Over Hills

   

                   

  Over hills, beyond the fens,

You’ll find the mountain’s foot;

Dark it is, and often cold,

With clouds as black as soot.

We travel, through the deepening mist,

And come we then at last

In evening dark, though stars shine bright,

To base of  mountain high.

No man may enter there alone,

For years it’s been this way,

An evil dwells there, deep inside,

Where bright red fire burns.

Gold there is too, people say,

A hidden dragon-hoard,

More gold lies there than any king

Has won with his brave sword.

As we stand there in the mist,

We gaze at the dark sight

Of mountain high, with gold beneath

Hidden by strange art.

We will not enter there, we know,

For dangers lie within;

The sight of gold can cast a spell 
On you, or me, or them.

Maura Tuffy

A Poem for All Souls'--In Paradisum

The night is still; no noises in the air.

We walk in chilly silence down the nave.

The coffin on the dais, still and cold-

Dona Eis Requiem, Sempiternam.

The soul is on its way to Heaven now;

We heap black earth by spadeful on the grave.

A stone cross at the coffin's head will stand-

Dona Eis Requiem, Sempiternam.

Some prayers are uttered, softly, by the grave,

And silently the thurible is swung.

Grey smoke is blown like ashes on the wind-

Dona Eis Requiem, Sempiternam.

The moon shines brightly in the cloudless sky,

We turn to make our way quietly home;

From each of us but one last prayer is said;

Dona Eis Requiem, Sempiternam.

Maura Tuffy

Education Is Not The Filling Of A Pail, But The Lighting Of A Fire

One can never be “finished” learning.

    The learning process begins very early; formally with the start of an organised education regime, informally simply by existing. It is impossible to go a single day without learning; why, even in attempting that, you will learn something: that it is, in fact, impossible not to learn from trying not to learn.

    I bring up this topic because I’ve noticed among acquaintances a tendency to limit high school education to only having read a certain number of books, taken a certain number of classes, earned however many credits, etc. This is an odd idea, but nevertheless widespread and widely practised. Being myself a voracious reader, I cannot imagine limiting myself to only a narrow list of books for my entire high school existence. Why, then, do teachers (and yes, parents, I am afraid, are also some of the very worst offenders) feel the need to put a hold on learning after the student has finished whatever class they are taking? It is as if the “pail” referenced in the opening quote has been filled, and no more learning needs to be put into it.

That explains what education should most decidedly not be. Limiting education is detrimental to the formation of an active mind. There is no valid reason to stop a student from learning.

Here is what learning should be; the lighting of a fire. This means nurturing, from the early years, the innate wish in all of us to know more of the world, people, and places around us. This begins in the home with parents reading aloud to the children, with fairy tales, with classics such as the Little House books, and, most importantly, with parents displaying a positive attitude to reading, writing, and learning in general. Reading is seen by many as a necessary, but somewhat laborious task, and it is seen by still others as a joy, and something to be looked forward to instead of dreaded.

The pail of education will be filled, but for those who burn with the flame of learning, the fire will never be quenched. Despite all the proclamations of kids being “finished” with their schooling, this can never be fully true. Learning cannot be made to stop, no matter how hard we try.

Maura Tuffy

Information is Not Knowledge, and Knowledge is Not Wisdom

Information is not knowledge, and knowledge is not wisdom.

--Russell Kirk

This is a very striking quote; it is striking in its profound truth. Many people today are misinformed, and at the heart of their misinformation lies the staunch belief that they are, in fact, very informed indeed, thank you very much, and that their “information” is actually knowledge. And most of these persons will not accept that they are misinformed; they have a kind of closed-minded obstinacy, bred from years of studying just to take another few tests, from learning only the facts needed to get through life with success--and success means having a high-paying job.

  I am certain that Mr. Gradgrind from Hard Times would be simply chuffed at the state of the American educational system; one can picture him beaming (if such a sour personage can even be imagined to beam) and rubbing his hands as he earnestly exhorts all the young to learn facts, and only facts. There is no room for stories, no room for fairy tales.

  There is no room for stories, fairy tales, epic adventures of heroes such as Beowulf, etc., because they encourage intellectual individualism (e.g., knowledge). There is absolutely no room for that sort of nonsense in the ultra-diverse times we live in; good heavens, if we had a few young people standing up for virtue and heroism there might be some kind of terrifying revolution! People who think differently, including and especially the young, are a threat to the dull sameness of society. The conservative way of thinking is a detrimental factor to the formation of modern America.

