Walking Through Holy Week by Karen May

This year I invite you to experience Holy Week differently. These events are real. They are historical. They are shocking and devastating. They are surprising and exhilarating. In Walking Through Holy Week, you will see how each day allows us to enter into the action and be a part of the story. Imagine how different Easter will be when you experience the days leading up to it as the apostles did.

The Holy week masses are carefully designed to allow us to walk with Jesus through His passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. I love it whenever I learn more about the context and scripture because it opens up the stories and helps transform it into a personal experience. But I know there's plenty more to discover.

That's why I was so interested in Walking Through Holy Week and I really love it. Each mass is broken down by section, with an introduction to each reading, brief commentary, and questions for reflection. I especially appreciate that full scriptural readings are included so you don't have to look anything up. (Because I already know I'm not going to take the extra step to go look stuff up.) And there are additional scriptural references in the back for anything else that's referred to. I also like that the questions are thoughtful. They make you dig deeper.

For example, the first reading for Palm Sunday has the phrase, "This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled."

Have you ever wondered who that prophet might be, and how the reader is supposed to know about it? This reference is a combination of two verses. Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9, and would have been easily recognized by the Jewish people.

Well, no, it never occurred to me to ask that question. I always just take the gospel's word for it. The quoted verses are included with scriptural references in an appendix so they are easily found ... and they give much food for thought, especially when paired with the next two questions:

1. Read the passages from Isaiah and Zechariah 9. After reading these scriptures, what would you have expected Jesus to do after he entered Jerusalem?
2. The Book of Zechariah continues with descriptions of battle and triumph, but changes suddenly from tales of success and glory to descriptions of grief and desolation. Read Zechariah 12:10-13:1. What are some of the things that point to what Jesus is about to do?

I suddenly understood why people expected a triumphal political leader ... and what the reality was that Jesus had come to achieve. It is all there, set up for us by the two ancient prophets.

Modern parallels are also included to help you relate to how regular people at the time would have thought and felt. They are particularly effective especially since they stay away from dwelling on the sentimental. For example, to give an idea of how Jesus' arrest would have struck faithful believers, we are asked to imagine that Pope Francis has been captured by ISIS and put on trial. There is a thrill of shock at the idea and it helps us remember the vivid horror of events covered in Holy week.

Since stations of the cross are traditional for Good Friday, each of them is covered with the same thoroughness.

Use it during Holy Week or use it all during Lent as a study. This book is a real treasure for anyone who wants to enter into Lent and especially Holy Week more fully. Although it is centered on the mass readings and Stations of the Cross, any denomination of Christian is going to get a deeper understanding of Christ's passion, crucifixion, and resurrection.

The Buccaneer

Since our discussion of the Ten Commandments airs today, I couldn't resist this wonderful poster (with so much shirtless goodness) for a favorite movie from my youth, though I only got to see it on Saturday afternoon movies on TV. And it stars Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner! Directed by Anthony Quinn who was Cecil B. DeMille's son-in-law at the time, since DeMille was too ill to do the project as a remake of his earlier 1930s version.

So there are many parallels with the Ten Commandments. Aside from the fact that this is just a really fun popcorn movie and the Ten Commandments is that and much, much more.

The Hebrew People and God's Special Protection

As human author of the Bible, the Hebrew people asserts that it is in receipt of spiritual assistance, inspiration; as an actor in biblical events, it declares that it enjoys God's special protection, the Covenant. To what extent does a historical view of the facts corroborate these two assertions?

From the purely literary point of view, there is a problem that is insoluble if we rule out divine intervention: how was this people without arts, philosophy, and any particular natural endowments able to produce this incomparable masterpiece, while people infinitely more advanced intellectually have left books full of gross moral and religious errors?

Fom the strictly historical point of view, how was this tiny people — in the time of Solomon's splendor, it never exceeded a million souls — able to exert such widespread influence? Persecuted, tortured, reduced in the dark days of the captivity "by the waters of Babylon" to fewer than a hundred thousand exiles, how was it able to survive right up to the present day, while mighty empires all around it have left us only ruins, inscriptions, and mummies? And why did the long trial that was its destiny lead it step by step, from suffering to suffering, ever upward toward revelation?

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Graveyards, Babies, and The Jungle Book

Jesse, Maissa, and I discuss Neil Gaiman's wonderful homage to The Jungle Book ... which manages to be both a tribute and altogether original. Get it at SFFaudio.

A Cloudy Day, Bluebonnets

Julian Onderdonk, A Cloudy Day, Bluebonnets, near San Antonio, 1918
via Arts Everyday Living

The Mass gave full expression to the truths and mysteries of Christianity.

