Category: Review

August 30, 2024 – The Art of War, Initial Estimations

August 30, 2024 /

And we are off. The Art of War is a short book. Mine is 77 pages and that is broken up into 13 chapters. Each week, it should be pretty easy to read the chapter and have some time to digest the meaning. I didn’t just read three pages however, my version has 162 pages of foreword, history and scene setting. Like Dante’s Italy, I had no idea about the history and politics of 500 BC (or the politically correct BCE) China. Truth be told, when any book starts adding a ton of foreign names, I kind of get lost.

It can be the Bible or a fantasy novel it is all the same, if the text is full of unfamiliar names I start to gloss over. So, I didn’t get a lot out of the pretext but a few things. Sun Tsu could be a pen name. He was likely an advisor to one of the Chinese emperors. This book is one of seven classic tactical texts albeit the best known.

The translator Ralph Sawyer relates the thirteen principles to several battles that Sun Tsu allegedly orchestrated. I suppose that this is an attempt to justify the validity of the principles based on the outcome of the battle. But, I am going to save you all of that anguish and we will assume that this is valuable wisdom that we can apply in today’s battles. Whatever those are.

This is my own principle. Never get involved in conflict with someone that has nothing to lose. What does that mean? It means that I have more important things to do than fight. I won’t use any names here but there is a person in my life that is chronically underemployed. This is also a very difficult person to get along with in the best of times. I suspect that the two things are related.

This person has been in the ‘system’ for many years and really nothing better to do, I don’t have the experience, desire or resources to get involved in a legal battle or other such things. I am not saying it is right but a better option is to pay some ransom than waste a bunch of time or resources fighting. The only loser in this scenario is me.

My philosophy is an homage to another Sun Tsu idea. Only fight battles that you are going to win. How do you know that you are going to win? It comes down to the initial estimation. There are five parameters that Sun Tsu says general need to know. They would be Tao, Heaven, Earth, generals and military organization. These are slightly abstract metrics to me anyway, especially when you read the definitions.

  • Tao is the affinity of the soldiers to the ruler
  • Heaven is the Yin/Yang
  • Earth is the terrain
  • Generals are generally the skill and ability
  • Military organization includes things like troop strength and logistical support.

I don’t really want to get into analysis of each of these points but the thing that I notice is that this is really a holistic evaluation. Most people would probably only consider the last three elements in the evaluation and not necessarily the intangibles like ‘We have been on a real lucky streak, is this likely to continue?’ I think the thing to really take away from this is that an evaluation should be performed with a set of values that make sense for the situation.

Having never been a soldier, I cannot speak to that in particular. However, I have seen where weak initial estimations have come back to haunt time and time again. In the software business, I have seen underselling or underestimation of the scope and complexity cause virtual losses in battle. The poor generals lead troops that don’t have respect for the leaders. Logistical support is absent and the terrain is unknown. On top of that the Yin/Yang is not balanced because the plan is to make up the poor bidding with change orders or code in an attrition environment. Grind out the new workers who haven’t paid their dues.

How often do construction projects go double or triple the budget? Way too often because estimation is often more difficult than actually doing the work. Estimation is an interdisciplinary skill that requires knowledge of what needs to be done as well as a little bit of of poker. You have to know where the problem spots are likely and places where the project is likely to give and take.

Too often, this job is left to a polished smooth talker rather than a subject matter expert that has transitioned to a sales role. Also companies dig holes too deep by leveraging artificial advantages like off-shore workers (low rates) or currency conversions (converting a stronger dollar to weaker currencies for margins). This tricks might work to get out of a jamb but often put the short term profits over strategic partnerships or a happy workforce.

End Your Programming Routine: No, I have not confused business with war. Only one do I know anything about but I definitely concur that initial estimations are critical if you want to win the battle. Maybe Sun Tsu’s five parameters are adequate for war? What I can say is that parameters critical for success should be defined for the endeavor you are engaged in. They should be evaluated and refined with feedback. When this skill is mastered, then you will be prepared to determine whether or not to engage.

