Below you'll find a plethora of posts dedicated to the quarterly agonizing as to whether I shall continue to blog or choose to retire to the parlor before I'm overcome by the vapors. At least I spared you all the public agonizing until after the inevtiable decision has been made. Enjoy, or not, at your own discretion.
Later: And, oh, what an incoherent babble it is!
I don't know.
I go to Disputations and there are always interesting points and arguments there--cogently considered and pertinent to our lives.
I go to Video Meliora and I am, at a minimum, amused, often intrigued, occasionally piqued.
Summa Mammas and Two Sleepy Mommies tell me something relevant and interesting about family life, dealing with children, and everyday practice of faith.
I could continue down the list of places and comparisons. But they all lead to one inevitable conclusion--what I have to say is for a vanishingly small audience of people--a loyal and faithful audience, but one that could as easily find these things elsewhere. There is nothing new here. Anyone can read the documents I read and come to similar (or wildly different conclusions. So what is the point?
The point is I write, not because I have anything to offer that isn't better said elsewhere, but for two reasons:
(1) I cannot do otherwise.
(2) In writing I learn what I cannot learn from merely reading. In writing I begin to play with ideas and shape them--however awkwardly and clumsily, until they begin to mean something to me. Much of what is here is exploration, investigation. It isn't even really meant to be definitive. If I could speak definitively, i certainly would not be in the messed up spiritual realm I am in.
It is this second reason that is an important reason for continuing to blog despite the lack of originality. Ecclesiastes in its world-weary way tells us that "There is nothing new under the sun." And that is so true. I couldn't come up with a "new" truth because Truth has been established from Eternity--it is timeless and always present. I might provide a way of looking at the truth that provides insight or provokes questions--but I'm not going to tell anyone anything they don't already know.
So while I despair of being so great a servant as those I have mentioned and many others, I continue to write. Even if for an audience of one, it is a necessary part of who I am and how I need to approach and understand God.
Something to consider.
Mack the Knife
as Sung by Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Brain Setzer,
translated from the German of Kurt Weill and Bertholt BrechtOh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.
Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.
Now on the sidewalk … uuh, huh … whoo … sunny mornin’ … uuh, huh
Lies a body just oozin' life … eeek!
And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
A-there's a tugboat … huh, huh, huh … down by the river don’tcha know
Where a cement bag’s just a'droopin' on down
Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear
Five'll get ya ten old Macky’s back in town.
Now, d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?
Now … Jenny Diver … ho, ho … yeah … Sukey Tawdry
Ooh … Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town.
Aah … I said Jenny Diver … whoa … Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town …Look out … old Macky is back!!
Friday I implemented restrictions on my site that amounted to showing only two days of posts and not allowing comments on any of those. This was prepatory to saying goodbye--to seeing if it would be possible for me to let go. And appears that it may well be so. Only time shall tell. But I'm thinking that by Monday whatever traces of desire to blog remain will have been extinguished and I will vanish off the face of blogdom. There's a part of me that wants to wallow in the "unseen, unheard, unlamented" melodrama, and part that doesn't really want to quit, and part that urges me to get away from this arrangement completely--I needed only the appropriate impetus to get me moving. My foolishness earlier in the week provided this and it may be well for me to delete the entire blog before the weekend so it will be unremembered. Who knows?
I wish things were more clear to me--that I were better able to sort out the competing desires and impulses. How can I begin to gauge whether or not I have done anything worthwhile here? Honestly, I don't have a clue. And since the first duty of a Christian is to "first do no harm and bring no harm to His name," it would seem better that if I am unable to determine this, I should just desist.
And yet part of me rails at this, insists that I should continue to blog. Perhaps that part is called "pride." And perhaps I should not so readily lend it my attention.
Inspired by a note from a correspondent, I ventured over to Amazon today to look for Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans (a work I truly admired, and one which got me solidly interested in Christianity, after wandering through the wide world of religion.) Upon arriving at Amazon, my "recommendations" screen popped up and the first book listed was Clinton's My Life
Those who know me know that the last president I was truly interested in was John Adams, and I might conceivably venture forward someday to read a biography of Martin Van Buren or Andrew Jackson (though biographies of military and political figures generally bore me to tears--if they are after the revolutionary period). I don't read biographies of modern presidents I like, much less of one for whom I have to pray constantly that I do not enter into sin in thought, word, or deed when I turn my attention to him.
