Stairs

Stairs, Bertha Wegman

I'd love to live in the house that has these stairs.

The Old Testament is not outdated for our modern world

The Old Testament is a message addressed to a people who had to be detached from the pagan, polytheistic mentalities of antiquity. It contains nothing outdated for our modern world, which has become pagan again and enslaved by its own idols, denying the difference between good and evil. It teaches us to give God His place as the origin and destination of everything, the source of life and the final end of man, who is a pilgrim traveling toward the Absolute; this is the great moral and religious revolutiaon of the law of Moses. The People of God must be drawn out of their enslavement so as to live up to the divine election that is theirs.

Robert Sarah, Catechism of the Spiritual Life

Amen, amen.

September

September, Theo Van Hoytema

 

The emblem of our unity.

This flag which we honour and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us. — speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us and of the records they wrote upon it. ... from its birth until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high the symbol of great, events, of a great plan of life worked out by a great people.

Woodrow Wilson, June 1917,

as the country entered World War I

These are things we need to remember, especially in this time of great division over the choices contributing to the plan of life we are working out together as a country.

Chili

At first chili was a hellish food for me, but now I almost can swallow it like a Mexican.

German Immigrant Ernst Kohlberg, 1876

letter to family in Germany

Today we're celebrating Texas and here's part of that rich cultural mix which has gone to make our great state so unique. Talk about a culture clash!

Pete's Meat Market

Pete's Meat Market in El Paso, 1979
via Traces of Texas

My favorite thing is the plastic cow head.

The Young Eel Angler

The Young Eel Angler, Myles Birket Foster

 I love this style of painting where it is as accurate as a photograph, but so much more than a mere snapped image.

Blood of St. Januarius ‘completely liquefied’ on feast day

“We have just taken from the safe the reliquary with the blood of our patron saint, which immediately completely liquefied,” the abbot of the chapel of the treasury of the Naples Cathedral announced on Sept. 19. ...

“It’s a testimony that is present, living, current, and capable of speaking to the heart of every believer, pushing him to more consistency, beyond courage, to a life of giving, steeped in sharing.” (Bishop Battaglia).

This is one of those miracles that seems impossible or the result of feverish, over-devout wishful thinking. However, with video handy, you can see the actual liquefied blood of St. Januarius, which was first recorded in 1389.

I myself have never been attracted to these sorts of miracles so I've not paid much attention in the past. However, recently, I heard a friend talking about how his faith grew because of this sort of miracle and the inability of scientific investigations to explain it.

Here's the video.

Here's everything you need to know about the miracle of the liquefication of St. Januarius's blood. Of special interest to me was the fact that there is no scientific explanation. 

Here's the CNA story which reports the bishop's speech in full.

Men, pennies and the King

A religion is a thing which, by its nature, does not think of men as more or less valuable, but of men as all intensely and painfully valuable, a democracy of eternal danger. For religion all men are equal, as all pennies are equal, because the only value in any of them is that they bear the image of the King.

G. K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens

This is why I love G. K. Chesterton. He gets it so right with such unique images as examples.

September

September, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

Probably the most famous of the calendar images. The grapes are being harvested by the peasants and carried into the beautifully detailed Chateau de Saumur.

University of Chicago

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

This was so much more than I realized it would be. Within this simply told tale are the stories of four people who go to a special cafe in order to time travel. The rules are strict, the time is very limited, and it seems impossible that they could accomplish much. However, each is surprised by what they find. And therein lies a wonderful, charming tale.

Scott Danielson and I discuss this in episode 331 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

“Mr. Toulouse paints Mr. Lautrec”, a double-exposure photograph of Toulouse-Lautrec

“Mr. Toulouse paints Mr. Lautrec”,
a double-exposure photograph of painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
by his friend Maurice Guibert, 1891.

 Isn't this great? So imaginative and fun! Via J.R.'s Art Place.

Wedding at Cana (in the style of Japanese art)

We're off for the weekend to help St. Joseph's parish with their Beyond Cana retreat. After this one, their retreat team will be completely made up of their own parishioners! This seemed like the perfect piece of art for today.

Wedding at Cana
by Daniel Mitsui
This image is under copyright. The artist has given me permission to share his images on this blog.

I get excited every time I get one of Daniel Mitsui's newsletters. I know there it is always going to include at least one piece of art that thrills me. I'm such a fan of Asian art that I haven't been able to stop examining this depiction of the wedding at Cana.

Of this piece, Daniel says:

The original was created on private commission. This is the fifth commission I have received to transpose traditional subjects from medieval European art into the style of Japanese art. Various Japanese woodblock prints of the 18th and 19th centuries were used for visual reference. Paintings by Hinrik Funhof, Hieronymus Bosch, Gerard David and Bertram von Minden were among the occidental works that influenced the content and arrangement.

The Wedding at Cana is depicted in the middleground as a Japanese marriage ceremony, with the bride wearing the traditional garb, about to sip sake. Christ and Mary converse in the foreground, while a servant fills the six stone jars with water.

There is much more, which you can read here. For example the images on the jars and both sets of screens have very specific symbolic significance.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #91 — Imitation of Life (1934)

A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.

This was the final movie we watched  from the 1935 Oscars as we work our way through Oscar winners and selected nominees. We were all surprised at how much we liked this tale of two mothers — one black, one white — who become good friends as they struggle together against the world in raising their daughters and earning a living. It tackled issues in a manner really surprising when you consider everyday life for black Americans in 1934.

