dual personalities

Category: inspiration

August 15, 2018

At the movies

by chuckofish

VICTOR LASZLO leading the patrons of Rick’s Cafe in the “Marseillaise” to drown out the Nazis’ “Wacht am Rhine” under the direction of Major Strasser—possibly that moment in Casablanca had as much impact on the World War II generation as the news of Pearl Harbor or the eloquence of Winston Churchill.

Or the African Americans in the Alabama courthouse gallery rising to their feet as Atticus Finch passes by below. Or Dolly Levi sashaying down the grand staircase of the Harmonia Gardens to find Louis Armstrong at the bottom radiant as the sun at noon. Or John Travolta lithe as a panther in his white suit and pompadour dancing in Brooklyn. Or Jimmy Stewart being bailed out by his friends in the last moments of It’s a Wonderful Life.

In a world where there are no longer books we have almost all of us read, the movies we have almost all of us seen are perhaps the richest cultural bond we have. They go on haunting us for years the way our dreams go on haunting us. In a way they are our dreams. The best of them remind us of human truths that would not seem as true without them. They help to remind us that we are all of us humans together.

–Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words

I agree with FB, don’t you? We all know those movie moments that haunt you and make you watch the same movie over and over, right? Sadly, I don’t think many people even know how to watch a movie anymore–not focused from beginning to end–giving it all it deserves. Well, I won’t go into that now, but here are some other moments like the ones Buechner describes. Unfortunately, most people nowadays haven’t seen a movie over twenty years old, but maybe you have…

I just watched The Searchers (1956) again for the umpteenth time. Definitely one of the greats. Iconic scenes abound. Here’s one.

Robin Hood (1938)–“I’ll organize a revolt…”

The Great Escape (1963)–“You’re the first American officer I’ve met…”

Life Is Beautiful (1997)–“Camp rules”

The Professionals (1967)–“Lost causes”

My Darling Clementine (1947)–Sunday go to meeting

Awakenings (1990)–“The simplest things”

Ben-Hur (1959)–“No water for him!”

Chariots of Fire (1982) “Where does the power come from?”

I could go on…and on, but I will cease and desist. Turn up the sound, watch them all. You’ll be glad you did.

Oh, here’s one more: The World of Henry Orient (1964)–“Splitsing!”

7 Comments
July 25, 2018

Let not your heart be troubled

by chuckofish

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On Monday I had an interesting experience at work. A man whom I had known many years before at the church I used to attend showed up at my office, interested in offering a course here at my flyover institute. We chatted about it and then our conversation moved into more personal territory as we brought each other up to date on our children’s activities.

It turns out that he and his wife are very concerned about their youngest child, a son, whose story, as he told me of his trials, sounded a lot like our own boy, even to the college in Ohio, playing sports and DUIs. He seemed to be heartened by my telling him of the boy’s progress after years of parental teeth gnashing and hand wringing.

So I told him it had all turned around for me when I surrendered it all (and the boy) to God. I had done the best I could, but he was a man and needed to figure it out for himself. The time had passed for his parents coming to his rescue. I couldn’t go on giving him motherly advice and then being upset when he didn’t follow it. And I prayed for him (and for all my children) without ceasing.

For me then (and now) the key is to actually trust God to take care of the things that are out of my hands anyway. Although we are parents for the rest of our lives, we only are stewards of our children’s well being for a very short time.

We talked for over an hour, and when he left, he hugged me and said something about feeling that God had led him to come see me and we chuckled because we are, after all, liberal Episcopalians. God works in mysterious ways and all that.

But I believe it. Help thou mine unbelief.

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

4 Comments
July 24, 2018

A wretch like me

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the great John Newton (1725–1807), the English Anglican clergyman who once served as a sailor in the Royal Navy and later as the captain of slave ships.

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Eventually he was “saved” and he became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, serving Olney, Buckinghamshire for two decades. He opposed the slave trade, allying with William Wilberforce, leader of the Parliamentary campaign to abolish it. He lived to see the British passage of the Slave Trade Act in 1807.

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He is perhaps most famous for writing hymns, including the ever-popular Amazing Grace and Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken. Let’s all take a moment.

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I must note that Newton is not honored with a feast or fast on the Episcopal Church calendar. All I can say is, quelle typical.

3 Comments
July 20, 2018

Back in the saddle again (and a little Friday vent)

by chuckofish

Today on the Episcopal calendar of saints, four American women who were pioneers in the struggle for black emancipation and for women’s rights are honored: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman. The date chosen for commemorating them is the anniversary of the Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, July 19-20, 1848. These new additions are a result of the church’s work on the Lesser Feasts and Fasts revision, which includes an effort to increase the diversity of people held up as models. All very well and good.

My question is why choose Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who attempted to re-write the Bible as her own ‘Women’s Bible’–blasphemy to many–and Ms. Bloomer, who designed the pants that were named after her. Great.

Where is Susan B. Anthony? A Quaker by birth, she became over time more of a Unitarian, but she was no blasphemer. I would much rather recognize her today as a true saint than either Stanton or Bloomer. I would love to know what the thinking was behind these choices, but, then again, maybe I don’t want to know. My denomination disappoints me on a daily basis.

