Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

Did you know the Wardrobe Into Narnia is in Illinois?

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(Note:  I had intended to post today a compilation of other books along the lines of Mary Eberstadt’s The Loser Letters, but this post will have to wait for later, so I can report about finding here in Illinois a great gem of a museum featuring C.S. Lewis, whose Screwtape Letters inspired this genre of epistolary fiction.)


Did you know the wardrobe into Narnia is in Illinois?


I didn’t, until my husband took our family on a mid-summer trip to Chicagoland, one of his goals to show us a little-known center at Wheaton College.  A friend had told him that C.S. Lewis’ desk and other article belonging to a group of English authors, and he thought this would be a good chance to see the Center.

Of course, we are a huge C.S. Lewis family, having read Narnia multiple times as a family and seen the movies.  We are anxiously awaiting the release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader December 10, and hoping it will be more true to the book than was Prince Caspian.   My husband is a particular fan of G.K. Chesterton, and I have loved Tolkien since I was a teenager.  

But we weren’t really sure what to expect at the  Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College.  

I am happy to report that it is really worth a visit for older children and adults, if just to see the famous wardrobe.



The photo is not the best, flash photography not being allowed.    The wardrobe was handmade and carved by C.S. Lewis’ grandfather, and is the wardrobe that inspired him in portions of writing The Chronicles of Narnia.  It was bought by the Wade Center at auction in 1973 and has been there ever since.

The Center is devoted to the writings of seven English authors:   Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkein, and Charles Williams.  I know and have read all the authors except for Barfield and Williams, and am very happy to discover a few new authors I hope to enjoy.

The center is a small one-room museum (and much larger reading center with much scholarship and papers of the authors).  The museum has information and artifacts from all seven authors.  Most prominent are books and a desk of J.R.R. Tolkein, where he wrote The Hobbit and parts of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy; C.S. Lewis’ desk; and the famous wardrobe.

Here is the coolest thing about the wardrobe:  it opens.  My children, who are not particularly adventurous, could not resist trying to open the wardrobe (gently of course!), while my husband and I made jokes about, “Where are the parents of those children trying to get into the wardrobe?”



Inside the wardrobe, as you can see, are fur and other winter coats, and a small sign that reads something along the lines of, “The Wade Center is not responsible for any occurrences if you enter the wardrobe.”  


We spent a nice hour or reading about the authors, seeing the displays, including several cases of extremely interesting props from the Disney Narnia movies.  We bought quite a few postcards, notecards and other items from the small giftshop.  All in all, a nice visit and a worthwhile excursion.

Why I Spent Time Surfing the Internet and Checking Facebook Instead of Writing This…

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I’ve been thinking about writing about Nicholas Carr’s intriguing new book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains for some time, especially after reading David Brooks’ excellent column referencing the book, which nicely summed up my opinion, too, of the book and what it says about the future of human intelligence.  But, as described in the book about virtually every other connected citizen of the universe, I’ve been too easily distracted in recent days from the usual Internet distractions–e-mail, blogs, Facebook.


In defense of myself, I will say that I’ve had very few largish chunks of time recently for sustained writing or doing things that might take more of my intellectual energy.  And I will say even when I have had a little time, it’s far easier to check in quickly with friends or plan ahead on my calendar.  But I will say that I have made time for plenty of offline reading, as I infinitely prefer real physical books to anything online.


As I mentioned when  I interviewed author Mary Eberstadt, I first read some of The Loser Letters at National Review online, where some were first published, but I found it much more satisfying to read as the physical book, both because of the story line, but also because I wouldn’t be distracted as I am when online to click around.


I personally have resisted getting an e-reader like a Kindle or Nook, and after reading The Shallows, I think I will stick with my resolution for now.   I do have the free Kindle App on my iPhone, but I find it only useful for reading aloud (either to someone else or for someone, usually one of my children, to read to the rest of the family).

In The Shallows,  Carr argues persuasively that, “with the exception of alphabets and number systems, the Net may well be the single most powerful mind-alterning technology that has ever come into to general use.  At the very least, it’s the most powerful that has come along since the book.”

Carr writes, “In the choices we have made, consciously or not, about how we use our computers, we have rejected the intellectual tradition of solitary, single-minded concentration, the ethic that the book bestowed on us.”

