Mumford and Sons: The Cave

Just because we all needed some banjo and some solid lyrics about what really helps us get through hard times, right? Thanks to Hannah for this one.

Jeremiah, tell me 'bout the fire.

It's been a while since I featured this instead of letting it rest in the sidebar but this was echoing in my mind after listening to the Sunday reading from Jeremiah.

Yep. It's time for a little dose of Jeremiah via Sara Groves ... via Rose.

For those who don't know, I will add that Rose did this video for a religion class assignment in high school.

Jeremiah, tell me 'bout the fire

It reminds me of just how glad I was to be "duped." For as the Lord tells Jeremiah (Jer. 29:11):

I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.

Indeed, I have found it to be so.

Weekend Joke: Why We Scream for Ice Cream

Many thanks to Doug Savage for letting me share his comic genius. Click through to see a lot more great cartoons.

Julie and Scott find themselves trapped on an island serving cold ham to eight seven extremely nervous guests. What could go wrong?

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is the latest good story that we found ... now under discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. C'mon by and join us!

Countdown: 9 ...

... days until Rose gets home from Chicago. For good!

Ok, she won't be staying in Dallas. After some quality home time she'll be going to L.A. to try her fortune there using her film editing major.

But she won't be going back to Chicago, not for the foreseeable future anyway.

I'm excited!

She's is almost done editing the Haiti documentary, Today We Saw the Face of God. She's been spending 8-10 hours a day working on it. On the plus side, we've been bonding over audio books as I've been sending her my treasures and she now has time to listen.

The prize moment was when she was so jazzed up after listening to White Cat and the sequel, Red Glove, that she had to call me to discuss them. Ah yes ... finally ... I have someone to talk to about them!

Ora Pro Nobis: The Anchoress' New Column at The Catholic Answer

She kicks it off with some G.K. Chesterton.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.”

The Catholic Answer kicks off the Anchoress' new column by making it available to all ... so go by and read it.

For those, like me, who have very little Latin ... Ora Pro Nobis means "pray for us." (Thank you, Google, for making it so easy to find that out.)

DC Earthquake Devastation

Sent by a regular reader, this link takes you to a graphic photo.

Thanks Don!

Nina Simone: Sinnerman

Rose sent me this link to the full-length version of Sinnerman, sung by the incomparable Nina Simone. Video isn't necessary since it doesn't show her singing ... it is audio with some still images of her.

Just let it run in the background and listen.

I love it.

On Being Wrong ... and Erring on the Side of Mercy

I am hearing responses to my reflections on the homily and processing them has given me further food for thought. No one has been uncharitable, which makes me very happy. Conversations have ranged far and wide on the subjects of the Church, our many homilists, diversity, and so forth.

It makes me continue to reflect on our assumptions when we are right and our actions when we are wrong.

I cannot encourage everyone strongly enough to watch this TED Talk by Kathryn Schulz on being wrong. In the weeks that have gone by since we watched it, Tom and I find ourselves referring to it time and again. It is more complex than you'd think for a 17 minute talk.

This morning I found myself once again going back to a concept that Schulz discussed. (I'm going to have to get her book and read it all, obviously).

I do want to stress that Schulz talks about the wonders of being wrong (and there are wonders) as well as the dangers. Watch that talk for yourself.

However, to the point that I remembered ...

... trusting too much in the feeling of being on the correct side of anything can be very dangerous.

This internal sense of rightness that we all experience so often is not a reliable guide to what is actually going on in the external world. And when we act like it is, and we stop entertaining the possibility that we could be wrong, well that's when we end up doing things like dumping 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, or torpedoing the global economy. So this is a huge practical problem. But it's also a huge social problem.

Think for a moment about what it means to feel right. It means that you think that your beliefs just perfectly reflect reality. And when you feel that way, you've got a problem to solve, which is, how are you going to explain all of those people who disagree with you? It turns out, most of us explain those people the same way, by resorting to a series of unfortunate assumptions. The first thing we usually do when someone disagrees with us is we just assume they're ignorant. They don't have access to the same information that we do, and when we generously share that information with them, they're going to see the light and come on over to our team. When that doesn't work, when it turns out those people have all the same facts that we do and they still disagree with us, then we move on to a second assumption, which is that they're idiots. They have all the right pieces of the puzzle, and they are too moronic to put them together correctly. And when that doesn't work, when it turns out that people who disagree with us have all the same facts we do and are actually pretty smart, then we move on to a third assumption: they know the truth, and they are deliberately distorting it for their own malevolent purposes. So this is a catastrophe.

