Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Where Are You Going, Lord?

 

“Seneca had made the bargain that many good men have made when agreeing to aid bad regimes. The Rome he has been trained to serve, the Rome of Augustus and Germanicus, was gone.  In its place stood Neropolis, ruled by a megalomaniac brat.”

James Romm, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

"Modern capitalism is masterful at producing services people don't need and in large part probably don't want.  It is brilliant at convincing people that they do need and want them.  But it has difficulty turning itself to the production of those services which people really do need.   Not only that, it often spends an enormous amount of time and effort convincing people that those services are either unrealistic, marginal or counterproductive."

John Ralston Saul, Voltaire's Bastards, 1992

"Most politicians couldn't care less about the plight of the poor. There's so much profit to be made from poor people - think payday loans, high-interest rent-to-own stores, for-profit colleges, and overpriced mobile homes - that politicians and their crony-capitalist donors have a vested interest in keeping them poor."

Joshua Wilkey, My Mother Wasn't Trash

"We live in a world where love itself is condemned.  People call it weakness, something to grow out of.  Some are saying: 'Let each one become as strong as he can, and let the weak perish.'  They say that the Christian religion with its preaching about love is a thing of the past. The neo-paganism [of the Nazis] may well cast off love but, in spite of everything, history teaches us that we shall be the victors over this.  We shall not forsake love. Take the days as they come, the good with a grateful heart, and the bad for the sake of those which follow.  I see God in the work of His hands and the marks of His love in every visible thing.   Do not yield to hatred. We are here in a dark tunnel, but at the end, an eternal light is shining for us."

Titus Brandsma, executed at Dachau, 26 July 1942

"And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth— that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning.   He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road.  That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis

It was a 'risk on' day all the way, with strong rallies in equities.  Stocks went out near their highs.

VIX reflects this new wave of confidence, and continued to fall.  

The ebb and flow of fear and greed is taking back what was lost with the war fears of not too long ago.

Gold finished unchanged, with silver losing a little more ground despite the weakness in the Dollar, which continued to decline, in addition to the strength in equities.

What is this telling us?

It may become much clearer by next week.  Risk may recede from our perception, but it has not gone way.

As you may know I grew up in northeastern Ohio, and most of my friends from earlier days were 'salt of the earth' people, the children of the working class, such as myself. 

I was stunned a few months ago in a phone call to discover that almost all of my buddies from young adulthood after college are gone now.  When you move some distance away and start your own family you naturally tend to lose contact. Many of them worked in the trades, and have passed away. 

So its nice to hear from someone who brings fond memories of pleasant times, my good friend Phil who called unexpectedly.  He was always quick-witted and full of good humor.  We worked together after high school, which at that time was in an aging, if not deteriorating as it is all gone now, section of southeast Cleveland, in an old furniture warehouse next door, a cavernous place, full of opportunities for the kind of carefree fun and camaraderie that make a student's life more passable.

It's nice to be reminded of who we are and how deep our roots go, in sharing memories and laughs, shared experience from times gone by.  It is easy to lose perspective and a sense of your core being, of who you really are and what you believe, swept along in this tumult of events, and endless waves of mind-numbing controversies.  The modern world overwhelms and isolates us with the shallowness of its values, full of illusions and falsehoods, binding us to a wheel of fire shifting quickly between greed and fear.

Family and friends are always important, as well as the institutions that helped to shape us, and sustain us, which often remain there for us, as we travel the world, and through time.  They help us to resist the hate and the madness of the moment, and even if our knees are just a bit more wobbly now, to remain standing firm against the tide.

Such is His loving kindness, and tender mercies. 

Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow, and then into the weekend.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

The Unscrupulous Initiative of a Few - Dancing On a Volcano

 

"And such was the attitude of their minds that a shocking crime was dared by a few, with the blessing of more, and the passive acquiescence of all." 

Tacitus, Histories: Book I, XXVIII, The Murder of Galba

"And what rough beast, its hour come 'round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born."

W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming

"It has been assumed that the old bipolar world would beget a multipolar world with power dispersed to new centers in Japan, Germany (and/or 'Europe'), China and a diminished Soviet Union/Russia.  [This is] mistaken.  The immediate post-Cold War world is not multipolar.  It is unipolar...  American preeminence is based on the fact that it is the only country with the military, diplomatic, political and economic assets to be a decisive player in any conflict in whatever part of the world it chooses to involve itself.

