A cool summer morning in the Texas Panhandle

Taken by Traces of Texas

Daffodils

Daffodils, Edward B. Gordon

Good Friday was the perfect day to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

This is my fourth time through the series - there couldn't possibly be a better day to read the end of this book (of the series) than on Good Friday. Everything about Harry as a Christ figure resonates so strongly against the backdrop of Christ's passion which is so present during the Triduum. Really perfect.

What a series. Rowling wrote a master work. No character is left without motivation, no one is all good or all evil (except Voldemort, and even he is pitiable as seen in the way station).

See Me on a Live Webcast on OSV Today - 1 Central Time

This webcast will be a half-hour interview about - of course - my new book Thus Sayeth the Lord: A Fresh Take on the Prophets.

Here's where you can see it and it will be on-demand about an hour after we finish - so you can really see it any time at your convenience.

It looks as if you have to register to watch.

“God Does His Greatest Work Through Frail People” — My Interview with Tony Rossi

Though these stories are thousands of years old, Julie reiterates that they can apply to our lives today. She says, “These prophets were people just like us. We all are dealing with the Lord. What does He want us to do? Where are we God’s mouth, so to speak? These people were put in extraordinary circumstances and they had to really step it up. They were called to do big things, but in our own everyday lives, we’re called to do extraordinary things. They’re just not against the king. They’re with our next door neighbor, with our in-laws, with our children or our coworkers.”

My interview with Tony Rossi of The Christophers is available for your listening pleasure! :-)

The Kindle version is available at Amazon. The print version is now scheduled for June 1 (thank you coronavirus!).

The Haunted Lady by Mary Roberts Rinehart

It’s enough to stop Eliza Fairbanks’s heart. At least that’s what the elderly widow claims is being done to her. First, someone unleashes a cloud of bats in her locked bedroom. When that doesn’t do the trick, next comes a pack of rats to claw at her toes. Special duty nurse Hilda Adams, aka “Miss Pinkerton” to the Homicide Bureau, believes Eliza’s every rattled fear is true. She may be frail—but she’s not batty.

What Eliza is, is very, very rich. Out of the shady and oddball assortment of relatives swarming the mansion, someone clearly has an eye on the Fairbanks fortune. Now it’s Hilda’s job to keep an eye on Eliza before a potential killer resorts to more definitive means. And considering all the bad blood running through the heart of the Fairbanks family, it might already be too late to save her charge.

I enjoyed the heck out of this mystery from 1942. It is classic in just the way you want when the point of reading is to enter another world.

This is the classic mystery situation of the wealthy family full of disgruntled offspring. You can't tell who is simply calloused and who's up to no good. It's got bats, rats, ghosts, and spooky noises, none of which put Hilda off her sleuthing. The solution was perfect and I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out. All the clues were there.

A lot of fun for those who like older style mysteries.

Monet in His Studio Boat

Monet in His Studio Boat, Eduoard Manet

Manet painted Claude Monet in his Studio Boat in the summer of 1874 at Gennevilliers.

Partly no doubt because he was more interested in the old masters than the other Impressionists and took a more traditional view of the painter’s role in society, Manet was slow to take up the idea of painting on the spot, in the open air.

But that summer it all changed quite dramatically when he spent some time painting with Monet and Renoir at Argenteuil, a small town just down-river from Paris. There it was Monet’s convictions which especially affected him, and although he never became particularly interested in landscape as such, took to painting people out of doors.

Here he has captured Monet and his wife Camille in the boat which the painter used as a floating studio, rowing it up and down the Seine and stopping whenever he spotted a promising subject. Monet was often desperately poor, but could always rely on a loan from Manet – who was equally unpopular but less dependent on art for his income.

Wikiart article

St. Corona - pray for us anyway

Saint Corona

In the middle of March, Catholic news outlets began to report an extraordinary coincidence: not only is there a saint named Corona, but she happens to be the patroness of epidemics. Suddenly, her cult exploded. The internet was flooded with new prayers and litanies beseeching this obscure Saint Corona to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of the month, however, the “fact”-checkers at Snopes (those renowned experts on the Roman martyrology) announced that Saint Corona was not, in fact, a patroness of epidemics. ...

In truth, they’re right. There’s no history of Corona being invoked against plague and pandemic. Traditionally, she’s regarded as the patroness of gamblers and treasure-hunters. In fact, she probably went by the name Stephanie in her mortal existence.

But, then, who cares? Do these wet blankets really think Corona is going to refuse our prayers just because she’s not an officially designated plague saint?

This is a wonderful article which points out that historically it is not the Vatican who chooses what saints are the patrons of, it is the people. And, in the case of St. Corona, the people have spoken! Plus, we can ask any saint we like for intercessory prayer, whether or not it is under their patronage.

I really love this bit of the article, which you should go read in its entirety.