August 28, 2024 – The Dark Vineyard

August 28, 2024 /

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker is the August selection of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. Our meeting was held about two weeks ago however I was not able to make it, nor had I started reading the book. Not that it is a requirement. Truthfully, I am one of the few that read the books anyway.

I finished the book in about two weeks. It is short at a little over 300 pages. I also did something that I rarely do which is read a couple afternoons on the weekend. As a teenager, it would be nothing for me to read 100 pages a day. You would find me reading most of the time I didn’t have something else assigned to do. In a way I enjoyed it a lot, it took me back to my youth. This is also a clue that I was enjoying my reading.

It is true that I have done a lot of reading this summer but that is because I didn’t have anything else I could do. Now that I have been home a couple of weeks, that has changed significantly. I have things lined up that I want to get to. So, this was a choice, dare I say a luxury.

One thing that I appreciate about the LCCBC is my exposure to authors and genres that I would never find on my own. Left to my own devices, a thriller or a Tom Clancy action story would be where I stay. A mystery set in France I would pass right by. I enjoyed the story. All the heavy reading that I do makes it a nice treat to read something light and entertaining.

Walker has created a series with a small town detective named Bruno who solves crime. While I was reading the book, I kept envisioning PBS shows like Masterpiece as the characters and scenery in my mind. This book is the second in what I know three so far. This has been the only one that I have read.

Wine is the subtle thread of the story. Many of the characters are vineyard owners, winemakers, bottle shop owners and all are consumers of wine. This was a perfect book for the book club in my mind. Food plays a minor role, wine plays a major role and entertainment is the star. It sure beats reading cookbooks for pleasure.

I won’t give away the story. But, there are several crimes that occur throughout the book. I also won’t say it is predictable even though I guessed the perpetrator pretty early on. You have to read to the end to see it all woven together. Walker does a pretty good job of not leaving too many clues other than to say there is one character who’s actions don’t make a lot of sense and yet seem to be popping up in most chapters.

Is it a must read? No. Was it enjoyable? Yes.

End Your Programming Routine: For books we have read this year, I would rank it below Lessons in Chemistry. That makes it the second best book of the year. I would put it above Kitchens of the Great Midwest and Delicious ranking it pretty high in recent reads. Given that I have only read Dante and these books, it ranks pretty high amongst what I have read this year. So, if you are looking for something to make you hungry or an easy plane read, this is not a bad choice.

August 27, 2024 – Have You Ever Wondered About Repair?

August 27, 2024 /

I have always been a connoisseur of sunglasses. When I was a junior in high school, I bought my first pair of Oakley Frog Skins with a blue iridium coating on the lenses. Unfortunately, I sat on them in the car seat within six months. I sent them in and I got my one replacement pair. I don’t remember their final demise but I think I broke them within another year and I was in college, without the funds or the desire to replace them.

In 2005, we went to Maui for my brothers wedding. Since it had been thirteen years since my last ‘expensive’ pair, I decided to treat myself to some wire framed Ray Bans. My hopes that they would be more resilient than the plastic framed Oakley’s. Fortunately, my vision has been pretty good. And, because I live in the more often gray Pacific Northwest, sunglasses season is when the weather is good. So after our trip, I left the glasses in my truck so they would be there when I wanted them.

Whether it was a manufacturing flaw or just the conditions, the polarization film is between two pieces of glass. The film started to contract between the glass looking terrible and clouding vision. I bought these Ray Ban’s at the ubiquitous Sunglasses Hut. They also have a one replacement policy within a year. So, I got another pair of Ray Bans in 2006.

I started treating them with kid gloves or at least I tried. I remember the day in 2012 that I was helping my wife to the car after a follow-up with the doctor from cancer the first time. I wasn’t wearing the glasses but they fell off my person and landed on the temple on cement. That force popped the lens out and tweaked the frame. In my attempt to bend the frame in position to hold the lens, I made it worse and worse. I could get the lens in but then looked terrible on my face. I finally gave up and they were relegated to my basket with wallet and keys.

