No Forwarding Address

The latest offering in our tall tales told in taverns series at Forgotten Classics podcast. Come hear it!

Notes on Mark: Foreshadowing the Resurrection

MARK 9:14-29
Do I see this foreshadowing when I'm reading the Gospels? No. Good thing there is this sort of commentary to point it out to me.

Mark's account also included an echo of the resurrection. The boy, after Jesus delivered him, appeared "like a corpse" (Mark 9:26). Jesus "took him by the hand and lifted him up" (Mark 9:27). In the original Greek language, Mark's terminology foreshadowed Jesus' resurrection and hinted at another aspect of discipleship: Christians may sometimes feel powerless and lifeless, but beginning even now, Jesus delivers us and raises us to new life.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

Worth a Thousand Words: Greylag Goose

Greylag Goose
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

It almost looks like a motion study, doesn't it? Or an anatomy lesson? All conveyed in the simple beauty of these birds flying. Simply fantastic.

For the New Liturgical Year: Reading God's Word - Year A

The new liturgical year is coming up. When I realized that, I made a purchase for my Kindle that has become routine in the last couple of years ... Reading God's Word: Daily Mass Readings. In this case it will be for Year A.

It's inexpensive - $10.

It's incredibly useful. I wouldn't have believed how much I'd refer to it, whether simply in my own daily reading or for various other projects.

It's one of the books that "lives" on my Kindle. And I don't have a lot of those, usually preferring a book in the hand to one in the Kindle. (ha! yes, feel free to use that if you want). The formatting is well done and it's easy to navigate.

It's offered in print, Kindle, Nook, and iBookstore formats at the publisher's website. I just pick it up from Amazon myself.

Highly recommended.

The Thorny Grace of It by Brian Doyle

I think about the motley chaotic confusing house that is Catholicism. I think about the mad wondrous prayer of the Mass. I thing about how htere are such stunning and wonderful and confusing people in the clan of Catholic. I think about how we are all several kinds of people at once and hardly know ourselves let alone anybody else. I think about how possible the Church is, and how possible we are. I think about how really the Church is lots and lots of us mulish miracles gathered for little holy meals and story-swaps. I think about how religions are like people, capable of both extraordinary evil and unimaginable grace. I think about how the Church is sort of like the windows above me which catch these timbers of sun and focus them on the human comedy. I think about how I'd be a lot less of a man if I didn't have ways ot wake up to what I can be if I harness mercy and humor and grace and wisdom and attention and prayer and humility and courage and grace.

Which is what all true stories are about. Which is what we are, really, at our best--true stories. And true stories, stories with love and power in them, can save your life and save your soul and bring you, if even for only a flickering instant, face-to-face with the unimaginable creative force that once, a very long time ago, explained itself to Moses as, simply and confusingly, I Am. That force is in you, in every moment, in every story; which you know and I know, and which we hardly ever admit, which we should, so I do, amen.

(the clan of catholic)

Read it once. 

This is the essence and theme and a large portion of the style of The Thorny Grace of It by Brian Doyle.

In face, it is so truly the essence of it that I can't describe it better.

Read it a second time, perhaps aloud.

So I will just say that I liked this book very much. Some of the essays are written in a more standard form.

The third person to bless my rosary was a small girl in sage country. She is six years old. Whatever it is that we call the creative force that made us all and can be seen most unadorned in children beams out of this kid with the force of a thousand suns. She put my rosary on top of her head and held it there with her right hand as she put her left hand on my face and said I hope these beads will always have holy in them for when Mister Brian needs it, which is a very good blessing it seems to me.

(ten blessings)

Some are stream of consciousness.

At least look her in the eye and be gentle. Christ liveth in her, remember? ... Also in the grumpy imam, and in the surly teenager, and in the raving man under the clock at Flinders Street Station, and in the foulmouthed man at the footy, and in the cousin you detest with a deep and abiding detestation and have detested since you were tiny mammals fresh from the wombs of your mothers. When he calls to ask you airily to help him lug that awful vulgar elephantine couch to yet another of his shabby flats, do not roar and use vulgar and vituperative language, even though you have excellent cause to do so and who could blame you? But Christ liveth in him. Speak hard words into your closet and cast them thus into oblivion. Help him with the couch, for the ninth blessed time ...

(how to be good)

Some, like the example we began with way back at the top of this piece, are in-between.

