Words Twice a Week
Answer from last week – Herman Melville left his mark on world culture in the name “Starbuck” – the chief mate of the Pequod. The story is that Howard Schultz and friends were trying to come up with a name for their new venture, and wanted an “st” word – one of them thought it would sound strong. After a couple of tries they settled on Starbucks.
And another “missed this” – Robert Johnson died on Aug 16, 1938; Elvis died on Aug 16, 1977 Are you lonesome tonight?
A morning prayer for this week -
Wonderful God, we come to a new day, perhaps with the music of Elvis still playing in our minds,
perhaps with the aroma of a good cup of coffee surrounding us,
perhaps with a particular poem or picture or piece of music in our heart.
Grateful for some events of the week - women getting the right to vote -
and sorrowing over others - the arrival of African slaves -
we pray for your guidance as we live this day.
Give us your wisdom, that we might see your way clearly;
give us your strength of character that we might make good decisions today.
Bless us all and surround us with your love and grace.
From the Church calendar -
Aug 17 Samuel Johnson - He was a clergyman, educator, linguist, encyclopedist, historian, and philosopher in colonial America. Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and William Smith together created a "new-model" plan or style of American College. They decided it would be profession-oriented, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading a class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. They also replaced the study of theology with non-denominational moral philosophy, using Johnson's "new system of morality" and his philosophy textbook as the core of the curriculum. Johnson started and served as the first president of King's College in New York (renamed Columbia University following the American Revolutionary War). Franklin and Smith would open the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania). In 1720, he became a congregational minister, but 2 years later, he was one of a nine member book group who together questioned their ordination, were expelled from the Congregational Church and became Episcopalians. He founded 25 parishes in Connecticut. Probably a lot more students showing up at NMU this week because of his vision!
Aug 18 William Porcher Dubose He was ordained September 9, 1866 in the Episcopal Church, after service as a chaplain in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. DuBose served as a Professor, Chaplain, and Dean of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. His books earned him a reputation for brilliance in England. He has been described as possibly the "greatest theologian that the Episcopal Church in the USA has produced."
Aug 20 Bernard of Clairvaux He was a French abbot and a major leader in the revitalization of Benedictine monasticism through the nascent Order of Cistercians. He is also credited with composing the hymns we now sing as O Sacred Head Now Wounded, and Jesus the Very Thought of Thee.
From the world calendar -
Aug 17 Davy Crockett was born – "King of the Wild Frontier". He also represented Tennessee in the House of Representatives. I had a hat - did you?
Aug 18
- 1920 -Tennessee passed the 19th amendment, providing the majority it needed to become law.
- 1969 Jimi Hendrix closed Woodstock at 8:30 am. I wasn’t there – were you?
Aug 20
- 1619 first African slaves brought to Jamestown, Virginia
- 1912 (Salvation Army) Gen William Booth died and entered heaven. Booth led boldly with his big bass drum – Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Along with the poem, there is also a William Booth rose. He had been a Methodist preacher, but left to found the Salvation Army.
Aug 22 - birthday of Claude Debussy - if you know music history, you know what a big influence he had. "He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term." [Wikipedia] If you are not a scholar of music, you can simply enjoy his music here.
Aug 23
- First Assembly of the World Council of Churches 1948
- Edgar Lee Masters – Spoon River Anthology I don’t know if I ever read it all the way through, but I just think it is such a neat idea. Kind of like Our Town.
- First photo of Earth from moon orbit, taken by the lunar orbiter in 1966.
- birthday [1884] of Will Cuppy. He was a writer and satirist. He wrote The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, How to Be a Hermit, How to Become Extinct, How to Tell Your Friends from the Apes, How to Attract the Wombat. For 23 years he wrote a column in the New York Tribune/Herald Tribune on Mystery and Adventure books. Relevant to our time, seeking refuge from city noise and hay fever Cuppy "hermited" from 1921 to 1929 in a shack on Jones Island, just off Long Island's South Shore. His book How to be a Hermit might be helpful for some of us stuck at home!
A poem - not quite a haiku - for the week -
Students returning
Women voting
Black lives mattering
It's an intense week!
(And the first woman of color nominated as vice President on a major party ticket!)
And an evening prayer for the week - (from Edward Hays)
Slowly we are turning once again to look into the dark, star-sprinkled space
through which our planet is traveling.
All life is aware of the approaching view, and the sunset beauty of this day's end
is an overture to the awesome grandeur of the eternal vision that awaits us.
As the earth turns outward, may my thoughts turn inward
to the Sacred Mystery that dwells in my heart.
At the end of this day I sing a song of thanksgiving for the wonder of life.
I lift up my voice in gratitude for all this day has held for me
as I turn my memory to its flood of gifts.
Blessed are you, divine Mystery, who has chosen to dwell within me
and has enriched this day with zestful life, beauty, love,
and the discipline of my trials and temptations.
Blessed are you, O God, most blessed are you.
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