Le' Blogatory Backlash
I see some secular-minded bloggers heavily resenting that the Pope received as much attention as he has. The coverage does seem chivalrous given our irreverent age and of this backlash I can't say I'm surprised. But the media is good at building up and then tearing down, so if the non-believers are patient within a couple weeks the MSM will be tearing him down.
MSNBC, which is by far my favorite network (though I do regularly watch O'Reilly), is in a bit of a no-win situation. Many on the left and right have already retreated to media bunkers: NPR or NRO, CNN or FOX. I once thought that media ghettos were a big mistake but now I'm more sanguine about it. Life's too short to have to deal with a news source that you can't trust or is not concerned about what you are concerned about. Life's also too short to be reading purveyors of hate but then see my blog title.
April 04, 2005
Times Change...
Our ancestors dug canals in order to save enough money to buy a patch of farmland in order to eke out enough of a living to put food on the table and to help build a church in which their children would worship and Catholic schools in which they could be educated....Now we finance the schools by providing bingo in one of the few smoking venues left in Columbus. Go figure.
Our ancestors dug canals in order to save enough money to buy a patch of farmland in order to eke out enough of a living to put food on the table and to help build a church in which their children would worship and Catholic schools in which they could be educated....Now we finance the schools by providing bingo in one of the few smoking venues left in Columbus. Go figure.
Reviews Whilst Sick
Finally caught a cold last week, after going all winter cold-free. It's always darkest just before the dawn.
I ill spent my illness I’m afraid. Although that does sound oxymoronic. I laid down and watched all of “Lawrence of Arabia” which led to a bit of curiosity about T.E. Lawrence. I read an encyclopedia entry about him. He seemed a daredevil but what made him tick? Did he really die in a motorcycle accident after the war? How like Patton this sounded. Both took enormous risks in war only to die in the vehicle accidents in the safety of peace.
I did profitably watch the “Passion of Joan of Arc”, a 1928 silent film. It was pretty good if only for the excerpts from the transcript of her trial. Enjoyed seeing when and where she made those comments that seemed to twist her persecutors in knots, so like Christ did of the Pharisees who were constantly trying to trap him. Some of the faces were positively Fellini-like. Very odd and memorable. The film certainly lived up to the title – she was depicted as having something similar to Christ’s passion. Even to being mocked by wearing a faux crown and scepter. And the feeling of being forsaken leading her to sign a confession.
Also watched “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Munsters” which are the sort of sticky confection that go so well with sickness. Both were wonderful. I can’t imagine watching “The Munsters” healthy. I just can’t slow my mind and body sufficiently to do something so wasteful and in the moment. Sad.
But what I really wanted to do was read. After the last Walker Percy read there’s a real hole in my reading artillery. I can’t find anything lyrical and consolatory. Although I do have that Iris Murdoch book. Maybe I could try Proust. Instead I was reading about a woman reading Proust. Two degress of separation kind of thing, which isn't the same. Accept only original sources.
Finally caught a cold last week, after going all winter cold-free. It's always darkest just before the dawn.
I ill spent my illness I’m afraid. Although that does sound oxymoronic. I laid down and watched all of “Lawrence of Arabia” which led to a bit of curiosity about T.E. Lawrence. I read an encyclopedia entry about him. He seemed a daredevil but what made him tick? Did he really die in a motorcycle accident after the war? How like Patton this sounded. Both took enormous risks in war only to die in the vehicle accidents in the safety of peace.
I did profitably watch the “Passion of Joan of Arc”, a 1928 silent film. It was pretty good if only for the excerpts from the transcript of her trial. Enjoyed seeing when and where she made those comments that seemed to twist her persecutors in knots, so like Christ did of the Pharisees who were constantly trying to trap him. Some of the faces were positively Fellini-like. Very odd and memorable. The film certainly lived up to the title – she was depicted as having something similar to Christ’s passion. Even to being mocked by wearing a faux crown and scepter. And the feeling of being forsaken leading her to sign a confession.
Also watched “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Munsters” which are the sort of sticky confection that go so well with sickness. Both were wonderful. I can’t imagine watching “The Munsters” healthy. I just can’t slow my mind and body sufficiently to do something so wasteful and in the moment. Sad.