What led to this noxious recommendation? Well, according to Amazon, I liked Lady Windemere's Fan (a play by Oscar Wilde) so that led directly to Bill Clinton. I would certainly like to know by what convoluted road one arrives at Bill from Lady Windemere, but I suspect I would be terribly dismayed at whatever revelations lay behind that conjunction.
The requests remain unchanged from yesterday, for which please see below. Please especially remember Dylan.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Liturgy of St. JamesLet all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.At His feet the six wingèd seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!
I finished reading this last night as a form of penance, and penance it was. Not only for the events detailed, but as in any government report, the lapses in grammar, the turgid and unnecessarily obtuse language and the convoluted sentences indicating a lack of clarity about any of the conclusions.
We know much, much remains to be known, whether or not it can be none int he absence of the perpetrators remains to be seen.
The report is available online here
If this is useful for you or your Carmelite group feel free to use it or to adpat it to better fit your own community or way of study. If you need them, I have word files for all of the parts that I should be most happy to e-mail at your request.
Study Guide for The Ascent of Mount Carmel XII
Read Chapters 16-17, pages 199-210 in the ICS Collected Works
Chapter 16
The imaginative apprehensions represented supernaturally to the phantasy are incapable of serving as a proximate means of union with God
What does St. John of the Cross mean when he says this? (For a quick review, please see II.12.4-6, pages 186-188.
(2) What are “imaginative visions?” Where do they come from? What is their purpose?
(3) Who can use these visions? To what purpose?
(4) Why would Satan take particular advantage of this way of coming to the soul? (Read carefully the last two sentences of the section.)
(5) What is the purpose in knowing the difference between good vision and bad ones?
(6) Why should one refrain from entertaining or thinking about imaginative visions?
(7) What is the difference between these visions and God’s way of working within the soul?
(8-9) Sections 8-9 deal with what the Holy Spirit reveals through Deuteronomy and Numbers. What are these revelations and how are they related to each other?
(10) Why is it unnecessary to desire visions and corporeal communications with God in order for them to have their effect within the soul? What is the advantage of NOT desiring them?
(11) Why is advantageous to divest oneself of the “stain-like figures” of imagination?
(12) On what should the eyes of the soul be fixed? What does one gain from this orientation?
(14) What is the chief danger of the unenlightened consideration that we ought to accept these visions and imaginations?
(15) What is our most effective dark candle in the darkness? How do we best follow it?
Chapter 17
God's procedure and purpose in communicating spiritual goods by means of the senses.
(1) Read the footnote associated with this section very carefully. Note what the editors say is the importance of this chapter. Break this down into key points to follow through the rest of the chapter.
(2-3) What are the three fundamental principles important to answering the questions posed in the first section? What is the importance of these?
(4) Why does God give a person visions, forms and images?
(5) “In the measure that souls approach spirit in their dealings with God, they divest and empty themselves of the ways of the sense, of discursive and imaginative meditation.” What does Saint John of the Cross have to say of the separation of the spiritual and the physical? What might it indicate? Why is this so?
(6) What is one of the chief characteristics of the perfect spirit?
(7) Why must a person not turn away from discursive meditation before the proper time? What are two reasons for not desiring visions or other supernatural communications? Of what does St. John of the Cross say, “ Such an effort is profitless, a waste of time, a hindrance to the soul, an occasion of many imperfections as well as of spiritual stagnancy. . .”?
(8) Note well: “It is regrettable that a soul, having as it were an infinite capacity, should be fed, because of its limited spirituality and sensory incapacity, with morsels for the senses.” Why should this be so?
(9) What must be the sole focus of the eyes of the Soul? Why?
"The Tempest" Act 4 Scene 1
William Shakespeare
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
I have been back and forth wondering and pondering--do I continue this endeavor. My recent gaffe has caused me to rethink a lot of what I do and I've come to the conclusion that what I offer here is nothing that would not be better coming fromt he original source unalloyed. If people are truly interested in these matters, they will seek them out. Otherwise, why have them thrust upon them. Is this more an exercise in self-indulgence, or more likely in compulsion? So it seems. And to indulge oneself at the expense of bringing harm to others is unconscionable. You will lose nothing with my departure, of this I am certain. There are many others out there who provide what I do in a form nearer its origin and without so much dilution and distraction. I recommend particularly Ms. Knapp's blog, which never fails to be a source of inspiration and a font of charity. Tom's Disputations is a wonderful place to undertake an intellectual workout. And TSO has never failed to provide me with a smile, an intriguing tidbit, or perhaps a cause of apoplexy--all admirable and desirable.
