In the Midst of the Storm

Ten minutes into his descent, Rankin should have been reaching the ground, but the enormous draughts of air that surged up the core of the cloud were retarding his fall. Soon the turbulence became much more severe. He had no visual point of reference in the gloomy depths but he sense that, rather than falling, he was being shot upwards with successive violent gusts of rising air -- blasts that were becoming increasingly violent. And then for the first time he felt the full force of the cloud.

"It came with incredible suddenness -- and fury. It hit me like a tidal wave of air, a massive blast, fired at me with the savagery of a cannon ... I went soaring up and up and up as though there would be no end to its force." ...

The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Pretor-Pinney certainly knows how to get my attention. Frankly, I am not that interested in the science of clouds which makes up about half of each chapter. Possibly anticipating this, he has been quite generous with attractive lures, such as the story of Lieutenant-Colonel William Rankin, a pilot in the US Air Force, who, in 1959, became the only man to fall through the heart of a cumulonimbus and live to tell the tale. Riveting stuff, y'all!

A Few More Memoirs and Family History

This is a continuation of the memories my mother has about her childhood times spent with her grandfather Charles J. Finger. I love these stories all the more for thinking of the book he wrote featuring my mother (Bobbie and Jock and the Mailman) because Jock was a Scottie ... illustrated by my Great Aunt Helen. I thought that I already had posted these but, better late than never, eh?

You all know the big table we have in the living room; that was the dining table in my grandfather's day. It came from his railroad days, as mentioned in the biography and he had it sent from (Cleveland?). People as famous as Carl Sand and Sinclair Lewis ate at it. I seem to remember fried chicken every Sunday, but I was only allowed boiled - how I craved that delicious fried, but it wasn't considered healthy for children. But what wonderful biscuits my grandmother made, and I scarfed them down loaded with her homemade srawberry jam. My grandfather would order a cup of maraschino cherries for me if we went to a restaurant ... my mother always thought they caused boils on my back. Oh well, what did they know.

There were double doors to the living room, and one year my Grandfather dressed up like Santa Claus and flung them open with drama. It was to be a great surprise, but I burst into tears, ran away, and hid. What a flop to a grand enterprise!

At the bottom of the hill was a true country store, selling cattle salt blocks, flour in print bags intended to be dresses, etc., and with gas pumps. I remember driving down there with my aunt; I thought she was the most wonderful person I had ever known. She SMOKED, she was very small, and she was so peppy and had a wonderful accent. Of course, she wasn't married and had no children so it was easy for her.

I actually remember hired hands squirting milk at cats during milking. Yes, trite as it sounds, they actually did that !

As I said before, hired help must have been really cheap. They mowed the grass, did laundry, but unfortunately never were hired to cook to help out my grandmother and mother. Charlie provided chickens, and Helen never had to do anything because she was an artist (my mother said). Don't know what the other two boys did ... one ran away from home and probably with good reason considering my grandfather's autocratic disposition. He was a wonderful grandfather, though.

There were screened porches around three sides of the house, and I seem to remember living out there most of the time. Since we usually visited only in the summer that would be natural. One morning I got up and found one of my shoes filled with cherry pits, apparently tucked in there by a mouse.

My aunt Helen raised Scotties, and Airdales. I loved the dogs, but was especially fascinated by seeing them eat rabbits, always head first. There was a fish pond in the middle of the front yard, and I remember one of the puppies drowning there; Beverly also fell in once but was quickly retrieved. The pond was surrounded by old fashioned petunias, and their fragrance always takes me back to those days and reminds me of my sweet grandmother who loved them.

OK, now you have the best of my very young childhood memories, for better or worse. You might want to compile some of yours for your own children. Old age comes quicker than you think! I have regretted many times not sitting down with my parents and talking with them about earlier years.

Islam Vs. Christianity: Finding Common Ground

Oy veh! Talk about funny ... and insightful. Via The Anchoress.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Flesh of Jesus

Oh Saint Augustine ... how perfectly put is this elegant phrase that so thoroughly sums up Jesus' example for us as a perfect human, God among us, showing us how to live. I shouldn't be surprised but that was the "twist" that made me sit up and think again.