I really love the 1935 winner - It Happened One Night - but we think Imitation of Life was robbed by not winning. I was especially interested to see Claudette Colbert in her third movie nominated for an Oscar that year. She was red hot that year and her performance here was good.

However, it was Louise Beavers who really stood out. We'd seen her previously in She Done Him Wrong, the Mae West film that was nominated for the 1934 Oscars. Beavers played a stereotyped, giggling, joking maid in that one. However, here she was allowed a role that was very unusual for any black actor of the time. Most definitely she was robbed by having no Oscar nomination for her performance, most probably because she was black as newspapers at the time noted.

I especially liked the portrayal of the friendship between the two women after reading that the book from which the story was adapted was inspired by a road trip to Canada the author took with her friend, the African-American short-story writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston.

This is one worth watching for a lot of reasons.

Self Portrait - Reubens Santoro

Self Portrait, Reubens Santoro

 I love artists' self portraits. Selfies are now commonplace but just recently they were thought of as new, exciting, indulgent, and more. But we can see that they are as old as the urge to create art.

9/11, Our Choices and Making a Stand

I originally wrote this for my Free Mind column at Patheos. It is still posted there.

Two days after 9/11, my father-in-law had a massive stroke. My husband and I drove from Dallas to the hospital in Houston. Largely in shock between the double burden of terrorist attacks and personal tragedy, we were nevertheless stirred with pride at the many flags and hand-made signs we saw along the road. Tears sprang to my eyes when we passed a battered pick-up truck complete with obligatory shotgun rack and "We are all New Yorkers today" written on the rear window.

My husband said, "Those terrorists don't know what they have done. This guy would've spit on a New Yorker last week. And now he'd fight for them."

We were lucky. We didn't know anyone, then, who had died or been in the attacks. But we still suffered with the rest of the nation. It changed us as a people and as individuals.

It taught me a big lesson in forgiveness; as I expressed my forceful wish to see the people behind this attack "killed," a gentle friend from our parish looked at me with a troubled face. "I don't know," she said slowly. "But that doesn't seem right either."

I was taken aback and began to pray, even as I expressed anger. Gradually, the anger faded and the ability to forgive crept in.

Today, I mourn the 9/11 attacks as much as ever. Easy tears still spring to my eyes when I look over the old pictures, video footage, and exchange "what I was doing when I heard" stories with others.

I also think about the opportunity that we had to go forward as a people united—to bring something good out of the evil. We are more divided than ever, and ruder than ever. We squabble and complain about the red states, the blue states, the liberals, the conservatives, the Muslims, the Catholics, and on and on it goes.

Some of this is basic human nature, as old as the stories in Genesis, of brother striking brother. It seems to me, though, that some of it is Evil pushing its way into the world, and we are failing to push back for the common good. We listen to the siren call of "my way," which goes hand in hand with pride.

As always, when it comes to thinking things through, I find that others have pondered the matter so much more thoroughly than I could. Recently I picked up one of my favorite "good versus evil" books and found the words defining my thoughts.

It is said that the two great human sins are pride and hate. Are they? I elect to think of them as the two great virtues. To give away pride and hate is to say you will change for the good of the world. To vent them is more noble; that is to say the world must change for the good of you. I am on a great adventure.

Harold Emery Lauder, in Stephen King's The Stand

Twenty-three years before 9/11, Stephen King published one of his best-known and best-loved books, The Stand. It tells a tale of the United States, laid to waste when a biological weapons-grade virus inadvertently gets loose. As survivors roam the post-apocalyptic ruins, they begin to have dreams about an incredibly old holy woman, named Mother Abigail, or of a supernatural entity—Randall Flagg—who is her opponent.

Following their dreams, two communities begin to form—Mother Abigail's in Boulder and Flagg's in Las Vegas—and the stage is set for a final "stand" between Evil and God.

King has expressed frustration that so many fans call The Stand their favorite work, even though he has written scores of books since its publication.

Well, it's a heck of a book for one thing, so it's no wonder people love it. And although this is a horror novel, it is very translatable to our own lives. We no longer worry about bio-terrorism the way we did back then, but we can still relate to the scenario King paints.

In The Stand, King holds up the mirror to us. God and evil are present, of course, but they work through men, as ever, and we recognize ourselves in the pages.

Harold Emery Lauder was the quintessential misunderstood nerd, picked on in school, crossed in love, and finding power in hatred. His note could have been written by any of the terrorists who flew those planes into the World Trade Center. I imagine that, like Harold, their betrayal of innocents was the culmination of a long trail of choosing their own desires first. King shows us enough of Harold's choices—sometimes made despite the screaming of his own instincts—so that we can see a little of him in every selfish choice we make.

Harold's end is not a good one, and it is made pitiful by the fact that he is tossed aside like a worn out doll when evil is done using him for its own purposes. We cannot hold onto our anger at him because he has been misled so completely. In a similar way, when I think of those terrorists and their deliberate evil, I have a bit of that pity for them as well.

Once they were somebody's babies. I don't know what led them astray, but I lament the loss of the people they could have been.

King directly juxtaposes a rock star, Larry Underwood, against Harold.

"You ain't no nice guy!" she cried at him as he went into the living room. "I only went with you because I thought you were a nice guy" . . . A memory circuit clicked open and he heard Wayne Stuckey saying, "There's something in you that's like biting on tinfoil."

