Christianity's leaves, flowers, root, and fruit

The rules and rituals of Christianity are not its core, but its leaves. Joy, the kind of joy that none of life's contrarieties can diminish, as the lives of countless saints from every walk of life so powerfully attest to, is its flower. But its root is God's love, and its fruit is God's love lived out in the humdrum routine of daily life by the followers of Christ.

John Bartunek, The Better Part

The Hobbit Cover

The illustrations for The Hobbit were drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. This cover shows his unique style and I simply love it.

Gospel of Matthew — Oil for Our Lamps

Matthew 25: 1-13

I like the point that the foolish virgins may not have done anything big to have empty lamps. Filling them with oil is just a little detail. But little details make a big difference, as we will see.

Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

First an overview of how the foolish virgins relate to our own Christian lives.

The Holy Spirit is teaching us that it is not enough just to have started out on the path that leads to Christ; we have to remain on it, continually alert, because the natural tendency of every man and woman is to lower the level of self-giving that the Christian vocation requires. Little by little, almost without realizing it, the soul gives in to the tendency to make Christ's call compatible with a comfortable existence. We have to be eternally on our guard against the pressure of an environment whose guiding principle is the insatiable search for comfort and the easy way. If not, we will end up like those maidens. ...

In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez, vol. 4

Sadly, I have to admit that sounds all too familiar to me. However, here are a few practical ways to think about this (and practice discipline).

On one level, it may not seem like a big deal to forget your oil—again. Or to show up to work ten minutes late every day. Or always to make time for watching TV but not enough time for prayer. The habits may be deeply ingrained, but every time we give in to them, we become a little more self-centered, and our ability to love God and the people around us diminishes. ...

What do you need to do to keep your flask filled with oil? Perhaps you could set your alarm a little earlier so that you are sure to have enough time to pray each morning. Maybe you could give up one night of television each week and offer to volunteer at church. The particulars may vary from person to person and day to day. But what’s important is finding a way to focus your life on God so that he can keep filling you with the “oil” of his love and grace. Because you never know when Jesus might show up!

Word Among Us, August 2020

Excerpts are from sources listed here. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Listen Up — Soundtrack Podcasts

I've lately come across several podcasts which celebrate  movie soundtracks. In one sense they're a lot alike. They all take in-depth looks at how the score serves the story, what makes it tick, and how the composer pulls it off in their own unique way. However, each has a different enough focus and hosts that I like them all. In each case I come away marveling at what the music was "saying" that I didn't know enough to hear. It's really fun.

I haven't listened to every episode on any of these podcasts but I've sampled plenty — certainly enough to want to share them with you.

 I found all these via iTunes but I'll include the website links for each.

 

This is the first soundtrack podcast I discovered. Listening to David Collins' polished yet enthusiastic two-part presentation about Jaws hooked me. And that's quite a feat, considering that I don't like the movie that much.  

He has a real love of John Williams and, in fact, I think he had an entire podcast devoted to him before this one. Luckily, he looks at movies scored by other composers too, although this podcast is heavily weighted toward Williams. Ranging from Morricone's music for spaghetti westerns to Casablanca to features about Max Steiner and Wagner as the first Lord of the Ring, there's a lot of variety to choose from. He does all this in terms that anyone can understand.

Episodes are usually half an hour although they occasionally run longer and there are often 3-4 part series of episodes about one movie. The Soundtrack Show website is here.

These three Australians (Andrew Pogson, Dan Golding and Nicholas Buc) crack me up. They are clearly good friends and just as clearly love music and movies. They know lots about the mechanics of music but when they go deep they manage to do it without making it mind-numbing, which is no small accomplishment. I also enjoy how often they find a piece of music  reflecting elements from other pieces in completely different films, which they'll then play for comparative listening. They'll review music form TV  (don't miss the Star Trek episode) and video games as well.

This is probably my favorite of these four podcasts. I find it hard to stop listening to these guys.

Episodes are usually 1-1/2 to 2 hours long with a fairly even mixture of single episodes and two-part series. The Art of the Score website is here.

