Belatedly I Loved Thee

From St. Augustine's Confessions:

“Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace.”

May you seek Truth today! And not just good deals. Happy Black Friday, y'all! Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving.

To See A World

I give my Thanksgiving reflections at The Imaginative Conservative.

And in the spirit of giving, I leave you with some James Joyce, excerpted from 'Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist':

—And thanks be to God, Johnny, said Mr Dedalus, that we lived so long and did so little harm.
—But did so much good, Simon, said the little old man gravely. Thanks be to God we lived so long and did so much good. 

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving, dear readers.

Tarzan: Son of Man, Son of Prog

I now write for another awesome site: Progarchy. I've technically been a contributor for a month or so, but I'm so behind on life (but not wedding planning!!) that I am just getting around to publishing the post now. This site is a project of the amazing Brad Birzer, whose books people should buy and work people should read. I'm blessed to call him a friend, and so excited he brought me onto this project!

Here is my inaugural post on Tarzan, Phil Collins, my informal and formal introduction to prog rock, and hearing it in the mainstream.

Anyone else here a prog lover? Do share!!

I Will Wait For You (And Other Comforts and Converts)

The Convert By G. K. Chesterton

After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white.
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead
The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Patheos blogger and super-awesome human being Leah Libresco on joining the Catholic Church today. Three sacraments in one day ain't too shabby. Welcome home, darling girl!

Here's a little Mumford, just because:



God bless you Leah! And prayers for my mother, whose birthday it is today. Cheers!

In Flanders Field

"In Flanders Field" by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD - Canadian Army (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

An original proof.

Happy Veterans' Day to all soldiers and those who serve our country!

TIC: Iron Ladies

Over at The Imaginative Conservative, folks! I'm talking Margaret Thatcher, birth control and the election, and a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

(It got picked up by New Advent too. I guess you should read it now.)