Max and Benedict

Shhh! Don't anyone tell but I got this book for my pastor for Christmas.

Today I read and really enjoyed it. Personally I think it's better than Joseph and Chico, Ms. Perego's first children's book about Pope Benedict XVI. I'm not sure exactly why but I think because it doesn't read like a biography forced into a children's story. For me, Max and Benedict seemed to flow. It sounded like what it was, 'a bird's eye view of the Pope's daily life', a story told by a little bird about a gentle, quiet, scholarly man of the cloth.

My pastor (who doesn't want anyone to know what a nice guy he is) leaves bird seed just outside my office window most mornings. I know it's him because I've 'caught' him doing it a few times. A little bird must have told him I like to watch the birds ... or did he just catch me staring out the window so often he figured it out on his own? The secretaries tell me he'd planned to cut down the tree and bushes in our little shared courtyard sanctum and turn the area into office space. Now he's putting out birdseed?

Yes, we do need the office space, but we need that little bit of private nature even more.

I hope that Max in Jeanne Perego's charming little tale wins his heart and convinces him to keep the birds. Perhaps among all the birds feeding outside our windows, there is a little Max observing, singing and telling a story of our parish and the kind pastor who pretends to be so gruff ... but really isn't.

Read and share this sweet story. Thanks to my friend and the parish 'Cookie Monster' for the recommendation! And may you have a very Happy Birthday dear Lyn!

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Two 'Daughters of the Month'

There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ family. There are however moments in the life of a family when things happen which make you realize how blessed you are to be a member in something larger than yourself. It’s humbling and exciting at the same time.

My husband and I have always been very proud of our daughters. They are both smart and talented, but more importantly, they have always been good kids—again not ‘perfect’ but dependable, honest, hard-working and nice girls.

We’ve been proud of their accomplishments, such as good grades, piano recitals, Tae Kwon Do belts and various sundry awards, but we’ve been even more impressed by those things they do which never gain them any recognition. For example, Bear can never forget how proud he was of Michelle in a race where she came in dead last—but she never quit running. And for me, one of Meg’s finest moments was when she kept going back to break a board time after time after time even though her hand was hurting, her knuckles were bruised and tears of frustration were streaming down her cheeks. Eventually the instructor–a black belt—discovered the wood was too hard even for him to break and he gave her a lighter piece of wood. She broke it, sore hand and all.

However, even these poignant memories pale when I think about the girls’ relationship, how they get along, continue to stick up for each other, love, and even like each other—most of the time anyway. So many siblings grow up with an intense dislike of one another; they fight constantly. Meg and Michelle have been best friends for most of their lives ... and still are.

Tonight was a good example. My younger daughter, Michelle, came in bringing the October issue of their high school newspaper, Titan Talk. “Here,” she said. “Meg is on the front page,” she showed me where her sister was pictured with her escort as the Cross Country Princess in the Carl Albert Homecoming Court. “And here she is again, ‘Female Athlete of the Month’. I figured I’d better tell you and get you a copy of the paper because Meg would never tell you. I’ll pick up some more copies for you tomorrow so you can send them to people. I can get them at the Library.”

Now I ask you, is that a generous sister or is that a generous sister? I didn’t know who I was more proud of at that moment: Meg for her athletic accomplishment or Michelle for her thoughtfulness. Truthfully, I was unspeakably proud of both girls—proud and humbled at the same time.

In September, Meg became a National Merit Semi-finalist and was recognized as an AP (Advanced Placement) Scholar with Honor, which means she received at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. In fact, she got 5’s on three out of the four AP tests she has taken so far: AP European History—5; AP U.S. History (Independent Study)—5; AP English III—5; AP Chemistry—3. She is taking five more AP courses this year.

Besides her academics, Meg has won five medals in Cross Country so far this year and just placed, along with the entire Carl Albert girl’s team, to run at State this coming week-end.

As I write this, Meg is practicing her piano. Michelle just returned home. After she said hello to me, her first words were to her sister, “Did you know you were ‘Athlete of the Month’?”

Thank you God for letting me know, love and play a role in the lives of these wonderful young women. It is an honor and a privilege to be their mother. Please dear Lord continue to watch over and protect them.

Sisters-in-Faith

Once upon a time many years ago a little girl was trying to select a Confirmation saint from among the many famous ... and infamous ... Catholic saints. She finally lighted on St. Thérèse de Lisieux or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus because of her ‘Little Way’. Fast forward many years and that little girl gives birth to her own first child, a girl, on the Feast Day of The Little Flower of Jesus, as Thérèse is also known. Eighteen more years pass quickly by. The first little girl is middle-aged; her daughter on the threshold of womanhood. The mother thinks she has outgrown her childhood patron saint, so she has adopted a saint she feels suits her age and maturity, Thérèse's senior Carmelite sister, Santa Teresa de Jesus. But saints aren't so fickle as we silly humans. They don't abandon their spiritual children so easily.

I know. I'm that silly little girl who thought she outgrew Thérèse, as if anyone, no matter how old, could ever outgrow the ‘Little Way’.

Two weeks ago I embarked on a new job, more of a career actually. It was a job I'd been offered several times but kept turning down, first because I was still homeschooling my daughters and later because I still wasn't ready for full-time employment. Finally, I was asked a third time to consider this job. I did. It started on the 1st of October, the Feast day of St. Thérèse. That was my first rose. Every day since has been another rose from her ... no not all happiness, but Beauty. To walk the ‘Little Way’ doesn't mean you will travel in peace or comfort or without trouble; it only means you walk with Truth in the Light.

Today is the Feast day of St. Teresa of Ávila or Santa Teresa de Jesus, a doctor of the Church, sixteenth century reformer, who along with St. John of the Cross, was co-founder of the Discalced Carmelites. This was also my first day on my own in my new job. And yet, I knew I wasn't on my own. My two senior sisters-in-faith were there, watching over me. As I've said many times, I believe in the Communion of Saints. We are not alone. Death is not the end.

Soul Searching -- The Journey of Thomas Merton

One of my mentors and favorite authors is Thomas Merton. Difficult to pin down, he is alternately described as a Catholic mystic, a spiritual rebel, a modern pilgrim, a compulsive writer and a beatnik-turned-monk. He is all of these and so much more besides.

It was his relentless quest for Truth—for God—which drove him all his life and it was this search which is explored in this recent film by Duckworks, Inc., called, Soul Searching—The Journey of Thomas Merton.

Born in France in 1915, Merton had an unusual upbringing—forced to leave Europe due to World War I, his mother died when he was six, then his father’s avant-garde lifestyle took him back and forth across the Atlantic until he was eventually left an orphan with one younger brother.

Although financially provided for himself, the young Thomas came of age at a time when the rest of the world was entering the Great Depression. This further set him at odds with what he saw around him. The documentary discusses the disgust he felt with himself after a night spent in dissipation when morning came; he’d watch the rest of the world going about their lives with a purpose he knew his lacked. Soon, his own purpose was to find him as well.

Shortly thereafter he experienced a dramatic conversion to Catholicism which he later described in his youthful autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain—published ten years later in 1948, which may well be the first book I ever read by Merton.

