So Many Books, So Little Time

I am seriously behind on book reviews. Every time I think I am going to get a chance to review something, work gets in the way. If only I didn't have to pay bills, I'd just write reviews for you all day.

As well, I've gotten in a slew of books recently. And most of them are good, y'all. Which is why I have about six of them "in progress" all over the house.

Here is a bit of myIn Progress/To Read list, just to give you an idea.

Mary, Mother of the Son trilogy by Mark Shea
These books I actually bought and let me tell you that is a rarity around here, especially for theological materials since I am blessed with review copies from various publishers. I was not much interested in these books until I read The Curt Jester's glowing review. I really am glad that I plopped down the cash. The first book is fantastic so far and I enjoy Mark's style so much that I am picking it up instead of Frederica (by Georgette Heyer) some nights for bedtime reading. Now that's a ringing endorsement as any Heyer-lover will tell you. The Curt Jester was right on the money with this comment:

All of my hesitations about a three volume apologetics book set on Mary were dispelled. Mark's writing is informative and much of it with a smile behind it. His writing is not adversarial in any way and so any Protestants reading his book will not get any sense of "us against them." Like so many ex-Catholics, Mark is quite positive about his time as a Protestant, but is also very good at showing the cracks that he started to see when he questioned some basic assumptions or psuedo-knowledge. So I think these are great books to read both as an apologetics work and/or spiritual reading.

The Abbess of Andalusia by Lorraine V. Murray
After reading several reviews of a very unsatisfactory fairly new biography of Flannery O'Connor, it was a pleasure to read the materials on this very different sounding book about her.

In these pages you will come to know Flannery O'Connor not only as a writer and an icon, but as a theologian and apologist; as a spiritual director and a student of prayer; as a suffering soul who learned obedience and merited grace through infirmity; and truly, as the Abbess of her own small, but significant, spiritual house.

Just got it today, so I must read in a dedicated fashion to clear room. Our Catholic women's book club is going to be reading a few of O'Connor's short stories since one member offered to do the work of researching just what they might mean. (I've only read one of her stories but I was flummoxed until I read a couple of papers on it.)

This Tremendous Lover by M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R.
This is one of those books whose name I have seen mentioned time and again in other books. I picked it out from Tiber River, part of Aquinas and More Catholic Store's review program. By the way, there are a lot of good reviews over at Tiber River and some interesting review lists as well. I must say that I received the book and was a little taken aback. I hadn't expected a 350 page, densely packed work. Also, the modern forward kept stressing the fact that this had been very popular in its day but that parts of it were necessarily out of date since it was 60 years old. However, upon flipping through it, I came upon section after section full of common sense about how to live one's faith and how to build a relationship with God in the midst of a busy life. As well, the first chapter is one I may have to excerpt here. Boylan talks about the Trinity in such a wonderful way that I felt I actually had a real understanding of something which usually just makes my head hurt. So far, I'm lovin' it.

The Power of Pause by Terry Hershey
An easy to read book of 52 reflections about how slowing down our lives will make them better and help us connect with God more. Yes, we've heard it a thousand times, but Hershey makes you want to do it. In fact, Tom and I have begun doing just that thing ... but that's the subject for a different post.

Retreat in the Real World
This is the book form of a popular personal retreat was originally offered online through Creighton University. In fact, I got about a quarter of the way through that retreat before I slipped away. Part of that was from having to print out pages to put in my notebook and so forth. (Hey, I never said I wasn't a light weight, ok?) At any rate, I am looking forward to pursuing it with this more accessible form.

The Bible Blueprint by Joe Paprocki
An engaging and simple look at the Bible which encourages us to read and study it.What has me interested in the back half which has a very interesting resource list and ideas about how to begin parish Bible studies.

Feast of the Archangels

This is reposted from a couple of years ago. I have been thoroughly enjoying the links to other bloggers' old posts as well ... sometimes in blogging we forget to take a minute to look back. As I come across other posts today, I'll add to the links below.

ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

ST. RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December

I have a special fondness for angels and it is a sign of my Catholic geekiness, I suppose, that I got an excited "Christmas morning" sort of thrill when I realized today's feast.

