Watercolour of Ellen Willmott's Garden

Alfred Parsons, Watercolour of Ellen Willmott's Garden

Inspired by Lines and Colors where you'll see many more of Parsons' paintings.

Sticking With Prayer

In the end, it was prayer that saved Teresa [of Avila] from herself. This despite the fact that her next twenty years were spent in a state of interior civil war: she could not let go of God or leave the convent, yet she could not let go of her quest to win the love and admiration and praise of others either. Once she resumed her efforts to pray, she did so assiduously, going off to the oratory for an hour or more each day, regardless of how distracted she might be or how empty the experience. She confesses that at times all she could think about was the hour being over and states that it took actual courage for her to devote this time to God, for it was often impossible for her to concentrate. She credits this perseverance in prayer with any growth in virtue that occurred in her over the years. God continued to act within her in spite of her strong personality simply because she gave him time to do so by meeting him in prayer each day.

By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness
by Paula Huston

Can I tell y'all how hopeful this made me feel? I am not a very good pray-er in so many ways. It's easy to talk the talk ... but that walking part. Can't someone else do it? My biggest strides forward lately have been in simply forcing myself to make time to go off by myself and pray. I am thankful that Teresa was open enough to admit that she suffered so much from many of the same problems we all face ... for that gives me hope that God will do much of the work too if I am able to show myself willing by making the time for prayer.

A New Pier

Ein neuer Steg (A New Pier)
by Edward B. Gordon

In Texas, if it's a holiday weekend kicking off summertime, then that means time at the lake. This may be a German painting, but it looks like lake-time to me.

Young Woman in a Summer Shower

Suzuki Harunobu, A Young Woman in a Summer Shower, 1765

I love the dynamic quality of the young woman having lost her shoe while the wind flaps at her clothing and laundry. I can feel that wind.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #96 — The Good Earth (1937)

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

Wow, Louise Ranier definitely earned her Oscar! What a performance! She was also my favorite performer in The Zigfeld Follies for which she also earned an Oscar. To be fair, everyone gave top notch performances. This is the sort of movie that doesn't usually appeal to me - long dramatic sagas of families struggling to survive, especially since I'd read the book long ago and hadn't liked it much. This sold it though. By the end I was loving it.

I've seen plenty of negative comments about the fact that 1937 movie standards meant white actors portrayed Chinese characters, which would never be done these days. However, I've learned, as I read tons of old literature, that we have to keep the cultural ideas of the past in mind instead of rushing to judge by our standards. So let's just talk about the movie as it tells the story.

As I watched I kept thinking of the intended 1937 audience and how exotic and interesting this would have been to them. In fact, despite how it seems to dismissive viewers today, I feel it probably humanized the Chinese to Americans in a very positive way. Farmers certainly would've understood this family's struggles.

This was the last of the movies we viewed for the 1938 Oscar winner and nominees. It is the movie we'd have given the Oscar to, hands down. The winner, The Life of Emile Zola, is a movie that landed at the bottom of the list no matter what else we watched.

I'm really glad we embarked on Oscar project. I've seen so many movies I'd never have known I liked otherwise. This is one.

NOTE

Here's my list of all the Oscar movies we have watched. Here are the ones we liked so much that I reviewed them here to tempt you into trying them.

Bookends

Bookends
Karin Jurick

This is the perfect piece to for right after Memorial Day weekend!

Julie and Scott meticulously spliced audiocassette recordings together to make this episode.

 In Episode 332 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast we discuss: Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Heave Ho, Carry That Load)

In the Shadow of the Tent

In the Shadow of the Tent (1914). Helen Galloway McNicoll (Canadian, 1879-1915).

It's a bit early in the year to think about the seashore, but I just can't resist paintings of it.

The glue that holds a person together

The glue that holds a person together is either vanity or values.

Stephen Tobolowsky, The Tobolowsky Files,
The Wager with Freddie

Ain't that the truth!

The fire of Hell is simply the light of God as experienced by those who reject it

It has been well said by a great saint that the fire of Hell is simply the light of God as experienced by those who reject it; to those, that is, who hold fast to their darling illusion of sin, the burning reality of holiness is a thing unbearable. To the penitent, that reality is a torment so long and only so long as any vestige of illusion remains to hamper their assent to it: they welcome the torment, as a sick man welcomes the pains of surgery, in order that the last crippling illusion may be burned away. ...

There is no difference in the justice; the only difference is in the repudiation or acceptance of judgment. ... whether in Hell or in Purgatory, you get what you want — if that is what you really do want. If you insist on having your own way, you will get it: Hell is the enjoyment of your own way forever. If you really want God's way for you, you will get it in Heaven, and the pains of Purgatory will not deter you, they will be welcomed as the means to that end. ... the consequences of sin are the sinner's — to be borne, at his own choice, in a spirit of sullen rebellion or of ready acquiescence.

Dorothy Sayers, Introduction to Dante's Purgatorio

Amen, amen. May I always be ready to accept God's judgment and go joyfully in the direction of having my crippling illusions burned away.

