Two copies. Free from Ave Maria, as a tie-in to Sarah’s virtual book tour, which will be stopping at this blog on Monday October 8th. So how do you win a free copy?
Well, it doesn’t involve me mailing you things, that’s for sure. I got a call last week from the Office of Family Life at the Diocese of Charleston, saying, “Would you please help serve cookies after the Mass for Expectant Parents on October 14th in Columbia, SC?”
And I said, “Yes, I’ll be happy to do that, but only if you agree to give these books away, because it is much easier for me to turn up for mass someplace than for me to go to the post office.”
We think there might be pregnant people coming to that mass. Because the bishop will be giving the exceedingly cool Blessing for the Child in the Womb. But you can come put your name in the hat for the drawing, even if your plan is to win it for some other person who is pregnant, or who hopes to be, or who just likes to read fantabulous devotionals for Catholic pregnant ladies.
Also there’ll be an NFP table. And cookies. Did I mention cookies?
Thanks once again to our host Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who’s also doing a time-travel edition today.
Click and be amazed.
1.
Blogging Popes. That’s my topic for today. Not the kind you’re thinking of, though.
2.
See, here’s what happened: Saturday night I was bored, tired, and itching for something to read. Something fun and relaxing and novel. Meaning, new-to-me. I usually grab one of my daughter’s library books for this purpose — just enough entertainment to get me through a non-digital Sunday, but not so much that I’ll be out of service, glued to a book, for 10,000 hours waiting for Br. Cadfael to tell me who did it. But I needed novelty.
So I went to Papal Encyclicals Online. I’m sure that’s what you do, too. But before you get too impressed, keep in mind that the three reasons this was a possible source of reading material were:
I’d never read most of them before. Strike one against my Catholic-nerd credentials.
They’re usually very short. This is why I’ve read the minor prophets, but *still* never gotten through all of Isaiah.
There was no chance I’d let the cat starve, or grouse at my children for interrupting me during an especially gripping scene.
And the thing is, they tend to cover that same juicy ground as your average Catholic blogger, only you get bonus credit for not being stuck to the computer all day while you work up your angry frenzy at the injustice in the world. Of course, no Star Trek screen shots for illustrations, but look, I was desperate for entertainment.
3.
And the one I picked was Rerum Novarum. Which is basically a series of blog posts on economics. Perfect.
(Let me just say right now, JPII’s follow-up work is not blog-genre. Waaay more wordy. Waaay more. I haven’t finished it yet. But I’m half thinking, “What more is there to say? Leo.Encyclicalpress.com already covered the whole territory. But you know how it is, people need to explain the obvious. Or maybe people needed the obvious re-explained.)
Here’s a sample snippet of the Leonine goodness:
Hence, by degrees it has come to pass that working men have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition.
And this:
The mischief has been increased by rapacious usury, which, although more than once condemned by the Church, is nevertheless, under a different guise, but with like injustice, still practiced by covetous and grasping men.
Followed by this:
To this must be added that the hiring of labor and the conduct of trade are concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself.
See? I spent my weekend reading 64 Cath-Econ-blog posts, 19th century edition.
3.5
And although I could pretty much shut my eyes and point my finger anywhere in the document to find a good quotable quote, one of my underlined favorites is
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Well that’s all for today. Still accepting suggestions for additions to the sidebar, so tell me who to add. But do just one link per comment, because otherwise the robotic spam-dragon will consume the whole lot of them. Thanks!
As I’m writing this on Monday and getting it scheduled for Tuesday, it’s occurred to me that Sept. 11th is a serious day. Also my niece’s birthday. Please feel free to commemorate more solemn matters, and come back here to my trivial comedy of a life some other day.
Thanks once again to our host Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who has never made me laugh during Mass, but often at other times.
Click and be amazed.
1.
You know those movies where the lead characters acquire the run-down house/school/shop/bus/crematorium, and with the help of a fast-forward film sequence and a peppy soundtrack, they all pitch in and get the place cleaned up in about 2.5 minutes? Complete with a spunky sign to announce their new venture?
