Easy Catholic Spiritual Reading

With Easter just around the corner, I've been thinking more about spiritual reading — a method of gaining graces and strengthening the prayer life that I don't utilize often enough. Why? Well, the simple truth is that I tend to lose focus when a book doesn't grab my attention right away, even when I know the subject material is good for me. Maybe it's just the writing style of the authors I've tried reading, but so far I haven't found many volumes I wanted to sit and devour.

Yet the fact still remains that it's healthy for the soul; so even if it's something I don't necessarily "want" to do, I've been trying to make time to sit and read for at least fifteen minutes each day (more if I'm in the mood for it).

But that doesn't mean all spiritual reading is a penance. I decided to jump-start this endeavor by making a list of religious books I do like (a lot). Here are the top four, along with a quick summary of of its contents in my own words. Hopefully these recommendations might help others with the same struggles.

Note: There are many books, which I would recommend to everyone, that did not make it onto this list. The reason is that I did not choose these books strictly for content. Although they are devoutly Catholic, I looked more for writing style and how well it held my interest over time without effort on my part. Think of this as a list of spiritual books for folks who need something easy to read and enjoy at a specific moment. If I find others in the future, I'll be sure to share those as well.


Divine Intimacy (By Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen O.C.D.): This is a collection of meditations for each day of the liturgical year, and I would have to say it's my favorite spiritual book so far. Most Catholics have probably heard of it by now; but if anyone hasn't, here are my reasons for including it on my list. Each meditation is short, to the point, honest, and with just enough prose to invoke some uplifting comfort from the reflection without drowning one in poetic sentiment. That's not to say poetic sentiment is always a negative, but sometimes I'm just not ready for it.

Under Angel Wings (The Autobiography of Sister Maria Antonia):  This is the story of Cecy Cony (1900-1939), who grew up with the ability to see her Guardian Angel. Through several short stories, she relates how her special protector guarded her innocence from sin, both venial and mortal, with his guidance. It's been a while since I read the book, but I believe there is one occasion when her angel actually saved her from being kidnapped as well. This was the first spiritual book I ever read as a kid, so maybe that's why I have a sentimental attachment to it.

A Right to be Merry (By Sr. Mary Francis, P.C.): This book's sole purpose is to give the reader a glimpse into the heart and life of cloistered Poor Clare nuns in the modern world. It was published sometime in the late 1950's I believe. Sister starts by explaining why the vocation of a cloistered nun is so important, and then the rest of the book is examples drawn from her own experience that illustrate how much happiness such a life brings it's daughters.The first time I read this book, it made me seriously think about the convent and if I had a vocation (I don't).

Rebuilding A Lost Faith, By an American Agnostic (Written by John L. Stoddard): John Stoddard was a writer and lecturer who traveled the world in the late 1800's early 1900's. Due to what he felt was the inability of religious figures to justify their faith in God, he left behind all attachment to religion when he was in college and spent most of his life as an agnostic. However, during his travels, he became caught in a war zone during World War I and was trapped there for five years. During that time, the horrors he witnessed finally convinced him that something was very wrong with the world the way it was, and this started his journey towards Catholicism. This book is about his reasoning in choosing the Catholic Faith, and why he's come to believe in all its teachings.

March Favorites 2014

Hello again, internet. There aren't many favorites this month, but I do want to share two things with you. Here goes...

Favorite Books
"Mamma used to say, you have to know someone a thousand days before you can glimpse her soul.” — Dashti

Based on a classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, Book of a Thousand Days is one of the best classic rewrites I've read for a long time. Here is a somewhat detailed description of the story (spoiler free, of course).

Dashti grew up in the Steppes with her mother and older brothers, learning the magic of the mucker people — magic cast through song. (That's the best description I can give without the book, which I had to return to the library. There's a better one in the story itself). But when a series of tragic events casts her adrift into the world alone, all she has to strengthen her is a stalwart spirit and a rock solid sense of what is right and wrong.

Her path leads her to the home of Lady Saren, where her resolve is tested. Lady Saren's father has promised his daughter in marriage to a cruel lord from a nearby land; but she refuses to marry him, because she has already betrothed herself to another lord whom she claims to love. In an attempt to break his daughter, Saren's father sentences her to imprisonment within a windowless stone tower for a thousand days, or until she changes her mind. Dashti, as her new lady's maid, must make a choice. If Dashti quits her mistress' service, she can escape suffering imprisonment at Saren's side.

