One of those days...

It's one of those days...one of those days when you just feel sort of out of it...and depressed...and like doing something interesting...but there's nothing to do. :P I think I'm feeling people deprived - I wasn't able to talk to any of my friends after Mass today! So I will try and cheer myself up by writing a long, random, rambly post. ;)

I think I have finally figured out what my temperament (for more on the temperaments, here's an article I wrote on them) is! At various times in my life, I've thought I was choleric, melancholic, or sanguine (but never phlegmatic). I now think I'm melancholic-choleric, because of my mix of introversion and extroversion, and, well, I think I have a lot of traits from both temperaments. *sighs contentedly* For some reason it's so nice to know these things! I also found out that my Myers-Briggs personality is INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceptive), and the descriptions I've read sound very much like me.

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I read (actually re-read) a very good book yesterday - The Borrowed House, by Hilda van Stockum. The first time I read it, I was about the age of the main character - 12 - and, like her, many things just went over my head. But with this reading, I was able to really appreciate what a wonderful book it is. It's set during WWII, but from an angle that is seldom heard from - 12-year-old Janna is a member of Hitler's Youth, and believes fervently everything they indoctrinate her in. After she is sent to live with her actor parents in Amsterdam, however, things begin to change. She sees more clearly what the Nazis are doing, and the foundations of her world begin to tilt. I sort of fell in love with this book...I remember loving it when I was 12, too, but I think I love it even more now. It truly paints a vivid picture of what things were like during WWII, and brought tears to my eyes by the second chapter. And **SPOILER** I just know that Janna and Sef will find one another when the war is over! I wish there was a sequel. :) **END SPOILER** Hilda van Stockum is such a talented writer and portrays her characters so sympathetically and well that you feel their pain and suffering as though you were suffering it yourself. Much as I love this book, I find books about WWII to be so disturbing...it happened not so very long ago, and it could happen again. God grant that it won't.

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I just experienced a really cool weather phenomenon! It started raining about 15 minutes ago, but before long I saw the sun shining through the window. It was still raining, however, and it looked so beautiful that I just had to go outside. As I stood in the sunlight in the front yard, raining pouring on my head, I could see the sky was blue on one side of the house and full of gray clouds on the other. As the clouds moved over my head the rain lightened up and eventually stopped, but when I ran over to the sidewalk it was still raining! It was so strange, but really cool.

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And with that, I shall leave you. Today wasn't the greatest, but I know it won't stay like this. Ohhh! I forgot to mention - we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other night, and I must admit I loved it! :) It's so crazy...and weird...and hilarious ("Even I am edible, but that is called cannibalism. And cannibalism, my dear children, is something that is frowned upon in most decent societies.")...and Johnny Depp is my favorite actor, I've decided. My family has also been having far too much fun watching the Marx Brothers lately...our favorites so far are A Night at the Opera and Room Service. :D

"A Right to Be Merry", by Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C

This is a book review I wrote today for the review column in The Latin Mass (the one on the last page).
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Overflowing with joy, "A Right to Be Merry" gives us an insider’s view of life in a cloistered Poor Clare convent. In the joyful and beauty-loving spirit of the founders, St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, the author relates humorous incidents, such as the nun who had to practice screaming to rehearse for a play on the life of St. Clare (a vow of silence renders you out of practice when it comes to screaming!), and the humble beauties of an enclosed life: for instance, the way the liturgical year is intimately woven through every aspect of the day, right down to the food they eat.

But most of all, she relates to us the beauties of Lady Poverty and the joy that comes from traveling through this world with no material possessions; the wonder and beauty of belonging entirely to God and serving Him alone; the epic grandeur of the Divine Office; the sweet and wondrous freedom that comes from the vow of holy obedience; and the joy and inspiration the Poor Clares receive as a legacy from their holy founders. Their life of silence and prayer, bound by vows, framed with the Divine Office, and given meaning and purpose by the Holy Mass, is one of joy. The beauty of the contemplative vocation lies in the fact that they are able to serve God with the full attention of their minds and souls, and to bring Him the world, with all its pain and suffering, that He might cover it with His Love.

In this beautiful and inspiring book, we see that the contemplatives are necessary for the life of every person. These spouses of Christ are mothers to the whole world, and with the poet, they cry, “O world, I cannot hold you close enough!”. And because of this, they are called to leave everything that they may gain everything for themselves and everyone whom their prayers and sacrifices touch. To quote Mother Mary Francis, “Hidden away from the glare noise of worldly living, we are enclosed in the womb of holy Church. I walk down the cloisters, and my heart moves to a single tune: Lord, it is good, so good to be here!”

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I love this book - it's very inspiring, and I've read it probably half-a-dozen times since the day I discovered it at our old church's library when I was 9 years old.

Let me warn you - if you read it, you're probably going to want very badly to join a convent as soon as possible! :)