The Difference Between Dogs and Cats

As Deacon Greg said at his blog, which is where I saw this adorable video, it becomes obvious in how they teach their young to go down the stairs. Hilarious and adorable.



And we all knew what the cat's teaching method would be, right?

Notes on Mark: Salt, Salt, and More Salt

MARK 9:49-10:1
Salt is taken for granted in these times but not back when Jesus was speaking. Just to mention salt meant a multitude of things to the people who heard what he said.

Salt also functions as a preservative, something that was especially important to people living in a hot, dry climate without the benefit of refrigeration. The Old Testament referred to a "covenant of salt" that the Lord made with the people of Israel as a permanent condition (Numbers 18:19). Thus, salt, the preservative, signified the everlasting contract between the Lord and his people.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

The Bells Of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After reading A Song For Nagasaki about Takashi Nagai, I thought it would be good to at least try Nagai's first and most famous book.

It begins on the morning that the bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. I was interested to see it told not only from his point of view but also from that of various other people in the countryside and from different vantage points at the teaching hospital where Nagai was dean. After helping all those they can from the immediate university area, the small band of survivors heads to the countryside to help the many people who are being sheltered by farmers and villages.

I was surprised to find myself laughing at one point. After American planes drop leaflets informing the Japanese that they dropped an atom bomb (so surrender already), Nagai instantly whirls into thought about the implications, both scientifically and to the victims. He comes out to hear the few remaining hospital staff, doctors, and students in a fevered discussion about which scientists were involved ("Einstein?"), how it would have worked ("they couldn't have had a cyclotron on a plane" "fission! it must have been fission!" "Ahhh"), and so forth. Despite the circumstances, as Nagai himself comments after reporting this exchange, they are all scientists first and deeply interested in the development.

We were members of a research group with a great interest in nuclear physics and totally devoted to this branch of science--and ironically we ourselves had become victims of th atom bomb which was the very core of the theory we were studying. Here we lay, helpless in a dugout!

And yet it was a precious experience for us. Placed on the experimentation table, we could watch the whole process in a most intimate way. We could observe the changes that where taking place and that would take place in the future. Crushed with grief because of the defeat of Japan, filled with anger and resentment, we nevertheless felt rising within us a new drive and a new motivation in our search for truth. In this devastated atomic desert, fresh and vigorous scientific life began to flourish.

I'm really glad that I read A Song For Nagasaki first so I have the context of Nagai's life in which to put this story. I think without that it could be desperately depressing. However, there are always very human moments to which we all can relate, such as when the little team is on the road back to a farmer's house and a fart starts a series of jokes, with each person capping the next.

I'd think this would be the mandatory companion to A Song For Nagasaki because I was surprised to find how much Paul Glynn soft-pedaled Nagai's reaction to Japan's unconditional surrender. Nagai in this book tells us how stunned everyone was when the news came, how he cried for 20 minutes, and how devastated everyone felt. I completely understand Glynn's overview of Nagai's overall feeling about war in general, but it did ring very true to me that one would feel a gut-punch to learn one's country had to completely surrender. For a Japanese person it would have been such a part of their very identity that it would be very hard to take. And, the way that Nagai rallied everyone would have less impact if he hadn't honestly told of his own reactions. The conclusions he drew later would be much less powerful, such as what happens after Nagai's sense of overwhelming defeat leads him to reject a man seeking medical help.

In a flash I had a change of heart. Even one precious life was worth saving. Japan was defeated; but the wounded were still alive. The war was over; but the work of our relief team remained. Our country was destroyed; but medical science still existed. Wasn't our work only beginning? Irrespective of the rise and fall of our country, wasn't our main duty to attend to the life and death of each single person? The very basis of the Red Cross was to attend to the wounded, be they friend or foe. Precisely because we Japanese had treated human life so simply and so carelessly--precisely for this reason we were reduced to our present miserable plight. Respect for the life of every person--this must be the foundation stone on which we would built a new society.

Our people had been told that they must suffer these terrible wounds to win the war; but in fact they had suffered in order to lose. Now they were thrown into the most pitiable and desperate situation. And there was no one to console them, no one to help them except us. We must stand and come to their aid. I stood there unsteadily on my tottering legs. And then the whole group stood up beside me. Our courage came back. The determination to continue our work gave us strength and joy.

