inspiration | dual personalities

June 19, 2018

“Cheer up now, you faint-hearted warrior…”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 –-January 31, 1892) who was an extraordinary English preacher. Theologically he was a Calvinist, denominationally he was a Baptist, and he said, “if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, ‘It is Jesus Christ.'” When he died in 1892, London went into mourning. Nearly 60,000 people came to pay homage during the three days his body lay in state at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Some 100,000 lined the streets as a funeral parade two miles long followed his hearse from the Tabernacle to the cemetery. Flags flew at half-staff and shops and pubs were closed.

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Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle today

Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations among whom he is still known as the “Prince of Preachers.”

I can attest to the fact that he is alive and well on Instagram.

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I am no lover of memes and quotes taken out of context, but I have to admit, I like a little Spurgeon in my Instagram feed!

Interesting flyover tie-in: William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri purchased Spurgeon’s 5,103-volume library collection for £500 ($2500) in 1906. The collection was purchased by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri in 2006 for $400,000 and can be seen on display at the Spurgeon Center on the campus of Midwestern Seminary.

*”…Not only has Christ traveled the road, but He has defeated your enemies.” (CS)

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June 6, 2018

Pray and work

by chuckofish

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This is the gospel of labor—ring it,

Ye bells of the kirk

The Lord of Love came down from above

To live with the men who work.

This is the rose he planted, here

In the thorn-cursed soil;

Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but

The blessing of earth is toil.

–Henry Van Dyke

(found on the Three Iron Nails blog)

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Vincent Van Gogh, The Sower (1988)

“The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

–Martin Luther

“Good human work honors God’s work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands. It does not dissociate life and work, or pleasure and work, or love and work, or usefulness and beauty. To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God. But such blasphemy is not possible when the entire Creation is understood as holy and when the works of God are understood as embodying and thus revealing His spirit.”

–Wendell Berry (Christianity and the Survival of Creation)

I have a stressful day ahead at work today. Pray and work. All will be well!

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May 30, 2018

“Pray, and let God worry.”*

by chuckofish

“I have decided the two options for me are (1) to torment myself or (2) to trust the Lord. There is no earthly solution to the problems that confront me. But I can add to my problems, as I believe I have done, by dwelling on them.”

–Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

We had a health scare with the OM over the long weekend which ultimately turned out to be not that scary, treatable, not a death sentence, etc. But, oh brother, it was another reminder to wake up every morning, rejoicing in the day, make the most of it, and trust in the Lord!

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*Martin Luther

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May 28, 2018

Laying down the bunt

by chuckofish

Memorial Day (or Decoration Day) is the federal holiday in the United States when we remember the men and women who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.

So today I recommend watching They Were Expendable (1945), John Ford’s loving paean to the U.S. Navy, specifically the PT boat unit, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, defending the Philippines from Japanese invasion during World War II. It is a case study in how to do wartime propaganda, but it is beautifully understated and moving.

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Robert Montgomery was never better.

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[After the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, he joined the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander, and served on the USS Barton (DD-722) which was part of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. He knew all about PT boats and the men who served on them; he helped direct the movie.]

John Wayne is, of course, terrific:

And the supporting characters are played by John Ford regulars, including Ward Bond, Jack Pennick, and the always wonderful Russell Simpson. Here he is watching the departing sailors after he refuses to go with them, preferring to stay and defend his property from the Japanese who are closing in.

Has “Red River Valley” ever been used more effectively? John Ford always gave his supporting players a chance to shine and they really do in this movie.

Gracious God, we give thanks for military men and women, both from the past and present, and for their courageous service and sacrifice to our country and its people to secure the blessings of life, liberty, and justice for all. May our remembrance be a timely reminder that our freedom was purchased at high cost, and should not be taken for granted. Give us resolve to labor in faithful service to you until all share the benefits of freedom, justice, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (BCP)

Enjoy the rest of the three-day weekend!

