I want to write ...

It has finally occurred to me that I need to post poll results ...

Last week's poll asked what you would rather be: an actor; a musician; an author; or a politician.  The results are in.  Not surprisingly -- at least to me -- no one wanted to be a politician.  I thought at least someone would have wanted to be a thespian, but alas, poor Yorick, no one did!  A meager 20% of respondents wanted to be a musician, and a full 80% would like to be an author.

Fear not, you 80%!  Just do it.  If you have the desire and the discipline, you CAN!

John Paul II

Two events of note took place over the weekend.  One, the killing of Osama bin Laden has and will capture the headlines and newsrooms for days, if not weeks to come.  The other, the beautification of John Paul II has passed in relative obscurity.  Many of you reading this don't know who John Paul II was.  You should.  It strikes me as typical of our human race that we will gladly accept the tsunami of reports regarding the death of one man who has had such a negative impact on the world, while the other who has set an example of godliness, love and kindness will pass by us unnoticed.  We will stare at our televisions and hang on our media devices for every detail surrounding bin Laden's demise, but we will change the channel when a passing word on John Paul's beautification interferes.  You don't have to be Catholic to understand, appreciate and revere the life of Karl Wojtyla, just like you don't have to be a Buddhist to understand, appreciate and revere the life of Siddhartha Gautama.  Look to the future through the eyes of a saint.

Bringing meaning to life ...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about work, labor, toil, employment, job … whatever name you might use to describe what you are do in life for money.  As I move forward on my new novel, the concept comes to the forefront because I am dealing with slavery in America.  I pause now to reflect on the heart of The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas.  The worth of a man is not based on what he does for himself – was my premise – rather by what he does for others.  That exact sentiment is contained in this quote by clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher,

 “Greatness lies not on being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightyly when it serves only to carry a man above his felloss for his own solitary glory.  He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most harts by the attraction of his own.”

 And by John Ruskin, a poet, writer and social thinker in the 19^th century.

 “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.”

 Work hard at whatever you do to lift the hearts of your fellows and inspire them by your own diligence.

Bearing the Cross

As the Christian world approaches its Holy Week, I am reminded of a piece I read one year ago and posted on this blog.  There are two things I know I will personally do every year at this special time:  I will watch Mel Gibson's film "The Passion;" and I will post this piece by Father Rosica in the hope that Hanna's poem reaches all men of good will.  Father Rosica writes ...

“While I was still Catholic Chaplain at the University of Toronto’s Newman Center, a wonderful, elderly Catholic woman confided to me one Good Friday the struggles that she and her family were having with the acceptance of the cross as the central symbol of the Christian life.  The woman wept as she expressed concern about her own daughter’s troubled faith, and she shared with me a poem that her daughter, Hanna had written about the cross.

“Far from describing a lack of faith, the poem reveals the raw faith and deep love that the mystery of Good Friday elicits from all Christians throughout the world on this day.  The poem reads:

Angel Levine

As a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in the late ‘60’s, I occasionally found myself in the theater at Arnold Hall, the cadet social center, not necessarily to watch a film, but just to escape the madness of a particular day or week.  One afternoon, I went to the theater and the screen opened to a film called “The Fixer.”  It grabbed me from the beginning and held me attentively captive for over two hours.  The following summer, I found the book in our home library in Massachusetts’ Berkshire Hills.  Just a year or two earlier, it earned its author, Bernard Malamud the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  It is as fine a tale of human redemption as any.

Forty some years later, I sat in the quiet of the Redemptorist chapel early this morning and read a remarkable short story of brotherhood in which the late Mr. Malamud held his course to show how even the most difficult circumstances can be conquered by the most unlikely of heroes.  The name of the short story that Mr. Malamud wrote in 1955, a dozen years before he wrote The Fixer is “Angel Levine.”  I suppose the fact that I fiercely believe in angels has something to do why I was so taken by this story.

I include a link here that presents the complete story.  For those of you who are apt to be skeptical of this recommendation, read on and I present the opening paragraph and the concluding words.  I hope you will take the time to read Bernard Malamud’s “Angel Levine.”

Knight of Faith

I recently read a piece entitled "Zen for the West" by American philosopher and essayist William Barrett (1913 - 1992).  In his essay, Barrett refers to Danish philsopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard, and Kierkegaard's references to the Knight of Faith and the Knight of Resignation.  While my research is quite incomplete, I include this post to encourage others in search of truth to explore his writings, particularly his work Fear and Trembling.  I steal these excerpts directly from Wikipedia to spark your interest.

How Rich are you ...

This is quote by Ms. Koller is very similar to something I heard years ago but cannot attribute:  "You measure the wealth of a man not by what he has, but by what he can do without."

"There are two ways to be rich.  One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little."

Jackie French Koller, author