Before repair
Before Repair. It is hard to see how bent the frames really are and the left lens is not attached to the glasses.

After giving up on them, I got another pair of Oakley’s in 2019. I told my wife that I still want to fix my Ray Bans. I was always going to… take them to a local optometrist and find out if they could fix them, mail them into a glasses repair service, not abandon them. It was while I was organizing my personal space getting ready to go back to the hospital a couple months ago that I said to myself, fix these or throw them away.

I searched ‘Ray Ban repair’ and one of those heavily advertised sites came up. They had branches in Kirkland, WA and four or five in California. They advertised $39-69 for the average repair and one day turn around service. I really just needed the frames straightened properly so I figured that this was worth the gamble. I followed the instructions and waited. Here is what happened.

After about ten days, they called me and gave me an estimate. I gave the go ahead. About five days later, they called and wanted me to pay. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and I was at a play so I had to return the call on Monday. By Thursday of the next week, I had my glasses back, good as new. The following is the breakdown of the cost.

  1. $10 Priority Mail to Kirkland.
  2. $39 for cleaning and repair
  3. $10 to replace the rubber (optional)
  4. $10 tax
  5. $10 to ship them back to me

If you are doing the math, it took about 20 calendar days and $80 to fix. That sure beats twelve years broken. I am pleased with the work and the results. I personally think that the turnaround time didn’t meet my expectations and all the added expense of shipping was quite a bit more than the ads lead me to expect. But, a broken set of sunglasses are not worth the space they have been taking all this time.

As you know, I am a believer in repair. I had asked my eye doctor about repairing old eye glasses that I had with a new prescription. They amped up the risks of broken components, no warranty, risks etc. My belief is that they are more interested in selling new glasses than actually taking care of their customers. So I never pursued fixing my glasses with them. A service that isn’t going to put the fear of god in you to ship something seems more appealing.

These glasses originally cost me around $200 so and $80 repair seems reasonable. I am not sure that they make this model anymore either. Narrower height lenses that stretch across my face are more complementary than big, round lenses. The truth is, my big regret is not doing this years earlier. In fact, at one point my wife was using the case for her sunglasses saying that I didn’t need them anymore. That was true. Nobody should take twelve years to fix something.

End Your Programming Routine: Don’t be like me. If something is important, take care of it. While I wouldn’t say that the repair service delivered on value in both time and cost, I am grateful for the end result and that I could conveniently mail the glasses in and pay for them and they would be fixed. Value is a subjective metric. To me, it was a valuable service. Be prepared to wait and pay but also get what you want.

August 23, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Conclusion

August 23, 2024 /

We are finally at the last act for Dante. If you recall when I started, I was trying to delve more into faith with fiction. It didn’t take long for me to discover that this was more fiction with a faith backdrop. This lead to a long period of disappointment until I reconciled with Dante. More on that in a minute.

It was late into Paradise when I had a revelation. I always knew that Dante was destined to head back to earth. It was this story that he was commanded to take back. That was the genesis story for the Devine comedy.

If I had to stack rank the three books, this would be my order Purgatory, Hell and then Heaven. I know that might be a surprise, I think that I am too. But, of the story Purgatory actually makes the most sense to me. I still don’t believe in Purgatory, but I can understand the logic of how it works. I liked the creativeness of Hell and I was disappointed with Heaven.

I am glad that I read it. With the dust settled a bit, I can appreciate it a little more. It is considered one of the great works of literature. I don’t respect ‘great’ too much but it did allow me to contemplate my own faith given the contrasting opinion with Dante’s view of faith. It is one of those things that you can check off but I don’t think that I will likely be reading it again.

I think that you could probably read this twenty times to catch all of the nuances. I found myself getting caught up in all of the footnotes and backstory to really get in the groove. Some nights it was really hard because my reading was so disjointed flipping back and forth between the footnotes and the actual text. I could hardly remember what I read.

