Jeffrey Overstreet's Insight into Woody Allen's Newest Movie

As he broadens his geographical interests beyond Manhattan, Allen's understanding of love seems to be narrowing. His work should be taking him deeper into complex and revealing stories about the heart. Instead, he's becoming more and more preoccupied with the lurid and the lewd. In the end, like Cristina, he comes away knowing only what he doesn't want, never managing even a glimpse of what he, his characters, or his audience, really need."

Jeffrey Overstreet reviews Vicky Cristina Barcelona at Christianity Today. He does a great job, as always, in a comprehensive review.

However, the excerpt above really struck me as this is something I have been noticing as well. It is sad, really, as one would have hoped that Allen's horizons would have broadened over the years. Of course, Allen has always been bewitched by sex, oftentimes to the exclusion of broader visions. And there is that old saying ... there's no fool like an old fool.

Worth a Thousand Words

Amish Farm Stand
from Chez Pim who has been touring Amish country lately

Are We Remembering to Retreat?

The Anchoress is working her fingers to the bone, or so it would seem to me, to give us five or six daily helpings of good material for contemplation.

I would start you off with a favorite but I honestly have gotten something great from each of them. So go do a little leisurely wandering through the great writing over there.

Well, I do have a favorite but it is a personal thing ... The Anchoress used Rose's presentation intended as a starting point for prayer in this post. Scroll to the bottom for the link. I watch it every few months and always find it a good reminder about Jeremiah and the fire inside.

Worth a Thousand Words

Wang Meng, The Simple Retreat
Click through on the link to read more about the artist at Lines and Colors.

God's Labyrinthine Ways Or Finding Joy in Unexpected Places

One of the things that I possibly have mentioned but not really dwelt upon is that one of God's great gifts to Tom and me have been friends. Many, many friends. Not that we were unlikable or anything but in today's increasingly busy and isolated world it was difficult to find friendships beyond the superficial ones of fellow "school parents."

What makes this extremely obvious in my mind is that one year we held Sunday Soup Suppers for several months. It was an open invitation, which I sent several times to a large group of people. We would have open house from 5:00-8:00 with a kettle of soup and accompanying breads and cheeses for any families who felt like dropping in. We weren't looking to become best friends with people but merely to deepen the acquaintances we already had. It was surprising how very few people took advantage of the offer. Those who did seemed to enjoy themselves, as did we, but it was clear that this was a concept that just didn't fit into the lifestyle of the people we knew. We chalked it up to experience and moved on, wondering how anyone can find a community these days.

However, once I participated in the Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat all that began to change. Not only did I have my fellow "team" members of about 20 women who I got to know very well, but the people from the teams before and after mine were now among those "nodding acquaintances." Naturally, I became very close with a few of these people but went past the mere acquaintance stage with many others. The truly delightful part of this is that I likely never would have encountered most of these women outside the CRHP experience at that time. Many of them were young and single. Even the older ones (yes, around my age) were those I'd never even seen, which is not really surprising in a big parish like ours. Tom found the same thing when he went through CRHP in the session after mine, and then again, when he participated in the "road team" that helped the Ennis church begin the retreat in their parish. We didn't go into it for the "community," for the friends, but it was an unexpected side benefit that has enriched our lives immeasurably. God is so efficient in that way. What a multi-tasker!

It was friends from CRHP who asked if we had any interest in helping to bring the Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat to our parish. We jumped at that chance for our own reasons (What marriage is so good it doesn't need enrichment? Answer: none). However, we soon were reaping the unexpected benefits of "community" and new friends once again in meeting couples that we likely never would met otherwise. As well, again we also were making scores of new acquaintances.

Whew!

Still with me? Because that's all background ... not even the main story (yes, it's one of those posts!).

Last night I had one of the most delightful encounters ever and was thinking back this morning to trace just how it came about. If I hadn't stopped to do that, the title of this would be something about how giving of yourself brings greater rewards than you can imagine. Also very true, but not the whole story as we shall see.

The Beyond Cana retreat ends on Sunday with everyone attending the 11:00 Mass together. On the way there, for a variety of reasons, primary among them that I was reading in the car (I know better than that but did it stop me? No!) I suddenly felt so terrible that I had Tom drop me off at the house. Both girls ministered very lovingly to me and after one dashed to the Central Market for pomegranate soda and quesadilla supplies, I began to mend. I recovered by afternoon and then faced the dreadful fact that I was going to have to attend the 7:30 Mass. There's nothing wrong with that Mass at all. It was my sheer laziness at not wanting to leave the house in the evening. However, Hannah was already going and I had no excuse not to, so there we were. Outside, she ran into my friend, Grace, who later emailed me about their conversation ... and took that opportunity to ask Tom and me to be the "married couple" for a panel discussion with some Boy Scouts for their Piux XII medal which is about vocations.

