04.28.09

Reflections on Schindler and his list

Posted in Musings at 9:31 pm by ginny

When I saw Schindler’s List for the first time, I was studying and living in Paris. I went to a matinee on a gray afternoon, all by myself, and the movie completely rocked me on my foundations. It was odd to watch it in Paris, in a place that had felt the rise of Nazism so acutely. The elderly Parisians in the audience surely had memories, very deep and personal ones, that younger folks — or even older Americans — could never grasp.

I’m thinking of this because, in my great Year o’ Prayer experiment, this month is the Month of Saints. I’ve been reading Robert Ellsberg’s fantastic book All Saints, which features a short biography of one saint for every day. If you’re familiar with the book, you know that Ellsberg takes the title of “saint” fairly broadly. He includes many people who are not formally saints, but whose lives have borne witness to the Gospel message.

Including Oskar Schindler, the entry for today.

Schindler intrigues me. What he did — saving the lives of his Jewish factory workers, finding ways to keep them alive right under the noses of his Nazi acquaintances — is utterly fascinating. The way he responded to evil was not to stand up and denounce it publicly, as many people did; All Saints includes the stories of several people who heroically and openly resisted Nazism and who paid the ultimate price. Schindler, by contrast, kept his disgust to himself. He knew the system, and how to work it. He knew how to undermine it, subtly and quietly, from the inside. And he seemed to know that this hidden defiance, flying below the radar while simultaneously courting the enemy, was the only way he could save lives.

And he was right.

I also like how Ellsberg points out the contradictions in Schindler’s character (the movie does this well, too). He was a womanizer, utterly unfaithful to his wife. He was a gambler and an opportunist. And yet he risked his life — not once, but every single day — to save others. He is a reminder that none of us can be pigeonholed that neatly. The very person whose lifestyle you disapprove of may be quietly doing acts of staggering moral heroism. How well do we really know another person: their thoughts, their motives, their hearts?

In the past few years, I’ve realized something else. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch Schindler’s List again. Now that I have my boys, I sometimes feel like there’s a very thin layer of skin between me and all the world’s tragedy. Everything feels so personal now. And there are scenes in that film that would emotionally fell me, were I to see them again.

But the bottom line of the Schindler story is this: there were many mothers’ tragedies that were averted by his actions. There are many children alive today because of his unique and complicated heroism.

And if that’s not the Gospel message in action, then nothing is.

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04.26.09

The woman who didn’t Facebook

Posted in Musings, Really random at 10:46 pm by ginny

“Are you on Facebook?” I’m getting this question more and more these days, from friends and acquaintances alike.

My answer, always said with a slightly apologetic tone: “No.”

Let me say up-front that I don’t consider this a moral issue. It’s not like I think Facebook is the online equivalent of shooting heroin. I just don’t think it’s something I should do.

My main reason is a practical one. From my friends who are on Facebook, I hear that it’s a real time-suck. Trust me when I say that the LAST thing I need is another reason to spend time online. It’s kind of similar to my resistance to getting Tivo: I don’t want another excuse to plop myself in a sitting position in front of a screen.

“But it’s a great way to catch up with people,” say my pro-Facebook buddies, and I believe them. I’d love to reconnect with people from high school, to get frequent chatty updates about what is going on in people’s lives. As an author, too, I know that I”m missing out on a golden chance to network and promote my book and meet other people who are also kinda crazy about Mary.

But I know myself. I know that it would be very, very hard to self-regulate when I could have the fun of logging on every ten minutes to see who has posted what. This is exactly why I don’t buy industrial-sized bags of gummy bears: I like them far too much. That makes them far too dangerous.

I’m not a total Luddite. I do blog, and email, which keeps me pretty busy as it is. I fear that having something else to do online would steal time not only from these pursuits, but also from the soul-nourishing activities that are already getting short shrift: my books, my photo albums, my garden. My prayer life.

Having said all that, I must in all honesty add that I could change. My grandma used to have a saying framed on her kitchen wall: Lord, make my words tender and gracious, for tomorrow I may have to eat them. I may decide to jump into the Facebook pool at some point; when I’ve figured out how to be better with my time, say. But for now, I’m just blogging and emailing: you know, those quaintly old-fashioned ways of communicating.

So what are your thoughts about Facebook? I’d love to hear them. I could still be swayed ….

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04.24.09

Mother’s Day

Posted in Books about Mary, Shameless plugs at 10:36 pm by ginny

Don’t worry — you have not missed Mother’s Day! (It’s Sunday, May 10). Sorry if I sent anyone into a panic. You can breathe normally now.