But what I really wanted to do was read. After the last Walker Percy read there’s a real hole in my reading artillery. I can’t find anything lyrical and consolatory. Although I do have that Iris Murdoch book. Maybe I could try Proust. Instead I was reading about a woman reading Proust. Two degress of separation kind of thing, which isn't the same. Accept only original sources.
JP II Links & Comments
His encyclicals can be purchased here... Dives in Misericordia (Divine Mercy) and Ut Unum Sint (That All May Be One) are the two I haven't read but desire to.
His last message on Divine Mercy and possibly his last words.
I was a teen when he was elected and I recall being disappointed he took the name "John Paul II" since it suggested a lack of creativity - we just had a John Paul, if only for a month. That obviously doesn't say much for my maturity level and becomes hysterical in hindsight because to attribute to him a lack of orginality would prove so absurdly false. True freedom and creativity come paradoxically in following God. George Stephanopoulos reported that in his last moments the Pope asked that Psalm 119 be read, and in it contains the key to his life:
I was a teen when he was elected and I recall being disappointed he took the name "John Paul II" since it suggested a lack of creativity - we just had a John Paul, if only for a month. That obviously doesn't say much for my maturity level and becomes hysterical in hindsight because to attribute to him a lack of orginality would prove so absurdly false. True freedom and creativity come paradoxically in following God. George Stephanopoulos reported that in his last moments the Pope asked that Psalm 119 be read, and in it contains the key to his life:
I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
April 03, 2005
Our Pastor's Sermon
Our pastor was upset by what he heard on CNBC over the weekend, saying that the world does not "get" it in seeing the papacy purely in political terms: (a paraphrase)
Our pastor was upset by what he heard on CNBC over the weekend, saying that the world does not "get" it in seeing the papacy purely in political terms: (a paraphrase)
The Pope was a figure of interest not because he was his celebrity but because he is the St. Peter that God has given us, and to hope that the next pope will change doctrine is to miss the point of everything. The papacy is the embodiment of Christ risking Himself in the Church, making himself vulnerable by putting Himself in the hands of humans...The crucifix is another embodiment of His showing that he will become vulnerable to us and put himself in our hands, as he does today literally in the Eucharist.
From Dallas News writer Rod Dreher:
As you know, the two Marian events/devotions to which John Paul was most committed, and most identified, were the Divine Mercy, and Fatima. The Church's celebration of the feast of Divine Mercy began at sundown today, the First Saturday (cf. Our Lady of Fatima's request) of April. Because he died after sundown in Rome but before midnight, he passed on the one sliver of time in the entire year -- maybe even in years, given that Easter is not on a fixed date -- when both Fatima and Divine Mercy intersect.Even in the timing of his death the pope teaches.
April 02, 2005
Personal Impressions
I was so surprised, despite his long illness, when Reuters errantly reported news on Friday that he had died for it seemed this pope always survives close calls. But so it soon was, with the wonderful homage playing out on every television screen in the world. What a longing I felt to be there in St. Peter's square on Friday night, a place that is more like home than home.
The first time I was personally influenced by him I think was in reading his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope around 1994. I remember thinking, "my gosh, he's not like other popes is he?". We tend to forget now how odd it sounded to hear that the "pope has a book out". My impression of popes (I'm not old enough to remember John XXIII) was that they were formal and distant and wrote only dense encyclicals, not popular works like this. Taking questions from just an average person seemed a very democratic thing to do and was obviously appealing to me, an average person living in a democracy. It seemed to show a liveliness, an openness and a willingness to take chances that was very appealing. And of course the substance of the book was greatly educational for me and prepared the ground for my reversion. Many of the questions the interviewer asked I had always wondered about.
* * *
Billy Graham was one of my favorite evangelists during the 70s. I loved his books and would tune in to his revivals on television. And so to hear him praising the Pope on Larry King warms my heart because it connects two figures who have influenced me. But the connections go beyond the personal - they both have lived long, good lives and have had to undergo suffering at the end. They both were telegenic and charismatic but firm with regard to standards. And both were criticized for reaching out too far ecumenically. I've listened to radio shows highly critical of Billy Graham for his closeness to the Pope and for suggesting that Muslims and others who don't profess Christ might be saved. And the Pope has been criticized for some of his outreach by some Traditionalists. The Pope took his hand and called him a brother at their first meeting and that is an apt characterization.