In a way, they were like reading Ray Bradbury who reveled in words, flicked words against each other to talk to us in a new way, drowned in the poetry of them. If Bradbury had written about faith he'd have made me smile, nod, see myself. These hit me that way.

I will say that Doyle is from Portland, Oregon, which tends to imbue its inhabitants with a somewhat different viewpoint than those from my part of the country (Texas by way of the Midwest). The things that divide us are those that he lets roll off his tongue as matter-of-fact. However, those pointers tend to be lightly passed over to get to more important, personal ground. That makes it easy to ignore comments which would usually make me roll my eyes if they were emphasized more. And there are not very many of them. I appreciated that because the overall effect of the essays was to make me think more like the excerpt that started us off on the review.

This book is by a Catholic for imperfect Catholics. Doyle's light hand with divisive elements makes me think wonder if it wouldn't be a good one for Christians of any stripe. These essays make me think of how Pope Francis has so many enthusiastic supporters from outside Catholicism, spreading even into atheist ranks. They draw on the common things we all know about being human from the very good, to the striving, to the times that we fall and must haul ourselves up for another try.

Read it a third time.

Get the book. Keep it by your bed. Pick it up. Read it. Let the words roll over you. And be glad.

NOTE:
The review copy was provided by the Patheos Book Club. Publishers pay for Patheos to feature their books.My review is my own based solely on the book's merits.

The Basics ... in Prayer Together

I am swamped. It is my usual catalog season. And I have to be out of the office some for various other reasons. We're also short a person who is at the hospital with his family right now ... and that is what prompted me to stop and post these prayer requests.

Prayer Request #1
Our coworker's father had a bit of neck pain for a few weeks. When he went to the doctor they found that slow-growing kidney cancer had somehow lodged a tumor in his neck that had actually consumed one of the vertebrae.

Naturally this is devastating to the family and the poor father is undergoing numerous procedures and partial surgeries just to properly evaluate the situation.

The family is gratefully accepting offers of prayer. Please lift them up in your prayers that they will come through this dark time closer to God and with healing for body and soul.

Prayer Request #2
I can't say this better than Deacon Greg (and who can really ever say things better than Deacon Greg?).

Today stand up for someone who can't. 

That would be Thomas Peters.

As you probably know, he’s facing a long road back from the debilitating accident that crippled him this summer.

He’s written about it himself with pathos and poignancy—and a beautiful clarity. 

Now, his friends are rallying to help.

Pray. Donate. Spread the word. Visit this website to learn how.  

But if you do nothing else, please just whisper a prayer of trust and hope.

Sichuan-Style Orange Beef with Sugar Snap Peas

Super duper easy and super duper delicious ... find out more at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Scott wears a top hat, Julie waits in the telegraph room.

They both admire Lincoln, the president and the movie, at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. Come listen!

Worth a Thousand Words: Long-Tailed Tit

Long-Tailed Tit
taken by the brilliant Remo Savisaar

I simply cannot emphasize enough how talented Remo Savisaar is at nature photography. Please click through to see the photo in larger detail and to peruse his other outstanding photos.

A Land Without Sin by Paula Huston

A Land Without Sin by Paula Huston

My rating: 4-1/2 of 5 stars

"Jan," I asked casually, "is this one of the glyphs that has been translated?"

He paused over the tripod, as though considering whether or not this information might ruin me as an accomplice, then said, "It has."

"What does it mean?"

He paused again, this time looking at Rikki, who was clearly dying for me to know, then gave an exasperated sigh. "It has several meanings. It is a very common glyph--you find it almost everywhere, including in some month names, some god names, and in a lot of the iconography. Nothing mysterious."

I waited.

"The most common meaning seems to be k'in, which refers to the sun," he added reluctantly. "Also, time in general. And k'in is the name for day. So you can see this is a very mundane sort of glyph, really."

Which is why, I thought, we just army-crawled thirty yards to get to this chamber. Which is why we are hiking around in the middle of the jungle at night and poor Rikki is probably going to die of pneumonia.

It's 1993 in Central America. Eva is a top war photographer who has taken an unusual assignment, aiding a taciturn Dutch Mayanist in his research in the great pyramids of Tikal. That's because her brother, an idealistic priest, has disappeared and no one seems interested in finding him. Undaunted and feeling qualified to explore rough areas because of her war-time experience, Eva uses this job as cover to search for her brother.

