Archive | April 2006

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Words by Isaac Watts
Music by Lowell Mason

This hymn may be my favorite of all the hymns about the cross of Christ.

What if it were True? What if the God of the Universe really did become man, live among us, endure the pain of living and even the pain of death, an ignominious tortured death on a cross? What if He did it for the sake of love, love for His very torturers? Would it not demand your soul, your life, your all?

Hot Cross Buns

Apr14

Hot cross buns
Hot cross buns
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns

In England on Good Friday it is traditional to eat hot cross buns for breakfast. These are round rolls or buns with an indented cross in the middle. The custom is supposed to have started at St. Alban’s Abbey when a monk baked the buns to give away to the poor.

Recipe for hot cross buns.

Silence

Apr14

Read this confession, The Harrowing Silence by Wyman Richardson at Communio Sanctorum, and then begin your celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord with silence. I’m going to find thirty minutes of silence myself and discipline myself to pray and meditate.

Pray for me; I’m not any better at this discipline than is Mr. Richardson.

Celebration of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Apr13

Tonight we remember Jesus’ last supper, and tomorrow is Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate the death and sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. He was in the tomb Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and early Sunday morning He arose! Hallelujah!

My goal is to take these three days and post something inspirational, encouraging, or thought-provoking each hour (or so) to help me–and those of you who are reading–to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord.

If He’s your Lord, too, or if you’re just curious to see what I might post, check in starting tonight (4/14) around midnight.

Or tomorrow morning, for those who sleep at night.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born April 13th

Apr13

Today is Maundy Thursday. According to my encyclopedia, the word “maundy” probably comes from the Latin mandatum and refers to Jesus’ comandment at the Last Supper: “A new commandment I give you: love one another.” (John 13:34) Bishops and kings and priests used to wash the feet of the poor or of the congregation, imitating Jesus who washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.

Also it’s the birthday of Thomas Jefferson (b.1743) and Lee Bennett Hopkins.

Genevieve Foster, b.1893, wrote several books of history for young people including Augustus Caesar’s World, The World of Columbus and Sons, The World of Captain John Smith, The World of William Penn, George Washington’s World,and Abraham Lincoln’s World. These are wonderful living history books that correlate events around the world with US history in a fascinating way.

Marguerite Henry, b.1902, wrote Misty of Chincoteague and other horse stories.

Samuel Beckett, b.1906, Nobel prize-winning author of Waiting for Godot and other plays.

Eudora Welty, b.1909, American Pulitzer prize-winning author of short stories, novels, and nonfiction. She was born and lived most of her life in Jackson, Mississippi.

So Many Books is Celebrating National Poetry Month with a poetry mad-lib. It’s not targeted for the younger set, but I think it would be a fun poetry game for children and young adults

Presumed Guilty by James Scott Bell

Apr12

James Scott Bell has already published several legal suspense novels before this one, and he won a Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction. He’s a former trial lawyer, and he’s now a professor of writing at Pepperdine University and a columnist for Writer’s Digest. I’m just a blogger and a reader, so who am I to judge?

Nevertheless, not having read Mr. Bell’s other novels but having seen the accolades he’s received for his writing, I think Presumed Guilty must be one of his weaker efforts. The plot is predictable: megachurch pastor Ron Hamilton is arrested for the murder of a porn actress whose body is found in the motel room where Pastor Ron recently visited her. He says he was “counseling” her, but the evidence indicates that the pastor and the porn star had a much more intimate relationship than that of counselor and client. He’s arrested, but, of course, he didn’t commit the murder. Or did he? If not Pastor Ron, then who is the murderer? And can his long-suffering wife, Dallas, forgive his indiscretions?

Dallas struggles a bit with forgiveness and reconciliation, but she prays about it, and then everything’s OK. All that’s left to resolve is how to get her forgiven husband out of jail and her shell-shocked son (veteran of the Iraq war) saved. There is a Judas in the story, actually more than one, and I won’t tell you who the villains are. If you read the book, I’ll bet you can figure it out for yourself before the great revelation is made. This book reads more like the script for a crime TV show made for TBN than anything else. (Do they have crime series on TBN?) In fact, it might make a good TV show episode or made-for-TV movie, but as a suspense novel, it lacks suspense.

Some of the themes in the novel are pornography, demonic oppression, and adultery. The book comes out against all three. I’m against all three, too. But that’s not enough to make me recommend this book for anything other VERY light reading.

