The Early Church Fathers, Sunday, November 4, 2012, St. Augustine

Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.


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7 Quick Takes on Friday, Friday, November 2, 2012

 

 

-1-

 

Once again, I sit here, staring at a blank sheet of (electronic) paper and can't think of one "quick take," much less seven.  Where is that bottle of Bushmill's Black Label when you need it most?

 

-2-

 

I wonder if sometime soon pens are going to become obsolete.  On Sunday, I put my favorite Cross pen, a Contour model with the broad, blue, refill before heading out to do some shopping.  I expected to use it to sign charge slips.  By the time I got home, it had never seen the light of day; it remained unused after stops at three stores.  No store we visited used paper charge card slips, all are now using electronic machines of varying quality to record purchases on credit cards. 

 

My wonder is that any trace of true human interaction, minus some machine of some sort in the middle.  It's as if the machine, and supposedly directly related efficiencies gained, had become more important than direct human involvement.  Sometimes, technology is nice, but there are indeed times I wonder if we wouldn't be better off without it.

 

-3-

 

Speaking of technology, Hurricane Sandy, as tragic as it was, had gone a long way to show just what happens when we are overly reliant on technology.  New York City has come to a stop it seems, with no one able to move about very well, and thousands upon thousands without power.  The question arises how those people, whose situation probably won't improve for many days, will be able to do such simple things as cook food?  I remember a time when some of my relatives didn't have electricity and used, literally, wood-burning stoves for all their cooking and baking needs.  They were pretty good cooks too.  Now, that option is gone and people suffer for it.  The general assumption that the lights will always go on is hardly one that can be relied upon.

 

-4-

 

I also notice that victims of Hurricane Sandy are furious that their city and state governments aren't doing more to feed them.  I read of one man who said he had taken it for granted that after the storm, the government would be there to distribute food for him and his family.  At the risk of seeming mean spirited, didn't that man know the storm was coming?  Could he not have taken steps on his own, in advance, to ensure he had several days worth of food and water on hand so that he wouldn't need to rely on someone else who might not be there?  Couldn't he have banded together with his neighbors to stockpile some emergency supplies, and maybe back up generators, in order to be even more assured of getting through a week or more of difficult conditions?

I worry that no one seems able to even consider the possibility of not relying on someone else in times of emergency.  I worry that this tendency to assume that, if we are in some sort of trouble, or experience a time of personal hardship, it's up to someone else to sort it all out, will not serve us well in the coming years.  Not well at all.

 

-5-

 

I note that this past week Jacques Barzun passed away.  It occurred to me that there are very few, if any, people who stand ready to take his place as a serious intellectual critic of society.  Those who are credited with being the thought leaders of our time really aren't, they are mostly ideologues promoting one or the other set of political  opinions.  I quote from a column on the Crisis Magazine website discussing Fr. Bernard Lonergan:

 

While I’m generally skeptical in the face of apocalyptic fears, there can be no doubt that we find ourselves grappling with the loss of a pre-modern world where we oriented our institutions and selves in keeping with objective cosmological, ontological, and communal orders. Lacking thick accounts of who we are, what we’re for, what we should do, and for what we hope, we are unmoored and adrift, all the while celebrating this very absence of structure as evidence of our freedom and autonomy. Further, the correlation between the unmoored or disencumbered self of contemporary life and some of the current crises seems fairly strong—the rejection of traditional notions of marriage, for example. This cultural malaise results from the absence of robust understandings of human nature, personhood, normative relations, and integral human flourishing. And the same could be said for many of the other issues under deliberation as we enter the voting booths in a few days.

 

-6-

 

Five down, two to go.

 

I guess I should say something about the just passed Halloween.  This is a much bigger day than when I was growing up and I have a hard time understanding why the change.  When I was trick or treat age, which, by the way, was generally regarded as something for kids from the ages of 4 or 5 to about 10, we dressed up in costumes, went around the neighborhood on the night, and that was it.  Adults didn't participate, as they were not, and did not want to be, kids. 

 

-7-

 

I'm really, really tempted to push the envelope some day, and only do six quick takes.  Alas, courage fails me once again.  Jennifer would be upset.

Friday Florilegia, Friday, November 2, 2012

Gospel for the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Mk 12:38-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,
"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation."

He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood."

 

A Word on Wednesday, Wednesday, October 31, 2012, St Louis de Monfort

If devotion to the Blessed Virgin is necessary for all men simply to work out their salvation, it is even more necessary for those who are called to a special perfection. I do not believe that anyone can acquire intimate union with our Lord and perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without a very close union with the most Blessed Virgin and an absolute dependence on her support.
de Montfort, St. Louis-Marie (2010-02-14). True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (Kindle Locations 427-430). ESaintLibrary.com. Kindle Edition.

Barzun's The House of Intellect

This is a quote from R. R. Reno's column appearing today on First Things' website. It's a reflection on Jacques Barzun's book written 50 years ago called The House of Intellect and the entire column, not to mention the book, is well worth reading.

