Guy Lombardo - Auld Lang Syne (1953)

Since next week's poetry and art posted early, I thought I'd post a Music Monday in time for New Year's eve tomorrow. This is Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians doing Auld Lang Syne. My parents, sister and I would listen to him every New Year's Eve. It hasn't been the same without him.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Poetry Wednesday--Sr. Julimarie McDonald

Today's Poetry Wednesday features a prayer-poem by Sr. Juliemarie McDonald that is perfect for the Christmas season.  Once again, we see the image of the cave.

Innkeepers
A Prayer Poem by Sr. Juliemarie McDonald for December 25, 2011

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
(John 1:9)

We are the innkeepers of our soul.
Our souls are caves -- damp, dark, and dingy.
In the smelly stables of our souls,
we house our own stable's mice and spiders and crawly things.

Yet, Jesus, as in days of old,
still chooses such unlikely caves
in which to become incarnate.

Enfleshed once more in our humanness,
taking on our human limitations
of littleness, simplicity, and childlikeness,
he craves to be cradled and crooned to again
by human hands and voices.

Welcome, Lord Jesus.
Enter into the dark caves of our souls.
Be born again in our limitedness.
Infinity embrace our finiteness
to reach out through us
to others whose caves are also
dark, and damp, and dingy.
Shine through us, O Jesus,
into this dark world of ours.
Light up the spaces of our souls once more,
that we may be the stars that lead to new Bethlehems.

The Beloved Disciple

Today is the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist--the Beloved Disciple. Saint John actually gave himself that title; he called himself The Disciple whom Jesus loved.  Imagine having the level of faith that allows you to say that about yourself!

Can we say that we are the "disciple whom Jesus loved"--because, it's true.  We are.

Something to meditate on today.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Neapolitan Presepio

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday is all about the Neapolitan Creche a craft turned high art in Baroque Naples, Italy. The three dimensional figures are hand sculpted from terracotta, painted and "dressed" with luxurious fabrics.

Details in the manger scenes include local scenes such as butchers, shoe makers and fruit sellers.

You can see these in the U.S. at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, St. John the Evangelist Cathedral Museum in Louisiana, the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, and at St. John  oantius Parish in Chicago.

You can find out more information on these beautiful works of art by visiting Napoli Unplugged.

Music Monday--Choir of Westminster Abbey

Good King Wenceslaus having ventured out into the snow and cold on "the Feast of Stephen", (which is today), I decided it was a good song to feature for Music Monday. This version is well-done (as only the British can do with Christmas Carols, it seems). I like the vintage British Christmas Card at the beginning.

Enjoy

A Christmas Poem

In the bleak midwinter

The Christ Child again 

asks to enter into our hearts

and melt the ice that insists 

on forming there

against our better judgment-- 

our attempts at thawing

only serving to set it afire

in a soul-consuming explosion--

our attempts at cooling 

turning it once again

to ice. 

Great Depression Cooking - Tomato Sauce

This is 96 year old Clara's last Depression Cooking video. In it she shows us how to make her family's tomato sauce recipe--just in time for Christmas!

A Christmas Carol (1951)

Every year I like to watch the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol in black and white. It is, IMO, the definitive version of the Dickens' story. The black and white cinematography only enhances the story about the plight of the poor in London at the time and the actors, especially Alistair Sim, have amazingly expressive faces throughout.

This version (below) is complete, showing portions often not seen when it is played on television.

After enjoying the movie, stop by this website to read all about the movie and how it was made.

The Saga of the Cave--A Poem

This poem is from The Well at the World's End via Vox Nova and links the cave of Jesus' birth with the one of His resurrection and man's past as the "cave man".  There are even hints of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. I love the idea that Jesus came to get us out of the "cave of shadows" and into beauty.

From a caveman, it is said, we came;
And yet, in salvation, we find the same.
From start to finish, Alpha to Omega,
Cave to cave, there is one long saga.
In the darkness of its hearth,
We felt protected by the earth.
Even Cain, that impious knave,
Had for his home an artificial cave.

Its darkness protected our vision,
From our disfigurement by sin.
Lights danced upon the wall,
And we hoped God would stall,
The wrath that we feared.
From the sun we fled, lest it sheared,
The conscience with its illumination:
We were afraid of its devastation.

Dancing with the shadows,
Mixing our dreams with sorrows,
We bound ourselves in the muck and mire.
In it all, God saw how dire
The need we had to be set free.
Thus, born in a cave amidst the sea
Of suffering, came the new man, the new creation:
The Godman offering us his jubilation.

Adam and his kin enslaved by the cave,
The new caveman came to save.
Into the darkest, cruelest depths of the cavity,
He journeyed, looking for all held in captivity.
To all who would follow, into the light he led:
By his love, all their fears were shed.
Up they went and out at last into the light,
They beheld a fantastic sight:

Beauty.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--The Nativity of Our Lord

I am re-running this Art and Beauty Tuesday post from last year since I have been getting some new comments on it.

Icons of the Eastern Church go a long way in explaining the theology behind a particular Feast Day.  The Feast of the Nativity has become so commercialized that even when we think we know about the theology behind Christmas, there is always more to explore.

In the center we see a star.  I think we know innately from the representation, that this is *the* star.  It seems to encompass many stars together, which, interestingly, is one theory on how the star of Bethlehem occurred. The sky is gold, showing the Divinity that is present.  We see the angels guiding both the magi and the shepherds, for it is God who sent the star and God who sends His messengers to each person in the Nativity story.

