Well Said: There is no entering in ...

The next morning we reach the Cilician Gates, and look out over one of the most beautiful views I know. It is like standing on the rim of the world and looking down on the promised land, and one feels much as Moses must have felt. For here, too, there is no entering in. ... The soft, hazy dark blue loveliness is a land one will never reach; the actual towns and villages when one gets there will be only the ordinary everyday world—not this enchanted beauty that beckons you down. ...

Agatha Christie, Come Tell Me How You Live

There is a lot of wisdom in that short observation. It's a lesson I always need to remember to apply to my own life. From far away, plans, dreams, desires, always look perfect. But it is close up, in the nitty gritty, where we live.

Genesis Notes: Hagar's Resume

I never thought of Hagar as a perpetual avoider, a run away, but there you go. And yet she also was thrust into a situation which most of us would find challenging, to say the least, when Sarah gave her to Abraham as a surrogate. We might also get in the habit of running away under those circumstances.

Matthias Stom, Sarah Leading Hagar to Abraham

Escape of some kind is usually the most tempting solution to our problems. In fact, it can become a habit. Hagar was a person who used that approach. When the going got tough, she usually got going -- in the other direction.

However, it is worthwhile to note that the biggest challenges Hagar faced were brought on by other people's choices.

Strengths and accomplishments:

• Mother of Abraham's first child, Ishmael, who became the founder of the Arab nations

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• When faced with problems, she tended to run away
• Her pregnancy brought out strong feelings of pride and arrogance

Lessons from her life:

• God is faithful to his plan and promises, even when humans complicate the process
• God shows himself as one who knows us and wants to be known by us
• The New Testament uses Hagar as a symbol of those who would pursue favor with God by their own efforts, rather than by trusting in his mercy and forgiveness
  

Vital statistics:

• Where: Canaan and Egypt
• Occupation: Servant, mother
• Relatives: Son - Ishmael

Key verse:
"Then the angel of the Lord told her, 'Go back to your mistress and submit to her.'" (Genesis 16:9)

Hagar's story is told in Genesis 16-21. She also is mentioned in Galatians 4:24, 25.

All quotes from Life Application Study Bible. 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: Entrance to the Underground

Entrance to the Underground
by Edward B. Gordon

Well Said: One does not set a Force in motion lightly.

“... But if I go with the Host ... then I go as an agent of the Holy Catholic Church, prepared to execute what I would consider the most spiritual rites of my office. Then I go as Christ’s representative on earth.” He was now looking at Matt seriously, solemnly. “I may be a poor excuse for a priest—at times I’ve thought so—a bit jaded, a bit cynical, and just lately suffering a crisis of ... what? faith? identity? ... but I still believe enough in the awesome, mystical, and apotheotic power of the church which stands behind me to tremble a bit at the thought of accepting your request lightly. The church is more than a bunch of ideals, as these younger fellows seem to believe. It’s more than a spiritual Boy Scout troop. The church is a Force ... and one does not set a Force in motion lightly.”

Stephen King, Salem’s Lot

Well Said: The worst form of inequality

The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.

Aristotle

And thousands of years later, here we are ... still in the same place.

Worth a Thousand Words: Lady with a Bouquet

Lady with a Bouquet. The artist's wife with flowers from the Viburnum 'Snowball' bush, Charles Courtney Curran

Well Said: God made the world beautiful because he loves us.

One July evening, cloudless, moonless, with just a hint of a humid breeze, her father took her out into the back yard in the dark and told her to look up at the sky.

From one horizon to the other, all across the black carpet of the night, were the stars — thousands of them, tens of thousands, in clusters and rivers of light. And in the quiet, her father said, “God made the world beautiful because he loves us.”

That was more than sixty years ago. … still, when she closes her eyes, she can see that carpet of stars and hear her father’s voice: God made the world beautiful because he loves us. Creation is more than an accident of dead matter. It’s a romance. It has purpose. It sings of the Living God. It bears his signature. And it's our home.

Charles J. Chaput, Strangers in a Strange Land

Worth a Thousand Words: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Strangers in a Strange Land by Charles J. Chaput

Strangers in a Strange Land: 
Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World
by Charles J. Chaput

We've spoken frankly so far about the American landscape as we now know it. Some of the words have been difficult. But candor is not an enemy of love. And real hope begins in honesty.