As with beauty and imagination, the order and symbolism of public prayer were bound up with truth. The Mass gave full expression to the truths and mysteries of Christianity. The Cross was there, but so was our Lord's crucified body, with the pierced side, the bloodied hands, the scourged and welted back, the thorns cutting into the forehead. His sacrifice was present. And so was the Virgin, who had given him flesh from her own flesh, nursed him from her bosom and accompanied him to the last. She was our link to the Incarnation — how could we leave her out of worship? ...

Without Mary, Christianity risked losing the truth about Christ's own identity — the union of two natures, divine and human, in one person — and drifting toward Gnosticism of various kinds.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Coffee and potatoes

Albert Anker, Still life: coffee and potatoes
via Lines and Colors

Assyrian Horses

Assyrian horses, alabaster bas-relief from Nineveh, 7th century BC

Band Baaja Baaraat (Band Music and Revelry)

Bittoo meets Shruti when he crashes a wedding for free food and she tries to have him thrown out. He's interested in flirting but she's all business about her future, which does not include romance. That's ironic because she's going to begin a wedding planning service. When his father wants Bittoo to return to the sugar cane farm, Bittoo throws in his lot with Shruti's. It's strictly business. Of course.

This is a solid romantic comedy and a much better movie than the description makes it seem. The script often surprised me by taking unexpected turns. Probably the most refreshing bit was that it focused much less on the problems of running a wedding planning company than those of their relationship. Normally that wouldn't be a plus for me but these two actors elevated the movie and with the plot twists it all worked. Plenty of songs and dance numbers kept it fun and the item number is wonderfully over the top.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

 Hannah and Rose review this on An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

March Snow

Edward B. Gordon,
Today the snow blustered over land and sea. Flakes as big as handkerchiefs danced in the wind.

Nothing like that here so maybe that's why I like the painting!

"Freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God."

Too much autonomy was as likely to yield despotism as the hideous statist projects of the last century. True freedom, Benedict [XVI] taught, was something else. It was "freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God." To know what God wants and to bring oneself into conformity with the transcendent order of the universe, then, was freedom. That was the essence of Israel's joy, what set it apart from the pagans with their idols and god-emperors. The Christian, however, had the added joy of knowing the "face" of the law: self-sacrificial love. The road to fullest freedom ran through the Cross.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Rewatching Secretariat: "He holds not back at the sound of the trumpet."

I first reviewed this movie in 2010 after a preview screening but recently rewatched it. I was surprised at how much I loved it still and how inspiring it was. I shouldn't have been surprised. For one thing it was Roger Ebert's movie of the year. 

I thought I'd rerun the review in case you forgot it too ... or missed it the first time around.

Do you give the horse his strength, and endow his neck with splendor?

Do you make the steed to quiver while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?

He jubilantly paws the plain and rushes in his might against the weapons.

He laughs at fear and cannot be deterred; he turns not back from the sword.

Around him rattles the quiver, flashes the spear and the javelin.

Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground; he holds not back at the sound of the trumpet,

but at each blast he cries, "Aha!" Even from afar he scents the battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.

Job 39:19-25

These are the opening words of the movie, Secretariat. It is part of God's speech to Job when asking him where he was when God made the world. Unusual as it is to hear a long passage from the Bible quoted when showing us a racehorse glorying in running, it is nonetheless a perfect definition for the true story of Secretariat and his owner, Penny Chenery.

In 1969, Penny Chenery is a Colorado housewife and mother when she must take on the management of her ailing father's Virginia horse stables. Struggling to make ends meet, she hires veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) who is haunted by past big losses. When a crucial decision must be made about which colt may become a winning racehorse she goes against conventional wisdom in what will become a pattern for the future. Using her hard won knowledge, innate sense of what is right, and stubborn determination to never give up, Penny Chenery makes great inroads into the male-dominated business.

There are inevitable strains on family and marriage as Chenery continually commutes and runs the business as well as being a wife and mother. These are not a large part of the movie but are nonetheless important subtext for what Chenery accomplishes, as is the parallel journey with a daughter who is discovering her true self. Although most of the attention is on Chenery's struggles, we also become well acquainted with that incredible horse, Secretariat, including his prodigious appetite, trademark late start from the gate, sheer joy in running, and endearing love of the limelight.

It is no secret that Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, but just as in watching the movie Apollo 13, knowing the outcome in no way detracts from the tension when viewing this film. This is a true story that reads like a work of fiction with myriad unbelievable twists and turns. I remember watching the three races in which Secretariat ran and the truly amazing performance he gave at The Belmont, in the crowning victory. However, I had no idea of what was at stake or the road traveled to get there and this behind-the-scenes story was fascinating.

