Were you wondering about The Everlasting Man?

I overheard that someone was trying to learn more about GKC's masterwork, The Everlasting Man, specifically why the book has that title.

It is simple GKC's wonderful title for our Lord, Jesus Christ, and can be derived from the twin titles of the twin halves of the book: the first half is called "On the Creature Called Man" and the second half is called "On the Man Called Christ".

But this may not be enough for you. There is one place that I know of in Chesterton's writing where he uses the phrase as a title of a person, and not of a book, and there is only one possible solution to Whom the title refers to. Read it for yourself:

...the doctrine of the Dual Nature of Christ is in the most genuine sense interesting; it ought to be interesting to anybody who can understand it, long before he can believe it. It has what can be called with all reverence a stereoscopic interest; the interest of having the two eyes in the head that create an object; of having the two angles in the triangle that determine the third. The old Monophysite sect declared that Christ had only the one divine nature. The new Monophysite sect declares that He has only the one human nature. But it is not a pun or a trick but a truth to say that the Monophysite is by nature monotonous. In either of his two forms, he is naturally on one note. The question of objective historical truth is another question, which I am not arguing here, though I am ready to argue it anywhere. I am talking about intellectual stimulation and the starting point of thought and imagination. And these, like all living things, breed from the conjunction of two, and not from one alone. Thus I read, with sympathy but a sympathy that hardly goes beyond sentiment, the studies of the modern Monophysites in the life of the limited and merely mortal Jesus of Nazareth. I respect their respect; I admire their admiration; I know that all they say about human greatness or religious genius is true as far as it goes. But it goes along one line; and cannot convince like the things that can converge. And then, after reading such a tribute to an ethical teacher in the manner of the Essenes, perhaps I turn another page of the same or some similar book; and come upon some phrase used about a real though a pagan religion; perhaps some supposed parallel of what is called a Pagan Christ. I find it said, if only of Atys or Adonis, "There was a conception that the god sacrificed himself to himself." The man who can read those words without a thrill is dead.

The thrill is deeper for us, of course, because it is concerned with a fact and not a fancy. In that sense we do not admit that there is any such parallel with the legends of the ancient pagans as is implied in the books of the modern pagans. And indeed we are surely entitled to call it mere common sense to say that there can be no complete parallel between what was admittedly a myth or mystery and what was admittedly a man. But the point here is that the truth hidden even in myths and mysteries is altogether lost if we are confined to the consideration of a man. In this sense there is an ironic and unconscious truth in the words of the modern pagan, who sang that "the heathen outface and outlive us," and that "our lives and our longings are twain." It is true of the modernists, but it is not true of us, who find simultaneously the realization of a longing and the record of a life. It is perfectly true that there were in many pagan myths the faint foreshadowing of the Christian mysteries; though even in saying so we admit that the foreshadowings were shadows. But, when all imaginative kinship has been explored or allowed for, it is not true that mythology ever rose to the heights of theology. It is not true that a thought so bold or so subtle as this one ever crossed the mind that created the centaurs and the fauns. In the wildest and most gigantic of the primitive epic fancies, there is no conception so colossal as the being who is both Zeus and Prometheus.

But I only advert to it here, not as arguing its truth against those who do not believe it, but only as insisting on its intense and intellectual interest for those who do believe it. I only wish to explain to those who are worried in this way, that a mind filled with the true conception of this Duality has plenty to think about along those lines and has no need to dig up dead gods to discredit the Everlasting Man. There is no necessity for me to be a Modernist in my own thoughts, or Monophysite in my own thoughts; because I think these views much duller and more trivial than my own. In the beautiful words of the love-song in The Wallet of Kai Lung, one of the few truly psychological love-songs of the world: "This insignificant and universally despised person would unhesitatingly prefer his thoughts to theirs."
[GKC The Thing CW3:301-2, emphasis added]

And this even more insignificant person thinks that that is a sufficient answer.

The Nones of July

It has been a while since I posted here, as I have been busy. But since today is the Nones of July, which means I have now made a total of 2*3*3*3 = 54 orbits around old Sol, I am watching "Tron", with all its wonderful and deep mystical - and very Chestertonian - allusions...