If this irritant has one some occasion produced some pearls, I am most pleased. But I am most sorry for those I have harmed, for those who have been frightened, confused, or upset by what they have read here. Go to the sources. Read your bible daily, pray the Liturgy of the Hours and wait upon the Lord in His word. You don't need this blog--it is as nothing.
A red letter day for all you admirers and appreciators of The DaVinci Code. Let us pray to the Magdalene that through her intercession all who have become acquainted with her through this book might rightly order and honor her as a good friend and follower of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and that they might honor Him rightfully above all else. Let her intercession turn what has been a burden for many into a new fount of righteous and proper spiritual life. May she, like the Blessed Virgin herself, always point all who are truly seeking to fill the emptiness in their lives toward that source of all fullnes and completion--Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the same Lord she knew as leader, teacher, and friend.
Praise to the Lord,
the Almighty the king of Creation,
O my soul praise him
for He is my rock and Salvation,
All you who hear,
now to his Temple draw near,
joining in glad adoration.
Praise
There is so much sorrow and joy in this praise:
Chris, for whom we had been praying so hard, passed into the arms of the Father peacefully over the weekend. Both she and her husband are at peace, but naturally the children are devastated--please pray for the whole family and for the repose of the soul of Chris.
For Katherine's child in the womb who yesterday was revealed to the world in good health. May God protect this precious child and bring him or her into the loving embrace of Katharine's family.
One of the three Carmelites in New York came through his surgery yesterday with flying colors, please pray for his continued recovery.
Heather recently had some extremely effective treatment for some autism-related disorders. Christine reports that she is about two hundred percent better and the effects are expected to increase over the next year.
Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan
For the repose of the soul of Roberta Meiers, T.O. Carm, who passed away suddenly on Monday night. It was a shock to all of us.
For my brother's mother-in-law, who was in the hospital yesterday with a very dire prognosis. May the Lord hold her and her family in His healing hands.
For the family of Chris, that they might know love, comfort, and the joy of His presence in their lives through these very sad times.
For one who desperately needs to learn humility, meekness, and charitableness.
For three New York Carmelites who have serious health problems, two of whom face very serious operations, may the Lord guide the doctors' and surgeons' hands and bless with the blessing of great peace those who face the treatments.
For a young lady of e-mail acquaintance who is in a great trial, fighting for her life against the weight of dread and despair, that God who is infinitely good will show her goodness of life
For Katherine's two friends as they each struggle with a different difficulty related to their respective pregnancies. Especially for S. as she spends the next ten weeks in the hospital, separated from her family seeking to preserve the life and health of the infant she presently carries.
For Mary H as her daughter enters the process of discerning a vocation
For Christine as she discerns the proper path to take in setting up a community
For Franklin's father and family as they struggle with the present circumstances
For Kris in Galesburg IL. who a year ago was diagnosed with cancer; now she faces treatment for a cancer that has spread. The local group is invoking the Blessed Gianna Beretta Mola.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) For Katherine and Franklin, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(2)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: From Davey's Mom: I am with child once again and could use prayers for a healthy pregnancy. For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mts. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
A very important request from a St. Blogs parishioner--"I found out recently that my friend's sister is pregnant for the fourth time. Her other three children have autism, and I know it would make her very, very happy to have a normal child." Please pray for this poor woman that she might have the joy of a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy delivery and new infant. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, Pray for Us.
Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
Turn to the Lord with your whole heart and leave behind this wretched world. Then your soul shall find rest. For the kingdom of God is the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. If you prepare within your heart a fitting dwelling place, Christ will come to you and console you. from The Imitation of Christ
Praise
There is so much sorrow and joy in this praise:
Chris, for whom we had been praying so hard, passed into the arms of the Father peacefully over the weekend. Both she and her husband are at peace, but naturally the children are devastated--please pray for the whole family and for the repose of the soul of Chris.
One of the three Carmelites in New York came through his surgery yesterday with flying colors, please pray for his continued recovery.
Heather recently had some extremely effective treatment for some autism-related disorders. Christine reports that she is about two hundred percent better and the effects are expected to increase over the next year.
Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan
For the repose of the soul of Roberta Meiers, T.O. Carm, who passed away suddenly on Monday night. It was a shock to all of us.
For my brother's mother-in-law, who was in the hospital yesterday with a very dire prognosis. May the Lord hold her and her family in His healing hands.
For the family of Chris, that they might know love, comfort, and the joy of His presence in their lives through these very sad times.
For one who desperately needs to learn humility, meekness, and charitableness.
For three New York Carmelites who have serious health problems, two of whom face very serious operations, may the Lord guide the doctors' and surgeons' hands and bless with the blessing of great peace those who face the treatments.
For a young lady of e-mail acquaintance who is in a great trial, fighting for her life against the weight of dread and despair, that God who is infinitely good will show her goodness of life
For Katherine's two friends as they each struggle with a different difficulty related to their respective pregnancies. Especially for S. as she spends the next ten weeks in the hospital, separated from her family seeking to preserve the life and health of the infant she presently carries.
For Mary H as her daughter enters the process of discerning a vocation
For Christine as she discerns the proper path to take in setting up a community
For Franklin's father and family as they struggle with the present circumstances
For Kris in Galesburg IL. who a year ago was diagnosed with cancer; now she faces treatment for a cancer that has spread. The local group is invoking the Blessed Gianna Beretta Mola.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) For Katherine and Franklin, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(2)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: From Davey's Mom: I am with child once again and could use prayers for a healthy pregnancy. For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mts. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
A very important request from a St. Blogs parishioner--"I found out recently that my friend's sister is pregnant for the fourth time. Her other three children have autism, and I know it would make her very, very happy to have a normal child." Please pray for this poor woman that she might have the joy of a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy delivery and new infant. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, Pray for Us.
Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
Sometimes, unthinkingly, I do something shockingly stupid or hurtful. It is usually not my intent. Such is the case with a recent set of posts I have made regarding the heresy of Americanism. Both posts have been removed.
The problem with them was that it was suggested that Mr. Akin, a fellow blogger, might have fallen into this heresy. In my excitement over the discovery and the interest of the "new" heresy, I stupidly allowed that reference to pass through. I owe Mr. Akin and all who were hurt or offended by that post the most profound apologies. I hope that anyone so harmed will find it in their hearts to forgive me for sinful stupidity. My intent was never to harm to bring harm to a good name. Mr. Akin and I may have a disagreement on the role and nature of contemplation, but such a disagreement is only that. Any implication or statement that Mr. Akin's position on the matter was heretical was both wrong and unfounded.
Once again, my apologies for this offense against the reputation of a good man. As my own imposed penance for so thoughtless an act, I will post only the morning prayer requests for the remainder of the week. Further, I will carefully consider the wisdom and merit of continuing blogging. If I cannot offer courtesy and respect and a comfortable place for all to come, then I accomplish nothing.
My apologies to Mr. Akin and to all of St. Blogs.
Described beautifully by Charles Williams:
from All Hallow's Eve
She was about a third of the way down when from far off the sound of the Name caught her. She could hardly there be said to have heard it; it was not so much a name or even a sound as an impulse. It had gone, the Indrawing cry, where only it could go, for the eternal City into which it was inevitably loosed absorbed it into its proper place. It could not affect the solid house of earth nor the millions of men and women toilfully attempting goodness; nor could it reach the paradisical places and thier inhabitants. It sounded only through the void streets, the apparent facades, the shadowy rooms of the world of the newly dead. There it found its way. Other wanderers, as invisible to Evelan as she to them, but of her kind, felt it--old men seeking lechery, young men seek drunkeness, women making and believing malice, all harborers in a lie. The debased Tetragrammaton drew them with its spiritual suction: the syllables passed out and swirled, and drawing thier captives returned to their speaker. Some went a little way and fell; some farther and failed; of them all only she, at once the latest, the weakest, the nearest, the worst, was wholly caught. She did not recognize captvity; she thought herself free. She began to walk more quickly, to run, to run fast. As she ran, she began to hear the sound. It was not friendly; it was not likeable; but it was allied. She felt towards it as Lester had felt towards the cry on the hill. The souls in that place know their own proper sounds and hurry to them.
Without question, Williams is difficult and you must read nuance and symbol to get everything. But here, in characteristic fashion, he spells it out to all who are paying attention. "My sheep know my voice and they hear me."