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May 24, 2018

“All is a procession, The universe is a procession with measured and perfect motion.”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday we highlighted the great James B. Eads. Well, here are a few more fun facts to know and tell about another of those great mid-19th century Americans we love–even though this one has no connection to our flyover town that we know of!

On this day in 1844 Samuel Morse sent the message “What hath God wrought” (Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.

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Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872), American painter and inventor, was one of those guys who had it all going on. The son of a fiery Calvinist preacher, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale and became a noted portrait painter. The Marquis de Lafayette and Presidents Adams and Monroe were among his subjects.

Gallery of the Louvre, 1833–Morse selected masterpieces from the Musée du Louvre’s collection and “reinstalled” them in one of the museum’s grandest spaces, the Salon Carr, envisioning that space as a workshop in which individuals study, sketch, and copy from his imagined assemblage.

His monumental “Gallery of the Louvre” was the culmination of a three-year period of study in Europe. Morse exhibited it only twice, in New York and New Haven, where it was highly praised by critics and connoisseurs but rejected by the public. Crushed by the response, Morse soon ceased painting altogether, moving on to his more successful experiments in communications technology and the invention of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.

During 1843, he successfully deployed the 38-mile telegraph line along the way of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The first information given by the telegraph was that of the nomination of James K. Polk for the Presidency by the Baltimore convention. The official demonstration of Samuel Morse’s telegraph occurred on May 24, 1844, carrying the famous words “What hath God wrought” from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington D.C. to the B&O’s Mount Clare Station in Baltimore. This demonstration is remembered as the starting point of telegraph’s expansion across the world.

The demands for the telegraph constantly increased; they spread over every civilized country in the world, and became, by usage, “absolutely necessary for the well being of society.” Convinced of their folly in so long ignoring the invention of Prof. Morse, the nations of Europe at once vied with each other in the honors they bestowed upon the inventor. Within the next few years he received respectively the decoration of the Nishan Iflichai, set in diamonds, from the Sultan of Turkey, gold medals of scientific merit from the King of Prussia, the King of Wurtemburg, and the Emperor of Austria; a cross of Chevalier in the Legion of Honor from the Emperor of France; the cross of Knight of Dannebrog from the King of Denmark; the Cross of Knight Commander of the Order of Isabelia the Catholic, from the Queen of Spain, besides being elected member of innumerable scientific and art societies in this and other countries.

And there is a statue of him in Central Park.

“What hath God wrought” is an exclamation of wonder, but we might ask it as a question: “What hath God wrought?”

Discuss among yourselves.

[By the way, on April 1, 2012, Google announced the release of “Gmail Tap,” an April Fool’s Day joke that allowed users to use Morse Code to send text from their mobile phones. Morse’s great-great-grandnephew Reed Morse—a Google engineer—was instrumental in the prank, which ultimately became a real product. 🙄]

*Walt Whitman, “I Sing the Body Electric”

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May 21, 2018

“Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine”*

by chuckofish

On Saturday I got up early and headed to Queeny Park for the March of Dimes March for Babies walk.

By the end of the morning little Lottiebelle was over it…

but the wee laddie was raring to go.

I was done in myself, but found the energy to hit three estate sales afterwards. I got a couple of old silver frames.

The rest of the day I spent puttering around and catching up with daughter #2 on the phone. We went out to dinner with old friends and gabbed away, and were home before cool people even head out on a Saturday night. I fell asleep watching an old movie.

It was Pentecost on Sunday, so the service was longer than usual and jazzed up with a brass quartet, plus we also recognized the high school/college graduates and Sunday School teachers, renewed our baptismal vows and heard all about the 18th century chasuble that our rector was wearing. The man who was the boy’s small group leader when he was active in K-Life back in middle school and who is now a chaplain at the Episcopal City Mission talked at the adult forum and made an announcement in church. It was nice to catch up with him after the service. He is married now and has four kids under the age of 10. Time flies.