"It is the purpose of every Program to know and serve its User..."
"If I don't have a User, who wrote me?"
"User requests are what computers are for."
"All that is visible must grow beyond itself and extend into the realm of the invisible..."

Of course I cannot recount the whole script here, so perhaps you ought to watch it for yourself. I do recommend it, as its insight into the larger truths of my own profession is profound, and I advise it if you are curious about computer science - or about Chesterton; "It is between light and darkness" is just as true on the Game Grid as it is in our world of Users.

And in the realm of fantasy, meaning the things Users write when we are not writing Programs. It is as Tolkien points out, the work of sub-creation. And so I thought you might like just a taste of what I have been working on. It is part three of The Three Relics! That part, called The Horrors in the Attic, is the sequel to The Creatures Who Live in the Walls, itself the sequel to The Black Hole in the Basement. Unfortunately if you wish to read the rest of that saga, and learn about the Order and its very curious coat of arms, you may have to wait a little longer. But it is in production, and I will let you know as it proceeds.

Finally, it is a most special day for me to express my gratitude for those who have done so much for me - I shall not here enumerate those whom I must thank, but ask God to bless them always.

--Dr. Thursday.

Blazon: Sable, a mullet radiated argent; a double tressure flory-counter-fleury Or.
Motto: ouk eimi monos [Jn 16:32] "I am not alone"

Bernie Brown (born on July 6) and Marty Felsen (born on July 8), two of the best of all the best friends in Quayment, had been celebrating "their" birthday all day. Joe Outis and his friend Andy had taken them to lunch at Ray's, and then to Weaver's to poke through the books. Then they drove out to the jetty to watch the falling rain and the waves on the beach and see the lighthouse. Later in the day they had gone to the home of another friend, Mike Tronder, whose wife Bridget had made them dinner and a birthday cake. Full of food and bursting with the happiness of twelve-year-old friends, they had gone back to Bernie's for talk and an evening movie with Bernie's brother, Stever. But before they made their movie selection, Stever had gifts for them. (Older by three years, Stever was a friend and mentor to them - as long as either could remember, he had been giving them special tasks or odd duties, as if they were in training for some grand adventure or mysterious exploration.)

Up on the second floor of the Brown home, these two young friends were admitted to the most off-limits place they knew of - after the rooms of their sisters or their parents. But when they came in, it was mostly dark - Stever had only his desk lamp on, and it was turned so very little of its light could be seen. Curious things seemed to be hanging on the walls and ceiling, there were shadowy shelves of indiscernible objects, and an unusual though invigorating smell (Bernie guessed Stever had bought some aftershave, even though as yet he barely needed to shave.) Even the carpet felt odd. But Stever was there, shoving some old papers into his desk drawer - he was almost as hard to see as the rest of the room. Then he wished them both a happy birthday.

"I got something special for you guys," he said in a low voice as he handed them two identical packages. "This is the next part of your training."
They tore them open - it was a paperback book - no pictures! - a book called Kim. "You'll be surprised," he went on. "It's a great story about a kid - an Indian from India - who gets trained to be a spy... he's part of a secret club." The two made the usual noises of awe, and Stever went on.
"You see this shirt?" He pointed to the one he was wearing, the blue one with the logo he had worn at Weaver's. They nodded. He handed them something soft. "Now that you're twelve, you have to begin wearing it..."
"All the time?" asked Bernie.
"No. Just on the Nones of July."
"What's that mean?"
"It means the seventh of July. Today."
"Why?"
"Can't tell you that now. But I will, maybe soon. And yeah Marty I know you're not 12 until tomorrow. But you can put 'em on now."
They pulled on the new shirts - they fit perfectly - someone knew Marty was smaller than Bernie. They smelled fresh, and had a neat color, and the logo was cool... it was almost like joining some secret club!
"Is this a club? Do we... get to swear?" Bernie asked. "In blood?" added Marty.
"It's not time for that yet. But we can't talk about that part now. That's why you got those books. You have to have training... so you'll be ready." Stever sighed, but they didn't notice - he had been training them for a long time. He had his instructions, but most of it was a mystery to him too - he was only three years older than them. "That book is important. You'll start reading it soon, OK? "
"Right," they chorused, tingling with excitement.
"And no talking about any of this. You were never here, OK? You got it Marty?"
"Yessir."
"Good. You got it Bernie?"
"Yessir."
"Good. Happy birthday, guys. Go pick out a movie - I'll be down in a little while."

