7 Quick Takes

—1 —

Long-time readers  – and there are a few of you – know that when I’m relatively silent around here it means one of two things:

I’m finishing a big project

Or

I’m planning a trip.

This time it’s the latter, I’m glad to say – although “finishing a big project” isn’t an unpleasant scenario either.

When? You’ll see. Where? You’ll see that, too.

All I’ll say is – no, not overseas, not even over the border. Not enough time for that, and I don’t have any intention of messing with border crossings as long as negative Covid tests are required to get back into the country. Too many things could go wrong, and I don’t want to be stuck somewhere.

I’ll also say that the whole thing might be radically transformed if there’s a government shutdown with an impact on the National Park Service. As of today, things look okay, but Options Are Being Kept Open, just in case.

— 2 —

I’m in Living Faith today. Go here for that.

It’s the feastday of St. Therese – here’s a post on her – and here’s an image from one of my books. More at the link.

— 3 —

This was a great blog post – really excellent – “The Ozarks – a Missionary Field for Catholics.”

There is another factor to consider, which I have witnessed over the near 30 years since moving into this region from Southern California back in 1993. While Evangelical religion plays a huge role here, both in the lives and culture of local Ozarkians, it doesn’t change the fact that Evangelicalism is woefully inept at dealing with the problems of the modern world. It’s a religion that runs a mile wide, but only about an inch deep. The locals are primed with basic Christianity, but many of them do not have the tools they need to cope as the region grows and modernizes. More times than I can count, I have witnessed what I’ve come to call “Baptist Burnout” which is not just limited to Baptists. Any Evangelical is susceptible to it. It comes from a simple faith, that is incomplete, and doesn’t have much in the way of personal devotion outside of Bible study. Christian music and Bible study will only get you so far in dealing with the evils of this modern world and the problems associated with modernization. We Catholics have much more at our disposal, most principally the Eucharist, as well as the other sacraments, the liturgy and deep private devotions, such as the Rosary. All of these give us a much deeper pool of grace to draw upon in the despairs of our modern world, and it is something foreign to most Ozarkians. Thus, they burnout easily when put under these trials, and in recent years, I’ve been seeing more and more of it.

What does Baptist Burnout look like? Think of an Evangelical Christian (like a Baptist for example) who no longer goes to church. He may read his Bible at home. He may pray a little at home. He may even sing a hymn or two, at home, but that’s it. He doesn’t go to church anymore. He doesn’t practice his faith publicly. He basically hides it in his home, only occasionally declaring himself a Christian to others, and in many cases having lost the joy of his Christian faith. That’s Baptist Burnout. These are the people who need the full gospel of Complete Christianity — the Catholic Faith. They need it more than anyone else, lest their burnout eventually leads them into Secularism, Agnosticism or worse. They need a strong Catholic witness. Are you one who can help?

— 4 —

One of the great things about the local Catholic church here in Birmingham, Alabama is that it’s really so very, very diverse. Further, because the Catholic community is rather small – a tiny proportion of the total population – that diversity is evident. It’s also a fairly young community – maybe 125 years old or so – and so lots of folks are descended from the first Catholics in the area, who came from various rites.

So, as I have written before, Eastern Catholicism is not something exotic and weird here. In fact, aside from the Italians, it was Eastern Catholics  from the Middle East and Greece who were some of the first to settle here – which accounts for the deep roots of the Orthodox and Jewish communities as well.

So we have two well-established Eastern Catholic parishes here: St. Elias, which is Maronite, and St. George, which is Melkite.

The Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word – the “EWTN friars” – are of course always around, too, and one of their media apostolates is a fun little YouTube show about life in – and outside the friary. Last week, a couple of the friars headed to St. George for their annual festival. The first part is especially interesting, as Father Leonard chats with Deacon Andrew and an EWTN employee who’s a parishioner and you can see the gorgeous church interior.

Have a look!

— 5 –

This week I read Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. I know I’d read it in college, but people, that was a long time ago.

It was a little tedious at times, the inner voice dominating the narrative being unrelenting and exhausting in its self-examination. But there were, of course, lovely observations and lyricism. Etc.

What I particularly liked were Lily Briscoe’s perspectives on painting. Very clear that, despite her familiarity with art and painting, Woolf is channeling more general artistic and creative anxiety, applicable to all forms – including writing. That basic, fundamental frustration of whatever it is you want to communicate being so clear in your head, but knowing for certain that the minute you put the brush to the canvas – or type a single word – it will certainly all be ruined.

What struck me in the reading, though was the deep, deep existential loneliness at the heart of it. The lack of connection, the profound doubt about one’s purpose and place in the cosmos and in human society. The assertion that truly, no one could be known, and what is life but being born, frustrated and alone, and dying and forgotten?

I don’t begrudge it, nor am I suggesting Woolf’s work should be anything but what it is. It’s valuable and expressive, certainly of a profound human dilemma – existence. Yes.

But once again, as has been the case as I’ve read various writers, both fiction and non-fiction, out of the post-Enlightenment years of modernity and now post-modernity – how lonely we are all are now that we’ve banished God.

Good for us.

— 6 —

That was a segue – smooth, I hope – to the next take:

Mark Galli, a former editor in the Christianity Today world, especially in their history publications, entered the Catholic Church a couple of years ago. He’s been writing insightful pieces since – not surprisingly. And here’s one – “With Angels and the Company of Heaven, We Are Never Alone” – you can see why I’ve made that connection between the two.

Could I not just go straight to Jesus with my concerns? Of course! “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (known at the Jesus prayer) is also a regular feature of my prayer life. But so is the Hail Mary. And so is my prayer to St. Michael. When I’m in the throes of temptation or doubt or anxiety, I’ll take all the prayers and help I can get. In Catholicism, it’s not an either/or (pray to God or to the saints and angels); it’s a both/and. Jesus uses saints, angels—the entire company of heaven—to minister to us in the same way he uses flesh-and-blood friends to do the same. And to be clear: these saints and angels are no more interested in being worshiped for their own sake than are my friends who pray for me. Mary is important because of the fruit of her womb. Michael is able to help because, as the prayer notes, he works “by the power of God.”

Yes, Catholics can become spiritually lonely because we are human beings who can be lazy and forgetful, and because we are prideful, trying to go it alone too much of the time. But if you’re paying attention to the liturgy and to the organic life of everyday Catholicism, you won’t be lonely for long.

— 7 —

Finally – some family time. Repeated from last week, but hey – you still might want that craft!

Looking for a cute Halloween craft? Simple and quick? Take a look at these kits from my daughter’s Etsy shop. 

(Patterns alone also available for digital download here and here. ) 

Check out SIL’s new single on Spotify here – and follow him!

And finally – Movie/Writer Son (blog here) is publishing another novel in November – The Sharp Kid – ebook available for pre-order here.

Yesterday’s movie review: Risen.

For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain’t the Lyceum!