I know that you were all reading along with me right? Sure. Would I recommend this as an entertaining work of fiction? Honestly, I would say no. This is a scholarly work that is deep in Italian history, Greek and Roman mythology and Catholic regimen. I am not telling you what to do, but I am telling you that this is very hard to read. It is harder to understand and impossible to fully identify with.

I have heard that some reading clubs do The Devine Comedy in 100 days. This is because there are 100 Cantos. As much as I read, that would be pretty hard for me to do. Each Canto represented approximately 30 minutes each for me. So, I have about fifty hours into the book. Realistically a lot more than that but who is counting.

You can’t blame Dante really. He was pissed off about getting banished from his home. I would make fun of my enemies too if I were to write a story. The name Comedy was in the title. So shame on me for having different expectations. While I didn’t laugh much, I could see the sarcasm and irony both elements of humor. I am sure that if I had more context with many of the characters, I might have found it more funny.

I can’t remember if I said this or not, I think that I have. Despite not being a Catholic, I have a deep respect for the organization. There is no doubt that many bad things have been done in the name of the Lord. It is the mission of the church that I admire and not the people. That is one of the things that a lot of Catholics seem to miss, including Dante.

End Your Programming Routine: My final answer is that I am glad I read it and I am glad that I am done. Since I read the inferno in high school, reading the full work gave me a much more comprehensive view of the story. I am definitely looking forward to turning the page on The Art of War.

August 16, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Conclusion

August 16, 2024 /

So, it has been a long road. Part of me wants to wrap things up completely and part of me wants to savor the end. Since I had a summary at the end of each book, I thought. It muddy the waters between the thoughts of Paradise versus the entire work. While I will save my total thoughts to next week, you can probably guess based on the sum of all of my writings.

Dante’s Paradise is comprised of nine official, ten total and eleven technical levels. The eleventh is technically pre-paradise but I took that as it’s own week since there was all of the pomp and pageantry of crossing the river and such. Those levels were

  • Moon – Incontent
  • Mercury – Ambitious
  • Venus – Lovers
  • Sun – Wise
  • Mars – Warriors
  • Jupiter – Rulers
  • Saturn – Contemplatives
  • Fixed Stars – Faith, Hope and Love
  • Primum Mobile – Angels
  • The Empyrean – God and the highest of high

I guess my summed impression is different than Dante’s. First, I never imagined that heaven would have levels. I was told that someone dies, that we would meet in Heaven. If we came from two different positions in life, based on Dante’s description we could be on two different levels forever. It could be my earthly thinking but I want to believe that my version of Heaven is the more accurate one.

Second, I haven’t dwelled much on what heaven would actually be like. I always kind of thought it would be euphoric. But, Dante may be more right than me in this area. Contentment might be the better virtue description here. What could be a better state than perpetual contentment never wanting or never needing.

Like the previous books, I find it convenient that Beatrice, an essentially unknown historical figure and love of Dante’s life is his guide and takes a seat at the top. In the lower levels the figures of interest are Dante’s enemies and people that he holds in disdain. It definitely tempers how I feel about the potential accuracy of Paradise.

Ultimately, Paradise left me feeling a little underwhelmed. I was expecting more big named bible stars and historical figures like the previous two books. I think that the work does little to settle the free will vs. predestination argument. It seems like Dante was talking out of both sides of his mouth with both mechanisms in play.

My version of Christianity has predestination as the end of your life but free will as what you do in between the beginning and end. I think that we are predestined to go to heaven unless we do things to interrupt that. And I would imagine us all ending in the Empyrean not permanently on different planets.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week I will issue the final verdict for the entire work. Don’t forget that we will be starting the Art of War following that. I haven’t even had a chance to look at the book yet despite I have had it in my possession for several months. While Paradise is not what I ultimately expected, it doesn’t mean that it is still my ultimate goal.

August 9, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXX – XXXIII

August 9, 2024 /

We are at the the end. I am not totally sure how this fits into the cosmology scene. Since there was already a level on the sun it is not that. This blazing rose is so bright that Dante cannot see Beatrice’s face. Is this an actual star? Who know.

