dual personalities

October 24, 2024

THOU GREAT I AM

by chuckofish

THOU GREAT I AM,

I acknowledge and confess that all things
    come of thee —
  life, breath, happiness, advancement,
  sight, touch, hearing,
  goodness, truth, beauty –
  all that makes existence amiable.
In the spiritual world also I am dependent
    entirely upon thee.
Give me grace to know more of my need of grace;
Show me my sinfulness that I may willingly
    confess it;
Reveal to me my weakness that I may know
    my strength in thee.
I thank thee for any sign of penitence;
    give me more of it;
My sins are black and deep,
  and rise from a stony, proud,
    self-righteous heart;
Help me to confess them with mourning, regret,
  self-loathing,
  with no pretence to merit or excuse;
I need healing,
Good Physician, here is scope for thee,
  come and manifest thy power;
I need faith;
Thou who hast given it me, maintain, strengthen,
    increase it,
Centre it upon the Saviour’s work,
  upon the majesty of the Father,
  upon the operations of the Spirit;
Work it in me now that I may never doubt thee
  as the truthful, mighty, faithful God.
Then I can bring my heart to thee
  full of love, gratitude, hope, joy.
May I lay at thy feet these fruits grown
    in thy garden,
  love thee with a passion that can never cool,
  believe in thee with a confidence that never
    staggers,
  hope in thee with an expectation that can never
    be dim,
  delight in thee with a rejoicing that cannot
    be stifled,
  glorify thee with the highest of my powers,
    burning, blazing, glowing, radiating, as from
      thy own glory.

–The Valley of Vision

2 Comments
October 23, 2024

Troubled on every side, yet not distressed*

by chuckofish

It’s that time of year when I bring a lot of plants in from the Florida room for the winter and try to find sunny spaces for them in the house. Also, we now have the boy’s feral cat living in the Florida room while they are in between houses…it’s a long story. Whatever. A minor disruption. That is Life. I am a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream…

I am not a super fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and his LOTR trilogy, but this is a really interesting article about Tolkien’s moral vision and the long defeat of history. The bottom line is an important one for us to keep in mind: Providence is a bulwark against despair. “It is a reminder to us that even as darkness seems to fall and the long defeat threatens to become final, there is hope from outside the world.” Read the whole thing.

Here’s a rant from Anne, who rants much more effectively than I. Of course, I totally agree with her.

So have a nice day. Despair not. Watch a funny movie–I just watched the original Bad News Bears (1976) and it was hilarious. It also had a good message about the bad attitude of some parents/couches who ruin sports for kids. By today’s standards, it is seriously politically incorrect, but c’mon, that was no problem for me.

And when all else fails…

*2 Corinthians 4:8

2 Comments
October 22, 2024

The meditation of my heart

by chuckofish

Wow! Look at this great photo my friend Don and his son took of the comet C/2023AG Tschinshan-ATLAS over the weekend. They were far from the city lights in Warren County where it was clearly visible. He says, “We were lucky as it is not scheduled to return for 80,000 years.”

When we were in Monument Valley a few weeks ago we enjoyed the wide expanse of starry, starry night sky. Thousands and thousands of stars! It was truly awesome, like nothing I had ever seen.

Well, while we are considering how the heavens declare the glory of God, it seems appropriate to note that three hundred years ago today in 1724, J.S. Bach led the first performance of his composition Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Adorn yourself, O dear soul) in Leipzig on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, based on the communion hymn of the same name. 

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

(Psalm 19)

5 Comments
October 21, 2024

I labour on in weakness and rejoicing

by chuckofish

Well, I have been sick in bed for the last four days, binge-watching NYPD Blue and sleeping. I did get up on Sunday to go to church and assist at Sunday School out of my sense of duty–yes, I volunteered to help with the 1-2 graders–but my co-teacher emailed me Sunday morning that she had a migraine and wasn’t going, but not to worry she had lined up a substitute. Zut alors! Life is complicated.