But if you have not yet decided what to buy for Mom, consider Mary and Me. What better gift for your mother than a book celebrating everyone’s mother ?

Click here for reviews and a link to a sample chapter, among other goodies.

And for all you moms and mom-types: Happy Mother’s Day. Well in advance.

Cute-little-girl image courtesy of www.karenswhimsy.com (my new favorite site)

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04.22.09

My latest Mary

Posted in Images of Mary, Musings at 10:09 pm by ginny

So I’m getting quite the collection of Mary figurines. This happens when you write a book about the BVM and have a blog about her: people very logically conclude that you will be happy to welcome another Mary into the fold. And you know what? They’re right.

It’s quite a varied group, this assemblage of Marys. There’s the 1930s-Hollywood-Eyebrows Mary. There’s the I-Bought-Her-in Lourdes Mary. There’s the Made-of-Cloth-and-Stuffed-with-Dried-Beans Mary (okay, technically that one is my mom’s Mary and not mine, but anyhow). There’s the Serene-White-Hummel-Mary (I promise to post photos of all of these Marys at some point).

And on my birthday in February, my husband presented me with a pile of wrapped gifts. I could tell what each one was simply by looking at the dimensions of the packages (that’s the downside of supplying your husband with a birthday list: not much suspense). But one gift, in a long rectangular box, was a delicious mystery.

It was the Birthday-Surprise Mary. Isn’t she pretty? I love her veil, and the vivid colors. The lily is a nice symbolic detail. She also looks great against a green wall (not everything does, by the way).

Honey, if you’re reading this: Good work. Thanks for bringing another lovely Mary into the house.

Credit where it’s due: Joseph’s Studio “Madonna and Child”

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04.20.09

Redemption

Posted in Adventures in Parenting, Musings at 2:11 pm by ginny

It’s very easy to be annoyed at your two-year-old when he wakes you up at 6:00 on a Sunday morning.

It’s very hard to STAY annoyed when, a while later, your husband finds him quietly reading his picture book about the rosary, wearing a Santa hat he unearthed from his closet. “I pray,” he says, holding his hands together.

All is forgiven.

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04.18.09

Four Ways I Can Tell It’s Spring

Posted in Musings at 5:58 pm by ginny

1. Peet’s Coffee and Tea, my other home, starts selling their Jasmine Lime tea cooler (for all you non-Peetniks: it’s jasmine green tea mixed with limeade and served over ice, and it is DREAMY). I do not even want to estimate how much of this stuff I consume between April and October because it would probably horrify me. Let’ s just say that I have written many an article, chapter, blog posting and journal entry under its sweet spell.

2. My neighbor brings me sweet peas from her garden.

Too bad the picture can’t capture that absolutely intoxicating fragrance. (Yes, those are Palm Sunday palms in the background. Another sign of spring, no?)

3. Wisteria begins to bloom. My neighbor has some in her yard; I can see it from my kitchen window, in all its lush purply-periwinkle glory. I try to gaze at it every chance I can … it fades so fast.

4. We open the windows. There’s something so thrilling about having breeze and birdsong come straight into the house. It seems to signal that winter is really, truly over.

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04.16.09

You Go, Girl!

Posted in Musings, Really random at 10:39 pm by ginny

I think I am the last person in the world to watch Susan Boyle’s absolutely glorious performance on Britain’s version of American Idol. I cried … and smiled. It thrilled me right to the bone.

If I’m not the last person to see it, I beg you, watch this — it will make your day. If you’ve already seen it, you know you want to watch it again. (Sorry I can’t embed the video — but this link will take you there):

watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I love the judges’ reactions — the tears, the smiles, the awe, and Simon Cowell’s look of surprise-shifting-to-instantaneous recognition right after she starts. He knows he’s hearing something unforgettable. So did everyone in the auditorium that night … and so does everyone (over 16 million ) who has since listened to her on YouTube.

This is the very best of reality TV: real talent, real emotion, and real joy.

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Soap opera

Posted in Adventures in Parenting, Musings at 4:42 pm by ginny

Earlier today, as I was working in the kitchen, Matthew came out of the bathroom with an armful of bars of soap. He’s fascinated by soap, for some reason; he keeps taking the bars out of the storage basket and playing with them. He set them up on the coffee table, stacking them, building towers and whatnot, as I periodically peeked out from the kitchen to make sure he wasn’t doing something crazy, like eating them.

A short while later, I went into the living room. Matthew had abandoned the building project and moved on to some other occupation. Lying on the coffee table were two crumpled Ivory soap wrappers.

One naked bar of soap was apprehended in the toybox. The other is still at large. The sole suspect in this crime is not cooperating with the investigation.

I will keep you posted.

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