The Stand

After the plague, Larry is haunted by those words, "you ain't no nice guy"—they jump to mind whenever he contemplates a selfish or cowardly act. Ultimately, he actually becomes a "nice guy" by consistently choosing the nobler act, if only to prove those words wrong.

Larry is no different than you or me, or anyone who can see themselves with a modicum of self awareness. None of us are "nice guys" deep down because we are all stained with Original Sin. And we know it.

We have help, though, that Stephen King didn't give Larry Underwood. We have the grace of Christ, the sacrament of reconciliation, and our faith to strengthen us. Like Larry, though, we have to keep picking ourselves up and trying again. We must practice until we are more perfectly "nice guys."

9/11 has presented us with a chance to practice forgiveness over and over again. We're all in this together and lifting our thoughts (or hands) in hatred belittles us and our targets. We are Christ’s followers, charged to see Him in everyone they meet. We all have the same choice. Do we embrace Harold's way, or Larry's?

There's always a choice. That's God's way, always will be. Your will is still free. Do as you will. There's no set of leg-irons on you. But . . . this is what God wants of you.

Mother Abigail, The Stand

Have Mercy on Me Now and at the Hour of My Death. Amen.

I was "assigned" Captain Daniel O'Callaghan when Project 2,996 began. What an honor it has been every year to be allowed to bring this tribute of a fine American hero to everyone.

Captain Daniel O'Callaghan, 42, Smithtown, N.Y.

It has been a real privilege to read through the tributes of those who knew Daniel O'Callaghan and to learn about his life. Gradually this man I never heard of before has taken on real personality to me. Part of a large Irish clan, he was full of energy, loved children, loved joking around, and loved his family and job. In short, he loved life and made it better for everyone who was lucky enough to meet him.

When I was growing up, even though we didn't see the O'Callaghan's very much, it was always something to look forward to. We always had fun, laughter, jokes, & stories to tell. It didn't matter how long it had been since you'd seen each other, everyone was part of a big happy, loving family that hung together. Friends or family, it didn't matter; you were one of the family. It was wonderful.

I, myself, love the heart of someone who relished his job so ... and you've gotta love the image of those glow-in-the-dark boxers.

Though he came from a family chock-full of police officers - including six active officers and eight retired from forces in New York City and on Long Island - O'Callaghan, 42, switched to the fire department 18 years ago, after three years as a cop.

He was "born to be a fireman," said his friend and fellow firefighter, Paul Pfeifer.

His brother firefighters marveled at the constant energy displayed by "Danny O.," as he was known. "He was a ball of fire," said Pfeifer. In the engine house, he recalled, O'Callaghan "would have his pants and boots on already, like he was waiting for the next fire." And, Pfeifer said, at a fire scene, "You would turn around to see where he was, and he was already ahead of you."

O'Callaghan was also the one to provide comic relief when it was most needed. Pfeifer chuckled as he recounted one instance involving O'Callaghan and his glow-in- the-dark boxer shorts.

"We'd had a fire early in the evening that really beat the hell out of us," Pfeifer said. Most of the men were resting in the darkened bunk room, but not O'Callaghan, who never slept on the job.

"All of a sudden, he ran into the bunk room, and all you could see was the boxer shorts, jumping from bed to bed, and all you could hear was him laughing, and then he went out the door," Pfeifer said. "Everyone sat there, and was like, 'What was that?' I just said, 'That was Danny O.'"

That energy was one of Daniel O'Callaghan's main characteristics. It was mentioned time and again by all who knew him.

"Outstanding" This was always Danny's response...When I look back on it now though I realize it was his energy. It was his energy towards the two things he loved the most. His first would be his love for his beautiful family of Rhonda, Rhiannon and Connor. The other would be his other family. Being part of the NYFD. We should all be so lucky to have a loving family they we leave at home to join another that we work with.

It was his energy that could always be counted on when asked to assist in a family project or loan a hand in a task at ones home. Energy when telling a story or joke and always lighting up the place with his presence. His laugh was always robust and full of life...

Excerpts from John Caspar's tribute which was read at the memorial service

I was especially impressed by the fact that although his shift was over, he turned back to help in the emerging disaster that was September 11, 2001. That is just the kind of guy that he was. Born to be a firefighter, from a family with a history of public service.

The motto of the station, which is located in the Broadway area, is inscribed on the fire engine and fittingly reads: "The Pride of Manhattan. Never missed a performance."

It is a motto that probably befits Daniel O'Callaghan, who was not supposed to even be on duty that Tuesday. As the station was called out to the attack site, Daniel O'Callaghan was busy shaving in the station's bathroom before attending class to become a captain.

Maureen O'Callaghan was told her brother's shaving cream and clothes were found inside the station's bathroom, as he must have hurried to New York's aid with only half his face shaved, she said.

Anybody who lived life to the full the way that Daniel O'Callaghan did would also live his faith just as large.

"Much later, Anderson said, 'officials were able to identify Danny's remains in part by the Knights of Columbus rosary they found still firmly clenched in his hand.'"

I thought that I read somewhere that he was always fingering the rosary which he kept in his pocket, but couldn't find that reference again when I was looking around. Regardless, he had it when it counted most.