Well, who better suited to answer those questions on the fly than a couple who has helped to put on five marriage enrichment retreats? We agreed, not dreading it but not looking forward to it either. It was a way to help out these boys so that was fine, one more thing to put on our schedule and dutifully take care of.

We showed up for the panel and it was an agreeable way to spend the evening. The boys were intelligent and had some good questions (for which our Beyond Cana training was quite helpful in articulating the vocation of marriage). The other panel members clearly also were intelligent and well spoken. They had considered their vocations in terms of how they were living their lives and their faith. Especially interesting for me was when Brother Anthony, who will take his first vows in a couple of weeks as a Cistercian monk, responded about the difficulties and blessings about his vocation. He was not necessarily saying anything I hadn't heard anywhere else, but he had an inner passion and clarity that was riveting. Equally interesting, although much more meandering, was the friar who is a hospital chaplain and was much older. He had many good things to say about vocation as well, we just took a more scenic path getting there. And scenic is just fine. It makes life interesting.

The person I was most interested in hearing about, though, was Susan whose description was "transitional single." What the heck was a transitional single? Turns out that in this case, it is someone who focussed on career to the exclusion of considering marriage in the past, but now is open to the married life (if I have this right). She impressed me with her concise, well thought out, and complete answers.

Something that one of the panel moderators, my friend Grace, pointed out to the boys in concluding is that a common thread of everyone's conversation had been "community." That struck me as I had just been forcibly struck at Mass last Sunday by how many people I knew in the pews all around us. They were Beyond Cana couples, CRHP friends, and, yes, those "regulars" who always sit near us and who we now chat with occasionally due to long familiarity. How connected we were to community and how important it was in our lives. How good God is to bring us all together in worship to remind us that community, family, is a necessary joy.

After the panel was done and the cookies were being passed around, Susan approached Tom because she recognized his name as the person who prints out our parish newsletter, The Spirit. She mentioned that she is the new editor. I was instantly thrilled. For several years, that newsletter has devolved to the point of being a depository for out of date Girl Scout photos and the like. No one I knew read it at all. Then the June/July issue came out and I saw with delight that it had substantive articles, well written, and with depth that made me print it out to read. This was that person! Woohoo! (Go take a look at that issue in the sidebar for the link above ... we'll wait ... this woman is a brilliant writer who engaged me with St. Paul's life in the main article.)

She looked pleased and, as we began talking, I brought up a project I was working on that we could coordinate with each other. I gave her my card. Y'all will find this funny but my card has my phone number, email, the blogs, and my podcast. (Tom was tired of me constantly scribbling on the backs of old envelopes when I met people.) I was explaining away all the extraneous info and she asked about the podcast.

Then ... it happened.

I mentioned reading aloud China Court by Rumer Godden.

This was a hope beyond hope because no one I ever meet in person has ever heard of Rumer Godden. (It's a lonely world out there with just The Anchoress and me shoving Rumer Godden ... and Georgette Heyer ... in everyone's face all the time.) However, I am nothing if not loyal and stubborn so I still bring them up in conversation with people.

Her eyes widened, she smiled wider, and said, "Rumer Godden. She's so wonderful."

We sank into chairs and began talking books as fast as we possibly could.

We walked to our cars and still couldn't stop talking. One thing flowed into another, more connections were made, more similarities found. We finally tore ourselves away later into the evening. The one thing that we both made sure to do on the way out was to thank Grace for inviting us to be on the panel. In doing our duties by these Boy Scouts, and it must be noted, for our community, we had been given an extra gift that we would have otherwise missed. We don't even go to the same Mass. I barely recognized her as a lector from the few times we have gone to her regular Saturday Vigil Mass time.

It is such a wonderful thing when you "click" with a person in just a few minutes. Undeniably it is one of life's great pleasures. Something that leaves a smile on your face and your spirits high for long afterward. In a very real way, it is like falling in love ... that communion of souls that fills a gap we didn't know we had until then. What a surprise. What a joy.

And what a long route of coincidences it took to get me there. From CRHP ... to Beyond Cana retreats ... to feeling sick and attending a late mass ... to Hannah and Grace talking ... to Grace's need for married panel members. A long and winding road to be sure, in which this budding friendship is not the main point but surely one of the wonderful benefits along the way. Let me say it again ... God is so very efficient, such a multi-tasker. All for our good and, quite often, if we are open to it, for our joy.

These are the things that God has in store for us ... things that so often are beyond our imaginings ... things in which God knows we will delight and which He delights in giving. He is good. And I am grateful.

Days with My Father

Beautiful. Touching. Inspirational.

Real.

Take some time to admire the beautiful layout and photography, and most of all, the beautiful story of a father being told by his loving son.

Via Saint Superman.

