Light

Light by Karin Jurick 

Psalm 36 — The Wicked and the Righteous

When you see transgressors of the law being so zealous in their evildoing, do not attribute this evil to nature—this is what the heretics teach—but in saying Psalm 36 know that they are the cause of their own sinful behavior.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I'm really struck by the statement above. To attribute one's evil to their nature instead of to their own choice to commit sin is just the way a lot of evil is spoken about today. Once again, human nature is the same now as it was thousands of years ago.

Waves in Stained Glass

There are two points that I like to think about in this psalm. The first is made by Saint Augustine about wickedness and a possible way out of it.

36:4 Plotting Evil

Our Inner Bedroom, Saint Augustine. Our bedroom is our heart, for there we toss and turn if we have a bad conscience, but there, if our conscience is easy, we find rest. .. But the person of whom our psalm is speaking retired there to hatch his evil plots, where no one would see him. And because such wickedness was the subject of his meditation, he could find no rest, even in his heart.

The Road to Evil, Saint Augustine. If we cannot be free from wickedness, at let us hate it. When you have begun to hate it, you are unlikely to be tricked into committing a wicked act by any stealthy temptation. ... Hate sin and iniquity, so that you may unite yourself to God, who will hate it with you. Homilies on the Psalms.

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

I really was struck by this discussion of "living water" which is referred to in the psalm. I never looked specifically into the phrase. This really adds another level of meaning to both the psalm and every time Jesus brings it up.

The psalmist speaks in reverential tones of experiencing the hospitality of the divine house of Yahweh (36:8-9) and of sharing the refreshment offered by the host: restorative drink drawn from God's "river of delights" and the "fountain of life."...

First, "living water" (mayim hayyim) most often refers to flowing water taken from streams or rivers or to water drawn from spring-fed pools. This kind of living water was distinguished from standing water left in jars, gathered in cisterns, left standing by rainfall in stagnant pools, or even drawn from a well. The distinction was particularly important in the laws of ritual purity and cleansing. Only "living water" had the property of cleansing from uncleanness. For this reason ritual baths had to be provided with some access to living water in order to maintain their cleansing property and status. Often a channel of living water would be directed from a stream or spring to the site of the bath so that a small amount could be let into the chamber pool before each supplicant entered for cleansing. ...

[In his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well] Jesus deepens the conversation by pointing to a spiritual meaning: "Everyone who drinks this [well] water will never be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Living water has been transformed into a "spring of water ... [of] eternal life" (equivalent to maqor hayyim in Ps. 36). Jeremiah employs a similar phrase (meqor mayim hayyim ["spring of living water]) to speak of Yahweh as a "spring of living water" that Israel rejected in favor of cisterns dug by their own hands (Jer. 2:13, 7:13). The woman understands the allusions in Jesus' conversation and immediately asks to receive what Jesus is offering.

Psalms Volume 1 (The NIV Application Commentary)

An index of psalm posts is here.

TV You Might Have Missed 3 — The Brokenwood Mysteries

Set in the quiet New Zealand town of Brokenwood, this is a cozy mystery show that manages to avoid being too cozy. It is more of a Midsomer Murders than a Murder She Wrote, in other words. 

Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is an experienced, big city cop with plenty of quirks like an inordinate love of country music (on cassette tapes), a "classic" car which is more of a beater,  too many ex-wives to keep track of, and a habit of talking to the deceased when he first meets them. Local partner, Detective Kristin Sims, does detective work by the book but they soon form a good working relationship. Soon they're joined by a subordinate and a medical examiner who both provide a bit of comic relief but never anything that is too over the top.

It's got a good amount of humor but always keeps the focus on solving the mysteries. The "kiwi" element is strong because the show was made for New Zealand audiences and that makes it just exotic enough. The murders always pull the detectives into a bit of local culture that is fun to see also, like the local Shakespearean troop or tours for the Lord of the Ringz filming locations. (That "z" in Ringz is important.) sometimes they just go for something everyone understands like playing Clue.

We've been really tired of edgy, melodramatic mystery shows and this fits just right. A procedural with a new case each week and slightly quirky detectives to watch do their thing — just what we like on a Sunday night.

Worth a Thousand Words

Impressionable by Karin Jurick

The Sentinel

The Sentinel
by the brilliant Karin Jurick

Karin Jurick passed away too young. I really loved her paintings and appreciated her generosity in giving me permission to share them with you. As I look back over the archives, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites this week.

The setting for a pearl

A jewel demands a setting of gold, and a pearl should only be placed in precious necklaces. Be, then, the finest sort of gold! Be a precious necklace, so that the spiritual pearl can be set in you! For Christ the Lord is the pearl that the rich merchant in the gospel hastened to buy.

