Friends, this our last post, at least for awhile. It’s been so much fun to find you on the internet and grow a little family together. But it’s time to say goodbye. In the words of another great Italian, Lieutenant Colombo, let me add, “Just one last thing.”

I always tell my authors to make sure that their books are about one thing. The one thing is the hub in the wheel. Without the hub there are no spokes. Without the spokes there is no wheel. The one thing is the idea that holds everything together as one.

What is the hub that holds together the chapters in Why Stay Catholic? It is the idea that grounds my life in this crazy, ridiculous world. It is one that assures me I will reach my destination even if it is the place from which I began. That idea is one word: ONE.

We are all one with God and with each other whether we know it or not. No matter what we do or how bad we think we are, nothing can separate us from the love of God who is Love. Not sin, not ignorance, not madness, not anything (Romans 8:38-39). How could it? “We live and move and have our being in God” (Acts 17:28). We are literally in Love! Can anyone separate a wave from the ocean?

Neither can anything separate us from each other. Just as a sunbeam is inseparable not only from the sun but from every other sunbeam, we are literally one with God and each other. In truth, there are no sunbeams, there is only light. Each of us is an aspect of light. Our purpose in life is to come to know it and show it.

The spokes in my hub are Jesus’ commandments to love God—or love being loving—and to be a light in the world. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he was telling us something profound. We are our neighbor, and our neighbor is us. Jesus said, “My Father and I are one,” and then went on to teach us how to pray by saying, “Our Father…” We are all, each of us, the spiritual children of God, made in the image and likeness of Love, and nothing can separate us from Love or each other. It only looks that way.

The truth is, when a Good Samaritan helps a wounded man on the side of a road, a hospital goes up 2,000 years later. When a child in Calcutta goes hungry, a child in California senses her pain. When the United States sends AIDS medicines to families in Nigeria, the whole world is blessed. What blesses one, blesses all. What blesses all, blesses one. When Billy Crystal in City Slickers asks Jack Palance what the secret of happiness is, the old-timer answers, “It’s one thing.”

So then, all my new friends, even though this is the last post, let’s rejoice in knowing, it’s one thing: nothing can separate us from God or each other.

Readers, the whystaycatholic.com archives will remain available.

Friends,

This is my first to the last post. Please let me give you a present. I have so valued your participation over the past six months that I want to give you something you will value. You all love and appreciate good writing. Many of you have blogs of your own. I hope you will find these rules helpful.

I first gave a copy of “Leach’s Rules for Revision” to our son Chris before he went to college. I’ve given out only a dozen copies since: to our son Jeff before he went to college, to my best friend, to a prisoner who asked for advice, and to a handful of authors, established and new.

I’ve revised these rules over the years. Here is what it’s about: sometimes the Holy Spirit takes over our writing. We look at a paragraph and wonder, “Where did that come from?” (We don’t take credit for spontaneous wonders.) More often our best writing appears in the rewriting. God writes straight with crooked lines. And so do we. “If it sounds like writing,” wrote Elmore Leonard, “rewrite it.” Even if it doesn’t, these simple rules will improve what you’ve written—a blog post, a book, an essay, an e-mail, a resume—one hundred percent.

Here then, in gratitude, is a present.

Leach’s Rules for Revision

1. Change passive voice sentences to active voice, e.g. change the sentence, “The active voice is used by Mike,” to “Mike uses the active voice.” This rule will become a habit in your first draft, and your writing will appear effortless.
2. Change static verbs to action verbs, e.g. change “Mike went to the store,” to “Mike raced to the store.” Action verbs make your writing jump.
3. Eschew adverbs.
4. Never use two words where one will do.
5. Limit adjectives.
6. “Whenever you can shorten a sentence, do. And one always can. The best sentence? The shortest.” —Gustave Flaubert
7. Break up pages with short paragraphs.
8. “The truth is concrete (or particular).” —Karl Rahner. Don’t say food when you can say hamburger, and don’t say hamburger when you can say Royale with cheese.
9. Stories, images, and figures of speech make ideas come alive. Make sure you have at least one figure of speech—simile, metaphor, comparison, analogy, exaggeration—on every other page.
10. Quotes and dialogue enliven ideas. Fit them in.
11. Appeal to the senses. Remember smell.
12. You may break these rules when you understand them.

And remember: use your own voice—the one that speaks inside—and your writing will shine.

Mike’s final post will appear on Monday, August 8.

