dual personalities

Month: July, 2026

July 17, 2026

Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses*

by chuckofish

I was listening to the Christian radio station in my car and they were playing a John Reddick song–Holding On–and I was reminded of a funny story daughter #2 told me. Her daughters, aged 6 and 3 were discussing what they would do if a giant kidnapped their baby brother and they had to fight to get him back. The six-year old said, “We would say, ‘You come in strength but we come in the name of the Lord.” The 3-year old said, “We would poke him in the EYE and sit on him.”

Several thoughts come to mind, but I have to say, I was impressed with the 6-year old’s answer. Sure, she hears Bible stories at church and listens to an exegesical sermon every week, but I think she picks up a lot from listening to Christian music from the back seat.

My help comes from the Lord
And I don’t have to carry this anymore
Let the world bring me to my knees
I’m holding on to God
‘Cause I know my God is holding on to me

And the three-year old’s answer seems typical of second-born daughters:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZd3-z8MtZU

Anyway, this is another reason to support your local Christian radio station, a great ministry outreach tool.

Tonight the boy and his fam, plus daughter #1 are coming over for dinner and a prosecco toast to daughter #3 for finishing radiation treatments. Praise the Lord, they seem to have nipped that cancer in the bud.

Have a great weekend!

*Psalm 20:7

5 Comments
July 16, 2026

In vain the cruel skies their hot rays shed

by chuckofish

I was worried that the hibiscus would bloom while I was in Michigan, so I was happy to see them hanging on for me…

Huzzah!

And here’s a poem for our hot flyover July…thank goodness for water lilies!

Some flowers are withered and some joys have died;
The garden reeks with an East Indian scent
From beds where gillyflowers stand weak and spent;
The white heat pales the skies from side to side;
But in still lakes and rivers, cool, content,
Like starry blooms on a new firmament,
White lilies float and regally abide.
In vain the cruel skies their hot rays shed;
The lily does not feel their brazen glare.
In vain the pallid clouds refuse to share
Their dews, the lily feels no thirst, no dread.
Unharmed she lifts her queenly face and head;
She drinks of living waters and keeps fair.

–Helen Hunt Jackson

4 Comments
July 15, 2026

This and that, here and there

by chuckofish

Are you having a good summer? It is half over already! Not that that matters to us retired folks.

Today we remember the day in 1799 when the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napolean’s Egyptian Campaign. The stone is famous for being inscribed with three versions of a decree in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic (the cursive Egyptian script used for daily purposes, meaning ‘language of the people’), and the Ancient Greek script. The Ancient Greek was translated into English in 1803. This allowed for the Egyptian hieroglyphics to be deciphered for the first time, by Jean-François Champollion in 1822. It now resides in the British Museum in London.

Pretty cool.

Here are a few things from the internet.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the passing into glory of the great John MacArthur. Here’s a video reflecting on his life and ministry.

Interesting! Here’s a video about a German who moved to America to get married, only to discover most of what he thought he knew was wrong. “Two years ago, on July 1st, I moved from Germany to the United States of America. And I did not just move countries. I moved from a culture of caution into a culture of courage. And I was not ready for what [that] would do to me.”

Good advice! “The 80-year-olds I admire most were not born different. They made a thousand small choices, over decades, that compounded in their favor. You are making those same choices right now, whether you notice them or not. It is never too late, nor too early, to begin.”

And here’s a little Billy Strings for your Wednesday music treat:

Have a good day. Watch an old movie. Read an old book. Listen to some good Bluegrass music.

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July 14, 2026

“Love your life, poor as it is”

by chuckofish

Yesterday I caught up with my “desk work” and my Bible reading and tidied my house after a week away. I drove to the library and the P.O. I marveled that I have lived in my flyover town for 30 years now. Praise the Lord.

I was reminded that July 12 was the birthday of Henry David Thoreau. He was misguided like all the Transcendentalists, but I was always fond of him. He is hard not to like. And he had a far-reaching influence on many future writers that he would never have dreamed of.

“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal- that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forget them. They are the highest reality. Perhaps the facts most astounding and most real are never communicated by man to man. The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”

I get that.

Have a good day. Catch some stardust.

3 Comments
July 13, 2026

Songs of thy salvation my heart with rapture thrill*

by chuckofish

Well, we all made it home to our particular homes after a wonderful holiday.

Daughter #1 and I arrived at 11:00 pm (12 hours after leaving Grand Haven), just as the electricity came back on after an outage at my house! Praise the Lord. On Saturday I did laundry and watched several episodes of The Mentalist (on Hulu) in between naps.

