Notes from Turtle Creek (3). Ted Browning.

The Kennett Paper. Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy. 1991.

Why read it? I’m sure you have never heard of Ted Browning. He wrote essays on nature, specifically in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He urges that open space be distinguished for conservation of natural processes or modified for parks, playgrounds, green space. He died young. The editor of the paper in which Ted published his essays, said plaintively: “I wish he were here to put it in perspective for us. I wish he could…explain to us why the katydids are louder than usual, the shad bush blossoms more brazen, the fall colors more muted, the dogwoods duller.” p. xiii.

Sample Quotes and Ideas:

“The entire creature [peeper] turns into an echo chamber, a tiny musical instrument from head to toe, vibrating all over, the unearthly swamp music of early spring.” p. 44.

“The eastern box turtle has crawled the woodlands for 500 million years, an evolutionary relic of ice ages and meteorite collisions that wiped out fierce beasts such as mastodons, dinosaurs and saber-toothed tigers.” p. 45.

“…the turtle occupies the same position in native American cultural mythology as does Atlas in Western tradition…hold up the earth and carry it upon their backs.” p. 45.

“The shell of the turtle is built of 13 squarish bony plates fused together—each with its own distinctive shape and to the Indian, each plate represented one of the full moons in the year (there are 12 full moons in a year plus an extra one every few years).” p. 46.

“Red Lion Road is an ancient cartway sunk into the earth by erosion from heavy-footed oxen and by the iron-ribbed wheels on the wagons they used to pull.” p. 49.

“The seasons, they go round and round/ The painted ponies go up and down/ We’re captives on a carousel of time.” p. 54.

Ted Browning’s 15 great natural events of the year:

Skunk cabbage blooming

Return of red-winged blackbird

Song of the spring peepers

Dogwood blooming

Leaf burst

Arrival of spring warblers

Song of the wood thrush

Night sky

The rising of the summer triangle

Bloom of Summer meadow wild flowers

Swallows gathered on telephone wires

Katydid singing

Beginning of hawk migration

Fall color at peak

Night sky

Rising of Orion the Hunter

First snowfall of winter

Pond freezes over.

p. 54.

To be continued.

Notes from Turtle Creek (2). Ted Browning.

The Kennett Paper. Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy. 1991.

Why read it? I’m sure you have never heard of Ted Browning. He wrote essays on nature, specifically in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He urges that open space be distinguished for conservation of natural processes or modified for parks, playgrounds, green space. He died young. The editor of the paper in which Ted published his essays, said plaintively: “I wish he were here to put it in perspective for us. I wish he could…explain to us why the katydids are louder than usual, the shad bush blossoms more brazen, the fall colors more muted, the dogwoods duller.” p. xiii.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“Yesterday I went out looking for spring.” p. 24.

“…a beauty that results when living organisms evolve into near-perfect harmony with the soil, the rocks, the water, the other creatures that make their world—with their environment.” p. 26.

“The doldrums of late winter: brown-toned landscapes match inner moods.” p. 34.

“There is no blue like bluebird blue.” p. 36.

“For me writing is an intensely physical and tactile act—kind of a deranged activity in which thinking, dreaming, writing, erasing, wadding are all bound up together.” p. 37.

“It’s easy to switch gears, to shift from the left brain of overdue bills and payroll deductions to the right brain, the old attic trunk-of-the-mind where memories, intuitions, connections and all sorts of tattered bric-a-brac are stored away.” p. 38.

“One thing I found out early in the game was that there was no way I could simply walk up to that room after breakfast, think of something to write about and then just spit it out in four or five hours…. …had to settle on an idea a week or so in advance and let it stew for a while.” p. 38.

“Other times, no matter what I do, no matter how well I think I’ve set things up or how good I think the idea is, it’s no go.” p. 38.

“It’s a good time to look at trees.” p. 40.

“When William Penn parceled out to Quakers and the persecuted the 28 million acres granted to him by King Charles II, he required them to leave one acre of trees for every five cut.” p. 40.

To be continued.

Notes from Turtle Creek (1). Ted Browning.

The Kennett Paper. Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine Conservancy. 1991.