  As has been observed by many, misinformation, starting in schools nationwide and continuing throughout life, is one of the main reasons America is the way it is. Classic works of literature need to make a comeback; logic must be taught to enable people to understand the fallacies of the world; and above all, we must make the important distinction between information, knowledge, and wisdom as three very separate (but also closely related) ideas.

Maura Tuffy

The Islanders

Beyond the waves, long gone by now, there once was an island, quite small, 

Yet it was our home. We lived there, all of us, and it was all ours. 

Invaders came, and sacked the town, quietly lying on the coast. 

Their dragon ships, flat, long, upon the waves of the blue-green Irish Sea. 

Approaching the bay, in the deep darkness of an autumnal night, 

We did not see them, until they, everywhere, raised such a wild cry 

That we all started up; too late, the damage long done, and all wrecked. 

And now we, desolate, are left, living here, in the northern lands. 

Maura Tuffy

The Way of Beauty Programme at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

                           

At the beginning of this week, I was fortunate enough to attend the Fall Open House at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. I’ve been to Open House before (more times than I care to admit!), but this time there was the addition of a class to the visitors’ schedule; the Way of Beauty programme.

  Held in the newly updated Art Room under the Library building, the Way of Beauty introduces students to perceiving truth, goodness, and beauty through art in a way that is profoundly Catholic in its presentation and content. It recognises the need for sanctity and truth in art, and presents that through classical masterpieces and writings.

   While we visitors were there in the Art Room, we read an essay by Josef Pieper, entitled ‘Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation.’ This essay expresses in a clear and concise manner one of the most prevalent issues of our time; namely, the inability to notice and appreciate the details of everyday life.

   The writer of the essay notes that “man’s ability to see is in decline.” He does not mean, however, that our sight is becoming increasingly poorer (although that may also be true, noted one of the teachers wryly) but that there is too much to be seen for us to actually perceive even a half of it.

   Most average people are far too caught up in the ever-updating world of technology to see the glory of creation, and in that the sub-creation of art. The Way of Beauty brings students on a journey of discovery, not only of self, but of the wonder of the natural world. Only by being introduced to truth by literature, art, and philosophy can we hope to have even a slight grasp of the awe-inspiring gifts that God has granted us.

Read more about Thomas More College at: www.thomasmorecollege.edu

Maura Tuffy

Gollum as a Mirror to Man

Any of us who have either read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit or watched the movie adaptations (a poor substitute for the brilliant books, most especially in the latter case) are familiar with the small, crouching, creeping, and somewhat pathetic figure of Gollum--Gollum, who once led a happy life on the banks of a river, who had friends, and enjoyed fishing. We, like Gollum, all have special things we enjoy doing, whether it be reading, sports, or painting; but, also like Gollum, none of our lives are perfect, and many lives, like his, may spiral all too swiftly into a perilous depression and ruination.

  Gollum was once known as Smeagol. He lived by the water with his family, but one day while boating with his friend Deagol, a Ring came into his possession. Came into his possession? Not quite. Rather, when Smeagol saw Deagol with the Ring his friend had found on the lakebottom, Smeagol was enslaved, body and soul, causing him to kill his friend for the Ring, afterwards isolating himself from his family and running off to hide in the caves under the Misty Mountains. A violent beginning, but nonetheless true. As writer Joseph Pearce says, “The thing possessed possesses the possessor.” Gollum, the possessor of the Ring, was in turn possessed by the Ring. He was no longer the owner, but the owned.

  This scenario of losing control over a possession in this way presents itself in many other areas besides Lord of the Rings. A very obvious case is addiction, which is as much a disease of the soul as it is of the body. Like Gollum, the addict knows he is in some way afflicted, longs to get away from it, even denies it; but deep in his mind, is still conscious of there being a deeply-rooted problem. Hate and rejection of self begins to set in, and also rejection of offers of help from family and friends. This is exactly what happened to Gollum. Hidden away, curled up in his little dark cave under the Mountain, he slowly withered under the burden of the knowledge that the Ring had enslaved him, and that he could do absolutely nothing to help himself. When the Ring was found by the most unlikely of people, (a hobbit by the name of Baggins) and taken from him, he pursued it through his life, right to Mount Doom, where he gained it back--thinking that his dearest wish. But even there, when he had the Ring safe in his hand and all seemed right, his desire for the evil of the Ring was shown to be so bad as to be punishable by death. And so Gollum, clutching his evil lovingly close, went with it into the burning flames of Mount Doom.

  It does not always have to be this way. As seen in the case of Bilbo, it is possible to escape from the evil and in the end, sail away into the Undying Lands, or, in our case, die happily. Remember the story of Gollum next time you see yourself forming a bad habit. Remember where that habit can take you. Don’t fall into Mount Doom with sin!

