Friday Five – Volume 56

— 1 —

A few months ago I came across the essay “How God Makes a Pencil” on the Acton Institute’s blog. In 1958 Leonard Read published his essay “I, Pencil” and recently a video illustrating Read’s point was made. The article itself by Joe Carter is worth a read; most especially the video (and essay) is worth a look.

— 2 —

In his essay Read quotes G.K. Chesterton:

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery—more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

What Chesterton wrote a century ago is more true today. In this single paragraph one could make the argument that we are more than ever today treating and using the wonder that is human life with the same “supercilious attitude” with which we regard the pencil. It struck me during the course of the past few weeks how deeply shocked we were and how strongly we mourn the deaths of so many young and innocent children in Connecticut. And rightly so! But every day in this country we silently acquiesce to the murder of over 3300 infants in their mother’s wombs. We are a society leaning ever more closer to legalizing euthanasia for our elderly and infirm. Our blind eyes turn away from prostitution, the sex-trafficking of children and the strength and stability of the traditional family unit for reasons too numerous and complicated to get into here today. We glorify violence, paying ever increasing amounts of money to reward those who produce it, and accept the ridicule and scorn heaped upon the institution of fatherhood. Joseph was a man of whom no words or speech is recorded in Scripture. Silently he did the honorable and just things by protecting his young bride and child and providing for them. In fact today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents, to honor the memory of the children of Bethlehem slaughtered by King Herod. These children died specifically because Herod wanted to kill the Christ child of whom he’d heard the prophecies regarding Christ being a king. Those children died in place of the baby Jesus, who was saved by Joseph’s obedience to an angelic dream warning him to take his family and flee to safety in Egypt.

Today Joseph would be celebrated only had he been a drunken, belching fool sitting on a barstool with his buddies and bedding the occasional bar floozy while shooting one-liners from the hip that would be posted on Facebook. “Good ol’ Joe,” we’d snicker. And then he’d get a sitcom on ABC Family called “Who’s Yer Daddy?” in which Mary is a lesbian and teen Jesus is supporting the family by dropping out of school and running a porn site.

This is what we glorify today. It is the truth-that-no-one-dares-admit-or-mention. No one will because to admit this fact is to admit our own guilt and complicitness. So we ignore it all…all the wonder around us represented in our neighbors, family and friends…and turn on the damned television and pass the blame on to other things. We’re perishing without having a clue.

— 3 —

All of this can be disheartening to a Catholic guy. Fortunately there exists in the world strong Catholic women. (Talk about a portion of society who is not only vastly misunderstood but openly ridiculed!) One of them, Supertradmum, recently posted some encouragement for her Catholic male friends:

First of all, as heads of families and as husband and fathers, you cannot wallow in depression. You must rise to the occasion.

Second, did you not expect these turns of events-the mystery of evil, which some of us have seen for 40 years coming?

Third, it is your responsibility to be the spiritual as well as material leaders in your families and in your parishes. Leaders, like Christ, pray, accept the burden of suffering and decide what to do.

She lists twelve, of which I pasted the first three above. All of them are good reminders, but just receiving acknowledgement and encouragement from someone was salve to the wound. Her list is mostly about shaking off the depression surrounding recent events in the world. And the truth is I was depressed for several weeks after November 6. That Depression has given way to disgust and contempt, but I try to remind myself of something J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in one of his letters:

“Actually I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’ – though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.” (Letter 195)

And so I am first made courageous, then humble, and finally I remain hopeful. I’m hopeful because as Mark Shea wrote last week:

The journey into God’s love does not end here. It never ends. The horrors in Connecticut are not a sudden revelation that the gospel is a fraud, but a sudden revelation of how blind we have become to the depths of human and demonic evil that Jesus died and rose to defeat. We have been too long comfortable and sentimental about the gospel. But the gospel was born into a world that welcomed the Christ Child by slaughtering innocents in Bethlehem. … Christmas is not and never was a celebration of Kodak moments. It is D-Day: the moment when the Son of God landed on the beaches of Occupied Earth and began the work of liberating a population captive to sin, death, and the powers of hell. The powers of hell shoot back and have a special hatred for children and other innocents – and they will continue to do so until they are cornered in the last bunker of hell. But Christ, who has conquered death, is the great champion of children and good martyrs still. And he is coming with all the Holy Innocents from down the ages to exact judgment against the devil and all his angels and on That Day, to wipe away every tear from our eyes. So we weep at this obscenity as He did at the grave of Lazarus. But we also are “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33 – the Greek contains the idea of growling anger) and when we are done weeping, we get up, don our spiritual armor, seek all the graces of Christ in the sacraments, and go off to make war on sin, hell and death with the weapons of the Spirit and not the weapons of this world.

