dual personalities

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September 19, 2025

Count It All Joy.

by chuckofish

Well, Hello, dear readers. Daughter #1 here after quite the hiatus. My mother and I continue to cross things off the massive to do list, arguing at least once a week with an AI bot about whether or not a REPRESENTATIVE! is available. Lol, except seriously.

As my mother has said, Mr Smith continues to serve as emotional support dog during the 12 minutes a night when he is not keeping a close watch and discouraging those meddlesome neighbors from walking down the sidewalk in front of our house. “OH HELL NO, I know that hunched over old lady with a cane on the far side of Hanley is not walking through my line of vision,” he barks, practically spitting with rage. I can translate, clearly.

But for a few minutes each night (more and more as it gets darker earlier), he sits in my lap like this.

I dropped Mr. Smith at the Kennel this afternoon because I’m heading to Illinois for a little sister time this weekend. But first I have to get through the Mideast District Meeting for the Missouri DAR on Friday morning–always a lesson in patience.

At church, our current sermon series is a study of James, where, of course, we are reminded to “Count it all joy, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

And with that, happy weekend!

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September 18, 2025

As lost as Carthage

by chuckofish

Of all the streets that blur in to the sunset,
There must be one (which, I am not sure)
That I by now have walked for the last time
Without guessing it, the pawn of that Someone
Who fixes in advance omnipotent laws,
Sets up a secret and unwavering scale
for all the shadows, dreams, and forms
Woven into the texture of this life.
If there is a limit to all things and a measure
And a last time and nothing more and forgetfulness,
Who will tell us to whom in this house
We without knowing it have said farewell?
Through the dawning window night withdraws
And among the stacked books which throw
Irregular shadows on the dim table,
There must be one which I will never read.
There is in the South more than one worn gate,
With its cement urns and planted cactus,
Which is already forbidden to my entry,
Inaccessible, as in a lithograph.
There is a door you have closed forever
And some mirror is expecting you in vain;
To you the crossroads seem wide open,
Yet watching you, four-faced, is a Janus.
There is among all your memories one
Which has now been lost beyond recall.
You will not be seen going down to that fountain
Neither by white sun nor by yellow moon.
You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.
And the steadily flowing Rhone and the lake,
All that vast yesterday over which today I bend?
They will be as lost as Carthage,
Scourged by the Romans with fire and salt.
At dawn I seem to hear the turbulent
Murmur of crowds milling and fading away;
They are all I have been loved by, forgotten by;
Space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.

–Jorge Luis Borges, “Limits”

A poem for Thursday. Have a good day!

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September 17, 2025

“Pick me out a winner, Bobby”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday Robert Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah at the age of 89. He was never a particular favorite of mine, but it is always sad to see a Hollywood icon from the olden days die. He was undeniably handsome, but he had a cold, cynical look in his eye that made him less attractive to me than, say, Paul Newman. But I really liked him in The Sting (1973) and The Natural (1984)–two of my favorite movies.

Maybe I’ll watch The Natural. Sigh.

It’s been a sad week.

This is a good one about reading as the best way to rebel in a world that can glance at everything and gaze at nothing. “In our world today, many voices seek our attention. Influencers everywhere hawk their wares. How tragic if we develop the capacity to attune to everything but the Word of the Lord. The most radical, countercultural practice we can cultivate today is an intensity in reading and listening to the Scriptures.”

So watch an old movie, read an old book, read the Bible!

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

(Psalm 119:103-105)

*Roy Hobbs in The Natural

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September 16, 2025

How’s it goin’?

by chuckofish

It’s still very hot here–but it is not officially Fall until next week on September 22–the Autumnal Equinox–so what are we all complaining about?

I went in for my semi-annual cancer check yesterday, which is always stressful, but I got through it by leaning on the everlasting arms.

This made me smile:

And finally…

Hang in there!

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September 14, 2025

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise

by chuckofish

Well, how was your weekend? I enjoyed some quality time with my therapy dog…

We celebrated daughter #1’s birthday, but it was pretty low-key–burgers ‘n fries at the boy’s house and a French Silk pie…

It was quite hot on Saturday so we bailed on the Greentree Festival in our flyover town. I did, however, go to the bud’s soccer game on Sunday–so hot–96 degrees–but I am a devoted Mamu!