We notice in the center, that Jesus was born in a cave, not a barn the way we think of it today.  These caves were the home of the livestock and animals.  The inns were often built over the caves, using the heat of the animals to heat the building above.

Two things are apparent about St. Joseph.  The first is, he is shown on the lower left of the picture, away from Mary and Jesus, who are the true center of the Nativity story. Joseph is shown "entertaining doubt", represented by an old man.  Joseph has a halo.  He is holy and ultimately listens to God's direction.  But he doubts.  He has difficulty accepting what is occurring.  His position away from the Mother and Child also shows that he is not the biological father of Christ.  That is the Holy Spirit.

Joseph is also shown as a grey haired older man.  It has been known from ancient times that Joseph and Mary were not a "couple" in the traditional sense.  Tradition, both in the East and West, says that Joseph was an older man, possibly a widower, who may have been Mary's guardian. When Mary was too old to serve in the Temple, [i.e., after the ritual impurity associated with menstruation] Joseph was said to have become betrothed to her as a means of continuing that legal guardianship.  His concern and doubts regarding her pregnancy take on a new urgency in light of this type of relationship.

On the bottom right of the icon, we see midwives bathing the newly born Christ.  This reminds us that Jesus was born as all men are and needed care as any helpless infant would.

If we peel back another layer, we see an even deeper symbolism in the Nativity Icon.  The cave in which Christ is born is the same type of location as the cave from which He is resurrected.  Jesus was wrapped "in swaddling cloths" which echo the burial cloths that He is wrapped in after death.

The washing of the infant Christ from the midwives is a reminder that He will submit to baptism by John the Baptist at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

So many of us have lost so much of the Christmas Story--in fact, of the entire story of Christ.  So many of us have forgotten, or have never been taught, the endless richness that is in Scripture.

Let us never stop searching for continued meaning in our spiritual tradition.

Music Monday--People Look East

This hymn, People Look East, is the one I like to use to close the Advent Season. With it's anticipatory lyrics about trimming the hearth and setting the table, it makes a fitting transition to Christmas, which could be merely hours or days away depending on the year.

Christmas Love

This is the time of year when I lay out the various Christmas gifts I have bought for loved-ones, categorize and wrap them.

Almost every year, I have this awful feeling that it is not enough.

Not enough what? Not enough money spent? Not enough in terms of number or size?

Not enough love.

It is never enough, is it? It isn't a matter of number, cost or size of the gifts given. It is a matter of one day a year not being nearly enough to show the depth of our love. Perhaps this is part of the malaise that often surrounds us at Christmastime. We get the feeling that we have missed the mark, which, of course, we have.

This is why we need to open our hearts and reach out to the Baby in the manger who came down into our lives to show us how to love.

As the Christmas season draws to a close in the early days of 2012, let's resolve to show the love we struggle to show during Christmas, throughout the entire year. It is what we are called to do as Christians.  It is the Christian message: the promise of new beginnings in God-as-helpless-infant, ready for our love.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week's theme for our art, poetry and music was Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast was December 12th.

I also reviewed a book about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage and posted about Hildegard of Bingen becoming a saint and Doctor of the Church.

Pope to canonize and name Hildegard of Bingen as Doctor of the Church

I'm so excited to see this multi-talented music composer and philosopher to be named a Saint and Doctor of the Church!!!

Poetry Wednesday--Anne B. Quinn

Mary, Virgin of Guadalupe

Dark lady, you smile at me across the mountains
The secret smile of ancient people.
What thoughts do you send me, dark beautiful lady?
Will you someday tell me when I come with great
armfuls of roses
Over the mysterious mountains to your feet?
Dear, dark queen will you give me too
Lovely roses in December?

Book Review--Franklin and Eleanor: an Extraordinary Marriage

Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage by Hazel Rowley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage makes a good case for the continuing closeness of the Roosevelt's marriage while acknowledging what can only be described as its unconventionality. Both, more than likely, had affairs of one kind or another throughout their marriage, beginning with FDR's affair with Lucy Mercer prior to his contracting polio in the 1920's.

Those 2 events (his affair and the polio) changed both their lives, and their marriage, deeply, forever but it did not, as many historians are quick to assume, signal the end of their love for each other. As with any tragedy, both had to come to terms with changed assumptions and dashed dreams.

But neither Franklin nor Eleanor let their individual (or their shared) dreams die. In fact, they went on to become the most influential people in the world during the most difficult part of the 20th century.

There is much that is, and will always be, left unsaid in any book about the marriage of Franklin and Eleanor because most of the letters they wrote to the other loves in each of their lives were destroyed.

But this book leaves you with the impression that you have spent a great deal of time in their company and come away realizing, in some small way, the depth of their love for each other.



View all my reviews

Yesterday was a very important feast day for the Hispanic community--Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This painting by Stephen B. Whatley is full of the gorgeous colors so popular in that community. The are mostly primaries, occasionally combining to form purple and green and burst forth from Mary in a joyful way that reminds us of the joy of  those who celebrate this feast day.

To purchase the original, click here.

Music Monday--Mannheim Steamroller

This is Manheim Steamroller's version of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, the quintessential Advent song. It contains the "O Antiphons", traditionally sung beginning with Vespers on December 16th.  

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week we listened to "Every Valley Shall be Exalted" from Handel's Messiah, read "Let This Hill Rest" by James Still and looked at "Purple Mountain Majesty", a painting by Karen Margulis.  