Maura Tuffy

An Appalling Lack of Imagination And What it May Lead To

                   

I think the quote illustrated above represents quite perfectly the issue I hope to address in this article. The prevalence of this problem was made startlingly evident to me just a little while back, when an old and very dear friend stated emphatically and honestly that she did not like fantasy books, in any way, shape, or form. As a lover of all things imaginative, I was cut to the heart, and could barely form words to reply (in a polite manner) to this unequivocal and, to me, most unfamiliar philosophy.

   My younger days centred quite wholly around books (as they still do and will always), and I literally cannot remember a time when I wasn’t devouring some exciting new classic, such as Peter Pan. I recall leaving my bedroom window open for quite some time after reading it, in fervent and vague hopes that Tink and Peter would fly in and escort me to a land of pirates and redskins. That glad day never arrived, sadly, and so I contented myself with imagining what it would have been like for Wendy and her two brothers to enjoy that great adventure, so dear to the thoughts of many children still.

   See, imagination is a very strong and important influence in the world of a child. It leads the young on so many new and marvelous paths, while strengthening that ineffable, inimitable sense of wonder and joy at the glory of God’s creation. That sense of wonder does sometimes remain, if carefully preserved and nurtured, into the teenage years and even occasionally into adulthood. But with the accelerated maturity of today’s youth, there is usually no attempt made at retaining the youthful sentiments mentioned above. Instead, kids these days are encouraged--no, I should rather say pushed--to believe in only real things. No Santa Claus. No fairies. No anything of that stupid and made-up ilk.

 I myself can think of many long-past examples of being made fun of for my fantastical beliefs in the world of the fantastical; such things as fairies were just not cool. They were labelled as babyish and foolish, but I couldn’t--and still don’t--understand this strange, realist mentality. Whatever happened to being a child for a bit? To dreaming blissfully of inhabiting the rosy worlds of Narnia, and Middle Earth? Imagination is fast being eradicated, and there is really not so much we can do it except to keep it alive within ourselves--and remember to hold fast to the joy and wonder that is all too easily lost and crushed with the passing of the years. Keep in mind the words of the Gospel of Matthew, “Unless you become again as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Do not lose the amazement at the grandeur of God, for it is all too possible that with losing that, you will lose the way to heaven.

Maura Tuffy

At Sea

Far distant was the shore; no seagulls cried,  

       No loud, approaching voices on the wing.

    No other noise was there, save water’s lap,

    Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.

   The crewmen, silent all, were still and cold,

   Not one stepped forth to look with steadfast eye;

   Movement on this vessel long had ceased,

   Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.

    The captain in his swinging hammock lay,

   Dead fingers round a telescope tight curled;

  He’d still not sighted land when last he fell

  Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.

    A ship’s boy, by the mast lay slumped asleep,

   Upon this first voyage he’d longed to go;

  He never knew that he’d  float there forever,

    Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.  

   The first-mate, and the second, lay nearby,

   O’er cards, the game turned now eternal;  
What coins had each ship's hand there lost and won?

  Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.

   Lonely now are all of these poor sailors,

   No friends now, drifting on forever.  
  To souls’ Judgement now is thought their only course,

     Out on the salty ocean, far from shore.

Beauty and the Beast

              

“There is the great lesson of Beauty and the Beast; that a thing must be loved before it is loveable.”  

                                                                                           Gilbert Keith Chesterton

               

    I have never attempted to write anything about anything of Chesterton’s before; it is a daunting task. But I hope, in a few paragraphs, to convey the meaning of this opening quote about Beauty and the Beast.

  We generally feel an affection for what is beautiful. It is only to be expected that we are drawn to all the agreeable things we see. But in the case of Beauty and the Beast, the poor Beast was quite the opposite of agreeable. He was, by all accounts, hideous. When Beauty came to live at his castle, she was repulsed by him. The thought of sitting to dine with him made her quite ill. But, being unwilling to offend, she stuck it out, and discovered that the Beast was actually not so bad. He could converse wittily, was well read; in fact, the only thing he was deficient in was good looks. But when he asked Beauty to marry him, she was appalled, and so turned him down. She could not bear to have an unbeautiful husband.

  Later in the story, however, when Beauty rushes back from her holiday with her sisters and finds the Beast dying, she suddenly realises something--she loves Beast. She cannot bear to think of losing him, and, in a flood of tears, and holding the Beast close, she tells him so. In that instant, as she tells him how much she loves him, the Beast changes into a wonderfully handsome prince. He is now quite obviously loveable, and of course the two get married, live happily ever after, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. How wonderfully simple it all is in fairy tales!

