-male bathroom.

Still Life with Coffee

Albert Anker, Still Life with Coffee, 1877
Via Arts Everyday Living

I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Guardian of the Sun

Guardian of the Sun, Remo Savisaar

Do away with counting the cost

When we perform an act of kindness we should rejoice and not be sad about it. If you undo the shackles and the thongs, says Isaiah, that is, if you do away with miserliness and counting the cost, with hesitation and grumbling, what will be the result? Something great and wonderful! What a marvelous reward there will be: Your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will rise up quickly. Who would not aspire to light and healing?

Gregory of Nazianzen, sermon

The Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades (1898). John Byam Liston Shaw.
Via Books and Art.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. Gradually, the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings for independence, and a fierce yet understated love emerges - one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the island itself, with its mossy rocks, windswept firs and unpredictable seas.

This is a perfectly named book. It captures the feeling of summer for those of us lucky enough to grow up without parents urging them into summer camps or other improving activities. For those of us lucky enough to be allowed to have free days and nights and boredom pushing us to observe, discover, and play. In this series of vignettes we come to know a grandmother and granddaughter who provide all the human interactions with their tiny island, home, and each other. Neither is perfect and their imperfection is recognizable. They get mad, fight, cheat, try to help in the wrong way, and more.

It is a wonderful series of snapshots of real life where every situation doesn't tie up neatly or provide a life lesson, though some do. Very highly recommended with much thanks to my daughter, Hannah, who pointed me to this book. I hope she had enough summer freedom in her young days to recognize the feel in this book as much as I did.

Hannah and Scott Danielson discussed it on the Shelf Wear podcast. Their conversation made me pick it up to reread.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary working for the poor

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary working for the poor by Marianne Stokes, 1920.

 

Psalm 13 — Waiting on the Lord

Though the plot of the enemies lasts a very long time, do not lose heart, as though God had forgotten you, but call on the Lord, singing Psalm 13.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

These days it is easy to lose heart and feel as if nothing will ever change. We're a year into the Covid-19 pandemic with contentious political division and everyone arguing ferociously at the drop of a hat.

I especially think of this line from verse 2: "How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?"

I like how the psalmist thanks God at the end, before his prayer has been answered. Such is his trust.

Psalm 13 in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

13:5. Trusting in God's Steadfast Love

A Hope-Filled Soul. St. John Chrysostom: Do you see a hope-filled soul? He asked, and before receiving he gives thanks as though having received, sings praise to God and achieves all that had been anticipated. Commentary on the Psalms

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

Clearly, though, the psalmist has been suffering a long time and feels as if God has abandoned him. This commenter looks at the result of the Babylonian Exile on the Jewish people who felt abandoned by God. I mean to say when your temple has been destroyed and your people dragged to slavery, it is safe to say you feel as if God wasn't around. The change to their thinking about suffering and redemption is transformative. Surely it also paved the way for their ability to recognize Christ's redemptive sacrifice. Also — I never knew why it was called "the Holocaust." Astounding

The Absence of God

Throughout the centuries since, the convention arose of understanding the continuing suffering of Diaspora Judaism as redemptive, vicarious suffering by the faithful remnant for the sins of the whole community. This draws on Isaiah's four Servant Songs (Isa. 42:1-6[9], 49:1-6; 50:4-11; 52: 13-53:12), in which Yahweh's servant (variously identified as Israel, a faithful remnant, the prophet, or some future servant/messiah) suffers innocently for the sins of the people.

In this regard, the acute and tragic suffering of the European Jewish community under the Nazi program of exploitation and extermination during World War II has come to be called "the Holocaust," a reference to the completely burned sin offering offered yearly on the Day of Atonement for the sins of the nation. In this way the suffering and death of six and a half million Jews and their survivors has been interpreted as vicarious and redemptive sacrifice by the innocent for the sins of the world. This reinterpretation of the suffering of the faithful follows the lead of Job and Ecclesiastes in affirming that the absence of God is not a sign of his lack of power or concern. Nor is God's delay in coming a necessary indication of the wickedness of those who suffer in the interim. God is still God and worth of worship and allegiance despite the inability of humans to comprehend human suffering fully.