I also wrote a book review of Beth Webb Hart's Adelaide Piper and a post about God speaking to us in our depression. 

Finally, I wrote a post about praying for those to whom you send Christmas cards.  

Book Review--Adelaide Piper

Adelaide Piper by Beth Webb Hart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"Adelaide Piper" by Beth Webb Hart is the coming of age story of a young woman. We see her intense wish to leave her small southern town and follow her to college where her idealism is shattered by the "Lord of the Flies" atmosphere--not at all what she expected it to be.

Even her acceptance of Christianity doesn't take root very deeply as various tragedies of life begin to overwhelm.

This is a book that, in spite of its inclusion in the "inspiration" genre, does not candy-coat the reality of living away from the only home you've ever known for the first time. The take-away message that "there's no place like home" comes across as realistic rather than saccharine.

View all my reviews

Poetry Wednesday--James Still

This poem by James Still speaks of fatigue and rest.  The imagery of the fallen leaf and "this purple hour" makes me think of late Fall and Advent.  Let our masks fall away as we learn to rest in Christ.


Let This Hill Rest

Let the roots crawl into this failing earth,
Let the leaf fall, let day descend
On untilled slopes.  Let oak's girth
Strain and increase, vine drown the rock
And paling blossoms flow in creeping wind.

Let my heart rest this purple hour
With slow wandering in dull passages of breath,
In unwoven air, in sleep withdrawn from death,
And voiceless span the mountain's crumbling tower.
Let me lie here unstirred, unwaked and still,
Let my heart lean against this fallow hill.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Karen Margulis

Purple Mountain Majesty by Karen Margulis spoke to me of  meeting expectations while still "coloring outside the lines", of the mountains and valleys of Advent, both majestic and ordinary.  I loved her energetic, painterly--almost abstract--style.

God Speaks to us in the Midst of our Depression

Our priest gave an interesting homily this morning.  He said that the Jewish people were depressed because they had been in exile and were waiting for their Messiah when the prophet Isaiah gave them a message of hope:

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes to save you.

I had never heard the word "depression" used in this context before, but as someone who struggles with depression,  I appreciate the connection.  The Lord is always there to bring us out of our dark days, whether through a word,  a smile, or a helping hand.   


I know I have to remind myself often not to give into feelings of despair and despondency.  Knowing that God is ready to listen makes a difference.  

Music Monday - Handel

Handel's "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted" from The Messiah is perfect for the second week of Advent when the readings for Sunday were all about St. John the Baptist announcing the coming of Christ.

We need to, with God's help, try to make our "rough places plain" in preparation for the birth of Our Lord.

Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us!

Praying with Christmas Cards

I had an inspired idea that I'd like to share with my readers.  

Do you sometimes dread the task of sending Christmas cards?  Do you swear this will be the year you stop sending them out?  Are you sometimes sad because special people on your list have passed away? 

This year, with each Christmas card you address, pray to that person's guardian angel or patron saint for an increase in God's grace in their lives. 

For those who have passed away, say a quick prayer for their souls' when you think of them at Christmas time.  Include a prayer for their families who miss them. 

 

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week we listened to the beautiful Gabriel's Message, looked at a colorful crocheted tree cover and read a moving poem about Cynicism.

I also wrote a piece about Quantum Physics and God.

We also have a link on the top of the side bar to St. Margaret's Advent Calendar.

Quantum Physics and God

I know as much about Quantum Physics as would fit on the head of a pin, but what little I understand is intriguing.

No Time Like the Present
Time, as Einstein explained, is relative. That is, time is not constant between people. If 2 people synchronize their watches exactly and one remains still while the other one runs around a predetermined and roped-off space, when they come back together, their watches will be quite a number of minutes apart. Time, it seems, slows down for the person in motion and speeds up (relative to the person running) for the person who is standing still.

An Atomic Experiment and Free Will
It has been shown that if an atom is split so that half of its wave function is in one box and half in another, a scientist can open both boxes at once and the respective waves will both exit their respective boxes and interact.

If you were to take the same 2 wave functions in the same 2 boxes and let them out one at a time, one box will ALWAYS be empty. Where did the other wave function go? How did the split atoms “know” whether you were going to open both boxes at once or open one at a time?

Some physicists, apparently, think that the above experiment proves that everything is predetermined in some way--that there are, perhaps, infinite numbers of universes housing infinite numbers of possibilities for each of the infinite number of choices we make every day. In some universe, somewhere, we have decided not to make our customary cup of tea, but to drink coffee instead. In another, we decide against drinking anything.

In this way, some scientists say that this then disproves free will and therefore God, (or at least traditional religion) but I disagree. If we as Christians see God as existing from all eternity and outside of time, then, in a sense, He houses all these infinite possibilities within Himself. For God, there is no “yesterday” or “tomorrow.”

God sees what is reality: The eternal now.

We humans have free will in the sense that we do not have within ourselves the outside-of-time perspective that God does. We can imagine different scenarios (in the sense that most animals probably cannot) but we do not actually experience these possible scenarios as having happened. Therefore we have to choose everything, minute-by-minute.

Another Experiment--Do You Hear What I Hear?
Somewhere along the line a scientist slowed down Beethoven’s 9th symphony so that it takes a full 24 hours to listen to. The result, to our ears, is a whale-song-like series of sounds that are imperceptible as the original symphony.