St. Maximus of Turin
via Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi

We can't leave all our passions behind

My dear Sister, you tell me that you have brought your pride with you. I assure you that I was quite aware of that! If you had left all your passions behind you and were just an unfeeling lump, how could you prove your love and faithfulness to God? Therefore don't worry about your feelings, but fight bravely, leaning on God.

St. Paola Frassinetti

via The Voices of the Saint by Bert Ghezzi

This is something that was pointed out to me recently when I was bemoaning a character trait that I repeatedly try to reform. It is that very character trait which makes me who I am. Perhaps the way I exhibit it might not always be the most pleasing, but I can't leave "me" behind or, as St. Paola says, I'd be a lump!

Waxwing

Waxwing, Remo Savisaar

The Red Horses

Franz Marc, The Red Horses, 1911

Jumping Dog Schlick

Jumping Dog Schlick, Franz Marc, 1908

Psalm 35 — Plea for Divine Assistance

If [enemies] persist, and, with hands red with blood, try to drag you down and kill you, remember that God is the proper judge (for he alone is righteous while that which is human is limited) and so say the words of [Psalm] 35.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I love the imagery here. The Navarre Bible points out that "the military language used at the start of the psalm signals the kind of divine deliverance that the psalmist seeks..."

In response to the psalmist's cry, Yahweh runs through the fray, spear and shield in hand, to defend the psalmist's life. As he does so, Yahweh's ringing voice is herd above the din of battle, shouting "I am your salvation!" This encourages the beleaguered psalmist to hang on until deliverance arrives.

Psalms Volume 1 (The NIV Application Commentary)

Isn't this the best mental picture ever? It makes me think of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Lord of the Rings when they think all is lost and then Aaragorn and his soldiers show up to fight side by side, eventually winning the day. That is an image of God I need to hold more present in my difficult moments.

In classical antiquity, bucklers on medals were either used to signify public vows rendered to the gods for the safety of a prince, or that he was esteemed the defender and protector of his people: these were called votive bucklers, and were hung at altars, etc. — Wikipedia

A key point of this psalm praises God not just for his might but for his holiness.

The Incomparability of Yahweh

The central part of Psalm 35 turns on a rhetorical question ("Who is like you?") that the psalmist utters in response to God's anticipated retribution against his enemies (35:10). The obvious answer is "No one!" which serves as the immediate foundation for the confidence that Yahweh is able to deliver. There is no other god like Yahweh, who can match his power or inhibit his action in the psalmist's behalf. ...

The psalmists and others draw great solace from their insight that Yahweh is not like the gods of the other nations, or even like human kings or sages. The venality and fickleness of the gods of Mesopotamia is well known. It is not just the matter that various gods and goddesses opposed and sought to undermine one another. The greatest difficulty lay in the fact that the individual deities were inconsistent in their dealings with humans. They could be tricked, misinformed, or emotionally manipulated so that they could swing in a moment from beneficent care to harsh punishment of their followers. All one's careful worship and supplication could be undone in a moment's pique.

Thus, it was a great comfort for Israel to know that Yahweh is not like the gods of the nations. Not only is he superior in power and might, but he is also consistent in his essential character of holiness, justice, and mercy. ... In the final analysis, God's trustworthiness is the result of his incomparable power used for the benefit of the powerless. God is so superior in all things that he has no need to use power for self-interest, but he is free to champion those who have no power at all.

Psalms Volume 1 (The NIV Application Commentary)

An index of psalm posts is here.

TV You Might Have Missed 2 — Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Woo Young-woo is a female rookie attorney with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who is hired by a major law firm in Seoul. Being different from her neurotypical peers, her manner of communication is seen by them as odd, awkward, and blunt. With each legal case and through her intelligence and photographic memory, she becomes an increasingly competent attorney. Wikipedia

There isn't a good way to describe the show's premise that conveys the charm and delight of this show. A legal drama at its heart, each episode features an interesting  case that has to be won. Often we learn about Korean culture in surprising ways such as the case of the bride whose wedding dress dress fell down or the fact that a beautiful tree can be eligible for national treasure status. Woo Young-woo's different point of view often yields the key to resolving tricky details. At the same time we learn more about her life and see how her presence changes the people on the legal team that she's assigned to.

This all sounds like something we've seen before and yet this show is unique and quirky without being over the top. The need for others to understand Woo's way of thinking yields interesting results. Her passion for whales and way of seeing complex relationships through a whale-centric focus is startling, refreshing, and adorable. The show is funny and optimistic and has genuine depth.

Even more importantly it has excellent acting, superior writing, and sensitive directing that isn't afraid to let the camera linger on silence while the actors convey complex thoughts without words. It avoids standard romance tropes although there is indeed romance — K-dramas demand romance. It is truly an extraordinary show and every time I get done watching an episode I feel happy for the rest of the day. That is rare indeed.

This is showing on Netflix.

