Sunday is my sister’s birthday and I wanted to be sure to wish her a happy one here on the blog. Although she has stepped away from writing here, she is still my dear dual personality and always will be. How blessed I have been to have her all my life. An acquaintance of mine once remarked that the greatest gift she ever gave her children was their siblings, and I agreed. I have told my own children this on numerous occasions so that they would make no mistake about it.
Today is far from Childhood –
But up and down the hills
I held her hand the tighter –
Which shortened all the miles –
–Emily Dickinson
P.S. This poor kid sure comes by that smile honestly, doesn’t he?
Here is the Christmas card that my grandparents sent back in 1938 or 1939. My mother (on the left) is about 12. Her sister Donna is about 5 and Susanne is 14 or 15.
Times change, of course, but people still like to send out photo cards, don’t they? It is a lot easier nowadays. You can design them on your phone and order them in a jiffy, as my daughter-in-law did, sitting in my living room the other day when she was reminded that time was a-wastin’!
Well, I like receiving Christmas cards–with or without family photos! It is a good tradition.
We wish a happy birthday to Don Johnson who was born on this day 73 years ago in Flat Creek, Missouri. I still maintain that he is the most handsome man ever to grace television screens. Perhaps that proves how shallow I am, but c’est la vie.
We’ll also toast another Missouri native son, Walt Disney, who died on this day in 1966. Walt grew up on a farm in Marceline, Missouri where he learned those values he encouraged in the films he produced–individualism, decency, love for our fellow man, fair play and tolerance.
Disney received 59 Academy Award nominations, including 22 awards–both totals are records. I’ll watch one of those movies. Luckily I own a few DVD’s, because most of his old movies are not available, even on Disney Plus, because they are deemed unacceptable nowadays. Zut alors. (I will note that there are several Disney films from the old days which are available to rent on Amazon Prime. Go figure.)
Well, I am beginning to sound like an old grouch, so I will end this post before it becomes a full-blown vent.
But first, I will also note that yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the death of R.C. Sproul, “the greatest and most influential proponent of the recovery of Reformed theology in the last century.”
Yes, what my mother wrote is true. A new puppy AND a new job! Things are busy for me. And my parents who are planning on welcoming both me and my puppy into their home while I search for a new place to live. Yes, change is ahead in 2023. But we can’t let the end of 2022 pass us by unnoticed.
I am very appreciative of these pretty flowers my sweet sister sent last week.
And, of course, it is cough drop and spicette season.
I am doing my annual reading of A Christmas Carol. I love the Alastair Sim version and the Muppet version (which is really just the Alastair Sim version with muppets and Michael Caine).
“A small matter,” said the Ghost, “to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.”
“Small!” echoed Scrooge.
The Spirit had signed to him to listen to the two apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig; and when he had done so, said:
“Why! Is it not? He has spent but a few pounds of your moral money: three or four, perhaps. Is that so much that he deserves this praise?”
“It isn’t that,” said Scrooge, heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter self. “It isn’t that, Spirit. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count ’em up; what then? The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.”
Less than two weeks til Christmas! I have a lot still to do on my ‘to do’ list, but at least I wrote my Christmas letter and put my cards in the mail! Also my packages are mailed, so now I just need to wrap, wrap, wrap. And I don’t have as much to wrap as in years past. However, the OM seems to be making up for all the cutting back I have attempted to do. Mysterious packages continue to arrive daily.
In Instagram news, John Piper shared a poem he wrote about the martyrdom of John Bradford:
I like it, don’t you? English reformer John Bradford was burned at the stake for “stirring up a mob” (i.e. preaching) by Queen “Bloody” Mary in 1555. Bradford is commemorated at the Marian Martyrs’ Monument in Smithfield, London. Lest we forget.
This is a thoughtful piece about the obstacles in life that ultimately are instructive: “But we are a people who don’t like to be hemmed in, held back, inconvenienced. Yet how many times are those the very things that carve beauty in our souls? How many opportunities would we pass by in our haste if we hadn’t been slowed down and forced to consider our way?”
