Worth a Thousand Words: Smoke of a .45

Charles Marion Russell, Smoke of a .45

Well Said: The Consequence of Sin

But I didn’t realize then that the consequence of sin is that you have to trample on other people.

Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter

This seems to me to be the theme of the entire book.

Many thanks ...

... to the person who bought me The Reed of God from my Amazon wish list.

Your kindness has touched me ... and provided excellent reading too! 

Weekend Joke: Boudreaux and Lent

Boudreaux walks into a bar and orders three beers. The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves Boudreaux three beers, which Boudreaux drinks quietly at a table, alone.

An hour later, Boudreaux has finished the three beers and orders three more. This happens yet again.

The next evening at the bar, Boudreaux again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several times.

This happens for several nights.

Soon, the people up and down the bayou are whispering about Boudreaux going to the bar and always drinking three beers at a time.

Finally, a week later, the bartender says "Boudreaux, I don't mean to be nosey, but everybody around here is wondering why you always order three beers at one time?"

Boudreaux replies, "You see, I have two brothers. One moved to Texas and de udder one to Mississippi. We promised each other dat we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keepin up de Boudreaux bond."

Everybody on the bayou was impressed with Boudreaux's explanation, and Boudreaux was the talk of the bayou.

Then, one day, Boudreaux comes in to the bar and orders only two beers.

The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening ... Boudreaux always orders only two beers. The word flies up and down the bayou. Prayers are offered for the soul of one of the Boudreaux brothers.

The next day, the bartender says to Boudreaux, "People on the bayou and I want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know - the two beers and all."

Boudreaux ponders this for a moment, then replies, "You'll be happy to hear dat my two brothers are alive and well. It's jus dat me, myself, has decided to give up drinkin' for Lent."

Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!

Celebrating Texas Independence.

Let us raise our margarita glasses high in tribute to the brave heroes of the Texas Revolution.

Yes it is Lent and Friday! We can still fast from meat and yet feast! Let's all celebrate with that classic Texan dish, Cheese Enchiladas. You can get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen where there is a recipe for classic style or casserole style.

Other recommended activities:

• Read Lone Star Nation
• Watch The Alamo

Many thanks to my friend Don for keeping important Texas holidays top of mind!

Worth a Thousand Words: Lemon and Water

Duane Keiser, Lemon and Water

Well Said: Christopher Lee on Tolkien

What Professor Tolkien achieved is unique in the literature of my lifetime. Indeed, in my opinion, he had reached the peak of literary invention of all time. Nothing like it has ever existed, and probably never will.

Actor Christopher Lee who reread
The Lord of the Rings every year since
The Fellowship of the Ring was published

Litany To Sanctify Work

I like litanies because, if prayed thoughtfully and slowly, they open a window into self examination ... for me at least. Today I share the litany which Magnificat published years ago and which I have long appreciated.

The Catechism teaches that "daily work ... if ... accomplished in the Spirit -- indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born -- all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (CCC 901). In a spirit of sacrifice, we consecrate our workday to the Lord and pray:

R: Lord, protect me.
From the temptation to be listless and lazy. R
From the temptation to complain. R
From the temptation to be critical of my boss. R
From the temptation to cheat or to be dishonest with others. R
From the temptation to gossip. R
From the temptation to lateness. R
From the temptation to waste time. R
From the temptation to be judgmental of my co-workers. R
From the temptation to procrastinate. R
From the temptation to be jealous or envious of others. R
From the temptation to be hypercritical. R
From the temptation to engage in idle conversation. R
From the temptation to be quick to take offense. R
From the temptation to shift my work onto others. R
From the temptation to impatience. R
From the temptation to cut corners or to be sloppy. R
From the temptation to give in to weariness. R