I think of him and feel that he had to be saying the rosary or at least thinking it in those final moments with the beads firmly in hand. I remember a friend told me that she read somewhere about someone who is devoted to Mary. That when they who stand before God for judgment they will see Mary come forward and tell Jesus, "This is one of mine" as she puts her arm around that person. Surely, from what I have read of Captain Daniel O'Callaghan's life he had no need of Mary coming forward but just as surely I feel that she was there with Jesus to greet him as he entered heaven.

I feel that I got to know Captain O'Callaghan just a bit as I searched for pieces of his life to show others. In fact, I have gotten into the habit of turning to him for intercession when in prayer. I look forward to meeting this loving, energetic, Irish firefighter if I make it to heaven myself. In fact, I'm asking him to help me get there.

My heart goes out to his family, especially his wife and young children. If I feel this way after simply reading about him then surely they must miss him sorely. My prayers are with them.


Sources:

• Legacy.com Guest Book
• Knightline - September 27, 2003
• September 11, 2001, Victims
• Knights of Columbus newsletter
• Newsday
• Vero Beach Press Journal

Daniel O'Callaghan was just one of the 2,996 victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, as well as the attempted hijacking of Flight 93. They are all mourned and missed. We will never forget.

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

2,996 volunteer bloggers
are joined together in a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
Each person is paying tribute to a single victim.

We honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.

Project 2,996 is here.

Rereading (again) — The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly

I haven't reread this since the last time, which was way back in 2014. This series is the first that Hambly got published and, in my opinion, are still the best she's ever written. That was confirmed again for me this time through.

The great thing about rereading something that you know really well is that you know the big story points but have forgotten enough of the smaller twists that then surprise you with pleased recognition. The last time this happened to me is talked about below.

The first book begins with a wonderful premise. What if you've been having a series of recurring dreams, set in a strange world, where you're in the middle of a panicking crowd all running from an ineffable horror? Then, one night, you wake up and you are in the middle of the city. It's no dream. It's real.

That's what happens to scholar Gil Patterson in The Time of the Dark. Where Barbara Hambly takes the adventure from there is a great ride.

You wouldn't normally think of a comfort book as one where you are fleeing with refugees from amorphous enemies (the Dark) in a parallel universe, where it is always freezing and there is never enough food, where you may never get home again because that might let the Dark into your own world ... but there you go. This is a much loved story that I fell back into last night, thinking "why has it been so long?"

Partly this is because I love Barbara Hambly's early books. Gil, Rudy, Ingold, the Ice Falcon, are all well drawn characters. They are realistic, imperfect heroes, just as the villains are sometimes people we can understand and relate to, despite the fact that one loves to hate them.

My mind is smoothed to the contours of their world and their struggles. I am really enjoying rediscovering the bits I'd forgotten, such as seeing just how Hambly built in the the underlying story logic through tiny details that show up very early int he book.

Overall this is really a great adventure and world to visit. 

That's Interesting — Flannery O'Connor Movie, Ulma Family Beatification, Name that Pope, McCarrick Coverage

Ethan Hawke on Deciding to Direct Flannery O’Connor Biopic "Wildcat," Portrait of an "Immensely Complex Human Being" 

Ethan Hawke, prompted by his daughter Maya, directs a movie about Flannery O'Connor. As surprising as that news was to me, I was even more interested in Hawke's own telling of his discovery of the author and his exploration into the criticisms that she was racist. It left me eager to see the film. 

Here's a bit, but do go read his piece in full.

The more I learned, the more clearly Flannery O’Connor grew as a knotty but extremely important subject for exploration. As O’Donnell puts it, “The voices of artists who offer a perspective that seems out of step with our moment are often the very people we should be harkening to. The canceling of a writer who possesses the wisdom and the power of Flannery O’Connor demonstrates our impoverished imaginations, our narrowness, and our inability to embrace complexity.

Ulma Family to be Beatified on Sept. 10

This is the first time that an entire family has been beatified at one time. They lived in Poland during World War II and had the family members of three Jewish families, eight in all, living with them for 2 years before being informed on. 

The most unusual feature of the beatification is that their youngest child, who it is thought was born during the family's martyrdom, is also declared a saint. The Pillar has a good breakdown of the entire situation, including the fact that the family was targeted because they were Christian. 

Read the whole thing here.

In the early hours of March 24, 1944, Nazi police descended on the Ulma family home. They forced all the occupants to line up and shot dead the eight Jewish residents. They then killed Józef and Wiktoria, and their children: Stanisława, aged 7, Barbara, 6, Władysław, 5, Franciszek, 4, Antoni, 2, and Maria, 1.

The house was set on fire, the bodies hastily buried, and the murderers celebrated the massacre with vodka and laughter.

A week later, the bodies were dug up to give them a more dignified burial. The diggers noticed that beside the body of Wiktoria, who had been seven months pregnant, was a newborn child. It was thought that she had entered labor at the time of her execution.

Although the child was never baptized, the Vatican says that the child is eligible for beatification through the time-honored concept of “baptism of blood.”

Let's play, 'Name that pope!' The Pope Francis vs. St. Pope John Paul II edition

You may have read the story about Pope Francis "blasting the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time. — AP headline."

As with so many things from popes there's a need to place statements in context. GetReligion is an invaluable resource for context since they report on how the media reports on religion. They've got a great piece where they see if you can identify which pope said which seemingly damning quote. It's a long piece but highly informative for helping us keep an open mind instead of simply following sound bytes. Read it all here.

