Advent | dual personalities

December 4, 2017

“Yea, amen! let all adore thee”*

by chuckofish

Well, I bought our wreath from the Boy Scouts, our two trees from the Optimists and daughter #1 and I put up the outside Christmas lights. Mission(s) accomplished!

Quelle busy weekend, but, in fact, very fun. We babysat the wee babes on Friday night and managed to wrestle them into their pajamas and bed. On Saturday, daughter #1 and I went to our church Christmas bazaar and cookie sale where I got a few used books and rescued a treasure or two.

Then we went to the birthday party for the wee babes who were, it turned out, not in the mood for a big noisy party. They both suffered major melt-downs from the get-go. C’est la vie.

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They are both teething ferociously and life is hard right now. Well, on to Christmas and more photo ops.

We came home and watched Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and drank wine and had a chip-fest. Perfect. We even watched one of the special features and found out, among other fun facts, that Edmund Gwenn really filled in as Santa at the 1946 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including addressing the crowd following the parade. That is pretty cool.

Church on Sunday was Advent I and we sang some good Advent hymns.

Turn up the volume and listen to this wonderful rendition of a great Charles Wesley hymn!

And the super moon was really awesome!

Happy Advent!

*Hymn #57

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December 5, 2016

Look toward the east, O Jerusalem*

by chuckofish

Call him a stick-in-the-mud, a dinosaur, a fusty throwback, but indeed, jumping into the fray the day after Halloween was akin to hitting, and holding, high C for a couple of months, while a bit of patience saved Christmas for Christmas morning and kept the holy day fresh and new.

I re-read Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon over the weekend and enjoyed it thoroughly. Although I agree with Father Tim about getting ahead of ourselves in regards to the Christmas season, we did go ahead as usual and buy our trees. They’re not up yet–they’re in the garage for now. I’ll try to get the little one up in the dining room this week, but I’m not going to stress about it. At least I don’t have a bad cat to deal with like the boy does.

In between getting organized for Christmas, doing laundry and sundry household tasks, and going to a baby shower for daughter #3,

I watched Donovan’s Reef (1963)–a film which the New York Times described at the time as “sheer contrivance effected in hearty, fun-loving, truly infectious style.” I would agree with that assessment whole-heartedly.

It takes place at Christmas and includes an amusing Polynesian Christmas pageant, so I count it as a Christmas movie.

Directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin, it is heavy-handed in the Irish humor department, but if you’re in the right mood, it can really hit the spot. (Shot in Hawaii, the scenery is beautiful as well.) I was in the mood.

I also went to our Advent Service of Lessons and Carols on Sunday night at church. I read lesson five, from Baruch:

Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God…

We sang quite a few of my favorite Advent hymns and the choir sang and the bell choir played. Then I went home and ate chili, which the OM had made, and we watched Gregory Peck as King David in the technicolor extravaganza David and Bathsheba (1951).

Despite GP’s awesome presence, it was pretty bad and not surprisingly, as it is based on one of the Bible’s more sordid stories.

So back to Christmas movies already.

*Baruch 4:36

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December 9, 2015

Reason is indignant

by chuckofish

“God travels wonderful ways with human beings, but he does not comply with the views and opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him; rather, his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self-determined beyond all proof. Where reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away: that is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable; there he aggravates our nature, our piety—that is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly…. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas

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December 7, 2015

“Let’s go”*

by chuckofish

Some of you movie fans may recognize the title of today’s post as a quote from the movie The Wild Bunch (1969). William Holden says it throughout the movie in a screenwriter’s attempt to bind a wandering plot together, sort of like John Wayne saying “We’re burning daylight” or “That’ll be the day”. However, whereas this device worked in John Wayne movies, it does not in this movie–probably because it is never clear where the bunch is going.

Do not confuse these guys with The Professionals, who may look similar, but are like night and day.

They are going to hell, I guess. The movie sure does. What a mess, especially the director’s cut, which I made the mistake of watching this weekend. The cast is good, but they have no idea what is happening either. I felt sorry for them.

This movie is frequently hailed as a landmark, a brilliant western which re-defined the genre, blah, blah, blah. It is just another story of old guys who are out of sink with their time. Their “code of honor” is at odds with society in 1913–but it is a made up code of honor, not unlike the code in Sons of Anarchy. It doesn’t work, it will never work. Once again, the violence is unremitting and boring. Maybe in 1969 it was shocking. Sadly it is shocking no more. Repetitive and bestial, yes. I get it, men–even children–are beasts.

Oh well, I did watch a good movie this weekend–Mr. Holmes (2015) starring Ian McKellen as the aging Sherlock.