If America wants stability, it will have to create it... We are in for abnormal times. Our best hope for safety in such times, as in difficult times past, is in American strength and will— the strength and will to lead a unipolar world, unashamedly laying down the rules of world order and being prepared to enforce them."

Charles Krauthammer, The Unipolar Moment, Foreign Affairs, 1990

"It is not a choice between preeminence today and preeminence tomorrow. Global leadership is not something exercised at our leisure, when the mood strikes us or when our core national security interests are directly threatened; then it is already too late. Rather, it is a choice whether or not to maintain American military preeminence, to secure American geopolitical leadership, and to preserve the American peace...

Information systems will become an important focus of attack, particularly for U.S. enemies seeking to short-circuit sophisticated American forces. And advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.

This is merely a glimpse of the possibilities inherent in the process of transformation, not a precise prediction. Whatever the shape and direction of this revolution in military affairs, the implications for continued American military preeminence will be profound....the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor."

Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding America's Defenses, September 2000

"Japan, whose claim to power rested exclusively on economics, went into economic decline. Germany stagnated. The Soviet Union ceased to exist, contracting into a smaller, radically weakened Russia. The European Union turned inward toward the great project of integration and built a strong social infrastructure at the expense of military capacity. Only China grew in strength, but coming from so far behind it will be decades before it can challenge American primacy... Today, American military spending exceeds that of the next twenty countries combined. Its navy, air force and space power are unrivaled. Its technology is irresistible. It is dominant by every measure.

The result is the dominance of a single power unlike anything ever seen. American dominance has not gone unnoticed. During the 1990s, it was mainly China and Russia that denounced unipolarity in their occasional joint communiqués. As the new century dawned it was on everyone’s lips.

The third effect of September 11 [2001] was to accelerate the realignment of the current great powers, such as they are, behind the United States...

Multilateralism is the liberal internationalist’s means... (the moral, legal and strategic primacy of international institutions over national interests) and legalism (the belief that the sinews of stability are laws, treaties and binding international contracts)—are in service to a larger vision: an international system in the image of domestic civil society. The multilateralist imperative seeks to establish an international order based not on sovereignty and power, but on interdependence.

The greatest sovereign, of course, is the American superpower, which is why liberal internationalists feel such acute discomfort with American dominance. To achieve their vision, America too—America especially—must be domesticated... This liberal internationalist vision—the multilateral handcuffing of American power—is, as Robert Kagan has pointed out, the dominant view in Europe...to be expected, given Europe’s weakness and America’s power. But it is a mistake to see this as only a European view

Trade agreements with Canada are one thing. Pieces of parchment to which existential enemies affix a signature are quite another. They are worse than worthless because they give a false sense of security and breed complacency. For the realist, the ultimate determinant of the most basic elements of international life—security, stability and peace—is power.

The future of the unipolar era hinges on whether America is governed by those who wish to retain, augment and use unipolarity to advance not just American but global ends, or whether America is governed by those who wish to give it up—either by allowing unipolarity to decay as they retreat to Fortress America, or by passing on the burden by gradually transferring power to multilateral institutions as heirs to American hegemony. The challenge to unipolarity is not from the outside but from the inside. The choice is ours.

To impiously paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: History has given you an empire, if you will keep it."

Charles Krauthammer, The Unipolar Moment Revisited, The National Interest, Winter, 2002/3


"We now station over half a million U.S. troops, spies, contractors, dependents, and others on more than 737 military bases spread around the world.  These bases are located in more than 130 countries, many of them presided over by dictatorial regimes that have given their citizens no say in the decision to let us in...

The purpose of all these bases is force projection, or the maintenance of American military hegemony over the rest of the world. They facilitate our 'policing' of the globe and are meant to ensure that no other nation, friendly or hostile, can ever challenge us militarily.

The crisis the United States faces today is not just the military failure of Bush’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the discrediting of America’s intelligence agencies, or our government’s not-so-secret resort to torture and illegal imprisonment.  It is above all a growing international distrust and disgust in the face of our contempt for the rule of law.

