Four days til Christmas! I am re-reading Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon, the Mitford Advent/Christmas book, to help put me in the mood. It’s the one where Father Tim is fixing up the old nativity set. Standard stuff but always comforting.
I also got out some of my mother’s old Christmas books, including Happy Christmas, published in 1968, which includes selections from a wide variety of books.
This one reminds us that nothing changes that much–at least peoples’ view that times are never as good as the good ol’ days…
Anne is right on target as usual. “In the face of all this searching desire on the part of God, you can keep backing up, like Israel always did, hoping he will get bored and hassle someone else. Or you can be like Mary. You can magnify him—that is, praise his holy Name. You can let your soul rejoice in him. You can revel in the contrast between his great mercy and strength, and your own foolish weakness.”
Here is part two of Paul Zahl’s TCM picks for December. I have to say, I really disagree with him about King of Kings (1961) which he still really likes. I loved it as a child (Jeffrey Hunter is dreamy) and the music is great, but it is unbiblical and really pretty bad.
And here’s the Charlie Brown Christmas Medley (with all the parts played by Josh Turner) to put you solidly in the mood for mistletoe and presents for pretty girls…
The last weekend before Christmas has passed and I am ready for the big day. I got the tree up and decorated with the help of the boy who came over twice–once after work to put the tree up and once before work to do the lights. I then put up the decorations by myself. Voila–not the best shaped tree ever, but who cares? It’s pretty. I also put up my stained glass collection.
The boy and his little family were in Kansas City this weekend and daughter #1 stayed in JC, so the OM and I went to church unaccompanied–twice. We went in the morning and again at 6:00 pm, because the farewell party for our senior pastor followed the evening service. After 15 years he is moving on to a bigger church in McLean, Virginia and they are lucky to get him–such a good preacher! It is typical that this is happening when I have just found a great new church (and denomination), but I trust that we will get a new senior pastor that is equally gifted.
In a funny way I am thankful that the Covid shutdowns happened, because it forced me to go online to find somewhere to worship and in turn that got me looking seriously at alternatives to the Episcopal Church. I mean, finding a church in Charlottesville, VA did me no good once we were back in church. I had been listening to Tim Keller sermons on YouTube for a long time, but my learning curve really went into hyperdrive when I discovered R.C. Sproul on Ligonier.org. Since Ligonier emphasizes the importance of the local church, once things reopened I felt a strong pull to find a Reformed church in St. Louis. I did more research, and remembering the PCA church I passed on my way to chemotherapy all through 2019,
I tried Covenant on Easter Sunday. I felt instantly at home although I knew not a soul there. In our newcomer class I met a man who had the exact same experience with his online search–starting with R.C. Sproul videos. He was coming from the Roman Catholic Church and we bonded over our shared positive searches. Tim Keller! R.C. Sproul! Alistair Begg! Clearly we are not alone in our endeavors.
This is the upside of the internet– teaching resources like Ligonier’s can now be easily accessed all over the world. You can go to YouTube and watch endless hours of excellent teaching for free. (I love the Q&A sessions where you can hear a variety of these learned men answering questions.) Indeed, Ligonier has over 2,500,000 YouTube channel plays per month! I encourage you to check it out!
There is usually a silver lining in every negative situation, if you look for it, right?
Be of good cheer.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
With the help of our eldest son, we got our Christmas tree up and decorated last weekend. Every year I photograph the tree, though there is little to distinguish one year’s tree from another. Since I got my smartphone, the clarity has certainly improved, but in the photo below I managed to cut off the topper angel’s head. Obviously, I need to work on composition. (I also see the need to rearrange some of the lights. Note the big empty hole around the Idaho ornament at the lower center of the tree). We’ll consider this year’s tree a work in progress.
Aside from seasonal activities, we amused ourselves one evening doing numismatic research. One of my recent auction lot purchases included a few mysterious old coins, and we decided to try to identify them. The DH quickly recognized that he had a 7th century Byzantine follis.
The other side depicts the Empress Martina, the Emperor Heraclius (610-641) and their son Heraclius Constantine standing together, as in this example the DH found online.
Apparently, the family caused quite a scandal since Martina, who was Heraclius’s second wife, was also his niece. His first wife, who had been extremely popular, died young, a fact that made the incestuous second marriage seem that much worse. Still, the royal couple managed to mint some celebratory coins and retain power in spite of their poor moral choices.
The coin I investigated also involved crime, albeit not the racy kind. It is a Roman denarius or antoninianus that I believe depicts Spanish-born Laelianus, who led a revolt in Mainz, Germany, where he was a governor in 269 AD. He held power long enough to mint some money before the rightful emperor, Postumus, put an end to his rival’s brief reign.
The reverse shows a winged victory.
