Weekend Joke: Michael Phelps

Cartoon by xkcd

Review: The Odd Life of Timothy Green

On the night they receive the news that they will never be able to conceive a baby, Cindy and Jim Green hold a unique mourning ceremony. They write down all their hopes for what their child would have been like and bury them in a box in their garden. They're surprised when a 10-year-old boy named Timothy shows up in their house, covered with dirt, calling them "Mom" and "Dad," and with leaves growing out of his legs.

This gentle fairy tale looks at parent-child relationships the same the way that The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday did, but using the problems today's children have with their parents. Cindy and Jim are eager to do everything right, be perfect parents, and spare Timothy any of the anguish that they recall from their youth. In no time at all, they are hovering over Timothy's every move. "He can have secrets," Cindy tells Jim. "As long as he tells them to us."

Their own issues with family members come to light as they react to Timothy's experiences. Also, since Timothy's leaves make him "special" they are determined that he will not be made fun of which just increases the hovering.

Writer/director Peter Hedges wrote What's Eating Gilbert Grape and About a Boy, both wryly quirky movies that I enjoyed for their ability to provide insight and humor when viewing the world from an unusual angle. This movie is no different, although it has been necessarily Disney-fied.

Timothy's unusual origin and the difference his presence makes is a nicely original concept and a humorous way at looking at the helicopter parent generation. We enjoyed it and so did the audience we were with which had a nice sprinkling of children throughout. They laughed a lot throughout and gave the movie a round of applause at the end. This is just the sort of movie our girls would have liked when they were young and I am definitely going to recommend it to the parents and grandparents I know who are looking for a good summer movie.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green opens August 15.

It's the end of the world. Who do you choose? The Dark Man or Mother Abigail?

Scott and I discuss that classic tale of good versus evil, The Stand by Stephen King, at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Gregg Allman: "After all I’ve been through, I can’t help but feel I’ve been redeemed, over and over."

Mockingbird just finished reading Gregg Allman's memoir and shares some of his story about finding God. Which includes this interesting tidbit.

At one point I was going to convert to Catholicism, but they had so many rules. I have to say that the Catholic Church is very much about who has the nicest suit, the valet parking–too much about the money. I don’t think you have to dress up or show God a bunch of gold for him to forgive you your sins, love you, and guide you. Then I went to an Episcopal church in Daytona, and it just felt right. The Episcopal Church isn’t about gimme, gimme, gimme. The Episcopalians are like enlightened Catholics. They have the faith, but they’re a little more open-minded.

I was thinking, "What Catholic church did this guy visit? " Doubtless there are Catholic churches like that but even ours, which has leanings toward Gregorian chant and kneeling at the altar rail, also sees its fair share of families in shorts, blue collar workers and the dispossessed even at the most formal masses.

Strange Herring (where I came across the story) says it better, as always:

So look, if he found some kind of spiritual peace at an Episcopal church, God bless. But I do wonder what Catholic church he wandered into. Not that I have a dog in this fight. And I’ve known some Catholic parishes — in Manhattan and even in London — where you’d think every Sunday was the wedding of Count Romeo to Lady Juliet. But I’ve also been in Catholic churches where it may as well have been the parish of Our Lady of the Alien Homeless. It’s sorta funny that an Episcopalian church is seen as the “everyman’s” church. If ever there was a status-conscious denomination, good gravy. Once upon a time, the church use to rent pews to families, and the more you gave, the closer you were allowed to be to the action (and the farther from hoi polloi).

I base my knowledge of Episcopalians strictly on my grandmother and the few times I accompanied her to church. So, that may not be strictly accurate, but Strange Herring's take is similar.

Well, wherever he wound up, I'm glad he wound up somewhere.

In which Oleron investigates the unnatural happenings.

The finale of The Beckoning Fair One at Forgotten Classics.

The Prime Directive ...

Savage Chickens does it again. Doug Savage says, "The last time I watched ST:TNG, I was surprised how many episodes were about romance with aliens." Me either but it is undeniable.

This one is for Hannah and all her friends who are watching various Star Trek series for the first time.

Free Jack Vance ebook!

Jack Vance is not only a great sf writer, but a great American writer. He started out writing fairly standard pulp adventure sf (albeit very clever and well-written pulp), but over the years, his eccentric writing style, biting view of human nature, humor, and skill at building strange new worlds became more and more important, although they are still allied closely with pulp adventure and tons of plot in a small space. He never loves his sentences more than the whole. He’s a lot like Cabell, if Cabell had written better women and had had more interest in sf and sense of wonder.

Cabell would never have written a character saying, “I would offer congratulations were it not for this tentacle gripping my leg.”

[...]

Anyway, his friends and relatives have made an ebook of The Chasch (aka City of the Chasch) available for free, till the end of August. What a deal! It is part of the thrilling ‘Tschai’ or ‘Planet of Adventure’ series, in which an interstellar scout investigating an old distress call shipwrecks in the middle of an undeveloped planet full of alien (and alien human) cultures, and has to get to the spaceport. It turns out that all of the planet’s alien species (native and not) have variously enslaved or formed odd relationships with the descendants of humans that landed on the planet, so it’s not easy to get around. The weird societies which have resulted, and how the main character disrupts them by his actions, are pretty much the star of the show. There are four books in the series. ...

Maureen from Aliens in This World sums up why you want to try this book. (She says more about the author and his work so do click through.) Pick up the ebook at Jack Vance's site. You do have to register and log in, but it is simple.

Say It Ain't Solo

This short film trailer is hilarious! I'm  a fan of The Tobolowsky Files podcast, which makes it even funnier to me, but even non-Tobo fans will like this one.

Say It Ain't Solo Official Short Film Trailer - watch more funny videos

Chick-fil-A and a Teachable Catholic Moment About Marriage and Homosexuality

Deacon Ken took yesterday's readings where people were hungry, added Chick-fil-A's incident of last week and gave us a fantastic homily that clarifies two very important points of Catholic teaching.

Please do carefully read the entire thing.

Or you may listen to it (or download it from the link), if you prefer, since he recorded it. (Mass scripture readings are here.)

Homily for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel story, thousands of people flocked to the place where Jesus was because they were hungry.  They had witnessed, or had heard about the event that took place in the part of the gospel that we read last week where Jesus had fed the 5000 men.  We don't know how many women and children there were but he fed a whole lot of people and they had their fill.  That food came from just a couple of fish and some loaves of bread.

Well, when they heard that Jesus had left, they tracked him down, they followed him, they found him and they showed up because they were hungry.  But Jesus pointed out to them rather quickly that they needed to strive for something more than food.

This past Wednesday, thousands of people flocked to Chick-fil-A restaurants all around the country to eat lunch or dinner.  And they were hungry too.  Some of them were just hungry for chicken and they didn't know about the events that were taking place and so they were quite surprised to see the thousands of people who were showing up in the restaurants all over this country.

The rest may have been hungry for food as well but their greater hunger was to make a statement of support for the president of the company who had, in an interview, witnessed to his Christian faith and had openly spoken his support for the traditional definition of marriage as being one between one man and one woman.

Others were there as a statement of support for his right to speak his principals without suffering the persecution that arose from some segments of our society.

Now if you've been following this you know that a firestorm arose around the country as his statements and his position were taken to be by some, rather than pro-marriage, they were taken to be anti-gay.  Boycotts were called for, even a couple of mayors of some large cities had proclaimed that they would do whatever they could to prevent Chick-fil-A from expanding in their cities.  So Wednesday's events were to counter those boycotts as well as to express their support.

So I thought that in the midst of this controversy which is making national news, that today might be the right time, a good time, without all of the emotion and all of the words being slung, to clearly outline two things.  To have a teachable moment.  To really outline two things about this subject as they relate to our Catholic faith. 