Those who listened to it commented that the musical climax never occurred--although of course, it did--they just were unable to perceive it, even after listening to the piece all the way through. To their ears, it sounded like a slow series of sounds peppered with periods of silence. But, somewhere within that recording was Beethoven’s 9th symphony.

To extend the metaphor, God can hear and perceive--in fact He has written--the symphony of the universe. Our poor ears do not understand it. We rant and rail against the happenings of our lives because to us, they contain random boredom peppered with too-short periods of joy and agonizing periods of tragedy.

To make God into a sweaty small-town Sherriff who delights in abusing His power is to dumb down Christianity and cause people to run screaming to atheism. God is awesome in the largest sense of the word--He is awe-inspiring, awe-creating and Awe Itself.

We must trust that God exists and that what seems to us as nonsensical is really a symphony in God’s ears that is imperceptible to us while on earth. He is, as the Eastern Christians say, “Everywhere present and filling all things”--He is “uncreated energy”.

Our spiritual task is to unite with Him and become (again, as the Eastern Christians say) “deified”. Then, we will no longer “see in a glass, darkly” but see things as they are, through the eyes of Love.

Poetry Wednesday--Jack Rolph

Perhaps this is what Advent is about: to ask the Infant Jesus to melt the icy cynicism of our souls with His love.

Cynicism

I stand within a cage:
a cage of ice.

I am visible, yet distorted
by layer upon layer of cold armour,
forced upon me by the winds of change
to save and incarcerate the fragility beneath.

The few who have reached me
in hope of finding that which is trapped within,
have suffered the bite of winter's frost
while I stand helpless watching.

Yet I hope that one day soon a warmth
will shatter this prison and set me free
and I will smile without crystal aberration
that allowed me sight with perfect clarity.

Music Monday--Gabriel's Message

This rendition of Gabriel's Message by the Cambridge Choir And Orchestra Of Clare College is accompanied by beautiful pictures of the Annunciation and is an especially appropriate way to begin Advent.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing. This week we listened to a surprisingly well-written and somewhat rebellious song from The Carpenters, read a poem by Robert William Service and looked at a painting by Brenda Thour.

I talked about the first real Thanksgiving, and a reading from the Book of Habakkuk.

The Lord God is Our Strength

For the fig will not flower,

the vines will not fruit,

the work of the olive will be lost.

The fields will yield no food,

the flocks will be cut off from the sheepfold,

there will be no cattle in the stalls.

But I will rejoice in the Lord, take joy in God my saviour.

The Lord God is my strength.

He will make me as sure-footed as the deer.

He will lead me up to the heights.

~Habakkuk 3, from today's morning prayer

This passage from Habukkuk was part of today's morning prayer. The entire world is experiencing economic hardship not seen since the 1930's and political unrest not seen since the 1960's.  So many of us are unemployed or "underemployed", without health insurance and without a safety net of any kind. 

But, "the Lord God is (our) strength. He will lead (us) up to the heights". 

I've been attending daily Mass at a neighboring parish three days a week and one of the priests there had been reflecting on the Feast of Christ the King.  He said, essentially, that there is a lot of fear-mongering going on right now regarding politics in the United States and that we should not be shocked and worried about what might be happening here because the only kingdom that will last forever is the Kingdom of God.  No other ones will last.  That is just a fact. 

The Lord God is our strength.

The First Thanksgiving--Bean Soup After Mass

The winners write the history, hence, the story of the "first Thanksgiving" at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts with the Pilgrims and the Indians.  America being a "Protestant country" gave rise to the idea that the Separatists and Anglicans' feast with the Massasoit Indians in 1621 was the first in the New World.

The real first Thanksgiving in a permanent settlement in the New World took place 56 years before in what is now St. Augustine, Florida between Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Alviles, 800 Spanish settlers and the Seloy Indians.

When Menendez landed with his 800 settlers, Father Francisco Lopez celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for the safe voyage.

After Mass, Menendez invited the local Seloy Indians for a feast, which consisted of a ham and garbanzo bean stew with garlic and red wine.  If the Indians brought food, it could have included such favorites as corn , squash and turkey as well as tortoise and catfish.

Starting Thanksgiving off by celebrating Mass is a great way to center ourselves with the reminder of Who it is we are thanking for our lives.

Poetry Wednesday--Robert William Service

This poem by Robert William Service explores the meaning of success and failure.

Successful Failure

I wonder if successful men
Are always happy?
And do they sing with gusto when
Springtime is sappy?
Although I am of snow-white hair
And nighly mortal,
Each time I sniff the April air
I chortle.
I wonder if a millionaire
Jigs with enjoyment,
Having such heaps of time to spare
For daft employment.
For as I dance the Highland Fling
My glee is muckle,
And doping out new songs to sing
I chuckle.
I wonder why so soon forgot
Are fame and riches;
Let cottage comfort be my lot
With well-worn britches.
As in a pub a poor unknown,
Brown ale quaffing,
To think of all I’ll never own,–
I’m laughing.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Brenda Thour

Follow Your Heart by Brenda Thour is a bright and cheery abstract painting.  Using lots of primaries as well as hearts and flowers, Thour used a paint knife for parts of this painting. The colors of the heart burst out and splash across the page while the blue in the flowers mixes in with the various blues that float across the background. The splash of white and black in the upper right corner is reminiscent of a smudged yin/yang.

Ms. Thour sells her work on Etsy and lives in Minneapolis, MN.  