Why read it? I’m sure you have never heard of Ted Browning. He wrote essays on nature, specifically in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He urges that open space be distinguished for conservation of natural processes or modified for parks, playgrounds, green space. He died young. The editor of the paper in which Ted published his essays, said plaintively: “I wish he were here to put it in perspective for us. I wish he could…explain to us why the katydids are louder than usual, the shad bush blossoms more brazen, the fall colors more muted, the dogwoods duller.” p. xiii.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“He observed and interpreted nature for us, not as a scientist…but as one with a spiritual connection to nature on a par with the American Indians’ oneness with nature that Ted wrote about and admired so much.” D. Thomas, Editor, The Kennett Paper. p. xv.

“It was one of those familiar late-November days, gray as gun metal, cold and bleak….” p. 1.

“One of the greatest of the northern European solstice festivals was the celebration of Julmond on December 12. The word ‘Jul’ was transformed to ‘Yule”; it was derived from a Germanic word meaning ‘a turning wheel’ and evoked the sense of natural cycles—the ebb and flow of the seasons, the turning wheel of the sun.” p. 4.

“At Christmas I usually decorate a tree for the birds, garlanding a young hemlock just off the porch in strings of popcorn spotted with slices of apple and orange. I will never forget the spectacle one year of 12 male cardinals in that year’s Christmas tree, gleaming fiery red against the dark green Christmas tree in a snowy woodland landscape.” p. 7.

“If you looked real close, the huge flakes seemed like tiny parachutes.” p. 8.

“Chester County snowscape is the landscape of the other seasons edited of its weedy summer detail, reduced to its basic patterns in field, forest, watercourse, hedgerow. Squint your eyes at the snowscape, these patterns are further reduced to arrangements of pure form, shape, line, light and shadow.” p. 8.

“I would lump snow lovers into five basic categories: skiers, nostalgics, naturalists, children and adults who are still children inside.” p. 8.

“In describing the kind of snow…I use the following categories: flour, sugar, corn, granola, mashed potatoes, soup and rock candy.” p. 9.

“A cold front from the west brought the temperature down and the slush turned to rock candy; snow flurries dusted the rock candy with fine confectionary sugar.” p. 10.

“Somebody once said that developers often name their developments after what has been destroyed by the development: Deerfield, Quail Hill, Darlington Woods.” p. 11.

“…worthy of entrance into that exclusive club referred to as ‘an old-fashioned winter.’ ” p. 19.

To be continued.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope (5)

John Paul II. Ed. Vittorio Messori. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1994.

Why read it? Well, it isn’t easy to read. But John Paul II was a great human being and his ideas are worth considering. The purpose of the book is to answer questions that people have about the Catholic religion and about other religions as well. Some important questions, I’m afraid, remain unanswered, at least to my satisfaction.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“The mystery of the Church: The Son of God, uniting Himself to human nature and conquering death with his Death and Resurrection, redeemed man and transformed him into a new creation.” p. 136.

“All of the Church’s children must remember that their privileged condition is not the result of their own merits, but the result of the special grace of Christ.” p. 140.

“The spiritual, mystical dimensions of the Church are much greater than any sociological statistics could ever possibly show.” p. 143.

“What unites us [the Catholic Church and other religions] is much greater than what separates us.” p. 147.

“It is necessary for humanity to achieve unity through plurality, to learn to come together in the one Church, even while presenting a plurality of ways of thinking and acting, of cultures and civilizations.” p. 153.

“Mutual respect is a prerequisite for authentic ecumenism.” p. 154.

“You are able to strengthen others only insofar as you are aware of your own weakness.” p. 154.

“Man is free and therefore responsible.” p. 180.

“…union with God which is the ultimate vocation and destiny.” p. 187.

“Man cannot be forced to accept the truth.” p. 190.

“…through the habit of sin conscience itself becomes almost blind.” p. 192.

“Council emphasizes that the most important thing about love is the sincere gift of self.” p. 202.

“God’s demands never exceed man’s abilities.” p. 223.

“…Gospel of Christ, in which the paradigm of master-slave is radically transformed into the paradigm of Father-Son.” p. 227.

“The fear of God…is constructive, never destructive.” p. 228.

“Andre Malraux was certainly right when he said that the twenty-first century would be the century of religion or it would not be at all.” p. 228.