The audience was over; the special forces were dismissed. They went to Bernie's room to savor the intensity of the experience before they went down to select a movie which could prolong the thrill.

But Stever closed his door and lay down on his bed and buried his head in the pillow while silent tears poured out. Just fifteen years old, he was charged with a complex task - a task specified on a few scribbled sheets of horribly incomplete notes left to him by a man now dead - a gigantic task perhaps beyond even the abilities of grown men - one he longed for with the intensity of a heroic young man, and yet one from which he knew he would be forever excluded...

In Uncle's living room, Uncle and Auntie were weeping openly as they watched the secret session: behold, at long last, there were three, bearing the logo of the Order on the Nones of July! Then they got up to hug each other before they contacted the Dean with the good and terrifying news.

Half a world away, the bells of the cathedral again called the residents of the College to prayer. It was no burden to them, but a joy - for what member would dare to work in the Field without knowing this huge reservoir was always ready to pour out its power when bidden by the Dean?

[excerpted from The Horrors in the Attic, Part III. Text and artwork copyright © 2009 by Dr. Thursday]

A Chesterton Litany

(for private use only!)

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity One God,

Holy Mary, pray for us.
St. Joseph,
St. Francis of Assisi,
St. Thomas Aquinas,

Gilbert Chesterton, pray for us.
Son of Edward and Marie,
Brother of Cecil and Beatrice,
Friend of Bentley, Belloc and Baring,
Faithful husband of Frances Blogg,
Adopted "uncle" of local children,
Remarkable opponent in debate,
Man of colossal genius, (Shaw in GKC 367)

Jolly journalist,
Prolific essayist,
Author of mysteries,
Indefatigable writer,
Guide for converts,
Lover of paradox, (FVF)
Ethicist of Elfland, (Orth)
Preacher against Pride, (TCM)

Defendant of Penny Dreadfuls,
Defendant of Skeletons,
Defendant of Nonsense,
Defendant of Heraldry,
Defendant of Baby-worship,

Challenger of Wells and Shaw,
Challenger of Darwin and Darrow,
Challenger of Nietzsche and Hitler,
Challenger of the modern world,

Opponent of diabolism,
Opponent of eugenics,
Opponent of tyranny,
Opponent of falsehood,

Praiser of Humility, (TCM)
Praiser of Obedience, (Surprise)
Praiser of Gratitude, (Orth, SHE)
Praiser of Reality,

Poet and Lunatic,
Poet of Lepanto,
Poet of the White Horse,
Poet of Eternities,
Poet of the Arena,
Gracious poet of the Queen of Seven Swords,

The man who rebutted heretics,
The man who revealed orthodoxy,
The man who noticed tremendous trifles,
The man who considered all things,
The man who could take himself lightly, (Orth CW1:325)
The man who discovered England, (Orth CW1:213)
The man who saw the extraordinary everywhere, (TT 6)
The man who chose light over darkness (Ward GKC 650)

Biographer of the Jongleur of Assisi,
Biographer of the Angelic Doctor,
Steadfast follower of the Everlasting Man,

Interpreter of Science, (Jaki CASOS)
Antagonist of Scientism, (Jaki CASOS)
Critic of Evolutionism, (Jaki CASOS)
Champion of the Universe, (Jaki CASOS)

Devoted son of Holy Church, (Pope Pius XI in Ward GKC 652)
Gifted defender of the Catholic faith, (Pope Pius XI in Ward GKC 652)
Knight of the Holy Ghost, (Walter de la Mare in Ward GKC 651)

Frances, who cared for Gilbert,
Frances, who loved Gilbert,
Frances, who assisted Gilbert,
Frances, without whom Gilbert could do nothing,

Frances and Gilbert, united in holy Matrimony,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us oh Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us oh Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Let us pray.

