Matches made in Heaven

A book review of: Come My Beloved by Ellen Gable Hrkach and Kathy Cassanto

I often think that everyone is just like me, similar inside if not on the outside. I thought all Catholics who married would meet in college and get married after graduation like myself and most of my friends. I assumed they would follow a similar path of coming to better love God by learning to love another. Come My Beloved shows that Catholic marriages are not all the same and have as much beautiful variation as the glorious art which has decorated cathedrals over the life of the Church.

The true love stories in this anthology are each unique and inspiring. God’s ways are truly amazing and refreshing to my faith. There are the college stories, like mine. There are stories of widows and widowers finding each other. There are stories of conversion. There are stories of long time friendships blossoming. Each story shows the hand of God in a special way, working to create a new married life by bringing together those who will help each other grow.

Lessons in the Pages

I am usually self-conscious about crying while reading bedtime stories to my girls, but Angel in the Waters is definitely worth it. It is a beautiful telling of birth from the eyes of the child; but it is more than that. It passes on spiritual and eschatalogical truth in a way that is both simple and deep. The art is well above most children's book art and is a pleasure to see. Read this to your kids, they will ask for it, and don't be afraid to cry.

Beating around the Bushel

A book review of The GEO Principle by Tom Bengtson

I purchased this book after hearing the author speak about God in the workplace at a CCL Convention. As a budding entrepreneur, I've been striving for more meaning in my work than pushing papers across my desk and climbing the ladder at the expense of time with my family. I have been working, rather poorly, to incorporate God into my work life with various levels of success over the last 9 years of my career and this book is an excellent summary of many of the points that I discovered on that journey. It didn't offer any dazzling insight but it was a confidence boost that I'm on the right path. Most importantly for my development, it contains a list of actions and suggested readings which is very helpful. In the "self-improvement" and "career development" sections of my bookstore it is often difficult to separate the gold from the dross, so I tremendously appreciate a listing of books which do not insult my morals or my religion. I wish I had been handed this book at my college graduation; I might have saved much time and improved my faith by removing the bushel from my candle more often.

Featured Author

Ellen Hrkach has been interviewed at Time with Tannia and covers lots of my favorite topics: NFP, books, entrepreneurship, and marriage. Maybe one day she can guide me through writing a novel, especially if I keep buttering her up with free links and reviews and advertising...

Prime Reading

Book Review of Numbers Up by Kevin Clark


Impulse buying at the C.H.A.P.L.E.T. homeschooling conference led me to buy this novel which is clearly a Catholic response to the work of the infamous Dan Brown. The murder victim even wrote the name "DAN" in his own blood, instead of writing an intricate serious of impossible clues like in The DaVinci code. The two victims characterize the difference between the books. Numbers Up is straightforward, plausible, and concise whereas The DaVinci Code is obtuse, incredulous and verbose. Following the detective work of Paul Ondracek, into the murder of a famous mathematician, was a thrilling yet all to brief adventure involving many of the intellectual challenges of the modern era. At the end, I only wished for another hundred pages.

No Pics here!

The Joy of Catholicism
A book review of "Holy Sex - A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing Infallible Loving"
by Dr. Gregory Popcak

I was intensely curious about this book, not only because of the edgy title, but because of a sincere desire to help devoted Catholics have excellent marital relations. Dr. Popcak covers the subject well, answering most reasonable questions and concerns about moral, marital intimacy along with some outliers. He gives a few examples of conflicts and how they can influence a couple's attitudes and feelings in regard to the most intimate aspect of their relationship. That is when the book is at its best, sharing real stories of practicing Catholics. The "Catechism" side, if you will. Unfortunately, the "Joy of Sex" side is a bit too explicit for my taste, though I imagine it is vastly more modest than anything in the Relationship section of my local Barnes & Noble. For a difficult subject, Dr. Popcak did a good job but this still isn't quite the book I was hoping to find. However, I gained enough valuable insight to have no doubt that his next book will make it to my shelf.

