inspiration | dual personalities

April 5, 2019

“Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”*

by chuckofish

Another busy week (almost) in the books. Phew.

And I have exciting plans for the weekend! Today daughter #2 is flying home for a long weekend! Huzzah! We will celebrate her birthday and also cheer on daughter #1 and the boy as they race in the Go! St. Louis half-marathon on Sunday.

I will also note that daughter #1, who always takes a Xanax before getting on a plane, and had always sworn she would never ever fly on a small craft, flew in a little plane (sans Xanax) with her boss to a work event in Springfield the other day.

Yay! She did it! (I guess this is jet-setting, mid-MO style.)

Knowledge is the encourager, knowledge that takes fear out of the heart, knowledge and use, which is knowledge in practice. They can conquer who believe they can. It is he who has done the deed once who does not shrink from attempting it again. It is the groom who knows the jumping horse well who can safely ride him.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Courage”

But don’t forget the bottom line: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13, for Pete’s sake)

Have a good weekend! And I couldn’t resist this…

What can happen to an Old-Fashioned?

Isaiah 41:10

7 Comments

April 3, 2019

Quietness of heart

by chuckofish

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“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.”
― Andrew Murray

Sixty years of ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, more than 200 books and tracts on Christian spirituality and ministry, extensive social work, and the founding of educational institutions—all these were outward signs of the inward grace that Andrew Murray experienced by continually casting himself on Christ.

“May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God’s presence,” was his prayer. “And not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for him to fill full of his Spirit and his love.”

The woodblock print is by Frances Hammell Gearhart.

3 Comments

April 2, 2019

“You’re a very fine swan indeed! “*

by chuckofish

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“To be born in a duck’s nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan’s egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.”

–Hans Christian Andersen, “The Ugly Duckling” (1843)

Some say that Andersen considered this story to be autobiographical. As a child, he was mocked for his big nose and large feet, as well as for his beautiful singing voice and love of theater. There were also rumors that Hans Christian Andersen was the illegitimate son of King Christian VIII of Denmark! It is a story that many children can relate to on some level–at least those who feel excluded in some way from their peers.

Anyway, today is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875), the great Danish writer, who is the author of many personal favorites. Our mother could not read through “The Little Match Girl” without weeping, which was quite disconcerting to me as a small child.

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I will toast him tonight and perhaps listen to Danny Kaye singing about the Ugly Duckling…

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Man oh man, the things people put on YouTube!

*Frank Loesser, “The Ugly Duckling”

2 Comments

April 1, 2019

“Run the straight race through God’s good grace”*

by chuckofish

It rained most of Saturday; our front yard is a pond again. But daughter #1 drove in to town on Saturday morning to go to an event that night, so we went out in the rain to a really good estate sale where we made out like bandits, limited only by the size of my car and our puritanical sense of restraint.

She got a really nice chair and a lamp and I got a mirror…

and a vintage waste basket. It was one of those houses where an Episcopalian has lived for 50 years and it all looks and feels extremely familiar to me right down to the books and records, collections, art and furniture.

Daughter #1 went home to mid-MO on Sunday morning, having led her trivia team to victory (First Place!) at the Mercy Hospital NICU trivia night fundraiser, along with the boy and daughter #3 and some of their friends. I stayed home and watched Move Over, Darling (1963) with Doris Day, which went along nicely with my self-comforting plans.

The wee babes and their parents came over for Sunday night dinner. The OM tried out his new barbecue, which he had spent all weekend putting together.

The burgers and hotdogs turned out nicely!

And the Florida room is open for business!

Another busy week commences and a new month! As usual, I’m taking it one day at a time.

*John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-1875)

Fight the good fight with all thy might!

Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;

Lay hold on life, and it shall be

Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God’s good grace,

Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;

Life with its way before us lies,

Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.

Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide;

His boundless mercy will provide;

Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove

Christ is its life, and Christ its love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,

He changeth not, and thou art dear;

Only believe, and thou shalt see

That Christ is all in all to thee.

4 Comments

March 20, 2019

A little mid-week vent

by chuckofish

I mean really.

