In which we become addicted to curry and a five day delay endangers our journey ...

... Around the World in Seventy-Two Days. Two more chapters of Nellie Bly's classic race against time are ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast!

Lagniappe: Refills

“Refills are free,” the waitress tells us with a frown, like she’s hoping we’re not the kind of people who ask for endless refills. I am already pretty sure we are exactly those people.

Holly Black, Black Heart

Genesis Notes: Her Seed — Birth of the Church

GENESIS STUDY
The Agony in the Garden - Luke 22:39-46
The Crucifixion - John 19:1-11; 19:31-37
The Resurrection - John 19:38-42; 20:11-18. Hebrews 2:5-18
The Tree of Life - John 6:41-59
Created In God's Likeness - Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 15:53; Eph. 4-22-24; Col. 3:9

We are still breaking away from Genesis with Genesis: God and His Creation to look at the answer to the promise that the woman and her seed would defeat God's enemy.

Ok, how many times can I say that these connections make perfect sense yet I had never "seen" them before I was introduced to studying "types?" If you thought the connections between Mary and Eve were amazing, they are nothing to those between Jesus and Adam. You just can't make this stuff up. What an unbelievable plan God works out through Jesus. Hear that sound? That's my mind blowing.

Crucifixion of Jesus, Marco Palmezzano

The Crucifixion - John 19:1-11; 19:31-37

Thorns in Eden were another evidence of God’s curse upon man, the punishment for his sin. They represented the difficulty man would experience in fulfilling his vocation on earth, having lost his supernatural grace. As the story of Genesis unfolds, the crown of thorns we see in this gospel scene will take on more significance (most specifically in chapter 22). For now, we can understand it to be another indication that Jesus is taking upon Himself the curse pronounced on Adam, even though He has retraced Adam’s steps and has not faltered ...

Jesus, having been scourged, stands there in a purple robe and crown of thorns. Pilate’s grand introduction is meant as mockery. The angry crowd is full of contempt for Jesus. And yet, this is a human being in which the image and likeness of God has not been lost. This is man as God always intended him to be-perfectly obedient and faithful to the covenant, no matter what the cost. In this gospel scene, Jesus is the only one with real human dignity. He is the New Adam, and Pilate’s announcement of "Here is the man!" heralds the beginning of a new humanity ...

Pathologists would tell us that a wound like this one, in its place on the body of one who died as Jesus died, would actually produce both blood and water. The Church has always recognized in this detail of Christ’s death a startlingly beautiful symbol of the birth of the Church. The water of baptism initiates believers into union with Christ; the blood of the Eucharist sustains them on their journey to God (see CCC 1225). In Scripture, the Church is frequently described as "the Bride" of Christ. The Lord refers to Himself as "the Bridegroom" (Mark 2:19), and heaven will be the marriage feast of the Lamb (see CCC 796). In Eden, as Adam slept, God opened his side to create Eve, his bride, a true helper for him and one with whom he would form a permanent union in body and spirit. As Jesus slept the sleep of death on the Cross, the wound in His side poured forth the sign of His Bride, the Church. Adam, tempted by the devil, did not protect his wife with his life, but "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her" (Eph. 5:25-26).

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Love or Duty

Love or Duty (1873), Gabriele Castagnola (Italian, 1828-1883)
via Books and Art

Crab Mac and Cheese

Hannah's been getting busy in the kitchen with Nigel Slater's Eat ... with delicious sounding results. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

C3 Auto - Not Your Usual Used Car Dealership

These days its a special pleasure when you find someone who actually cares about more than making a quick buck, especially when you're looking for a used car. We ran into the typical used car dealer stereotype and since we were first-timers in the used car arena, this made us extra wary.

Luckily we found C3 Auto. They specialize in clean pre-owned vehicles with low miles, priced below ten thousand dollars. They all come with clean CarFax reports.

More to the point, the people are great. You can't get better service, with no pressure, than we got from Brandon and Larry. They were easy to deal with, helped us find a great car, and overall made buying our first used car a pleasurable experience.

Dallas car buyers, give them a shot!

Worth a Thousand Words: Boston Beaneater King Kelly

Michael J. "King" Kelly
via the Library of Congress baseball album on Flickr

Well Said: The Religion of the Word

Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book." Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is "not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living" (St. Bernard). If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "Open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures" (Cf. Luke 24:25).

Catechism of the Catholic Church

I was mentioning this to someone recently about Christianity being a religion of "the Word" and not "the book." I'd read it somewhere else and so was delighted to find it in my morning dip into the Catechism.

Yes, two weeks and I'm still reading a little each morning. A new record!

FTD + UPS = Wilted Flowers

I don't know what genius at FTD thought that UPS would be a good way to deliver flowers.

Books, yes. Canned tuna, yes. Anything that is hardy enough to take being on a truck from 7 in the morning until reaching its destination at 4 in the afternoon.

But not flowers. Not delicate, living organisms.

