A New Year

I begin the new year with a lot of informal resolutions. Some involve reading and writing. But there are also ones about my life.

Yes, I need to lose weight. Yes, I need to have a better diet. Yes, I need to be aware of my bad habits and addictive tendencies.

But most of all, I need a change in attitude. I need to be less secretive. I need to be less sarcastic and negative. I need to use my gifts in positive ways in service of the Lord and others.

 

I also need to recognize that I can't do it all on my own. 

Lord, I need You. 

Lord, tell me what You want me to do and how I can better serve You.

Pax et bonum

2023 Reading Tally; 2024 goals

With just a few days left in 2023, it's unlikely that I'll finish reading another book this year, so here's the tally. I've organized them very roughly by category - spiritual, classics, poetry, mysteries, and so on - though some works could have been put in a couple of categories. 

2023 – 69 Books – Page Count - 14,577

Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) by Pope Benedict XVI 
Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI 
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis 
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis 
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
The Message of St. Francis 
Untroubled by the Unknown by Father Mike Schmitz
See God and Live by Father Matthew Swizdor, OFM.Conv.
Diogenes Unveiled: A Paul Mankowski Collection edited by Philip F. Lawler 
The Fire of God by John Michael Talbot 
The Tree of Life by Saint Bonaventure 
I Heard God Laugh by Matthew Kelly 

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis 
Perelandra by C. S, Lewis 
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas 
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather 
Sir Thomas More - Various writers, some input from Shakespeare
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare 
Hard Times by Charles Dickens 
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens 
From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne 
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury 
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J Gaines 
The Lighthouse by Michael D. O’Brien 
Plague Journal by Michael D. O’Brien 
Eclipse of the Sun by Michael D. O’Brien 

A Case of Conscience by James Blish 

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 

Persuasion by Jane Austen 

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco 
East of Eden by John Steinbeck 
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells 

The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany 


Steeple Bush by Robert Frost
In the Clearing by Robert Frost
Two Masques by Robert Frost 
Rochester Area Haiku Group 2020 Members’ Anthology 
Cats in Spring Rain (haiku) 
Seeds from a Birch Tree (haiku) by Clark Strand 
A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thmoas (with illustrations by Chris Raschka)

Fractured by Cattails: Haiku Society of America 2023 Members’ Anthology

Talking God by Tony Hillerman 
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman 
Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman 
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman 
People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman
The Scandal of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton 
All the Dead Heroes by Stephen F. Wilcox 
Advent of Dying by Sister Carol Anne O’Marie
Killing Custer by Margaret Coel 
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

Glory Road by Bruce Catton 
Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War by Derek D. Maxfield 
Kindertransport by Olga Levy Drucker

The Broons and Oor Wullie: The 1960s Revisited 
Small-Town Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne 
Winter’s End by Ruth Logan Herne 
The Doom Stone by Paul Zindel
The Story of the Three Wise Men by Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola: His Art & His Stories by Barbara Elleman
My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber 
Childless by Brian J. Gail 

The Night the Saints Save Christmas by Gracis Jagla

So how did I do in terms of the reading goals for the year? Here's what I wrote last December:

Goals for 2023: 50-70 works, 12,000+ pages

More spiritual reading, including some encyclicals and Mere Christianity by Lewis
Finish the Hillerman Navajo mysteries
Finish the Father Brown mysteries (Just 9 stories to go!)
Read at least one more of Frost's poetry books
Reread David Copperfield by Dickens
Read Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Read Saint Thomas More by several writers, with input by Shakespeare
Read all of Shakespeare's sonnets

Results:  

69 books, 14,577 pages - goal met 

Spiritual reading - some, including one encyclical. I did read Mere Christianity - overall, mixed results. 

Hillerman - goal met

Father Brown - goal met

Frost - finished them all, so goal met

I did not reread David Copperfield, but I did read Hard Times.  A pass.

I started Don Quixote, but just could not get into it. Goal not met, and may never be met!

Saint Thomas More - goal met

Shakespeare's sonnets - goal met.

Overall, not bad.

Some good works in there. There were a few clunkers, but in general a pleasurable year of reading.  

My only real disappointment was with the amount of spiritual reading. The 2023 tally was okay, but I could have done better.

So goals for 2024:

60-70 books, 15,000 pages

More spiritual reading, 13-15 works, including at least 2 encyclicals

Reading the Bible daily, including finishing all the OT books I have not yet read

Read at least five Dorothy Sayers Wimsey mysteries

Read a couple of Agatha Christie mysteries

Read at least one Dickens novel that I haven't read before

Read at least one Chesterton novel that I haven't read before

Read all of Emily Dickinson't poetry

Read another Michael D. O'Brien novel 

Read Winter's Child by Margaret Coel

Pax et bonum

Spiritual Resolutions for 2024

Last year I made some spiritual resolutions. Here's part of that post, with added notes:

My daily routine usually includes:

The Seven Sorrows of Mary

St. Bridget's Twelve Year Prayer on the Passion of Jesus

Morning Prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours

The Rosary.

