The Brown and White Irish

The Brown and White

The Brown and White is a very readable and interesting book. I come from one of those families that was a step out of the old world and so our lives were heavily influenced by our Irish roots. 

I made a mistake recently and posted something on an Irish social network site.  It was just my thoughts on how Ireland was going through some changes in their attachment to Catholicism and I suggested that if they drop the faith they will lose something that has been significantly Irish-in their DNA. I know about the priestly scandals and the brutality from certain institutions that has been reported in the last decade, etc.  And I don't pretend to understand it all, but to lose your faith because of some bad religious caretakers is a mistake. I think I said a couple times that it was up to the Irish whether they would allow Catholicism to become a trivial pursuit there. 

Some people didn't like me expressing my opinion. "A foreigner who has never lived in Ireland, etc."  

I suspect that the media has made a huge deal of the issue there and many many people have gotten on the bandwagon.  I am sorry about the scandal, but there are many thousands of magnificent religious people who came from Ireland. And that rich heritage of priests, brothers, and nuns made a difference all over the world. Parishes all over the United States would welcome a new group of Irish priests now, but they are not coming. And we have had our scandals here--so our numbers are down as well in churches and schools. 

Although I am not an Irish citizen, I had to get my opinion out.  There are a lot of evil people who are out to cast Catholicism and frankly they ignore the massive good that it has done. I know many of my Irish relatives expressed an appreciation and love for their faith, the faith of their ancestors. It was a faith that people suffered for and died for.  Many poems, stories, and songs are predicated upon the faith experience of the Irish. If the Irish decide to eliminate their own faith, to me it's like replacing the anger of English oppression with a self-loathing.  

This is my blog and this is my opinion.  You can get plenty of other opinions on sites elsewhere.  


Larry Norris is the author of The Brown and White a fictionalized memoir that tells the story of Collin Callaghan's freshman year at a Chicago Catholic High School. 

God-Moments from Childhood

Woman and Child

I think most of us are to some extent hypocrites--not "perfect" hypocrites, but rather people who fail at things--even some things  that we try to hold dear.  

I was talking to some friends recently about how some habits that our kids take on really can set us off--aggravate us!  And upon reflection, those habits are often failures of our own and they set us off because we see that our kids are carrying them on despite our best (or worst) efforts. 

Frank Zappa use to say, "We are all bozos on this bus." We are all sinners. 

Of course, it is important for us to pick ourselves up after each failing and attempt to get past it--to do better--to live better--and to be better. 

Often, I look back at my childhood for life lessons. All my relatives had blemishes.  They committed sins. As a kid you didn't dwell on this kind of stuff, but in those days people would sometimes be crushed from the weight of guilt and disappointment. For Catholics, we understand that sins are painful to us and those we have hurt, but our beliefs tell us to get past them. I don't think the church wants us to wallow in misery, although some people believe we should. 

Some people can't get over even one rejection.  A "Dear John" letter is more than they can handle.  Sometimes one rejection leads to violence. But people often have more than one romantic relationship and most get beyond the tough ones.  However, as people get older, they sometimes bring back events in their lives and allow them to take a bigger place than they actually had when they occurred.  I suppose this is natural, but I think it can be harmful. 

Some of the happiest people I have known in their 40s, end up as "sad sacks" in their 70s.  They look back and decide they want to be miserable and that their lives were more troubled than they let on.  I think this is more an age thing than actual disappointment.  They slept like a baby in their 40s and 50s, so they weren't obsessed then, why be obsessed now?  Sometimes I think we need to take lessons on how to get older gracefully! 

I remember one relative who had some very sad moments in her life and those moments would have crushed most people.  As a kid, I never gave her credit for her ability to keep going on.  Her life, like many of ours was messy, but she was a woman who had faith and she was a darn good "prayor." She had fortitude. 

My church men's group is called "That Man is You." And our group leader asks us each week if we had any God-moments. When I look back at my life, I often think of this relative of mine and how she presented us with many God-moments, one at a time, when we were young.  Sometimes it was an Irish story, sometimes a prayer, and sometimes it was encouragement and assurance that God was out there for us all. I hope the Good Lord gives her credit for it.  Our lives can be disappointing at times, but maybe we can inspire others. Maybe we can summon up God-moments for others. 

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Lawrence Norris is the author of The Brown and White and the publisher of Pilgrimage and other fine books. 

Ed Sheeran is popular all over the world

I was thinking about Ed Sheeran today.  No, I am not some kind of crazy fan! But in my searches of internet music of the Irish variety, I have seen some songs by Ed. I do a lot of writing about Irish interests on my blogs. 

Ed Sheeran is popular all over the world. My wife and daughters are listening to the radio and they tell me that Ed Sheeran is the big story in music. It is hard to figure on some level because he is one man with a guitar, but I think he excites people the way the Beatles did 50 years ago. This man is uber talented and his songs seem to lead way outside the normal bounds of voice and instrument.  

I heard a few days ago that Ed Sheeran made it twice on the YouTube rundown of most popular videos for this year.  James Cordon's Carpool Karaoke with Sheeran was one item in the top ten and his song, "Shape of You," was another that features a Kyle Hanagami dance routine. Rather than explain the dance business, if you haven't seen it, view it.

Ed is an English artist with an Irish  father. He is a young man and he has played with many others in group performances and duets. In an era of big sound stages and incredible techno-performances, his songs and his popularity throw a monkey wrench into probability calculations. He has performed duets with Beyonce, Clapton, Bocelli, Eminem, Taylor Swift, Tori Kelly, Elton John, Chris Brown, Demi Lovato, Sam Smith, and others.  

His three albums are named via mathematical signs that are written out on his web site as Divide, Multiply and Plus. 

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The Brown and White

Larry Norris is the author of The Brown and White a fictionalized memoir that tells the story of Collin Callaghan's freshman year at a Chicago Catholic High School.