She is unwillingly sucked into her employer's family life as she works with his likable son and meets his wife. This just adds to the list of mysteries she can't solve as their relationships seem too complex for a normal family. Meanwhile, as Eva reads an old stack of her brother's letters, we learn of her own mysterious background, much of which she is only coming to terms with as her journey continues.

A lot of this book is infused with questions and conversation about faith. As Eva encounters revolutionaries and ordinary folk, the information she has picked up from her brother's own spiritual growth suddenly begins to be applicable to a lot of different situations in very interesting ways. All this is done without hitting the reader over the head with a religious hammer, which I appreciated.

I myself really enjoyed this book and finished it several months ago but I have not reviewed it until now because I wasn't sure how to describe it. The fascinating blend of treasure hunt and South American revolution made me read the story quickly, but I never felt worried about Eva's safety. In fact the book left me feeling almost detached from any emotional reaction to the storyline.

Perhaps the best comparison I can come up is to Silence by Shūsaku Endō. That is a book about danger, adventure, faith, and religion which is written in what an English teacher pal of mine described as "classical" ... meaning that they keep you detached from visceral reactions to physical events. I appreciated that very much when reading Silence.

There are some wonderful moments in the book that resonated with my own Catholic journey closer to God. Most of them were contained in Eva's brother's letters. Here's a sample:

It was Fr. Anthony, back in Chicago, who wrote to me that I should read the nouvelle theologians ... for the first time, things began to light up for me. I don't mean intellectually, though that too, but spiritually. If the entire cosmos is an outward and visible sign of God's love, then evil, no matter how destructive, does not win out in the end. It can't.

For the first time, I started to feel genuine joy in being alive. How could you not when everything around you, every rock and tree and human being, is in some way participating in a heavenly reality? Everything thrumming with the echoes of its own original name the name by which God spoke it into existence? The mystery of the world had always frightened me, but now I began to see this mystery as marvelously beautiful, even more beautiful than the loveliness of the created realm. I understood that the mystery of the world was connected to the invisible reality of which it was a sign ...

Huston's book is very much her own creation and I would be interested to see what she does fiction-wise in the future. I want to read A Land Without Sin again sometime now that I have the storyline in mind so that I can take in the spiritual elements enfolded throughout. I highly recommend it for an interesting story with lots of food for thought.

A note on the book itself: I loved the texture of the cover and highly approved of both the silver foil stamping on the cloth cover and the high quality of the paper inside. (Those who know me, know I do not give these accolades lightly.) I think this is a new publisher or imprint and they did a great job on the book itself.

A Must-See For Music Lovers: Muscle Shoals - the Movie

You may not have heard of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I hadn't.

But you probably know the Muscle Shoals sound by heart. I do.

• Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
• When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge
• I Never Loved A Man the Way That I Loved You - Aretha Franklin
• Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett
• Tell Mama - Etta James
• Kodachrome - Paul Simon
• Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Main Street - Bob Seger
• Sitting in Limbo - Jimmy Cliff

As wildly varying as those songs may seem, they all are permeated by one indefinable element, known to musicians as Muscle Shoals sound. This is nothing as easily identifiable as the Motown sound, although "funky" is the commonest descriptor. It joyously infuses this documentary, making you want to sing along or, at the very least, dance in your seat. By the end of this film, you'll know what they mean by it.

On the surface, this is the story of how record producer Rick Hall's tiny recording studio produced some of the biggest songs of our times. Star-studded interviews tell both the recording studio's history and that of the musicians themselves who often were sent to Muscle Shoals to find their true artistic voices. However, this film is much deeper than that, with several strands of story that weave through the music to make this a surprisingly layered, deep tale.

It is the story of a man whose life mirrors the blues, of unlikely studio musicians who helped make stars and earned The Swampers as a name, of shattered stereotypes for both black and white performers, of rejection, and of redemption. It is a mirror of America during some of our most soul-wrenching times. This is always done without ever letting us forget the importance of place, of what it meant to grow up and live in that little country town in Alabama.

Beautifully photographed and touchingly told, Muscle Shoals is one of the richest and most satisfying documentaries I've ever seen. The final revelation was finding that the director had never made a film before and was inspired to begin during a vacation to Muscle Shoals. Truly, this little town just turns out one wonderful surprise after another.

And now I finally understand both the words and the significance of these lines from Sweet Home Alabama.

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?

Muscle Shoals will do the same for you. See the movie.

The movie is available at a few theaters around the country but can be streamed in a lot of ways (iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, etc.). Check their site for more: Muscle Shoals: The Movie.