St. Augustine, the fifth-century African who was the church's seminal teacher, penned a striking phrase to describe the example of Jesus: Caro quasi vox ("Christ's flesh is like a voice"). What he meant is that at every state of Jesus' earthy life -- his life in the flesh -- he is calling to us, inviting us personally to live in the mystery of divine love that he reveals...

Catholic Passion by David Scott

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Poetry Thursday

A limited series by the house poet (there's nothing like a Creative Writing class for a regular output of poetry): Rose.

Nightmare

Faded picture in my mind
Of nightmares from the past
Of the present, I am blind

Twenty monsters of a kind
As my heart beats fast
Faded pictures in my mind

I open doors I cannot find
The traps have all been cast
Of the present, I am blind

The roads, the walls, the trees wind
I stumble off the path
Faded picture in my mind

My arms, my legs, my tongue, they bind
I fall, the abyss is vast
Of the present, I am blind

My face is now old and lined
Many years have past
Faded picture in my mind
Of the present, I am blind

Notes from College

Thanks to all who have kindly asked after Hannah's progress at A&M. She seems to be having a great time and has most of her classes under control. Except perhaps ... math.

Why can't Farmer Johnson solve his own problems? Every time he needs to know how many acres of soy beans, corn and wheat to plant with 80,000 dollars and 600 hours of labor to spare if the cost of seeds is $4 for soy and $6 for wheat or corn and labor is 6 hours per acre for soy, 2 for wheat, and 7 for corn, I have to calculate this bumpkin's assets and tell him how to run a farm.

There's pretty much no denying that logic. Obviously the answer is that Farmer Johnson shouldn't have a farm ... or won't for much longer if he can't start figuring these things out for himself.

Avast There, D'Ye Know What Day It Is?

How quickly the holidays roll around ... 'tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day. (Which was significantly funnier before Tom and Rose watched Wife Swap last night, one family of which was the Talk Like a Pirate Family who ... ready for this? ... actually live like pirates year 'round. Evidently with fleas and all. *shudder*)

Maybe you need help with pirate talk (Warning: there are some potions that are mildly off color and guaranteed to offend some, but we're talking about pirates here. Much thanks to DL for this which he found in yesterday's issue of the daily--Good Morning Silicon Valley.)

Or maybe you just need to listen to a good pirate story to get in the mood (nothing objectionable here, just hilarious). 'Tis a fearful tale indeed, of the sea, serving wenches, and fragmented hard drives. Only the brave should rally round.

There be chicken pirates as well, if ye take the time to look.

And then take the time to pity this poor lad who fell afoul of a scurvey bunch of rogues in a raiding party.

Why Dogs Bite People - 3

God's Confession

Our Deliverer and God came by the quietest of signs, in the everyday miracle of a baby being born -- the same way that you and I came into the world. He was born amid tears of joy, swaddled in a blanket, and held in the gentle arms of his father. On the first night of his life, he likely fell asleep nursing, his head nestled against his mother's warm breast -- like countless babies before him and countless babies since.

Why this way? Why not in power and glory, in fire that swept down from the mountaintops, in the upheaval of nations, or in the blood red stars falling from the sky? Because in coming to us as a child, God was making what amounts to an "autobiographical" statement. The Incarnation was God's confession, his full disclosure. In the baby conceived at Nazareth and later born in a stable in Bethlehem, God revealed himself as a God of love and mercy -- a Father who seeks us in the wilderness of our fallen world. ...

Catholic Passion by David Scott

The thing I like about reading this book is that David Scott takes something that I already know, such as the idea that Jesus came to show us what God is like, and then twists it. Adds that phrase or two that makes me rethink what I "already knew" and realize that I do not know it as well as I thought. In this case, talking about God's "autobiographical statement," "full disclosure," and "confession" made me take a fresh look.