I remain hopeful that Americans can still rouse themselves to save our democracy. But the time in which to head off financial and moral bankruptcy is growing short. The present book is my attempt to explain how we got where we are, the manifold distortions we have imposed on the system we inherited from the Founding Fathers... Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us."

Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, 2006


Nuland: ...So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing [Ukraine regime change] and to have the UN help glue it and, you know, fuck the EU.

Victoria Nuland, US senior diplomat, Robert Kagan, Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call, BBC, 7 February 2014 

 

Please do not imagine that what you read here is some sign that the American people are 'waking up.'  They are not waking up.  They are as confused, divided, manipulated, and distracted as ever, seeing little and loving only themselves.  And I am just an old man, deeply overshadowed by the strength of evil, and the weakness of man.

Perhaps by circumstance, perhaps by design, every impulse to change seems to be easily turned towards the darkness.

These are love letters to the Truth, mimeographed and thrown off balconies, scattered into empty university hallways, hoping that someone might pick one up and read it.  

Sixty years ago the blood-dimmed tide was loosed, and the ceremony of innocence was drowned.

Perhaps change will come.  Perhaps the light will break through at last, and dispel the deepening gloom.  

But if not, God grant that we, who want to love and serve him, will never bow before the gods of evil.

And perhaps that is enough.

Please make a copy of this for yourself, and as many copies as you can and distribute them.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Mais où sont les neiges d'antan? - Holiday Weekend

 

"'He asked him for the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?'  Peter's feelings were hurt because Jesus asked him for a third time, ‘Do you love me?’  And Peter said, ‘Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.’  Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.'

'Verily, verily, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself, and walked where you liked.  But when you are old, you will stretch out your your hands, and another will dress you, and will take you where you would not like to go.'

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him at last, ‘Follow me.’

John 21:17-19

"Where are the princes of this world, and those who lorded it over the creatures of the earth?  Those who made sport of the birds of the air, and hoarded up riches in which they trusted.  Those for whom there is no limit to their greed, those who schemed to get more wealth, and were always anxious about their possessions.

Now there is no trace of them. They have vanished down into the bowels of the earth, and others have risen to take their place."

Baruch 3:16-19

"Et Jehanne, la bonne Lorraine,
Qu'Anglois bruslerent à Rouen;
Où sont-ilz, Vierge souveraine?
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan."

François Villon, Ballade des dames du temps jadis

And where are they now, the magnificent lords of the world, if nothing but a memory, returned to the earth as dust.   Perhaps they are mixed with dirt under the fingernails of a child, to be plucked out and discarded, with a 'tut tut' from a doting mother. 

The mighty rise and are fallen, but the Word and the Spirit endure. 

 Stocks managed to extend their gains today, with big cap tech leading the charge higher.

The spokesmodels had their pom-poms out, but the chant has changed, from blockchain, blockchain, to AI, AI.

Gold and silver took a bounce back after their recent pummeling for the Comex option expiration.

The inflation indicator PCE came in hot this morning, but the markets ignored it.

After all, AI!

And so VIX fell in the face of such ardent, if clueless and contrived, optimism.

Three day weekend here as the markets are closed on Monday, Memorial Day.

Non-Farm Payrolls for May next Friday.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Reprise: Resist the Temptation to Fear and Despair

 

This is a reprise from 26 October 2016.  

"Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of many will grow cold."

Matthew 24:12


"Every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse than all."

John Henry Newman

I have noticed that many seem to be discouraged by the current state of things, and the catalyst are elections that seems to offer only the choice between two distasteful alternatives.  I have the opportunity to speak to people from every part of the world each day, and there seems to be a common thread in the discussions.

We have been battered for years now by the repeated crushing of hope, and the impulse to reform, by the powerful moneyed interests of a relative few who seem to honor or uphold nothing but their own greed.  Every region seems to be plagued by some form of this brute selfishness and prideful corruption.

If I am being objective, and not focused only on the present day, I am profoundly grateful that I do not have to face (yet I say with hope) the obstacles that our parents, and grandparents, and great-grandparents faced over and over for years.

They personally faced absolutely brutal world wars which slaughtered millions, and many of them were very poor in terrible Depressions where all hope was almost lost.  They faced industrial accidents and exploitation, child labor, enslavement, and powerful repressions by inhumanly sick men and women.

