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.

"On National Debts" by Hilaire Belloc

An appropriate cautionary tale for adults by Hilaire Belloc. It was published in On Nothing in 1908.

ON NATIONAL DEBTS
(WHICH ARE IMAGINARIES AND TRUE NOTHINGS OF STATE)


One day Peter and Paul--I knew them both, the dear fellows: Peter perhaps a trifle wild, Paul a little priggish, but that is no matter--one day, I say, Peter and Paul (who lived together in rooms off Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, a very delightful spot) were talking over their mutual affairs.

"My dear Paul," said Peter, "I wish I could persuade you to this expenditure. It will be to our mutual advantage. Come now, you have ten thousand a year of your own and I with great difficulty earn a hundred; it is surprising that you should make the fuss you do. Besides which you well know that this feeding off packing-cases is irksome; we really need a table and it will but cost ten pounds."

To all this Paul listened doubtfully, pursing up his lips, joining the tips of his fingers, crossing his legs and playing the solemn fool generally.

"Peter," said he, "I mislike this scheme of yours. It is a heavy outlay for a single moment. It would disturb our credit, and yours especially, for your share would come to five pounds and you would have to put off paying the Press-Cutting agency to which you foolishly subscribe. No; there is an infinitely better way than this crude idea of paying cash down in common. I will lend the whole sum of ten pounds to our common stock and we will each pay one pound a year as interest to myself for the loan. I for my part will not shirk my duty in the matter of this interest and I sincerely trust you will not shirk yours."

Peter was so delighted with this arrangement that his gratitude knew no bounds. He would frequently compliment himself in private on the advantage of living with Paul, and when he went out to see his friends it was with the jovial air of the Man with the Bottomless Purse, for he did not feel the pound a year he had to pay, and Paul always seemed willing to undertake similar expenses on similar terms. He purchased a bronze over-mantel, he fitted the rooms with electric light, he bought (for the common use) a large prize dog for £56, and he was for ever bringing in made dishes, bottles of wine and what not, all paid for by this lending of his. The interest increased to £20 and then to £30 a year, but Paul was so rigorously honest, prompt and exact in paying himself the interest that Peter could not bear to be behindhand or to seem less punctual and upright than his friend. But so high a proportion of his small income going in interest left poor Peter but a meagre margin for himself and he had to dine at Lockhart's and get his clothes ready made, which (to a refined and sensitive soul such as his) was a grievous trial.

Some little time after a Fishmonger who had attained to Cabinet rank was married to the daughter of a Levantine and London was in consequence illuminated. Paul said to Peter in his jovial way, "It is imperative that we should show no meanness upon this occasion. We are known for the most flourishing and well-to-do pair of bachelors in the neighbourhood, and I have not hesitated (for I know I had your consent beforehand) to go to Messrs. Brock and order an immense quantity of fireworks for the balcony on this auspicious occasion. Not a word. The loan is mine and very freely do I make it to our Mutual Position."

So that night there was an illumination at their flat, and the centre-piece was a vast combination of roses, thistles, shamrocks, leeks, kangaroos, beavers, schamboks, and other national emblems, and beneath it the motto, "United we stand, divided we fall: Peter and Paul," in flaming letters two feet high.

Peter was after this permanently reduced to living upon rice and to mending his own clothes; but he could easily see how fair the arrangement was, and he was not the man to grumble at a free contract. Moreover, he was expecting a rise in salary from the editor of the Hoot, in which paper he wrote "Woman's World", and signed it "Emily".

At the close of the year Peter had some difficulty in meeting the interest, though Paul had, with true business probity, paid his on the very day it fell due. Peter therefore approached Paul with some little diffidence and hesitation, saying:

"Paul: I trust you will excuse me, but I beg you will be so very good as to see your way, if possible, to granting me an extension of time in the matter of paying my interest."

