December 12,2014

December 12,2014 

Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

The pink candle on the Advent Wreath is the signal to "Rejoice.... Christmas is almost here!". This year, our December meeting date corresponds with the weekend of the third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudet Sunday.  In keeping with our tradition of December meetings in the past, our gathering this Friday will be a somewhat festive occasion, with the content focused on the theme that was especially meaningful to both Gilbert and Frances Chesterton; The Incarnation.


At our last meeting, I had announced that we would read through a play by Frances Chesterton, but due to difficulty assuring that everyone could get a copy inexpensively, I have decided to alter the course of our readings. Instead, we will discuss the classic chapter "The God in the Cave" in Chesterton's  great book The Everlasting Man. To prepare for the discussion, please read the chapter before the meeting. If you don't have a copy of The Everlasting Man, let me know by email, and I will forward you the chapter "The God in the Cave" in a document format that you can easily print out. Do not worry if you haven't read the rest of the book, as the chapter can easily stand alone. As an addendum to your reading, you may wish to view this link to the video of a talk on the "The God in the Cave" given by Dale Ahlquist last December at a conference outside of Washington D.C. You may especially enjoy the Q&A that follows the talk after the host makes his announcements.

In addition to the discussion of "The God in the Cave", we will share some  poetry. I will be bringing some poetry by Frances Chesterton. If you have any particular "Incarnation-ally" themed favorites that you'd like to share from either of the Chestertons, please bring them along. 


(Please note... there is a link on Martin Ward's "G.K.Chesterton's Works on the Web" internet site titled "The God in the Cave", but it is only an excerpt from the chapter. If you are searching on the internet for a copy the chapter, make sure that you find the chapter in it's entirety.)



Please bring a contribution to the festivities... any desserts, fruits, cheeses or beverage contributions will be appreciated. Coffee, teas and paper products will be provided.


Please note the adjusted time frame for the December meeting only. This will allow plenty of time for each of us to have had dinner before coming to the meeting.

The doors will open at 7:30 pm for a pot luck of cheeses, desserts and festive treats, with the discussion beginning shortly thereafter. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:45pm. 

As usual...Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) 

...and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

November 14,2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

November 14,2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

A key to understanding G.K.Chesterton is understanding something he calls "faith in receptiveness" and "respect for things outside oneself".  
In his book A Little History of England, G.K.Chesterton states, 

"I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man gets his best moral food by sucking his soul, and denying its dependence on God or other good things. I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness double by wonder. But this faith in receptiveness, and in respect for things outside oneself, need here do no more than help me in explaining what any version of this epoch ought in any case to explain." 

It can be said that the virtue of Gratitude is the cornerstone upon which rested Chesterton's whole philosophy of life. From the foundation of gratitude flowed his humility and sense of wonder. 

I can think of no better time to explore what Chesterton had to say about Gratitude, than at our next meeting on Friday, Nov. 14. 

In order to prepare for the meeting, spend a little time digging in your personal Chesterton library or on the internet to find the gems Chesterton wrote about Gratitude.
(See this link http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html). 
They may be in the form of a one-liner (there are some really good ones), or it may be a few paragraphs, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find them because this theme is woven through so much of what he had to say about everything else. Please bring your favorite findings to the meeting and share them with the rest of us.

To conclude the evening, we will read and discuss the last chapter of Chesterton's Autobiography, ' The God with the Golden Key'. (Please bring a copy of this chapter.) If you haven't yet read GKC's Autobiography, I hope you will not have any scruples about reading the end of the book first. The chapter can stand alone, and is a wonderful and entertaining synthesis of his thought on a wide range of very Chestertonian topics, including Gratitude. You can find it linked here: 
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/GKC-Autobiography.html  

As usual...

Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table...

...and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.

October 10,2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

This past weekend, the chill of Autumn was coupled with the warmth of Chestertonian friendship as many of us gathered on Friday Oct 3 to hear American Chesterton Society president, Dale Ahlquist, speak at Aquinas Academy in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Our local society was well represented in the crowd and Dale's message was well received by all in attendance.  A big thanks to the folks at Aquinas Academy for having Dale speak. Another big thanks to all the WPA Chesterton Society members and folks from the Pittsburgh area who came to hear him. 

This Friday, October 10th will be our regularly scheduled WPA Chesterton Society meeting. We will discuss the topic "Chesterton and Islam". Please look through your Chesterton library and search the internet for quotations, a passage, a paragraph or a short essay by G.K.Chesterton on the topic of Islam. Copy what  is most interesting to you, and bring it to share at the meeting. After we enjoy the smorgasbord of Chestertonian* research on the topic, we will have a reading of Chesterton's famous  'Lepanto' to commemorate the October 7th anniversary of the historical events which inspired the poem. If you have a copy of 'Lepanto', you may want to bring it along to the meeting.  