My own journey to Father Louis, as he was known after he was ordained at Abbey of Gethsemani at Trappist, KY, goes back so far I cannot even remember the first time I heard of him or the first book of his I’ve read. He absolutely fascinates me. His writing is alive and compelling; he writes on seemingly dry subjects with an intensity which must have been electric when he was speaking the same words to a retreat group or a class of novices.

Watching this moving testimony to the life and works of Father Louis, I want to go back and pick up his books again. He was a 20th Century pioneer in Catholic spiritual renewal. He reminded us we're all called to pray contemplatively—there are not two paths, one for the elect and another for everyone else. In this, he was echoing almost lost teachings of the doctors of the Church, Sts. John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila. Mental prayer and meaningful spiritual lives are not just for priests and nuns. Nor are we to be discouraged by our own sinfulness, inadequacies and failures.

‘Faith means doubt. Faith is not the suppression of doubt. It is the overcoming of doubt. And you overcome doubt by going through it. The man of Faith who has never experienced doubt, is not a man of Faith.’ ~~Thomas Merton

Merton’s early writing on prayer, spiritual biographies and conversion would later move on to more controversial issues, including Christian responsibility in race relations, violence, nuclear war and economic injustice. He died in 1968 in Bangkok, Thailand at age 53 due to an electrical accident. He left behind over 60 books, 2000 poems and countless letters, journals and various other documents. As I said early on, he was a compulsive writer. Make it a point to see Soul Searching and read Merton!

****

Love In A Fearful Land

"We diocesan priests have lost our historical sense. If Stan* had been a Jesuit, twenty books would have been written about him by now."

~~Fr. John Vesey to his fellow priests during a Tulsa-Oklahoma City clergy week 5 June 1984

*(Fr. Rother)

Although not what I was expecting – a straight biography of the martyred Father Stanley Rother – Love In A Fearful Land is an interesting and worthwhile book, especially during this Year For Priests because it brings together in one book three incredible priests who never had the chance to meet all together in one place, although two were both friends of Fr. John Vesey.

The author, Fr. Henri Nouwen, the best known of the three, has written over forty spiritual books and yet he was in the middle of a writing slump at the time Fr. Vesey asked him to tell the story of a quiet Oklahoma farm boy who became a priest, traveled to Guatemala in the late 1960s and fell in love with the people there. Writing this book brought Fr. Nouwen out of his slump.

Love In A Fearful Land is agonizingly brief, as was the life of Fr. Stan, this gentle yet strong priest, beloved by his parish. You will probably want to study the all too few surviving pictures of him; I know I did. He is always smiling and so is everyone who is with him. Despite the constant danger he lived in, Fr. Rother was not seeking martyrdom; he just believed a shepherd’s place was with his flock.

On the night of July 28th shortly after midnight, three men broke in to the rectory and attempted to kidnap Fr. Rother as was the practice of the time. There was a civil war in Guatemala in 1981 and the government was powerless – or claimed it was anyway – to stop roving bands of terrorists from kidnapping anyone perceived as a threat. Once kidnapped, the individuals were brutally tortured, killed and their bodies left by the side of the road or worse yet, never found. It was considered far better not to be taken alive. Father Rother, apparently put up quite a fight before he was shot twice in the head. The room where he died is now used as a chapel by his ‘flock’ who has already proclaimed him a saint.

Here is the prayer for canonization the Archdiocese of Oklahoma has written in his honor.

A week from today, on the 28th of this month, I'm going on pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Church, Father Stanley Rother's home parish, in Okarche, Oklahoma. It's the 28th anniversary of his death in Guatemala. We've been praying for his canonization for many years now, but I've yet to visit his town or parish and ... always wanted to. If you feel so called, please join us in praying for a very special intention that day.

Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America

While I’m no author, I would think a really good biography¹—one that does justice to the life of its subject—would be one of the hardest of books to write. If such is the case, then a biography about someone who’s devoted his or her life to a controversial cause, such as Margaret Sanger did with birth control must be the toughest nut to crack. In Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America, Ellen Chesler undertook a difficult task and executed it well. She managed to walk the camera of her author’s eye all the way around the complex character of the poor Irish-American girl baptized Catholic who grew up to hate that same church so much she threatened to leave the country if John F. Kennedy were elected President, nevertheless a hallow threat from a dying old woman. While Chesler’s portrayal is no doubt sympathic, it is not unduly so; she is willing to look at the world from Sanger’s perspective—who would trust a biographer unwilling to do at least that much—yet she also feels no compunction about pointing out Sanger’s character flaws, contradictions, and many detractors.

As a biographer, Chesler covers the main events of Sanger’s life from birth to death without going into tabloid details, a point which I appreciated very much. Perhaps this could be ascribed as an effort to improve the image of her subject; I prefer to believe it is an indication of the author’s tact, class and integrity. Regardless of what one thinks of another person’s politics or religious views, it still isn’t necessary to drag up endless details of dead affairs. Sanger was no saint, which goes without saying; more than that isn’t relevant.

In fact, it often seemed this biography was as much about the history of birth control in America as it was the story of a woman’s life. Before Sanger took on ‘the cause’ which came to be associated with her name almost as Freud’s is with Psychoanalysis, ‘The Comstock Law of 1873 made it a crime to sell or distribute materials that could be used for contraception’.

‘Birth control’ or ‘family planning’, as it later came to be called much to Sanger’s horror² is an incredibly complex topic. I read this book to gain a greater understanding of the history behind it. Taken in conjunction with abortion, it is probably the most multi-faceted issue facing our country today—and the least understood. Besides the obvious male—female aspect, there are also the following polar perspectives: married—single; law—justice; wealthy—poor; truth—lie; society—individual; freedom—responsibility; young—old; life—death; government—taxpayer; government—citizen; government—family; religious believer—non-believer; God—human. These are not in any particular order, nor is the list complete. In various ways throughout the book, Chesler shows how Sanger encountered and dealt with the factional partisan nature of her chosen vocation.

While not comprehensive by any means, I do recommend this biography as an introduction to the person and the topic. It does not include any of Sanger’s writings, yet I do believe anyone just reading what the crusader wrote without knowing the background context of her life would do themselves as much a disservice as they would Sanger; she was often battling specific individuals, groups, political parties and governments. Whether or not you agree with her position—and I obviously don’t—it becomes all the more critical in a situation such as this, not to come into the middle of a conversation you don’t understand. I have already forgotten more than I ever dreamed I didn’t know about the history of the birth control movement in our country early last century—and I finished the book just a few weeks ago. Anyone reading this review in a few months, or more, shouldn't bother to ask me any questions of detail. The book is chock full of facts and figures, whereas my head is sieve for that type of information.

But if you want to learn about Margaret Sanger and her role in the birth control cause, read Chesler’s book and . . . don’t stop there!

That concludes my 'official' review of this book which I was planning to post today, the Feast of Pentecost, birthday of the Church and conclusion of the Easter Season. It seemed auspicious to remind those who profess to believe in the One, True God that our work here on earth is far from over. However, as I have just learned of this morning's murder of George Tiller, late-term abortionist, it also seems especially telling that issues Sanger battled all her life are as relevant today as they ever were...and just as controversial.