But part of becoming a lady's maid involved making an oath to the gods that she would never abandon her mistress, no matter what happens; and it's because of this oath that Dashti submits to her fate. Besides, she sees how frightened mistreated Saren is, and Dashti's tender heart resolves to help her first and only mistress through this horrible punishment.

I would tell you more, but I'm afraid of giving away important information regarding the plot. Let's just say I finished it within ten hours. Dashti is a complex mixture of bravery, vulnerability,  humility, and compassion. Obedient to a fault, she is willing to give everything for the sake of duty and the welfare of those she loves; but ultimately it is her own heart she must learn to trust. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this book before this month.

Anyway, that's the best I can do for a summary. I borrowed the book from the library and had to return it a week ago, haha.  Read it. That's all I can say.

Favorite Coffee Mug:

Need I say more?

 Here's the link to the website where my friend ordered this awesome cup :-) http://www.artscow.com/

That's all for this month. Thanks for reading!

Until next time...

First Book Signing = Success!

There is so much I could say about this book signing, but instead I've opted for a photo album approach. Enjoy :-)

First, I walked into the library to find this in front of the main desk. I didn't get a chance to find out who took the time to draw this, but I gave them a great big imaginary hug in my mind.


  Part of being a self-publishing author is being your own PR specialist. So, yeah, I had to take a picture of my first effort at making a flyer.

 

Photo credit to Ashley —>

 Sometimes I like having an artist friend...and sometimes I LOVE IT!!!! This was a marker board in the Konnie Room, on the wall beside the signing table.

My first signing :-)

 <—Of course, haha.

Rach gave me violet colored flowers as a congrats gift. :-)

And Ashley gave me this.

Before hot water...





After hot water (below — start from left)

 Yep...both my friends know me pretty well :-)

Anyway, that's pretty much it. I'm very happy with how the signing turned out, and I'm grateful to everyone who supported me during this process. Now that I know planning something like this isn't too complicated, you can bet there will be more events in the future. To all those who bought a copy of Violet Eyes, I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

Thank you, and happy reading!

How I Know I'm Old...According to my Sisters.

"What do you want to do tonight, Katie?" My little sister looked up at me with hopeful eyes. She loves it when I babysit, especially on Friday nights.

"I dunno, what do you want to do?" I asked in return, shrugging my shoulders like the vultures in The Jungle Book.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." Then...crickets.

It's times like that when a hard truth hits me square in the face. I'm on the far end of a very large age gap between me and my two little sisters, ages eight and nine.

The thing is, I've been noticing this a lot lately. Most of the time, it only happens when I'm discussing movies with the girls, but there are other signs of a gap between us. If you don't have siblings who are much younger (or much older) than you, it might be hard to understand. But sometimes I think I know how my parents must have felt when I was small.

Just for fun, I tried to find the top five "really old sister moments" I've experienced and put them together for your enjoyment. Who knows? Maybe you can relate.

1. As previously indicated, they don't get any of my classic cartoon Disney references unless the movie has been released from the vault on DVD. Sometimes not even then. Some major movies will never go out of style: Cinderella, The Lion King, etc. But I can't help noticing that my sisters remember more about the sequels than the originals. They can quote The Lion King 1 1/2 all day long, but they look at me like I'm crazy when I start belting out Be Prepared at the top of my lungs. Of course, they tell me it's because I'm "being weird," but I'm not convinced yet. And when it comes to lesser known movies (nowadays) such as Robin Hood...well...it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. They watched it on Netflix, and I'm still icing that blister.

2. They roll their eyes if I start dancing to my music while I'm cleaning. Hey! Kids don't have a monopoly on having fun. However, they've apparently cornered the market on cool dance moves. My layman's version of the moonwalk doesn't quite cut it with these little critics.

3. They ask me to tell them about a time before Game-boy Advance, DS, and X-Box. Ummm...I had a huge Game-boy Color that weighed five pounds, made little blipping sounds when I pressed the control buttons, and all the graphics were pixelated. Just kidding, not really. I actually don't remember my old GBC that well, because I was more of a reader/ movie watcher/ go-outside-and-play-with-a-stick kind of person.* However, I do remember owning a Tamagotchi back in the late 90's. To show the girls or not to show the girls? That is the question.

