On the Square Today

Allison Peller on the photography of Lia Chavez :

Our lives are centered and built upon innumerable complex relationships, which subconsciously we are constantly analyzing, changing, and developing. Although these moments of cross-examination frequently remain unacknowledged, they are the driving forces that shape who we are as individuals. They range from interactions with our physical and metaphysical space, to explorations of the interpersonal and the self. Lia Chavez’s series, 1000 Rainbows , takes on this vast and hazy subject matter, creating minimalist photographs that belie the depth of meaning and work that goes into each image.

Also today, Matthew Hennessey on the gift no one wants until they get it :

To be sure, there is suffering associated with some disabilities. But can Rabbi Shmuley say with certainty that the disabled suffer more than the non-disabled? Can he say that my daughter, Magdalena, will suffer more in this life by virtue of her disabilities than her “normal” older sister will? Her older sister, after all, will probably be betrayed by a close friend. She will surely end up with a boss who makes her feel like a useless idiot. She may alienate those who love her, and spend a good portion of her life fretting about missed opportunities and poor choices.

Yes, Magdalena will miss out on most of that. Is she worse off because of it? Does Rabbi Shmuley know for sure?

And in our third article, Leroy Huizenga on Hildegard of Bingen, Saint of the Universal Church :

It’s an age of widespread cultural and ecclesial malaise: the State encroaches ever more into the affairs of the church; the clergy is indolent and ineffective, oft corrupt and unchaste; the laity is poorly catechized; and Gnosticism advances. It’s the twelfth century, into which a Teutonic prophetess stepped, prepared to confront the spirits of the age with visions from on high. Nihil sub sole novum, and thus it’s worth considering on the occasion of St. Hildegard of Bingen’s feast day (tomorrow, Saturday, September 17) how her sauce for medieval geese might go well with our modern ganders.