After church I returned to one of the estate sales to check out what was left and half price. The dudes who direct the traffic at these particular sales, helped me wedge my Mini into a tiny spot right in front after they removed the cones for me. It was raining and I was grateful that chivalry is not dead. Plus I found a couple of things to put away for gifts. Score.

The wee babes and their parents came over as usual on Sunday night, so it was a bonus weekend for me, getting to see them twice.

And now back to the salt mine. Have a blessed day!

*Hymn 516

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May 17, 2018

Hi-diddly-ho

by chuckofish

Today in the Episcopal Church we honor William Hobart Hare (May 17, 1838 – October 23, 1909) who was an American bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, back when that’s what it was called.

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One of the leading missionaries in America, Hare earned the title “the Apostle of the West” for his dedicated work in the rural Dakotas among pioneers and Native Americans. He was also known as the “Apostle to the Sioux.”

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Bishop William Hobart Hare and traveling equipment(

The house of bishops elected him bishop in 1872 and his territory originally included everything north of the Niobrara River in Nebraska and west of the Missouri River as far as the Rocky Mountains. It was not an easy assignment.

He wrote from Cheyenne Reserve to his sister: “I have been on a trip now for ten days or more, a fairly comfortable one, though a heavy storm of wind and rain blew my tent down over my head last Tuesday night and gave me hours of work and much wretchedness, and my horse balked in the middle of the Cheyenne River on Friday last as I was fording it, broke the single-tree loose and left me in the middle of the rapidly running stream with the water running into my wagon-box. But such ills are the concomitants of travel out here, and I am used to them.” (You can read more about his experiences here.)

The wilderness assigned to the young bishop seemed an almost unmanageable field, but he betook himself to tent life and traveled over the wild country and, having thus made himself familiar with it, he gradually divided it into ten departments and placed a clergyman of ability and fidelity in charge of each of these departments and the missionary work soon fell into shape and was carried on with comparative ease.

The development of South Dakota and its final admission to statehood led to a slight change in the territory assigned to his jurisdiction, and in 1883 his title was changed to missionary bishop of South Dakota, and he chose Sioux Falls as the see city of his missionary diocese. He has labored with all of zeal and earnestness and has infused vitality into all departments of church work in his diocese, while he has been aided and encouraged by the hearty and faithful co-operation of his clergy and his people. It has been his to watch the progress of the church in South Dakota from its inception, ever keeping pace with the onward march of the years as they have fallen into the abyss of time. He has guided the destinies of his church with a hand made strong by power from on high, and with the power which came to steady the hand has also come the divine light to illume the way… He has witnessed the rise of the state, where he has served as bishop for thirty-two years, is loyal to it and its people and has the sincere respect and affectionate regard of all with whom he has come in contact as a church man and as a citizen. (Doane Robinson 1904)

The Calvary Church was the first church built in Sioux Falls.

Screen Shot 2018-05-16 at 11.43.56 AM.png As Hare’s congregation grew, he saw the need for a building, “as solid and unmoving as his faith, to stand as the cornerstone for his congregation in the area’s biggest city.” Hobart enlisted the aid of John Jacob Astor III to help raise money for a cathedral. Astor’s contributions were in memory of his late wife, Charlotte Augusta Astor — a patron of Hare’s missions and of All Saint’s School, another Hare creation. Astor’s contributions came to $20,000. The cornerstone was laid Dec. 5, 1888, and Hare’s cathedral was finished a year later. The building itself was constructed of Sioux quartzite.

Bishop Hare, although he died in New Jersey, was buried in Sioux City next to the church under the large cross (below).

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Holy God, you called your servant William Hobart Hare to proclaim the means of grace and the hope of glory to the peoples of the Great Plains: We give you thanks for the devotion of those who received the Good News gladly, and for the faithfulness of the generations who have succeeded them. Strengthen us with your Holy Spirit, that we may walk in their footsteps and lead many to faith in Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Oh and by the way, today is also Bob Saget’s birthday.

