My latest post at Formative Justice is a review of the Simpsons short film — The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare — that precedes Ice Age 4. I took the boys to see it today and found it provocative — and reminiscent of a sad, beautiful memory. Read more
Here is the lecture I gave yesterday at the Catholic Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake, Minnesota entitled “Liturgy as Mystagogy: Why We Must Dance to a Catholic Beat.” It follows the notes below: I. Preface My previous lecture’s principle argument—that the heart is fundamentally superior to the head, that Love is sufficient to being and becoming a human person—should primarily say something about beauty. I want to introduce today’s lecture by proposing the following relationship and order between... Read more
For me, the fantastic was perfectly natural; I had no doubts at all. That’s the way things were. When I gave those kinds of books to my friends, they’d say, “But no, we prefer to read cowboy stories.” Cowboys were especially popular at the time. I didn’t understand that. I preferred the world of the supernatural, of the fantastic. Julio Cortázar, interviewed in the Paris Review. Read more
The Art of Farewell; a powerful and beautiful short film about memory, love, life, and death. Read more
I am sometimes accused of holding positions that are so highly idiosyncratic, no one else could possibly share my view. This is, of course, a backhanded way of saying that I am simply ridiculous, without engaging my position. It is also untrue and dishonest disengagement posing as dialogue. Sadly, this often comes from those who have the most direct access to the only descriptive label I am willing to attach to my worldview: Catholic. Among Catholics, especially during election cycles, the question... Read more
Tomorrow I will deliver my second guest lecture at the Catholic Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake, Minnesota, at 7 pm. This lecture—“Liturgy as Mystagogy: Why We Must Dance to a Catholic Beat—anticipates my forthcoming book (Liturgy as Mystagogy) and builds on my previous lecture on Augustine’s Confessions. Here is a draft of the outline for the talk. I. Introduction My previous lecture’s principle argument—that the heart is fundamentally superior to the head, that Love is sufficient to being and... Read more
I opted against doing the live recording, mostly because I won’t have time to edit it into tracks, so here’s a video recording instead. Several of the new songs are performed here, especially towards the end of the performance. Read more
For the love of gold is different than the love of money, which is loved for the use we make of it. Gold deserves to be loved for itself, as pearls and precious stones are loved for their beauty. Etienne Gilson, The Arts of the Beautiful Read more
New frames and the book I’m reading. (Taken with Instagram) Read more
Anticipating my show at the Red Stag tonight, here are the lyrics of two of the new songs we’ll be playing. The first (“Aliens”) is an edited version of a poem that appears in Things and Stuff, the second (“Late to Love”) is the title track to my next album. The rest of the set list will be taken from Freedom for Love (that can be heard for free at Soundcloud) and a few standards and covers. Aliens Aliens come and go in... Read more
Sam Rocha
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