Kindred Spirits

Asher Brown Durand, Kindred Spirits, 1849

Kindred Spirits was commissioned by the merchant-collector Jonathan Sturges as a gift for William Cullen Bryant in gratitude for the nature poet's moving eulogy to Thomas Cole, who had died suddenly in early 1848. It shows Cole, who had been Jonathan Sturges mentor, standing in a gorge in Catskills in company of a mutual friend William Cullen Bryant.

Read more here...

The Cat — and memories of Puff

via WikiPaintings

I grew up with dogs. Lots of big dogs since one of my parents' hobbies was raising Bullmastiffs and showing them. When Tom and I married we got a couple of dogs as a matter of course.

When our girls were little and cat crazy we gave in and got a cat from the SPCA. I called her Puff from my vague memories of Dick and Jane and Sally and Spot and Puff. I learned to read in those books and fine books they were too.

It was Puff who taught me how to love a cat. She was young and crazy and she enchanted the entire household, including our ChowChow who went from trying to kill cats to playing a game where Puff would dodge out from corners, throw herself under him and play with his feathers (the long fur growing from the back of his legs). After Puff was run over by a car, only several months after we got her, he continued for several weeks to slow down at her favorite "pounce" corners and wait for her attack.

Most of all, Puff loved me. She slept behind my knees, she laid on my shoulder and hit my book, she threw herself at me and shamelessly demanded attention. I was enchanted, like the rest of the household. We had another couple of cats after Puff and I loved them too, though neither was up to Puff on my cat scale of perfection.

All that is a very long way of saying that I understand why Gwen Johns included her cat in so many of her paintings. If I painted, I would too.

Notes on Mark: Leprosy

Jesus Heals the Leper by Alexandre Bida

MARK 1:40-45
I am so used to thinking of Jesus healing lepers that I really have never given a second thought as to just what leprosy is ... except that I knew there is (or used to be?) a leper colony on Hawaii and eventually bits of you would fall off. Here we have the whole agonizing description of the three types of leprosy. It gives me an entirely new appreciation for the unbelievable suffering lepers endured and the fact that Jesus was so unafraid that he would touch the lepers to make them whole.

The fate of the leper was truly hard... Let us look first at the facts.

There are three kinds of leprosy. (i) There is nodular or tubercular leprosy. It begins with an unaccountable lethargy and pains in the joints. Then there appear on the body, especially on the back, symmetrical discolored patches. On them little nodules form, at first pink, then turning brown. The skin is thickened. The nodules gather specially in the folds of the cheek, the nose, the lips and the forehead. The whole appearance of the face is changed until the man loses his human appearance and looks, as the ancients said, like a lion or satyr. The nodules grow larger and larger; they ulcerate and from them comes a foul discharge. The eye-brows fall out; the eyes become staring; the voice becomes hoarse and the breath wheezes because of the ulceration of the vocal chords. The hands and the feet also ulcerate. Slowly the sufferer becomes a mass of ulcerated growths. The average course of the disease is nine years, and it ends in mental decay, coma and ultimately death. The sufferer becomes utterly repulsive both to himself and others.

(ii) There is anesthetic leprosy. The initial stages are the same; but the nerve trunks also are affected. The infected area loses all sensation. This may happen without the sufferer knowing that it has happened; and he may not realize that it has happened until he suffers some burning or scalding and finds that there is no feeling whatsoever where pain ought to be. As the disease develops the injury to the nerves causes discolored patches and blisters. The muscles waste away; the tendons contract until the hands become like claws. There ensues chronic ulceration of the feet and of the hands and then the progressive loss of fingers and of toes, until in the end a whole hand or a whole foot may drop off. The duration of the disease is anything from twenty to thirty years. It is a kind of terrible progressive death of the body.

(iii) The third kind of leprosy is a type -- the commonest or all -- where nodular and anesthetic leprosy are mixed.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series*, rev. ed.)

Now, let's think about something else -- what did the leper seek? Healing, of course. But there are many sorts of healing as we shall see. Certainly this helped me see the deeper meaning beneath the request and healing.

In approaching Jesus, the leper makes a bold move. Not only does he violate the strictures of the law, but he risks encountering the familiar reaction of horror and revulsion at the sight of a leper. He kneels, a sign of both supplication and reverence (Ps 22:30; 95:6). His plea, If you wish, shows his utter confidence in Jesus' power. Significantly, he does not ask Jesus to heal him but to make him clean. His deepest desire is to be free once again to partake in the worship of God's people.

[...]

Jesus tells the cleansed man to show himself to a priest and offer the sacrifice prescribed for cleansing from leprosy (see Lev 14) ... The prescribed rite was to take two clean birds, one to be sacrificed and the other, dipped in the blood of the first, to fly away free (Lev 14:3-7). If the man complied with Jesus' word, he might have discovered a symbolic image foreshadowing Jesus' own sacrifice and helping him understand more deeply what Jesus had done for him. But for now, he is unable to contain his delight. ...

Gospel of Mark, The

(Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healy

* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound, as are many of his general reflections.