Psalms Volume 1 (NIV Application Commentary)

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

Close Reads and The Lord of the Rings

I've been listening to the Close Reads podcast for several years off and on, depending on what they're reading. They discuss books indepth from a classical education perspective which feeds into a homeschooling, Christian audience. That is reflected in their Facebook page which has varied and lively discussions and I regularly check in there too. I especially enjoyed their discussions of True Grit, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Anne of Green Gables, Frankenstein, and Rebecca (a book I detest but which they loved — the discussion was so interesting I just kept listening). They've covered a lot more ground than that so definitely check them out.

Their Patreon subscriber episodes got me through Crime and Punishment, for which I am duly grateful. Russian novels and I don't mix, but the Close Reads conversation pulled me into mostly enjoying that book. 

When they announced they were going to read The Lord of the Rings  I was planning on skipping it. I've read many commentaries on the book and have never found anything that I liked better than Corey Olsen's masterful classes at Mythgard Academy (free!). After all, Olsen's original Tolkien Professor classes were the ones that made me pick up LOTR for a fourth time and finally get through it. Now I consider LOTR the best book ever written, so that's a debt I will never forget. Naturally, I figured between all those other references I'd heard most of the takes on it. 

Then I started seeing outbursts of praise in the Facebook group which piqued my interest so I bit. Finishing up their six-episode discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, I must add to that outburst of praise. Their conversation is not afraid to dip into Christian viewpoints which resonate with my own take and deepen it considerably. The classical viewpoint also adds richness to appreciating the wisdom J.R.R. Tolkien has woven into the story. The Close Reads discussions equal and complement the Mythgard classes in the best possible way.

Mostly, I thrill to the love and admiration for this work which so clearly emanates from Heidi White and Ian Andrews. They have enhanced my own love of the book which I already thought was the best book ever written. (The host, David Kern, clearly likes the book but he doesn't match the geeking out and love that Heidi and Ian show).

If you're a Tolkien fan and a Christian you're going to want to try this out. The $5 Patreon subscription gets you access to both the LOTR and Crime and Punishment series. They are over halfway through The Two Towers and I look forward to having my mind blown regularly as I journey alongside.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #38 — Internal Affairs (Hong Kong)

It's been 11 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.

Martin Scorsese remade this as The Departed. Watch the original instead.

This stylistic, smart movie takes the classic crime plot of police versus criminals and turns it into an exciting battle of wits.

Police Superintendent Wong takes his best police cadet, Yan, and has him go undercover to become a mole in the drug-running Triad gang. Unbeknownst to them, the Triad’s leader, Sam, is doing the exact same thing with a young gang member, Lau, who has a clean record and will be accepted into police cadet school.

After years pass both Lau and Yan have become accepted, valuable members of their respective groups. During a drug bust, both the police and the Triad gang become aware that each has been infiltrated by a mole. In an ironic move, the moles are both so trusted that each is tasked by his superior with discovering who the mole is within his own group. Simultaneously, each is contacted by his real boss and told to discover who the mole is in the other group.

What follows is a fascinating plot twist in which each mole struggles to retain his anonymity. while discovering the other’s identity. This movie is gripping until the very end and keeps you guessing the entire time. Everything is masterfully brought together in the last ten minutes with a denouement that gives the entire movie unexpected depths.

This movie was so popular in Hong Kong that it inspired two sequels, Infernal Affairs II which actually was a prequel, and Infernal Affairs III which continues the story begun in the original movie. We watched this movie in the original Cantonese with English subtitles. It was fascinating to hear the large quantity of English scattered through regular conversation. “Channel,” “sorry,” “entrance,” “ok,” “bye,” and “sir” are just a few of the words constantly breaking the pattern of Chinese dialogue.

Spring in Texas

Spring in Texas, Jason Merlo Photography

 

Easter Chick

Chick, N Puttapipat Illustration

 

Prayer is an offering that belongs to God

Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own. ...

