On neighbors' dogs

We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor. - GKC

We know our neighbors on one side. Not well, but enough to chat, and to offer help when needed. The wives are both outdoor types, always puttering about in the yard, so there is regular contact. When an ice storm knocked out our power, the husband came over to help rig up a generator. When he got sick we were the back-ups for rides to treatments.

We know their names.

But we did not make friends with them.

On the other side are the new neighbors. New - as in they've lived there for only four years.

We occasionally nod in passing. But no conversations per se. I did bid them welcome when they arrived. And once when their dog got loose I took it back over. That's about it. We rarely see them go outside. When they do, it's for some utilitarian purpose, like mowing the lawn. Then they disappear.

We don't know their names.

I suppose that is unfriendly of us. We could probably be better neighbors ourselves. But I'm kind of reclusive myself.

We did not make frinds, or enemies. We're just neighbors.

I do know their dog. She's a friendly beast. A tail-wagger who always used to come up to the fence to greet our tail-wagging dog, and to get a scritch on the head from me.

I know the dog's name.

Now there's a second dog.

We don't know if this one is a temporary, or a permanent resident.

But this dog barks. Constantly.

Open our bedroom window.

Bark.

Open our back door - on the other side of the house.

Bark.

Pull in the driveway.

Bark.

And go out to the yard to do some work - or chat with the neighbors we know.

Bark.

And worst of all, the other dog, the tail-wagger, has now picked up the habit.

Bark. Bark.

We don't want to complain - and make enemies.

But ...

Bark. Bark.

At times it's hard to remember that God did make neighbors. Especially when it comes to reclusive ones with barking dogs.

I sometimes think Frost had it right: Good fences make good neighbors.

Too bad it can't be soundproofed fences.

But God left it up to us to make those.

Free At Last! Free At Last!

Concerning my post ‘The Ridiculous and the Sublime’, a reader writes: “Alan Capasso, I will pray for your deliverence from the persistant myth that the ignorant, formalized Church, and the dwindling ranks of the priesthood serve any useful function outside the obvious excuse to gather for coffee and donuts in today’s more enlightened society. Enlightened Christians understand that the Church, in reality, lives within each of us, not in “sacred” buildings and in the self-gratifying Vatican. While your priests and a Pontiff locked into the past teach hatred and bias against gays, individual rights, science, freedom to choose and all the wonderful aspects of humanity that Christ celebrated, your mentality stress instead ritual, sin and punishment. Bill Maher is right you know: Formalized religion has done more physical and psychological damage throughout the ages than all the wars it has condoned.”

It is so nice to hear that someone is praying for me, but I have a question. If this Enlighten Christian believes that the Church lives within him or her who exactly is she/he praying to? His/her self?

I have heard that once you become an Enlighten Christian or a Thinking Catholic you become unencumbered by the burden of history and in so doing become your own god. This of course allows you to reinterpret the Good News to mean that Jesus died on the cross so we can do whatever we want. Wonderful! Where do I sign up!

We all know that Bill Maher’s intellectual prowess far outshines that of Chesterton who said stupid stuff like, “Yesterday’s vices are today’s virtues.” Because yesterday’s vices WERE virtues it is just that the Pontificate and priests want to hide the fact that homosexual love is the source and summit of all that is good and wonderful. They did that because, as Dan Brown points out, they have so much money, power and fame to gain. All those schools, universities, and hospitals the Church started and continues to fund and those encyclicals about human rights were just a clever smoke screen to hide the truth that Mary Magdalene had Jesus’ love child.

And Maher is right you know: “Formalized religion has done more physical and psychological damage throughout the ages than all the wars it has condoned”. Since history is no longer a concern I can accept that the secular leaders that have cast off that repressive Church thing have caused no physical and psychological damage. Guys like Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao were only trying to clean up the mess the church made and if you have to kill a few million people to accomplish that it is a small price to pay for enlightenment.

My only sin now is wondering what wars in the past 200 years or so the Church has condoned? Darn that history thing!

I hope Anonymous writes back soon. I love to hear the dying echoes of unreasoned thought bounce around a small mind. Not as much as the sound of a box of silverware falling down a flight of stairs but close.

A Chesterton video

Jolly Good!

Weekend Thoughts

It seems to me that many in Faith based circles are sensing a tectonic shift in American Culture. I believe this to be true. I do believe that many are overly alarmist, and that we are so closely entwined with the events and trends of the day that we do not have clear insight.

With these thoughts I was perusing my bookshelf and came across a couple books which apply to this situation, one lyrical, and one historical. Ballad of the White Horse is probably my favorite of Chesterton's works. For those unaware, it is a book length lyric poem about the battle between Alfred the Great and Guthrum of the Vikings. There is interpersonal tension, emotions of courage, fear, and cowardice, as well as the foreboding of being present at an epoch changing event.

The second book I paged through was H.W Crocker's Triumph. There are some areas that I think Crocker could delve more deeply into, but he does have to be brief in order to catch the whole range of his intended subject. What I notice from Crocker is the ebb and flow of history. Renewals and Renaissance follow periods of laxity and persecution. Easter Sundays follow Good Fridays.

Two very good and grounding volumes to gain some perspective.

Chesterton at Random

There's an old Christian tradition of when looking for advice or incite just randomly opening the Bible and reading the first passage that strikes your eye.

St. Francis of Assisi - I've just finished rereading Chesterton's delightful book about him - was said to have done that.

I have also done it, not only with the Bible, but also with writers I like. Chesterton is, of course, one of those writers.

Last night I grabbed a volume of the Chesterton's Collected Works - The Illustrated London News 1917-1919 - off the bookcase and popped it open. Here's the passage that his my eye:

"One preliminary point seems to me quite clear. If we are to make any attempt to tolerate all men, we must give up all attempt to tolerate all opinions." - "On `Maltheory'" April 28, 1917

I thought about our own culture - a culture that seems to be taking the opposite tack: Tolerating all opinions, but but not tolerating all people. But when you tolerate all opinions, then those opinions lose meaning - opinion itself loses meaning. We devolve into the realm of rationalizing - if rationalize is an appropriate word when we are abandoning thought - that all actions should be based on feelings. It becomes very much like trying to steer a boat without a rudder - and given our increasing rejection of faith, without sails to catch any wind. We wallow in the doldrums.

Another one of Chesterton's point in the essay is that it is easy to fall into absolutist opinions on issues, and along the way demonizing the other side. Yes, deplore what he does, but not him - "The assertion that the man is possessed of a devil is the only way of avoiding the assertion that he is a devil."

Is Obama a demon? Is Dick Cheney a demon? Is the pro-lifer a demon? The pro-choicer? The Republican? The Democrat? The bishop who does not promote and express the faith in the way we think is right? That rude clerk at the store? The college trustee who messes up our conference?

When we demonize people rather than point to the demonic in their actions, then we lose the ability to tolerate others. If we can no longer tolerate them, them even extreme responses toward them can, in some minds, become tolerable.

The world itself might begin to seem intolerable - and that would be intolerable.

Obama Clerihew (political!)

President Barack Obama
should not be confused with Osama,
but his anti-life ways
lead to more deaths these days.