Almost Aesop

A book review of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling

I am surprised by how well the fairy tales of this book stand on their own, not just as small bits in the massive Harry Potter universe. I was expecting a lot of inside jokes and lore pertaining to the world of the boy with the lightning scar but each story made a satisfactory fable all by itself. Since no one other than Dumbledore himself writes the analysis of each fable, all the Potter trivia is still in the book, just not in the stories. This construct works amazingly well with the only hiccup being the forward, where the author has the annoying habit of writing as if she and her charity live in the world of Harry Potter and converse with the characters. Fortunately this small error, like the typo of an unmatched parenthesis on p. 85, are easy to overlook and I only found myself hoping that the book could continue beyond the far too brief hundred pages.

Not a Complete Idiot, but Tending that Way

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History" by Alan Axelrod

I have been wanting to bone up on my American history and since I have had such great luck with the "... for Dummies" series of books, I thought I would try the "Idiot's Guide to ..." series. My brother credits this Idiot's Guide to getting him through high school history so I grabbed it when he was tossing it.

The layout of the book was very like a textbook and had none of the interesting attributes of the "... for Dummies" books which I have read. The topics jumped around more than I would have liked, but this did make each section a good read individually. The author mostly kept the book entertaining and even succeeded in explaining the Native American issue with balance and tact. Unfortunately, the research and balance seemed to drop off as the modern era was approached especially anything since the New Deal. From FDR onward, there are blind assertions that socialist policies are good, while free market policies are bad. Clearly, it is difficult to write history while history is being written but that only underscores the need to provide good research to back up claims. All in all, I would recommend this book be treated like my American History class. I paid attention and learned good stuff but we ran out of time and stopped abruptly after the Industrial Revolution.

I'm an Editorial

I find it highly ironic that I am thrilled to be listed as an editorial review of Passport. I usually detest editors as highly biased and overly educated but here I am, unpaid, among their ranks. As to bias, I swear to serve the Truth which is a bias in only the most reductionist sense of the word. I freely admit to the over-education which modern society has deemed necessary to get a J.O.B. At least I hope to break that shackle soon with my entrepreneurial ventures into actually learning how the world really is. Until that glorious day, I shall revel in small accomplishments.

This Way Seems Compatable with His Way

Book review of The Warren Buffett Way

As I have been exploring economics from a variety of perspectives, it seemed only natural to read a book about one of the greatest investors of our time. I was pleasantly surprised by this book to learn that investing well was a rational and intelligent process and not just random chance.

Obviously, there are those who dispute that statement but I believe that the weight of Mr. Buffett's success is a powerful argument against them. I also believe that his value investing strategy is highly compatible with the Christian life. As his recent buying spree proves, value investing helps out companies, and consequently keeps thousands of people employed, when they are down and it punishes investors that artificially raise stock prices by selling companies that get too expensive. This process of buying at undervalued points and selling at overvalued points moderates the growth of a company, consequently reducing instability and maintaining a rational environment for the securities market. Given the recent market plummet, I'd rather let billionaires keep the market afloat than my tax dollars.

Passport to Truth

I am always flattered when someone asks for my opinion and I was particularly flattered to receive an autographed copy of Passport by Christopher Blunt at the CCL Convention.

Christopher Blunt has written a novel demonstrating nearly the entirety of the Church's teachings on marriage and sexuality. I am stunned by how well everything hangs together without being forced. The plot involves fornication, abortion, contraception, personalism, NFP, annulments, and marital chastity. The story is gripping and believable with a main character, Stan, who appeals to me, a Simpsons-loving entrepreneur. Stan is also a Catholic like me, who takes the Truth for granted and needs to re-learn the Faith constantly.

As Stan re-learns the Faith, a variety of events occur in his life which succeed in being surprising while not being unexpected. Stan's life is not a common one, yet it appeals to the common man. His is a truly Catholic life, where small things can teach great lessons and where an average man is prepared for great gifts.

