dual personalities

Tag: quotes

November 4, 2014

An attitude of gratitude

by chuckofish

givethanks

It being November again (!) it seems liked a good time to talk about thankfulness. “Nothing,” says Billy Graham “turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness.”

I have been re-reading Jan Karon’s seventh Mitford book In This Mountain and this is one of her main themes. Toward the end of the book, Father Tim preaches on this very subject (and I Thessalonians 5:18).

I admit to you that although I often thank God for my blessings, even the smallest, I haven’t thanked Him for my afflictions.

I know the fifth chapter of First Thessalonians pretty well, yet it just hadn’t occurred to me to actually take Him up on this notion. I’ve been too busy begging Him to lead me out of the valley and onto the mountaintop. After all, I have work to do, I have things to accomplish…alas, I am the White Rabbit everlastingly running down the hole like the rest of the common horde.

I want to tell you that I started thanking Him last night–this morning at two o’clock, to be precise–for something that grieves me deeply. And I’m committed to continue thanking Him in this hard thing, no matter how desperate it might become, and I’m going to begin looking for good in it. Whether God caused it or permitted it, we can rest assured–there is great good in it.

So no matter what happens to us, no matter how difficult our situation or how much our friends disappoint us, no matter how alone we feel–we must never forget that God is with us. No matter what happens, God has promised that He will be with us in whatever tribulation or trial that comes. God will not waste this experience. He doesn’t waste anything. And so we are thankful for everything. We try to be anyway.

Nobody said it would be easy, right?

 

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October 30, 2014

“Everything passes, only the truth remains.”*

by chuckofish

According to some sources, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born on this day in 1821.

Dostoevsky

Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher, Dostoyevsky was also, Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “a God-possessed man if ever there was one, as is clear in everything he wrote and in every character he created.”

“What’s mystery? Everything’s mystery, my friend, everything is God’s mystery. There’s mystery in every tree, in every blade of grass. When a little bird sings or all those many, many stars shine in the sky at night–it’s all mystery, the same one. But the greatest mystery is what awaits man’s soul in the world beyond, and that’s the truth, my boy….

…No, my friend, you’ve got me wrong; I’ve always respected science since I was a boy and, although I can’t understand it myself, that’s all right: science may be beyond my ken, but it is within the ken of other men. And it’s best that way because then everyone has what comes to him, and not everyone is made to understand science…”

–Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Adolescent

Fyodor and I are on the same page.

I have read Crime and Punishment and a wonderful book of excerpts edited by the Bruderhof, The Gospel in Dostoyevsky. I think it is time for me to tackle The Brothers Karamazov this winter. I have read parts, but never the whole thing.

So a toast to the great Dostoyevsky! Поехали! (Let’s get started!)

* Father Zossima in The Brothers Karamazov 

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October 28, 2014

“In silence the three of them looked at the sunset and thought about God.”*

by chuckofish

trees

This is one of the trees in my front yard. These last few days of Indian Summer have really reminded me of Maxfield Parrish paintings–especially the light at the end of the day when the setting sun reflects so beautifully off of the orange leaves.

Maxfield Parrish (2)

Maxfield-Parrish-Girl-wit1

MAXFIELD-PARRISH-OLD-WHITE-BIRCH

maxfield-parrish-riverbank-in-autumnKnow what I mean?

If you haven’t noticed, be sure to look this evening.

*Maude Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib

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October 21, 2014

In Xanadu

by chuckofish

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a leader of the British Romantic movement and famous opium addict, was born on this day in 1772, in Devonshire, England.

In honor of his birthday, here is one of his famous poems to read aloud.

xanadtaipeinationalmuseum46

Kubla Khan Or a Vision in a Dream. A Fragment

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

 

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure

Floated midway on the waves;

Where was heard the mingled measure

From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

 

A damsel with a dulcimer

In a vision once I saw:

It was an Abyssinian maid

And on her dulcimer she played,

Singing of Mount Abora.

Could I revive within me

Her symphony and song,

To such a deep delight ’twould win me,

That with music loud and long,

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

If you prefer, here is the great Sir Ralph Richardson reciting the poem: 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjn7vh_samuel-taylor-coleridge-kubla-khan-ralph-richardson_creation
3 Comments
October 15, 2014

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows

by chuckofish

"The Tree of Life", 1909, Gustav Klimt

“The Tree of Life”, 1909, Gustav Klimt

Yesterday was the birthday of e.e. cummings, the poet, essayist, author,  playwright, and Unitarian (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962). So I thought I’d share this famous poem of his which I like very much.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                                      i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

If you want to read more about Cummings, here’s an interesting article  by Susan Cheever.

4 Comments
October 14, 2014

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”

by chuckofish

Mottisfont - Winnie the Pooh, -® The E.H.Shepard Trust reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group

On this day in 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne was published in England.

As I have mentioned before, our pater was a big fan of Winnie-the-Pooh, and, therefore, so were we. No one read A.A. Milne’s stories and poems better than our father. This ability was one of his most endearing qualities.

So in honor of old A.A. Milne, maybe we should put on our Big Boots and have an adventure! But first we need some of these I guess.

Side note: It has been raining cats and dogs here for days on end. Big Boots have been on my mind.

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October 13, 2014

“I can’t look at everything hard enough.”*

by chuckofish

Field of Lilies, Louis Comfort Tiffany

“Field of Lilies”, Louis Comfort Tiffany

Last week I watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir  (1947) and cried through much of it. Then this weekend I watched Our Town (1940) and wept through the entire third act.  I must say that much of this was due to the great musical scores of both films, by Bernard Hermann and Aaron Copland, respectively, but still. They even changed the end of Our Town! (Spoiler alert) Emily doesn’t die! They softened up the hard ending of the play, but it was still effective.

Then I finished Jan Karon’s Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good and got a little weepy. It is not a sad book at all, but it reminds us all to rejoice and be glad and you know that that can make me tear up.

Then we sang hymn #624 in church–“Jerusalem the Golden”–and I was done (or undone as the case may be).

Well, you know what Frederick Buechner says about tears:

You never know what may cause them. The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. A pair of somebody’s old shoes can do it. Almost any movie made before the great sadness that came over the world after the Second World War, a horse cantering across a meadow, the high school basketball team running out onto the gym floor at the start of a game. You can never be sure. But of this you can be sure. Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay close attention.

They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go next.

(Whistling in the Dark)

So keep your eyes and your heart open as you go forth into the world this week. Thanks be to God.

*Emily in “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder

2 Comments
October 7, 2014

The Era of the Wild Apple

by chuckofish

In the Orchard by Winslow Homer

“In the Orchard” by Winslow Homer

“To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of these October fruits, it is necessary that you be breathing the sharp October or November air. What is sour in the house a bracing walk makes sweet. Some of these apples might be labeled, “To be eaten in the wind.” It takes a savage or wild taste to appreciate a wild fruit. . . The era of the Wild Apple will soon be past. It is a fruit which will probably become extinct in New England. I fear that he who walks over these fields a century hence will not know the pleasure of knocking off wild apples. Ah, poor soul, there are many pleasures which you will not know! . . . the end of it all will be that we shall be compelled to look for our apples in a barrel.”

– Henry David Thoreau

How right you are, Henry!

Claude Monet, 1878 "Apple Trees in Bloom at Vetheuil"

Claude Monet, 1878 “Apple Trees in Bloom at Vetheuil”

Winslow Homer "Green Apples"

Winslow Homer “Green Apples”

Well, it is apple season and, although I can’t pick them wild off a tree, I do buy some pretty good ones at my local Dierberg’s. And you know what they say about an apple a day, right?

4 Comments
October 2, 2014

Words of wisdom

by chuckofish

groucho-marx_1947633c

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”

–Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By and About Groucho Marx

Today is the birthday of Julius Henry Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977)–American comedian and film and television star.

An early photo of the Marx brothers with their parents in New York City, 1915. From left to right: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchie (father), Chico, and Harpo.

An early photo of the Marx brothers with their parents in New York City, 1915. From left to right: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchie (father), Chico, and Harpo.

So stop taking yourself so seriously, at least for today! A toast to Groucho and his brothers–L’chaim!

Please note that it is also the birthday of Graham Greene–but it was much too depressing looking for a quote from him! I am not a great fan of his novels, but some of the movies based on his novels or for which he wrote the screenplays–such as The Third Man (1949) and This Gun For Hire (1942)–are pretty darn good. So another toast, barkeep–for Graham Greene!

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September 26, 2014

“You gotta hear this one song. It’ll change your life I swear.”*

by chuckofish

I received my Williams College Alumni magazine yesterday. I love reading the class notes of the really old classes. Thurston So-N-So, class secretary for the class of 1940-something, had polled his classmates on the question “What is your favorite song?” Then he wrote about the answers. Several of the guys said “The Star Spangled Banner”. Others mentioned songs from the Big Band era that had been personally important to them. Still others said that Williams songs such as “The Mountains” and “Yard By Yard” were their favorites. Thurston promised to continue this conversation in the next issue.

Anyway, it brings up a good question. Do you have a favorite song? I could not possibly name ONE. There are so many categories! There are so many great songs! The mind reels.

We grew up listening to such a wide range of music–from classical to folk to show tunes–and now it is all a big jumble in my poor over-burdened mind. I mean, I remember spending countless recess periods in third grade walking hand-in-hand with my best friend Nancy singing “Edelweiss” out loud. We just loved it. And, no, I do not remember anyone making fun of us for doing this. But I can’t say it is my favorite song anymore.

Likewise I remember loving “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” by Johnny Cash when I heard it on television as an impressionable 4-year old. I’m sure I listened to the 45 my mother bought incessantly. But, again, it is not my favorite song of all time.

What is it about a song that makes it your favorite? Is it a song you can hear over and over and never tire of? Do you hear the first note and think, “Ah. Yes.”? Does it evoke an emotional response? Does it express perfectly how you feel?

Well, here are a few songs that qualify for me:

1. “Moon River” by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini

 

2. “Positively 4th Street” by Bob Dylan (unfortunately this video is not Bob D. singing, but it is the best one I could find. You get the idea)

 

3. “Mack the Knife” by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht

 

4. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams

 

5. “Man In Black” by John R. Cash

 

Do you have a favorite song?

Of course, this leads to my Friday Movie Pick. How about one of these movies with ‘song’ in the title? Song of the South (1946), Brian’s Song (1971), Song of the Thin Man (1947), The Song of Bernadette (1943), Torch Song (1953). I’m sure there are lots more, right?

 

Have a great weekend!

 

*Sam in Garden State (2004) talking about the Shins.

4 Comments