Happy Birthday ...

to me......

34 Years old...Ive been married to one woman, been in 2 wars, had 2 kids, worked in 3 prisons, went to 4 years of college, had 5 cars, and Im stuck for all the numbers after that......

I notice as a look over Chesterton that we often fail to notice how his works do have a very wide timespan, from the dawn of the 20th Century to the eve of World War II. He saw many changes in Britain, in Europe, and the greater world, yet throughout his whole corpus he shows consistent qualities. Change and progress have gone from being simple slogans to now revealing themselves necromantic magic words with the power of changing the path of nations. It is interesting to note that as times change, Chesterton really does not. He develops as an Author and as a human being. His friendships with Belloc and others deepen. Although he does not truly "change", Chesterton stands above his peers as an advocate for liberty, freedom, and democracy throughout the tumultuous times that his career spanned. While those around him jumped from fad to fad, party to party, and movement to movement in search of finding how best to bring progress to mankind, GKC strayed very little from the pillars of orthodoxy and tradition and he outshines all of his now dated contemporaries.

The ridiculous and the sublime

Very interesting weekend.

Saturday night my son took me to see a theatrical production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” at a local college. And with out a doubt that was the worst evening of theatre I have ever had to endure. I have only walked out on one play in my life. This would have been the second except a friend of my son’s was in the play and he wanted to talk to him after the show. The only positive thing that can be said about this presentation was that the actors knew their lines. Many of the scenes were actually painful to watch. It’s not that the director butchered Shakespeare that bothers me because I’ve seen that before but the theatricality of that butchering was correct, (the operation was a success but the patient died sort-of-thing). It’s that this director butchered theatre.

Ahhh but Sunday was wonderful. Many of the youth of our Parish received their Confirmation today and what a great day to receive it – Divine Mercy Sunday. I was honored to be chosen lector for this day. The Bishop was there and in fine form. The master of Ceremonies was a young man a year away from ordination. I have known this man since he was a wise cracking fourteen year old. When he decided to become a priest I was wondering if I would be able to call him Father but seeing him today I saw he carries priesthood very well - he has become a good man which of course will make him a good priest. Calling him father will not be a problem.

There was an air of nervous expectation that was thick an juicy about the Church. The alter boys were very worried that they might drop the Bishops “hat and stick thing” the confirmantie were worried that the Bishop might find them unprepared and he would leave, (he’s done that before at other parishes) and I was worried that I might stutter and stumble through the readings. None of which happened – sigh of relief.

Some of the kids that became soldiers for Christ today were children I have known since they were babies. Many Graces were poured down upon us this day.

As Chesterton said, (from the Ball and the Cross) “The Sacraments are certain and incredible.” Today I saw that paradox in full flower.

Makes being upset about a horrible play production kinda stupid.

Dancing in Bed

For me Chesterton reveals the truth in two ways. The first is as if he takes off my glasses cleans them and says, “Now do you see?”

“Why yes I do. Thank you very much.”

The other way is that he simply reminds me of what is true. Stuff I already knew but have forgotten or things that were driven out of my head by ‘adult’ forces. Even in his innocuous sounding essays that might easily be passed over he reminds us of a joy we might have forgotten. These are usually a childhood joy that is still a joy if only we old folks could remember how to play the game. Both of these ways of course is what prophets always do.

In his essay “On Lying in Bed” he reminded me of the pleasure of doing ‘nothing’ of letting your mind float like a boat on a current. This is something I had not done for a looong time. So a few Saturdays back I rolled over to see my wife had already awoke and I was alone. I started to get up and get to it but told myself the list can wait and fell back into bed.

I reached over and put George Gershwin’s American in Paris in the CD player and lay back down staring at the ceiling waiting for the images to appear and appear they did. Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron began to dance for me. Strangely it was the part of Gene that I remember the best, It is not that Leslie is not a good dancer because she is; it is just that greatness lies in Gene. It is like looking at paintings by Rembrandt and a Norman Rockwell hanging next to each other. Both are highly competent pigment pushers but it is on the Rembrandt that eyes linger and rest upon. You can know everything there is to know about a Rockwell in a moment; there are no mysteries in his work no internal connection.

I then tried to imagine Fred Astaire in Gene’s role but that was absurd. Fred could never play the tragic hero. No more than Gene could have pulled off the Fred’s dancing up the walls in The Royal Wedding. When Fred danced on the ceiling we said, “Of course he can do that.”

Both of these men are Great dangers it is just that their greatness lies in opposite directions. Gene’s greatness is his constant struggle to break the law of gravity while Fred’s lies in his struggle to obey it.

This put in mind of Chesterton and Belloc. Belloc teaches us how to dig while Chesterton teaches us how to fly.

Next I put in Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and thought if Martha Graham’s dance within Isamu Noguchi’s sculpture (set). Perhaps the greatest collaboration of artist’s in the 20^th century. All those artists knew the central fact about art – Great art must tell a story - a story that holds universal truth. Martha, a pioneer of modern dance, never lost her ability to tell a story through movement – she never fell into that trap of dance for dance sake.

I could have gone like this for hours more except my wife, for some reason, refused to bring me up food and my youngest came in to remind me that I would dig her bike out of the garage today.

The up side that when I did get up I ignored my ‘to do list’ (except for the bike) and spent the rest of the day in my studio.

Weekend Thoughts

Greetings All,

In Gilbert Magazine it is my appointed duty to use the Illustrated London News essays as my primary source material. I have noticed that Chesterton never mentions economic statistics throughout the economic slowdowns of the 1930s and other periods. There is an online archive of ILN stories, http://www.iln.org.uk/, and it shows that many other ILN writers did get into the details and particular issues of the day.

Chesterton, it seems, always sees the eternal in the temporal, and sees the spirits behind the statistics.

I am trying very hard to do the same during our current times. I actually think that there are some silver linings to the current times. First, I think that the taboo regarding discussing finances is breaking down. People no longer buy into the "IF you are so smart, how come you are not rich," mentality. People of intelligence, energy, and talent are having difficult times, so financial status as a measure of self worth seems to be deteriorating.

Second, I think I am noticing some people, myself particularly, becoming more sincerely prayerful. I think that the flexing of political strength that arose from Evangelical Muscle and Catholic Brains has waned. It is part of our vocation to engage the world and stand up for truth, justice, and true mercy. It is also part of our vocation to remember the words of Scripture, "Be still and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the Earth."(PS 46:10)

Hey, Im half late or half early........

.......from last or next Friday.

In my musings on philosophy of late, I came across something interesting regarding Greek thought. Im looking for other sources on this, but it appears that the Hellenistic kingdoms of Alexander the Great in Northern India had a great deal of longevity, absorbed in the end by the expansion of Islam. Using rounded numbers of 300Bc - 650 AD gives us almost a millenium, not too far off of the time of the English monarchy from Hastings until the present. The author in question is making the point that the ancient world was very "diverse" in what we would consider the modern sense, and that much of our thinking about diversity is a reaction to perceived abuses of colonial times.

What does this have to do with Chesterton?

