Paw Prints TidBits for September

Ever feel out of place, like a zebra in a herd of wild mustangs? You'd definitely stand out...all those bold stripes and that odd laugh. But a zebra among other zebras is not an oddity at all. Or is it? Look through our slideshow this month and see if you can find the odd "man" out.

Our anecdote for September is about John Knox, a brilliant preacher and scholar, and a bit of an odd man out, like the zebra. The sidebar gives you something to ponder. After the long, lazy summer, it's time to start exercising our brain again!

If you have any comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Anecdote of the Month

Ronald Knox (1888-1957)

A n e c d o t e . . .

Traveling by train from Oxford to London one morning, Knox opened his copy of The Times and turned straight to the crossword puzzle, reputed to be the most difficult in the world. One of his fellow passengers, noticing that the priest had been staring at the puzzle for several minutes without filling in any of the answers, offered to lend him a pencil. "No, thanks," replied Knox, looking up with a smile. "Just finished."

W o r t h . Q u o t i n g . . .

"A baby is a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

—Ronald Knox

B i o g r a p h i c a l . N o t e . . .

British Roman Catholic priest and author. A convert to Catholicism at the age of twenty-nine, he became Roman Catholic chaplain at Oxford University in 1926. Monsignor Knox was a scholar, preacher, essayist, poet and mystery writer who, throughout his long career, always defended the common man against the elite's latest fads and vices. Knox believed that to effectively combat modernists one must merely "trust orthodox tradition to determine what he is to believe, and common sense to determine what is orthodox tradition." He is best known for his modern translation of The New Testament, his books relating the history of his conversion (such as "A Spiritual Aeneid," 1918), and his detective stories.

M o r e . I n f o r m a t i o n . . .

READ another Knox anecdote. READ a brief biography of Ronald Knox and the complete text of his work entitled "The Belief of Catholics." Or read Ronald Knox's Conversion Story. You might also be interested in The Quotable Knox: A Topical Compendium of the Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Knox.