We went after church and Sunday School and a change of clothes at my house. By 1:30 I was wiped out!

Our current sermon series is on Philippians, so Sunday’s verses were very appropriate to what is going on in our country.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Phil. 1:12-14)

Christ reframes everything, including the way we see our trials. Never forget that God is in control. Our Sunday School class on C.S. Lewis was also excellent and I appreciated that our teacher opened up the last 15 minutes of class to a discussion about Charlie Kirk–something we would never do in church or our sermon.

And this is the transcript of a podcast with Kevin DeYoung which is very helpful about processing violence and grief. “We never want to normalize evil, but we are trying to normalize that God has been with his people and has been with us personally through difficulties, national tragedies, and that same God is going to be with you…They need to know and hear from us a faith that we have, that God has not left the throne, that this did not take him by surprise, and that the end of the story has not yet been written for us, but it has been for God, and it’s ultimately a good story, right?”

Amen.

This is a new Lauren Daigle song (at least to me)–a re-working of the well-known Frances Ridley Havergal (1874) Anglican hymn:

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.

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September 11, 2025

Highs and lows

by chuckofish

Today is daughter #1’s birthday.

She shares it with Mungo Park (1771-1806), O. Henry (1862-1910), D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), Bear Bryant (1913-1983), Tom Landry (1924-2000), Earl Holliman (1928-2024), Harry Connick Jr. (b. 1967), Ludacris (b. 1977), and a host of other people whose birthdays will never be quite the same since the events in 2001.

Later today we are going to our favorite local hang-out for Happy Hour. And tomorrow we are going to the boy’s house for a bar-b-que. Too bad we can’t have a donut (“wif yots of sprinkles!”) with the Prairie Girls.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4)

I don’t like to get political on the blog, but I have to say something about the political assassination of Charlie Kirk yesterday at a campus event in Utah, because it really upset me. Here was a young man–31 years old–who was totally committed to civil discourse. He believed in the power of free speech and debate. He would answer any question and talk to everyone.

But he was so successful in his use of the Socratic method that the opposition couldn’t win in a debate with him.

They hated Charlie because he was so effective at what he did. So they murdered him. They’re trying to scare us into not attending events and speaking out. This is biblical level evil.

Pray for his wife and two children. Pray hard for our country. Charlie was a Christian, so we know he is in a better place…

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September 10, 2025

Non-relatives of note

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Confederate General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Wheeler (1836-1906). He was a calvary general in the CSA during the American Civil War, and then a general in the U.S. Army during both the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars near the turn of the twentieth century. He also served several terms in the U.S. Congress representing Alabama.

After graduating from West Point in 1854, while stationed in New Mexico and fighting in a skirmish with Indians, Wheeler picked up the nickname “Fighting Joe.” He is one of the few Confederates who is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

It is worth noting that Wheeler was of New England ancestry–descended from the English Puritans who came to New England in the seventeenth century–so it is possible that he is a distant cousin of our own Connecticut Wheelers.

Today is also the birthday of Arthur Holly Compton (1892-1962), the American particle physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize for Physics with C.T.R. Wilson for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation.

(Compton on the cover of Time magazine on January 13, 1936, holding his cosmic ray detector)

Compton was a key figure in the Manhattan Project that developed the first nuclear weapons. His reports were important in launching the project. In 1942, he became a member of the executive committee and then head of the “X” projects overseeing the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. Throughout WWII, Compton remained a prominent scientific adviser and administrator. In 1945, he served, along with Lawrence, Oppenheimer, and Fermi, on the Scientific Panel that recommended military use of the atomic bomb against Japan. He was awarded the Medal of Merit for his services to the Manhattan Project.

After WWII he became the chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. When I worked there, forty-plus years after he retired, people were constantly asking me if I was related to him. I would say, no, and my husband isn’t either.

So a toast to famous non-relatives Fighting Joe Wheeler and Arthur Holly Compton! Have a good day!