* * *
I'm really surprised by the secular media coverage, which was as respectful as it was extensive. It began to look like EWTN sometimes. Being able to see the viewing of the Pope was special. His death becomes manifest when you see him lying down, hands clasping a rosary and head propped up by pillows. I wonder if coverage will be extensive for a pope's death a fifty years from now. My hunch is no, but a Church the size of over a billion is hard to ignore.
I was so surprised, despite his long illness, when Reuters errantly reported news on Friday that he had died for it seemed this pope always survives close calls. But so it soon was, with the wonderful homage playing out on every television screen in the world. What a longing I felt to be there in St. Peter's square on Friday night, a place that is more like home than home.
The first time I was personally influenced by him I think was in reading his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope around 1994. I remember thinking, "my gosh, he's not like other popes is he?". We tend to forget now how odd it sounded to hear that the "pope has a book out". My impression of popes (I'm not old enough to remember John XXIII) was that they were formal and distant and wrote only dense encyclicals, not popular works like this. Taking questions from just an average person seemed a very democratic thing to do and was obviously appealing to me, an average person living in a democracy. It seemed to show a liveliness, an openness and a willingness to take chances that was very appealing. And of course the substance of the book was greatly educational for me and prepared the ground for my reversion. Many of the questions the interviewer asked I had always wondered about.
* * *
Billy Graham was one of my favorite evangelists during the 70s. I loved his books and would tune in to his revivals on television. And so to hear him praising the Pope on Larry King warms my heart because it connects two figures who have influenced me. But the connections go beyond the personal - they both have lived long, good lives and have had to undergo suffering at the end. They both were telegenic and charismatic but firm with regard to standards. And both were criticized for reaching out too far ecumenically. I've listened to radio shows highly critical of Billy Graham for his closeness to the Pope and for suggesting that Muslims and others who don't profess Christ might be saved. And the Pope has been criticized for some of his outreach by some Traditionalists. The Pope took his hand and called him a brother at their first meeting and that is an apt characterization.
* * *
I'm really surprised by the secular media coverage, which was as respectful as it was extensive. It began to look like EWTN sometimes. Being able to see the viewing of the Pope was special. His death becomes manifest when you see him lying down, hands clasping a rosary and head propped up by pillows. I wonder if coverage will be extensive for a pope's death a fifty years from now. My hunch is no, but a Church the size of over a billion is hard to ignore.
God Bless Pope John Paul
The last battle continues. I'm surprised and gratified by the wall-to-wall press coverage the Holy Father is receiving on the cable channels (I've been watching MSNBC). Much of the coverage is even positive; I've witnessed holy priests speaking the truth. Coming on the heels of Terri's death, this is a holy synchronicity, even more so than Mother Teresa's coming so soon after Princess Di's.
* * *
Two Saints
Before their passings we were
already wrung-out, hung-out,
news-shocked at the brevity of life:
the ground was tilled.
Befitting still
that the princess preceded Teresa
and the defenseless John Paul,
mother teaching beauty
with poverty
father teaching strength
with weakness.
The last battle continues. I'm surprised and gratified by the wall-to-wall press coverage the Holy Father is receiving on the cable channels (I've been watching MSNBC). Much of the coverage is even positive; I've witnessed holy priests speaking the truth. Coming on the heels of Terri's death, this is a holy synchronicity, even more so than Mother Teresa's coming so soon after Princess Di's.
* * *
Two Saints
Before their passings we were
already wrung-out, hung-out,
news-shocked at the brevity of life:
the ground was tilled.
Befitting still
that the princess preceded Teresa
and the defenseless John Paul,
mother teaching beauty
with poverty
father teaching strength
with weakness.
April 01, 2005
Mr. Blue Excerpt:
I told him I was willing to try to love a villain but that I could not arouse any affection for a mere annoyance, an irremediable nobody. "I think I could love a lion," I said, "but I doubt very much if I ever could love a mosquito."
He regarded me seriously. "You consider yourself too much," he returned. "You could love a great enemy. Any healthy man could. Men have boasted that they were to be slain by Caesar. But one needs more than vanity to love a...a...what you call a mosquito."
He meant, I suppose, that I needed special graces in charity and fortitude.
- Myles Connolly
Nice...
I've always enjoyed Jonah Goldberg's ability to turn a phrase. He's the proto-blogger, the John Belushi of the Animal House that is blogdom. A recent line:
Just for the record, I've found British lefties to be just as capable as American lefties of performing pirouettes of hysterical jackassery.