There's tons and tons of material out there.  You can read it, research yourself.  And hopefully very soon, this week, maybe even by the end of the day because he was here at an earlier mass, our webmaster will have posted links to the documents that I'm going to quote from today on our website.  And I just wanted to make this clear and concise which is why I'm up here today instead of down there and why I have notes.

First point, our US Bishops have made very clear that the Church's teaching is that marriage is, and must continue to be, defined as the union of one man and one woman.  This definition is not new.  This definition comes not from man, and not from government, it comes from God.  We see it in the beginning, the book of Genesis.  God created man in His image; in the divine image he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them saying to them: be fertile and multiply.  Fill the earth and subdue it.

In a pastoral letter the Unites States Conferences of Catholic Bishops that was issued in 2009 called Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan the Bishops state:

"We Bishops feel compelled to speak against all attempts to redefine marriage so that it would no longer be exclusively be the union of the man and the woman as God established and blessed it in the natural created order."

Further down they reiterate:

The Church has taught through the ages that marriage is an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman.  This union once validly entered and consummated gives rise to a bond that cannot be dissolved by the will of the spouses.  Marriage thus created is a faithful privileged sphere of intimacy between the spouses that lasts until death.

And so this profound, this beautiful document goes on and on to talk about the beauty of a sacramental marriage between a man and a woman. I encourage you to read this pastoral letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.  And our Bishops have been very vocal recently about supporting this definition of marriage and opposing any effort to change the definition of marriage.  So that's point number one.

Point number two. And I want to make this briefly but pointedly, is that this stance by the Church is not a hate filled action or statement against men and women who are gay.  That's what all the controversy was about in the Chic-fil-A event.  It's not an anti-gay action.  There is no place in our faith or in our church for hatred or discrimination.  Period. 

As Catholic Christians, we're called to listen and to embrace the words of the statement from a document entitled Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care for Homosexual Persons. And this was from the then Cardinal Ratzinger, better known now as Pope Benedict XVI. He was, in 1986, when this was published, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.  It says:

"It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action.  Such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastor wherever it occurs."

So hateful actions against someone who is gay has no place in our lives.  Furthermore I think it's important to make this point and I would venture a guess that not many of you have ever heard this.  And I'm summarizing here some statements in Ministering to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Being a homosexual is not a sin.

Being a homosexual is not a sin.  Entering into homosexual acts, that's a sin.

Just as entering into any intimate act of a man and a woman outside of the sacrament of marriage is a sin.

Therefore we, you and I, must help nurture our friendship with those who are gay.  We must nurture our friendship with God so that the virtue of chastity among all of us is both embraced and strengthened.

So please, I encourage you to be open to God's truth.  I encourage you to pray about this.  To embrace the Church's teachings about marriage.  To reject the worldly position that somehow embracing the traditional understanding of marriage, which has been that way since the very beginning, that somehow that's a hateful action against those who are homosexual. 

Knowing that for some this may be a bit challenging, I think we should now look back at the Gospel story for help in understanding how we can accomplish the works of God.

How we can grow closer to the Lord so that there is no place in our hearts for straying from the truth or rejecting the Church's teachings.  So there's no place in our hearts for having hatred or malice.  Remember in the Gospel the people said to Jesus, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"  And His response to them was, "This is the work of God.  That you believe in the one He sent."  There is the bottom line.  To believe in Jesus Christ.

Because you know what?  Just like the people in the Gospel, whether we know it or not, whether we accept it or admit it or not, you and I are hungry for more than just chicken.  We're hungry for the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  In our hearts.  Opening our hearts to God's message, opening our hearts to His Son, knowing the one He sent are so essential to us being the men and women that God calls us to be.

God, as we heard in that first reading, is the one who fed the Israelites in the desert with manna.  That same loving God sent His only son to be for us the Bread of Life.  Not just the food that feeds our worldly hunger, but the food that fills the God shaped vacuum that is within each one of us.  That God shaped vacuum that can only be satisfied and filled by the presence of Jesus Christ. 

He is the food that gives life, eternal life to those who believe.  He is the food that overcomes hatred with love.  He is the food that brings us closer to Him so that we constantly seek His will and not the will of the world.

Random Thought About Our Very Ordinary Planet, Galaxy, Universe

I'm doing invoicing today so have plenty of extra mental capacity to also listen to podcasts. I'm trying out The Science of Everything which seems to be good based on Episode 22: Our Place in the Cosmos. It is "a journey through Earth's location in the universe."

Almost at the very end, the podcaster says that Earth is a fairly ordinary planet, orbiting a fairly ordinary star, in a fairly ordinary location in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is fairly ordinary-sized galaxy, which is in a fairly mundane section of a relatively small and insignificant super-cluster, in a not particularly important section of the universe.

What is special he says is that it is the only planet we know of that has life.

As he was going through his list, I kept thinking, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46)

In the same pattern that we see repeatedly throughout the Bible, God's way of thinking is not ours at all. Jesus came from a backwater, had a public life of 3 years and was crucified.

So our fairly ordinary planet, etcetera, etcetera, is perfectly in line with that logic (which doesn't seem logical at all).

That's all. Return to whatever you were doing.

In my case, matching invoices and envelopes. Oh, and then putting on stamps!

Joss Whedon and Much Ado About Nothing

Including Nathan Fillion .... finally, Shakespeare I can't wait to see! (Yes, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion are what it takes to make that happen. So sue me.)

It's debuting at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Tor.com has photos.

The Beckoning Fair One, part 2

In which Elsie is threatened and Oleron has an encounter. More ghostliness over at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Free Audiobooks: "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" and "A Tale of Two Cities"

Every week SYNC gives away a contemporary book paired thematically somehow with a classic novel. This is directed at YA readers to get them to listen to a book if they won't pick one up to actually read.

What is SYNC?

• SYNC is the audiobook publishers’ and AudioFile Magazine’s commitment to introducing the listening experience to the young adult audience.
• SYNC will give away 2 FREE audiobook downloads each week for 10 weeks this summer.
• The weekly SYNC audiobook pairings will offer a popular Young Adult title and a related Classic.
• SYNC hooks readers by introducing a free download of a Young Adult “first in series” or prolific author.
• SYNC demonstrates that Required Reading can be completed by listening.

YA or not, they've featured some interesting books. I've been tempted. However, until this week none of the books have tempted me enough to make me fight my way through the jungle of the specialized download software needed to get the files ... Overdrive Media Console.

However, I love Simon Preeble who lured me through "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" when I simply couldn't get into the printed page. He narrates "A Tale of Two Cities" which is a book I adore.

Also, I have had "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" on my To Read list since trying a sample on my Kindle.

So both those made it worth picking up the machete and venturing into the jungle. It wasn't easy. It certainly wasn't "organic" and I had to feel my way, but I finally got that darned software to download mp3 files. Those files did pop right into iTunes when I clicked them, so it was all worth it in the end.

These stories will be available for a week so drop by SYNC and check it out!

Happy Birthday, Dear Mom!

If we all were in Glendale today, I'd get Mom this Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake because I know how delicious everything from Porto's Bakery is.

One layer of rich chocolate-fudge cake, one layer of white sponge cake, one layer of raspberry mousse, and one layer of chocolate mousse...

Although, now that I think of it, if we were in the same place I would make her a cake with my own two hands, which would be a pleasure.

However, she is in Florida and I am in Texas. We had a good talk over the phone this morning but that isn't the same as being there in person. (I am quite thankful for the phone and for video Skype, which are both so much better than a letter at "being there.)

I'm making Mom's gift and am still working away on it, so she'll have to take my best wishes for a wonderful day until then.

Love you Mom! Happy Birthday!

Movie Review: Millions

This originally ran at Spero News which now seems to have gone off the interwebs. I am rerunning it here so we've got it on hand ... and because it is one of my favorite movies.

“Millions” is a simple movie about a child’s innocent faith. Yet it has unexpected layers of depth thanks to director Danny Boyle’s insightful, sophisticated approach. The result is a magical movie that appeals to all ages.

“Millions” is about a small boy, Damien, whose mother has recently died and who sees saints regularly, never failing to ask if they have seen his mother, “Saint Maureen,” in Heaven. One day, while in his hideaway near the train tracks, a huge bag stuffed with money falls out of the sky. Damien sees this as a gift from God that should be used to help the poor. Charmingly, when his older brother, Anthony, sees the money and reacts with delight, Damien says, “Oh, so you see it too then?”

How to handle the money becomes the main plot of the movie. Anthony counsels that they must not tell their father because of taxes. He spends generously to become one of the cool kids in his new school while planning real estate deals for financial security. The scene where he and his sunglassed “posse” stride into the school is destined to become a classic. Damien, on the other hand, is determined to find poor people to shower with largesse. He takes people on the street to Pizza Hut for a feast. Three Mormon neighbors find their mailbox stuffed with bills after Damien finds that they have no dishwasher. There is never any sense that Damien is trying to buy his way into Heaven. He merely is doing what God would want as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ultimately their father finds out and the source of the money is revealed but none of this is handled in a predictable fashion. As a side note, I will add that Great Britain does not use the Euro so the currency conversion deadline in the movie, though thoroughly effective, is merely a plot device.

It is clear that scriptwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce, understands the fascination of saints as distinct individuals each with their vices and virtues while director, Danny Boyle, shows it to perfection. The many saints that Damien encounters are thoroughly human without losing their saintliness. Clare of Assisi, smokes a cigarette and describes Heaven by saying, “It’s bloody infinite up there, boy.” What perhaps is lost on the American audience is that “bloody” is a word that earns much more than a PG rating in Great Britain. Saint Peter is a salty fisherman who, as patron saint of locks and keys, can’t resist picking up stray keys and analyzing them before telling the story of how he thought that he fooled Jesus by saying that a miracle had happened.

In the hands of a lesser director, this would be the ultimate, corny family movie but nothing could be farther from the truth. Director Danny Boyle uses film angles, sound, and editing to bring an edginess that is unique to anything I have ever seen in a movie where so much of the story depends on the believable innocence of children. His ability to change styles to suit the mood is showcased without ever intruding on the story itself. A house is constructed before our eyes in whimsical sequences that put me in mind of Tim Burton. The reconstruction of a train robbery suddenly whisks viewers into a bona fide action movie, without ever endangering the PG rating. I was especially fascinated by his use of sound cues such as the supernatural sounding hiss that accompanied the villain whenever he would appear, reminding us that there was a larger element of evil to his character.

“Millions” is so imbued with Christian faith and values that if it were not made by a director of Danny Boyle’s talent and reputation it would be condemned to church youth group viewings forever. Boyle is known for showing the human condition against darker tales of drugs (“Trainspotting”) or virus-induced zombies (“28 Days Later”). His reputation and the fact that “Millions” is an indie (independent movie) are carrying this message into unexpected areas. Locally, a popular radio station’s director praised “Millions” as “must see” on their most popular morning show. Based on that recommendation, two different couples of my acquaintance, who normally would never stoop to seeing a “family movie,” can’t wait to see it. A younger, single, male co-worker told me, “You’ve got to see this movie,” while marveling at Boyle’s versatility. If I had described this movie without the “indie, Danny Boyle” connection this person would have smiled politely and put it out of his mind as he has done with other art house favorites of ours.

Zombies and Aggies With a Common Cause

The common cause?

Stepping up to counter Westboro Baptist Church's protests.

A Westboro Baptist Church protest was overshadowed Friday when demonstrators dressed as zombies gathered at a DuPont, Wash. military base to counter the radical group's efforts.

After members of the controversial Kansas-based church announced plans to picket Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a military base south of Seattle, 27-year-old Melissa Neace decided to organize a counter-protest, launching a Facebook group titled "Zombie'ing Westboro Baptist Church AWAY from Fort Lewis!"

This is an increasingly popular tactic and one that I love for two reasons. People are showing up personally to take a stand and they are using peaceful methods.

At a similar protest at Texas A&M University, students dressed in maroon formed a circle around a funeral and seemingly discouraged Westboro protesters from ever showing up.

Read all about it here and see videos of both. Via Frank Weathers.

Joe's Back and This Time ... It's Biblical: Reviewing The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

... He paused. "Tell me again what Scofield said to you. About the river of blood."

I closed my eyes and found the words. "'They said that if the rivers didn't run red with blood, then the blood of my family would run like a river.'"

"Yes. That troubles me."

"All of it troubles me. The phrasing doesn't match the rest of what he said. He was clearly quoting, or attempting to quote, something that was said to him. It has a distinctly biblical structure to it. Rivers running red with blood. You're going to need a different kind of specialist to sort that out. Not my kind of job ... I'm a shooter."

When a huge London hospital is rocked by bomb blasts, thousands are dead or injured. Joe Ledger arrives to investigate and within hours is attacked by assasins and then sent into a viral hot zone during an Ebola outbreak.

Joe has tangled with zombies and he's battled with dragons. Now he's up against the seven plagues of Egypt, the best that bio-engineering can provide. What would the seven plagues be without a secret society concocting them for our doom? Not much, of course, and The Seven Kings have a worldwide conspiracy that will test Joe to his utmost.

I especially enjoyed the fact that, unlike the previous two books, readers do not know what the terrorists are planning. Each new attack is experienced along with Joe Ledger as unthinkable plagues descend first upon one place and then another.

That said, the book is still fairly straight-forward about most of the "mysteries" Joe encounters. A young researcher's family connections seem obvious, as does the source of the final attack that Joe and his team must stop to save the world.  Misdirection may be the hallmark of the Seven Kings but it isn't something that Maberry seems to worry about too much. If it works, then it works. If not, well there is still a ripping good thriller to read.

Interestingly, Maberry includes a henchman with more of a conscience than one expects in a conspiracy of unfathomable evil. This follows the trend of The Dragon Factory where Paris, though capable of committing abominable individual acts, draws the line at mass destruction or EVIL as Maberry would call it. Does this mean there is lesser evil and greater EVIL? Or is it rather like saying that Hitler loved dogs so he had a good side to his personality? I'm not sure just what Maberry is getting at, but it is a very interesting development in his villains.

Villains aside, there is not a lot of character development because it simply isn't that sort of book, although we do get a bit more light shed on the mysterious Mr. Church. I also enjoyed the addition of Joe's dog, Ghost, who seems to have almost supernatural abilities of his own as the most perfectly trained attack dog ever. (But, let's be fair. What other sort of attack dog could keep up with Joe?)

On the negative side, an audio book is not the ideal way to experience some of the torture used on the people forced to help The Seven Kings. It is what one expects from this sort of thriller, but one description was enough and we were treated to several. Also, the description of the Biblical plagues and the contest between Moses and the court magicians was one of the worst I've ever heard. It wouldn't have taken much to remove the idea of "God teaching Moses magic" and tell the original story. It certainly would have taken nothing away from the book. However, this is quibbling and not something that is going to dampen most people's enjoyment.

Ray Porter continues to do a pitch perfect job narratin the Joe Ledger books. His narration is a key part of the "Joe Ledger experience" for me and, as I've noted in other reviews, is the reason I prefer the narration to reading the book myself.