I think it shows us that the search for truth is universal, and that the human race truly is a large family. With the possibility that the Greek Stoics had influenced Hindu and Buddhist scholarship, the world suddenly becomes much smaller, and Chesterton's brilliant image of The God in the Cave becomes that much more powerful. Human reason can only go so far before it reaches a point where it encounters a moment of anticipation of transcendence. The Greek Stoics, unlike there more cerebral Roman inheritors, did practice what we would today call meditation....realizing that intellect could only penetrate so far. I have written around this point for several weeks now, but I think that in dealing with contemporary culture this is the starting point. The discussion of Faith and Reason is a deep and rich dialogue that has spanned centuries. Our culture does not even see them as opposites, but defines Reason as logic, but dresses it up in leftist political utopianism, and likewise defines Faith not as an inner act of the person and an intimate expression of the soul, but rather as fundamentalist adherence to a denomination. How did we get to this point?

Chesterton - The Wedding Feast

"And, meanwhile, any one Catholic peasant, while holding one small bead of the rosary in his fingers, can be conscious, not of one eternity, but of a complex and almost a conflict of eternities; as, for example, in the relations of Our Lord and Our Lady, of the fatherhood and the childhood of God, of the motherhood and the childhood of Mary." - Where All Roads Lead

I'm not sure if Chesterton was one to pray the Rosary. I can imagine him starting to pray with a Rosary and getting lost in reflecting on some obscure topic he would somehow be able to link to a particular mystery, to the material of which the Rosary was made, or to a bee buzzing about the room.

He certainly knew of the Rosary - as the above quotation shows. Moreover, his great poem, "Lepanto," is about a victory many believers credit to the Rosary (along with a shift in the wind - a prayer-wrought miracle?).

Perhaps those wiser in the ways of Chesterton will know of some essay or poem dedicated to reciting the Rosary - or at least a reference to Chesterton's personal Rosary.

I am certain that he would not have known the Luminous Mysteries. They were promulgated in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. The Baptism of Jesus; The Wedding Feat at Cana; The Preaching of the Kingdom of God; The Transfiguration; The Institution of the Eucharist.

Those mysteries are meditated upon on Thursdays. As I said my Rosary this morning, I thought of Chesterton. I'm not sure that's what Pope John Paul had in mind, but so it goes. The mind at prayer goes where it will.

It was the second mystery that made me think of Chesterton.

The Wedding Feast. The Miracle of the Wine.

I smiled.

Chesterton appreciated food - even cheese - and drink, and joyful celebrations. I pictured him at the wedding, relishing that miraculous wine, and perhaps composing an ode to it that he would leave as a wedding gift.

As a poet himself, Pope John Paul might have appreciated it.

Chestertonian at the New York Times

I hesitatingly renewed my subscription to New York Magazine last month. I really like the magazine, but it leans left and at times is too risque to have around my children. My first post-lapse issue came yesterday. One of its first features: A profile of the New York Times’ new columnist, Ross Douthat (entertaining pdf link). I’d been reading Ross Douthat for a few years, primarily in The Atlantic. I always liked his stuff and thought, “Where has this guy been? We seem to think a lot alike, and not just because we’re both conservative.” It turns out the guy is a Catholic convert and a fan of G.K. Chesterton (it’s not often you see a Times columnist identify GKC as one of his “heroes”).

Once you read Chesterton, you start to think differently. Maybe that’s why the guy resonates with me.

By the way: He’s only 29.

A different view of G.K.

G. K. Chesterton

When Plain Folk, such as you or I,

See the Sun sinking in the sky,

We think it is the Setting Sun,

But Mr. Gilbert Chesterton

Is not so easily misled.

He calmly stands upon his head,

And upside down obtains a new

And Chestertonian point of view,

Observing thus, how from his toes

The sun creeps nearer to his nose,

He cries with wonder and delight,

“How Grand the sunrise is to-night!”

by Oliver Herford

from Confessions of a Caricaturist

(I stumbled across this at norumbega.co.uk and thought I'd share.)

Ohmmm..........This is what Im thinking about Chesterton today

It might be surprising for some to find out that I have read a great deal of the Dalai Lama's books in English. I find him a fascinating figure. He handles himself very well on the world stage, and has made a very strong case for his nation's plight before the world. As I read my way through life, I want to make a point of knowing about the world's full intellectual tradition.

And Chesterton has to do with this........how?

Chesterton was one of the first to notice how some of his contemporaries were attracted to Buddhism. Those familiar with Chesterton's corpus of works probably do not need quotes, be he wrote several ILN articles on this point as well as a fairly well thought out section in Orthodoxy where he makes a point of how some of the English elites of his time had glamorized Buddhism and taken it at face value, and were willing to overlook the social, political, and moral ills of Asia but not the cultural failings of the West......honestly we should realize that the whole human race is fallen.

The Dalai Lama has done several books with psychologists and researches seeking dialogue between Western Science and the Buddhist understanding of the inner person. Ive read a great deal of this, and the same double standard that Chesterton notices still exists. The Dalai Lama is a wonderful communicator, and a vibrant person, but most of what he says that researchers really pick up on are elements of practical spirituality and mystical philosophy no different than what is found in the classical Cistercian, Carmelite, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The cultural baggage of Christianity seems to weigh down those truths, and certain classes of people will only listen to a different source........whom they idolize to the point of editing. There is an article I read years ago online that I wished I would have saved to my hard-drive which alleged that the Dalai Lama has written chapters on sexual ethics for some of his books, but that Western publishers refuse to print in final editions. Buddhism and some of the other Eastern systems are far more prudish and "repressive" than Christianity.

With Pope Benedict in such trouble in the news in recent weeks, it makes me even more curious regarding the international double standard that mainstream culture seems to weave around these two figures.

Crazy Irish Friday....

Life responsibilities had me busy over the weekend, so I missed my usual day. But, this being the week of St. Patrick's day, all is well by the Irish calendar.

I deeply regret not having read Chesterton's Irish Impressions as of this date. I have seen some very good quotes pulled from it over a number of subject areas.

As I contemplate this upcoming holy bacchanal of a Saint's day Ive had a couple ideas really stick in my mind. One is the glaring paradox of the Irish Church having such a tradition of deep mysticism, yet at the same time a reputation for raucous brawling. I do not have the book available, but I remember Bishop Fulton Sheen doing a show on the Irish.

The second thing Ive noticed as I browse the internet and bookstores is just how much of a subculture there is in the area of celtic mysticism within New Age circles. Most of this is historically weak and philosophically weaker, but I will grant those adherents the benefit of having a sense of Zeitgeist. The age of our immigrant grandparents is over, but I do believe that we can capture the essence of their spirituality and the wisdom of their saints in a way deeper than they themselves carried by ethic convention alone.

Weekend Thoughts

Throughout the world economic crisis of 1929, I find few instances where Chesterton directly spoke of the crisis itself. His works always seem to stress universals over particulars. I believe that this is a great deal of the reason why he is one of few writers from that time period still read today.

I am trying very hard to stay in tune with this example. I will teeter on the edge now and say that the last couple months have really taught me about democracy and freedom, as Chesterton would describe them.