Music Monday--The Carpenters

Known in the 1970's for their syrupy sweet music and multi-layered sound, The Carpenters started out as a jazz trio.  When they couldn't find success with more cerebral music, they turned to pop to make it big.

This song, Mr. Guder, was written by brother Richard after he and a friend were fired from California's Disney Land by a rather traditionally-minded boss, Mr. Guder.

Karen's drumming on this piece is phenomenal, as is her singing.  Highlighted by clear, jazzy flute and scat singing at the end, this shows the true talent of the group.

I actually think this version is better than the one that ended up on their album.  It is wonderful to see the joy that playing music brings Karen here as well.  Quite a contrast to her later years when she was plagued by anorexia.

The lesson here, I think, is stick with what you truly love.

RIP, Karen Carpenter and Johnny Carson.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week was "taking risks" week here at The Well and we heard a surprisingly listenable atonal piece called To Remove All Doubt by Kevin Stever, looked at a beautifully realistic painting about risk, and read a poem called A Morning Offering by John O'Donohue.

I also wrote a piece about The Nativity Fast that is underway in Eastern Christianity--something to think about during our Advent Journey.

Poetry Wednesday--John O'Donohue

This poem by John O'Donohue speaks of stepping out, tasking chances and being alive--just what Jesus asked us to do in the Parable of the Talents.


A Morning Offering

I bless the night that nourished my heart
To set the ghosts of longing free
Into the flow and figure of dream
That went to harvest from the dark
Bread for the hunger no one sees.

All that is eternal in me
Welcome the wonder of this day,
The field of brightness it creates
Offering time for each thing
To arise and illuminate.

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Wave of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Risk

I don't know who did this painting, but I found it online tagged with the category, "Risk".  The young girl is looking at what appears to be a log in the water.  Will it support her?  Will she reach the other side?  It is indeed a risk.  

Music Monday - Kevin Stever

This week's theme here at The Well is "taking risk". I thought atonality was the best example of taking risk in music and this piece, "To Remove all Doubt" by Kevin Stever is the most listenable one I could find. The "cat walking across the piano" sound is mixed with an atonal wordless choir, weaving together through the atmosphere.

I find that in spite of the atonality and modernity you can almost discern a melody and rhythm in this piece.

Preparing for Christmas--The Nativity Fast

I've written before about the Nativity fast kept by our Eastern Christian brethren.  From November 15th to December 12, Eastern Christians fast from meat, dairy and eggs.  On December 13th, they add to that list, fish, olive oil and wine and continue that until Christmas Eve.

In some ways, our Western practice of Advent, with its penitential violet vestments, reflects this, but we have given up the practice of fasting during this time.

With Christmas being a largely secular, money-making holiday today, the idea of fasting during what most people consider the "Christmas Season" is horrifying.  In fact, the Christmas Season begins on December 24th and lasts until at least January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany (Thus, "The 12 Days of Christmas").

Fasting before the great feasts of the year is a way to focus our attention on what is important in preparation for marking a spiritually important part of our lives.

What can we fast from in this time of preparation before Christmas?  Television?  The internet?  News? Cynicism? Hatred? Prejudice? Fatty or sugary foods?  Eating out?

What should we feast on as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S?  Thankfulness is the obvious thing that comes to mind.  Mindfulness is another.  Try reading the daily readings either at Universalis or, my favorite, Divine Office.  There is nothing like ending the day crying out to God with David and the Church through the psalms.

Give it some thought before the 15th, and before the start of Advent in the Western Church.  How will you prepare for the birth of Christ this year?





 

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

Our theme this week was repentance and humility.  We listened to Miserere Mei, Deus, (Psalm 51) read a poem called God's Absence by Mechthild of Magdeburg and looked at a heart-warming painting, Be it Ever So Humble,  by Greg Olsen.

I also had a few things to say about the Penn State and Herman Cain scandals.

No Excuses

The airwaves have been full of excuses this week.   Herman Cain has been accused by no less than 4 women of sexual harassment and Penn State is embroiled in a horrific sex scandal (and cover-up) of its own.

Herman Cain has been blaming Rick Perry's Republican Presidential campaign, the Democrats, the media, as well as racism. His lawyer, Lin Wood, has actually tried to warn away any women considering coming forward, telling them that their lives will be under intense scrutiny if they do!  This is unbelievable bullying on the part of the Cain campaign which has turned the clock back on women and politics at least 50 years.  His tasteless jokes about Anita Hill and one of his accusers' lawyers, Gloria Alred ("I can't think of anything I would hire *her* to do" wink, wink...) show that outdated, power-hungry sexism is what he thinks it takes to get elected in the United States.

Meanwhile, radio narcissist Rush Limbaugh has been saying what even Herman Cain will not, making crude puns about accuser Sharon Bialek's last name as he takes Cain's base talking points and runs with them.  There are some who say that is just part of Limbaugh's "schtick".  Maybe so, but there are hoards of people who follow him like he is a modern-day Messiah, hanging on his every word. This latest twist doesn't bode well for the American political process.  Being a supporter of "traditional values" does not mean going back to the days when it was de rigueur to call every victim of sexual harassment a "whore", as Limbaugh has done

Also this week, Penn State has been embroiled in a horrific abuse/cover-up scandal of its own.  Over and over, those involved in this scandal put institution, money, and power over morality and children's lives.  No institution, especially ones like the Church and Penn State who hold themselves up to a higher standard, should ever be put before the lives and safety of human beings. Preying on the weakest members of society, especially for such things as power and money, is so reprehensible that Jesus said it would be better for that person to have a millstone hung around his neck and he be cast into the sea.