A minor rhetorical masterpiece. First there's the aliteration of "performing pirouettes" nicely balanced by the similar syllabic weight of "hysterical jackassery". But what makes the whole sentence is the ending crescendo of "jackassery", a word my wife and I shared a fine, if unrefined, laugh over.
I've always enjoyed Jonah Goldberg's ability to turn a phrase. He's the proto-blogger, the John Belushi of the Animal House that is blogdom. A recent line:
Just for the record, I've found British lefties to be just as capable as American lefties of performing pirouettes of hysterical jackassery.
A minor rhetorical masterpiece. First there's the aliteration of "performing pirouettes" nicely balanced by the similar syllabic weight of "hysterical jackassery". But what makes the whole sentence is the ending crescendo of "jackassery", a word my wife and I shared a fine, if unrefined, laugh over.
Hope
Roz relays a fine commentary on hope:
A friend of mine had a sign in his room which said, 'Don’t worry. It might not happen.' I composed another for him which said, 'Don’t worry. It probably will happen. But it won’t be the end of the world.'
I tend to tense up when I watch the agony in the garden scene of "The Passion of the Christ", the one where Jesus has to make a decision to resist the temptation of the devil. Even knowing the outcome it is hard to watch given how much was riding. I get a flavor of this too during the Joyful Mysteries when thinking about how Mary's fiat changed the course of the world.
That's the thing: that so much was riding. That burden. And I try to take that burden by putting myself in their places and wonder if I will succeed or fail, even though that is not the right mindset of a Christian. The right mindset is: we have already won! How can I be truly grateful for what Jesus accomplished and still think that everything is on my shoulders? I can't. The gratitude that comes from celebration for His victory is that His fruits will be conferred to you, instead of a tensing up in consideration of whether we will follow Our Lord's and Lady's example.
Roz relays a fine commentary on hope:
A friend of mine had a sign in his room which said, 'Don’t worry. It might not happen.' I composed another for him which said, 'Don’t worry. It probably will happen. But it won’t be the end of the world.'
I tend to tense up when I watch the agony in the garden scene of "The Passion of the Christ", the one where Jesus has to make a decision to resist the temptation of the devil. Even knowing the outcome it is hard to watch given how much was riding. I get a flavor of this too during the Joyful Mysteries when thinking about how Mary's fiat changed the course of the world.
That's the thing: that so much was riding. That burden. And I try to take that burden by putting myself in their places and wonder if I will succeed or fail, even though that is not the right mindset of a Christian. The right mindset is: we have already won! How can I be truly grateful for what Jesus accomplished and still think that everything is on my shoulders? I can't. The gratitude that comes from celebration for His victory is that His fruits will be conferred to you, instead of a tensing up in consideration of whether we will follow Our Lord's and Lady's example.
Hah-vuhd
I'm reading the fascinating book "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class" by Ross Douthat, causing me to reminisce...
Harvard. The mere word connoted a magisterial sense that appealed to my young brain. After all, it was the best and why bother with anything less? What is interesting in mediocrity?
Its rich, arterial crimson seemed to denote its excellence, a dream land where there were castles and kings and moats about which crews sculled. Crimson was the cloth of regents and the color of blood, the fluid that sustains earthly and spiritual life, and Cambridge was the first vacation trip I took after getting a real job in the summer of '86. It was to the great Widener Library I first repaired, the beating, bookish heart that fed the far-flung campus.
There was nothing anti-climatic in the trip because I was young and easily impressed. Small things mattered for I was an innocent; it was enough to sit in a Harvard study carol (I'd brought the Greeks in translation to read) or to see students in their natural environs.
I bought a T-shirt at the Co-op endowed with the simplicity only class confers - the unadorned letters "Harvard" across a vast maroon backdrop. For the maker to have embellished the letters or added flourishes would've only gotten in the way of the simplicity of the message. Weeks later I wore it on the dance floor of a dive in Columbus that served beer by the bucket. A young woman came up to me, her eyes large, asking, "did you really go to Harvard?" Apparently I wasn't alone in seeing the mystical where none existed.
College was like a life. It had a beginning, a middle and an end. There were four years, or seasons, at the end of which you felt like a spent salmon who had head-rushed upstream hoping to spawn a Latin phrase of praise on the diploma. We were drunk on nostalgia that last month, trying to absorb every detail from this Land soon Lost, trying to make sense of it all.
