The Arrow's Path

I picked up a book at the local library a few weeks. It was number 3 of 3 I checked out that day. It was a last minute while waiting for my daughter to pick out her books kind of grab. From the cover of it (it had a rather dated cover), I was dubious but for whatever reason caught my attention. They say never judge a book by its cover, but I think that's hogwash. I very seldomly enjoy books that don't have a good binding or cover artwork. If the artwork is flake, then the book usually is too. The name of the book was Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard . The cover had this real 80's looking panorama of modern Japan in yellow letters. It was kitschy looking, but like I said, it piqued my interest. I don't know why I grabbed it, as it had the vibe of "heavy handed anti-war hippie" panache written all over it. I usually don't go in for that sort of thing, particularly since I had another book I had really wanted to start reading in the pile, ...

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem Tennessee mountain holler to Jericho Alabama, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest Protestant minister happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite Community Organizer, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ...

There have been some interesting culture events that have happened over the weekend. There was a political rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that ended in a crazy person running over a bunch of pedestrians, killing one and injuring several. The rally was under the banner of "Unite the Right" and was sponsored by various groups that the media/political intelligentsia have labelled the "alt-right"-which I am not exactly sure what that terms means exactly. It is sort of an omnibus boogeyman term for everyone in the supposed "alternative right" in the country that seems to encompass neo-Confederates, Neo-Nazis, Southern Nationalists, the Klan, and any other assorted racist goons, regardless of type or ideology. Having grown up in a Southern county that is historically very economically depressed and had for many years an active Klan presence (they used to have a lodge building at the county seat and march during parades and such), I have been amused at the ...

I would also be remiss if I did not comment on the Gospel reading for Sunday . It is also a very powerful reading of the storm on the sea of Galilee. Jesus comes walking up to them on the water, and the disciples, which on the surface seems somewhat hilarious, think he's a ghost on the water. This is not, however, an unreasonable assumption on the disciples part, however. I was amazed when I was in Galilee. We got to go on a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. There are very steep extinct volcanoes that on on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Volcanic rock is black in color. So, these black mountains in the background reflecting off the water is very creepy indeed. I was out on the water on a fairly clear, summer day, but even then, it was a weird feeling, like these dark mountains hovering in the distance. I can only imagine during a rain storm what a truly dark and foreboding place that must be. To get a small taste of sailing on the Sea of Galilee, here is a little video ...

Some really great passages are presents in the Sunday lectionary this week. One of my favorite Old Testament passages has Elijah, having fled from Ahab, hiding out in a cave in a mountain. In a wonderfully vivid but minimalist story telling, Elijah is visited by wind, storm, earthquake, and fire...all the good primal elements. The catch line is "And God was not in the fire" or "God was not in the wind. God is found in the what is sometimes translated as a 'small whispering sound.' The words in Hebrew are  דַקָּֽה׃   דְּמָמָ֥ה  ק֖וֹל, literally 'a still small voice.'  The term can mean silence, but a voice has to make some sort of sound, so translators are usually at a loss as to how exactly to translate the it correctly. Some translations do say "the sound of sheer silence" but the word voice/sound is clearly also used. It's intentionally ambiguous. Regardless of whatever Elijah was hearing, the point is he heard God from this sound o...

So, sinister tall guys wearing Hawaiian shirts while holding bouquets of flowers in mason jars get really strange looks in lobbies.

Sunday is the Feast of the Transfiguration. This is one of those Gospel stories that makes modern Protestants and others in the "historical Jesus" debate really go bonkers if they view Jesus as little more than a nice guy moral exemplar. If you have issues with the Trinity in any real sense other than as some weird theological abstraction, then this also makes you a bit twitchy. For those who think the Early church made Jesus more "divine" as time went on, then this story really gets you going. Imagining Jesus in his true form apart from his humanity is a bit troubling if we picture Jesus as just a nice guy who died tragically or as some misguided rabbi floating here, there, and everywhere. I am including here some pictures I took from the top of the Mount of the Transfiguration. You interestingly have to pile in at the bottom of the mountain in buses run by Muslims who jobs are to ferret tourists up and down the mountain. It's quite the gut wrenching windi...

Good stuff to listen to if you have a car ride coming up...