I think we have finally burst a certain bubble of taboo. Everyone, even those with secure jobs, are uneasy. The "we are doing just fine" social cliche' has for the most part been discarded. Despite the fears and unknown qualities of the future, and as a veteran, I guarantee my paranoia is order of magnitude beyond most normal folks, there is a sense of freedom and liberty. I think we are learning and seeing democracy of the common man in a way our generations have never experienced. I think spirituality and real Christianity make so much more SENSE now that we have seen the utter emptiness of mammon. Indeed, it is only the Church which relieves us from the dreadful slavery to being a child of our age.

Cler[cummings]ihew

e (cummings) e
tYpog(plays)raphy
(poet)surpri(ic)sinG imagery,paren
theses—(games)w or d sb ro k en

Kyro Cannot Stay Off Philosophers...

These last few weeks I have been thinking about thoughts, thinkers, philosophy, and Chesterton. A couple weeks ago I mentioned St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor. His "angelic" purity and freedom from passions gave him a mind of such clarity that I honestly believe he may have few peers in any field from any time or any culture. Thomas' dispassion colors his writing.

Taking this point, that personality paints ideas, I consider Plato. It is interesting to note that Plato , in his youth, was a Pankrationist. Ancient Pankration for all intents and purposes is the equivalent of contemporary MMA. Plato was a man who knew physical ruggedness. He understood the pressure of carrying an opponent's weight and scambling for limbs and countering wrenching maneuvers. If we really grasp this life experience of Plato, his philosophy takes a very striking direction(did I say "striking?" hehe). Platonic philosophy is a philosophy of mind and "forms." The classical criticism of Plato being ungrounded in the physical is diminished when we consider the whole Plato. His communication and expression is ethereal, but his inner experience of life was far far more gutteral and Earthy.

One of Chesterton's subjects, St. Francis of Assisi, embodies the above point. "Preach always, use words when necessary." -- This is a philosophy of a whole person. Personality paints idea. St. Francis wrote discourses on humility and simplicity by the spirit he carried performing the most mundane tasks.

Turning this view to Chesterton, I think it bears to remember that he had what would now be called developmental issues and a later breakdown. This inner turmoil led him to understand sanity and insanity, beauty and ugliness, normalcy and aberrations. I do not know enough of the details of his formative experiences, but those inner demons which he faced led him to a spectacular universal insight and a wisdom beyond any of the men of his time.

Taking this view of philosophy and ideas as the full reflection of a total person I find Christ to be an utter enigma. I have been thinking lately that the most haunting words of the New Testament are, "And who do you say that I am?" from Matthew 16. The Passion of the Christ takes on powerful meaning considering the totality of Jesus' words and actions. I think this is where many of us fail in apologetics. We know so many answers, and I admit I become frustrated over some of the ridiculous misunderstandings people have regarding Christianity and Catholicism. To merely be able to "define and defend" is insufficient. We can see from above that even secular philosophy cannot be adequately draught out in that manner.

Very humbling stuff.

The Man Who was Friday...

..Always makes it in during the weekend.

Oddly enough, still thinking about this same theme of Stoics, Philosophy in general, and GKC. As Ive been tossing around these ideas for the last couple weeks, its occured to me that I never have really given GKC his full due in this area.

In the Army, I was a 37F PSYOP NCO by MOS, and I spent my time in those information warfare circles. From this perspective, Chesterton is a true genius. He breaks open debates, makes thousand year old arguments seem alive and vital, and never allows his detractors to label him.

As Ive thought deeper, it amazes me how little we discuss Chesterton's inner life, and his spirituality. For all of his curmudgeonliness, (hehe, is that a word?) we know more about Belloc as a man of prayer, at least as a superficial image.

Some of the things that Chesterton says are not the products of a debater or a rhetoritician. Much of what he says have the flavor of the fruits of contemplation.

To quickly paraphrase those at the top of my head:
"Their pity is untruthful, and thier truth is pitiless" --regarding liberals vs. conservatives
"Hope is the virtue balanced between the sins of despair and presumption" --massacred paraphrase, but still sublime
"The Catholic Church is the only thing capable of saving a man from slavery to his age"

There is so much more out there than this, but I think the greater point to ponder is that these are not comebacks, or even apologetics, but an outer revelation of an inner experience.

Coming Soon: new edition of "The Coloured Lands"

This is very good news! A new edition of The Coloured Lands will be released this March by Dover Publications. The book by G.K. Chesterton was originally published posthumously in 1938, and I think it has been out of print since that time. So if you already have one, as I do, you probably keep it in that special bookcase that the younger members of your household are not allowed browse without permission; this in hope of keeping babies from tearing pages, and to keep chocolate milk from spoiling it. But these Fairy Stories, Comic Verse and Fantastic Pictures are a fun introduction to GKC for young readers. My 11 year old enjoyed reading his first Chesterton stories that Nancy C. Brown edited and republished two winters ago, The Father Brown Reader: Stories from Chesterton. Since then he's searched for more Chesterton on his level and poked through a bit of Collected Works Vol 14: Short Stories, Fairy Tales and Mystery Stories. I think he'll be getting this new edition of The Coloured Lands for his 12th birthday.

Belloc Program in March

I just got notice of this, thought I'd pass it on.

Old Thunder: An Afternoon with Hilaire Belloc
Sunday, March 15th at 1 p.m.

St. Sebastian's Church
Zwisler Hall
476 Mull Avenue
Akron, OH

St. Sebastian's Church, Akron, will be hosting a performance of "Old Thunder: An afternoon with Hilaire Belloc", a one-man show featuring Kevin O'Brien, founder of Theater of the Word, on Sunday, March 15th at 1 p.m. in Zwisler Hall. The program is free and open to the public; a free-will offering will be taken.

Come and meet Catholic historian and poet Hilaire Belloc, who lived in England from 1870-1953. "Old Thunder" provides a stirring presentation, which includes Belloc's prophetic take on modern society and culture.

Father Joseph Fessio called "Old Thunder" "fantastic and unforgettable." Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, says, "Everyone in America needs to see this show."

"Old Thunder: an Afternoon with Hilaire Belloc" is produced by Theater of the Word, a new company performing Christan drama throughout the United States. It is suitable for teen and adults and is approximately one hour long.
There will be books and other items available for sale after the program.

Some more Stoic Thoughts...

Ive been tossing ideas around in my head over the last week regarding Stoicism, Christianity, and the whole mileau of Athens vs. Jerusalem. Honestly, I think we most come to the conclusion that we live in the most hypocritical socieity of all human history. The early Christians, in the midst of persecutions, or in the era immediately thereafter absorbed immense portions of Greco-Roman thought. The later Church absorbed the warrior ethics of the Franks and some others and created chivalry. We preach openmindedness and inclusion politically but the tings we openmindedly include are a very, very narrow set up policy positions.

I think there is a negative on the side of conservatives to note as well. I think too often we, or at least I, tend to be archival in outlook. There is a tendency to look back for a pristine ideal which wasnt there. The energy carried by tradition is a living radience illuminating the path to the future. There is a temptation to get stuck in gaslight and torchlight quagmires. I think the traditionalist is openminded in the best way, and absorbs new knowledge in the proper means.

Now available at Amazon for only $8.75

A Stoic view of Friday...