Paul, who was above everything regular and methodical, replied:

"Hum, chrm, chrum, chrm. Well, my dear Peter, it would not be generous to press you, but I trust you will remember that this money has not been spent upon my private enjoyment. It has gone for the glory of our Mutual Position; pray do not forget that, Peter; and remember also that if you have to pay interest, so have I, so have I. We are all in the same boat, Peter, sink or swim; sink or swim...." Then his face brightened, he patted Peter genially on the shoulder and added: "Do not think me harsh, Peter. It is necessary that I should keep to a strict, business-like way of doing things, for I have a large property to manage; but you may be sure that my friendship for you is of more value to me than a few paltry sovereigns. I will lend you the sum you owe to the interest on the Common Debt, and though in strict right you alone should pay the interest on this new loan I will call half of it my own and you shall pay but £1 a year on it for ever."

Peter's eyes swam with tears at Paul's generosity, and he thanked his stars that his lot had been cast with such a man. But when Paul came again with a grave face and said to him, "Peter, my boy, we must insure at once against burglars: the underwriters demand a hundred pounds," his heart broke, and he could not endure the thought of further payments. Paul, however, with the quiet good sense that characterised him, pointed out the necessity of the payment and, eyeing Peter with compassion for a moment, told him that he had long been feeling that he (Peter) had been unfairly taxed. "It is a principle" (said Paul) "that taxation should fall upon men in proportion to their ability to pay it. I am determined that, whatever happens, you shall in future pay but a third of the interest that may accrue upon further loans." It was in vain that Peter pointed out that, in his case, even a thirtieth would mean starvation; Paul was firm and carried his point.

The wretched Peter was now but skin and bone, and his earning power, small as it had ever been, was considerably lessened. Paul began to fear very seriously for his invested funds: he therefore kept up Peter's spirits as best he could with such advice as the following:--

"Dear Peter, do not repine; your lot is indeed hard, but it has its silver lining. You are the member of a partnership famous among all other bachelor-residences for its display of fireworks and its fine furniture. So valuable is the room in which you live that the insurance alone is the wonder and envy of our neighbours. Consider also how firm and stable these loans make our comradeship. They give me a stake in the rooms and furnish a ready market for the spare capital of our little community. The interest WE pay upon the fund is an evidence of our social rank, and all London stares with astonishment at the flat of Peter and Paul, which can without an effort buy such gorgeous furniture at a moment's notice."

But, alas! these well-meant words were of no avail. On a beautiful spring day, when all the world seemed to be holding him to the joys of living, Peter passed quietly away in his little truckle bed, unattended even by a doctor, whose fees would have necessitated a loan the interest of which he could never have paid.

Paul, on the death of Peter, gave way at first to bitter recrimination. "Is this the way," he said, "that you repay years of unstinted generosity? Nay, is this the way you meet your sacred obligations? You promised upon a thousand occasions to pay your share of the interest for ever, and now like a defaulter you abandon your post and destroy half the revenue of our firm by one intempestive and thoughtless act! Had you but possessed a little property which, properly secured, would continue to meet the claims you had incurred, I had not blamed you. But a man who earns all that he possesses has no right to pledge himself to perpetual payment unless he is prepared to live for ever!"

Nobler thoughts, however, succeeded this outburst, and Paul threw himself upon the bed of his Departed Friend and moaned. "Who now will pay me an income in return for my investments? All my fortune is sunk in this flat, though I myself pay the interest never so regularly, it will not increase my fortune by one farthing! I shall as I live consume a fund which will never be replenished, and within a short time I shall be compelled to work for my living!"

Maddened by this last reflection, he dashed into the street, hurried northward through-the-now-rapidly-gathering-darkness, and drowned himself in the Regent's Canal, just where it runs by the Zoological Gardens, under the bridge that leads to the cages of the larger pachyderms.

Thus miserably perished Peter and Paul, the one in the thirtieth, the other in the forty-seventh year of his age, both victims to their ignorance of Mrs. Fawcett's Political Economy for the Young, the Nicomachean Ethics, Bastiat's Economic Harmonies, The Fourth Council of Lateran on Unfruitful Loans and Usury, The Speeches of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach and Mr. Brodrick (now Lord Midleton), The Sermons of St. Thomas Aquinas, under the head "Usuria," Mr. W. S. Lilly's First Principles in Politics, and other works too numerous to mention.

Rochester Chesterton Conference

There are many among us who can't make the Chesterton Conference due to schedule or distance. For those who can't, there will be a shorter Chesterton Conference in Rochester, NY, in September.