I saw this recently released survey on a blog I read, that said 3 out of 5 Millennials believe that this is the most stressful time EVER in history. To 60% of everyone over 18 and under 35, no place/time in human history has had more human stress than now.

The survey included a Top 20 List of the stresses that are devastating Millennials:

1. Losing wallet/credit card
2. Arguing with partner
3. Commute/traffic delays
4. Losing phone
5. Arriving late to work
6. Slow WiFi
7. Phone battery dying
8. Forgetting passwords
9. Credit card fraud
10. Forgetting phone charger
11. Losing/misplacing keys
12. Paying bills
13. Job interviews
14. Phone screen breaking
15. Credit card bills
16. Check engine light coming on
17. School loan payments
18. Job security
19. Choosing what to wear
20. Washing dishes

Clearly the Millennials who took the survey don’t know much (or anything) about history. I mean it would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic.

With nothing to compare their lives to, they have no idea how privileged they are. I don’t know about you, but I never take indoor plumbing for granted. And, boy, I am grateful for the fact that strep throat can no longer kill me. Or real Nazis. I may feel ostracized on occasion because I am a church-going Christian, but no one is threatening to burn me at the stake for my beliefs.

Sigh. To most of us adults, the stresses listed above are merely the minor annoyances of modern living. No. Big. Deal. In fact, Millennials have too much choice, too much food, too much leisure time, too much entertainment. They have way too much. Period. And they are not grateful for any of it. I can’t help thinking that the ancestors of these Millennials, who suffered and sacrificed to get to this country, would be very disappointed in their descendants.

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Suffering builds character, remember?

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Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5).

But, hey, today is the first day of spring! Huzzah!

6 Comments

March 19, 2019

Just as I am

by chuckofish

Yesterday was the birthday of Charlotte Elliott (March 18, 1789 – September 22, 1871) who was an English poet, hymn writer, and editor. She is best known for the hymn “Just as I am”. I bet you didn’t know that it was an English hymn, written by an Anglican.

I certainly did not. Indeed, this song is well known as an altar call song used in the Billy Graham crusades for 50 years in the twentieth century.

Just as I am – without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – though toss’d about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

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Let’s just take a moment.

4 Comments

March 18, 2019

My joy and crown

by chuckofish

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell’s destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan’s side

Songs of praises, songs of praises,

I will ever give to thee,

I will ever give to thee.

(William Williams, 1717-1791, hymn #690)

How was your weekend? I guess it was St. Patrick’s Day, but we did nothing to mark it except indulge in an Errol Flynn marathon on Saturday night and watch The Quiet Man (1952) on Sunday night. Good choices. Hear, hear.

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On Saturday the OM and I also indulged in our first trip of the season to Ted Drewes. Considering my recent accident, I felt I deserved it.

Look at that blue sky!

I was the reader of both lessons in church on Sunday–both good ones: Genesis 15:1-12; 17-18 and Philippians 3:17–4:1. I especially love reading from the letters of St. Paul, because I get to say things out loud that I could never say in real life.

¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

After church I convinced the OM to go down to the Link Auction House with me for a preview of the next auction. A nice day for a drive and all that. We stopped at an estate sale at one of the huge houses on Kingsbury Place on the way home. Then it was time to go home and get ready for a visit from the wee babes.

When they first arrived little Lottiebelle was sound asleep and could not be awakened for quite awhile (no nap that day.)

The wee laddie amused himself with intellectual pursuits.

Sleeping beauty roused herself eventually…

…and we had a gay old time.

And now another busy, stressful week unfolds. Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
Pilgrim through this barren land.

4 Comments

March 12, 2019

“When you pass through the waters”*

by chuckofish

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I love this picture from the 1canoe2 Instagram feed. It is so mid-Missouri! We are moving into severe weather season now, so, although we like our thunderstorms, we pray for no tornadoes! The news of the tornadoes in Alabama last week fills us with dread.