This attachment to our own rightness keeps us from preventing mistakes when we absolutely need to and causes us to treat each other terribly. But to me, what's most baffling and most tragic about this is that it misses the whole point of being human. It's like we want to imagine that our minds are just these perfectly translucent windows and we just gaze out of them and describe the world as it unfolds. And we want everybody else to gaze out of the same window and see the exact same thing. That is not true, and if it were, life would be incredibly boring. The miracle of your mind isn't that you can see the world as it is. It's that you can see the world as it isn't. We can remember the past, and we can think about the future, and we can imagine what it's like to be some other person in some other place. And we all do this a little differently, which is why we can all look up at the same night sky and see this and also this and also this. And yeah, it is also why we get things wrong.

The visuals accompanying this section boiled down to what Tom and I remembered this morning at breakfast.

Assumptions made about people who disagree with us:

1. They're stupid. If not that, then ...
2. They're ignorant. If not that, then ...
3. They're evil.

In my experience, in American culture at least, this is practically universal.

(In this I am backed up by this Cracked.com piece about 6 double standards we're all guilty of. Note that #1, 2, and 3 cover it pretty well. Warning: language alert ... I read this a while ago and don't remember specifically but you can count on Cracked to toss profane language around.)

God knows our hearts and that is why his love gives us mercy as well as justice. We do well if we err on the side of mercy always, but especially with those who disagree with us.

The Anchoress providentially writes today about God's love and mentions this point.

It is beyond all of our knowing, which is why—no matter how tempted we are in our increasingly polarized church to stand with the Pharisees—we cannot. We must, ultimately err on the side of mercy, because mercy is what we all seek, and leave justice to the One who may be trusted to know what that is.

She's always worth reading, but never more than in this piece at First Things which I recommend to all.

I Can't Recommend Smallworld Enough

Smallworld by Dominic Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


THIS ONE IS FREE FOR THE KINDLE. GO GET IT BEFORE THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS.

I honestly did not mean to begin another book before finishing Silas Marner. However, Silas Marner isn't the sort of book I can read in bed before going to sleep. I have to be wide awake to pay attention and pick up on the subtle humor and other excellences therein.

So I turned to my Kindle, which I hadn't turned on in over a month as I recall. I was looking for short stories, figuring I could read one and put it down easily.

Turns out I was wrong. This collection of short stories that all are actually pieces of one larger story is indescribably amazing. Funny in a way that sounds corn-pone if I try to describe it, these stories are also gripping and will keep me up reading until I finish each one so I can see if the problem is solved, the danger averted.

Here's the description:

A strangely captivating novel from Hugo-nominated author Dominic Green. Mount Ararat, a world the size of an asteroid yet having Earth-standard gravity, plays host to an eccentric farming community protected by the Devil, a mechanical killing machine, from such passers-by as Mr von Trapp (an escapee from a penal colony), the Made (manufactured humans being hunted by the State), and the super-rich clients of a gravitational health spa established at Mount Ararat's South Pole.

The children's names are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but surprisingly you get so used to them that after a while you know exactly who is being spoken about.

Not done yet but I already know that this is one that I'll be giving as a gift as well as getting for myself in real paper, ink, and glue for rereading. I like it that much.

[UPDATED] Reflections on a homily: Positive emotion versus the clashing gong

One of the things that I love about the Catholic Church is how different the personality of each parish is. In Chicago, St. Peter's, Old St. Mary's, and the Cathedral are very different, even though they are all relatively close to each other. In Texas it would be difficult to find two more different communities than St. Francis of Assisi in San Antonio and our St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Dallas.

Likewise, Église de Saint-German-des-Prés in Paris, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (also in Paris), and Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde in Montreal are nothing alike.

Each time I visited one of these I wound up being either interested at some reflections of that parish's community which was different from my own. It added a certain spice to Mass.

At the same time, every single one of those churches is just alike. Like beads on a rosary, they are bound into one by the common thread of the liturgy.

I'll never forget being in Saint-German-des-Pres looking at the shrines when the Mass began and realizing that, despite the French, I knew just what point the Mass was at because they used the very same tunes for everything. Or being at a tiny African-American church near Mobile, Alabama, on the bay where the children's choir sang along with a cassette recorder, leading us in familiar hymns from the 1800s but with a subtle gospel swing that gave the songs a new zest.

Each church I have visited has its own special memory for me of the huge diversity of the Church that still gathers us in together as one Body of Christ.

To put it differently, I appreciate what a big tent the Church provides for very different groups of people. I loved the fact that Jesus met us where he found us and had the same attitude to everyone else. That lesson is one that I have reflected upon often and is a good reminder when I find myself among those with different customs.

I haven't ever thought before about what a visitor from Paris or Canada or Alabama would find at my church, but I now realize they would find Gregorian chant from the men's acapella choir at the Saturday vigil, some of the most beautifully arranged modern hymns in the country at our nine o'clock Sunday family Mass, and a full choir singing some of the most glorious songs by Handel or Bach at the eleven o'clock Mass. Every Mass would show them a congregation who kneels at the altar rail for communion and who give some responses in Latin.