And even now there are those facing things such as that in the world as it is today, and if anything we should be appalled that we do so little or nothing to relieve their distress.  And, may God forgive us, we sometimes stand by while our own people may be inflicting these hardships upon others.

But we are distracted from all this, by feeling sorry for our own disappointments and troubles.

This is not to say that we do not have problems. This year has been so bad for us personally, and for others that I know from Le Cafe,  that at times I wanted to cry out like Job.

But putting our own temptation to wallow in despair aside, one finds they can rise above these things, sometimes with the help of others and sometimes with a slow but steady determination, and make things good where they can, for themselves and most importantly for others.

And that is enough, for it is our lot in this life.  Not to keep an account of all the things that we do not like, that frighten us, that may potentially harm us, that concern us, that could go wrong, that afflict us in our daily lives like 'a thorn in the flesh.'

I know that this seems to be the opium of the distressed, and to be placidly self-content and self-absorbed as 'a folly' of the weak-minded, and an opportunity to feel superior to those who suffer on, to the '99 percent.'  This is as it has always been.

But sometimes God must first break a heart to enter it.  And it is what remains afterwards, when the crisis is passed, that offers us the way to becoming fully human.

And we are then called to stand up and witness to the fully human life, in grace that is given, not cheaply by ourselves, but by our resolve and determination to follow Him in our calling.

Where there is sickness bring healing, where there is despair bring hope, and where there is darkness, light.

Not in some abstract sending out of good thoughts, which is fine for a beginning, but more importantly in tangible acts of kindness and goodness for our families, and friends, and acquaintances, and finally even for those who are undeserving.  There is so much that needs to be done, that we may be tempted to do nothing.  But all we are asked to do is to begin, and do something, even if it is only something little.

Little acts of goodness spread like ripples in a pond.  A candle in the darkness allows others to find and ignite their own—  and then there is light.

"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—  I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good, I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me— still He knows what He is about.

We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him. We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now. We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case.

Let us feel what we really are— sinners, but attempting great things.  Let us simply obey God's will, whatever may come.  He can turn all things to our eternal good. Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.

Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last.”

John Henry Newman

Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad.

"But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins.

When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one, -- happiness and love."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1905

 

The story behind Quo Vadis.

Listen, And I Will Tell You a Mystery

"Listen, and I will tell you a mystery."

1 Cor 15:51

Caravaggio, The Calling of  St. Matthew

“We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him. We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now. We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case.

God's presence is not discerned at the time when it is upon us, but afterwards, when we look back upon what is gone and over. The world seems to go on as usual. There is nothing of heaven in the face of society, in the news of the day.

And yet the ever-blessed Spirit of God is there, ten times more glorious, more powerful than when He trod the earth in our flesh.

God beholds you. He calls you by your name. He sees you and understands you as He made you. He knows what is in you, all your peculiar feelings and thoughts, your dispositions and likings, your strengths and your weaknesses. He views you in your day of rejoicing and in your day of sorrow. He sympathizes in your hopes and your temptations. He interests Himself in all your anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of your spirit.

He encompasses you round and bears you in His arms. He notes your very countenance, whether smiling or in tears. He looks tenderly upon you. He hears your voice, the beating of your heart, and your very breathing.

You do not love yourself better than He loves you. You cannot shrink from pain more than He dislikes your bearing it; and if He puts it on you, it is as you would put it on yourself, if you would be wise, for a greater good afterwards.

There is an inward world, which none see but those who belong to it. There is an inward world into which they enter who come to Christ, though to men in general they seem as before. If they drank of Christ's cup it is not with them as in time past. They came for a blessing, and they have found a work.

To their surprise, as time goes on, they find that their lot is changed. They find that in one shape or another adversity happens to them. If they refuse to afflict themselves, God afflicts them.

Why did you taste of His heavenly feast, but that it might work in you—why did you kneel beneath His hand, but that He might leave on you the print of His wounds?

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission -- I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good, I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son

Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me -- still He knows what He is about.

Let us feel what we really are--sinners attempting great things. Let us simply obey God's will, whatever may come. He can turn all things to our eternal good. Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Contemplate then yourself, not as yourself, but as you are in the Eternal God. Fall down in astonishment at the glories which are around you and in you, poured to and fro in such a wonderful way that you are dissolved into the Kingdom of God.