The current spirit of our country inclines us to be troubled. It's a sensible temptation. How can any one person or small group of people make a difference? How can we change and renew things so that our children grow up in a better world? We come back to a question suggested at the start of this book: How can we live in joy, and serve the common good as leaven, in a culture that no longer shares what we believe?

As we might expect from the author of Render Unto Caesar, this is a book which focuses on how we can live both an authentically Catholic life and an American life in changing, chaotic times.

The first half of the book examines our nation's history, especially as it is tied to religion; how our society became "post Christian;" and why it will not return to the way it was. That last truth hit me hard. I'm not someone who thinks restoring a few laws is going to change the national psyche but I think I felt as if everything would settle back into old norms at some point. Absorbing Chaput's explanation was tough. But if we don't know the truth, then we aren't on firm ground for future decisions. So I'm grateful.

The second half looks at where we go from here, as Catholics, as Americans. I found it realistic and hope-filled and inspiring. What is hope and how do we maintain it? How do Jesus' promises in the Beatitudes apply to our lives and times? What does it mean to be the "people of God" in a distracted and unbelieving age?

Chaput's answer is one that I have always felt is a basic truth, perhaps because I myself came from a completely secular life before my conversion. We begin by reforming our own hearts, being authentic Christian witnesses by living our own lives with conviction. We have to be in love with our faith and with God. That is what spills over as we go into the world for work, school, and all the things that make up a normal life.

It may not always be easy, but, let's face it, we've been spoiled. All you have to do is look at the way Christians are persecuted around the world to see that.

In different ways, with varying directness, Chaput repeatedly points out that people living a fully Christian life make a difference in the world.

Jesus uses three images to describe using our gifts for God's kingdom: salt, light, and leaven, or yeast. ...

Note the logic at work here. Yeast mixes with flour and makes dough rise. We sprinkle salt on our food, and the meal tastes better. We turn on the lights of a dark room so we can see. The yeast, salt, and light aren't the focus of our attention. Rather, they impart their qualities to something else to make it better. And so it should be with the work of the Church in the world.

Chaput directly addresses why withdrawing from the world won't work. I found his first reason the most compelling: "The world will come after us" because reminders of an abandoned past will be increasingly irritating. In his discussion of forming a Catholic identity, Chaput acknowledges the Benedict Option idea, albeit without naming it specifically, adding:

This is wisdom, so long as we don't give up on the good present in American society. We need to create places where Catholic culture can flourish and be handed down to the next generation. ...

I'm not a fan of the Benedict Option, at least as I've read about it to date, but I do think it has begun a much needed discussion. Catholics and, indeed, all Christians need to be mindful of the uneasy ground beneath our feet as our society goes through a watershed moment. Strangers in a Strange Land is a clear-sighted road map to where we've been and where we need to head now.

Well Said: Our place of holiness

We, the ordinary people of the streets, believe with all our might that this street, this world, where God has placed us, is our place of holiness.

Madeleine Delbrêl

Saint Junipero Serra's Camino by Stephen J. Binz

Saint Junipero Serra's Camino

A Pilgrimage Guide to the California Missions
by Stephen J. Binz

For each of the 21 missions, this guide offers you the street address for your GPS, the mission’s website, a brief history of the place, the story of the mission’s patron or namesake, and information about the mission bells. You’ll be given a tour of the mission church, as well as a prayer service for your visit.

But this book is much more than a simple travel guide. You’ll learn more about the life of Saint Junípero Serra, whose vision is responsible for this holy Camino. You’ll be enriched by two interwoven traditions: the Spanish Franciscan and the American Indian.

I've always been drawn to the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago, that ancient pilgrimage which treks over mountains and takes weeks to complete. I've also always known in the depths of my sensible heart that time and money will never allow that pilgrimage.

However, it never occurred to me that there is a camino of sorts in the United States. California has a well known string of twenty-one missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. On foot, on bike, or by car, that is within my reach. Stephen J. Binz has written an eminently usable guidebook which has all the usual practical travel guide info, ranging from GPS to area history to mission bell names.

