A Cradle Catholic, A Convert, and An Atheist Walk into a Christmas Party ...

... and come out with a glittering truth in defense of the Church.

“There’s need and there’s truth. Truth is truth, regardless of what man’s needs may be. If there is a diamond in the middle of the road, it doesn’t matter what anyone is doing in the road. The jewelers can be corrupt. The diamond merchants can be guilty of horrible abuses. And people can lust after the diamond or they can ignore it altogether. It’s still a diamond.”

Read what led up to it and what happened after this statement at Why I Am Catholic.

It's About Babies. And, Yes, You Will Like It.

The trailer anyway. If the opening vignette doesn't grab you, then nothing will. And the ending shot is priceless.


Via DarwinCatholic with whom I must agree when they point out:

Pay close attention to the first rock-pounding sequence and reflect on St. Augustine's assertion that the effects of original sin are quite obvious in babies, who are pretty selfish by nature.

"It is good that you exist."

Man is that strange creature that needs not just physical birth but also appreciation if he is to subsist . . . If an individual is to accept himself, someone must say to him: “It is good that you exist” – must say it, not with words, but with that act of the entire being that we call love.

This is just a tiny bit of an excerpt from Pope Benedict that The Anchoress quotes in a searching and insightful post. She travels from seeing President Obama as a rather chilly, off-putting individual to looking beneath the surface to his "I" as Pope Benedict would put it. To seeing the person behind the surface elements.

This is a hugely important reminder to us all, especially in the last days of Advent. It is easy to talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk ... well, politics and personality and history and every other element that make us different individuals can rise to the surface and make us forget that we are to love one another as we love ourselves.

In this, The Anchoress leads us to consider where to turn in following Mother Teresa's command:

Find your own Calcutta.

It isn't as far away as you might think.

It is in the in-laws who interfere and don't appreciate our beloved family members.

It is in the teacher who picks on our children.

It is in the checker in the grocery store who doesn't smile and isn't nice and won't accept our coupon. Or who chats too much and wants to be our friend. (Depending on my mood ... because it's all about me isn't it?)

In fact our Calcutta is within ourselves. As we struggle to live the command to love one another no matter how unlovable those "others" seem to be.

Read The Anchoress's piece and let us ponder it in our hearts. We must ask where we are being called to love until it hurts ... to show them that "It is good that you exist."

"I am curious. Why do you list those for whom you privately pray?"

In case anyone else has this question about The Basics.

1. So that others may pray for them also.
   I am continually surprised and pleased at just how many people do that very thing.
   
   
2. So that we may praise God together when a prayer is answered
   (Hint: check the prayer list from the link above ... and see what I mean)

Thank you for asking!

Mouth Wide Open ... for Bagna Cauda

A little something about a traditional Italian peasant dish that is perfect for cold weather ... from John Thorne's Mouth Wide Open at Forgotten Classics podcast.

As well as a couple of Christmas podcast highlights.

Enjoy!

Evolution Going Great, Reports Trilobite

"It's a wonderful time to be alive," said the tri-lobed creature, its protruding feelers and antennules twitching spasmodically with anticipation. "To be born during this, the Cambrian Explosion—why, I couldn't imagine a better period, really. It's all happening right now! I mean, if things keep going the way they're going, what with evolution taking off and everything, pretty soon we'll have huge, towering reptiles roaming across the earth."

"Can you imagine it? Reptiles!" the trilobite added. "I'm not even sure what those are!"

The top story of The Onion's Top 10 Stories of the Last 4.5 Billion Years (warning: site often contains explicit content).

Tom's personal favorite was "Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World."

Members of the earth's earliest known civilization, the Sumerians, looked on in shock and confusion some 6,000 years ago as God, the Lord Almighty, created Heaven and Earth.

[...]

"The Sumerian people must have found God's making of heaven and earth in the middle of their well-established society to be more of an annoyance than anything else," said Paul Helund, ancient history professor at Cornell University. "If what the pictographs indicate are true, His loud voice interrupted their ancient prayer rituals for an entire week."

Not every story hits the mark for me but most are truly hilarious, as are a lot of their runners up.

The first steampunk on TV ... of course, Wild Wild West!

I don't know why this never occurred to me before, but when Amy H. Sturgis discussed steampunk and Wild, Wild West in her fact article on StarShipSofa podcast (it is the first thing up, by the way, in case that is all you might care to hear) I was thunderstruck.

Because to anyone who loved that show the way I did, it is obvious once it is pointed out. (Robert Conrad's physical perfection, which Amy acknowledges, is largely what drew me to the show, but I stayed for the clever plots and steampunk-ish elements ... though we didn't have a name for them at the time.) When I mentioned it to Tom, he instantly got it too.

Which is what led to the fact that I just got the notice from the library that my request for the complete first season dvd set is ready to pick up. I am really curious to see how this stands up ... or if my love for the show will blind me to imperfections.

So Haloscan is being replaced ...

... and I'm thinking I'll just switch over to Blogger comments.

