"But the great towns have grown intolerable solely because of such suffocating vulgarities and tyrannies. It is not humanity that disgusts us in the huge cities; it is inhumanity. It is not that there are human beings; but that they are not treated as such. We do not, I hope, dislike men and women; we only dislike their being made into a sort of jam: crushed together so that they are not merely powerless but shapeless."

"The wise men know what wicked things
Are written on the sky,
They trim sad Lamps, they touch sad strings,
Hearing the heavy purple wings,
Where the forgotten seraph kings
Still plot how God shall die."

"The rich do mainly believe in divorce. The poor do mainly believe in fidelity. But the modern rich are powerful and the modern poor are powerless. Therefore for years and decades past the rich have been preaching their own virtues. Now that they have begun to preach their vices too, I think it is time to kick."

And some are now starting to kick.

An Advent Story

As my daughter and I were making paper cutout snow flakes she said to me, "Ya know Christmas is Jesus' birthday". She said this as if she was the only one to figure that out.
"Yes it is. Should we send him a card?"
"Oh yes that would be great!" (she loves making cards) at this she stopped with the snow flakes and got out her crayons and markers.
About half way through with this masterpiece she asked, "How old is Jesus"?
"He is going to be 2009 years old give or take a little."
She gave me that concentrated look to see if I was kidding or not.
"Fur real?" she asked.
"Fur real." I told her.
"Mom! Is papa right?"
"Yes, dear."

Later that night as I was tucking her in to bed she said, "You know he doesn't look that old."
"Who doesn't?" I asked
"Jesus."
Trying not to laugh I said, "Yes. He has held pretty well."

When You Sing You Pray Twice

"The modern evil, we have said, greatly turns on this: that people do not see that the exception proves the rule." GKC Eugenics and Other Evils

It is like this: the wall is the rule and the gate is the exception that proves it. The gate proves there is a wall the wall does not prove there is a gate. So the evil Chesterton is talking about is now we have a great expanse of gates and very little wall left.

There are many "social issues" today that bare this out including but not limited to the acceptance of the new Eugenics of assisted suicide.

But this is Advent so let us just look at one expanse of gates; Christmas Songs.
You can do any search for the top 10-20 or 25 Christmas songs and only one (some lists have 2) song talks about Jesus. The winner on most lists was The Little Drummer Boy followed by Silent Night. But then again how can they compete with Santa Baby and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

The weeks before Advent the Church had been telling the story of the Macabee's. I know the protestants don't "do" those books because Luther cut them due to the fact that they contradicted his personal theology and Henry-duh-8 kept them cut cause the story was a dangerous one for him. The story however is important for us today as it has ever been. It is a story where the people of God finally say "Enough! The government is not our religion and the king is not our God."

Of course I'm not suggesting we do what they did and go into prairie dog town and shoot some holes. But I am saying that we need to speak up and stop the madness.

Changing this simple song list is not as hard as trying to stay safe behind a barrier of gates. And songs have a powerful effect on how we view the world. Call your local radio station and request a true Christmas song. Do it once a day, have your friends do it and then their friends so without a single letter to the editor we can rebuild the wall.

The League of Bearded Catholics

Being a bearded fellow, I naturally have a certain affection for anyone who promotes facial hair.

But when they drag in Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc, and Chesterton, and adopt St. Nicholas as their patron saint, well, they have my attention.

T(olkien)he
L(ewis)eague
of
B(elloc)earded
C(hesterton)atholics
is a new blog that celebrates the four cited writers - and beards.

As they explain about themselves:

The League is meant to be held together by nothing much more than a sincere and spontaneous appreciation for Catholic culture, for authentic Catholic manhood and for the company of Catholic men and the women who tolerate them. If there is a chewy center to the Tootsie Roll Pop that is The League, it is an appreciation and gratitude especially for the lives and literary work of Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc and Chesterton - TLBC - (not necessarily in that order).

