Well Said: Gospel and Emperors

In Jesus' time, the term "gospel" was used by Roman emperors for their proclamations. Independently of their content, they were described as "good news" or announcements of salvation, because the emperor was considered lord of the world and his every edict as a portent of good. Thus, the application of this phrase to Jesus' preaching had a strongly critical meaning, as if to say God, and not the emperor, is Lord of the world, and the true Gospel is that of Jesus Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI, The Joy of Knowing Christ

Angelus, January 27, 2008

I'm really enjoying this book as a daily devotional. Each section is a two-page reflection on the gospels, taken from various homilies. They give me something simple yet profound to think about as I go about my day. We throw around the world gospel so often without stopping to recall the original meaning of good news. And now our eyes are opened to see that in coopting the word "gospel" Matthew is telling us something deeper and more significant than we knew. Context matters so much.

Worth a Thousand Words: A Happy New Year Dawn

Taken by my good friend Scott Danielson

Best of 2016 - Movies

My top picks from the movies we watched last year. As always, the movies may be old, but my viewing was brand new in 2016.

Cloud Atlas (2012)

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future.

I was stunned at how good this film is. I was amazed at how it would jump from person to person between stories, from moment to moment, and we always knew what was going on, where we were in the story and (most importantly) WHY those moment were parallel. (Ok, maybe not for the first third of the movie. That was the learning phase.)

And by the end, I was in awe that we were watching six completely different genres of movie, along with all the other connections. (Full review here.)

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Insurance lawyer James Donovan is tapped by the government first to defend Rudolph Abel for being a Soviet spy, then to go to Berlin and negotiate an exchange of Abel for American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

An engrossing drama that pulls us back into the Cold War years or, as in my case, evokes all the spy novels I read about that era.  I really appreciated the reminder that it is tough-minded, ethical people with the ability to see the big picture who helped keep an even keel then.

3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Dave Evans (Van Heflin), a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade (Glenn Ford), a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.

This was a fascinating encounter between two men who have chosen the opposite ways to approach life. Both have regrets, both wrestle with how to live — all in the context of this lean Western. And I never knew Glenn Ford had such a subtle, wicked, serpent-like performance in him.

Tell No One (2016, French)

Eight years ago, Alex's wife was murdered.

Today she emailed him.

Fast paced, excellent thriller. (Full review here.)

Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman (2015)

I picked this up because my husband loves documentaries and race cars. I expected to tolerate it but instead I fell in love with this well rounded, subtle picture of a deeply private man. (Full review here.)

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

We were both delighted way beyond expectation by this classic comedy. We knew Alec Guiness played 8 parts but we didn't expect the wonderful script full of nuances which left us slightly shocked (in a happily funny way). We didn't expect the subplots which gave the film comic depth and kept us interested. We didn't expect the skill with which Dennis Price and Joan Greenwood smoothly played their parts. We certainly didn't expect the twist at the end.

This is definitely a movie that isn't watched enough these days.

Departures (2008 Japan)

When Daigo is laid off of work he and his wife move back to his family home in a small town. Misunderstanding a job description, he finds himself being trained as an "encoffiner" to prepare corpses before their cremation. This puts him in an uncomfortable position since handling the dead is a taboo subject for Japanese.

By turns poignant, funny, and moving, this is one I've thought of a lot since I saw it. (Full review here.)

The Train (1964)

When the Allies are close to Paris, a German officer becomes obsessed with getting a trainload of French art back to Germany. The French Resistance recruits the stationmaster (Burt Lancaster) to help keep the art from leaving France.

A WWII action thriller which pushes us to consider the price of art, national identity and culture against that of human life. I can't stress how excellent Paul Scofield was as the German officer.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Two West Texas brothers begin robbing banks but they aren’t typical robberies. They only take loose bills and target branches of one particular bank. They are pursued by a crusty Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) nearing the end of his career.

This is a heist film crossed with a modern Western. It was everything we hoped it would be and more. The opening with the deliberate framing of the three crosses begs the question throughout the film — is there a "good thief" and what does that mean beyond the easy Hollywood cliche of good intentions?

The Petrified Forest (1936)

A lonely "last stop" gas station near the Petrified Forest brings together a sophisticated wanderer, a young girl longing for adventure, and a gangster who is smarter than he looks.

