Words 7.27

Words Twice a Week

Liturgical days

July 28 The church remembers JSBach, GFHandel, and HPurcell on July 28. Bach and AVivaldi both died on this day in 1750 and 1741, respectively.  W Paul Jones writes [Bach] was not widely known in his day and largely forgotten after his death. His rediscovery occurred in the nineteenth century, when Felix Mendelssohn became his special advocate.

July 30 The church remembers William Wilburforce  He was a British politician, a leader in the fight to abolish slavery and reform prisons.

August 1 Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathia – the Wikipedea page notes that there is no known location named Arimathia. [I never knew that.] W Paul Jones [again] concludes his paragraph with Joseph placed Jesus in a tomb he had prepared for himself. I find that touching and thought-provoking. It reminds me of St Patrick ‘placing the power and grace of God between himself and the power of darkness.’  Joseph was placing Jesus between himself and the power of death.

Historical -

Buggs Bunny made his debut on July 27, 1940  What's up, Doc?

Vincent Van Gogh died on July 29, 1890. [He had shot himself 2 days earlier.] He sold only one painting during his lifetime. Now he has a whole museum just for himself. He wrote Let us go forward quietly, forever making for the light, and lifting up our hearts in the knowledge that we are as others are (and that others are as we are), and that it is right to love one another in the best possible way – believing all things, hoping for all things, and enduring all things.…And let us not be too troubled by our weaknesses, for even he who has none, has one weakness, namely that he thinks he has none, and anyone who believes himself to be so perfect or wise would do well to become foolish all over again.

Also on July 29, Tolkien published The Fellowship of the Ring. 

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep  

   your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost."

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

JKRowling was born on July 31; Antoine de Saint Euxpery [The Little Prince] died.  Quick now, is it a hat or a snake that swallowed an elephant?

This is part of a prayer by Derek Webber, sent out by Discipleship Ministries as part of their anti racism effort -

We have seen ourselves as a light on a hill, O God of the ages;

  we have believed ourselves to be

  the shining example of all that is good in the world.

But lately our light has been dim,

and our good has been muddied by a hidden hate we try to deny.

  We can’t help but wonder how the world sees us now,

  We who have held a banner for rights and for equality,

  We who have pointed fingers at those who abuse others,

  We who have condemned acts of injustice in other lands,

How shines our light now?

Yet, despite our failings, our brokenness and our sin,

  you still call us, each of us and all of us,

  to be the light of the world.

Help us, now especially;

  help us bring light to a world roiling in the gloom.

  Help us claim the hope that we can be light,

  as a nation, as a church, as followers of the true Light of the World.

Help us find the way into the light. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

And here's another prayer just for this week -

Creative and Creating God -

from Christmas and through all The Four Seasons, 

from the Shire all the way to Mordor,

from Hogwarts to one small planet [B 612],

from Sunflower Afternoons to Starry, Starry Nights,

from Buggs to Porky to Elmer and the rest,

thank you for the many ways your creative Spirit

moves through writers, musicians, painters, artists of all kinds.

Help us open our lives and allow that same Spirit to tame us and guide us 

as we decide what to do with the time that is given us

as we face the issues of our day.

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