4. I'm out in town, and someone compliments me on my "lovely daughters." Okay...I'll give the general public that one. My sisters do look a lot like me. But the girls aren't small anymore, and it makes me wonder how old I look, ha ha.

5.  "I love my brother, my sister, my Dad, my Mom...and Katie too." My youngest sister was only six at the time, and she was trying to be nice to me. That was the first moment I realized she thinks of me as another adult in the house, not a kid. Needless to say, it was kind of bittersweet, yet it pretty much sums up our relationship. I'm at that unique point where I can mother them without having the responsibility of being their mother; but I can still relax, let loose, and just be their sister.

There it is — the top five "really old sister moments" of my life. If you have any experiences with small children who are close to you (they don't have to be your siblings), please don't be shy. Share them in the comments section. Maybe someday I'll have to update this list to include all the differences between twenty somethings and "the next generation."

* I'm not anti-video games. Most of my closest friends are gamers. I just wasn't as into that stuff when I was little, save for a few selections (Harvest Moon). If I had discovered Zelda back then, that might have changed, ha ha.

Poetic Gems: Entry One — "The Reading Mother"

I'm not a big fan of poetry, but every now and then I find a gem that touches me deeply. This one is special because my Mom read to me a lot when I was little. She read me so many books that I could sight read most words by the time I was in Kindergarten. Love for reading begins when we're very young, as well as our taste in literature (in my opinion), and God blessed me with a mother who knew that.

On behalf of all children whose mothers read to them when they were small, I'd like to say thank you.

Thank you very much.

The Reading Mother

By Strickland Gillilan

I had a Mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marimon and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings —

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be —

I had a Mother who read to me.

 

February 2014 Favorites

It's that time of the month again, when I come to you and give my thoughts on random things. There's not a whole lot this time around, because I've been sick for most of February and doing nothing but watching Netflix. But there are a few stand-out items I've found, and I can't wait to share them with you.


Favorite Book: I've only read one book this past month, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Mira Mirror, by Mette Ivie Harrison, is about the magic mirror that Snow White's stepmother possessed in the classic fairy tale. But the story is not about Snow. Instead, it tells the tale of what happens after the stepmother disappears and the mirror is abandoned in the woods for one hundred years. Mira, the young girl who was trapped inside the mirror by the witch in order to make it magic, retains her sanity with a yearning to be human again. Then, when she is just about to give up hope, another young girl finds her in the forest. She is lost, innocent, frightened...and the perfect tool for Mira to regain her humanity.

Don't make the same mistake I did and think that this story must be romantic because it's a fairy tale. In fact, if you're looking for a love story, this book will probably frustrate you. Although it does contain some romance and adventure, it is mainly about Mira's inner struggle to choose between what she wants and what is right. Don't worry, I won't give away any spoilers. But this book was actually pretty deep, and it left me significantly impressed with its depiction of filial love, anger, the slow descent into evil, how we justify wrongdoing to ourselves, and forgiveness.

Favorite Movie: I'm going to choose Austenland this month. For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, it's about a fictional vacation experience in England where women go and immerse themselves in the regency era. They dress according to the times, speak and behave as ladies would have back then, give up all modern technology, and men are hired to play the part of gentlemen who court the visistors like Jane Austen's heroes would have. This story revolves around a woman who is the ultimate obsessive Austen fanatic and blows her life savings on a vacation in Austenland.Iwas a little worried when I first saw this movie, because I've seen some pretty terrible Austen fan-girl knockoffs. In fact, I haven't seen any movies I've liked besides the major BBC productions (think Colin Firth). But by the end, I thought it was actually a fitting tribute to the Austen legacy. Full of hilarious moments when the modern and regency cultures collide, Austenland is an excellent girl's night in movie. Just make sure you have plenty of tea, sandwiches, and cookies, haha.

The only thing I feel compelled to warn you about is that there is some adult humor in the movie. It's not heavy enough to make the plot vulgar, and I still say it's great for older teenagers and adults. But I would personally recommend discretion if letting children (under thirteen) watch with you. Otherwise, I'm sure you ladies will enjoy it.

