Color Me Grumpy

 

I am not an economist or political scientist or historian – or expert on anything except making it through each day. Neither am I a soccer mom. So, I may be missing the finer points of the blood sport known as the Presidential election campaign. I can identify a few problems, however – problems for which I am listening for answers, while my hearing holds.

·      Americans may outlive our resources.

·      We are spending too much while making too little, just like our government. 

·      Wanting to help the needy and oppressed, we have hamstrung ourselves and made a bunch of other people mad at us.

I want to know if the Republicans have a plan that describes how to revive our economy in the midst of the world economy.  I want to know if the Democrats have anything to add to the record they have made these past three years.

·      How will they reduce the waste government generates?  (US Waste)

·      Has anybody thought through what individuals must to do to be part of the solution?

·      Can the Republican Party point out some good things that the Democrats have done? Likewise, can the Democrats point to anything admirable their fellow Americans propose?

·      Can they simply say how they have the current ability (not just past record) to change the reach and cost of government, from local to national issues?

·      Can the Republican Party (and Democrat) come off its high horse and take the moral high ground on issues of defense, taxation, immigration, sanctity of life, the environment, education, and caring for those who have hit a rough patch of life? And tie this plan to what must happen on the local level!  What do the people have to do?  

Also, would the press in the United States report what the main issues are, and describe what the different political responses are without ascribing nefarious motives to the liberals and conservatives?  (It’s hard to remain a bright-eyed optimist about mankind when one side or the other is described as the devil’s handmaiden!)

Finally, would both parties promise, promise, promise – triple dog swear -- that when the next national election rolls around it is preceded by only one national primary – and that nobody can run for anything until the year of the election begins.

A Mother’s Advice Remembered: Never talk about religion or politics.

But she liked arguing about the candidates, leaders and issues of her times – from the McCarthy hearings to impeachment trial of Mr. Clinton. She was a C-span junkie, and had she lived, she might have been an avid blogger.  She and my father taught me to read newspapers, Time, Life, and THINK, (IBM’s magazine). At dinner we often listed to Edward R Murrow, Patrick Swayze, and Eric Sevareid; later, we transferred our meals to trays, watching David Brinkley and Chet Huntley – and of course Walter Cronkite. So, when she spoke, held forth, she was well armed and passionate!

She rarely discussed religion privately or publicly.  

Shortly before she died in 1996, I asked her if things were as bad in her day as they were now – abortions, child murders, violence in marriage, cheating, embezzlements, fraud – Rwanda, Kosovo . . . Watching too much news, I was despairing. Coming through WWII, she’d known about the kinds of horrors that happened in Uganda, Rwanda and Kosovo, and she said that everybody knew somebody who beat their wives or kids – or who had had an abortion – or had stolen company funds. The difference to her was nobody back then was proud of it.

The unspoken restraint in her generation was “Nice people don’t talk about _________.”  Such reticence may have made for more civil discourse, but it forced many soul sores to fester.

My generation felt obliged to let it all hang out – giving rise to the current warning: TMI! TMI! (Too much information!)      

Television – network and cable – serves up a cornucopia of stuff – that makes alternative lifestyles as well known as Ozzie & Harriet were to my generation. Nothing is bleeped on cable TV; the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on regular television’s right to provide everything that traffic will allow. (Information on Supreme Court Hearing)  

But the networks are pushing the envelope:  On Modern Family, the adorable toddler   will use an expletive, “the bomb,” on a smash hit TV series – the audience will not hear it, but will see her saying it.  (See article)  The child actors on the series and the children who watch it may learn a good lesson on not repeating everything they hear – but they will also learn the power profanity has in getting laughs.

The series has won kudos for its realistic but amusing presentation of family life in 21^st century America – primarily for the warm and accepting presentation of   a multiplicity of marriage styles, from traditional to same-sex marriage.  The characters are 3-dimensional, funny, and engaging; the writing on the episodes was excellent. 

 

A spoonful of sugar really does make the medicine go down.

When I realized I was laughing about stuff I know breaks God’s heart, and enjoying watching the folks who were caught up in it, I decided to go off the meds – the inoculation was working too well. 

Believing today that marriage is between a man and a woman because God said so may be evidence of a phobia. Believing in chastity before and after marriage may be evidence of a delusion. Believing the church can rise above sexual temptations, and make a difference in this culture may also be a stretch of rational thinking. 

The topic of what’s fair game for family hour TV series might not be any quieter a dialogue if I brought up a discussion of Modern Family  at the dinner table than the ones my mom used to ignite when she didn’t follow her own advice. But I am glad for the opportunity to write about what I think – and if you read this to the end, dear reader, thank you. 

"Elucidate, when one can, rather than advocate." Eric Serareid. 

 Using Ovens as Dishwashers

*Photo:    BOB D'AMICO/ABC

New Ways of Saying Old Things –Part I

  . . . I have a problem with religion or anything that says, “We have all the answers,” because there’s no such thing as “the answers.” We’re complex. We change our minds on issues all the time. Religion leaves no room for human complexity. (Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, Parade, January 8, 2012.)

In my twenties, I wanted to have answers – answers to racism, poverty, and war. I seriously thought my generation could and would end all the pain.  So much for not knowing what God said about man and his complexities. (See Ecclesiastes, or Proverbs 30.)

Religion seemed impotent – having  no answers to human complexities I saw: the riots and Vietnam war – or the fall-out from “Free-love.”  Of  course I couldn’t say for sure how irrelevant it was, for I rarely attended any church. But when I did, I heard an Episcopal priest in Union South Carolina, a former IBM executive who had recently been ordained, speak of preparing for life after life.  That’s all I heard. 

Human complexity, meet death. 

Slowly, I came to grips with my mortality. Having read Dante, I knew about Hell and Purgatory. Was there no “Get Out of Jail” card?  Which religion offered the best price for such a card?

I attended the Episcopal Church again – even though its search of relevancy drove me nuts. Who in their right mind thought the General Confession needed a contemporary rendition?

A General Confession.

¶ To be said by the whole Congregation. after the Minister, all kneeling.

ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer 1928)

What I needed to hear in plain language was The Declaration of Absolution, or Remission of Sins.

So, I wandered on – looking for a connection to religion and my life. But keeping it all to myself, lest I demonstrate ignorance on matters that never seemed to bother all those complex people in my life.

Because of family issues, I wound up in Al-Anon, and there met folks for whom a higher power was real, and operated quite apart from organized religion. This higher power, the god of their understanding, had no trouble sorting out the complex problems these folks faced. My new friends suggested I borrow their higher power until I found one for myself. 

Later I screwed up the courage to go to Bible Study Fellowship, looking for answers to questions my “complex” life generated. I still wanted to know what would happen after death – and how could I help our son avoid the snares into which I stumbled as a young person: drugs, sex and rock & roll. The Bible had the same answer the program did: I can’t, God can.

Maybe that kind of simplicity answer exasperates Mr. Radcliffe? It annoyed me when I did my first Fourth Step.  It still bothers me. But like Peter, where else could I go, but to God? (John 6:68)

 Solomon and Agur  -- (Ecclesiastes and Proverbs 30 and 31) -- didn’t pretend they had all the answers. But they had a few -- their simplicity explained many of the complex issues of the 1960’s, and a few of the personal issues that upset my family:

  “ . . . If you play the fool and exalt yourself,
               or if you plan evil,
                           clap your hand over your mouth!
For as churning cream produces butter,
               and as twisting the nose produces blood,
                           so stirring up anger produces strife.”  (Proverbs 30:32-33)

• ·      Whenever a man talks loudly against religion,-always suspect that it is not his reason, but his passions which have got the better of his creed.--- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy.
• ·      Most people are bothered by those passages in scriptures which they cannot understand. But for me, I always notice that the passages in scripture which trouble me the most are those that I do understand. (Mark Twain)

Artwork  by Jim Sutton

A Good Friend -- Jane Levitt

 

In 2003, when Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian church sponsored fellowship dinners in each other’s homes, we got to know two couples better: Jim and Jane Levitt, and Paul and Lori Crawford.   Jane and I were acquaintances for a decade, and then dinner companions for three memorable meals. She had employed our son, and other youth group members to wash the windows, an act that began our relationship and introduced Jane Levitt as a kind and creative sister in Christ, who never missed an opportunity to invite others on her journey of faith – a rare gift in the church, and to the church.

Lori and I were among the first to hear when Jane received the news she was in fight with cancer.  And the Crawfords and the Smiths were blessed to hear how God had preserved the Levitt’s’ marriage through rocky times. Their candor and conviction were refreshing in times when too many times Christians whitewash problems, or pretend they aren’t stumbling in sin.

Jane modeled commonsense faith -- her knowledge of God, her steadfast belief and humble trust in His provision were practical and persuasive. She was the embodiment of Psalm 33, especially verse one:

Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;

Praise is becoming to the upright. (NASU)

Early in her treatment, Jane wrote to her friends via e-mail, requesting prayer and sharing more praises as she went into battle.  Her prevailing request was to be a useful witness – no matter what; and her recurring praises described God’s answers. She did not sugarcoat her prognosis, ever. Nor did she permit the cost of her battle to outshine her purpose:  

That's why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don't get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead.   It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going.   Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we'll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

 But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions.  Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10 from THE MESSAGE)

Early in her treatment, Jane wrote to her friends via e-mail, requesting prayer and sharing more praises as she went into battle.  Her prevailing request was to be a useful witness – no matter what; and her recurring praises described God’s answers.    

Her last email of December 12 was typical:  

Dear Friends & Family,
I have good news from my doctor's visit today. The tumors in my lungs have remained the same. They have neither increased nor decreased in size so we will continue with the same chemo this coming Thursday, Dec. 15th. Also, my visit to Concentra was encouraging.  The doctor who evaluates whether or not to grant my leave bank has decided to give me two more months to improve my health. God is good! It's great to be able to share this good news. Of course we have the great news of Jesus' birth coming up very soon! Hope you are all preparing to accept this good news!!
Love,
Jane  

Christ came, and He changed Jane Levitt into a powerful teacher,  gentle friend and a stalwart witness. She showed me how to walk through valleys, in His company, without fear or self-pity, even the scariest one. (Psalm 23:4 )

Charm can be deceptive and beauty doesn't last, but a woman who fears and reverences God shall be greatly praised.  Praise her for the many fine things she does. These good deeds of hers shall bring her honor and recognition from people of importance. (Proverbs 31:30-31 TLB)

So long, for a while dear Jane -- my deepest sympathy to Jim her husband, and Dan and Liz.
Jane's FACEBOOK page 

News Coverage of Presidential Primaries

May I yell?

No?

Okay then I will speak sweetly, but in seething tones. If I hear one more group of talking heads – my guys and others, prognosticating, pontificating, and predicating on these caucuses and primaries I am going to . . .  lose my charm!

The pundits love  talking about their point of view but only rarely could discuss more than quoting who said what about whom. The interviewers seemed oblivious to what is going on in the world – and only rarely, imho, pressed those running to explain what they understood about stuff

The press sets traps, and the candidates can’t seem to avoid them; then they both fall into them -- Even the folks I trust have devolved into “gottcha.”

The greater the technology that the press uses to cover the candidates hasn’t made for better presentation of political ideas – or maybe, nobody ever thought any further than their ratings.

• There are always too many Democratic congressmen, too many Republican congressmen, and never enough U.S. congressmen.  ~Author Unknown
• Mankind will never see an end of trouble until... lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power... become lovers of wisdom.  ~Plato, The Republic
• Great minds talk about ideas, average minds talk about events, small minds talk about people!

Please, candidates focus! You aren’t running for the votes of the press, but to present your assessment of what our country’s problems are, and how we can all solve them.  

A great quote by Saul Bellow still sums up my thinking:

Take our politicians:  they're a bunch of yo-yos.  The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of clichés the first prize.  

I am grateful for the debates – watched every one – for I saw much about the candidates and the newscasters.

My favorite is no longer in the race, Mr. Cain. But I saw Barbara Walters interview him, and I saw and heard him sing to her his favorite hymn. ( See This Link!)

A Proverb for Today

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“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.”

 

So true!  This piece has be upgraded and moved to a new site -- please click through!

https://lettinggoandholdingtight.com/new-years-proverb-readers-us-recovery/

Turning a New Leaf . . . What Potential?

January 1, 2012 – Dallas

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. 

Edith Lovejoy Pierce, an English poet whose life and work has been condensed on the Internet with this one quote, is a kindred spirit. Her sketch of New Year’s Day is how I feel starting a new journal -- and I am about to begin the twenty-fifth year of journaling. This year could be a big change again (Opportunity) perhaps like the 1^st of January 2005  was: a time of an unforeseen relocation, and uprooting. 

I’ve selected this year a small yellow leather calendar diary – a “desk journal” -- that will accompany me everywhere.  Its part is to remind me of the years, months, and days and keep track of all I hope to do. It will be  a companion when I wait alone in restaurants for friends; an aide memoire to what I am learning – and with its world maps, a concise tutor showing me how slight I am on this wonder-full planet!  Seven years ago, I began using these elegant little volumes, replacing the colorful spiral-bound notebooks that had been my companions. Whether spiral or leather bond, the first page – crisp and unstained with coffee, tears, or sly squiggles made by my children or grandchildren, each promised a fresh start.  

The birds are molting. If only man could molt also -- his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions. - James Allen (British philosophical thinker, author of As a Man Thinketh.) 

Maybe that’s the reason for resolutions?

I start 2012 with no resolutions – Oscar Wilde described them as checks “that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” But I start with a few regrets – as some once kvetched: “It wouldn’t be New Year’s Day with no regrets!” The journals remind me – when I write honestly – how my regrets are better goads to good judgment than highfalutin promises!  

But today, as of now, no scribbling accuses me.    Today, I feel as Harold Acton, a British author in mid -20^th century wryly observed:   

So often is the virgin sheet of paper more real than what one has to say, and so often one regrets having marred it. 

The sheer beauty of this day in Dallas – brimming with sparkly sunshine and cool air – fills the senses with hope. The trees, now leaf-less, don’t seem barren, as they might seem on a gray chilly day. (Vivaldi’s WINTER ) No, they seem like a mom in the early stages of pregnancy – shyly announcing a time when new LIFE will delight and enchant, driving away despair and worry that the news of this day foretells -- coming economic woes, political and religious battles; plus the knowledge that friends are coping with unexpected stuff. 

Today, the glass is half full! A day of small beginnings is nothing to despise! (Zechariah 4:10 )

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room-by-room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives . . . not looking for flaws, but for potential.  ~Ellen Goodman   

The HOPE of potential!

Oh – the amaryllis survived our separation – and has yet to bloom – Maybe another week before the natural Christmas decoration will come forth?

  So, dear reader -- May all [our] troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions! ~Joey Adams – comedian. And may the memory of God's gift in Christ be a comfort and help -- much more than any journal could be -- and as fresh and lovely as the amaryllis promises to be.   

Living in a Brave New World

Chilly, constant downpours did not dissuade us; we forged into Washington and to the Smithsonian’ Natural History Museum, in the company of children and grandchildren.  Wanting to share my memories of the towering preserved African elephant in the main rotunda spurred me on – so did the remembrances of the suspended whale in an adjacent exhibition.

 

We arrived close to lunchtime, and so did a vast crowd of diverse groups of people – English was not the predominant language I heard. I had braced myself for crowds, but the volume of visitors flabbergasted me – they exceeded the number I remember from spring field trips to the museum with the kids. Whatever the capacity of that museum is – it appeared the numbers of people exceeded it by 15%!  

Few security guards were on duty – and the ones who did security checks at one entrance were harried – distracted. Information stations were unmanned. It wasn’t Bedlam – solely by the grace of God. But it sure seemed close to it!

The crush of people – and the potential for problems – tested the limits of my self-control, so I would not panic and generate problems. But, I was not the only one who was somewhat panicky. Keeping one eye on the exhibits, and one wary eye on the potential crush of humanity ebbing and flowing about me. I paused before displays and then moved, lest I lose sight of companions and grandchildren who longed to roam freely in the milling crowds.

We saw only a portion of the exhibitions – and had little prospect of reading the descriptions or explanations. In some ways this was a mercy, for of all the exhibits we saw, the message was evolution, evolution, and evolution. And just in case we missed that message: evolution rules!  One would think evolution is an irrefutable fact.

I am not well versed in scientific knowledge but I know enough to recognize a party line.  No where in the displays did I see any discussion of the history or diversity of different scientific worldviews.  Although the folks who set the agenda for a display on race took great pains to celebrate the diversity in the human race that unites us, they see no value, apparently, in the diversity of opinion in science on the natural world that defines us.  (Religion and Science article) So much for letting people study and explore, and come to their own conclusions. 

What I remember – from my childhood, more than a half century ago, wandering the exhibits, was exploration and examination – displays that introduced me to wonders I had never seen, casing me to think about how enormously multifaceted the world and universe are – long before I believed an infinite, personal God created it all.   

 Including even one exhibit on the correlation of religious faith (from ALL the world’s religions) and scientific inquiry might have revealed an organizing principle that propelled man to understand and harness the power of creation.   But, no. Yesterday’s reality check showed man’s determination to place to ride roughshod over evidence and unanswered questions with his own opinion. 

. . . Carl Sagan, the atheist, once said "If we can get only one intelligent message from outer space we'll know there is intelligent life out there." Here’s the funny thing: when the archaeologist goes into a cave and sees some scratches on the wall, he determines an intelligent mind has been there. We have 600,000 pages of digital information in one strand of DNA and there are actually people who want to say there was no intelligent source to it? (Are Christians Anti-Science?)   

Describing the influence of faith on scientific inquiry is not an establishment of religion. Relating what men and women of faith discovered about the natural world is not forcing the faith of the scientists on the visitors who willingly came to a public facility.  The government and benefactors of the Museum of Natural History  don’t agree.  The organizing principle of the Smithsonian museum was for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Yet, in practice, the museum has become a sprawling purveyor of politically correct thinking – and on my dime!  

"It isn't only art that's incompatible with happiness; it's also science. Science is dangerous; we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled." Brave New World.

The Gospel-Teaching Crèche

The  Crèche is as proverbial this time of year as it is controversial. A rustic enclosure, usually a wooden lean-to, wherein sheep and cattle, and a donkey sleep, shelters a man and woman watching a newborn, swaddled and laying in a manger – a food trough. Sometimes a few shepherds lurk around the outside; often an angel perches overtop. Three lavishly attired and foreign men bow before the manger, each bearing a gift, their camels secured at a distance. Why this generates so much controversy about its display on public places is its religious message:  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)  

So, given what a Crèche represents, I understand why a nativity scene should not be elevated in importance in the public arena. We are a nation that protects the freedom of religion. It’s clear, that US Congressmen should not say “Merry Christmas” on the public’s dime. (Or 44 cents!) 

A crèche then, remains a powerful encourager, and uncompromising tutor. Christians and non-Christians know what the holiday teaches:

Christians know why He came as He did – to give His life a ransom for many. But, others see our failures to honor our Lord:

·      Don’t expect too much of Christmas Day. You can’t crowd into it any arrears of unselfishness and kindliness that may have accrued during the past twelve months.” – Oren Arnold

·      How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

·      Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves."
~ Eric Sevareid (1912-1992), American newscaster.

The Christian symbols of the season were real people whose problems were real. A baby born of a virgin, Mary, in the humility of a stable, with only her espoused, Joseph, attending; shepherds, angels and Magi – tell a dramatic story – weaving suffering, humiliation, supernatural exaltation and intervention, royalty, intrigue, flight and unspeakable slaughter.  

·      Mary and Joseph, facing the birth of a baby outside the bounds of marriage endured hardship because of unexplainable pregnancy – perhaps that was why there was not room anywhere in Joseph’s hometown for the couple? 

·      Joseph and Mary suffered because of the requirement to be counted by Rome; they had travel over 70 miles when she was about to deliver!

·      Mary had no comfort in her delivery – Joseph had no expertise birthing babies.

·      The shepherds knew the sting of disrespect because of what they did – they were low on the social pecking order. 

·      It took the Magi perhaps a year and a half to reach the newborn King –

·      Even the angels who rejoiced couldn’t grasp the meaning of the Incarnation.  (1 Peter 1:12)  

·      And then there is the humiliation Christ embraced so that He might fully understand the human condition – the dependency, the laying aside of all His prerogatives.

Yet, they also enjoyed real blessings in the midst of their trials:

·      Joseph stuck by Mary – he feared God more than humiliation or gossip, and put her welfare ahead of his own.

·      Joseph did what was right for Mary and her Son.

·      The shepherds, the least in Jewish society were the first to see and hear the angels praising God.

·      The Magi saw the One of whom Daniel had spoken 750 years earlier.

·      Because of their gifts, Mary and Joseph had the wherewithal to escape Herod’s slaughter of little boys under two years old. And the holy family could live in Egypt, historically hostile to Jews, and lived there for two years before returning to Nazareth.

·      Finally, the Wise Men themselves departed on a different path from whence they came to Christ, Bishop Fulton Sheen said: Those who come to Christ never leave the way they came.

A familiar icon still conveys the Gospel . . .  For God so loved the world – He gave His Son . . . So many people will look at so many different kinds of crèche – I hope they will see the story behind the symbols -- but better yet, may they ask the question: “What Child is this -- really?”  

But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.   Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.   You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!"   Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. (Gal 4:4-7 from THE MESSAGE.)

Click here for a great choir in a box:

O Holy NIght 

What I Learned from Frank Schaeffer

Typos, Spell-check and A Christian Witness

I write because I can’t paint or sculpt. Although I am gaining some mastery with brushes, paint and paper, I can’t get on the paper all my heart sees through my eyes.  The same is true for the clay; I can shape some thoughts through the clay. Alas, my fingers are not nimble enough to smooth the clay without thinning it. One of my clay creations –an angel -- testifies to my limitations.  So, I keep up my writing – arranging and rearranging words.

Reading informs us, conversing trains us – but writing shows how much and how well we know about a subject according to Sir Francis Bacon. ( Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man; writing an exact man.) This blog – a journal I share, a thesis under construction – is my humble canvas and words my medium, rather than acrylics or watercolors.  Its entries are as clay I’m manipulating.  I use words so you, gentle reader, can know me and think well of me – and so that both of us can think about ideas, events; problems and their solutions. 

So, when I review a selection and discover silly typos, or misspellings that the spell-check overlooked, I am embarrassed. Mercifully, I can edit the errors. Excuses may abound: I was so excited about an idea; it was late – or too early in the AM; or, I had mistaken information. But the impression of inattentiveness or ignorance has been made. I wish I could say as Henri Rousseau did, “Excuse my scribbling, it is late, and I have a poor candle.”  But, poor lighting doesn’t cause carelessness and ignorance.

Fatigue may cause some writing gaffes; so can laziness.Immaturity, pride, and hurt hold back a writer more profoundly. Writing what is true, useful, and God-honoring sometimes slams me against this trio of character typos, showing me maturity is not always an attribute of age; humility is still hard to get hold of, and I’d rather blame anybody but myself for the fall-out of stuff in my life.         

So, why bother?

Good writing should inform the writer, first, and so, overcome his or her ignorance. 

Immaturity, pride and hurt are not attractive, useful or edifying. Artists and writers – and Christians – who will not edit them, look silly  -- careless and ignorant.  “Editing” this trio is constructive. Editing this trio means looking away from the mess, and asking for help. As editing my writing means making changes someone else suggests, editing immaturity, pride and hurt means making changes.    

Last night on Cspan  we watched Frank Schaeffer discuss his new book Sex, Mom, and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics—and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway.   Listening to him, I wondered that he has never had an editor challenge his assumptions and generalizations; one who will  help him make changes in the trio of character typos that limited his talk, and writing. (I read Addicted to Mediocrity and Portofino) Or, is it he chooses not to edit his words?

However, Mr. Schaeffer taught me some lessons worth learning:

1.     Pray for Christians who are leaders, like Francis and Edith Schaeffer were. Pray they never inadvertently neglect or harm their children – and pray their children will feel the love of God, who will never fail them though their parents do. 

2.     My memory is not infallible; it is colored by immaturity, pride and hurt. Therefore, use The editor!  (Psalm 19:12-14, 119:105)

3.     Accepting my parents’ failures, forgiving and learning from them is healthier than exposing their nakedness.  Their character deficiencies may be basic sculpting tools  God uses to whittle me into shape.  (1 Peter 4:7-12)

4.     Recognize and mourn over the church’s failures -- and change the parts I can. (Matthew 5:23-24, 18:15; Galatians 6:1) 

5.     Words are powerful tools or weapons. (James 3:1-18)

When I write about anything, may I write as one growing-up, willing to learn, and ready to be healed.  And please excuse my typos!

·      By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach. (Winston Churchill)

·      Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public. Never clothe them in vulgar or shoddy attire. (George Crane, author)

·      Blessed is the person who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact. -- attr to George Eliot

Quotes from Christians quoting.com

Christmas Carols – Serendipitous Tonics

Hooray – It is wafting again on radio stations and through stores – familiar strains that evoke memories of words fewer people seem to know. The old carols are as old friends who link my heart to six decades or so of Christmases.  Just hearing them cheers me up! And new compositions are equally edifying. John Rutter has written and arranged some holiday music that lets me imagine how carols may have sounded in the olden days – echoing in stone castles or cathedrals – or an English countryside in which I’ve never celebrated the Lord’s birth.

Tonight on our local classical music station (WRR) I heard What Sweeter Music’s evocative lilt and lyrics – I wanted to know more. When I investigated, I learned the John Rutter composed the carol using the poetry written in the 17^th century by Robert Herrick, some of whose work I barely skimmed in a survey of English literature.   What I learned about him was limited to his sensual poems.  He was the cleric and poet who urged, “ . . . gather ye rosebuds while ye may . . . “.

How much I missed! So busy was I keeping themes, dates, titles, and authors straight -- I never appreciated  the urgency of this man’s worship. I never made the connection between the terrors of the English Civil War which affected Herrick’s calling – as a cleric or a poet.  He was a man who lived through times as perilous as my own, never losing sight of God’s great gift in Christ.

What Sweeter Music

What sweeter music can we bring


Than a carol, for to sing


The birth of this our heavenly King? 


Awake the voice! Awake the string!

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,


And give the honor to this day,


That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winter’s morn


Smile, like a field beset with corn?


Or smell like a meadow newly-shorn,


Thus, on the sudden? Come and see


The cause, why things thus fragrant be:


‘Tis He is born, whose quickening birth


Gives life and luster, public mirth,


To heaven, and the under-earth.

We see him come, and know him ours,


Who, with his sunshine and his showers,


Turns all the patient ground to flowers.


The darling of the world is come,


And fit it is, we find a room


To welcome him. The nobler part


Of all the house here, is the heart.

Which we will give him; and bequeath


This holly, and this ivy wreath,


To do him honour, who’s our King,


And Lord of all this revelling.

What sweeter music can we bring,


Than a carol for to sing


The birth of this our heavenly King?

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Thanks to WRR that played John Rutter’s carol, and the Internet that gave me the information omitted from the survey course. I am finding that You Tube is a better text for a recovering English major than the The Norton Anthology of English Literature! God’s serendipitous mercy is that faith- enriching words and music from ancient and modern carols remain an acceptable tradition. Searching out information on their author’s and composers – reading their words – exercised my heart, mind and refreshed my soul, a soul sometimes falling into gloom in this glittery season.