..he is profoundly an orthodox Catholic. His great insights and masterful conveyance of ideas spring from his deep faith and immense respect for the historical Church. Without that same faith one would essentially be producing essays with a similar literary exoskeleton but without a soul. Reminds me of the reproductions of the Last Supper, which has been copied about a zillion times. No one can reproduce Da Vinci's supernatural effect....and these others become simple paint by numbers.

I'm afraid that he would agree with you on the importance of Catholicism in his essays.

But it is only here or there that anything he says has a specifically Roman slant to it. And this is why there are so many Protestant readers--like myself--who value Chesterton so highly. Very much of what he calls orthodoxy maps onto a basic Christian worldview that is common to Catholics and heretics like me. It is rather like what C.S. Lewis called "Mere Christianity."

But even where Chesterton's work is not necessarily animated by his worldview his utter brilliance, facility with the language and hilarious sense of humor work together in a way that leaves his work with few rivals.

For those who are curious but have never read any Chesterton, here's a great place to start. You'll get a feel for his absurd sense of humor, his utter love of and wonder at life, and his perpetual boyishness. (He has been described as a kind of Peter Pan who refused to grow up. Of course, you must imagine a nearly 400lb Peter Pan....)

On Running After One's Hat

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Floor Mosaic, 3rd cent. church, North end Sea oif Galilee

I have read some about Chesterton but the only thing that came to my attention was when he was asked what he thought was wrong with the world.
He simply said, "I am."

Apparently mostly self educated, he did see through the fact that there would be nothing wrong with the world if it were not for the people in it.
I also liked his strange, unorthodox manner, of using paradox to make a point.

..also a great historian, prophet, and social critic. His comments on the coming return of an aggressive form of Islam (made 80 years ago) are simply stunning.