Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Friday, July 19, 2024
Joy Reid Clerihew
Joy Reid
was fined for driving at excessive speed.
She was dismayed when the Black traffic court judge didn't agree
that speed limits are tools of white supremacy.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
The Flying Inn
One of my reading goals this year was to read a novel by G. K. Chesterton that I had not yet read. I just finished The Flying Inn.
It as typical Chesterton, flights of fancy and fantasy, couple with satirical points - in this case government control and hypocrisy.
I've now read four of his six novels - The Flying Inn, The Napoleon of Notting Hill,and The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, and Manalive. With the Chesterton reading group I'll begin reading The Ball and the Cross this September. That will just leave The Return of Don Quixote - perhaps a goal for next years?.
I've also read all of the Father Brown mysteries. There are some short story collections I'll read at some time as well.
Good reading ahead!
Pax et bonum
Chesterton and Whitman
Scott Hubbard explores this issue in Transpositions ((2/20/2017)
The Orthodoxy Of Leaves Of Grass: The Imaginative Visions Of G.K. Chesterton And Walt Whitman In Dialogue
by Scott Hubbard
Walt Whitman is not likely to appear on anyone’s list of great Christian poets. And with reason. From the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855, to his death in 1892, the good gray poet had cosied with Emersonian Neoplatonism, drafted plans for ‘The Great Construction of the New Bible’ and even accorded the figure of Satan a place within the Holy Quaternity of God. [1] He is large and contains multitudes, but Chalcedonian orthodoxy is not one of them. The problem is that Whitman’s personal heterodoxies may keep his name from appearing on any list of great poets written by a Christian. However, one Christian who in his own lifetime offered hearty dissent to this rule was none other than
Walt Whitman is not likely to appear on anyone’s list of great Christian poets. And with reason. From the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855, to his death in 1892, the good gray poet had cosied with Emersonian Neoplatonism, drafted plans for ‘The Great Construction of the New Bible’ and even accorded the figure of Satan a place within the Holy Quaternity of God. [1] He is large and contains multitudes, but Chalcedonian orthodoxy is not one of them. The problem is that Whitman’s personal heterodoxies may keep his name from appearing on any list of great poets written by a Christian. However, one Christian who in his own lifetime offered hearty dissent to this rule was none other than
renowned essayist G.K. Chesterton.
When Chesterton compiled his 1905 essay series Heretics to expose the philosophical inadequacies of the literati of the past half-century, not only did he spare Whitman from his critical scythe, but the American poet received accolade as a type of noble pagan. Indeed, for a pre-conversion Chesterton, Whitman was ’one of the greatest men of the nineteenth century’. [2] And while this is certainly a tendentious claim from England’s Catholic Colossus, it is not one that his later work shows any trace of recanting. In fact, the English apologist and the American bard had imaginative visions that greatly overlap in scope and focus.
Chesterton sensed a kindred spirit in Whitman on at least three key motifs, which may help to illuminate the value of Whitman’s poetry from a specifically Christian perspective. We will now consider those three motifs, introduced by an example of their occurrence in Whitman’s great poem Song of Myself. Finally, we will posit one point of divergence stemming from the third motif to suggest a possible difference in the ethical applications of their respective imaginative visions.
The Miracle of Being—A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;/How could I answer the child? . . . . I do not know what it is any/more than he. [3] More so than any other corrosive ideology, Chesterton set himself against scientistic fatalism. Edwardian polemicists saw the earth spinning like clockwork in an inexorable pattern; Chesterton rejoiced in the greenness of grass and the curious noses of elephants; after all, these things did not have to exist. [4] Chesterton, like Whitman before him, recognized that the recurrence in nature only enhances the essential mystery of things, and that human beings ought to feel a kind of awe or primal wonder at the mere fact of being itself. And though Whitman himself could yawp, ‘Hurrah for positive science!’ he too felt a deeper humility before the most common wonders of creation. [5] Scripture resounds with the same kind of awe, from Job before proud Leviathan to the psalmist contemplating the wondrous miracle of his own birth. Existence has never been inevitable, or even a right in the largest sense, but a gift, the fundamental miracle that we all get to experience.
Joie-de-Vivre—Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and joy and knowledge/that pass all the art and argument of the earth;/And I know that the hand of God is the elderhand of my own,/And I know that the spirit of God is the eldest brother of my own,/And that all the men ever born are also my brothers . . . . and the women my sisters and lovers,/And that a kelson of the creation is love. [6] In his chapter, ‘Omar and the Sacred Vine,’ from Heretics, Chesterton repudiates the melancholy escapism of Khayyam-Fitzgerald in favor of ‘a serious joie-de-vivre like that of Walt Whitman.’ [7] The idea of joie-de-vivre is not simply a lazy insistence that everything will be okay, but a permanent joy based on the good nature of things. This is the joyful abandon of Wisdom in Proverbs, ‘Delighting in him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere on his earth, delighting to be with the children of men.’ [8] This creaturely joy properly responds to the ‘Miracle of Being’ of the preceding point. The gift of existence is in fact delightful, and Whitman rejoices accordingly.
