First of all, Happy Halloween to all the saints, both those on earth and those who have preceded us into heaven. I believe that Christians can celebrate Halloween in good conscience and while giving glory to God in all we do. Here are some resources to read about this perspective on the celebration of Halloween: Debunking Halloween Myths at The Flying Inn. On Halloween by James Jordan.
John Grisham’s latest thriller (yes, I admit to taking a guilty pleasure in reading the novels of Grisham) features a Lutheran pastor. I usually eschew popular, best-selling literature, unless I can say I discovered it before it became popular, in a sort of reverse, inside-out snobbery. But I make an exception for Grisham. I am tired of Grisham’s anti-death penalty agenda getting in the way of his story-telling, and from what I can tell by reading the review this latest book harps on that topic. I’ll probably read it anyway.
INSPYs Young Adult Fiction nominees: This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas. Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr.
(I’m not allowed to post a review of these until the judging is over in December.)
I’ve just been reading the newly published edition of Maud Hart Lovlace’s Deep Valley, Minnesota novel, Carney’s House Party in which a group of college girlfriends, old and new, come together in the midwestern epitome of style and fashion for a house party, a month long sleepover with lots of picnics and teas and parties and dances and sight-seeing and good wholesome fun. Of course there’s romance, and lots of singing.
The house party sing and dance to this lovely tribute to the “flying machine.”
And these are two more songs that the orchestra plays at the “dance party” that the Crowd enjoys.
Sam, one of Carney’s two love interests, plays this song on his saxophone.
Besides the music, the other things I noticed while reading this book:
Carney is appalled and embarrassed that a boy that likes her dares to kiss her BEFORE they have an understanding or an engagement:
When they reached an elm tree so large and thickly leaved that its shadows defeated even Japanese lanterns, he stopped and kissed her.
Carney broke away from him. She was really angry now. It was possible to forgive what had happened the night before . . . they had both been wrought up. But this was different. It was inexcusable.
Wow! We’ve come a long way, baby, since 1912, and not in the right direction. Nowadays if the guy doesn’t make a pass at a girl, she might have a suspicion that he’s gay, or at last uninterested.
Carney’s House Party ends with Carney engaged to be married to the love of her life, but also returning to Vassar to finish her college degree before getting married. Back then, it seemed as if women definitely could “have it all.” And why not? Education, career (?), family, marriage. Just because it’s difficult to juggle everything doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.
I am so fond of these new editions of Maud Hart Lovelace’s Deep Valley books that I’m planning to save them to give to a special daughter as Christmas presents. I may even buy some more copies so that I can give each of my lovely daughters their own set. (It’s OK. I don’t think they read the blog very thoroughly, if at all.)
Vagabond Song by Bliss Carmon
THERE is something in the autumn that is native to my blood–
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.
The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.
There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.
It’s still rather warm and summmery here in Houston where summer can extend its sweltering tentacles into October and even early November. My plan is try to entice Autumn into southeast Texas with a series of blog posts this week on autumnal themes. If you have a post at your blog on autumn, autumn reading, fall fun, fall recipes, anything seasonal, leave a comment and I’ll link to your post. Meanwhile, enjoy the links above, and especially enjoy the days the Lord has made.
In 1957, the year I was born, Ed Sullivan had Elvis on his show for the third time, showed him only from the waist up, and said: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you. You’re thoroughly all right.”
Published in 1957: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. On the Beach by Nevil Shute. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout. Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
Movies released in 1957: Loving You with Elvis Presley. Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley. The Bridge on the River Kwai with Alec Guinness, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
On the actual day of my birth an earthquake shook Mexico City and Acapulco. But I doubt if my mom noticed it way out in West Texas.
I have several other lists of 52 in the works. I think I’ll stick with 52 (and 12) for lists; it just feels right.
53 is more solitary. It’s prime. In fact, it’s an Eisenstein prime. Whatever that means. And 53 is a self number. 53 is obviously not a number for links and lists and affiliations and organization. 53 is independent and somewhat isolated. It’s unique.
For this year, I’ll enjoy being 53, somewhat solitary, odd, and eccentric. Perhaps I’ll even be reclusive at times, as much as one can be reclusive in a family of ten people. I enjoy alone and different and distinctive and slightly idiosyncratic. 53 is the number of countries in Africa, so I’ll continue to work on my African reading project. But 53 isn’t the number for much else. It stands alone.
But at the same time, I still get to be 52. I still get to make lists and connections and relationships. Life, like numbers, has a rhythm. Pull back and enjoy your individual times of 53-ness, and then be 52 or 12 or whatever age the Lord has given you to be and fill the year with people and books and written words and encouragement and the messiness and joy of relationships.
That’s how I plan to celebrate this next year of becoming what God has for me.
And I might memorize Isaiah 53, a very 53-ish passage of scripture:
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Happy Fourth of July to all who visit Semicolon! My pastor put this video together using Ben Shive’s ballad, 4th of July and some footage of Japanese fireworks:
Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whether wee are going: And to shutt upp this discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;
Therefore lett us choose life,
that wee, and our Seede,
may live; by obeyeing his
voyce, and cleaveing to him,
for hee is our life, and
our prosperity. John Winthrop, 1630
May God bless America for as long as He wills her to endure, and may America be a blessing to the world, a shining city on a hill, as the Pilgrims prayed she would be so long ago.
3. Some picture books for July 4th:
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Paul Revere’s Ride.Illustrated by Ted Rand. Dutton, 1990.
Dalgliesh, Alice.The 4th of July Story. Alladin, 1995. (reprint edition)
Spier, Peter. The Star-Spangled Banner. Dragonfly Books, 1992.
Bates, Katharine Lee. America the Beautiful. Illustrated by Neil Waldman. Atheneum, 1993.
Devlin, Wende. Cranberry Summer.
St. George, Judith. The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence.
Osornio, Catherine. The Declaration of Independence from A to Z. More picture books for Independence Day.
5. Stephen Foster was born on July 4, 1826. The PBS series American Experience has an episode on the life of Stephen Foster, author of songs such as Beautiful Dreamer and Oh! Susanna.
6. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, July 4, 1826, fifty years after adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Adams’ last words were: “Thomas Jefferson still survives.”
Jefferson’s last words: “Is it the fourth?”
I highly recommend both David McCullough’s biography of John Adams and the PBS minseries based on McCullough’s book.
7. Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872. He is supposed to have said, “If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it,” and “I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.”
Also, “we do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.”
Amen to that. More on Calvin Coolidge and the Fourth of July from A Gracious Home.
8. You could make your own fireworks for the Fourth of July. Engineer Husband really used to do this when he was a young adolescent, and I can’t believe his parents let him. He tried to make nitroglycerine once, but he got scared and made his father take it outside and dispose of it! Maybe you should just read about how fireworks are made and then imagine making your own.
9. On July 4, 1970 Casey Kasem hosted “American Top 40” on radio for the first time. I cannot tell a lie; in high school I spent every Sunday afternoon listening to Casey Kasem count down the Top 40 hits of the week. Why not make up your own TOp 40 All-American Hits List and play it on the fourth for your family?
14. Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen. Subtitled “The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787,†this book is the one that gave me the story of the US constitution. It’s suitable for older readers, at least middle school age, but it’s historical writing at its best. I loved reading about Luther Martin of Maryland, whom Henry Adams described as “the notorious reprobate genius.†Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts who wasâ€always satisfied to shoot an arrow without caring about the wound he caused.†(Both Gerry and Martin refused to sign the final version of the Constitution.) Of course, there were Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution, George Washington, who presided over the convention in which all present knew that they were creating a presidency for him to fill, and Ben Franklin, the old man and elder statesman who had to be carried to the convention in a sedan chair. Ms. Bowen’s book brings all these characters and more to life and gives the details of the deliberations of the constitutional convention in readable and interesting format.
15. Watch a movie. Getttysburg is a tragedy within the tragedy that was the Civil War, but it’s also patriotic and inspiring. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has Jimmy Stewart demonstrating what’s wrong and what’s right about American government and politics.
I like 1776, the musical version of the making of the Declaration Of Independence. Other patriotic movies.And a few more.
35. Start an all-American read aloud, such as: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. Guns for General Washington by Seymour Reit. Tolliver’s Secret by Esther Woods Brady.
39. We always attend the Fourth of July parade in Friendswood, Texas, except this year when we’ll be traveling. Anyway, find a parade and take the kids or grandkids or neighbor kids. A Fourth of July parade is a celebration of American patriotism in a capsule.
43. Check out A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet. It’s a great book of poems about various famous Americans, and I think lots of kids would enjoy hearing it read aloud, maybe a poem a day in July.
45. Spend some time praying for our nation’s leaders: President Barack Obama, your senators, your representatives, the governor of your state, your state representatives, and others.
46. Wear red, white, and blue. Or put red and blue streaks in your hair. When I was in junior high, flag pins and ponchos were in style. I had a flag pin and a red, white, and blue poncho, both of which I wore together. I was stylin’!
48. Any of the following nonfiction book for children would make a good Fourth of July history lesson: The Story of the Boston Tea Party by R. Conrad Stein The Story of Lexington and Concord by R. Conrad Stein The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence by Dennis Brindell Fradin The Story of the Declaration of Independence by Norman Richards The American Revolution (Landmark Books) by Bruce Jr Bliven The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution by Albert Marrin The Story of Valley Forge by R. Conrad Stein Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz The Story of the Battle of Yorktown by Anderson Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen. The Story of the Constitution by Marilyn Prolman In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America’s Bill of Rights by Russell Freedman An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy George Washington and the Founding of a Nation by Albert Marrin The Story of Old Glory by Mayer
49. Host a block party or potluck dinner.
50. Take a picnic to the park.
51. Read 1776 by David McCullough. I’ve been intending to read this historical tome for several years. Maybe this year is the year.
52. Go to church. SInce Independence Day falls on a Sunday this year, it’s a good day to go to church and thank the God who made and preserves this nation and all nations and to ask His continued mercy and grace upon all of us. God bless America.
A farmer placed his nets on his newly sown plough lands, and caught a quantity of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork also. The Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly besought the Farmer to spare his life.
“Pray, save me, Master,” he said, “and let me go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane, I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers, they are not the least like those of a Crane.”
The Farmer laughed aloud, and said: “It may be all as you say; I only know this, I have taken you with these robbers, the Cranes, and you must die in their company.”
Moral: Birds of a feather flock together.
I Corinthians 15:33 Stop being deceived: “Wicked friends lead to evil ends.”
Books about Love, Romance, and Marriage Anatomy of a Marriage: Novels about Marriage The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle. Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins Random Harvest by James Hilton Green Mansions by WH Hudson. ““Our souls were near together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, ever nearer; for now they had touched and were not two, but one inseparable drop, crystallised beyond change, not to be disintegrated by time, nor shattered by death’s blow, nor resolved by any alchemy.†Real Romance for Grown-up Women Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Yes. Heathcliff and Cathy were actually the worst of lovers –capricious, unfaithful while remaining bonded to one another, but let’s not quibble. “I am Heathcliff!” says Cathy, and what better description of the marriage of two souls is there in literature? Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Jane and Mr. Rochester are as radically faithful and loving in their own way as Cathy and Heathcliff imagine themselves to be. And they actually get together before they die, surely an advantage for lovers. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are the epitome of lovers in tension that finally leads to consummation. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane are such a hesitant, battle-scarred pair of lovers that thye almost don’t get together at all, but that’s what makes the series of romance-within-a mystery novels that culminates in Gaudy Night so very romantic. They’ve used the same formula in TV series ever since, but Sayers is much better than any Remington Steele (Laura and Remington) or Cheers (Sam and Diane). And Ms. Sayers was even able to write a credibly interesting epilogue novel in Busman’s Honeymoon, which is better than the TV writers can do most of the time. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. Who says love is only for the young? Father Tim and Cynthia make it through thick and thin and through five or six books, still in love, still throwing quotations at one another. They’re great lovers in the best sense of the word.
My Love Song Playlist (very retro–70’s) The Twelfth of Never by Donnie Osmond. Cherish by David Cassidy and the Partridge Family. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev’ry fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all. ~Joni Mitchell
I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton John. Evergreen by Barbra Streisand. Can’t Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis Presley. Laughter in the Rain by Neil Sedaka. L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole.
“Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers’ tears.
What is it else? A madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.”
~Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Recommended Movies for Valentine’s Day Marty. “Ernest Borgnine (Oscar for Best Actor) stars as a 35 year old Italian butcher who’s still not married in spite of the fact that all his younger brothers and sisters have already tied the knot.” It Happened One Night. Clark Gable is a reporter in this romantic comedy about a run-away rich girl. Much Ado About Nothing. Kenneth Branaugh and Emma Thompson. The reparte between Benedick and Beatrice is so memorable that you may find yourself quoting Shakespeare in spite of yourself. My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I really loved the fact that Ian knew that he was not just marrying a girl but also her family. The Princess Bride. Romance at it finest and funniest. “That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying ‘As you wish’, what he meant was, ‘I love you.’ And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.” You’ve Got Mail. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are a great pair. Romeo and Juliet. The Franco Zefferelli version.
Love Quotes
“There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.†~Trollope
“It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting out of love as there is for getting in. Some people look upon marriage as a short cut that way but it has been known to fail.†~Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
One advantage of marriage, it seems to me, is that when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until maybe you fall in again.
~Judith Viorst
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
My beloved is mine, and I am his . . .
What are your favorites? Romantic movie? Romantic novel? Love song? Love poem?
Others:
