Archive | October 2005

Morning Star of the Reformation

Oct31

I found this poem by Wordsworth while reading for my British Literature class:

WICLIFFE

ONCE more the Church is seized with sudden fear,
And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed:
Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed
And flung into the brook that travels near;
Forthwith, that ancient Voice which Streams can hear
Thus speaks (that Voice which walks upon the wind,
Though seldom heard by busy human kind)–
“As thou these ashes, little Brook! wilt bear
“Into the Avon, Avon to the tide
“Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas,
“Into main Ocean they, this deed accurst
“An emblem yields to friends and enemies
“How the bold Teacher’s Doctrine, sanctified
“By truth, shall spread, throughout the world dispersed.”

And, of course, it’s true. Wycliffe preached, “Were there a hundred popes and all the friars turned to cardinals, their opinions in matters of faith should not be accepted except in so far as they are founded on Scripture itself.” Wycliffe died, and fifty years after his death, they dug up his body, burned it, and scattered his ashes in the river Swift, a tributary of the Avon.

But Wycliffe’s views and teachings travelled to Bohemia and greatly influenced a man named Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake for teaching what Wycliffe taught first.. A century later Martin Luther wrote, “I have hitherto taught and held all the opinions of Hus without knowing it . . . We are all of us Hussites.”

Tonight we watched the movie Luther in honor of Reformation Day. I’ve been reading the book Wide As the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired by Benson Bobrick. Perhaps some more thoughts on translating the Bible into the languages of the common people and on the Reformation will be forthcoming soon. For now, I’m simply thankful for the great blessing I have taken for granted all my life, the blessing of being able to read God’s very Word for myself in my own language.

By the way, I’m declaring November Thanksgiving for the Saints Month here at Semicolon. (If Rebecca Writes can have Spurgeon Month, I can certainly devote a month to giving thanks for those who have served the Lord faithfully and in doing so directly and indirectly blessed me.) What thirty+ saints in the history of the church am I thankful for? Stay tuned to find out.

Today I’m giving thanks for John Wycliffe, John Hus, and Martin Luther, a triumvirate of reformers, Bible preachers and lovers of Jesus Christ who gave us, among other blessings, the concept of having the Word of God available in our very own language.

A Lump of Deformity Smitten With Pride

Oct31

As I said in an earlier post, I re-read Guliver’s Travels last week for my British Literature class. The last section of the book ends with Gulliver, alone and misanthropic, makng the following rather ironic observation:

My Reconcilement to the Yahoo-kind in general might not be so difficult if they would be content with those Vices and Follies only, which Nature has entitled them to. I am not in the least provoked at the Sight of a Lawyer, a Pick-pocket, a Colonel, a Fool, a Lord, a Gamester, a Politician, a Whore-Master, a Physician, an Evidence, a Suborner, an Attorney, a Traitor, or the like: This is all according to the due Course of Things: But when I behold a Lump of Deformity, and Diseases both in Body and Mind, smitten with Pride, it immediately breaks all the Measures of my Patience; neither shall I be ever able to comprehend how such an Animal and such a Vice could tally together. The wise and virtuous Houyhnhnms, who abound in all Excellencies that can adorn a Rational Creature, have no Name for this Vice in their Language, which has no Terms to express anything that is Evil, except those whereby they describe the detestable Qualities of their Yahoos, among which they were not able to distinguish this of Pride, for want of thoroughly understanding Human Nature, as it sheweth itself in other Countries, where that Animal presides. But I, who had more Experience, could plainly observe some Rudiments of it among the wild Yahoos.

But the Houyhnhnms, who live under the Government of Reason, are no more proud of the good Qualities they possess, than I should be for not wanting a Leg or an Arm, which no Man in his Wits would boast of, although he must be miserable without them. I dwell the longer upon this Subject from the Desire I have to make the Society of an English Yahoo by any Means not insupportable, and therefore I here entreat those who have any Tincture of this absurd Vice, that they will not presume to come in my sight.

By the end of Swift’s satirical travel guide, Gulliver is too repulsed, too refined, actually too proud, to associate with any of the human beings who are his own countrymen.

I thought today that some of the bloggers (naming no names) I’ve been reading have more than a trace of Lemuel Gulliver’s malady. Especially evangelical Christian bloggers. Some of us are so anxious to distinguish ourselves from those right-wing fundamentalists, those Yahoo Christians, those Halloween-hating, demon-fearing, book-burning, lumpish Dobsonites, that we end up displaying the very vices that we decry. I include myself because I’m certainly not immune to pride, and I know how deceptive the human heart can be. It’s important to remember that all of us are Yahoos at heart, no matter how educated and refined and sophisticated we may think we are. Some of the other Yahoos may actually know more than we do about something or another. And we all know what Pride goeth before.