I somewhat disagree with the notion of books being “solitary” because usually the first thing I do when I am in the midst of, or recently finished a great book, whether fiction or non-fiction, is tell someone about it.  I’ll strike up a conversation with an acquaintance at church or in the grocery store, I’ll bring it to book groups (and even start book groups specifically to talk about a book).  I consider my role here at the Catholic Post Book Group an incredibly fortunate way for me to combine my love of reading (real, print books) and my love of technology and connecting with friends and others via the Internet.   But I was very troubled by the science Carr cites to show that the Internet is making our brains more distractable, and not in a good way.


In May, blogger Melissa Wiley started an interesting discussion about Carr’s book (which prompted me to become the first at our library to reserve the book!), and asked the question, “Have you noticed a difference in your powers of concentration or memory?”


David Brooks’ column, though, hits another important point, which is how the Internet’s vast information does not help one have literacy about judging the worth of the information: 

“The Internet-versus-books debate is conducted on the supposition that the medium is the message,” writes Brooks.  “But sometimes the medium is just the medium. What matters is the way people think about themselves while engaged in the two activities. A person who becomes a citizen of the literary world enters a hierarchical universe. There are classic works of literature at the top and beach reading at the bottom.”

Brooks concludes,  “It could be that the real debate will not be books versus the Internet but how to build an Internet counterculture that will better attract people to serious learning.”



Thoughts?  Do you prefer a real book or reading online?  I wonder if there is a generational difference here?   Share your thoughts (and your approximate generation, if you like!

Great Catholic Humor Blog: Interview with "The Ironic Catholic"

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One of my favorite go-to sites for laugh-out-loud humor, is The Ironic Catholic.  I had the opportunity to e-interview Susan, aka “The Ironic Catholic,” and I’m happy to share it and her great Catholic humor blog with everyone at the Catholic Post Book Group.

I hope you’ll get a chance to check out http://www.ironiccatholic.com/. Yesterday’s post sounds like something I have considered on numerous occasions.


Here are some of my favorites, but there is a link on the sidebar of some of her best pieces:




Her occasional series, “Signs You’ve Studied Theology Too Long,” pairing food dishes with saints and theologians. 

Her quotes of the day, about once a week, are great.  Here’s one that makes you think, “Did he really say that?” (he did).

The Ironic Catholic also links to some hilarious other blogs and sites for Christian humor. Our family couldn’t stop laughing at this caption contest and this great Ash Wednesday video.


Here’s my interview with The Ironic Catholic. Enjoy!


Why did you start the blog?

It really was a whim.  I was poking around a now defunct Catholic humor blog called Catholicnews.org and thought “I could do this.”  We don’t watch TV and my husband works evenings, so it seemed like a good way to relieve stress and have fun after my kids went to sleep.  What can I say–some people scrapbook, I do an Onion-style humor blog.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I like to be a woman of mystery on the blog and go by the “pen name”–The Ironic Catholic–but honestly, the mystery may be more fascinating than the reality.  I teach systematic theology at a small Catholic university in the upper midwest, and I am married to a great man, a stay at home dad and free lance writer, with whom I parent four kids 10 and under.  I’m involved in our local parish and the Catholic Worker community in our town, and training to be a spiritual director.  The other day I thought “I’m an academic theological wife and mother who moonlights as a humorist.  It sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke…A academic theological wife, mother and humorist walked into a bar….”


It’s obvious you consider humor important in the life of Catholics.  Can you explain that a little bit?

Right, the motto of the blog for a while was “humor is our second greatest strength.”  I think the ability to laugh at ourselves is huge in the Christian life.  There’s a kind of laughter that is mean-spirited, taking others down, and I don’t endorse that–but the ability to laugh at ourselves keeps us humble better than anything else.  I suppose that’s the deep reason behind the humor blogging.
In my case, I’m trying to do a bit of cultural critique with some of the humor pieces as well, and as much as Catholics can do that well, I think it has the potential to open eyes and convert hearts  more than “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”–people warm up to ideas presented in good cheer and humor; it’s a powerful tool.  But frankly, a lot of the humor really is just for fun.  A humorist trying to educate and criticize all the time is like your Great uncle Louie buying the kids brussel sprouts instead of candy for Christmas.  It’s OK to laugh.  I’m pretty sure Jesus must have.


Where do you get your material?  In particular, the quotes from saints and others are really fascinating.


I have no idea where the written satire pieces come from, besides the odd neighborhood of my head.  My friends in grad school used to say I had a sense of humor that was understood by about 25 people (usually after I made some subtle joke about Karl Rahner or some such).  With the wide reach of the internet, I now have an audience of 30.  (See, that was that self-deprecating humor there?)

