dual personalities

Tag: scripture

January 25, 2024

Your word is a lamp unto my feet*

by chuckofish

Yesterday we were enveloped in a thick fog that was straight out of an old horror film.

(The Wolf Man, 1941)

It brightened up a bit in the afternoon, but not much. There’s rain and more rain on the radar.

Meanwhile my women’s Bible Study starts up again this morning. We are reading the book of Matthew. Since I loaned my softcover NIV to daughter #1 so she would have a smaller tome to carry to her Sunday School class, I had to find something to use for my Bible Study. My ESV Reformation Study Bible is too big to carry around and my chronological Bible is not suitable. So I went searching in my house…I found the RSV Bible that was given to me in 4th grade, which is cheap and kind of falling apart. Check out the inscription:

They used my nickname and spelled it incorrectly! Also, my last name is misspelled! Good grief. I remember at the time, even in the 4th grade, being really chagrined.

I found my mother’s American Standard Version presented to her when she was, like me, 9 years old:

I am not surprised that she received hers in recognition of “excellent work”. I’m sure she took it all very seriously, unlike me, who along with my schoolmates were giggling pains in the neck. I think we actually made our 5th grade Sunday School teacher cry. Mrs. Brinkmeier. I cringe to think of my elementary school depravity.

I found multiple copies of the Book of Common Prayer and a few more Bibles, including this ancient one inscribed to an ancestor, Emmeline Cornwall:

Emmeline too was singled out for her “punctual attendance, good behaviour and attention to her studies at the Sunday School.”

Emmeline’s Bible also includes helpful marginal notes…

“The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language” (Esther 8:9, ESV).

…and a hand stitched bookmark:

We have not forgotten you, Emmeline.

I found my father’s Oxford University Press KJV, which his Mother had given him, hoping for the best.

Finally I unearthed the study Bible I had used in my small group back in the 1990s, borrowed from and, I confess, never returned to my old church. Maybe I will use it, although it may raise some PCA eyebrows .

Well, remember, a Bible is of no use unless you open it.

So open it already!

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

*Psalm 119:105

4 Comments
December 18, 2023

“O Daughter of Zion, shout aloud”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Ours was dark and gloomy and rainy, but full of festive seasonal fun nevertheless.

We went to the Christmas concert Friday night–a packed house of Presbyterians, plus a few random Episcopalians I recognized and even a few Jewish Messiah lovers. I enjoyed it very much, but didn’t get home until 10 p.m.–way past my usual bedtime!

On Saturday I went to the funeral of an old 99-year-old friend at my old church. Shirley was quite the gal–a lifelong Episcopalian, Republican and Cardinals fan who went to spring training in Florida every year. She was also a professional woman who had enjoyed quite a long and successful career. The former rector came from Florida to speak along with the former President Pro Tem of the Missouri State Senate. He told the story of how Shirley was sad when she gave up her season tickets to the Cardinals at age 97, but that she had to admit that watching the games on her daughter’s big screen tv had its benefits–namely being able to see Nolan Arenado, “the most beautiful man ever,” up close and personal.

The service was 100% Rite I, but the interim rector kept lapsing into Rite II. C’est la vie. The lay readers were good, which would have pleased Shirley. She had been one herself for decades. I always felt so validated when she gave me a thumbs up after I read. The church was almost full–which said quite a lot about 99-year-old Shirley–but the singing was weak. Shirley, I daresay, is well out of the Episcopal Church and in heaven now.

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

–Job 19:25-27

After Mr. Smith went to the spa for his shampoo, daughter #1 came over and helped me decorate the tree.

We also watched the 1951 A Christmas Carol–the best version in my not so humble opinion.

This scene always makes me cry: “You’ve made Fred so happy!”

The boy was in Kansas City with his family all weekend, so it was just the OM and I at church and a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Also, I did want to wish a happy birthday to my dual personality. Happy Birthday, sweet sister of mine!

I hope someone is cooking you a nice dinner and that my present arrived in time for you to open it today. I hope you watch a good movie, maybe Captain Blood (1935) or How to Steal a Million (1966). I will be toasting Fizzy Fuzz, Pompey, Pete, and Robert Preston!

Also, this meme made me LOL:

P.S. Many thanks to whoever sent the fruitcake from Texas–there was no card!

*Zechariah 9:9

5 Comments
August 31, 2023

The watered garden

by chuckofish

Mood. Yesterday my electricity went out shortly after I had finished doing my morning Bible reading. “Great,” I thought. “That’s just great.” Because, you know, when your electricity goes out, that means you can’t:

Get your car out of the garage;

do laundry or vacuum;

use the internet;

watch TV or listen to music;

use the dishwasher and a host of other electric appliances–

in fact, you are stuck.

I Swiffered the first floor and watered my plants. Then I started looking at some of my books in the living room (the room with the most natural light)…

and went through the drawers in the highboy.

I found something I had been looking for for some time–my husband’s family history. So that was fortuitous.

Eventually the electricity came back on in about two hours. Turns out, it was a planned outage–but no one told us about the plan. Thanks. But some good did come out of the annoying situation.

My life is like a watered garden.

The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

(Isaiah 58:11)

P.S. Baby Ida (top) kinda has some cousin vibes…

Remember him?

4 Comments
July 25, 2023

“Unless the Lord builds the house,They labor in vain who build it”

by chuckofish

In July we celebrate love 😍 with several anniversaries. Besides my dear DP’s, we remember daughter #2 and DN…

and daughter #3 and the boy.

Daughter #3 and the boy are celebrating their 11th anniversary tomorrow night by going to the St. Louis City soccer game at the new Centene Stadium downtown. The twins are coming over to our house for a first-time-ever sleepover, so keep the OM and me in your prayers. Thankfully, daughter #1 and Mr. Smith will be supporting us in this endeavor. Lottie has already warned me that “You know, I get up very early.” I told her, “Well, you know, I get up pretty early too.” I think we’ll be okay.

Yesterday the boy brought the wee laddie to hang out at my house while Lottie had a play date with her friend Sadie. He put a new battery in the Power Wheels Raptor and gave it some added umph, but not as much as he had hoped.

The bud is not doing wheelies, although he did attempt a Toyko drift…

Enjoy your Wednesday. Rejoice that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

*Psalm 127:1

3 Comments
July 18, 2023

Meanwhile back at the ranch

by chuckofish

We have had more storms and more storms. What started out as a very dry spring, has turned into a very wet summer. Our Florida Room has flooded several times now, but hopefully we have that figured out. Fingers crossed. It has also been a particularly windy year all around. This is beginning to be a familiar sight:

(KMOV photo of damage in Ferguson, MO)

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah (Psalm 46: 1-3)

Meanwhile I am working on getting everything ready to send off to the printer for the next KHS Review. Life goes on between outbursts of bad weather.

This seems really obvious to me, but clearly it is not. “Reading doesn’t begin as an activity your child does by himself. It begins with fathers and mothers. It begins with us reading aloud. We increase our kid’s appetite by narrating books that they enjoy and understand. These books are not the books you would choose to read in your alone time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them together.”

I like stories like this about real people.

And seriously this video made me cry! I agree with the Bee: Thank you for being a man, sir!

So hang in there with me. Glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

4 Comments
May 31, 2023

I contain multitudes

by chuckofish

It is the last day of May and the Christmas Cactus is blooming again!

It is also Walt Whitman’s birthday! We will toast him and all the birthdays we have celebrated in May.

We do not all contain multitudes. Some people, I am told, do not even have/are incapable of having an inner monologue. (This is science.) I toast those who do.

In other news, in reading through the Bible, I have found several references to bears, which I found interesting. I was unaware that there even were bears in the Ancient Middle East. But I guess there were. Here is an interesting article about a difficult passage. Why did God send bears to attack a group of boys?

And here is John Piper on fighting the fears of old age, which, believe me, I am fighting. He never pulls any punches:

Your outward sufficiency is getting smaller, right? You are weakening. Your body is weakening, your eyes are weakening, your ears are weakening, your memory is weakening, and everything is wasting away. That’s what it means in this age to die. We all will die if Jesus doesn’t come, to which we say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

But I believe the promise of 2 Corinthians 9:8 is that every good work that you are expected to do by God, you will have the resources to do it — the mental resources, the physical resources, the affectional resources, the financial resources. If you don’t have the resources to do it, he doesn’t expect you to do it.”

Well, take time to smell the flowers today, consider the cosmos, talk to the “Listener up there!” and have a snack.

4 Comments
May 10, 2023

“Whoever reads, let him understand”

by chuckofish

I am currently reading the book of Matthew in my daily reading. Yesterday I read chapter 24, which is where Jesus tells his disciples about the coming ‘tribulation’. I was interested to see him referencing Daniel in verse 15:

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.“

This is why it is so important to read the Old Testament, and, indeed, the whole Bible. Jesus is referring to Daniel 9:27 and 11:31. The “abomination of desolation” refers to the desecration of the temple.

Jesus goes on to say:

“Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Heavy stuff.

Well, I hope that isn’t too heavy for you on Wednesday. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

And here are some more amazing Iris.

Peonies coming soon!

2 Comments
May 4, 2023

“Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute”*

by chuckofish

On Tuesday when the boy came over for our weekly gabfest, a deer ran across our neighbor’s lawn into another neighbor’s back yard. In the middle of the day! What is with the wildlife around here? Deer, coyotes, foxes, BEARS?!

Speaking of wildlife, a Robin built a nest on our kitchen windowsill.

Later we noticed that there is one solitary blue egg.

I hadn’t seen the Robin in awhile and I was afraid the egg has been abandoned. I could have told the Robin that this is not a good place to build a nest, but would she have listened? I doubt it. Nature is red in tooth and claw and of this we are constantly reminded.

O life as futile, then, as frail!
O for thy voice to soothe and bless!
What hope of answer, or redress?
Behind the veil, behind the veil.

I thought, well, c’est la vie. But then the Robin was back on the nest.

The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.

(Psalm 84:3)

In other news, in a miraculous turn, my English Ivy has come back. It was dead, dead, dead a month ago, as was my neighbor’s ivy. I should have taken a picture if it, but it was too depressing. Don told me to be patient and wait and see, but I really thought some scourge had taken it out. However, in the last two weeks it has greened up and filled in.

Now it needs trimming!

Well, have a good day.

[*You can read all of Tennyson’s very long poem “In Memoriam A.H.H.” here.]

4 Comments
April 13, 2023

Oh Daniel prayed every morning, noon and night

by chuckofish

As you know we are reading the book of Daniel in my women’s Bible study group. I had, of course, read the book before–last year in fact–but I had never really noticed what a treasure trove it is. Daniel is an amazing guy! Angels are frequently showing up in his life, even Gabriel! He tells him: “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.” (Daniel 9:22-23)

“For you are greatly loved.” In the next chapter Daniel is again told by an angel, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” (10: 19)

John Piper says, “I admit that each year when I read through the Bible and come to these verses, I want to take them and apply them to myself. I want to hear God saying to me, ‘You are greatly loved.’” He says we do hear it. But, wow, Daniel.

From the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, Daniel kept the faith. He shunned the depraved culture in which he was forced to live. And as he continued to surrender to God, Daniel rose to great prominence in the palace of the king. Even King Nebuchadnezzar turned to Daniel for counsel. So did King Darius. He reminds me a lot of Joseph and his rise to prominence in Egypt. There is a lesson here, of course.

Part of that lesson is that Daniel prayed. A lot. And his prayer is refreshingly straightforward. Right before the angel Gabriel appears, Daniel prays:

O Lord, hear!

O Lord, forgive!

O Lord, listen and act!

I like his direct approach. And I like Patty and Ricky’s version of this Gospel classic.

Oh Daniel served his living God
While upon the earth he trod
He prayed to God each morning, noon and night
He cared not for the king's decrees
But trusted God to set him free
Oh Daniel prayed every morning, noon and night
--Ralph Stanley
5 Comments
February 23, 2023

A spirit of power and of love and self-control

by chuckofish

Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes.

–William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale (1610–11) act 4, sc. 3, l. 121

Yes, the big storm missed us. It just rained and then the sun came out. No big deal.

Tomorrow I do have a Big Deal–an Event to attend back at my flyover university. It is the kind that makes me very nervous, so pray for me. People always think I am so calm, cool and collected, but little do they know. I will be inwardly reciting my mantra: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

Plus, I don’t even know what I’m wearing.

But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

–Lamentations 3:21-23
4 Comments