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

A Maid Milking a Cow in a Barn

A Maid Milking a Cow in a Barn,  Gerard ter Borch

This seems like a nice dose of reality for some reason. I love the details. You feel as if you could hear the straw crunching under your feet.

Hansan: Rising Dragon

BEFORE THE EPIC BATTLE IN THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS

In 1592, admiral Yi Sun-sin and his fleet face off against the might of the invading Japanese navy and its formidable warships. As the Korean forces fall into crisis, the admiral resorts to using his secret weapon, the dragon head ships known as geobukseon, in order to change the tide of this epic battle at sea.

I loved the first in this series about famed Korean Admiral Yi. I've really been looking forward to this prequel, about Yi's famous earlier victory against the dominant invading Japanese fleet. It didn't disappoint, although it wasn't quite as rich in the secondary characters as The Admiral was. Highly recommended. As with the first movie, you've got to be willing to let all the confusing characters just wash over you. It will all come straight and make sense, rewarding you with a wonderful story.

The final movie in the trilogy is Noryang: Deadly Sea which shows us the greatest battle in Admiral Yi's career.

The Moorish Chief

The Moorish Chief, Eduard Charlemont, 1878
via the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Can you imagine seeing this magnificent fellow in a 5' x 3' painting? One look from those imperious eyes must stop you in your tracks.

This is via Lines and Colors where some of the details are enlarged for our appreciation. There is also some interesting information about the painting itself.

An Excellent Approach for a Common Question

One radio guy asked me, for the umpteenth time, "Don't tell me you take the Bible literally?"

Inspired by the Holy Spirit (I assume), it occurred to me to ask, "Which parts?"

He stared at me blankly, having no idea how to reply because, in point of fact, he did not know one frickin' thing about what is in the Bible.

"Do you mean the Psalms?" I pressed him. "Of course, I don't take them literally. They're poetry. Or do you mean I should not take it literally when it says that David hid from Saul in the cave of Adullam?"

He continued to stare blankly, then finally said, "Look, I don't know all that much about the Bible."

Mark Shea

This is from long ago (2006!), but that's what blog archives are for — to find the good stuff all over again.. It works not only for clueless radio talk show hosts but also for total unbelievers.

Grape Vine Rootstocks of D.O Montsant

Grape Vine Rootstocks of D.O Montsant
taken by Barcelona Photoblog

I just love this glorious photo. I can almost hear the bees buzzing, feel the warm sun and wind, smell the fragrant blossoms. I want to go to there.

How does the Holy Spirit refashion us?

[The Holy Spirit] is the Author of spiritual regeneration. ...

Everyone singly is created anew, refashioned by the Light. If this most wise and loving Spirit takes possession of a shepherd, he makes him a psalmist, subduing evil spirits by his song and proclaims him King. If he possess a herdsman and dresser of sycamore-figs, he makes him a prophet. Call to mind David and Amos.

If he takes hold of a good youth, He makes him a judge of elders, even beyond his years, as Daniel testifies, who conquered lions in their den. If he takes possession of Fishermen, He makes them catch the whole world in the nets of Christ, taking them up in the meshes of the Word. Look at Peter and Andrew and the Sons of Thunder, thundering the things of the spirit. If of publicans, he reaps profits of them for discipleship, and makes them merchants of souls. Witness Matthew, yesterday a publican, today an evangelist. If of zealous persecutors, He changes the current of their zeal, and makes them Pauls instead of Sauls, and as full of piety as He found them full of wickedness.

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 41, On Pentecost

I love, love, love this look at how the Holy Spirit works in people. I already knew how these people had changed but never connected all of these things with action of the Holy Spirit regenerating them to be their best selves. Each is a very distinctive individual and, yet, each of them is part of God's tapestry. Who am I in that tapestry if I cooperate with the Spirit?

Coreopsis, Near San Antonio, Texas

Coreopsis, Near San Antonio, Texas by Julian Onderdonk, 1919.
via Wikipedia

Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies)

I liked this so much. In many ways it reminded me of Kathal where a police investigation is entertaining and interesting while weaving serious topics into the story without heavy-handed moralizing.

When two identically dressed brides, with requisite scarves covering their faces are grabbed by the wrong groom at different train stations, how will they be restored to their rightful places? Especially when neither can remember the name of their groom's hometown?

I fully expected this to be the story of each bride learning to love the new man she is around, but this story did not go there at all. Add the complication of a Bandit Bride who pretends to get married in order to steal the wedding jewelry, and you've got a captivating set of circumstances. The writing and directing was good, the acting wonderful, and it left us feeling good. What more can you ask for?

The Comtesse d’Egmont Pignatelli in Spanish Costume

The Comtesse d’Egmont Pignatelli in Spanish Costume (1763).
Alexander Roslin (Swedish, 1718–98).

The dress! Just look at that glorious dress! I could look at it all day long.