I was horrified to discover that Mike McQueary did NOT break the law when he failed to call police after witnessing Mr Sandusky raping a child at Penn State.  He told Joe Paterno.  That is all he had to do, apparently. In light of this discovery, I have written my congressman and senators, asking that they write a bill making it a federal crime to fail to report to the police a criminal act being perpetrated against a minor child.

The people in this country are tired of the excuses.  We will no longer tolerate covering up crimes.  We will no longer tolerate blaming the victims.  We can not.  We are losing our moral compass in an era where literally, "anything goes" as long as it is  for money or entertainment.  Our horror over these tragic incidences have shown us that we've been asleep at the wheel.  We are now waking up to the world we have made for ourselves.

We need standards that a philosophically well laid-out belief system gives us. One with standards.  One that lets us come back, confess the wrongs we have done and make retribution.  We need to remember that people fall--leaders, both Church and state are fallible sinners. But that does NOT give us an excuse to stop striving to follow the path set out for us by our infallible, perfect God.  We need to try to keep to that path and we need to let our leaders know when they have fallen short in leading us.

We human beings are messing up on our own.  It is time to try God.

Poetry Wednesday--Mechthild of Magdeburg

Mechthild of Magdeburg was a Medieval German woman who lived in a lay community and wrote spiritual love poetry.

God's Absence

Ah blessed absence of God,

How lovingly I am bound to you!

You strengthen my will in its pain

And make dear to me

The long hard wait in my poor body.

The nearer I come to you,

The more wonderfully and abundantly

God comes upon me.

In pride, alas, I can easily lose you,

But in the depths of pure humility, O Lord,

I cannot fall away from you.

For the deeper I fall, the sweeter you taste.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Greg Olsen

This painting is called Be it Ever so Humble by Greg Olsen.  It reminds me of this time of year, when we travel, either in reality, or in our minds, to the homes were we once lived.  Often, we come to a point where we realize that the houses, as well as the people who inhabit them, do not loom as large as they once did.

I was also attracted to the word "Humble".  Humility is important, and can cover a multitude of "sins".  None of us would live up to our own scrutiny if we took the time to judge ourselves as we so often judge others. A healthy dose of humility can keep things in perspective.

The painting itself is a beautiful mixture of early Spring colors, with pinks and yellows lighting up the sky, and, seemingly, filling up the farmhouse from behind. The green farmhouse with its rusty roof, nevertheless looks warm and welcoming, blending in a bit with the grass and shrubbery that surround it.

The tiny bit of smoke from the chimney promises a warm fire for all who stop by and the blue sky peaking through the upper left of the painting, gives us hope.

Music Monday-- Miserere Mei, Deus

Today's Music Monday is the haunting chant, Miserere Mei Deus, or Have Mercy on me, God. It is the Choir of Westminster Abbey chanting the Latin version of Psalm 51.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion, blot out my offense.
Wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me of my sin.
For my offenses, truly I know them, my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone have I sinned. What is evil in your sight, I have done,
that you may be justified when you give sentence, clear when you judge.
Behold, in guilt I was born. In sin did my mother conceive me.
You desire sincerity and in secret, you teach me wisdom.
Clean me with hyssop that I may be pure; Wash me and I will be white as snow.
You will let me hear gladness and joy; that the bones you have crushed may rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins; block out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, Oh God; put a steadfast spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, nor deprive me of your Holy Spirit.
Restore to me the gladness of salvation; uphold me with a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.
Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
My sacrifice, Oh God, is a contrite spirit.
A contrite and humbled heart, Oh God, you will not spurn.
Treat Zion kindly, according to your good will; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will desire sacrifices of the just, burnt and whole offerings;
They will offer young bulls upon your altar.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week's theme at The Well was Memento Mori in honor of All Hallows Eve, et. al.  Emily Dickinson, Daniel Mitsuri, and Pope Gregory stopped by to help us "remember death".

I also wrote a post about The Gift of Doubt.

Poetry Wednesday--Emily Dickinson

This poem by Emily Dickinson shows how death comes whether or not we take the time to prepare for it. Ever the gentleman, Death makes sure to stop by even when we have lost track of the time.

The cliche of having your life "pass before your eyes" at the moment of death seems true here, too. Dickinson passes by children at recess, "or rather," she corrects herself, "he passed us."

The last thing they pass is "a house that seemed a swelling of the ground"--I think, a freshly dug grave.

The last stanza lets us know that the speaker has, indeed, been dead for "centuries".

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Daniel Mitsui

Daniel Mitsuri's Memento Mori is a collage of sorts, hand-drawn using black and red ink on calfskin vellum.  Mitsuri uses traditional Catholic images depicting, on the upper left, a man on his deathbed, with both the devil and an angel waiting to receive his soul.  On the upper right, Jesus is coming at the Last Judgement, raising the dead from their graves.  The bottom left depicts hell, with all its scary darkness.  The bottom right shows heaven, with angels singing before the Throne of the Lamb, who gives His blood for the salvation of mankind.

Across the center, we see "Memento Mori", Latin for "remember death", a popular theme in the Middle Ages, when death was common, frequent and often unexpected especially during the years of the Black Plague.

The circle in the center seems to be a zodiac/star chart--probably a reminder that when one's time comes, death is inevitable.