"Reawakening Wonder" will take place Saturday, September 26, from 9 am..m to 3:30 p.m. in the Coleman Chapel in Murphy Hall at St. John Fisher College.

The speakers will include Tom Howard, David Higbee, Joseph Pearce, and Dale Ahlquist (he's everywhere, isn't he?).

It's the 6th such conference sponsored by the Rochester Chesterton Society, and they have been "wonder"ful events.

So if you couldn't make it to Seattle, come join us.

For more information, e-mail rochesterton@hotmail.com

The Current Occupant

Tom O'Toole on his blog Fighting Irish Thomas says,”… "When a nation gives birth to a foolish law," said Chesterton, "they do not start or stare at the monster they have brought forth. They have grown used to their own unreason ... these nations are really in danger of losing their heads en masse." And, when Chesterton notes "these vast visions of imbecility" once they become policy, are almost always enforced by force.”

The current occupant of the white house is certainly a fascinating character. His greatest skill is that to who ever he is talking to he makes them feel he is their side. In front of Planned Parenthood he told them his first bit of business would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, a hideous monster of a bill. In front of Notre Dame he said that the issue of abortion is an important issue one where we need cool and deliberate discussion. He made that crowd think he was on their side.

Ok, he has yet to flat out say he is against abortion but he his also no longer saying he is four square in favor of it. Maybe he really thinks a compromise can be achieved. Of course it is also true that it is impossible to compromise on an issue of life or death, unless you live in the country of Florin where people can be “mostly dead.”

He realized that the FOCA would be political suicide so he is working an end-around. He knows that Roe V. Wade will eventually come before the Supreme Court again. Also all his appointments are radically pro abort and they are preparing for that case. Here are just two examples:
Dawn Johnsen will head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel here are 3 of her quotes:
1. “The argument that women who become pregnant have in some sense consented to the pregnancy belies reality…and others who are the inevitable losers in the contraceptive lottery no more ‘consent’ to pregnancy than pedestrians ‘consent’ to being struck by drunk drivers.’”
(Supreme Court amicus brief she authored in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services)

2. “The woman is constantly aware for nine months that her body is not wholly her own: the state has conscripted her body for its own ends. Thus, abortion restrictions ‘reduce pregnant women to no more than fetal containers.’”
(Supreme Court amicus brief she authored in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services)

And the clincher -
3. “Statutes that curtail her abortion choice are disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude, prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment, in that forced pregnancy requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state’s asserted interest.”

Since the “Right to Privacy”, the bases for the Roe decision, is not in the constitution they will use the 13th amendment. Yes, They have grown used to their own unreason.

Now let’s hear from his Science adviser, John P. Holdren

“The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being,”

“To a biologist the question of when life begins for a human child is almost meaningless, since life is continuous and has been since it first began on Earth several billion years ago,”… To most biologists, an embryo (unborn child during the first two or three months of development) or a fetus is no more a complete human being than a blueprint is a building. The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being.

He advocated the formation of a “planetary regime” that would use a “global police force” to enforce totalitarian measures of population control, including forced abortions, mass sterilization programs conducted via the food and water supply, as well as mandatory bodily implants that would prevent couples from having children.

More on this cool science guy here.

And now the Current Occupant’s “Heath” Care plan will include federal dollars for abortion, this on top of the 250 million dollars the feds give Planned Parenthood.

Put it all together and you get the FOCA with out all that political brouhaha. Like I said the current occupant is very fascinating.

Universal truth

I have been on a history binge lately and today I came across an interesting quote. It was written two thousand and two hundred years ago by the Roman playwright Plautus and immediately upon finishing it I thought of how it fits our Uncle Gilbert.

“The poet seeks what is nowhere in all the world.
And yet – somewhere- he finds it.”

Life Lesson #44,758

Chesterton frequently uses the fence or wall as a metaphor in his writings.
My favorite and is this one:
“Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground. Christianity is the only frame which has preserved the pleasure of Paganism. We might fancy some children playing on the flat grassy top of some tall island in the sea. So long as there was a wall round the cliff's edge they could fling themselves into every frantic game and make the place the noisiest of nurseries. But the walls were knocked down, leaving the naked peril of the precipice. They did not fall over; but when their friends returned to them they were all huddled in terror in the center of the island; and their song had ceased.”