So much for the Spanish usurper and his 15 minutes of fame. He had a nice profile, though, don’t you think?
Taking on a major linguistic challenge, James chose one of the two Asian coins in the group.
He discovered that this side has Chinese characters while the other side sports a different script that may be Vietnamese. The coin seems to date to the second half of the 19th century, but that’s as much as we can find out. James concluded that, far from being cursed or magical, the coin is simply old, loose change.
We could say the same for the Roman/Byzantine coins which are very small and thin, and for all we know could be fake. Even so, we had fun investigating. Next time you are bored, look around your house and see if there isn’t some object that raises your interest. Spend an hour or two trying to find out about it. You might learn about long-forgotten political chicanery or the shocking shenanigans of ancient royals! The artist Vasily Kandinsky captured this idea eloquently: “Everything that is dead quivers. Not only the things of poetry, stars, moon, wood, flowers, but even a white trouser button glittering out of a puddle in the street…” – even old coins have stories to tell.
Have a grand weekend! My hope is to finish my grading today and take off tomorrow, my birthday. The weather is supposed to be bad, so I have the perfect excuse to stay home and DO NOTHING!
Today is the 248th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. You remember–when members of the Sons of Liberty dressed up like Mohawk Indians and dumped hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. A toast to these domestic terrorists of yore!
It is also the 210th anniversary of the first two in a series of four severe earthquakes which occurred in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. The New Madrid zone experienced four of the largest North American earthquakes in recorded history, with moment magnitudes estimated to be as large as 7.0 or greater, all occurring within a 3-month period between December 1811 and February 1812. At New Madrid, trees were knocked down and riverbanks collapsed. This event shook windows and furniture in Washington, DC, rang bells in Richmond, Virginia, sloshed well water and shook houses in Charleston, South Carolina, and knocked plaster off of houses in Columbia, South Carolina. In Jefferson, Indiana, furniture moved, and in Lebanon, Ohio, residents fled their homes. There was renewed concern in the 1990s of imminent earthquake activity and I remember putting away my antique china for fear it might be broken. We may have had some water in reserve in the basement too as a precaution…but nothing happened and I don’t worry about such things anymore.
Today is also the birthday of George Santayana (1863-1952), philosopher, essayist, novelist, poet, and legendary Harvard professor. Here is one of his poems, A Toast, in keeping with the situation:
See this bowl of purple wine,
Life-blood of the lusty vine!
All the warmth of summer suns
In the vintage liquid runs,
All the glow of winter nights
Plays about its jewel lights,
Thoughts of time when love was young
Lurk its ruby drops among,
And its deepest depths are dyed
With delight of friendship tried.
Worthy offering, I ween,
For a god or for a queen,
Is the draught I pour to thee,–
Comfort of all misery,
Single friend of the forlorn,
Haven of all beings born,
Hope when trouble wakes at night,
And when naught delights, delight.
Holy Death, I drink to thee;
Do not part my friends and me.
Take this gift, which for a night
Puts dull leaden care to flight,
Thou who takest grief away
For a night and for a day.
I will be toasting my dual personality on Saturday, because it is her birthday.
Here is a snapshot of the siblings a week after her 2nd birthday on Christmas morning. Our brother is 9, she is 2 and I am 4 1/2. I loved the dress I was wearing. Another girl in my class had it and I felt very cool. In fact, there might have been three of us in my small junior kindergarten class with that dress. It was red. The things that stay in your mind!
Anyway, here’s to my lovely and much-loved sister on her birthday.
(Long distance toasting!)
Now it’s time for tree-trimming…
The painting at the top is by Ernest Lawson (1873 – 1939) who studied at the Art Students League, New York, with J. Alden Weir and John Twachtman, and later in Paris at the Académie Julien. Upon his return to the United States he produced his famous impressionistic urban landscapes that linked him to the Ashcan school.
In daughter #2’s neck of the woods, it does feel like Christmas time has arrived, and we are embracing the Happiness and cheer / Fun for all that children call / Their favorite time of year. It is especially sweet to have an 18-month old who embraces and seems to appreciate our various Christmas traditions, from nativity sets to Merry Mancini albums and all manner of Christmas decorations.
Who needs Elf on the Shelf when you have a “NOM” (gnome) you can relocate each morning all on your own?
Indeed, Katie is very taken with our Christmas tree, which she carefully inspects so that she can point out “BALL,” “WHALE,” “MAN” and “HAT” (the nutcracker), “DOG,” “TUCK” (truck), “BABA” (herself!), etc. etc.
Note that above, Katie wears a dress (more of a tunic on her) from the large stash of Christmas-y items handmade or purchased by her great grandmother for her aunt Mary. Talk about passing on traditions — we do love sartorial festivity in this family.