This classic is known as the film that got Humphrey Bogart noticed, a precursor to film noir, and the first film where the gangster is an American. None of that prepared me for how modern it felt (Slim's character was completely unexpected), how funny it was in places, how artfully it was written, and how wonderful all the acting was. And, yes, Humphrey Bogart was absolutely wonderful in it.

Central Intelligence (2016)

A former picked-on nerd, turned CIA superspy, goes to his high school hero for help on his latest mission.

Its a buddy movie, it's an action movie, it's a comedy, and it's fairly predictable. Also, there is some vulgar humor. But it's not really about jumping through high rise windows or quelling knife wielding opponents with a banana. Though those things do happen.

The heart of this movie is about friendship, heroes, bullying, and knowing what matters in life. That heart is what won me over. As well as Dwayne Johnson who, as so many have pointed out, makes the biggest difference with his sweet smile, sincerity, and comic timing. It's fun and it's got The Rock. What more do you need?

Best of 2016 - Books

My top picks from the books I read last year. You may find old books here but if they're on this list, then they were new to me!

7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness 

by Eric Metaxas

Eric Metaxas wrote this book to ask two questions: (1) What is a man? (2)What makes a man great? He answers them by looking at the lives of seven men who are worthy of emulation.

This grabbed both my and Tom's attention. We still talk about the stories and people in this book. (Full review here.)

Also, don't miss his follow-up book about 7 Women. We both liked that one too. (Full review here.)

Slow Horses 

by Mick Herron

A different sort of spy book. Spies who have failed at their jobs get sent to Slough House where they do paperwork.

Funny, suspenseful, intelligent — I loved this and both the sequels. (Full review here.)

We also discussed this on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Reading Dante 

by Giuseppe Mazzotta

2016 unintentionally became my year of Dante as I wound up reading the Divine Comedy four times. Don't ask how I unintentionally read it four times. Sometimes these things just happen.

Anyway, seeking commentary I found this book by a professor who's been teaching Dante's Comedy for decades and was selected for Open Yale Courses video. Whoever translated those videos into these chapters also deserves praise. I can feel the force of personality as well as the depth of knowledge — all communicated in a very understandable way. This was simply wonderful in deepening my appreciation of the magnificent work Dante did upon The Divine Comedy.

Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler 

by Mark Riebling

Another one that both Tom and I loved. I still think of it frequently.

Nonfiction, by a non-Catholic, defending Pope Pius XII against claims that he supported the Nazi regime. Reads like a spy thriller.

I bet the audiobook would be great. (Full review here.)

The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains 

by Owen Wister

A Western with all the expected trappings: cow-boys, guns, horses, beautiful school mistresses, villainous scoundrels, and the hauntingly beautiful isolation of the Wyoming range.

But, more than that, it is a wonderful character study told in surprisingly contemporary writing. (Full review here.)

Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History 

by Rodney Stark

A wonderful book using facts and statistics to combat lies about the Catholic faith which are still being spread by experts who should know better. In fact, those experts are why the author wrote the book.

As he says in the introduction: "Finally, I am not a Roman Catholic, and I did not write this book in defense of the Church. I wrote it in defense of history." What better reason could there be than that? Truth for truth's sake. (Full review here.)

Lydia Chin / Bill Smith 

mystery series by S.J. Rozan

Lydia Chin is a young American born Chinese woman who is also a Chinatown detective. Bill Smith is older than Lydia and white. His detective work tends to take him to construction sites and security jobs. They often act as partners which works well both for mystery solving and as a story telling device.

The twist in this series is that one book will be told by Lydia and the next told by Bill. The author has a rare talent for writing in completely different voices for both Lydia and Bill.

Enjoyable all round. (Full review of the first two books here.) We discussed Concourse on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Earthrise 

trilogy by M.C.A. Hogarth

This is a really fun space opera series which is continually flirting with becoming romance novels. (Full review here.)

The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ 

by Andrew Klavan

A great conversion story by a thriller author. Both inspirational and influential - my prayer life changed after reading it. I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author. (Full review here.)

My Lady Jane 

by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and , Jodi Meadows

What if history was just a little bit different when England's King Edward died and Lady Jane Grey was caught up in a political conspiracy to ascend to the throne? What if some people were shape changers who also had an animal form?