Empyrean is full of mysteries but also contains some answers. For instance, why does this not merit a level? I suppose that it could be like pre-hell or pre-purgatory but this is a final destination. It is the prize. Unlike the pre stages, those are waiting for entry and will ultimately get the soul’s just desserts.

One thing that is finally solved for me was where were the rock starts of the Old Testament? With the exception of David, we finally get to see some of them here like Moses. There were plenty of very faithful souls that never got a mention like Noah and Jonas. Instead, we got a whole lot of popes and kings that had very little overall influence on Christianity.

Without delving too much into theology, there was a path before the crucifixion to heaven. If I were trying to write a convincing story I would think that it has to include many of the known characters that were extremely faithful and surely I would expect to see before Adam and Eve.

I never gave it much thought. I suppose that Adam and Eve represent the Christian foundation of humanity but they were the origin of sin. They did disobey God so it is hard to me to believe that they deserve higher seats than others. I have to say that I am conflicted on this one.

As the rose is described, God is at the center of it. There are layers of petals that are seats belonging to the ultra faithful. The closer you got to the center the more godlike you were. There were some interesting choices with seats in the rose. One of them was a whole vertical of Hebrew women. Another was unborn children. Of course none of this was really explained or detailed. There you go Catholics. At least all of the aborted fetuses have a seat next to God.

Dante’s time is short here as he must return to earth. He never sees or God or Jesus. Not too much is said about them other than it is too bright to stare into. I find it interesting that the apostles are in the lower levels of heaven and yet Beatrice, Dante’s personal obsession ranks higher than the founders of Christianity.

Finally, there is no doubt that Mary is worthy of being next to God. She was chosen by God. But, since I am not Catholic, I don’t hold the same reverence for the Virgin Mary. In fact, in my book Bernard’s prayer to the Virgin Mary borders on idol worship, the first commandment. I kind of keep my distance from this whole idea but ‘thou shalt not have any idols before me’ is a violation of that. Mary is not one of the Trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit) nor is she in the center. I rest here.

End Your Programming Routine: We have gone through many, many weeks of this tome. Next week I will be talking about Paradise in total. My final thoughts will be the entire work the following week. If we are looking farther than that ahead, the next Brooke is going to be Sun Tsu’s Art of War. Keeping it here one last time, according to Dante the ultimate reward is true love. That is something that modern Christianity can identify with.

August 6, 2024 – Living In a Foreign Language

August 6, 2024 /

Living in a Foreign Language by Micheal Tucker is the Left Coast Culinary Book Club selection for July. I am not just the a member but the President. Remember that one? Unfortunately, I am keeping up with the reading but I have been missing the gatherings. Fortunately, the group is doing a good job carrying on without me.

This book is an easy read by an actor that had his heyday in the 1990s. Tucker was the star of a TV show called LA Law and when the show ended he kind of checked out according to the book. The book is about what happened next which seems to be a shift toward spending more time in Italy.

As many Mediterranean cultures go, there is a heavy influence of food and leisure in their lifestyle. This story is no exception. There is a lot of talk about pasta and meals take a heavy role in the story. The search for the best butcher or cheese monger or fruit vendor. Then there is the ever present garden of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini. A giant bread oven sits dormant in the back yard and looms foreboding to be used.

As much as food plays a role in this book, the real star is the is the house. There is the torrid love affair on first meeting. After it has been secured, there is a major remodeling project to double the size of the structure. Each time there is a separation, Tucker longs to come back again.

The story is set in Umbria. I would say that is the lesser known Tuscany. What I mean is that it is rolling hills, picturesque and is mostly rural. The region is commonly referred to as the breadbasket of Italy. At least that is what I learned when I watched the Stanley Tucci Netflix series on Italy.

The book is light. There were elements of humor throughout the book. I liked that. It was one of the nicer memoirs that I have read about people that I don’t really care about. The self deprecating approach that Tucker takes is much preferable to the smugness of Tucci. As you know, I like to work on houses as well as cook.