My dear friends,

I’m sad to say that my blog is coming to an end with a final post on Monday, August 8. Loyola Press asked me to write this blog six months ago when my book Why Stay Catholic? came out. The idea was to draw attention to the book and continue the conversation on what is good and true and beautiful in Catholicism and life. Since then I’ve been writing three original posts a week and gaining new friends and learning new things. I have come to love each and all of you who share your thoughts here or on Facebook or through e-mail. I will miss our conversations but, in the words of the Catholic theologian Andrea Bocelli, “Con te partiro!” Keep the conversation going in your heart and family and parish. After August 8 I may not be here with new posts, but like E.T., “I’ll be right here.” For the moment I thought you might be interested in how I’d answer the 21 questions I’ve asked some of our friends.

1. Mike, how are you an average Catholic?
   I like being Catholic no matter how hard the unelected authorities try to mess up the Church.
2. What is your favorite word?
   Wonderful
3. What is your least favorite word?
   Can’t
4. What sound or noise do you love?
   Silence
5. What sound or noise do you hate?
   Whining
6. What is your favorite book?
   Golly, I’ve read a million of them and edited a couple of thousand. The one I have read the most times is Dialogues in Metapsychiatry by Thomas Hora, M.D.
7. Do you have a particular Catholic role model?
   My father and my grandmother were Lutheran and converted to Catholicism when I was studying to become a priest. But they were my role models before they were Catholic and after they lost interest in the Church. They taught me through their example all I ever needed to know about love, generosity, patience, kindness, and compassion.
8. What is your favorite movie?
   On the Waterfront. I am Terry Malloy and Fr. Barry.
9. What music is in your car disc-player right now?
   Andrea Bocelli. Roy Orbison. Patsy Cline. George Harrison. John Lennon. Ennio Morricone.
10. What TV shows do you watch regularly?
    The View. Chris Matthews. The Office. American Idol. Dancing with the Stars. Dexter.
11. What did you want to be when you grew up?
    Center fielder for the Cubs. Wide receiver for the Bears. Point guard for the Bulls. A movie star. A cartoonist. A priest. I settled.
12. How old were you when you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up?
    Fifty. Vickie and the boys threw me a surprise birthday party. My friends were there. My father made a surprise visit from Chicago. I knew then that all I wanted to be was what I was.
13. What do you like most about what you are doing now?
    I’m semi-retired and doing the best part of what I did for the past 40 years without having to go to the office and make budgets and manage people.
14. Have you ever said something or done something that was outside the boundaries of Church rules because you knew it was the right thing?
    Oh, yeah.
15. Have you ever not said something or not did something because you were afraid you might get in trouble with the Church?
    No doubt, but I can’t think of anything in particular.
16. Do have any regrets in life?
    Sure. Anyone who says they don’t never did anything stupid.
17. What is the spiritual idea that keeps you going?
    Nothing can separate us from God, nothing, not sin, not ignorance, not madness, not anything. We’re like fish swimming in an ocean of love and intelligence and our purpose in life is to come to know it and swim effortlessly through life. I am still learning but confident that the water is bringing me to beyond my senses.
18. What idea do you think is the most important idea right now for the Church to be talking about?
    Forgiveness. The Church needs to beg forgiveness from those it has hurt. And then throw a big forgiveness ceremony in which we can all ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness to each other. Check out Chapter 50 of Why Stay Catholic? It lays it out.
19. What life advice would you give to a young person if she asked you?
    Don’t be afraid. You cannot fail.
20. What brings you joy?
    When I forget about myself.
21. What are you most looking forward to?
    What happens next.

How would you answer these questions? I’d be very interested in reading your answers to Question 17.

Readers, there will be two more new posts on whystaycatholic.com: Friday, August 5, A Present, and Monday, August 8, Just One More Thing.

When I was a full-time Catholic publisher, one of my favorite times was when I took a pile of Catholic magazines to the diner at lunchtime and devoured them as I munched on a turkey club sandwich and fries and slurped two tall glasses of iced tea. I could have stayed all day. Today as editor-at-large for my beloved Orbis Books, I read the same magazines and will continue to do so even if I someday retire. I’m happy to share with you the periodicals I still consume, only at home and on my dime. That’s how much I value them.