...So Im a bit late, such is life.

That was my attempt at a Stoic title. I just received my issue of Catholic Men's Quarterly, and I was quite interested in Eric Scheske's article about the Stoics.

Ive thought about these same issues as well. As Chestertoninas, we have the theme from The Everlasting Man, to paraphrase: Stoicism was the best that the pagan world had to offer, and it was supplanted by Christianity.

I would like to carry through this thought by looking at the Asian experience. Theravadin Buddhism, the oldest of all of the fragmented sects is basically saffron wearing Stoicism coupled with meditation techniques. Systems of Philosophy painted with the Stoic brush do seem to be end asking a subconcious question which might actually be an inner pleading and opening to grace. Christianity was the lock that the Stoic key opened......providing for the joy and fullness that it suspected, but could not reach by its own efforts. Likewise in Asia, the Theravadin schools of Buddhism became a numerical minority as its monks traveled Asia. Teachings of gods, heavens and hells were attached onto the teachings, providing more backdoor evidence that the human spirit has a natural yearning for a Messiah.

Eric did note that alot of the Greco- Roman philosophy of the Stoics was absorbed into Christian thought. This is a politically difficult thing now. Ive told people in arguments that even if a red telephone booth appeared in the room (all time travelers have one)and the bearded fellow who got out explained that he was the guy who had started Christianity as a joke, very few of my political ideas would change, that a great deal of what is publicly seen as matters of faith and revelation are actually secular, even atheist Greco Roman philosophy.

The Press vs. Gossip

“But I have come to the conclusion that if you never believe the Press and if you always believe private gossip (within reason) you will probably be right. Private gossip is so much more serious than the Press. Private gossip is so much more responsible than the Press. I say this literally, not flippantly; for indeed, the thing is perfectly clear.”

- The Illustrated London News, February 1, 1908.

One night before slipping off to sleep I was reading Volume XXVIII of Ignatius Press’s collected works of Chesterton (don’t you keep a volume of that by YOUR bed?) when I came across the above essay. That particular passage jumped out at me.

During the recent Presidential campaign I read repeated criticism of the media and its coverage of the candidates. Studies confirmed that there was a clear bias toward Barack Obama by most networks and outlets. One network – NBC (especially MSNBC) – was blatantly in his camp.

As a result, we often did not get completely accurate coverage of Obama and his views if we relied on newspapers, television and radio.

Strangely enough, we often got more complete and accurate information from “gossip” in the form of the internet. Blogs, websites, etc. dug into his background and actions in ways that the mainstream media did not. Thus we discovered things about some of Obama’s questionable connections, his minister, his ties to the abortion industry, his attempts of conceal information, and so much more.

Yes, there was plenty of inaccurate information being distributed online – information that was not “within reason.” But if not for the “gossip,” there would be lots of true information we would not know.

Already I’m hearing people who got caught up in the hoopla surrounding his historic nomination and election beginning to wonder as he actually begins to act. They obviously relied on the Press. Those of us who kept our ears open to the “gossip,” are not surprised at all at much of what he is doing.

And there's more to come. Maybe some in the Press will even begin to pay attention. Eventually.
Until then, listen to the reasonable gossip. You might learn what's really going on.

Summer's almost here in Ohio ...we can now see the deer moving around.

Yep, won't be long.
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In other news it is Felix Mendelssohn's birthday. Mendelssohn gave us a new sound. It was/is a sound that is both light and strong at the same time a sound that can take flight.

Reminds me of Chesterton’s words.

Chesterton and Life

The folks over at Lifesitenews.com have up a column entitled "Why Pro-Lifers (and Everybody Else) Should Read G.K. Chesterton."

The author, John Jalsevac, notes that for a while Chesterton was not as much read as he used to be, although he is making a comeback.

But, he adds, "if everybody had kept on reading Chesterton, perhaps we’d never have found ourselves in the mess we’re in now, and LifeSiteNews wouldn’t have to exist. Instead of writing articles about how very progressive scientists are proposing that we kill our grandmothers, I’d be a travel writer, or a wine connoisseur. Life would be grand."

He admits that Dale Ahlquist is a friend (aha!), and notes that Chesterton's "writings remain one of the most potent cures for the madnesses that plague our age."

I wholeheartedly agree.

Read the whole column at Lifesitenews.com.

Then go read some Chesterton (instead, maybe, of watching the Super Bowl as NBC has rejected a positive but powerful pro-life ad even as it was willing to consider a provocative and suggestive PETA ad.)

St. Thomas Aquinas - It never ceases to amaze me....

There are certain truths that once you realize them, you notice them everyday in our surroundings. There is the legend that St. Thomas was given the gift of angelic purity, and his mind, cleaned of attachment, could penetrate the deepest truths, and untangle the most complex problems. The Beatitudes tell us "Blest are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Numerous Eastern yogas and meditation systems teach this same principle. Classical Taoism, for instance, teaches that one must undo the damage done by excess sexual indulgence before one can even begin meditating effectively.

There is a connection between morality and intellect. As often as St Augustine is held up as the opposite pole of St. Thomas, his words echo this sentiment, " A man has as many masters as he has vices."

This is so obvious as we look into ourselves, our surroundings, and our society. When one suffers from a wound of greed, lust, anger, sloth, or any of the other vices, it clouds one's vision of the world and blinds one to even natural truths, much less the spiritual. Every newspaper printed seems to support this.

survived the first round

I just finished up my first semester as a Junior High Art teacher. No one was killed. It was an interesting ride for all concerned. On our last day I showed them several short videos on how the world of art history influences film makers to this day. The video below was the most obvious example. They were asked to name at least three of the artists that were paid homage in this film. A majority of them got it right. Enough of them any way to reassure me that some of the stuff I threw stuck.

“It is quaint that people talk of separating dogma from education. Dogma is actually the only thing that cannot be separated from education. It is education. A teacher who is not dogmatic is simply a teacher who is not teaching.” GCK

I just finished up my first semester as a Junior High Art teacher. No one was killed. It was an interesting ride for all concerned. On our last day I showed them several short videos on how the world of art history influences film makers to this day. The video below was the most obvious example. They were asked to name at least three of the artists that were paid homage in this film. A majority of them got it right. Enough of them any way to reassure me that some of the stuff I threw stuck.

“It is quaint that people talk of separating dogma from education. Dogma is actually the only thing that cannot be separated from education. It is education. A teacher who is not dogmatic is simply a teacher who is not teaching.”

Weekend Thoughts

Greetings All,

There is so much in the news with Obama, recession, Gitmo, Terrorism, Automotive manufacturers, and politicians that I am choosing to write about none of them.

One of the things that continually impresses me about Chesterton is how his writing reflects the universality of Truth. We talk about change so much these days, and indeed life is the progression of the individual through changes, but Chesterton helps us see that change is what happens when an acorn turns into an oak , not an apple turning into an orange.

Chesterton is very much a product of his time as a murder-by-gaslight mystery writer and a proud Englishman. His themes, however cross from early 20th Century London to 13th Century Scholasticism to 9th Century Wessex to 2nd Century Syria. There is a common humanity shared between Angles, Angels, Irish, and Ionians. Throughout the changes of history, there is an eternal now which we all inhabit.