Welcome Available Lighters

Welcome to my little home on the web, fair travelers from Available Light and all long-time readers. My main concern on this blog is figuring out authentic manhood in this crazy world, especially a father's place in family life. I try to approach my other interests from this direction, but my interests vary widely so cohesion is not obvious. Feel free to peruse my labels to learn more about Natural Family Life.

I have noticed that many other bloggers occassionally do a "Hello World" post and ask their readers to leave a comment. Please leave a comment and introduce yourself, I love meeting people. As an incentive, I am running my first blog contest ever. I will pick one random commentor to receive a copy of My Grandfather's Son, the book which I recently reviewed at Available Light. If you don't want to be in the contest, please say so in your comment.

Embarassing Parenthood

I just read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for the first time. Now, I do remember having the book read to me at the public library when I was little, and I am pretty sure it was featured in Reading Rainbow, so the story is not new to me. However, since this is the first time I ever read the story on the other side of parenthood, I was surprised by my overwhelming emotional reaction to the book. I read it as a bedtime story to my two lovely girls and I wept for the brief interval of time where I can help form them as young Christian ladies.

More surprising to me than my emotional response, was how I understand the Tree much better now. As a child, I guess I pitied the tree and sympathized with the boy. I simply expected that the Tree enjoyed helping the boy so the Tree was happy. Now I know that the Tree did enjoy helping the boy, but that the Tree suffered as the boy grew since the boy grew further away. I guess The Giving Tree taught me the lesson of love which I only absorb intellectually from the tree of the cross. Successful love, like successful parenting, involves suffering. The better I do my job of raising my daughters into mature, independent ladies, the more I will miss these years of providing everything for them.

Reading Thomas

Although I don't often read autobiographies, a dear friend gave me her copy of "My Grandfather's Son" and suggested that I would enjoy it. Though I am old enough to remember the general facts of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the bench, I never really had an interest in the politics or the man embroiled in them. However, his story is both interesting and educational.


Clarence Thomas has a clear recollection of his tumultuous life from living in a shack near a swamp through college activism to political intrigues. He not only narrates the details of his own life; he realizes that his life is a whole. He illustrates the connections between incidents in his life with an understanding light. Though racism was a formative part of his life, he demonstrates the strength that comes from meeting the challenge. As politics continues to be more dominated by whining, I am thankful for the story of a man facing the challenge of integrity, failing, and learning to be a better man by incorporating the difficult lessons taught by life and by a loving grandfather.

201: A Web Odyssey

This is post 201 on my little corner of cyberspace, that puts me at about a post every two days. In honor of this accomplishment, I am flattered to announce that I will have some posts up at Available Light, a new blog from Dean Abbott. The posts are currently re-releases of book reviews that you read here first, but I will be sending him some new material in the near future. So go check him out, dear reader.

First Novel is a Lulu

A book review of Conspiracy Untold by Brad Leiphart

I have contemplated this review for over a week and I was unsure exactly what to say about Brad's first novel. It defied easy categorization and therefore, comparison was difficult for me. The basic style was reminiscent of Ludlum but the protagonist, Ryan Hull, was far more gruesome in his methods, like Jason Bourne but with less control. The novel also used the scenery of Philadelphia and the environs to good extent, just as Ludlum often vividly described the locales of his adventures. The story also contained many detective elements, yet Ryan was more gruff and direct than a PI written by Raymond Chandler. Fortunately the plot was also far easier to follow, which was a big plus over Chandler. My biggest complaint was the brevity of the novel, ending in under 300 pages.

Even though it was the first novel in The Corrosion Legacy series, I hoped for a more exciting climax, though I enjoyed the lively banter between the two principal characters which brought the novel to a close. Lively banter and the vivid action sequences were the biggest discriminators for this novel and I hope they continue in the next installment.

Beginning Again

My wife and I have completed the re-certification necessary to teach NFP according to the new program published by CCL. The process was mostly pain-free except for some technical errors in the new web-based training modules. The web-based training was of a similar quality to the web-based training which I received from my employer, better in some regards.