A Novena to St. Sharbel

Daily Mass Monday, Wednesday-Friday.

There have been a few days when I fall short. One of my resolutions for the new year it to not miss any of these current prayers. (Fell short.)

I also resolve to add daily recitation of the Diving Mercy Chaplet. and to say Night Prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours. (Started to do so, but inconsistent.)

I was working on reading the Bible daily with the goal of reading the entire Bible. (Fell short.) 

I resolve to spend 10 minutes daily reading and reflecting on the Bible. (Really failed on this one.)

I try to read spiritual works, but it's not a daily habit. I resolve to spend at least 15 minutes each day doing some spiritual reading. The will likely require that I give up some television time and reading of secular works. So be it. (Did not meet this goal either.)

I'm already reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis and The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton as part of two reading groups I'm in. I will continue to do those. On my own I've been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, but that reading has been irregular. I will give that daily attention until I finish it. (Succeeded.)

I resolve to also reread Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. (Read it. Success.)

The death today of Pope Benedict has inspired me to add two of his works to my list of ones I also resolve to read: Jesus of Nazareth and the encyclical, God is Love. (Another success.)

There are other works that I will try to read once I get through those listed works. Among those other works are

The Yes of Jesus Christ by Pope Benedict

A New Song for the Lord by Pope Benedict

A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching by Father Kevin McKenna

The Splendor of Truth by Pope Saint John Paul II

The Gospel of Life by Pope Saint John Paul II 

Pacem in Terris by Pope Saint John XXIII

(Sigh. Read none of these, though I did start The Splendor of Truth recently.)

So looking ahead ... 

Continue my daily prayer routine, but try to be more consistent.

Continue going to daily Mass as much as possible.

Begin again to read the Bible daily. I've read most of it already before, so one goal this year would be to finish reading the rest of it, then to begin rereading.)

Read spiritual works daily. At least one work should be Franciscan in nature.

Finish The Splendor of Truth, and read at least one more encyclical.

God willing, and with renewed fervor, I hope 2024 will be a year of spiritual growth. 

Pax et bonum

Writing Goals for 2024

I enter 2024 with some writing goals.

I plan to complete Santa's Diary - adding entries to fill the entire year. That's the major project.

I plan to submit The Grumpy Shepherd to another publisher, and if rejected to search for another one. I will be sending a query letter to Our Sunday Visitor to start.

I will continue to write haiku, senryu, and clerihews, and to submit them for publication. I had 10 published in 2023; it would be nice to have at least as many in 2024. 

Pax et bonum

Reading and Writing

Finished Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers - my 68th work of the year. Good read. Will I get in another work by the end of the year? We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm up to January 22 in Santa's Diary. Elf Flu! '

Pax et bonum

Three in December 2023 Failed Haiku

empty house -
circles of unfaded shelf
where spices stood


blood on the pavement
mother distracts child
with an old folk song


my late father
when I see deer in a field
when I see deer

Pax et bonum

More Work on Santa's Diary

I continue plugging away at Santa's Diary. I'm already past mid January. Elvis impersonator elves, a bottle of mead, and a flu outbreak!

Meanwhile, I wondered if anyone had written a mystery novle with Santa as athe detective? Hmm 

Pax et bonum

Santa's Diary Work

Now that Santa season is over, and most of the annual minister's report for the Fraternity is done, I was able to spend some time on Santa's Diary. I'm currently revising some entries for January. 

One of my Christmas gifts this year was Christmas Trivia: 100 Christmas Questions. I may find some material in there to help inspire diary entries! Even if I don't, they will be fun to read.

Pax et bonum

Dickens (and Christie)

One of my reading goals next year is to read at least one Dickens novel. There are a number of them I have not yet read:

Nicholas Nickleby
The Old Curiosity Shop
Barnaby Rudge 
Martin Chuzzlewit 
Dombey and Son 
Little Dorrit 
Our Mutual Friend 
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (left unfinished due to Dickens's death).

 

I have Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop. Dombey and Son, Martin Cuzzlewit, Little Dorrit, and Our Mutual Friend, so it will be one or two of those. I'm leaning toward reading The Old Curiosity Shop first. 

I was also watching a PBS special on Agatha Christie (Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen). It reminded me that I wanted to read more Christie, so add a couple of them to the list!

Pax et bonum

Pope Francis Did Not Just Authorize Priests to Bless Same-Sex Unions

Pope Francis Did Not Just Authorize Priests to Bless Same-Sex Unions| National Catholic Register: COMMENTARY: Anyone who claims that the Fiducia Supplicans authorizes blessings of same-sex unions has not read the declaration or is intentionally misinterpre...

A Bit of Wimsey

I just finished reading Eclipse of the Sun by Michael D. O'Brien. It's a well-written and intelligently plotted Catholic dystopian novel with interesting characters. As a work of fiction, it's quite good.

