Be Not Idle

A Review of Danny Gospel and Odd Hours

Can you hear the Gospel ringin’, ringin’ softly through the pines? Death has taken our dear mother. We are walking in a line; we are walking in a line. - “Walking in a Line” by Grey Delisle, from her country album The Graceful Ghost

Danny Gospel is the first book by author David Athey.  Dean Koontz’s Odd Hours is the fourth novel in a planned series of seven.  So why am I reviewing them together?

It’s not just because both protagonists - Danny Gospel and Odd Thomas - have mighty strange monikers.

Strong parallels run between them. Both protagonists live with grief. Danny Gospel is haunted by the death of his family, the estrangement of his surviving brother, and the fear that his ex-fiancée Rachel died on 9/11. Odd Thomas still grieves for his true love. Both have supernatural visions. For Danny, it takes the form of a mysterious woman. For Odd, the spirits of the dead appeal for justice and, in this particular book, a recurring blood-drenched dream tells him what will happen if he fails. Both men are on what Marvin Olasky would call a “mad mission,” a calling to help others that is risky. 1

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Holy Cross Church in Marine City, Michigan, has the usual Christian symbols: the Cross, angels, a slain dragon, grapes, etc. Other images seem to evoke the area’s maritime history: a ship and a lighthouse in the northern window dedicated to prayer for sailors.

The window depicts Jesus walking on water and Peter, even in his moment of doubt, calling out to Jesus to save him.  On either side of the scene are medallions with boats: Noah’s ark on the right and a tall-masted ship on the left. Beyond the ship is an ancient tower lighthouse that casts its light upon the water (see photo above).

I’d studied the window numerous times, puzzled by the contrast between the modernity of the ship and the antiquity of the lighthouse. I didn’t understand the meaning behind the image until I read Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols, written by Mike Aquilina and illustrated by Lea Marie Ravotti.

Signs and Mysteries focuses on Christianity, art, and history. In less than 200 pages, author Mike Aquilina explains 25 images used by early Christians. Some symbols are familiar, like the fish (ichthys). Most Americans have seen the ubiquitous car icons (including their Darwinist counterparts) and Christians know the Greek word for “fish” is an acronym for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”. However, Aquilina explains how the fish comes from the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and ultimately represents the Eucharist.

In the introduction to Signs and Mysteries, Aquilina discusses how the Christian minority of Syria were revitalized in their faith and culture after archeologist Dr. Emma Loosley reintroduced them to the symbols of the ancestors. Aquilina writes:

…Christians who truly know the cross, and the fish, and the lamb, and the lighting of the lamps - those who truly know the ancient symbols of the Church’s doctrines and rites - are Christians who are rooted in the faith, and they know their roots run very deep indeed.” (pp 8-9)

So what does the tower lighthouse mean? It’s a symbol of the Church: constructed from the “stones” of the Apostles and other saints, rising from the waters of Baptism, reaching to Heaven, and guiding a ship (a Christian) by night across troubled waters. 

Signs and Mysteries is a short, pithy book. I hope Aquilina writes a sequel to explain symbols that developed later, such as the pelican.

One caveat: the publisher could use darker print. This book is printed in a light brown ink like a coffee stain. I suppose the printer meant to give it an aged appearance, but it detracted from Lea Marie Ravotti’s fine illustrations and made the print difficult to read.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Signs and Mysteries-Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols .

Full disclosure: When asked to pick a book to review for the Catholic Company, I chose A Civilization of Love because I thought it would be an easy read. The author, Carl Anderson, is the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus - and to me, the K of C has always meant a bunch of hard-working guys who love a lot and do a lot. When Chris Cash read to me that the subtitle was “What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World”, I figured it would be a how-to book on community-building.

It is, but not in the way I thought.

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I got a gift certificate for Amazon this week and promptly ordered more than it covered. The US Postal Service has been going gangbusters, because the box arrived today - just two days after the order!

I am trying NOT to read Danny Gospel, which I heard from Jeff Miller (aka the Curt Jester) is excellent. It doesn’t help that the author e-mailed me, which makes me feel like I should read it. And then I read the first page and want to know more. (I admit it: I was hooked with the narrator’s father was described as ”a Johnny Cash look-alike”.)

I also would like to finish Cahill’s Mysteries of the Middle Ages. I especially hope to revisit the subject of Marian cults, for which I received the worst research paper grade in my college years.  Thank you, O Atheist Teaching Assistant Who Hates Uncynical Views of Marian Devotions!