There is precious little moralizing of the sort that many might expect. In fact, I saw a review somewhere where a person refused to read the book because they found out that Nagai was Roman Catholic. Nagai rarely mentions his faith other than in passing so that person's innate prejudices stopped them from experiencing a very inspirational and thought provoking book about the innate heights to which the human spirit can soar. Highly recommended.

Lagniappe: The Worst Thing I've Ever Heard Of

That's the worst thing I've ever heard. And I've heard of Nazis.

Hannah's friend Alex

This just makes me laugh every time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Siberian Jay

Siberian Jay
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er by Elizabeth Scalia

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er: Essays on Faith, Family and Foolishness by Elizabeth Scalia

I enjoyed this little book and read it in one evening. It is a collection of Elizabeth Scalia's favorite blog posts and columns from over the years. As such, it is a good representation of her writing, including some of my favorite pieces including the one written shortly before her brother died. I appreciated the brief introduction that Scalia gives for each piece which helped provide context for inclusion, or in my case a reminder of when I had read many of these before.

I feel about this book the way I do about her blog The Anchoress: I love the inspirational pieces, I relate to the life experience pieces (except baseball - let's face it, I'm a football lover), and I care nothing about the political pieces. This book is a good mix of all those things and I'm glad I have it on my shelf.

It made me want to go back through my own blog posts and pull some of my favorites for rereading.

Lagniappe: In this choose-your-own-adventure ...

In this choose-your-own-adventure we call life, would you rather have me dry the dishes or fold the laundry?

Rose Davis when home for Christmas this year

It's both funny and insightful. It never occurred to me to think of my daily choices as a choose-your-own-adventure story ... but that is exactly what it is.

Notes on Mark: Hell

MARK 9:42-48
Jesus talked about hell a lot more than many people realize. Here we see the associations that would have come to mind for his listeners.

Word Study
Hell

Geenna (Gk.): "Gehenna", the valley directly southwest of Jerusalem. Jesus refers to it 11 times in the Gospels as a dreadful symbol of hell. Two associations are made with Gehanna, one drawn from the OT and the other from Jesus' contemporary setting.

1. Gehenna is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew place-name "Valley of the sons of Hinnom". It was the site of a frightful Canaanite cult that worshipped the idols of Molech and Baal by burning children in sacrifice (Jer 7:30; 19:1; 32:35).
2. In the NT period, Gehenna served as a smoldering garbage dump where refuse burned continually. Jesus evokes these associations to teach us that hell is not a place of purgation or purification, but one of fiery punishment (Mt 5:22; 18:9; 23:33). In the afterlife, the bodies and souls of the wicked will suffer in hell for eternity (Mt 10:28; 25:41; 46). Other biblical passages corroborate this horrifying prospect (Is 33:14; 66:24; Jude 7; Rev 20:10).

The Gospel Of Mark
(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

Let's face it, Hell as it seems to have been traditionally taught seems old-fashioned, unrealistic, and a lot of us don't like to talk about because it is embarrassing if non-Christians are around. They hold up Hell as an indictment of a loving God.The truth is, Hell is actually God's tribute to our own free will. If we don't want to be in His company, He won't force us. Mary Healy makes it a bit clearer.

Some may be struggling with the question of how a good god could send someone to hell. But the truth conveyed in jesus' teaching is that we choose our own destiny. With every decision and action over the course of a lifetime we orient ourselves either to heaven or to hell, and at the moment of death we embrace what has truly become our choice. C.S. Lewis expresses it well: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' all that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell." But God never ceases to hold out his unfathomable mercy, even at the very moment when a person steps over the threshold into eternity.

Mary Healy,
The Gospel of Mark:
Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

Note to Google: You're Not Helping Google Plus. You're Hurting Google.

I swung by YouTube yesterday to look at something. A rare occurrence.

So when they asked if I wanted to sign in as Happy Catholic or Julie Davis, I didn't think about it. Happy Catholic. What difference did it make?

I certainly didn't think about it when they asked if this was how I always wanted to sign in. At YouTube? Sure. Why not?

I didn't realize they meant ... sign in everywhere, for everyplace Google had its little fingers in a pie, even with different passwords.

So this morning, sending off an email to Denmark, from our office's Google email, having it come from "Happy Catholic" really undercut the whole business tone I was trying to set.

Whisking off to my profile settings, I see they offer me more ways than ever to enjoy Google Plus, but ... surprise, surprise ... I can't change my profile to the way it was just yesterday.

Look, Google, I know you're desperate. It's little stunts like this that illustrate the point.

I want to love you but you're making it harder and harder.

