Archive | October 2005

Picture Book Preschool: Week 43

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 43 (Oct) NIGHTTIME
Character Trait: Security and Trust
Bible Verse: (God made) the moon and the stars to govern the night. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:9

1. Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight, Moon. Harper, 1947, 1977.
2. Freeman, Don. The Night the Lights Went Out. Viking, 1958.
3. Rylant, Cynthia. Night in the Country. Bradbury, 1986.
4. McCauley, Jane. Ways Animals Sleep. National Geographic, 1983.
5. Chorao, Kay. The Baby’s Bedtime Book. Dutton, 1984.
6. Lobel, Arnold. Owl at Home. Harper Row, 1975
7. Zolotow, Charlotte. Sleepy Book. Harper Row, 1986. OP

Activities: Go for a walk after dark. Come home and make a nighttime picture with black construction paper and chalk (or white crayon). Talk about how God made the night and the day. Say thank you to God for the night. Let your child take a flashlight to bed (just once!).

SCP Journal

Oct16

Spiritual Counterfeits Project (or SCP) is an apologetics ministry that focuses on “confronting the occult, the cults, and the New Age movement and explaining why they are making an impact on our society.” They publish a newsletter about once a month and a journal about twice yearly. (I say “about” because I can’t tell from the website or from the publications themselves exactly what the publishing schedule is.) The SCP newsletter is sent to those who contribute at least $10.00 annually to help offset publication, printing, and postage costs. The SCP Journal plus the Newsletter are sent to those who contribute at least $25.00 annually.

I received my copies of SCP Journal and zCP Newsletter free via Mind and Media in return for my review. So here goes.

The newsletter is sixteen pages of current events commentary from a Christian perspective. The one I received, Volume 29:4 Summer 2005, featured a front page article by the president of SCP, Tal Brooke, comparing the themes and impact of the first movie version of War of the Worlds, made in 1953, with the Stephen Spielberg version released earlier this year. This same newsletter also has a “Letters to the Editor” section, a timely article on the battle of the appointment of judges, and an index to past articles in both the newsletter and the journal. I see lots of potentially useful stuff for Christian apologists in the index: book reviews, interviews, and scholarly articles featuring such authors as Gene Veith, Philip E. Johnson, Ron Rhodes, Ted Baehr and Brian Godawa (just some of the names I recognized). You can order past issues of both the newsletter and the journal via the SCP website.

SCP JournaL is a seventy-five page magazine, no ads except for ads for the ministry and its literature, full color cover, and seventy plus pages of meaty content. SCP Journal, Volume 28:4-29:1, features three articles. The first called “Soul Under Siege II” is obviously a continuation of an extended examination of the War on Terror and global politics. Although I’m not sure the New World Order is quite as threatening or as organized as the author of the article, Lee Penn, states, this advice is well taken:

In the face of these long-standing national and global trends, it is difficult to formulate a promising political counter-strategy. Nevertheless, if we each turn away from sin, seek God’s guidance and wisdom, discern the signs of the times, do not cooperate with evil or join in the prevailing deceit, and pray for God to have mercy on our foes (and to grant them the grace of amendment of life), we will be doing what Christians are called to do.

The second journal article is by Alan Morrison on a history of gnosticism. Heavily footnoted and subtitled “an historical analysis of the impact orders and mystery religions from the 6th century to the modern era,” the article attempts to define gnosticism and tie together such disparate elements as the Albigneses, the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Freemasonry, Darwinism and Theological Liberalism. He then goes on to talk about political movements such as Marxism and religious movements such as Theosophy and mind sciences, and again he attempts to bundle these together as different manifestations of modern gnosticism. I say “attempts” because although these movements are all united in their opposition to Orthodox Christianity, they are all very different from one another and deserve to be engaged on a case-by-case basis. That said, I’m not doing justice to the author’s arguments nor his research in this brief review. You really need to subscribe to SCP Journal and read the article yourself.

The third article is called “The Suicide Option: When Life Has Lost Meaning” by Josh Ong, office manager for SCP and a student at UC Berkeley. Mr. Ong tells in this article about his own struggles as a teenager with depression and attempted suicide. It’s a testimony piece with excerpts from Josh Ong’s high school diary, but it’s also a detailed and in-depth look at suicide and the philosophical elements in our culture that can lead to despair and the hope and meaning that Mr. Ong found nowhere outside of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this article for anyone who is working with young adults or students especially.