The quotes from the saints and such–I love the saints and read them a lot, but google search has admittedly come in play!


You’ve got a new book out: Dear Communion of Saints (Readers can find out about getting the book here.  Tell us a little bit about it, and why you decided to write it.


Dear Communion of Saints is a small book, a compilation of pieces I wrote for the blog a while back with new material.  The idea is to take newspaper advice columns and turn them on their head–instead of Dear Abby, ask the saints instead.  And they respond to our foolish questions, with tough love, insight and humor.  And the advice questions are indeed foolish, but honestly, aren’t we all foolish sometimes? Half the spiritual battle may be recognizing our own foolishness, and the saints can do that with clarity and love, because they are so much more our friends than Dear Abby is.  I love the saints, I love the faith, I love teaching, and I love good humor–and I got to address all those things with this book.

Interview with Mary Eberstadt, author of "The Loser Letters"

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I had the opportunity to e-interview Mary Eberstadt, the author of The Loser Letters.  I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation as much as I did, and it will inspire you to read the book even more.

Thanks, Mary, for your willingness to take the time and answer my questions.

First of all, well done!  I consider The Loser Letters an instant classic, no easy feat.  How did The Screwtape Letters shape your writing of this book and your idea for it?

Thank you kindly for that! The Screwtape Letters obviously did inspire the book, though only loosely. Like millions of other admirers of C.S. Lewis, I was knocked out by his success in delivering orthodox apologetics under the cloak of humor. In writing The Loser Letters, I was aiming for a similarly unexpected combination of satire and religious seriousness — especially for the newer generations of readers who may not have seen that combination before. That said, the influence ends there; they’re very different books from head to toe.

The humor in The Loser Letters is a key element. What was your goal in using humor the way you did, and was it difficult to get right?

The new atheism itself practically invites satire. After all, this movement has grown fat and happy by painting religious people as grim and humorless and self-righteous — all while exhibiting plenty of humorlessness and self-righteousness itself, as the book’s protagonist A. F. Christian enjoys pointing out.

 
As for the particular humor of A.F., I actually found it pretty easy to enter into her voice. Like many young adults in the electronic age, she bubbles constantly with an indiscriminate brew of the high and the low, the sublime and the ridiculous, the irreverent and the deadly serious — everything from the Bravo Channel to rehab patter to St. Augustine all rolled into one. Once I got used to her particular mix, the story pretty much wrote itself.

Another question regarding humor:   In my review of your book, I write about how my previous reactions to hearing atheists interviewed would go one of two unhelpful ways: either eye-rolling annoyance (not exactly charitable), or a profound sadness for the person and the state of the world.

But after reading The Loser Letters, I now laugh; not in a mocking way, but in a human way, and with a protective kindness that I felt for the fictional Letters protagonist.  I’m so grateful for that, and I also wonder if writing the book changed you.  Did writing the book change your views of those who are influenced by or even lead the atheist charge?

It hasn’t changed my view of the movement’s celebrity leaders, because my main impression of their work remains the same as it was before. It’s a view based not on anything personal, but rather just on close inspection of their books. Those books almost without exception are astonishingly angry, belligerent – and contemptuous of religious believers. Even by the debased standards of publishing today, their genre stands out for those negative characteristics. In quoting so liberally from their work, I’m trying to make readers think along with A.F. about where all that anger comes from and what it says about the new atheist movement.

 
That said, I’m taking aim at those leaders and their arguments – not at ordinary unbelievers or other secular folk. I think our modern world is a rough world for some of them, too, including in ways they don’t always understand. It certainly was hard on A.F. Christian – and of course I adore A.F.!

Have you met or had any response from the atheists you write about?   What would you say to them if you could?

No response as yet from the celebrities – though I did receive a gratifying e-mail, my favorite so far, from a man saying he’s been an atheist all his adult life, and that he’s now re-thinking that because of The Loser Letters. As for the leaders of the atheist movement, I think A.F. Christian has already said plenty to them in her letters! I don’t really have anything more to add.

I read a few of the “letters” online, but I found the physical book a much more satisfying way to read the story.  What are you hearing from readers?  Is there a generational difference?

