Yesterday morning I was Face-timing with daughter #2 when Ida burst into song–a rousing rendition of the chorus to “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand”. I am bound, I am bound, I am bound for the Promised Land! They sing it in her church, as do we in ours. It is nice to know this hymn, written in 1787 by an English Baptist minister, is still so popular! (Fun fact: It was also one of the most popular hymns sung by soldiers in the American Civil War.)
We sing the Getty version (minus the worship band):
I wonder what Ida would think of this Hank Williams variation on that old hymn?
…or Johnny Cash?
I bet she would like it. When I was her age (3) I loved Johnny’s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”–we had the 45 record. We are on the same page, Ida and I.
Well, those are my hymn notes for the day.
Have a good weekend! Sunday is the birthday of Kevin James (b. 1965) so I suggest watching one of his movies, such as Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) or Here Comes the Boom (2012). I admit, they’re faves of mine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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!”
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.
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…”
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.
dual personalities 