I read for the first time about angels when we were in the hospital with my father-in-law after his stroke. That made a big impression on me at the time. I always attribute the miracle that happened to the Holy Family but the angels are divine messengers and so have their place in it as well. Because of that I always have remembered that we can call not only on our friends for intercessory prayer, but also on angels for intercession and help. The prayer to St. Michael is one of my favorites.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Some more on angels.

You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

From a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great.

Sadly, I don't have any angel food cake (it really is not that sad an occurrence as I abhor angel food cake), however I may stop by and pick up some heavenly, cloud-like meringues on the way home so we can celebrate properly!

Other good places to read about angels today:

• Images taken from this post by Mama T which you should go read also.
• Broken Alabaster has not only a nice reflection on the archangels but shares some of her family's encounters with angels ... some good, some not.
  
• Salve Regina has a gaggle of lovely angel art as well as some nice commentary
• Some good archangel prayers thanks to Michelle H.
  
• Georgette shares one of the best excerpts I've ever seen about these angels (I'm printing this one out for repeated reading)
  
• Mike Aquilina keeps us grounded in the fathers of the church as well as providing useful links to other good resources.
  
• On the practical level, Elena has a good idea for an angelic feast
  

Here are some things I have written about angels which include facts as well as personal experiences (although these tend more toward guardian angels):

• An Experience of Angels
• Let's Talk Angels
• More Angel Talk
• Just One More Angel Story

Recipe for a Couple of Happy Hours ...

... can be found over at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Believe it or not, I have plenty to say about how this is a reflection of some changes in our spiritual approach. But I can't get the time. So look at that post as step 1, background.

More later, my friends.

"I'm broken."

Finally got a chance to watch the season premiere of House which I found surprisingly riveting. Just as surprising was the fact that I was on House's side to beat the doctor, mistakenly so, until we were brought to the same realizations as House was.

"I need help."

"They didn't break me. I'm broken."

Those words, spoken in such a realistic way, made me think not only of House's situation in the psychiatric ward, but of myself. Of all of us, truth be told.

That is why an encounter with Christ leaves us joyful, happy, hopeful. We are broken and it is only He who can show us reality, show us how to become more and more the people we were created to be.

A difficult road though not nearly as difficult for me as for some others. For which I am thankful.

There was a lot of truth in that show on many levels and I continue to be impressed with the writers.

Here's Something We Can All Do to Reduce the Cost of Healthcare

What cures colds, flu, sore throats, sore muscles, headaches, stomach aches, diarrhea, menstrual cramps, hangovers, back pain, jaw pain, tennis elbow, blisters, acne and colic, costs nothing, has no weird side effects and doesn't require a prescription?

Plain old-fashioned time. But it's often the hardest medicine for patients to take.

"Most people's bodies and immune systems are wonderful in terms of handling things—if people can be patient," says Ted Epperly, a family physician in Boise, Idaho, and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

"I have a mantra: You can do more for yourself than I can do for you," says Raymond Scalettar, a Washington, D.C., rheumatologist and former chairman of the American Medical Association. But, he says, "some patients are very medicine-oriented, and when you tell them they aren't good candidates for a drug they've heard about on TV, they don't come back."

An estimated one-third to one-half of the $2.2 trillion Americans spend annually on health care in the U.S. is spent on unnecessary tests, treatments and doctor visits. Much of that merely buys time for the body to heal itself.

Patience can be a virtue in more than your spiritual life. Read it all here.

Its It's This is my biggest punctuation headache.

From the always amusing Savage Chickens in honor of National Punctuation Day.

Dallas Cowboys Release Jerry Jones

IRVING, TEXAS—In an attempt to cut the franchise's losses and "move forward in a positive direction," the Dallas Cowboys severed ties with controversial owner Jerry Jones Monday, ending their tumultuous 20-year relationship with the divisive figure.

According to sources within the Cowboys organization, the decision to release Jones was influenced by the lack of any playoff victories in more than 12 years, the owner's distracting sideline antics, and his selfish, "me first" attitude, which many said was having a cancerous effect on the clubhouse.

The Onion is laughing but many of us in Dallas have had this little tidbit on our wish list for years. Oh, let's face it, since Jones bought the franchise. It's funny because it's true ... (warning: The Onion often contains explicit content.)

Strong Women and Holy Mothers

How many of you know the name Drana Bojaxhiu?

She was an amazing woman. Albanian by birth. Her husband was murdered, leaving her penniless with three young children. So she started her own business-a rug-making business, and she worked hard to make it a success. She never stopped taking her kids to daily Mass and she made sure the family was always generous with what little they had. Every Sunday after Mass she and her children would take food and clothing to the poor. Drana also opened her home to give shelter and aid to women and their children who had been abused or had nowhere else to go.

Nobody remembers Drana's name. But we all know the name Mother Teresa, or as she is known today, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Drana was her mother.

Mother Teresa said her mother used to tell her: "When you do good, do it quietly, as if you were tossing a pebble into the sea." That is a beautiful image of the hidden life. Of the life lived totally in the presence of God. It reminds me of what St. John the Baptist said: "[Christ] must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

This is an important spiritual lesson for every Christian. But it seems especially important for those of you who are mothers. In the course of your day, you will do many heroic things, you will make sacrifices that no one sees. Sometimes even the people you are sacrificing for don't appreciate your efforts.

But your faith, your love, can move mountains-even if in this lifetime you will never see them move. You are sowing what others will reap, as St. Paul used to say.

Did Drana know that her daughter would grow up to be a great saint who would change the world? Of course not, how could she? But that wasn't why she was doing what she was doing. Her motive was love. Not recognition. Not "results."

Archbishop Gomez
in a speech to the Catholic Women's Conference

Hoo boy, that man knows how to write an inspiring piece. I found it to be not only uplifting but, what is equally helpful, encouraging as bits of it come back to me in the daily slog. Go read it all.

Honda's Personal Mobility Device ... or A Unicycle By Any Other Name Would Scare Me As Much

I just have visions of falling off ... yes, I know that's probably next to impossible but I'm just sayin'. Also does anyone else flash on the Wall-E humans in their personal chairs when they see this?

Read all about it at Engadget. Thanks to Tom, my personal tech-alert guru, for the scoop.

Inspiration: Failure is Often Essential

I saw this video this morning, courtesy of The Anchoress.

Go watch it.

No, really. Take the time.

It's short and I'll wait.

---------------------------

Ok, wasn't that good? Inspiring? A wonderful reminder in the midst of our achievement-only oriented world?

It immediately put me in mind of an essay* I just read the other day. It does not make exactly the same point, but it builds upon what is seen in the video above. I'm sharing it here. (Info about the book is below. I encourage you to read a copy.)

Be the First Penguin

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

That's an expression I learned when I took a sabbatical at Electronic arts, the video-game maker. It just stuck with me, and a I've ended up repeating it again and again to students.

It's a phrase worth considering at every brick wall we encounter, and at every disappointment. It's also a reminder that failure is not just acceptable, it's often essential.

When I taught the "Building Virtual Worlds" course, I encouraged students to attempt hard things and to not worry about failing. I wanted to reward that way of thinking. So at the end of each semester, I'd present one team of students with a stuffed animal--a penguin. It was called "The First Penguin Award" and went to the team that took the biggest gamble in trying new ideas or new technology, while failing to achieve their stated goals. In sense, it was an award for "glorious failure," and it celebrated out-of-the-box thinking and using imagination in a daring way.

The other students came to understand: "First Penguin" winners were losers who were definitely going somewhere.

The title of the award came from the notion that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, well, somebody's got to be the first penguin. I originally called it "The Best Failure Award," but failure has so many negative connotations that students couldn't get past the word itself.

Over the years, I also made the point of telling my students that in the entertainment industry, there are countless failed products. It's not like building houses, where every house built can be lived in by someone. A video game can be created and never make it through research and development. Or else it comes out and no one wants to play it. Yes, video-game creators who've had successes are greatly valued. But those who've had failures are valued, too--sometimes even more so.

Start-up companies often prefer to hire a chief executive with a failed start-up in his or her background. The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.

Do I like failure? No, I hate it.

Once the pain begins to subside, however, I do try to learn from it. Because one failure is never the end. We are measured by how often we try and how often we pick ourselves up and where we go from there.

In life and in faith, that's the point.

