Competently performing the job of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court may very well require the patience and humility of a saint, and the faith
of a martyr. (see NYT, “A Choice Well-Schooled in Chief Justice Job’s Pitfalls,”
Sept. 6, 2005). If given the chance to hold that position, John Roberts might
just have some celestial assistance.
Thanks to my Keyword Activity page, I quite inadvertently learned today
that the Catholic Church already has a St. John Roberts, whose feast/memorial day
is December 9, which is this former altar boy’s birthday.) Our nominee’s namesake
was born in 1577, in northern Wales. His ancestors were princes of Wales. Raised
a Protestant — at a time when your monarch apparently had a lot to say about your
de jure religion — the 21-year-old John studied law at the Inns of Court, and later that
year converted to Catholicism, while traveling in France.
The saint-in-the-making then spent a dozen tumultuous years. He worked among
London plague victims, founded a house in Douai for exiled English Benedictines,
and was arrested and exiled several times for performing his priestly duties and
associating with Catholic rebels. In 1610, he was finally convicted for the crime
of “priesthood” and was martyred (he was hanged, drawn, and quartered). His
corpse disappeared from Douai, during the French Revolution; but (purportedly)
“two fingers are preserved at Downside Abbey and Erdington Abbey.”
In 1970, John Roberts was canonized as a saint by C, as part of
a group known as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. The Catholic Community
Forum has this description of the Forty Martyrs (emphasis added):
“Following the dispute between the Pope and King Henry VIII in the
16th century, faith questions in the British Isles became entangled
with political questions, with both often being settled by torture and
murder of loyal Catholics. In 1970, the Vatican selected 40 martyrs,
men and women, lay and religious, to represent the full group of perhaps
300 known to have died for their faith and allegiance to the Church
between 1535 and 1679. They each have their own day of memorial,
but are remembered as a group on 25 October.”
If Judge John Roberts had to choose, I bet he rather have the title Saint than
the title Chief Justice. Of course, despite some of the commentary at this
and other websites, one status shouldn’t preclude the other. Right now,
I’m sure he’s happy to have an ally in Heaven — and quite pleased that we
don’t settle politico-religious disputes on this side of the Atlantic with torture
and murder. Right, Teddy?
p.s. I’ve often stated that no orthodoxy or theory (or religion) has all
the answers, all the solutions, all the wisdom. Thanks to Steve
Bainbridge for pointing to Harvard Law professor William Stuntz’s
TCS column, “The Anti-theorists: What Bush and Rehnquist Had
in Common,” Sept. 6, 2005.
dust on the pews
afternoon sun washes
an apostle’s feet
country church
the summer smell of cotton
freshly ironed
offeratory chant:
in the darkened vestibule
umbrellas drip
Peggy Lyles, from To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 2002)
September 6, 2005
St. John Roberts?
summer and Katrina still on my mind
a sunken barge
rusting in the shallows–
summer afternoon
a spot of sunlight–
on a blade of grass the dragonfly
changes its grip
silent prayer–
the quiet humming
of the ceiling fan
summer morning –
a withered bluebell
loggers left behind
summer harbor–
each boat pointing
to the storm
prairie farmhouse–
two empty lawn chairs
facing the blacktop
his room empty now . . .
in the distance, points of light
on the interstate
midday heat
the staccato staccato
of a nail gun
“a spot of sunlight,” “silent prayer” & “his room empty now” – Fresh Scent
“prairie farmhouse” – Frogpond XXVII: 1; “summer morning” – Global Haiku
“a sunken barge” – snow on the water: rma 1998; Modern Haiku XXIX: 3
“summer harbor” – pegging the wind: rma 2002; Haiku International Anthology
“midday heat” – tug of the current: rma 2004; Modern Haiku XXXV:1
by dagosan
waking up from Labor Day–
the birdsong and breezes
of Spring
[Sept. 6, 2005]
potluck
–embarrassment: If you saw my introduction of haiku poet Lee Gurga
on Aug. 30th, you know that I very much respect him and his work. Naturally,
I hoped that he was pleased with the first f/k/a post featuring Lee as an Honored
Guest Poet. He and I have never met and had our first contact by email less than
two weeks ago. You can probably appreciate how embarrassing it was for me to
receive an email from him on Saturday, saying “Is this a joke? Every time I try to
pornographic website.” Neither he nor I found this predicament to be amusing. I
had no explanation other than his browser having be “hijacked” by some sort of
computer virus. Of course, I immediately pled not guilty. Later in the day, when
Lee tried repeatedly to get access to the post, he found that he could not access
this site at all — an annoying problem that seems to happen a lot with our webserver
(are you listening Harvard Webmasters?). It’s all pretty frustrating.
Having typed out this vent, I just thought how petty it is compared to the
post-Katrina world of hundreds of thousands of Americans. I’m going to
leave this blurb here to remind me of my many blessings.
is now a star Poker Player. I’ve been trying to remember the first
movie in which I saw Ms. Tilly. Checking her filmography at IMDB,
my memory was refreshed — it was The Fabulous Baker Boys in 1989,
as “Monica” Moran. I definitely remember her role in Woody Allen’s
Bullets Over Broadway, for which she received an Oscar nomination
(Supporting Actress) in 1994. Steve Bainbridge apparently is not a big
fan of her role as Tiffany in recent Chucky movies. I’ve never seen
or heard her in them, so I can’t disagree with Prof. B. Of course, I’ve
had a crush for a long time on her very talented little sister, Meg Tilly.
If it weren’t for 
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