Democratic Emotion—I celebrate myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as good as belongs to you. [9] Throughout his poetry, Whitman invites his readers into direct relationship to himself. In another chapter from Heretics, Chesterton recognizes that Whitman, ‘feels the things in which all men agree to be unspeakably important, and all the things in which they differ (such as mere brains) to be almost unspeakably unimportant.’ [10] This does not mean that Whitman’s poetry reduces particular human persons to non-descript everymen. Rather, he perceives an innate humanity within each person that enables the relationship extended by his speakers to be received by readers in meaningful dialogue. Chesterton lauds Whitman’s relational vision as ‘the thing which is really required for the proper working of democracy . . . the democratic emotion.’ [11] Again, this emotion is not mere sentimentalism. Christian anthropology acknowledges the image of God in every human being, and so treats the neighbor with love and respect. Though Whitman does not see his ethical duty in expressly these terms, he grounds his oeuvre on the essential dignity of humanity, and responds correctly to this vision with genuine affection for those he sees and for whom he writes.
Chesterton’s affinities for Whitman’s poetry are well-founded. The two writers have imaginative visions that apprehend the wonder and humility that humans should feel at the simple miracle of being, that ground real joy in the ancient meaning and mystery of the universe, and compel a profound respect and charity for one’s fellow human beings.
These visions are both Edenic and eschatological; they look back to the primitive and final harmony of creation and call us to practice wonder, joy and self-giving love, even in this present age.
However, it is precisely in the state of this present age that the two visions differ. Set against Chesterton’s love for both creation and his neighbor is his intuition that ‘in some way all good was a remnant to be stored and held sacred out of some primordial ruin . . . or wreck.’ [12] This idea of the wreck (a more vivid image than the traditional ‘Fall’) of humanity in sin implicates both world and self in a brokenness that world and self alone cannot heal, and must be redeemed from the outside.
Chesterton’s affinities for Whitman’s poetry are well-founded. The two writers have imaginative visions that apprehend the wonder and humility that humans should feel at the simple miracle of being, that ground real joy in the ancient meaning and mystery of the universe, and compel a profound respect and charity for one’s fellow human beings.
These visions are both Edenic and eschatological; they look back to the primitive and final harmony of creation and call us to practice wonder, joy and self-giving love, even in this present age.
However, it is precisely in the state of this present age that the two visions differ. Set against Chesterton’s love for both creation and his neighbor is his intuition that ‘in some way all good was a remnant to be stored and held sacred out of some primordial ruin . . . or wreck.’ [12] This idea of the wreck (a more vivid image than the traditional ‘Fall’) of humanity in sin implicates both world and self in a brokenness that world and self alone cannot heal, and must be redeemed from the outside.
Whitman’s vision is very different. Though Whitman’s poetry directly tackles the subjects of suffering, death and evil, there is no primordial wreck from which the human story starts. Whitman’s vision of the world contains infinite variety and infinite possibility, but it occludes a narrative of human redemption because there is no fundamental sin to be atoned for.
As such, one essential difference between the two imaginative visions exist. While both exhort us to empathize with our neighbor’s situation and lovingly give of ourselves for his or her good, Chesterton’s vision is able to go further in that it is able to locate the self’s own guilt in the suffering of the neighbor. Whitman’s poetry of course demonstrates deep, even kenotic care for the suffering other, but for Chesterton’s, and Christianity’s vision, such care might not be enough for the best human relationships. It may be that an imaginative vision demands a recognition of universal human brokenness, as well as human dignity, to rightly guide us in loving our neighbors as ourselves.
[1] See Malcolm Cowley’s introduction to Leaves of Grass, The First (1855) Edition, (New York: Penguin, 1959), 14, 28. All subsequent quotations from Song of Myself are taken from this edition.
[2] D. Collins, ed., Lunacy and Letters, (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958), 62.
[3] Song of Myself, 6.90-91.
[4] G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, from Collected Works: Volume I: Heretics, Orthodoxy, The Blatchford Controversies, ed. David Dooley, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 262.
[5] Song of Myself, 23.488.
[6] Song of Myself, 5.82-86.
[7] Heretics, 96.
[8] New Jerusalem Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 975.
[9] Song of Myself, 1.1-3.
[10] Heretics, 189.
[11] Heretics., 188.
[12] Orthodoxy, 268.