(Side note: Tom and I must hold the record for taking the most time ever to read the brief book, The Last Lecture. Not the sort of book we normally pick up, it was a gift from my sister, but it is the gift that keeps on giving. We try to remember to read an essay an evening to each other. Clearly we often fail to remember, but we keep plugging! Read more about the book here.)

4th Pirates Movie Based on Tim Powers Novel

The Catholic blogosphere are big fans of sf author Tim Powers, who is one of our own (no, not a blogger, a Catholic). Looks as if we'll have hope that the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie might have a hope of being good. It's both named after and based on elements of Powers' book Stranger Tides.

This is confirmed here along with various other details, among which is the book synopsis.

The book follows the exploits of John “Jack Shandy” Chandagnac, who travels to the new world after the death of his puppeteer father to confront his uncle, who apparently has made off with the family inheritance. During the voyage, he gets to know a woman named Beth Hurwood and her father, an Oxford professor. Before they arrive, their ship is waylaid by pirates and, with the help of the professor and his assistant, the captain is killed and Chandagnac is forced to join the pirate crew. The reader discovers a sinister plot being concocted by the professor involving his dead wife, his living daughter and Blackbeard. Chandagnac, now known as “Jack Shandy”, must put a stop to these plans and save Beth Hurwood.

Jack Shandy, Jack Sparrow ... it all sounds like it would work.

Thanks to Scott from Rivets and Trees for that scoop!

Why I am a Happy Catholic

Because God changed my life. The before and after are a shocking contrast ... perhaps not to those on the outside, but for me on the inside it is undeniable.

This popped up in my random shuffle on the way to work in my God Mix playlist.

Hitting me like a brick, bringing home yet again the vividness of my joy in a new life. Prompting tears of thankfulness. (Expanded upon in this post from the archives. But said well enough below.)

So Far Away
by Staind

This is my life
Its not what it was before
All these feelings I’ve shared
And these are my dreams
That I’d never lived before
Somebody shake me
Cause I, I must be sleeping

(chorus)
Now that we're here,
It's so far away
All the struggle we thought was in vain
All the mistakes,
One life contained
They all finally start to go away
Now that we're here its so far away
And I feel like I can face the day
I can forgive and I’m not ashamed to be the person that I am today

These are my words
That I’ve never said before
I think I’m doing ok
And this is the smile
That I’ve never shown before

Somebody shake me
Cause I, I must be sleeping

(chorus)

I'm so afraid of waking
Please don't shake me
Afraid of waking
Please don't shake me

Dr. Horrible ...

... on the Emmys. Which I didn't watch because I was bemusedly viewing Tony Romo's one-man-destruction-band march the Cowboys to defeat.

But enough of my sorrow and anger. Let us all bask in TV's the internet's warm glowing warming glow ... we all know I'm a sucker for Dr. Horrible after all.

Podcasting in Plain English

The only thing they didn't make completely clear is that once you download it to your computer, you can listen to the podcast there. Via The Podcast Place.

Unlock the Secret of Productivity

Ready to change your life?

Here we go ...

Step 1. Buy a productivity book.
Any productivity book will do. I use a book called “The Now Habit.” It doesn’t matter what book you order though, because you probably won’t read it. You can use any random “increase your productivity” book.

Step 2. Look at the productivity book and tell yourself, “If I don’t get X done, I’m going to have to read that productivity book.” ...

Matt Cutts

Thanks to Tom for discovering and passing along this tip ...

Arrr, Mateys! It Be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Savage Chickens has been swabbing the decks all week getting ready for Talk Like a Pirate Day. This was a particular favorite of mine but there be plenty o' treasure for all.

"God doesn't exist" versus "Isn't God a lovely idea?" Both sides of that debate lost.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a big article supposedly debating evolution versus faith in God. As they put it:

We commissioned Karen Armstrong and Richard Dawkins to respond independently to the question "Where does evolution leave God?" Neither knew what the other would say. Here are the results.

Having had experience with independent reading of both authors, I rolled my eyes knowing that if they didn't know what the other would say then they just hadn't bothered listening to those well-worn records before.

Glancing through the article I saw that Dawkins, as always, was scornful. I don't understand why that guy is so very angry. As I've said before, a true atheist would laugh at putting so much energy into it.