Of course, that would be an alternate history, probably written for young adults. For what it was — a humorous, inventive, light, romantic, alternative history — it was practically perfect in every way. It was sometimes silly but always charming and I was glued to it in every spare moment. I listened to the audiobook which I wholeheartedly recommend. (Full review here.)

The Help 

by Kathryn Stockett

After covering the movie when it was selected by a movie discussion group regular, I revisited the book to see if it was as good as I recalled. The movie was a by-the-numbers telling with broad strokes.

The book, as I rediscovered, was so much more than that. I decided to try it in audiobook form after seeing that Octavia Spencer was one of the narrators. And the audio really makes it soar. Worth reading and rereading, whether in print or audio.

2017 Book and Movie Challenge

My 2016 Book Challenge went really well and I updated my post so you can see how it went, if you like. Some of it was planned and some I fell into ... so I'm curious to see how this year goes.

1. Chronological Bible Reading
   I made it partway through Jeremiah last year. And into the Book of Wisdom from the middle column. I'm waiting to read the New Testament until I get done with the old one first. I'm not on a timetable. There's no reason to rush through just to read the Bible in a year.Here's the plan I'm using.
   
   
2. The High Window by Raymond Chandler
   This is the last Chandler I haven't read. Might as well finish all that lovely prose this year.
   
   
3. A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson
   
   
4. The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila (reread)
   
   
5. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
   I was looking around for another author somewhat like Dickens and Gaskell's name kept coming up.
   
   
6. Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd
   I've always wanted to try Ackroyd's writing and who better to read about than Thomas More? It might be more More than I want (haha) but it can't hurt to try.
   
   
7. Robert Heinlein Mature Science Fiction
   Looking around for new science fiction to try, I wound up back in an unexpected spot — back with one of the acknowledged masters from 40 years ago. I thought I'd read a lot of Heinlein's books but it turns out not to be the case. I'm looking forward to diving into both the juveniles and adult books. There's nothing like old science fiction, after all!
   
   UPDATE: As I entered the new year, I found myself with lots of science fiction authors from Heinlein's time (which spanned a considerable part of science fiction history in my lifetime). I am going to read Heinlein, to be sure, but I am also going to look for more authors who I've just plain missed.
   • Pat Murphy: The City, Not Long After
   
   
8. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza
   
   
9. I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity Izzeldin Abuelaish
   

This is going to be my year of Shakespeare movies, I think. There are several I've been wanting to see and plenty more to discover once I begin seriously looking. I've always shied away from Shakespeare but Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing made me want to dig deeper.

I've got just a few to begin with - will add more as I go.

1. Hamlet - David Tennant
2. Hollow Crown series
3. Macbeth
4. Taming of the Shrew

Worth a Thousand Words: The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning

The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, Camille Pissarro
via Lines and Colors

Worth a Thousand Words: The Magpie

The Magpie, Claude Monet, 1868–1869

Worth a Thousand Words: Trio

Trio
taken by Remo Savisaar

Lagniappe: Rule #8

Rather, very, little, pretty — these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then.

Rule #8, "An Approach to Style," Elements of Style, Strunk & White

Well Said: Principle and Practice

The Church is intolerant in principle because she believes; she is tolerant in practice because she loves. The enemies of the Church are tolerant in principle because they do not believe; they are intolerant in practice because they do not love.

Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

Well Said: Dracula and the difficulty modern man faces in accepting the supernatural as reality

Rare is the literary critic who looks at the recurring theme throughout the book of the difficulty modern man faces in accepting the supernatural as reality.

From its first page to its last, this is what Stoker is most interested in shaping his story around. The book has become so ingrained in our culture that millions who have never read it have absorbed the gist of the plot from the past century of adaptations, rip-off’s, and parodies in film, television, theater, and books.

This is part of the reason why the concept is missed, but the greater reason is the one Stoker illustrates time and again in his book – we deliberately ignore what we can’t comfortably explain.

William Patrick Maynard, Black Gate blog

How the Choir Converted the World by Mike Aquilina

How the Choir Converted the World: Through Hymns, with Hymns, and in Hymns 

by Mike Aquilina

I often catch myself humming or singing snatches of hymns when I'm cleaning the kitchen. This makes me laugh because I never in a million years would have thought I'd be the sort of person who sang hymns around the house. But it goes to Mike Aquilina's main point.