    We see that Beauty had to love the Beast before he appeared as loveable. This explains the Chesterton quote in the opening of this essay, that something must be loved before it is loveable. When one meets somebody new, they are not perfect by any means. But with closer and deeper knowledge and acquaintance with the person, we gradually see that these minor faults do, in fact, make up a beautiful kind of perfection in and of themselves, in much the same way that the peaceful silence of the meadows is full of small noises which make up one great and all-encompassing quietness.

    Hopefully this has helped some of you to understand this quote of one of the greatest writers of our age, without beating about the bush too much. The excerpt was taken from Ethics of Elfland, a chapter in Chesterton’s famous work Orthodoxy. I have only read the one chapter, but finding it to be all about fairy tales and such, I found it most engaging, and look forward to reading some more of the whole book in the near future.

Maura Tuffy

Rainbows Everywhere

                                

“He never chooses an opinion, he just hears whatever happens to be in style.”

                                                                                                         ---Leo Tolstoy

     It seems that rainbows and pride quotes are in style after the recent Supreme Court decision on same-sex “marriage”. I've seen much rejoicing on many different social media pages such as Instagram, Facebook, and such. Everyone has been changing their profile picture to a rainbow theme, and posting quotes like “Love is love no matter who you love” and “#pride” and all that.

  Well, as a traditional Catholic and a supporter of real marriage, I am absolutely sick of having rainbow flags and pride slogans shoved down my throat every day. I went into the city last Thursday with some friends, and a certain bank (I forget which, but it wasn't Chase, although Chase Bank is a big advocate also) had rainbow flags filling the windows. I wonder how many sponsors that bank gained as a result. It makes no sense that so-called diversity is not diverse in its choices of what to be diverse about. It’s okay to believe in gay marriage, to stand up for your “rights” on that matter, but if you make any kind of public protest about traditional marriage, you will literally be shot down where you stand. What’s “diverse” about that? There is no diversity, only a sick kind of worldly liberalism which opens its grasping arms to nothing that is right and to everything that is perverted.

  It's not that the Church hates anybody and everybody who is homosexual; we've all heard the old saying, love the sinner and hate the sin. But oftentimes the sin is such a part of the sinner that it's difficult to separate the two and that's where things get a bit tricky. Sometimes, Catholics are misrepresented as bigoted, narrow-minded despisers of everybody who does not conform to their old-fashioned sense of morality. And then there is the other extreme, which is being propagated by today's charismatic Masses, unhabited nuns, lax morality, and, I am sad to say, even some of our priests; that Catholics are liberal, and all-welcoming, opening our church doors wide to envelope all kinds, divorced and remarried, active gays, unshriven and unrepentant, etc. It can be hard to know what to believe in any more these days.

  Real marriage is between a man and a woman, not a man and a man or woman and a woman. I think that soon there will be more gay married couples than married straight ones. Why do homosexuals seem to be bigger advocates of marriage than normal couples? Same-sex marriage is unnatural and wrong. It’s such a shame that marriage is being attacked in this fashion.

   The abomination of gay marriage is ruining the United States. All we can do is pray and hope that this situation will not take over everything.

Maura Tuffy

Society: A Conundrum

                                       

Aside from the glaring typo in this quote of unknown origin, I would wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Politeness is increasingly rare; for the most part it is quite frowned upon. Men on the train or any other form of public transportation don’t rise to let a lady sit. Why?

  The answer is, in part, feminism. Feminists want to be absolutely equal to men. What, a man offering me a seat? He must think me weak and inferior to him! This cannot be allowed! We women must strive for masculine strength in order to appear equal in both mind and body to men.

   This is not actually my view, but my view is not quite the opposite of the above one. Women and men should be complements to one another; the strength of men to the gentleness of women, a man’s height to a woman’s smaller stature, et cetera. After all, if we look back all the way to Genesis, we will see that man and woman were literally made for each other. Adam could not survive without Eve so God saw it fit to make her.

   Unfortunately, people today have really forgotten almost everything represented in Genesis. All they seem to see is some sort of vague, indefinable inequality between the sexes when really no such inequality is, in fact, present. The main notion of most people today is that men are generally perceived as better leaders, fighters, doers, and such things. Well? What is so bad about that? Is there anything bad about it? Women can do an awful lot of things men can’t do. Women are better home-makers. They also feel more, perhaps, than men do. Men act directly on impulse whereas women wait, and think it out first.