Armstrong, as always, was vaguely in support of faith as something that ennobles man. Or something. I think she must be a media darling because that way of talking about faith is something the media can get behind. It is the true, personal encounter with God that tends to make them leery. Oh, where is a worthy successor to Billy Graham when we need him? He'd speak it and the media actually would print it.

What brought all this to mind again is that a friend sent me the pdf of the article and then this morning WSJ letters to the editor were dominated by readers' responses. I only see a general link to their letters page, so am going to show you my favorites but all were worth reading.

I could tell which side Mr. Dawkins was on. I wasn't sure about Ms. Armstrong.

Mike Guthrey, Franklin, Tenn.

Mr. Dawkins should leave the God question to others and stick to the evolution-versus-creation debate. Even I, an agnostic scientist, find his commentary polemic and off-putting. It is no wonder the God crowd is gaining in number; they are easier to read.

Katherine Helmetag, Troy, Mich.

As a retired scientist, I know that while parts of evolution are well-explained, there is no scientific explanation of the origin of life. If you accept that life began only because of random events, then you and science are acting on faith. Accepting an explanation on faith isn't a part of science, but is the way to God.

Howard Deutsch, Atlanta

Perhaps the next time that much ink is spilled over the question, the WSJ will go to the trouble of seeking out some people who aren't so predictable in voicing their opinions. Or who actually have fresh input and approaches in discussing the question.

Melting Polar Ice Caps Expose Hundred of Secret Arctic Lairs

"In August alone we discovered 44 mad scientist laboratories, three highly classified military compounds, and seven reanimated and very confused cavemen. That's more than twice the number we had found in the previous three decades combined."

"This is no longer conjecture," Lorenzen [noted climatologist] added. "This is a full-blown crisis."

[...]

"Last week a giant ice sheet broke off and split my prized underground complex nearly in half," said Dr. Raygun, a self-described psychotic mastermind best known for his diabolical thought-control experiments. "Now millions of dollars in state-of-the-art doomsday devices are gone—all because of the environmental carnage wrought by the human race."

"You spend your whole career concocting a brilliant scheme to wipe out all of mankind, and what happens?" Dr. Raygun continued. "They bring about a major global catastrophe completely on their own, those fools!"

This is The Onion at their very best. You must go read it all. (Warning: site can contain explicit content, although I did not notice any at this specific link.)

Friday Litany: The Cross

Because Monday was the Triumph of the Cross, this litany appealed to me. Short but good.

LITANY OF THE CROSS

The cross is the hope of Christians.
The cross is the resurrection of the dead.
The cross is the way of the lost.
The cross is the saviour of the lost.
The cross is the staff of the lame.
The cross is the guide of the blind.
The cross is the strength of the weak.
The cross is the doctor of the sick.
The cross is the aim of the priests.
The cross is the hope of the hopeless.
The cross is the freedom of the slaves.
The cross is the power of the kings.
The cross is the water of the seeds.
the cross is the consolation of the bondsmen.
the cross is the source of those who seek water.
The cross is the cloth of the naked.
We thank you, Father, for the cross.

I have begun a personal prayer book where I am putting litanies that I like in the front, with the prayer requests in the back (because I don't have enough copying to do what with the quote journals, right?).

I found this at the mother lode for litanies which is a fascinating place to peruse.

David Bowie Extras Friday

The Anchoress had a bad day yesterday and she worked out of it by groovin' with David Bowie.

I, too, have a fondness for David Bowie although my thoughts turned more to his guest spot on Ricky Gervais' Extras. The best bit of that was the "behind the scenes" interview at the end, but I couldn't find that so here is part of the Extras turn. Not exactly the feel -good of "Let's Dance" but it made me laugh.



I am assuming that most people know Extras was a British sitcom about an actor and his best friend who is are professional extras in films and television programs. It got a bit dark toward the end but I found it very enjoyable. A good part of the fun was in seeing big stars play themselves completely at odd with public perceptions (one must also assume that it is completely at odds with reality ... these actors are all good eggs).

One of my favorite bits featured Ian McKellan.



Here's another with Orlando Bloom (a touch of bad language in here, btw).



I could go on and on ... but I see that I already have!