Words 11.22

 

Words Twice a Week         11.22

ok- my computer has gone away for “r&r”, which means we have “?” and “!” back, but I’m using this old computer (which I intensely dis-like, I would say “hate” but I’m trying not to do that!) with Windows 7 for another week or two.

Here’s a prayer I found meaningful before we get started -

O God, Source of our Life, the One who calls us past race and nation, clan and creed, to be one people in Christ; who has gifted us with the power of love that we might fulfill the law; we have ignored your gift, turned from the way, and deferred the dream; awaken us to the evil we are doing to our brothers and sisters, and embolden us for the great good we have yet to do together; in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

.Philip S. Krug, from Race and Prayer: Collected Voices Many Dreams edited by Malcolm Boyd and Chester L. Talton

A couple of days from the church calendar -

Nov 23  Clement, Bishop of Rome    the first of the Apostolic Fathers, he was bishop of Rome right after Peter, or maybe a couple after Peter – the record isn’t really clear.  He wrote a letter to the “church” in Corinth, addressed as "the Church of God which sojourneth in Rome to the Church of God which sojourneth in Corinth", which affirmed the authority of the “presbyters”, local church leaders sanctioned by the apostles.  It is the oldest piece of Christian writing outside of the New Testament.

Nov 26  Isaac Watts   He wrote hymns – lots of them, like 750.  (Still way behind Fanny Crosby who wrote 8000 hymns and 1000 secular poems.  Come on, Isaac, get cracking!)  Anyway, Watts wrote some of our favorites, including O God Our Help In Ages Past, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed, and one we are getting ready to sing and hear – Joy to the World.  Many of his hymns are based closely on the psalms.

And a few days from the earth/world calendar -

Nov 23  (and I have no idea why, but apparently when you insert a picture Blogger switches to paragraph mode which gives you this kind of double space look and I can't find anything to do about it.)

+ Dr Who first appeared on the BBC in 1963.  Thirteen different actors have portrayed The Doctor, most recently Jodie Whittaker.  Have a favorite?  The Doctor is a rogue TimeLord who, with human companions, materializes into and dematerializes out of a variety of times and places, rescuing different civilizations, often on Earth.  Look out – here come the Daleks.  Has anyone seen my TARDIS?

+ Thomas Tallis died on this day in 1585.  He was a church musician and composer.  He wrote “his” canon, to which we sing All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night – words by another Thomas, Thomas Ken.

Nov 24

+ John Knox died in 1572.  He was a Scottish minister and theologian, leader of the Scottish Reformation, and founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

+ in 1971, D B Cooper hijacked a plane, asked for $200,000 and a parachute, and had the plane take off for Mexico.  Neither he nor the money has ever been found, although I did come across this old parachute harness and empty satchel of bills in the woods at camp the other day – Hmmm

+ Scott Joplin was born in 1867.  Undisputed master of the piano rag musical form.  Maple Leaf Rag, and The Entertainer (think The Sting!)

Nov 25 

+ 1960 -Three Dominican sisters (Patria, Minerva, and Antonia Mirabal), activists opposed to the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, were killed and their deaths made to look like an accident.

+ 1999 – the UN declared Nov 25 to be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  How are we doing with that, would you say?

Nov 26   Thanksgiving Day

+ Sojouner Truth, freed slave, abolitionist, and worker for women’s rights died in 1883.

+ Charles Schulz was born in 1922

+ Casablanca premiered in 1942.  “Play it, Sam.  Play As Time Goes By”.  The New Yorker had a cartoon a few days ago of Rick slumped on the bar with the caption “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she has to walk into mine, after 10pm.”  Something to watch instead of football?

Nov 27

+ Eugene O’Neill died in 1953.  He wrote numerous plays – Desire Under the Elms, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Iceman Cometh, and A Moon for the Misbegotten.  I think I’ve read the first 3, I’ll have to have a look at the fourth!

+ Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924.  It’s going to be a little different this year!

Nov 28

+ On his way around the world, Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean in 1520, through the straight named for him.  Only one of his five vessels completed the voyage, and Magellan himself was killed by Philippine natives.  His voyage proved to most of us that the world is indeed round, although some people label that as “Fake News”!

Nov 29

+ Dorothy Day died in 1980.  An activist and reformer, she worked in various causes, founded the Catholic Worker Movement, and helped establish 33 hospitality houses to feed the poor.

+ First Army-Navy football game played in 1890.  Not sure if that is happening this year or not.  Nov 29 being a Sunday this year, I’m sure there will be some football games to watch!

+ Atari released Pong in 1972.  Not much has gotten done since!

+ CS Lewis was born in 1898.  Wait a minute – didn’t we just hear about him?  Well, yes, he died on Nov 22, apparently just a week before his birthday!

That’s it for now -

[comments are moderated – by me – and may take a day or two to appear]