 

Jon and Andy began their look at film scores by tackling the AFI's list of the 25 greatest film scores. They've since gone on to whatever catches their ear, ranging from new (Interstellar) to old (Spartacus).  I like the later shows better since at the beginning they tended to get a little bogged down in whether they liked the movie that went along with the AFI score.  Regardless, they have good chemistry and cover the music very interestingly.

They don't get too bogged down in what I call "music speak" which leaves the average non-music literate (like me) in the dark. They're also the only one of these podcasts that haven't geeked out over John Williams yet. Whether that is a good or bad thing, I leave to your judgment.

Films are covered in single episodes, just over an hour long. Settling the Score website is here.

 

Hosted by brothers Marty & Will Brueggemann, UnderScore is a podcast dedicated to celebrating the rich tradition of movie music one film at a time.

And when they say "rich tradition" that means these two are doing a very deep dive into every film. Each movie is covered in four episodes which cover, in turn, main theme, additional themes or songs, cues, and spotting (or commentary) of the full film. They also will discuss music very technically sometimes. I love their enthusiasm during those moments as each one's interest feeds the other's excitement. "I know! That chord structure would be ruined in thirds!" (Or something like that.) I just let it wash over me and, to be fair, they do explain what they are talking about. I'm just not as interested on a technical level, which is why I generally listen to the first two of each series. That said, those discussions are fascinating and I love the brothers' musical camaraderie. If you want a good sample, listen to their most recent episode about The Wizard of Oz. Really wonderful stuff.

Episodes usually run half an hour to an hour long. This podcast has been in hiatus since mid-2019 but there is plenty there to enjoy. The UnderScore website is here.

Meiji tunnel Shizuoka

Meiji tunnel Shizuoka, AsunoAkari via Find/47

 

The Tobolowsky Files are back

I've listened to this podcast almost from the beginning, way back in 2009. There haven't been any new episodes since 2017 though. Until today!

That's good news for everyone who knows just what a great storyteller Stephen Tobolowsky is. He's the character actor that you didn't know you knew. (Groundhog Day's Ned Ryerson, to mention just one great role.)

 From growing up in Dallas to attending SMU to breaking into the movie biz in LA, Stephen brings humor, humanity, and sometimes inspiration to his stories.

Get it at iTunes or his website.

Dinner with a Long Spoon

 My people tell a story about the great Ever After, one that reminds my mother of Sis. In the story, a rich and selfish man is condemned to hell, and is ushered into an endless dining hall. He sees a great banquet laid out before the assembled people there, a feast of dripping, roasted meats and savory soups and sumptuous stews. The devil's imps file down the table to pass out spoons, but the spoons are longer than the arms of the men and women gathered there. They cannot, as hard as they try, get the delicious food into their mouths, and a wailing and gnashing of teeth echoes and echoes through the great hall.

Meanwhile, in heaven, Saint Peter welcomes another new arrival, a common and generous man, into a similar great, long banquet hall. The newcomer sees another grans feast laid out before the diners assembled there. But, disconcertingly, the man sees the waiters pass out the same spoons as the ones passed out to the diners in hell, all of them too long for people to feed themselves. "How then," the crestfallen man asks Saint Peter, "can this be heaven?"

Saint Peter smiles.

"Because in heaven," he says, "we feed each other.

Rick Bragg, The Best Cook in the World

Spoon

Spoon, Duane Keiser

I love using the reflection to show the artist.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #23 — Matchstick Men

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Nicholas Cage is a con artist whose successful cons can't compensate for the fact that his numerous phobias leave him no way to have any personal life. Sam Rockwell is his partner and they are in the middle of pulling off a potentially lucrative scam when Cage discovers he has a teenage daughter who arrives unexpectedly to live with him. What then unfolds is a story of learning to parent interspersed with pulling off the con. The two stories become entangled which leads to increasing tension. 

You don't get much more of an anti-hero than Nicholas Cage's character in this role. As for style, granted it is that of the 60's more than today but that is more than compensated for by the sheer attraction of watching the con go on. More than anything, however, I was struck by the sheer potential for change and growth that Cage's character discovers. The end, which I won't reveal here, struck me as an extremely Catholic one.