Scott's entire book has been doing that so as I go through it I will be sharing bits along the way (as always). I think the overall thing that I can say about it right now, about a third of the way through, is that it adds the poetry, imagery, and turn of phrase to more fully communicate the true, inner beauty of our faith. Even when you think you know where he is going, he adds a extra fillip of insight to make you take another look. A rare accomplishment indeed. I have seen rave reviews for this book and I understand why.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Encountering Opposition

... Christianity has too often been in what appeared at the time to be fatal danger for us now to be frightened by yet another such test. The ways by which Providence ransoms and saves its elect are unforeseeable. At times, our enemy becomes a friend; at times he is despoiled of the capacity for evil that made him fearsome; at times he auto-destructs, or, without desiring it, produces beneficial effects and simply vanishes without leaving a trace. Generally, the Church does not have to do anything but persevere with peace and confidence in the fulfillment of its tasks, remain serene, and await salvation from God. (Cardinal J.H. Newman)

The moments in which we encounter opposition and difficulties without exaggerating them are particularly propitious for exercising a whole range of virtues: we should pray for those who do evil to us even without our knowing it, so that they may leave off offending God; we can strive to make amends to the Lord, to be even more apostolic, and to protect with exquisite charity those weaker brothers in the faith who on account of their age, their lack of formation, or the special situations they find themselves in, could sustain a greater harm to their souls.

In Conversation With God Vol 4

I especially like the point that Cardinal Newman made about how many times Christianity has seemed to be in danger and how it always has been saved. It seems that too often we hear Christians bemoaning the fate of the faith's existence in the modern world without remembering that point.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Why Dogs Bite People - 2

Why Dogs Bite People - 1

From my inbox ... thanks Marcia!


For some reason I'm already starting to look forward to Halloween ... and it isn't even October!

America Gets "F" for End of the World Preparedness

WASHINGTON, DC—Over 87 percent of Americans are unprepared to protect themselves from even the most basic world-ending scenarios, according to a study released Monday by the nonpartisan doomsday think-tank The Malthusian Institute....

... The study found that many apocalypse-preparedness measures are cost-prohibitive. With virtually no tax incentives in place, many Americans share the "dangerous perception" that only the richest few can afford to survive the extinction of humanity.

"I just renovated my house with cantilevered leaden cofferdams for increased earthquake and radiation protection, and I'm working on a pantheistic altar to appease the god or gods most likely to return to this world with an insatiable wrath," said Seattle resident Tim Hanson, whose actions were praised in the study as a "highly rare display of prescience and vigilance."

"I installed solar panels and a generator so I could live off the grid for a while," Hanson added. "But it cost so much that now I might not be able to have the altar properly gilded. At least not in time." ...

Oh, The Onion ... how do they manage to be so funny? Read the whole hilarious story.

Loving Challenges

... Life involves so many challenges; by paying attention to the ways that God has gifted us, we can begin to appreciate the ways our gifts enable us to live more fully.

Great athletes love challenges. While watching the Olympics recently, I was struck by how many athletes talked about wanting to break a world record or beat a particular opponent. Instead of seeing these challenges as roadblocks to their own comfort and ease, they saw them as opportunities to let their gifts manifest themselves. Often, these athletes had to face great hurdles; many did not accomplish what they had hoped. But they were grateful for the chance. I often wish that I could bring a similar drive into ordinary life, with the ability to see challenges as ways to manifest the gifts God has given me. But the truth is that, more often, I see them as unnecessary hassles and often blame God for that.

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

I have to admit that I am not in the habit of loving challenges. I hear the word "challenge" and my mind substitutes "problem" or "difficulty" or "hardship." Yep, corporate speak has done a number on me and I know what they mean when they say "challenge."

However, recently I have found myself in the very situation that is spoken of here with the athletes who are grateful to have challenges so they can see how they will do when facing them. This came up partly because of My Autumn Reading Challenge and partly because of a book I have recently read and will blog about soon, Dante to Dead Man Walking: One Reader's Journey Through the Christian Classics.

