Tomorrow the OM and I are heading over to Illinois to visit daughter #2 and celebrate her birthday on Sunday.
In the meantime I have a lot to do. The boy is coming over tonight to help load up the car with stuff to take for her new house. Thankfully she is an appreciative recipient and welcomes all the odds and ends I can shove her way.
It goes without saying that I think she is a wonderful daughter, wife, sister, and mother and that we all love her.
But I will say it anyway. We love you, Susiebelle! Happy birthday!
Watch over thy child, O Lord, as her days increase; bless and guide her wherever she may be. Strengthen her when she stands; comfort her when discouraged or sorrowful; raiseher up if she fall; and in her heart may thy peace which passeth understanding abide all the days of her life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today is my mother’s birthday–she would have been 98! She died almost 36 years ago.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her. She lived one of those “hidden lives” George Eliot wrote about. I know she sometimes lamented that her life had not amounted to much. I tried to cheer her up by reminding her, as only a self-centered child can, that she had three handsome, healthy, smart children to be proud of. That didn’t really help.
I thought I knew my mother pretty well. But I’m not so sure I did. I spent a lot of time with her; we were together a lot. I think she listened to me a lot, and she hardly ever argued–only occasionally countering a really stupid statement made by me. Her generation was advised not to inflict their ideas on their children, to let them decide for themselves what was right. (That worked out well, didn’t it?) The times they were a-changin’ and it was scary for parents. Really scary. I know she worried plenty about her children, especially when we went off to college. She worried about my brother for a solid ten years.
My mother was cut off from her family and her New England roots once she and my father settled for good in Missouri. We visited them occasionally. Her parents visited us once. Her sisters each visited once. Back then the phone was only for emergencies. She never really made friends in her new hometown. This is not to say she didn’t try. But it was an unwelcoming community in which we dwelled. She only had us and we were not enough. Not to be overly dramatic, but isolation kills.
This was a hard lesson to learn, but I learned it. We humans need community. So find a church and start going every week. Make that your new year’s resolution. Make a new friend. Call an old friend. Stay in the game.
Well, that turned serious. Sorry. But I have been reading Job.
For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
While we are in a celebratory mood, let us toast today’s birthday boys: A.A. Milne (1882), Oliver Hardy (1892), Cary Grant (1904), Danny Kaye (1911), and Kevin Costner (1955). Cupcakes all around!
I would like to watch The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. It is an excellent movie!
We’ll see if that can be arranged.
We were remiss in not mentioning the passing of actor David Soul a few weeks ago. We loved him as the middle Bolt brother in Here Come the Brides and as Hutch in Starsky and Hutch back in the day.
I lost track of him after that but I did always think he was my husband’s doppleganger. Well, sort of.
Interestingly, his father was a Lutheran minister and a senior representative for Lutheran World Relief during the reconstruction of Germany after World War II .
I would like to indulge in some Starsky and Hutch binging, but it is not available as far as I can see.
So, as we experience a brief thaw before the arctic air returns, I am content to putter around at home, reading my Pilgrim’s Progress assignment, straightening up the house and driving cardboard boxes to the recycling center. I feel like my father “going to the post office” in order to get out of the house. While I’m at it, I suppose I should stock up on bread, milk and pretzel bites.
This seems right to me, because it is not crazy to think that demonic forces prowl about in [AI] technology. There may well be a way “for the technology to move forward in a manner aligned with the City of God, but thus far Big Tech (collectively) seems quite content to operate from a position of self-interest and self-gain, values prized by both the City of Man and the cosmic powers of darkness.”
On that note, it’s time to relax and read some A.A. Milne:
He had made up a little hum that very morning, as he was doing his Stoutness Exercises in front of the glass: Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, as he stretched up as high as he could go, and then Tra-la-la, tra-la–oh, help!–la, as he tried to reach his toes. After breakfast he had said it over and over to himself until he had learnt it off by heart, and now he was humming it right through, properly.
Have a good day! Watch a good movie starring one of the birthday celebrants, read some Winnie the Pooh, make some cupcakes, and find some excuse to get out of the house. Go with God.
The year has sped by, hasn’t it? Daughter #2 reminded me that the day before Ida was born we watched East of Eden (1955) in the afternoon and I told her I thought she might be in labor. Sure enough, she went to the hospital later that evening and Ida was born at 12:38 pm the next day.
What a baby! We are sad we will not be able to celebrate with her, but we look forward to seeing her very soon!
The Angel that presided o’er my birth Said, ‘Little creature, form’d of Joy and Mirth, ‘Go love without the help of any Thing on Earth.’
–William Blake
In the meantime, hope you are all staying warm and safe.
(Barge traveling in an icy Mississippi River near the Eads Bridge–Fox2 photo)
Another super busy weekend with a variety of events, several of which involved getting dressed up and socializing with people. But the weekend was dominated by the wee twins’ 7th birthday and their birthday party. Their parents rented one of the small movie theaters at the Galleria and invited 20 kids to watch Aladdin (1992) in their pajamas.
They got popcorn, candy and a drink and, of course, a special cookie.
I must say it was a pretty fun party. When Jasmine and Aladdin go on their magic carpet ride and sing “A Whole New World” all the girls in the back row, led by Lottie, burst into song and sang along. Several of the boys (down in front) got annoyed and said, “Be QUIET!” I was amused–funnily enough the boys were better behaved than the girls. I also enjoyed the movie–Robin Williams knocks it out of the ballpark. I had forgotten that it was the highest grossing film of 1992!
Later in the day the twins also came over to our house for a more sedate birthday gathering with a cookie cake and a few presents to open.
We also managed to go to church twice–once on Sunday morning and once Sunday evening for Lessons & Carols followed by a congregational meeting to vote for our senior pastor candidate. It was a full house and we blew the roof off singing–this congregation loves to sing! And we voted in the new pastor!
Among other Advent standards, we sang O Come, O Come, Emmanuel which I always associate with my earliest pageant experience at my school in kindergarten. We sang it in the dark with our little candle/flashlights. It made quite an impression. That old 13th century Plainsong is so sad and eery sounding. I never really understood the lyrics until recently though.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory o’er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
There’s actually a whole lot I understand now that I did not before. I am so grateful for my new church. I am so grateful for Tim Keller and R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur and John Piper for pointing me in the right direction and for encouraging me to find a good church!
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 anhour 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.
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)
Today we celebrate the birthday of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)–here are 10 things you should know about him.
“Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from divine light shining into the soul. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so powerful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world. This knowledge will wean from the world, and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed: it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Savior.” ― Jonathan Edwards
So live with all your might, never suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings, tell the truth, do your duty willingly and cheerfully, and…
Today is daughter #1’s birthday. She was born during a humdinger of a thunderstorm and a low pressure system that caused the water of every pregnant woman in St. Louis County to break. Seriously, they were lined up in the hallway at St. Luke’s. She was two weeks early, but that wasn’t a big deal since back then Moms stayed at the hospital for a week anyway–at least Dr. Gulick’s patients did. I was never in the hallway either and I had a private room, so no complaints from this peanut gallery.
This year we celebrated her birthday on Sunday in our usual style…
…with tacos and Tippin’s pie.
Because daughter #1, the OM and I went to our favorite winery on Saturday to celebrate her birthday and listen to the musical stylings of Bryan Toben…
…we missed the wee laddie’s first soccer game (there are 9 more), but the boy, who is also one of the coaches, took lots of good pictures.
I looked for, but could not find, any pictures of the boy at the same age playing soccer–but he looked just like this.
Sunrise, sunset.
In other news, the twins started Sunday School with the big kids (1st grade!) so we are all going to Sunday School at 10:00 am before the 11:00 am service. This is quite a departure from the way we were used to doing it in the Episcopal Church where Sunday School was just a short business during the sermon and communion. Besides all the kids’ classes, there are six adult classes to choose from–the boy and I attended the class on “Modern Ethical Topics”. I was impressed.
So onward and upward. This will be a busy week. May the God of love and peace be with you.
How was your weekend? I redeemed a gift card from Mother’s Day and had an hour-long spa pedicure, which had me walking on air for quite some time. Wow.
We had a guest preacher in church and he preached on Daniel 6–the lion’s den! I love Daniel so I was pleased. We need reminders of heroes like Daniel to keep us on track. We also had interesting musical accompaniment to all our hymns–a harmonica. Not the usual for A Mighty Fortress is Our God, but not bad. The OM and I stayed for a luncheon with our “fold” after the service. They acknowledged his birthday (today) but refrained from singing Happy Birthday.
We celebrated the OM’s birthday later on Sunday when everyone came over for a barbecue and party. (Even Mr. Smith)
Good times…and presents!
We watched McClintock! (1963), one of my favorite movies extolling the Patriarchy. It is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew. (And Maureen O’Hara is one helluva shrew.) It has a smart script which moves along at a brisk clip. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has nothing good to say about bureaucrats, the government or college boys, but is very sympathetic to Native Americans and free enterprise.
Anyway, when you have had enough of our modern day BS, I recommend a good dose of John Wayne at his most John Wayne-ish. “I know, I know. I’m gonna use good judgement. I haven’t lost my temper in forty years, but pilgrim you caused a lot of trouble this morning might have got somebody killed. Somebody oughta belt you in the mouth but I won’t, I wont…the hell I won’t.“
In other news baby Ida got her first taste of solid food…
It was a big hit.
And ol’ Ricky Skaggs is nominated for several Dove Awards this year, including this song which is a favorite of mine…
…as well as this banger version of Go Tell It on the Mountain with Crowder (for a little Christmas in July):
dual personalities 