Archive | September 2009

Hymn #18: The Old Rugged Cross

Sep30

Lyrics: George Bernard

Music: George Bernard

Theme: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14

Silver crucifix lying on open Bible


On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.

Islam has its crescent and sword, Marxism its hammer and sickle. Buddhists have statues of the Buddha himself, laughing or serious, according to one’s taste. Other religions and philosophies have their symbols of power and victory.

Christians have the cross. We may pretty it up and hang it on a gold chain, but at its heart Christianity is about an old rugged cross, an instrument of torture and death. A cross is not much of a victory. A cross is not about becoming powerful or defeating all one’s enemies. A cross in Roman times meant only one thing: a slow and painful death.

And yet . . .

Wednesday’s Whatever: Pro-Choice, Pro-Monogamy

Sep30

Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool,
Loving both of you is breaking all the rules.
Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool,
Loving you both is breaking all the rules.

Oh, I remember 1977 and this hit song, written by Peter Yarrow (of the folk music trio Peter, Paul & Mary) and Phillip Jarrell, and recorded by Mary MacGregor. The song was Ms. MacGregor’s only hit, and if you listen you’ll know that that’s a shame because she has a lovely voice.

I hated that song. I used to talk to the radio and say, “Yes, you feel like a fool! You are are a fool! Make a choice!” Then I’d switch to another radio station. I really hated that song.

So, now I’m caught in a quandary because I just read two YA books that I didn’t hate, but both of them have that same plot line: torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool. Is this fantasy of two wonderful guys both madly in love with one girl something I missed out on? I would have settled for one, as a teen. I don’t remember ever thinking about how exciting it would be to have two guys on a string or how difficult, and flattering, it would be to have them fighting over me, to have to choose between them. Why is this conflict popping up all over in the books I’m reading and the TV I’m watching?

Examples:
The first book I read last week was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. If I had known it was a zombie book (the zombies are called The Unconsecrated, but they’re zombies), I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. However, for a zombie book it was O.K.—except that the female protagonist, Mary, can’t decide whether she loves Travis or Harry, who happen to be brothers and about the only available guys around. If you’ve read this far, you’re not worried about spoilers, so I’ll give you a heads up: she never does really make up her mind.

Then, I read Catching Fire by Suzanne Colllins, the sequel to last year’s hit, The Hunger Games. I loved it, and I’m looking forward to the third and final installment in the trilogy. However, Katniss in this novel is again “torn between two lovers,” Peeta and Gale. All sorts of developments make this choice a difficult one for Miss Katniss, but heckfire, why can’t she just fish or cut bait, at least in her own mind? No, she loves Gale, but she has some kind of feeling for Peeta, too; she’s just not sure what that feeling is. I hope in the third book she grows up and makes a choice, and the author doesn’t feel the need to kill one of the male leads to resolve the dilemma.

I started thinking about how many popular books and TV shows have this premise: in the Twilight series, Bella is torn between Jacob and Edward. She really knows which one she wants to spend her life with, but she strings the other guy along for two books, just in case. Cut him loose, for Pete’s sake!

On LOST (you knew I’d bring LOST into this rant somehow, didn’t you?), Kate’s been torn between Jack and Sawyer for five seasons. I’m sure there’s are bets being placed somewhere on which guy she’ll end up with.

I’m sure these are only the tip of the iceberg. Can you think of any other books movies, or TV show with the girl torn-between-two-lovers device? I do think it’s a device to create and maintain romantic/dramatic tension. After all, what did the character Jacob really add to Twilight, other than another pretty face?

And did Jane Austen’s heroines have this issue?

Reading My Library

Sep29

Reading My Library

Now this project is a fantastic idea! Carrie and her little boys are planning to read through all the books in the picture book section of the library from A to Z. If my children were a little younger, I’d join in. Maybe when the grandchildren come along . . .

Hymn #19: Crown Him WIth Many Crowns

Sep29

Lyrics: Matthew Bridges, stanzas 1, 5, 6, and 9, 1851.
Godfrey Thring, stanzas 2-4, 7-8.

Music: DIADEMATA, Geroge Elvey, 1868.

Theme: His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. Revelation 19:12.

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heav’nly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of Heav’n, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to whom is giv’n the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.

Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

In my church, we sang verses one, four, five and six combined with the last. I remember the last two lines of that final verse, but not the first two because we sang the first two lines of verse six with the last two lines of the ending stanza. ‘Cause that’s the way the Baptist hymnal had it.

Ros’ Haruo thinks four crowns aren’t enough, and we should probably sing all nine verses. I tend to agree.

Texas Tuesday: The Log of a Cowboy by Andy Adams

Sep29

The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days by Andy Adams. The trail drive that is described in this memoir took place in 1882 when the author would have been about twenty-three years old. According to this biography, the book is not exactly a true memoir, but is a fictional reconstruction based on the many adventures of the author while working with cattle and horses on the western trail. The book was published in 1903.