The first delivery, when I thought their specification of UPS odd but figured that they'd worked it out, wound up with practically dead flowers on my mother's doorstep. All but 2 gave up the ghost by the next day.

The replacement delivery, set up by an aghast and sympathetic FTD representative on the phone, suffered the same fate. Not quite as wilted, perhaps, with a few more living the next day.

It wasn't as if I were trying to get orchids delivered. These were sunflowers, some of the hardiest flowers around.

Overall, FTD's experiment is a gigantic failure and one that assures I will avoid them like the plague in the future.

H-E-B's coming to Dallas. And there was much rejoicing ...

I've been longing to shop at H-E-B just about forever. At least since Hannah was at A&M and kept telling me of their many delights.

And now they're coming to town!

What's better than that? It will be at Mockingbird and Abrams ... 5 minutes away. Let the celebrating begin!

Well Said: God speaks through one single Word

You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time.

St. Augustine

via The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 102

"since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables"

Wow. Now there is something to meditate upon.

Body and Soul, But Truly One

Lately I've been troubled by seeing people say things like "I am a soul. I have a body." or "My body is like a car that I drive around." This is often evoked in aid of fighting racial prejudice. I get it. Beauty is only skin deep and so forth and so on. It comes from a noble impulse.

But it troubles me on a deeper level. It feels like a rejection of the body in favor of the soul. And that is an ancient idea rearing its ugly head again. Gnosticism in modern form.

Bishop Robert Barron sums up neatly, with a current example. (Emphasis added.)

Gnosticism was, and is, a multi-headed beast, but one of its major tenets is that matter is a fallen, inferior form of being, produced by a low-level deity. The soul is trapped in matter, and the whole point of the spiritual life is to acquire the gnosis (knowledge) requisite to facilitate an escape of the soul from the body. ...

In justifying the transformation that he has undergone, [Bruce] Jenner consistently says something along these lines: “Deep down, I always knew that I was a woman, but I felt trapped in the body of a man. Therefore, I have the right to change my body to bring it in line with my true identity.” Notice how the mind or the will — the inner self — is casually identified as the “real me” whereas the body is presented as an antagonist which can and should be manipulated by the authentic self. The soul and the body are in a master/slave relationship, the former legitimately dominating and re-making the latter. This schema is, to a tee, gnostic — and just as repugnant to Biblical religion as it was nineteen hundred years ago. For Biblical people, the body can never be construed as a prison for the soul, nor as an object for the soul’s manipulation. Moreover, the mind or will is not the “true self” standing over and against the body; rather, the body, with its distinctive form, intelligibility, and finality, is an essential constituent of the true self. Until we realize that the lionization of Caitlyn Jenner amounts to an embracing of Gnosticism, we haven’t grasped the nettle of the issue.

Bishop Robert Barron, Vibrant Paradoxes

Our bodies matter. Try thinking noble thoughts and rising above when you've got a 24-hour bug. It reminds us that our body and soul are inextricably intertwined.

That, after all, is one of the most wonderful and mind blowing things about the Incarnation. Jesus became man. GOD became man, body and soul together.

Did Jesus get the flu and lie limply after throwing up? We don't think about that but it's very possible because illness is part of the human experience and no one is more human than Jesus.

When he was resurrected his body mattered so much that he still had the marks of crucifixion. And he was still body and soul ... eating fish more than once to prove it. Jesus shows us that the whole package matters. It's one of the reasons Catholics clothe the poor, feed the hungry, built hospitals to help the sick, visit prisons, and do so many other corporal works of mercy. Our bodies matter.

Heck, the final resurrection will reunite our bodies and souls. That's how much our bodies matter.

Undoubtedly, body and soul are different but in a mysterious way they are also one. On that note I'll leave you with this bit from the Catechism.

II. "BODY AND SOUL BUT TRULY ONE"

362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.

363 In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person.230 But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man.

364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:

Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.

365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.

366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Hendrick ter Brugghen, The incredulity of St. Thomas

Best Mapo Tofu

There's a new blogger at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen. My oldest daughter Hannah!

She posted a great sounding recipe, Best Mapo Tofu, that might help cure my usual problem with tofu ... I find it chalky tasting (or something like that). But this sauce sounds so flavorful it might do the trick.

Well Said: A Kick in the Teeth

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

Walt Disney

Worth a Thousand Words: Roman Fish Market

Albert Bierstadt, Roman Fish Market. Arch of Octavius

Via Lines and Colors where you'll find some delightful details enlarged for your enjoyment.

Scaramouche - full of swashbuckling goodness

Jesse, Paul, Maissa and I discuss Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini at SFFaudio podcast. Join us!

Weekend Joke

An elderly man in east Texas had owned a big farm for several years. He had a large pond in the back. It was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some fruit trees.

One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee.

As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end.

One of the women shouted to him, 'we're not coming out until you leave!' The old man frowned, 'I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked.'

Holding the bucket up he said, 'I'm here to feed the alligator...'

Via Traces of Texas.