This is via Books and Art where they said this about the painting

The countess’s glowing gown of white satin has sleeves slashed and woven through with ribbons and pearls, in the Spanish style, a reference to her husband’s ancestry. A talented musician, the countess played the guitar for her Spanish guests. She spent her days studying history and literature and conversing with artists and poets. The book she is holding may be a work by the philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

The Resurrection

Matthias Grünewald, detail from Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515

I borrowed this from Lines and Colors where various images of the altarpiece and this resurrection image are featured. I agree that it is one of the most striking resurrection depictions ever. Simply fantastic.

Notes on Mark: Jesus' Assault on the Powers of Darkness

Exorcism, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

MARK 1:21-28

I knew all these facts, of course, but until reading this concise summary of Jesus' announcement of the kingdom and his attack on evil, it never all came together being shown a planned progression (so to speak). But once I was shown, it was so obvious. So it is not Mark that is simple, it is my reading of his work. (That's a tune we'll be singing throughout the book ... he's a much smarter cookie than he gets credit for.) I like the points made in the reflection also because it makes me think of Jesus as our shepherd. He appears on the scene and begins swiping the wolves away from his sheep. And we clearly need it.

The call of the first disciples is followed by Jesus' first miraculous work, an exorcism. By this act Jesus' announcement of the kingdom (v. 15) becomes dramatically perceptible and concrete. Throughout the public ministry mark shows Jesus' progressive dismantling of the powers of darkness, the advancement of his assault on Satan's kingdom that began with the temptation in the desert (1:13; see 3:23-27).

[...]

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION: The story of Jesus' first exorcism portrays the forces of evil in a way that may appear to readers today as strikingly personal. For Mark, as for the whole New Testament, evil is not an impersonal force but is concentrated in invisible, malevolent beings who are bent on destroying human beings and hindering God's plan of salvation. These evil spirits are responsible for various mental and even physical maladies (7:25; 9:17-27; see Matt 12:22; Luke 13:11). Some exegetes, nothing that the Gospels do not always clearly distinguish between illness and demonic possession, have concluded that the references to demons are simply a mythical way of symbolizing the misfortunes to which human beings are prone. The Church has always taught, however, that demons are real spiritual beings, fallen angels who were created by God but became evil by their own free choice (Catechism, 391-95). Anyone tempted to dismiss accounts of demons as fables does not have to look far to see evidence of their influence today. Such phenomena as "racial cleansing," group suicides, and the sexual abuse of children show a more than merely human malice at work, seeking to destroy the image of God in man. But as frightening and real as is the power of demons, the authority of Christ is infinitely superior. Through his cross and resurrection, Christ definitively conquered the powers of hell. For the present time, however, their malicious actions are permitted by God, who is able to good out of every evil (Rom 8:28). The grace of baptism affords us protection from demons and the strength to resist their seductive influence.

Gospel of Mark, The
(Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healy

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Julie has tried every seat in the cafe. Scott has had so much coffee.

  We discuss time travel, relationships and using thermal mugs — Time travel in a Japanese cafe. Episode 331: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Bayeux Tapestry

I'd never even heard of the Bayeux Tapestry when my husband and I went to France after just being married a couple of years. He'd always wanted to see it and couldn't believe I'd never been told about it.

I remember the huge church where it had originally been hung and then the museum next door where you could walk around and view the entire thing. Which we did with a field trip of English school kids who had crossed the Channel to see this part of their heritage. I had no idea that English and French heritage overlapped (yes, I was just a touch ignorant). Or of the beauty of this hand-sewn tribute to the Norman invasion of England.

It was simply amazing.

Here's a wonderful book about it - which I may need to reread. 

This made me look at Wikipedia where you can look at the entire thing in one piece. This is really neat.

Individual scenes may be examined close up at this Wikipedia spot. Also neat.

Rereading — How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons

"Eat locally, eat seasonally." A simple slogan that is backed up by science and by taste. The farther away from the market something is grown, the longer it must spend getting to us, and what eventually arrives will be less than satisfying. Although we can enjoy a bounty of produce year-round -- apples in June, tomatoes in December, peaches in January -- most of it is lacking in flavor. In order to select wisely, we need to know more. Where and how was the head of lettuce grown? When was it picked and how was it stored? How do you tell if a melon is really ripe? Which corn is sweeter, white or yellow?

Russ Parsons provides the answers to these questions and many others in this indispensable guide to common fruits and vegetables, from asparagus to zucchini. He offers valuable tips on selecting, storing, and preparing produce, along with one hundred delicious recipes. Parsons delivers an entertaining and informative reading experience that is guaranteed to help put better food on the table.

This description may make the book sound clinical but Parsons infuses it with details and personality that make us relate to what he writes about. The argument about whether fat or skinny asparagus are better? Been there. Argued that. To reduce the heat of a pepper remove the ... no, not the seeds ... the ribs, which is where the capsicum is stored. Aha!

For each fruit and veg he provides a very basic preparation method that we might not have considered. Then he goes on to a few more interesting recipes for each. Not too many, but just enough to pique our curiosity and taste buds and make us want to come back for more.

