My newest project is that I’m applying for Irish citizenship, my paternal grandparents having come over from “the old country” (Limavady, Northern Ireland, #potatofamine). Last night I thought to check the mean temp in, say, Galway: 60 F IN THE SUMMERTIME. Apparently it also rains literally ALL THE TIME. Then I’m sorry to say I […]
DIVINE INTOXICATION
24 YEARS A CATHOLIC
In solitary confinement, in the labor camps, Fr. Ciszek learned at last what St. Thérèse of Lisieux did in her Carmelite cell: “Each of us has no need to wonder about what God’s will must be for us; his will for us is clearly revealed in every situation of every day.”
“THE LITTLE LOCKSMITH,” A MEMOIR
“Something had blazed in me, and from the blaze I discovered a new element in myself, a combustible something that would always blaze again in defense of the mystery and sacredness in things, and against the queer, blind, blaspheming streak in human nature which instead of adoring, must vulgarize and exploit and insult life.”
MOTHER LOVE
“The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them,” observed Chesterton. “The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them.”
Who better to restore that doctrine than women, who carry the evidence for miracles in our wombs?
I’M NOT A BRAND, I’M A FRAME!
I’ve been hard at work and have come up with a kind of frame to put around my work. More on this later, but for now I’ll just say the frame is called DESIRE LINES: Arts, Divine Intoxication. Faith. Above are my logo and banner! You’ll be seeing more of this in the coming week […]
NEW WRITING WORKSHOP
Heather King will be offering a new 8-week Writing Workshop on Zoom, Saturdays 12 to 2 PST, starting Sept 12 and running through Oct 31, 2020.
STILL FULL OF SAP, STILL GREEN
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. I am not going gently into that good night JUST YET.
CHEKHOV’S BLACK MONK ON THE GARDEN
“Here’s the other thing: age. No-one tells you but after you’ve been around for six decades or so a whole thing starts to go on in your psyche, heart, brain and bones where you are constantly but constantly aware of your impending death.”
AS THE WORLD TURNS
Catholicism for me is van Gogh saying, “I love my studio in the same way that a sailor loves his ship.” It’s Maria Callas saying, “I prepare myself for rehearsals the way I would for marriage”…
USE ME
Robert Macfarlane, author of “Mountains of the Mind,” observes that continued agitation excites the climber, the huntsman, the gambler, the warrior. I’d like to add the writer to that list.
INCLINE THE EAR OF THY HEART
Join the Portsmouth Institute’s Virtual Summer Conference on Saturday, June 20. The Conference takes as its theme “Incline the Ear of Thy Heart: Rediscovering the Virtues and Practices of the Christian Life.” I’ll be speaking on the subject of “Pilgrimage.”
AN OPERA SINGER’S JOURNEY
Every artist has mentors, benefactors, guides. Opera singer Julia Rolwing, whose specialty is Wagner, talks about some of hers who helped along the way.
BACK TO THE BUSINESS OF LIFE: RESURRECTION CEMETERY
As the world emerges slowly from lockdown, the first public place I visited was a cemetery. Ah–people!
G.K. CHESTERTON ON THE COLOR WHITE
wrote G.K. Chesterton: “God paints in many colours; but he never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.”