And I was pleased that Katie made it through an entire showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas while snuggled up in a blanket with me. (Yes, she likes to wear her hat inside.) She was enamored with Charlie Brown and Linus, whom she called the names of her two pals at school — aptly so, really.
DN and I had a post-bedtime viewing of White Christmas, which just never, never fails to put me in a good mood. It is perfect from start to finish. Is it unorthodox to say it might be my favorite movie of all time? My sister mentioned her favorite dress here; this year, DN and I were particularly fond of this costume of Vera’s, which calls to mind some of Katie’s ruffled-bottom leggings:
Well, it’s funny to watch this movie and be reminded of a toddler’s wardrobe, but you can imagine that I view most things these days with Katie in mind. I can’t wait until she is old enough to watch White Christmas herself — I just know she will love it! In the meantime, maybe we’ll see if she’ll sit still for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I mean, Hermey might be a toddler icon?
Well, how are you doing nine days before Christmas? Organized and ready to go?
My bedroom is a disaster area, but I’m “getting there” and that’s the best I can do. But getting there is half the fun!
This is an interesting article by a birdwatcher. I know some birdwatchers and I doubt if they would agree with it. “Brother and sisters, God has placed birds in your life…for you to enjoy, to praise God for, to care for and to teach you to be confident and remember that God will look after you.” I like to watch birds because they remind me how obvious it is that God did indeed create the heavens and the earth and that on the fifth day He “let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky…every winged bird according to its kind.” I saw a Bald Eagle when we were driving in mid-MO a few weekends ago and that was very exciting, but seeing a Flicker in the backyard is just as exciting to me! Quel oiseau!
@gatewaygardener
But wait, birds aren’t real, right? Not surprisingly, the New York Times did a front page story on these idiots, but I can’t link to it because I don’t have a subscription. Tant pis.
On a higher plain, here’s a classic Christmas episode of the The Andy Griffith Show from 1962 to put you in a yuletide frame of mind.
And here’s a great old hymn. I remember it from Cool Hand Luke (1967). Harry Dean Stanton sang it.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.
Hang in there! Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52: 1)
Well, as you’ve no doubt heard, we had quite a storm on Friday night in our neck of the woods. We were watching the Alistair Sim A Christmas Carol (1951) when the tornado sirens went off. We quickly paused our movie and tuned in to the local news where the weather dudes were very excited. We listened attentively and when they said seek shelter in your basement, we did so. We have learned through the years not to mess around. Eventually we came back upstairs and finished our movie, but we did have quite a windy night and there was a lot of detritus in our yard in the morning. Also, daughter # 1’s car was damaged in our driveway.
However, the real damage occurred across the river in Illinois…
…and, of course, in Kentucky.
Very scary indeed. In the Midwest, we never underestimate the wrath and power of nature.
On a happier note, the wee twins came over on Saturday afternoon so we could give them their birthday present, which was a joint present from daughters #1 and #2, DN, Pappy and Mamu.
“It’s a Raptor!” cried the wee Bud. They both took it for a spin and then he just wanted to park it in the garage where he inspected every inch of it (under the hood, how the tailgate worked, etc.).
He then proceeded to load the flatbed up with items from the garage.
(Just like Daddy’s)
Lottie went inside (it was cold) and enjoyed wearing her unicorn headband (which I had bought at the Dollar Store) and played with the old nativity set. The Bud came in too after awhile and they played inside, before he got up the nerve to drive it again, which he did like a pro.
Human beings are amazing, aren’t they? I mean, a five-year old who weighs 28 lbs. can actually handle driving a battery-powered vehicle on the road around the cul de sac and into the driveway like Steve McQueen. Later Lottie decided she would try too and she drove and waved simultaneously like the Queen.
As you know I am reading the book of Luke, one chapter a day, through December. This weekend I read chapters 11 and 12, and let me tell you, they left me shaking in my boots like the Scarecrow in front of the Wizard of Oz. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning…
This weekend surely reminded us that, although we humans are pretty amazing, we are not in control.
We are never in control. “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?”
“No one ever said that you would live to see the repercussions of everything you do, or that you have guarantees, or that you are not obliged to wander in the dark, or that everything will be proved to you and neatly verified like something in science. Nothing is: at least nothing that is worthwhile. I didn’t bring you up only to move across sure ground. I didn’t teach you to think that everything must be within our control or understanding. Did I? For, if I did, I was wrong. If you won’t take a chance, then the powers you refuse because you cannot explain them, will, as they say, make a monkey out of you.”
It’s going to be a busy weekend. Son James is coming home to help us trim our tree and get into the spirit of Christmas. I’ve been wrapping presents steadily and easing the decorations into place a few at a time. The house is beginning to look festive!
Snowmen have taken up residence among the family photos,
and John Wayne awaits the arrival of the tree.
I like seeing him there so much that I may return him to that spot after Christmas.