Two Clerihews (that's a Lot)

Lot's wife
ended her life
when she came to a halt
and proved her salt.


The daughters of Lot
were hot-to-trot.
After a few cups of wine
their father did fine.

The media

Here is an excellent example on how to use the media to get the message out. I hope this ad is picked up as a news item and discussed as a news item.

"According to the Financial Times, a ‘Super Bowl’ type audience is expected to tune in to coverage of the Inauguration of Barack Obama tomorrow.

To mark this occasion, we are proud to announce the release of a new commercial that will be airing all day tomorrow in select markets on Black Entertainment Television. Our newest ad is just the beginning of a year-long campaign that will include a series of commercials for use on the web and on broadcast TV.

Check out our new ad here – www.CatholicVote.org

I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so be sure to check out our new ad, and then tell your friends about it. After watching the short commercial, I hope you will appreciate our purpose. The message of CatholicVote.org is universal and transcends candidates and political parties. Even in difficult times, the truth about the dignity of every human life must be proclaimed.

We at CatholicVote.org had hoped that the first African-American president would be pro-life. Sadly, that’s not the case. While we urge you to pray earnestly for his conversion on abortion, we’re not going to waste this historic opportunity to witness to life.

Our newest ad seeks to both educate and inspire – the same elements that helped make our election season film the most-watched political ad on the Internet during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Finally, I suspect there will be a lot of talk about hope in the next couple of days. The purpose of our multiple-commercial campaign is to creatively reach new people who don’t always agree with us about the amazing gift of every human life. Simply put, abortion is the enemy of hope."

Friday thought..St. Francis

I really have no idea if it is truth or legend that St. Francis said, "Prach always, use words when necessary."

Chesterton's bio of St. Francis captures the zeal, joy, and wonder of this magnificent figure from the Saints of the Church whose spirit overflows even Christianity.

I think that this image is the perfect model for our time. Honestly, the orthodox positions on most of major questions of our day are far more lucid, sophisticated and deeply studied than anything from the countering side. So why is there another side? Its because of the other half of the message that sometimes does not show through as obviously.


A bit pressed for time have a terrific weekend.

Another Snow Day

Home again but it is much to cold to go out today. Warm, snugly and very domestic inside, as it should be.

“The home is not the one tame place in the world of adventure. It is the one wild place in the world of rules and set tasks.” GKC

The only thought that I have entertained for longer than the time it takes me to say “Quick picking on your sister!” has been to wonder if during the Victorian era did Wives asked their husbands,
“Does this dress make my butt look small?”




Speaking of romance here is a nice story.

Thoughts on a Snow Day

In Kyro’s post, “Media related thoughts...” he states, “I’ve been thinking about how horrible the Churches and other advocates of traditional living have been at entering the mainstream debate.” There are several reasons for this the first and primary reason is that they are not invited to the debate in that gated community. Whenever the media wants the Church’s view they contact someone from the Jesus Seminar or at best an x-priest with an axe to grind. Truly, when was the last time you saw a Bishop on the Meet the Press or even someone like Scott Hahn or Carl Olson. (For that matter when was the last time you saw an orthodox Catholic as a commentator on the History channel’s Bible series). Imagine a debate with Father Corapi and Bill Maher it won’t happen.

No, they bring in Nancy Pelosi to tell us what the Church believes:

MR. BROKAW: Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his
pay grade, whether you're looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, "Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?" what would you tell him?

REP. PELOSI: I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator--St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child--first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There's very clear distinctions. This isn't about abortion on demand, it's about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and--to--that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who've decided...

MR. BROKAW: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it...

REP. PELOSI: I understand that.

MR. BROKAW: ...begins at the point of conception.

REP. PELOSI: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy. But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions.

(I don’t think she knows the reality and gravity of that last statement)
-------------------------
Then there is Joe Biden on Meet The Press:
SEN. BIDEN: No, what I voted against curtailing the right, criminalizing abortion. I voted against telling everyone else in the country that they have to accept my religiously based view that it’s a moment of conception. There is a debate in our church, as Cardinal Egan would acknowledge, that’s existed. Back in “Summa Theologia,” when Thomas Aquinas wrote “Summa Theologia,” he said there was no–it didn’t occur until quickening, 40 days after conception. How am I going out and tell you, if you or anyone else that you must insist upon my view that is based on a matter of faith? And that’s the reason I haven’t. But then again, I also don’t support a lot of other things. I don’t support public, public funding. I don’t, because that flips the burden. That’s then telling me I have to accept a different view. This is a matter between a person’s God, however they believe in God, their doctor and themselves in what is always a–and what we’re going to be spending our time doing is making sure that we reduce considerably the amount of abortions that take place by providing the care, the assistance and the encouragement for people to be able to carry to term and to raise their children.

(This contradicts what the Democratic platform says - but who reads that anyway?)
----------------------------------
What’s the bet ol’ Joe never really read “Summa Theologia” and was just given this handy quote to “teach” the flock that the Church is confused anyway so do what you want. But of course Biden also says Christ like things like this: “The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat."

Yes, Edward Cardinal Egan and at least two dozen other Bishops came out strongly against what Pelosi and Biden said. But outside of Catholic publications the news was either buried or put in the religious section of the paper which most don’t read.

Also note the blatant disregard for the separation of Church and State in both Pelosi and Biden. They can teach what the Church says but when a Bishop does it they are harangued. Pelosi and Biden talked to millions of people where the Bishops were only able to reach thousands.

The second and probably the greatest factor in our inability to be effective in the media is fear. Far too many priests and bishops are afraid of what the media can do to them in the form of persecutions. The beating the Church took in the wake of the priest sex scandal has made many to afraid to speak or do anything that might be considered going against Caesar. Even outside the media this fear is taking a toll.

In the elderly community this fear of going a foul of the law is heart breaking. As you know if an old couple wants to marry, one of them will lose their social security payments. So in order to unite them and allow them to still eat Priests were performing clandestine marriages. Where the sacrament was administered but the state was not notified. This is an old tradition dating back to Medieval times (remember the marriages in Braveheart and Romeo and Juliet.) So these good people are faced with a choice, live in sin or turn to Protestant ministers to marry them. Several denominations in the latter are now doing these under the radar marriages.

Martyrdom is something very few have sought freely. The traditional forms of martyrdom are a red and or white martyrdom. Red martyrdom occurs when a person sheds their blood for Christ. A white martyr willingly gives up worldly concerns and makes his or her life a perpetual pilgrimage. A white martyr lives a life of heroic devotion for Him alone, eagerly uniting that devotion with Christ’s sufferings. In the west Governments have forsaken the making of red martyrs (mostly) because their witness in the face of death is impossible to ignore. The white martyr of today, although a small thorn in the side, can become marginalized as a media darling. John Paul II and Mother Teresa are cases in point.

Now there is a new Martyrdom called Green Martyrs. These martyrs lose jobs and promotions for standing up for their Faith. Dawn Eden lost her job because of her Catholicism. There are now people in California losing theirs because they had the audacity to give money to support the ban on Gay marriage. This, “stop the Christians” often borders on the silly. I was recently negotiating an art show for my students at a local gallery/coffee shop and soon into the talk the lady in charge asked if I was the same Alan that prints those prolife letters in the paper? I said yes and she said. "Well I don’t think I can work with you!" And then she hung up the phone. The absurdity of this was I was not hurt but my kids were. I have since found another venue for them.