Thanks to those challenges I am reading books that I normally would shun. More to the point I am reading and enjoying those books. I never would have had that opportunity had I not been given most of them. Certainly I wouldn't have chosen them for myself. But because I was given them and by the publisher I feel honor bound to read and review them. (Funnily enough, books given by a friend don't hold the same onus. I am totally fine with ignoring gift books for years ... even forever.)

Because I have accepted these reading assignments as challenges I have been enriched. Even the books that I didn't like or discarded taught me something, whether about the author, the book, or myself. I have even found myself looking forward to seeing what the next "challenging" book will bring. Which makes at least that particular challenge worthwhile.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Lingering Effects of Suffering

I never, ever thought of this. Never. What an eye opening idea this is for me.

Notice that the risen Jesus still bears his wounds. How can it be otherwise? In our own lives, times of suffering may lead to times of peace and joy, but we cannot escape the lingering effects of suffering. It permanently changes us -- we cannot pretend that it never happened. That the risen Jesus still bears his wounds is good news, for it tells us that there is a continuity between the lives we have now and the lives that we will enjoy in the Resurrection. Jesus is the same person. His wounds, though, are different: they are not a source of suffering but a source of recognition. It is only through seeing Jesus' wounds that Thomas recognizes him. In the Resurrection, we will still bear the effects of the hurts that have been done to us, but they will no longer cause us pain.

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Hah!

From my mouth to Apple's ears.
Nice to see that they understood my desire for colors was not a request!

Now, let's all remember "green" shall we? Just in case anyone is in doubt when choosing gifts.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Ultimate Freedom

... Through the lens of the Resurrection, life is not bounded by death -- and thus we achieve our freedom in no longer being afraid of it. For while all of us will die one day, our understanding of death changes because of the Resurrection: death becomes little more than the closing of one chapter of our lives and the beginning of another. The resurrected Jesus was almost nonchalant about his own death -- extraordinary, since we might expect that someone in his situation could come back to wreak havoc on the political establishment that executed him. Why didn't he hunt down his enemies? Why didn't he use his return from the dead as a platform to call attention to his own power?

Perhaps the reason is because Jesus was truly free. He was not concerned about the pettiness of so much social and political action; he was alive and wanted to bring good news to his friends. Perhaps too he was more concerned with inviting his friends to share that joy.

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

And isn't that really the most attractive thing about the real Christians that we know? Their joy, their love of life and wanting to share that joy with others? I know it is for me.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

"If you've got the right lawyer we have the best legal system in the world"

Has anyone else been watching Justice?

This show is just plain fun to watch. Victor Garber is thoroughly enjoying being let loose as the media spin head of the firm and Jerry Bruckheimer knows how to put together a fast-paced, enjoyable show that has you wondering by the end whether the firm's client is really innocent. (You have to wonder because the firm doesn't care ... except for the main lawyer who tries the case.) At the end an epilogue is shown with what really happened.

We have been enjoying the heck out of the first two episodes. You might wanna give it a try.

Word Geek

CONSTABLE
Now used as on official term for law enforcement officers, this word began in the horse stables. In ancient Rome, the official version was comes stabuli, literally meaning "count of the stable," or the head groom. By the 1200s, the Old French version, conestable, was used to refer to the head officer of a king's household and by the 1500s, the current use had arisen.

I'd never have guessed ... fascinating!

Bad to the Bone But Not Beyond God's Grace

SAINTS BEHAVING BADLY
The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints
by Thomas J. Craughwell

The point of reading these stories is not to experience some tabloid thrill, but to understand how grace works in the world. Every day, all day long, God pours out his grace upon us, urging us, coaxing us, to turn away from everything that is base and cheap and unsatisfying, and to turn toward the only thing that is eternal, perfect, and true -- that is, himself.

I must admit that I came to this slender book with a lot of preconceptions.