One more from Supertradmum’s list:

Eleven, Christ was crucified. So what do you expect?

Indeed.

— 4 —

Just three days ago we celebrated the birth of a baby whose mom had no inn in which to give him birth. Her husband found the best place he could and made it as comfortable for her as possible. I read a quote that I considered posting all alone as my Friday Five this week. At first glance it appears to be a bumper sticker slogan that could be posted to Facebook and quickly forgotten. But there is much here to contemplate upon.

“Life is a night spent at an uncomfortable inn.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila

While we’re spending this long night at such an uncomfortable inn, I thought of something that Chesterton (yes, him again) wrote about Charles Dickens. I had forgotten it until reading an article in the National Catholic Register last night about the final lecture given at Georgetown University by one of my favorite authors, Fr. James Schall, who quotes the passage. I happen to own a copy of a biography Chesterton wrote about Dickens because a friend of mine in California, knowing of my love of books, of Dickens and of Chesterton, purchased and shipped it to me when she found it in a used bookstore in San Diego.

“There is ‘a long way to travel before we get back to what Dickens meant: and the passage is along a rambling English road, a twisting road such as Mr. Pickwick traveled. But this at least is part of what he meant; that comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel; but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which through God shall endure forever. The inn does not point to the road; the road points to the inn. And all roads point at last to an ultimate inn, where we shall meet Dickens and all his characters: And when we drink again it shall be from the great flagons in the tavern at the end of the world.’”

As Clarence wrote to George Bailey: “No man is a failure who has friends.” I have been truly blessed with many and can only hope I’ve been the same in return. May we hoist our flagons together in the hereafter.

— 5 —

As a palate cleanser, I offer one of my favorite scenes from a series laden with favorite scenes.

Merry Christmas. Because it’s still Christmas, ya know. It didn’t end at midnight on the 25th.

Friday Five (Vol. 47) – Crankypants edition

I will admit that I as I sat down to write out a Friday Five this morning I was a cranky old man. Or as my five-year old daughter would say “Dad is being a crankypants.” Cranky because I’m sick to death of the election process. Of politicians who will say anything for a vote, despite the evidence of their record to the contrary. Of our choice being between the devil we know and the devil we don’t know. I’m sick of the division, of pitting citizen against citizen; and of the average citizen’s unwillingness to separate their country from the shackles of a political party. And I’m really tired of the attacks on the First Amendment. So much so that I did what for me is a rare thing and put a sign in my front yard. Yeah, I know, big deal. A yard sign. Still…

I’m cranky because despite the incredibly vast array of evidence to the contrary I still have the occasional friend say to me “All religions are the same, you know.” It happened again yesterday. Here’s a hint: If you want to display your complete and total ignorance to me say this with a straight face. Granted, perhaps you don’t know any better and, like most of us, too busy living our lives to check. How else do we explain the ignorance and stupidity of the average American voter? Sorry…I’m digressing. Look, if you want to say something that vapid go ahead. Maybe you don’t know any better. Or maybe you really believe it. But since I like to believe most people don’t spout off about things they know nothing about I will figure you’re saying it because you believe it.

(Did I really just say “most people don’t spout off about things they know nothing about”? [insert facepalm here] My God I’m delusional.)

So I was cranky. Until…

— 1 —

…until this morning when I was able to sit down and watch the first video produced by the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for the Year of Faith. It’s called the Video Catechism for Teens.

On the website’s About page it says:

As we begin the Year of Faith, announced by Pope Benedict XVI, the Diocese of Wheeling – Charleston is proud to introduce the Video Catechism for Teens. We believe in order to effectively reach this generation of teens with the richness and beauty of our Catholic faith, it must be done in new and relevant ways. It is estimated that a teenager consumes a staggering 10 hours and 45 minutes of media content each day. Of that content, 4 hours and 29 minutes is spent watching videos (whether on TV, Internet sites such as Hulu, YouTube, etc.)