Our lives have a soundtrack, and the soundtrack has a lyric sheet. When we remember music, the words come back with it. Music is the most effective delivery system for words and ideas. And we don't need to read or study to get the message ... music is the most effective way to make a message memorable ...

The [Church] Fathers knew the power that music had over our minds—power over thoughts and feelings—and they respected that power. And they used that power to maximum effect. They knew that beautiful music could change the world. It makes us remember, it moves us to virtue, it heals us, and it makes us one.

The Fathers knew all these things—and one more important thing as well: they knew that music is a foretaste of heaven.

Aquilina talks about the power of music in the context of Jewish and Christian history. These chapters are fascinating and don't feel at all like history lessons. He takes us effortlessly into the times when music permeated the air, both from pagan rituals and Jewish worship as well as everyday life lived in the open. We learn why the Jewish music was unique and how it meant more than just a good tune to get you in the mood to think about God.

As the story continues through history we see the development of music into what we are more familiar with today. I began thinking about the music during Mass in a whole new way. In fact, I broadened my sights and began considering a lot of things in terms of the music which is often integral to them.

This book is really insightful about both music in relationship to human beings and to faith. It was much more than I was expecting from a book which I feared would be more interesting to music professionals than it is to me. I'll be honest. It was not only insightful but revelatory because it made me think about music and how integral it is to us in a way that just never occurred to me.

(I just never think about music at all, honestly. Certainly not like that. Talk about a whole new world.)

Aquilina points out that the earliest Christians used music to tell truths which helped change a violent, ugly, pornographic culture. Our culture mirrors that early one in a lot of ways, sadly. This book helps reorient us so that we can also make and appreciate music which can tell the truth to a world desperate for beauty and truth.

Note: The typesetting and layout are beautiful. That is all too rare these days and that visual beauty is especially complementary to Mike Aquilina's message that the beauty of music helped convert the world.

Jesse Tree - Day 18: Jeremiah

This is as far as I'm going to be able to get on the Jesse Tree this year. I have felt a real sense of connection to salvation history through Advent as I worked on this and I hope it has enriched your Advent also.

========

Our online Jesse Tree is to help us prepare for Christ's coming by studying His roots and Salvation History. 

Jesse Trees follow the same general outline but I've found they are widely varied in some of the details. Some may have one day for Moses, others may spend 4 days on different aspects of his life. I'll be following the basic outline but, therefore, using my own discretion in a few spots.

My sources for days and symbols are Catholic Culture, Loyola Press, Faith Magazine, and A few beads short.  

Day 18: Jeremiah

Symbols: tears

Jeremiah, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling

Jeremiah 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15; 8:22-9:1-11

Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet because of all the trouble he encountered in his 40 years of warning the people about the consequences of their sinfulness. He also continually expresses God's sorrow over Judah's lack of repentance.

O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night

I myself always think of the better known passage which expresses Jeremiah's vocation and doubts.

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, `I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630

Jesse Tree - Day 17: Isaiah

Our online Jesse Tree is to help us prepare for Christ's coming by studying His roots and Salvation History. 

Jesse Trees follow the same general outline but I've found they are widely varied in some of the details. Some may have one day for Moses, others may spend 4 days on different aspects of his life. I'll be following the basic outline but, therefore, using my own discretion in a few spots.

My sources for days and symbols are Catholic Culture, Loyola Press, Faith Magazine, and A few beads short.  

Day 17: Isaiah

Symbols: burning coal, scroll

Tiepolo, The Prophet Isaiah, 1726

Isaiah 1:10-20; 6:1-13, 9:1-7, 40:10-11; 62:1-3

You might be surprised at how many sound bites you know from the book of Isaiah. It is used fairly often in the liturgy and especially during Christmas and Easter. Almost all the familiar parts are related to the Messiah and how he will save us from our sins. He would not only be a king but a suffering servant. Here's a bit we'll hear soon.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. ... For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah also has the roots of the tree of Jesse reference which lent itself to the Jesse Tree. And, my favorite part, there is the story of Isaiah receiving his vocation. He has a vision of heaven and a sudden vivid understanding of himself when faced with God himself. But his response is so instantaneous and honest that it can bring tears to my eyes. May I respond as honestly and as well.