The Church is afraid of becoming a Green Martyr in losing its Tax-Exempt status. Sometimes I think that might not be such a bad thing.

As always Chesterton gives us the answer to this dilemma and the answer is what it always has been - infiltrate.
He tells us the fall of the Viking culture was not the result on some field of mortal battle but that when the Vikings went on raids they brought back women, Catholic women, who raised their children Catholic and soon the Vikings were no more. Soon is a relative term here It took the early Christians 300 years to topple the Roman empire but less than 100 to stop the wild fire of the Vikings.

In both of those cases those who changed the world began on the lowest rung of the social ladder and influenced the ones above and so on. It also bears repeating it really was the women who did the changing. Look at the infiltration work of Barbara, Nicolosi.

We must encourage strong Christians to enter the field of journalism and then continue to confirm them in their faith. I am confidently hopeful in this by something I heard a while ago, ‘The first millennium belonged to Bishops, the second millennium belonged to the Popes and the third will belong to the laity.’

My daughter just looked out the window and realized there is enough snow on the ground to make a snowman or go sledding. “Please oh please papa let’s go outside!!!”

So I’ll talk to you later.

And one last thought: “Don’t let bastards get you down."

A parents anthem

Fr. Neuhaus RIP

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus of First Things passed away this week, January 8. For those of us interested in literature, Christian writing, theology, intelligent ecumenism, and the interaction of faith and culture, this is a day where a titan has gone to his reward.

To me, Fr. Neuhaus idealized all that a priest should be. He was active in causes that many would see as politically inconsistent. He was active in Civil Rights and ecumenism as well as providing a forum for orthodox thinkers. He carried himself as a very masculine intellectual, and was a true role model in a time when the priesthood was in crisis.

Book `em

I laughed.

Everyone at the table looked at me, puzzled.

I told them to just wait a few minutes and they would understand.

The occasion was an exchange of gifts post-Christmas. Daughter and son-in-law had not been with us Christmas Day - they had gone out of state to his grandparents - so we were exchanging gifts a few days later.

I had gotten each of my daughters the same book. Being a fan of Chesterton and a Secular Franciscan, and concerned that all three of my little birds were straying from the Church, I decided to give then a book that was important in my own faith life and discovery of Chesterton - Chesterton's biography of St. Francis. The book seemed particularly appropriate with this daughter, as she was named after Clare of Assisi.

Emerging from the wrapping of the gift Clare had given me was ... you've already guessed I'm sure ... a copy of Chesterton's biography of St. Francis. The exact same edition I'd gotten her.

"I know you like Chesterton and St. Francis," she explained.

So I laughed.

A few moments she unwrapped her gifts and found her copy.

She laughed.

She is my daughter.

I think Chesterton would have appreciated it.

I have now begun rereading it - it has been many years since I had done so. I hope she reads her copy, too.

Barra on GKC

Allen Barra published a piece about GKC in the Wall Street Journal last week. When I edited Gilbert Magazine, Barra would occasionally write to me and even sent me an autographed copy of one of his books. Needless to say, this doesn't mean I know the man by any stretch, but based on that limited correspondence, free book, and things I've read by him, I'd say he's a real decent guy.

And it's a real decent piece, along with a new caricature of GKC. Check it out.

Happy New Year

Resolutions have become cliche', but in terms of my reading, I really want to get more into Belloc this year. His St. Joan of Arc is something that Ive deleted out of a shopping cart numerous times when Ive been ordering books online. I click with his personality in some ways, he reminds me of some people I served under in the Army .

In terms of Chesterton, it has been years since I read Fr. Brown, and it is time to go back again. Ive read a number of different books this way. Its amazing how those couple years of life experience in between reads change what you notice and what jumps out at you.

In terms of the larger world, this is going to be an interesting 2009. I think the trend in government is toward leviathan institutions when the observable facts of the matter is that smaller local banks have fared better than the massive institutions.

I think the "culture war" really has entered another phase, but one more of blood and soil than debate and rhetoric. I think the palpable truth of humble responsible living speaks to all much like St. Francis said, without words. There is a conclusion I have heard Peter Kreeft defend in his online talks often, an opinion that many of my non-religious military friends who have seen the bad part of the world think of as well. It seems that certain ideas and ideaologies can be conceived only by a decadent, spoiled, egotistic, and elitist people. When the power of money and the power of being powerful is shown for the illusion that it is, the phantom worldview that such views espouse likewise loses its luster.

This here is very interesting, and perhaps an omen of future change.....There is a demand from a small group in France to have the Verdee' massacre declared a genocide. I think most of us in traditional circles know that those who claim that contemporary secularists have taken us out of the age of religious bloodshed are sorely mistaken. Secular and atheist governments have spilled more blood than centuries of inquisitions combined. This is an interesting stirring to have this debated in mainstream Europe.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas....

Im not saying anything new here today, just pointing my finger towards some magnificent others...

Here is Kevin O'Brien's Theater of the Word Youtube channel. I spoke with Kevin briefly at the GKC Conference a couple years ago, not aware of who he was and was very impressed....even before I knew I was supposed to be. These guys are doing some terrific work. Its wonderful to be around this type of energy.

And now........the paradox.......

Here is Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ on his show, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Here is a video from a Canadian Prof. Chycho, a mathematics instructor offering remedial training on Youtube. Shut your eyes and listen to both of these men and you will find that their voice, intonation, passion, and delivery are close to equal....at least they sound the same to my army-induced hearing loss ears.

Merry Christmas Happy New Year!

Christmas poetry - from Frances Chesterton

G. K. Chesterton is highly regarded as a poet, and is well-known as a lover of Christmas.

His better half (okay, given their relative sizes, better fourth) also had a way with words - and an appreciation for the season.

Frances Chesterton wrote “How far is it to Bethlehem?,” which has become a popular and often-played Christmas Carol. The poem is collected in one of my favorite holiday poetry anthologies, Poems of Christmas, edited by Myra Cohn Livingston.

Apparently Frances penned a number of Christmas poems, and at least one Christmas play. I find mention on Amazon of an out of print book that contains “A collection of Christmas cards, each consisting of a poem by Frances Chesterton, sent by G. K. and Frances Chesterton in 1916, 1917, 1919-1935 and by Frances Chesterton alone in 1936 and 1937.” I could not find the title of this book, though – perhaps some scholarly sort knows it and even has a copy.

I also found mention of a few Christmas pieces she wrote: Several poems - “Here Is the Little Door,” “A Lullaby Carol” and “The Shepherds Found Thee by Night,” the latter two also put to music – and a short play, The Christmas Gift.

I found texts for “How far” and “Here Is.” I’d be curious to see those other poems she wrote, and the play.

Here are texts I found.

How far is it to Bethlehem?

How far is it to Bethlehem?

Not very far.

Shall we find the stable room

Lit by a star?

Can we see the little child,

Is he within?

