“Mea culpa” without Christ becomes a kind of travesty. Snitching, shaming, the imposition of groupthink, the hatred and fear of truth, especially from the safe preserve of online anonymity, simply gouge the original wound deeper.
In fact, the credo behind woke culture’s judge-jury-and-executioner modus operandi isn’t “My fault” at all, but rather “YOUR fault.”
Meanwhile, I am noting with interest and amusement the differences between Tucson and LA.
One: tons of people smoke!
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins: Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall and Alice Waters Changed Our World (2018), by journalist Andrea Barnet, is a fascinating read. Rachel Carson (1907-1964) parlayed her curiosity and love for the outdoor, in particular the ocean into an important and lasting contribution to […]
Whoa. Here’s some advice. Do not EVER move. Just kidding! What I really mean is: Do not ever move unless you have as your moving crew Dennis, Tensie, Donald and Alan. I am safely in my new place in Tucson, as of a week ago today, and I am still reeling from the way that […]
Don’t make the mistake of associating stained glass only with churches. “The second gallery is the new, hip cutting-edge pieces that are really exciting.”
“If you love traditional stained glass, there’s plenty of it and you can get up close. If you like graffiti and street art, conceptual art, sci-fi—come and check out the second gallery. This is stained glass like you’ve never seen it before.”
As I pack up more and more stuff, it’s also interesting to see what’s left; what’s essential as I more or less camp out for a few days. Six 12-ounce packages of Starbucks French roast (I buy them expired on ebay). A giant container of pure cane sugar. A glass of roses from the garden. My portable prayer box (breviary, Magnificat, candle, incense, matches). A small old wooden crucifix. Three rosaries.
Crunch time means devoting an inordinate amount of mental space and physical exertion to “stuff” for a while. One function of the Incarnation, I’ve been thinking, is that we are constantly constantly carrying stuff from one place to another. Take a look around next time you’re out. Guys with plastic bags dangling from their handlebars, kids with backpacks, mothers with strollers, pickup trucks laded with rakes, shovels, trash barrels, all of us hauling bags of groceries into the kitchen after a Trader Joe’s run.
Let’s start off the week with a laugh, and a tear… “He entered my room and said: ‘Poor creature, you who understand nothing. Come with me and I will teach you things which you do not suspect.’ I followed him. He took me into a church. It was new and ugly. He led me up […]
The real thrill is getting to put (gloved) hands on these works. “In a gallery there’s often a stanchion or a tape line on the floor. We have the luxury and honor of being the people who are actually allowed up close. Are these D-rings strong enough? What if a viewer inadvertently jostles this pedestal: is the work sufficiently secured?”
Devastating discovery: Tucson does not have 99 Cents Only Stores, which have been a mainstay of my marketing life for many years. Cleaning supplies, toiletries, produce, oat milk, coconut water, flax seed…Aspirin, cough drops, hydrogen peroxide, Sour Patch Watermelon…I’m sure I have saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars at the 99.
Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins: Recently I heard a homily in which the priest shared that he and his brethren are generally instructed by their superiors not to say anything that will disturb people. I almost wept. If we’re not here to be disturbed, to be challenged, to be called higher, […]
From a friend, last week, at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario: “The Loons and the Great Blue Heron have returned from the south. The maple sap has quit running and the maple trees are budding. Yesterday there was a work bee to take the leaves off the flower beds because the crocuses have just started […]
More podcast fun. This one is from Catholic Culture, with Thomas Mirus and James T. Majewski, good Catholic boys from NYC. Here’s the YouTube blurb: “In 1962, inspired by Pope St. John XXIII’s outreach to non-Christian artists, a gay communist picked up the Gospels and ended up making a film about Jesus. Nervous yet? But […]
From “Overcoming Dualism”: “In practical terms this means that everything human that is interesting can lead me to Christ.”