¹ This book is at least three times as thick as The Margaret Sanger Story: and the Fight for Birth Control so I thought I'd just skim this, but after reading the Introduction, I came to believe this was the more accurate of the two available biographies. In her Introduction, Chesler lists, compares and contrasts all of the biographies written about Sanger, including two autobiographies from the 30s. Although writing for a series called "Woman of Valor" Chesler does not seem bound to paint some idealized picture of Sanger; she is willing to show her subject's strengths and weaknesses. Interestingly, Margaret doesn't always compare favorably, even with her lesser known siblings. However, I believe this biography still falls far short of Margaret Sanger's Eugenic Legacy which I hope to read very soon.

² If I understood her correctly, M.S. envisioned the movement in the hands of idealistic and strong-minded women (such as herself) dedicating their lives to teaching other women how to control their fertility. In the 1950’s when the leadership passed into the hands of men who reorganized and renamed the Birth Control Federation of America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Margaret saw this as a failure of nerve, a step backward. In fact it was a savvy political decision based on the times made by those who were actually trying to help her ‘cause’.


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Innocent Traitor

Lady Jane Grey, the grand niece of Henry VIII, and queen of England for just over a week in 1553 is the subject of Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir’s first work of historical fiction. With over ten works of history to her credit, Weir is one of my favorite British Renaissance and Reformation historians mostly because she presents the Catholic and Protestant theological differences of the era in an impartial manner without resorting to inflammatory or stereotypical rhetoric.

Innocent Traitor is a very ‘good read’. It presents the story of the young Jane’s life from the perspectives of those closest to her, through the major, known events of her all too short life. The few historical ‘facts’ I’ve checked out all did—as if I had any doubt. I really knew they would, mostly I was just curious on one or two points. If Innocent Traitor has any weakness, it would be in the beginning where it seemed/sounded like all the characters spoke with the same voice. I didn’t notice this as much later on in the story, so I don’t know if I got to know the different characters, if I just became so engrossed in the story I stopped paying attention or if in fact the characterizations did get better. In the beginning, it especially bothered me that Jane sounded like an adult at three and five.

That criticism aside it’s a very absorbing read. Why anyone would have wanted to be a monarch back in those days is beyond me. And yet so many did—and paid the ultimate price for their ambition. Poor Jane only wanted a quiet life with her books and look what she got?! After the Reformation equivalent to a Dickensian childhood, she became the pawn of her parents and the Duke of Northumberland, was given in marriage to an abusive husband, maneuvered into a crown she didn’t want, lost it, abandoned by everyone, thrown into prison and finally—thanks to her father’s second treachery against the Crown—Jane received the verdict of treason and was executed.

There were some speculative additions to fill in parts of history which remain unknown, and yet Weir's choices are still probable. Recommended.

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Happy Mother's Day!

I used to evaluate, rank or rate my holidays, i.e., try to determine if they were better than previous ones. As I’ve gotten older, for better or worse – and it really doesn’t matter which – I don’t do that anymore. Now instead I’ve learned to use special days as opportunities to count my blessings. Today I had so many I lost track.

For starters there are my own dear mothers: the dear lady who gave birth to and raised me in the Catholic faith and the other special lady who bore and lovingly brought up my husband. I call them both, “Mom” and I love them beyond words. I am twice blessed in their love and in the wonderful men they've been married to for over fifty years each, my two “Dad”s.

Then there’s the man who made me it possible for me to become a mother, the most profound vocation and life-changing event which has ever happened to me. Thank you Bear, for our two beautiful daughters, and for the gift of your love, fidelity, and friendship through these many years.

Which brings me to our own dear children, the two most beautiful young ladies—inside and out—I know. This week they were both inducted in the National Honor Society (NHS). Our older daughter, Meg, will be President of the Carl Albert High School NHS next year. Michelle performed in her Spring Concert this past week; she amazed me with her talent! And Meg attended her own school’s prom with her friends; she enjoyed herself very much.

If all these blessings were enough, I got to spend the day with my entire family and talk to all four parents as well. Last night I went to Mass with my husband and Michelle and today I went again with Meg. In front of us today at Mass there was a young family with three children, the youngest of which was the most delightful blonde-haired little boy with Down’s syndrome. He was affectionate, sweet, well-behaved and so cute it almost hurt to look at him. It was also obvious he was the delight of his family. As I watched the little boy hugging and kissing his bigger brother, I couldn’t help but think of this video I’d recently watched called, What Do These People Have In Common?

It’s been a lovely overcast misty day spent quietly doing nothing in particular. I am most abundantly blessed. Thank You God for everything! May this little branch forever be attached to Your True Vine!

May all the mothers everywhere have a very happy and blessed Mother's Day!

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A Severe Mercy

The true value of many things can only be seen in retrospect. Indeed, Sheldon Vanauken probably would not have called what he went through 'a severe mercy' at the time. As it was, he didn't write this book until many, many years after it occurred. The autobiographical story covers the years in Van's life from 1937 to 1955; A Severe Mercy wasn't published until 1977.

In fact, A Severe Mercy can almost be called a foreshadowing of A Grief Observed,* the Christian apologist C. S. Lewis's famous tribute to his own wife, Joy's death or how he discovered and dealt with the silence of God. But of course that is only from our perspective looking back on the four lives involved.

Sheldon Vanauken wrote A Severe Mercy about the love of his life, Jean "Davy" Palmer Davis. It's a beautiful love story, one of the most idyllic I've ever read, perhaps too idyllic, but poignant and breathtaking all the same. The book traces their relationship from courtship through the early pagan (the author's term) years of marriage to the meeting and eventual friendship with C. S. Lewis who was instrumental in their eventual conversion to Christianity. It is therefore no small irony that Vanauken and Lewis became friends, were both college dons, converted to Protestantism and lost their beloved spouses, first the former and then the latter, both eventually writing best-selling books on the subject.

While I enjoyed A Severe Mercy very much, as a woman and a mother, I did constantly wonder—as I read it—at their decision not to have children. The author announces this fact early on in their pagan years which the couple dubbed, "The Shining Barrier", presumably a barrier of love which they erected around themselves to protect themselves from the outside world. Later, however, when they converted to Christianity, there was no mention they ever revisited this decision. Davy was still young enough at the time to bear children. I couldn't help thinking and wondering if – as time went by – the desire to become a mother didn't occasionally tug at her heart. Vanauken never mentions it and at the end of the book he describes burning her diaries.

In an interesting aside however, Lewis does chastize his friend, and very severely too, for the couple's decision to exclude children from their marriage, but only some time after Davy's death.

Two of the many delights in this book are numerous beautiful poems the author wrote to his beloved bride and a large collection of letters from C.S. Lewis.

An excellent autobiography of Love. Beautifully written tribute to Davy as well; I only wish I heard more of her voice.

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* I regret not having a more current review of this book to offer, but I plan to reread it soon and update this.

God's Choice

by George Weigel

If you are looking for a book which is all biography on Pope Benedict XVI -- as I was -- you won't find it in George Weigel's God's Choice. If on the other hand you've read Weigel's masterly Witness To Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, it's possible to see this book as its conclusion and transition to the new pontiff. At first, I confess I was a tad disappointed--not that I don't love JPII (I do!) but I bought and was reading this book looking for insight into his successor. But as I read and listened to the last debilitating days our Polish Pope spent on this earth in humble suffering, I was gently chastised, and the stage was set for the book's overriding theme, which is, come what may, the Eternal King will have His Way, thanks be to Him. And gradually I came to see the wisdom, ne the necessity of such a beginning. Weigel is seeking to show through God's Choice how indeed -- strange and unexpected though it may have seemed to the world at large -- the selection of the Bavarian Cardinal as Pope was indeed Divine, and to do so he needed to set the stage.