Almighty and ever-living God, hear the prayers of your faithful people, and if it be Your holy will deign to grant to Your servants Frances and Gilbert the honors of the altar. Through Jesus Christ the Everlasting Man, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

This June 28 let's meet in Iceland...

This Sunday, June 28, is the great day on which geologists - and indeed all scientists - all over the world remember the beginning of a most amazing adventure - the adventure which began in Iceland so many years ago on a clear, crisp, sunny June 28.
Might I be permitted to recall the document which made it possible?

In Sneffels yoculis craterem kem delebat Umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende Audas viator, et terrestre centrum attinges.
Kod feci.
Arne Saknussemm.

Which dog Latin being translated, reads as follows:

Descend into the crater of Yocul of Sneffels, which the shade of Scartaris caresses, before the kalends of July, audacious traveler, and you will reach the center of the earth.
I did it.
Arne Saknussemm.

Indeed, though few of the wonderful tales of the great Jules Verne remain to be fulfilled, yet this one still stands as a triumph to the audacious - thank God it is a quality not restricted to geologists, or even scientists!

And I must tell you that though this plan may seem to be sheer fiction, it is not entirely so!

For, on one of the first days after I arrived as a brand new curious freshman at the-school-which-must-not-be-named, I went to the library, wandering in utter delight at the thought of so many new books to read - and I remembered that here would surely be a place wherein I might find highly detailed maps... so I sought out an atlas which would show Iceland in as high a resolution as might be available.

And behold, I saw that there really is a Jokullsneffels and a Scartaris!

So! When shall we go and follow the audacious Arne Saknussemm? What an adventure! What possibilities of new knowledge! What are we waiting for?

Let us make haste, and then join with Hans as he orders "Forüt" - Forward!

To the center of the earth!

The Sacred Heart

Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - which really is nothing more than a feast day to remember that "God is Love". [1John 4:16] I ought to quote something from Fr. Jaki's book on the Litany of the Sacred Heart, which points out how important this devotion is - or should be. He reveals that Pope Leo XIII considered that the consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart was "the most important action" of his papacy - which is saying quite a bit. But I cannot give you all the relevant excerpts just now - I would be quoting the whole book!

Instead, I will give you another quote, which Fr. Jaki references several times - it took a bit of hunting to find a use where he gave the annotation, and it is this, from one of his most recent books:

If it were not for the usual closeness of March 25 to the Holy Week, it might not be impracticable to make the Visitation the octave of Annunciation. This would provide another stunning seal of the Church's respect for any and all foetus as a truly human being. But even as it stands, the Feast of the Visitation powerfully translates the principle of legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi and should thereby serve as a strong guidance in an agonizing confrontation. Of course, what happened at the Annunciation is a far greater fact than the visit made in virtue of the fact. But the actual human recognition of that fact came only with the visitation of Christ to John the Baptist, the visit of the Creator become-a-mere-fetus to the greatest of mere human fetuses ever alive in a woman's womb.
[SLJ The Ethical Foundations of Bioethics 134]

Father Jaki gives the translation and source of this Latin formula,

legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi

in footnote 4 of chapter 11:

"Let the law of prayer determine the law of belief," or Saint Prosper's of Aquitaine famous "practical" defense of the true doctrine of grace against the semi-Pelagians.
[Ibid. 136]

Here it needs to be recalled that

As a mammalian embryo advances through the stages characterized by cleavage, morula, blastocyst and germ layers, it satisfies all its metabolic needs by simple, diffusive interchanges with the fluid medium in which it is immersed. But as the embryo continues to gain size and begins to take form, a functioning circulatory system becomes necessary in order to make use of the required food and oxygen obtainable from the mother's blood. Hence it is that the heart and blood vessels are the first organ system to reach a functional state.
[Arey, Developmental Anatomy 375]

As important as this is, I wish to suggest a larger - hence a Chestertonian - study for us to consider today, yetone which unites these two thoughts in that most loving heart of our Lord:

We have all heard people say a hundred times over, for they seem never to tire of saying it, that the Jesus of the New Testament is indeed a most merciful and humane lover of humanity, but that the Church has hidden this human character in repellent dogmas and stiffened it with ecclesiastical terrors until it has taken on an inhuman character. This is, I venture to repeat, very nearly the reverse of the truth. The truth is that it is the image of Christ in the churches that is almost entirely mild and merciful. It is the image of Christ in the Gospels that is a good many other things as well. The figure in the Gospels does indeed utter in words of almost heartbreaking beauty his pity for our broken hearts. But they are very far from being the only sort of words that he utters. Nevertheless they are almost the only kind of words that the Church in its popular imagery ever represents him as uttering. That popular imagery is inspired by a perfectly sound popular instinct. The mass of the poor are broken, and the mass of the people are poor, and for the mass of mankind the main thing is to carry the conviction of the incredible compassion of God. But nobody with his eyes open [See OrthodoxyCW1:336] can doubt that it is chiefly this idea of compassion that the popular machinery of the Church does seek to carry. The popular imagery carries a great deal to excess the sentiment of "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild." It is the first thing that the outsider feels and criticises in a Pieta or a shrine of the Sacred Heart. As I say, while the art may be insufficient, I am not sure that the instinct is unsound. In any case, there is something appalling, something that makes the blood run cold, in the idea of having a statue of Christ in wrath. There is something insupportable even to the imagination in the idea of turning the corner of a street or coming out into the spaces of a market-place, to meet the petrifying petrifaction of that figure as it turned upon a generation of vipers [Mt 23:33], or that face as it looked at the face of a hypocrite [Mt 15:7]. The Church can reasonably be justified therefore if she turns the most merciful face or aspect towards men; but it is certainly the most merciful aspect that she does turn.
[GKC The Everlasting Man CW2:319-30]

Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, have mercy on us. [See Col 2:3]

June 14 1936

For you to remember today. The liturgical calendar of 2009 coincides with that of 1936. (Bear in mind that the feast of Corpus Christi was transferred to Sunday for America; it is NOT that way in Roma. Today IS the Sunday in the Octave.)

--Dr. Thursday

The summer was cold and bleak and the tour was all too short. Home again GKC's mind seemed not to grip as well as usual and he began to fall asleep during his long hours of work. The doctor was called and thought very seriously of the state of his heart - that heart which many years ago another doctor had called too small for his enormous frame. The thought of a Chesterton whose heart was too small presents a paradox in his own best manner. ... Soon after this he fell into a sort of reverie from which awaking he said:

"The issue is now quite clear. It is between light and darkness and every one must choose his side."

Frances and he had both thought his recovery in 1916 was a miracle. "I did not dare," said Frances, "to pray for another miracle."

Monsignor Smith anointed him and then Father Vincent arrived in response to a message from Frances which he thought meant she wanted him to see Gilbert for the last time. Taken to the sick room he sang over the dying man the Salve Regina. This hymn to Our Lady is sung in the Dominican Order over every dying friar and it was surely fitting for the biographer of St. Thomas and the ardent suppliant of Our Lady:

"Salve Regina, mater misericordiae, vita dulcedo et spes nostra salve.... Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui nobis post hoc exsilium ostende...."

Gilbert's pen lay on the table beside his bed and Father Vincent picked it up and kissed it.

It was June 14, 1936, the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi, the same Feast as his reception into the Church fourteen years earlier. The Introit for that day's Mass was printed on his Memorial card, so that, as Father Ignatius Rice noted with a smile, even his Memorial card had a joke about his size:

The Lord became my protector and he brought me forth into a large place. He saved me because he was well pleased with me. I will love Thee O Lord my strength. The Lord is my firmament and my refuge and my deliverer. [Ps 17:19-20; 2-3]

[Ward, Gilbert Keith Chesterton 650-651, emphasis added]

The Birthday of the Church - the Day of Pentecost

Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, alleluja:
Et hoc quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis,
alleluja, alleluja, alleluja.
Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus:
et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie ejus.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, alleluja:
Et hoc quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis,
alleluja, alleluja, alleluja.

The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, alleluia.
And that which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered:
and let them that hate him flee from before his face.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, alleluia.
And that which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

[This is today's Introit, from Wisdom 1:7 (emphasis added) and Psalm 67:2]