The overall message is that we must live life to the fullest, joyfully, and to strive with all that is in us to do our utmost. Emphasizing that message was the unashamed reference to religion in the movie. From the beginning when the book of Job is quoted at length, to joyous gospel songs at two crucial scenes, to the stable hand Eddie's comments about lifting each other up, there is a definite subtext of faith which is as rare these days as it is welcome. This is skillfully done without ever clubbing the viewer over the head, which is also welcome.

This is not a perfect movie. The missteps seemed to always be in a desire to "help" the audience understand the movie better. I am not sure whether it was the director or studio who felt that the audience wouldn't understand the speed and power of the horses in some of the close racing scenes without using modern editing techniques (removing frames perhaps?) to make the motion seem faster. The overall effect, however, was to give us less to see of the very thing that they wanted to celebrate, namely the power and speed of these graceful animals and their riders as they compete. Reality, in this case, did not need enhancement. Likewise, when one of the daughters said her mother was "Awesome," I winced. Not in 1973. She'd have said her mother was cool or groovy. We get it. Stay in character. Conversely, the place where we could have used the help was in including a long shot of the end of the Belmont race, where one really needs a visual demonstration to understand the enormity of just how that race turned out. However, these are relatively minor flaws and easily overlooked.

I was stunned when director Randall Wallace appeared at our preview screening. He spoke feelingly about his pride in making a family movie celebrating time honored virtues which anyone in America could watch. He can be rightly proud of this accomplishment in telling an incredible story in a captivating, inspirational way. As the movie began I was reminded of the movies that Disney used to make long ago. Toward the end, it had surpassed them in the richness of the storytelling.

The question on everyone's mind going into this movie is most probably, "How does it compare with Seabiscuit?" I can tell you that it would be like comparing apples and oranges. Both are enjoyable in their own ways. Seabiscuit was more of a period piece and multiple character study. This is a straight forward, inspirational movie of the same sort as The Blind Side. The actors are not called upon to stretch their talents in part because they are telling a straight forward story. The possible exception to this might be John Malkovich who, for a change, was not playing John Malkovich as is the trend lately. He turned in a charming and likable performance as the quirky, flamboyantly dressed, but overall normal trainer.

Highly recommended.

Courtesan

Courtesan (after Eisen), 1887, Vincent van Gogh

Its beauty was the work of human hands yet transcendent in effect.

This [church] was a holy place, set apart from the banality and corruption of human affairs. It was a place of right worship. Its beauty was the work of human hands yet transcendent in effect. Here beauty paid an enduring homage to the theological precepts that inspired and preceded it. And if metalwork and masonry and painting directed my imagination to spiritual realities, was that not because Almighty God had blessed me with a receptive imagination in the first place?

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Montmartre

Vincent van Gogh. Montmartre. Paris. Autumn 1886.

Garden of the Hospital in Arles

Garden of the Hospital in Arles, Vincent van Gogh

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Luncheon of the Boating Party, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This is a favorite of practically everyone, with good reason.

I completely agree with the sentiments of actor Edward G. Robinson who said, "For over thirty years I made periodic visits to Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party in a Washington museum, and stood before that magnificent masterpiece hour after hour, day after day, plotting ways to steal it."

For a wonderful look at who all these people are, check the link above.

Lord of the Rings — Resources for Digging Deeper

Some of my favorite resources for opening up the Lord of the Rings. (For resources on The Hobbit, look here.)

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AUDIOBOOKS
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Listening to the audiobooks along with the Tolkien Professor (below) is what helped me get through The Lord of the Rings the first time. At that time the only option were the Rob Inglis recordings. They are beloved by many although I never felt they were more than serviceable. 

Much more recently Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the movies, demonstrated his other talents by recording The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These are masterful readings and I highly recommend them.

Listen to both and you'll find your own perfect audio entry into The Lord of the Rings.

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MY ESSENTIALS
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These are the resources that brought the book alive for me
Your milage may vary. (Which is why I have plenty of other options below!)

The Tolkien Professor

Undergraduate Tolkien Survey

This is what began opening up The Lord of the Rings for me. After listening to these recordings of Corey Olsen's class, I was determined to read the book, despite having failed several times to get further than The Fellowship of the Ring. Thanks to the audiobooks and these classes, I did it! I've now read it over 10 times.

Download the classes from the link above. They are clearly labeled and if you only want Lord of the Rings, begin with week 8.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: 

Understanding Middle-Earth

by Bradley J. Birzer

My absolute favorite. Simply excellent overview that ties together Tolkien's underlying worldview from both his life and from his literature.

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LISTENING
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Mythgard Academy

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

The Return of the King

The Tolkien Professor was so popular that Corey Olsen was able to begin Mythgard Academy, offering free on-line book courses and later branching out into an actual on-line university. If you like the Tolkien Professor's classes, these are essentially the same but more in-depth. I love them. Scroll down at the link to see all the past classes, beginning with the LOTR ones. There are links for different ways to get them - watching or listening.