Cut it out.

In which we encounter Iceland, an immortal doctor, a 6'4" frozen female, and mysterious memory loss.

Warrior Queen of Mars begins at Forgotten Classics. Get your pulp-fiction goodness now!

Well Said: Love can be hated when it challenges us

From my quote journal.

God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic "good feeling." Redemption is not "wellness," it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price: the anguish of the Cross. The prophecy of light and that of the Cross belong together.

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI),

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

This is the continual struggle, at least for me. I can't express how much I appreciate Christ putting up with my continual back-sliding into laziness and self-indulgence.

We're Not Sure What "Funky" Is, But We Know It When We Hear It.

Muscle Shoals: The Movie is a terrific documentary about music, creativity, and life, and it's the subject of Episode 74 at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

What's It All Mean? - Patron Saints and Patron Saints for the Year

When I review a book, I don't just post it here. I share the wealth by putting it at Goodreads, over at Patheos, and to just about anywhere I've got access. Which is a lot of places, now that I think of it.

At any rate my review of A Song For Nagasaki brought up some questions over at Goodreads. I had casually mentioned that Takashi Nagai was my selected patron for 2014 and that I'd chosen J.R.R. Tolkien for 2013 (click through on the review for more).

I may have equally bewildered folks here. Just in case, I thought I'd share that conversation. Keep in mind that questions are always welcome and that these answers weren't meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

What does taking someone as your patron for the year mean?

A patron saint in general is someone who you choose to guide or support or protect you. Catholics choose a patron saint when they are confirmed into the Church. It is often because one relates to the saint's life in some way or they are examples of something one likes. I chose my patron, St. Martha, because she's the patron saint of homemakers and cooks. I like both of those things. Turned out that when I was learning more about her life that we are a lot alike in personality, both in strengths and weaknesses. It's kind of like having a best friend who's ahead of you in school and who helps you through some of the hard or confusing bits. (This may all be really obvious info but better to have too much background than too little...)

Choosing a special patron saint for a new year is an old custom that has found favor again in some spots. It can be a name drawn from a hat of potential saints (one is really leaning on divine inspiration at that point) and there are several Catholic blogs out there that facilitate such choices. The idea is that one is being directed (with help) to become more aware of specific areas in life where special guidance might be necessary. Last year I took the choice into my own hands, asking J.R.R. Tolkien to give me a hand, based on the spiritual insights I received from rereading The Hobbit. I think the choice was inspired because it was so amazing for me.

We'll see how this year turns out with Takashi Nagai helping guide me ... but so far I have already been greatly assisted with a couple of areas in my life where I've needed extra awareness.

Very interesting! So was this one out of a hat then? :)

And does a patron saint for the year have to be Catholic? Or even a saint? Was Tolkien Catholic?

Easiest answer first ... Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He was a major influence on C.S. Lewis's discarding his atheism for Christianity, but was always frustrated that he didn't become Catholic.

Neither Tolkien nor Nagai are saints as recognized by the Church, although I read in a few places that Nagai is given the title Servant of God, which is the first step on the road to canonization. However, I felt that both were inspirational enough Catholics (because of their lives and works) that they could give me good, solid guidance during the year. That certainly proved to be the case with Tolkien and, as I mentioned, Nagai has definitely inspired me already this year.

The Church canonizes saints but she readily acknowledges that there are many, many saints of which she knows nothing. The ones that are recognized enough for canonization are the really big, obvious ones such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. There are many, such as my grandfather, whose saintly qualities were recognized by all those who knew him but who expressed them through living a very normal life. My grandfather wasn't Catholic, though he was Christian, but he was definitely saintly and beloved by all.

We are all called to become saints. That, in fact, is our calling in life if one is Catholic. It seems like an impossible goal but if we are all doing God's will to our utmost in daily life then that is all that is required. ("All" ... haha!). Mothers, fathers, children, business men and women, can all be saintly wherever they are put. God put us where we are to bring Him into the world in all parts of life.

Neither Tolkien or Nagai were out of a hat. I chose both based on particular circumstances of my life at the time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Palau Baro de Quadras

Palau Baro de Quadras
taken by Carlos Lorenzo

Do go to Barcelona Photoblog for more information about this gorgeous example of Catalan modernisme. Be sure to check out the photo for the full size and glory of the original photo.

The Faithful Traveler ... in the Holy Land!

Longtime readers may recall that I'm a big fan of Diana von Glahn's The Faithful Traveler Catholic travel show to shrines around the U.S.

