The people this Beatitude (Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied) describes are those who are not content with things as they are and refuse to stifle the restlessness of heart that points man to something greater and so sets him on the inward journey to reach it- rather like the wise men from the East, seeking Jesus, the star that shows the way to truth, to love, to God. The people meant here are those whose interior sensitivity enables them to see and hear that God sends into the world to break the dictatorship of convention.

- Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth (Chapter Four, page 91)

Break the Conventions, Keep the Commandment

-G.K. Chestertion Manalive

Lit Discussion material

Our monthly lit discussion group today took on The Ballad of the White Horse. Contrary to typical procedings we made our way through the epic in a fairly methodical fashion. Of course tangents are unavoidable which explains our brief discussion of Enchanted. A few points that stick out in my memory are:

Book I: The question which Alfred asked Mary, and the answer he recieved.

Book II: The contrast between the reactions of the chiefs whom Alfred recruits

Book III: The Danish lords who sang, the varying types of hopelessness which their songs expressed and how different Alfred's song was from their's.

Okay, there was a lot more... GilbertGirl? Algernon? Anybody else who came? Help!?!? (:

So True

If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading I would spurn them all.

-Francois Fenelon

"Do you think Friday unlucky?"

"No, I think Friday lucky," answered Gale. "All Christian people, whatever their lighter superstitions, have always thought Friday lucky. Otherwise they would have talked about Bad Friday instead of Good Friday."

and

Did they (certain tribes who worshiped various elements) not in fact sing more songs, and dance more dances, and drink wine with more real merriment? That was because they believed in evil. In evil spells, perhaps, in evil luck, in evil under all sorts of stupid and ignorant symbols; but still in something to be fought. They at least read things in black and white, and saw life as the battlefield it is. But you are unhappy because you disbelieve in evil, and think it philosophical to see everything in the same light of grey.

-both by G.K. Chesterton from The Poet and the Lunatics

If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.

-Pope Benedict XVI from Jesus of Nazareth

Tolkien and Beowulf

Well, we're having a discussion of Beowulf on Sunday. Due to a brief mention of Tolkien's interest in this book in a DVD lecture on Beowulf, we have been hunting "high and low" for more references and our search has not been fruitless. Although I have to warn anyone planning on browsing the indexes of Tolkien: Man and Myth, Letters to Tolkien and Tolkien: A Celebration, they are very distracting. With references such as Alice in Wonderland, Chesterton and The Ballad of the White Horse, it is virtually impossible to focus on the topic in hand. Following some of these references I learned that although, when he was younger, Tolkien was a big fan of the Ballad, later on he became critical. I found this bit from a letter to his son Christopher in 1944, quite fascinating:

Priscilla... has been wading through the Ballad of the White Horse for the last many nights; and my efforts to explain the obscurer parts to her convince me that it is not as good as I thought. The ending is absurd. The brilliant smash and glitter of the words and phrases (when they come off, and are not mere loud colors) cannot disguise the fact that G.K.C. knew nothing whatever about the "North", heathen or Christian.

I also learned that drumroll please C.S. Lewis knew much of the Ballad of the White Horse by heart! And that (this I heard in a different place) Tolkien had memorized all of Beowulf in Old English!

And actually, believe it or not, I did follow the Beowulf references as well. On page 89 of Tolkien: A Celebration I found this:

Tolkien's remarks in his classic essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics are the best I have seen on the 'Germanic' vision, but he considered Beowulf's author to be a Christian who was looking back at a heathen heroic past, and his theme, 'man at war with the hostile world, and his inevitable overthrow in Time' is one 'no Christian need despise.'

So anyways... just a few interesting tidbits, after the discussion I may very well have more

Merry Christmas

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone."

"The hands that made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of cattle."

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

"Rejoice! For unto us a Child is born! Unto us a Son is given! And the government shall be upon His shoulders and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace!"

Manalive

Chesterton's ability to weave astonishing paradoxes, marvelous truths and perfect humor into a engaging, educating and incredible story is astounding, and in Manalive he certainly puts his gifts to work.

Innocent Smith is a mystery. Literally blown in to the story by a great wind, he begins climbing trees, spouting nonsensical English, retrieving hats and creating a general feeling cheerfulness as soon as his feet touch ground. In the course of the next few pages, this atmosphere becomes more pronounced and by the middle of chapter four all of the principle characters are engaged to one and other. Thus a happily-ever-after ending seems just around the corner. However before that can become a reality we meet several crime-specialists who introduce a startling series of accusations which question the Innocence of Inoccent. In a makeshift courtroom, the charges of murder, burglary, desertion and polygamy are brought to the doorstep of Mr. Smith. His freedom seems, to put it midly, lost. But, as one of my friends once said, "surprises are the hallmark of the Sage of Beaconsfield*", and as someone who I would greatly like to call my friend once said "things are not always as they seem." Although none of the evidence against Smith is false, he is indeed as blameless as his name suggests. As we learn near the end of the book "he has broken the conventions but he has kept the commandments."

