No magazine........

My Gilbert subscription came around renewal time, I hope I didnt drop an issue. If not, Ill have to *hang head in shame* borrow my mom's.

In other news.......final thoughts on Ballad of the White Horse. I just finished reading it this week.

I love this book, Its one of the things I will probably end up re-reading every year at least. I spoke before about the rhythm of the language, and imagery, and how it all comes together to create a work of true beauty and genius. One thing I think we fail to remember is how this era, the time period of BWH is a true Golden Age of the Church. I remember years ago in Gilbert, BWH was being reviewed, and it was noted how treacherous this era was with Popes being assassinated and being replaced by morally unworthy men.

I would draw our attention away from the Italian peninsula during this period, and focus on the Northlands of Europe. It was during this time that the Rule of St. Benedict was baptising the land mile by mile. It was during this time that the Church, both in the hierarchy and in the laity, came together and stopped the slave trafficing which was one of the negative remaining vestiges of the Roman Empire. Go to NewAdvent.org to the Catholic Encyclopedia, pick any letter, and click on the unfamiliar names. Many of them were abbots, scholars, and missionaries of these times who braved the barbarian wilds, brought Christ and civilization, and performed miracles. I wonder how our time compares to this?

Often, we look back on history as a conglomeration of "The Past," even though there are many distinct periods, and many events which closed some doors and opened others. Our contemporary struggles with Islam make us look back to the Crusades and similar times. If we look back just a little farther, I think there are things in that era which should bring us to awe.

Chesterton again reminding us about the debilitating slavery of being a child of our age.