In conclusion, let me say that journalists are not out of bounds when they spotlight clashes between strong supporters of Pope Francis and Catholic leaders who keep quoting John Paul and Benedict. I believe, however, that journalists need to dig deeper before settling for the convenient, highly political, framework of nasty, backward “pelvic issues” Catholics vs. a loving, forward-looking pope seeking social justice.

Mainstream press (again!) fails to put McCarrick's past and victims into proper context

Ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick was judged mentally incompetent to stand trial to stand trial in a sex abuse case. GetReligion, again providing context, shows that the mainstream media didn't give much information to explain the importance of this story and what it meant overall.

In fact, all the coverage was similar when it came to the facts of what happened in the courtroom and in this particular case. Where the coverage differed was the lack of proper background information regarding McCarrick’s past and his powerful influence on the church in this country and Rome, which he had discussed (included claims to have helped elect Pope Francis) in public remarks. The coverage also needed additional background information about the clergy sex-abuse scandal as a whole. ...

It matters because background and context help readers understand stories better. In McCarrick’s case, context matters because the ex-cardinal hasn’t been in the news for some time. It also matters because McCarrick is a complicated figure who needs explaining. ...

That's a good reminder to me because McCarrick's shameful actions still loom large for me. I forget that many regular readers don't have that context. GetReligion shows how well Catholic media, specifically CNA, covered the story. This is another long one but read it all here.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #90 - Father Stu

GOD WANTED A FIGHTER. AND HE FOUND ONE.

The true-life story of boxer-turned-priest. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he’s meant to be a Catholic priest.

This is that rare find, a well done Christian movie. Usually we avoid faith based films like the plague because they are terribly schmaltzy, poorly acted and produced, and painfully obvious. We gave this a chance because we were intrigued not only by the basic story but by Mark Wahlberg's dedication to getting it produced.

It definitely is made for a specific audience which includes our family and it has the familiar beats of such a story. However, they were done in so well that it hit the mark in a big way. We were all pleasantly surprised by the high quality of acting and production which accompanied this inspiring story.

Note: some Catholics are put off by the very vulgar language. We felt it told the story of Stu's background and how far he comes. However, there is a PG-13 version where the language has been cleaned up called Father Stu Reborn.

Pickles

Pickles, Joseph Bail

 Here's a type of work that I enjoy, cooking! My daughter, Hannah, and her husband really enjoy pickling and canning. It is work, but a labor of love and deliciousness.

A Cotton Office in New Orleans

A Cotton Office in New Orleans, Edgar Degas, 1873
via Wikipedia

Delayed during a trip to New Orleans, Degas decided to paint to pass the time. Circumstances led to this being one of his first sales to a museum. I've featured this painting before but I love it, and the story, every time I come across it.

Only man is capable of work, and only man works

On Labor Day I thought I'd put some Catholic thought on the nature of humans and work. Where better to look than John Paul II's Laborem exercens (Through Work). I didn't even know this existed.

THROUGH WORK man must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society within which he lives in community with those who belong to the same family. And work means any activity by man, whether manual or intellectual, whatever its nature or circumstances; it means any human activity that can and must be recognized as work, in the midst of all the many activities of which man is capable and to which he is predisposed by his very nature, by virtue of humanity itself. Man is made to be in the visible universe an image and likeness of God himself, and he is placed in it in order to subdue the earth. From the beginning therefore he is called to work. Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work. Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.

I love this basic statement. It seems so simple, yet it conveys so much about who we are as children of God.

It was the sky that welcomed me back

It was the sky that was Texas, the sky that welcomed me back. The land I didn't care for that much — it was bleak and monotonous and full of ugly little towns. The sky was what I had been missing, and seeing it again in its morning brightness made me realize suddenly why I hadn't been myself in many months.

Larry McMurtry

This was just what I realized after Tom and I took a trip years ago to the East Coast. Bursting out of the East Texas piney woods into the open plain as we headed for Dallas, I felt suddenly free, suddenly relaxed, suddenly at home. Yes, that sky and those wide open spaces.

Can you spot the third man?

Click on the photo (or the link below) to see the photo larger.

This 1915 photo of three men with a giant pecan tree somewhere near San Antonio appeared in @NatGeo magazine a few years ago. And, yes, that's right: THREE men. Can you spot the third one? This is one huge pecan! They can live 200-300 years and reach 150 feet tall in the right conditions.

Traces of Texas

Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History by Rodney Stark

I first reviewed this in 2016 but never reread it until Scott chose it for our next episode (315) of A Good Story is Hard to Find. It is so uniformly excellent that I'm reposting the review here.

I have long been aware of Rodney Stark's excellent work using facts and statistics to set the historical record straight.

This might be the best part of the book, at the end of the introduction:

Finally, I am not a Roman Catholic, and I did not write this book in defense of the Church. I wrote it in defense of history.

And we thank you.

The fact that Stark isn't Catholic matters because it means he doesn't have a dog in this fight. Except, of course, as a historian who loves truth more than "what everyone knows." I was really surprised that every chapter had examples of current historians (who Stark calls "distinguished bigots) perpetuating untruths, usually despite clear evidence from modern  historians who had disproven them.

I really loved this book. Even in the cases where I knew a lot about anti-Catholic history I always learned new and surprising facts. Often this was the result of simply reorienting my thinking.

For example, I knew the Church's inhumane behavior to thousands of people during the Inquisition was largely exaggerated, but I was totally unprepared for archival evidence to show that these claims are a pack of lies. Pack. Of. Lies. It's so ingrained to believe that there was at least some level of culpability that I realize it looks outrageous for me to say this. But it is true.