If we lift the wooden latch

May we go in?

May we stroke the creatures there,

Ox, ass, or sheep?

May we peep like them and see

Jesus asleep?

If we touch his tiny hand

Will he awake?

Will he know we've come so far

Just for his sake?

Great kings have precious gifts,

And we have naught,

Little smiles and little tears

Are all we brought.

For all weary children

Mary must weep.

Here, on his bed of straw

Sleep, children, sleep.

God in his mother's arms,

Babes in the byre,

Sleep, as they sleep who find

Their heart's desire.

------

Here is the little door

Here is the little door, lift up the latch, oh lift!

We need not wander more but enter with our gift;

Our gift of finest gold,

Gold that was never bought nor sold;

Myrrh to be strewn about his bed;

Incense in clouds about his head;

All for the Child who stirs not in his sleep.

But holy slumber holds with ass and sheep.

Bend low about his bed, for each he has a gift;

See how his eyes awake, lift up your hands, O lift!

For gold, he gives a keen-edged sword

(Defend with it Thy little Lord!),

For incense, smoke of battle red.

Myrrh for the honoured happy dead;

Gifts for his children terrible and sweet,

Touched by such tiny hands and

Oh such tiny feet.

When you sing you pray twice

It is still true that when the Christmas season begins I get “as giddy as a school boy”. My wife and I unpack and set up the decorations with the same dance we have done for years and our youthful laugh returns. Whenever “Jingle Bell Rock”, “Santa, baby” or even the Hippopotamus song come on the radio I crank it up. But by the time they light the pink candle in the Advent wreath my ears and soul hungers for more than funnel cakes and corn dogs.

In his General Audience of February 26, 2003, Pope John Paul II reminds us that "one must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way." For this reason, he said, "the Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy."

Or as Thomas Aquinas said, “Music is the exaltation of the mind derived from things eternal, bursting forth in sound.”

Last year I “discovered” Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek and the Christmas Gregorian Chants. Now there is music that requires a knife and fork to consume.

This year a friend turned me on to the Christmas choral works of Benjamin Britten a 20th century composer who “got it” right Britten once wrote: “It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony.” Note the last sentiment, like GCK said “It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.”
…everlasting beauty of monotony - The beauty of paradox.

ROGER DU BÉARN gave us this clerihew:

Benjamin Britten,

Feeling hard-bitten,

Gave Billy Budd a bearing

Incomprehensible to Albert Herring.

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

One more thought from Uncle Gilbert on Christmas:

"The place that the shepherds found was not an academy or an abstract republic; it was not a place of myths... explained or explained away. It was a place of dreams come true."

Media related thoughts.........

Chesterton spoke a great deal about media and publishing.....even though he was decades removed from "Big Media." Belloc's thoughts about media control and propaganda came out in a wonderful book a few years ago from IHS Press, The Free Press.

Ive been thinking about how horrible the Churches and other advocates of traditional living have been at entering the mainstream debate. Granted, EWTN is now a top notch outfit in terms of management and production, but outside of Catholic circles, it is not part of the mainstream.

I just think that so many prime teaching opportunities have been lost. I think it would pay to advertise the fact that even after the 2008 election, we still have had more Black Popes then Black Presidents. Do any left leaning groups know that the Catholic Church is the worlds largest provider of health care to AIDS patients on Earth? When Mother Theresa's letters were made public, why didn't the US Bishops or one of the Catholic Universities give the press some information about the Dark Night of the Soul as it exists in Catholic spirituality. Heck they could have even painted it as a form of depression or something, but at least could have raised the level of discussion.

I completely admire Pat Buchanan, though I disagree with him at times, for being able to be who he is, representing what he does, and still be able to interact with mainstream journalism.

I think people are beginning to sense that something is wrong with mainstream news. The massive layoffs are hitting that industry. I think the timing is good for a solid Catholic Press to emerge from Catholic circles and interact with the opinion forming mainstream press.

New Chesterton books/New Gilbert arrive

I received two new Chesterton volumes - more of his newspaper pieces, and the second volume of his poems. The prophet certainly was not averse to writing verse - and who knows how many more poems are floating around out there.

I also received the latest Gilbert. I'm glad to see them deal with the anti-semitism charges head on.

I was also pleased to see this humble blog get a mention.

Amid this cornucopia of Chestertonian delight, my only sorrow was that none of my clerihews got in (though the published ones were good).

Hmm. Maybe the editors had a Chestertonian moment and the ones I submitted a while back are being used as coasters or as bookmarks.

The prophet Chesterton – again

Looking for a Christmas lesson for my youth group, about the reality of the Incarnation vs. the make believe holiday of commercialism, I came across an article by Vigen Guroian called The Christian Humanism Of G. K. Chesterton: Truth and the Paradoxical Imagination.

Guroian bases his whole thesis on what Chesterton gave us:

“Chesterton responded with Christian humanism to what he judged to be a serious breakdown of the fundamental moral suppositions deposited by biblical faith and the classical tradition. He believed that this declension was due to the loss of conviction in the culture about the reality of the Incarnation, that is of God truly having become a human being in Jesus Christ with all the import that that has for human existence. For Chesterton, the doctrine of the Incarnation is the hinge that holds together what is, for the Christian, a vision of the world that is essentially paradoxical. And he is astonishingly adept at employing this vision in his cultural criticism and Christian apologetics. The Incarnation sheds light where sin deceives and despair darkens the human horizon. Sin causes us to experience spirit in opposition to matter, faith in conflict with reason, life defeated by death. But the Incarnation reveals these apparent contradictions as paradoxes. Contradiction may signal futility, but paradox is pregnant with the possibility of resolution and harmony.”

St Glibert, Blessed Belloc

Some good things coming out on here as of late.

In regards to St. Gilbert.........Hey, heroic virtue is the standard. Chesterton was a good man, a devout Catholic, and a brilliant writer but as neat as it would be, I do not quite think I would take up his cause. I could end up being proven wrong.

In regards to the bigger issue, I do think Pope John Paul II particularly made a terrific example of canonizing lay people, and trying to expedite certain causes in an effort to put forth contemporary examples of sanctity. I think that Chesterton will most likely go down in the ages like..........Chesterton! I think that there are some examples of terrific spiritual writers, apologists, and theologians through the ages who were not raised to the altar. Dante, John Duns Scotus (granted he is a Blessed, but I think has no active cause), Brother Lawrence from The Cloud of Unknowing,Meister Eckhardt, and many of the Rhineland mystical writers of his same time period.

Ive noticed some good back and forth regarding Belloc on here as well. Honestly, he is a man I identify with more than Chesterton. As a solider I respect his physicality and sheer toughness. Ive read abit about some of his famous hikes and they are incredible. I used to be a good ruckmarcher, could take 70lb pack and full load 10k in a bit under 70mins. To those who do not have a military background or do alot of alpine type hiking this is very physically rigorous, not just merely putting one foot in front of the other. Belloc must have had a will of steel, feet of leather, and skin of ice to be able to rack up the miles they way he did. Belloc is a master of historical details and primary sources, providing the facts regarding certain situations where modern pundits make up their own history.

Have a terrific rest of the weekend