Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (The Man Who Feels No Pain)

Surya has a rare condition of Congenital Insensitivity to pain meaning he can not feel pain. Hearing that most children with this condition never live past the age of four, his grandpa uses martial action movies to train him to be like Bruce Lee. This seems counter intuitive, but actually works. Surya and  his childhood friend, Supri, who has her own problems, set out to right wrongs.

That's just the first part of the movie and when the story heads into Surya's adulthood is when the real action begins. Surya really believes the good guys win, any obstacle can be overcome, and that true love triumphs over all. He doesn't have a cynical bone in his body. That sweetness and earnestness  make us love Surya, his oddball team of justice fighters, and this movie. 

In many ways it made us think of Amelie and Edgar Wright movies for a story with sweetness, quirkiness, and heart. It is loaded with fantastic action scenes and pop culture. There were many Western cultural references and from reading  reviews I know there are tons that we missed from Indian culture and old martial arts films. The two lead performances were from newcomers who acted with complete confidence and this has what must be the best double role of all time from Gulshan Devaiah.

It is fun and funny, goofy and heart-felt, and shouldn't be missed. Let you think it sounds too crazy, I will add that my 86-year-old mother loved it and was using movie references around the house the next day. 

 Streaming on Netflix.

Rating — for viewers with medium to difficult Indian film experience. (It's not rocket science, but without any cultural background at all you might feel kind of lost.)

Portrait of Catherine II before a Mirror

Portrait of Catherine II before a Mirror (1762). Vigilius Eriksen.

I found this at Books and Art (link above) where there was this interesting info.

This Danish artist, who worked at the Russian court between 1757 and 1772, produced some 30 portraits of Catherine II with different programs, compositions, and purposes. He was the first in Russia to use this type of portrait with a mirror, making it possible to show the two sides of the subject’s character - the imperious monarch and the sensitive woman.

Psalm 12 — The Promises of the Lord are Pure

When you see the arrogance of the crowd and evil spreading everywhere so that there seems to be no one left who is pleasing to God take refuge in the Lord and say Psalm 12.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I am fascinated by the fact that in this psalm all the threat comes from words. And all the protection comes from words. It lets us see how powerful the Hebrews considered words. And we ourselves know that words do have special power to wound or to heal.

Silver nugget

 These two quotes are from my hand-written prayer journal.

The Effective Word

The spoken word in Hebrew was fearfully alive. It was not merely a sound dropped heedlessly from unthinking lips. It was a unit of energy charged with power. It is energized for weal or for woe.

John Paterson, quoted by William Barclay

The word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword.

Hebrews 4:12

With those two quotes in mind, let's look at what that concept really means and what it reveals of God himself.

The Effective Word and Divine Transparency

In Bible times ... properly chosen and configured [words] were thought to accomplish what they said. for this reason, on the one hand, curses were not simply cathartic venting of inner rage, as we might think of them today, but were dangerous attempts to injure another that had to be countered or protected against by some ritual or amulet. On the other hand, words spoken in blessing were not just expressions of wishful thinking but really added to the well-being and health of the one blessed.

[...]

The "flawless" character of Yahweh's word, refined like the finest silver seven times, is more than an illustration of the ultimate effectiveness of the divine word. The point of the psalm is not just that God will have the last word. The purity of the divine word also illumines a certain transparency in God. What Yahweh says reveals his true character. God does not dissemble or deceive. he says what he means and he does what he says. Therefore, not only can one trust Yahweh, one can also understand who god is by attending to his words.

Psalms Volume 1 (NIV Application Commentary)

One last thing comes from the Church Fathers who are paying close attention to what the psalmist is actually asking for — a change of heart on behalf of the enemy. That's not something you see every day in the psalms.

12:3 Flattering Lips

Prayer Against the Sin. St. John Chrysostom: Do you see the solicitude of the inspired author, how he prays for them? The remark is not against them, no but on their behalf. He did not ask for them to be destroyed, note, but for the evil to be done away with. He did not say "the Lord will destroy them," note, but the "deceitful lips." Again he asks for the destruction not of their being but of their tongue, their folly, their deceit, and for an end to be put to their arrogance. Commentary on the Psalms

Cassiodorus: Note his piety as he says this, for he inveighs not against people, for many of them were to be converted, but against the vices themselves. Explanation of the Psalms

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

Night in the Desert

Night in the desert by Maxfield Parrish.
From “The Great South West” by Ray Stannard Baker (1902)

Clearing out the world's sins in the fire of suffering love

On the Cross we meed what Balthasar described as the eternal, Trinitarian project in history: "to clear out all the refuse of the world's sins by burning it in the fire of suffering love." At Calvary, the burning passion of God, which is both the divine wrath at the world's evil and the divine mercy determined to heal what sin has broken, coincide. In the power of the Spirit, the Son offers the perfect act of atonement to the Father, and by that act of obedience, the burning fire of divine love reaches into history and immolates everything in the world that cannot bring forth love, including suffering and death.