Set in 1947, this movie is about an aged Sherlock Holmes, retired now to the English coast, who is trying to remember his last case and deal with the onset of memory loss and senility. It is a marvelous, low-key story about an old man who, unlike the guys in the wild bunch, is ultimately not afraid to change. Ian McKellen is wonderful as is Milo Parker as Roger, the smart little boy who is the son of Sherlock’s housekeeper. I highly recommend you find this movie and watch it–a rarity among this year’s deluge of super heroes and sci fi extravaganzas. No sex, no violence, no vulgarity–only intelligence and subtlety and love. How rare.

In other news, the OM and I went out on a beautiful, balmy Saturday and bought our two Christmas trees. We wrestled the small tree into its stand when we got home after the OM hacked off a good chunk of the lower trunk in order to make it fit. The poor thing has a bit of a Charlie Brown aura about it now, but who cares? It is lovely all decked out in its finery.

I wrapped quite a lot of presents and have my out-of-town packages ready to go. I worked on my Christmas cards. I capped off the weekend with Lessons & Carols at church where we sang all the great Advent hymns.

All in all, a productive and not-too-hectic weekend!

So now let’s go…

…and look East. The time is near

of the crowning of the year.

Make your house fair as you are able,

set the hearth, and set the table.

People, look East, and sing today:

Love, the guest is on the way**

*Pike Bishop (William Holden) in The Wild Bunch (1969)

**Craig Philips, Advent Carol

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November 30, 2015

The days are surely coming

by chuckofish

Advent is here, can you believe it?

This lovely long weekend I celebrated Thanksgiving with the boy’s in-laws, went to a “Rock N Roll” craft fair in terra incognita, “shopped local” and online, bought my evergreen wreath from the local Boy Scout troop, and got out all my Christmas decorations. I also got some decorations up, but I have a long way to go. The boy came over for his birthday dinner (honey mustard chicken) and put up our outside Christmas lights–yay!

I went to church–Advent I–and we were warned:

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

We didn’t sing this hymn, but I wish we had. You go, Charles Wesley!

And now–back to the salt mines.

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December 1, 2014

“‘Sleepers, wake!’ A voice astounds us”*

by chuckofish

I had a lovely long holiday weekend. How about you?

I ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal and celebrated the boy’s birthday the next day with tortellini and salad and leftover pie.

I watched 22 Jump Street, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Wizard of Oz, La Belle et La Bête (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947)–all of which I enjoyed immensely.

I went to church twice on Sunday. I debated going to the morning service, knowing that I would be going back at 4:00 p.m. for Advent Lessons & Carols, but I thought I should go because it was the first Sunday in Advent and that means Rite I! As you know, I am one of the few people who still enjoys saying “And with thy spirit” instead of “And also with you”–so I went and I’m glad I did.

The service started off with The Great Litany (BCP p. 148-153) with all the great “Good Lord, deliver us” stuff, i.e. “From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil” and also “From all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and commandment.” It is so easy nowadays to forget about “the crafts and assaults of the devil,” isn’t it? Well, Good Lord, deliver me!

Our rector gave his usual nonsensical sermon, full of misquoting and mispronouncing, but I must say, that listening to him week after week has taught me a lesson in humility. While I am listening (and wincing), I inevitably come away with something. He is a brave soul to get up every week and try. He is no Phillips Brooks–although he attempted to quote him–and that’s okay.

After church I prevailed upon the OM to assist me in hanging the outside Christmas lights on our humble abode. The boy usually does this for us, but he was working on Sunday, and as the temperate weather was forecasted to end, I thought we better get to it. Of course, it was much more complicated without the nimble and manly boy, who executed this job previously with nary a grumble. It took us twice as long and the OM blurted out quite a few goddammits while breaking more than a few light bulbs and bumping his head. Anyway, the lights are up.

Advent Lessons & Carols was lovely too. We sang all the good Advent hymns we didn’t sing in the morning. I got to read the second lesson–Isaiah 40:1-8 which is “Comfort, O comfort my people…”. The best (or at least most adorable) reader was a little third grader who read Zechariah 2:10-13 with a lisp right out of central casting. “For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst…”–she had a little trouble with “midst” (and who doesn’t)–but so cute.

Photo from the Grace Church Facebook page.

Afterwards we had the annual Advent dinner and “craft”. I passed on the craft. I got hugs from the boy’s old friends, Michael visiting from NYC and Weezer visiting from L.A. It was a win-win.

Have a great week!

*Hymn 61, The Hymnal 1982

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December 16, 2013

Stir up thy power

by chuckofish

Yesterday, in case you were unaware, was “Stirring-it-up Sunday”–at least in merry old England. My friend Carla, who has an English mother-in-law like my dual personality, told me that the third Sunday in Advent is when everyone goes home from church and prepares/stirs up the Christmas pudding. It is also the Sunday when the collect of the day is:

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let they bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee ad the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Jolly appropriate, don’t you think?

I did not go home and stir up anything in my kitchen, but I thought fondly of Carla’s husband Chris stirring it up in his.

No, I spent my weekend–spoiler alert–wrapping presents. It is one of those things that takes a long time and can be as hard on the back as some forms of physical labor. I also worked on getting the house ready for the arrival of daughter #2 on Wednesday night. Once she is home we will decorate our big tree. As planned the boy came over and put the tree up in its stand, so that the branches can come down.

I also shoveled the front walk. I like to get out in the snow. It reminds me of my college days. Here I am at the Williams College Winter Carnival in 1977 falling down the slalom course with a friend. We were gate keepers. We picked up the flags when they got knocked down.

Winter Carnival 1977

Unlike my mother who skied for Middlebury, I couldn’t even handle gate-keeping apparently. You might be surprised how steep that hill is.

I was better at this kind of winter activity.

…watching while other people built snow sculptures. It is good to know one’s limitations.

How was your weekend?

P.S. R.I.P. Peter O’Toole:
Into paradise may the angels lead thee; and at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.
–BCP, Burial of the Dead, Rite I

Peter O’Toole made a hellavu good angel in “The Bible”.

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December 2, 2013

You know what time it is

by chuckofish

You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake up from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13: 11–14

Well, this reading from Sunday morning seems like a timely scripture for this Advent when the country goes en masse on a month-long frenzy of spending and partying which has nothing to do with the real “reason for the season”. I don’t know about you but I’m taping this one to the mirror.

I went to church twice this Sunday, because we had the annual Lessons and Carols service at Grace in the early evening. I got to be one of the readers and read the third lesson. This still makes me so happy. It doesn’t take much, right?

In other news, the boy came over and put up our lights.

Not a great iPhone picture, but you get the idea.

Don’t they look beautiful?

I also got out a lot of Christmas decorations this weekend. And I put away a lot of stuff to make room for the Christmas decorations. I set up my mantle.

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sin release us, let us find our rest in thee.

Let us live honorably.

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December 10, 2012

Weekend update

by chuckofish

Oh, weekends in December! So busy and filled with seasonal activities such as buying Christmas trees ‘n such.

On Saturday the husband and I hopped in the Subaru and headed over to our local Optimists lot where the fellas are very friendly and helpful. We picked out two trees (one big and one small) and as my husband disappeared into the trailer to pay, I moseyed over to talk to….yes! Santa!

I asked if I could take his picture and then one of the guys directed me to sit on Santa’s knee. I demurred. He insisted. Santa admitted to having a titanium knee. Hilarity ensued.

Then one of the guys said, “Oh that’s a terrible background. Let’s move some trees over there…”

More picture-taking, even less flattering than the first batch, so I will cease and desist at this point to share any more. You get the picture.

I am telling you, we are well on our way to December 25th! I put up the little tree.

It is beautiful, isn’t it? We’ll put up the big tree next weekend when daughter #2 gets home.

On Sunday the boy and his bride came over and we went to the Service of Lessons and Carols at Grace. It was very nice, but I was distracted by the woman in front of me who went to my high school where every year the choir put on a Festival of Lessons and Carol of its own, the old school English version. This woman was a few years ahead of me (7) and was a cool-girl-hockey-player, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how she’s 63 years old now! Could it have been that long ago that we sang Ralph Vaughan Williams in the school chapel? Yes, it has. Turns out, she saw our sign out in front announcing our Lessons and Carols service and she decided to come. I told her it was great to see her and I hoped she’d come back.

‘Cause you sure as hell can’t go home again. Onward and upward.

Anyway, we are well into Advent. Blessings be upon you and yours. Here’s “Gabriel’s Message” sung by the King’s College (Cambridge) Choir to start off your week right:

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December 4, 2012

Flyover weekend II

by chuckofish

This past weekend my best Grace girlfriends and I headed out of town for our second annual flyover roadtrip.

diet coke 2

We stayed in the same log cabin Bed and Breakfast that we visited last year. We were greeted by some old friends.

The honeysuckle was blooming…on December 1!

The house was decorated for Christmas and looked lovely.

We spent Saturday afternoon investigating antique malls and shops in Washington, Missouri, a nice old river town. I never laid eyes on a true antique, but I saw lots of fun vintage items and piles of junk. But that is the expectation. I found a Christmas present for the boy and lots of other things I restrained myself from buying, like these guys:

That night we sat on the porch–it was 71-degrees–and enjoyed the sunset.

We played Scattergories and attempted to play cards, but that was so much work. In other words, we had to choose between playing cards or drinking wine. It was an easy choice for me.

On Sunday we had a wonderful breakfast

and then went to Hermann, Missouri, another lively town on the Missouri River. We hit the Kristkindl Markt again and were as successful as last year.

It is the beginning of December and I am in good shape (spiritually and commercially) for Christmas. I will not have to go near a mall. I can now concentrate on awaiting the birth of our Lord and Savior in the season of Advent in a relatively calm state of mind. I hope this feeling lasts!

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high, And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!

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