The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.

Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”

John Henry Newman

Where Are We Going?

"My favorite poet is Aeschylus, who once said:   'And even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, almost against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'

What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, a feeling of justice to those who still suffer in our country."

Robert F. Kennedy

It is not so much where are you going Lord, but rather, where are we as a people choosing to go.  At the moment it appears to be on a darker path, led by fury and passions as old as Babylon and evil as sin.   It is an old story. Nevertheless, let us not despair.

Gold has broken out and is holding its level above the high set in the aftermath of the Trump election upset. Silver is holding its level on the 18 handle.

Now gold seems to be consolidating, most likely for the attempt to push higher to take on the intermediate highs and resistance around 1370-1380. More pullbacks to test the breakout are not unexpected.

As you know, myself and others who have done some impressive investigation suspect that the 'free float' of gold in NY and London has become dreadfully thin, thanks to the long campaign to suppress the gold price on the world markets using the paper leverage on the Comex. Physical gold has been flowing to Asia for some time now, in excess of new production.

Why would anyone wish to manipulate the price of gold and silver? On the simplest level it is a way for the financiers to make money. They worship only themselves and their god Mammon. How can anyone suggest that market manipulation is not pervasive in our financial markets across a wide range of instruments? How many scandals and wristslaps does it take to convince someone?

But secondarily, gold and silver stand as pillars of value, at a time when shaping policy and printing money to benefit a corrupt elite of cronies is the fashion. As a direct result the organic growth of the economy continues to falter thanks to policy errors and a rapacious moneyed class. The Fed and the Bank of England are creatures of the banking system, and have failed miserable in their roles of public servants and sound regulators, which has been a false and almost farcical claim for many years now. The Bankers and their politicians have done nothing to benefit anyone but themselves.

If and when this latest 'gold pool' breaks, as they all must do at some time, we can expect the price of gold to spike higher in a sustained rally as the market seeks to reassert a more realistic clearing price. The rally will be driven by those who realize that the jig is up, and they must scramble to deleverage and cover.

We may experience a severe price test, especially for silver, if the equity market suffers a major selloff. I would most likely sit back and wait for it to find its level, and then come in and buy some more metal in my trading account. Unless the government takes action against them, the metals look ready to perform their traditional roles as safe havens.

"I want to end with the idea that the [unregulated] market is capable of resolving all of our social conflict, fairly and justly. That is the great idea of the 1990's. And we all know now what a crock that is.   I think what we need in order to restore some kind of sense of fairness is not the final triumph of markets over the body and soul of humanity, but something that confronts markets, and that refuses to think of itself as a brand."

Thomas Frank

The moneyed class and financiers may yet embrace their traditional penchant for fascism. They have done so, even in our exceptional empire, many more times that we might care to admit. They will hold their privileges with increasing self-righteousness, even at the expense of their own downfall.

I am not yet myself as you might expect.   But I will be back more regularly in a few weeks.

Remember to pray for the people affected by the hurricanes.  And not only prayer, but actions as well.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Epub: Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz

A Walk in Rome and On the Appian Way

"Peter.  Verily, verily, I say to you, when you were young, you dressed yourself, and walked where you liked: but when you are old, you will stretch forth your hands, and another will gird you, and take you where you would not like to go."

About 23 years ago I went on a trip to Rome with my wife, who was then three months pregnant with our son. We wanted to make a pilgrimage there, and for her and our unborn son to receive a blessing from the Pope, and to have a little holiday together before life would become a little more circumscribed.

We were staying at a charming little hotel tucked away near the Trevi fountain. While we were there one morning we visited the room in which the English poet John Keats died of consumption, just off to the left going down the Spanish Steps, into the Piazza di Spagna. The year before I had visited the house in Hampstead Heath at which he is said to have written, "Ode to a Nightingale."

Later we visited his gravesite in the Cimitero degli Inglesi, and read the inscription on his tombstone.

This Grave contains all that was mortal, of a Young English Poet, who on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his heart, at the Malicious Power of his enemies, desired these words to be Engraven on his Tomb Stone: Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.

Later we took a bus to the ancient wall of the city, and continued walking through the Porta San Sebastiano, south on the Via Appia in search of a country restaurant at which I desired to have our usual late lunch.  We were then going on to visit the catacombs a little further out from the city.