Roughly the book can be divided into thirds.

The first third deals with JPII's last days, his death, funeral and the conclave. Gradually Cardinal Ratzinger is introduced by Weigel and event-by-event, he is shown to be the inevitable, the only, if the somewhat reluctant choice of his church to be their leader-the reluctance being mostly on his side. As a scholarly, quiet, professorial sort of priest, Cardinal Ratzinger tried to retire home to his library in Germany several times during JPII's pontificate and was not allowed to do so.

The middle third of the book provides a brief and rather unsatisfying biography of Pope Benedict. There are some amusing anecdotes, helpful spiritual insights and facts about the man himself. On the whole it is fascinating reading, but it only whets your appetite. My guess is Weigel plans a comprehensive biography of the reigning pontiff sometime down the road to complete the trilogy begun with Witness to Hope and continued here. But the little that I did learn about the man was so enlightening, inspiring and surprising, it left me wanting to know and read him more!

The book concludes with a discussion of managerial, liturgical and inter-religious initiatives PBXVI will probably undertake during his years as pope, some of which have already been proven prophetic.

Below I have included some of my favorite anecdotal selections about Pope Benedict XVI:

In 1974, 'Josef Pieper, the German philosopher who Cardinal Ratzinger had admired during his student days urged him to get in touch with Cardinal Wojtyla who had made such a deep impression on Pieper. Ratzinger and Wojtyla began exchanging books!' ☺ (p. 178) A very propitious beginning to one of the most important friendships of the last century, don't you think?

In the post-WWII years when our current Holy Father was in seminary, he was a great lover of novels especially those by: Dostoevsky, Claudel, Bernanos and Mauriac. In fact, the book says, he "devoured" them"! ☺ (p. 164)

When his Pontificate was announced, 'amid the veritable hurricane of commentary, analysis, celebration, and toy- making*, an intriguing analysis came from what some might regard as an unexpected source: Professor Timothy George, a prominent American evangelical theologian and dean of the interdenominational Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, a Baptist institution in Alabama. Dr. George suggested to his fellow Protestants that Benedict XVI could be the "harbinger of a new reformation" and that, in any event, "his pontificate will be one of great moment for the Christian Church, not least for the evangelicals." Why?' Dr. George gave five reasons: 'because Benedict "takes truth seriously"; because his theology is Bible-focused"; because "his message is Christocentric"; because he is Augustinian in perspective"; and because "he champions the culture of life."' (p. 154) *there was a hand-made toy teddy bear made named Benedict XVI

Our current pope's 'parent's name's were Joseph and Mary (which provoked innumerable jokes in later life), and he was their third child, following his sister, Maria, born in 1921, and his brother, Georg, born in 1924.' (p. 159)

Pope John Paul's selection of Cardinal Ratzinger 'as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) disclosed several things about (his) thinking on the state of Catholic theology and its importance in the Church. The first was that John Paul II took theology very seriously indeed. Rather than appointing an experienced Church bureaucrat to head the congregation, John Paul chose a man whom everyone, including his critics, regarded as a scholar of the first rank, one of the finest Catholic theological minds of the 20th century. The appointment also suggested that the Pope, far from wanting to drive theology back into the lecture hall, wanted it to engage the world--but in a distinctively theological way. Thus he chose Ratzinger who had come to embody an updating of the Church based on a return to the sources of Catholic spiritual and intellectual vitality. And in the third place, the appointment underscored John Paul's commitment to a legitimate pluralism of methods in theology. Joseph Ratzinger was the first head of the Vatican's doctrinal office in centuries who did not take Thomas Aquinas as his theological lodestar. Both the Pope and his new prefect respected Thomas and Thomists. They also wanted a wide-ranging theological conversation to shape papal teaching.' (p. 181)

My favorite of all the stories Weigel has told about the Holy Father is this one. It concerns his choice of one of the symbols Pope Benedict chose to include in his episcopal coat of arms when he was 'appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising: a bear with a pack strapped to its back. The image came from the legend of St. Corbinian, the first bishop of Freising, who, as the legend goes, was on his way to Rome when a bear attack his horse and killed it. Corbinian scolded the bear and made it haul the pack the horse was carrying all the way to Rome. The story reminded Ratzinger of Augustine's reflections on several psalms in which the great patristic theologian speaks of having become a draft animal--a "good sturdy ox to pull God's cart in this world," as Ratzinger puts it. The paradox is that that was how the scholar, Augustine, who might have preferred not to be the bishop charged with pulling God's cart through history, came closer to God. "Just as the draft animal is closest to the farmer, doing his work for him, so is Augustine closest to God precisely through such humble service, completely within God's hand, completely His instrument." That was how Ratzinger understood his own translation from scholar to bishop: "The laden bear that took the place of Saint Corbinian's horse, or rather donkey--the bear that became his donkey against his will. Is this not an image of what I should do and of what I am?" As St. Augustine had put it, "A beast of burden have I become for you, and this is just the way for me to remain wholly yours and always abide with you." And that, in the end, was how Joseph Ratzinger had come to understand himself and his service to John Paul II.' (pp. 204-205)

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Inspiration . . . never give up

God bless you Elisabetta!

Booklady Goes Back to School

I have always been fascinated with the great Church Councils, but the one which interests me the most is the last and – in my mind anyway – the greatest, Vatican II.

Last night I started back to school, for the first time in many a year. Depending how you look at it, it’s been three years since I took the Spiritual Classics or twenty years since I completed my master’s degree. I wonder if I still know how to ‘go to school’. I know how to conduct school, prepare for school, prepare others for school, read, study up on a subject, teach a class, help someone else learn . . . guess I’ll muddle through.

The most important part of my new venture – of course – is the books! Here are the three books I’ll be reading. Just from a quick perusal of them, they won’t be any light reading. Wonder if I’ll be doing much blogging for awhile?!

At any rate, it is a subject which interests me very much and I hope to use the knowledge gained from this class to fill out my own understanding of my Church, its role in the world and the development of its relationship with other faith traditions; how the wisdom gained at and promulgated by the council changed the tide of history for Catholics, especially my own relationship with Jesus and others; why the council seemed to result in such devastating losses of religious and faithful and point out/widen a huge difference between the right and left within the Church and finally, what did the liturgical reform mean and where are we today?
Guess I don’t want much do I?

P.S. The wonderful thing about going to school at my age is having the freedom to go for the pure joy of learning. I'm only auditing the class. That means no papers, no tests and if I don't want to take any more classes after this, I don't have to.

Returning the Call

Nothing happens by accident with God. In fact, you can go so far as to say that everything which happens in our life is part of His plan—if not to lead us home to Him, then to bring another of His lambs safely back to the fold. If you believe that, and I do with my whole heart, then Life suddenly takes on a lustrous quality; it truly becomes a lode of luminosity.