I found much to engage my mind and give me impetus for further thought and research in these two periodicals, and I would recommend both for apologists and serious Christians who are confronting spiritual counterfeits and lies daily.

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Oct15

Chess is Life. –Bobby Fischer
Life is a kind of chess –Benjamin Franklin

Bobby and Benjamin both make cameo appearances in this thriller/spy novel set both in the 1970’s and in the time of the French Revolution. But the main characters are a couple of women: a French nun named Mireille and an American computer expert, Catherine Velis. Both of the women become involved with a chess set that dates back to the time of Charlemagne, the set called the Montglane Service. As the story progresses, every historical character you’ve ever heard of (and some you probably haven’t) from the mid to late 1700’s makes at least an appearance from Robespierre to Catherine the Great to Fibonacci the mathemetician. The game of chess plays a prominent role in the story, and the number eight is pivotal. In fact, if I have any complaint about the book it’s that there is altogether too much chess, too many eights, and too many historical figures to keep straight. I think all the loose ends get tied together in the end, but I’m not completely sure.

Even though I’ve never read The Da Vinci Code and don’t plan to do so, The Eight, published in 1989 before Dan Brown’s bestseller, reminds me of what I’ve read about that book. I was also reminded of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, lots of whom-can we-trust kinds of scenes and situations. The MacGuffin, of course, is the fabulous chess set, which happens to conceal a dangerous secret handed down from antiquity. Or does it? The author is able to weave mathematics, history, chemistry, music, chess, characters and plot together to keep the reader guessing until the end of the book.

I enjoyed this novel and found it to be fascinating even though the ending was a bit disappointing. It didn’t seem that the characters had any reason to make the decisions they made in the end. However, the intricacy of the puzzle that sustains the action made up for any letdown at the end. In fact, although good vs. evil is a theme throughout the book, the world of The Eight makes very little reference to God. This world is a world of people who are chess pieces on a game board, and the pieces are playing the game. No one else is in charge. The book has no explicitly Christian themes, except for the generic “love conquers all” ideal, and some of the plot devices are occult in nature, having to do mostly with alchemy. It’s harmless stuff as far as I could judge, and I really doubt anyone would take this book seriously as more than entertainment. (I’ve heard that some people did take the revisionist history and unbelievable theology of The Da Vinci Code seriously.)

Read and enjoy.

Born October 15th

Oct15

P.G. Wodehouse, b. 1881. I’ve blogged about Wodehouse before, most notably here. I added Wodehouse to the syllabus for my British literature class next spring just because I want to find one more kindred spirit who laughs out loud at Bertie and Jeeves. Eldest Daughter already shares my appreciation for Wodehouse. If you want to laugh and feel “velly English”, read something by Wodehouse. It doesn’t really matter which Jeeves book you read; they all have approximately the same plot. Bertie, a somewhat dim bulb of an aristocrat, gets himself into a pickle usually involving a young woman and an aunt or two, and his manservant, Jeeves, gets him out. It’s not the plot exactly, although the situations Bertie gets into are funny in or of themselves; it’s the dialog and Bertie’s observations on life and love, and Jeeves’ observations on Bertie, and the silly characters they get mixed up with.

George Orwell in Defense of P.G. Wodehouse Wodehouse was interned by the Germans at the beginning of WW II, and in exchange for being released or because he was released and though he owed them something or just because he liked to talk, he agreed to do some broadcasts over German radio. He said a lot of stuff in these broadcasts, but part of what he said was that he didn’t really care who won the war and that he thought the Germans had treated him well during the time he was imprisoned. The reaction in England to these radio broadcasts was to make Wodehouse hugely unpopular. The link is to George Orwell’s 1946 defense of Wodehouse. Orwell basically says what everybody else who defends Wodehouse’s action says: Wodehouse knew next to nothing about politics, and he had no idea that anything he said would be used by the Nazis for the purposes of propaganda.

Enjoy the books; forget the politics.