However, the basic storyline can only give you the faintest of ideas of how hilarious and how true and thoughtful this marvelous book is. If you don't own a copy, you can read it here. Just read a few paragraphs whenever you have a spare minute, it is well worth your time.
*Chesterton

A Little Literary Math

Frequent rereading of The Ballad of the White Horse, especially of the third book, in an attempt at memorization + reading through the script of Alice in Wonderland (combined with Through the Looking Glass, our drama groups' first performance) numerous times= the rather odd combination, which you see below, running through the head:

How swiftly and with peril
They gather all good things,*
Shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings*

*The high horns of the forest beasts,
Or the secret stones of kings.
-From book three of The Ballad of the White Horse By G.K. Chesterton

*And why the sea is boiling hot
and whether pigs have wings
-From Through the Looking Glass By Lewis Carrol

The Battle of Lepanto

Since today is the 436th anniversary of the battle of Lepanto and since I am a Chesterton lover, obviously I must post part of Chesterton's poem on that rightly famous battle. So voila, the actual battle scene from the poem you see below your current eyelevel, assuming you are reading this. The earlier part of this poem is well worth your time (my mom and I just read it outloud together, and it sounded amazing) and you can read it here. Oh and the Wikipedia Lepanto page is quite interesting as well. Anyways, time for the poem.

The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign--
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.

Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight for ever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)

How to waste time on a Saturday morning

Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.
Kunst, wie Sittlichkeitsgefühl, besteht, wenn sie irgendwo die Linie zeichnet. (German)
L'art, comme la moralité, consiste en traçant la ligne quelque part. (French)
Искусствоо, как morality, состоит в рисовать линию где-то.(Russian)
藝術, 像道德, 包括在劃清界線某處。(Chinese)
Η τέχνη, όπως την ηθική, συνίσταται να σύρει τη γραμμή κάπου. (Greek)
L'arte, come la moralità, è costituita nel disegno della linea in qualche luogo. (Italian)
芸術は、道徳のようなラインをどこかに引出すことで、成っている。(Japanese)
예술은, 도덕 선을 어딘가에 인출하기안에, 이루어져 있는다. (Korean)
A arte, como o morality, consiste em extrair a linha em algum lugar. (Portuguese)
El arte, como moralidad, consiste en el dibujo de la línea en alguna parte. (Spanish)
De kunst, zoals ethiek, bestaat uit ergens het trekken van de lijn. (Dutch)

I'm sure it's evident that I don't like translators, or languages for that matter, and never spend to much time translating Chesterton quotes on them. (: How do you waste time on a Saturday morning (or any morning really)? Just click on the word translators above.

From Orthodoxy By GKC

The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of something he cannot understand.

(Chap. 2 The Maniac)

Thankful Thursdays

1. The Catholic faith.
2. My family and friends, I love chatting with them about, well.... anything and everything!
3. Books, reading time, authors like Chesterton, Tolkien, Lewis, Austen, Regina Doman, Hilda Van Stockum, Shakespeare etc. etc. etc. (Does that count as one?)
4. Blogger. The blogs have been so much fun, making new friends and keeping in touch with old. And learning things all the time, particularly about Chesterton.
5. Discussions with our homeschool friends.
6. Dr. Thursday's posts, particularly his Thursday posts on ACS.
7. The camera, I'm enjoying it more and more.
8. Being able to listen to stories almost anytime. Thanks to multiple audio players in our house.
9. Shakespeare parties. We get together with a bunch of friends, and read a Shakespeare play together, we have SOOOO much fun.
10. Irish dance class.

Great Post on ACS blog

PLEASE read this, it so interesting. And it mentions the Phantom Tollbooth, which I love and which we had a discussion on about an hour ago, which I will probably be posting on soon. And of course anything on, and partly by Chesterton is very unlikely to be boring.

So anyways take a little time and read that post, it is well worth your time.

I love this quote

School's starting here and I thought this quote was appropriate:

Daybreak is a never ending glory, getting out of bed is a never ending nuisance.

Introducing...

.... ChesterTeens!!!!!!!!!, An Unofficial Society for Teenage Chesterton Fanatics.
This is my new blog, well not just mine it is a group blog which is rapidly attaining more and more teenage chestertonians including adriana, now known as Gilbert Girl, who you may remember as one of my friends who sometimes posted on this blog and her sister Margaret both of whom started their own blogs as well as working on ChesterTeens.
I hope you check it out sometime, it is going to be a lot of fun.

A Chestertonian Easter Egg

Although nearly impossible to read in this picture, this eggs inscription reads,
The men of the east may spell the stars
And times and triumphs mark
But the men signed with the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.

I was having trouble thinking of Easter Egg designs this morning while we were all decorating them for the Easter Egg hunt tomorrow. I decided that this stanza from The Ballad of the White Horse would be quite nice.
I have been working on memorizing the Ballad of the White Horse and now have nearly fifty stanzas commited to memory but the one above was the first I learned. And anyone who loves The Shadow of the Bear as much as I do doubtless has memorized it as well, as it is quoted several times in that marvelous book.

Chesterton series

I have been watching a TV series on Chesterton (originally shown on EWTN). It is very interesting. I have learned a lot about Chesterton because of that movie.
He was a very humorous person (That wasn't my main discovery for even if you have only read a few paragraphs of him it is impossible not to make that discovery.) He told many jokes about his large size. For example he remarked that he was the politest man in England, for indeed he could stand up and offer his seat to three ladies instead of one.

Among his odd attire was a revolver which he never used except when someone would remark that life was not worth living. He would then pull out the revolver and offer to shoot the person.

There are to many highlights to cover right now. But if you would like to here them said better than I can you will just have to watch the series, G.K. Chesterton the apostle of Common sense.