Update: Therese Z of Exultet shares an amusing anecdote via email:
I'm reading the fascinating book "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class" by Ross Douthat, causing me to reminisce...
Harvard. The mere word connoted a magisterial sense that appealed to my young brain. After all, it was the best and why bother with anything less? What is interesting in mediocrity?
Its rich, arterial crimson seemed to denote its excellence, a dream land where there were castles and kings and moats about which crews sculled. Crimson was the cloth of regents and the color of blood, the fluid that sustains earthly and spiritual life, and Cambridge was the first vacation trip I took after getting a real job in the summer of '86. It was to the great Widener Library I first repaired, the beating, bookish heart that fed the far-flung campus.
There was nothing anti-climatic in the trip because I was young and easily impressed. Small things mattered for I was an innocent; it was enough to sit in a Harvard study carol (I'd brought the Greeks in translation to read) or to see students in their natural environs.
I bought a T-shirt at the Co-op endowed with the simplicity only class confers - the unadorned letters "Harvard" across a vast maroon backdrop. For the maker to have embellished the letters or added flourishes would've only gotten in the way of the simplicity of the message. Weeks later I wore it on the dance floor of a dive in Columbus that served beer by the bucket. A young woman came up to me, her eyes large, asking, "did you really go to Harvard?" Apparently I wasn't alone in seeing the mystical where none existed.
College was like a life. It had a beginning, a middle and an end. There were four years, or seasons, at the end of which you felt like a spent salmon who had head-rushed upstream hoping to spawn a Latin phrase of praise on the diploma. We were drunk on nostalgia that last month, trying to absorb every detail from this Land soon Lost, trying to make sense of it all.
Update: Therese Z of Exultet shares an amusing anecdote via email:
"You remind in your Harvard article of when I (fresh out of college and easily impressed) worked for DePaul University (that "Catholic" college) and I had to call colleges all over the country to get information and transcripts. I called them and the operator answered "HAH-vuhd" with a chilly lilt on the first syllable. I was so enchanted that I called back a few minutes later just to hear her say it again, then hung up."
No Tasing, but Dehydration OK
Was listening to a radio show yesterday and they were discussing how protest groups are asking that police not use tasers. One person said, "can't they use nets?". Ah yes, the old net gun. Didn't Batman have one of those?
I'm impressed by the compassion some of my fellow citizens have. For all the derogatory things we say about our time in some areas there have been remarkable strides made. But it is surreally selective.
It's as if there is the huge wellspring of compassion that is suppressed in certain areas and so comes welling out in the less likely places such as pain-free guarantees for those resisting arrest. But what is surprising is how there is no prioritization, no sense of proportion. Witness Terri Schiavo. Witness babies, for whom the womb used to be the safest place in the world but now is the deadliest. I was thinking maybe it's part and parcel of the democracy experience which teaches that every "body" (including animals and criminals) are entitled to total equality and that hierarchies of any kind are to be shunned, but that wouldn't explain the lack of sympathy for unborn babies. Rev. Sharpton on O'Reilly the other night could not offer the least bit for a baby eight months in the womb. It's still strikes me as odd at how illogical today's compassion appears. On the other hand, passions often aren't all that logical.
Was listening to a radio show yesterday and they were discussing how protest groups are asking that police not use tasers. One person said, "can't they use nets?". Ah yes, the old net gun. Didn't Batman have one of those?
I'm impressed by the compassion some of my fellow citizens have. For all the derogatory things we say about our time in some areas there have been remarkable strides made. But it is surreally selective.
It's as if there is the huge wellspring of compassion that is suppressed in certain areas and so comes welling out in the less likely places such as pain-free guarantees for those resisting arrest. But what is surprising is how there is no prioritization, no sense of proportion. Witness Terri Schiavo. Witness babies, for whom the womb used to be the safest place in the world but now is the deadliest. I was thinking maybe it's part and parcel of the democracy experience which teaches that every "body" (including animals and criminals) are entitled to total equality and that hierarchies of any kind are to be shunned, but that wouldn't explain the lack of sympathy for unborn babies. Rev. Sharpton on O'Reilly the other night could not offer the least bit for a baby eight months in the womb. It's still strikes me as odd at how illogical today's compassion appears. On the other hand, passions often aren't all that logical.
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