1. The National Catholic Reporter. When it comes to news about the Church, nobody does it better. The paper has won the “General Excellence” award from the Catholic Press Association for the past 12 years. Editor and publisher Tom Fox knows what matters. I’ve been reading the NCR since it began in 1964.
2. America. A weekly journal of opinion from the Jesuits. Fr. Jim Martin works there. That should be reason enough to read it. An essential for thinking Catholics since 1909. No, I haven’t been reading it since then.
3. Commonweal. A biweekly journal of opinion from lay Catholics, since 1924. Great movie criticism from Richard Alleva.
4. U.S. Catholic. A monthly with good cutting-edge stuff in a glossy format. Insightful interviews with interesting Catholics. Alice Camille’s columns on the Bible are first-rate.
5. St. Anthony Messenger. The best Catholic magazine for families. A monthly since 1893 and always up to date. Think Family Circle for Catholics.
6. Maryknoll (and Revista for Spanish-speaking Catholics). Since 1907, inspiring mission tales from the Maryknoll fathers, brothers, sisters, and lay missioners. Fr. Joe Veneroso’s photo meditations never fail to inspire.

I read other Catholic periodicals but these are the ones that are my best friends. Which ones did I miss? What would you add to the list?

I was lying on the sofa and reading The New York Times Book Review today. A full-page ad of 15 books from Xlibris drew me in. Xlibris offers publishing services to authors who cannot get their work published by a standard house or who choose to do it this way because they want to be in charge of the process. I have heard good reports from writers about Xlibris. What drew me into the ad, however, was not anything about self-publishing but everything about selfless writing. The authors struck me as sincere in their desire simply to express something true or good or beautiful. This, I have learned over 40 years of writing, editing, and publishing, is the best reason to write. It is the best reason because it is spiritual. It springs from a desire, named or not, to express qualities of God.

Consider just these three titles in the ad.

1. My Comrades and Me: Staff Sergeant Al Brown’s WWII Memoirs. Al Brown, like millions of Americans, was a civilian one day and a serviceman the next. His book celebrates his comrades and lets us into their lives together. Readers get the impression that Sergeant Brown couldn’t help but write this book and express these qualities of friendship, brotherly love, loyalty, and faith that they shared during this awful time. I like Al Brown and hope his book does well. But if it doesn’t, no matter: he has sent grace into the universe simply by writing it. Thank you, Al!
2. Revolution, Love, and Pain by Mikhael El Mor promises poetic insights into love, and what could be lovelier than that? “Love is all there is,” sang the Beatles. “Love often makes itself visible in pain,” wrote Henri Nouwen. I haven’t read Mr. El Mor’s poems, but can tell that they come straight from the heart.
3. The Adventures of Anna and Andy Hummingbird by Linda P. Young shows us how Anna and Andy learn to fly and leave the nest to find their way in the world. Sounds like a charmer to me. Millions are called but few are chosen to have their children’s books published by a commercial house. More power to Xlibris for providing a way for Ms. Young to express God’s qualities of delight and freedom.

Most people write books to see their names in print or make money or please their mothers. But many do write because something beautiful inside is asking to come out. When we choose to express that beauty or laughter or harmony or compassion, all of them aspects of the God in whom we live and move and have our being, we are spreading spiritual sunshine into the world, whether anyone reads our books or not. The act of writing with this intention is an act of grace all in itself. Sure, fantasies will come as we write about our works becoming bestsellers and about reviews that compare us to our literary heroes, but those thoughts are the kind of temptations that Jesus faced in the desert. The wise writer will ignore them and put her interest in the best expression of the spiritual ideas that led her to write in the first place.

The best reason to write anything—a book, an article, an essay for school, a resume, a letter, a blog, or a postcard—is a spiritual one: to make the Word flesh, to express in words the spiritual qualities of truth, love, peace, mercy, wisdom, clarity, compassion, forgiveness, joy, or gratitude that last longer than paper and ink. Our reward is not in the selling, or even in the reading, but in the purity of intention that goes into our writing.

Check out the book that inspired this blog, Why Stay Catholic?

Woody Allen is my favorite atheist. His best movies are among the most moral I’ve seen. In Manhattan he advises a friend to do the right thing. His friend says, “You are so self-righteous. I mean, we’re just people. We’re just human beings. You think you’re God.” Allen shrugs and says, “I gotta model myself after someone.”

Woody’s gift to the moral universe is not to give answers but to raise questions that lead us to examine our own answers. Kurt Vonnegut, another atheist with an ethical consciousness, wrote: “Plato says that the unexamined life is not worth living. But what if the examined life turns out to be a clunker as well?” Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) raises that question and leads us to turn over our answers and review them in pursuit of answers to perennial questions about good and evil and purpose in life.

