Jean and Katherine have inspired me to write a post about the novel I'm now reading, The Black Widow by Daniel Silva. It's the 16th book in the series about (the fictional) Gabriel Allon, an Israeli intelligence operative and part-time art restorer.
The first of his books that I read was an accident - my sister picked it up for me at the library because it had an interesting cover - but I was soon hooked on the series. Before that I didn't really know much about Israel or the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but from Daniel Silva, a former Middle East correspondent for UPI, I acquired a real curiosity about the whole subject and started reading non-fiction about it.
Silva introduces the main character as a middle aged agent who, as a young man, was chosen to take part in Operation Wrath of God, Israel's plan to hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. He had been planning to be an artist before that, but after this harrowing experience he instead became an art restorer of Renaissance masters.
The novels are interesting as travel books - they are set not just in Israel but also all over Europe, Russia, the UK, and the US. There is a lot too about art and eventually Gabriel ends up restoring for the Vatican Museums :) The earlier novels have a lot of historical stuff about WWII and the Holocaust, including the part played by the Catholic church (see Bishop Alois Hudal). The later novels dwell more on historic and contemporary terrorism, like the Dizengoff Street bus bombing and in the latest novel, the work of ISIS. While the novels are told from an Israeli perspective, I think they are very even-handed on the political issues.
I know that by being pro-Israel I'm in the minority among liberals, but what I have learned from the novels and the non-fiction reading they've encouraged has changed the way I think of Israel, and has made the Israelis, while flawed as we all are, very human.
Here's an NPR Fresh Air interview with Silva ....
Monday, April 3, 2017
How I learned to love Israel
Jean and Katherine have inspired me to write a post about the novel I'm now reading, The Black Widow by Daniel Silva. It's the 16th book in the series about (the fictional) Gabriel Allon, an Israeli intelligence operative and part-time art restorer.
The first of his books that I read was an accident - my sister picked it up for me at the library because it had an interesting cover - but I was soon hooked on the series. Before that I didn't really know much about Israel or the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but from Daniel Silva, a former Middle East correspondent for UPI, I acquired a real curiosity about the whole subject and started reading non-fiction about it.
Silva introduces the main character as a middle aged agent who, as a young man, was chosen to take part in Operation Wrath of God, Israel's plan to hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. He had been planning to be an artist before that, but after this harrowing experience he instead became an art restorer of Renaissance masters.
The novels are interesting as travel books - they are set not just in Israel but also all over Europe, Russia, the UK, and the US. There is a lot too about art and eventually Gabriel ends up restoring for the Vatican Museums :) The earlier novels have a lot of historical stuff about WWII and the Holocaust, including the part played by the Catholic church (see Bishop Alois Hudal). The later novels dwell more on historic and contemporary terrorism, like the Dizengoff Street bus bombing and in the latest novel, the work of ISIS. While the novels are told from an Israeli perspective, I think they are very even-handed on the political issues.
I know that by being pro-Israel I'm in the minority among liberals, but what I have learned from the novels and the non-fiction reading they've encouraged has changed the way I think of Israel, and has made the Israelis, while flawed as we all are, very human.
Here's an NPR Fresh Air interview with Silva ....
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Near-Death Experiences
Today we had the Gospel reading from John of the raising of Lazarus. Unfortunately, it isn't recorded in the Gospel account if Lazarus had anything to say about his four days of being dead. However, now there is a plethora of near-death literature. I admit to a fascination with it, and I have read quite a few of the books about the subject. My faith isn't dependent on these accounts; the skeptics could be right that they are just the result of the misfiring of oxygen-starved neurons. After all, none of these people have actually stayed "dead", they have all come back to tell the story. There are the earlier works, such as Raymond Moody's Life After Life, and Betty Eadie's Embraced By the Light. There is Don Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven. And Todd Burpo's Heaven is for Real, about his young son's experience of nearly dying. I read the book, didn't see the movie. My personal favorite is Joyce Brown's Heavenly Answers to Earthly Challenges, perhaps because there is more about making one's life pleasing to God, and finding meaning in hardship. My criticism of some of these books is that they make a book out of something which could be covered in a decent length magazine article. They add a lot of extraneous material and family background, when what I really want to know is, "What happened while you were there?" And of course, the truth is that I'm just going to have to wait, I have to trust in Jesus' words in John 14: 1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
And I Cor. 2:9 : "...eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him."
And I Cor. 2:9 : "...eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him."