Cajun Meatball Fricasse

I'd never heard of this dish but it is quite good and makes a nice change from the regular idea of meatballs derived from Italian or Swedish roots. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

History's Queen by Mike Aquilina

 

In History’s Queen, you’ll learn about the many ways Mary has left her mark on the great events of time, not only as we see them in the Bible, but also in pivotal events such as Fatima, the battle of Lepanto, and the plague. In this journey through two thousand years of Mary’s active participation in world events, each chapter of History’s Queen highlights a Marian intervention that is emblematic of a particular era, and opens our eyes to the ways in which Mary provides a vital key for understanding both our past and our future.

I have always enjoyed books which give us a glimpse of God working in history. In this book, Mike Aquilina takes us on a quick tour of the Virgin Mary leaving her marks on historical events. In so doing, he also gives beautifully lucid descriptions of historical context. I always came away with a fuller understanding of events than I had before, often linked to a better understanding of the effect it had on our times.

On the judgment day, the Koran says, God will ask Jesus whether he told the people to worship himself and Mary in addition to God, and Jesus will emphatically deny it. This verse suggests a Trinity consisting of the Father, the Son, and Mary. Many Christian commentators have said that the verse shows a profound ignorance of Christian doctrine. But it might be better to say that it shows a firsthand nowledge of Christian practice. Mohammed had not seen the Christianity of the theologians and apologists. He had seen the Christianity a merchant would see—the Christianity of common people on the edge of theChristian world. And for those common people, Mary was the route to the divine. She was everywhere. The mistake was easy to make. It is the mistake some evangelical Protestants still make today when they say that Catholics worship Mary.

This isn't just about Marian apparitions, although we are shown some of those. It also is about the times when Christians were inspired and informed by  aspects of Mary which affected behavior, art, and creativity in everything from public policy to everyday life. We are shown Byzantium and those who protected icons from being smashed, Irish missionaries to Europe and the Book of Kells, the rise of the great cathedrals and the Book of Hours, the plague and the Pieta, Luther and mass media, Guadalupe in Spain and Mexico, and more. In all cases, Mary is there to inspire Christians and care for them like a mother. Aquilina's skill in showing that through such diverse historical events not only informs but reassures. 

This is a message not only of history but also a reminder that as God has moved in the past, so he continues to do today—weaving salvation history with Mary as his willing servant.

Lady in a Red Hat

Lady with a Red Hat, Frank Duveneck, 1904
Dallas Museum of Art

This is another of those paintings which just can't be fully appreciated on screen. The way the artist captured backlighting with the light coming through the red feathers and casting red highlights on the lady's face is mesmerizing and unique.

Gospel of Matthew — The Transfiguration: Parallel to the Execution

Matthew 17:1-8

This parallel never occurred to me before. But what a world of meditation it opens up!

12th-century icon of the Transfiguration
Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai (Egypt)

The transfiguration scene serves as "a twin of sorts" to the execution narrative in 27:32-54. Davies and Allison beautifully note the parallels. "In the one, a private epiphany, an exalted Jesus, with garments glistening, stands on a high mountain and is flanked by two religious giants from the past. All is light. In the other, a public spectacle, a humiliated Jesus, whose clothes have been torn from him and divided, is lifted upon a cross and flanked by two common, convicted criminals. All is darkness. We have here a pictorial antithetical parallelism, a dyptych in which the two plates have similar lines but different colors. The parallel scenes highlight the horror of Good Friday and the splendor of Jesus's love for us. It is no ordinary man that will be crucified on Calvary, but the beloved Son of God revealed in glory at the transfiguration. This same glorified Son will freely submit himself to utter humiliation in order to redeem the human family (see Phil 2:5-11).

Quote is from Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Matthew by Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.

Pope Francis — Euthanasia and assisted suicide are always the wrong choice

To take one’s own life breaks one’s relationship with God and with others. “Assisted suicide aggravates the gravity of this act because it implicates another in one’s own despair,” it said.