Barzun was right to view the future with foreboding. Our Bohemian Era is and will be crude and thoughtless. All you need to do is go to P.S. 1, the contemporary gallery run by the Museum of Modern Art in Long Island City. It is full of flat, ideological gestures and great gushers of the id. But Barzun was also naive. The Bourgeois Era ended because so many came to feel it as a lifeless, artificial posture. “Fineness” and “virtuosity”? They seem awfully thin and precious. And what, exactly, do they serve? Without the commanding voice of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, perhaps it was only a matter of time before Western culture lost is ability to claim our loyalty. A soul-shaping demand shorn of divine sanction can easily come to be seen as an inhumane invasion.

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The Desert Fathers, Sunday, October 28, 2012, Abba Agathon

It was said concerning Abba Agathon that some monks came  to find him  having heard tell  of his great  discernment.  Wanting to  see  if he would  lose his temper they  said  to him  'Aren't  you that   Agathon who is   said to  be  a fornicator and   a  proud man?'  'Yes,  it  is very true,'  he  answered. They resumed,  'Arn't you  that Agothon who   is always talking  nonsense?' 'I am." Again they said 'Aren't you Agothon the heretic?' But at that he replied 'I am not a heretic.'  So  they asked him,  'Tell us why  you accepted everything we cast you, but repudiated this last  insult.' He replied 'The first accusations I take to myself for that is  good for my soul. But  heresy is separation from God. Now I have no wish to be separated  from God.' At  this saying they were astonished at his discernment and returned, edified.

7 Quick Takes on Friday

October 26, 2012

Colorado Springs enjoyed a beautiful day on Monday with temps in the high 60s and lower 70s, clear skies, all is right with the world. Forecast for later this week? High of 32, up to 2 inches of snow, high winds, in short, the first taste of winter. I shouldn't complain because we still desperately need the moisture to cut down on fire danger next year. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Former Senator George McGovern passed over the weekend, at age 92, I think. He's one of two honest to God presidential candidates that I saw give speeches during the campaign. I voted for neither. The first was Adlai Stevenson, in 1952, I believe (yes, that was a long time ago, and I don't want to hear any more about that!) and I have only vague memories of the union sponsored event my father took me to in Detroit. I suppose he did that so that I might witness a bit of history; as far as I know, it was the only campaign event he ever attended. I didn't vote for him, of course, because I was waaaaay too young. I saw George McGovern, purely by chance, in 1972 in San Francisco, of all places. I remember being impressed that he was quite a good speaker and that I was impressed with him. I also remember the crowd being very small and just walking up to the podium and hanging around for him to arrive to give his speech. Try doing that today. However, as a very recent Viet Nam vet, I could in no way bring myself to vote for him. McGovern had a sense of humor, something sorely lacking in today's candidates. He joked that he had always wanted to run for president in the worst way, and had done it. RIP

I sometimes long to just play with words, to make the ultimate game of things literary. This is especially so since I spend so much of my time writing dull, dry, life-sucking policies and processes, which I view as an offense against human free will, even basic human dignity. It seems impossible for anyone to escape rules and regulations passed down from on high, these days. Even more impossible to find the joy in life when, little by little, it is whittled away with every succeeding edition of the latest written rule. God displayed the ultimate wisdom when he deemed only 10 rules to be necessary for Moses and his flock to live a holy life; that's all that should ever be required, everything else should be explanation. On second thought, 10 Commandments should be enough for anybody. 

As usual, the closer we get to the expected snow day, the less likely it seems it will snow. Now the chances are down to 30% for precip, and only on Thursday and Thursday night, slight chance on Wednesday night. Last year, the Weather Underground web site repeated this pattern endlessly all winter. "Snow, Thursday and Friday, 90% chance, expect 10 inches with temps in the mid-teens," they would proclaim. Come Thursday, it was bright, sunny, and 70. It really was tiresome.

You might wonder about my pre-occupation with the weather. It comes from a stint as a weather observer and combat weather team member in the Air Force's Air Weather Service. Even after 40 years, I've never lost my interest in what happens in the skys, overhead and 300 miles to the east, or north, or wherever significant weather is coming from. Can't help it, it's part of me now.

There are a lot of saints I'm interested in and would like to know more about. Not the stuff that is readily available, for instance, from the Magnificat or from some hagiography. I'd like to know the saints personally. But how do you do that? By difinition, they're no longer with us, and I can't ever claim, and wouldn't claim publicly anyway, that I've heard voices from beyond speaking to me. Frank Waters, of Why I Am Catholic, a fellow blogger who's becoming a never ending source of ideas, may have described one way this could be done -- write a letter to the saint in question. He did a post (here) about the time he wrote a letter to St Joseph, and got a response! It so happens that St. Joseph is probably at the head of the list of saints I'd like to know more about. I was born in St. Joseph Hospital, in Detroit, (one day before Mitt Romney was born, in Detroit, BTW) and I've always felt I was under his protection in some way. That was true long before I ever became Catholic. So, in the next day or so, he's getting a letter. I'll let you know when, and if, I get an answer.

I have to come up with another quick take to make seven. I wonder what happens to anyone who dares to do a "7 Quick Takes on Friday" post and doesn't have all seven? Do they get sent to some sort of blogger purgatory? Do they have to baby sit for Jenifer for a week? For free? I don't think I want to know!

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