I received this book from Active Christian Media for the purpose of review.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born April 12th

Apr12

Johanna Spyri, b. 1827. I have found birthdates of April 12, June 12, and July 12, all in 1827, for this author of the beautiful story Heidi. Take your pick, but read Heidi. It’s a wonderful story about a feisty little girl, Heidi, and her friend Peter and how they are tempted to do wrong, confused about spiritual things, and finally loved and forgiven. The themes of the story—broken relationships, reconciliation, forgiveness, sin and temptation–are woven into the story in a way that teaches and entertains at the same time. Modern writers of “Christian fiction” could learn a few things from reading and emulating Johanna Spyri’s classic book.

Henry Clay, b. 1877. He ran for president and was defeated three times. Always a bridesmaid . . .

Hardie Gramatky, b. 1907. Author of Hercules: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Fire Engine and Little Toot.

Beverly Cleary, b. 1916, is 90 years old today, and the celebration includes D.E.A.R. Day. Do all you children’s literature aficionados know what D.E.A.R. stands for? Have you D.E.A.R.-ed today?

I gave Betsy-Bee (age 7) a choice last Saturday between reading Heidi or Ramona the Pest for our next read aloud book. She chose Ramona, so we’re reading all about Ramona Quimby’s adventures in kindergarten. I had no idea until I was writing this post that the two authors might share a birthday.

On this day at sunset, the Jewish celebration of Passover begins. And Wordswimmer, a blog on writing and the writing process, with a special focus on writing for children, shares excerpts from a conversation with Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet, on the writing process entitled Encouraging Words to a Young Poet.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born April 11th

Apr11

Christopher Smart, b. 1722. English poet and song-writer, he was sometimes confined to the madhouse for praying in the streets and at other times arrested and thrown into jail for debt. Wouldn’t this poem make a great hymn?

Glorious the sun in mid career;
Glorious th’ assembled fires appear;
Glorious the comet’s train:
Glorious the trumpet and alarm;
Glorious th’ almighty stretch’d-out arm;
Glorious th’ enraptur’d main:

Glorious the northern lights a-stream;
Glorious the song, when God’s the theme;
Glorious the thunder’s roar:
Glorious hosanna from the den;
Glorious the catholic amen;
Glorious the martyr’s gore:

Glorious–more glorious is the crown
Of Him that brought salvation down
By meekness, call’d thy Son;
Thou that stupendous truth believ’d,
And now the matchless deed’s achiev’d,
Determin’d, dar’d, and done.
From Song to David by Christopher Smart

Dr. Samuel Johnson on Christopher Smart.

Karen Edmisten says you are what you read. I wonder what Christopher Smart was reading.

The Prattling Pastor’s Wife once thought poetry was a waste of time, until she discovered children’s poetry and later began to enjoy poetry with her own children. Now it’s Poetry Every Day.

Open the Kimono?

Apr10

I sometimes glean the most interesting tidbits of information while playing taxi-driver and listening to NPR in the van:

—Jeffrey Skilling testified in someone’s Enron trial today, and according to the NPR reporter Skilling said he told someone at Enron to “open the kimono”. I gathered that this particular idiom meant to tell all, disclose all the secrets (to the stockholders, in this case, I think). I tried Google and got 41,000 hits on this phrase, but it’s new to me. WordSpy says it means “[t]o open a company’s accounting books for inspection; to expose something previously hidden.”

— Jacques Chirac gave in to the socialist students in France and rescinded the new law that would have allowed employers to let employees with in the first two years of their employment. So now when they graduate the students are guaranteed to retain the job that they are likely not to be offered in the first place. Makes sense to me.

— Beginning May 1, you can get the latest episodes of LOST and other ABC TV programs the day after broadcast date via streaming video on the internet for FREE. You’ll just have to watch a few commercials with your program. Or you can buy the commercial-free version from iTunes for $1.99 per episode. I say LOST is the thinking woman’s (man’s) soap opera, and so missing an episode is a major loss for fans. I’ve already paid six or eight dollars for missed episodes, and I’ll be happy to watch a few commercials if that’s what it takes to get the shows I failed to videotape for free.

— Finally, I learned that lots and lots of immigrants and supporters marched and demonstrated throughout the U.S. in opposition to a recently passed House immigration bill. At least, I think they were opposed. They seem to like the part of the bill that gives amnesty to immigrants who are already here, but they hate the rest of the bill that would make it harder for new illegal immigrants to come here. I don’t really know what I think about the entire immigration issue, but I’m not sure how you can organize a demonstration to oppose and support a bill both at the same time. Too confusing.

May Carnival of Children’s Literature