Worth a Thousand Words: Mother and Child

Pablo Picasso, Mother and Child, 1905
sketch-and-study, via Wikipaintings

Notes on Mark: Transfiguration as Suspension of Miracle

MARK 9:2-8

The transfiguration is a mystery pure and simple. I would have been just as dumbfounded as the disciples who were there to witness it. 

I am not sure where I picked up this particular note (perhaps our parish Bible study?), however, it is fascinating to see that St. Thomas Aquinas said the transfiguration was actually the cessation or suspension of a miracle. This is because Christ pulled aside the veil of flesh to allow His natural glory to be seen.

Mind-blowing, am I right?

Let's just wrap our minds around that for a bit and then I'll have some other people's take on the transfiguration for further mind-bending.

These Books Just In: Angels, Bones, Marriage, Buckets, and Modern Martyrs

It's book publishing time and often when I check my mailbox I get that wonderful feeling of receiving an unexpected gift. I haven't read these books ... yet ... for the most part, but I will be.

However, I wanted to give a heads up on these because I don't want you to wait on me.

Entertaining Angels by Mike Aquilina
Catholic Scripture Study

Every Sunday Roman Catholics (like many other Christians) stand to profess our faith in God who created "all things visible and invisible." and we confess our sins the presence of "all the angels and saints." Discover that angels are spiritual, personal, and immortal creatures, with intelligence and free will, who glorify God without ceasing and who serve God as messengers of His saving plan!

We all know that I'm a fan of Mike Aquilina's books and anyone who, like me, read his book Angels of God knows that he's wonderful at explaining the ethereal in ways we can relate to. This is a 10-lesson scripture study that covers angelic information from creation to salvation history to spiritual combat and beyond. I've been a fan of the Catholic Scripture Study program since they used to be featured free on Catholic Exchange (yes, waaay back in the day). Aquilina and CSS make a good combo.

These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body by Emily Stimpson

It was Blessed John Paul II's greatest gift to the Church: The theology of the body. A window into who we are, the theology of the body is a theology for the rooms where we make love. But it's also a theology for the rooms where we work, where we eat, where we laugh, and where we pray. These Beautiful Bones takes you on a walk through those rooms. With both humor and practical wisdom, it sheds light on what the theology of the body has to say about life beyond the bedroom, about the everyday moments of life, helping you discover how to let grace enter into those moments and make of them something extraordinary.

For everyone who thought that the Theology of the Body is only about sex ... which it is ... and it isn't. Full disclosure: I did the graphic layout on the cover and text for this book. I read just enough of it here and there in the course of my work to know that this was a book I wanted to read. Relatable and thought provoking ... at least the parts I read as I went.

Just Married: The Catholic Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the First Five Years of Marriage by Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak

Nationally syndicated radio hosts and international family life speakers Greg and Lisa Popcak combine decades of counseling, the latest findings in marriage research, twenty-three years of marriage, and the wisdom of Catholic teaching to offer newlyweds a master plan for creating a strong bond in the first five years of marriage.

I know, I know ... blah, blah blah ... self-help ... and so forth. This one I've actually read, albeit super fast. So let me give you the short version: this is now the book I'm going to give newlyweds. I wish we'd had it when we got married. I wasn't religious at all then and my husband was not a practicing Catholic. Nevertheless, I stand by that. It would have helped us tremendously. And it's good for those married longer than that too.

God's Bucket List: Heaven's Surefire Way to Happiness in This Life and Beyond by Teresa Tomeo

Scripture tells us only God knows the desires of our hearts. It was, after all, God who placed them there because they are designed to lead us to His will for our lives. Why, then, is it so challenging at times to figure out if we are on the right track when it comes to what we believe we want or need? God's Bucket List will examine what God wants for each of us: mercy, fruitfulness, fellowship, and peace, just to name a few, and will explain what the Christian faith teaches about these gifts and how we can begin to achieve and cross out, one by one, the items on that heavenly list.