Procopius--The Secret History of the Courts of Justinian a.k.a. The Secret History second only to Suetonius in gossipy vitriol, this history of the the Court helps us to better appreciate the derogatory adjective "byzantine."
John Webster--The White Devil Read it to truly appreciate the greatness of Shakespeare, but also for its sheer lurid awfulness--not in prose or poetry but in story conception.
I wonder how many would agree with this list of the hundred best books. Frankly, any such list that includes the remarkably pallid and maudlin Wuthering Heights deserves to be looked at askance.
Yesterday T.S. O at one of my favorite blogs Video Meliora made a point concerning The DaVinci Code that I'm not quite certain I agree with, and yet I find fascinating. In context it reads:
The only answer I have to that is that, whatever their merits, Crichton & Clancy & others are living off the fame of their past books. They are a name brand now and could put out anything and it would sell. The key is their FIRST book, their break-out book. DVC is Brown's break-out book and there is something in a breakout book that might say something about a culture...
Now, let me set aside any misgivings I may have about the premise--they are as yet poorly formulated and more along the lines of murky stirrings in the depths more than fleshed-out thoughts. Let's accept the premise that this breakout book reveals something about the culture. Does it reveal anything new, interesting, or exciting.
I think it is a harbinger of something relatively new and an avatar of several old bogies that have not yet lost their patina of attractiveness. Let's start with the old. In the United States anything suggesting that the Catholic Church isn't all that upstanding or trustworthy has had a very long history (as long as the European-derived nation itself) of popularity and acceptance. One of the easy stepping stones to success is to suggest that there's something just not quite right about the Catholic Church. It's adherents might be all right, but those powerful old men in their secret chambers are out to keep hidden great mysteries and truths that a more open hierarchy long ago would have revealed. For example, if it had been about a group of Southern Baptists, they would never have suppressed these truths, having experienced centuries of suppression themselves (according to their own convenient history of existence.) So that's the first old bogie.
The second is the ever popular, ever new heresy of Gnosticism. Salvation comes to those with secret knowledge, knowledge that exists (as it were) just beyond the edges of scripture. This special revelation comes to only a few who, inspired by God Himself, do their best to share their knowledge, but ultimately only a few are destined for this inner circle anyway. This has bad a popularity since the time of Jesus Himself.
And there is yet a third appeal--one that isn't so much an old bogie as an Archetype with an enormous power even over those of us who have detached ourselves from the old stories. The appeal of the search for the Holy Grail remains. It crops up in odd places and it has odd resonances in society.
In this book we combine the Holy Grail (which always bespoke in some degree of Gnosticism) with anti-Catholic mutterings to generate a powerhouse of a story. But there is still another, newer element, that I would suggest as perhaps the predominant element of the attraction.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union we have been casting about for the new demon, the new evil force that will destroy us. We are looking for an enemy anywhere, and an institution as large and as ancient and as multi-storied as the Church provides the perfect vehicle. Moreover it ties in nicely to the first old-bogie.
If I were to read anything into this in terms of societal trends, I would suggest that society is looking for a focus, any focus. We have become unanchored and are drifting around in a sea of terrorism with no focused enemy and dangers behind every chador and under every turban. We have sufficiently freed ourselves of every burdensome consideration of propriety and morality that we are in a free-fall. I don't want to suggest apocalypse, but I do think Yeats's words resonate more powerfully today than they did when written.
The Second Coming
W. B. Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
I would suggest that the popularity of The DaVinci Code represents the "turning and turning in a widening gyre" in search of an anchor, any anchor, for our fears, our anxieties, and our uncertainties. We hold onto any truth because we falcons can no longer hear the Falconer. His word diminishes in meaning because we do not feel bound by it.
And The DaVinci Code certainly exemplifies "the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Mr. Brown himself would swear up and down on a stack of any holy book you care to designate that he is revealing hidden truths while scholars and supposedly intelligent people do little or nothing to counteract the idiocy. (This is speaking purely of the secular world, not of the more that 30 books from religious sources that are combating the ludicrous.)
If Mr. Brown's book fulfills a need, I would suggest that the need of the moment is not so much the "truth" he reveals, which in a year will have been forgotten, but rather that he has provided for us a focus for our fear and uncertainty. The monolithic and evil church of the turn of the 20th century--a la The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk.