O God, whose Spirit guides us into all truth and makes us free: Strengthen and sustain us as you did your servants Elizabeth, Amelia, Sojourner, and Harriet. Give us vision and courage to stand against oppression and injustice and all that works against the glorious liberty to which you call all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Anyway… it is Friday at last. I have a fun outing planned for Saturday with my BFFs. We’re driving to Mt. Vernon, IL to check out the antique malls there, which we noted as we drove south to Nashville, TN in June.  We’re always on the lookout for new junk!

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I mean, wow, downtown Mt. Vernon sounds like an exciting place (a kitchen store!):

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(From the “Illinois: Are You Up For Amazing?” website)

Well, we’ll find out for ourselves on Saturday. I know Lottie can’t wait until she is old enough to go antiquing!

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I wanna go too!

Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

Also a toast and a happy anniversary to my DP and her DH! Twenty-nine years! We won’t watch Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966) in your honor…

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…but maybe The Thin Man (1934) or one of its sequels…

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Have a good weekend!

3 Comments
July 19, 2018

The beacons are lit!

by chuckofish

In honor of today being the 430th anniversary of the “invincible” Spanish Armada being sighted in England on July 19, 1588, when it appeared off The Lizard in Cornwall,

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here is the famous lighting of the beacons scene in The Return of the King (2005).

The news of the Armada was likewise conveyed to London by a system of beacons that had been constructed all the way along the south coast. Do you think this is where Tolkien got his idea?

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A stone building, a signal station, at Culmstock Beacon in Devon, UK, built in 1588 to enclose a wooden pole, which protruded through the roof to support one or more fire baskets. This is one of a chain of signal stations along England’s southern counties – but the only remaining stone building – the purpose of which was to warn of the Spanish Armada being sighted.

On the evening of July 19, the English fleet was trapped in Plymouth Harbour by the incoming tide. The Spanish convened a council of war, where it was proposed to ride into the harbor on the tide and incapacitate the defending ships at anchor and from there to attack England; but Medina Sidonia declined to act and decided to sail on to the east and towards the Isle of Wight. As the tide turned, 55 English ships set out to confront them from Plymouth under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham, with Sir Francis Drake as Vice Admiral. Howard ceded some control to Drake, given his experience in battle. The rear admiral was Sir John Hawkins.

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Sir Francis Drake playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe is informed of the approach of the Spanish Armada.

This brief look into an exciting piece of history makes me want to go back and re-read Garrett Mattingly’s The Armada, first published in 1959. I know I have a copy…if I can just find it!

In May fifteen hundred and eighty-eight,
Cries Philip, “The English I’ll humble;
For I have taken it into my Majesty’s pate,
And their lion, oh! down he shall tumble.
They lords of the sea!”—then his sceptre he shook,—
“I’ll prove it an arrant bravado.
By Neptune! I’ll knock ’em all into a nook,
With the invincible Spanish Armada!”

This fleet then sailed forth, and the winds they did blow,
Their guns made a terrible clatter;
Our noble Queen Bess, ’cause she wanted to know,
Quill’d her ruff and cried, “Pray, what’s the matter?”
“They say, my good Queen,” replied Howard so stout,
“The Spaniard has drawn his toledo,
He’s cock sure that he’ll thump us, and kick us about,
With the invincible Spanish Armada.”

The Lord Mayor of London, a very wise man,
What to do in this case vastly wondered;
Says the Queen, “Send in fifty good ships, if you can.”
Says my Lord, “Ma’am, I’ll send in a hundred.”
Our fire-ships they soon struck their cannons all dumb,
And the Dons run to Ave and Credo.
Great Medina roars out, “Sure the devil is come,
For the invincible Spanish Armada.”

On Effingham’s squadron, though all in a breast
Like open-mouth curs they came bowling;
But our sugar-plums finding they could not digest,
Away home they ran yelping and howling.
When e’er Britain’s foes shall, with envy agog,
In our Channel make such a bravado—
Well, huzza, my brave boys! we’re still able to flog
An invincible Spanish Armada!

—The Spanish Armada by Irish actor and dramatist John O’Keefe (1747-1833)

Happy Thursday!

2 Comments
July 18, 2018

Mid-week mayhem

by chuckofish

The wee babes came over last night to celebrate their Pappy’s birthday (after a busy day at the salt mine) so I don’t  have much for this post. Luckily, the boy came through with some great pics of the busy babes at our house:

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Phew. I passed out after they went home.

Did you read this? Very interesting.

You will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, you who let your ox and donkey graze.  [Isa 32:20 NET]

Never mind whereabouts your work is. Never mind whether it be visible or not. Never mind whether your name is associated with it. You may never see the issues of your toils. You are working for eternity. If you cannot see results here in the hot working day, the cool evening hours are drawing near, when you may rest from your labors and then they will follow you. So do your duty, and trust God to give the seed you sow “a body as it hath pleased Him.”