Our videos will be:

• Relevant: The videos will use cultural analogies, creativity, humor, and will always try to answer the question, “Why should a teenager care about this?”
• Focused on God’s Love: The beginning of the Catechism states, “The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends.” (CCC 25) Every doctrine is a new way in which God reveals His love for us. Our videos will strive to focus on that message.
• Driven by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: At the heart of each video will be a point (or points) articulated by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Since the language used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church wasn’t written with the intent of communicating the faith to a teenage audience, key points may be paraphrased or re-worded in an effort to make it more understandable.

What it will include:

• Monthly Video
• Discussion Guide for Catechetical leaders, teachers, and youth ministers
• Family Discussion Guide

*****

Creed. Sacraments. Morality. Prayer. These four sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are going to be introduced beginning with the Creed in October of 2012 through Prayer which will begin in October 2015.

I urge you to bookmark the VCat, especially if you are the parent of a teen or work with or minister to them. If the coming months are done half as well as their initial offering this will be a very nice supplement to the YouCat.

Website: www.vcat.org

They have more videos and discussion starters on Facebook as well.

— 2 —

The first installment:

The Pursuit – I fled him, down the nights and down the days. I fled him, down the arches of the years. I fled him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind and in the midst of tears. I hid from him…

Based on “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson, this narrative short film, directed by Bonnie Gruesen and starring Ruby Kaye, was produced by Outside da Box in collaboration with the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. It is the first installment of the 48-film V-CAT (video catechism) series for teens. Films will be released monthly from October 2012 – September 2016

Bishop Bransfield’s reflection is here.

A brief video overview of the Creed is here.

— 3 —

Two things about this video:

One: I thought it was extremely well done. I also like that it fooled me. It wasn’t until after the three minute mark that I got it. I made the mistake that most probably will make, and are in fact making in the reality of their lives. But then I remembered the Hound.

Two: I love that they used one of my favorite poems in this world, Francis Thompson’s “The Hound of Heaven.” I have long remarked that I fancied this poem to be Psalm 151.

— 4 —

A few more items about this poem. A few years ago David Scott wrote an excellent book called The Catholic Passion: Rediscoving the Power and Beauty of the Faith. In chapter three Scott provides some background on Francis Thompson, his poem, and its effect on Dorothy Day when she encountered it in the smoky backroom of a Greenwich Village bar aptly named the Hell Hole as it was being recited by her friend Eugene O’Neill.

*****

. . . I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him . . .

On that cold winter night in 1917, Eugene O’Neill’s audience was a crowd of self-styled freethinkers and artists, free-love bohemians and hangers-on. At his side was Dorothy Day, a 20-something reporter for the nation’s largest socialist daily newspaper, The New York Call. Like O’Neill, she was a lonely idealist with a taste for rye whiskey and lover-done-me-wrong songs. They used to walk pressed together on the late-night streets, lost in conversation about the mystic lyrics of Baudelaire and the “God-is-dead” philosophy of Nietzsche. She had never heard O’Neill speak of this poem before.

I stand amid the dust o’ the mounded years —
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
My days have crackled and gone up in smoke,
Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream.
Yea, faileth now even dream. . . .
And now my heart is as a broken fount,
Wherein tear-drippings stagnate . . .

Written in the 1870s by a former opium addict turned Catholic named Francis Thompson, “The Hound of Heaven” could have been O’Neill’s spiritual autobiography. Reared Catholic and educated in Catholic schools, O’Neill had forsaken his parents’ faith in a disillusionment that spiraled down a back alley of reckless excess. He professed a morose and anguished atheism, refusing homage to a God who could allow so much suffering in the world.

Dorothy Day parted company with him not long after that night in the Hell Hole. O’Neill went on to fame — winning four Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize in Literature — but not quite happiness. His plays were studies in loss: he wrote of a God who failed to deliver, of sin and guilt and the burden of memory, of the search for satisfaction and the terror of death.

Dorothy Day

At first, Day continued along the downward path she and O’Neill had been on. She was wounded in action in the Jazz Age’s sexual revolution — knocked up and then abandoned by a hard-drinking journalist. She had an abortion, married a man on the rebound, and lived for a time as an expatriate in Paris and Capri. Her marriage broke up, and she bore a daughter out of wedlock with another man.

In December 1927, a decade after that winter with O’Neill, she surrendered to the relentless “Hound of Heaven” and entered the Catholic Church. The long days until her death in 1980 were spent not far from the Hell Hole. She lived without income or security, sheltering the homeless, speaking out against injustice and war, and spreading through her writings and her life’s witness a radical belief in the merciful kingdom of God. Many believe she will one day be declared a saint.

