dual personalities

Tag: hymns

November 4, 2025

My times are in your hand*

by chuckofish

The maple tree leaves have turned in our neck of the woods, but the oak trees are just starting. We had a serious drought and there are consequences.

Leaf blowers have not really started yet–it will no doubt be a noisy Advent. C’est la vie.

This is a good explanation of why the leaves turn in the fall and “the colors of autumn fill the earth with a special beauty that reflects the artistry and creative power of God” from the John 10:10 Project.

And one last…

Here’s good news: In celebration of his birth centennial, TCM will honor Rock Hudson with a month-long tribute every Tuesday in November. He’s the Star of the Month! So check out the schedule on Tuesday nights.

Today we also celebrate the birth of Augustus Montague Toplady, Anglican cleric and hymn writer, in 1740. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn Rock of Ages, which we sing quite frequently at my church.

(He was as handsome as Rock Hudson!)

Toplady, we are told, underwent a religious awakening in August 1755. In his own diary, he wrote “I was awakened in the month of August, 1755, but not, as has been falsely reported, under Mr. John Wesley, or any preacher connected with him. Thought awakened in 1755. I was not led into a full and clear view of all the doctrines of grace, till the year 1758, when, through the great goodness of God, my Arminian prejudices received an effectual shock, in reading Dr. Manton’s Sermons on the 17th of St. John”. A man after my own heart.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

Have a good Tuesday!

*Psalm 31:15

4 Comments
August 7, 2025

Thursday reflections

by chuckofish

Today we remember John Mason Neale (1818-1866), Anglican hymn writer, who is remembered on the Anglican and Episcopal Church calendars today. He wrote some really good hymns, including one of my favorites, Jerusalem the Golden:

Jerusalem the golden!
With milk and honey blest;
Beneath your contemplation
Sink heart and voice opprest.
I know not, oh! I know not,
What joys await us there,
What radiancy of glory,
What bliss beyond compare.

This is an interesting article about the time a famous photographer came to St. Louis in the summer of 1926 and took pictures. St. Louis hasn’t changed all that much and neither has the weather.

Also this video about spiders from the John 10:10 Project is fascinating.

My grandchildren are all horrified by spiders, but I tell them that most of them are our friends and help keep down the insect population. Their webs are amazing!

In other news, I continue to check things off my to-do list, including selling the OM’s car. 🎉🎉🎉 This is a load off my heavily laden mind.

“Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” (Gen. 35:3)

Stop and reflect, our faith is strengthened by the difficult things God has brought us through. Trust God in the present as well as for the future. 

1 Comment
March 18, 2025

And also with you!

by chuckofish

This made me chuckle. If you go to an evangelical church you will understand this. The boy and the bud are definitely Village People during the Benediction. I am Hold My Baby (moving tentatively to Mufasa). Lottie is somewhere in there with me. The OM is hesitating between Elbow Flap and Carry the TV.

Feel the joy–go to church.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

–Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

2 Comments
July 8, 2024

Let all who take refuge in you rejoice

by chuckofish

We had a busy four-day weekend with way more socializing than we are used to. It was nice to get to church on Sunday and focus on the steadfast love of the Lord.

Be this, while life is mine,
My song of love divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song
Through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

    Have a good week! I will be getting my house ready for daughter #2 and her family who are coming for a wee visit on Friday.

    Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

    –BCP

    3 Comments
    October 17, 2022

    Leaning on the everlasting arms

    by chuckofish

    Recently I read in Psalm 102:

    I lie awake,

    and am like a sparrow on the housetop.

    –Ps 102:7

    I don’t know about you, but that perfectly describes how I feel on many a night. Usually I relate to my friends the hawks and owls, but not at night, alone and awake. I am a sparrow.

    Then in church yesterday we sang this old-time hymn written by Elisha A. Hoffman in 1887 and I was reminded what we have as Christians:

    1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms;
      What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms.
      • Refrain:
        Leaning, leaning,
        Safe and secure from all alarms;
        Leaning, leaning,
        Leaning on the everlasting arms.
    2. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms;
      Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms.
    3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms?
      I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
      Leaning on the everlasting arms.

    Take heart, brothers and sisters! We do not have to go it alone. Again I say, go to church and be reminded.

    After church…

    …the boy and the wee twins came over for Presbyterian soufflé and other assorted goodies. The twins were introduced to Spicettes, a candy which literally blew their minds. It was a beautiful day so we also sat outside after brunch…

    Who knew knee socks are a thing again…with ruffles!

    Then we went back inside to get cleaned up after extended playtime which included much throwing of themselves bodily down the hill, chasing the new dog who lives across the street, and playing the fun game of pretending the Raptor has broken down and calling Triple A for a tow truck. (“Ma’am, I need a new battery.”)

    I’m sure they slept well. And me too. I know I have a blessed peace with my Lord so near, Leaning on the everlasting arms.

    Have a good Monday.

    4 Comments
    May 23, 2022

    “Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight, robed in the blooming garb of spring”*

    by chuckofish

    Well, on last Thursday night we had quite a thunderstorm, which actually was a EF0 tornado two blocks away. I’m not kidding. I was standing in the front door watching when the straight line wind came through (80 mph!) but it didn’t seem like a really big deal or anything.

    But I guess it was.

    (photo from KSDK.com)

    On Saturday morning the OM and I went to my friend Nicki’s memorial service which had been postponed since January. We had to drive there in a thunderous gulley-washer, arriving, like everyone else, rather wet and bedraggled from the hike from our car. (This church–with the largest Episcopal congregation in the diocese–has no parking lot and you have to find parking spots on a residential street the best you can–zut alors!)

    As you know, I have always loved the Episcopal Burial Office, Rite I, especially the procession–

    I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord;
    he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
    and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

    I know that my Redeemer liveth,
    and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;
    and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God;
    whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold,
    and not as a stranger.

    For none of us liveth to himself,
    and no man dieth to himself.
    For if we live, we live unto the Lord.
    and if we die, we die unto the Lord.
    Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

    Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
    even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors.

    The semi-professional choir (wearing masks) sang it, however, as they did the psalms, and so it seemed like a theater production. This is how they like it at this church. So be it.

    We skipped the reception at the St. Louis Country Club and came home so we could go to the high school graduation party of our neighbor across the street. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this cute boy because he reminds me of DN. He is going to Montana State so he can hike and fish and ski. I said, you know you have to go to class too, right? He chuckled. But really. Why do people go to college nowadays? Anyway, it was a lot of socializing for one day. I watched the PGA tournament thereafter.

    On Sunday it was good to be back in our own church alongside the wee babes. We had brunch afterwards and then they all went home and the weekend wound down.

    Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
    Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
    Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
    High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

    Hymn #642

    P.S. This was cool about a unique Cardinals-Giants baseball game played last week. “We tend to think of life as a game to be won rather than a game to be enjoyed. We feel the pressure to determine the outcome. But what if we already know the outcome? We no longer need to worry about whether we will win or lose because those of us who are in Christ have both lost and won. Because he died and now lives, we have also died with him, and we will live with him (2 Tim 2:11). So if that’s the case, what do we have to lose?”

    I am glad to see that Paul Zahl is back with his recommendations for TCM films to watch in June. “The Hoodlum Priest is the kind of movie that was popular and successful when it came out, but the critical “establishment” would like it to stay in a memory hole forever. Please don’t let that happen. Stay up and watch The Hoodlum Priest on June the 11th!”

    Have a good week!

    *Hymn #170, Munster Gesangbuch, 1677

    6 Comments
    March 16, 2017

    It is well with my soul

    by chuckofish

    Here is a very popular song playing on Christian radio these days:

    I admit it always makes me tear up. Every time.

    Christian songwriters these days frequently lift lines right from older hymns or, as in this song, reference other songs: “Give me the strength/To be able to sing/It is well with my soul”.

    You will recall that “It Is Well With My Soul” is a well known hymn penned by Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bass which was first published in Gospel Songs No. 2 by Sankey and Bliss (1876). Everyone from Tennessee Ernie Ford and Mahalia Jackson to Dwight Yoakam and Jars of Clay have recorded it. The Georgia Southern University marching band Southern Pride even plays the song at the end of each win.

    I think that’s interesting, but, then, that’s how my mind works.

    Nicely done, Dwight. Have a good day. Here’s hoping it is well with your soul.

    4 Comments
    April 18, 2016

    With hearts aflame*

    by chuckofish

    It was a lovely flyover weekend with temperatures here near 80 degrees on Sunday.

    IMG_1795

    I worked hard outside on Saturday spreading mulch and my back hurt on Sunday so I slowed down some. I planted geraniums in pots.

    FullSizeRenderThe boy came over on Saturday night because he was “batching  it”–we watched our all-time favorite episodes of Miami Vice:

    “Out Where the Buses Don’t Run” (season 2, episode 3)

    buses

    with Bruce McGill as Hank Weldon

    and “El Viejo” (season 3, episode 7)

    El Viejo Willie Nelson

    with Willie Nelson as Jake Pierson

    They never disappoint. We are huge nerds, I know, but we amuse ourselves.

    In church we sang one of my favorite hymns which always makes me cry.

    And it did.

    I leave you with the third verse:

    The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days;

    oh, may thy house be mine abode and all my work be praise.

    There would I find a settled rest, while others go and come;

    no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home.

    (Isaac Watts)

    Have a good week.

    *Hymn #478, Jesus, our  mighty Lord, our strength in sadness

    8 Comments
    May 7, 2013

    Now with gladness

    by chuckofish

    I read the second lesson in church on Sunday. It was a great passage from the Book of Revelation, the one that starts out “I saw no temple in the city, for the temple is the Lord God Almighty…”

    BritLibAddMS35166ApocalypseFolio003rAngelApeardToJohn

    Here is paradise! The hymns reflected this nicely. We sang #620, “Jerusalem, My Happy Home” and #621, “Lights’ Abode, Celestial Salem”.

    The sermon, no surprise, did not address the holy city, but was about “Friends”. The preacher vaguely connected this to the Gospel, but it was a stretch.

    I can’t help wondering if some ministers do not want to talk about resurrection and heaven, because they do not really believe in it. It certainly makes them very uncomfortable. Partly I think this is because they enjoy their life here and now too much. They certainly don’t buy into the idea put forth so well in hymn #621:

    Now with gladness, now with courage,
    bear the burden on thee laid,
    that hereafter these thy labors
    may with endless gifts be paid,
    and in everlasting glory
    thou with brightness be arrayed.

    But what did old Thomas á Kempis know? Or for that matter, the Victorian (J. M. Neale) who translated it?

    Well, who am I to say? It just got me thinking, you know? And Lord knows I have to think about something during those long sermons about #friendship.

    2 Comments
    March 15, 2013

    Rock of ages

    by chuckofish

    5StPeterLadue

    Yesterday I went to a “Service of Thanksgiving” for the life of the father of a friend of mine who died the day after his 95th birthday. The funeral was at the church we went to together when I was growing up. They stayed; we left. I have been a member of two churches since, but I am seriously considering going back. I like the plain windows that let the sunshine in and the total lack of iconography.

    Anyway, this man had an amazing life. According to his obit in the paper, he was president of his senior class and “the lead in several high school musicals”. He graduated from college in 1939 (!) and then spent 5 years in the U.S. Army during WWII. He finished the war as a Major, having taken part in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. He had a very successful career and served as the president of his country club and on the vestry of his church (where he was a member for over 60 years), as well as on multiple boards.

    I knew him as a cheerful, kind man, who always knew my name. He was an authority figure who knew his duty. He took care of his family, was present, but not overly involved. His children were all devoted to him.

    Best friends in third grade--1965--I was giggling in this picture as I usually was when in her company.

    Best friends in third grade–1965–I was giggling in this picture as I usually was when in her company.

    His wife, of course, did not work. She kept the home fires burning. Their house was impeccable and so was she. She still is!

    Times have changed. It’s a different world. Maybe it’s better, maybe not. I can’t help wondering who is going to take the place of men like this. I knew lots of men like him back in the day. I miss them.

    P.S. The funeral was your basic Episcopal memorial service (sans communion). Included were excellent scripture choices (KJV) and good hymns, although the organist charged through them like he was in a hurry. But oh well.

    I sing a song of the saints of God,
    Patient and brave and true,
    Who toiled and fought and lived and died
    For the Lord they loved and knew.
    And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
    And one was a shepherdess on the green;
    They were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
    God helping, to be one too.

    They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
    And his love made them strong;
    And they followed the right for Jesus’ sake
    The whole of their good lives long.
    And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
    And one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
    And there’s not any reason, no, not the least,
    Why I shouldn’t be one too.

    They lived not only in ages past,
    There are hundreds of thousands still.
    The world is bright with the joyous saints
    Who love to do Jesus’ will.
    You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
    In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;
    For the saints of God are just folk like me,
    And I mean to be one too.

    5 Comments