It all worked out, as the Sunday School is a well-oiled machine with many moving parts and I was able to drift along in a DayQuill haze. The woman who does the main lesson for the entire Sunday School, after which we break up into our smaller groups, is amazing. She was telling the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr–not an easy one. By the end of the lesson the kids were all singing “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me” with gusto–all verses–boys unabashedly included. Now I understand why everyone sings in church–they learn early!

When we broke into groups we had prayer requests and then we talked briefly about the lesson and then we made little megaphones that said “I will tell about Jesus” (like Stephen). My grandchildren did not make it to church so they missed out on this, but I was happy to have this glimpse of what they are experiencing when they do go. I will be glimpsing it for the next four weeks.

This weekend I also watched two of my favorite “spooky” movies–M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs (2002) and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) which I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend them both.

Mr. Smith watched Signs at his house and he concurs.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for something intelligent to read, here’s another good one from Carl Trueman.

This is a great article. I hear this woman loud and clear. “What is the chief end of woman? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If social media is succeeding in convincing us that our purpose here is less than this, then we are being deceived. God didn’t place us here to chase every pleasure that seems like it will make us momentarily happy. He didn’t create us to constantly examine our happiness on a scale of 1 to 100. He created us to bring Him glory and to find satisfaction in Him alone, in whichever arena that He has mapped out for us.”

Have a good week! Refuse to play by the rules of the postmodern game! Choose God’s glory over self! Pray hard.

3 Comments
October 18, 2024

The land of the ice and snow up in here.

by chuckofish

Well, happy Friday, readers. As you may recall, I mentioned earlier that I needed to get a new boiler for my house. Well, luckily, I had the system checked in the early Fall and the company was able to order one and schedule installation this week. I figured this would be okay because I like to get at least a month without the air conditioning or the heat turned on. Naturally, because this is my life, the weather turned unseasonably (or perhaps seasonably but we’ve just forgotten) chilly with lows in the THIRTIES and highs in the upper FIFTIES/low SIXTIES this week. And I have no heat!! It has been cold in my house, to say the least.

I dug out my blankets at night–but it has been very chilly while working from home. Thankfully, a team of men from the HVAC company came today and dismantled the old boiler and began installing the shiny new one. They should wrap up installation tomorrow. Just in time for temperatures to rise back into the 70s.

Mr. Smith kept me company at work today. And we went over to my parents’ to bask in their warm house and have dinner tonight. It seems that every time I think things will slow down, they do not. That’s okay. Life is good.

Enjoy the weekend. xo.

4 Comments
October 17, 2024

“Their foot shall slide in due time.”*

by chuckofish

Well, fall is finally here. I wore a turtleneck yesterday and switched out all my summer clothes. Now we have to enjoy it while we can before the winter winds begin to blow!

In other news the biggest pumpkin of the year weighed in at 2,471 pounds in California. Well, hey, congratulations. I had two pumpkin vines going and they flowered and grew, but, alas, no pumpkins emerged. C’est la vie. I suppose I will have to hop over to the pumpkin patch at the Methodist Church and buy some.

In my daily Bible reading, I am finally in the New Testament. It was a long haul through the OT–not that I’m complaining–but I’m ready to move on. Maybe I should watch The Ten Commandments (1956) to make sure I won’t forget what a great thing it was when God parted the Red Sea and how bad we stiff-necked sinners are who doubt and fuss and want to turn back to Egypt over and over and over again.

We do not have all the time in the world to repent and change our ways. And we are not reminded of this enough. Memento mori. Even at this time of year, when my neighborhood is populated with giant skeletons and plastic grave markers galore and the world is teetering on collapse, we go blithely on our merry way.

Well, here’s your reminder to turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways.

The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.

(Jonathan Edwards–read the whole sermon here.)