She never stopped praying for Eugene O’Neill, who had opened her eyes with that poem. “It is one of those poems that awakens the soul, recalls to it the fact that God is its destiny,” she wrote in her first autobiography, From Union Square to Rome. “The idea of this pursuit fascinated me; the inevitableness of it, the recurrence of it, made me feel that inevitably I would have to pause in the mad rush of living to remember my first beginning and last end.”

*****

Read it all. And then pick up Scott’s book (which is also available for Kindle).

— 5 —

A final point about the video. Lest you think it too simplistic or roll your eyes at the use of the “scandal of teens dancing or partying” consider the following:

“National statistics show nearly one in five teens thought about suicide, one in six made plans for suicide and nearly one in twelve attempted suicide,” said Joanne Oppelt, executive director of Contact We Care, a north Jersey based suicide prevention hotline.

Now indulge me a moment and stay with me. I’ve seen these stats before, but a friend of mine who is a tireless crusader against bullying in schools posted them on Facebook last night. So why is this considered an option? What are the reasons teens think this is their only recourse?

While the reasons that teens commit suicide vary widely, there are some common situations and circumstances that seem to lead to such extreme measures. These include major disappointment, rejection, failure, or loss such as breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, failing a big exam, or witnessing family turmoil. Since the overwhelming majority of those who commit suicide have a mental or substance-related disorder, they often have difficulty coping with such crippling stressors. They are unable to see that their life can turn around, unable to recognize that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Usually, the common reasons for suicide listed above are actually not the “causes” of the suicide, but rather triggers for suicide in a person suffering from a mental illness or substance-related disorder. (Source)

Like the girl in the video we can get turned around. Whether we fall in with the wrong crowd, wrong habits, or expose ourselves incessantly to the wrong messages portrayed in media (music, movies, television, magazines, video games, etc.) we get turned around. Up becomes down and black becomes white because our thought processes become confused…disoriented. And like the girl in the video, or the person in Thompson’s poem, we flee from The One who is most capable of lifting us out of the muck and the mire.

I’ve seen it first hand. I’ve lived it myself. Please be aware of the warning signs.

And adults? It applies to us all the same. When you make that decision to move forward and leave the burdens and trappings of the past behind it is a beautiful thing.

Plus you aren’t as cranky. At least not most of the time. And me? Now after writing this? Not so much.

I’d love to expand this discussion further, but this is the Friday Five and therefore supposed to be brief. And as you can tell I’ve pretty much thrown that out the door already today. Have a beautiful weekend.

*****

In a video that seems inspired by the movie The Devil’s Advocate, I think Don is singing about a woman who guided him forward. For me it was the Church: the Bride of Christ.

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me? – The Hound of Heaven

Will you stand here in this fire with me?
Are you ready for another life? – Don Henley (Everything Is Different Now)

Beauty and miracles in the desert

“Boredom of course is another matter. It has little to do with what actually exists in the world outside any of us. The world is just fine; it is full of beauty and miracles abound even in the midst of the most desolate of deserts.” – Kevin Codd. To The Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de Compostella. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (2008).

*****

I read these lines just before turning in last night. The words struck hard at the heart of what has become such an epidemic in today’s modern world. Everyone, it seems, is bored. Or they are scared of being bored and race and work and stretch themselves in a million directions at once in order to avoid the fear of being bored. We stuff our lives and our homes with mountains of stuff, hoping that the next thing will once and for all fill that hole in our soul. When it doesn’t we work longer hours and push ourselves harder to make enough money to buy the next thing. Yet the hole remains, as we remain on the mad gerbil’s wheel. Instead of considering the miracles that surround us with each step we take, we bemoan the fact that our lives are drab, unexciting…boring.

It’s a paradox perhaps that the hub of what modern man sees as the necessary excitement and activity is the modern city. But it is within these city walls that we block out the very miracles to which I refer. The sun setting (or rising) on the distant horizon is difficult to see when surrounded by city buildings or suburban rooftops. Nature, grass, animals (outside of the squirrel, possum or rat variety) are non-existent unless one goes to the zoo. And my personal favorite, millions of stars and the constellations that fill the night sky, are almost impossible to see in the illuminated city at night. God’s wonder in nature hasn’t left us…we left it.

