I trust that each of us are finding our way to The Child in the stable as Christmas is quickly approaching. In the spirit of Advent, I hope you can take a minute to enjoy this piece of Chesterton's poetry, before the informational note below.
A Child of the Snows
There is heard a hymn when the panes are dim,
And never before or again
When the nights are strong with a darkness long
And the dark is alive with rain.
Never we know but in sleet and in snow,
The place where the great fires are,
That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth
And the heart of the earth a star.
And at night we win to the ancient inn
Where the child in the frost is furled,
We follow the feet where all souls meet
At the inn at the end of the world.
The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,
For the flame of the sun is flown,
The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold,
And a Child comes forth alone.
~G.K. Chesterton
A special note of thanks to all who contributed to our celebratory feast at the December 2011 meeting. The food, the fellowship and the festivites were wonderful.
As promised, here are the titles of the Fr. Brown stories we will be enjoying at our Jan 12th 2012 meeting:
"The Arrow of Heaven" (originally published in The Incredulity of Fr. Brown),
"The Three Tools of Death" (originally published in The Innocence of Fr. Brown), and
"The Flying Stars" (also originally published in The Innocence of Fr. Brown).
Both Fr. Brown books mentioned here were included in the publication of The Complete Fr. Brown and are available online to read or print at the link below.
We will begin our 2012 chapter-at-a-time journey through G.K Chesterton's masterpiece Orthodoxy at the Feb 9, 2012 meeting. Our discussions will be greatly enhanced if everyone can read as much as possible of the designated chapter before the meeting. I would encourage you to get a hard copy of the book if you don't have one already. It is published in a text edition and an audiobook format read by Dale Ahlquist, both available for purchase from the American Chesterton Society. (If you subscribe to GILBERT magazine you are a member of the ACS, and privileged to a 20% member discount on purchases made from the ACS webstore.) The entire text of Orthodoxy is also available free online at this link.
If you haven't already, please remember to send me your check for $30 if you want to participate in the StAR bulk subscription for 2012. I need these before Christmas. If you need my address, drop me an email. I have in my possession the last issue for those of you who participated last year, which you can pick up at the next meeting.
Lastly, please check here on this page and/or Facebook page for current meeting information. Heading into winter months, we will keep our second Thursday of each month schedule in mind of the weather. If you wonder about the status of a meeting, please check your internet before leaving the house. I will try to make weather cancelation determinations no later than 5:00pm on meeting nights, and of course, use your best judgement in light of how the weather looks for travel from your location.
May you and your dear ones experience a Blessed Completion of Advent and a very Joyfilled Christmas Season!
See you in 2012,
Victoria Darkey
