Dawn,

Today I met a woman who teaches catechism classes. Her concern was that Catholicism in recent decades was ugly, or rather that it lacked beauty. She thought the Beautiful was important for inspiring the Faith.
Mark Scott Abeln | Homepage | 07.31.06 - 11:44 pm | #

Really nice post, Dawn. And it makes me feel like weeping over all the history of hostility between Catholic & Jew. No, I am not actually that weepy. But it's such a tragedy. Well, in God's good time....
Maclin Horton | Homepage | 07.31.06 - 11:58 pm | #

I'm glad you write that, Maclin. The same friend noted to me that he has more in common with orthodox Christians than with the assimilated Jews in his office (his term for them). After all, he said, both he and I believe that God spoke to Moses, that God made miracles ...
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 12:08 am | #

Her concern was that Catholicism in recent decades was ugly, or rather that it lacked beauty. She thought the Beautiful was important for inspiring the Faith.

I'm not sure how that relates to three-foot men and other creatures different, but I will say that I am very grateful to God that, more and more, He is guiding me to see the great beauty in all his creatures, especially those whom modern society would characterize as strange or grotesque or hideous.

A couple weeks ago, I went to the grocery store and, approaching the checkout lane, I saw the cashier sitting there, her head barely poking above the belt. When I got closer, I saw that she was actually standing, and probably about three-feet tall herself. And yet, here she was working at the Kroger in a regular job, operating a register that was practically over her head. Beauty? Yes, she was beautiful. A wonderful daughter of God. And that is inspiring for the Faith.
Bender | 08.01.06 - 12:55 am | #

Amen, Bender!
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 1:04 am | #

In church, when I sometimes find myself looking a little too appreciatively at the beauty of some of the young women in the congregation, I turn this into a good thing by looking at ALL the people there, one at a time, and trying to see how each one is beautiful -- and when I do this, I always find that everyone IS beautiful (not excluding the young women!).
Joseph | 08.01.06 - 7:51 am | #

Moving back to NYC is always a shock, for one will see the full diversity of God's creation, every size, shape, race, missing limbs, etc.

I have been saying a little prayer to myself when I encounter such things, I had no idea of this Jewish approach, thanks for this.

Selective abortion is trying real hard to end such diversity
Maybe I'm a Lib | 08.01.06 - 7:58 am | #

Joseph,

With all due respect to the people in your parish, maybe you should move closer to the front ... :)
Fr Joseph Huneycutt | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 8:20 am | #

In other cultures and religions (and sometimes even in our own), many people would view such men as abominations. Some even would consider it a sign that this man or his family either had committed some kind of offense against the "gods" or were paying some sort of karmic price for some offense in another life.

Your friend is very wise, Dawn. A great post all around. Thanks for sharing it.
Jason | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 9:53 am | #

Nice story Dawn. It will make me smile to myself for the rest of the day.
Pansy Moss | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 9:54 am | #

Speaking of God making different types of people, check out this video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W...rch=Team% 20Hoyt
Hat tip Mark Shea.
TonyR | 08.01.06 - 10:19 am | #

RE: "maybe you should move closer to the front..."

It's good advice, Father, but knowing Man as you do, surely you've noticed that no parish could possibly have a front row long enough for us! =)
Nightfly | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 10:27 am | #

funny coincidence...I was reading Hopkins this morning before leaving for work.

"Christ plays in ten thousand places,/Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his/To the Father through the features of men's faces."

Thanks Dawn.

Joseph, I had a funny incident of seeing a beautiful woman at weekday mass about two months ago and making eye contact with her. I was distracted until the Gospel reading from Matthew: "if your right eye causes you to sin, cut it out." I laughed.

As my human confessor said the other evening, when distracted by lust, or anger, or envy, remember that the object of that feeling is running to eternity as well, but might not know the way. Our duty is to show the gospel to all people, especially those who instill those feelings in us.
Fallen Sparrow | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 11:01 am | #

That was a really nice post :-) I've always thought myself that every human being and everything in the natural world is beautiful and that the diversity that can be found among humans and in the natural world is spectacular. Seeing someone who is different and being inspired and reminded of all the beauty in the world and celebrating them for who they are is a wonderful contrast to seeing said person and feeling such pity that you think they should have never even been born, or that others like them should not be. I wonder if it is even possible to feel that way towards someone and recognize their inherent worth and dignity as a human being. I can say from experience as someone who can be quite outwardly different (I've got a mild form of autism) that being pitied and looked down on really does a number on your self-esteem over time, so I can't imagine how tough it must be for people who stand out more than I do. So I'm glad that there are people out there who feel the way you all do :-)
J.B | 08.01.06 - 1:10 pm | #

What a lovely post. I think the three foot tall man was a miracle so that you and your friend could delight in him and more fully in each other.