When I visited Our Lady in Fátima, one of her favored homes, last year I was so focused on that marvelous opportunity I didn’t look ahead—or I temporarily forgot—that all with God is purpose. It would have been enough to me just to have seen Fátima, but no I was favored with a pilgrimage on the 90th Anniversary of the Final Apparition of Our Lady to the three Visionaries on October 13th 1917.*

Since then I have reflected on the times when I taught about Our Lady of Fátima to my own children as well as to my religious education classes. How many times did I show and watch movies about Marian apparitions with deep longing in my heart? A Marian Conference in Spokane in 1995 was the scene of mini-reconversion experience for me. I remember watching Gospa on a big screen with tears rolling down my cheeks.

Did Our Lord, through Our Lady, reward my devotion with that trip? Maybe. But I prefer to believe she begged her Son to fulfill a heart-felt prayer; she worked through the kindness and generosity of another of her beloved daughters, the dear friend I traveled with, Linda. In any event, I went, I saw and I was conquered.

That I thought was that. Silly me! Nothing has been the same in my life since. My dearest Heavenly Mother has been continuing to Grace my life as if the trip to see her wasn’t enough! Nor is there time or space to list – much less explain – the graces she has showered on me since. And all because I visited her?! When it was my dream fulfilled? Is this just a tiny foretaste of how Good God is? How He showers His favors on those He loves? I pray it be so!

Yesterday, the traveling statue of Our Lady of Fátima visited a local parish of the same name. It occurred to me when I first heard about Our Lady’s visit to Oklahoma that it was so wonderful–and even more special—because of my recent visit to see her.

Then I recalled the quaint old custom of ladies whereby one would visit the home of another in bygone days. This was known as ‘paying a call’. All true ladies paid and received calls. But even more importantly, when a lady received a call, she made sure to ‘return the call’.

When I saw Our Lady of the Rosary born aloft and carried into the sanctuary yesterday, my heart did a flip. I wanted to hug her. I was overjoyed. Instead I spent a quiet, loving day visiting with her. She did me a great honor in returning my call. Never mind that she made my trip overseas to see her possible in the first place or that God gives all good things. To me, it was a very special social call from one Lady to another. Indeed, the Lady of all ladies!

In Christ through Mary, booklady

* I wrote about that original visit here.

Dedicated to the lady who made my trip to Fátima so enjoyable and memorable, my traveling companion and friend, Linda.

Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To

From The Desk of Marian Hammaren

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer.

This is such an important day for our country and for all of us who believe in God. But to be honest with you, this is really the first time I will be observing this event in a serious, faith-filled way. Last year, I didn't know much about it. And to tell the truth, I probably wouldn't have cared if I did. I was in too much of a grief-stricken daze to care about anything.

You see, my daughter, Caitlin Hammaren, was a much-loved 19-year-old sophomore at Virginia Tech. On April 16, 2007 – one year ago – a deranged young man shot and killed her ... along with 31 other innocent people.

When one of his bullets took my Caity's life, it might as well have taken mine, too.

I've sent you this email because I truly believe that what happened to me in the days and weeks after I lost my Caity can benefit you.

"How," you ask? Because our loving God always – and I mean ALWAYS – brings good out of evil. You have probably experienced troubles in your life. Troubles you couldn't explain. Troubles that tore at your heart. Troubles that rent you in two. Troubles that made you question whether or not there really is a God in heaven Who loves you as much as you've been told He does.

Well, I'm writing to you today to assure you that, not only does He love you as much as you've been told, but to promise you that He is with you at every moment of your life ... and most especially when you are hurting and feeling completely alone.

He was there for me. And I am now certain that He chose my little girl – my Caitlin – to be the instrument through which He will bring you and countless numbers of other just like you closer to Himself ... and nearer to your eternal home.

And here's how.

A moment ago I told you that when the gunman killed Caity, he all but killed me, too.

It's true. I wasn't suicidal. But my purpose for living had died with Caity. And I truly believe it would have remained dead and buried ... except for a book that gave me hope and a reason to live. That book is Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To by Anthony DeStefano.

Since reading his book, I've spoken with Anthony many times. We have become good friends. And when I told him I'd like to send you this email, he objected. He felt it would be exploiting my tragedy in the worst way and he wouldn't hear of it. He didn't want me to be "pitching" any products. But I told him, "Anthony, you're being selfish. Look at how your book changed my life! I wouldn't be the person I am today had it not been for you and 'Ten Prayers.' How many other hurting people are there in the world who God wants to heal using your book? Why do you think God inspired you to write it? So it could collect dust in a bookstore? Nonsense. People need to know about the treasure you've written. And there's no one better to tell them than me. I'm not 'pitching' your book. I'm trying to help people." Reluctantly, he agreed.

And thank goodness for you he did.

Because if you can only read one book in the next week, then read Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To I promise you it will change your life! Literally.

It changed mine. And to show you how, let me take you back to that terrible day a year ago.

My husband Chris and I live in Upstate New York. Caitlin was our only child. As you can imagine, our lives revolved around Caity ... but especially mine. When we drove her down to Virginia Tech for her freshman year and dropped her off at her dorm, I thought my heart was breaking. But she sent me a text message within an hour of our heading north ... and we texted each other every day thereafter.

So on that fateful day, as news began to filter out about the shootings ... and as no calming text messages were appearing on my phone ... I feared the worst. Chris and I got in the car around ten that morning and began the slow, 10-hour drive to Blacksburg. Every few minutes I tried texting my daughter. I was frantic. I clutched my phone in my hand desperately waiting for a text message back from Caity: "I'm OK." But nothing.

When we finally reached the campus, we were ushered to a large room filled with other anxious parents. And that's when it happened. Two men – a policeman and a minister – were walking toward Chris and me. I'll never forget that moment. I wanted to run out of that room. I didn't want to hear what I knew they were going to tell me. But I couldn't move.

With tremendous compassion and sympathy, the officer asked: "Mr. and Mrs. Hammaren?" When I nodded, he continued: "I'm sorry. Your daughter was pronounced dead at five minutes after ten this morning."

And with that, my world had ended. Or so I thought. The next week was a blur. And the days home in New York are fuzzy.

But one thing I remember very clearly is opening Caity's laptop after we were given her belongings. Just above the screen was taped a short message that read: "God, I know that today nothing can happen that you and I can't handle together." Unfortunately, it would be several months ...and a lot of tears ... not to mention some real angry shouts at God ... before my daughter's message penetrated my heart and soul.

And I'm writing to you today to tell you that the instrument God – and my Caity – used to break through and open the eyes of this stubborn, know-it-all, never-trusting, cynical woman was Anthony's book, Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To.

Looking back on it, it was a series of co-incidences – and by the way, I've learned that there are no "co-incidences" in life ... only God-incidences. Anyway, it was an incredible series of events that brought "Ten Prayers" into my life at precisely the moment I needed it.

Once Caity had died, I avoided shopping malls like the plague. Caity and I loved to shop together. But now, every store ... every item ... every sight ... every sound ... they all reminded me of her and re-opened wounds I was trying to heal. Of course, that was one of my problems. I was trying to play the role of spiritual physician when there is only one Person Who can handle those duties: GOD!!!

But when my husband needed me to pick him up at an auto repair shop while the car was being worked on, I said sure. Little did I know the service shop was at a mall. To make matters worse, when I got there, the car wasn't ready and I had to wait ... at the shopping mall. The only place that offered me any hope of solitude was a bookstore. So I ducked inside.