Scott Hubbard is an MLitt student in the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts (ITIA) at the University of St Andrews. His research Scott considers the central relationship between speaker and addressee(s) in Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself. Scott is particularly interested in how Whitman’s poem might interact with and illuminate the meanings of Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and how the reception of such an interaction might affect concepts of selfhood and relationship in American culture, both within and outside of the Church.
Pax et bonum
As such, one essential difference between the two imaginative visions exist. While both exhort us to empathize with our neighbor’s situation and lovingly give of ourselves for his or her good, Chesterton’s vision is able to go further in that it is able to locate the self’s own guilt in the suffering of the neighbor. Whitman’s poetry of course demonstrates deep, even kenotic care for the suffering other, but for Chesterton’s, and Christianity’s vision, such care might not be enough for the best human relationships. It may be that an imaginative vision demands a recognition of universal human brokenness, as well as human dignity, to rightly guide us in loving our neighbors as ourselves.
[1] See Malcolm Cowley’s introduction to Leaves of Grass, The First (1855) Edition, (New York: Penguin, 1959), 14, 28. All subsequent quotations from Song of Myself are taken from this edition.
[2] D. Collins, ed., Lunacy and Letters, (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958), 62.
[3] Song of Myself, 6.90-91.
[4] G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, from Collected Works: Volume I: Heretics, Orthodoxy, The Blatchford Controversies, ed. David Dooley, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 262.
[5] Song of Myself, 23.488.
[6] Song of Myself, 5.82-86.
[7] Heretics, 96.
[8] New Jerusalem Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 975.
[9] Song of Myself, 1.1-3.
[10] Heretics, 189.
[11] Heretics., 188.
[12] Orthodoxy, 268.
Scott Hubbard is an MLitt student in the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts (ITIA) at the University of St Andrews. His research Scott considers the central relationship between speaker and addressee(s) in Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself. Scott is particularly interested in how Whitman’s poem might interact with and illuminate the meanings of Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and how the reception of such an interaction might affect concepts of selfhood and relationship in American culture, both within and outside of the Church.
Pax et bonum
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Hey Walt!
I was looking for the next poetry collection to read - having read all the poems of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, and all the sonnets of Shakespeare. At the library I spotted a collection of the sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay, so I took it out. I started reading it. I like sonnets, and she's a good poet, but I just could not get into it.
Sigh.
Then I remembered G. K. Chesterton liked the poetry of Walt Whitman. Hmm. I've read and taught some of his poems, but only a few of them. But he is certainly up there in the American poetic pantheon, and hence well worth reading. So I dug out my copy of Leaves of Grass. I'll give him a try.
Besides, I like his beard!
Pax et bonum
Sunday, July 14, 2024
New York Proposition 1: The Parent Replacement Act
The New York state legislature passed in two successive sessions changes to the state constitution. Those changes became Proposition 1, and it was put on the ballot for this November. If approved by the voters the changes will officially be made - affecting current and future laws.
A judge ruled that the legislature did not follow procedure when passing the changes and ordered the proposition removed from the ballot. An appeals court overruled that judge and it is back on the ballot.
The changes expands protected classes, and the proposition is euphemistically being called an "equal rights amendment."
But foes - Catholic and other religious groups, pro-life and pro-family groups and organizations - call it the Parent Replacement Act.
Because of the proposed wording, these changes will interfere with parental rights when it comes to their children, and abortion without restrictions and limits will be embedded into the state constitution.
What are some of the possible implications when laws based on these changes are enacted or enforced by the courts?
Parents will be denied a say if their minor daughter decides to get an abortion.
Parents will be denied a say if their minor child decides to change gender, including surgically and chemically.
Single sex schools will not be able to prevent a person who identifies as the gender of the students, even though biologically of the opposite gender, from enrolling. (Think Mercy and McQuaid)
Schools and communities will not be able to prevent biological males from identifying as female and playing on girls sports teams.
Abortion will effectively be legal for any reason throughout the full nine months of pregnancy.
Organizations and churches that provide health insurance will have to provide insurance that covers abortion, abortion pills, and so on.
Pro-life pregnancy centers may have to start offering abortion services or referrals.
Pro-life organizations and groups could be subject legal action if they openly oppose abortion.
Churches, businesses, and organizations may be forced to accept as employees or customers those in same-sex marriages.
And more.
And no laws can go into effect to prevent any of these things from happening. If they are passed they will be declared unconstitutional.
So become informed and be aware of the implications of this Proposition when voting this November.
Pax et bonum
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Busman's Honeymoon - Sayers Goal Met
Hooray!
All told, I've now read in the past few years eight of her eleven complete Wimsey novels, having previously read Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness and Unnatural Death.