Fast paced and tightly written, The King of Plagues just might be the perfect summer superhero book. If you like your superhero as a hard-bitten shooter, with a white dog named Ghost, who likes nothing better than slaying monsters, that is.

This review was published originally at SFFaudio.

The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions

Oliver Onions (yes, his real name) writes a ghost story that creeps up on us just when we're getting comfortable. Part 1 of The Beckoning Fair One is ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast.

The Quiet Man: "If there is such a thing as a chick flick for guys, this would be it."

Scott and I discuss a classic movie that goes against type for John Wayne and director John Ford ... The Quiet Man at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

A Garden of Visible Prayer by Margaret Rose Realy

A beginner must think of herself as one setting out to make a garden in which her Beloved Lord is to take his delight ... (St. Teresa of Avila)

This book is a step-by-step approach to help guide you in creating a meaningful sacred space — a place you can step into, close at hand, matched to what brings you personally to inner quietness. ...

This book does not consider the need to landscape your whole yard, but only a very small portion of it so as to be able to attend to the landscape of your soul.

I am not a gardener. At the very most, I have a front porch full of plants in containers which I maintain in a haphazard fashion. Meaning, I'll suddenly look at them and think, "It's 106 today and I haven't watered them for ... hmmm ... well, for a while. Better do that today."

I know. Poor things. Surprisingly, they still seem to flourish, especially my beloved African Iris.

I like the idea of a garden though. I like being outside, hearing water trickle, seeing tall grasses bend under the wind, watching a juvenile grackle beg his mom for food, smelling that elusive honeysuckle every June when I exit my office building, and running my hand over a lavender plant.

Therefore, when I saw Margaret Rose Realy's book about creating a prayer garden, I perked up my ears.

Realy does a fantastic job of taking readers through each step for creating the space you desire most. Even complete novices to gardening or spiritual spaces can follow the process and wind up with a space designed specifically to their needs. Aside from the ordinary garden plan items like soil density, light, and so forth, Realy brought up unexpected items such as whether the point of the garden is for meditation, healing, prayer, or memorial. Scents, colors, textures, and sounds are just a few of the details that I was surprised I had such definite likes and dislikes about, when going through the worksheet process.

Sounds take on a unique quality when we are being contemplative: the sounds of nature, the sounds of water, the sounds of a city, the sounds of our family. We may desire to be receptive to some sounds in our prayer space. Other sounds we may want to minimize.
Sounds can be organic or created. Simply put, the sounds of nature such as birds, wind and crickets are organic. Water is also considered organic and can be manipulated to vary its intensity and type of sound. We can create sounds in our garden with wind chimes or have intrusive created sounds from cars and kids.

[...]

Sounds from water vary in type and intensity. With moving water, the faster the flow over rocks or the higher the fall from the edge of a fountain, the more noticeable the sound will be. If your spiritual elements include a fountain, the flow and fall of water is what you will hear. A pool or pond of still water may have just the soft sound of a bird bathing or a frog plopping into it.

I actually already have three spots I turn to when I want to become immersed in nature and prayer but Realy's book has me examining them differently, with an eye to what can easily be added or taken away so that the spaces are even more welcoming than before. And there is a narrow gap of grass between our garage and the neighbor's fence that I'm considering in a whole new way. That may wind up being the space I take and make my own where I'd never have considered doing anything at all.

The book also mentions a lot of other books that Realy herself uses as resources. My To-Read list has grown and I'm grateful because these are books I'd probably never have discovered otherwise.

Highly recommended.

My one comment otherwise a note to the publisher: the type is gigantic. Sort of a "large type to beat all large type" layout. The layout is fine otherwise and even when using black and white photography it is evocative of the effect the author wishes to show. But the type is so big it is offputting. (Yes, type size is a bugaboo of mine but this has boggled the mind of several others I have shown it to. I think the publisher is just branching out to the book business from what I could discover on the internet so that may be the reason.