dual personalities

Tag: family

February 23, 2015

While the nearer waters roll*

by chuckofish

It being the first Sunday in Lent, we started off our service yesterday with The Great Litany which includes all those great “preserve-us-froms” such as “…from the crafts and assaults of the devil; and from everlasting damnation…” and “…from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil…”

We don’t hear these enough if you ask me. However,  I hear that over in England they are discussing getting rid of all references to the devil in the baptismal service. You know, because nobody believes in the devil anymore. Oh please. When will the powers that be in my poor church ever leave well enough alone?

I read the first lesson which was from Genesis and was about Noah and the new covenant God makes with him after the flood. The Gospel lesson was from Mark about Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. It was all tied together in the second lesson which was Peter talking about Noah and being saved through water and then how we are saved through the cleansing water of baptism. Peter is never as logical as Paul and the points he attempts to make sometimes elude me–they probably eluded him. Our rector is not good at clarifying anything, but he did make the point that we are tempted every day. Truly this is so. Not that he mentioned the devil.

Oh where is Jonathan Edwards when we need him?

He is wretched indeed, who goes up and down in the world, without a God to take care of him, to be his guide and protector, and to bless him in his affairs . . .That unconverted men are without God shows that they are liable to all manner of evil . . .liable to the power of the devil, to the power of all manner of temptation . . .to be deceived and seduced into erroneous opinions . . .to embrace damnable doctrines . . .to be given up of God to judicial hardness of heart . . .to commit all manner of sin, and even the unpardonable sin itself. They cannot be sure they shall not commit that sin. They are liable to build up a false hope of heaven, and so to go hoping to hell . . .to die senseless and stupid, as many have died . . .to die in such a case as Saul and Judas did, fearless of hell. They have no security from it. They are liable to all manner of mischief, since they are without God. They cannot tell what shall befall them, nor when they are secure from anything. They are not safe one moment. Ten thousand fatal mischiefs may befall them, that may make them miserable forever. They, who have God for their God, are safe from all such evils. It is not possible that they should befall them. God is their covenant God, and they have his faithful promise to be their refuge. (The Works of Jonathan Edwards)

Our rector mentioned C.S. Lewis and repeated several stories straight from the internet, but he could have just quoted Jonathan Edwards and been done with it. But he didn’t ask me, did he?

Anyway, I continued with my office organization. I put together a little bookcase to put in the closet I cleaned out and now I have more space for all my papers and notebooks.

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So now it is time to get down to work and the devil be damned, right?

Happy Monday!

*Charles Wesley, hymn #699

7 Comments
February 6, 2015

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.”*

by chuckofish

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As Valentine’s Day approaches, I thought I would share some Valentines from days of yore–specifically some I received in 1975 when I was a freshman in college.

You can guess who sent me this one. Isn’t Holly Hobbie great?

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Here’s one from my aunt. So seventies.

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And here’s one I got from my pseudo-love Chucko who went to Cornell. Funnily enough, the postmark was from a women’s college in Norton, MA.

val 4There is even a naughty poem by John Donne transcribed inside!

I found these cards while going through a box of my mail from freshman year. This chore has been a hoot and a half–especially reading the letters from my sister (and dual personality)–alias soror idiocritus–who was a high school sophomore at the time.

The letters from my DP frequently arrived in an envelope like this.

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The return address was always from “Pierre Dumaine’s #1 fan” or “Lumpy Rutherford’s #1 fan” or “Cool Hand Luke’s #1 fan”–or “Old Faithful” or “Guess Who?”

I was kept up to date in minute detail concerning every J.V. hockey game she started in, school gossip, her social life (much fuller than mine), and how her classes were going (badly per usual).

Yes, I am alive. I haven’t broken my hand or even lost my eyesight. No, you’re right those aren’t good excuses–but I do have a good one. I’ve had a nervous breakdown. Ruth [her math teacher] sent me to it. It was the last straw when she made me get up and be a point on a line–I was -A (that’s negative A). Actually, I probably could have stood that, but when she put her arm around me and breathed on me…I thought I would faint!…I’m not going to be able to stand a whole year of her!

As it turned out, it was the teacher who did not make it through the year. The replacement, according to my sister, was even worse. But then, according to her, all her teachers were pretty terrible and all had a very low opinion of her and were always accusing her of never working.

(I’m sure they were all shocked when she got into Smith College and then got a a PhD from Yale. Are nine out of ten high school teachers always clueless?)

Well, these distant days are indeed gone with the wind. But it is fun to visit them via letter and look back, isn’t it? I am reminded of many things that I had totally forgotten. It is also a fascinating window into the world at home and all the Life that went on without me. It did, really.

In conclusion: “You’re all wool and a yard wide!”

Have a great weekend. Find something to laugh about.

*Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

12 Comments
February 2, 2015

“You will call your walls, Salvation, and all our portals, Praise”*

by chuckofish

Well, another weekend is over. This one was filled with sifting through old, dusty boxes of papers and correspondence. I made a lot of progress! And the OM made guacamole!

Among other things, I found piles of my father’s old book reviews.

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He wrote them for the Boston Sunday Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, the Post Dispatch, and various smaller papers through the years. He had a column for awhile called “Bookshelf Browsing,” which was an easy-going, chatty review of new books as they appeared in the mid-1950s. We learn that he preferred Hemingway to Fitzgerald, liked John Buchan and General MacArthur and making sweeping statements like,

It is a rare thing these days to find a novel that is full of wit, humor and whimsy at the same time, and to have all three written by an author who does not belabor them.

He goes on to pronounce The Honor of Gaston Le Torch by Jacques Peret,

A delightful book that might be made into a wonderful film, if Hollywood could, for once, be sane…

Does he sound familiar?

I think our pater would have really liked writing a blog–perhaps one with the catchy title: Bookshelf Browsing. In fact, I’m sure he would have become obsessed with the internet had it been available to him. He certainly would have loved email–all his correspondence with his collector friends all over the world would have been much easier and faster!

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However, I’m pretty sure he would have hated everything else about the 21st century.

Have a good Monday!

*from the Sunday Canticle

11 Comments
January 28, 2015

Way back Wednesday

by chuckofish

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Frequently we refer to daughter #2 as the neglected third child. We joke about it, but it really is a thing.

When I was going through all the boxes of my children’s school work and art projects, there was twice as much of daughter #1’s stuff saved than daughter #2’s. C’est la vie.

I could feel guilty about that, but the truth is, it just means there was less to throw away twenty years down the road.

We have plenty of good stuff for daughter #2 to store in a future attic.

mother_daughtertimeDo you think she was trying to tell me something?

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I think she knows we value her personhood. You go, girl!

 

9 Comments
January 26, 2015

We are all living history…right?

by chuckofish

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This weekend I went through a huge box of my children’s childhood artwork, school work and other stuff. I found items like the above Sunday School ephemera (and the boy was, indeed, special, wasn’t he?) and practically every greeting card that was ever received by my children.

It is heartwarming to read the notes written by my two aunts to my children, attempting to fill the void left when my mother died as best they could from faraway Massachusetts.

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(BTW Kirsten, Felicity and Samantha are American Girl dolls.)

And I love reading the school journal entries written by my children such as this one by daughter #1 in first grade:

If you were here on Friday I wasn’t here because my mom said I could stay home because my Uncle Chris was in town and we went to the transportation museum and it was fun.

Today we have to be on our best behavior because there are going to be people voting. I lost a tooth.

Then there are mounds of camp letters–to and from–classics!

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Am I a fool to save all these? Well, after I get all this organized and catalogued into color-coded (?!) bins, it will be someone else’s problem to go through again some day.

For now, I am amusing myself…as usual.

8 Comments
January 21, 2015

Way Back Wednesday

by chuckofish

I think I mentioned that last weekend the OM and I planned to get started with our big basement clean-up. Well, we did!  We moved a lot of stuff out of the storage area into the “finished” area, so we could go through stuff in order to get rid of a lot of it.

You know how that works.

Anyway, I started going through boxes full of my children’s elementary school artwork. Enough time has gone by so that I can begin to be ruthless., separating the keepers

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from the we-can-live-without its.

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Although that little vignette of the boy holding his hands up and saying, “No!” is pretty great…as is that “S” made out of a cigarette…

I have also been going through boxes of letters (remember those?) and cards. It is lovely to read them and remember the relatives and dear friends who took the time to take pen to paper to write. I’m keeping these this go-round.

Also, a lot of snapshots have turned up–such as this classic from Halloween circa 1982.

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I mean, I’m pretty sure it was a Halloween party we were going to, right?

Anyway, you can look forward to more treasures like these in the future.

6 Comments
January 19, 2015

Happy birthday, Mary, Dolly (and Buffy)

by chuckofish

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Readers of this blog may recall that today is the birthday of our dear mother, who was born in 1926, of Dolly Parton, who was born in 1946, and of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who is a fictional character, but whose birthday on January 19th is well-documented.

Therefore it is the occasion of much revelry in this family.

Join us in toasting Mary, Dolly (and Buffy), won’t you? And lest you forget who wrote this song, here’s an appropriate song by Dolly to start your day.

 

 

3 Comments
January 15, 2015

“I’ve seen the promised land.”

by chuckofish

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Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last; Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered as a martyr on the calendar of the Episcopal Church with an annual feast day on the anniversary of his death, April 4, but his birthday is commemorated liturgically today.

King’s oldest daughter Yolanda was a classmate of mine at Smith College. She was a theater major, however, so I don’t think our paths crossed. “In life,” she said, “I had to be prim and proper and poised — the King daughter. But acting, I could be zany, silly, sometimes the foolish person that I am. I could let the rough edges show.” (NYTimes obit, 2007) I get that.

I am reminded today that my son’s poem “Stop the Violence” was awarded 1st place in the MLK poetry contest at his elementary school (or was it the school district?) back (circa) 1994 when he was in the second grade…I wish I had a copy of it to share with you, but it is lost in a dusty pile of memorabilia. I think he was given a medal.

I remember telling my children that Dr. King was a Baptist minister who believed that we are all God’s children. It is a good thing for all of us to keep in mind.

Martin Luther King, Jr. statue over the west entrance of Westminster Abbey, installed in 1998.

7 Comments
January 8, 2015

“Turn out the lights, the party’s over”*

by chuckofish

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Well, we are a week into the new year. Now that my girls have returned to their respective homes in the East, I am going to throw myself body and soul into cleaning, organizing and de-cluttering my  house. (Here’s an article on Purging the Pantry.)

Because daughter #2 wanted me to keep up the tree and all the Christmas decorations for the BF when he visited, I am way behind in putting away all things Christmas. Oy.

But as I say every year, all this cleaning keeps my mind off my personal pity party. How about you? How do you deal with the ‘Mean Reds’?

*Willie Nelson

7 Comments
January 5, 2015

Arise, shine, for your light has come

by chuckofish

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Well, what a two weeks this has been! It has been filled with trees, lights, decorations,

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trips to the airport,

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multiple church services, social events, family,

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friends and guests,

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dance parties, and way too much food and drink.

But I took very few pictures. I will try to do better as I return to my routine. I am a routine person after all. Meanwhile, it is back to school today! Arise, shine–the days are getting longer after all. Thank goodness.

2 Comments