The movie tells parallel morality stories that converge. In the first Martin Landau is an ophthalmologist who commits a murder to assure his privileged life. In the second Woody is a documentary filmmaker whose sin is envy. And in a third, Sam Waterston is a rabbi going blind. Can Landau get away with murder? What are the effects of Woody’s misdemeanors? Can Waterston see things the others cannot? What does conscience do to us, and what can we do to it? What’s it all about, Woody?

Like many Woody Allen movies, Crimes and Misdemeanors switches from funny to tragic to surprising at the change of a reel. When it’s over, you will continue to think about the questions it raises. They are questions you examine often, and the movie sheds a singular light on them.

If you’ve seen Crimes and Misdemeanors or value Woody Allen as an ethical filmmaker (or not), please weigh in. Thanks.

Also check out my past DVD reviews.

Joyce Rupp has been one of the most popular authors of spiritual books since her first bestseller Fresh Bread. Her newest is Fragments of Your Ancient Name. People love to go to her talks and especially to talk with her when the formal talk is over. She is a tiny package of energy and grace. But don’t let her sparrow appearance fool you. Joyce was in New York recently, and Vickie and I took her to see Jersey Boys. Nobody in the audience sang louder (and more on pitch) than Joyce. Here is “the spiritual midwife” on 21 questions.

(With a tip of the hat to James Lipton, Bernard Pivot, Marcel Proust, and Anne Semmes)

1. Joyce, how are you an average Catholic?
   I was certainly an average Catholic back in the 1950’s, when I was living on a farm in northwest Iowa. One of eight children, baptized in a small rural Catholic church, I attended a parochial elementary and high school. Today I live with more questions than answers when it comes to Catholicism. Perhaps that still makes me an average Catholic.
   
2. What is your favorite word?
   Hope
   
3. What is your least favorite word?
   I don’t have a least favorite. I find words intriguing.
   
4. What sound or noise do you love?
   Listening to softly falling rain on foliage
   
5. What sound or noise do you hate?
   Motorcycles coming down my street in the middle of the night
6. What is your favorite book?
   The Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
7. Do you have a particular Catholic role model?
   Caryll Houselander
8. What is your favorite movie?
   The Secret Garden
9. What music is in your car disc-player right now?
   Leva-Me-Aos Fados by Ana Moura (awesome Portuguese singer)
10. What TV shows do you watch regularly?
    I watch very little TV. I do watch the daily PBS news.
11. What did you want to be when you grew up?
    I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted a profession in which I could help others.
12. How old were you when you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up?
    Somewhere in my mid-thirties a great desire to write took hold of me and it has never left me since. At the same time, I also discovered my ability to guide others in the area of spiritual growth.
13. What do you like most about what you are doing now?
    I find great joy in writing books that assist others in their spiritual growth. I also love co-directing the Institute of Compassionate Presence, because I see the tremendous influence it has on participants’ attitudes and actions.
14. Have you ever said something or done something that was outside the boundaries of Church rules because you knew it was the right thing?
    Yes, I have spoken out for women’s rights in the Church, even though this was frowned upon by those in authority.
15. Have you ever not said something or not did something because you were afraid you might get in trouble with the Church?
    I don’t believe in being ruled by fear.
16. Do you have any regrets in life?
    I think that when I die I will greatly regret the times when I got too caught up in work and missed the beauty of people and creation.
17. What is the spiritual idea that keeps you going?
    The Body of Christ theology is at the heart of my life. I truly believe that all beings are united in the heart of one loving Being.
18. What idea do you think is the most important idea right now for the Church to be talking about?
    How we can have a humble, pastoral attitude among those in leadership. If our leaders embodied these two qualities, then issues such as sex abuse, homosexuality, loss of Catholic members, women, etc., would be approached quite differently.
19. What life advice would you give to a young person if she asked you?
    Trust your inner wisdom, but also find a wise mentor to journey with you as you seek your way in life.
20. What brings you joy?
    Walking in nature. Also, seeing people reach out to another with kindness.
21. What are you most looking forward to?
    A time when compassion is a way of life for more and more of humanity.

“Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn’t know this either, but love don’t make things nice—it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess.

“We aren’t here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die.

“I love you!”

—Nicolas Cage to Cher in Moonstruck

“Snap out of it!”

—Cher as Loretta

“Ossie and I have made arrangements (for after our death). Cremation after a public ceremony, and then, into the urn. A special urn, large enough and comfortable enough to hold both our ashes. Whoever goes first will wait inside for the other. When we are reunited at last, we want the family to say good-bye and seal the urn forever. Then on the side, in letters not too bold—but not too modest either—we want the following inscription:

“RUBY AND OSSIE—IN THIS THING TOGETHER.”