I learned a lot about California's early history that I never knew before, including details about problems between native people, colonists, and soldiers. Binz also includes that the unintended consequences of Spanish evangelization which didn't always work out for either the missionaries or the natives. I really respected Binz's acknowledgement that history is never simple as we like to paint it, while he sorted through each mission's story.

What makes this more than a travel guide, however, is that Binz takes care to feed the traveler's spiritual side. He explores each mission's patron with the lessons they have for us in our times. Each entry includes a litany and spiritual readings from scripture or missionary letters. These are designed to make each mission visit into a visit with Our Lord.

The only thing I'd change would be to include more photos of each location and to print them in color. But if you want to make a camino pilgrimage, this is the most complete resource I can imagine.

Worth a Thousand Words: Embraced by the Raging Waves

Embraced by the raging waves
taken by Remo Savisaar

Well Said: Which path one chooses

As for me, I believe in a good God and in a life that is on the side of good, a life in which it is not a matter of indifference whether one takes one path or another.

Paul Claudel

Real Music by Anthony Esolen

Real Music

A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church
by Anthony Esolen

I am writing this book to bring back the words of great Christian hymns, most of which are no longer heard anywhere. These hymns are not pious sentiments (or, worse, self-celebrating sentiments or social propaganda) set to a catchy tune. They are works of art. They are, at their best, profound meditations upon the meaning of Scripture, their artistry serving to help us to see truths we may have missed or to hear in our hearts, not only in our ears, the implications of the Word of God for our lives. they are verbal and melodic icons of Jesus Christ.

I'm lucky enough to be part of a parish which offers a rich variety of music and our choice is the 11:00 Mass, where we often sing same great hymns that Anthony Esolen writes about in this stellar book.

Esolen's translation of Dante and his commentary on the missal, The Beauty of the Word, are favorites of mine. His adroit connecting of poetry and prayer with underlying meanings have often opened my eyes and inspired me. Naturally I was eager to see what he would show me in some of my favorite hymns. (Without the music, it's hard to have a complete experience so a CD of 18 beautifully sung hymns is included with the book, though that is far from the complete number that Esolen examines.)

He begins with the psalms and how many classic hymns have come from them. Then he looks at how the English poet would focus on a particular aspect of a psalm and develop it as a bit of theology for us to sing.

I've loved these hymns for their rich imagery and meaning but never made the sorts of connections that Esolen points out. That is why it is so good to have Anthony Esolen for a guide. He clearly loves the theology, poetry, and meaning of each hymn.

Here's an example, from the chapter "Who is Christ?"

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by Whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

The poetry is so straightforward that we might miss the artistry. Notice the word glory. That should surprise us. When Jesus went forth into the desert, what glory accompanied Him? No train of disciples, no fanfare, no parade, no earthquake. The glory, then, must subsist in the very absence of the manifestations of glory. It susbsists in loving humility—a glory the world misses.

Thus we can understand the first part of the stanza only in the context of the last part. This is what's glorious: Christ by Whom the world was brought into being (cf. Jn 1:3), Himself has fasted and has prayed. He Himself has done so. The pronoun is emphatic. The richness of the world's being—all things—is placed in contrast with Jesus' depriving Himself of food, and His attitude of complete openness, complete self-emptying, in prayer before the Father.

We sing These Forty Days all the time during Lent but until I read Esolen's explanation, the hymn never came fully alive.

Chapters range from The Psalms to the Nativity, the Cross and the Resurrection to Our Love for Jesus to The Glory of God, and, of course, much more. Not only does this book help us to enter into each song, it gives us spiritual food in helping us understand and grow closer to God.

I can't recommend Real Music highly enough. Read it and then go ask your music director to slip some of these classics into his regular repertoire. They're good for the soul.

Worth a Thousand Words: Projet d'aménagement de la Grande Galerie du Louvre

Hubert Robert - Projet d'aménagement de la Grande Galerie du Louvre (1796)
via Wikipedia

Perils of the Home Office

Political analysis pales when the kids pop into the room during a live BBC interview. And I thought it was bad when the dogs bark during a phone call.

