I definitely see your point on celebrity vs. humble striving; however, how exactly does this lead to God?  I have worked in a independent bookstore with many people who shunned the “popular” in the name of the eccentric hobbies or music or books etc., but I found that these groups or individuals also have the internal dynamic which can make them hostile to others outside of their clique, vapid and myopic (many were very stringent atheists).  In other words, self-proclaimed victims in this culture turn into a variant of victimizer: “dorks” can be as prideful as “prom queens,” in their own way.  So, in my personal experience, I do not think such things or eccentric hobbies are really a way to holiness and God.

(enjoy your blog, btw)

Everyone has to quit supporting Movies and other forms of entertainment that violate human dignity.
If we keep making these people rich, what can we expect? !  These degenerates become heroes to many teens as their example for life.
Parents have to control their media in the house as well.
To answer Brett -
pornography is a mortal sin;
homosexual acts, fornication, and adultary are mortal sins.
Killing is a mortal sin. Idolatry is a mortal sin.
If we remove all these from the Media in today’s entertainment society, it would be a better place for the rest of us to live.
By the way, dying in the state of Mortal sin leads to eternal damnation.  In the end you are going to Heaven or Hell. - Take your pick while there is still time.

“It allows ordinary people to do something they excel at, to be a hero for somebody else, to admire and wish to imitate excellence in the hero, and then to resume normal lives as fallen sinners and struggling saints.  In short, it is ordered toward human dignity.”

Although famous, I think this example is found in the life of the golfer Bobby Jones who remained an amateur golfer his entire life.  The pinnacle of his greatness was in the 1925 US Open where he called a two-stroke penalty on himself even though no one else saw him accidentally move the ball, to which he ended up losing the tournament later by one stroke.  He knew, at the very least, God was watching, and acted accordingly.

Brett,

That is something quite else.  Mark is describing a person who excels at their pursuit .. whether vocation, advocation or occupation.  Through the happy chance of their pursuit not being considered worth celebrity by the panting masses, they get to experience an adulation/respect/notoriety that is more sincere, even if less widespread.

You are describing pride.  You are describing people who, for whatever reason, have eschewed the popular simply because it is popular.  They revel in the obscure not because of the merits of the pastime, but because of their desire to be more eccentric, more learned, more “broad”, more *something* than other people.  They desire to be above others, and this is the path they have chosen.  In this way, they are little different from some of the people who seek celebrity.

It is that which you are describing Mark, that keeps me doing my “Mommy” job.  I ‘perform’ for the myriad of all saints and angels in heaven and hope, at the end of any given day, I am getting a standing ovation for what I have done that only God and they can see.

Rachel:

Hear, hear!  Huzzah!  Yay!  Woo hoo! (quiet angelic applause). :)

Sandy, I don’t think it’s entirely fair to say we should stop supporting movies.  For one thing, film is just an art form like any other—it can be very good or very mad.  Most movies are a morally mixed bag—and hey, that reflects real life!  For another thing, “celebrities” don’t just exist in the film industry.  Musicians are often just as well known; should we stop listening to music because of it?  And while many actors and musicians do get caught up in the fame game, there are some who honestly love their work the way the woman in this story loves her crossword puzzles.  So while I agree with Mark that the sort of cultish following around Brangelina is extremely unhealthy (I hate to think what it’s doing to their kids), I don’t think we have to be so pessimistic as to write off the entire industry.  You should check out Stephen Greydanus’ website decentfilms.com.  He takes a very balanced approach to movies.

Sorry.  Two typos in my last response.  I meant “bad” not “mad” and I spelled STEVEN Greydanus’ name wrong.

I wonder if I can be the best at humility…hmmm…

:p

Probably the best at predictable humor…

I haven’t taken part in crossword competitions in a little over a decade now, but I used to enter the annual tournament at Stamford, Connecticut every March, where I got to know Ellen Ripstein pretty well.

She is, as you’ve already figured out, a delightful person. But while she was always AMONG the best crossword solvers in the world, she was almost never the best! She finished second so many times that she began calling herself “the Susan Lucci of Crosswords,” in honor of the actress who was nominated for Best Actress on a Soap Opera each year but never won.

I can attest that virtually every participant loved Ellen, and when she finally did win, her rivals were just as happy as she was.

Thanks Sandy for the tough “love” directed at Brett.  Boy have you got hell on the brain.  You forgot to mention that impaling people on pikes and cheating people out of their retirement through ponzi schemes (insofar as this is stealing) are also mortal sins for which you will go undoubtedly straight to hell! 
Your point about the toxic garbage in the culture is well taken, but I don’t think that we all need to withdraw like the Amish lest we be defiled.  Barbara Nicolosi certainly doesn’t think so, and you miss out on an awful lot of very good art that might actually move you closer to God.
The Church’s teaching on the reality of sin and hell is an important one, but needs to be unpacked a bit.  The late Avery Cardinal Dulles wrote a great piece called “The Population of Hell” for First Things which helped me a lot.  I like C.S. Lewis treatment of it in “The Great Divorce” too. 
All the Oooga Booga talk about hell doesn’t do justice to the Church’s teaching.  In fact, it actually distorts it by making God into that Robert De Niro in the Sky who is going to whack you (for eternity) if you’re not good.  That does not convey the filial fear that we, of course, should have when we sin because we are the ones who are rejecting God’s love.  Anyway, I felt I had to say something because (1) I personally stuggled with a debilitating scrupulosity by internalizing Sandy’s narrative of the “Robert De Niro God” for many years, and (2) it turns off our brothers and sisters who are unbelievers who might be more receptive to the “Good News” of the gospel rather than the “Bad News.” 
By the way, returning to the point of Mark’s article … The joy in little things and quiet lives of loving (and sometimes mundane) service is, I think, what St. Therese of Liseux was all about.