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Have a good day. Tomorrow is Friday!

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May 15, 2018

Somebody loves us all

by chuckofish

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The Filling Station

 


Oh, but it is dirty!

—this little filling station,

oil-soaked, oil-permeated

to a disturbing, over-all

black translucency.

Be careful with that match!

 


Father wears a dirty,

oil-soaked monkey suit

that cuts him under the arms,

and several quick and saucy

and greasy sons assist him

(it’s a family filling station),

all quite thoroughly dirty.

 

Do they live in the station?

It has a cement porch

behind the pumps, and on it

a set of crushed and grease-

impregnated wickerwork;

on the wicker sofa

a dirty dog, quite comfy.

 

Some comic books provide

the only note of color—

of certain color. They lie

upon a big dim doily

draping a taboret

(part of the set), beside

a big hirsute begonia.

 

Why the extraneous plant?

Why the taboret?

Why, oh why, the doily?

(Embroidered in daisy stitch

with marguerites, I think,

and heavy with gray crochet.)

 

Somebody embroidered the doily.

Somebody waters the plant,

or oils it, maybe. Somebody

arranges the rows of cans

so that they softly say:

esso—so—so—so

to high-strung automobiles.

Somebody loves us all.

–Elizabeth Bishop

I kind of love this a lot. And the painting by Edward Hopper. BTW, Hopper died in his studio in New York City 51 years ago on May 15, 1967. He was buried two days later in the family’s grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack, NY, his place of birth.

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May 14, 2018

Simple pleasures

by chuckofish

What a weekend! No mother could ask for more (except for all three of her children to be home!) than a weekend filled with all my favorite things: Doris Day, estate sales, lunch out, mani-pedis, the wee babes, wonderful gift bags of treats from all three daughters, barbecued hamburgers/hotdogs, margaritas, spinning tunes in the Florida room, someone accompanying me to church, and brunch out with mimosas. Sigh.

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BTW, I was not the only one to get presents. I gave little Lottie a shopping cart to push around because she likes a push toy better than anything and because she likes shopping. I mean the girl gets a new pair of shoes every week. (Note the gold gladiator sandals she is working here.) The shopping cart is also perfect for piling vintage toys in.

The twins are clearly musical geniuses.

And this quote from daughter #2 on her Instagram page was the cherry on the proverbial sundae:

“When I was learning why the sun rose and the moon set, how the flowers grew and the rain fell, that God and heaven and art and letters existed, that it was intelligent to say one’s prayers, and that well-bred children never told a lie, I learned that a mother can be strong and still sweet, and sweet although she is strong; and that she whom the world and her children both have need of, is of more value to each, for this reason.” — Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

My cup runneth over yet again.

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May 11, 2018

Little feet along the floor

by chuckofish

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Daughter #2 asked me to find a vintage mother/daughter photo for her to post on Mother’s Day. I told her I would look. There are really very few and I’m sure the above example was not really what she had in mind.

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The other choices weren’t a whole lot better.

Oh well. It was sweet of her to ask.

Mother’s Day will be the highlight and raison d’être of the weekend. Daughter #1 is coming home and we will get together with the boy and his wee family for a barbecue on Saturday. Then on Sunday I’ll take the OM and daughter #1 to my faculty club for brunch/mimosas after church.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

And to all the young mothers out there I say: don’t waste a minute complaining about being tired or bored or too busy. It all goes by in a flash and “there isn’t always someone who wants you singing to him or nibbling his ear or brushing his cheek with a dandelion blossom. Somebody who knows when you’re being silly, and laughs and laughs.” (Marilynne Robinson, Lila) Sooner than you can believe it, you’re a grandma and they’re giving you the side-eye, not so sure who this crazy lady is.

So enjoy your kids. There is nothing like that feeling of being the most important person in the world to someone. It doesn’t last. They are God’s gift to you for a little while.

Have a great weekend. Call your mother!

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