After a little while on the road we came to a small, simple church, the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Palmis, but commonly known as Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis. We went inside, and to my surprise, this was the place referenced by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his famous book, Quo Vadis which I had read in high school.

The story of this meeting on the Appian Way so many years ago comes from the apocryphal Acts of Peter, thought to have been written in the 2nd century by a companion to John the Apostle.  But it was not included in the canon of the Bible.

It is a moving experience, to visit the places where these things occurred. I  felt the same way when we toured the Coliseum, the Forum, and the Mamertine Prison which had held both Peter and Paul before their judgement and deaths. 

This reminds us that Keats, and Peter, and Nero, and Paul, and so many other figures whom we remember and read about in history were real people, in most ways just like us, making decisions with confusion, worries, concerns, fears, and the rest of the issues that we have today.  We think that the calling took place in their day, but we do not see it in ours; but it is there.

As John Newman once said,  "every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse than all times before it...  thus much of comfort do we gain from what has been hitherto, not to despond, not to be dismayed, not to be anxious, at the troubles which encompass us. They have ever been; they ever shall be; they are our portion."

Here is the relevant section about this area on the Appian Way from Synkewicz's book.

"About dawn of the following day two dark figures were moving along the Appian Way toward the Campania.

One of them was Nazarius; the other the Apostle Peter, who was leaving Rome and his martyred co-religionists.

The sky in the east was assuming a light tinge of green, bordered gradually and more distinctly on the lower edge with saffron color. Silver-leafed trees, the white marble of villas, and the arches of aqueducts, stretching through the plain toward the city, were emerging from shade. The greenness of the sky was clearing gradually, and becoming permeated with gold. Then the east began to grow rosy and illuminate the Adban Hills, which seemed marvellously beautiful, lily-colored, as if formed of rays of light alone.

The light was reflected in trembling leaves of trees, in the dew-drops. The haze grew thinner, opening wider and wider views on the plain, on the houses dotting it, on the cemeteries, on the towns, and on groups of trees, among which stood white columns of temples.

The road was empty. The villagers who took vegetables to the city had not succeeded yet, evidently, in harnessing beasts to their vehicles. From the stone blocks with which the road was paved as far as the mountains, there came a low sound from the bark shoes on the feet of the two travellers.

Then the sun appeared over the line of hills; but at once a wonderful vision struck the Apostle's eyes. It seemed to him that the golden circle, instead of rising in the sky, moved down from the heights and was advancing on the road. Peter stopped, and asked, --

"See thou that brightness approaching us?"

"I see nothing," replied Nazarius.

But Peter shaded his eyes with his hand, and said after a while,

"Some figure is coming in the gleam of the sun." But not the slightest sound of steps reached their ears. It was perfectly still all around. Nazarius saw only that the trees were quivering in the distance, as if some one were shaking them, and the light was spreading more broadly over the plain. He looked with wonder at the Apostle.

"Rabbi. What ails thee?" cried he, with alarm.

The pilgrim's staff fell from Peter's hands to the earth; his eyes were looking forward, motionless; his mouth was open; on his face were depicted astonishment, delight, rapture.

Then he threw himself on his knees, his arms stretched forward; and this cry left his lips, --

"O Lord! O Lord!"

He fell with his face to the earth, as if kissing some one's feet.

The silence continued long; then were heard the words of the aged man, broken by sobs, --

"Quo vadis, Domine?" (Where are you going, Lord?)

Nazarius did not hear the answer; but to Peter's ears came a sad and sweet voice, which said, --

"If you desert my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time."

The Apostle lay on the ground, his face in the dust, without motion or speech. It seemed to Nazarius that he had fainted or was dead; but he rose at last, seized the staff with trembling hands, and turned without a word toward the seven hills of the city.

The boy, seeing this, repeated as an echo, --

"Quo vadis, Domine?"

"To Rome," said the Apostle, in a low voice.

And he returned.

Paul, John, Linus, and all the faithful received him with amazement; and the alarm was the greater, since at daybreak, just after his departure, praetorians had surrounded Miriam's house and searched it for the Apostle. But to every question he answered only with delight and peace, --

"I have seen the Lord!"