Of old, prayer was able to rescue from fire and beasts and hunger, even before it received its perfection from Christ. How much greater then is the power of Christian prayer. No longer does prayer bring an angel of comfort to the heart of a fiery furnace, or close up the mouths of lions, or transport to the hungry food from the fields. No longer does it remove all sense of pain by the grace it wins for others. But it gives the armour of patience to those who suffer, who feel pain, who are distressed. It strengthens the power of grace, so that faith may know what it is gaining from the Lord, and understand what it is suffering for the name of God.

Tertullian, On Prayer

Reptiles

Reptiles, M.C. Escher

The link above is to Lines and Colors where you can see pieces of this painting blown up and really enjoy the creativity Escher uses. There is also a lot more info about Escher and a link to an article about him.

Three Worlds

Three Worlds, M.C. Escher

 

Hand with Reflecting Sphere

Hand with Reflecting Sphere, M.C. Escher

Up and Down

Up and Down, M.C. Escher

 

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (The Man Who Feels No Pain)

Surya has a rare condition of Congenital Insensitivity to pain meaning he can not feel pain. Hearing that most children with this condition never live past the age of four, his grandpa uses martial action movies to train him to be like Bruce Lee. This seems counter intuitive, but actually works. Surya and  his childhood friend, Supri, who has her own problems, set out to right wrongs.

That's just the first part of the movie and when the story heads into Surya's adulthood is when the real action begins. Surya really believes the good guys win, any obstacle can be overcome, and that true love triumphs over all. He doesn't have a cynical bone in his body. That sweetness and earnestness  make us love Surya, his oddball team of justice fighters, and this movie. 

In many ways it made us think of Amelie and Edgar Wright movies for a story with sweetness, quirkiness, and heart. It is loaded with fantastic action scenes and pop culture. There were many Western cultural references and from reading  reviews I know there are tons that we missed from Indian culture and old martial arts films. The two lead performances were from newcomers who acted with complete confidence and this has what must be the best double role of all time from Gulshan Devaiah.

It is fun and funny, goofy and heart-felt, and shouldn't be missed. Let you think it sounds too crazy, I will add that my 86-year-old mother loved it and was using movie references around the house the next day. 

 Streaming on Netflix.

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

Portrait of Catherine II before a Mirror

Portrait of Catherine II before a Mirror (1762). Vigilius Eriksen.

I found this at Books and Art (link above) where there was this interesting info.

This Danish artist, who worked at the Russian court between 1757 and 1772, produced some 30 portraits of Catherine II with different programs, compositions, and purposes. He was the first in Russia to use this type of portrait with a mirror, making it possible to show the two sides of the subject’s character - the imperious monarch and the sensitive woman.

Psalm 12 — The Promises of the Lord are Pure

When you see the arrogance of the crowd and evil spreading everywhere so that there seems to be no one left who is pleasing to God take refuge in the Lord and say Psalm 12.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I am fascinated by the fact that in this psalm all the threat comes from words. And all the protection comes from words. It lets us see how powerful the Hebrews considered words. And we ourselves know that words do have special power to wound or to heal.

Silver nugget

 These two quotes are from my hand-written prayer journal.

The Effective Word

The spoken word in Hebrew was fearfully alive. It was not merely a sound dropped heedlessly from unthinking lips. It was a unit of energy charged with power. It is energized for weal or for woe.

John Paterson, quoted by William Barclay

The word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword.

Hebrews 4:12

With those two quotes in mind, let's look at what that concept really means and what it reveals of God himself.

The Effective Word and Divine Transparency

In Bible times ... properly chosen and configured [words] were thought to accomplish what they said. for this reason, on the one hand, curses were not simply cathartic venting of inner rage, as we might think of them today, but were dangerous attempts to injure another that had to be countered or protected against by some ritual or amulet. On the other hand, words spoken in blessing were not just expressions of wishful thinking but really added to the well-being and health of the one blessed.

[...]

The "flawless" character of Yahweh's word, refined like the finest silver seven times, is more than an illustration of the ultimate effectiveness of the divine word. The point of the psalm is not just that God will have the last word. The purity of the divine word also illumines a certain transparency in God. What Yahweh says reveals his true character. God does not dissemble or deceive. he says what he means and he does what he says. Therefore, not only can one trust Yahweh, one can also understand who god is by attending to his words.

