I donated to Catholic Relief Services.  Will you?

Ven. Pierre Toussaint, pray for us!

Fr. Longnecker interprets his brother’s suggestion as a case study in St. Benedict’s rule to combine prayer and work, ora et labora, to lead a contented, balanced life. St. Benedict mandated that his religious brothers engage in chores throughout the day and that these chores be, whenever possible, physical chores. He too knew of the restorative power of physical labor.

After reading that article, I was craving some wood-chopping therapy. My school day ended somewhat lousily today, and nothing I told myself in my head made any difference. Nothing stuck. I knew that the problem wasn’t in my mind, but rather in my body.

Seeing as how I live in an apartment in a large metropolitan area, however, chopping wood is easier said than done. I went for a walk, hoping to take care of some of the edginess. I was unrelieved. I prayed, simply, for some wood-chopping before the day was through.

Earlier this week, I had arranged to pick up a used sofa from a friend and co-worker. It was a large, heavy sofa with a mattress inside. “Will we be able to carry this?” I asked, referring more to myself than my friend.

After some vein-popping fun, the couch finally made it into the apartment. But before it even got out of the door of his, I knew this was God’s answer to my prayers for a chance to chop wood this evening. The job done, I felt restored to a degree of mental clarity. My lousy day wasn’t so confusing anymore, and I could see things a bit more clearly.

If you need any wood chopped, let me know.

This is my second time reading Song. It is a riveting account of the lives of thirteen Carmelite sisters during the time of the French Revolution. Based in historical fact, von le Fort tells a compelling narrative as the nuns ready themselves for the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom.

The fictionalized part, which comes in the form of the character Blanche de la Force, is also a careful study of the way in which the Lord can use our weaknesses as strength. Blanche suffers from an inborn tendency toward extreme fear in all things. Despite this characteristic, which the Carmelites see as a grave weakness, Blanche is welcomed into the convent. As much as she might try, little Blanche cannot overcome her fear – of the coming revolution, of an untimely death, of even the most trivial things – and eventually flees from the convent right before the rest of the sisters are taken into custody. At the end of the story, in a moment of paradox, it is Blanche’s lone, courageous voice that carries the tune of the Veni Creator as the rest of her sisters are led to the guillotine.

I am inspired by von le Fort’s reflection on our weaknesses. Does the Lord ask us, as the mother superior tells Blanche, to “be loyal to” our weaknesses? Of course, this cannot mean being loyal to sin, but can it mean accepting what the Lord might do through us despite our human failings?  I think it does.  If we were not loyal to our weakness, we might forget that we have them and imagine we do not need the Lord’s saving grace.

Do What You Are, by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger

This is a very interesting book that relates your Myers-Briggs personality type to the career that would best fit you.  Of course, there are some discrepancies about whether the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is really a good way to understand a person, but if you take it from the perspective that it is one piece of the puzzle, I think this book could serve you quite well.

The book begins by asking you to evaluate yourself and place yourself in each of the four type categories. This section tends to drag on a bit, and the examples that are used often seem trite and unrealistic. After you evaluate your Type, the authors provide a detailed analysis of your working style and list preferred careers.

This book emphasizes people can be happy in a wide range of professional fields. It is the tasks we engage in in these fields that determine our satisfaction with our jobs. For example, someone who is introverted may not shine as a classroom teacher where lecture is required in every class period but may still happily be a guidance counselor.

If you’re looking for a view of personality more closely connected with the Catholic spiritual tradition, I would recommend The Temperament God Gave You, by Art and Laraine Bennett. I have to admit to only having thumbed through the book, but it gives a much more wholistic perspective and connects your temperament with the way you experience God. In addition, it provides some helpful reflection on how our temperaments – with both its strengths and weaknesses – come from God very specifically as the means by which we do his will. This can give one great consolation in times of personal struggle, because we can be reminded that God created us and loves us, just the way we are.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling

This is, of course, the sixth book in the famed Harry Potter series. For those that have read the series or are thinking about picking it up, you might agree that the first few books, especially books I – IV, were marvelous creations of fantastical imagination. Readers, like myself, loved to discover the charming magical secrets that enchant Harry Potter’s world.

Readers also found that the books could provide ample room for reflection on the nature of virtue, character, choice, and friendship. In fact, Professors Catherine and David Deavel, of the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul) do just that in their Fall 2002 article in the Catholic journal Logos. “The adventures of Harry and his
friends spark the moral imagination of young readers,” the Deavels write, and indeed his adventures do.

Midway through the fifth book, however, I found that the books took a dark and moralistic turn. Suddenly Harry was an isolated, cold figure who made decisions in a moral vacuum. The fifth book ends with a philosophically confusing conception of death that can ultimately not be held in conjunction with a Catholic worldview.

This same tone continues in much of the sixth book. In addition, the writing slowly unravels as relationships – Harry’s with Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore – become strained and unclear. Additionally, there is an awkward focus on the romantics of the teenage Hogwarts crew, that does little to move the story forward or help the reader understand the deeper motives of its characters. Granted, such movements of heart do occur in these adolescent years, but they require a more skillful prose to be dealt with appropriately.

If you’ve already made it this far in the series, I’d say, continue. Otherwise, perhaps the movies are more entertaining?

This one is almost even cooler.

Update:  I decided to make the second one a link so as not to overwhelm this post visually.  Both of them are worth checking out.