  This, of course, happens to be yet another good reason for the cause of traditional marriage, e.g., one man and one woman. The two will balance each other out, helping one another to act to the best of their abilities and create a good home for their potential children. Same sex marriage will not accomplish this in any way whatsoever. Besides being absolutely unnatural and totally wrong, it is not real in the eyes of the Church and has been condemned by God. But it has been accepted and lauded from the rooftops by the government as a very good and even honourable way to live. After all, it doesn’t matter what the Church thinks so long as we all can be with whoever we please, right?

  Wrong. We should certainly not have to cave to what society would have us do and believe about everything. That is how we became the way we are today; diversity is actually nonexistent, rather than abounding as people think it to be. But I will write about the diversity issue later; back to the role of the Church in society.

  Holy Mother Church recognises the respective abilities of man and woman, which is why she has given us such good examples of holy men and women, living lives that reflect the virtues of Catholicism. Take St. Agnes, for example. She was martyred for her wish to stay pure, a wish which God, by His grace, granted to her. Hardly any young woman in today’s culture would safeguard herself unto death. If she did so, society would frown upon her as odd and old-fashioned. Why, when someone behaves wantonly, are they applauded, and when someone upholds virtue they are sneered at?

  It’s because of the radical idea of freedom. Well--perhaps not exactly freedom, for we all have our own free will, but more what one uses one’s free will for. One is expected, and all but required to use one’s will loosely, to just go about and satisfy worldly desires instead of tempering one’s feelings to suit not oneself, but the wishes of God.  

   Anyway, the lack of the understanding of men and women in society has brought low traditional marriage, and perhaps has even sped on the Supreme Court to its fatal decision of last week. Thankfully, there are still quite a few of us so-called “Traditionalists” who are still following the Church, even though that is of course a very archaic, (one might even say a medieval) thing to be doing. But it is a very good thing to be doing, because gradually there appear to be fewer and fewer people doing it, and this is exactly why it is unfashionable. A thing has to be fashionable to be in any way emulated by popular society, and hardly anything old-fashioned is popular.

  So, to revisit the intended topic of this bit of writing; men, be strong and polite. Women, be virtuous and kind. And, everybody, support the Church as an example of virtue in an age where virtue is falling into the gutter.

Maura Tuffy

The Importance of Chivalry

          

                            

“The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one.”

----Honore de Balzac

   Really? Wow! I wish I lived in a time where this chivalry thing existed more widely! Today’s motto of wisdom might be rewritten as, “to serve oneself, and love only oneself.”

   You see, most people who really ought to be practising chivalry are instead being very selfish. They have little to no respect for what is left of the good, the true, and the beautiful. They are drawn irresistibly to the perverted and wrong. They seek it out and (incredible to comprehend) seem to thrive on it. All they have at heart is their own self-interest. Why? When did we change from noble knights and gracious ladies into selfish pigs without so much as a thought for others?  

  Under ‘Nobility’ on the Code of Chivalry, we see ‘Respect Women.’ What? Respect? How old fashioned! Today’s young men would not be caught dead respecting their female friends, if they are even lucky enough to have any real ones. You will never hear a boy telling a girl she looks pretty. Oh no. Instead will be heard all manner of other words, (e.g., the infamous “hot”) which, though are meant to be flattering in today’s society, are actually very disrespectful. There is no idolisation of virtue. There is no talk of beauty, of purity. There is no decency.

   But, nevertheless, there should be. Chivalric virtues are important for men, and to women. Respect is, in a way, a kind of attention. To be respectful to anybody, you must acknowledge them and speak to them. This is paying them something we all seek, in one form or another, and it is attention. Attention is sought after instead of respect. Respect has evolved into attention, sadly, and oftentimes the methods employed to gain attention are downright sad. For example, having a lewd mouth, a lot of touching, immodest dress--it would be ridiculous, if it weren’t pathetically sad.

  What’s even more ridiculous, though, is that this kind of behaviour has become the norm for so many. Girls today think attention is absolutely the thing to be getting from a guy, no matter what the attentions may be, or how those attentions are attained. And those guys know that girls are just hanging on their every action, waiting for a word or look.

   When did all this happen, and why? I do not know. But one thing I am sure of; real friendship between boys and girls is very important. Many friendships are tainted, but if one strives for the good, the true, and the beautiful, you will be someone who anybody with sense would be proud to call a friend.

  So, what to do? There seems nothing is to be done. Nothing can change all the boys and all the girls in the world. But we can change ourselves. We can be kind to one another. We can help people in difficulty. This is a good thing to do, and goodness is key in a world gone bad. And if people see us changing, maybe they will want to emulate us. Inside every person is a wish for good. And the best way to propagate that good is by showing examples of kindness to our friends and family.  

Maura Tuffy