In today's modern time we are protected from death.  We don't see it as a matter of course in our farm animals and loved ones who die at home.  "Memento Mori" and indeed the various cultures who take a day per year to "remember death"--rather fittingly on the evening before our two afterlife-related feast days, All Saints and All Souls.

Along the bottom of the drawing, Mitsui has lettered Matthew 12:37 in Latin:  For by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you will be condemned. 

As in many illuminated manuscripts, the initial letter is large and highlighted, this time in red.

Mitsui draws inspiration from his own Japanese tradition which often uses only black ink when drawing, except for the signature, which is lettered in red.

Music Monday--Requiem for All Hallows' Eve

The Gift of Doubt

I've been reading a couple of blogs about the Pope's speech in Assisi.  Begun by Pope John-Paul II, the Holy  Father invited members of the world's religions to gather at Assisi.  This year, though, there was a difference. Pope Benedict also invited non-believers to this gathering, and spoke eloquently about religion's part in driving them away.  He acknowledged the place both religion and anti-religion have played in violence throughout the ages.

What intrigued me was the Holy Father's almost *praise* of doubting.  He says, basically, that agnosticism serves to keep both atheists and believers from holding onto the extremes of their positions to the detriment of others.

He calls those who doubt "'pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace'. They ask questions of both sides," the Pope said. "They take away from militant atheists the false certainty by which these claim to know that there is no God and they invite them to leave polemics aside and to become seekers who do not give up hope in the existence of truth and in the possibility and necessity of living by it."

How inspiring for those of us who have had our periods of doubt and uncertainty! We must remember that even such modern-day saints as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta have struggled with "dark nights of the soul".

Doubters, the Holy Father says, are seekers of the truth and challenge unbelievers to join the journey.

Pope Benedict then goes on to address a very important help doubters provide to people with strong religious faith:

But they also challenge the followers of religions not to consider God as their own property, as if he belonged to them, in such a way that they feel vindicated in using force against others. These people are seeking the truth, they are seeking the true God, whose image is frequently concealed in the religions because of the ways in which they are often practised. Their inability to find God is partly the responsibility of believers with a limited or even falsified image of God.

Just as the extremism of anti-belief should not practiced, neither should those of us who are believers let our religion make us too proud to be able to share God with others.  We do not have God wrapped up in a fancy box, tied with a ribbon, only to be open by those who meet our strict criterion.

Doubting is not the worst thing that could happen to someone.  It challenges both believers and non-believers to re-think the extremism in their positions, and let someone else in.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week's theme at The Well was motherhood.  We featured an Irish Lullaby and art by Mary Cassatt.  Our poetry this week was Psalm 131.

I also wrote a post about the new Vatican Document on the world economy as well as a sort of counterpoint on the subject as well.

Poetry Wednesday--Psalm 131

My heart is not proud, LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt was an American painter famous for her paintings of mothers and children.  I was drawn to the painterly style in this one entitled Mother Holding Her Baby 1917. It really shows that mothers and babies are the same throughout time.

On the Other Hand

Upon further reflection, I have a few concerns about the Vatican's document on the economy.  (See yesterday's post for info and links.)

The document is vague enough for people to read into it what they want, politically. That's not a good thing with our current economy as seriously stalled as it is.

 It is also a bit Utopian. I have concerns that this wouldn't be able to work in the "real" world--especially with rich nations such as the United States.  At the moment, we can't straighten out our own political system and I don't currently have much confidence that we could be a part of an international financial authority without looking after our own interests to the detriment of poorer nations.  I think the document's authors were thinking of a way to get Europe to focus on its financial difficulties but over-reached a bit. The Utopian nature of a document like this is to be expected (it is from the Church after all) but their attempt to propose specific, political solutions is problematic. It is a common problem with Western theology.  (How many angels can fit on the head of a pin...)

It is ironic that the document calls for a world banking authority and also for subsidiarity--doing things at the most local level possible!  Knowing how large organizations often end up, a far-reaching body like this would likely prevent things from happening at the local level.

I'm wondering if some of the problems in  this document aren't a symptom of some more systemic issues--a top-heavy hierarchy that is by definition a bit separated from the everyday goings-on of local people.  The average person-in-the-pew right now is virtually begging the bishops to become humble followers of Christ--admit their mistakes, learn from their mistakes and become true servant-leaders in the style of Jesus.

Our Church needs that.  Our world needs that.  

Vatican Document on World Finances Released

The Vatican did indeed release a document on the world economy today.

In it, they suggest an impartial "world Authority" that would serve the common good.  This world Authority would be developed gradually, making sure not to serve the interests of "private lobbies or national governments... A person is not made to serve authority unconditionally" the document says. "Rather it is the task of authority to be at the service of the person, consistent with the pre-eminent value of human dignity."

The Vatican, in keeping with Christian teaching, sees this world Authority being "in service of various member countries according to the principle of subsidiarity".  Subsidiarity is the idea that nothing should be done by larger governing bodies that could be done at the more local level.  In short, "Think globally, act locally."

The document, entitled Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority, says "the global social justice" policy "seems most urgent" and calls for "financial and monetary policies that will not damage the weakest countries; and policies aimed at achieving free and stable markets and a fair distribution of world wealth."

As much as many of us in the richer countries bristle at the idea of any sort of distributism (also known as "distributivism and "distributionism") it is the fair and Christian thing to do. We are our brothers' keepers and half the worlds children live in poverty. Catholicism is a global religion and the Church is rightly concerned with justice and basic rights of all her children.