As are the lies that have been perpetuated about motivating anti-Semitic medieval pogroms culminating in the Holocaust, precipitating the Dark Ages (which never existed, by the way), provoking the Crusades, burning witches, supporting slavery, and much more.

I could go on, but you get the point. No wonder the Church has a hard time among moderns. As Stark himself points out, anyone would resent an organization guilty of the hateful acts that the Catholic Church has been charged with committing throughout history. Luckily for us, he has plenty of facts, usually from secular sources, to show that those crimes never were committed in the first place.

You don't have to just take Stark's word for it. Each chapter has a chart of historians whose work contributed to the proof Stark lays out for us, and there is an extensive bibliography with recommended reading.

Get this book and read it whether you're Catholic or not. The proof is there. The truth matters.

Natural Candle

Natural Candle
taken by D.L. Ennis

Fires in Hawaii. Flooding in California. Hurricane Idalia. How to help everyone.

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions. — Shakespeare, Hamlet

I have to admit that I waver in knowing who to give disaster aid to, especially when the emergencies come flooding in, both in the U.S. and abroad. 

I recently have become part of the St. Vincent de Paul society which specializes in person-to-person help with neighbors in need. I am proud to serve the Lord and my neighbors in this way. 

But I hadn't thought much about how the St. Vincent de Paul Society helps outside my own city. This message reminded me that Vincentians are working around the country and need the funds to allow them to lend a helping hand to help neighbors get their lives back to normal.

Fires in Hawaii. Flooding in California. As I write this, Hurricane Idalia is battering Florida. And dozens of storms and natural disasters that never make the national news, but still uproot lives and destroy communities.

Disasters can strike suddenly. But the recovery effort can take years.

You can help. Your support of the Saint Vincent de Paul Disaster Relief Campaign will assist Vincentian volunteers who are responding to these and future disasters.

Rather than giving towards a specific disaster, the National Council asks that you give to our general Disaster Relief Campaign. This reserve allows SVdP to respond as quickly as possible to requests for disaster aid wherever — and whenever — it's needed most urgently.

If, like me, you want to help in all the disasters that are popping up, here is a way to contribute to even the ones we never hear about on the national news.

TV You Might Have Missed 5 — Law School

Yang Jong-hoon, a prosecutor-turned-professor, teaches criminal law at a prestigious law school. He and his first-year law students get involved in an unprecedented case during a mock trial. During a mock trial class, the supervising professor is found murdered and Professor Yang is arrested as the main suspect. Showing on Netflix.

We expected that the law students would band together to prove their professor's innocence. It turns out that Professor Yang needs no one's help. He is a formidable master of the law and detection. As he fights his arrest and investigates his fellow professor's death we see that he is the coolest of cool. (As you can tell from the poster above.)

We follow not only the professor but some of the students who have a study group. Some turn out to be connected to the murder victim while others have their own mysteries for us to discover. It soon becomes obvious that the professor regards every situation as an opportunity to teach his students. Whether in class or not, even when he is in jail fighting for his own freedom, he is continually teaching. This isn't always obvious but thinking back over the series it is a tribute to the writing and what drives the character's actions.

There was a refreshing lack of romance, aside from the occasional glance sent from one student to another while they weren't looking. This was a straight up drama that's wildly intricate and inventive in the plot's twists and turns. Somehow it had plenty of drama without being emotionally over-the-top, which we appreciated too.

We found this series by looking for more shows featuring actor Kim Bum after watching Tale of the Nine Tailed where he played Lee Rang. 

However, we're now fans of Kim Myung-Min who played Professor Yang. So we're going to follow him to the Detective K film series where he plays the titular character during the Jeoson dynasty. Which means wonderful period costumes as well as mystery!

Professor Yang is off to the side while actor Kim Bum is front and center.
We can see who is expected to draw the fans! Hey, he got us here!

Face of Christ on St. Veronica's Cloth

Face of Christ on St. Veronica's Cloth, Claude Mellan, 1649

This remarkable engraving by 17th century French engraver and painter Claude Mellan consists of a single spiral line!

Beginning on the tip of the nose, the line spirals outward, its passages of increasing or decreasing thickness defining the darks and lights of the image.

Image and info via lines and colors.

Who will do it?

Sometimes, when things get hard or tedious and I don't want to do them, I ask myself this: If someone who has been as blessed as I have been is not willing to clean out the barn, who will?

Ross Perot

Ross Perot was a self-made billionaire and most of us aren't that blessed. However, most of us are very blessed indeed. I know that I am. This quote applies to me for sure.

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge (coming in 2024)

Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia's palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep - and silencing the kingdom's gods.

Born with a miraculous gift, Lia's destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god - or die.

To make matters even worse, Ruven's spirit is haunting her.

This book begins where Sleeping Beauty usually ends, with someone breaking the spell on the briar-enclosed palace and awakening the royal family and servants. As is so often the case with Rosamund Hodge's tales, there is only one place where the connection to a traditional fairy tale is obvious before the story unfolds to become something completely different and original.

On the surface, this is an exciting adventure into an imaginative world. Below the surface there are many layers to ponder for those who are so minded.