I walked through my yard Sunday afternoon, and confirmed I am living in the “before” scene.
So now I just need some colorfully-dressed teenagers and a singing nun to descend on the place and fix it up. Preferably before the Tinkerbell-themed birthday party this weekend.
2.
I’m not winning the holiness award. Because if your group stands up at the start of Mass and warms-up by chanting “Yellow Leather Red Leather”? Yes. I’m going to bust out laughing. In church.
3.
But I’ll try do it quietly. At least until I get to the parking lot. Then I’m going to laugh very loudly. And probably use the Lord’s name in vain, but then quickly convert it into a prayer of some nature, to do a kind of retroactive-save on that decidedly un-holy verbal reflex.
My son is 98% holier than me, or at least 1 chromosome better suited for the priesthood (we knew that), because he kept a straight face the whole mass, and afterwards. I was amazed.
3.5
. . . the Spanish Mass. [Where they do not do tongue-twister warm-ups — we’ve changed scenes completely.] We have a new Spanish priest now, and he does not use the words “Jesus-Christo” and “Salvacion” as often as the previous one. Which means I can no longer understand 5% of the homily, like I used to do under the old regime. I do still like the mariachi mass, though. So perky.
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Still accepting suggestions for additions to the sidebar, so tell me who to add. But do just one link per comment, because otherwise the robotic spam-dragon will consume the whole lot of them. Thanks!
Thanks once again to our host Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who persuades me to write whether I ought to or not.
Click and be amazed.
1.
I’m enjoying being home again. No more book-craziness for a while, kids are back to school and so far it’s going well, and I’m 10% less jet-lagged every day. If life stays normal, I might be a civilized person as soon as 2014.
2.
This past week, Julie Davis kept using the word “economics” in sentences directed at me. I remembered vaguely something about having studied these topics in school, and maybe even having some marginal qualifications, and that I had initially started this blog to be about economics and history . . . sheesh.
But the weird thing: All the whole time I was writing the catechist book, I was thinking, “I just need to knock this thing out so I can get back to my *real* project,” which is the homeschooling book.”
And here’s what . . . I realized this weekend that now the homeschooling book has become the “gotta get this outta the way” project. ‘Cause yes. I wanna write about some Christian money issues. So maybe I give myself a week or two to breathe, then do the homeschooling book and just get it done, and then maybe, maybe?, Julie can have an economics blog back?
I dunno. I don’t predict the future with any reliability.
I came home with a pile of review materials from the Giant Catholic Conference Thing-y, so it’ll be review-city for a while here. Or there. Somewhere. Did I mention how much I love getting new books? Love it. Love it.
3.5
I was tooling around the Pauline Media booth, and found this book, which looks very handy to keep in stock at crisis pregnancy centers and the like.
And I was thinking, “Wow, my Spanish has gotten much better, because I can read the whole back cover pretty easily.” Also, I considered the fact that I could read it to be a reliable signal that the reading level was very accessible, which is always a plus in my book. But then my plane was very very late getting home Saturday night, so Sunday I went to
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Oh, hey, about those links: It came to my attention that my sidebar is due for some updating. If you read here, leave your link in the combox. I’m going to set a goal of doing the update, let’s say . . . September 23rd? Nope, that’s a Sunday, make it the 24th.
–> FYI I’d love to include not just your personal link, but any recommended sites you think fit with the multitude of themes here. But do just one link per comment, because otherwise the robotic spam-dragon will consume the whole lot of them. Thanks!
I just spent 3 days in the largest Catholic bookstore in the world. I bought one book. This is it:
Then I was stuck in an airport for five hours. Perfect timing.
What it is: Tiến Dương is a real guy about your age (born 1963) who is now a priest in the diocese of Charlotte, NC. Deanna Klingel persuaded him to let her tell his story, and she worked with him over I-don’t-know-how-long to get it right. Fr. Tien is a bit embarrassed to be singled out this way, because his story is no different from that of thousands upon thousands of his countryman. But as Deanna pointed out, if you write, “X,000 people endured blah blah blah . . .” it’s boring. Tell one story well, and you see by extension the story of 10,000 others.