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Note: there is an official soundtrack for sale but it is a small percentage of the songs that flow through this movie. We're going to figure out the song list and add on to compile our own complete soundtrack.

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Prayers and Help for the Philippines

We are all praying for the survivors of the devastation left by Typhoon Haiyan in the Phllippines.

They also need all the help we can give them in a more tangible way.

There are a lot of relief services out there. I tend to bounce between The Salvation Army and Catholic Relief Services. Two excellent choices, whichever you may favor.

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I needed something light (and also light weight) for bedtime since I'm at Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings and not only is the journey stressful, but the book might crush me if I fell asleep reading it.

I was perusing my shelves and came across this old favorite which was just what I needed. Written with all of Jackson's usual skill, it is a complete opposite to her better known horror works (The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House). This book about life with her family may call to mind something like Please Don't Eat the Daisies or Erma Bombeck, but please believe me when I say it is something out of the ordinary. (You may hear some samples at Forgotten Classics if you are interested.)

Only she can combine a seemingly mundane occurrences in ways that continually make me laugh out loud, though I've read the books many times before. In fact, she can do more with what is unsaid ... or half-said ... than any author I can think of.

By the Saturday before Labor Day a decided atmosphere of cool restraint had taken over our house, because on Thursday my husband had received a letter from an old school friend of his named Sylvia, saying that she and another girl were driving through New England on a vacation and would just adore stopping by for the weekend to renew old friendships. My husband gave me the letter to read, and I held it very carefully by the edges and said that it was positively touching, the way he kept up with his old friends, and did Sylvia always use pale lavender paper with this kind of rosy ink and what was that I smelled - perfume? My husband said Sylvia was a grand girl. I said I was sure of it. My husband said Sylvia had always been one of the nicest people he knew. I said I hadn't a doubt. My husband said that he was positive that I was going to love Sylvia on sight. I opened my mouth to speak but stopped myself in time.

My husband laughed self-consciously. "I remember," he said, and then his voice trailed off and he laughed again.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"Nothing," he said.

Any description I give really doesn't do the book justice so please just give it a try.

Her previous book about her family, Life Among the Savages, is just as good. In fact, the book titles alone give you an idea of the humor contained therein.

Worth a Thousand Words: Great Battle in Heaven

Great Battle in Heaven
by Daniel Mitsui

Check Daniel's website for more wonderful art, all of which is available for purchase, and for more information about this fine piece which I simply love.

Just a bit of the insight he gives:

The composition of this drawing I based on an occidental work of art: the 11th picture in Albrecht Dürer's famous series of 15 woodcuts illustrating the Apocalypse, first published in 1498.

The arrangement of the angels closely matches that in Dürer's print, but the figures have been reinterpreted as Japanese warriors. Their appearance is based on prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, especially a series showing heroes in battle with monstrous animals.

Also, on a personal note, Daniel asks for prayers for the health of his tiny daughter, Alma Hildegard, who was born more than three months prematurely. (Read more here.)

Notes on Mark: Transfiguration and Jesus

MARK 9:2-8
The transfiguration's significance for Jesus has always seemed to be that he was getting the go ahead for his decision. But there also is significance for us in that Jesus still checked with God every step of the way to make sure he was doing God's will. If Jesus was doing that, then how much more should we?

It [the transfiguration] did something very precious for Jesus. Jesus had to take his own decisions. He had taken the decision to go to Jerusalem and that was the decision to face and accept the Cross. Obviously he had to be absolutely sure that was right before he could go on. On the mountain top he received a double approval of his decision.

(a) Moses and Elijah met with him. Now Moses was the supreme law-giver of Israel. To him the nation owed the laws of God. Elijah was the first and greatest of the prophets. Always men looked back to him as the prophet who brought to men the very voice of God. When these two great figures met with Jesus it meant that the greatest of the law-givers and the greatest of the prophets said to him, "Go on!" ...

(b) God spoke with Jesus. As always, Jesus did not consult his own wishes. He went to God and said, "What wilt thou have me to do?" He put all his plans and intentions before God. And God said to him, "You are acting as my own beloved Son should act and must act. Go on!"

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

Mr. McFadden's Hallowe'en by Rumer Godden

Mr. Mc Fadden's Hallowe'en by Rumer Godden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Mr. McFadden, would you give us each a turnip?"

"What on airth would ye be da'en wi' a neep?"

"I think you know," said Selina. "You know it's Hallowe'en."