But I’ll let Isaiah have the last word today.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

(Isaiah 43:1-3)

*Deuteronomy 32:35

3 Comments
October 16, 2024

A little bit o’ history

by chuckofish

On this day in 1849 at a convention in St. Louis’s old courthouse, 800 delegates heard a speech by Missouri’s veteran U.S. senator Thomas Hart Benton. With his customary persuasiveness, Benton launched into a recital of the glories and riches which would come from a transcontinental railway.

Summing up his argument, he pointed majestically westward and cried, “There is the East! There is India!” Expertly phrased, perfectly timed, and dramatically delivered, Benton’s stunning conclusion electrified his audience and strengthened the case for the projected railroads as no other argument had done.

The occasion is preserved in the bronze statue of Benton in Lafayette Park as portrayed by American sculptor Harriet Hosmer. The closing words of his speech are engraved at his feet.

Harriet Hosmer was about 30 years old and living in Rome when she received the commission. She sculpted the statue in Rome in 1861. It was then cast by the Royal Bronze Foundry in Munich in 1864.

The resulting statue is a colossal standing figure of Senator Benton. It stands ten feet tall and is two feet, ten inches wide and deep. Benton wears a classical toga over a contemporary jacket and neck scarf. He is wearing sandals, faces west and holds a partially unrolled scroll of a map with the word “America” on it. Dedicated in 1868, it was the first public monument in the State of Missouri.

The park also boasts a bronze casting from a life-sized statue of George Washington by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, which was placed in the park in 1869.

Lafayette Park was set aside from the St. Louis Common in 1836 and dedicated in 1851 as one of the first public parks, and by far the largest of its era, in the City of St. Louis, Missouri. It is considered by many historians to be the oldest urban park west of the Mississippi. Indeed, at 30 acres, Lafayette Park is one of the larger parks in the city even though it is still dwarfed by Forest Park which is about 46 times larger.

*Information for this post is from St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler and the Lafayette Park Conservancy.

5 Comments
October 15, 2024

A leaf in shadow

by chuckofish

Yesterday Ron, my co-editor of the Kirkwood Historical Review, came over to discuss the issue I am currently getting ready to send to the printer and he grumbled about how nippy it was outside. Indeed, the frost will be on the pumpkin very soon! And about time, really. I am ready for nippy.

Today we toast Jane Darwell, the wonderful character actress of 170+ films, who was born on this day in 1879.

I was surprised to learn that she was born in Palmyra, Missouri, the daughter of the president of the Louisville Southern Railroad. You can actually visit her birthplace, which is on the National Register of Historic places. I just saw her in My Darling Clementine (1946) and she was wonderful as always. Other favorites include: Bright Eyes (1934) plus four other Shirley Temple movies, 3 Godfathers (1948), Wagon Master (1950), and her final film, Mary Poppins (1964) as the old Bird Woman. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

In October desiringGod is on a 31-day journey with Heroes of the Reformation. Every day they highlight a different hero, such as Thomas Cranmer. Not surprisingly, I am enjoying it a lot.

This is a very hopeful article about preaching the gospel in the wasteland of New England.

Meanwhile, the prairie girls went to the library and Ida was, as usual, too cool for school.

5 Comments
October 14, 2024

Be thou my battle shield

by chuckofish

Well, things are getting back to normal after our exciting travels/recovery. We even had a DAR meeting on Saturday. Madame Regent (daughter #1) asked me to step in and be the Chaplain for the meeting, which I enjoyed. I was praised for my extemporaneous grace before our meal, but as a former Episcopalian, it was hardly off-the-cuff.

Give us grateful hearts, O Father,

For all thy mercies

And make us mindful of the needs of others;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

We had a guest speaker from the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, who was very interesting. We were reminded, of course, by a former regent that it was our Cornelia Greene Chapter who gave the original beacon which tops the Arch and that two dauntless ladies from the chapter made a presentation up there back in 1974. Indeed, the ladies stood on a 5-foot flat section and were warned to stay in the middle as there was no railing! Everything went fine, except a helicopter from a local news station spotted Mrs. Schoetker’s orange pantsuit and reported all afternoon that there was a jumper on the Arch! (We have a photo to prove this.)