And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

12 British library, Isaiha and tree of Jesse, 12th century

Worth a Thousand Words: Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji, taken by NNE, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Well Said: The only real choice we have to make

For me to accept baptism, I had to believe in Christ’s reality—in the reality not just of his life but also of his miracles and death and resurrection.

But how could I? Such things don’t happen. Look around you. There are no miracles. There can be no resurrection. The clockwork world is all in all.

But such things don’t happen, I knew now, was the ultimate irrational prejudice of the human mind: the belief that the symbols of reality are more real than the reality they symbolize. That’s us all over. We believe that money is more valuable than the work it represents, that sex is more essential than the love it expresses, that an actor is more admirable than the hero he portrays, that flesh is more alive than spirit. That’s the whole nature of our deluded lives, the cause of so much of our misery. One by one, we let idolatry ruin each good thing. ... The choice between idolatry and faith—which is ultimately the choice between slavery in the flesh and freedom in the spirit—is the only real choice we have to make.

Andrew Klavan, The Great Good Thing

The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan

The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ 

by Andrew Klavan

No one was more surprised than Andrew Klavan when, at the age of fifty, he found himself about to be baptized. Best known for his hard-boiled, white-knuckle thrillers and for the movies made from them—among them True Crime (directed by Clint Eastwood) and Don’t Say a Word (starring Michael Douglas)—Klavan was born in a suburban Jewish enclave outside New York City. He left the faith of his childhood behind to live most of his life as an agnostic in the secular, sophisticated atmosphere of New York, London, and Los Angeles. But his lifelong quest for truth—in his life and in his work—was leading him to a place he never expected.

I listened to this as read by the author. It was inspiring, as all conversion stories are, and worth reading for that aspect alone. However, this book was so much more. In the story of Andrew Klavan's dysfunctional family, the way literature and Western civilization led him to self discovery, and his descent into and ascent from madness, we are given the story of a truth seeker in an age of disbelief.

I found Klavan's story resonating in unexpected ways. Every conversion story is at once the same, in its discovery of ultimate truth and love, and at once unique, as is each person who discovers God. I knew I would find things that reminded me of my own journey and that showed me new facets of God's love in Klavan's experiences. What I did not know was how familiar his life story was to certain aspects of my own and how that actually helped me to understand myself better. My own difficult father was much less so than Klavan's, for example, but they were enough alike that Klavan's insights about his own personality enlightened me as well.

I will also say that his experience with prayer has haunted me, in a good way, and rejuvenated my search for closeness to God.

Much of the story was outside my own experience, of course, and I have to say that I really appreciated Klavan's feelings about his Jewish heritage which gave me insights that I'd not gotten from other sources.

Klavan is hard headed, questions himself and his experiences, and does not go easily into Christian faith or, indeed, into faith in God in general. I really liked that aspect because many of the objections he struggles with are precisely those which we have all been taught to raise these days. Whether one believes in Christ or not, no one can say that Klavan accepted him blindly. In fact, no one need worry that Klavan is trying to convince anyone else to believe. This story is strictly about his own experience.

Highly recommended.

Well Said: Hamlet and Moral Relativism

Morality especially has come to seem to [Hamlet] completely dependent on his own opinions. "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so," he declares.

How wild was this? Shakespeare had predicted post-modernism and moral relativism hundreds of years before they came into being! ...

But there was one big difference. Hamlet said these things when he was pretending to be mad. My professors said them and pretended to be sane. Shakespeare was telling us, it seemed to me, that relativism was not just crazy, it was make-believe crazy, because even the people who proclaimed it did not believe it deep down. If, after all, there is no truth, how could it be true that there is no truth? If there is no absolute morality, how can you condemn the morality of considering my culture better than another? Relativism made no sense, as Shakespeare clearly saw.

Andrew Klavan, The Great Good Thing:
A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ

Worth a Thousand Words: Ships

Franklin Booth, Ships
via The Franklin Booth Project

Well Said: God is not susceptible to proofs and disproofs

Anyway, God is not susceptible to proofs and disproofs. If you believe, the evidence is all around you. If you don’t believe, no evidence can be enough.

Andrew Klavan, The Great Good Thing:

A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