George Weigel, Roman Pilgrimage

Tarashana by Rachel Neumeier

Tuyo, the first book in this series, is one I read in record time. I loved the old school fantasy set in a wonderfully imagined world. It was fresh, imaginative, and original. I also really enjoyed watching two men from very different peoples and cultures become friends.

Tarashana is a great sequel. We have the chance to investigate a completely new land when Ryo's people ask if Aras's mind reading ability can help them understand a mute woman asking for help. She is from the starlit land where the people all mysteriously disappeared. Naturally enough, Ryo's people worry about anything that powerful coming after them next. Not only is it an interesting question, but it's perfect timing because Aras has a big problem he can't solve, but that he can avoid by doing this quest instead. So he and Ryo take off for what turns into a huge adventure.

I also read this book in record time and enjoyed the heck out of it. Some of the themes from Tuyo are further developed thanks to the contrast between three different peoples. Ryo's own people are further revealed as a lot of time is spent in the winter country. It would really be impossible to explain this book without spoiling it but Neumeier makes the world a big one with epic battles, friendships, and live-or-die moments.

If you liked Tuyo, you're going to love Tarashana. I was glad to see in the end notes that a novella (?) and a proper sequel to this book will show up in 2022. Woohoo!

Pink (2016)

 

Three men rush to a hospital because one is suffering from a serious injury to his head and eye. One of the men says they'll get revenge on those women. Meanwhile, three shaken and upset women are returning to their apartment in a taxi. They have spots of blood on them and we can tell they are the women who the man was talking about.

And we are off and running with one of India's biggest film hits from 2016. Although we're dropped into the middle of the story, we all know that one of these women had to take extreme measures to defend her virtue. 

This is a serious movie about a topic that Americans have had held up to the public eye for decades. But in India, that isn't the case and this movie was made to point out the double standards applied to women and the violence that can ensure.

 As the story continues we see the escalating forms of revenge the men attempt, the helplessness of the women,  predictable keepers of the status quo, and unexpected acts of kindness. Something the girls don't expect is when an old, possibly creepy, neighbor comes to their assistance as their legal counsel. Anyone used to Indian films knows from the beginning this will happen because he is played by acting legend Amitabh Bachchan. Of course he's the lawyer. 

However, the story really belongs to the young women and it is artfully and sensitively shown through small vignettes as they must come to terms with the relentless siege they suffer and their limited ability to fight for their voices to be heard. Indian films are usually very good about inferring sensitive topics rather than showing them and this does a good job at that.

We avoided this for some time because, as Americans, we've seen this sort of story told many times and I also don't like movies with victimization. However, it was a very good film in its own right, well told, and a fascinating look inside Indian society at a condition that their films are now exposing to the light of day.

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

Hannah and Rose discuss Pink in episode 53 of An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

The Pyramids Road, Gizeh

The Pyramids Road, Gizeh by Edward Lear, via Gandalf's Gallery

Cutting One From the Herd

Cowboy cutting one from the herd on the LS ranch, 1907.
Via Traces of Texas which consistently has great Texas images.

Louise Hollandine

Louise Hollandine - self portrait

This is via J.R.'s Art Place on Facebook, which consistently features great art. In this case, there is a fascinating story about Louise Hollandine's journey from Protestantism to Catholicism.

Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate was the daughter of Frederick V of the Palatinate and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart. Raised in a Protestant household in the Netherlands, she showed great artistic talent. Her family arranged for her to study under one of the greatest artists of the time, Gerard van Honthorst.

The painting shown here is a self-portrait by her circa 1650. It was in 1657 that she, for unknown reasons, fled the Netherlands with the aid of her aunt Henrietta Marie de Bourbon, the widow of Charles I of England. In France she converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Cistercian Abbey of Maubuisson. In retaliation, she was left out of her mother's will.