The Christian response to these actions is to offer the help necessary for a person to shake off this despair, it emphasized, and not to indulge “in spurious condescension.”

“The commandment ‘do not kill’ ... is in fact a yes to life which God guarantees, and it ‘becomes a call to attentive love which protects and promotes the life of one’s neighbor,’” the letter said.

The 45 page document (Samaritanus bonus: on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life) is all over the news. Probably the least biased place to read about it is at the Catholic News Agency which does a straight forward reporting job.

As CNA points out, this is a reaffirmation of classic Catholic teachings. In fact, looking around I found this Declaration on Euthanasia from 1980. However, the attention the new document is receiving means it was high time to spell things out again.

The reaffirmation came to mind strongly when I was reading this morning's commentary from In Conversation with God.

Whether we are dealing with children in the womb, old people, accident victims, the physically or mentally ill, we are always dealing with our fellow human beings whose credentials of nobility are to be found on the very first page of the Bible: "God created man in his own image" (Gen. 1:27). On the other hand, it has often been said that it is possible to judge a civilization by the way it deals with the defenseless, with children, with the sick, etcetera. Wherever you have a sick person, there has to be a supremely human environment where each one is treated with dignity. One experiences in such circumstances the closeness of brothers and friends.

Paul VI, Address, 24 May 1974, italicized

Great White Egret

Great White Egret, Remo Savisaar

 

A Movie You Might Have Missed #22 — Radio Days

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

 

Before the internet, video games, and television, there was radio which captivated its audience just as thoroughly as modern storytelling venues do today. 

This movie is Woody Allen's love letter to the medium he grew up with. He narrates as we watch a young boy's view of his ordinary family and the way that different radio shows influenced their lives. Several generations of his family live in their New York house during World War II and the always-playing radio provides the backdrop to the small daily dramas that make up their lives. The stories go from humorous to dramatic as we see the family stories interspersed with those of the radio stars of the day and Sally the cigarette girl who is struggling to begin a radio career. 

At the heart is a love of family that shines through all the everyday ordinary scenarios and the nostalgic look at the past. Thoroughly captivating and a movie I have watched countless times.

What we can learn from Ginsburg’s friendship with Antonin Scalia

 Eugene Scalia considers Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legendary friendship with someone who was her ideological opposite, his father Antonin Scalia.

It’s often remarked today that if our government leaders spent more time together, they would come to like and respect one another, be more civil, and achieve consensus, harmony and wondrous legislation.

Don’t draw that lesson from Ginsburg-Scalia. ...

What we can learn from the justices, though — beyond how to be a friend — is how to welcome debate and differences. The two justices had central roles in addressing some of the most divisive issues of the day, including cases on abortion, same-sex marriage and who would be president. Not for a moment did one think the other should be condemned or ostracized. More than that, they believed that what they were doing — arriving at their own opinions thoughtfully and advancing them vigorously — was essential to the national good. With less debate, their friendship would have been diminished, and so, they believed, would our democracy.

Read the whole thing at The Washington Post.

A Unique and Inexhaustible Book

There is a unique and inexhaustible book in which all there is to say about God and man is said. God's presence pervades it and in it are revealed all those aspects of His mysterious being that we are allowed to glimpse; in it He appears, He speaks, and He acts. Man can also see himself in it, in all his potentialities, his grandeur and his weakness, from his sublimest aspirations down to those obscure regions of consciousness in which each of us bleeds from the wound of Original Sin. It embodies above all a religious doctrine, the doctrine of the revealed truth; but human knowledge and intellectual activity also find in it right and never-failing nourishment. It is as vain to claim to understand the principles of ethics and law as of sociology, economics, and even politics if we are unaware of the message contained in this book.

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

Dorothy

Dorothy, John Singer Sargeant
Dallas Museum of Art

I love Sargeant's portraits anyway, but this little lady's expression just wins me over every time. She brims with personality.

Crunchy Onion Burger

Simple, delicious, and even my mom who doesn't like hamburgers (which is still hard for me to fathom) liked them. Get your Crunchy Onion Burger at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.