We might imagine the popular patrons all rushing here and there, furiously answering petitions. St. Christopher is dashing between fathers who are setting off on long car trips; St. Anthony is tending to busy mothers who have lost their car keys. And there, amid all this bustle, sweet Corona sits on her little throne. Now and then she hears the plea of an Italian grandmother asking for help with her son’s gambling debt but, otherwise, her days are rather uneventful.

Then, suddenly, a loud roar goes up from the earth. The heavens quake; St. Peter’s book nearly falls from its pedestal. Saint Corona almost takes no notice, expecting St. Michael to fly into battle with his flaming sword or St. Brendan to leap into the sea with his great life-ring. Then she notices St. Anthony and St. Christopher, St. Michael and St. Brendan, have halted in their tracks. All at once, they turn and look at her.

Saint Corona blinks. Then, at last, she hears a hundred thousand voices calling her name. Baffled, she looks up at Our Lord. He smiles. “They’re asking for you, Corona.” So she rises from her throne, puts on her crown of glory, and gets to work.

This vision of Saint Corona suddenly going to her new job brought to mind Jo Walton's wonderful story Joyful and Triumphant: Saint Zenobius and the Aliens.

It is short, maybe three pages so go read it at the link. Walton says she wrote it when meditating upon what life in Heaven would be like. It is a delightful companion piece to the imaginings above.

Note: I hadn't heard of St. Corona. Many thanks to Maria for bringing this article to my attention!

Iris

Frank Vincent DuMond, Iris, c. 1902

My favorite flower. Did you know that different colors of irises have different scents?

Lazarus and the Coronavirus

Beautiful. Ten minutes long, but worth every second.

Considering how heartbreaking it is not to be able to accompany our loved ones who are dying of the Coronavirus, it is striking to note that when told that Lazarus had died, Jesus replied, "I am glad that I was not there." What did He mean? How are we to understand His reply?

A careful look at the numbers for coronavirus in the U.S.

This pandemic, now that it has reached America, has taken 3,173 lives here. This, from a tested population of 164,359 cases. That’s a mortality rate of 1.9%. But immediately, questions must be asked. We record every case of death from the coronavirus, but we have no idea how many people have had the coronavirus. Clearly, there are more than 164,359 cases because not everyone has been tested. That would put the mortality rate at less than 1.9%. That rate could be far, far less. As Eran Bendavid and Jay Bhattacharya, professors of medicine at Stanford, have written, based on their model of over 6 million cases they believe exist: “That’s a mortality rate of 0.01%, assuming a two-week lag between infection and death. This is one-tenth of the flu mortality rate of 0.1%.”

William J. Bennett writing at RealClearPolitics has a good piece that helps us keep perspective. Or it helps me do so anyway. Read it all.

Coronavirus in Counties
This map from USA Facts lets you see the number of virus cases and deaths by county. As my husband reminded me, half the cases in the country are concentrated in a few places.

Just my deep breath moments over keeping the sense of perspective that most of the media lost long ago.

Holmes the busybody!

"I know you, you scoundrel! I have heard of you before. You are Holmes the meddler."

My friend smiled.

"Holmes the busybody!"

His smile broadened.

"Holmes the Scotland Yard jack-in-office."

Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most entertaining," said he.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Irises in Evening Shadows

Irises in Evening Shadows, Max Pechstein

Scott Danielson interviewed me about my new book!

Listen here at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast!

AND he just reviewed it, saying:

In "Thus Sayeth the Lord", Julie Davis has given us a book that makes the prophets accessible and personal. She helps us see the prophets as relevant and as living, breathing people in their time, each unique yet each called by God. I come away from this book feeling much closer to them than I did before, and with a new enthusiasm for the Old Testament as a whole.

Thank you, Scott!

The word is more real and more lasting than the entire material world

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away." (Mk 13:31) The word—which seems almost nothing in comparison to the mighty power of the immeasurable material cosmos, like a fleeting breath against the silent grandeur of the universe—the word is more real and more lasting than the entire material world. The word is the true, dependable reality, the solid ground on which we can stand, which holds firm even when the sun goes dark and the firmament disintegrates. ... [The] word of Jesus is the true firmament beneath which we can stand and remain.

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth—Holy Week

The Lonely Pope

Edward B. Gordon, The Lonely Pope

The artist says:

This time at the moment gives us pictures that we will not forget for a very long time. Pope Francis praying in the rain on the deserted St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Polish Godzilla Poster

Via J.R.'s Art Place

The Single Most Important Lesson of Mr. Rogers' Life

“If you had one final broadcast,” I asked, “one final opportunity to address your television neighbors, and you could tell them the single most important lesson of your life, what would you say?”

