Friday Links, October 15, 2021
+ Poet Dana Gioia talks about the strange, dark life of poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.
+ Architect Duncan Stroik talks about how when we design and fund beautiful buildings for the poor, we do them for Christ.
+ Michael O’Brien writes an Open Letter to Fellow Writers and Artists.
+ Fr. Michael Rennier writes about five recent books he wants to read.
The Strange, Dark Life of Edwin Arlington Robinson
Fr. Michael Rennier, Dappled Things web editor and contributor, recommends this YouTube biography by poet Dana Gioia.
“This film presents the dark, lonely life of one of America's greatest poets, Edwin Arlington Robinson. Living in abject poverty, crippled by alcoholism, he brought American poetry into the Twentieth century and found success in a sudden and miraculous intervention. He ended his career as one of the most respected American poets of his generation. After his death Robert Frost said, ‘Robinson's theme was unhappiness itself. But his skill was as happy as it was playful. There is that comforting thought for those who suffered to see him suffer.’”—Dana Goia
Edwin Arlington Robinson in the earliest known photograph of him in 1881, when he was 12 years old. About this time, he realized that he was "an incorrigible fisher of words.” Late in life Robinson wrote, “It must have been the year 1889 when I realized finally — that I was doomed, or elected, or sentenced for life, to the writing of poetry. There was nothing else that interested me.”
Duncan Stroik—Architecture for the Poor
Jared Ortiz, founder of the Saint Benedict Institute at Hope College, and husband of DT webmaster and historical fiction writer, Rhonda Ortiz, recently shared this talk on Facebook. On October 15, 2015, Ortiz introduced classical architect Duncan Stroik, who gave a lecture entitled, “Architecture for the Poor" as part of the Saint Benedict Forum's Catholic Speaker Series. The topic was suggested by Pope Francis’s statement that he wants “a Church for the Poor,” and Stroik explores what it means to create buildings for the poor. What the poor need—like all the rest of us—are buildings that don't just meet material needs but also spiritual needs as well. Beauty especially needs to be designed into our Churches, our communal homes, “to raise the poor [and all of us: Ed.] up out of the morass of this fallen world.”
“When we welcome them to the homeless shelter, the soup kitchen, the medical clinic, the pregnancy center, or the unwed mothers’ home, we welcome them to our house. Nothing less than the best is acceptable. . . . You give them the best . . . because we believe ‘as you did it to the least of my brethren you did it to me.’”
Stroik showed a slide of the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in Turin, which was commissioned by St. John Bosco as part of his home for poor boys in Turin. It was built 1865-1868 by Carlo Buzzetti (one of the first boys helped by the saint).
An Open Letter to Fellow Writers and Artists
At the above link, author and artist Michael D. O'Brien penned a moving open letter to fellow Christian artists, published by Catholic World Report. Following are some excerpts.
"While divine providence never promises us a comfortable life, it promises us all that we truly need to accomplish our missions in life. . . .
On a practical level, I can offer you no more advice than this: For more than 30 years as a Christian artist, I have lived in relative poverty, trying to raise our six children on nearly nothing. There were many dark years of testing, yet in hindsight I see how much God accomplished in my weakness. . . .
Modern cultural norms are dominated by a philosophical revolution that is intent on removing the sacred and the human (I mean the whole truth about mankind) from life, and thus they cannot be trusted. . . .
“Go to the very source. Go to Christ and ask for all that you need, ask for growth in skill, for the spirit of perseverance, for faith and courage and love. Ask for a spirit of discernment in order to find your way through the fog of our times. Ask for humility and faithfulness, and for the ability to incarnate Truth in beautiful forms. Be a servant of the One who is the source of all Beauty. Be his beloved. Be very little, and trust in this absolutely."
By Michael O’Brien
5 Recently published books I can’t wait to read
Fr. Michael Rennier writes in this Aleteia essay about five books he wants to read that were published in this past year, including one by DT editor in chief, Katy Carl, As Earth Without Water, and another by DT webmaster Rhonda Ortiz, In Pieces.