Her new series is in the Holy Land. They visit the holy sites and explain their history, talk about the art, architecture, and so forth. Each episode is 30-minutes, so they aren't meant to be in-depth theological looks, but instead, fun and breezy introductions. The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to either go there themselves and know what they're looking at or enable them to be entertained and educated armchair travelers.

Check out a sample here.

There is more info at The Faithful Traveler site where you can see samples of the first series and this upcoming show.

And put it on your calendar ... it begins February 17.

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

In celebration, eat second breakfast. Then elevensies.

via ThinkGeek's Facebook page

Filets Mignons with Mushrooms

How we started the New Year ... get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

My 2014 Book Challenge List

My 2013 book challenge was so rewarding, making me pick up books I would just keep skipping over in favor of lighter reading. I'm doing it again for the third year in a row.

Some books are carried over from last year and some I dropped because ... well, I'm not married to these lists. If am inspired at all to reach higher than before, that's good enough for me.

As before, I may not get through all of them in a year, but I will be trying always read one of them despite other distractions. In no particular order.

Fiction

1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
   This was on my 2013 list and having begun it about a week ago, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Unabridged. Of course.
   
   Result: oh the agony! I loved the first bit about the bishop. Then I was gratified to see that the general plot had been well represented in the musical. However, the constant meandering here and there drove me crazy. I'm not usually a "don't bore us, get to the chorus" reader but Hugo beat me. Quitting this book.
2. Rabble in Arms - Kenneth Roberts
   My second favorite historical fiction author. This is a big 'un I overlooked somehow about the Revolutionary War.
   
   UPDATE: This book wound up overlapping with my Book Bingo Challenge as A Book Based on a True Story. It kind of saved me because I really hate books based on real stories usually. But it don't get much realer than the Revolutionary War. Especially the way Kenneth Roberts tells his stories.
3. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra —
   One of Rose's favorites which she's been pushing on me for a long time. Also, Scott from Good Story said he was interested in reading it this year. They were too much for my weak will.
   
   UPDATE: This will be one of Scott's choices for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast for 2015 - so I don't need to keep it on a challenge list.
4. Charles Dickens novel
   Not sure which one yet. I'm wavering between Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby.
   
   Result:  Ok, this was decided when a kind friend gave me Simon Prebble's reading of Great Expectations. Not the book I'd have chosen, but it is Dickens and that's good enough for me.
   
   I struggled my way through Great Expectations (chronicled here). Later I picked up The Pickwick Papers with the idea of something light, Dickens-wise. I raced through it in about a week, really enjoying it (as chronicled here). I'm now very slowly enjoying the novel from the other end of Dickens' timeline, Our Mutual Friend.
5. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis
   I've had this pushed at me by everyone and his brother. Never been able to get past the first few chapters of Silent Planet but recently I tried the audio. That did the trick so I have begun. I'll give myself a year. That should be long enough.
   
   Out of the Silent Planet: Thanks goodness for the audio version or I'd never have made it. As it was I went in and out of being interested in the story, primarily because I was much more interested in the world development and exploration than in Ransom's dealings with his fellow Earthmen. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him! The scientist's final letter to the author really caught my attention. In particular, his comments about death among the Hrossa were mind-blowing in their implications about our own life here on fallen Earth. I also really liked the use for "bent" instead of "evil," showing just how we are turned from what we were meant to be. However, this does seem very obviously aimed at those who have Christian interests or mindsets, just as The Screwtape Letters was. I wonder if non-Christians enjoy this book.
   
   Perelandra: Just as with Out of the Silent Planet, I found the beginning of the book fairly uninviting. However, also just as in that book, having the audio helped me past that to the point. This book is so different from Out of the Silent Planet and yet we see C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination just as clearly. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. For me at one point, close to the end, I kept thinking that these are almost glimpses of the sort of creativity and inspiration that we will see in Heaven. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it. I find Lewis's style rather heavy-handed. What I'd change I'm not sure. I think it is simply that these books would go on the theology shelf in my library while something like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings would go in more general reading. It is not Lewis's fault, and in fact I now want print copies of these books for rereading, but I prefer the purer fiction style to this one.
   
   That Hideous Strength: As with the other two books in C.S. Lewis's "space trilogy" I found this one difficult to get into and, yet, once I got past the indefinable point where it was no longer a struggle, I couldn't read it fast enough. Consequently this was a 24-hour book for me. It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them.
   
