Pansy and Peony

Dr Lucia Knoles, Assumption College: Commonplace Books: "a vital tool of erudition" (and why you're going to be assigned one for my survey class)

She quotes Confucius:

If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant;
if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone;
if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate;
if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion.
Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said.
This matters above everything.

Denise at Frugal Homeschooling: Keeping a Commonplace Book

She quotes:

A commonplace book is what a provident poet cannot subsist without, for this proverbial reason, that "great wits have short memories:" and whereas, on the other hand, poets, being liars by profession, ought to have good memories; to reconcile these, a book of this sort, is in the nature of a supplemental memory, or a record of what occurs remarkable in every day's reading or conversation. There you enter not only your own original thoughts, (which, a hundred to one, are few and insignificant) but such of other men as you think fit to make your own, by entering them there. For, take this for a rule, when an author is in your books, you have the same demand upon him for his wit, as a merchant has for your money, when you are in his.

--- Jonathan Swift
"A Letter of Advice to a Young Poet"

She links to a how-to-make-one article at DIY Planner.

Alan Jacobs in First Things comments on the physical act of writing versus the ol' Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.  "Wisdom that is not frequently revisited is wisdom wasted."

A black death row inmate, in 1940's Arkansas, meets the Blessed Virgin Mary:

While [Claude Newman] was in jail awaiting execution, he shared a cell-block with four other prisoners. One night, the five men were sitting around talking and eventually the conversation ran out. During this time, Claude noticed a medal on a string around one of the other prisoner's neck. Curious, he asked the other prisoner what the medal was. The young prisoner was a Catholic, but he apparently did not know (or did not want to talk) about the medal, and seemingly embarrassed, he appeared angry and suddenly took the medal off from around his own neck and threw it on the floor at Claude's feet with a curse and a cuss, telling him to "take the thing". Claude picked up the medal, and after looking it over, he placed it around his own neck, although he had no idea who's image it was on the medal; to him it was simply a trinket, but for some reason he felt attracted to it, and wanted to wear it.

During the night while sleeping on top of his cot, he was awakened with a touch upon his wrist. Awakening with a start, there stood, as Claude told Father O’Leary afterwards, ‘the most beautiful Woman that God ever Created’.

At first he was quite frightened, not knowing what to make of this extraordinary beautiful glowing Woman. The Lady soon calmed Claude down, and then said to
him, "If you would like Me to be your Mother, and you would like to be My child, send for a priest of the Catholic Church."

And after saying these words She suddenly disappeared.

Get a grip.

From Regnum Novum on the appalling mess that is the State of California:

We may be tempted to conclude that all of these folks, the union boss, the career politician are just congenital heels, incapable of thinking beyond themselves. To that I would just remind us that A) there but for the grace of God go I, and B) in this culture of ours sin is a stern and imposing mistress.

So there's a super-secret memo out there that outlines why the President can order an American citizen killed without due process.

Up to now I've taken comfort in the idea that our military would not obey an illegal order. But somebody fired those drones....

"Let the little ones come to me":

In order to teach the sacraments to [their autistic daughter] Danielle, Dave and Mercedes turned to a resource that worked for them in the past: the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Children begin by exchanging a picture for a desired item, usually a preferred food. Through this positive reinforcement, they gradually build up a visual vocabulary that allows them to distinguish among different objects and concepts and create complex sentences, such as “I see red candy.” Once the concepts take hold, the reinforcement is slowly withdrawn.

....The key part of first Communion preparation was teaching Danielle to distinguish the Eucharist from ordinary food and to receive it in a reverential way. “It’s a very hard concept to explain,” said Dave. “Even a 7-year-old neurotypical kid is going to have trouble with transubstantiation. What’s important is the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The bishops want them to understand that this piece of bread is special and different and recognize that fact with a reverential sign or a moment of silence.”

....They also taught her about confession. Although the church said Danielle didn’t need to make her first reconciliation due to her cognitive level, the Rizzos felt she could understand it. “We wanted her to have the grace of the sacrament,” said Dave. Added Mercedes, “She knows when she does something wrong....”

And, so, on the same day as her first Communion, Danielle sat down with their pastor, Father Phillip Pfleger, and her parents on either side of her. She handed Father Pfleger an “I’m sorry” icon, and then her parents recited the Act of Contrition.

It sounds like everything came together for this young lady, starting with parents who are well-formed in their own faith.

Goosebumps (or God-bumps) alert:

Later that day, Danielle received Communion for the first time during an evening Mass. Danielle received reverently, returned to her pew, knelt, and folded her hands. “Just the way she carried herself that night,” recalled Mercedes, “we knew she understood. She was very reverent. She got it. I think it was just divine intervention.”

The materials Danielle's parents used were the seed of a curriculum for special-needs children now available from Loyola - details in the article.

"Hey, Dark Side, get off the car."

And don't miss his comments on the soteriology of the Kia hamsters

From dear Mr John Wright:

The invitation to join the “In Crowd” is always extended in terms that tell you that you are one of the chosen few, one of those capable of the “great moral and intellectual effort” needed to see things as they really are. It is the mating cry of Gnosticism....

Those of you who notice the leitmotif of the modern age, it consists of stupid and wicked people telling us that they are smarter and more virtuous than us. Now you know why. The unearned spiritual, mental, and moral claim of superiority is the passkey that lets you join the ‘In’ crowd.

from this post delivering a well-deserved thrashing to an anonymous racist illiterate crackpot

...written by her brother:

My Dad was a genius. He was very accomplished and highly educated with mutiple degrees. These included a BA from Brandeis in Psychology with a double major in Anthropology, a MA in Psychology from Columbia University, a PHD in Psychology from Stonybrook, and a MA in theology from St. Charles Borromeo. But he didn't care about any of that. He only cared about his family and his faith. He always let me know that in his life, first came God, then my mother and my siblings, and that loving God meant loving your family. He adored his grandchildren, and looked up to his brother. That's the type of person I want to be.

Pansy's father's wake is tonight. The Mass of Christian Burial is Friday morning.

Pansy's father entered eternal life early this morning, on the Feast of the Assumption.

1973, with baby Pansy

Deacon Dad, 2009

(besides "are you eating something? are you going to share it with me? are you going to drop something to eat on the floor? are you going to walk by the treat jar?")

Monsignor Pope on the mysteries of pets and the new creation:

Perhaps the mystery of our pets is that they are ambassadors for the rest of creation, a kind of early delegation set by God to prepare the way and the connections of the new and restored creation. Perhaps they are urging us on in our task to make the number of the elect complete so that all creation can sooner receive its renewal and be restored to the glory and harmony it once had. Who knows? But I see a kind of urgency in the pets I have had. They are filled with joy, enthusiasm and expectation of something great....

A comment from the delightful Harry Potter thread at dear Mr John C. Wright's blog:

It’s at times like this that one sees the real value of the world’s greatest pastime: model railroading.

Model railroading teaches its practitioners useful skills and knowledge ranging from engineering to carpentry to history to geology. It also teaches one the ability to find transcendent beauty and joy – the magic of which John speaks above – in such mundane sights as a steam locomotive switching a cut of hopper cars into a coal tipple.

And there are no spells or incantations involved, although the level of esoterica required to become proficient could be considered excessive.

Image via Wikipedia