You gotta love it.

It is time to sponsor Wreaths Across America–a donation ensures the placement of a veteran’s Christmas wreath for one or more veterans laid to rest at participating national cemeteries. I sponsor wreaths for my father and for my father-in-law. Lest we forget. If you would like to sponsor a wreath(s) go here.

Our Sunday church service was outside on the lawn and it was a beautiful sunny morning. Just perfect. The boy and the twins joined me and helped me with my folding chairs. I noticed that there was a Tesla Cybertruck in the parking lot and when I pointed it out to the bud, he could hardly contain his excitement. At the end of the service all the little boys in the congregation swarmed the area where it was parked. I should have taken a picture! It was pretty funny. I never did find out to whom the truck belongs.

One little boy asked me if it was my truck and I said, No. He said, My grandpa has a Cybertruck Beast which is five times faster than the Cybertruck. “As fast as a cheetah!” Boys do not change. Thank God.

Meanwhile daughter #2, DN and the prairie girls went to a fall festival and went on a hayride!

Team Pink Shoes

And I am very proud of Mr. Smith who can now ride in the front seat like a big boy. (He prefers to sit in the driver’s lap and look out the window, but…the front seat is a big step up from the crate in the back.)

This article about how one Florida zoo got creative to keep its animals safe during both hurricanes was very interesting.

This article expresses what I have been thinking about lately: No little people, no little places. “Jesus commands Christians to seek consciously the lowest room. All of us—pastors, teachers, professional religious workers and nonprofessional included—are tempted to say, ‘I will take the larger place because it will give me more influence for Jesus Christ.’ … But according to the Scripture this is backwards: We should consciously take the lowest place unless the Lord himself extrudes us into a greater one.” (Remember Luke 14:10.)

Have a good week. Fight the good fight.

Be Thou my battle shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.

    –Ancient Irish poem, translated by Mary E. Byrne, 1905, versified by Eleanor H. Hull, 1912

    3 Comments
    October 11, 2024

    “Forget the workin’ blues and let the good times roll!”

    by chuckofish

    Hello and happy Friday. Never have I related more to George Jones than after this work week. Eyeroll. I don’t have a wild weekend planned, just a DAR meeting and Sunday School, but I understand the sentiment.

    Anyway, as is usual after a wild trip with my parents, I am here to regale you with tales from the road. And the roads were not what I expected in Arizona. I was apprehensive about driving many hours across what I presumed, incorrectly, would be vast, empty desert. Instead, what I found was several hours of mountainous speed driving with a lot of traffic and then several hours of even faster desert driving with traffic. The passing games were wild. At times, it felt like I was in a driving video game–Grand Theft Auto: Navajo Nation Edition. Okay, maybe more like MarioKart–there were many of levels and obstacles.

    And by levels and obstacles, I mean exciting warning signs, including, but not limited to:

    –Chain-Up Area

    –Brake-Check Area

    –Elk Next 40 Miles

    –Truck Run-Off Ramp

    –Run-Off Ramp for Out-of-Control Vehicles Only (this sent my mother into hysterics)

    –6% Grade Next 20 Miles

    –Watch for Rocks

    –SAVE YOUR BRAKES (seriously, this is a real sign)

    –Cattle Next 11 Miles (so specfic)

    –No Services 20 Miles

    –Rest Area TRUCKS ONLY (discrimination!!)

    It was quite the adventure. And thankfully, there were no signs about being wary of bears. Although, we did see a number of billboards for a wildlife park in Williams called Bearizona which, frankly, gets all the points for best name ever.

    And I know you’ve been waiting for an update on Mr. Smith–he spent seven whole days at the kennel and then had to get a bath on the last day before I picked him up. He was happy to see me and very tired. And he has been my sweet shadow all week.

    It’s finally Friday–have some fun!

    4 Comments