In my case, I pondered the intricacies that connect us to the original story's title for several days after I finished it. Where do we see sleepers who need awakening? What do they find after they return to consciousness? What happens when those who were always awake find that they have perhaps been sleepwalking? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what happens when the beholder "wakes up" and sees a previously hidden truth?

This book doesn't come out until March 2024 so I don't want to say anything else that might spoil the book. Readers have something special to look forward to. I'm a big Rosamund Hodge fan and am happy that What Monstrous Gods proves once again that she is a master fantasy novelist. Highly recommended.

Vesuvius in Eruption

J. M. W. Turner, Vesuvius in Eruption, between 1817 and 1820
via Wikipedia and Google Art Project

'Unfortunately I met Mr. Turner at the Academy a night or two after I received this letter ; and he asked me if I had heard from Mr. Lennox. I was obliged to say 'yes.'

'Well, and how does he like the picture?'

'He thinks it indistinct.'

'You should tell him,' he replied, 'that indistinctness is my forte.'

Walter Thornbury. The Life of J.M.W. Turner,:
... Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by
His Friends and Fellow Academicians.

The picture filled me with awe and the quote made me laugh. Turner, you have it all!

Interesting — How AI may be able to improve journalism when it comes to reporting on Catholicism

As it pertains to religion reporting, the use of AL tools such as ChatGPT is also something worth delving into. The big question for me is can these tools actually make the reporting around matters concerning the Catholic church better?

In some cases, it can — but only if AI is used properly and if the reporter asks the right questions. Let’s look at some real stories and what AI could have done to add valid content. The hope is that such tools make stories better, not worse.

 GetReligion writer Clemente Lisi is considering how AI is going to impact the journalism profession. One thing he found was that AI doesn't do a bad job of filling in the background on Catholic issues.

He looked at three current stories which led him to asking ChatGPT the following pertinent questions:

• What Catholic doctrine says regarding immigration and helping the poor and those in need?
• What does Catholic doctrine say about pre-marital sex?
• Why, in terms of doctrine, abortion is so abhorrent in terms of ancient and modern Catholic teachings.

I was impressed with the answers and agreed with Lisi that such a resource could give reporters at least a leg up on a broader understanding of issues and the sorts of questions they should be asking in their stories. Read the whole piece here.

Lagniappe: The ringing bell had a sinister sound, for no reason of itself, but because of the ears to which it rang.

I got a shoulder holster out of the desk and strapped it on and slipped a Colt .38 automatic into it, put on hat and coat, shut the windows again, put the whiskey away, clicked the lights off and had the office door unlatched when the phone rang.

The ringing bell had a sinister sound, for no reason of itself, but because of the ears to which it rang. I stood there braced and tense, lips tightly drawn back in a half grin. Beyond the closed window the neon lights glowed. The dead air didn’t move. Outside the corridor was still. The bell rang in darkness, steady and strong.

I went back and leaned on the desk and answered. There was a click and a droning on the wire and beyond that nothing. I depressed the connection and stood there in the dark, leaning over, holding the phone with one hand and holding the flat riser on the pedestal down with the other. I didn’t know what I was waiting for.

The phone rang again. I made a sound in my throat and put it to my ear again, not saying anything at all.

So we were there silent, both of us, miles apart maybe, each one holding a telephone and breathing and listening and hearing nothing, not even the breathing.

Then after what seemed a very long time there was the quiet remote whisper of a voice saying dimly, without any tone:

“Too bad for you, Marlowe.”

Then the click again and the droning on the wire and I hung up and went back across the office and out.

Raymond Chandler, The High Window

Just beautiful. There is nothing like Chandler's writing.

Rue Neuve Notre Dame à Paris

Rue Neuve Notre Dame à Paris, 1826, Eduard Gaertner

I love the way this doesn't show Notre Dame from one of the usual angles, but just as the regular Parisians living nearby would have seen it.

A Catholic Among Mormons - Scott Danielson Interview

 Scott is interviewed by Tomasso, who was a guest on our podcast. Scott tells about his spiritual journey, laced with plenty of science fiction talk. 

The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr

I am writing this review to let non-Christians know that you won't find a faithful Christian or Catholic theology in this book.

This was chosen for my book club. Early on, I could see it was problematic from a Christian point of view but I found it fascinating because I know it has been a best seller. I was interested to see what appealed to people. I'm not actually sure, now that I've read it, because I found it bafflingly illogical. However, one thing became clear. If people are looking for Christian theology, they won't find it here. This is not a Christian book.

Richard Rohr combines Nestorianism (treating Jesus and Christ as two separate people, which is an old heresy), gnosticism, paganism, and pieces of Eastern religions to serve up his vision of who Christ really is. In support of this, he cherry-picks much of the quoted Scripture, as well as several philosophers, saints, and authors (including G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis) in order to give his theory authority.

The result is something that people may find attractive, but it is not Christian and it is most definitely not Catholic.

For a more detailed description of what is not Christian about the book, read these reviews:

• ‘Everything Is Christ’—and Other Muddled Messages from Richard Rohr
• The False Christ of Richard Rohr

August

August, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

The month of hawking; the nobles, carrying falcons, are going hunting while in the background peasants are harvesting and swimming in the river. Behind them is the Chateau d'Etampes.

University of Chicago

A Movie You Might Have Missed #89 — All Through the Night

It's been 12 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 is the last of the Movies You Might Have Missed ... until I come across another one!