​He paused a moment and then said, ever so slowly: Well, I would want [those] who were listening somehow to know that they had unique value, that there isn’t anybody in the whole world exactly like them and that there never has been and there never will be. And that they are loved by the Person who created them, in a unique way. If they could know that and really know it and have that behind their eyes, they could look with those eyes on their neighbor and realize, “My neighbor has unique value too; there’s never been anybody in the whole world like my neighbor, and there never will be.” If they could value that person—if they could love that person—in ways that we know that the Eternal loves us, then I would be very grateful.

Amy Hollingsworth, The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers

Gospel of Matthew: A Lamp in the Hand of God and Stained Glass

Matthew 5:15

Out of order again, but this is worth backing up for. At least I think so ...

In the Lord's saying, "when a lamp is lit, it is not put under the bushel basket...," the word for "lamp" used (Greek word) actually means "portable lamp," and this makes the saying all the more poignant. It makes us, in fact, to be a lamp in the hand of God, a light that must allow itself to be moved about by Christ as he sees fit. The house is not lit up all at once but according to the need of the moment: now the kitchen, now the dining room, now the study or the bedroom requires light. Because it is Christ who has kindled his light, the Christian will also allow his Lord to choose the particular lampstand where he will shine, and when.

[...]

It would be a great mistake, however, for us to look too avidly for the proofs of the effect of our presence in the world. Inevitably, we would lose heart, because in the end we lack the means of measuring and judging things as God sees them. Who knows the true meaning and import of what transpires in a human heart, our own or another's? How can we know whether a negative sign, such as sadness and conflict, is not in fact the middle phase of a process that will culminate in much good? Our real business is to allow God to shed his light through us, and, since the light belongs to him, he will know where to focus it and to what effect. Our endeavor should be to make ourselves transparent so as not to eclipse his brilliance.

Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

The idea of being a lamp in Christ's hand doesn't get anywhere near the intimacy implied if we just think of a modern idea of a lamp. Reading Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs I was fascinated to see that lamps of the time were palm sized and would have shed light only where the person directed it. This is the lamp Christ would have been speaking of. Think of Him directing our light in the palm of his hand.

Reflecting upon this, I came across Thomas Merton's quote about transparency and God shining through.

Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time. This is not just a nice story or a fable, it is true.

And at about this time I was slowly working my way through Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis' encyclical on the Light of Faith. This passage about the give and take of God's deeds and life stories shone a light on my own mind.

Israel’s confession of faith takes shape as an account of God’s deeds in setting his people free and acting as their guide (cf. Dt 26:5-11), an account passed down from one generation to the next. God’s light shines for Israel through the remembrance of the Lord’s mighty deeds, recalled and celebrated in worship, and passed down from parents to children. Here we see how the light of faith is linked to concrete life-stories, to the grateful remembrance of God’s mighty deeds and the progressive fulfilment of his promises. Gothic architecture gave clear expression to this: in the great cathedrals light comes down from heaven by passing through windows depicting the history of salvation. God’s light comes to us through the account of his self-revelation, and thus becomes capable of illuminating our passage through time by recalling his gifts and demonstrating how he fulfils his promises.

It all came together for me at that moment. Is it original? Unlikely. But it was a moment of blinding reality when I realized that my life is the stained glass window that God shines through to show others His existence, to show them some facet of His face that they need at that moment.

It was part of an opening of my own mind in answer to that question of our lives being lived in the light of God's will and of our own free will. How much is God and how much is us? The stained glass does not turn on the light which illuminates it to others, but it does paint a story that may inspire others in some way.

I can't express this well but the image shines often in my mind's eye. It is a guide for me as I make my way through the day, hoping that God will shine through the stained glass of my life in a way that others will see.

This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

H-E-B - Prepared to handle any emergency, including Covid-19

Craig Boyan: Starting in January, we’ve been in close contact with several retailers and suppliers around the world. As this has started to emerge, we’ve been in close contact with retailers in China, starting with what happened in Wuhan in the early couple of months, and what kind of lessons they learned. Over the last couple of months, [we’ve been] in close contact with some of our Italian retailers and suppliers, understanding how things have evolved in Italy and now in Spain, talking to those countries that are ahead of us in the curve. We’ve been in daily contact, understanding the pace and the change and the need for product, and how things have progressed in each of those countries.

Justen Noakes: We modeled what had been taking place in China from a transmission perspective, as well as impact. As the number of illnesses and the number of deaths were increasing, obviously the Chinese government was taking some steps to protect their citizens, so we basically mirrored what that might look like. We also took an approach to what we saw during H1N1 in 2009, and later got on top of it. Our example was if we were to get an outbreak, specifically in the Houston area, how would we manage that, and how would we respond with our current resources, as well as what resource opportunities would we have.

Texas Monthly

I've mentioned before how much I love the Central Market and their parent grocery H-E-B. This (free) story shows why. They were planning, they were ready, they are considerate of their employees. And they kept my store stocked. Outstanding.