The Church, after all, is the only thing that stands in the way of "true" freedom. By this I mean that the secular world sees it as the obstacle to everything good that society could accomplish through understanding and gentle loving guidance. On the other hand it is my view that the Church indeed IS the ONLY thing that stands in the way of true freedom--true freedom from sanity. Mr. Brown's book may be one symptom of the descent into societal depression and concomitant delusional behaviors.
Continuing my beach-reading reviews in a slightly differen vein. My wife informs me that this was made into a movie--I hadn't realized that fact, and I can't imagine it. They must have pruned out large swathes of it (or perhaps not) in order for it not to be entirely depressing. The book itself is NOT depressing, but I could see a very downbeat movie being made from it.
The story centers around 17 year old Novalee Nation who is travelling across country with her boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens to make their fortune in California. Novalee is 7 months pregnant and desperately in need of a potty break when they enter the town of Sequoyah, OK. She spots a Wal-Mart and gets her boyfriend to pull over so she can buy some "house shoes." She enters the store and after taking care of the primary business goes up the register with a ten-dollar bill and gets $7.77 cents change. Seven is not a good number for Novalee, and she realizes that her boyfriend has abandoned her.
With this inauspicious beginning we are introduced to an odd array of characters who help Novalee make a life for herself:
--Sister Husband believes that reading the Bible is confusing. If you read a lot you you get very confused, if you read a little, you are only a little confused. So Sister Husband hands out Bibles a chapter at a time. When she first meets Novalee, she doesn't have any chapters to give her because she's just handed out her last Deuteronomy and two Lamentations because, she says, "I just stopped by the bus station and met a woman going to New Orleans. A woman going to New Orleans cannot have too many lamentations."
--Lexie--the friend with five children by four different fathers who seems never to pick the right man or the right diet. One of her notions for a diet is to stand up while eating McDonald's food.
--Moses Whitecotton--who introduces her to a love of art and vision.
There are others, of course, but this is a sampling. What I derived from the book is a powerful sense of the healing power of community and of selfless love that is still possible among people who have not gotten swept up into the "American Dream" of a Bel-Air Mansion and swimming pool.
I enjoyed the book tremendously (but then I'm a sucker for the 'I lived for a month in the Grocery Store without anyone knowing about it' genre). And I heartily recommend it (pardon the pun), for those looking for a charming, funny, sad, and sometimes moving exploration of human relationships. Billie Letts reminds me of Anne Tyler at her very best. I hope the other book I picked up The Honk and Holler Opening Soon is as amusing.
Recommended--good beach reading.
Okay, so I've had a slew of non-beach reading, and I realized that I neglected to say anything about this book. (And speaking of it allows me to make another point in a different post, so bear with me.) This is DEFINITELY beach reading. I bought it while in Venice and started reading it while there, finished upon the return home. (I can't read much at the beach because I'm too active walking up and down the beach and looking out to sea--so while I understand the concept of beach reading, I must admit to not being a beach-reader.)
Anyway, this is another of Rollins's utterly fascinating thrillers. In this, an American Submarine in the Arctic ocean comes upon a huge complex frozen into an "ice-island" They surface through a convenient nearby polynya and begin exploring the base. They discover two different but subtly interrelated horrors frozen in the base. I don't know how much to tell you about these because much of the fun of the book is discovering what these wonders and horrors are. Suffice to say the name of the station is Grendel and what is there sufficiently lives out the name.
Rollins has from the beginning constructed elaborate and entertaining thrillers. This one is particularly interesting because of the setting, the sub-plots, and the amazing discoveries and ultimate purpose thereof. You will learn far more that you care to know about arctic ice, submarines, sonar, and illicit human experimentation.
This is light reading at its best--much action, many surprises, a love subplot, a revenge on the entire world subplot, and a conspiracy subplot. The action keeps you moving through it and the author's afterward gives you something to think about as you are considering.
Recommended for your sessions of light reading.
Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spririt, so that there may be unity in flesh and spirit. I have exhorted you only briefly, for I am aware that you are filled with God. Remember me in your prayers , that I may attain to God. from The Letter to the Magnesians--St. Ignatius of Antioch
Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan
For three New York Carmelites who have serious health problems, two of whom face very serious operations, may the Lord guide the doctors' and surgeons' hands and bless with the blessing of great peace those who face the treatments.
For a good friend who must find the words to speak wisely and gently in admonishment to one who needs to hear and understand the necessity for actions that must be taken.