It is also apropos to my current life lesson which is this:
When building a fence around your chicken coop you are not to build it strong enough to keep the chickens in but strong enough to keep the carnivores out.

Personally I hate it when it takes a pile of bloody feathers to learn something.

Speaking of Belloc

In art a style can never be imposed nor predicted. It grows organically from any given epoch reflecting the needs, wants and desires of that epoch. Great art always reflects a timeless universal truth that moves through every epoch. Another way to say that is that every epoch has it’s own stories and story tellers. To truly understand the events and people in any point in history you most know their stories and story tellers.

The problem with many historians today is that they do not know the stories of the time they are reporting on or worse, they apply our stories to that time and that leads to a gross misrepresentation of that time. Otherwise know as revisionist history.

In Belloc’s book, The Crusades, he takes extra care to remind us of the story and the story tellers of that time. He points out the successes and failures of that first crusade in light of how the participants of that time viewed the world and themselves. The book reads like a detective story as told in flash back because he tells us the end in the first few pages.

The reason, of course, that this account of the Crusades is not used in schools is that the story of the time is Christianity and the cause of the Crusades was to save Christendom. Also Belloc, rightly so, connects he and us to that story and frequently uses phases like, “We failed…” or “Our fathers…”. Also he does not paint the Mohammedan forces as noble nomads just looking for a homeland as in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven but as what they really were at that time a barbaric culture bent on destruction incapable of building and creating anything.

The other reason is that he predicts that since we lost the main goal of the crusades, “we have by no means seen the last of the results of the 12th-century Christian military failure against Islam.”

Much better review of the book is here

Belloc's Windmill To Be Closed

Hilaire Belloc's windmill, the largest working windmill in West Sussex, is closing its doors to the public. See BBC article Historic windmill forced to close for the sad details.

Today in 1953: Death of Belloc

Epigram "On His Books" published in Sonnets & Verse:

When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
"His sins were scarlet, but his books were read."

ZENIT: "Blessed" G.K. Chesterton?

published today on ZENIT:
Interview on Possible Beatification of English Author
By Antonio Gaspari

In case you missed it A.N. Wilson’s review of The Paradox Who Was Chesterton
New evidence about the development of G. K. Chesterton's ideas and his progress towards Roman Catholicism
By William Oddie was posted here.

Whenever I see a review of Chesterton’s work in the Mass Media I always hold my breath a little thinking that at any moment it will mention GK “Antisemitism” or his "unfavorable view of women” which usually has nothing to do with the work being reviewed. This review, thankfully did not mention any of those. It did however pick up a new dig against Uncle Gilbert, again nothing to do with the book, when Wilson interjected this little nugget:“(for there is bizarre talk of GK’s canonization)”. I guess they just can’t help themselves.

Anyway here is an except from the review:

"Chesterton’s fiction and journalism were dashed off at speed. This is not to say that they were not on some levels deeply considered. It could be said, truthfully as well as Chestertonianly, that he was never deeper than when he was being superficial. Many of his wisest remarks are the throwaways, but you do not necessarily preserve the truth of a throwaway remark by patching it together with other throwaway remarks to construct a Summa. Chesterton’s observation about angels – that they can fly because they carry so little weight – applies to his own writings."

And yes Wilson got the quote wrong the true quote is "Angels can fly
because they take themselves lightly."

Paul Nowak, author of the new "Uncle Chestnut" book

Paul Nowak, author of the recently published The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut, sent this note:

I've been meaning to let you guys @ Chesterton and Friends know a couple things:

1) A while ago you mentioned Neil Gaiman using GKC in Sandman - I got a small scan of a few panels here:
http://eternal-revolution.com/573/chesterton/gk-chesterton-comic-hero/

2) I've not managed to post about this myself, but Simpsons artist Luis Escobar did a cartoon of GKC/Uncle Chestnut on his blog: http://www.luisescobarblog.com/?p=334

The Gaiman/Sandman posts referred to are GK Comics in 2005 and GK and the Sandman in 2006. Aeons ago on a blog timeline. How wonderful that these bubbles can rise to the surface when someone gets the hankering to google.