T.C. Boyle's "environmental(ist)" novel
The novel follows the life of Tyrone O'Shaugnessy Tierwater, who becomes a radicalized environmentalist by his third wife, Andrea. Tierwater's "environmentalism" is prompted by a roiling emotional stew of egotism, anger, jealousy, and confused masculinity. Boyle implies throughout that Andrea is the better "man," more rational, active, and less prone to dithering.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Climate Wars
I signed up for two bus trips to DC, one for the Science March in 22 April and the other for the Climate March on 29 April. I guess it's better than nothing and may lead to something. It is scary to think how many people don't believe in anthropogenic global warming and how many don't believe it's a priority even if it's true.
Jesus: the movie
One thing I sometimes do as Easter approaches is watch a Jesus movie to get into the mood. There are many to choose from, of course, but my favorite one is the 1999 miniseries Jesus, which stars Jeremy Ssito (Six Feet Under, Law & Order), Debra Messing, and Gary Oldman.
You can read reviews of the film: Devout, Wise and Loves To Dance at Weddings ... and ... Jesus — The Mini-Series
This movie is pretty unusual in a number of ways. For one thing, it's the only Jesus film I'm aware of that shows Joseph as part of Jesus' adult life .....
And it shows Jesus and his father doing carpentry ....
Another unusual bit is that the movie shows Jesus as being in love with Mary of Bethany. After Joseph dies, Jesus tells her he has to leave romance behind to give everything to his mission, but one can see he's pretty devastated about this decision. Also unique is a sort of oblique reference to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in which the boy Jesus brings birds to life. And when Jesus goes into the desert and is tempted by the devil, he's a very strange devil ...
This Jesus laughs, tells jokes, dances, and he's good friends with his mom ...
One disappointing thing in the movie was that it portrayed Mary M as a prostitute, something that's been shown to be false. But still the movie does try with this relationship ... when Mary and Jesus are talking, she aays that if she were only a man, she would be his most loyal disciple, and he replies, "Those who speak for me are my disciples."
One of my favortie parts of the movie is when Jesus meets the Canaanite woman. It shows him changing his mind and when the disciples kvetch, he tells them, "I saw a girl dying. Would you rather I let her die? This woman has taught me that my message is for the Gentiles as well. If I can learn, so can you".
There's so much more that makes this movie special: maybe these video clips will illustrate.
- Jesus healing ...
- Jesus with the adulterous woman ...
- Mary M and the resurrected Jesus ...
Complaints
!. Too much religion.
!!. Insert jump break: 7th button from the right on the menu directly above..so handy.
!!. Insert jump break: 7th button from the right on the menu directly above..so handy.
Lamentations over Jerusalem:
Tenebrae for The Darkness of Church and Nation
For many centuries the book of Lamentations over Jerusalem was read during Matins on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. These were usually anticipated on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings. Thiswas before the liturgical reforms moved all the main liturgies of those days to the evening. The revision of the Divine Office replaced these readings with readings from the NT Book of Hebrews.
Some parishes still keep portions of the old Divine Office on Wednesday evening since it includes the particularly dramatic extinguishing of candles one by one until there is a lone remaining candle symbolic of Christ, that candle is processed to an unobservable place behind the altar, silence is observed, then a rumble of noise symbolic of an earthquake followed by the reappearance of the candle
Jerusalem was understood spirituality as the Church (unfortunately some took it to be symbolic only of the Jews). Lamentations are an excellent example of corporate spirituality, i.e. lamenting how we have failed as a church, not simply individually. Certainty there is much to lament in the history of the Church, e.g. our treatment of Jews, women, laity, etc. Our worldliness expressed in love of money, status and power. And of course contemporary problems, clericalism and sexual abuse.
Jerusalem can also be understood spirituality as our Nation. After all the original city on a hill was Jerusalem. If we are going to think of ourselves as exceptional we need to understand the full implications of that. Certainly there is much to lament in our history, e.g. the destruction of Native Americans, slavery, the treatment of women. Our worldliness expressed in violence and greed. And we have a lot of contemporary problems too. Pick your favorite choices.
Lamentations has inspired many extraordinary long but very beautiful polyphonic compositions. I have moved my playing of them to this coming week. However the simple chants are also very beautiful, and YouTube has a number of fine recordings.
Lamentations with Gregorian Chant Text Video
Lamentations Codec de Toledo Lux Aeterna
Incipit Lamentatio Paschale Mysterium
The Latin Text with English Translation (Aleph, etc. are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet)
Lamentations Codec de Toledo Lux Aeterna
Incipit Lamentatio Paschale Mysterium
The Latin Text with English Translation (Aleph, etc. are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet)
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