And when nothing seems to work and we begin to wear down from all the fruitless pursuit of activity we can succumb to boredom, acedia, and finally melancholia. “What’s the point of all this?” we ask ourselves. “Is this all there is to life? How long will I wander in this paved, urban desert?”

The answer, I believe, is provided in many places. I happened upon one of them a few weeks ago when I read the following poem by Alfred Noyes (1880-1958):

To A Pessimist
Life like a cruel mistress woos
The passionate heart of a man, you say,
Only in mockery to refuse
His love, at last, and turn away.

To me she seems a queen that knows
How great is love—but ah, how rare!—
And, pointing heavenward ere she goes,
Gives him the rose from out her hair.

You see, I believe the hole that lies in the hearts of humanity is, to use a well-known cliché, God-shaped. It is a huge hole, one capable of only being filled by God. And what is God? Love, of course.

I’m sure I sound like a Hallmark card to you by now and I’d have to agree, but I also know from my own personal experiences in this life that this is true. I’ve ridden the depression rollercoaster. I’ve also watched as it took hold of friends and loved ones and attempted to pull them down below the ocean waves of this life. You feel as if you’re drowning; gasping; struggling to stay above water to breathe while clinging to any life raft, driftwood or flotsam you can find each time you can get your head above water. Only too many times we are grabbing an anchor, weighed down by yet another purchase or another activity that we gravitate towards instead of the one thing that we need. Such is the stubborness of man.

In his second stanza Noyes perhaps is pointing the way. I’m not a learned interpreter of poetry by any stretch of the imagination, but to me the “queen” he refers to is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who knows the depths of love that God’s heart is capable of storing, as well as the depths of depravity possible in a human heart. She points heavenward, and gives the pessimist a “rose from out her hair.”

A rose is a widely recognized as the queen of flowers and a symbol of love. Catholics who pray the Rosary also know the significance of Mary and roses. Indeed, the word Rosary means “Crown of Roses”. One piece of Catholic imagery says that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving Mary a beautiful rose, and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses.

From The New Baltimore Catechism of 1941, Part 1, Lesson 1: The Purpose of Man’s Existence, we read

1. Who made us?
God made us.

2. Who is God?
God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.

3. Why did God make us?
God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.

4. What must we do to gain the happiness of heaven?
To gain the happiness of heaven we must know, love, and serve God in this world.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church today begins thusly:

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. (CCC 1)

Both the old and the new Catechisms in their following paragraphs point towards Jesus as the key to knowing love and finding the chief truths taught by Him. The Rosary is a biblical meditation upon the life of Jesus and one of the best ways I’ve found to come to know Him.

Or, if you prefer, perhaps the queen is an allegory for what the Greeks called sophia; that is, Wisdom. The concept of wisdom goes all the way back to Plato and his Protagoras dialogue. It is also a common tenet in Christianity where it is not only found throughout the Old Testament in Proverbs, Psalms, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, the Book of Wisdom, etc., but also in the New Testament where Christ referred to wisdom, as in “the wisdom of God.” Indeed, wisdom is mentioned over 220 times in the Bible.

So what do I do when I feel I’m about to go under? The first thing I try to do is to get out of the city for awhile. Go camping. Or hiking. Visit family or friends who live in the country. And when I can’t get out of the city? I seek wisdom in the very spot I’ve been planted.

No matter which method or activity you choose, whether accepting the conclusions of Socrates in the Protagoras:

Socrates claimed that “all virtue is knowledge and therefore one. He argues that the reason people act harmfully, to others or themselves, is because they only see the short term gains while ignoring the long term losses which might outweigh them, just like one makes errors in judging the size of objects that are far away. He says that if men were taught the art of calculating these things correctly, have a more exact knowledge that is, they would not act harmfully.

or by seeking, sharing and serving God in this world:

So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Strengthened by this mission, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.” Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer. (CCC 2-3)

or both (because they are not necessarily mutually exclusive) pick one. Remember Psalm 19:1: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 

Then (and with humility) end each day with these words from G.K. Chesterton:

“Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world around me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?”

[Admin: It should come as no surprise to anyone that my daughter's name is Sophia Rose. It was chosen for many of the reasons I've just mentioned. Also, I chose not to go into depth regarding the Rosary as I plan on writing more about this prayer in the coming week or two. This single prayer, meditation, or exercise…whatever you choose to call it…has been responsible for deepening and widening my faith more than any other. It has opened the door for me to a rich world in which my head is able to stay above water. At least for the most part. I am human after all.]