Occasional reflections on religion, culture, politics, and anything else that comes into my mind...
A FEW GRAPHICS TO MARK
THE END OF A STRANGE YEAR
2020 was a year noted for contagion, economic collapse, and betrayal of our national trust.
Pretty much everything that can be said about this disorienting period has been said. So I’ll just close by presenting an assortment of images that capture our collective through-the-looking-glass experience.
Here’s one that brings a touch of holiday wit to a key preoccupation of the year…
UPDATE ON MY NEW SHOW
FOR WRITERS & READERS
Getting bored with coronavirus lock-down? Looking for some mental stimulation to enliven those empty hours in quarantine?
Check out my radio series, “Free Expression with Bill Kassel.”
Produced by Good Shepherd Catholic Radio, the show is all about religious communication. I interview writers, publishers, book reviewers, and other folks active in bringing you engaging books and media that convey the Christian message and provide insights to help you on your faith journey.
We’ve set up an archive page where you can listen to the show online anytime…
https://goodshepherdcatholicradio.org/radio-show/free-expression/
It’s a work in progress at this point, but we’ve got four episodes posted so far…
A FEW CHUCKLES
TO END THE YEAR
As we segue from the insanity of 2019 into the even greater madness of the 2020 election / impeachment year, let up pause for a laugh or two.
Here are a few beguiling memes — compliments of the clever (if slightly warped) folks who squander their lives on Facebook…
MY ONGOING PRAYER FOR PEACE
AMID OUR ONGOING TURMOIL
Once again I post my little variation on Franz Gruber’s Christmas classic, “Silent Night.”
I wrote these lines for the Christmas concerts presented by my 1980s music group, Company, which I’ve mentioned from time to time. Based in Colorado, Company was a forerunner of today’s Independent Catholic Music Movement. We did an annual benefit program for a regional charity called Christmas Unlimited. And the high point was always our rendition of “Silent Night” that included this insert…
Christmas prayers, warm and true
Hear us, Lord as we call to You
Hear our plea from ages past
Help the world know peace at last
Grant that love may be born
Grant that love may be born
We have hope, we believe
Hear our prayers on this Christmas Eve
Touch the hearts inside all men
Let us know Your joy again
So that love may be born
So that love may be born.*
May the peace of Christmas be a prayer in your heart — and a reality throughout the year to come.
Thanks for reading my blog. God bless you and your family.
Bill Kassel
*“Christmas Prayers” Copyright © 1979 by Bill Kassel
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WRAPPING UP THE SEASON
WITH A FEW CHUCKLES
Travel and domestic concerns have kept me pretty much off blogging as the summer has flown by. And maybe that’s for the best. I would have just gotten caught up in the political madness and the tragic idiocy that’s marked the past couple of months.
I have more immediate things to focus on anyway: preparations for new endeavors which I’ll be talking about soon.
Meanwhile, I can’t help pausing to share a few moments of humor that punctuate our accumulating national angst. Here’s a collection of recent memes (at least they’ve come to my attention recently). I hope you’ll find them as engaging as I did…
MY NOVEL ABOUT JESUS’ FAMILY
RECOGNIZED BY INDIE BOOK AWARDS
I’m honored to receive the medal shown at left for MY BROTHER’S KEEPER.
It indicates that my novel about the family of Jesus was listed as a finalist in the Religious Fiction competition held by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest not-for-profit awards program for independent authors and publishers.
Please let me express my sincerest thanks to the judges — many of whom are distinguished figures in the publishing industry — for their acknowledgment of my book’s unconventional retelling of the Christian story.
GET GREAT LENTEN READING
AND MEET THE AUTHORS
Good Shepherd Catholic Radio, an AM/FM station covering south-central Michigan, will host a group of distinguished Catholic authors — among whom is moi — at a mini book fair to be held at Queen of the Miraculous Medal Parish, 606 South Wisner Street, in Jackson, Michigan.
Titled Catholic Authors of Michigan, the event will be held Saturday, March 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is open to the general public, and refreshments will be available.