R: Lord, please grant it.
For the grace to be a peacemaker. R
For the grace to witness to you by word and example. R
For the grace to be energetic and committed. R
For the grace to be compassionate and forgiving. R
For the grace to offer up all tedium and drudgery. R
For the grace to be attentive to those in need. R
For the grace to be generous in sharing. R
For the grace to be prudent in dealing with others. R
For the grace to be kind. R
For the grace to be understanding. R
For the grace to fulfill my responsibilities well. R
For the grace to be patient and persevering. R
For the grace to put myself in others' shoes. R
For the grace to be dedicated and undistracted. R
For the grace to be honest and forthright. R
For the grace to be hard-working. R
For the grace to be free of stress. R
For the grace of insight to solve problems. R
For the grace of industriousness. R
For the grace to resolve conflicts and difficulties. R
For the grace to put up with hardships. R
For the grace to esteem the dignity of my co-workers. R
For the grace to be thankful for the chance to work. R
For the grace to spread the good news of the Gospel. R

Our Father ...

Worth a Thousand Words: Yellowhammers

Remo Savisaar, Yellowhammers

Well Said: Fiction is the lie that tells the truth

We writers -- and especially writers for children, but all writers -- have an obligation to our readers; it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were -- to understand that truth is not in what happens but in what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.

Neil Gaiman in a talk about libraries

Worth a Thousand Words: A Field of California Poppies

Granville Redmond, A Field of California Poppies

The Fourth Cup by Scott Hahn

Dr. Scott Hahn explains Christ's Paschal sacrifice on the cross as the fulfillment of the traditional fourth cup used in the celebration of Passover, drawing symbolic parallels to the Last Supper and Christ's death on Calvary. Through his scholarly insights and important biblical connections, Mass will come alive for you as never before.

I first encountered Scott Hahn's writing not long before I entered the Church. My godmother had given me Rome, Sweet Home which was co-written with his wife, Kimberly, and is their joint conversion story.

After that, I picked up A Father Who Keeps His Promises which traces, as the subtitle tells us, God's covenant love in scripture. I didn't know what that meant. I just wanted something more by that author. It proved formational as I was pulled into a new world where the Bible had layer upon layer of deeper meaning than I'd encountered before. It was not only formational in my faith life, but in my reading and movie viewing. I learned to dig deeper and find meaning everywhere.

I bring these experiences up because The Fourth Cup is something like a synthesis of both of those books, plus a little extra. Sparked by a teacher's question which seeming had no answer, Scott Hahn began trying to find out the meaning of Jesus's final words on the cross, "It is finished." What was the "it" which was finished? This sent him on a long journey which ended in Hahn's entering the Catholic church and digging deep into the meaning of Passover and Christ's death on the cross.

The Fourth Cup is part detective story, part memoir, part conversion story, and partly linking the Catholic faith back to Jewish roots. The entire mix is very easy to read and thought provoking. I found it inspirational and during Lent I have been very aware of the real meaning of "The Lamb" every time he is mentioned during Mass. Definitely recommended.

Well Said: God employs several translators in our life

All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another ...

John Donne, Meditation XVII

This comes from the famous "ask not for whom the bell tolls ... no man is an island" meditation. As you can see from the excerpt above there is richness throughout the whole thing, which is fairly short. Do go read the it all.

Worth a Thousand Words: Katsushika

Katsushika by Takahashi Shōtei

Well Said: Predestination

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.

Stephen Hawking

Lagniappe: A little meal of peace

Sometimes I rather like noise. The testosterone-fuelled roar of a football match heard from my back garden; the tired and blissfully happy sounds of a crowd singing along at a festival; the swoosh of a barista's steam wand. But most times I prefer peace and quiet. The sound of snow falling in a forest os more my style — something I have yet to hear this year.

There is quiet food also. The tastes of peace and quiet, of gentleness and calm. The solitary observance of a bowl of white rice; the peacefulness of a dish of pearl barley; running your fingers through couscous. The thing these have in common is that they are grains or something of that ilk. What is it about these ingredients that makes them so calming? Could it just be that they bring us gastronomically down to earth, show us how pure and simple good eating can be? This is food pretty much stripped of its trappings. This is, after all, the food that many people survive upon.

Nigel Slater, February 26, The kitchen diaries II

After reading so much from The Power of Silence it was interesting to come upon a meditation on silence from a completely different source.

Podcast Review: In Our Time

The show is beloved in the U.K.; for American podcast enthusiasts, it might be experienced as a refreshing change of pace. It’s nothing like the “This American Life” style of audio entertainment, marked by self-effacing narrative authority, inventive sound design, human intimacy of various kinds, and artfully revealed narrative surprises. It is not organized into themed seasons or arcs. Nor is it an NPR-style show about current events, scientific discoveries, or new books, satisfying a need to keep up with the cultural conversation. It’s just four intelligent people in a studio, discussing complex topics that are, as a friend of mine once said of Bragg’s openers, aggressively uncommercial.

Escape the News with the British Podcast "In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg"

There is really nothing like the eclectic selection of topics that are covered in In Our Time. Each week, host Melvyn Bragg and three experts delve into things I'd often never thought about, but am always glad I was exposed to by the end of the episode. Art, science, personalities, history, religion, philosophy, culture, and more are all grist for their mill. Moby Dick, The Bronze Age Collapse, Cephalopods (squid, octopus, etc.), The Congress of Vienna, and Frederick Douglass have all recently streamed through my iPod.

The experts vary with the topics so Bragg is the only constant, other than the endearing producer who ends each episode by bringing in the tea trolley. The conversation is unfailingly polite, even when there are basic disagreements, a la the manners we've seen in The Great British Baking Show. And Bragg's questions and observations bring everyone back on point when they stray from the path.

For more, do read the article linked above. It is a love letter with which I heartily agree.

In Our Time website

In Our Time iTunes

Worth a Thousand Words: Desdemona

Desdemona, Frederic Leighton

Black Panther

T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.

I remember seeing the Black Panther superhero show up in Captain America: Civil War, about which I remember only the basic details (plus many too-long fight scenes). However, I did remember Black Panther and the glowing reviews piqued my interest. Then a friend animatedly talked not only about the expected Marvel elements but about the fascinating point of the conflict between the hero and villain. And that piqued Tom's interest and fanned the flame of mine even hotter.

After seeing it last weekend I can say this is the only Marvel movie that I'd be interested in seeing more than once. Not only are the ideological points worth discussing, but the design and style are fresh and exciting. I really loved the used of so many African elements for architecture, clothing, and ceremonies. This movie is a visual feast.

For once, I wasn't bored during long fight scenes, largely because the action is broken up between four very different simultaneous fights. Also I loved the blending of classic superhero movie with James Bond elements. There is an inventor coming up with amazing tech, there is a counterpart to Felix from the CIA who helped James Bond (in this case the token white, instead of Felix's being the token black), and the scene in Busan screamed Bond movie. All very cleverly done.

Above all, the basic storyline is one which we all recognize but which is put forth in interesting, compelling terms. Black Panther rises above other Marvel films, however enjoyable they may be. Wakanda forever!

Weekend Joke

A man calls home to his wife and says, "Honey I have been asked to go fishing at a big lake up in Canada with my boss and several of his friends. We'll be gone for a week. This is a good opportunity for me to get that promotion I've been wanting, so would you please pack me enough clothes for a week and set out my rod and tackle box. We're leaving from the office and I will swing by the house to pick my things up. Oh! And please pack my new blue silk pajamas."

The wife thinks this sounds a little fishy but being a good wife she does exactly what her husband asked. The following weekend he comes home a little tired but otherwise looking good.

The wife welcomes him home and asks if he caught many fish. He says, "Yes! Lots of Walleye, some Blue gill, and a few Pike. But why didn't you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to do?"

The wife replies, "I did, they were in your tackle box."