It is a nice thought that we, too, reflect the beautiful diversity of the Church.

In fact, this was pointed up to me by working on the Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat when it was just getting started in our parish. The originating parish was in San Antonio and from a church that was just about as different from ours as an American Catholic church could be. Our needs to adapt the program for our parish's different style and needs meant that there was constant tension between the groups from the two churches as they worked out the kinks. However, it all worked out thanks to unfailing courtesy and the determination to do what we all saw as God's will in helping the retreat come to Dallas.

I came to realize that, as different as some of the other church's practices were, there was a deep love and reverence for the Eucharist to have developed a retreat like Beyond Cana. It helped me to appreciate that "big tent" yet again as I saw our common love for Christ. One of our San Antonio friends shared that he had faced great opposition from his group in working with a church that was "too different." He felt that God had deliberately put our two parishes together in this endeavor to teach us that underneath all our differences we were the same. Amen to that! It was through face-to-face work toward a common goal that we were able to come to that appreciation of each other's diversity.

I think that positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.

Cobb, Inception

The question of diversity in the Church, especially in our parish, was a topic of conversation around our house after the Sunday Mass.

The homily was given by a deacon who is not around much, but took the opportunity to scold us for not being more diverse like him (which is to say, we are a white/Hispanic, conservative parish). I won't drag you through it except to say that he wound up by speculating that if we were asked who Jesus was, we might give the "proper" answer copying what Peter said, but would need to look deep in our hearts to see what our "real" answer was because we might discover we were making God in our own image. He made it clear that he didn't think much of us on practically every level.

If this homily had been given by our pastor or regular deacon, I would have gone home full of doubt and examined my conscience. They are highly involved in the parish, don't bring the hammer down on us usually, and ... they love us. They are our shepherds and we know it.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the Truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7

However, this particular deacon is rarely seen around the parish as he has a full-time job as a teacher and must be out of town a great deal when school is out. He's a nice enough guy, but the only time he has to show us any love is during his homilies. Needless to say, we weren't feeling the love on Sunday.

What he did, though, is spark us to look at our parish with new eyes. For one thing, we talked about the many wonderful churches we've attended which I mentioned above. We also talked about all the ways that our parish is diverse among our members. We saw ourselves for who we really are. Some rich, some poor, some jerks, some nice ... all struggling with life the way that everyone does. Trying to do our best for the most part and hoping to recognize that the guy who doesn't agree with us also is trying to do his best; he just has a different way of going about it. It made me love our parish even more because I know so many face-to-face and have gone through hard times and good ones with them.

It also made me very sad for that deacon who has lived among us for so long and still looks at us as a demographic of which he disapproves. Sad that he has not gotten to know enough of us person-to-person, face-to-face, which is how any real change is effected ... and how any real love is shown. God put him among us so that he could learn to know us and love us and we could do the same back. For whatever reason, that didn't happen. He can't show that love because he doesn't know us. He just knows a stereotype.

Or so it seems to me.

So I pity him. And I pray for him. And, as surprising as I found it this morning when I was walking and praying, I love him. I imagine he left that pulpit feeling that he had delivered a blow for much needed social justice. Instead, he delivered a blow that felt like an absent father showing up to slap an unsuspecting child in the face. No one wants to be that person. I know he doesn't either.

I've tripped over my own misconceptions many a time. I know how hard that fall is. So I love him, because he is just like all of us. Trying his hardest. Sometimes falling hard too ...

Lord have mercy on me and bless that deacon. Help us both to be the people you created us to be. And thank you for opening my eyes more to what I have taken for granted for a long time.


UPDATE -- speaking of tripping over my own misconceptions ...


A kind friend from our parish wrote to gently point out that, although I don't know this deacon well, many parishioners do know this deacon well ... and I'm selling him short to make it sound as if he is disconnected. He pointed out that those who know and love the deacon may well have walked away feeling as thoughtful as I described I would have if others had delivered that message.

I definitely thank my friend for that because, once it was pointed out, I could see it's a fair cop guv'nor!

I really appreciated the time and care that my friend put into the email. He cared enough to do the difficult task of correcting me so he put in the necessary work to make sure I understood his perspective first. And to be sure I understood that this fraternal correction was being done because my friend cared. How lucky I am!

Honestly, now that I think of it, if the deacon who gave that homily had taken similar care, I'd never have written this post in the first place. Which is kind of funny, when you think about it (at least it made me laugh). And also telling.

Thank you, my friend!