“They all stood unwilling on the sandbar, holding to the net. In the eastern sky were the familiar castles and the round towers to which they were used, gray, pink, and blue, growing darker and filling with thunder. Lightning flickered in the sun along their thick walls. But in the west the sun shone with such a violence that in an illumination like a long-prolonged glare of lightning the heavens looked black and white; all color left the world, the goldenness of everything was like a memory, and only heat, a kind of glamor and oppression, lay on their heads. The thick heavy trees on the other side of the river were brushed with mile-long streaks of silver, and a wind touched each man on the forehead. At the same time there was a long roll of thunder that began behind them, came up and down mountains and valleys of air, passed over their heads, and left them listening still. With a small, near noise a mockingbird followed it, the little white bars of its body flashing over the willow trees.

‘We are here for a storm now,’ Virgil said.

“The Wide Net” ― Eudora Welty

Take care.

*Isaiah 43:2

2 Comments

March 11, 2019

Such as do stand

by chuckofish

Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent so we read The Great Litany–Rite I, which I love. It is sure to knock some sense into us, right? One can only hope.

The readings were excellent…

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:8b–13)

…later in the chapter Paul makes it clear that “…faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” Context is everything.

The Gospel was Jesus being tempted by Satan. The rector’s sermon was the usual hodge-podge of quotes and stories, but he did make his point that we are not helpless against temptation. I don’t think he mentioned the word sin, but c’est l’église aujourd’hui.

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Besides going to church, I went to several estate sales, but didn’t find much. Just this little sterling picture frame…

I went to Target as well, and it was jammed. I got out of there pretty darn fast. Then I straightened my house and puttered around. The usual.

The OM and I watched a couple of movies including McQ (1974) with John Wayne, a fish out of water playing a police detective on a personal mission in Seattle. I enjoyed it a lot even though the Duke folding himself into a Firebird is more like James Garner in The Rockford Files than Steve McQueen in Bullitt. He looked pretty uncomfortable.

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We also watched Get Carter (1971) with Michael Caine as a London gangster, who is trying to figure out who killed his brother in his hometown in the north of England. It is very gritty and violent and there is quite a bit of unsavory sex. If your idea of the English is purely based on watching Downton Abbey and reading Jane Austen books, this movie will cure you of that delusion forever.

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Guy Ritchie must have been influenced by this film, because it reminded me of all his movies. Anyway, I have to say I liked it, especially Michael Caine as the sociopath with a glimmer of character. He never looked handsomer.

Watching these two movies back to back reminded me of the fact that Michael Caine visited John Wayne many times in the hospital when he was dying in 1979. Caine would walk him up and down the hall and talk to him. They liked each other.

The wee babes came over for dinner with the boy on Sunday night. The wee laddie has glasses now to help fix his eye which still wanders a bit.

Now all the kids in preschool will want them.

We had a lot of fun watching the squirrels cavort in the front yard. Better than television!

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And now a new and busy week dawns. I’ll take it one day at a time.

6 Comments

March 6, 2019

Ash and Dash

by chuckofish

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Methodist pastors in flyover country (What are they wearing?)

Ash & Dash is for those “on the go” Christians who just don’t have time to slow down and attend a traditional Ash Wednesday service. “All are welcome, period.” Pastors will be on hand, we are informed, from 7-9 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and 4-6 p.m. for drive-thru “ashing”. In addition, the pastors will also offer prayer.

Sounds like a cute sound bite for the 5 o’clock news. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon–even the Presbyterians, who I never thought were big on Lent and the liturgical calendar in general. But, hey, this sounds so fun, right?

Personally, I think if you are too busy to go to an actual service, you need to check your heart. I am, indeed, too busy and I know it. I have a job (not just a “to-do” list) and I have a full line-up today. There will be no ducking out in the middle of the day to go to church. Yes, there is a 7:00 pm service, but I won’t be going. I’ll read the service in the BCP at home and I am fine with that.

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

So slow down already.

To those who plan to observe Lent, I wish you well and trust you’ll benefit from a time you’ve chosen to make special between you and the Lord. To those who plan not to observe Lent, I wish you well also and trust you’ll benefit equally from the so-ordinary, so-wonderful means of grace that are available to all of us all the time. (Tim Challies)

But don’t just dash by for a drive-by ashing. Have you no shame?

4 Comments

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