—Alexander McLaren (1826-1910)

4 Comments
July 13, 2018

Random thoughts for Friday

by chuckofish

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This picture of the Saint Louis Abbey here in town came up on my Instagram feed yesterday and I just have to say that this famous Gyo Obata-designed building may have been cutting edge when it was completed in 1962,

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but it still looks like a birthday cake. I’ve never been a fan of poured concrete I guess. The grounds of the Abbey are rather uninspiring, don’t you think?

Here’s a tour of the building.

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Cool 1964 Priory yearbook frontispiece with dead tree branch

I have to admit, the St. Louis Abbey is better than St. John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville, MN.

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Good Lord, what were they thinking?

In other news, today the Episcopal Church remembers Conrad Weiser–Witness to Peace and Reconciliation–with a feast day on its liturgical calendar. Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760) was a Pennsylvania Dutch pioneer, interpreter and diplomat between the Pennsylvania Colony and Native Americans.

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As a child, Conrad Weiser and his family were among thousands of Protestant refugees who left the German Palantine in 1709 for reasons of religious persecution. They traveled to England and then were sent to the New York colony. The Crown supported migration of immigrants to help settle the New York colony, the plan being that they would work off their passage in a form of indenture in camps devoted to producing ships’ stores, such as tar and other materials. Later they would be allowed to trade their work for land. It was not until 1723, however, that some 100 heads of families received land grants in the central Mohawk Valley.

[Side note: If you want to read a really good book about this dishonorable system, I recommend The Free Man by Conrad Richter.]

Weiser eventually moved to Pennsylvania where he became a key player in treaty negotiations, land purchases, and the formulation of Pennsylvania’s policies towards Native Americans. For many years, he helped to keep the powerful Iroquois allied with the British as opposed to the French. This important service contributed to the continued survival of the British colonies and the eventual victory of the British over the French in the French and Indian Wars.

Indeed, Weiser was one cool dude and a lay minister in the Lutheran Church. By the way, Weiser’s daughter Maria married Henry Muhlenberg, whom the Episcopal Church also honors with a feast day (October 7).

Almighty God, of your grace you gave Conrad Weiser the gift of diplomacy, the insight to understand two different cultures and interpret each to the other with clarity and honesty: As we strive to be faithful to our vocation to commend your kingdom, help us to proclaim the Gospel to the many cultures around us, that by your Holy Spirit we may be effective ambassadors for our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the same Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Meanwhile, as the temperatures soar here, the wee babes have been keeping cool flyover style.

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(By the way, those are bug repellent anklets. They are not on kiddie parole. What’ll they think of next?)

I was reminded that back in 1966 the All-Star game was held in the brand new Busch Stadium here in town. Unfortunately, the temperature that day topped out at 103!

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Well, I am sure glad the weekend is almost here. It’s going to be another hot one…

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…but since it has been an unusually busy week at the salt mine, I don’t care. I have no big plans.

What are you doing this weekend?

6 Comments
July 5, 2018

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.”*

by chuckofish

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Well, the 4th of July went by in a rush of activity and an overload of fun. Phew.

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It was hot, hot, hot in flyover country, but we braved the asphalt of the high school parking lot in our folding chairs and watched the fireworks which were “the best ever!” The wee babes by that time were pretty subdued and exhausted–after a Shania Twain dance party–and watched without complaint.

Cousin Tim and Abbie, who were a big hit with the wee babes (especially Lottie),

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*”You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”– Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

3 Comments
June 26, 2018

“The singing heart of June”*

by chuckofish

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“How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside.
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown–
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!”

–  Robert Louis Stevenson, The Swing 

You may have noticed that swings are becoming less common on school playgrounds throughout the country for liability reasons and because school officials are “looking for new ways to engage students in activities using safer equipment.” We are told that more than 200,000 children show up in hospital emergency rooms each year due to playground equipment injuries, according to the National Safety Council. Fewer than 20 of those accidents are fatal, but “swing set danger” looms large in the public’s imagination.**

Well.

I was a timid child. Lots of things scared me, but I loved to swing. And I liked to swing high, the higher the better. Sometimes I would swing and sing at the same time! Talk about feeling free! I mean I was never crazy and I held on tight–not like one of our friends who swears he could swing up and over on the swings at his elementary school. I was no dare-devil, but even timid kids like me can feel like they can fly on a swing. And they can flirt with danger in a way that is an important part of growing up.

Indeed, I’m with old RLS.

*Willa Cather; the illustration is by Mary Blair

**Statistics found here.

6 Comments
June 20, 2018

“What is this babbler trying to say?”*

by chuckofish

Daughter #1 sent this link to me and Chris Pratt is my new hero.

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“Nobody is perfect,” Pratt stated for rule No. 9. “People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are. You are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift, and like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood. Do not forget that. Don’t take that for granted.”

What he said at the MTV Movie and TV Awards took real courage. It is one thing to stand up at the CMA Awards and thank your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a roomful of Christians, but to do it at the MTV Awards…WOW. Sure, his “Nine Rules from Chris Pratt, Generation Award Winner” were riddled with vulgarities–he very cleverly kept their attention that way–but he got his main point across.

You rock, Chris Pratt. God bless you.

*Acts 17: 18–You remember, when Paul takes it to the  marketplace in Athens. This is a reminder that we should too.

3 Comments