Favorite Artwork: When I went to visit my friend, Heidi of Aspenglow Photography, earlier this month, she gifted me with this gorgeous framed photograph. It's the Cascade Range in Oregon, but it made me think of the Northern Mountains of Madonia (a mountain range in Violet Eyes). This is exactly how I pictured them in my mind. Heidi is an amazing photographer and sells her artwork at very reasonable prices. If you want to take a look at her other wares, just click on the link above. You won't regret at least browsing — trust me.

That's all for this month. Being sick doesn't enable me to do a whole lot of exploring of any kind. Hopefully I'll have some extra categories for you in March. Until then...

The Best Birthday Ever!

Hello again, readers. In case you haven't guessed by the title of this post, I had a birthday recently. I'm joining the ranks of twenty-somethings who are too old to be kids anymore but too young to grow up just yet. Tolkien accurately described them as the "tweens," or "the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three." (The Fellowship of the Ring). Honestly, I've been feeling a little nostalgic about my teenage years lately. After all, I'll never be a kid again. But thanks to my awesome friends, Ashley, Rachael, and Heidi, it's been a birthday to remember.

It all started about a month or two ago when Heidi invited us to visit her in SE Oregon. Of course my friends and I jumped on an opportunity to see her again, but we were also excited to visit the many attractions in that area. Personally, I've never seen Oregon east of Willamette Pass, so I felt a little like Bilbo going on his quest. Only I was actually looking forward to it, and there were no fire-breathing dragons involved, ha ha.

And like Bilbo, I was shocked and amazed at what I've been missing out on all this time...

 
Example 1: Crater Lake
I can't even remember what my favorite landscape was before I saw this lake. One second you're hiking through snow drifts and hoping the view is worth getting soaked because you were lazy and didn't bother to wear proper snow shoes — and the next...well...the picture is self-explanatory. This is not photo shopped in any way, shape or form. The water is some of the bluest I've ever seen, and the mountains surrounding the lake were simply breathtaking. Those who know me can tell you that I'm not ordinarily an emotional person, but I had to catch my breath when I first laid eyes on Crater Lake. It's simply amazing. There's no other way to describe it.

Afterwards, we went from snow covered mountains to a desert town called Klamath Falls. Yes, you heard me right...desert. Am I the only one who thinks it's kinda cool that snow and a desert  terrain can coexist so close to one another? (To understand why this is cool, know that I live in a rainforest.) This isn't the only place on earth where that occurs, and it's not like the dry dry desert, but I've never seen anything like it with my own eyes before. It filled me with a sense of awe at just how much I haven't seen in this world. There's definitely a lot of traveling in my future.

The next morning, Sunday, we attended Mass in a small hermitage. First of all, I didn't even know hermits still existed, so of course I've never met one. The very word hermit made me wonder what kind of person this priest would be, and I couldn't hardly sleep the night before because of anticipation. I was surprised to arrive at the hermitage to find a lovely wooden cabin nestled amongst the woods, far from the main road. It wasn't fancy, but it was peaceful. The chapel was barely large enough to fit the priest, altar servers, and the choir, and the rest of the twenty attendees had to sit in the kitchen; but the familiar Mass made me feel right at home. The hermit priest himself was an outgoing, amiable man who did everything he could to make his visitors feel a part of the group, and meeting him makes me think of the hermit saints in a new light. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I didn't think to take one until it was too late.

From there it was on to Bend, where my friends and I spent the whole afternoon and early evening strolling through small shops along the waterfront. I didn't have enough money for souvenirs; but after walking out of two candy shoppes empty handed, pure torture, I finally broke down at the third and bought a bag of my favorite fruit candy, cherry sours...and a Mad Libs game for later that night.

For the final night of our little Odyssey, the girls and I sat around till 1am partying like only best friends do: insane rounds of Mad Libs, eating way more chocolate ice-cream and cherry sours then is good for us, watching The Princess Bride, and laughing until it hurt. Out of all the amazing things I got to see and do that weekend, I think I will remember that last night the most. After all, adventures are so much more worthwhile when you have someone to share them with. In my case, God blessed me with three someones.

Thus ended the first twenty years of my life, and boy was it fitting. I hope and pray the next twenty years are just as fruitful and full of adventure, family, and good friends. 

*the picture at the beginning of this post was taken by Heidi Maly of Aspenglow Photography and Aspenglow Blog