I can't remember where I heard of this 1942 movie but the premise was intriguing. Humphrey Bogart is a gambler with a taste for only one bakery's cheesecake. When the baker is killed, he goes hunting for the murderer and unexpectedly stumbles upon undercover Nazi saboteurs. In New York City!

This movie is both humorous and dramatic, as with To Be or Not to Be or Night Train to Munich. I liked both of those movies better but we found it entertaining. And there were a lot of genuinely amusing moments and clever dialogue. I especially liked the opening when a group of gamblers are arguing WWII battle tactics based on their experience fighting rival gangs.

It features a star-studded cast including Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt (Major Strasser in Casablanca), Judith Anderson (Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca), William Demerest, Phil Silvers, and Jackie Gleason. All seemed to be having a lot of fun playing their parts to the hilt.

Down by the Watering Hole

Down by the Watering Hole
taken by Valerie, ucumari photography Some rights reserved.

I believe this is the definition of cute.

Sea Monster and St. Brendan

"St Brendan's ship on the back of a whale, and his men praying, in Honorius Philoponus, 'Nova typis transacta navigatio' (Linz: s.n., 1621), p.12 (British Library, G.7237)."

I love maps. I love monsters. What's not to love in this monster that is so large one might think he is an island? So large in fact that there is room for St. Brendan and his men to set up an impromptu mass?

This and many more sea-faring monsters may be seen at BibliOdyssey's post Map Monsters.

Vampires and the Roman Catholic Church

When it comes to fighting vampires and performing exorcisms, the Roman Catholic Church has the heavy artillery. Your other religions are good for everyday theological tasks, like steering their members into heaven, but when the undead lunge up out of their graves, you want a priest on the case. As a product of Catholic schools, I take a certain pride in this pre-eminence.

Roger Ebert, review of John Carpenter's Vampires

Magic and murder

"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

I haven't read this book in a long time but coming across this quote made me want to reread it. Such a perfect bit of frippery, morality, and manners!

Claret Cup Cactus

Jason Merlo, photographer
Claret cup cactus in bloom, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area - Llano County, Texas

A claret cup cactus in bloom growing in the crack of a boulder on Little Rock at sunset at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in Llano County, Texas.

I didn't know cacti could have beautiful names like Claret Cup. Looking at the flowers, though, you can immediately see the logic and poetry behind it.

Isn't this a stunning photo? I discovered Jason Merlo when one of his photos of the painted churches of Texas was featured on Traces of Texas on Facebook. Check Jason's galleries to see more gorgous photos of the beautiful state of Texas. He offers prints for sale too.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #88: Grand Hotel

It's been 12 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.

Grand Hotel remains a classic masterpiece as the first all-star Hollywood epic with many high-powered stars of the early 1930s. The episodic film is set at Berlin's ritzy, opulent art-deco Grand Hotel, and tells of the criss-crossing of the lives of five major guests whose fates intertwined for a two-day period at the hotel. Its ensemble cast of stars were occupants of a between-wars German hotel, all struggling with either their finances, scandals, health, emotional loneliness, or social standing in multiple storylines.

Filmsite

This is the movie where Greta Garbo's famous "I want to be alone" line originated. An all-star cast acts their hearts out in this mother of all melodramas. Continuing our journey through early Oscar winners (Best Picture, 1932) and nominees, we thoroughly enjoyed this very good movie which can hold its own against stories of today. I especially enjoyed it as a look at life, from waiting for a new baby to someone preparing to leave this mortal coil. And lots of things in-between!

I will add that we were all quite concerned about the fate of Adolphus the dachshund.

Careful Steps

Taken by Julie Kenward

Julie and I used to be internet buddies but somehow I lost touch with her. I think she's gradually shifted to different social media and I didn't keep up. Regardless, I love this photo which I first posted way back in 2014. It is timeless.

Couple with guidebook reading map

Couple with guidebook reading map. Al Lago Maggiore travel poster.

August

August, Theo van Hoytema

Church of the Light

Church of the Light, Osaka, Japan
Taken by Bergmann

The simplicity of Ando's church is part of its beauty, and of its message: built on a low budget, the concrete walls were cast on-site, and the wood used to form the moulds for that process were then recycled to make the pews. The church has no decoration, and the only windows are the slits in the shape of a cross, as important for this particular church as it is for the foundation of Christianity itself: the Cross here is the Light.

Richard Stemp, The Secret Language of Churches and Cathedrals

I tend not to like modern architecture in churches but, obviously, that is because most of them aren't very well done. This is spectacular and I'd love to see it in person.

By the way, the Richard Stemp book is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

I came in on my knees. That is the only way in.

I never came into the church as a person who was being taught. I came in on my knees. That is the only way in. When people start praying they need truths; that’s all. You don’t come into the Church by ideas and concepts, and you cannot leave by mere disagreement. It has to be a loss of faith, a loss of participation. You can tell when people leave the Church: they have quit praying.

Actively relating to the Church's prayer and sacraments is not done through ideas. Any Catholic today who has an intellectual disagreement with the Church has an illusion. You cannot have an intellectual disagreement with the Church: that's meaningless. The Church is not an intellectual institution. It is a superhuman institution.

Marshall McLuhan, The Medium and the Light: Reflections on Religion

Absolutely. And the more you pray, the more you are drawn into this superhuman institution.

Breakfast Time

Hanna Pauli, Breakfast-Time, 1887

Isn't this a lovely, sun-dappled scene? I can hear the birds, feel a cool breeze, small the coffee.