"Uncle Chestnut" received a thumbs up from my 11 year old son. I greatly enjoyed it myself, and will post a review shortly.

Thanks for your good work, Paul!

Yuk It Up Folks

Two men considering a religious vocation were
having a conversation. "What is similar about the
Jesuit and Dominican Orders? " the one asked.

The second replied, "Well, they were both
founded by Spaniards -- St. Dominic for the
Dominicans, and St. Ignatius of Loyola for
the Jesuits. They were also both founded to
combat heresy -- the Dominicans to
fight the Albigensians, and the Jesuits to
fight the Protestants."

"What is different about the Jesuit and
Dominican Orders?"

"Met any Albigensians lately?"
-----------------------

When you look at the body of work on Catholic humor the Jesuits’ are the equvilent of blond or ethnic jokes in the secular world. Really, when was the last time you heard a joke begin, “ A Precious Blood Priest walked into a bar...” or “Two Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus went to the beach...”

The odd thing for me is that some of the best and worst priests I’ve known or read were Jesuits. And their work in spreading the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is truly driven by the Holy Spirit

It’s not that members of other religious orders don’t slip from the path it’s just that the Jesuits always do it with a monumentally arrogant flare. (two recent examples here and here).

There is a danger in fighting any opponent and it is not that you might lose the battle but lose the line that separates. The most effective way to fight a foe is to really understand him and the danger comes in understanding him so much you become like him.

We’ve seen that within the police who fight crime every day suddenly begin to commit crime. Or between the republicans and democrats. Where the republicans have now embraced the intrinsic evil of torture because the dems have the intrinsic evil of abortion.

And the problem with all religious, in fighting the secular world, is they begin to
embrace it’s ideals or think, “well it’s not really that bad.” like Father Jenkins at Notre Dame.

It is often the little slips that left unchecked turn into...well...big sin. For example, this past Sunday at my church, one of the petitions was “that government leaders work to solve the problem of climate change.”
There was no petition that they work to respect the dignity of life from conception to natural death.

yep climate change is now more important.

Maybe it was joke.

"It is not funny that anything else
should fall down; only that a man
should fall down.
Why do we laugh? Because it is a
gravely religious matter: it is the
Fall of Man. Only man can
be absurd: for only man can
be dignified."

G.K.C.

I say Hello. I say Goodbye

Please join me in welcoming to the planet my newest grandchild, Riley Ann. Yes, the world just got a little prettier.

Riley’s birth came few days after I helped bury my art professor and dear friend Mike Skop. Mike was “that person” who changed the trajectory of my life. He will be sorely missed.

I have reached an age where I know death and birth is not like changing five pennies for a nickel. Riley will never replace the hole left by Mike’s passing but someday I will tell her stories about him. Maybe, just maybe, there will come a time she will want to go into the studio and learn how to make pigment sing and clay dance. Then I will be there to show her the path Mike showed me.

Seek not to be like great men. Seek what they sought.

June 14 - A Feast Day?

In Catholic tradition, a saint's feast day is the day he or she died.

Chesterton died June 14, 1936. If the cause for his canonization proceeds - as I expect it will - June 14 will in all likelihood be his Feast Day.

I can't wait until I see that Feast Day on my liturgical calendar.

a pencil

After spending some time teaching kids which end of the pencil makes a mark I began reading, with interest, an essay by Tom Purcell entitled ‘A Pencil’s Point’ in which he summarizes
a 1958 essay by Leonard E. Read. I liked Tom’s essay so much I looked up Leonard’s and there in the opening he quotes “the wise” G. K. Chesterton. Which of course made me want to read more of Read’s work.

Although I have only just begun to read him it seems he does have a Chestertonian feel to his work.

As Jacob G. Hornberger says of Read’s work, “Leonard Read never permitted himself to fall victim to the malady which afflicts so many freedom devotees — depression and despair over freedom's prospects....Fighting for freedom was so enjoyable — so much fun — for this man that one cannot help but wonder whether he would have fallen into at least a temporary despondency had freedom been achieved in his lifetime!”

I will add a reading Leonard's essay to my next year's class.

