Words Twice a Week: Words 8.24

Words Twice a Week

Whoa – I hope you catch this in time. I should have put an alert on last Thursday’s post – Today, Monday, August 24, is Waffle Day! The Waffle Iron was patented in the United States on 8.24. Now on with the week -

A few notes from the church calendar -

Aug 24 – St Bartholomew So the question with Bartholomew is, was he also Nathanael. In Mt, Mk, and Lk, Phillip and Bartholomew are mentioned and Nathanael isn’t; in John, Bartholomew is not mentioned, but Philip and Nathanael are. Tradition says he went to India and Armenia and started churches there. One tradition is that he was martyred by being crucified upside down, another [caution – some readers may find this next bit too strong] says he was skinned alive [flayed] and so he is the patron saint of tanners, plasterers, tailors, leatherworkers, bookbinders, farmers, housepainters, butchers, and glove makers. [Sometimes I’m kind of glad United Methodists don’t pay that much attention to the stories of the saints, especially their deaths.]

Aug 27 Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle Both Episcopal priests, the former was involved with work for the deaf community – his parents founded the school that became Gallaudet University. The latter was one of Gallaudet’s students who became the first deaf person ordained an Episcopal priest in 1883.

[note – in some versions of the calendar, Gallaudet and Syle are remembered on the 26th and Monica, mother of Augustine is remembered on the 27th. In other versions she is remembered on May 4]

Aug 28 St Augustine of Hippo He was apparently kind of a rogue in his younger years, then became a Christian [traditionally perhaps as an answer to his mother’s prayers] and a priest. He was involved in forming the doctrine of original sin and the just war theory, along with many other things.

Aug 29 John Bunyan Ok, hands up – how many people actually have read The Pilgrim’s Progress all the way through?

And from the world calendar -

Aug 24

- as I said, it’s Waffle Day. One of my favorite recipes for yeast waffles is in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. It’s at camp – I’ll fill it in here as soon as I get there.

- Pluto was declassified as a planet and reclassified as a dwarf planet. “My very educated mother just served us nine……”?

Aug 25

- birthday of Leonard Bernstein. A good day to Sing God a Simple Song – especially if you have listening to NPR and hearing the promo all week!

Dear God, here is my simple prayer/song for today.

Thank you for the sun and rain that nourish the earth and provide food and flowers.

Thank you for my home and family and that we are still healthy and safe.

Bless and heal and help those who are sick, troubled, or depressed,

and show me how I can be part of that.

Thank you for the power of love that allows us to face tomorrow with hope.

I pray as one who trusts and follows Jesus, at least in my heart.

- also on this day the National Park Service was established.

Aug 28

- Emmett Till was murdered in 1955.

- Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in 1963.

It astonishes me that both of those events happened in my lifetime. Here’s a prayer/litany from the Praying for Change series from Discipleship Resources….

Let Freedom Ring Litany

Take heed that what you sing with your mouths you believe in your hearts,

and what you believe in your hearts you show forth in your works.

(Fourth Council of Carthage, 4th century)

From ev'ry mountainside let freedom ring!

(end of stanza 1 of Samuel Francis Smith’s, “ America,”, 1831)

When our works don’t measure up to our creeds,

When our lives don’t match our songs,

When our systems don’t uphold our ideals,