And here’s a poem shared by Don: “Poetry for Supper”
‘Listen, now, verse should be as natural As the small tuber that feeds on muck And grows slowly from obtuse soil To the white flower of immortal beauty.’
‘Natural, hell! What was it Chaucer Said once about the long toil That goes like blood to the poem’s making? Leave it to nature and the verse sprawls, Limp as bindweed, if it break at all Life’s iron crust. Man, you must sweat And rhyme your guts taut, if you’d build Your verse a ladder.’ ‘You speak as though No sunlight ever surprised the mind Groping on its cloudy path.’
‘Sunlight’s a thing that needs a window Before it enter a dark room. Windows don’t happen.’ So two old poets, Hunched at their beer in the low haze Of an inn parlour, while the talk ran Noisily by them, glib with prose
–R.S. Thomas, Welsh poet and Anglican priest
Have a good day. Read some poetry, wrap some presents, contemplate the brightness of the truth.
How was your weekend? The twins turned six (!) on Sunday and we celebrated their birthday on Friday with Dewey’s Pizza and a Tippin’s pie.
…and presents…
It was one of four celebrations they enjoyed so we played it down.
On Saturday I had a meeting at Mudd’s Grove after which daughter #1 buzzed into town with the wee dog. We celebrated her getting a new job (!) and the fact that she will be moving back to St. Louis (!) in January with much toasting. Later we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and Die Hard (1988) which IS a Christmas movie. Mr. Smith watched too like a good boy.
On Sunday we went to church where the Covenant children sang “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” the choir sang and the congregation sang with piano, guitar and drum accompaniment, and I cried during the Doxology per usual. It never gets old.
And Katie watched White Christmas for the first time.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
–Isaiah 35:10
P.S. This is an interesting article about how A Charlie Brown Christmas first made it on to network TV. “The Charlie Brown Christmas special may have been the first time a prime-time animated cartoon quoted Scripture at length, but it was not the first time Schulz infused his comic strip with his faith. Published in more than 2,500 newspapers at its peak, the Peanuts gang’s musings on contemporary issues sparked passion and fueled debate among Schulz’s readers—particularly in the areas of religion and faith.”
“If the heart be chiefly and directly fixed on God, and the soul engaged to glorify him, some degree of religious affection will be the effect and attendant of it. But to seek after affection directly and chiefly; to have the heart principally set upon that; is to place it in the room of God and his glory. If it be sought, that others may take notice of it, and admire us for our spirituality and forwardness in religion, it is then damnable pride; if for the sake of feeling the pleasure of being affected, it is then idolatry and self-gratification.”
–Jonathan Edwards, The Life and Diary of David Brainerd
If you have 45 minutes and are in the mood for some solid conversation about the Puritans, listen to this podcast of Daniel Doriani and Abram Van Engen, who is a Professor of English at my former flyover university and an old acquaintance of mine.
(The painting is The Oxbow by Thomas Cole. The Connecticut River’s Oxbow is within Northampton’s city limits, a city where Jonathan Edwards lived and preached for many years.)
Last week I watched about twenty minutes of an old movie about the racehorse Seabiscuit, which starred Shirley Temple and Lon McAllister. It was pretty bad, but it reminded me of the newer movie about Seabiscuit, which was a big hit in 2003, and so I watched it.
It was very good.
Although only twenty years has passed, it seems Hollywood has forgotten how to make a movie like this in the interim. Seabiscuit tells the story of an undersized, formerly mistreated Depression-era racehorse whose unlikely victories raised the spirits of the entire nation. It is about working hard and overcoming setbacks. Yes, bad things happen to everyone–the rich and the poor–but you don’t give up, you persevere. That’s the American way, remember?
“You know, you don’t throw a whole life away just ’cause he’s banged up a little,” says the trainer Tom Smith at one point. No you don’t. But what an old fashioned idea.
You may remember that this movie was nominated for a whole bunch of Academy Awards, but won none. (That was the year that The Return of the King ran away with almost everything.) C’est la vie. It is a wonderful, inspiring movie and I heartily recommend watching it, especially if you need a little boost. And who doesn’t?