Today I’ll dig out the Christmas books. Obviously, the Bible is the place to start reading about Christmas, and I don’t have to go looking for a copy, but I’m also in the mood for some fiction. If you’re looking for Christmas-themed reading, I’d recommend The Bird’s Christmas Carol, though it is a tearjerker. You can download a pdf if you don’t have a copy. Here you can find links to a very rich assortment of Christmas stories and novels. I confess that I haven’t read most of them, and that’s good because I want to read some new (old) stories.
Amid the hustle and bustle, give some thought to what Norman Vincent Peele said: “I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to the world.” Sure, he was an optimist but he was right. As Covid restrictions shut down churches and Christmas festivities, we can’t take Christmas for granted anymore and our celebrations will have to be deliberate. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.
Thursday again and another weekend approaches. Two weeks until Christmas and the wee twins turn five on Saturday!
(Social distancing with Santa in 2021–good grief!)
We do not have a particularly busy holiday schedule. Gone are the days of multiple Christmas parties to attend and work festivities and school events. And that’s okay with me.
TCM showed They Were Expendable (1945) on December 7 and I watched it even though I had seen it on Memorial Day. It is such a great movie and one of the very best war movies, in part because it is not about winning and glory, but about losing and going on, about learning to be part of a team and making sacrifices for the team. (For the record, there are brave women in this movie, but they are not the ones getting their ankles blown off.)
There is a lot of talk these days about “toxic masculinity” and frequently John Wayne’s name is bandied about as an example of that, probably by morons who have never seen one of his movies. This is a real trigger for me, and this movie exemplifies exactly what is not toxic about masculinity and Robert Montgomery and John Wayne are perfect as the heroes of the film.
Author William L. White based his novel “They Were Expendable” on the experience of Squadron 3 in the Philippines, who, among other things, evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family and staff by night from the island of Corregidor, where U.S. forces were trapped by the Japanese army, to Mindanao, the southernmost of the Philippine Islands, on March 11, 1942. John Wayne played the part of Capt. John Kelly (Rusty Ryan in the movie). Robert Montgomery played the part of Lt. John D. Bulkeley (John Brickley in the movie), who won a Medal of Honor for his service as commander of the squadron. By the way, William L. White was the son of the famous William Allen White, long-time Editor/Publisher of the Emporia (Kansas) Gazette, whom he succeeded from 1944-1973.
I also watched Damn Yankees (1958) which is available on Prime now. I had not seen it in forever (if indeed ever.) I was curious to see the Bob Fosse choreography and his muse Gwen Verdon, who did not make many movies. As musicals go, it is pretty thin, but I enjoyed “You Gotta Have Heart,” which transported me back to my senior year in high school when I had to sing it in Class Day. I was in key about half the time.
This is an interesting perspective. “For what it’s worth (and, to be clear, I’m not saying you have to do as I do), Christmas is effectively a secular festival for me. It has nothing to do with the church and isn’t demanded of Christian people in the Bible. But it is fun and I like it. What is more, I am always glad to have an opportunity to think more about Jesus.”
John Piper is so right, as usual. “I risk a generalization to warn you: people who are exercised and preoccupied with such things, as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood, are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal.”
And I have been wondering about this for a long time, haven’t you?
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Well I find myself here on Tuesday evening, again, pondering what tales to regale you with this week. You all know that my parents visited the happening town of Jeff City this weekend. I thought maybe I’d do a post about how life here is just like a Hallmark movie (minus the romance!) but then my mother STOLE MY BIT in Monday’s post.
I mean, I’ll forgive her, just this once.
Then I thought I’d write about how in lists of Top Christmas Movies, White Christmas is always treated like the lesser of the two when compared to Holiday Inn. Yes, both movies star Bing Crosby and both contain the song “White Christmas.” But other than that, they’re not terribly similar and White Christmas is undeniably the better option. It has Danny Kaye in yellow socks and all of Vera Ellen’s Edith Head costumes.
So I was going to provide some backup evidence for this but OF COURSE the New York Times now says I’ve reached my limit of free articles this month (is that like -1??) and thus I cannot include quotes from their original review from 1954 where the writer is basically like “Meh, it’s low-energy and feels like they are all phoning it in.” As if.
Favorite movie dress of all time.
Also, who can hear the music that goes with that gif?
To wrap up this little Yuletide Clambake of a post, one of the interesting things about going to a Presbyterian church after 35+ years as an Episcopalian, is learning the music. Some hymns are the same, some hymns are new, and some hymns are sung to different tunes. Recently, we sang “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” but to the tune that Episcopalians sing “Love Divine”. I have to say, I really like it.
Here is my favorite Branson-based family bluegrass band, The Petersens, singing two Advent classics including the aforementioned with the new/old tune.
dual personalities 