While I have been to Italy, I am not drawn to Italian cuisine. I certainly appreciate their love and appreciation of food culture, I could care less about pasta. I guess that I hail from butter culture and not olive oil culture. I keep thinking that if I admire the culture enough, I will eventually like it. So far, it is not true.

End Your Programming Routine: Would I recommend this book? No, not necessarily. If you are a Tucker fan or can’t get enough of Under the Tuscan Sun then I think the imagery would be appealing. I can’t necessarily get behind a celebrity buying his second home in Europe and in the process having to give up his personal assistant in the process. Especially when he hasn’t worked in several years. I am not bitter, I just can’t relate. To each his own.

August 2, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXVIII – XXIX

August 2, 2024 /

This is the last level of paradise so to speak. Of course, there is one more and that is true heaven. The Primum Mobile as it is called are groups of Angels. Apparently, they revolve around the Empyrean (or true Heaven). As it is described, the mobile is comprised of nine rings. The closer the rings to Empyrean, the more godlike the angel.

If you think about it a little bit, this all kind of makes spatial sense. There is Earth with the mortals, the underworld of Hell, the mountain of Purgatory and then each planet or star then represents some pint in the after world. I have to imagine that Saturn was probably the extent of the known solar system in the early 1300s so how do you really explain the rest.

I my view, not a whole lot of significance really happens in this level. I guess I get the theory that the best angels are closer to god but ultimately, I have never subscribed to this lasagna theory of heaven. It is really hard for me to imagine based on my own faith that you follow as best a mortal can on earth only to have your final destination be assigned based an accepted sinful nature of man. I think what I am saying will be more clear in the final weeks of this review.

To add to that, I never thought of angels having levels either. We are familiar with the fallen angel Satan. But in the Christian sense, angels predate creation. So I guess that they really didn’t have a chance to earn their spot by earthly deeds? To me, it is confusing theology. The Bible says very little about angels so I suppose that it could be true with different levels.

We get another chance to knock the church and preachers specifically from no less than Beatrice. I am honestly not sure about the context of this other than I feel like it is Dante’s parting blows. He will take one more shot next week. Beatrice finally takes her place in the rose (more about that next week) to replaced with Bernard or St Bernard. He puts in his two cents on the church as well.

Maybe I missed this part but apparently Dante only has a limited amount of time in the afterworld. The more time he spends on the lesser levels the less he has at the end. One of the reasons this level is so short is because Dante is running out of time. So it is on to the final state, Empyrean.

End Your Programming Routine: Unfortunately, I started writing this a week ago and it lost some of its mojo. I had a plan, now I don’t remember if I accomplished it or not. Due to my fatigue on this project, I am kind of phoning in the remainder. By that, I mean that I don’t have the book with me to double check if I am getting everything that I thought I was. So, I am just getting the summary from different websites as a reference. Next week we finish the book.

July 26, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXIII – XXVII

July 26, 2024 /

This is the eighth level also known as the fixed stars. In some ways, it is kind of fitting because the fixed stars are the rock stars of Christianity. This is the level that we get to meet some of the apostles and Dante get’s a test of his worthiness.

I was doing some math and it seems like there are more than nine levels to Paradise. Next week I will be talking about the Primum Mobile. That isn’t’t the end of the story, there is still one more week or level or however you want to phrase it called Empyrean. More on those two things in the following weeks, I just wanted to acknowledge that I will be talking for more than nine weeks on the content of Paradise.

The fixed stars specifically focus on faith, hope and love. Now there is a Christianity that is more familiar to me. It is none other than Peter who interacts with Dante about faith. That would be Peter the apostle and Peter the founder of the (Catholic) church.

The answer is pretty much what you would expect from a lay person. In fact, I have gone to baptism class multiple times in the Catholic church. I think that it was six weeks of evenings where we were questioned and taught to assess our worthiness of being god parents. I feel like I got a little bit of a pass there because the entire class was in Spanish. We believe mostly the same things. I won’t promise to raise the kids Catholic but I will raise them to know God should that need arise. At this point, there is only one minor remaining anyway, but I digress.