I read this back in 2008 but picked it up again and have been thoroughly enjoying it. It's still as relevant as ever except for some of the comments about the state of modern produce. In some cases it isn't much different, but in others — like grapes — it is definitely better. The few recipes I'd tried all had "excellent" noted and I've now got a list of others to go with them.

Wandering Shadows

Peter Graham, Wandering Shadows, 1878

Man oh man. I want to go to there. (She said with striking unoriginality. But I do.)

Is the Lord Going to Prepare You as You Expect? Probably Not.

Is the Lord going to use you in a great way? Quite probably.

Is he going to prepare you as you expect? Probably not. And if you're not careful, you will look at the trials, the tests, the sudden interruptions, the disappointments ,the sadness, the lost jobs, the failed opportunities, the broken moments, and you will think, He's through with me. He's finished with me. When in fact He is equipping you.

Charles Swindoll

I need to be reminded of this all the time.

Storm

Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857), Storm

We've had so many rainstorms lately. This leads to our usual spring hail or tornadoes, though luckily not anywhere we've been lately. I really feel for the poor Oklahomans though. They've had a lot of tornadoes in the last couple of weeks.

Americans Are Waking Up to the Homelessness Crisis. Here’s How to Fix It.

Neither strict nor lenient laws will end homelessness. But a systematic and community-wide focus on homelessness prevention measures just might. ...

They save lives, dignity, and dollars, and more communities should invest in them. In our experience, these programs succeed because they are personal and flexible: personally administered and rooted in Christian charity; and flexible in the assistance they offer—whether it’s repairing a car, paying a utility bill, or working directly with a landlord to keep eviction at bay.

Precarious living situations don’t fit neatly into bureaucratic boxes. And administrative layers add complexity to application processes, deterring the very people who most need help. Flexible funding, personally administered ensures that households in crisis get help as quickly as possible. The simpler the process, the more quickly we can stabilize families and entire communities.

This is an op-ed piece by John Berry (National St. Vincent de Paul Society President) that ran on Real Clear Policy. He discusses how becoming homeless is a contingent event, in other words, not one that’s inevitable or irreversible. It is very clear look at homelessness, the political arguments surrounding it, and how to help prevent it. 

Simply great. Go read the whole thing.

Notes on Mark: The Scribes

Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874–1925)
A scribe, wearing a traditional Middle Eastern costume of robe and turban,
sews together pieces of parchment of a Torah scroll.

MARK 1:21, 22
Having seen how the Torah was viewed, we can now see why the scribes were so important. Someone had to tell everybody what was right and wrong for everyday living. After reading about how the scribes' systems worked it is clear why Jesus' teachings were so startling.

To give this study [of the Torah] ... a class of scholars arose. These were the Scribes, the experts in the law. The title of the greatest of them was Rabbi. The scribes had three duties.

(i) They set themselves, out of the great moral principles of the Torah, to extract rules and regulations for every possible situation in life. Obviously this was a task that was as endless...

(ii) It was the task of the scribes to transmit and to teach the law and its developments. These deduced and extracted rules and regulations were never written down; they are known as the Oral Law. Although never written down they were considered to be even more binding than the written law. From generation to generation of scribes they were taught and committed to memory...

(iii) The scribes had the duty of giving judgment in individual cases; and, in the nature of things, practically every individual case must have produced a new law.

Wherein did Jesus' teaching differ so much from the teaching of the Scribes? He taught with personal authority. No Scribe ever gave a decision on his own. He would always begin, "There is a teaching that ..." and would then quote all his authorities. If he made a statement he would buttress it with this, that, and the next quotation from the next great legal masters of the past. The last thing he ever gave was an independent judgment.

Reading about how the scribes gave the decisions made me flash on all the times that Jesus would say, "You have heard it said ... But I say to you..." and then give his own personal teaching with a definite air of authority. No wonder everyone was blown away!

All excerpts in this post are from: The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.) by William Barclay


* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound.

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

God does not ask all souls to show their love in the same way

God calls all the souls he has created to love him with their whole being, here and thereafter, which means that he calls all of them to holiness, to perfection, to a close following of him and obedience to his will. But he does not ask all souls to show their love by the same works, to climb to heaven by the same ladder, to achieve goodness in the same way. What sort of work must I then do? Which is my road to heaven? In what kind of life am I to sanctify myself? Apart from the universal calling of all of us to perfect love, to holiness, to the following of Jesus, and obedience to his will in everything, however small, a calling at the last to heaven, what is the particular and special vocation that he puts before me and you and each one of us? ...

We do not "choose a vocation" but seek to find our vocation, to do all we can to hear the divine voice calling us, to make sure what he is saying — and then to obey him. Where vocation is concerned God speaks, calls, commands: man has not to choose but to listen and obey.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

Well, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it? What am I being called to and am I obeying?

Marie Spartali Stillman - Self-Portrait

Marie Spartali Stillman, Self-Portrait, 1871

A Shepherdess with Her Flock

A Shepherdess with Her Flock, Verboeckhoven

 

The unforeseen consequence of the Lord as our shepherd

When you say, "The Lord is my shepherd, no proper grounds are left for you to trust in yourself.