Perhaps it would behoove us all to consider the great distance between our intellect and that of Almighty God and then give our brothers and sisters the benefit of the distance as we write. I think we could all use a little more humilité, as Guinevere called it. Do I need to get me dose by reading C.J. Mahaney’s new book?

/sermon

Picture Book Preschool: Week 45

Oct31

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.

WEEK 45 (Nov) FOOD
Character Trait: Thanksgiving
Bible Verse: (God) gives food to every creature. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:25

1. Morris, Ann. Bread, Bread, Bread. Lothrop Lee, 1989.
2. Gibbons, Gail. Marge’s Diner. Crowell, 1989. OP
3. DePaola, Tomie. The Popcorn Book. Holiday House, 1978.
4. Carle, Eric. Pancakes, Pancakes. Knopf, 1970.
5. Aliki. Corn Is Maize: The Gift of the Indians. Crowell, 1976.
6. Aliki. A Medieval Feast. HarperCollins, 1987.
7. Brown, Marcia. Stone Soup. Scribner’s, 1947.
BONUS: Ehlert, Lois. Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. Harcourt Brace, 1989.

Activities: Cook together. Make cookies, pancakes, or popcorn. Make soup, and let your child put in the ingredients.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the preschool curriculum, Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early, click on the PBP link in the sidebar for more information.

The Most Dangerous Thing Is Illusion

Oct31

Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix on October 31, 1926. Magician dies on Halloween; how odd is that?

Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. He was the son of a rabbi, and his birth name was Erik Weisz. The family moved to America in about 1878. Erik/Houdini ran away from home at the age of twelve. Houdini worked hard to become a vaudeville magician and entertainer; eventually he concentrated on escapes. He was known as “The King of Handcuffs” and “The Genius of Escape.”

In 1922 Houdini was vacationing with his friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Doyle’s family. He attended a seance with Lady Doyle who claimed to receive a message from Houdini’s deceased and beloved mother. Houdini did not believe in the message, and he and Doyle became estranged over this seance and over Houdini’s continuing efforts to unmask fake and fraudulent “mediums.”

Teaching materials on Harry Houdini from PBS’s The American.Experience.

The Rest of the Story

Oct29

The New York TImes reported the death of one of our soldiers in Iraq:

Another member of the 1/5, Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, rejected a $24,000 bonus to re-enlist. Corporal Starr believed strongly in the war, his father said, but was tired of the harsh life and nearness of death in Iraq. So he enrolled at Everett Community College near his parents’ home in Snohomish, Wash., planning to study psychology after his enlistment ended in August. But he died in a firefight in Ramadi on April 30 during his third tour in Iraq. He was 22.

Go to Michelle Malkin for The Rest of the Story.

Yeah, a blogger tells the whole story —again.

No History, Only Biography

Oct29

James Boswell, famous for his biography of Samuel Johnson, was born on this day in 1740.

“The life of Johnson is assuredly a great, a very great work. Homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakespeare is not more decidedly the first of dramatists, Demosthenes is not more decidedly the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers.” –Thomas Babington Macaulay

Have you read Boswell’s Life of Johnson? Do you read very many biographies? What are your favorites? I realized in thinking about this topic that I have read and enjoyed quite a few autobiographies, but not so many biographies. Mostly I’ve read biographies with my children.

A few favorite biographies:

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
Leonardo da Vinci, Good Queen Bess and others by Diane Stanley
Paul Revere and the World He Lived In by Esther Forbes
Stonewall by Jean Fritz
Hard Times by Studs Terkel
Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs

Wow! That was hard. I think I prefer people’s stories in their own words. I can think of dozens of good autobiographies and memoirs. What’s your favorite biography?

October 28th Blogiversary

Oct28

I’ve been blogging for two whole years now. Have I said anything worthwhile? I sincerely hope so.

Most frequent searches that end up at Semicolon:

“What to do when bored” leads to this favorite Bored: Nothing To Do, a list of 100 suggestions for bored urchins.
Searches for “TV detectives” lead to my list of ten favorite TV detectives.
People who are looking for an SAT shower curtain often end up here, and happily for them the link to Amazon to buy the curtain still works.
A search having to do with preschoolers and picture books will, I hope, lead the reader to my Picture Book Preschool curriculum page.
As you might imagine, there are a lot of people who come here looking for help on the rules for usage of the lowly semicolon itself. I really ought to do a post on that subject someday as a public service.

My 10 favorite posts from the past two years:

1. Revealing Literature: A Life in Books

2. Ways to Be Texan

3. Can Anything Good Come Out of San Angelo?

4. Homeschooling by Grace

5. Where I am From

6. Celtic Community

7. Showers of Blessing

8. Cafes, Cathedrals, and Communities

9. 10 Most Helpful FIction Books of the Last Two Centuries

10. The List, a list of books I want to read this year.

Friday’s Center of the Blogosphere

Oct28

A Visit to Saddleback Church

Chosen People Not Choosing Children, about Jewish people having fewer children from Mere Comments.