Comment: Many of the Pope’s statements are arguable, or at least need to be developed into complete statements. They do give the reader cause for thought. I don't think he is attempting to be infallible. I think he is attempting to interpret his own personal view of the institution that is the Catholic Church. RayS.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope (4)

John Paul II. Ed. Vittorio Messori. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1994.

Why read it? Well, it isn’t easy to read. But John Paul II was a great human being and his ideas are worth considering. The purpose of the book is to answer questions that people have about the Catholic religion and about other religions as well. Some important questions, I’m afraid, remain unanswered, at least to my satisfaction.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“The God of the Koran…is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us.” p. 92.

“All racial hatred inevitably leads to the trampling of human dignity.” p. 97.

“The Gospel is not a promise of easy success.” p. 103.

“The Gospel contains a fundamental paradox: To find life, one must lose life; to be born, one must die; to save oneself, one must take up the Cross.” p. 104.

“…man feels the inner need to transcend himself.” p. 104.

“The experiences of teachers and pastors confirm, today no less than yesterday, the idealism present in young people, even if nowadays it perhaps tends to be expressed mostly in the form of criticism, whereas before it would have translated more simply into duty.” p. 120.

“Communism as a system fell by itself.” p. 132.

“Communism proved to be a medicine more dangerous than the disease….” p. 132.

“It is therefore a revealed truth that there is salvation only and exclusively in Christ.” p. 136.

“The Church, inasmuch as it is the body of Christ, is simply an instrument of salvation.” p. 136.

To be continued.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope (3)

John Paul II. Ed. Vittorio Messori. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1994.

Why read it? Well, it isn’t easy to read. But John Paul II was a great human being and his ideas are worth considering. The purpose of the book is to answer questions that people have about the Catholic religion and about other religions as well. Some important questions, I’m afraid, remain unanswered, at least to my satisfaction.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“Men turn to various religions to solve mysteries of the human condition, which today, as in earlier times, burden people’s hearts: the nature of man; the meaning and purpose of life; good and evil; the origin and purpose of suffering; the way to true happiness; death; judgment and retribution after death; and, finally, the ultimate ineffable mystery which is the origin and destiny of our existence.” p. 78.

“The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these other religions.” p. 80.

“Instead of marveling at the fact that Providence allows such a great variety of religions, we should be amazed at the number of common elements found within them.” p. 82.

“The ‘enlightenment’ experienced by Buddha comes down to the conviction that the world is bad, that it is the source of evil and of suffering for man.” p. 85.

“The more we are liberated from these ties, the more we become indifferent to what is in the world, and the more we are freed from suffering, for the evil that has its source in the world.” [Buddha] p. 85.

“The fullness of such a detachment is not union with God, but what is called Nirvana, a state of perfect indifference with regard to the world.” [Buddha] p. 86.

“To save oneself means above all, to free oneself from evil by becoming indifferent to the world, which is the source of evil. [Buddha] p. 86.

“But this Doctor of the Church…proposes detachment from the world in order to unite oneself to that which is outside of the world—by this I do not mean Nirvana, but a personal God.” p. 87.

“This God opens himself to union with man, arousing in him the capacity to be united with Him.” p. 88.

To be continued.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope (2)

John Paul II. Ed. Vittorio Messori. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1994.

Why read it? Well, it isn’t easy to read. But John Paul II was a great human being and his ideas are worth considering. The purpose of the book is to answer questions that people have about the Catholic religion and about other religions as well. Some important questions, I’m afraid, remain unanswered, at least to my satisfaction.

Sample Ideas and Quotes:

“What is the meaning of suffering, of evil, of death, which persist despite all progress?” p. 30.

“…hermeneutics…explores the meaning of symbolic language….” p. 35.

“…the approach of Saint Thomas, for whom it is not thought which determines existence, but existence…which determines thought.” p. 38.

“In the Enlightenment…man was supposed to live by his reason alone, as if God did not exist.” p. 53.

“…the crucified Christ is proof of God’s solidarity with man in his suffering.” p. 63.

“All individual and collective suffering caused by the forces of nature and unleashed by man’s free will—the wars, the gulags, and the holocausts…also the holocaust of the black slaves from Africa.” p. 63.

“Why…hasn’t He eliminated—and does He persist in not eliminating—suffering from the world He created?” p. 64.

To be continued.