 

Close Reads

Their conversation is not afraid to dip into Christian viewpoints which resonate with my own take and deepen it considerably. The classical viewpoint also adds richness to appreciating the wisdom J.R.R. Tolkien has woven into the story. The Close Reads discussions equal and complement the Mythgard classes in the best possible way. If you're a Tolkien fan and a Christian you're going to want to try this out. The $5 Patreon subscription gets you access to the LOTR discussions. My full commentary of their series is here.

 

A Good Story is Hard to Find

Scott and I did a two-part series on the book. Part 1, Part 2.

(We also discussed the movies in this episode. Because, you know, we're completists.)

SFFaudio Podcast

Because one set of discussions was not enough (when is it ever?) ... I also joined this discussion with Jesse, Seth, and Maissa at SFFaudio.

This is a 6-part series as we talked about LOTR following the way Tolkien divided the books up in sections.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

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READING

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The Gospel According to Tolkien: 
Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth

by Ralph C. Wood

The Gospel According to Tolkien examines biblical and Christian themes that are found in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Some of the insights I already knew, but others are from things I didn't know referencing a larger literary view, Tolkien's past, history, and Christianity. Wood is a graceful and interesting writer. I bought this one.

Lord of the Elves and Eldils: 
Fantasy and Philosophy in C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

by Richard L. Purtill

I was surprised to see that quite a bit of this winds up addressing Tolkien's critics. I had no idea how many people, both positively and negatively inclined, have tried to shove The Lord of the Rings into their own narrow worldview. It is really interesting to see how much broader Tolkien, with his devout Catholic worldview, has managed to be simply because he himself wanted to write a story that was pre-Christian. I bought this one. My full review here.

The Power of the Ring:
The Spiritual Vision Behind the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
Stratford Caldecott

A great book looking under the surface of The Lord of the Rings and, indeed, all of Tolkien's writing through the lens of his devout Catholicism. This book impressed and inspired me so much that I began reading more of Caldecott's books including All Things Made New, The Radiance of Being, and Fruits of the Spirit — all of which I highly recommend.

 

The Battle for Middle Earth:
Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings
by Fleming Rutledge

Instead of zeroing in on themes and then pulling examples from throughout the text, Rutledge takes the unusual tactic of working her way through the book from beginning to end, commenting along the way on the links between the book and Christian themes. It is very effective because we can see the themes develop and grow as the story itself grows in complexity. There are many good insights that open up the book even further for the attentive reader. My full review is here.

The Philosophy of Tolkien: 
The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings

by Peter Kreeft 

 

This was like a class in applied philosophy. Peter Kreeft looks at the philosophies embodied in The Lord of the Rings and also explains basic philosophical concepts along the way. It is obvious that Kreeft just loves The Lord of the Rings and it is hard not to join in with that enthusiasm. I was able to grasp the philosophical concepts with an ease that I usually don't feel.

My full review here.

 

 

On the Shoulders of Hobbits: 

The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis

 by Louis Markos

I've read several other books looking deeper into The Lord of the Rings, in particular, and this book still managed to provide new ideas for reflection. Markos really does a fantastic job of revealing the characteristics of various characters in Middle-Earth and Narnia and the virtues we can see in them. This is a thoughtful and thought provoking book which I can't recommend highly enough. My full review here.

 

The Fellowship: 
The Literary Lives of the Inklings 
by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski

I've read enough about Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings that I resisted this behemoth of a book at first. What hooked me was that the authors delve into both their faith and their literary works more deeply than the other things I've read. I read slowly, just picking it up here and there, and it was oh so satisfying. My full review is here.

J.R.R. Tolkien: 
A Biography 
by Humphrey Carpenter

Like Dr. Who's TARDIS, we're all bigger on the inside and Tolkien's inner landscape held a vast imagination coupled with interest in so many topics that he was sometimes unable to finish a project unless prodded by deadlines or friends. It is Humphrey Carpenter's ability to reconcile Tolkien's inner and outer man, while including his popular fiction in the timeline, that make this book so riveting. We feel we truly know J.R.R. Tolkien by the end. My full review here.

cover begins here

The "Steadying Brakes" of God's Laws

A single novel — a single sentence! — unlocked a great truth for me. Man needed the "steadying brakes of God's laws and the sacrifice of One who stands in for all of history's victims and perpetrators. The old "thou shalts" and the heartbreaking sacrifice that I read about in Saint Matthew's Gospel were a bulwark against totalitarianism, perhaps the only durable ones. The God who revealed himself in the moral law, and who condescended to be scourged by his creation — this God was a liberator.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water

Tuna Boat at Sea

Maxime Maufra, Tuna Boat, 1907
via Arts Everyday Living