So, TLBC stands equally for The League of Bearded Catholics, and for Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc and Chesterton. You may have noticed that they are all dead British guys, and all important Christian writers of the twentieth century. You may also have noticed that not all of these gentlemen wore beards.

The last point is an important one. External beards are not required. Belloc was the only one of the four who had a beard (later in life). Chesterton had a moustache. Tolkien and Lewis were clean shaven. (The official position of the The League at this time is that, in spite of their smooth cheeks, both men sported a beard on the inside, which is the important and crucial thing. After all, some men - through no fault of their own - can't grow a beard, and we would not want to see them excluded from the fellowship by any mere accident of nature.)

They go on to explain, with tongue firmly in cheek (a beard-covered cheek, or course): The purpose of TLBC, then, is the same purpose for which God made wine... "To gladden the heart of man." We are glad to be alive, and our gratitude is expressed in what used to be called "merriment". The League is just a good-natured romp, even if our other goal (saving Western civilization) might sound to outsiders fairly grave and ambitious. If Western Civilization can be saved by beer, we stand ready to give it our best effort.

Excellent.

They even have bylaws, including:

1) The League is not a ministry and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any ecclesiastical body, however, we are guided in all things by the creeds, teachings and laws of the Catholic Church.

2) Membership in The League is open to all adults who are not witches or devil-worshipers or some such, so long as they can abide by the dictates of Rule #1.

3) Membership in The League places no obligation on any one. Meetings are strictly for the purpose of enjoyment, both the enjoyment of the literary tradition of the Four Patrons (Tolkien, Lewis, Belloc and Chesterton) , and that of meeting together with others of like mind. Preferably over drinks and good food. Or drinks, anyway.

5) *Though membership is open to all, individuals wishing to gain admittance to meetings must be bearded. For those without a beard, one will be provided, but it is the duty of the Sergeant at Arms to make certain that each who begs entry must wear a beard. Friendly non-members are welcome at meetings and some may even attain the exalted rank of Designated Driver.

6) Members attending meetings must also bring a passage (by one of the Four Patrons, or in the same tradition) which is to be read aloud - or even cooler, recited from memory. In addition, members are encouraged to make the fullest use of other media - movies, television programs, the internet, music, etc... . By the end of each meeting, a rough plan of the next meeting should be agreed on, with one or another member.

11) The League highly encourages and wishes to promote the creative projects of members, whether they be writing, art, video, music, cooking, brewing or other ventures. The colorfully written exploits of local chapter meetings and activities are especially coveted by the Homely Office, and will be published on the TLBC blog, probably.

Chesterton, of course, famously stated, "You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion." I suspect you could form a bearded league in a moment of passion, though whether such a thing would survive long once the passion abated is questionable.

Anyway, don your beards and check out The League of Bearded Catholics.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Proclamation

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

St. Francis would have liked GKC

It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look. - St. Francis of Assisi

Youthful Foolishness: Socialism, Obama, and McGovern

I am reading - and enjoying - William Oddie's Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy. I can only read it in chunks - too many other things going on, but it is well worth it.

As a youth, Chesterton briefly came "to see himself as a full-blown, committed socialist," Oddie says. Obviously, GKC later rejected socialism.

My point here is not to argue about Chesterton's flirtation with socialism, or even to reject socialism as did he. But as I read, I thought of all the young people drinking the Obama Kool-Aid last year. They, like Chesterton, were caught up in a movement, a bright vision of a way to create a better world.

Hopefully, they will realize as they grow wiser that President Obama is simply a politician, albeit a charming one, who tapped into the poetry of youthful enthusiasm, but who is already getting caught up in the prose of actually trying to govern. They may even come to see that some of the things he actually advocates -as opposed to the bright, "hopeful,"media-hyped image that too many embraced - are not morally acceptable or even prudent.