"Hallowe'en," echoed Tim. His eyes were bright as he thought of it.

"Never heard of it," said Mr. McFadden.

"You have," Selina was unperturbed. "There's no one in Scotland who hasn't and you know what we do with the turnips." Tim could not be expected to know. "Because he hasn't been here," said Selina. "We hollow them out," she told Tim. "Hollow and scoop them out--that's hard work; then we cut holes for eyes and a mouth, little ones for nostrils if we can. Some people give them paper teeth and red rag tongue. On Hallowe'en night we put a lit candle in them or a night light and carry them as a lantern or put them on gateposts. They look horrible," said Selina with a shudder of pleasure, and she told Mr. McFadden. "I'm sure you did that when you were a boy."

"Certainly not. Neeps were for eating not nonsense."

"It isn't nonsense; they frighten witches and ghosts away."

"And spunkies," said Tim. "Didn't you dress up like Selina says," he asked Mr. McFadden, "dress up as a witch or a ghost or a cat, something frightening? Selina says when it's dark we'll go round to people's houses and they have to let you in--even me," said Tim. "Then we sing a song or ask a riddle. Selina's going to teach me one day and I'll get nuts and tablet," Tim said that reverently.

Tablet is homemade fudge.

I have to thank Melanie Bettinelli at The Wine Dark Sea for bringing this book to my attention. Hers is one of the very few "mom blogs" I read because she consistently brings books and literature into her posts, always with intelligent and interesting commentary. Her commentary on this story is mingled with observations of her oldest daughter's reactions and reflections on children's literature. Be sure you check it out.

Like Melanie, I also love Rumer Godden's children's books just as much as her novels for adults. Godden has a knack for incorporating local culture, awkward and unappreciated people, and interesting plot with a lovely prose style. She is unafraid to have her characters behave naturally which means that a story's crisis points will often leave readers feeling very uncomfortable because they recognize the behavior so well and dread the consequences thereof. Godden also is good at avoiding the "nice" sentimentality which can pervade children's books. Her world is always very real.

The plot, briefly, is that Selina lives in a small Scottish village where Hallowe'en is celebrated the old way, which leads to some fascinating details. She is awkward and so is her pony, Haggis, who she chose precisely because she recognized their similarities. It is Haggis who always drags her during daily rides to stand in the middle of local curmudgeon Mr. McFadden's turnip field. The story takes off from there.

Adults won't be as surprised by a lot of the plot turns in this books because they have seen it before, naturally, but I admit to surprise and worry over the Hallowe'en trick that is played on Selina.

The animals in this book become characters we also care about. Lady the dog, Wully the fierce gander and his wives, and Haggis the pony all have their own contributions to the plot as we learn their ways and understand what their reactions mean when they occur. Just as in real life.

I haven't made this story sound nearly as fascinating as it is so please just believe me and give it a try. I picked it up from the library last night, intending to give it a brief look over. I wound up getting sucked in and reading the whole thing.

I'm going to have to add this to my used store book list so that I can have a copy to go on the shelf next to The Diddakoi and The Kitchen Madonna. As it is, my local library branch is going to wonder what's going on when they receive the big stack of children's books by Rumer Godden that I requested last night. Who knew she wrote so many? And I want to read them all.

It's All Downhill from Here: Sponsorship

From one of my favorite cartoonists, Doug Savage.

I always like any advertising oriented humor and if it has aliens, so much the better!

Well Said: Deep enough for a lamb to wade in ...

From my quote journal.

Scripture is like a river again, broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.

St. Gregory the Great, Commentary on the Book of Blessed Job

Need Good Podcast Listening Ideas?

Here's your answer ... SFFaudio's podcast about podcasts.

Jesse, Tamahome, Seth, and Jimmy Rogers and I talk about podcasts. So many good listening ideas that I actually listened to the podcast, even though I was there when it was recorded!

Also, be sure to check out Jimmy's link because his blog isn't just a place to host his podcast. He has a lot of interesting posts pointing to good speculative fiction.

It was great fun and I was relieved that my listening showed I didn't interrupt people nearly as often as I thought I did.

Ahem.

Nearly.

Some day, it's gonna be no interrupting. We've all gotta reach for that star, right?

Most Frightening Thing About Listening to Welcome to Nightvale #34 ...

... is listening to the "beautiful dream" and answering the phone at work, only to hear an automated computer talking to you on the phone.

*silent scream*

Of course, this only makes sense to other Nightvale listeners. And that's ok.