dual personalities

My mother was a very private person. She would never have asked anyone to pray for her. In fact, she kind of felt that she shouldn’t even bother God with her problems. She should deal with them herself. This is bad, non-biblical theology and it took me years to overcome my own reluctance to ask for help.

When my son had cancer, however, I asked everyone I knew to pray for him–Protestants, Catholics and Jews. He was on multiple prayer lists all over town. When his twins were born at 27 weeks I again went begging for prayers. When they pulled through, a devout Catholic friend who had been praying said it was a miracle, but the look on her face said she couldn’t quite believe it. Well, believe it.

Then when I had cancer the same Protestants, Catholics and Jews prayed for me. It helped me enormously knowing these friends were holding me up in prayer.

They prayed for daughter #1 when she wanted to move back to Missouri and again when she was looking for a new job a year ago. We have been praying for daughter #2 and her family to move closer to us and I am confident we shall see that come to fruition in the not-too-distant future. “The right job at the right time. Thy will be done,” as one friend said.

Life is hard. Things go wrong—in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. When they do, it is important not to bottle up your stress like my mother did. Share it with God. Share it with your Bible Study Group, your pastor, your friends.

I am no prayer warrior, but I know some women who are. Indeed, Calvinists are great ones for prayer. And they do not pray from a book. I am working on it.

Never forget that God is active, present, and involved in your life. He is always working for the good of those who love him.

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, ²saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. ³Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ ⁴And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, ⁵yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. ⁷And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ⁸I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:1-8

Keep praying. Pray in the good times as well as the bad. As Corrie Ten Boom said, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

(The painting is The Prayer before Meal, before 1740, by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.)

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December 6, 2023

A partridge in a pear tree

by chuckofish

It is that time of year when everything is in a state of chaos, most particularly my office. Good grief, Charlie Brown! Although you cannot tell, I am making progress. I mailed two out-of-town packages and wrote my Christmas letter!

In other news, today is the birthday of the great character actress Agnes Moorehead (1900-1974). The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, she grew up in St. Louis where as a child she was in the chorus of the MUNY Opera! At the insistence of her father she graduated from college before heading to the stage. During her long and illustrious career she was nominated for an Academy Award four times and an Emmy Award seven times, winning once for The Wild, Wild West of all things. Here she is in Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942):

I remember going with my mother and sister to see her at the Fox Theatre in the early 1970s when she reprised her role in Don Juan in Hell on tour, with an all-star cast that featured Edward Mulhare, Ricardo Montalban and Paul Henreid. (I would have sworn it was Myrna Loy, but Wikipedia says it was Agnes Moorehead.) I just remember Ricardo Montalban prompting the forgetful Edward Mulhare throughout the play. Well, she was a great actress who was in a lot of good movies. She certainly was the best thing about Bewitched.

And remember this episode from season five of The Mary Tyler Moore Show? All the coworkers are fed up and frustrated with each other, and Sue Ann forces the crew into a rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas.

We’ve all been there, right? So keep your chin up, smile, and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

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December 5, 2023

The strong gales of the Spirit

by chuckofish

As you know my Bible reading plan this year was the Navigators 5x5x5 New Testament reading plan. It has been an easier plan than reading the entire Bible and I have enjoyed concentrating on the NT.

Right now I am reading Revelation, which is looking awfully relevant these days.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev. 3:20)

For next year, I have a new plan and a new Bible–the ESV Chronological Bible.

I will read through scripture in historical order–from Genesis to Revelation–through the eight eras of the Bible in the order the events occurred.

Do you have a reading plan for 2024? Here’s a list of ones you can download. Times a-wastin’! January will be here before you know it.

After my morning scripture reading, I read a prayer from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett. I really love these prayers and I highly recommend the book. You might want to ask Santa to bring you a copy for Christmas. (POV: Don’t buy anything for yourself now–someone may already be planning to give it to you for Christmas!)

O Lord, in prayer I launch far out into the eternal world, and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs over all evils on the shores of mortality. Time, with its gay amusements and cruel disappointments never appears so inconsiderate as then.

In prayer I see myself as nothing; I find my heart going after Thee with intensity, and long with vehement thirst to live to Thee. Blessed be the strong gales of the Spirit that speed me on my way to the New Jerusalem.

In prayer all things here below vanish, and nothing seems important but holiness of heart and the salvation of others.

In prayer all my worldly cares, fears, anxieties disappear, and are of as little significance as a puff of wind.

In prayer my soul inwardly exults with lively thoughts at what Thou art doing for Thy church, and I long that Thou shouldest get Thyself a great name from sinners returning to Zion.

In prayer I am lifted above the frowns and flatteries of life, and taste heavenly joys; entering into the eternal world I can give myself to Thee with all my heart, to be Thine for ever.

In prayer I can place all my concerns in Thy hands, to be entirely at Thy disposal, having no will or interest of my own.

In prayer I can intercede for my friends, ministers, sinners, the church, Thy kingdom to come, with greatest freedom, ardent hopes, as a son to his father, as a lover to the beloved.

Help me to be all prayer and never to cease praying.

(“In Prayer”)

P.S. The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) celebrated its 50th anniversary on December 4, 2023. Here are four things I see in the PCA for which I give thanks.