(Video via The Guardian)

Well Said: Cornbread and Time

Shamelessly, I often opt to buy the boxed, inferior version of everything for the sake of time. Why is it that I utilize the most modern time-saving technology known to humankind and yet I never have enough time? I can't even find the time to make homemade cornbread. It's tragic.

Jacqueline Rhodes, The Soul of Soul Food
from The Spirit of Food

This is the modern curse and once we recognize it, we have to take determined steps to fix it in our own lives. A good way to start is to make a great batch of cornbread. I can help with that.

What We've Been Watching: Dietrich, Hepburn, Chess Playing, and a Big Shipwreck

Creature Comforts
★★★★★

Stop-motion animated series with a cast of animals, sound-biting on specific topics such as sporting adventures, Christmas, and visits to veterinarians. The show satirizes modern man on the street and documentary interviews, responding to unseen questioners. The voices of the characters are supplied by everyday people speaking varied regional accents, credited as The Great British Public. The creatures are portrayed in their own habitats. Creature Comforts was originally a short film, then a series of highly popular commercials, later a U.S. series. - Written by David Stevens, IMDB

We've been watching the American series which the library had in dvd format. These are surprisingly charming and funny. The animators did a great job of matching animals with recurring interview subjects and you feel as if you know them by the time they come around in different episodes. A gentle and humorous antidote to a stressful day!

The Scarlet Empress 1934
★★★★

Sophia Frederica (Dietrich) is minor German royalty who is is brought to Russia by at the behest of Empress Elizabeth (Dresser) to marry her half-wit nephew (Jaffe) and refresh the blood line. Sophia, renamed Catherine by the Empress, is a virtuous and innocent girl. Unfortunately nothing remains pure for long in the Russian court. We see sweet Sophia become Catherine the Great in a film that is a tour de force for both Dietrich and legendary director Josef von Sternberg.

The images from this movie may remain seared on my mind forever. Marlene Dietrich is completely believable in the range from pure innocence to the disillusioned empress who is subverting the mad tsar's army man by man. The surreal set designs reflecting the decadence and inner corruption of the court, making the spaces seem immense while simultaneously cramming everyone practically on top of each other. The direction which makes me finally see why this director was so acclaimed. I'm pretty sure I'll never watch it again but I know I'll never forget it.

A Night to Remember 1958
★★★★★

On April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, it had plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking with it more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. In his unforgettable render­ing of Walter Lord's book of the same name, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the ship's last hours.

I got this for my husband because it is supposed to be one of the most historically accurate movies made. I didn't expect to be so involved that the time flew by, that I would be moved to tears, that I would long for history to be rewritten. I know I will watch it again so I can track characters better through the story. A great film.

Queen of Katwe 2016
★★★★½

Living in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona (Madina Nalwanga) and her family. Her world changes one day when she meets Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) who coaches soccer and teaches children to play chess. Phiona soon becomes a top player under Katende's guidance. But she must learn more than the game as she is exposed to life outside Katwe. — Wikipedia summary


Oh the difference a director makes! In lesser hands than Mira Nair's this would have been an ordinary "family film." Instead we got a work with subtlety, nuance, and a definite sense of place.

It was a touch long. By the time we got to the final chess tournament I felt as if I'd been to two too many. However, in the long run that is neither here nor there.

The Philadelphia Story 1940
★★★★★

Katharine Hepburn is the daughter of a wealthy family and about to marry for the second time. In walks her cunning ex-husband Cary Grant with tabloid reporter James Stewart in tow and disrupts everything.

Casting, witty lines, examination of class, marriage, and judging others ... this film is practically perfect in every way.

I especially like the way they continually introduce typical comic misunderstandings or secrets upon which plot points would normally turn - only to clear them up almost immediately by having someone tell everyone what's really going on. It's a nice way to point out this is playing at a higher level than the normal comedy.

Lenten Friday Meatless Meal: North African Eggs

Eggs poached in a flavorful tomato sauce make a wonderful meatless meal and are a lot more filling than you would think. Get them at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Worth a Thousand Words: Anna Pavlova

Anna Pavlova by John Lavery