Not being into bucket lists, this didn't sound like the sort of book I wanted to spend time on. However, when I read an excerpt Tomeo was talking about exactly the sorts of things I agree with and struggle to accomplish, like being able to just sit in the back yard and enjoy the day ... without having to be doing anything. And, it was something I needed to hear right then, which is kind of the point of this book. So ... I'm interested.

The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution by John L. Allen Jr.

This book is about the most dramatic religion story of the early twenty-first century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening: the global war on Christians. We're not talking about a metaphorical "war on religion" in Europe and the United States, fought on symbolic terrain such as whether it's okay to erect a nativity scene on the courthouse steps, but a rising tide of legal oppression, social harassment, and direct physical violence, with Christians as its leading victims. However counterintuitive it may seem in light of popular stereotypes of Christianity as a powerful and some­ times oppressive social force, Christians today indisputably are the most persecuted religious body on the planet, and too often their new martyrs suffer in silence. ...

This is a truly ecumenical scourge, in the sense that it afflicts evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodox, Catholics, and Pentecostals alike. All denominations have their martyrs, and all are more or less equally at risk. A 2011 report from the Catholic humanitarian group Aid to the Church in Need described the worldwide assault on Christians as “a human rights disaster of epic proportions.”

This book looks to shatter that silence.

Gulp.

The mere introduction dealt with horrifying images of what Christians are subjected to, right now, specifically because of their faith. I cringed away from the idea of reading an entire book about this, but felt that if I didn't at least try then I was failing them somehow, was denying that they were actually in the dire straits they suffer. So I accepted the review copy. I trust Allen and I think looking away is not an option for me right now.

Weekend Joke: Knitting

From the brilliant and hilarious Doug Savage.

Julie's Take - Christianity in Three Books [UPDATED]

These things used to be called memes ... but whatever they're called, I find them difficult to resist.  Basically Rod Dreher has asked his readers, and the internet at large, what three books they would recommend to provide a basic familiarity with Christian theological ideas to someone with little background on the topic. Read all the guidelines here, which is where Jen Fitz found it.

This came to my attention when I saw Jen's answers (and was insanely flattered, by the way, thank you Jen!).

Ahem. Anyway, here is my list. Pick it up, pass it on ... and so forth.

1.  The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.

Same as Jen's #1 but that's because this is such a great book. I recently reread it and made it a goal to reread it annually. It is a great story and, not coincidentally, is Christianity in a nutshell.

Sheltered spinster, Corrie Ten Boom is 50 years old when the Nazis invade Holland. She and her family shelter Jews targeted by the Nazis and when they are caught, they are sent to prison and eventually concentration camps. This sounds gloomy and like a familiar story. It is not. Every Christian should read this book. If you get the audio, it is even better. Simply fantastic.

2. The Captain from Castile by Samuel Shellabarger 

The classic story of a young Spanish nobleman, Pedro de Vargas, who goes with Cortes to conquer Mexico. Rereading it, Washington Post critic and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jonathan Yardley says in his introduction he "was astonished at how well it has survived. . . . It is accurate, meticulously researched history, and it is a sympathetic, nuanced account of a young man's moral education..." Precisely. Such is also the same of Shellabarger's other books. A prime example of how an excellent piece of fiction can communicate "Truth." Also a favorite, more than this book to be truthful, is Prince of Foxes by this author.

3. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

One of the finest authors of our time, largely forgotten, but who always wrote from a deep background of faith. This is the story of Philipa who at the height of a brilliant career and in her 40s decides to enter a cloistered convent. Yes, this is the story of nuns, but the Christianity they practice should be recognizable to Christians of any sort. Not only is it a fascinating tale of what it is like to live in a convent, but it contains a riveting mystery too.

UPDATE
I didn't notice we weren't allowed to have books about a "flavor" of a particular religion, which knocks out my original third choice, which I leave below for your edification. That's ok, it made room for a book I originally was going to include but had dropped in favor of something more obviously theological. Woohoo!

3. Catholic Christianity by Peter Kreeft

Puts the muscle on the "skeleton" of the Catechism, so to speak. This is the book that I read after converting and which brought my understanding fully into line with the teachings of the Church. Eminently logical.

Notes on Mark: The Cost of Discipleship

MARK 8:34-35

This is the famous "take up your cross and follow me" instruction which is followed immediately by "whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it."

How often do I really ponder these words and think about what they meant when Christ said them versus how I translate them into my own everyday life? Not often enough, I fear. Christ never lied to anyone about the cost of discipleship, as Mary Healy points out here.

Jesus does not call his disciples to read this path alone, but following him. Discipleship is a continuous contact with the Master who leads the way at every step.

With the phrase for my sake, the absoluteness of Jesus' claim appears for the first time. Jesus is asking more than any general ever asked of his soldiers or any religious leader ever asked of his adherents. He is not merely demanding a willingness to die for a great cause; he is calling for an unconditional personal allegiance to himself. Whoever loses his life is to do so for the sake of Jesus and his good news. No greater motive is necessary or possible. But this is the very thing that Jesus will do for us: he will give his life (psyche) as a ransom for many (10:45).

The Gospel of Mark: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

The Spirit of Food: Thirty-Four Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God

The Spirit of Food: Thirty-Four Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God edited by Leslie Leyland Fields

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even as I ask these questions, I know something is missing. Something our grandmothers and mothers knew at their church potlucks, as they carried to the communal tables Velveeta broccoli casseroles and Jell-O salads greener than any fruit dared to grow. In our zeal for purity and right living, we may have forgotten something other generations and cultures knew. That food is more than politics; food is more than economics; food is more than culture, entertainment, nutrition, even justice. As important as each of these is, none of them singly identifies or describes all that food is and does and is meant to be.

Food is nothing less than sacrament. All food is given by God and is given as a means to sustain not just our bodies, but also our minds and our spirits. In all of its aspects--growth, harvest, preparation, and presentation--food is given as a primary means of drawing us into right relationship toward God, toward his creation and his people. Even its intentional absence, through fasting, pulls us toward a deeper dependence on God and one another.

As I turn to the Scriptures now, I am amazed at the centrality of food in its pages ...

From the introduction

As can often be the case with anthologies, even those for whom the essays are specifically written, one gets a mixed bag. Some of these 34 essays relating food to spiritual search were very moving and hit the mark for me. In particular, the introduction by the editor, the pig farmer's meditations, and the bread baker all had points that moved me and have come back to me frequently in daily life.

Several of the pieces take Father Capon's seminal The Supper of the Lamb as a jumping off point. There is a key chapter of Capon's book included and you can see why it is probably his most reprinted excerpt. Indeed, if you haven't read his book, then save this one for later and read that first. Capon pulls off conveying how the world around us, beginning in our own kitchens, reflects God ... all the while also giving us a functional cookbook. In fact, it is on my Desert Island book list and I probably should read it once a year.

If I could give half stars, this would probably be a 3-1/2 but I am going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Some of the essays struck me as covering very familiar food-writing ground in using their pieces as platforms for complaining, condescending, or posturing. However, these may very well strike others in a different way, especially since few of us are ever in the exact same place in our spiritual journeys, not to mention our levels of exposure to food writing.

Each of the essays has a recipe at the end but, of course, finding new recipes is actually not the point, even if I did find a few I'm going to try out. It is to feed both body and soul that this collection exists and it does a good job.

The Dallas versus Denver game: It's how football was meant to be played

That game was like the Cowboys I remember from times of old, willing to take risks and make the big plays. When you've been refusing to give up and fighting until the end, there's no shame in losing. As Steve Martin said, a game like that was why football was invented. Well done, Cowboys!

Thumbs Up for The Great Movies by Roger Ebert

The Great Movies by Roger Ebert

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I miss Roger Ebert. Even when I disagreed with his online personal journal entries, which happened fairly frequently, I still loved reading him.

Most importantly, of course, I miss reading his movie reviews every Friday. They were the anchor against which I measured all other critical opinions of a film. Again, I might disagree with him because his range and experience and desires when watching a film were often different from mine. Again, it didn't matter. I loved his way with words, the way he made you understand that his point of view was very valid even if you did disagree, and the way he was unafraid to champion movies others despised. He began this with early support of 2001: A Space Odyssey and later won my heart with his embrace of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. This is something few movie critics achieve.

The Great Movies collects a series of Ebert's of critical appreciations of movies which deserved a deeper look than a simple review. It ranges across time and genres to choose the best of the best, movies which make you want to grab your friends and force them to watch.

This is one of those books not to read from beginning to end but to flip open and see what catches your eye. Or to pick and choose from the table of contents, either the films you love or the films you never heard of. No matter your method, you will come away both missing Roger Ebert and grateful that his "voice" is still with us in print.

This book makes me appreciate the movies I love even more, makes me realize some movies that I never want to watch, and ... yet ... also makes me appreciate that both sorts can be connected in a way that makes my own viewing richer. This just happened in reading Ebert's comparison between the noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard (much loved by me) and the Japanese existentialist film The Woman in the Dune (in which simply reading the description was enough, thank you very much).

There are some reviews which I won't read now because those movies, such as Jean Renoir's The Grand Illusion, are on my list to watch. Ebert can't fully discuss these as "great movies" without giving spoilers, so I will deny myself the pleasure of knowing his reasons for recommendation. It is enough to know that I can come back to his discussion when I am ready.

Above all it makes me want to watch some of these great movies again ... or for the first time. Surely that was Ebert's goal and he hits the target with sureness and grace. If you love movies, if you love intelligent and insightful writing, and, above all, if you miss Roger Ebert, then you owe it to yourself to read this collection.

Worth a Thousand Words: Fight

Fight

A stunning moment captured by my favorite nature photographer, Remo Savisaar. Go to his blog to see this photograph in more detail as well as peruse the other wonderful images there.

Well Said: Love Drama or Power Drama

We tend to think of Shakespeare's plays as being tragedies or comedies but this opens things up a bit.

If the distinction is not held too rigidly nor pressed too far, it is interesting to think of Shakespeare's chief works as either love dramas or power dramas, or a combination of the two. In his Histories, the poet handles the power problem primarily, the love interest being decidedly incidental. In the Comedies, it is the other way around, overwhelmingly in the lighter ones, distinctly in the graver ones, except in Troilus and Cressida--hardly comedy at all--where without full integration something like a balance is maintained. In the Tragedies both interests are important, but Othello is decidedly a love drama and Macbeth as clearly a power drama, while in Hamlet and King Lear the two interests often alternate rather than blend.”

Harold Clarke Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, Volume 2

I never thought of it this way but Goddard is right. This is a very interesting way to look at the Bard's work. I just can't praise Goddard's books highly enough, by the way, for anyone who is interested in digging deeper into Shakespeare.Insightful, illuminating, and stimulating literary criticism which always respects Shakespeare's text.

Fast, Furious, and Stupid: World War Z (the movie)

If I were to give this movie a subtitle it would be "Fast, Furious, and Stupid."

It is already generally accepted that the only things the excellent and intelligently written book and this movie have in common are the title. I'm actually ok with that. I just hope that author Max Brooks is making a ton of cash off of this movie.

If watched solely as a big summer Hollywood thriller, WWZ works overall. It is a roller coaster of jumps and adrenaline thrill rides, strung together by the thinnest of logic. Don't turn your brain on and you'll have a wonderful ride.

And, I must admit, viewing it at home, where we could laugh at the dumb stuff, probably compensated for not seeing the visually impressive scenes on the big screen where they must have been truly spectacular.

The biggest problem with the film was that we only had one character to care about: Garry (Brad Pitt). He seemed in peril numerous times, but let's face it, we never too worried because he is the star of the movie. If anyone is going to make it to the end, it is the star and executive producer.

Some people live, many people die, but we weren't emotionally invested in any of them. Garry's wife and children, the fellow soldiers, the other experts ... none of them had enough character development or even camera time to allow us to see inside and care. I think of other thrill-ride movies with solo heroes: Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October (though I suppose we could argue for a dual hero motif in that one), Clear and Present Danger, and Aliens all come immediately to mind. Each of these had likable supporting characters whose deaths would have caused me emotional turmoil, not to mention how the movies' heroes would have felt. We got none of that from World War Z and that's the biggest crime a movie can commit ... robbing you of suspense and just taking you along for the ride.

What I liked:

• The way Gerry was so interested, fascinated, and curious that he would continue observing behavior even when he was on the run. That was well shown and, of course, came in handy when he had a chance to slow down and put clues together.
• The big action sequences. Those zombies spilling over the huge wall around Jerusalem made an arresting visual for the trailers and they were even more effective as one could see them spilling through the city which went in 10 seconds from zombie impact from being a safe zone to being a plague ridden place of terror.
• Some of the little effects ... especially the zombies teeth snapping reflexively if they were kept from biting someone. When Gerry is on one side of a glass door and a zombie is on the other, there was something about that those teeth snapping that was kind of ... perfect.
• Israeli soldiers ... tougher than nails and this movie takes full advantage of that fact.

What I didn't like ... and these are a token few items of the stupid "logic" being used throughout this thing (SPOILERS ... though I don't think these ruin anything and I tried to keep them vague):

• The Captain Kirk investigation technique. So you have the world's one hope in a young brainiac who can analyze the date to find a cure for this zombie plague. What do you do? Send him to South Korea where you've lost contact with your military base and have no idea what's going on. And only send Brad Pitt and about five other guys to protect him. (What can I say. The U.N. is running this operation.)
• The insistence on finding Patient Zero. Look, these aren't vampires. You don't have to find the Master Vampire and kill him so that all the others die (granted that is a Simpsons' Halloween episode, but still ... that's the sort of logic they're using). Do what anyone does fighting a disease. Catch a few zombies (just stick your arm out the door, that'll work) and start studying them. Sheez. (What can I say. The U.N. is running this operation.)
• The logic behind the "cure." Both the "scientific precedent" cited and the cure were just about the most ridiculous things we ever heard. I know, I know, the U.N. is running this operation but even I can't blame them for this shoddy storytelling.

I also have two questions:

• Can these zombies run faster than they did in real life? That's a heckuva virus. They're dead and decomposing but they can do a 10 second mile apparently.
• Brad Pitt ... what will it take to make him cut his hair? Did his wife cut it with dull scissors? Please, man, give us a break already.

All that makes it sound as if I hated this movie and I did not. I enjoyed it a lot and gave it three out of five stars at Letterboxd. As I say, it works really well at home with popcorn to throw at the screen (which we had, thanks to my forethought), and like-minded pals to make smart aleck cracks ... or appreciative comments (we liked the use of the soda machine).

Worth a Thousand Words: How to Cook a Hare

How to Cook a Hare
taken by EatingAsia's David Hagerman

Yes, this should probably be called How to Eat a Hare, but I went with the post title. If you haven't ever perused EatingAsia, you'll find a fascinating look at culture, food, and travel in places like Turkey, Georgia (the country), Taipei and many other places I'll probably never get to visit. Plus gorgeous photography, of course.

Well Said: Loving the Blessed Virgin

From my quote journal.

Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.

Maximilian Kolbe

You know, I never thought of it like that. Though my own inclination tends to be to forget all about the Blessed Virgin altogether. Not in the importance of the big picture, of course, but just in my every day life. Which is probably a bit less than Jesus would like ... I mean, she is the first of all disciples and definitely worthy of me keeping her example and help in mind.

My Inadvertent Participation in Banned Books Week

Not that I wouldn't gladly plan to defiantly read a banned book. "Take that, small-minded censors! Ha!" (And I'd flourish the book and toss my head and so forth.)

It's just that I didn't realize it was Banned Books Week until Dappled Things mentioned it. (They also hadn't realized it.)

Imagine my gratification at discovering I already was reading a Banned Book.

And then my consternation at discovering I was reading a Banned Book.

Someone banned or challenged The Lord of the Rings?

Oh, J.R.R. Tolkien, what have you wrought in The Lord of the Rings, to be thus summarily dismissed (or at least to have such a dismissal attempted)? Is it the elves? Is it the magic? Is it the hobbits? Is it the triumph of good over evil ... the use of seemingly unimportant people to do tremendous works of salvation? I'm stumped.

Though on a completely different tack than banned books, it's the first time I've read the whole thing this deliberately and slowly. Just taking in all the scenery on the way instead of dashing to the finish line of the great adventure. I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

A Lift for My Day: Forgotten Classics in the "What's Hot" iTunes podcasts

Granted, it is featured in the Literature category, a sub-set of the Arts category in podcasts.

Still, it was a decidedly wonderful surprise when I was skimming podcasts to see if some new interesting podcast has begun ... and I saw Forgotten Classics featured. Right in the same special spot as Scott Sigler, Grammar Girl, CraftLit, and The Classic Tales Podcast!

It's funny how little it takes sometimes to put a bright new gloss on the day. Right? A nice little treat along with the fun I've been having looking for a 1930's style science fiction / adventure type story which one of my regular listeners requested, "Something like The Green Girl."

It does keep it all fun, and that is the point after all ... along with doing all I can to tempt people to try some of these forgotten classics which I love.

Well Said: Jesus complicates our life ...

From the Sunday, year B, reflection. Yeah, I know it's year C. Who sez it isn't a good idea to mark up your books? Sometimes you pull out the next devotional volume, flip to the front, and have your eye caught by that bracket in the margin, which yields this gem ... one I need to write on an index card and take everywhere with me.

Jesus Christ complicates our life in a way no other person can. He asks us to follow him through a complete identification of our will with his own.

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation With God, vol. 5

It's All Downhill From Here: Church of Trek

From Futurama, via Wikipedia

A little humor to get us through the rest of the week.

This is particularly appropriate considering my conversation about Galaxy Quest with Scott at A Good Story is Hard to Find, where Star Trek as religion was a topic. Indeed, Scott's the one who popped this into a Twitter feed.

Worth a Thousand Words: Alcock Nelson Jug

By VAwebteam at en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 , from Wikimedia Commons

Look at the intricacy of this jug. Simply amazing and just in case you, like me, didn't realize just how much is conveyed visually, here is a brief description.

Subjects Depicted - The jug bears copies of the reliefs sculpted on the base of Nelson's Column, in Trafalgar Square, which was only about 10 years old in 1852. Admiral Horatio, Viscount Nelson (1758-1805) defeated the French at the Battle of Trafalgar where he died in 1805. The Neptune figure on the handle and other marine motifs emphasise Nelson's maritime prowess.

People - Alfred Henry Forrester (1804-1872) (under the pseudonym of Alfred Crowquill) with his brother Charles Robert (under the pseudonym of Hal Willis) contributed pen-and-ink sketches to periodicals, and exhibited works at the Royal Academy. He wrote and illustrated over 20 humorous works including the Tour of Dr Syntax (1838) and also illustrated his brother's works. He designed 19 objects for Alcock's stand at the Great Exhibition, including a Plate of All Nations, fairy and nautilus cups, a snail ring holder, a butterfly pen holder, and a lily cup and saucer.

Worth a Thousand Words: Leere Flasche 2

Leere Flasche 2
by the brilliant Edward B. Gordon