And that same evening he went to the Ostian cemetery to teach and baptize those who wished to bathe in the water of life.

And thenceforward he went there daily, and after him went increasing numbers. It seemed that out of every tear of a martyr new confessors were born, and that every groan on the arena found an echo in thousands of breasts. Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad.

But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins.

When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one, -- happiness and love..."

Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz, 1905

It is too bad that it is not read much today, because it is an interesting book. I think it has been made into several movie versions. I especially like the one with Klaus Maria Brandauer, although the earlier epic with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr is more famous and probably more popular.

The novel was a worldwide best seller in its day from about 1906 to 1930. I remember at the time I read it in 1968 enjoying it because of the portrayal of T. Petronius, Nero's Arbiter Elegantiae, who is said to have written the first western novel, The Satyricon.

The people of the world have always treasured such books and stories.  But it seems that they do so especially during times of suffering and troubles, when the great, who would be masters, rise up once again and proclaim their dominion over men and history.   Perhaps it, or some things like it, will have a revival when the madness is once again unleashed, and The New Rome falls, and The New Temple is sacked.

And where is the magnificent Emperor Nero now, immortal god and lord of the world, but a memory, returned to the earth as the dirt and dust.  Perhaps he is to be found beneath the fingernails of some little child, to be plucked out and discarded, with a 'tut tut'  from a doting mother.

The mighty rise and are fallen, but the word and the spirit endure.




Epub: Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz

What Frightens You?

Do you think that you are the only one who is ever frightened?  Are you frightened of those who are powerful, of the things that can hurt you?   Do you fear loneliness, incapacity, pain?

What frightens you frightens them, frightens us all.   But with a difference.

The difference is that they who serve the world have a harsh and uncaring master, who will never comfort them, now or in the future.  They trust in power, but they have only their only refuge in temporary diversions, oblivion, and death.  

We trust in our weakness, and God's love.  We will never be truly alone, if keep our eyes on His light, and our footsteps in His ways.   We are in His hands, always, even when we do not know it.   Sometimes we are called to be His hands, His voice, and His touch.  But most can be glad that they are not called to great acts, but merely small daily things, such as self denial, and patience, and faithfulness.

This is the nature of our warfare: we rise by falling.  This is the law of God's economy.

Weekend Viewing: Quo Vadis, Domine?

Memories of a Walk on the Appian Way, Some Years Ago




Epub: Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Memories of a Walk on the Appian Way, Some Years Ago

About 18 years ago during a trip to Rome with my wife, who was then pregnant with my son, I visited the room in which the English poet John Keats died of consumption, just off to the left of the Spanish Steps, looking down into the Piazza di Spagna. The year before I visited the house in Hampstead Heath at which he is said to have written, "Ode to a Nightingale."

Later that day we visited his gravesite in the Cimitero degli Inglesi, and read the inscription on his tombstone.

This Grave contains all that was mortal, of a Young English Poet, who on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his heart, at the Malicious Power of his enemies, desired these words to be Engraven on his Tomb Stone: Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.

I think we may afterwards have taken a bus, because I remember being vaguely scandalized at the disorder of the ticket process, which was apparently used only by tourists on their way to the catacombs. But at some point we reached the ancient wall of the city, and continued walking through the Porta San Sebastiano, south on the Via Applia in search of an old restaurant at which I desired to have our customary late lunch after a morning of rigorous walking. After a little while on the road we came to a small but very charming church, the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Palmis, but more commonly known as Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis. I went inside, and to my surprise, this was the place referenced by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his famous book, Quo Vadis.

Old cities and places are full of a mixture of legend and history. I imagine that the story upon which the novel was based was one of those oral traditions that are handed down and embellished over time, not having been codified and fixed into a proper text, which as you may recall is how the Bible was brought together from a myriad of writings and authors.

I have to admit that it was a moving experience, to visit the places where these things are likely to have occurred in whatever particular way. The scoffers have a little less swagger since Heinrich Schliemann found the site of Troy from the text of Homer. It reminds us that Keats, and Peter, and Nero, and Petronius, and so many other figures remembered were real people, making decisions with confusion, worries, concerns, fears, and the rest of the issues that we all have today.

Here is the relevant section from Synkewicz's book.

"About dawn of the following day two dark figures were moving along the Appian Way toward the Campania.