In Which I Succumb to Peer Pressure

Oct14

OK! I have been withholding judgement on Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers and probably should continue to do so. Frankly, I think a lot of other bloggers should keep their opinions to themselves, too, because most of us don’t know enough about Harriet Miers or the Supreme Court to have an informed opinion. Nevertheless, this is the United States of America, the land where because we can speak freely, therefore we must inform everyone of what we think about any and everything. And following in that grand tradition, the blogosphere is place for opinions every kind. I feel the pressure! Everyone wants to knoiw what I think. Everyone else knows whether or not Ms. Miers should be confirmed. I KNOW, TOO!

Whew! I feel better now. Now I can step back two paces and ask a few questions. Does anyone have a cogent reason for thinking that Harriet Miers is intellectually inferior to the average Supreme Court justice? Maybe still waters run deep. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a dozen times: she’s not qualified. The implication is that Harriet Miers is not fit to judge a beauty contest, much less be a judge in the highest court of this great nation. I want to know what’s so hard about deciding whether or not the Constitution applies to this or that case and how it applies. If she’s been a lawyer for thirty years and if she’s been the head of a large law firm and if she’s lawyered for the President of the United States, why can’t she, along with eight other justices, decide the cases that come before the Supreme Court? I also want to know why is she not qualified? What exactly would “qualified” look like? Don’t throw names at me; I’m sure there are lots of other people who are qualified. I want to know what makes them qualified. They’ve written great law review articles? They’ve written opinions with which you agree? I agree that kind of paper trail would make it easier to trace the ideas and abilities of a prospective judge, but the lack of articles and written opinions doesn’t prove that Harriet Miers doesn’t have any ideas or has the wrong ones. Maybe she’s a smart, conservative lady who keeps her nose to the grindstone and gets the job done and doesn’t write a lot of self-aggrandizing drivel.

But I still know without a doubt whether or not Harriet Miers should be confirmed. I’m just not telling.

Metaphysical Immersion

Oct13

I’m drowning in 17th century metaphysical poets and their conceits and metaphors (studying for my British literature class). John Donne, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Robert Herrick–they all wrote poems with extended metaphors that swirl around and lose themselves in a vortex of metaphysical meaning. However, they tend to lose me, too, either because of the difficulty of the antiquated language they use or because my head already hurts a bit tonight. Dancer Daughter says that Donne was conceit-ed, but I think she only read the love poetry and skipped the holy stuff. Anyway, here are a few samples so that we can all drown together:

Henry Vaughan:
Ah, my dear Lord ! what couldst thou spy
In this impure, rebellious clay,
That made Thee thus resolve to die
For those that kill Thee every day ?

O what strange wonders could Thee move
To slight Thy precious blood, and breath ?
Sure it was love, my Lord ! for love
Is only stronger far than death !

Thomas Carew:
MURDERING BEAUTY.

I’LL gaze no more on her bewitching face,
Since ruin harbours there in every place ;
For my enchanted soul alike she drowns
With calms and tempests of her smiles and frowns.
Iï¿½ll love no more those cruel eyes of hers,
Which, pleased or angerï¿½d, still are murderers :
For if she dart, like lightning, through the air
Her beams of wrath, she kills me with despair :
If she behold me with a pleasing eye,
I surfeit with excess of joy, and die.

John Donne:
Sonnet XIV.

Batter my heart, three-person’d God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp’d town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me

So was John Donne an Anglican Calvinist?

What Is a Classic?

Oct11

Ariel, he of the bittersweet blog, asks readers to elaborate on what makes a classic book “timeless.” What does it mean to say a book stands the test of time?

Exactly what type of test is time dishing out, anyway? Is it a one-time event or an on-going phenomenon? Once a book has stood the test of time, can it later flunk out? What kind of book tends to survive? What qualities have that time-defying element? . . . How does a book stand the test of time? What bookish qualities tend to endure?

First of all, we’re really talking about popularity and influence here–two attributes in literature I tend to disdain. If it’s popular, if it’s sold a million copies, can it really be worth reading? So George W. Bush and Hugh Hewitt and the Pope are all reading the latest bestseller? Does that mean it’s worth my time? Such elitist skepticism may serve us well in the short run, but in the long run, when we talk about a book that “stands the test of time,” we’re lauding a book for its popularity and influence over the course of time; we’re saying that this enduring influence and popularity are proof of the book’s intrinsic worth.