Nervously I walked around until I found myself in the religious books section. I glanced at titles and snickered at all the "self help" pop psychology. I knew there was nothing here that could help me. I'd read a title and think, "Give me a break." One book, however, intrigued me. It wasn't the title so much as the cover. There was something about its texture that caught my eye. When I pulled it off the shelf and read the title: Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To, the angry, cynical Marian kicked in and said: "Yeah. Right. Well, He didn't answer my prayer."

With my smug smile on my face, I flipped it open to see what was on the inside jacket cover. Well, I was taken aback when I realized that the very first sentence could have been written about me. Here's what Anthony wrote: "There have been thousands of books written about prayer and millions of sermons preached about it, yet people continue to wonder: Why doesn't God answer me when I cry out to him?"

"Exactly!" I said to myself. "And are you going to tell me, Mr. DeStefano?"

So I read through the contents and saw chapter titles that talked directly to me:

Chapter Four – "I Can't Take it Anymore"

Chapter Six – "This Stress Is Killing Me"

Chapter Nine – "Will I Ever Be Happy Again?"

Chapter Ten – "Why Am I Here Anyway?"

Needless to say, I bought the book ... and devoured it within a couple hours after I got home. I couldn't put it down. Anthony put things in a way that was easy for me to read ... and even easier to understand. His was a language I could appreciate.

And because of Anthony's book, I began to understand how God works through people and events – even gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, spirit-crushing events like my Caity's senseless death – to bring souls closer to Himself.

Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To opened my mind and my heart to God. What's more, it gave me HOPE when I was filled with despair! And that, my friend, is why I've sent you this email.

Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is for you ... no matter how painful or joyful your current situation may be. If painful, "Ten Prayers" will help bring you comfort. If joyful, "Ten Prayers" will help you increase that joy.

After I finished the book, I immediately purchased a bunch of them to give away to other parents who had lost their children in the Virginia Tech shooting. I can't tell you how many grateful comments I've received as a result. One mom told me that she keeps Ten Prayers next to her bed, so that when she finds herself crying in the middle of the night—which happens a lot—she just turns on the light and reads one or two of the chapters.

Lately I've taken to giving the book to all kinds of people I know who are experiencing problems in their life.

I gave one to a young man with an alcohol problem. He needed to understand his addiction and what it was doing to his spirit as well as his body. Again, because the language of Anthony's book isn't threatening and overly theological- - it changed his life.

I gave a copy to a woman whose husband smokes and drinks excessively. His behavior really troubled her and it was rapidly destroying their marriage. After reading "Ten Prayers" she told me it literally saved her marriage.

Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is for anybody who wants to get to know God better ... on a new level ... on an intimate level.

Each chapter will speak to you about some portion of your everyday life. I know you will learn valuable lessons from the book ... just like I did. Even if you only read the one chapter that pertains to you, you'll benefit from it. I know you will because I did.

In fact, you'll probably end up doing what I did. I read the one chapter I thought applied to me directly. That was Chapter Nine: "Will I Ever Be Happy Again?" After I read that, I read another chapter, Chapter Four: "I Can't Take it Anymore." After that, I went to the beginning and read it straight through. To this day I keep the "Yes" prayer that Anthony added at the end of the book pinned to the bulletin board in my office. All I have to do is look at it to find solace and comfort.

That's what I'm sure will happen to you, too, when you read Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To.

And that's why I've sent you this email. A year ago I thought my life had ended. But thanks to God and His orchestrating events so that I found myself in that bookstore with Anthony's Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To book in my hand, I now realize that my life was really only just beginning.

God gave Caitlin to Chris and me. She was His special gift to us. And for nineteen precious years, we enjoyed His gift.

Today, in a very real sense, I am giving her to you. Caitlin had absolute trust in God. She knew that He would take care of her ... no matter what. And Anthony DeStefano's book – Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To– will help you find that same level of trust. Thanks to "Ten Prayers", God was able to use Caity's tragic and unexpected death to bring me out of my old world and into His new one.

If God could use Anthony's book to do that for me, I know He can do it for you, too ... and He will if you trust Him like Caity did! Remember the note she kept on her laptop: "God, I know that today nothing can happen that you and I can't handle together." Let's all resolve once and for all to have that same kind of faith in the Lord! What a wonderful way for to celebrate and participate in this year's National Day of Prayer!

God bless you,

Marian Hammaren

PS: Just click here to find out more about ordering a copy of Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To It may well be the single greatest life-changing decision you will ever make. Not only that, but as God uses "Ten Prayers" to bring you closer to Himself – as He did with me – then your life will be one more way that He continues to bring good out of the terrible evil of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. And by the way, when you go to this link, you'll also see Anthony's first book, "A Travel Guide to Heaven." I could have spent this entire email telling you about this incredible book, but I wanted to stay focused on "Ten Prayers." Let me assure you, though, I have given Anthony's "Travel Guide" to dozens of grieving parents, too, and they have all commented to me on how much it has helped them. Both these books are truly wonderful.PPS: One more thing. Just in case you're a bit hesitant to take my word for the way "Ten Prayers" can change your life, here's what a few others have said about Anthony's book ... and these are some giants in the religious field:

"Anthony DeStefano has once again drawn his readers into the mystery of God's love and invited us to reflect more deeply on our relationship with Him. In a simple yet profound way, Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To offers insights, and indeed a practical wisdom, that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled with personal prayer. I recommend this book to any and all who are searching for a fresh perspective on the meaning and value of a life of prayer, and, ultimately, for a more fulsome encounter w the Living God."- Cardinal Ranato Raffaele Martino, President, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

"Why are some of our prayers answered while some are not? How do we get God's attention? How do we get the divine 'Yes'? In a simple, straightforward style, Anthony DeStefano takes on the mysteries of prayer. He casts a wide net to appeal to all Christians everywhere without compromising the gospel one iota. The title alone, Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To, will attract even people who aren't believers but who cry out for help in the night. For them, the first prayer, 'God, show me that you exist,' can be a life-changer. But don't stop there. Read it all. It could revolutionize your prayer life."- Pastor Jack Hayford, President, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and Founding Pastor, The Church on the Way

"Polls tell us that most Americans believe in prayer. However, most admit they don't spend much time praying, nor do they think it is very important. This remarkable book can make a difference for anyone who wants to pray with results. Anthony DeStefano shares insights on prayer that are practical, workable, and attainable. Everyone can profit from reading this book!" - Dr. Paul Cedar, Chairman and CEO, Mission America Coalition

"Do we really need another book on prayer? We certainly need this one! Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is remarkably different and refreshingly direct. It takes the reader straight to the heart of the issue of answered prayer and leaves him or her there wanting more – of God, of course. This book will go on my shelf beside the great classics on prayer."- Dr. Dick Eastman, President, Every Home for Christ and President, America's National Prayer Committee

Pretty impressive, huh? And if those endorsements aren't enough to convince you, try this. The folks who organize and run the National Day of Prayer chose "Ten Prayers" to be one of its featured books this year ... and they only endorse a couple books each year.

If Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To received the National Day of Prayers good seal of approval, then surely it's a book that can help you ... no matter where you are in your walk with the Lord.-- Marian

*****

Walk in a Relaxed Manner

by Joyce Rupp


Started: 20 December 2005
Finished: 14 December 2007

Yes, you read the dates right. I did start this book over two years ago. I have a bad habit of starting books—especially back when I was homeschooling—and then getting sidetracked before finishing them. Since I ‘retired’ from teaching my own children last year, I’ve been much better about completing what I begin—at least so far as books go. I hope this trend lasts.