One of them was Nazarius; the other the Apostle Peter, who was leaving Rome and his martyred co-religionists.

The sky in the east was assuming a light tinge of green, bordered gradually and more distinctly on the lower edge with saffron color. Silver-leafed trees, the white marble of villas, and the arches of aqueducts, stretching through the plain toward the city, were emerging from shade. The greenness of the sky was clearing gradually, and becoming permeated with gold. Then the east began to grow rosy and illuminate the Adban Hills, which seemed marvellously beautiful, lily-colored, as if formed of rays of light alone.

The light was reflected in trembling leaves of trees, in the dew-drops. The haze grew thinner, opening wider and wider views on the plain, on the houses dotting it, on the cemeteries, on the towns, and on groups of trees, among which stood white columns of temples.

The road was empty. The villagers who took vegetables to the city had not succeeded yet, evidently, in harnessing beasts to their vehicles. From the stone blocks with which the road was paved as far as the mountains, there came a low sound from the bark shoes on the feet of the two travellers.

Then the sun appeared over the line of hills; but at once a wonderful vision struck the Apostle's eyes. It seemed to him that the golden circle, instead of rising in the sky, moved down from the heights and was advancing on the road. Peter stopped, and asked, --

"See thou that brightness approaching us?"

"I see nothing," replied Nazarius.

But Peter shaded his eyes with his hand, and said after a while,

"Some figure is coming in the gleam of the sun." But not the slightest sound of steps reached their ears. It was perfectly still all around. Nazarius saw only that the trees were quivering in the distance, as if some one were shaking them, and the light was spreading more broadly over the plain. He looked with wonder at the Apostle.

"Rabbi. What ails thee?" cried he, with alarm.

The pilgrim's staff fell from Peter's hands to the earth; his eyes were looking forward, motionless; his mouth was open; on his face were depicted astonishment, delight, rapture.

Then he threw himself on his knees, his arms stretched forward; and this cry left his lips, --

"O Lord! O Lord!"

He fell with his face to the earth, as if kissing some one's feet.

The silence continued long; then were heard the words of the aged man, broken by sobs, --

"Quo vadis, Domine?" (Where are you going, Lord?)

Nazarius did not hear the answer; but to Peter's ears came a sad and sweet voice, which said, --

"If you desert my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time."

The Apostle lay on the ground, his face in the dust, without motion or speech. It seemed to Nazarius that he had fainted or was dead; but he rose at last, seized the staff with trembling hands, and turned without a word toward the seven hills of the city.

The boy, seeing this, repeated as an echo, --

"Quo vadis, Domine?"

"To Rome," said the Apostle, in a low voice.

And he returned.

Paul, John, Linus, and all the faithful received him with amazement; and the alarm was the greater, since at daybreak, just after his departure, praetorians had surrounded Miriam's house and searched it for the Apostle. But to every question he answered only with delight and peace, --

"I have seen the Lord!"

And that same evening he went to the Ostian cemetery to teach and baptize those who wished to bathe in the water of life.

And thenceforward he went there daily, and after him went increasing numbers. It seemed that out of every tear of a martyr new confessors were born, and that every groan on the arena found an echo in thousands of breasts. Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad. But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins.

When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one, -- happiness and love..."

Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz, 1905

It is too bad that it is not read much today, because it is a really charming book. I think it has been made into several movie versions. I liked the one with Klaus Maria Brandauer, although the earlier epic with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr is more famous and probably more popular. The novel was a worldwide best seller in its day from about 1906 to 1930. I remember at the time I read it in 1968 enjoying it because of the portrayal of T. Petronius, Nero's Arbiter Elegantiae, who is said to have written the first western novel, The Satyricon. Such as I was, the budding classicist and natural scientist, a new modern man as my teacher and mentor would say.

The world turns to such things, but especially during times of suffering and trouble, when the great men and the masters rise up once again and proclaim their dominion. Perhaps it, or some things like it, will have a revival when the madness is once again unleashed, and The New Rome falls, and the New Temple is sacked.

And where is the Emperor Nero now, the lord of the world, but a memory, returned to the earth as the dirt and dust beneath some young child's fingernails, to be plucked out and discarded with a 'tut tut' by an observantly doting mother.