So what keeps a book (or a poem) popular? Many bestselling authors of the Victorian age, Bulwer-Lytton, Harrison Ainsworth and Margaret Oliphant, for example, are forgotten and/or unappreciated nowadays. Others such as Dickens and Thackeray are still read and acclaimed. Many of the books that everybody is reading at the turn of the millennium will be forgotten by 2100 AD while others are still bestsellers that speak and have spoken to many readers. Is there any way to tell now which ones will last? Sadly, I don’t think so. Each age has its own blind spots. Books which are under-appreciated when first published may later turn out to be classics because over the course of the years a large number of people lose their blindness, so to speak, and see the value of a particular author’s writing. Then again, a book that is popular in its own time may be full of the same errors and fallacies that are peculiar to that time period, and people in later times may come to see what a poor specimen of literature it really is.

I think what endures is Truth, trite though it may sound. So insofar as we can recognize and appreciate Truth, we can evaluate literature and perhaps foresee what will stand the test of time. Insofar as we are blinded and have our own pet truths that do not line up with Real Truth, we will praise the poorly written potboiler and scorn the book that reveals our own inadequacies. Falsehood and evil don’t last, even in this sinful world; truth does. Unfortunately, in the meantime, lies are easier on the ears, and even Christians can be deceived.

A case in point: homeschoolers are quite fond of bringing back into publication forgotten “classics”, usually for children, that have been lost to modern readers, again usually because of their Christian content. Sometimes this re-publication is a good idea: G.A. Henty’s fiction is good adventure and history packaged together. Elsie Dinsmore, on the other hand, is an example of untruth packaged up in Christian-sounding ribbons and bows. Will Elsie stand the test of time, even though she’s been revived, poor girl, for a second bout of suffering sainthood? I doubt it, but then again maybe my cultural and chronological biases are showing.

There’s more to say here, but that’s all for now. First and most important in evaluating literature is the question: is it True?

Born October 11th

Oct11

Her first name was Anna, and she was born October 11, 1884.

Her mother died of diptheria when Anna was only eight, and her father died two years later.

She was educated at home by private tutors until she was fifteen years old.

She was married on St. Patrick’s Day, 1905, to her fifth cousin.

Her husband was a wealthy and accomplished man with a very controlling mother. Anna’s mother-in-law, according to most accounts, made Anna’s marriage difficult.

She gave birth to six children, one of whom died in infancy.

She wrote a syndicated newspaper column, My Day and an autobiography, This Is My Story.

She was an accomplished archer and bowhunter.

She was the first presidential wife to give her own news conference in the White House.

She was the niece of one US president and married to another.

For children I suggest the following books about Anna Eleanor Roosevelt and her times:

A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt by David Adler
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young Fiction based on fact about an 11-year old girl who writes a letter to Mrs. Roosevelt asking her to help her family during the Great Depression.f
Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan A true story about Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart sneaking off for a ride in Amelia’s airplane.

Picture Book Preschool: Week 42

Oct10

WEEK 42 (Oct) ZOOS AND ANIMALS
Character Trait: Peacemaking
Bible Verse: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

1. Baskin, Leonard. Hosie’s Aviary. Viking, 1979. OP
2. Provensen, Alice and Martin. A Peaceable Kingdom: The Abecedarius. Viking, 1978.
3. Freschet, Berniece. Raccoon Baby. Putnam, 1948. OP
4. Miller, Edna. Mousekin’s Family. Prentice-Hall, 1969. OP
5. Ward, Lynd. The Biggest Bear. HoughtonMifflin, 1952.
6. Hirschland, Roger. How Animals Care For Their Babies. National Geographic, 1987.
7. Leaf, Munro. The Story of Ferdinand. Viking, 1964.

Discuss: Help children learn to discern by asking: Could it really happen? Could the story of Ferdinand really happen? What about the mousekin story? The biggest bear?
Activities: Go to the zoo. (And as it turns out, Z-baby is going to the zoo on Saturday! The AWANA Cubbies are having a a zoo trip. What a coincidence.)