However, truth be told, I actually started and restarted and re-restarted this book! Not that it isn’t an excellent book—it is! It’s just not what I call a cover-to-cover book, i.e., a book that you easily sit down and read from cover-to-cover. But then it isn’t meant to be.

Walk in a Relaxed Manner is the type of book you read in small bites. I recommend reading one chapter at a time—which is what I finally did the last time I started it, the time I finally finished it.

It was my dear aunt who first suggested I read something by the author Joyce Rupp. Although I’d never heard of her before then, soon I began seeing Sr. Rupp’s books everywhere, especially on the shelves of my favorite religious bookstore. But out of the many books written by this prolific author, I was looking for a title that spoke to me. In the end, it was the cover which drew me to the book—the picture of a woman backpacker hiking in the mountains among the sheep. And perhaps the subtitle also had something to do with my selection, Life Lessons From the Camino.

As stated in numerous previous blog posts I did a pilgrimage last fall. One of the stops was Santiago de Compostela, the destination of all pilgrims along the Camino. The author, Sr. Joyce Rupp hiked the Camino in 2003 with Fr. Tom Pfeffer, now deceased. This book is a collection of short essays or reflections she wrote on the lessons she learned while hiking the Camino. In fact, each chapter is given over to one succinct lesson, e.g., go prepared, live in the now, return a positive for a negative, travel lightly, look for unannounced angels and keep a strong network of prayer to name but a few from the list of twenty-five. Oh! And, there is a chapter specifically devoted to walking in relaxed manner.

In retrospect, even though I did not hike the Camino, this would have been an invaluable book to have read, savored and prayed before I left on my pilgrimage. I regret deeply not having done so! And yet, I did finish it very soon after my trip. Was I able to relate to the author’s mistakes so easily because I had recently returned from my own trip and I recognized myself and my own errors in the author's self-deprecating stories? I wonder. Would I have derived the same benefit from the book if I'd read it before leaving? I like to think so. There’s no way of knowing of course. However, if you do plan on hiking the Camino—especially if it’s for spiritual reasons—I cannot recommend this book too highly.

And as a beautiful spiritual guide, this book is wonderful, uplifting and insightful.

****

Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

by María Ruiz Scaperlanda

Started: 20 July 2007
Finished: 1 January 2008

It is not an accident that I finished this book today, nor that I selected it to be my first book of the year to review. Privately, I’m dedicating this year to St. Edith Stein, or St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, if you prefer to call her by her Carmelite name. I have personal reasons for preferring her given name—I would say her ‘Christian’ name except that she wasn’t born Christian. She was Jewish by birth and Catholic by conversion. However, I do love the name she selected as well. Teresa of Ávila was her inspiration and is also mine; I consider both to be my dear, dear senior sisters-in-faith. When I read their writings, I not only feel very close to them—I feel as if I have actually met them and conversed with them. Perhaps some would call that the over-active workings of my imagination; I call it Faith.

Although I did start this book back in July, I read most of the book this past November and December. I cannot remember when I bought it, but it was within the past few years. My knowledge of, and interest in, Edith Stein is fivefold. First, she is a female and I always prefer female saints because I can more readily identify with them. Second, she was highly intelligent, a thinker, a philosopher and a writer—my favorite type of person. Third, she is a convert and while my first preference would be for a re-vert, I am still looking for such a saint; therefore, in the meanwhile I shall have to be content with those who find their way to us from other faiths. Fourth, she lived and died during the rise and fall of the Third Reich, a period in history which I find absolutely fascinating. And finally, I have come to have a special love for Edith for three personal reasons: my oldest daughter has chosen her to be her Confirmation patron, my sister took her name when she was recently clothed a Third Order Carmelite and, last but not least, my maternal grandmother and favorite aunt are named Edith.

God works behind the scenes in simple, mysterious ways. A few short years ago, I had never heard of Edith Stein. She came upon me quietly in a little documentary which was examining how the Church selected, determined and investigated its canonical saints. When I told my mother about Meg’s choice of a Confirmation saint at a recent family gathering I sensed rather than saw or heard her surprise. She had never heard of Edith Stein. And I had forgotten—until that moment—what my maternal grandmother’s first name was. I never met her and my mother rarely speaks of her own mother. Edith is not a very common name today, but it must have been once. It was an epiphany moment for both us—my deceased grandmother’s name coming alive again through my daughter’s choice of a Confirmation saint.

And how did Meg come to choose Edith Stein? When she was much younger she had considered Mother Cabrini and then later St. Philomena, but neither saint had particularly ‘stuck’—at least not in the way her sister’s choice had taken hold of her right from the first. (Michelle chose St. Maximilian Kolbe as a very young child and has never wavered in that choice.) When it came time for Meg to write a paper on her saint for her Confirmation class she was still searching. Had I bought this book for that reason? I don’t remember.

I do recall telling Meg, however, that I thought Edith the perfect saint for her—mostly because she’s brainy, like my Meggie.

‘For Edith Stein, whose entire life was a quest for truth and meaning, her hidden world held the key to what was invisible to the eye – long before Truth had a name. Stein herself realized this after becoming a Christian. In a letter to a Benedictine nun friend, she said, “Whoever seeks after the truth is seeking after God, whether consciously or unconsciously.” ‘ (p59)

Knowing my little girl as I have since birth, I would describe her also as ‘a seeker after truth’. It is my prayer that St. Edith will assist her in that quest.

Although I have not said much about this book in particular, it is a charming and easy-to-read introduction to the saint. As she was such an intelligent woman and so much of her life was lived in her mind, no book can do her justice which does not take into account her philosophical and theological development. Scaperlander’s book does this in an accessible manner. This is the perfect introduction to a very complex woman, powerful saint and – I believe – future doctor of the Church. If you read no other book on this saint, read this one. Let me know if you'd like to borrow my copy!

****

Man's Search For Meaning

by Viktor E. Frankl

Started: 27 November 2007
Finished: 10 December 2007

Throughout history humanity has always been in search of purpose and meaning to our existence on this earth. One of the oldest jokes in the world is the young person asking the ancient one, “What is the meaning of life?” and receiving some sort of reply like, “If you find out, you let me know, okay?!”

Viktor Frankl’s classic work was originally written in 1945 and published in 1959. I own a 1984 paperback edition of the book which had already been through seventy-three editions in English alone, not to mention nineteen other languages. I mention this because all other facts I quote will come from my copy of the book, unless stated otherwise; for more recent information, the reader is encouraged to look up Dr. Frankl and this seminal work in psychiatry on-line and see all the further developments which have occurred in subsequent years. It is truly staggering the influence this book has had.

The first half of the book is devoted to the good doctor’s life-transforming experiences as a ‘guest’ in a Nazi concentration camp. Perhaps I should not jest—even lightly—about such a serious matter and yet I suspect our author would not mind. He was a man of incredible insight and wisdom. Humor was a resource he well-appreciated; encouraging his patients to use it as a part of therapy.

