Archive | September 2005

Refugees

Sep22

I don’t mind being called a refugee; we’re taking refuge from Rita in Fort Worth with relatives. Maybe it won’t be as bad as Katrina since we don’t live in the New Orleans “bowl”—no levees to break. Anyway, we’re here until Sunday at least. We’ll know by then what Rita hath wrought.

We left yesterday (Wednesday) morning, apparently just in time. Word is that I-45 out of Houston/Galveston is gridlocked with cars bumper to bumper all the way up 100 miles north of Houston. Governor Perry has blocked the southbound lanes of I-45 and opened them for northbound traffic all the way through Houston and beyond.

All our neighbors in southeast Houston were preparing to leave as we left yesterday. Everybody boarded up their windows as best they could and made plans to get out. Even those who said earlier in the week that they would stay changed their minds as Rita turned into a category 4, then a category 5.

The weather is great here in Fort Worth–warm with a bit of a breeze. I’ll try to keep everyone posted on our adventure in hurricane evacuation. Oh, yes, the news article I just read helpfully reminded me that hurricane season doesn’t end until November 1. 🙂

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Born September 20th

Sep20

sinclair Upton Sinclair, b. 1878, socialist author of The Jungle, a novel about the meat-packing industry that resulted in passage of The Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) and The Meat Inspection Act (1906)).

Upton Sinclair, letter of resignation from the Socialist Party (September, 1917)

I have lived in Germany and know its language and literature, and the spirit and ideals of its rulers. Having given many years to a study of American capitalism. I am not blind to the defects of my own country; but, in spite of these defects, I assert that the difference between the ruling class of Germany and that of America is the difference between the seventeenth century and the twentieth.

No question can be settled by force, my pacifist friends all say. And this in a country in which a civil war was fought and the question of slavery and secession settled! I can speak with especial certainty of this question, because all my ancestors were Southerners and fought on the rebel side; I myself am living testimony to the fact that force can and does settle questions – when it is used with intelligence.

In the same way I say if Germany be allowed to win this war – then we in America shall have to drop every other activity and devote the next twenty or thirty years to preparing for a last-ditch defence of the democratic principle.

I wonder what Sinclair would say about the war in Iraq were he alive today? Also, just out of curiousity, did anyone else become a vegetarian for a week or two after reading The Jungle in high school? I would strongly suggest that you NOT read Sinclair’s muckraking classic if you are squeamish or if you wish to remain comfortable in your meat-eating habits. Then again, if you want cheap motivation for a healthier diet . . .

Talk Like a Pirate TODAY

Sep19

pirate

OOOH! I almost missed it; today, September 19th, is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ahoy, mates, Long John Silver’s restauraunts are promoting Talk Like a Pirate Day with special prices today and with this Pirate Name Generator.

Mine is “Cannonball Carrie the Mosquito”??????? Well, shiver me timbers!

Pirate Stories for Kids:
Obadiah the Bold by Brinton Turkle. Great picture book about a Quaker boy who wants to be a pirate.
Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash.
Treasure island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Classic story of the boy, Jim Hawkins, and the pirate, Long John Silver.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Mystery in the Pirate Oak by Helen Fuller Orton. I used to read Ms. Orton’s mysteries when I was a kid of a girl. Good children’s mystery books.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
The Ghost in the Noonday Sun by Sid Fleischman

Pirate Stories for Older Kids:
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
Captain Blood, His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini

These are only the books and/or authors with which I’m familiar.
Here’s a much more exhaustive list.

Picture Book Preschool: Week 40

Sep19

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

WEEK 40 (Sept) BOATS, RIVERS, BRIDGES
Character Trait: Cooperation
Bible Verse: Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Genesis 6:22

1. Spier, Peter. Noah’s Ark. Doubleday, 1977.
2. Swift, Hildegarde. The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. Harcourt, 1942.
3. Spier, Peter. London Bridge Is Falling Down. Doubleday, 1967. OP
4. Flack, Marjorie. The Boats on the River. Viking, 1946, 1991.
5. Lobel, Anita. Sven’s Bridge. 1965. OP
6. Spier, Peter. The Erie Canal. Doubleday, 1970. OP
7. Williams, Vera. Three Days on the River in a Red Canoe. Greenwillow, 1981.

Activities: Go for a boat ride or visit a bridge or a canal. Talk about how bridges and canals are built. Why do we have boats, bridges, and canals?

Christian Response to . . .

Sep18

“Does anyone know Lee Strobel? Pastor Tony Evans? How about Lauren Winner? John Mark Reynolds? Marshall Shelley? Barbara Nicolosi? Chris Seay? Roberto Rivera y Carlo? David Gushee? Charles Chaput? Nancy Pearcey? William Romanowski (no, not the football player)? Kenneth Myers? Albert Reyes? Janice Rogers Brown?

Journalist Teyrry Mattingly is tired of Pat Robertson.. Well, he’s not exactly tired of Pat, but rather he’s tired of the MSM always going to Pat Robertson (or Jerry Falwell) for the “evangelical Christian response” whenever there’s a crisis or major political event. Mr. Mattingly suggests some other voices that media might ask for comments next time in the quote above. Whom would you suggest that the media ask for a responsible Christian commentary on the day’s news?

How about some bloggers? Jollyblogger? Hugh Hewitt? La Shawn Barber? Joshua Clayburn? Joe Carter? George Grant? These are all people I would like to see on a panel discussion or hear quoted in a news report.

Born September 18th

Sep18

Samuel Johnson, b. 1709, said to be the second most quoted author in the English language, after Shakespeare.

Samuel Johnson’s Life and Faith by James Kiefer

BBC News article, The A to Z of Samuel Johnson

Who Is This Johnson Guy? by Jack Lynch

Some interesting facts about Samuel Johnson:
He was the son of a bookseller. (What fun!)
Johnson’s Dictionary of the the English Language, published in 1755 (making this year the 250th anniversary of the publication of Johnson’s Dictionary), was not the first English dictionary, but it was the authoritative English dictionary for over a hundred years until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Johnson never graduated from Oxford University, although he did attend there, and he became “Dr. Johnson” because he was given an honorary degree.
Samuel Johnson was half-blind, deaf in one ear, and suffered from scrofula, nervous tics, and depression. Some thought him so odd in his mannerisms that they considered him an idiot until he spoke and revealed himself to be an intelligent man.
Johnson married a widow, Elizabeth Porter, who was twenty years older than he, and by all accounts they were very happily married until her death seventeen years later.

Johnson on wine:
“One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts.”
“There are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits that are not good until they are rotten.”
“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.”
“Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say it makes him more pleasing to others.”
“Sir, I have no objection to a man’s drinking wine, if he can do it in moderation. I found myself apt to go to excess in it, and therefore, after having been for some time without it on account of illness, I thought it better not to return to it. Every man is to judge for himself, according to the effects which he experiences. One of the fathers tells us, he found fasting made him so peevish that he did not practice it.”
(Perhaps those winebibbers over at the Boar’s Head Tavern who are having a rather disdainful discussion of Southern Baptist teetotalers should heed Johnson’s advice to live and let live. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive because I’m one of those foolish (formerly SBC) teetotalers myself. :))

Johnson on blogging:
“No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”
“Read over your compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.”
“A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.”
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.”
“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book.”
“I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.”
Good advice, but who can heed it? If a writer could bear to strike out his favorite passages, no one would need an editor.

Johnson on moral relativism:
“But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses, let us count our spoons.”
Yes, definitely, count the spoons. We watched a video in our Worldview class on Friday in which a young lady said, “I always follow my heart; it never leads me astray.” Scary . . . time to count the spoons.

Writing Contest for Students

Sep17

Has your life changed because of a specific person or experience? Olive Garden wants to know. As part of its 10th-annual Pasta Tales national writing contest, Olive Garden is asking kids to: “Describe how a person or experience has made an important impact on your life.”
From Oct. 3 through Dec. 5, Olive Garden will accept essays of 50 to 250 words from writers in first through 12th grade addressing this topic. Entry forms and complete rules will be available at local Olive Garden restaurants or by logging on to the Olive Garden website, beginning Oct. 3.
The grand prize is a trip to New York, dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square and a $2,500 U.S. Savings Bond. A winner also will be chosen in each grade category and will receive a $500 U.S. Savings Bond and dinner with their family at their local Olive Garden.
For more information about Pasta Tales, call (954) 776-1999 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST or Sandra Axman, Pierson Grant, (954) 776-1999, x232.

HT to TEACH magazine.

The Bible or the Axe by William O. Levi

Sep16

Subtitled “one man’s escape from persecution in the Sudan,” this autobiography reads like a novel. Wiliam Levi, the founder and president of Operation Nehemiah, was born in a village in Southern Sudan and grew up in Uganda in exile from his native land as a result of persecution and war in Sudan during the 1960’s. He returned to Sudan as a young teenager to go to school, but soon found that Islamic persecution intensified and interfered with his schooling and, eventually, threatened his life. At one point, William and couple of other young men decide to flee to Kenya in hopes of continuing their education. They are arrested, however, and charged with intending to join the Southern rebels against the government in Khartoum, the SPLA.

It’s funny what you think about when you know you are marked for death. Perversely, I was filled with regret that I would not be able to go to school. When you are seventeen, you have your whole life ahead of you; but for me, the desire to finish school was the first thing that came to my mind. (p. 183)

William experiences torture but is able to escape from the custody of the Sudanese government soldiers. He and his family see that he must leave Sudan, and William eventually travels to Egypt, then Turkey, then France, and finally seeks asylum in the United States. Throughout all his travels and adventures, William remains faithful to God and to his vision for obtaining an education for the sake of serving his people in Southern Sudan.

I was impressed with several things in William Levi’s life as I read his story. First of all, he is passionate about becoming educated. His family sacrifices for the sake of William’s education, and his first thought after gaining asylum in the U.S. is to further his education. Oh, that our children would realize the value of education and the riches that they have here in the United States in being able to pursue an education amid an abundance of educational resources.

Secondly, I am inspired by Mr. Levi’s steadfast faith. At his baptism, William’s grandfather gives him a choice of weapons: the Bible or the axe? Wiliam consistently chooses the Bible and faith as his weapons to defeat both earthly and spiritual enemies. None of his struggles are made to seem easy, either, whether it’s the difficulty of living with worldly roomates or the confusion of not knowing where God is leading and how He will provide. The Christian life requires faith in a God who is there even when we cannot see His ways, and the story of William Levi gives numerous examples of the real life application of this kind of faith.

Finally, I see in William Levi a man who is dedicated to service in the name of Jesus Christ. At the very end of the book, Mr. Levi concludes:

In 1972, there was a peace accord, but eleven years later it was followed by renewed oppression and genocide. Please help us build a strong and united biblically based Christian community in the South Sudan and throughout the entire country during this window of opportunity.

He then tells about some of the ministries of the Nehemiah Project: church planting, education, trade school, health care, ministry to Sudanese widows and orphans, investment in micro-businesses, agricultural projects and construction and infrastructure projects. Surely ministries like this one and projects that are grounded in a deep Christian faith are the hope of Sudan and of Africa. The novel I read a few months ago, Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo does a good job of showing the problems and the temptations inherent in any kind of relief work, especially in Sudan and northern Africa. This true story, The Bible or the Axe? sounds a note of hope. The problems and divisions in the Sudan are rooted so deeply in history and in the sinfulness of the human heart that Christ is the only hope.

This book was given to me as a gift by Mind and Media and by William O. Levi for the purposes of review. You can purchase a copy of The Bible or the Axe from Winepress Books. I’m planning to read this book aloud to all my urchins because I believe it would be an inspiration and an encouragement to them.

Hurricane Thoughts from Assorted Bloggers

Sep15

Why George Bush hasn’t spent the last five years sandbagging the levee in New Orleans is a real mystery to some people. Michael Spencer at BHT.

If it were not for some of these churches in rural areas there would be very little help if any. This disaster has shown me how much the Red Cross relies on SBC disaster relief. SBC disaster relief does all the cooking around here for the Red Cross. We do not get any credit for the good things we do as a denomination only bad press from our conventions and dumb things some pastors say. Aaron Arledge at BHT (blogging from Slidell, LA)

Before (the hurricane), I’d thought maybe we have too much stuff, but watching thousands of people on tv who have lost absolutely everything, now I am certain we have too much. It’s time to let it go because I no longer feel right, or peaceful, about owning it–or its owning me. Debra at As I See It Now

As we looked around our church property we saw nothing where it used to be. I pointed to where the piano used to be. It now lays shattered across the road. I pointed to where the steeple used to stand. Katrina tossed it into the woods on the back corner of our property. . . . All their things aren’t where they used to be, but God is still where He has always been – on his thrown (throne), ruling, reigning, and governing all things for His glory. He will establish our feet on the solid ground of His provision and we believe He will use this catastrophe to amplify the truth of His word and call many to anchor their hope in Him. Locusts and Wild Honey on Church Sunday 11:00

A word about the Baptists. My dad and stepmom fled north from Covington, La. In Monroe, La., they saw a handwritten sign “Refugee Center”. They said they were treated like royalty the week they stayed there. They made friends for life and said they were made to feel like family. My dad even went to a church service, unprovoked. My folks gushed over the welcome they recieved. –One of Michelle Malkin’s readers.

A caller to the Rush Limbaugh program: An African-American woman, 55 years old, summed up the local response in Louisiana better than anybody I’ve heard so far. “I’ll bet they had those buses runnin’ on election day!” Booya! Doug Powers at Men’s News Daily Blog

I am thinking I will take Hugh Hewitt’s advice and make my donation to one of the smaller, local organizations like civic and church groups who are directly dealing with evacuees, rather than to any more bloated bureaucratic sorts of groups. This is not the first time, I think, that the Red Cross has thrown up its hands and said, “we don’t know where the money went,” and that’s not good enough.The Anchoress

Finally, some local organizations (mostly churches) that I would suggest that you could send your donations to:

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

Bay Area Christian Church

Somebody Cares America

Operation Compassion

Society of St. VIncent de Paul, Houston

Memorial Drive United Methodist Church

David and Achilles Anyone?

Sep13

Mark Olson at PsuedoPolymath has an idea. I think I’ll try to participate in this blog-essay thingummy–even though I’m already juggling about nineteen (my all-purpose number) intellectual/study balls right now.

The idea is to compare and contrast two heroic stories from almost the same eras but from very different cultures. The two stories I had in mind were the Hebrew heroic story … that is the story of King David in Samuel I & II … and the Greek heroic poems from the same era by Homer … that is the Iliad (and perhaps the Odyssey). I had in mind perhaps posting once weekly (say Thursdays) on the similarities and differences – to contrast and compare the stories of David and Achilles. We could write on the same subtopic on this theme each week. For example, for next week I was thinking we could write on the openings. To compare and contrast the Iliad’s immortal opening cadences to the more subtle (tender?) vignette of Hannah giving up of Samuel, her firstborn, to the Temple.

What are my other “nineteen” studious undertakings? I’m glad you asked because some of these may spill over into the blog as I work out my thoughts on these various topics.

1. I’m teaching a British literature class at our homeschool co-op. This week we’re reading excerpts from Le Morte D’Arthur.

2. I’m also helping to teach a worldview class at the same co-op. We’re going to be watching some videos about relativism with the famous (blogger) Francis Beckwith for the next three Fridays.

3. I’m re-reading The Brothers Karamazov just because I wanted to.

4. I’m doing a Beth Moore Bible study called The Patriarchs about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

5. We’re also teaching from Genesis in the fifth and sixth grade Sunday School class that Engineer Husband and I agreed to teach.

6. I have one book to review (The Bible or the Ax?) and another to read and review (In the Beginning There Were No Diapers) for Mind and Media.

OK, not quite nineteen, but it’s definitely a full plate—in addition to teaching school and keeping house. Oh, well, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop, right?