For a young lady of e-mail acquaintance who is in a great trial, fighting for her life against the weight of dread and despair, that God who is infinitely good will show her goodness of life
For Katherine's two friends as they each struggle with a different difficulty related to their respective pregnancies. Especially for S. as she spends the next ten weeks in the hospital, separated from her family seeking to preserve the life and health of the infant she presently carries.
For Chris K. please continue and redouble your prayer efforts
For Mary H as her daughter enters the process of discerning a vocation
For Katherine as she works through some difficulties
For Christine as she discerns the proper path to take in setting up a community
For Franklin's father and family as they struggle with the present circumstances
Please pray for Katherine's friend C. who lost her baby yesterday--healing, comfort, health and solace.
For Kris in Galesburg IL. who a year ago was diagnosed with cancer; now she faces treatment for a cancer that has spread. The local group is invoking the Blessed Gianna Beretta Mola.
For Heather as she continues to undergo therapy to assist her living in greater harmony with the world.
For Linda against discouragement under difficult circumstances
Prayers for Jeff Culbreath and the renewed success of his printing business.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) Chris Keith, the young lady whose biopsy went poorly got the results of that biopsy--carcinoma of the liver. The cancer is metastatic from colon cancer. Surgery has taken place to treat the colon cancer.
I paraphrase her mother:
"We [members of the family] are standing on the Rock and are rock solid. We are all okay and we are looking for a few prayer warriors to help us in this battle." Because this mother means so much to me for the great good she has done for my friends, I plan to stand with her and her family in this battle, and I invite you all to join me. Expect to hear about this on and off over the next few months.
(2) For Katherine and Franklin, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(3)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: From Davey's Mom: I am with child once again and could use prayers for a healthy pregnancy. For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mts. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
A very important request from a St. Blogs parishioner--"I found out recently that my friend's sister is pregnant for the fourth time. Her other three children have autism, and I know it would make her very, very happy to have a normal child." Please pray for this poor woman that she might have the joy of a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy delivery and new infant. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, Pray for Us.
Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
David Gerrold, a science fiction writer whose reknown stems prinicpally from various Star Trek episodes, most especially "The Trouble with Tribbles," has written an interesting and occasionally moving novel concerning his real-life experience adopting a child.
Dennis, the child, is labeled by the child-care workers as "unadoptable." He has ADHD, he's been in and out of foster homes since he was taken from his abusvie mother at the age of three. In one case, at the age of four, he had to testify against the person who abused him.
Glancing through a book full of potential adoptees at a "fair" for adoption, David happens upon Dennis's picture and realizes that this is the child for him. He starts proceedings. At the initial interview, all goes well enough until near the end at which time one of the social workers says, "Dennis thinks he's a martian." Gerrold comes up with a response to this that is at once sympathetic and delusional. And so the book proceeds.
We hear mostly about the good times. The bad times are mostly relagated to little intervals between the triumphs. Frankly, this is all to the good. I'd rather hear about the breakthroughs than about how very difficult it can be. And there are a great many breakthroughs.
The story proceeds along a trajectory that injects some vaguely science-fictiony elements into the mix. We meet (in retrospect) Ted Sturgeon (one of the great writers and theorists of the Science Fiction world), Steve Barnes, and other science fiction writers of note.
The novel is about the power of love, and it is perhaps made more powerful by the fact that the events really occurred, that Mr. Gerrold's life is laid out for us, and that things have gone far better than one could possibly expect. The story is about the power of one attentive and dedicated adult to turn around the life of one very disturbed, very hurt, profoundly needy child. From this bundle of need emerges a person who is capable of love and attachment, a person who was always there but hidden by circumstance.
One caution for the scrupulous--Mr. Gerrold is a self styled "gay" or "bisexual" man. It plays remarkably little part in the story. but some may have objections. It did much to make me rethink any I might have been harboring.
Recommended.
I've said before, and I do not think I will tire of saying, Charles Williams is one of the most unjustly neglected authors of recent times. Every time I dip into this book, I am once again convinced of the eerie power Charles Williams has to evoke the spiritual world and the kinds of battles that rage there. Much of his work is difficult, perhaps even obscure. I shared this work with the reading group I have and one person was completely confounded by it. The other enjoyed it but did find it a bit difficult.
One of the main themes in all of Williams's work is the battle that rages around us constantly and our inability to see it. So too here. We start with Lester and Evelyn whom we learn very early on are both dead. We follow them around through a kind of shadow London, the nature of which is not completely clear--though it seems a London in which it is possible to move through time. This becomes clear when we meet the Clerk--a Rasputin-like religious figure with an enormous power of a great many followers. He sends Betty, a rather lackluster girl, through shadow London on various missions. As it happens, Betty has connections in the past with both Lester and Evelyn.
I don't want to go to much into the mechanics of the plot here because it might dissuade you from reading this magnificent work. I think a better focus might be to mention that the book is largely about the neglected power of the sacraments. We see the transforming, indeed salvific power of the sacrament of Marriage in action in one character. In another we see the similar power of Baptism, even though the character was prevented from doing anything that would reinforce the initial sacrament.
One of the book group readers was fascinated and entertained by the powerful love story that provides the backbone for the book. All were intrigued by the various symbols in the work--for example, the two paintings of Jonathan that portray the Clerk and his followers and the "real" London. These symbols need to be carefully examined and "unpacked" for the story to have full effect.
While the book is short, it is NOT fast reading. You have to allow yourself the leisure to enjoy and understand it. While it can be read in one sitting, I'm not sure that is the most effective means of approaching it. Better to take it a little at a time and let it blossom, savoring the sentences, the meanings, and the symbols that come to life with careful examination.
Williams is an amazingly talented author. His fiction is uniformly as good as most of Lewis, and better than some. His prose is dense, an occasionally difficult thicket of words; nevertheless, it is so deliberately. It isn't an absence of cultivation that makes for obscurity, but, I believe, a deliberate attempt to slow the reader down and make them face the elements of the tale before them.
If you've read and enjoyed Lewis and Tolkien, you owe it to yourself to try the most difficult, and in some ways most interesting of the Inklings. (This is high praise indeed, if you only knew the great esteem in which I hold C.S. Lewis and some of J. R. R. Tolkien.)
Highly recommended--but not for beach reading.
Follow the ways of God, and have respect for one another; let no one judge his neighbor as the world does, but love one another always in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you that could divide you, but live in accord with the bishop and those who are over you as a sign and a pattern of eternal life. from the Letter to the Magnesians--St. Ignatius of Antioch.
Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan
For a good friend who must find the words to speak wisely and gently in admonishment to one who needs to hear and understand the necessity for actions that must be taken.
For a young lady of e-mail acquaintance who is in a great trial, fighting for her life against the weight of dread and despair, that God who is infinitely good will show her goodness of life
For Katherine's two friends as they each struggle with a different difficulty related to their respective pregnancies. Especially for S. as she spends the next ten weeks in the hospital, separated from her family seeking to preserve the life and health of the infant she presently carries.
For Chris K. please continue and redouble your prayer efforts
For Mary H as her daughter enters the process of discerning a vocation
For Katherine as she works through some difficulties
For Christine as she discerns the proper path to take in setting up a community
For Franklin's father and family as they struggle with the present circumstances
Please pray for Katherine's friend C. who lost her baby yesterday--healing, comfort, health and solace.
For Kris in Galesburg IL. who a year ago was diagnosed with cancer; now she faces treatment for a cancer that has spread. The local group is invoking the Blessed Gianna Beretta Mola.
For Heather as she continues to undergo therapy to assist her living in greater harmony with the world.
For Linda against discouragement under difficult circumstances
Prayers for Jeff Culbreath and the renewed success of his printing business.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) Chris Keith, the young lady whose biopsy went poorly got the results of that biopsy--carcinoma of the liver. The cancer is metastatic from colon cancer. Surgery has taken place to treat the colon cancer.
I paraphrase her mother:
"We [members of the family] are standing on the Rock and are rock solid. We are all okay and we are looking for a few prayer warriors to help us in this battle." Because this mother means so much to me for the great good she has done for my friends, I plan to stand with her and her family in this battle, and I invite you all to join me. Expect to hear about this on and off over the next few months.
(2) For Katherine and Franklin, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(3)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: From Davey's Mom: I am with child once again and could use prayers for a healthy pregnancy. For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mts. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
A very important request from a St. Blogs parishioner--"I found out recently that my friend's sister is pregnant for the fourth time. Her other three children have autism, and I know it would make her very, very happy to have a normal child." Please pray for this poor woman that she might have the joy of a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy delivery and new infant. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, Pray for Us.
Blessed Gianna, pray for us.