The culmination of this training was reading the new Student Guide which CCL published. There were a few typos, which irk a grammar nerd like me, but overall, I was very impressed with the guide. It covered the necessities and seemed to be a far better teaching tool than the old Art of Natural Family Planning (4th ed.). The Student Guide taught the basics in a simple, comprehensible manner and it did not suffer from the information overload of the Art. However, its strength was also its weakness. As a workbook, it will no doubt be a good teaching tool but students will be at a loss for more in depth information. CCL could easily remedy this situation by putting out a new comprehensive NFP guide, which I hope they do, after the rollout of the new materials is completed. Despite this weakness, I think CCL has done exactly what was necessary to re-vitalize its work.

We are in the midst of teaching our first classes in the new method. I will do a more thorough review of the overhaul and the course after we have taught it.

How Chaste a Foundation

A book review of Emily's Hope by Ellen Gable
Full Quiver Publishing

by: James F. Volpe


The Couple to Couple League is updating all of its materials, as well as its method, in the first overhaul since inception. The Creighton System's NaPro Technology is having tremendous success and expanding all over the nation. The NFP movement has passed through its infancy and is in the growth spurts of puberty along with the daughters of the current generation of NFP users. All NFP using parents are concerned with how to pass on the beauty of the Church's teaching on sexuality to their daughters. Since many NFP users have discovered this beauty only after hard lessons in life, they wish to spare their daughters from these same growing pains.

In order to impart these lessons in sexuality, Ellen Gable has adopted my favorite pedagogy, teaching through novelization. In Emily's Hope, Mrs. Gable alternated between telling the story of Emily, living in the seventies and Emily's great-grandmother, living at the turn of the twentieth century. This proved to be a brilliant device which allowed for simultaneously explaining the separate time frames where contraception and abortion were legalized. The story of Emily covered many situations which those in the pro-life community experience: bigotry from doctors, confusion from friends, silence from family, witnessing to deaf ears, and sympathy from no one except a spouse. The story of Emily's grandmother covered the militancy and cold-heartedness of the birth control movement as well as the rationalizations often used by pro-abortion advocates. The book teetered on the edge of covering too much with these instructional vignettes, but, thankfully, the scenes did not become overwhelming and the story held together on its own merits.

As I witnessed Emily and her great-grandmother travel through their lives, I was reminded of another gloriously educational novel, How Firm a Foundation, by Marcus Grodi. That novel covered the tale of a Christian pastor as he followed the lonely road of Christ across the Tiber and into Roman Catholicism. Mr. Grodi wrote his novel to explain his journey to his parents, whom he loved very dearly but who could not understand his conversion to Catholicism. Mrs. Gable's novel covers the conversion of a young woman's heart. She wrote her novel to explain the beauty of the sexual powers to her goddaughters in case they could not understand the witness of her life. Both novels are works of love, explaining how deep love can be.

Zen and the Art of Tangelo Peeling

After crushing a few tangelos into a horrible pulp, I have decided to listen to my wife and learn some grace and delicacy. I took a lesson from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and decided that the first thing to do was to be at peace. I actually prayed for peace. I then prayed that God's will be done with this tangelo peeling. It was amazing, I never prayed so intently for something so small. Would that I could pray intently for big things so that His will be done. And I would not turn more important things into pulp.

Discount for Life

I have just enrolled as a pro-life blogger with the Catholic Information Center in D.C. As a lucrative benefit, I can receive a 15% discount on anything that I purchase in the store on January 22. I hope to be able to march but I am not sure about the logistics with the girls. If you are fortunate enough to be marching, go to the CIC and buy many things. You will also be able to meet Dawn Eden and get her to autograph your copy of her book, The Thrill of the Chaste. She will be selling them at 25% off.

I hope to create a variety of scintillating posts to entertain the throngs which will flock to my blog now that I am a registered pro-life blogger. Y'all come back now, y'ear!