Ooops!  St. Therese of Lisieux!

I thought you were talking about the Catholic speaking circuit until I got halfway through the second paragraph.

To EdL who wrote - - - “All the Oooga Booga talk about hell doesn’t do justice to the Church’s teaching.”  Robert DeNiro movies do not define Church teaching.
Is specifically in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
I recommend that you read it sometime.
The grave sinfulness of homosexual acts, adultary, fornication, killing, idolatry, etc. are also in the CCC.
These are also condemned acts in the Bible (both Catholic and Protestant versions).
To ALL - - - If we do not provide money to bad entertainment (bad and mixed bags), perhaps good entertainment will flourish. It’s all about MONEY!

I love this article! Thank you Mark, for putting gracefully into words, the dignity of the human person and where that dignity comes from, God. Our gifts come from our Creator who, out of sheer abundant and overflowing love bestows on us, WHY?  ...Because.

Robert De Niro movies do not, indeed, define Church teaching. 

But Sandra, you only mentioned five mortal sins!  There are many more.  There’s euthanasia, torture, suicide, defrauding the poor of their wages, human trafficking, sorcery, perjury…  Feel free to post a more exhaustive list. While you’re busy with that…

There is something very joyful and playful in the story of the woman who became the crossword champion. (I’m definitely going to see Wordplay.) It’s a needed reminder that even the smallest corners of our lives are meaningful, even if the culture at large tells us otherwise.  People using their gifts with no other motivation than the sheer joy that it gives them is, I think, a reflection of divine joy. 
In the same vein, I bet Mark would appreciate a new book by Arika Okrent called “In the Land of Invented Languages” about people who devoted themselves to invented languages.  It’s kind of similar in that these were talented people (including a medieval nun) who were doing something that most people would call useless.  They labored nonetheless either out of idealism or for the sheer playfulness of it.

EdL you did not read Sandy’s post.
She included “etc” in sins named.
And she suggested reading the CCC for complete teachings of the Church regarding Faith and Morals.  This is the AUTHENTIC reference text.
But your answer is expected for those who do not want to read the message, and confuse other readers.
I also disagree with you on - “People using their gifts with no other motivation than the sheer joy that it gives them is, I think, a reflection of divine joy.”  When gifts are used to Confuse, Deceive, or Lie to others - especially if it affects their eternal life - then there is no Joy, except for the Devil.
For example: fake “global warming” has now been changed to “climate change” - same thing for buzz words meaning “artificial population control” including “death for the unborn”.

A master among those who like to confuse, deceive and lie to others is George Soros, and Obama and Hillary mentor Saul Alinsky.
Alinsky taught:  “True revolutionaries do not flaunt their radicalism, Alinsky taught. They cut their hair, put on suits and infiltrate the system from within. Alinsky viewed revolution as a slow, patient process. The trick was to penetrate existing institutions such as churches, unions and political parties….”
Soros even funds FAKE Catholic organizations to confuse uneducated Catholic voters, and take their donation money foe his causes.
People who use their “gifts” to confuse, lie, cheat and steal do not know the meaning of real Joy.

Sheesh! Get a grip, will ya?  You take a nice little discussion about humble people who like stamp collecting and crossword puzzles and turn it into yet another stentorian Talk Radio steroid rage about culture war ideologies.  It’s like nothing so much as humorless Soviet ideologues who couldn’t play a game of checkers without delivering a monologue about the industrialization of the proletariat and way in which checkers demonstrates the inherent oppressiveness of the decadent Western system of competition.  Give it a rest!

Mark, all of your articles have a purpose.  For you to say you are only writing about stamp collecting and crossword puzzles is not being honest with yourself.  The rest of us already know your writing.  :)
It’s not good that Paris Hilton and other corrupted persons are allowed take up any of our valuable time at all.
Old Man Dailey in Chicago used to say: “call me anything, just spell my name right”.
We should not be adding to the notoriety of degenerates by discussing them in a light way. People do not need to see these names in the Press anymore than they already are.

Mark, all of your articles have a purpose.  For you to say you are only writing about stamp collecting and crossword puzzles is not being honest with yourself.  The rest of us already know your writing.

Soooo, you’re saying I wrote to celebrate small achievement in humble pursuits *in order* to direct everybody to Paris Hilton?  Or that my *real* purpose was to celebrate Saul Alinsky, George Soros and Obama?

Take off the tinfoil hat.

Yikes, I didn’t mean to cause a disturbance on this blog—the women in the video does seem humble and interesting.

My point was simply to state that outsider status of “dork” or eccentric hobbyist does not always produce humility; in fact, in current popular culture it is often used as a pretext for prideful rebellion or arrogance. (many Judd Aptow-like movies proves this point)