Psalms Volume 1 (NIV Application Commentary)

One last thing comes from the Church Fathers who are paying close attention to what the psalmist is actually asking for — a change of heart on behalf of the enemy. That's not something you see every day in the psalms.

12:3 Flattering Lips

Prayer Against the Sin. St. John Chrysostom: Do you see the solicitude of the inspired author, how he prays for them? The remark is not against them, no but on their behalf. He did not ask for them to be destroyed, note, but for the evil to be done away with. He did not say "the Lord will destroy them," note, but the "deceitful lips." Again he asks for the destruction not of their being but of their tongue, their folly, their deceit, and for an end to be put to their arrogance. Commentary on the Psalms

Cassiodorus: Note his piety as he says this, for he inveighs not against people, for many of them were to be converted, but against the vices themselves. Explanation of the Psalms

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

Night in the Desert

Night in the desert by Maxfield Parrish.
From “The Great South West” by Ray Stannard Baker (1902)

Clearing out the world's sins in the fire of suffering love

On the Cross we meed what Balthasar described as the eternal, Trinitarian project in history: "to clear out all the refuse of the world's sins by burning it in the fire of suffering love." At Calvary, the burning passion of God, which is both the divine wrath at the world's evil and the divine mercy determined to heal what sin has broken, coincide. In the power of the Spirit, the Son offers the perfect act of atonement to the Father, and by that act of obedience, the burning fire of divine love reaches into history and immolates everything in the world that cannot bring forth love, including suffering and death.

George Weigel, Roman Pilgrimage

Tarashana by Rachel Neumeier

Tuyo, the first book in this series, is one I read in record time. I loved the old school fantasy set in a wonderfully imagined world. It was fresh, imaginative, and original. I also really enjoyed watching two men from very different peoples and cultures become friends.

Tarashana is a great sequel. We have the chance to investigate a completely new land when Ryo's people ask if Aras's mind reading ability can help them understand a mute woman asking for help. She is from the starlit land where the people all mysteriously disappeared. Naturally enough, Ryo's people worry about anything that powerful coming after them next. Not only is it an interesting question, but it's perfect timing because Aras has a big problem he can't solve, but that he can avoid by doing this quest instead. So he and Ryo take off for what turns into a huge adventure.

I also read this book in record time and enjoyed the heck out of it. Some of the themes from Tuyo are further developed thanks to the contrast between three different peoples. Ryo's own people are further revealed as a lot of time is spent in the winter country. It would really be impossible to explain this book without spoiling it but Neumeier makes the world a big one with epic battles, friendships, and live-or-die moments.

If you liked Tuyo, you're going to love Tarashana. I was glad to see in the end notes that a novella (?) and a proper sequel to this book will show up in 2022. Woohoo!

Pink (2016)

 

Three men rush to a hospital because one is suffering from a serious injury to his head and eye. One of the men says they'll get revenge on those women. Meanwhile, three shaken and upset women are returning to their apartment in a taxi. They have spots of blood on them and we can tell they are the women who the man was talking about.

And we are off and running with one of India's biggest film hits from 2016. Although we're dropped into the middle of the story, we all know that one of these women had to take extreme measures to defend her virtue. 

This is a serious movie about a topic that Americans have had held up to the public eye for decades. But in India, that isn't the case and this movie was made to point out the double standards applied to women and the violence that can ensure.

 As the story continues we see the escalating forms of revenge the men attempt, the helplessness of the women,  predictable keepers of the status quo, and unexpected acts of kindness. Something the girls don't expect is when an old, possibly creepy, neighbor comes to their assistance as their legal counsel. Anyone used to Indian films knows from the beginning this will happen because he is played by acting legend Amitabh Bachchan. Of course he's the lawyer. 

However, the story really belongs to the young women and it is artfully and sensitively shown through small vignettes as they must come to terms with the relentless siege they suffer and their limited ability to fight for their voices to be heard. Indian films are usually very good about inferring sensitive topics rather than showing them and this does a good job at that.