(The painting is The Light of the World (1851-54) by William Holman Hunt.)

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December 4, 2023

Lift your head, weary sinner*

by chuckofish

It is December again and time to decorate the church, which I helped do on Friday morning.

So pretty and understated. (The TV screens are not usually there. We had a presentation earlier in the week about our senior pastor candidate.)

Later in the day daughter #1 and I celebrated at 19 North, about which I will tell you more later. Then we watched White Christmas (1954), officially ushering in the yuletide season. It never gets old.

The OM and I also ventured out and bought our Christmas tree this weekend from our friendly neighborhood Optimists–they get smaller and more expensive every year.

We’ll put it up and decorate it in a couple of weeks. For now it is chillin’ in a bucket of water in the Florida room.

I am doing my best to chill as well, but there is a lot going on. On Sunday we heard our senior pastor candidate preach and next week we, being Presbyterians, vote on whether we call him to our church. It has been a long process (almost two years!)–but all’s well that ends well, right?

We also had an Advent craft event in between services instead of Sunday School. Lottie is a real crafter and she hunkered right down and made some outlandishly garish Advent decorations.

The bud concentrated on the yummy treats available but also colored this for me, which I will treasure always:

Meanwhile Katie shared a cheeseburger meal with her Mommy and said this:

Can you even?

Well, have a good week! Watch an old movie, consider the Incarnation, and try to chillax!

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.”

–Rippon’s Selection of Hymns, 1787

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December 1, 2023

Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

by chuckofish

Happy Friday! I have to say this full week back at work was not as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because I’ve been busy at work. Somehow, the last few weeks of the year have a lot happening! The wild thing is that it is only December 1st today. It feels like it has been December all week.

I brought my tree up from the basement this weekend and finally got the lights on while working from home today. Don’t you just love working from home? Next, I’ll tackle the ornaments. This year, I have a mantle for the first time ever. It is nice to have a place to put all of the decorations I have been collecting for years. Stay tuned for pictures in the coming weeks.

While doing the lights, I was listening to some light Christmas music and the lyrics of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” really struck me harder than usual:

‘God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray’

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November 30, 2023

“How do we keep our balance?…Tradition!”*

by chuckofish

Over the last few days I have slowly but surely unpacked a lot of Christmas decorations. The mantle is done and I was deeply gratified on Tuesday night when the wee twins exclaimed, “Oh! You decorated your mantle!” They noticed and they recognized a lot of old friends. Lottie asked me which was my favorite, and I said, I don’t really have a favorite.

Some of them are as old as I am. They represent a lot of people and places and times.

I also put up the little tree in the dining room and decorated it.

So many ornaments have been given to me over the years and I remember who gave me each one.

The twins have their own little trees in their rooms. I gave them an ornament each to put on their trees the other night–gotta encourage the collecting gene!

Katie also has her own little tree and her own collection of hand-me-down small ornaments from her Mommy.

Cheers to wholesome traditions!

Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. (Jude 1: 2)

*Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof

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November 29, 2023

For all the saints

by chuckofish

Well, November has flown by, hasn’t it? The years too…On Monday I had lunch with my old admin and a former chair of our institute board. We had a lovely, laughter-filled lunch. Time passes and things inevitably change, but old friends remain.

Then yesterday I went to the funeral of a man who went to my former church. He went on the church trip to the Holy Land with me in 2018. I didn’t know him well, but I admired him a lot–the kind of fine, young man who goes to church every week with his family and ushers and serves where needed. Unfortunately I had written the time down incorrectly on my calendar and I was an hour late and came in for the tail end of communion and the commendation. I was so chagrined. But c’est la vie. It was nice to see some familiar faces, who all look much older (as do I) now. And I was reminded, even in the ten minutes I was there, how happy I am to be a Presbyterian. In my church we would have blown the roof off singing “For All the Saints”! This congregation acted like they didn’t know what singing is.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Eric. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen. (BCP)

Let us take note that today is the birthday of C.S. Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963). Here’s an interesting article on his last days by Trevin Wax. I am thinking of signing up for the Hillsdale College online course on Lewis. I really enjoyed my Hillsdale course on supply-side economics. I learned a lot and did well on all my quizzes, but I have to admit, I did not pass my final. (J’ai profondément honteuse.) I suppose I could take it again, but by now you can imagine I have forgotten everything except the very basic concepts. Taxes bad, free trade good! Well, onward to C.S. Lewis!

And we celebrated the boy’s birthday with all the bells and whistles.

God bless us everyone.

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November 28, 2023

Happy birthday, brown-eyed handsome man

by chuckofish

Today is the boy’s birthday! We will celebrate tonight with tortellini and cake after he has put in a long day at the salt mine. We didn’t see much of him over the holidays because he was working very hard; there was no day off for him on Black Friday! But he was in church on Sunday, singing alongside me and, as you know, that brings me great joy.

Adult children are a real blessing and I am truly grateful for mine.

2-3 the count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stands
Roundin’ third, he was headed for home
It was a brown-eyed handsome man that won the game
It was a brown-eyed handsome man.
(Chuck Berry)

My cup runneth over as usual.

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