Isn't God lovely.
Drusilla | 08.01.06 - 1:41 pm | #

Oh - and so you both could have more delight in God too.
Drusilla | 08.01.06 - 1:42 pm | #

I work with the blind and nearly-blind. Christ has a lot to say about them, and also about who is _really_blind. My patients may actually have more sight than those prideful ones in the latter category. Just think! Just as your dog is blind to _your_ physical deficits, the blind one is blessed to get to know you by your voice: "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34)
Rachel Rose | 08.01.06 - 1:54 pm | #

When I see someone who is handicapped, I always try to say a prayer for them..that Jesus will take care of them and their families.

Does anyone else do this?
P. Edward Murray | 08.01.06 - 2:04 pm | #

I once had the opportunity to work with a younger man who was Quadraplegic. To this day I am simply amazed that he had such a positive outlook on life.

I think that sometimes we are granted the gift of a positive outlook when we need it like he has.
P. Edward Murray | 08.01.06 - 2:06 pm | #

It is amazing that, though all of us are made in the image of one God, we have billions of different faces and will for all of eternity. The bodies we have here are the ones we will have there. Maybe with a little luck you will be able to see this same man in heaven and recognize him.
Josephine-M-O-6 | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 3:38 pm | #

J.B., great food for thought. I was thinking about how different my friend's Hebrew prayer (which I'm sure is many hundreds if not thousands of years old) is from that of the Pharisee of Jesus' parable who says, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 3:59 pm | #

Fr Joseph,

This typically occurs at Communion when everyone marches past your pew and can be seen close-up, being in the front wouldn't make a difference....

It's amazing to me how even those of us with the fewest genetic and natural advantages can easily be seen as beautiful (this may not work outside of church, since the expression on one's face is such a big factor).
Joseph | 08.01.06 - 4:07 pm | #

"This typically occurs at Communion when everyone marches past your pew and can be seen close-up, being in the front wouldn't make a difference...."

Well Joseph it should make a difference. Your eyes should be shut in prayerful contemplation. Okay, so that's the ideal but why not give it a try once in a while.

Anyway, great post Dawn. I was at an evening Mass last Sunday (near the front) and three rows in front was somebody with an obvious nervous/psych disorder. He couldn't keep still and was a source of irritation and distraction until I remembered a line from Flannery O'Connor's novel "The Violent Bear It Away" when old Tarwater reminds his great nephew of our universal appeal to God with the words, "precious in the sight of the Lord: even an idiot."
Another Steve | 08.01.06 - 4:17 pm | #

Lovely, Dawn, just lovely. Thank you.

Your story brings to mind some verses from a favorite poem, "The Creation: A Negro Sermon" by James Weldon Johnson, of how we all came to be.

***

The God walked around,
And God looked around
On all that He had made.
He looked at His sun,
And He looked at His moon,
And He looked at His little stars;
He looked on His world
With all its living things,
And God said, "I'm lonely still."

Then God sat down--
On the side of a hill where He could think;
By a deep, wide river He sat down;
With His head in His hands,
God thought and thought,
Till He thought: "I'll make me a man!"

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;

Then into it He blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.

***

Yes. Amen. And Hallelujah, too!
maria horvath | 08.01.06 - 4:25 pm | #

Dawn, you forgot to mention -- he told you to say "amen"!

And, of course, you did.
Ron Coleman | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 4:34 pm | #

Very true, Ron — glad you liked the post!

Another Steve, please, take it easy on your fellow commenter! It isn't easy baring one's soul to strangers.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 4:43 pm | #

I didn't think anybody else read poetry, much less Gerard Manley Hopkins. I stopped by the library the other day to check out a book of his, but decided I'd rather purchase one so I can take my time reading it. This really made my day, to be greeted in the morning with this.
I_A_ | 08.01.06 - 5:30 pm | #

Thanks for defending me, Dawn. (And Steve, when I am glorying in the beauty of ALL the people walking by and thanking God for it, that IS a kind of prayerful contemplation.)
Joseph | 08.01.06 - 5:36 pm | #

Sorry Joseph, sorry Dawn. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Another Steve | 08.01.06 - 5:55 pm | #

I always find that everyone IS beautiful

Joseph, this made me think of the Ray Stevens song from 1970 and go try to find the lyrics. All I ever knew was "Everything is beautiful in its own way." Our music historian hostess probably already knew this, but I didn't know what a statement of faith the song really is, and quite appropriate here --

**Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world
**Everything is beautiful in its own way
Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day
Everybody's beautiful in their own way
Under God's heaven the world's gonna find a way
**There is none so blind as he who will not see
We must not close our minds we must let our thoughts be free
For every hour that passes by, you know the world gets a little bit older
It's time to realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
**Everything is beautiful in its own way
Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day
Ah, sing it children, everybody's beautiful in their own way
Under God's heaven the world's gonna find a way
**We shouldn't care about the length of his hair or the color of his skin
Don't worry about what shows from without but the love that lives within
We gonna get it all together now and everything's gonna work out fine
Just take a little time to look on the good side my friend
And straighten it out in your mind
**Everything is beautiful in its own way
Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day
Ah, sing it children, everybody's beautiful in their own way
Under God's heaven the world's gonna find a way

I had also forgotten that he followed this with "The Streak." (sorry about the long copy, Dawn)
Bender | 08.01.06 - 7:25 pm | #

Once, a Jewish Nobel Prize winner was told that he would go to Sweden and receive it from the king.

He said that now he had the chance to say the bracha one says on seeing a king.
Mary | 08.01.06 - 7:50 pm | #

Y'all missed an easy one: Mother Teresa's goal to "serve Jesus Christ, even in His most distressing disguises."

That can be used to pity others, but it can be lifted up to see the distress as our problem while the disguises are Jesus'.
Therese Z | 08.01.06 - 8:37 pm | #

Bender, thank you so much for reminding me of Ray Stevens. One of my regrets in life is that I have not yet had the chance to tell him in person how much I thank God for his variety. His Even Stevens is one of my all-time fave albums.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.01.06 - 8:56 pm | #

What a beautiful story. I wish I had an Orthodox Jewish friend who would teach me various Bracha.

Imagine we all had hearts and minds full of such appropriate prayers. Imagine instead of having recent horrible incidents, we had Jews and Christians sharing and praying together, praising God together, like this.

Amen, amen, amen.

Warren
warren | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 12:46 am | #

What a wonderful bracha! I will use the first line of Hopkins' as such when I see, as your friend sensitively and eloquently put it, a person "who is an unusual shape."
The Digital Hairshirt | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 8:38 am | #

What, "Hostility between Catholic & Jew"...?

Mr. Gibson has some problems he's got to address, but he doesn't speak for anybody but himself, & maybe some members of his family who really shouldn't get as much air time as they have had in the past.

The Catholic Church does not teach such garbage against anyone- plus...
we are taught to pray for those who don't like us.

& we are also taught forgiveness- "seventy times seven"...
Faith | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 9:07 am | #

Faith, Maclin was referring to a "history" of hostility. Many Jews are well aware of that history -- though not all of what they may have read in some popular history books actually occurred. I don't want to get into a discussion of what did or didn't happen, because it's not relevant to the post, but I think Maclin's point stands regardless of the Mel incident. You can say, for example, that the Church excommunicated Father Leonard Feeney, proving that it does not support his views -- but many Jews remember Feeney's viciousness and not that he was excommunicated. Maclin is right to say that when it comes to Catholic/Jewish relations, there is still much healing to be done.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 11:00 am | #

Understood, Dawn- saw the "history" reference...

I'm really quite thankful that I've never experienced such hostilities & prejudices in my friendships with anyone. Usually, whether agreeing or disagreeing, discussion is always possible with those we love.
Faith | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 11:41 am | #

Dawn--Your Jewish readers (and your non-Jewish readers) who are interested in the philosophy and applications of brachas such as the one in this discussion will enjoy reading THE ART OF AMAZEMENT: Judaism's Forgotten Spirituality by Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld.
janet | 08.02.06 - 5:44 pm | #

Chesterton also had something to say about "being an odd shape". In chapter 6 of "Orthodoxy" he marvels at how for every criticism of Christianity there is a counterbalancing opposite criticism, and continues:

And then in a quiet hour a strange thought struck me like a still thunderbolt. There had suddenly come into my mind another explanation. Suppose we heard an unknown man spoken of by many men. Suppose we were puzzled to hear that some men said he was too tall and some too short; some objected to his fatness, some lamented his leanness; some thought him too dark, and some too fair. One explanation (as has been already admitted) would be that he might be an odd shape. But there is another explanation. He might be the right shape. Outrageously tall men might feel him to be short. Very short men might feel him to be tall. Old bucks who are growing stout might consider him insufficiently filled out; old beaux who were growing thin might feel that he expanded beyond the narrow lines of elegance. Perhaps Swedes (who have pale hair like tow) called him a dark man, while negroes considered him distinctly blonde. Perhaps (in short) this extraordinary thing is really the ordinary thing; at least the normal thing, the centre. Perhaps, after all, it is Christianity that is sane and all its critics that are mad -- in various ways.
Joseph | 08.02.06 - 10:09 pm | #

Joseph, I'm so glad you found that quote from Orthodoxy. I had looked for it and couldn't find it.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 10:12 pm | #