The more I read about Tolkien the more I like him, and I was enamored before I picked up Pearce’s book. Here’s the letter that Tolkien sent to German publishers, who asked if he was of Aryan descent:
I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Voracious Reader’
August 3, 2009
Tolkien and Hitler
August 1, 2009
The Truth of Myth
I’m currently reading Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pearce.
Myths, far from being lies, are the best way of conveying truths which would otherwise be inexpressible. We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is [...]
June 3, 2009
That’s Not How It Goes
In my Brit lit class (the same one I mentioned in my last post) we are discussing Beowulf, and oral cultures / traditions in general. The Professor was talking about the reliability of oral transmission in these pre-written cultures. Stories, histories, genealogies, law codes, even how to perform basic tasks (like cooking, gathering herbs, setting [...]
May 27, 2009
What Does It Mean To Worship?
I was writing an essay the other week – on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. In the Clerk’s Tale, the Marquis Walter defies convention and decides to choose his own bride, and he asks his people to promise to respect his choice, whoever it might be, and to “worship” her.
Language is a funny thing. Words [...]
May 25, 2009
Which Church is the Apostolic Church?
Because of a broken modem I spent the past week without internet access – it’s amazing, and quite sad, what I have accomplished in the time usually allotted for blog reading and surfing and such.
While straightening bookshelves I ran across an old pamphlet that was given to my husband during deacon training when we were [...]
May 20, 2009
Praying with Mother Theresa
These are the prayers that Mother Teresa asks her lay co-workers to pray daily. So simple, yet so full of meaning.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, that where there is hatred I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that where there is discord, [...]
May 18, 2009
Mother Theresa and the Necessity of Conversion
This is a repeat from the old blog Take the Long Way Home, but the subject has been on my mind.
Every quarter my fifth grader is required to write a book report on a book that he would never choose to read himself. He’s a reluctant reader (although that’s changing a bit), and the [...]
May 13, 2009
The Didache
Sorry about not posting anything new so far this week. Apparently that’s not going to change today! I am officially through with school for the semester, and have about three weeks until summer school gets underway. I have a “to do” list that’s longer than my arm of things that I didn’t have the energy [...]
March 29, 2009
Is God Good?
One of my current classes is on Chaucer, in particular, the Canterbury Tales. This week I have been reading the Clerk’s Tale. If you want to read it (in modern English) it’s here. Some cursory thoughts about the tale can be found here.
The Clerk tells a story about a marquis, Walter, in far away Italy, [...]
March 19, 2009
Abstinence
Sometimes I love the terminology that Stephanie Meyer chooses to use in Twilight.
Edward and his vampire family don’t kill humans, which of course is what their natural inclination is to do. This makes them a counter-cultural family, something that I am intimately familar with as a Catholic and a Christian. But what fascinates me is [...]