As for Busman's Honeymoon, typical Sayers. Well-plotted, and with interesting characters and good character development. There's a depth not typical of too may by-the-numbers mysteries. As the last of the Wimsey/Vane novels, it brings the romance to a "happy" conclusion (okay, someone is crying, but they are together and clearly in love).
A good read.
Oh, I have quibbles. Sayers includes a number of passages in French without offering translations. I read very rudimentary French, but it was too much work to translate it all. I suppose she was writing for an educated British audience, but that's not who I am!
There's a lot of witty dialogue and literary allusions. I found it tedious at times; it was too clever.
In addition, I thought there was a bit too much of the mushy romance passages. They tended to overshadow the mystery. Again, she was bringing the romance to a conclusion, but I also wonder if this was her own romantic dreams.
Thrones, Dominations, the unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsherisp, Apparently this picks up the story after Peter and Harriet's honeymoon in Europe, but Sayers abandoned it and said she did not like it. Except for a couple of short stories, she never published any more Wimsey tales.
Pax et bonum
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Santa's Diary Update
As i noted in my midpoint assessment, I have fallen behind on my writing of Santa's Diary. Yes, I'm up over 33,000 words and more than 100 entries, but I have failed to keep up with daily entries. At this point I should have more than 180.
So I started writing again, got a few done, then realized with so many entries spaced out over months I forgot names and some of the details I included earlier - including how many children we have! So I've gone back and started reading what I've written and begun a list.
I will likely combine some of the characters. I also discovered one entry that I basically repeated.
Argh,
I should have the list made by this weekend.
Pax et bonum
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Joe Biden Over the Years
Since last Thursday's debate, there has been a flurry of pundits, media types, and Democratic officials saying they didn't know he had gotten that bad.
Seriously? Where have they been for the last four years?
The kindest thing I can say is that some of them were fooled. A less kind thing I could say is some of them knew and have been lying. Or as Joe might observe, they are lying, dog-faced pony soldiers.
I'm not a Washington insider, and I've been out of the media (other than social media) for years, but I had concerns dating back to before the 2020 election. Those concerns have been stated in various forms in the four years since.
As a Catholic, I was concerned about his betrayal of the faith.
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2020/09/joe-biden-is-devout-catholic.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2020/10/joe-biden-and-communion.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2020/11/lord-of-rings-time.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2021/01/joe-biden-is-catholic.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2020/12/hey-catholics-who-voted-for-biden.html
As a citizen and voter, I have been concerned about his "trouble with the truth."
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2023/06/true-stories-really.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2022/03/biden-lied-again.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2021/04/biden-gets-wapo-4-pinocchios-in-other.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2021/02/federalist-tallies-lies-told-by-biden.html
https://paxchristirochester.blogspot.com/2020/09/plagiarism-in-joe-bidens-1988.html
(And yes, there are more Biden-related posts about these two areas and more.)
As a poet and meme creator, I have repeatedly expressed what I've been seeing.
Joe Biden
lingers in his basement listening to Haydn.
But he's been seen in many a horror feature
in supporting roles as yet another swamp creature.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
avoids mention of the works of John Dryden.
He fears voters thinking "it is all a cheat."
and claims that certain "people favor this deceit."
The eyes of former Vice President Biden
suddenly began to widen.
"Wait, you mean now that they say I've won,
people actually expect me to get something done???"
The installation of Joe Biden
was greeted with laughter from Sauron.
Meanwhile, they giggled at Planned Parenthood,
"Our financial prospects are looking good!"
Former Vice President Joe Biden
is content to let gender definitions widen.
He has himself long used the trick
of identifying as a devout Roman Catholic.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
caused some Royal eyes to widen.
His press people sighed, for from the start,
they've been battling accusations he's just an old fart.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
has aides loudly play the Farewell Symphony of Haydn
whenever reporters threaten
to ask a tough question.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
His most recent verbal fail
was his cringe-worthy dead dog tall tale.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
watches Ukraine, the border, inflation, and his poll numbers slidin'.
With so much at stake
it's time for an ice cream break.
Pax et bonum
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Lord Peter Wimsey
I had previously noted that I wanted to read more of Dorothy Sayers' Wimsey novels. In fact, I set a goal of reading five of them this year. My hope is to eventually read all 11 of the novels that she completed. I would also like to read the one that she had partly written, and which was finished by Jill Walsh.
The list - with the ones I've read so far bolded:
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
In terms of my goal for this year, I've already read four: Strong Poison, The Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise, and The Nine Tailors. And I'm currently reading Busman's Honeymoon. So I will reach my goal for the year in the next few days. As for the unread novels, I will likely read one or two more this year. One factor is which books are available at our local libraries.
Onward!