Blogworthies VII

Because The Blog from the Core simply can't cover everything.

Noteworthy entries @ Dyspeptic Mutterings, The Curt Jester, Dust in the Light, Daniel Pipes, Catholic Analysis, The Mighty Barrister, little green footballs, Daniel Pipes (again), Midwest Conservative Journal, Dust in the Light (again), JunkYardBlog, and Times Against Humanity.

The Long, Long Shadow of Sr. Margaret Flagrum and Her Six Foot Rosary Belt. @ Dyspeptic Mutterings (italics and quoted ellipsis in original):

There is a certain type of older Catholic for whom the word "nun" causes the color to drain from the face, replaced by ashen shellshock.

"Aiiiee! The Little Sisters of Vinegar and Gall used to march up and down the classroom aisle, razor-stropping anyone who didn't have the Baltimore Catechism lesson memorized that day! And we chopped wood at recess! And then we'd go home to clean out the paper bag we lived in, and dad would wake us up half an hour before we went to sleep....!"

All of which adds up to a great big "Whew! Goodbye to all that, and thank heaven for the fact we sing the soundtrack for Jesus Christ Superstar at Mass these days. In English! Or Spanish! Or Esperanto! Or Apache! Doesn't matter if we don't understand it! Just so long as it's different."

Pretty much any language will do. Except the one that brings on nun flashbacks....

That Dead Language Must Die! @ The Curt Jester:

Domenico Bettinelli links to and comments on this article on a vice-Mayor of Mesa upset about having Latin Masses conducted in the diocese again.

The announcement by Bishop Thomas Olmsted that Latin masses will be allowed in the Phoenix diocese after a 25-year absence troubles me, particularly in the context of other recent changes in church policy and procedures.

I wonder what those changes he objects to are? Could it be the return to orthodoxy?...

Pushed into a Corner @ Dust in the Light:

Some Cornerites have fallen for a trick that shows why Andrew Sullivan was a master debater back in his prep school days....

Teresa Heinz and CAIR @ Daniel Pipes:

The wife of the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, John Kerry, appears to be giving money to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization I have for two years characterized as standing "on the wrong side in the war on terrorism." Here's the connection: ....

Through Mary's Eyes @ Catholic Analysis:

The Mel Gibson movie is opening the eyes of many to the role of Mary in our own Christian journey. It reminds me of an old religious print showing Jesus and Mary side-by-side with this Latin inscription underneath: "Cor Jesu Adveniat Regnum Tuum * Adveniat Per Mariam" — in English, "Heart of Jesus, May Your Kingdom Come * May it Come Through Mary." Many Protestants and Catholics are re-awakening to this crucial aspect of the Christian revelation....

Mel Gibson — Guilty! Wolf! Wolf! Wolf! @ The Mighty Barrister:

Apparently, being a Christian is now a "hate crime."

Claiming Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" has resulted in "hate crimes" against Jews, a nonprofit organization is seeking online signatures for a petition asking Attorney General John Ashcroft to "evaluate possible actions" against the filmmaker.

Interestingly, the group making this charge has been unable to cite to a single instance where a viewer of the movie was led by the movie's message to commit a "hate crime." ....

Peaceful Religion Watch @ little green footballs:

The terror attacks in Spain unleashed a hellish torrent of hatred in the mosques of the Middle East last Friday, emboldening the imams and sheikhs of even the most “moderate” Islamic countries to scream for Jewish and Crusader blood.

In that order.

I haven’t seen these freaks this worked up for quite a while....

Did the ACLU Disrupt My Talk at American University? @ Daniel Pipes:

When I spoke at American University in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2004, a number of those in the audience engaged in a variety of antics, as described by the school newspaper, the Eagle:

As Pipes took the podium at approximately 8:15 p.m., almost a third of the crowd of 150 took out black pieces of cloth and, in unison, wrapped the cloth around their mouths as a sort of "gag." This was apparently meant as a form of symbolic and silent protest of Pipes's ideas.