To read the entire document visit Whispers in the Loggia.  For more info on distributism, visit The Distributist Review and this page on Distributivism and Catholic Social Teaching.

Music Monday - Nicolette Larson

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

This week was cat week at the Well.  I posted art, music and poetry all related to cats.

I also wrote a post about a document on the economy rumored to be in the works at the Vatican.

The Pope and the Economy

I read something intriguing the other day.  The rumor is going around that tomorrow the Vatican will publish a document on the world economy.

The article on Our Daily Thread predicts the document will follow the path laid out by Pope Benedict in his Caritas in Veritate.  In it he says that corporate profit should be for the common good.  The Holy Father has said that said people should be able to make a living that supports their family in such a way that children are able to be educated and not have to go out and work themselves.  Workers have the right to organize and to have their voices heard.  Countries that lower worker protection and abandon "wealth redistribution in order to increase the country's international competitiveness," the Pope says, "hinder the achievement of lasting development."

He comes down on the side of government involvement in the economy when he says “Grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution.”  Benedict seems to be saying here that both economic action and political action are needed to get an economy going. Wealth creation alone, it seems, is no guarantee of enough good jobs at high enough wages to support a population.

This wealth-creation-as-sole-solution seems disturbingly close to what the Republican Party in the United States is doing.  We are living now with those "grave imbalances" and with the social unrest that they cause. The 2 parties refusal to work with each other and the unhealthy concentration on raising money to get elected has left the majority of Americans struggling.

Poetry Wednesday--The Farm Cats

This is one of my poems--The Farm Cats. When I drive home from work at night, I often see one or two farm cats sitting perilously close to the road.  I often wonder about their lives.

Where do the farm cats go when it rains?
In the absence of moonlight, do they get lost in the maze?
Do they hunker down among the aging corn,
with their fur puffed up and their eyes squeezed shut
or do they stick out their tongues
to catch the raindrops and splash in the puddles
while the farmer is sits inside
and eats
his soup?.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Oksana Sulimova

This hopeful picture is Love in Rain by Oksana Sulimova. I love the 2 cats cuddling in the corner , mindless of the rain that falls around them and shines on the stone floor they sit on.

Music Monday--Al Stewart - Year of the cat

One of my favorite songs from back in the day, The Year of the Cat kicks off Cat week here at the Well.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.

Since my last Sunday Snippets, I've posted art, music, scripture and poetry about rain and/or soup, and more art, music and poetry about the sea.

I also blogged about The Way, a Martin Sheen movie that looks like it is worth going to see, and On Voting, Government and Catholic Church Teaching.

Poetry Wednesday--Muso Soseki

The sky and the water

are a single

deepening blue

~ Muso Soseki (Japan, 14th cent)

I knew I had to use this poem for Poetry Wednesday when I read it on Poetry Chaikhana. The sparse but full imagery immediately brings to mind a gorgeous blue that stretches out to infinity.

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Crow

I found this painting on Flicker.  I like the way the sky and water blend together, with only the sail boats marking the place where they meet.  I love the painterly style and the way the sky darkens as you go higher in the picture.  It reminds me of good times with my husband when we were younger.  Very peaceful.

On Voting, the Government and Catholic Church Teaching

This blog is, admittedly, not one where you will read long intellectual treatises, but from time to time, I will put my thoughts "on paper" so to speak.  With the 2012 political race heating up, I've been doing a bit of research on voting and Catholicism and I've come to one conclusion above all other:  Neither the Democratic nor the Republican party embody Church teaching on social justice issues.  Hanging desperately onto either party does no good for the future of our country and does NOT in any way guarantee that one's vote will be in line with the teachings of the Church.

For example, there are those who bristle at the mention of voting with an eye towards social justice issues, seeing them as tied to abortion advocacy. Just because a majority of social justice advocates may be pro-abortion, doesn't automatically make social justice anti-Catholic as some try to claim.  In fact, the Church wants us to have a complete ethic of life, which includes being against abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia and for such things as fair and livable wages and the right to basic health care.

It is the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States who are putting these issues in separate boxes and forcing apart what could be one of the biggest voting blocks in the country. If we as Catholics had candidates who would truly be for the common good, imagine what could be done!

The common good is the very purpose of the existence of government.  I have become convinced that government, as it stands today, has gone far beyond the common good and into the good of those in power.

This income chart from Vox Nova shows, as their accompanied article implies, "the problem" with today's economy.  The top 1% of  earners in the country have seen a 261% increase in income from 1980-2007 compared to a paltry 15-55% increase for the rest.  (Notice that the 55% increase is for the top 20% and the 15% is seen in the bottom 20%.)   Think things were always this bad?  The graph on the left shows that income increases were stable across all groups from the end of World War II until 1979.

That does not bode well for our future, or for the future of the so-called "free world."  Those in power still give lip-service to ideals such as "freedom" and "democracy" while concentrating decreasing financial resources in the hands of fewer and fewer people.

This is the stuff of which revolutions are made, something which is beginning to be seen in the various OccupyWallStreet protests, which have now begun to spread around the country.  You will read and hear, by the way, that these protesters are disaffected youth, immoral, and perhaps violent.  Perhaps that is true of some.  But that still does not in any way prove that the protest themselves or the impetus behind them are not philosophically sound.