We avoided this for some time because, as Americans, we've seen this sort of story told many times and I also don't like movies with victimization. However, it was a very good film in its own right, well told, and a fascinating look inside Indian society at a condition that their films are now exposing to the light of day.

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

Hannah and Rose discuss Pink in episode 53 of An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

The Pyramids Road, Gizeh

The Pyramids Road, Gizeh by Edward Lear, via Gandalf's Gallery

Cutting One From the Herd

Cowboy cutting one from the herd on the LS ranch, 1907.
Via Traces of Texas which consistently has great Texas images.

Louise Hollandine

Louise Hollandine - self portrait

This is via J.R.'s Art Place on Facebook, which consistently features great art. In this case, there is a fascinating story about Louise Hollandine's journey from Protestantism to Catholicism.

Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate was the daughter of Frederick V of the Palatinate and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart. Raised in a Protestant household in the Netherlands, she showed great artistic talent. Her family arranged for her to study under one of the greatest artists of the time, Gerard van Honthorst.

The painting shown here is a self-portrait by her circa 1650. It was in 1657 that she, for unknown reasons, fled the Netherlands with the aid of her aunt Henrietta Marie de Bourbon, the widow of Charles I of England. In France she converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Cistercian Abbey of Maubuisson. In retaliation, she was left out of her mother's will.

In 1664 she became Abbess of Maubuisson. She continued painting after entering the Abbey, mostly of religious subjects.

The most perfect of prayers

The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers ... In it we ask, not only for the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

The Lord's Prayer Contains It All

Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture] and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained in the Lord's Prayer.

St. Augustine

Magic Window

Magic Window, Remo Savisaar

 

The summary of the gospel

[The Lord's prayer] is truly the summary of the whole gospel.

Tertullian, De orat

The Meadow

 

The Meadow (1875), Alfred Sisley

Church in Moret

Church in Moret (1889), Alfred Sisley

 

Psalm 11 — Trust in the Lord

If anyone wishes to disturb you, hold on strongly to your confidence in the Lord and say Psalm 11.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

These days I think many of us can sympathize with the psalmist. Chaos is all around — the pandemic, rioting, political division, anger, and the foundations of what is "normal" all seem swept away.

Like the psalmist, we must keep our sense of perspective and lean on what we know to be true. The righteous man can lean on God who we know is unchanging and eternally in charge.

Bird hunter from Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad, c. 725 BC
"Flee like a bird to the mountains. For look, the wicked bend the bow,
they have fitted their arrow to the string." (11:1-2)

Notice how the psalmist shows us some key truths about God.

11:4-6 Yahweh the Examiner

The dual description of Yahweh as "in his holy temple" and "on his heavenly throne" is significant. The former is an indication of God's immanent presence among humans (most particularly the faithful), while the latter emphasizes the transcendent power and authority that separates him from the chaotic futility of human power. God is at once among his people, strengthening, empowering, and saving, and at the same time above all the humans, ruling, examining, and rendering righteous judgment.

[...]

Contemporary Significance. Whatever else it means, taking refuge in God does not mean escape or avoidance of pain and suffering. Part of the reason for this is that fleeing is self-focused and self-concerned. We flee when we are concerned about protecting ourselves. By contrast, the kind of refuge that God offers calls us to give ourselves away: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:24). Taking refuge in God is other-focused. Those who enter that refuge hold onto God by letting go of self and thinking instead of others.

Psalms Volume 1 (NIV Application Commentary)

I like knowing this ancient use for sulfur and coals.

11:6 Fiery Coals and Burning Sulfur

In Akkadian texts, sulfur burned on coals is described as a fumigating agent ... The terms here are reminiscent, though not identical, to those used in the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24)

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

Though the psalmist is saying the enemy will be destroyed it seems fit that fumigation from evil is the mental connection, and also fit that such "fumigation" was deemed just for Sodom and Gomorrah. These ancient contexts are fascinating.

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

St. Martin Canal

St. Martin Canal (1870), Alfred Sisley

Look at that light!