Mark Horne, pastor, on reading the Bible. He says don’t try so hard to get something out of it. Just read.

Ann Rice (the vampire writer) writes only for the Lord now? From Bookworm Room.

Phil at Brandywine Books sent me to a blog called My Best Gadgets where I found a genuine Radio Toaster. While you’re there, check out the WonderVase and the Hamster Powered Clock.

On a more serious note, does anyone have any more information on the new Kenyan constitution outlawing open-air evangelistic meetings? Here’s what Gerry Charlotte Phelps says. Time to pray?

New Blogs I Found This Week:
A Work in Progresslibrarian, artist, and reader. She has several booklists in her recent posts that I need to check out more closely.
Bartography The blog of Chris Barton who writes biographies for children.
Fortunately, my pastor just set up a blog this week. Unfortunately, it’s at xanga, and I can’t add it to my RSS feed at Bloglines (can I?) Tar-Palantir.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born October 27th

Oct27

James Cook, b. 1728. Famous English sea captain and explorer, he discovered the Hawaiian Islands and was killed in Hawaii on February 14, 1779. He also was the first European to visit New Zealand while looking for a southern continent that was believed to exist in order to keep the earth in balance. This book sounds interesting: Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific As Told by Selections of His Own Journals, 1768-1779 by James Cook and edited by A. Grenfell Price. Another one for The List.

Theodore Roosevelt, b. 1858. He was the 26th president of the United States and my favorite. He was the first president to ride in an automobile, the first to submerge in a submarine, and the first to fly in an airplane. TR quotes:

“For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.”
“There are two things that I want you to make up your minds to: first, that you are going to have a good time as long as you live – I have no use for the sour-faced man – and next, that you are going to do something worthwhile, that you are going to work hard and do the things you set out to do.”
“Don’t hit at all if you can help it; don’t hit a man if you can possibly avoid it; but if you do hit him, put him to sleep.”
“I don’t think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did. Moreover, I don’t think any ex-President ever enjoyed himself more.”

I think Teddy Roosevelt is so much fun to read about because he did enjoy thoroughly whatever he did. It’s a trait I could afford to emulate more often.

Dylan Thomas, b. 1914. Poem in October was written in celebration of the poet’s own thirtieth birthday.
“It was my thirtieth year to heaven
Woke to my hearing from harbour and neighbour wood
And the mussel pooled and the heron
Priested shore . . .”

The Year of the Warrior by Lars Walker

Oct26

year warriorThe Year of the Warrior starts out with what I think is an unfortunate cover. The cover art implies swords, sorcery, rape and pillage, medieval Christianity bathed in a sort of lurid green background. The book is about swords, sorcery, rape and pillage, and medieval Christianity–but not lurid or salacious at all.

The central character is Aillil, an Irish student who ends up in Norway as a thrall, and who becomes a sort of fake-priest in order to save his own skin. The story is about how Aillil becomes a real follower of the White Christ and a true priest of The Beloved, as he also calls Christ. The path from slavery and hypocrisy to freedom and truth isn’t easy for Aillil.. He’s beset by doubts and Satanic tricks and dangers within and without. The book would appeal to action fans, plenty of battles and blood and gore. If anything, some of the chapters are a little too full of action for my tastes to the exclusion of quiet character development. However, the book’s true strength lies in the characters, Aillil and his Viking master Erling, and in the themes of violent change versus patient conversion, conservatism versus liberalism, truth versus seeming, and justice versus mercy.

I have a bad habit of always drawing comparisons when I read. “This author reminds me of that one. This book makes me think of some movie. This character or story line is like the character or plot of another novel.” Actually, it’s not such a bad habit as long as you who are reading my reviews remember that I’m not saying that any book or author is exactly like another or that one author is imitating another, just that they are similar in some way.

So, Lars Walker’s book The Year of the Warrior reminds me of Stephen Lawhead’s books. They both write a combination of historical fiction and fantasy, heavy on both the magic and the history, with Christian themes. There now, I’ve got that comparison out of my system, and you can decide, if you like Lawhead’s books, to give The Year of the Warrior a try. And if you don’t like Lawhead or you’re not familiar with his writing, you should still read Mr. Walker‘s book because I say so. I’ve been reading Lars Walker’s blog posts at Brandywine Books for quite some time, and his writing there made me want to see what his fiction would be like. I have another book of his, Blood and Judgement, and I’m anxious to start on it. I think I’ll recommend The Year of the Warrior to Computer Guru Son–who likes Stephen Lawhead by the way.