Prior to this I had never read past the first half of the book; I was only interested in the autobiographical portion of the book. As I have mentioned in previous posts, a surfeit of psychology books in college, both undergraduate and graduate level, left me with no taste for further reading on the subject. More is the pity because Dr. Frankl’s book is as much philosophy and religion as it is dry scientific studies and theories on human behavior patterns. His extraordinary experiences coupled with a brilliant mind would not allow his thinking to be pigeon-holed as many contemporary books on the subject seem to be.

Without further rhetoric on my part, here are some of my favorite parts and quotes from Man’s Search For Meaning:

‘I think it was Lessing who once said, “There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose.” An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.’ (p32)

‘Strangely enough, a blow which does not even find its mark can, under certain circumstances, hurt more than one that finds its mark.’ (p36)

‘Some men lost all hope, but it was the incorrigible optimists who were the most irritating companions.’ (p46)

‘In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of the life in the concentration camp, it was possible for a rich spiritual life to deepen. Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain (they were often of a delicate constitution), but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom. Only in this way can one explain the apparent paradox that some prisoners of a less hardy make-up often seemed to survive camp life better than did those of a more robust nature.’ (p47)

‘I understood how a man who has nothing left in the world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way—an honorable way—in such a position a man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.’ (p49)

(Dr. Frankl lost his entire family to the gas chambers. In the above quote, he is describing how he used the image of his wife—already dead, although he did not know it—to inspire, uplift and keep him alive through the long days of his captivity.)

‘To draw an analogy: a man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas . . . Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the “size” of the human suffering is absolutely relative.’ (p55)

‘Does this not bring to mind the story of Death in Teheran? A rich and mighty Persian once walked in his garden with one of his servants. The servant cried that he had just encountered Death who threatened him. He begged his master to give him the fastest horse so he could make haste and flee to Teheran, which he could reach that same evening. The master consented and the servant galloped off on the horse. On returning to his house the master himself met Death, and questioned him, “Why did you terrify and threaten my servant?” “I did not threaten him; I only showed surprise in still finding him here when I planned to meet him tonight in Teheran,” said Death.’

‘Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.’ (p75)

‘If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death.’¹ (p76)

‘(What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you.) Not only our experiences, but all we have done, whatever great thoughts we may have had, and all we have suffered, all this is not lost, though it is past; we have brought it into being. Having been is also a kind of being, and perhaps the surest kind.’ (p90)

‘A man’s concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease. (His) suffering may well be a human achievement, especially if the suffering grows out of existential frustration. . . . Logotherapy regards its assignment as that of assisting the patient to find meaning in his life.’ (p108)

One of the most interesting treatment techniques which Dr. Frankl offers his patients is something he calls “paradoxical intention” based on, ‘the twofold fact that fear brings about that which one is afraid of, and that hyper-intention makes impossible what one wishes.’ (p126) He goes on to describe a man he cured of profuse sweating by instructing the man to imagine increasing his output of sweat under stressful situations.

While our author believes in responsibility for one’s actions (he advocates a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast) he also believes in every person’s free will to determine their own future at all times. He cites a case of a well-known Nazi mass-murderer who made a stunning turn-around later in life; he has no sympathy for pre-determinism. ‘How can we dare to predict the behavior of man?’ (p134)

Whether we are aware of it or not and regardless of our willingness to admit to it, we all have agendas in our reading. For myself, in the past I was often unaware and/or dishonest about my own reasons for selecting this or that book. However, what I find most enlightening now is when I begin a book for one purpose and finish it for quite another.

In the case of Man’s Search For Meaning I began the book in search of arguments to refute George Orwell’s conclusion of the novel 1984 and finished this present work in total fascination with Logotherapy and its associated theories and treatments.



¹This would seem to directly contradict what Ms. Byron Katie Reid contends in her body of literature. She asserts that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls

Started: 17 September 2007
Finished: 23 September 2007

"Thanks a lot Mom and Dad for the happy childhood! You've ruined any chances I ever had of becoming a famous author!"

So reads a favorite T-shirt which my children and I love.

Jeannette Walls joins the ranks of Dickens and many other beloved authors who owe their first foot in the door of the world of Literature to regaling their abysmal childhood.

What is it about the unhappy child, the child-survivor, the child-made-good against-all-odds that inspires us so?

The Glass Castle is the story of the Walls family: Rex and Rose Mary, and their four children, Lori, Jeannette, Brian and Maureen. Rex and Rose Mary were married in 1956, which happens to be the same year my parents were married; the make-up and order of children in their family also mirrors the order of my own birth family: girl, girl, boy, girl--even to the spacing of the years.

But there the similarities end. My father was an excellent provider, loving husband, good father, devout Catholic and always hard-working and sober. My mother was a devoted wife, dedicated mother, faithful Catholic and a home-maker extraordinaire, even if her heart wasn't in it so much for the Martha Stuart aspect of it as to make sure she kept a clean home, provided us with nutritious meals and clean clothes. My parents considered our education a priority and ensured we attended the best private or public schools they could afford--up to and including four years of college.

Contrast this with the Walls' family and you have a difference so marked as to make me get down on my knees and thank God for my parents. And yet, Jeannette Walls today is a famous author and winner of numerous awards for this tale of courage in the face of overwhelming adversities. Would I trade places with her? Not for a second!

Beginning with her earliest memory of being severely burned when she caught herself on fire while cooking her own hot dog at age three, Jeannette relates her family's unique saga which is travelogue, adventure and a series of believe-it-or-not vignettes. Many times throughout my reading of The Glass Castle I found myself wishing parts of the narrative were not true, as one small happiness or gain after another was crushed, mutilated and/or eliminated. The family sank further and further into poverty and degradation as the children grew up and became aware of all the world around them had to offer...and which was denied to them.

I suppose my reaction says more about me than the book. Rose Mary Walls would have blithely dismissed my compassion and concern with a wave of her hand, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger," and gone back to her painting. That was the sort of mother she was--a self-professed "excitement-addict".

Rex Walls was an alcoholic, four pack a day smoker, who led--or drove--himself and his family from one place (home?) to another all through Jeannette's early childhood until they were finally forced to return to his hometown of Welch, West Virginia. But from another perspective, he was also a misunderstood genius who, when he was sober, taught his children physics, geology, philosophy (of sorts) and a love of life.

The four Walls children grew up fast--as children of such parents must if they are to survive. They learned to take charge of their own fates and get what they needed. Perhaps it is the secret of their later successes.

The Glass Castle is ironic in that a castle is supposed to provide protection, whereas -- as anyone knows -- glass is both see through and easily shattered, a metaphor for the family life Rex and Rose Mary built for their four children, who joined together to work hard and help each other escape their own parents.

My own beloved parents just celebrated their fifty-first wedding anniversary this month. Although our family is far from perfect, it is rich in humor, wisdom, stories and trust. Thank you Mom and Dad for building our family on the solid foundations of Faith, Hope and Love!

This book was loaned to me by a friend and I am grateful, but it's worth mentioning this is a book you wouldn't regret buying. Had it been my copy, I'm sure it would be heavily highlighted by now. As it is, I have it annotated with numerous post-it© tabs which I'll go back and glance at one more time before I remove them and return the book (sniff) reluctantly to its owner. It was a DEAR book. (See previous Blog entry.) It was also a dear book from a dear person! Thank you!

****1/2