Match of the Week: Zoe the Dog vs. the Butter Wrappers in the Trash

Cayenne pepper - 1
Zoe - 0

As a ringside viewer, this was a great match-up. Zoe's determination made her a top contender but the sneezing from the trash can area gave early hints of the winner.  The butter wrappers were licked about half clean when cayenne pepper's punch kicked in to make Zoe throw in the towel.

Needless to say, this is the win the audience wanted.

(Otherwise, we'd have had to put a huge rock on top of the trash to keep her out.)

 Zoe licks her wounds and vows a comeback

2011 Cannonball Catholic Blog Awards - nominations open

It's time again for my favorite blog awards, the kind that don't take themselves too seriously but yet provide me with many wonderful new blogs to read.

It's a Blog Award for all us under appreciated types, and you are strictly forbidden from nominating anyone that has written a book... and that Peters guy. And fanciful cooking bird watching priests. And anybody else who has a blog better than me. So good luck with that.

So just when I thought that I had a chance of being nominated for something, she had to throw in that book thing. Ah well ... does it help if it is a very small, under-appreciated book?

I love the categories ... some are the usual, but some ... well, it's in the way it's said. As a sampling below shows.

More Catholic Than The Pope

Best Blog By A Heretic

Best Bat Shit Crazy

Best Popery of Potpourri

Snarkiest Catholic Blog

Most Hifreakinlarious

I will be dropping in there soon to nominate my own under-appreciated favorites. Go thou and do likewise!

An Apology to Reckon With ... Andy Levy is My New Hero

Via The Anchoress.

Weekend Joke

One Friday a traffic policeman stops a Maisie and asks to see her driving licence.

"Lady, it says here that you should be wearing glasses when driving."

"Well," replies Maisie, "I have contacts."

"Lady, I don't care who you know, you're still going to get a ticket."

10 Signs It's Hot Outside: Catholic Edition

Shamelessly lifted from the creative and funny Alive and Young.

10 Catholic Signs It Is Hot HOt HOT Outside.

1. You understand the meaning of "Psalms 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer"
2. The Nuns are baking the communion wafers/hosts on the dash of their parked car.
3. At the sign of peace, no one touches; instead, everyone waves quickly in attempts to create a breeze in the church.
4. You repeat the line from Matthew 20 "Borne the burden and heat of the day." over and over again as a sign of repentance.
5. You start wondering if it is liturgically appropriate to administer the blood of Christ chilled.
6. Noah's flood isn't sounding too bad right about now.
7. The Newly baptized ask Father for 15 more minutes in the baptismal immersion font.
8. The discalced carmelites actually put shoes on.
9. Gehenna, Shemehenna.
10. For the homily, the Priest takes to the ambo and says, "You think it's hot as hell. It's not." then steps down and continues with Mass.

Talking with Leo Brown on Real Life Radio This Afternoon

It's that time again! The third Thursday of the month when I get a chance to chat with Leo Brown at Real Life Radio. I'll be on at 4:00 p.m. Kentucky time (that's 3:00 Dallas / Central time).

We're going to talk about Now I Walk on Death Row ... and I wonder if Leo likes to read those personal inspirational stories?

Did Jesus Really Mean What He Said? Reviewing "Now I Walk on Death Row"

This book is like a ticking time bomb. It should come with a label: "Warning: asking God to show you the world as he sees it and yourself as he sees you may cause disorientation and soul searching. Read with caution."

Why did I put Now I Walk on Death Row by Dale S. Recinella in my review books pile? Death row ministry and an endorsement by Sister Helen Prejean smack of bleeding hearts and that's not really my cup of tea. Nevertheless, there it was when I looked for something new to read.

I always evaluate every book I receive by reading the first chapter. What had I seen in this one that earned it a place in the stack?

I'll tell you ... in my A Free Mind column at Patheos where I review Now I Walk on Death Row, which I read in under 24 hours. (And not because it was short, y'all!)

Cooks, Gluttons, and Gourmets

Cooks, Gluttons and Gourmets by Betty Wason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a charming history of cooking. I was interested to see from the introduction that the author went to considerable trouble back in 1962 to unearth much of the information in the book ... including finding a Chinese translator to read a 14th century Chinese cooking text. She writes in a personable way that makes you feel as if you have found a new friend.

FINAL
This is a fairly comprehensive overview of the history of cooking from cavemen to Asia to Europe to New Orleans to 1962 ... and much more. A lifetime of reading food writing and history (especially the Time Life Foods of the World series) meant that little of the information was actually new to me. However, Wason tended to focus upon personalities to carry her histories forward and that is whence issued much of the book's charm. Many of the little anecdotes on the way were new and I very much enjoyed reading the history overall because of them.

How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver in 6 Different Situations

I had to do the Heimlich to Tom once long ago when we were eating lunch at work. Talk about a terrifying moment.

I'm printing this one out ... read it at The Art of Manliness.