I was amused when I came across this bit here  (also here ), basically proving that there is also Junk Science out there just like there is Fake News. This was obviously a spoof, not trying to pass itself off as real science, but this is a major problem. Just last night, I was watching a documentary on Netflix that seemed legit about the science of dogs, or what we understand about how they interact with the world. I started getting a bit skeptical when the narrator started going on in a very polite, scholarly sounding way about how "everything we thought we knew" about the subject was wrong. That is usually code word for "sensationalism in the guise of journalism science is about to follow." I hoped I was wrong, but they were positing some interesting ideas about dog psychology (still not convinced that is actually a thing, but for sake of argument, I will go with it.) The first half of the show seemed logical, even if I disagreed with a few of the premises. ...

 I did something I usually tend not to do anymore: went to see a movie by myself in a theatre. I have really been wanting to see the new war movie, Dunkirk, since the trailers came out around Christmas time last year, if memory serves. I like a good period film, and being a history major who took several courses on military history, the Miracle of Dunkirk has always been a particular interest to me personally.  Honestly, I don't know quite what to make of this film. It was not bad, but I would not necessarily say at this point that it was particularly good either. I got home and my wife asked about what the plot was. I had to think for a minute, and basically, this is what I could come up with, "It was about...a bunch of men standing in lines on a beach and getting evacuated. That's about it."  If you like edgy minimalism in a war film, you might like the film. It was not particularly violent, though there were some intense naval scenes. So, if you are expectin...

About the only thing the Revised Common Lectionary and the Catholic Sunday Mass readings have in common this week is the reading from Matthew 13: 24-43 . Interestingly, if it the Catholic Mass readings that have the entire passage without redaction, and the RCL omits several verses from the middle of Chapter 13. There are several good parables there, continuing last week's theme of sowing and growth, although the twist this week is more on the harvesting of the wheat from the tares at the final judgment. The opening parable of which very clearly says the tares are sowed by the enemy, and Jesus clearly labels the enemy as the evil one when queried about the meaning of it by his disciples later on in the passage, which is typical of Matthew to have Jesus clearly explain the meaning of the allegorical parables. Other gospels tend to leave the interpretation more open ended. There are any number of allusions or allegorical interpretations a preacher could pursue or use, given the par...

“ACCORDING to most philosophers, God in making the world enslaved it. According to Christianity, in making it, He set it free. God had written, not so much a poem, but rather a play; a play he had planned as perfect, but which had necessarily been left to human actors and stage-managers, who had since made a great mess of it.” ~G.K. Chesterton: "Orthodoxy," Chap. V.

until Christmas day. In case you are one of those people. I am not. I like Advent too much, but, you know, people need to know. Because Santa Claus and stuff. Or something.

This Sunday's readings is one of those days where the preacher pretty much gets to preach on one topic, whether he wants to or not. It is pretty much creation and sowing of seeds. All the readings have that theme very clearly. The gospel in particular is the parable of the sower, and being from Matthew, there is not a lot of room for ambiguity because Jesus even explains what he means in the parable afterward for the hard headed disciples. So, really, the preacher is in a bit of a bind if he does not want to preach about sowing seeds. The Lectionary seems to be making the homilist an offer he can't refuse. Or, if the homilist really wants be unpopular, can use the imagery from Romans of the creation groaning in labor pains until now. Fun stuff that. The Protestant Revised Common Lectionary uses the same Gospel and Old Testament reading, but some different verses from Romans (though the same chapter). So, regardless of whether you go to a Protestant church or a Catholic mas...

I was posed the following question on a Facebook forum that I help moderate: Without so much wealth used to adorn and embellish the Church, could Catholicism survive or even thrive? Would it be better received? Would it look more modern? As an artist who appreciates the visual signifiers of tradition as much as anyone else, I wonder if these trappings speak hypocrisy to others outside the faith. What if they are not altogether wrong? My answer is this: Well, let me tell you a story from the Anglican Patrimony. The Oxford Movement within the Church of England that was started within Anglicanism (I used to an an Anglican priest FYI) to reclaim the Catholic heritage, particularly in terms of the liturgical and beauty of the Catholic faith. This movement largely brought Cardinal Newman into the Catholic church later on. In any event, the beauty of the liturgy was, and I think the Catholic church has somewhat forgotten this in the wake of some of the bizarre playing out of the post-Vati...

The Sunday Gospel reading is one that is probably familiar to many people, at least the latter half of it: Gospel MATT 11:25-30 At that time Jesus exclaimed:  "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Those coming from the Anglican patrimony are certainly familiar with those words: Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden. That is used in various p...