2 Comments
September 9, 2025

Bound for glory

by chuckofish

Our beautiful weather continues, although they say it is going to heat up again by the end of the week. I will endeavor to live in the moment and enjoy it.

This made me LOL:

This is an interesting article about an unexpected encounter with an American Patriot. “I was intrigued to see a solitary grave with a military headstone out in the middle of nowhere. There were no houses or businesses anywhere in sight. It was a very rural area without any nearby tourist attractions…Not a place where I expected to see a veterans’ cemetery or even a solitary grave.”

The twins are coming over to my house tonight while their parents go to some parent-teacher thing at school. I am planning to make them suggest we watch The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963), also known as Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. I loved that movie when I was their age and especially the song.

You remember the story of Dr. Syn, a country vicar who leads a rebel band against the King’s naval press gangs in the 18th century. Dr. Syn conceals his secret identity behind a sackcloth mask, and carries on activities a la Scarlet Pimpernel from his parish base. The twins may be too jaded to enjoy it, but I hope not.

And Josiah Queen has a new song!

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September 8, 2025

“Oh, God. I can’t wait to get into bed and stretch out. You know, there’s a Bob Hope movie on television later.”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. The weather was perfect. The sky was blue. I enjoyed great conversation, good fellowship at my mini-retreat in a beautiful setting…

I watched a good movie with daughter #1–in fact, my favorite Woody Allen movie (besides Annie Hall)–Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). There is no bad language, no sex–just middle aged neurotics trying to solve a murder! I love the end where Woody is so relieved to find his wife (Diane Keaton) bound and gagged, but okay–he is so relieved and happy! It is like Cary Grant and Irene Dunne!

And you have to love Diane in a turtleneck, a blouse, a tweed jacket, and a belt!

Meanwhile we are back on our fall schedule of going to the 8:30 a.m. service at church, followed by Sunday School, and then on to a soccer game at 12:15. The boy and I went to the class on “The Power of Story in the Works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien” taught by our favorite college professor with a ponytail. It was very good. Also, our Associate Pastor is back from sabbatical and he gave a really good sermon on Philippians 1: 1-11.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

And BTW I heartily agree with this article by Albert Mohler Jr.: “I try to be appropriately respectful of all elected officials, but Sen. Kaine uttered one of the most profoundly wrong, dangerous, and downright stupid comments a member of the Senate might articulate.” Who are these ignorant people?

Have a good week! Pray hard.

*Larry Lipton in Manhattan Murder Mystery

3 Comments
September 5, 2025

It’s Friday again–can you believe it?

by chuckofish

Last night my Church Community Group started up again after its summer recess, so I am back to doing homework! We are continuing to read this book…

…which we began last spring. I think I would rather read an actual book by Tim Keller, but this is okay. We got some good conversation going.

Next week my Women’s Bible Study starts back up. We are continuing with the study of Exodus (19-40) by Jen Wilken. So more homework! It’s a good thing my shredding project is almost finis. And in case you are wondering, somehow I have kept up with my daily Bible reading! I just read 2 Corinthians 4–I highly recommend it.

Tomorrow I am going to a ladies’ lakeside mini-retreat at Innsbrook about an hour out of town. I am looking forward to this fellowship time with my church friends.

Here’s a fascinating look at the “secular liturgy” that is Goodnight Moon. This book is still a favorite of my younger grandchildren, but it cannot be denied that its author, Margaret Wise Brown, was a real mess and lost soul. (You may recall that she was the granddaughter of early Missouri governor Gratz Brown, about whom I wrote a while ago.) Her famous book reflects her lostness. I have to admit, I always thought the book was a little odd. “Instead of appealing to a God who holds all things together in his ordered creation, the liturgy of Goodnight Moon simply observes the randomness of an inexplicable universe: Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush.“

This is much better:

O LET the Earth bless the Lord: * yea, let it praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O all ye Green Things upon the earth, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O ye Wells, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O ye Whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O all ye Fowls of the air, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.
    O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord: * praise him, and magnify him for ever.

–BCP, 1928

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