Update: I also just saw the above blog being called perhaps the saddest blog I've ever read. Perhaps because I've lived with the idea of Alzheimer's for so long (my great-grandmother had it, my grandmother had it) that I've come to terms with the idea that it afflicts people the way it does? I looked at it as tribute from a son to his father, almost a celebration of the qualities he loves about his father, not the sadness of the father who often isn't (literally) himself.

In the News

A delegation of Episcopal priests from Fort Worth paid a visit to Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann earlier this summer, asking for guidance on how their highly conservative diocese might come into “full communion” with the Catholic Church.

Whether that portends a serious move to turn Fort Worth Episcopalians and their churches into Catholics and Catholic churches is a matter of dispute. The Rev. William Crary, senior rector of the Fort Worth diocese, confirmed that on June 16 he and three other priests met with Bishop Vann, leader of the Fort Worth Catholic diocese, and presented him a document that is highly critical of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

The document states that the overwhelming majority of Episcopal clergy in the Fort Worth diocese favor pursuing an “active plan” to bring the diocese into full communion with the Catholic Church. ...

I was pretty surprised to read the above story in The Dallas Morning News. For those of us who are interested, Get Religion tracks down the whole thing. Very interesting indeed!

Worth a Thousand Words

Georgia Girl by Karin Jurick
Click through the link to see more engaging art from a HC favorite.

If Ancient Rome Had the Internet ...

... lifted from Miss Cellania.

The destruction of Pompeii in 79 AD is the most viewed video at YouTube. The first comment is..."OMG so cool! Volcanos ROCK!"

Attila the Hun has his own MySpace page. Nobody ever rejects his "invite a friend" emails.

The domain "gladiator.rome" sells for the record sum of 1,000,000 denarii.

"Naked Cleopatra" is the top search term on Google.

Unfortunately, the Queen of Egypt dies an early death after misunderstanding IT's call to embrace an ASP solution.

Websites like "handsome-literate-male-british-slave.com" pollute the search listings thanks to generous commissions at the "slaves.co.rome" affiliate program.

Roman programmers moan about projects outsourced to cheap coders in Mesopotamia.

The Colosseum is renamed the eBay Colosseum, with free wireless hot spots outside the lions cage restaurant.

Nobody invents a spam filter good enough for the House of the Vestals.

An Inspirational Story of Love and a Prayer Request

There was no resentment whatsoever. While I know what they have experienced hasn’t been easy on them, you would never know it. Even Sam’s attitude, mind you he is only four years-old, was unique in and of itself.

After having spent a wonderful afternoon getting to know an amazing family, I drove off speechless. I have never in all my life met a family like them. I wonder if I ever will again either.

Tisha is the one who is going under the knife, not me, but as Jonathan told me their story, and as I looked into his eyes, I saw gratitude therein. Amazing gratitude. I shall never forget what I saw.

Little Sam Gappa has been fighting cancer most of his life. He is four. One would think that the burden that places upon a family and the child himself to be almost insupportable. However, that is not the case. The above excerpt was written by the husband of the woman who is donating a kidney to Sam. He is a witness to the Gappa's faith.

The Gappas are part of our parish and, although I have never met them, my dear friend Stevie keeps me updated on their progress. Here is a place where you can get her perspective on what it has been like to care for Sam throughout the ordeal.

Tomorrow, Sam gets his kidney transplant. The donor is a young mother of three young children. Go to Stevie's place, Wheelbarrow Manor, to read more about this inspirational story. I will borrow a bit of what she excerpted because I am so struck by the sheer love and generosity that makes Sam's transplant possible.

What kind of person would offer up a kidney to someone she doesn’t know? The kind of person who, too, has a four year-old son. The kind of person to whom God has been very good. The kind of person who believes in Galatians 6:10. The kind of person who believes in Romans 8:28. The kind of person who would hate to experience what Sam’s parents have experienced. The kind of person who has a respect for life.

The kind of person who is following her Master.

Please pray for all involved tomorrow as this kidney transplant finally happens.

Worth a Thousand Words

Monarch
by photographer extraordinaire, Hey Jules
(click through on the link for a larger look)

Ready to Go On Retreat?

The Anchoress is going on retreat for August and taking us with her.

So far The Anchoress has been sharing with us some of her best ... I will dare to call it classic ... writing which I remember but only dimly. It is good to see these pieces, whether for the first time or as a reminder of what is important.

Check it out!

The Faithful Traveler and the Miraculous Medal Shrine

Two of my favorite books are Catholic Shrines of Western Europe and Catholic Shrines of Central and Eastern Europe, both of which are subtitled "A Pilgrim's Travel Guide. I have often wished for as comprehensive a guide to the United States. Lo and behold, here comes The Faithful Traveler to fill that need, beginning in Philadelphia.

I am not much for watching travel DVDs, unless they are those that Michael Palin has done with clever commentary and an interesting theme (such as traveling around the world in 80 days). However, Diana von Glahn sent me a review copy of this DVD so I dutifully sat down to watch it, expecting to sample a bit and skip around before quitting. Unexpectedly I liked it so much that I watched the entire thing, including extras, and then told Tom he will have to watch. (He is much less resistant to this sort of thing than I am.)

First of all, Diana's screen presence is charming. She is serious about the subject yet there is always the hint of an underlying merriment that is most inviting.

Secondly, I didn't expect this to be a partial Catholic history class with plenty of fascinating information about the origin of the Miraculous Medal as well as about the Philadelphia shrine. Additionally, in order to make sure that viewers understand the concepts well, there is are brief explanations of Catholic concepts along the way (such as why Catholics venerate Mary or that the medal is not superstitiously viewed "as a good luck charm"). This means that the DVDs can also be passed on to nonCatholics who might have questions or be interested in the shrine. A nice touch.

The music is contemporary Christian but is not some of the sappy, overly sentimental stuff that I shrink from hearing. It is either upbeat or heartfelt, but good.

My only critiques would be that the information on the extras page is not large enough to read easily and that the word "amazing" gets a bit overused. However, as a podcast who has found that her favorite "make a noise while thinking of what to say next" word is "and" I can understand this tendency.

The Faithful Traveler website is loaded with information, including a blog that has many pertinent facts that would be helpful when visiting a location. You can see samples of the dvd or order it here.

Worth a Thousand Words

American Crescent Cycle

From The Art of the Poster, 1880-1918, Lawrence University Digital Collection
Via Lines and Colors.

How to Make Your Child a Gay Activist

Let's say you, like many Christian parents, have a child with strong and lasting homosexual longings.

Someone--maybe not Jesus, but Someone--definitely enjoys it when people who are trying hard to love one another and act well toward one another end up deeply hurting themselves and each other instead. Someone loves it when Christians trying to bear witness instead cause confusion, disappointment, and pain to those they love; when Christians, trying to support family values, destroy their own families. Someone enjoys it when Christians, seeking to love and support their children, hurt those children deeply.

How do you help that "Someone"? How do you make it as hard as possible for your child to accept Christian chastity and humility, rather than seeking solace in gay pride?

Let's begin at the beginning....

Brilliant. From Eve Tushnet ... I'm not sure I got the link right but scroll around toward the top if I didn't.

Watch Out Beijing ...

... Engrish.com has their eye on Olympic signage. Can't wait to see what turns up.

Worth a Thousand Words

La Sainte Chappelle, Paris
Shown here with permission from Ian McKillip.

Click through on the link above to see more of his splendid art.

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

KEITH • Originally, someone named Keith was from a specific place, a town in Scotland on the Isla River. First used as a surname, it became popular as a first name in the 1800s.

The Word Origin Calendar

Proud Mom Moment

Hi Rose-

Congratulations! You have been admitted to the Pilot Program for this year. Your essays were impressive and communicated a strong passion for learning and filmmaking. ...

Nice to see that Rose's college recognizes how brilliant my child is!

This pilot program is one that admits only 24 students. They will work together on core film classes. The film school is trying to see if this will be a better way to guide freshmen through what now takes quite a few different classes.

Should be interesting!

Quick Book Review: No One Sees God

No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers by Michael Novak goes on sale today. I cannot comment too much since I got my copy of the book last week ... and, as everyone around here knows we've been putting on a retreat lately.

However, I did take the time to read the introduction and first chapter, which are my test of whether I will keep the book around at all. (That's a defense mechanism designed to leave me any time at all to read book of my own choosing.) I was hooked by Novak's honest, respectful approach to how to discuss faith with atheists. It went to the top of my nonfiction stack and will be picked up very soon, after which I will do a proper review.

In the meantime, please read Steven Riddle's review. I trust him completely and this review simply whets my appetite to dive into Novak's book. Steven begins thus:

In a word--superb. A quick review of this book shows that it is the same tightly reasoned, compassionate, engaging call to conversation and, it is to be hoped, conversion from one believer to other believers and non-believers. Mr. Novak's theme in the book might well be summed up in this excerpt:

from No One Sees God
Michael Novak

In my own life, I have tried to keep the conversation up between the two sides of my own intellect. The line of belief and unbelief is not drawn between one person and another, normally, but rather down the inner souls of all of us. That is why the very question stirs so much passion. I have known people who declaim so passionately and argumentatively that they do not believe in God that I am drive to wonderment: Why are they so agitated, if, as they insist, God does not exist? Why then do they pay so much attention? Some of the greatest converts, in either direction, are those who wrestled strenuously for many year to maintain the other side

Now go read the rest of the review and then pick up the book.