St. Augustine, Sermon

Thinking of Jesus as the good shepherd or the Lord in the psalm that we all know so well, we tend to forget to think of the logical consequence of this reality. That means we must trust him. And obey.

On the road again ...

 My husband and I are taking a road trip through central Texas, to explore little towns and see what we can see. I love road trips together where we have so much time that our thoughts and conversation range much further afield than is ever possible during everyday life.

I'll be back online Monday!

Julie and Scott learned instruments for this episode. ...

 Jon Batiste says he doesn't need either a kazoo or a tambourine in the movie, thank you very much. 

We discuss the Pixar movie Soul in episode 330 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. After all, it's darned hard to find a kid's movie featuring old fashioned astral transmigration displacement. That's gotta be talked about!

Daisy Trio

Daisy Trio
by Belinda Del Pesco

No Reason to be Unfair to God

"Just because you don't like the way things are," said Jean Valjean, "that's no reason to be unfair to God."

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

I like that reminder that blaming God for everything we don't like means that we don't understand God or his creation.

The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good.

The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good. It is full of wild and wasted virtues. When a religious scheme is shattered (as Christianity was shattered at the Reformation), it is not merely the vices that are let loose. The vices are, indeed, let loose, and they wander and do damage. But the virtues are let loose also; and the virtues wander more wildly, and the virtues do more terrible damage. The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. Thus some scientists care for truth; and their truth is pitiless. Thus some humanitarians only care for pity; and their pity (I am sorry to say) is often untruthful.

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

I am continually surprised by how this guy nails it ... from 100 years ago.

Portrait of Michelangelo

Portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra

I've seen so many pieces of art by Michelangelo but never thought about what he himself looked like.

Ghiberti

Lorenzo Ghiberti on the Paradise Gate ot the Baptisterio (Florence) self portrait

Doesn't he look so modern? Just like someone you might run into today.

What today we term "the West" is less Christianity's heir than its continuation.

Already, by the time that Anselm died in 1109, Latin Christendom had been set upon a course so distinctive that what today we term "the West" is less its heir than its continuation. Certainly, to dream of a world transformed by a reformation, or an enlightenment, or a revolution is nothing exclusively modern. Rather, it is to dream as medieval visionaries dreamed: to dream in the manner of a Christian.

[...]

This book explores what it was that made Christianity so subversive and disruptive; how completely it came to saturate the mindset of Latin Christendom; and why, in a West that is often doubtful of religion's claims, so many of its instincts remain—for good and ill— thoroughly Christian.

It is — to coin a phrase — the greatest story ever told.

Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind

I was given this several years ago and am just now getting around to it. I had been reading a philosophy series where I enjoyed the author's even handedness when it came to various religions. Then he got to the exploration of the New World, slavery, and colonialism and cracks began to show in his veneer — specifically about issues our modern world has ruled upon, without giving proper context to how it would have been viewed. It kind of broke my heart a little to hear how half-heartedly that context was being given.

So, I turned to Tom Holland who has turned out to be much more even-handed. When he talks about Catholic or Protestant events, he really isn't judging for better or worse. He is examining how their actions affected the Western world at large. He also is very good at showing how they thought about things without bringing any modern commentary.

This has been one of the fairest books toward Christianity that I've read. Having read a number of Catholic histories I know a lot of the saints and their contributions to church doctrine and historical developments in the West. However Holland comes at these from different angles that show me new things altogether.

For example, I know that the Church has respected women, marriage, and the family since the beginning. However, I didn't realize Catherine of Siena's strong influence on bringing it to public consciousness. I've always seen her lauded for her influence on the popes of the time. That does get mentioned but not as a main feature. This is a refreshingly different angle against which to view what I already know.

Holland turns this clear-eyed view on a number of unexpected topics as he works his way through history into modern times. It is welcome because he is so unwaveringly honest throughout. He continually stressed how revolutionary and unexpected the Christian values are. And he's right. I already had this viewpoint in that I knew that the values we cherish are a direct result of long-embedded Christianity. Many of the problems we have today come because in our modern culture those values have come unanchored from their Christian roots. We have a lot of mercy without justice and vice versa. The imbalance often leaves us floundering. The reminder of just how unexpected the Christian point of view is was a welcome reminder because I, too, tend to forget that part.

I was surprised, as I have mentioned, by some of the topics and their results that Holland examined. But it was a welcome surprise at meeting someone who valued truth and didn't care who knew it. Simply a fantastic book.

Notes on Mark: The Law

An opened Torah scroll

MARK 1:21, 22
It is important to understand what perspective the Jews had that they heard Jesus' teachings as such a revelation ... and not like the scribes. First we must look at how they viewed the Torah (the Law).

To the Jews the most sacred thing in the world was the Torah, the Law. The core of the law is the Ten Commandments, but the Law was taken to mean the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, as they are called. To the Jews this Law was completely divine. It had, so they believed been given direct by God to Moses. It was absolutely holy and absolutely binding. They said, "He who says that the Torah is not from God has not part in the future world." "He who says that Moses wrote even one verse of his own knowledge is a denier and despiser of the word of God."