Ten minutes into the lecture, and again in unison, the protesters stood up, turned and knelt in their chairs to face the crowd behind them. Ten minutes later, the protesters took out signs that denounced "Campus Watch," an initiative begun by Pipes that monitors and acts as a watchdog against Middle Eastern Studies in North America and attempts to improve them.

I mention this because the leader of the disrupters was at the front of the room. When he brought out his gag, the others did too. When he stood up, so did the others. When he pulled out a sign, the others followed. And when he walked out, so did the others.

Here's a description of this person, from someone who wrote me after the event: ....

The Seven Days @ Midwest Conservative Journal (blockquoted quotations here are italicized in original):

The Episcopal war escalates as the first diocesan line is crossed:

Launching a new front in the Episcopal Church's conflict over gay clergy, six defiant congregations joined Sunday in a confirmation service for youths, led by visiting, conservative bishops who acted without required permission from the Diocese of Ohio.

Which is a Bad Thing:

Under Episcopal law and liturgy, confirmations are supposed to be performed only by local bishops or by visiting bishops approved by the head of the host diocese, in this case Bishop J. Clark Grew II of Cleveland.

"This business against the diocesan bishop is simply defiant and that's why it's troubling," said Daniel England, a church spokesman. "It violates our constitution and canons."

Last August may actually have been a defining moment in the ECUSA. Episcopal conservatives finally seem to be serious this time: ....

Unanimity About Same-Sex Marriage @ Dust in the Light:

Phil Lawler asks and answers a couple of questions arising from the "compromise" amendment in Massachusetts: ....

Europe's Dark Day @ JunkYardBlog:

I can't help but think that somewhere in some cave or hovel, whoever is leading the terrorist army is smiling tonight. Europe seems thoroughly cowed by the spectre of terrorism on one end, and on the other it almost seems like we're seeing the return of the old USSR....

Body of Evidence @ Times Against Humanity:

In one of several flashbacks in The Passion of the Christ, we see Our Lord as He institutes the Sacrament of the Altar on Holy Thursday. His handsome countenance stands in marked contrast to the evidence of the brutal disfigurement to which He has been subjected from the moment of His arrest and dramatically underscores the price paid by the body of Christ to ransom the Body of Christ from the debt due our sins.

The repentant sinner knows the unfathomable beauty of Christ crucified and, yes, the beauty of the Cross. In a culture that respects neither Christ nor His Cross, however, beauty is only skin deep. In such a superficial society, physical appearance is often a standard for social acceptance and, at times, even membership in the human race....

See also Blogworthies VI and Blogworthies VIII.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 03/20/04 02:54:21 PM
Categorized as Blogworthies.

A Spring Bouquet of Poetry II

In celebration of the first day of Spring.

To Spring

O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell one another, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn'd
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth
And let thy holy feet visit our clime!

Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumèd garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.

O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languish'd head,
Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee.

William Blake (1757-1827)
The Oxford Book of English Verse (1939) # 498
ed. Arthur Quiller-Couch

My Lady

I loved her for that she was beautiful;
And that to me she seem'd to be all Nature,
And all varieties of things in one:
Would set at night in clouds of tears, and rise
All light and laughter in the morning; fear
No petty customs nor appearances;
But think what others only dream'd about;
And say what others did but think; and do
What others dared not do: so pure withal
In soul; in heart and act such conscious yet
Such perfect innocence, she made round her
A halo of delight. 'Twas these which won me;—
And that she never school'd within her breast
One thought or feeling, but gave holiday
To all; and that she made all even mine
In the communion of Love: and we
Grew like each other, for we loved each other;
She, mild and generous as the air in Spring;
And I, like Earth all budding out with love.

Philip James Bailey (1816-1902)
The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse (1913) # 225
ed. Arthur Quiller-Couch

Description of Spring
Wherein each thing renews, save only the Lover

The soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings,
With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale:
The nightingale with feathers new she sings;
The turtle to her make hath told her tale.
Summer is come, for every spray now springs:
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale;
The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;
The fishes flete with new repairèd scale.
The adder all her slough away she slings;
The swift swallow pursueth the flies smale;
The busy bee her honey now she mings;
Winter is worn that was the flowers' bale.