Cats on a Red Cloth

Franz Marc, Cats on a Red Cloth
via Arts Everyday Living

When I write of hunger...

When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one.

M. F. K. Fisher

Horse in a Landscape

Franz Marc, 1910, Horse in a Landscape
via WikiPaintings

There is something mesmerizing in this painting. Is this how the horse sees? Is it viewing a painting? The playful tone seems to invite mental hijinks. And yet, I love the painting simply as a work of art. I could look at this all day.

Checking his WikiPaintings entry I see that he painted a lot of animals and that his painting style and my taste part ways about 1912, right after his Girl With a Cat. But nothing grabs me the way this horse does.

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy

Cornwall, Midsummer 1947. Pendizack Manor Hotel is buried in the rubble of a collapsed cliff. Seven guests have perished, but what brought this strange assembly together for a moonlit feast before this Act of God -- or Man? Over the week before the landslide, we meet the hotel guests in all their eccentric glory: and as friendships form and romances blossom, sins are revealed, and the cracks widen.

This book starts out with a clergyman at a loss for how to write a eulogy for seven people who died in a hotel when a cliff fell on it and crushed it. We're then taken back to life in the hotel a week before the disaster. We get to know everyone and watch how their interactions change them (or don't). It's only natural that the reader soon begins to worry about who will die at the hotel and who will be safely away. It hit me with a start when I was reading about children traveling to spend their vacation there and I thought, "Children! No!" This tension continued through the book as I grew fond of characters and worried they would be among the fatalities.

There was equal tension as some characters changed in ways that allowed for growth and redemption of the trajectories their lives had been on. This book is not just about the mystery of who will live and who will die. It is also about spiritual realities by which these people live their lives. It is a rare find and I highly recommend it.

November

November, Theo van Hoytema

Psalm 34 — Praise for Deliverance

If you have chanced upon enemies and yet have prudently fled from them and their schemes, call together people of gentle disposition and give thanks in the words of Psalm 34

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

The inscription of this psalm certainly makes me sit up and pay attention:

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.

I didn't remember this incident at all but it happened when David was on the run from Saul and had to go into enemy territory to escape. When he's recognized by the Philistine king, David feigns insanity and is sent away. Whew! Read it in 1 Samuel, chapter 21.

You would certainly thank the Lord for all his favors when that insanity idea worked out the way it did for David. Surely it seemed like a long shot at the time.

Psalm 34 by Ephraim Moses Lilien.
The musical instruments are drawn after the rich archaeological material;
also the way of holding and playing them is reproduced from the sources.

I like the way that St. Augustine tied it to modern, everyday life in his day. Our days are no different in the way that we think we have it worse than anyone ever did. After all, even God's favored one, David, had a lot to put up.

34:12 Who Desires Life?

Good Days. Augustine. Do you not grumble every day, "How long do we have to put up with this? Things get worse and worse by the day. Our parents had happier days, things were better in their time." Oh, come on! If you questioned those parents of yours, they would moan to you about their days in just the same way. ... So you are looking for good days. Let us all look for them together, but not here. ... There are always evil days in this world, but always good days in God. Abraham enjoyed good days, but only within his own heart; he had bad days when a famine forced him to migrate in search of food. But everyone else had to search, too. What about Paul: did he have good days, he who had "often gone without food, and endured cold and exposure?" (2 Cor. 11:27). But the servants have no right to be discontented; even the Lord did not have good days in this world. He endured insults, injuries, the cross and many a hardship.  Expositions of the Psalms.

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

An index of psalm posts is here.

November

November, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

The autumn acorn harvest, with a peasant knocking down throwing sticks to knock down the acorns on which his pigs are feeding.

University of Chicago

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints XIII

Magnificat has this wonderful litany in month leading up to All Saints' Day. We've reached the end of it on Halloween and I feel very happy that I wound up with 13 parts. Perfect!

If any of these meditations spoke to you, take the time to look up a bit more about that particular saint. You might find a new friend to help you to a closer relationship with Christ.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Saint Maximilian Kolbe: "Shall the urge for complete and total happiness, inherent to human nature, be the only ned to remain unfulfilled and unsatisfied? No, even this longing can be fulfilled by the infinite and eternal God." R

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross: "Holy realism has a certain affinity with the realism of the child who receives and responds to impressions with unimpaired vigor and vitality, and with uninhibited simplicity." R

Saint Katharine Drexel: "May your faith be increased so as to realize the fact that you are never alone, wheresoever you may be, that the great God is with you, in you." R

Saint Faustina: "Jesus, I trust in you." R

Saint Pio: "If the soul longs for nothing else than to love its God, then don't worry and be quite sure that this soul possesses everything, that it possesses God himself." R

Saint Damien: "In the face of the too real dangers that surround me I repeat: 'Lord, I have placed all my hope in you. I will never be confounded.'" R

Padre Pio