If the Torah is so divine two things emerge. First, it must be the supreme rule of faith and life; and second, it must contain everything necessary to guide and to direct life. If that be so the Torah demands two things. First, it must obviously be given the most careful and meticulous study. Second, the Torah is expressed in great, wide principles; but, if it contains direction and guidance for all life, what is in it implicitly must be brought out. The great laws must become rules and regulations -- so their argument ran.

All excerpts in this post are from: The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.) by William Barclay


* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound.

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Alphonse Mucha, Self Portrait

Alphonse Mucha, Self Portrait
via WikiPaintings

I love the expression on Mucha's face.

I also love the fact that we know him for work that is very different than the portrait style above. As you can see below. If we hear Alphonse Mucha, it is likely that a style doesn't come to mind for most people like me. One look though, and we know his style very well.

Van Gogh: Self Portrait on the Way to Work

Vincent van Gogh, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon, 1888,
reportedly destroyed during World War II

Atonement Is Not Meant to Placate God

Paul wrote that "God put forward [Christ] as a sacrifice of atonement" 9Rom 3:25), but the atonement or expiation is not directed to God; it s not meant to satisfy or placate God. Instead, it is directed to sin, that in its being satisfied it will be eliminated. "it can be said that it is God himself, not man, who expiates sin. … The image is more like that or removing a corrosive stain or neutralizing a lethal virus than that of anger that is placated by punishment" (James Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle).

Raniero Cantalamessa, The Power of the Cross

I love this image! I've never had the problem of worrying about an "angry God" but this is the perfect clarification for those who do.

"I would like to insist on this idea ..."

I would like to insist on this idea. Refusing to let God enter into all aspects of human life amounts to condemning man to solitude. He is no longer anything but an isolated individual, without origin or destiny. He finds himself condemned to wander through the world like a nomadic barbarian, without knowing that he is the son and heir of a Father who created him through love and calls him to share his eternal happiness. It is a profound error to think that God came to limit and frustrate our freedom. On the contrary, God comes to free us from solitude and to give meaning to our freedom. Modern man has made himself the prisoner of reason that is so autonomous that it has become solitary and autistic.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, The Day is Now Far Spent

Again, here is a view of human freedom that would surprise many who mistakenly believe that God wants to keep us under his thumb. Not so. He gives meaning to our lives and opens them to true freedom.

Arkady Rylov: Self-Portrait (with a squirrel!)

Arkady Rylov (1870–1939), Self-Portrait

Paul Claude-Michel Carpentier: Self-Portrait with Family in the Artist’s Studio

Self-Portrait with Family in the Artist’s Studio, Paul Claude-Michel Carpentier
Dallas Museum of Art

I look for this painting whenever I visit the DMA. This loving portrait shows a man's love of his family, especially in that his wife isn't particularly beautiful but she has a warm, loving expression.

Reassurance That the Drink Isn't Poisoned

What do you do to reassure someone that the drink you're offering contains no poison? You drink it yourself first, in their presence. This is what God did for humanity. God drank from the bitter cup of suffering in the Passion. If, before our eyes, God himself chose to drink it, human suffering cannot be a cup of poison; it must be more than just negativity, loss, and absurdity. At the bottom of the cup, there must be a pearl. We know the name of that pearl: resurrection!

Raniero Cantalamessa, The Power of the Cross

This is an interesting answer to the question of human suffering.

Claude Monet: Self-Portrait with a Beret

Self-Portrait with a Beret, Claude Monet, 1886
via Wikipaintings

And here I thought I liked his nature paintings best. I like the rather startled gaze. Or perhaps it's a gaze of fierce intensity. Odd how I can't decide which it is. I'd never have thought of them being interchangeable until this moment.

Death, Solitude, and Euthanasia

 Perhaps the most frightening aspect of death is the solitude with which we must face it. We face it alone. Martin Luther said, "No man can die in another's place; each must personally fight his own battle against death. No matter how hard we cry out to those around us, each one of us must face it alone." But this is no longer entirely true. "If we have died with him, we will also live with him" (2 Tim 2:11). It is possible to die with someone!

This demonstrates the gravity of the problem euthanasia presents from the Christian point of view. Euthanasia deprives human death of its link to Christ's death. It strips it of its paschal nature, changing it back to what it was befor eChrist. Death is deprived of its majectic awesomeness and becomes a human determination, a decision of finite freesom. It is literally "profaned"—that is, deprived of its sacredness.

Raniero Cantalamessa, The Power of the Cross

This brings euthanasia into a sharp focus for me, reveals its "wrongness" afresh.

Anthony van Dyck: Self Portrait with a Sunflower

Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), Self Portrait With a Sunflower, Private collection

I always enjoy seeing the personal touches that artists put into self-portraits, especially in the more flamboyant pieces, such as the one above.

Which. I. Love.

Notes on Mark: The Synagogue

Ancient synagogue in Magdala, Israel.