And thus I see among these pleasant things
Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs.

Henry Howard (1516-1547)
OBEV # 47

To Daffodils

Fair daffodils, we weep to see
   You haste away so soon;
As yet the early-rising sun
   Has not attain'd his noon.
         Stay, stay
      Until the hasting day
         Has run
      But to the evensong;
And, having pray'd together, we
      Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,
   We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
   As you, or anything.
         We die
      As your hours do, and dry
         Away
      Like to the summer's rain;
Or as the pearls of morning's dew,
      Ne'er to be found again.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
OBEV # 260

The Linnet

I heard a linnet courting
   His lady in the spring:
His mates were idly sporting,
   Nor stayed to hear him sing
         His song of love.—
I fear my speech distorting
         His tender love.

The phrases of his pleading
   Were full of young delight;
And she that gave him heeding
   Interpreted aright
         His gay, sweet notes,—
So sadly marred in the reading,—
         His tender notes.

And when he ceased, the hearer
   Awaited the refrain,
Till swiftly perching nearer
   He sang his song again,
         His pretty song:—
Would that my verse spake clearer
         His tender song!

Ye happy, airy creatures!
   That in the merry spring
Think not of what misfeatures
   Or cares the year may bring;
         But unto love
Resign your simple natures,
         To tender love.

Robert Bridges (1844-1930)
OBEV # 847

Night of Spring

    Slow, horses, slow,
    As through the wood we go—
We would count the stars in heaven,
    Hear the grasses grow:

    Watch the cloudlets few
    Dappling the deep blue.
In our open palms outspread
    Catch the blessed dew.

    Slow, horses, slow,
    As thro' the wood we go—
We would see fair Dian rise
    With her huntress bow:

    We would hear the breeze
    Ruffling the dim trees,
Hear its sweet love-ditty set
    To endless harmonies.

    Slow, horses, slow,
    As through the wood we go—
All the beauty of the night
    We would learn and know!

Thomas Westwood (1814-1888)
OBVV # 222

Whilst it is Prime

Fresh Spring, the herald of loves mighty king,
In whose cote-armour richly are displayd
All sorts of flowers, the which on earth do spring,
In goodly colours gloriously arrayd—
Goe to my love, where she is carelesse layd,
Yet in her winters bowre not well awake;
Tell her the joyous time wil not be staid,
Unlesse she doe him by the forelock take;
Bid her therefore her selfe soone ready make,
To wayt on Love amongst his lovely crew;
Where every one, that misseth then her make,
Shall be by him amearst with penance dew.
      Make hast, therefore, sweet love, whilest it is prime;
      For none can call againe the passèd time.

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
OBEV # 88

Daffodils

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
OBEV # 544

Spring on the Ochils

Fra whaur in fragrant wuds ye bide
Secure fra winter care,
Come, gentle Spring, to Ochilside
And Ochil valleys fair.
For sweet as ony pagan spring
Are Devon's watters clear;
And life wad be a lovely thing
Gif ye were only here.

She comes! the waffin' o' her wings
Wi' music fills the air;
An' wintry thochts o' men an' things
Vex human hearts nae mair.
On Devon banks wi' me she strays,
Her poet for the while,
And Ochil brooks and Ochil braes
Grow classic in her smile!

James Logie Robertson (b. 1846)
a.k.a. Hugh Haliburton
OBVV # 529

The Lilies of the Field
To F.L.U.

See also A Spring Bouquet of Poetry.

[And see also A Fall Bouquet of Poetry II.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 03/20/04 02:16:09 PM
Categorized as Literary & Most Notable.

Lt. John Kerry on C-SPAN Tomorrow

See here but also here.

Follow along here. :-)

P.S. Referring to him as Lt. Kerry is my short-hand way of distinguishing the young man from the later Sen. John Kerry.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 03/20/04 06:43:22 AM
Categorized as John Kerry & Political.