I know I'll lose the old Haloscan comments but I can live with that.

Any ... ahem ... comments on that?

Books for Beginners on the Catholic Basics

Note: I have added "beginners to the header for this. As a reader pointed out, Peter Kreeft's Catholic Christianity is a great book on the basics. However, I wouldn't throw it at anyone who is tentative about Catholicism. It is as intimidating as the Catechism in sheer size alone, although not in tone. It does belong on a list of solid basic books that would include the Catechism thought.

Like many other dioceses around the country, Dallas is also promoting the Catholis Come Home idea. I like it. Our parish has a group, headed by our stalwart Deacon Ken, who are working hard to have a series of witnesses and talks during January for those who have questions or problems they are working through in coming back to the Church.

One question that has arisen is what would be good book recommendations to give?

Well, I'm not working on the campaign (being overextended everywhere in my life right now), but that never stopped me from giving my opinion about good basic reading about Catholicism. So I'm sharing with y'all a few trustworthy books that I recommend which are not as intimidating to newbies (or even old timers, sometimes) as the Catechism.

BOOKS ON THE BASICS

• Pocket Guides
  I can highly recommend the Pocket Guide to Confession and also the Pocket Guide to the Mass. In fact, I take the Confession guide out for a spin when preparing for that sacrament and then it comes with me to the church.These are $6.95 each so again this is a fairly inexpensive resource. Our Sunday Visitor has these.
  
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism
  my review here


• Catholicism for Dummies
  I haven't reviewed this but looking through my archives it turns out that I have used it extensively. You can check out some posts that feature quotes from the book.


• The How-To Book of Catholic Devotions
  I haven't reviewed this either but it is by Mike Aquilina and that is enough. He's entirely reliable. Also I read it and kept it. I don't have book room to waste on something I don't trust.


• Why Do Catholics Do That?
  I can't believe I haven't done a review of this book because it is one that I actually keep extra copies of so I can give it to people who have questions. I will put the Amazon review here as it already says what I think:

  Why Do Catholics Do That? by Kevin Orlin Johnson assumes nothing and tells all. As such, it's not only an ideal catechism companion but also a source of infinite wisdom for students of art history, politics, literature, philosophy, and pretty much any other subject connected with Catholic history. In a voice refreshingly free of condescension (and full of humor, witnessed in chapter titles such as "Saints: How You Get To Be One"), Johnson defines and expatiates upon hundreds of topics, including the Mass, the rosary, the cross, the eucharist, and the pope. Why Do Catholics Do That? is destined for the all-time top 20 list of indispensable desk references. Whether your interest in Catholicism is devoutly religious or defiantly secular, you'll be glad Kevin Orlin Johnson has fulfilled his vocation so faithfully. --Michael Joseph Gross

• Compendium to the Catechism
  Hopefully a lot of people know this one. A greatly simplified version of the catechism that does not look as intimidating and has the scoop ... but which may lead those who are afraid of the Catechism into investigating further as well.

UNUSUAL BOOKS THERE MIGHT BE NEED OF
Ok, these are not orthodox BUT it occurs to me that these would be very handy in case a Catholic who wants to come home is grappling with issues with a Protestant spouse. Links go to my reviews.

• The Lure of Saints - about why venerating saints is ok


• The Rosary: A Journey to the Beloved --- obviously, about the rosary and why Protestants should take up this form of prayer

I do NOT advise Sweeney's book about Mary (Lure of the Saints author) as it has a couple of chapters where he gets kinda wonky.

What We Do ... At Work

Here is a site we just finished for a local musician. He is a highly talented violinist whose cds we enjoy at home, often during dinner, believe it or not. A talented designer we know did the concept work and we brought it to life via code.

And, for those who want to see more, here is our business web site.

Sometimes I get well intended emails from folks wanting to send some business our way. Thing is, because we work in graphics, they have the impression that we are actually printers.

We actually do graphic design and layout. If one can apply the term layout to web sites, which I don't know why not. As well, we do design and layout for jobs going to an actual printer ... ads, catalogs, books, and the like. Hopefully, you can tell that from the site ... or we're not doing our job very well.

The Man Who Invented Christmas

In a literary sense and a more surprising way, you may find ... is featured in some lagniappe over at Forgotten Classics.

For more Christmas listening, of a wordy sort, you may want to check out my Huffduffer feed (RSS, iTunes) where I'm posting podcasts that are talking about Christmas traditions, history, stories, and things that may help you this year (such as tips on holiday party small talk).

Finally, an audio version of A Christmas Carol that Tom would love ... read by Tim Curry

That pretty much says it all. It is being offered free by Audible right now and you must have an Audible account. But it is free.

Read more about it here.

Get it from Audible here.

The Top 50 Movies of the 2000's

Scott Nehring at Good News Film Reviews is blogging again (WOOHOO!). He steals a march on those end of year countdowns with his end-of-decade countdown of the top 50 movies.