* Some have asked if Belloc's writings are permitted into the discussion. My answer is, "Yes... as long as you bring some Chesterton to accompany him".

As usual...

Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table, and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.

Calling all Friends of G.K. Chesterton in Western PA and Eastern Ohio...

...and Those Who Are Just Curious:

Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, and host of the popular EWTN show "The Apostle of Common Sense", is coming to our area the first weekend of October. Come meet Dale and hear what he has to say.

First, on Friday October 3, in the Pittsburgh area. The talk starts at 7:00pm, is free and open to the public.

Click here for more info

Then, on Saturday Oct. 4 in Youngstown, Ohio...

The Warren Ohio G.K. Chesterton Society Presents:

AN EVENING WITH DALE AHLQUIST

President of the American Chesterton Society

Host of EWTN series “Apostle of Common Sense”

   

SATURDAY OCTOBER 4, 2014

ST. DOMINIC CHURCH PARISH HALL

77 E. LUCIUS AVENUE, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO

Admission: $5

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Light refreshments –  American Chesterton Society Book sale & signing

Presentation at 7 p.m.

 “St. Francis, St. Thomas Aquinas, and G.K. Chesterton”


For more information contact Ellen Finan at (330) 638-4393

Then on Sunday Oct. 5 in Cleveland, Ohio...

Sept 12, 2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

The summer is winding down and a busy fall awaits us. 

First, we will have a "special guest" at our regular WPA Chesterton Society meeting on September 12, the second Friday evening of September.  The "special guest" at the meeting will be GILBERT.... and by that I mean your Gilbert magazine. Dig around through your current and back issues of Gilbert, find your favorite articles, stories or poetry pieces and bring the magazines to the meeting. We will have a round table discussion of the content we each bring. 

*** If you don't have any Gilbert magazines, then you are in a sad and sorry condition that can only be remedied by a swift course of action. You must join the American Chesterton Society as soon as possible, and start getting Gilbert in your mailbox. Meanwhile, go to the ACS web store, and purchase the download of an electronic version of a back issue that interests you so that you can bring something to the meeting.***

Saturday September 27th marks the 12th annual Rochester Chesterton Conference. This excellent day conference has been a place of joyful pilgrimage for many from our group in years past. This year, as usual, the speaker line up includes Dale Ahlquist and Joseph Pearce. The Rochester Conference is about a 4 hour drive from our area and promises a provocative day of talks, and great fellowship with Chestertonians from all over the US and Canada. Email me if you want more information.

In addition to our regular WPACS meeting on Friday October 10, October will also include the opportunity to hear from a special guest, the American Chesterton Society president, Dale Ahlquist. Dale will be speaking in our area at Aquinas Academy on Friday evening October 3. He will then be speaking at an event in Youngstown hosted by the Warren Ohio Chesterton Society on Saturday evening Oct 4, and at various places in the Cleveland area on Sunday October 5 and Tuesday October 7. More details about these events will be forthcoming.

As usual...

Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table, and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.

August 8, 2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

There WILL NOT be a regular meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society. Instead there will be a planning meeting for the events in early October when Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society will be in our area. If you attend the first planning committee meeting we held at the end of May, please do try to attend this Friday's meeting. If you did not attend in May, but are interested in helping, please feel free to come. If you are planning to come, please send me an email so I know how many to expect.

As usual...

This meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the meeting beginning at 7:30.We will wrap up sometime around 9:30pm.

On a closing note, the American Chesterton Society conference in Mundelein, Illinois was a wonderful success. Our WPA Chesterton Society was represented by Grettelyn Nypaver, Walt Sarafin and me. The talks were excellent, the weather idyllic, and the fellowship sweet. One of the  talks that I find myself still reflecting on was the talk given by Fr. Udriss, the English priest assigned to investigate whether there should be a cause opened for Chesterton's sainthood. He outlined very clearly a profound connection between Gilbert and "The Little Flower", St. Therese of Lisieux. It was fascinating. Nancy Brown also gave a talk in which she made a compelling case for Frances Chesterton's sanctity to be considered alongside Gilbert's. 

Here is a link to a place where you can hear a couple of the talks (I think more are to come), and here is a link to a video of "Our Grettelyn" sharing some of her many talents at the ending banquet. If you use Facebook, check out the pictures and comments about the conference on the Facebook page for the American Chesterton Society and on our own group page. 

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table, and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.

July 11, 2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

July is here and we are planning an undoubtedly rollicking discussion of the entire novel The Ball and the Cross. You have just a little over one week to find yourself a copy of the book, grab your favorite beverage and find a comfy place to read/re-read it, if you haven't already! 

As usual...

Our meetings are held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table, and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.