The book is told like historical fiction, except that it’s non-fiction verified by the subject — unlike posthumous saints’ biographies, there’s no conjecture here. It’s what happened. The reading level is middle-grades and up, though some of the topics may be too mature for your middle-schooler. (Among others, there is a passing reference to a rape/suicide.) The drama is riveting, but the violence is told with just enough distance that you won’t have nightmares, but you will understand what happened — Deanna has a real talent for telling a bigger story by honing in on powerful but less-disturbing details. Like, say, nearly drowning, twice; or crawling out of a refugee camp, and up the hill to the medical clinic.
–> I’m going to talk about the writing style once, right now: There are about seven to ten paragraphs interspersed through the book that I think are not the strongest style the author could have chosen. If I were the editor, I would have used a different expository method for those few. Otherwise, the writing gets my 100% stamp of approval — clear, solid prose, page-turning action sequences, deft handling of a zillion difficult or personal topics.
Why “Most Important Book?”
This is a story that needs to be known. It is the story of people in your town and in your parish, living with you, today. And of course I’m an easy sell, because the books touches on some of my favorite topics, including but not limited to:
Economics
Politics
Diplomacy
Poverty
Immigration
Freedom of Religion
Freedom, Period
Refugee Camps
Cultural Clashes
Corruption
Goodness and Virtue
Faith
Priestly Vocations
Religious Vocations
Marriage and Family Life as a Vocation
Lying
Rape
Suicide
Generosity
Orphans
Welfare
Stinky Mud
Used Cars
Huggy vs. Not-Huggy
You get the idea. There’s more. Without a single moment of preaching. Just an action-packed, readable story, well told.
Thanks once again to our host, Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who is the picture of patience with his minions. (And he prays for them too. If you’re going to have an overlord, that’s the sort you want.)
Click and be amazed.
1.
My daughter recommends using frozen blueberries instead of ice cubes in your limeade.
We own limeade concentrate because it makes the best margaritas. Cup of ice, one scoop limeade slush, tequila, jiggle it around, done. Best ever.
But apparently the blueberries go over big with the under-21 crowd.
2.
Look, the Darwins have school plans. So do I, but I’m saving my enthusiasm for the first week of September. We did two weeks of remedial Latin at the beginning of this month, then I cancelled class until I was satisfied I was ready for the conference next week, so that I wouldn’t have terrible nightmares about running to the airport and forgetting my shoes, or trying to give out business cards but I forget to get them printed — you know the drill.
What the Darwins do is what I’d do, if I were the Darwins. You know what I mean. They have a good approach. I like it.
3.
Book department update 1.0: I learned last week how important it is to have a book deadline. (Mine is 8/27, approximately 28,000 words.) Because otherwise, I’ll never stop writing. There’s always one more little thing to say. I made myself stop before I hit 30,000, and this week [yes, this week, because even last week, new words kept sneaking in despite my resolve to be done adding anything else, forever and ever amen] I’m using the delete key to clean out the dust.
3.5
Book department update 1.5: My half of the contract is signed. Waiting to get back the copy from the publisher with both signatures on it. Then we’ll be legal, and I’ll have to resist the urge to post something in ALL CAPS because I’ll be SO EXCITED. As you knew I would be. Accountants are never happy until the lines are all properly filled.
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And with that, I’m back to regular life. I’ll keep y’all in my prayers, and I’m trying to work through my blogging backlog in addition to doing all the other stuff I need to do, so look for me to pop in with this or that, time permitting. Have a great week!
(And yes, you can post links. I am, by the way, reading comments. Oh, about once a week, but I am. And trying to reply as well.)
I almost wasn’t going to post today, but the awesomenity of Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy convinced me.
Click and be amazed.
1.