   Speaking of Tolkien, I was stunned to see Numinor mentioned twice and Middle Earth once in this book. I never dreamed there was such a deliberate, direct connection between this book and the Lord of the Rings, which was not yet published in its entirety when this book came out as Lewis says in the introduction. One can see the way these books and LOTR go hand in hand with similar themes, although expressed differently through the authors' different styles.
   
   This book itself was really terrific and left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.

Nonfiction

1. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — this will move to the 2015 book challenge
   I chose Tolkien as my 2013 saint last year (admittedly not a recognized saint, but at the very least as an inspiring Catholic I wanted to help me on my heaven). It was an amazing year filled with lessons that have definitely helped me. I want to know Tolkien's thoughts in his own words now instead of just reading his fiction.
2. A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb - Paul Glynn
   Takashi Nagai isn't recognized by the Church as a saint but in my eyes he's qualified. I find him extremely inspiring and am going to spend 2014 in his company, as I did last year with Tolkien. I've begun this and it is really fascinating.
   
   Result: Superb and inspirational. My review is here.
3. Art: A New History - Paul Johnson — I'm about halfway through. This will move to my 2015 book challenge
   It's been on my coffee table for about a year. I've very slowly read some and loved it. This may help me read it more dedicatedly.
4. America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom - William J. Bennett
   I really enjoyed the first volume last year. This is on my book stack and, as with Art, I hope this will get me to crack it open. That's all it will take, I have a feeling, to hook me.
   
   UPDATE: still sitting on my shelf. I'll get to it but not as a book challenge.
5. The Scarlet and the Black: The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground - J.P Gallagher
   This also was on last year's list. I am really enjoying Song For Nagasaki and hope I'll also enjoy this true story of faith under crisis just as much.
   
   Result - The story itself is fascinating. The writing is less impressive with everything strung together so fast that it can be hard to keep track of events. The book could have done with just a touch of breathing space.
   
   That said, this is still very worth reading. One realizes that although the Vatican's official neutrality had to be maintained (as did that of others highlighted in the book), there was a lot of frantic activity below the surface to save lives in Rome right under the Gestapo's nose.
6. Something that Takashi Nagai wrote. Since he wrote over 40 books I'd like to see what one of those was like. After reading A Song for Nagasaki, that is.
   
   Result: I read The Bells of Nagasaki which was really amazing. I'm glad that I read Glynn's book first and, yet, also very glad that I didn't let it rest there as Nagai's own words corrected a few things that Glynn had glossed over. My review is here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Waxwing

Waxwing
Taken by Remo Savisaar

I really love these beautiful birds and no one photographs them better than Remo.

My Top 2013 Movies

My favorite movies seen in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the approximate order in which I saw them.

1. Looper (2012) directed by Rian Johnson, stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Bruce Willis
   Time travel, big themes, from a director I love. (my review here)
   
   
2. Searching for Sugar Man (2012 documentary) directed by Malik Bendjelloul
   An American musician, a South African legend, a mystery investigated. (my review here)
   
   
3. Bernie (2011) directed byRichard Linklater, stars: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine
   A sweet funeral home manager, a possessive and grasping widow ... a true story. (my review here)
   
   
4. Argo (2012) directed by Ben Affleck, stars Ben Affleck and a big cast of "hey, it's that guy!" actors
   Smuggling six Americans out of the Iranian revolution ... a true story (my review here)
   
   
5. Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read (2012 documentary)
   Erroll Garner's genius in improvising, communicating joy, and inspiring others through jazz. (My review here)
   
   
6. Of Gods and Men (2010 French: ‘Des hommes et des dieux’) Directed by Xavier Beauvois
   Trappist monks must decide whether to flee Algeria from terrorists or stay and serve God ... a true story (My review here; the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast discussion here.)
   
   
7. 12 Angry Men (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet, starring: Henry Fonda
   A classic, "must see" for a reason. Simply wonderful. (My review here.)
   
   
8. Attack the Block  (2011) directed by Joe Cornish
   Solid alien invasion, monster movie set in British council block (a.k.a. "the projects). (my review here)
   
   
9. Gravity  (2013) directed by Alfonso Cuaron, stars Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
   An immersive emergency in outer space ponders gravity on several levels.
   
   
10. Muscle Shoals: The Movie  (2013 documentary) directed by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
    A man who's lived the blues, the Swampers, shattered stereotypes ... and lots and lots of music. (My review here)