On Sunday I felt adequately refreshed to get up early and head to church for the early service. How wonderful to be back! I was rewarded with great music, an excellent sermon on Psalm 32 (on sin!–blessed are the forgiven)…

You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. 

…and an inspiring adult ed class on prayer. Our teacher this week was a professor at Covenant Seminary and, I tell you, I wanted to shout “Woohoo!” at the end. I have learned so much in this series based on Tim Keller’s book. It is not often one feels that way these days.

As Anne always says, “Go to church!”

Don’t drift away. The devil is smart. “I want to keep going. I don’t want to waste the years. I don’t want to drift. I want to be constantly paddling upstream, against the pull of the flesh, the world, and the devil.”

“And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off… Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

–C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Stay vigilant. Pray hard.

*Trinity Hymnal #551

2 Comments
July 10, 2026

Home again, home again jiggety jig

by chuckofish

We are heading home later today, so pray for smooth travel with minimal delays and friendly skies. Meanwhile, I will say, a Lake Michigan getaway–highly recommended for what ails you!

Here are a few more postcards to inspire you…

But I have to say, these stairs down to our beach nearly killed me.

And, hey, while we were gone, daughter #3 finished her radiation treatments!

Huzzah!

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July 8, 2026

A few more postcards

by chuckofish

So far the weather has been beautiful here in Michigan and we have enjoyed many hours on the beach and in the sun. The girls love the water and don’t want to come out of it even if their lips are blue and their teeth are chattering.

So far the only downside is the persistence of sand flies in the afternoon.

Thankfully daughter #1 has taken a few photos, because I have been mostly phone free for days. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

We are having such a good time! We went to Holland for dinner last night.

So fun.

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July 6, 2026

Postcards from Michigan

by chuckofish

Daughter #1 and I had a fabulous time with my brother and sister-in-law at their lake cottage over the Fourth of July weekend!

On Sunday we made it to beautiful Grand Haven and we are settling in with daughter #2 and the prairie fam.

Hope you had a great 4th!

2 Comments
July 3, 2026

America, why I love her

by chuckofish

I’m traveling to Michigan today with daughter #1 to spend the 4th with my brother and his wife at their lake cottage. It’s his 75th birthday as well.

Then we’ll drive across the state to Lake Michigan to spend the week with daughter #2 and her prairie family. Pray that our travel is smooth and uneventful and that the weather is courteous.

Here’s a patriotic blast from the past. We had this LP back in 1972…did you? Daughter #1 had it framed and it hung in her office down in Jefferson City.

Happy 250th birthday, America! Celebrate appropriately.

And hat’s off to the boy and his spectacular home decor:

Viva, America!

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July 2, 2026

Steaming down the Mississippi

by chuckofish

In the summer of 1870 a celebrated race took place between two steamboats, the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez. Leaving New Orleans on June 30, the Robert E. Lee reached St. Louis, a distance of 1,154 miles (1,857 km), in 3 days, 18 hours and 14 minutes. Indeed, it was one of the most thrilling events in the history of the Mississippi River. For days newspapers had been full of predictions, and bets were placed all over the world on the result. A crowd of thousands lined the levee to cheer the boat and its crew when it landed on July 4 several hours ahead of the Natchez.

It was very exciting, as you can imagine, because such racing involved major risks. Steamboats were inherently dangerous. The steam boilers were prone to exploding and igniting fires. The boats were wooden and much of their cargo could be highly flammable. These hazards came in addition to the snags and submerged bars that could rip a hull open. Between 1816 and 1848, boiler explosions alone killed more than 1,800 passengers and crew and injured another 1,000. Racing added significantly to the chance for an explosion.

Mark Twain described steamboat racing thusly:

“Two red-hot steamboats raging along, neck-and-neck, straining every nerve—that is to say, every rivet in the boilers—quaking and shaking and groaning from stem to stern, spouting white steam from the pipes, pouring black smoke from the chimneys, raining down sparks, parting the river into long breaks of hissing foam—this is sport that makes a body’s very liver curl with enjoyment.”

And, gee, nobody seemed to be overly offended by the name of Robert E. Lee, so soon after the Civil War. Interesting, n’est-ce pas?

Fun fact: The song “Steamboat Bill”, written in 1910, is an extended reference to the 1870 race. Mickey Mouse whistling a verse from “Steamboat Bill” in Steamboat Willie has been used as the production logo of Walt Disney Animation Studios since 2007.

Have a good day! Relax.

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