When someone makes you feel like crawling into a hole? It’s really nice to have other people for friends. Thank you, friendly people, for being out there.
2.
We’ve guessed all summer that there was a hummingbird’s nest in our apple tree, because Mrs. Hummingbird has been especially aggressive about chasing off birds that get to close to her portion of the tree. The little guy has started coming out now, and here’s the funny bit: He sits down to drink.
3.
<insert your item here>. We’re going to Chik-Fil-A.
3.5
Book department update: Good news, hopefully to be announced this time next week?
***
And with that, I’m back to regular life. I’ll keep y’all in my prayers, and I’m trying to work through my blogging backlog in addition to doing all the other stuff I need to do, so look for me to pop in with this or that, time permitting. Have a great week!
(And yes, you can post links. I am, by the way, reading comments. Oh, about once a week, but I am. And trying to reply as well.)
Since the arrival of the chickens, I’ve been noticing how much better we understand the English language now that we have two hens in our yard. So here’s the discovery today: Our chickens, who are indeed chicken when it comes to many things, managed to scare away the cat. Because apparently, in addition to being catty (which we knew – ouch), she’s also a fraidy-cat. I guess that tells you how to rank your insults, when measuring cowardice.
3.
I already knew, before Sunday, that Brandon who writes at Siris is the smartest guy I read. (I only read him some of the time — he exceeds me mightily more often than I like.)
But so, here’s the thing, and I’m not sure how bloggable this is, because I don’t want to embarrass too many philosophers in one day, or alienate real-life friends . . . I had a different philosopher tell me this, and I paraphrase: “I noticed sometimes you link to Brandon’s blog. He’s the smartest guy I know. He teaches at this community college, and he doesn’t publish except on his blog . . . and he’s the smartest philosopher out there.”
Book department update: I’m editing like a crazy person trying to make my book deadline AND be happy with the final product. Meanwhile, this morning at Mass the reading was about Peter walking on water, and not walking on water, and yeah, just what I needed. Pleasantly surprised later this afternoon when good things happened exactly where I was afraid everything was going to fall through.
(Um — even though it didn’t matter? I have special nervousness powers. But you know, the thought of trying something and failing? It’s daunting. It is.)
In defense of Peter: Neither chickens nor cats would’ve gotten out of the boat to begin with.
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And with that, I’m back to regular life. I’ll keep y’all in my prayers, and I’m trying to work through my blogging backlog in addition to doing all the other stuff I need to do, so look for me to pop in with this or that, time permitting. Have a great week!
(And yes, you can post links. I am, by the way, reading comments. Oh, about once a week, but I am. And trying to reply as well.)
Thanks once again to our host, Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who has not kicked me off his minion-list despite my poor attendance.
Click and be amazed.
1.
Please keep Sandra L. of this combox in your prayers today. She has a super-miserable tough day today, and it won’t be an easy week either.
2.
Please pray for the strength and consolation for a friend’s sister-in-law, who is very close to death, and for all her family. They’ve moved up a planned wedding of one of the children to this weekend, in the hopes the mom will be able to attend before she dies.
3.
<Insert your intention here.> I know there are plenty of other needs out there.
3.5
Still need prayers on the writing front. Whatever God wants is AOK with me. But knowing what that is and being sure it happens? Pray! Thank you.
***
And with that, I’m back to regular life. I’ll keep y’all in my prayers, and I’m trying to work through my blogging backlog in addition to doing all the other stuff I need to do, so look for me to pop in with this or that, time permitting. Have a great week!
(And yes, you can post links. I am, by the way, reading comments. Oh, about once a week, but I am. And trying to reply as well.)
I was recently talking to a mother of two SGA graduates. As her sons transitioned to college, she marveled at their development of character . . . Once, during his first home break from SGA, she asked her oldest son to help her with the laundry. Without any comment or complaint, her son proceeded to gather up the laundry in the house and clean his own room as well.
Inferior schools talk about college acceptance rates. Before you put down your tuition deposit, ask the questions that really count.
