A Sunny Day in Foggy Galway-town

Yes, it was sunny here. So I took some pictures of things like my fine walk to Tesco for groceries and the Claddagh. Then I assumed that since it was clear for the sunset that it might be clear for the sunrise. Having no internet to check, I went on faith... but I was wrong. Mired in a soup of fog, I actually saw our lazy swans flying, but they disappeared to quick to get a snap. I do have some eerie pictures of the Claddagh in the morning though.



In the meantime, I'd like to share with you a bit of what I've been reading. Well actually, I'm reading numerous books at the moment (six, I think... it's a terrible habit, I know) but this comes from Brennan Manning's Ruthless Trust.
"Send in the artists, mystics, and clowns. Their fertile imagination pours the new wine of the gospel into fresh wineskines (Luke 5:38). With fresh language, poetic vision, and striking symbols, the express God's inexpressible Word in artistic forms that are charged with the power of God, engaging minds and stirring our hearts as they flare and flame."

This is why I enjoy Lord of the Rings so much; because it is the best "wineskin" that I have found from which to taste the goodness of the Gospel. Peter Kreeft's The Philosophy of Tolkien describes this much better (and it takes the whole book, which I highly recommend) but I think this captures it well:
"The Lord of the Rings is like the Eucharist. Under its appearances we find Christ, who under these (pagan, universal) figures (symbols, not allegories), is truly hidden: quae sub his figuris vere latitat."

I've added a list on the sidebar of this blog of books that I recommend and these really are ones that I want you to read. I didn't just put up a list of books that I like (notice The Silmarillion, one of my favorites, is not up there because I feel that many people would not enjoy it as much as I do). But these are books that have profoundly affected me and that I want to affect my friends. They are good books and I wouldn't add them if there were not very good reason to.