But it IS very dystopian. And the world created in the novel uncomfortably parallels so much that is going on now, some 25 years after it was published, that it was sobering. Yes, the Lord wins in the end, but getting there means loss and struggle.   

After finishing it, I wanted to go on to something lighter! 

For me, that's means a mystery. Or two. Or more.

So I thought of Dorothy Sayers, a highly-regarded mystery writer more of whose Lord Peter Wimsey works I've wanted to read. Her ties to faith and to G. K. Chesterton add to the attraction. 

I had read Unnatural Death a couple of years ago. Back in the 80's I had read a few of her other books, but can't for the life of me remember which ones. 

So ...

 

A goal for the next yeas or two: Read all of her Wimsey novels.

There are 12 Wimsey novels written by her: 

Whose Body? (1923)
Clouds of Witness (1926)

Unnatural Death (1927) (U.S. title originally The Dawson Pedigree)

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
Strong Poison (1930)
The Five Red Herrings (1931)
Have His Carcase (1932)
Murder Must Advertise (1933)
The Nine Tailors (1934)
Gaudy Night (1935)
Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
Thrones, Dominations (1998) Unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsh

There are also some Wimsey short story collections

Lord Peter Views the Body (1928)
Hangman's Holiday (1933) Also contains non-Wimsey stories
In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) Also contains non-Wimsey stories
Striding Folly (1972)
Lord Peter (1972)

With that goal in mind, I stopped by our local library and was pleased to find they had several of her novels. I took out a few, and have started the first one, Whose Body?

Since retiring in 2020, I have set a few reading goals, and have completed several: I've now read all of Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, all of Shakespeare's plays, all of his sonnets, all of Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, and all of Robert Frost's published poetry collections. The Sayers goal is to try to find and read all of her Wimsey novels over the next two years. 

That should help to keep me out of mischief. 

There will be more reading goals, but I'll deal with them in my end-of-the-year reading tally post.

Pax et bonum

Romans Didn't Crucify Jesus

Pax et bonum

The Media is Lying About Kate Cox and Abortions on Disabled Babies

The Media is Lying About Kate Cox and Abortions on Disabled Babies

Chestertonians and the American Solidarity Party

The November/December 2023 issue of Gilbert, the magazine of the Society of G. K. Chesterton,contains a review by Chuck Chalberg of The Political Economy of Distributism by Alexander William Salter.

Chalberg concludes the review with, "All three (Chesterton, Belloc, and Ropke), plus Salter himself, seem to agree that politics can never be the solution, much less the ultimate answer. And yet, once again Salter wiggles for room with a nod in the direction of something called the American Solidarity party. Created in 2011, its platform is 'not shy about its debt to distributism.' It's also more than a few votes shy of relevance, totaling only 42,305 for its presidential candidate in 2020. Thank goodness we will always have Chesterton and Belloc, as well as the Alexander Salters of Texas Tech and elsewhere, to keep steering us in the right direction."

That mention of the American Solidarity party in a way that seems dismissive of it stopped me short. Chalberg may not have intended to be dismissive, but still, he did declare the party "a few votes shy of relevance."

Ironically, his review is published in the magazine of a society that I last heard had just 2,000 members. Surely he would not suggest the Society is not relevant because of the small number of members?

The Chesterton Society is small, but it would seem to be a natural ally of a party that espouses many Chestertonian and Christian ideals, including distributist economic policies.

He also refers to the party in a way that suggests he really doesn't know much about it.

Yes, the party garnered "just" 42,305 votes for President in 2020. But that was only the second presidential election in which the party ran a candidate. In 2016, the first time it ran a candidate, it received 6,697 votes. So from 2015 to 2020 a six-fold increase. What might happen in 2024 with an actively campaigning candidate, Peter Sonski?

Moreover, in 2016, the party was listed on only one ballot; the other votes were by write-in. In 2020, the party was listed on nine ballots. And in 2024?

Perhaps this is a party Chestertonians should investigate. Given its platform, they just might find it relevant.

Pax et bonum

Shakespeare Insult Kit

Pax et bonum

3 Ways Our World is Becoming a Dystopia

Santa's Diary Update

 

Gates Recreation Breakfast with Santa last year,

With Santa season in full swing (three visits yesterday alone, and another on tap for today), and Nancy's health issues, I have not been doing as much work on Santa's Diary as I'd planned. Things will begin to loosen up after Christmas (I hope).

I had thought of using one of the entries as my Christmas story this year, but even though I did revise it for that purpose, it just didn't work. I then wrote a clerihew to include with our Christmas cards.

Off to be Santa, and then I have to get all those Christmas cards ready for mailing! 

Pax et bonum

at the hospice (Failed Haiku)

My poem in the November Failed Haiku:

at the hospice
folding all her laundry
one last time

Pax et bonum

Christmas Poem 2023

St. Francis of Assisi,
joyfully grateful for the Nativity,
created at Greccio a stable display
that’s imitated world-wide to this day.

Pax et bonum