Worth a Thousand Words: Coast of Vormsi Island

Coast of Vormsi Island
taken by Remo Savisaar

I want to go to there.

Well Said: All the kingdoms of the world belong to a fallen spiritual force.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we find the account of Jesus’ confrontation with the devil in the desert. After tempting Christ with sensual pleasure (“turn these stones into bread”) and with glory (“throw yourself down and the angels will hold you up”), the devil entices him with the alurement of power: “all these kingdoms, I will give you if you but fall down and worship me.” What is most interesting about this final temptation is that the devil couldn’t offer all of the kingdoms of the world to Jesus unless he, the devil, owned them. Indeed, in Luke’s account, this is made explicit. Satan says, “I shall give to you all this power … for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.” I don’t know a passage in any of the literature of the world that is as critical of political power as that one! All the kingdoms of the world belong to a fallen spiritual force.

Whereas many (if not most) cultures both ancient and modern tend to apotheosize their political leaders, the Bible sees right through politics and politicians. One of the most important contributions of the Scriptures to contemporary politics, at least in the west, is this deep suspicion that power tends to corrupt. The institutionalization of this suspicion in complex systems of checks and balances is a healthy outgrowth of the Biblical view.

Robert Barron, Vibrant Paradoxes

Genesis Notes: Her Seed — Jesus

GENESIS STUDY
The Agony in the Garden - Luke 22:39-46
The Crucifixion - John 19:1-11; 19:31-37
The Resurrection - John 19:38-42; 20:11-18. Hebrews 2:5-18
The Tree of Life - John 6:41-59
Created In God's Likeness - Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 15:53; Eph. 4-22-24; Col. 3:9

We are still breaking away from Genesis with Genesis: God and His Creation to look at the answer to the promise that the woman and her seed would defeat God's enemy.

The previous posts about "the woman" made it clear that Mary had innumerable links to Eve. This summary that amazes me every time I read it. I mean, how much clearer can you get? In the immortal words of This is Spinal Tap: none, none more clear.

• Eve’s conversation with a fallen angel leads to the loss of God’s likeness in human flesh; Mary’s conversation with an angel leads to the Incarnation, God taking on human flesh.
• Eve, left exposed by her husband, talks herself out of being embarrassingly gullible in believing God’s Word about the forbidden fruit; Mary, full of grace through the work of her Son, chooses God’s will for her life, knowing the potential for embarrassment over her unusual pregnancy.
• Eve, having broken the covenant she and Adam had with God, hears God’s curse on her life, which will be pain in childbearing; Mary, having accepted God’s plan, hears a voice of blessing on her and her childbearing.
• Eve, Adam’s helper, assists him in entering the devil’s bondage; Mary, at the wedding in Cana, assists Jesus in showing Himself to be the Messiah Who had come to free Israel.
• Eve becomes the mother of the dying; Mary, the mother of the living.
• Eve is expelled from Paradise; Mary appears as the Queen of heaven.

Her Seed — Connecting Jesus to Adam
Now we are free to examine Jesus' connection to Adam in fulfilling the promise of "her seed." We see that God performs His surprising renewal through reversal once again. I must say that I felt pretty silly for never noticing all the times Jesus is connected with a garden.

Via Bad Catholic

The Agony in the Garden - Luke 22:39-46

It isn’t just a coincidence that Jesus happens to be in a garden when He has to make His decision to choose God’s will over His own, no matter what the cost. This is the moment when Jesus completes His work as the New Adam. The first Adam was silent and passive in the face of temptation. Jesus, well aware of what it will cost Him to obey God, puts the will of the Father first. The pride of the first Adam is replaced by the humility of the Second Adam. If Adam shrank from the danger in his Garden, giving into disobedience, Jesus rises to the challenge of the danger in His Garden, surrendering Himself perfectly to God’s plan. The undoing of the devil has begun.

In Genesis 3, God tells Adam that his face will be covered with the sweat of his toil as a punishment for his disobedience. Adam’s dominion over the earth, meant to be a source of joy for him, instead will bring him suffering. For Jesus to sweat "like great drops of blood" in His Garden is a vivid picture of Him taking on Himself the curse placed on Adam. The first Adam’s disobedience was punishable by suffering and death. Jesus, the Second Adam, in the agony of the Garden, begins to experience it. The sentence pronounced so long ago is now being executed ...

In these verses, we see a picture of Jesus doing precisely what Adam didn’t do. He was afraid, but His fear led Him to call down help from His Father. This is the test of love that Adam could not endure. Love has to be a real choice, which means that it must be tested. Love of God leads one to continue to trust Him and to seek His help in the midst of the most threatening circumstances. It is a conscious, willful choice to believe in God’s goodness, no matter how contrary the evidence. This anguished cry of Jesus, with tears, fills His Garden with the sound of faith. It was a cry that reached heaven, undoing the silence of the Garden of Eden.

This series first ran in 2004 and 2005. I'm refreshing it as I go. For links to the whole study, go to the Genesis Index. For more about the resources used, go here.