MARK 1:21, 22
I read this and realized that I have a tendency to think of the synagogue as just the local version of a church with the Temple being the big "headquarters" in Jerusalem. Not so at all as William Barclay points out.

There are certain basic differences between the synagogue and the church as we know it today.

(a) The synagogue was primarily a teaching institution. The synagogue service consisted of only three things -- prayer, the reading of God's word, and the exposition of it. There was no music, no singing and no sacrifice. It may be said that the Temple was the place of worship and sacrifice; the synagogue was the place of teaching and instruction. The synagogue was by far the more influential, for there was only one Temple. But the law laid it down that wherever there were ten Jewish families there must be a synagogue, and, therefore, wherever there was a colony of Jews, there was a synagogue. If a man had a new message to preach, the synagogue was the obvious place in which to preach it.

(b) The synagogue provided an opportunity to deliver such a message. The synagogue had certain officials.

• There was the Ruler of the synagogue. He was responsible for the administration of the affairs of the synagogue and for the arrangements for its services.
  
  
• There were the distributors of alms. Daily a collection was taken in cash and in kind from those who could afford to give. It was then distributed to the poor; the very poorest were given food for fourteen meals per week.
  
  
• There was the Chazzan... He was responsible for the taking out and storing away of the sacred rolls on which scripture was written; for the cleaning of the synagogue; for the blowing of the blasts on the silver trumpet which told people that the Sabbath had come; for the elementary education of the children of the community.

One thing the synagogue had not and that was a permanent preacher or teacher. When the people met at the synagogue service it was open to the Ruler to call on any competent person to give the address and the exposition. There was no professional ministry whatsoever. That is why Jesus was able to open his campaign in the synagogues. The opposition had not yet stiffened into hostility. He was known to be a man with a message; and for that very reason the synagogue of every community provided him with a pulpit from which to instruct and to appeal to men.

All excerpts in this post are from: The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series*, rev. ed.) by William Barclay


* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound.

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux: Self-portrait with a Harp

Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux (1761–1802, Self-portrait with a Harp
Source. Seen first at Lines and Colors.

Polite Society

"I am the fury!"

Martial artist-in-training Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Really enjoyable, with a fresh, fun feel that made me think of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The Man Who Feels No Pain. With a touch of a Get Out vibe. 

Coming-of-age stories usually bore me to death but this lively movie leaves regular expectations far behind. I especially enjoyed Ria's two friends as a sort of Greek chorus who predicted both Lena's and Ria's plotline through the film. The fight sequences entertained me in a way they usually wouldn't since they allowed me to gauge Ria's real ability to do the stunts she's been practicing. And the fights that were during the wedding became truly beautiful as the gorgeous saris swirled during kicks and jumps.

 Finally, I defy anyone to watch Ria's "spa day" with her sister's mother-in-law-to-be and not laugh. It's a whole new kind of torture. 

I look forward to more from this director.

Reincarnation is an Enormous Misunderstanding

... reincarnation as presented in Western countries, is simply the result of an enormous misunderstanding. Originally, as in all religions professing it, reincarnation was not intended to be an extra installment of life but of suffering. It was not a cause for consolation but for fear. It was as if to say, "Be careful, if you do evil, you will be born again to atone for it!" ... In modern times, everything has been adapted to our materialistic and secularized Western mentality. Reincarnation, conceived before Christ's Resurrection, has become an alibi for people to elude the seriousness of both life and death.

Raniero Cantalamessa, The Power of the Cross

You know I never did understand why people would talk about reincarnation as something good — and they do. 

Throne of King Tut

Throne of King Tut (detail), 1350 B.C.

This is via Illustrated History, a fascinating site, where it is featured in their piece, Early Civilization.

The Power of the Cross by Raniero Cantalamessa

For over forty years, the Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, in his role as Preacher to the Papal Household, has delivered a yearly homily in St. Peter's Basilica during the Good Friday liturgy.

These insightful and moving sermons not only illuminate the mystery of the Lord’s Passion; they are also a precious instrument in view of a New Evangelization in “Spirit and power.” Cardinal Cantalamessa gazes on the cross of Christ in the light of our modern world, and the modern world in the light of Christ's cross.

This proved a powerful daily read during Lent. I am amazed that Father Cantalamessa has such different topics every Good Friday, with each so far providing good food for reflection. I guess that's why he's been the papal preacher to three popes over 40 years!

A secondary advantage to reading these is that they serve as an aide memoir to history itself. Beginning in 1980 and ending with the Good Friday homily from 2022, I was irresistibly pulled back into my own life during those years, as well as the history I have witnessed (even if only through newspapers and television). As Cantalamessa occasionally wove current events into his homilies, I would be jerked back into that time myself. It was salutary in considering how timeless is Christ's sacrifice and how powerful the Cross.

Highly recommended.

Yucatan Travel Journal

Yucatan Travel Journal
taken by Brian at the blue hour

Brian's photography is superb. Do go check it all out. It's almost painful to try to pick just one to feature.