Love = Sacrifice

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

VERY COOL VIDEO HERE

GKC for Children

MEDIA ADVISORY, May 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- G.K. Chesterton, the prolific and influential Christian writer, is the subject of a new book series for children, which has been announced on the 135th anniversary of his birthday.

Eternal Revolution is now taking preorders for the first book in the new Uncle Chestnut series: The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut.

Written for young readers, The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut contains 4 short stories told by Jack, whose Uncle Chestnut comes to take care of him while his parents are away. Whether traveling, chasing after hats, or embarking on everyday adventures, Uncle Chestnut teaches a unique perspective on life and the world to his nephew.

Based on the writings and actual events in the life of G.K. Chesterton, this work of fiction presents the wit and wisdom of the British writer in a considerably easier style for young people to read. It is a simple, fun approach to introducing G.K. Chesterton to readers of all ages.

Written at a 6th grade reading level for today’s students, The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut draws primarily from Chesterton's Tremendous Trifles and teaches the value of seeing everyday obstacles as exciting and unique adventures.

Eternal Revolution is offering two special offers for those who pre-order the book from Eternal Revolution at www.UncleChestnut.com before it is available. Pre-orders will receive a special discounted price and two free MP3 recordings of G.K. Chesterton presenting essays in his own voice.

The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut is expected to be available to the public on or about June 30, 2009, and will retail for $10.95. It will be available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. It is written by Paul Nowak, author of The Way of the Christian Samurai.

Wholesale and media inquiries can be directed to sales@dyinglight.com, or by calling 616-425-8873. For more information on the book visit Eternal-Revolution.com.

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, credited Chesterton as a significant influence in his conversion to Christianity. Other famous persons influenced by Chesterton include Mahatma Gandhi, J.R.R. Tolkien, Alfred Hitchcock, Neil Gaiman, and Michael Crichton.

Link.

whew........

.....a bit of an absence from here. Had son's First Communion, Soccer Games, Daughters dance recital, and that whirlwind of the school year winding down.

and how much has changed in the world, in the United States, and within the Church.

I try very, very hard not to get political in blogging. Despite his deep involvement in the issues of his day, Chesterton actually seemed to have avoided "politics" as we would define it today. He had a true gift of letting the issues of the day melt into eternal truths and universal principles. From this perspective, what are the universal principles that peer at as from behind the curtain of current events?

The only things I despise more than politics are cliche's, but I think we truly see before us how there is no history, only biography. When even the powerful and wealthy are stripped of their not quite seamless garments of inflated funds and paper financial instruments, we can clearly become aware of the character, personality, and gravitas of world players as well as the pettiness and shallowness which seems magnified during times of hardship.

I am beginning to see the futility in dwelling on the negative and taking delight in the scandal of others, we all are aware of these things going on. On the positive side, however, did anybody really take note of Pope Benedict walking out of a meeting when a speaker was going on an anti-Israel/anti-Semetic rant? That act was the single greatest act of courage I recall on the world stage for many, many months. I am truly honored to identify with that type of heroism, to be able to point at Pope Benedict and say, "There goes my spiritual leader."

I write this as President Obama speaks at Norte Dame. I am saddened that it happened but not surprised. Father Jenkins has more than once broken his vow of obedience with his Bishop. So this was in reality only a small step for him not the big OMG leap so many have called it. This day began shortly after he took his position at ND allowing theology professors to openly question the dogma of transubstantiation the allowing the Vagina Chronicles to be performed on campus. Each time the local Bishop told him NO. Nothing “happened” to Fr. Jenkins after each breech and the University still stands. So what’s one more sin? Fr. J. thinks that this is open discourse and the kind of open diversity that an University should be about he is rebelling against, um, ah…. well Orthodoxy.
Chesterton would say of his type:
“…But the new rebel is a Skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it.”

I, along with others, have questioned if Fr. J. should not have been removed form his office after the first, ‘I know what’s better than you Bishop.’ Then I saw this Chesterton quote in a different light: “There are many, many angles at which one can fall but only one angle at which one can stand straight.”
His Bishop and the other Bishops were not pushing him to fall over but to help him get straight again.

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.

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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.)