In 1664 she became Abbess of Maubuisson. She continued painting after entering the Abbey, mostly of religious subjects.

The most perfect of prayers

The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers ... In it we ask, not only for the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

The Lord's Prayer Contains It All

Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture] and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained in the Lord's Prayer.

St. Augustine

Magic Window

Magic Window, Remo Savisaar

 

The summary of the gospel

[The Lord's prayer] is truly the summary of the whole gospel.

Tertullian, De orat

The Meadow

 

The Meadow (1875), Alfred Sisley

Church in Moret

Church in Moret (1889), Alfred Sisley

 

Psalm 11 — Trust in the Lord

If anyone wishes to disturb you, hold on strongly to your confidence in the Lord and say Psalm 11.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

These days I think many of us can sympathize with the psalmist. Chaos is all around — the pandemic, rioting, political division, anger, and the foundations of what is "normal" all seem swept away.

Like the psalmist, we must keep our sense of perspective and lean on what we know to be true. The righteous man can lean on God who we know is unchanging and eternally in charge.

Bird hunter from Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad, c. 725 BC
"Flee like a bird to the mountains. For look, the wicked bend the bow,
they have fitted their arrow to the string." (11:1-2)

Notice how the psalmist shows us some key truths about God.

11:4-6 Yahweh the Examiner

The dual description of Yahweh as "in his holy temple" and "on his heavenly throne" is significant. The former is an indication of God's immanent presence among humans (most particularly the faithful), while the latter emphasizes the transcendent power and authority that separates him from the chaotic futility of human power. God is at once among his people, strengthening, empowering, and saving, and at the same time above all the humans, ruling, examining, and rendering righteous judgment.

[...]

Contemporary Significance. Whatever else it means, taking refuge in God does not mean escape or avoidance of pain and suffering. Part of the reason for this is that fleeing is self-focused and self-concerned. We flee when we are concerned about protecting ourselves. By contrast, the kind of refuge that God offers calls us to give ourselves away: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:24). Taking refuge in God is other-focused. Those who enter that refuge hold onto God by letting go of self and thinking instead of others.

Psalms Volume 1 (NIV Application Commentary)

I like knowing this ancient use for sulfur and coals.

11:6 Fiery Coals and Burning Sulfur

In Akkadian texts, sulfur burned on coals is described as a fumigating agent ... The terms here are reminiscent, though not identical, to those used in the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24)

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

Though the psalmist is saying the enemy will be destroyed it seems fit that fumigation from evil is the mental connection, and also fit that such "fumigation" was deemed just for Sodom and Gomorrah. These ancient contexts are fascinating.

Sources are here and an index of psalm posts is here. 

St. Martin Canal

St. Martin Canal (1870), Alfred Sisley

Look at that light!

The Ties That Bind

True interior life and a loving relationship with God are excluded by anyone who does not break off the ties that bind him to things, to people and to his own self in a disordered way — no matter how casual and tenuous such bonds may seem. It makes little difference, says St. John of the Cross, whether a bird is tied by a thin thread or by a cord. For even if tied by a thread, the bird will be prevented from taking off just as surely as if it were tied by a cord — that is, it will be impeded from flight as long as it does not break the thread. Admittedly, the thread is easier to snap, but no matter how easily this may be done, the bird will not fly away before first doing so.

Detachment increases our capacity for loving God, people and all the noble things of this life.

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God: Lent and Eastertide

A Movie You Might Have Missed #37 — Everyone Says I Love You

It's been 11 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.   

If you've even heard of this movie, I tip my hat to you. It is a rare one. 

This hasn't been available for a while so when I saw the dvd at Amazon I grabbed it. Why had I been on the lookout for it? Because this is one of my favorites of Woody Allen's movies. Few people know that he wrote and directed a musical and for those few who do know it, no one is neutral. We really liked it and, upon viewing it last night I was surprised that it didn't seem to have aged. The only tell that this movie is 17 years old is how extremely young some of the actors seem.

This is Woody Allen's love letter to musicals, Hollywood love stories, and New York, this is the tale of a wealthy family's year. It is told as a musical, with the large cast of well known actors all doing their own vocals. The songs are classic, fit into unexpected situations, and occasionally accompany dance routines. The actors don't come off as professional singers or dancers, but have just enough awkwardness to lend everything a sincere, realistic feel. As with many musicals from earlier times, the plot is a simple vehicle to move everything along and much of the pleasure is in seeing the movie unfold.