Fascinated by saints when I became Catholic six years ago, I sought out and read many books about all sorts of saints from the well known to the obscure. They were written in varying styles ranging from cozy friendliness talking of "our friends the saints" to those of strict scholarship and research. Therefore, I wondered if I would find many new saints in this book although I must admit that, for the life of me, I really couldn't remember one who was a devil-worshipper as referenced in the subtitle.

The idea that today's stories of saints have become too clean cut and white washed for us to relate to is really not that new. Many of those aforementioned books also mentioned that same thing and then proudly would parade each saint's imperfections that would make them more human, one of us. How bad could these saints be really? These days haven't we seen pretty much every sort of shocking behavior known to man and learned that God can work through it all?

However, Craughwell is not a predictable sort of author although he is one that I hope to encounter often in the future. I was pleased to see his forward included a defense of not including Mary Magdalene in the book since she was not a harlot, although that reputation has since overtaken her in many circles. That was a good start which he soon improved on in leaps and bounds as he went from one saint to another with astonishing pieces of information and insight.

I soon found out that what I didn't know, even about the best loved saints could, well, fill a book.

For instance I knew that St. Augustine was converted to Christianity by St. Ambrose. However, I didn't know that it was because Ambrose, with great courage, refused Emperor Theodosius' order to turn over a Catholic church to Arian heretics and barricaded himself and his congregation inside the church to see what the emperor would do. (The emperor backed down.)

Likewise, St. Mary of Egypt is well known for being a prostitute who repented for a lifetime of sin by living as a hermit in the desert. Except that she wasn't a prostitute. She was a skilled seductress who seduced men for the sheer pleasure of doing so. Somehow that makes it so much worse, doesn't it?

Then there is St. Christopher, the well-loved traveler's saint, whose demotion by the Vatican because he never existed enraged my father in law. Actually, it turns out that is a religious urban legend. He is still a saint in good standing whose celebration day was removed from the overcrowded calendar but who churches and the faithful are still free to celebrate and invoke as they will.

Craughwell also provides a plethora of stories of lesser known saints who are nonetheless fascinating. There are the three saints whose stories are intertwined and who actually managed to shock me. Why? I was truly shocked to find that Callixtux, an embezzler turned Christian, who still couldn't seem to resist crime wound up being ... pope. In an ironic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Callixtux was denounced by Hippolytus an anti-pope who manipulated results and fought off other papal contenders. Callixtux then stunned me by winding up ... sainted. Yep. As did Hippolytus. In the middle of it all was Pontian, yet another pope who wound up being sainted. This may sound confusing but in Craughwell's skillful hands these stories wind up being enthralling.

Often Craughwell, sheds light on people who were close to well known saints but who have been cast into the shade by their more famous friends. Such is the case of Alipius, who was St. Augustine's best friend from all appearances. He went where Augustine went, studied what he studied, converted when Augustine converted. The only difference was that he had a debilitating addiction to blood sports that no one, not even his best buddy Augustine, could persuade him to give up. Until St. Ambrose came on the picture. That was when Alipius converted and eventually wound up as a bishop in a town near St. Augustine's.

The more shocking stories are those of St. Olga the queen who avenged her husband's betrayal by planning and carrying out a killing spree of thousands for revenge. Yet she became a saint. Likewise, St. Olaf, a Viking, also was no stranger to brutality and mass murder but changed his pagan ways upon conversion to Christianity. His brutal methods of converting his own violent society are shocking in themselves but the results are undeniable. Norway soon became Christian and did not revert to paganism after Olaf's death.

The author does not spend time drawing out the point of each saint's story in moralistic, "so let's take this lesson away" terms. He leaves us to draw our own conclusions. I liked it that way. Each of us must draw our own conclusions and come to terms with God in our own way. That is also very likely to be the way that saints speak to us, even the ones that had the most shocking pasts. We can be thankful to Craughwell for bringing these stories so vividly to life as reminders for us of the depth and breadth of God's grace to the sinner, no matter how bad their past has been.

This book will be at bookstores on September 19.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity