Library Cat

Library Cat, Belinda DelPesco

Belinda says:

My trusty studio assistant, Scout. He’s all about being helpful, especially if you need things like fur in the paint, shoe laces untied while carving details on a block, paint brushes scattered to the floor, or a lap warmer.

She's always got interesting information about how each piece was created. Click on the link to go to Belinda's blog.

Camel and Rider

Unglazed camel and Sogdian rider, taken by I, Sailko

I love the realism in this with the camel trying to bite the rider and the rider's arm out to protect the child behind him.

Birch Forest

Gustav Klimt, Birch Forest, 1903
via Arts Everyday Living

The bitterness of boyish distresses lies in the fact that we do not know that they are small.

The bitterness of boyish distresses does not lie in the fact that they are large; it lies in the fact that we do not know that they are small. About any early disaster there is a dreadful finality; a lost child can suffer like a lost soul.

It is currently said that hope goes with youth, and lends to youth its wings of a butterfly; but I fancy that hope is the last gift given to man, and the only gift not given to youth. Youth is pre-eminently the period in which a man can be lyric, fanatical, poetic; but youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of the world. But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul survives its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged; God has kept that good wine until now. it is from the backs of the elderly gentlemen that the wings of the butterfly should burst. There is nothing that so much mystifies the young as the consistent frivolity of the old. They have discovered their indestructibility. They are in their second and clearer childhood, and there is a meaning in the merriment of their eyes. They have seen the end of the End of the World.
G.K. Chesterton, Dickens

Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge (Giverny)

Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge, 1897–99, Claude Monet

We can see here what Claude Monet made of the bridge we saw him on yesterday.

Monet in his garden at Giverny

Monet, right, in his garden at Giverny, 1922

You live in an age that is twisted out its true pattern

...you must work to earn your salvation, in anxious fear. Both the will to do it and the accomplishment of that will are something which God accomplishes in you, to carry out his loving purpose. Do all that lies in you, never complaining, never hesitating, to shew yourselves innocent and single-minded, God's children, bringing no reproach on his name. You live in an age that is twisted out of its true pattern, and among such people you shine out, beacons to the world, upholding the message of life.

Philippians 2:12-15, Knox translation

This phrase, You live in an age that is twisted out of its true pattern, really struck me. Because there is nothing new under the sun. Paul lived in those times and so do we. I needed that reminder and also his encouragement, do all that lies in you, never complaining, never hesitating. Good stuff.

I just don't understand — and I probably never will

Once again we face great evil, this time in the slayings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. I wonder at my own simplicity as each time something horrific like this happens, my first thought is, "What is wrong with this person (perpetrator)?"

I really cannot understand.

Again it leads to serious questions of the sort we have seen throughout the Old Testament in particular as the people tried to make sense of evil, turning to God for answers that often were not forthcoming.

Just like people through the ages, maybe God can see the causes of evil, but we usually can't. Even when we can see an ostensible cause, it is often incomprehensible. The one thing we don't have over these situations is control. Of course, understanding and control are what we'd like because then we could possibly head these things off. Stop the evil, heal the potential perpetrators, save the victims.

But here we are in the imperfect world where we are often buffeted by chaos. Jesus' death on the cross shows he understands our pain and bewilderment and suffering more than we know ... and that he can use it to bring about victory over evil.

But, that's hard to see from our human standpoint.

So what do we do?

We help directly if we can.

We pray, always. For the souls of the victims, for their families and friends in the midst of shock and grief, and even for human soul who did evil's work. (That last is a hard one, but necessary for my own soul. I don't know how God metes out justice but I know that I'd be terrible at it. So that prayer is necessary for me to be able to trust God with it.)

We live our own lives fully and with confidence in Christ and for Christ. Every ripple for good we make in our own bit of the world helps Jesus enter the world with healing, making lives whole again. And it helps defeat evil.

Saint Michael Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
may God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell
Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Couch on the Porch, Cos Cob

Couch on the Porch, Cos Cob, Frederick Childe Hassam

Doesn't this look heavenly?

At the Seaside

At the Seaside, Edward B. Gordon

"Why me, Lord?"

I remember storming into the chapel one morning. I looked up at the Blessed Sacrament and said, "Today is not the day for problems, Lord. I've got a lot of pain and I can't take any more."

I was silent for a while. The Lord was too.

"Why me, Lord?" I finally cried out. "Why me?"

Then I just stared at Him. My eyes were fixed on the Holy Eucharist as if to say, "Well, answer me!"

There was a strange silence.

Then, after a few moments, a gentle Voice answered.

"Yes, Angelica," He said. "And why Me?"

Mother Angelica's Answers, Not Promises

Bends of the Emajõgi river

Bends of the Emajõgi river, Remo Savisaar

Click through to see the picture larger and drink in the full beauty.

A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament

A solid, up-to-date overview of contemporary scholarship's understanding of the language, literature, history, and culture of the ancient Hebrews; how the Old Testament is seen in the light of the New; and how each book is cited in the modern 3-year lectionary.

This book isn't for beginners, despite the title. This isn't a Bible basics overview for those who have little knowledge of the Bible. It is for those with scholarly interests or needs. I could see it being an excellent class text. As well as literary structure, cultural context, and historical perspectives, we get a look at how each Old Testament book was understood and used by New Testament authors.

Perhaps most valuable, and certainly unexpected by me, was the consideration of modern Biblical scholarship versus traditional teachings of authorship and when the books were written. Granted, these topics will not be of interest to everyone, but having recently come across statements in Wikipedia that David probably didn't exist except as a sort of King Arthur legend and that authorship of his psalms was likewise doubted, I wanted to get an informed opinion from a trustworthy source. The respectful, even-handed look at these questions, as well as that of Moses's authorship of the Pentateuch let me see the scholarly reasoning and counter-arguments and weigh them for myself. And left me admiring this book even more.

I advise looking at Amazon's sample and using the "surprise me" button to get a feel for the writing and thoroughness. You'll get to see large sections from deep within the text to give you a good idea of what's there. That's what made me take the leap and get it.

These two authors have done their readers a real service with this fine work. Definitely recommended as a resource and, if you are like me, for fascinating reading all the way through.

The only way in is on your knees

I never came into the church as a person who was being taught. I came in on my knees. That is the only way in. When people start praying they need truths; that’s all. You don’t come into the Church by ideas and concepts, and you cannot leave by mere disagreement. It has to be a loss of faith, a loss of participation. You can tell when people leave the Church: they have quit praying.

Actively relating to the Church's prayer and sacraments is not done through ideas. Any Catholic today who has an intellectual disagreement with the Church has an illusion. You cannot have an intellectual disagreement with the Church: that's meaningless. The Church is not an intellectual institution. It is a superhuman institution.

Marshall McLuhan, The Medium and the Light

Truer words were never spoken.

Miss Bailey with the African Shawl

Miss Bailey with the African Shawl, Edwin Augustus Harleston, 1930

Mother Angelica's Answers, Not Promises

From the founder of EWTN Global Catholic Network comes this profoundly practical, humorous, and common-sense approach to answering life's most vexing questions.

I was never much interested in EWTN though I knew it did untold good. Likewise, I was never really drawn to Mother Angelica, the nun who founded EWTN. However, I happened to be surrounded by people who sang her praises in 2003 when I was a fairly new Catholic. So I read this book and found that  Mother Angelica's sturdy common sense grounded in faith was good for both instruction and inspiration.

Recently, after passing along a favorite quote from this book, I wondered if it would be good to recommend to new Catholics. It had been so long that I had only a hazy memory of the contents so I picked it up again. It turns out that it is good not only for new Catholics but for those who've practiced the faith for a while. It was good to read Mother Angelica's steady advice and instruction again, a way to ground myself anew in the basics.

Examples from her life and those of people asking for advice alternate to give us real life examples we can relate to. She never discounts the realities of living daily joys, sorrows, and struggles, but also reminds us of the less tangible realities of loving God and of our ultimate goal of getting to heaven. I found it a good reminder of all those realities, a help on my journey, and inspirational overall.

Recommended for everyone.

Suddenly the wave crashed at my feet. … When I looked up, I noticed that a tiny droplet of water had hit the top of my hand. It was so beautiful. It glistened like a diamond in the sun.

The droplet affected me so deeply with its beauty that I felt unworthy of it, and to my own surprise, as I stood there, I threw it back into the ocean.

My odd little peace was broken when I felt the Lord say to me, "Angelica?"

I said, "Yes, Lord?"

"Did you see the drop?"

I said, "Yes, Lord."

"That drop is like all of your sins, your weaknesses, your frailties and your imperfections. And the ocean is like My Mercy. If you looked for that drop, could yu find it?"

I said, "No, Lord."

"If you looked and looked, could you find it?"

I said, "No, Lord."

And then He said to me, ever so quietly. "So why do you keep looking?"

A Second-Rate Turner

Because of today's featured art.

Art creates an incomparable and unique effect, and, having done so, passes on to other things. Nature, upon the other hand, forgetting that imitation can be made the sincerest form of insult, keeps on repeating this effect until we all become absolutely wearied of it. Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old-fashioned. They belong to the time when Turner was the last note in art. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on. Yesterday evening Mrs. Arundel insisted on my going to the window, and looking at the glorious sky, as she called it. Of course I had to look at it. She is one of those absurdly pretty Philistines to whom one can deny nothing. And what was it? It was simply a very second-rate Turner, a Turner of a bad period, with all the painter's worst faults exaggerated and over-emphasised.

Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying: An Observation

Westminster Sunset

Westminster Sunset, JMW Turner

Russian Balloon Seller

Russian Balloon Seller - streets of Petrograd
1881 Miss Rose Rayner

C.S. Lewis on listening to Hitler

On July 19, Lewis had been listening with Havard to a BBC broadcast of Hitler's "Last Appeal to Great Britain" address before the Reichstag, a litany of threats and promises beginning and ending with a call "to reason and common sense." Lewis was intrigued: "I don't know if I'm weaker than other people," he told Warnie, "but it is a positive revelation to me how while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little."

Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski, The Fellowship

Two days later Lewis was inspired to write The Screwtape Letters.