We also watched the 1951 A Christmas Carol, which I contend is the definitive version.
Really excellent in every way and true to the original Dickens story, which certainly deserves a yearly viewing/reading.
I also ran across this ludicrous Sight & Sound poll of the 100 greatest films of all time. Granted it includes all movies, not just American films, but c’mon. No Lubitsch, no Wyler, and no Hawks! I admit I have not seen the #1 film “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.” But #2 is Vertigo and that invalidates the whole list in my opinion.
Well, you can’t watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on network TV anymore. “Farewell, Charlie Brown Christmas. You found out the true meaning of Christmas and shared it as long as you could. May we do the same,” writes Denny Burk. I have the DVD and I’ll watch it with my grandkids.
We must also note that yesterday was, of course, the 81st anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
A toast to all the Americans who were there and in particular to the 16 men who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the attack–11 posthumously. You can read about these men here. They came from all corners of the U.S. including Missouri (Lt. Commander Samuel G. Fuqua from Laddonia, MO, population 520). Lest we forget.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Well, y’all. We’ve reached week two with the dear pup. It has been a long ten days. A new puppy, a new puppy owner, and a downtown (even if it is Jefferson City) apartment is a lot for one person to handle. Thankfully, I have my mother and sister who can talk me off the ledge with grace and love each night.
The pup is growing! He’s getting heavy to carry around! And he’s getting cuter!
Lest you think he is calm and cuddly all the time, most of the time he looks more like this.
We had our first rainy day today (with several more in the forecast grrr) and thus our first wet no fun walk.
But, he handled it like a champ.
In other news, downtown Jefferson City had it’s Living Windows night on Friday. Last year, my parents were in town and we went to the Governor’s Mansion to see the decorations. This year, I wandered alone while worrying I was a bad dog mom for putting Mr. Smith in the crate.
I enjoyed seeing the crowds at the windows looking very old fashioned.
I also loved that High Rise Bakery had a family dressed as the nativity outside.
It warmed my heart.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him in that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears it.” (1 John 5:14)
I love this rendition of an old Anglican Christmas hymn by the Gettys and Ricky Skaggs! Ricky Skaggs always gets it right–better than that old bishop could ever imagine.
Vainly we offer each ample oblation, Vainly with gifts would His favor secure; Richer by far is the heart’s adoration, Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
–Reginald Heber, 1811
Although I became disillusioned with Disney as far back as the early 1990s, I still find this shocking and disturbing.
But then, I have literally been saying thisfor thirty years.
A busy week and a busy weekend! Non-stop activity. On Friday I helped decorate the church…
By Sunday morning it looked really nice and very festive!
On Saturday daughter #1 buzzed home to introduce the wee doggie and get a break from being home alone with a semi-frenzied pup. (She doesn’t look too frazzled herself, does she?)
Mr. Smith is quite a cutie and we all took to him immediately…(especially the wee bud who was very angry when the pup had to go into his crate and he had to go home…Life is hard sometimes.)
On top of all this we checked off a few important things on my To Do list: we bought a Christmas tree from our super friendly local Optimists…
…and daughter #1 put up the outside Christmas lights!
I also managed to go to my church’s Advent ladies’ tea held at the seminary where I had never been. (No pictures) It was very nice–there were scones and cucumber sandwiches and tea and hymn singing and a spiritual message!
During the service at church on Sunday the Covenant School (4-5 grades) Ensemble sang a “Celtic Noel,” the organist played a dramatic version of Handel’s “For Unto Us a Child is Born” and my Bible Study leader sang an operatic rendition of the Lord’s Prayer (Lottie spontaneously clapped at the end) and we all sang some good Advent hymns. Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Afterwards we had bagels and creme cheese and the twins got another chance to frolic with Mr. Smith. Then everyone went home and I collapsed.
(We also FaceTimed with this precious angel…)
Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings Risen with healing in his wings Mild he lays his glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of earth Born to give them second birth Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
dual personalities 