Dante’s answer is I have faith because of all the miracles documented in the Bible. Because the Bible is true, then I have faith in God. That was totally an answer that I would have heard in that parenting class. It is not wrong but I feel like faith is so much deeper than that.

I don’t know how I would do on the spot but I think that my answer is a little different than that. Faith defies concrete proof of its existence. Faith is blind in its acceptance. Faith exists despite the ability to provide facts and supporting evidence. I have faith because of what it is and who I am. My faith would only change with proof to the contrary, that God does not exist.

There have been certain times in my life that something came into my head like a message or an answered prayer. I choose to believe that validates my faith and confirms my bias towards the existence of God. I mean, a better answer from Dante would have honestly been, “How else do you explain this wild ride I have been on”?

Dante also meets James on the test of hope and John on the question of love. Throw in a little Adam of the original man fame in there as well. After Dante passes his tests, Peter doesn’t miss a chance to flame the current church as well. Lord knows they likely deserved it. We are still seeing some of that fallout today.

End Your Programming Routine: If you are keeping mental tally, each level we go up, the bigger the personalities are. This level also contains some angels as it is written but it is all about what you did on earth to earn your spot. This is a theme that will continue to the end. Next week it will be Cantos XXVII- XXXIX for the final level paradise.

July 19, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXI – XXII

July 19, 2024 /

This is probably the fastest I have ever read and written any single entry in my book review series. I am sitting here in the clinic with nothing to do besides kill time. These two Cantos comprised about 15 pages or so in my book. That means about an hour read and I might as well get started while it is fresh in my mind.

Sometimes, so much time has passed that I actually have to read summaries to refresh my memory of what actually happened. Some books I keep some notes about what I want to talk about as Friday rolls along. My day to day situation varies so widely that it has been hard to keep up with a consistent schedule or routine.

This level of heaven is Saturn, the seventh level of Paradise and the land of the contemplatives. For those of you that don’t equate such fancy words, it is the level of the thinker. In church terms, the thinkers are the monks. Maybe not all of them are monks but all monks are supposed to be thinkers (I think).

Remember too that the higher we climb, the more that the souls are supposed to be closer to God. Dante has two interactions in this Canto. One with a soul called Peter Damiano and the other with the Pope Benedict. They both kind of interplay together so let’s talk about Peter first.

In the Devine Comedy, there has been a battle between free will and predestination. For the most part, the talk has been about free will. It is that freedom that has allowed sin to grab hold of the characters we met in the Inferno and Purgatory. But now, we are starting to run into preordination. What Peter is saying is that it is God’s plan for what level of heaven you will remain eternally. There is not much that a person can do to change that.

When Dante meets Benedict, he is confirmed what Dante already knows and that is there is much wretchedness within the church at all levels. He says that God will eventually punish them when the time is right. Once again we have a theological dichotomy. If everything is preordained, how can God be displeased with the rampant sin and corruption within the church?

I guess that I believe in both as well. I am a believer that everything happens for a reason but I also believe that it matters what we do in that time. As a bible believer, the second the second coming (Revelations) will be the final reconciliation. It seems that I finally agree with Dante on something. But, I am also a Protestant Christian and the ideal of a vengeful or angry God is very Old Testament.

This is the new covenant. If you haven’t heard this language, Christianity differs from Judaism in that there is no intermediary between God and worshipper. No longer are sacrifices required to absolve sin. We can achieve eternal salvation by accepting Christ. So while God may have a final plan for our lives, We can surely help ourselves along. Otherwise, what would be the point?

To put a fine point on it, I think a loving god as I subscribe to has an intricate web of events. Each one effecting the other. I am primarily speaking about the duration on life and eventual death. What we choose to do in that time greatly influences our eternity. We never really comprehend how we affect other people as we move through life. To me, that is the predestination part.

End Your Programming Routine: Since I do not really subscribe Purgatory or levels in Heaven, this is just another week in a long line of things that don’t completely jive with me. But it is at least closer than some. Next week will be the longest remaining group of Cantos XXIII – XXVII and the eighth level. This is the level of the stars.