Guest authors expected to participate are…
GILLETTE TRIES TO SELL BY
INSULTING ITS CUSTOMERS
Having worked in advertising, I often puzzle over how certain commercials get approved for production.
Granted, I started in direct marketing, where the effectiveness of any promotion is evaluated by strict, bottom-line measures like number-of-sales and cost-per-order.
But these days it doesn’t seem like an ad is expected to actually sell anything. After having viewed that Prevagen spot a hundred-or-so times, I still don’t get the connection between some ingredient that comes from jellyfish and improving my memory.
Progressive Insurance is probably the worst. They’ve run their “Flo” character into the ground, and their spots just get more abstract and obscure.
Liberty Mutual isn’t far behind. The clever campaign that began with that cute little girl and her car, “Brad,” has been creeping over into silliness lately.
Creative directors need to remind their copywriters that humor in advertising only works when the laugh grows out of the problem that’s solved by buying the product. If you’re just going for the laugh, you may succeed in amusing your viewers, but you won’t sell much.
Then there’s the current trend of social commentary in product ads. Have you noticed all the spots that feature mixed-race families? In a time when marriage and adoption across racial lines is increasingly common, what burning problem does Corporate America think it’s being bold in confronting?
And then there’s Gillette.
A FEW CLEVER MEMES
TO KISS 2018 GOODBYE
As the momentous year of 2018 wraps up, and the conflicts and turmoil of the past 12 months take their place in the annals of history, here are a few online graphics to leave us chuckling…
CHARLES AZNAVOUR WAS
THE UNKNOWN SUPERSTAR
My Ave Maria Radio colleague, Al Kresta, is host of the daily talk show, “Kresta In the Afternoon,” heard on about 400 radio stations.
Al once made a wry comment about his situation of being widely known within the limited universe of Catholic Radio…
“It’s hard being famous when nobody knows who you are.”
The line is classic Kresta, reflecting both his quick wit and his honest self-awareness.
Charles Aznavour faced Al’s problem, but with a twist. Based in France, he was a true international superstar, a singer-songwriter known around the world, but recognized and followed by only a narrow audience within the United States (the world’s single largest music market).
That must have been a frustration for someone who had written more than 1,300 songs, some of which became standards in the U.S.
I discovered Charles Aznavour in the early 1970s, and I found his music deeply affecting. But whenever I’d mention him, the common response would be…
“Who?”
My simple answer was always…
“The guy who wrote ‘Yesterday, When I was Young.’”
At which point I would hear…
“Oh…you mean Roy Clark’s song.”
JESUS’ FOSTER FATHER AS
A TIMELESS ROLE MODEL
The earthy father of Jesus receives official honor twice during the liturgical year.
March 19 has been his feast day since, as they say, “time immemorial.” And in 1955 Pope Pius XII designated May 1 as the special feast of “St. Joseph the Worker,” highlighting Joseph’s worldly vocation as a carpenter or builder (tekton in Greek).
The pope’s intention was to provide a Christian alternative to May Day labor celebrations being promoted worldwide by the Soviet Union and the Communist Internationale. His idea caught on, and that feast is now celebrated by workers throughout the Catholic world.
St. Joseph plays a prominent role in my novel about the family of Jesus, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER. And on the first Father’s Day after the book’s publication Nancy Hastings of the Gatehouse Media Group did a brief feature article highlighting the unique challenges faced by St. Joseph, as I sketched them in my novel.
It’s only right St. Joseph is honored as a model of the fatherly virtues.
Those virtues are under stress these days. Much of the crime, violence, extremism and sexual perversion we see around us can be attributed to the collapse of fatherhood that’s evident throughout large portions of our society (and those of other nations as well).
Appealing to St. Joseph as an intercessor in this difficult period would be most appropriate. And if you don’t accept the Catholic notion of saints interceding on our behalf, then merely try invoking the name of Joseph in the prayers you address directly to God. Either way, I believe Joseph is a powerful helper standing by — and an example for all men with children to raise, young lives to mold.
So to mark the Feast of St. Joseph — and even though it’s not Father’s Day — here’s Nancy’s article…