—Actress Ruby Dee

It’s often like this: first we fall in love. That’s the exciting part. Then we learn to love. That’s the hard part. Finally, we simply love being loving. And that, by far, is the best part.

But the beautiful thing is we don’t need to start at the beginning. We don’t need the moon to hit our eye like a big pizza pie to get to the best part. We can begin to love being loving, whether we’re in love or not, whether we’re married or single, young or old, right now. The truth is we are all Ruby and Ossie. We are all in this thing together. We are all literally “in love,” and our purpose in life is to know it and show it no matter our state of life. True love has no beginning, object, or end.

Psychiatrist Thomas Hora defines this profound truth for us: “The love of being loving is the desire to manifest or reflect the goodness of God unconditionally and non-personally.” We are not here to ruin ourselves but to love the way God loves (John 13:34), without desire for reward or regard for person. We are all images and likenesses of Love, and are in this thing called love as one, like ashes in an urn.

Excitement is such fun, and such misery. Learning to love is so hard. The love of being loving—being God-like—brings peace and assurance. Why is it that we look for excitement first?

Find out more about the book that inspired this blog, Why Stay Catholic?

The new movie that Catholics have been talking about is now on DVD. What makes Of Gods and Men (2010) so memorable?

Story. Is it the story of eight Trappist monks in Algeria who live in harmony among their Muslim neighbors, treat them when they are sick, and counsel them only when asked? Most of the time they plant food, chop wood, and pray for all mankind. When radical fundamentalists threaten their lives, for real, the monks face a choice: shall we stay or leave?

Issue. What is the right thing for them to do? Stay and serve God and their neighbors, despite the risk of death within days, or leave so they can serve others elsewhere for years? Roger Ebert writes: “I believe Christian (the abbot) should have had the humility to lead his monks away from the path of self-sacrifice,” and suggests the sin of pride.* James Martin, SJ, explains that when the monks say “no” to safety, “in this ‘no’ comes a ‘yes.’ A ‘yes’ to solidarity with the oppressed; a ‘yes’ to God; a ‘yes,’ paradoxically, to life.”** The film asks the viewer: how would you respond?

Direction. It is spare. It doesn’t draw attention to itself. It invites the viewer to choose what to see, what to think.

Acting. You believe the director cherry-picked actual monks for their roles. They not only look the part, they are the monks on screen. Since the movie is French it’s likely you’ve never seen them before, though you will recall having seen the lovable old Brother Luc who is played by Michael Lonsdale; Lonsdale was the crafty young French detective in Day of the Jackal (1973). There is a scene near the end where the monks sit at their dining table, enjoying a rare glass of wine and the music of Swan Lake on an old LP, and the camera pans slowly from one face to another, lingering on those faces, back and forth, and we see the monks’ thoughts and feel their feelings as they rise and fall like music: peace, joy, anxiety, fear, acceptance, peace, sorrow… all so real, all so human, all so divine.

What makes Of Gods and Men so memorable? All of the above.

* (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110310/REVIEWS/110319994)
** (http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?entry_id=3944)

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Last week I put on a pedestal five Catholic blogs I visit on a regular basis, and I promised to name others I also like in today’s post. I also asked for your favorites. Okay, then: the white smoke is soaring from the chimney. Habemus blogemi!

Other bloggers Mikey likes are:

• Fran Rossi Szpylczyn, a lay minister whose musings on theology and Church are good food on There Will Be Bread.
• Daniel P. Horan, OFM, a young theologian at Siena College who offers thoughtful essays on Dating God.
• Elizabeth Scalia, the busy managing editor of the Catholic Portal at Patheos, who writes really smart stuff on The Anchoress.
• Mike Hayes, a former sports radio personality who co-founded the national young adult ministry Busted Halo and writes with gusto on just about everything at Googling God.
• Greg Kandra, who ponders the world and makes me think at The Deacon’s Bench.
• Eugene Kennedy and all of the bloggers on the National Catholic Reporter website. 
• James Martin, SJ, and the gang at the America blog, In All Things.
• Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, for movie reviews, and the team of troubadours at the American Catholic blog. 

How can anyone keep up with all of these sites? You can’t. But you can subscribe (Provide your e-mail address and blogs notify you when there is a new post.), and then you can pick and choose what you want like a Cafeteria Catholic. (No one can eat everything at once.) One thing is for sure: the Catholic Church on the Web is a dining palace with nutritious and delicious meals for everyone!

See last week’s post on Mike’s 5 Favorite Catholic Blogs and excellent suggestions of other favorite blogs from our family of readers.