I was caught up in such a movement in my youth. Back in 1972, faced with the Vietnam War and the questionable actions of the Nixon administration, I plunged whole hog into the Presidential campaign of Senator George McGovern. As a Junior and then a Senior in high school I worked long hours at the McGovern headquarters, manning phones, typing, and heading out to campaign in neighborhoods. I can remember studying for my Trigonometry final while standing outside a polling place.

My rose-colored glasses began to fall away when he ditched Eagleton as his VP, and as our "hope" for victory rapidly disappeared in the long weeks of September and October. Still, I stuck with the campaign to the end. And the day after the election, having kept up with developments at a certain hotel in Washington and the digging of some reporters at the Washington Post, I told my father with prescient youthful bravado that Nixon would not last out the term.

If I were the person I am now, with the knowledge I have now, I would not have been caught up in McGovern's youth-fueled movement. But I was 16/17. Young and naive. Like so many of the Obama supporters now. And like Chesterton when it came to socialism.

Fortunately, like Chesterton, I found a true answer to the world's ills in faith and the use of common sense.

Quoting Chesterton

Every now and then I search online and at news sites for mention of G.K. Chesterton.

Occasionally I’ll find an interesting essay focusing on him, or a discussion that cites his ideas and arguments at length.

But most often, I find the mention of him is in passing in the form or a quotation or a paraphrase of a quotation. That is all fine, and it certainly helps to keep him in the public eye. And he certainly said many clever, witty, interesting things, and given his prolixity, there's ample material with which to work.

But I also wonder if it may also have an unfortunate effect: Could this make it easier to relegate him to the dustbin of history – or to dusty editions of “familiar quotations”?

It almost seems that his eminently quotable nature makes it easy to focus more on what he said and less on what he had to say. For too often the quotations are simply treated as quips that are now divorced from the larger contexts of cogent discussions of some significant topics.

I was suddenly reminded of Dorothy Day who, when people used to talk about her being declared a saint, often responded that she did not want to be dismissed so easily.

I hope that by being so quotable Chesterton will not be easily dismissed. He has too much to say to our age to be relegated to collections of witticisms.

Would he, could he?

The recent announcement of a special provision that would allow Anglicans/Episcopalians to reunite with Rome en mass while retaining some elements of their denomination and its rites got me to thinking about C.S. Lewis.

There has been endless speculation already about whether he considered becoming Catholic - and if so, why he held back - or that even if he didn't give it serious thought in his time were he alive in recent years and given the direction of the Anglican Church would have have been more open to doing so. And he certainly espoused some ides - such as Purgatory - that were more Catholic than Anglican.

We can only speculate, of course. And the provision might not have made a difference to him one way or another.

I do wonder how many Anglican/Episcopalians will indeed decide to take advantage of the provision? I wonder how many readers of Lewis who were drawn back to a more active Christianity and Anglicanism will take the next step.

I also wonder what Chesterton would have made of it. He need no such provisions to conclude that the Catholic Church was where he belonged.

"I think I have known intimately by now all the best kinds of Anglicanism, and I find them only a pale imitation," he declared.

And now, at least one kind of Anglicanism can now be truly Catholic.

A Christmas Discovery

While visiting the local Catholic bookshop - with a gift certificate burning in my pocket - I discovered in the Christmas display (yes, even there the season is coming early) a little gem.

Advent and Christmas Wisdom from G. K. Chesterton, by the folks at the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends.

It was published by Liguori in 2007, so others may have already taken note of it. But it was new to me.

Selections from Chesterton's writings along with Scripture and prayers. Interesting.

I have only glanced at it, but when I do get time to read it I will report back.

For now, I am occupied with William Oddie's Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy.

Rochester Chesterton Conference (3)

Dale Ahlquist seemed to be on a mission: To link everything to Chesterton.

During the September 26 Rochester Chesterton Conference, Dale, with a smile, somehow managed to get a mention of Chesterton or Chestertonian ideas into every discussion. He even said that Pope Benedict was a good writer - but he would be even better if he quoted Chesterton more often.

Okay, he's doing his job. What do you expect from a guy whose wife suggests he found reading Chesterton the highlight of their honeymoon!

Ahlquist added a lighter touch to the conference that, while it had some amusing moments (who picked an Irishman to introduce that old Irish Catholic basher Joseph Pearce?!), was at times a bit heavy going. Good, enjoyable, enlightening - but not quite what one might have expected from a conference whose title was "Re-Awakening Wonder."

The conference featured not only Ahlquist ("The Universe and Other Little Things") and Pearce ("Standing on Our Heads: Wonder as the Key to Happiness"), but also Tom Howard ("On Childhood, Art, and Eternity") and David Higbee ("Wonder in Holy Writ"). The latter two were the first two speakers, neither had the style that Pearce and Ahlquist had, and both read speeches that, to be honest, sounded like they would have been better as magazine articles, or college lectures.

Enough negativism. I did enjoy the conference. I alwuays enjoy Dale and Pearce, and I wanted to hear Howard, whose books I have read with pleasure. I left with a number of things to mull over.

Howard talked about the "capacity to see wonder in ordinary things." He pointed out that childhood, art and eternity are the three realms in which to experience glory. In childhood, we see the world with a sense of wonder. We lose that sense of wonder as we grow older, but art can help us to glimpse it again. He noted that "childhood and art seem to me to be the harbingers of eternity."

He then talked at length about C.S. Lewis, and in particular the Chronicles of Narnia,. Those seven books help us to rediscover the glory inherent in the ordinary. He made me want to reread Lewis - especially the Chronicles.

Higbee said that wonder is at the "heart of all true spirituality." He pointed out the sense of wonder and awe in multiple scriptural citations.

Pearce noted that while mature Christians are not childish, they should still be child-like.

He suggested that when God turned His back on Adam and Eve, he may have been laughing - as a parent might laugh after punishing a child. For God knew what was to come, and the glory that awaits us.

"Ultimately the key to happiness is learning to love as God loves, and learn to laugh as God laughs."

Ahlquist quoted Chesterton repeatedly - so much so that I wasn't sure at times what was Ahlquist and what was Chesterton. Which was absolutely fine with me.

Overall, a good day.

A Worthy Cause

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed - Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.'"
-Jack Handy

"Drinking is in reality an occupation which employs a considerable portion of the time of many people; and to conduct it in the most rational and agreeable manner is one of the great arts of living."
James Boswell

"No animal ever invented anything as bad as drunkenness -
or so good as drink."
--G. K. Chesterton

That said here is a protest Uncle Gilbert would support

Rochester Chesterton Conference (2)

A police line-up? No, just the Rochester Chesterton Conference speakers and host.

Rochester Chesterton Conference (1)

Rochester Chesterton Conference September 26 - Thomas Howard and Dale Ahlquist were among the featured speakers. More to come!

a new twist on art history

Chesterton spilt a lot of ink discussing art and artists and in that tradition we have moved a lot of pixels on this blog talking about art and artists. Some times we have spoken in praise of art and sometimes we have scratched our heads on why a particular thing was elevated to the category of art. Here is one of the best short summaries of Leonardo Da Vinci I have read in long time. All of which I totally agree with.

If more of art history was written like this maybe it would spark interest in the subject from those who have this view: “Art History is generally the sort of thing that causes me to spontaneously break out in hives and start dry heaving into an airsickness bag with the maximum amount of force that can possibly be mustered by my diaphragm.”

Also here is a most excellent reenactment of a conversation with Pope J. and Michelangelo:

If you print it they will read

There are only two reasons a company puts a product on the cover of a catalog. The first is that it is selling very well and they want it to sell better or they believe the product is better than the numbers it is posting and want you to buy it too. I belive it is the former for Dover Publications in regards to Chesterton’s books. I have watched his books go from page 30 to this month’s catalog where his books are on the cover. Also the number of selections of Uncle Gilbert’s work has grown as well. This month they are offering The Coloured Lands: Fairy Stories, Comic Verse and Fantastic Pictures
With this description: Chestertonians and other readers will rejoice in the republication of this long-unavailable book of delights. Featuring the author's early work as well as previously unpublished material, this volume abounds in fairy stories, comic verse, and satirical ballads. Best of all, it features a treasury of Chesterton's distinctive color and black-and-white illustrations.
Reprint of the Sheed & Ward, New York, 1938 edition.
Buy it here
Can't wait till my copy gets here

Most of all, at age 40, we should be reading...

By [age] 40 I had outgrown ghost-written sports books and sensationalist war novels. I'd seen war for real and it wasn't very sensational at all. It's 90% utter boredom, 10% sheer terror. Actually soccer is in some ways very similar. At 40 we should, of course, have read almost everything or at least pretend to have done so. While I've read some of the ancients, many of the 19th-century classics and a whole chunk of 20th-century literature, I know I am a better person, a better writer, a better me for having read and reread, among others, Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell and Ronald Knox. Most of all, at 40, assuming one hasn't before, we should be reading G. K. Chesterton.

- Michael Coren, read it all at We are not alone

Guess who made the list?

Image, a journal of art and literature with a religious slant which also has an online site, has published a list of "100 Writers of Faith."

There are some surprises on the list, but a few familiar names as well.

They explain:

"In selecting books for this list, we decided to list an author only once, so that we would end up with 100 different writers. Moreover, only creative writing was considered: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction. The works selected had to manifest a genuine engagement with the Judeo-Christian heritage of faith, rather than merely use religion as background or subject matter.

G.K. Chesterton is there for The Man Who Was Thursday.

C.S. Lewis made the list with Till We Have Faces (a book I've always liked, but which seems to be overlooked by so many readers).

Dorothy Sayers is on it with The Mind of the Maker (which I must admit I've never read).

Some other writer I like who made the list are J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings - no surprise!); Charles Williams (All Hallows' Eve); Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons); Graham Greene (The Power and the Glory); and Ray Bradbury (!) (Something Wicked This Way Comes).

There are some works that some folks might argue about - Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, for example. And there might be some writers who have been left off.

Go see if your favorite writer is there - or not.

On the current Heath Care issue Mark Steyn brilliantly writes, “….In the normal course of events, the process takes a while. But Obama believes in “the fierce urgency of now”, and fierce it is. That’s where all the poor befuddled sober centrists who can’t understand why the Democrats keep passing incoherent 1,200-page bills every week are missing the point. If “health care” were about health care, the devil would be in the details. But it’s not about health or costs or coverage; it’s about getting over the river and burning the bridge. It doesn’t matter what form of governmentalized health care gets passed as long as it passes. Once it’s in place, it will be “reformed”, endlessly, but it will never be undone. Same with a lot of the other stuff: Keep throwing the spaghetti at the wall. The Republicans may pick off the odd strand but, if you keep it coming fast enough, by the end of Obama’s first year the wall will be a great writhing mass of pasta entwined like copulating anacondas in some jungle simulacrum of Hef’s grotto. And that’s a good image of how government will slither into every corner of your life: You can try and pull one of those spaghetti strings out but it’ll be all tied up with a hundred others and you’ll never untangle them.”

Read the whole thing here

If a thing is worth doing, YOU should do it.

Somebody slap this boy for perverted use of a Chesterton quotation: John Patrick Grace: Health care reform, even if done badly, may be better than nothing. J.P.G. applies G.K.C.'s "if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly" as a defense to push a muddled health care reform bill through to approval. Chesterton's memorable statement was never an excuse for unthinking mediocrity or ignorant pursuit of Progress. It was a statement against government involvement in the details of our lives; that the basics of life should not be relegated to professionals. Do or delegate it yourself. What our Gilbert meant was exactly what John Patrick Grace does not want.