Easter | dual personalities

March 30, 2018

“Rise heart; thy Lord is risen”*

by chuckofish

Daughter #3 could not resist having yet more pictures taken of her wee babes–this time in their Easter outfits. I gather that the only way this could happen was if they confined/trapped the wee laddie in the wheelbarrow prop and clearly he was not having it.

I mean, not fair, dude. Little Lottie mustered her good will, but…

Mom, where did my brother go?

Well, at least there wasn’t a big rabbit in the mix.

Meanwhile I went to the Maundy Thursday service (complete with foot washing) last night and stayed for an hour “in the garden,” which I spent reading the Psalms and the Good Friday service.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, our God now and forever. Amen (BCP)

Have a joyful Easter! Watch Ben-Hur (1959) on Saturday night! Go to church on Sunday!

*George Herbert

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April 13, 2017

“And when the hour came”*

by chuckofish

Most depictions in art of the Last Supper are pretty terrible in my opinion, but I kind of like this one.

The Last Supper by Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (1952-1929)

Here’s a Protestant version by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1565, with leading Reformers portrayed as the Apostles, and the Elector of Saxony kneeling.

I wonder whose face he used for Judas? The pope?

Here’s Albrecht Durer’s woodcut of the Last Supper.

Tonight I will skip the Maundy Thursday service at church with its foot washing etc, but I will do my hour, staying awake in quiet prayer with Jesus at our overnight vigil in the chapel.

It’s the least I can do.

*Luke 22:14

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March 28, 2016

“Risen Lord, Risen Lord, give us a heart for simple things”*

by chuckofish

Saturday was a beautiful spring day and so the OM and I ventured downtown to see the progress being made on the addition to the historic Field House.

Since we were in the same general vicinity, we stopped in at Ted Drewes. Duh.

We watched Ben Hur that evening and so were spiritually ready for Easter. The OM accompanied me to church (his biannual visit) and it was a lovely service complete with a brass quartet. I can remember the days when we were happy to have the first chair trumpet from Kirkwood High School on Easter Sunday, so this was a definite step up for us.

The boy and daughter #3 came over for Episcopal soufflé afterwards and I was happy to have our small family group together for a casual meal.

Indeed, the weekend was low-key and slow-paced, which was just fine with me.

I finished putting books on my new built-in bookshelves in the living room.

I have more books to move around, but this is work that makes me happy. So onward and upward!

It’s Monday: this is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

*Barry Rose (b. 1934) OBE

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April 6, 2015

“The world is more than we know.”*

by chuckofish

Did you have a wonderful Easter?

We had a lovely weekend, full of family,

and friends and church-going goodness.

The weather was Easter-appropriate, so we have nothing here to complain about–even if it is supposed to storm all week. C’est la vie.

The magnolias, forsythia et al are bursting forth. Yard bags are filling up. We sat out on the patio and soaked up the vitamin D. Of course, I had hoped to be finished with my basement clean-up/reorganization project by now, but oh well. Projects like this always are bigger than first anticipated. I soldier on. I may have to (literally) light a fire under the OM, but we will keep going.

Next weekend daughter #1 will be home for a visit! She is running in a half marathon, so we will be adventurous and cheer her on downtown (signs, balloons, etc.) Can’t wait!

Have a good week and try to carry forward all the good Easter mojo.

From the Heidelberg Catechism:

Question 45: What does the “resurrection” of Christ profit us?

Answer: First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, that he might make us partakers of that righteousness which he had purchased for us by his death; secondly, we are also by his power raised up to a new life; and lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

Footnotes: [For “first”] 1 Cor.15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: Rom.4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 1 Pet.1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [for “secondly’] Rom.6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Col.3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Col.3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Eph.2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Eph.2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: [for “lastly”] 1 Cor.15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 1 Cor.15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Cor.15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Rom.8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

P.S. Wolf Hall was great!

*Esther in Ben Hur (1959)

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April 22, 2014

Same old story

by chuckofish

Jim Trainor on Easter…

“I believe the story. With my head, looking at the evidence and thinking logically as a person who was a research physicist for twenty-five years, I believe it. And after listening to the testimony of people – from beggars to kings — through all the ages who had concluded that the story is true, I believe it. And at the innermost levels of my heart, where the deepest truths reside but are not easily put into words, I believe it is true.

“And that is why I know that I will see my mother again someday. It’s not just wishful thinking, some little tale I’ve fooled myself with because I can’t face the cold hard facts of life. Yes, I will see Della Mae, and I am convinced that it will be a day of great victory and joy. St. Paul says that it will be like putting on a crown, and St. John says that it will be a time when every tear will be wiped away from my eyes. That’s what will happen someday to me. But what Jesus did affects me right here today also — I know that this Jesus who overcame death and the grave has promised not to leave me here twisting in the wind. He is with me every day, through his Spirit, to guide me, comfort me, embolden me, and use me for his glory and to serve his people, right here, right now.”

Read it all.

Re-blogged from TitusOne Nine, the weblog of the Rev. Canon Dr. Kendall Harmon

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April 18, 2014

“It’s a strange, stubborn faith you keep. To believe that existence has a purpose! “*

by chuckofish

This morning I spent my hour “in the garden” waiting with Jesus–actually our little chapel in the near dark. There are supposed to be two people, but I was alone as was the women who kept the 4-5:00 a.m. watch before me. It is a little spooky being there alone, but I like it. I read the collects of Thomas Cranmer with meditations by my old friend Fred Barbee. Well, I think it is important to be aware of Good Friday and to try, at least in some small way, to keep it holy.

“So shall we join the disciples of our Lord, keeping faith in Him in spite of the crucifixion, and making ready, by our loyalty to Him in the days of His darkness, for the time when we shall enter into His triumph in the days of His light.”

– Phillips Brooks

Tomorrow daughter #1 is flying home (yay!) and we will spend Easter together, going to church and to brunch at my flyover faculty club and, of course, watching:

I am such a nerd. But then you know that about me.

Not only will I be watching Ben-Hur this weekend, but I will be watching this version:

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter, celebrating as you may.

P.S. Ganador del Premio Nobel Gabriel García Márquez muere a los 87 años. R.I.P.

“Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it.”

— From his autobiography Living To Tell The Tale

* Quintus Arrius in Ben-Hur (1959)

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April 1, 2013

Welcome, happy morning!

by chuckofish

Easter turned out to be a lovely day in our flyover town. Warm and sunny. The boy and his bride joined us at church. We were surrounded by small children. They were adorable in their Women’s Exchange finery, but very distracting. I didn’t get a whole lot out of the service, but oh well. It was nice just to be in a (full) church with my family (such as it is with the daughters so far away).

The boy’s Best Man was in town with his girlfriend and they were also at church.

After church we went to Easter brunch at the boy’s in-laws. I brought the dollar rolls and the sticky buns. I did not give the boy a basket this year since he is all grown up, but I had to give him some of these:

I worked in the yard a little when I got home, but since I hurt my back last weekend shoveling snow(!), I couldn’t do much. But it was nice to be outside, soaking up the vitamin D.

I spent a good part of this Easter weekend watching Ben Hur. My husband surprised me with the fancy 50th Anniversary boxed set (on super sale since that was 4 years ago!) Blu-Ray edition of the film–complete with a book about the making of the movie, a facsimile of Charlton Heston’s diary and a whole disc of special features.

Never since the old Lord of the Rings days have I felt like such a nerd. But a happy nerd.

How was your weekend?

Here is the King’s College Cambridge version of one of my favorite Easter hymns which we never sing at church.. It does not include verse 4–my favorite–but I could not find the Radney Foster rendition.