When I showed up to run the 5K at St. Richard’s this weekend, I stopped in quickly to get my registration materials, number, and t-shirt.  This is what I found inside:

Yes, that’s right, I had been given the number one as my race number.  I felt pretty special.

Then, later that day, I received this card from my eight-year-old brother in the mail.  It was perfect.

Well, that pretty much sums it up.  Thanks, God.

Students are lazy with their work.
Teachers are also lazy with their work, but maintain a facade.

Students would rather go  outside.
Teachers would rather go outside, too.

And yet, somehow, we are still engage in that supremely human endeavor: learning.  Somehow, we are managing, like pulling great big teeth from shiny, grabby gums, to work ourselves out of the darkness of our ignorance into the light of truth and grace.

Help!

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Update:  If you are a student or teacher, consider this article and the tips at the bottom for combatting spring fever.  Although these tips are somewhat silly, I think they acknowledge the reality of any teacher’s situation.  Also, don’t forget to get out and smell the roses!

One of the things I was thinking about is how stories stick. I read that in Tools for Teaching, by Fred Jones – he suggested that when you are lecturing, make sure to tell stories with detail and imagery because those two things help us create more dynamic memories. I’m sure you’ve also heard of those memory tricks where you create an image – let’s say, a house – and create other things in that house to help remind you of certain things you want to remember. I’ve heard that certain cultures really rely on this type of memory device.

So, I was bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a resource to introduce Spanish vocabulary in the context of a story. Wouldn’t it be great if there were some lively stories with Spanish vocabulary that were easily understandable? My sister uses a vocabulary series called VocabuLit – vocabulary, in this way, is learned in context with passages and short stories.

Our next chapter in Spanish II is celebrations – birthdays, weddings, parties, etc. As I was unpacking today, I glanced in my black plastic file holder and the yellow book caught my eye – El cumpleaños de Arturo – Arthur’s Birthday. It’s a book a purchased two years ago but never found a good chance to use. When I picked it up and glanced through, I realized it happened to use some of the vocabulary from our new unit, matched the theme perfectly, and used the past tense which my students wouldn’t have been able to understand until this year.

Now the challenge is to use this book in a way that’s actually helpful. We’ll see what happens!

I think the best thing about this film was its ability to energetically portray life in the slums of India.  The vibrant yellows and reds, the contemporary and traditional Indian music, and the variety of camera effects made the movie an intriguing collage of cinema.  The movie made me want to travel to India and speak the Indian language.  It made me want to explore the issues of poverty that the movie explores.

The story line called to mind two experiences from my own past.  The first is a book, The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg.  In the book, four students when an academic competition because they happen to be asked questions that can be answered from their unique life experiences.  This is the premise of Millionaire, that a young boy from the slums, a “slumdog,” can answer his questions based on his vast life experience.

The movie also reminded me of an experience I had while living in Rome in 2005.  While there, I had the chance to visit one of the priories of the Missionaries of Charity priests (Mother Theresa’s order).  I visited for prayer, dinner, and then, it just so happened, a visit to the gypsy (or “Roma” as they are properly referred to today) camp nearby.  It was an old, abandoned building that housed a hundred or so shanties where the gypsy people live.  Gypsies are the people you find most often begging on the streets of Rome.  The movie reminded me of the Gypsies because a large part of the boy’s experience was his enslavement to an organized ring of beggars and the gruesome experiences that entailed.  The Gypsy camp that I experienced was not gruesome, it was actually surprisingly lively (we had gone over there to show the Passion, I think, for the Romanian Orthodox celebration of Lent).

The movie is rated R and, for that reason, should be approached with some caution.  The movie has some violent and gruesome scenes that even some adults would find troubling, especially those who are sensitive to violence toward children (which would be most adults, I would think, but I’m sure there are some who are more so than others).  There are other adult themes but, ultimately, values and actions that are in line with Catholic teachings seem to prevail.

If you saw it, what did you think?  If you read The View from Saturday or are familiar with the gypsy people, I’d also like your input.

On a couple of occasions, I have thought of the children’s book, The Littlest Angel, while singing with the choir. The main character is a little boy-angel who sings with the choir and runs around heaven, always leaving things in a little bit of a mess and never quite fulfilling his angel-duties like a responsible angel should. For example, he always shows up late to choir practice, sings a bit off-key, and gets distracted easily during practice. The older angels give him disapproving looks, thinking he can’t get his act together.

I like to think of this littlest angel, who must be so loved by God. Flitting into and out of his responsibilities, he is held in God’s tender hand. God is not so worried about his little mistakes, but takes delight in his spirited presence in heaven.

When I’m too serious about my adult responsibilities, it helps to think of myself as the littlest angel. It’s okay if I flit into and out of my responsibilities, a little. The Lord doesn’t care that I do everything perfectly; he’s delighted I’m around on earth, brightening up corners here and there.

An elderly angel realizes the littlest angel is actually homesick and that, perhaps, his lack of attention to detail might be a symptom of missing his earthly home. He finds a bolex of things that remind him of his home on earth, gives it to the litt angel, and this seems to do the trick.

When Jesus is born, the littlest angel gives Jesus his box; it is the only gift he has. He worries that it won’t be enough but God accepts the gift.

He turns the box of remembrances into the star of Bethlehem.

I get homesick, too, down in MS. We all long for things we have lost or given up to follow the Lord. But maybe our little gifts, however imperfect, will be enough to direct others on their way to see the Lord.