Even as the giant decorative skeletons crop up around town, I am reminded that I better get going on my Christmas shopping! Also we have multiple birthdays coming up in November/December/January, and have I mentioned, a new baby due in early December! Yes, daughter #2 is expecting baby #3. We are all pretty excited about it. The end of the year is always busy, but it will be even more so this year.
Meanwhile I am busy with my continuing home organization projects, bible study homework and the next edition of the Historical Review. My wonderful 89-year old co-editor stepped in for me over the summer, but I am back and have the reins in hand.
This is an interesting article about how “with poignant wisdom and gentle wit, Charles M. Schulz reinvented the form and introduced the nation to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and so many more indelible characters.”
This is good advice: Forget Not His Faithfulness–“Telling and retelling our stories of God’s faithfulness guards our hearts against forgetfulness, and hearing those stories is one of the ways God builds faith in little hearts.”
And here are a couple of photos I found in my archaeological dig in the basement:
BSA Boundary Waters canoe trip circa 2000. It nearly killed the OM but he did it (and so did the boy)!
Today we celebrate the birth of Charles Monroe “Sparky” Schulz (1922-2000), cartoonist and creator of Peanuts. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists in history, and cited by many cartoonists as a major influence. I, of course, have been a fan since the mid-1960s.
Funnily enough, as I get older, I look more and more like Linus…
Linus has always been the character I relate to most (not Lucy as my siblings would argue). There is certainly someone for everyone to relate to in this great classic comic strip. To whom do you relate most?
We also remember that in 1789 George Washington recommended that November 26 be “devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”
Well said, President Washington!
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. It has been observed on the fourth Thursday in November since 1942.
Meanwhile I am busy readying my house for precious visitors arriving tomorrow. Thankful for good times ahead and praying for travel mercies tomorrow!
My week is off to a quiet start and that is okay with me. I don’t have much going on besides having to do my homework for my Bible Study which starts anew on Thursday.
This week I will also be reading works by Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine writer, poet and philosopher, whose birthday we celebrate on August 24. Here is a snippet from an interview with William F. Buckley where he speaks about the English language…
I could listen to him talk for hours.
Meanwhile Don’s dahlias are beautiful…
As a member of the Asteraceae family, the dahlia has a flower head that is actually a composite with both central disc florets and surrounding ray florets. Each floret is a flower in its own right, according to Don, but is often incorrectly described as a petal. God’s amazing creation!
I guess things went well on the first day of school…
And here’s a fun fact to know and share: In 1954, Charles Schulz introduced Charlotte Braun to the Charlie Brown cast as a loud-mouthed female character (a role Lucy would later inherit). Readers disliked Charlotte, and she disappeared a few months later after only about 10 times in the strip.
I have a feeling Charlotte may have hit too close to home for some people (loud-mouthed females). But she’d fit right in now…
How was your weekend? We had beautiful weather–temps in the 70s and 80s–unheard of for August! We tried to optimize time spent outside by going to the winery and also enjoying the first driveway sittin’ in a long time.
Friday evening daughter #1 and I went to church to hear Abram Van Engen talk about his new book on reading poetry.
I enjoyed it very much and am also enjoying reading his book. But then, I enjoy reading poetry. Van Engen contends that poets do what God instructed Adam to do–name creation (Genesis 2:19-20). And when you think about it, that is what poets do–they point things out, they draw our attention to things. I think of Billy Collins’ poem “Litany”:
You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker, and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard, the plums on the counter, or the house of cards. And you are certainly not the pine-scented air. There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge, maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head, but you are not even close to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show that you are neither the boots in the corner nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know, speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world, that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star, the evening paper blowing down an alley and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees and the blind woman’s tea cup. But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife. You are still the bread and the knife. You will always be the bread and the knife, not to mention the crystal goblet and—somehow—the wine.
and anything, of course, by Walt Whitman…
After working in the basement for awhile on Saturday morning, we went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro and sat and listened to music and people-watched and drank wine in the sunshine. That is the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday we went to church. Unbeknowst to us (and everyone else) the man teaching our Sunday School class was sick and so they moved the Children’s Sunday School teacher training into our room, so we ended up attending the training class! It was interesting, but I do not plan to volunteer for that particular ministry.
After church I had lunch with my two best friends and later the boy and his family came over for some Sunday driveway sittin’. No one took any pictures except this one of Lottie with Mr. Smith.
We barbecued hotdogs and ate chips ‘n dip and watermelon, which everyone enjoyed. My philosophy is keep it simple.
Like baby Ida, it is taking me some time to recover from my busy weekend.
This week I will be catching up on a lot of things and working on an article for the Kirkwood Review. Besides the usual laundry and tidying up, I have quite a bit of Bible reading to catch up on. In my chronological Bible I am still in I Kings/I Chronicles and Psalms. I can’t help chuckling that I am such a movie nerd that when I read the verses Psalm 46: 10-11, I heard the voices of the Colour Sergeant and the missionary in a famous scene from Zulu (1964)!
I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
I’m sure some of you can relate.
Here’s a good reminder that you do not need to be perfect for God to use you. And as the line from my favorite hymn says, “if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.”
And by the way, I volunteered to do VBS again this year, so I am preparing myself mentally for some good times to come in two weeks.
Onward and upward.
*I’m trying to appreciate this along with Walt Whitman (Miracles)–as our cicada invasion continues…
“I dare not neglect prayer and thanksgiving if I am to enjoy God’s transcendent peace and overcome my worries. I must abhor thankless bitterness and eschew sulkiness. My worries must be enumerated before the Father, along with thoughtful requests framed in accordance with his will. These requests must be offered to the accompaniment of sincere gratitude for the many undeserved blessings already received, and for the privilege of stretching my faith by exposure to this new and improved hardship. Thus the follower of Jesus learns really to trust the all-wise and all-gracious sovereignty of God (Rom. 8:28), as he begins to experience the profundity of Peter’s injunction: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6f.), (D.A. Carson).
Anne reviewed Kevin DeYoung’s new book in Christianity Today. Five stars!
And, wow, this is really something. “[T]hese two people are in a lot of trouble.”
So feel the sun on your back, wear pink pants, pray without ceasing, and remember that God’s mercies are new every morning.
How was your weekend? I hope it was peaceful and quiet. I spent the weekend getting ready for a houseful of visitors this week. Daughter #1 arrived yesterday and daughter #2 arrives today with DN and Katie. We are ready for some super fun. Unfortunately, everyone has some form of this dread cold (including the boy’s family) and so we will be coughing a lot while having super fun.
C’est la vie.
If only it was that easy.
Have a good week. Keep your focus on the rock of our salvation!
For wherever the soul of man may turn, unless it turns to you, it clasps sorrow to itself…Why do you still choose to travel by this hard and arduous path? There is no rest to be found where you seek it. In the land of death you try to find a happy life: it is not there. How can life be happy where there is no life at all?
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
Romans 5: 1-5
Take a deep breath. This is the day which the Lord hath made. Happy Tuesday.
Yes, today I am back at work–still at home of course–but doing my thing remotely.
The gospel lesson yesterday was the loaves and fishes story in Matthew 14:13-21, a straightforward telling of one of Jesus’ miracles.
(I have been to this site near the Sea of Galilee where the loaves and fishes episode took place. I have the magnet to prove it.)
Five thousand fed and baskets of leftovers–all from five loaves of bread and two fish. There will always be enough if we share with our neighbors as Jesus commands us. Remember, Bunyan’s rhyme is true spiritually as well as providentially:
“There was a man and some did count him mad, The more he gave away the more he had.”
Here’s a sermon on the topic from Charles Spurgeon.
In other news, not much has happened on the homefront. We’ve had a lot of rainy days and so I haven’t ventured outside much and I haven’t seen the wee babes in weeks except for a brief visit when they dropped off my belated Mother’s Day present.
Thanks, guys!
I finally ‘drove my Cooper’ after three weeks of not in order to go to Michael’s for a curbside pickup. It was easy-peasy. We also took a drive to Lone Elk Park for something to do, but never saw a single bison. Ho hum. Par for the course.
FYI August is always “Summer Under the Stars” month at TCM, so there are lots of good movies to DVR this month. Olivia de Haviland has her day on August 23.
Try to enjoy your Monday.
*It’s home from work we go…(Frank Churchill and Larry Morey) The expression “heigh-ho” was first recorded in 1553 and is defined as an expression of “yawning, sighing, languor, weariness, disappointment”.
Well, I have had a busy week! I even gave a talk to 150 people and lived through it. “I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,” wrote Paul to the Corinthians. “And my speech and my proclamation were not in words of wisdom.” This is always how I feel, but according to people in attendance, I did not embarrass myself.
I also went to an event after work for a friend who is running for City Council. Another thing I haven’t done in a long time–go out after work!
Later today, after work, the OM and I are taking the River Runner Amtrak train to Jefferson City.
We’ll stay with daughter #1 and come home on the train on Saturday evening. Wild and crazy I know!
On Sunday I hope the wee babes will come over with their parents for an old-fashioned Valentine’s Day party like the ones daughter #2 alluded to in her post yesterday.
The wee babes have been wearing Valentine outfits all week.
Lottie is one of only a couple of girls in a class full of boys, so odds are she will make out like a bandit in the Valentine lottery.
The wee laddie has a coterie of older girls (5 year olds!) who follow him around and tell him he’s cute. They can’t keep their hands off him. The acorn didn’t fall too far from the tree…
Love is in the air.
Anyway, have a good weekend! Watch a good romantic movie!
dive for dreams
or a slogan may topple you
(trees are their roots
and wind is wind)
trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)
honor the past
but welcome the future
(and dance your death
away at this wedding)
never mind a world
with its villains or heroes
(for god likes girls
and tomorrow and the earth)
–e.e. cummings
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:7-10)
We’ll stay with daughter #1 and come home on the train on Saturday evening. Wild and crazy I know!
dual personalities 