This seems to be a case where the book form has certain advantages over online installments (before Ignatius Press put them out in printed form, the letters were serialized weekly at National Review Online). The Loser Letters is in part a mystery story – the slowly revealed tale of what happens to a particular girl – and the plot details and clues are definitely easier to follow if you can flip back and forth for them in a book. Also, believe it or not, that book cover Ignatius gave it seems to have acquired a cult following of its own! So while it’s great to have the book out in both forms, I think there was and always will be something special about a book, especially one with a plot.

How do you think The Loser Letters would be helpful for college students or young adults in facing classes or professors or fellow students who are atheists?
I think it will help college students to know that the atheist movement doesn’t have the market cornered on confidence. Believers can be pro-active too, including in ways that are fun, as I hope this book is. Beyond that, I do hope that college students especially will find in this book some useful refutations of certain atheist arguments making the rounds these days, especially on campus. In a way, this book is intended as a gift to those students— some fighting words about religion for the Facebook generation, delivered by a character they can feel for.

I gave the book to one of our teenage babysitters, and she was astounded by how much she “heard” other young people she knows in the narrator’s voice.  How did you accomplish that?
I’m privileged to spend a lot of time around teenagers and young adults, both our own and others. Their cadences, their stories and dramas, and the way they live now are all part of what inspired A. F. Christian.

Do you think The Loser Letters can serve as a platform for dialogue between and atheist and a believer?  How?

Definitely – if you can get any atheists actually to read the book! I can tell by the few atheist reviews I’ve seen that most either aren’t finishing it, or aren’t understanding what they’ve read. Even so, I hope what they do read of it percolates down somewhere.

In recent weeks Christopher Hitchens has been in the news because he announced he is suffering from cancer, and commentators and others are reflecting on his legacy. Do you have any thoughts on this?

I’m a great admirer of Christopher Hitchens’ prose. He’s preternaturally gifted, one of the best essayists in the English language. He’s also inadvertently done religious believers a favor, I think, because his particularly sharp writing has forced many take a closer look at their own arguments. I wish him well.

Sandals

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(We’ll return to book discussion tomorrow.  Please excuse this digression, but I hope you’ll agree it was for a good reason)
Who knew sandals could have such an effect on people?

Today in Peoria, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s relics were part of a beautiful Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria.  You can read about the Mass and veneration here.  The relics are traveling the country as part of the centennial celebration of the birth of Blessed Teresa.
After the Mass, there was the opportunity for veneration of the relics.  There were two small reliquaries with first-class relics (meaning a part of her body).  There were also several second-class relics (meaning something that belonged to the Blessed).  It was remarkable to see the crucifix and rosary that Mother Teresa wore.  Most of the people took the opportunity to kiss or touch the relics.
What seemed to capture the imagination of most, however, were Mother’s well-worn sandals.   The sandals were patched and had clearly seen a lot of miles, yet sturdy.  It was just amazing to see something Mother Teresa had worn throughout the world spreading the Gospel of Love.
Nearby the relics was a montage of photos of Mother at different times in her life.  My oldest daughter pointed out one of the photos showed Mother wearing the sandals.  Remarkable!
Relics can be a daunting prospect for some Catholics—a piece of the saint’s bones? Her blood?   For some reason, the sandals seemed very approachable, very Mother Teresa-like.   It seemed appropriate.

“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”– Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. 


I actually didn’t know Mother had said that quote, but while searching around for one of her more “famous” quotes, I found this and I immediately thought of the song by Popple, “Pencil in the Hand,“ that must have been taken from her writings.

Great Catholic Humor Blogs: Ask Sister Mary Martha

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I had intended to publish an interview with a great Catholic humor blogger, but I notice her blog is “on vacation” for a few more days (how ironic! as you shall see next week), so today I’m going to highlight a different one.

I suspect, but I have no way of knowing, if it is a nun or not who writes Ask Sister Mary Martha, but it apparently is someone with a fairly deep knowledge of Catholic doctrine and a great sense of humor.  The blog’s tagline: “Life is tough. Nuns are tougher” says it all, as this “tough nun” serves up information and advice about all manner of problems, saints and questions about Catholic doctrine. 

Some of my favorite posts are about how she recommends different patron saints for different needs, from Blessed Andre of Montreal for protection of property, to the patron saints of twins.
She answers a funny but not unusual question about going to confession here.
Along with the humor, there’s lots of good information on this site about saints, Catholic history and Catholic doctrine.
I’ve just spent way too much time searching around (and chuckling) for good posts to share with you, but really, they are all good.  So just go there and enjoy!