Scott and I have a continual disagreement over various movies yet I am one of his biggest fans. He brings a thoughtful Christian perspective to movie viewing ... and he's funny. Which as we all know is the spice of movie reviews, not to mention life (my life at any rate). I mean to say, this comment about Avatar gives you a taste of what I love about his commentary:

The question I'm left with is this: am I the only one struck by the irony that Cameron had to blow $500,000,000.00 in order to remind us the superiority of primitive cultures - you know, the kinds that don't have the technology to watch his stupid movies in the first place?

He nails it. Is there anyone who has watched a couple of the trailers and doesn't get that point?

Go see if you agree or not with his top 50 list. I haven't read it yet thoroughly but didn't want to make y'all wait until next week. Enjoy his snarky movie review goodness now ... as an early Christmas gift.

I didn't expect this sort of wisdom from Jeff Bridges

WSJ: You've been married to the same woman for 32 years. Rule No. 1 for staying together in Hollywood?

Jeff Bridges: Don't get a divorce. That will keep you together, you know.

In an interview about Crazy Heart.

Looking for Some Good Podcast Listening?

B-Movie Catechism has a nice variety listed, keyed to interests which include Catholicism and, well, B-movies.

It ranges from Peter Kreeft on screenwriting to The Flicks That Church Forgot which I seized upon with delight. Many thanks also for their inclusion of my own reading of The Uninvited which is the book du jour at Forgotten Classics ... nothing like a good ghost story to interest B-movie appetites!

And Now for Something Completely Different ... Granola!

Just so you know, Tom and I not only enjoy cocktails, I also have been grooving on this home made granola which I've been making for the last couple of months.

A Doozy of a Conversion Story

For some reason my conversion story has been brought up to me a lot lately. The most vivid example is that I was in a meeting about something else entirely (well, ok it was at church, it was with Christians, but it was not about sharing those kinds of stories) when I was asked point blank to tell how I became Christian. Demurring, I looked down the table and saw so many eager, questioning faces that I was forced to believe they really wanted to hear it.

Retelling the story made me realize afresh how many "coincidences" there were and that this experience of "coincidences" happens more than we would think, if we are just paying attention. This was a point dwelt upon by everyone at that meeting also.

Therefore when I read Mary Karr's interview about her recent conversion to Catholicism what really resonated was her fellow recognition of those coincidences, as well as those moments of experiencing God that just cannot be adequately communicated to those who do not believe. Here's an excerpt and here's the whole thing.

I had a needle biopsy once during a very dark spiritual time. I went in as scheduled, and the guy who was supposed to do the biopsy was in surgery and couldn't do it, and they tried to reschedule it. Normally I would have been very upset, but I just said OK and rescheduled it. As I rounded the corner, I ran into someone in the hall. He said, "Do you remember me? You coached my daughter in Little League." It turned out he was an oncologist and he could do the biopsy.

That's the kind of experience I have now. If I had been yelling and screaming at the nurses, I wouldn't have run into him. Then, when I was lying on the table, I really just had such a sense of the presence of Christ. I was so peaceful. When I had come in for the biopsy, when the woman took my blood pressure, I started crying. I remember telling a girlfriend about it, who isn't Christian. She said, "Oh, you just had the feeling that you know you don't have cancer." I said, "No, I had the feeling that whether I had cancer or not, I wouldn't be alone."

Interview via Conversion Diary.

Not that all Tom and I do is drink on the weekends ...

... but I realize it might look that way from the preponderance of cocktail recipes I've been featuring lately.

What can I say. They're easy to make and we know how to pick good ones to try ... apparently.

With that out of the way, get ready to meet last weekend's hits: Garnet and X.Y.Z. Cocktail.

Just a little more Twilight

Mrs. Darwin's hilarious commentary on New Moon and paper cuts, invariably makes me recall the only other thing I know about this series (aside from the werewolf versus vampire choice that Bella must make) ... which is "sparkly skin."

That all takes me back to Cleolinda's Movies in 15 Minutes where you will see an absolutely hilarious send up of Twilight. I didn't enjoy her New Moon send up nearly as much, although I generally acknowledge Cleolinda to be a genius. Perhaps because there's not as much "there" there for her to work with.

I'm reposting this bit to whet your appetite. It's emo-tastic.

(For this, one must know the context that the real reason vampires don't go out in the sunlight is that their skin sparkles and that would give them away. Bram Stoker is busy turning in his grave right now ... oh, right and here is the obligatory warning that you may see some explicit something or other at her site, so don't click through if that is problematic.)

EDWARD: I AM VAMPIRE. HEAR ME TWINKLE.

BELLA: Oh, wow, I spent like $60 at Sephora trying to get sparkle like that. What is that, Urban Decay?

EDWARD: NO!

BELLA: Oh, so it's a drugstore brand?

EDWARD: THIS IS THE SKIN OF A KILLER, BELLA!

BELLA: FINE. WHATEVER. But the lipstick, that's gotta be Cargo, right?

EDWARD: *FLOUNCE*

It's All Downhill from Here

A little midweek humor from Dr. Boli.