The trail drive begins in Brownsville, where a herd of 3100 some-odd head of cattle, purchased from Mexico, were headed toward Montana to be delivered to the U.S. government for the use of the Blackfoot Indians on reservation there. Andy joins the trail drive as a cowboy, one of the youngest in the group, and he tells us how he earns his pay: crossing rivers, breaking up stampedes, spending long, sometimes boring, nights and days in the saddle, and pulling steers out of the mud and quicksand, among other tasks. It’s an exciting story, told in an old-fashioned style, but definitely readable for the average junior high/high school student and suitable for reading aloud to younger students.

Only a couple of negative issues are worth mentioning and either discussing or censoring (for younger students): the cowboys’ casually racist attitudes are portrayed accurately and without comment or qualification. Within the first few pages of the book, Andy names his beloved black horse, N—- Boy. The Indians and Negroes in the books are the butt of jokes, pathetic creatures without much self-respect and not gaining any respect from the cowboys either. Although the scenes that involve either black people or Native Americans are not many, they are sprinkled throughout the book, so it’s a discussion that should take place as you read the book. The cowboys are also inveterate gamblers, and although the downside of this vice is shown, they also have a winning streak in one town that might deceive less careful readers into thinking that gambling pays off.

With those caveats, the book is a good read especially for those interested in cowboys and life in the late 1800’s on the cattle range. I wondered if the author of this book took a look at this memoir; it seems as if The Log of a Cowboy would be required reading for anyone who wanted to write a novel set on a cattle drive or among cowboys. In fact, as I think of it, Ms. Hemphill’s Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones might be a good antidote to the occasional racist prejudice expressed in The Log of a Cowboy.

Banned or Unselected?

Sep28

The American Library Association insists that parents and other citizens attempt to “ban books” while librarians are trained to “select books.” In other words, there’s a subtle difference between me as a citizen petitioning the library to NOT spend my tax money on a book that I believe to be useless or pernicious and Molly Librarian (something I was once upon a time) deciding that a book is useless or pernicious and not buying it for the library collection.

I agree that the difference is subtle, and I even agree that there’s a difference. The citizen petition is made in public, usually discussed and debated in public, and and a decision is made about the material in question. Usually (about 90 percent of the time) the decision goes against the citizen request. The librarian’s decision, however, to buy or not to buy a particular book is made in private and usually is unquestioned. Good libraries have a selection policy, but it ‘s usually written in such general terms that it can be interpreted to defend or to deny just about anything that may be challenged or requested. The general idea is that we should just trust the professionals to be unbiased and fair about these things and not worry our pretty little heads. Well, I did just a little bit of research and came up with some evidence of bias and unfairness that looks compelling to me.

I said that I wouldn’t write anything else about Banned Books Week, but I just can’t resist. This idea from Focus on the Family is too good not to pass along. Click on the previous sentence to get details, but basically the idea is for you, as a citizen to donate books to your local library that “offer contrasting, alternative perspectives and that reflect your family’s viewpoint.” There’s a sample Book Donation Comparison Chart that gives some ideas of what to donate specifically on the subject of homosexuality. It’s set up so that you can compare what books your library already has to a list of comparable books that express an opposing viewpoint.

I checked the two side-by-side lists against the catalog for my entire library system, a huge library system (Harris County/Houston). Guess what? I’m not really surprised that my entire library system carries every one of the books on the left, pro-homosexual rights side of the list, and it carries exactly ONE copy of ONE of the books in the right hand column, books written from a Christian conservative viewpoint. I then looked under the subject heading “gay marriage.” (Maybe the library system has other books from a Christian/traditional marriage point of view, books that are not on the FOTF list.) Except for the one book already noted, all sixty-two of the titles listed in the catalog were titles favoring the concept and the legalization of “gay marriage.” Oh, one other book on the list was a tome called Same Sex Marriage: Pro and Con, edited by Andrew Sullivan. I haven’t read it to see how unbiased it is, but Mr. Sullivan is a well known advocate of the legitimization of gay marriage.

So, as far as I can tell, my entire library system has ONE book that presents the case for a traditional definition of marriage and more than fifty books and other media, in multiple copies, that present the case for a re-definition of marriage.

Exactly whose books are being “banned” here and by whom?

Hymn #20: There Is a Fountain

Sep28

Original Title: Praise for the Fountain Opened

Lyrics: William Cowper

Music: CLEANSING FOUNTAIN attributed to Lowell Mason.

I prefer Mason’s tune, maybe because of its familiarity, but here’s an alternate tune from Red Mountain Church:

Theme: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Zechariah 13:1.

More about William Cowper and his other hymn on this list: God Moves in a Mysterious Way.

Cowper wrote There Is a Fountain after his first major depressive episode in which he tried three times to commit suicide. As you can see from the portrait (attributed to George Romney and borrowed from Wikipedia), Cowper was a handsome man.

Jawan McGInnis: “I am a evil wretched person who deserves hell and eternal damnation….yet, the Lord has washed away all those guilty stains through the death of his son. Redeeming love is amazing. I like this version (Red Mountain) in particular because it’s a bit slower and the melody is so beautiful.”

This hymn is at the top of Eldest Daughter’s list.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.

Advanced Reading Survey: Medea by Euripides

Sep28

I’ve decided that on Mondays I’m going to revisit the books I read for a course in college called Advanced Reading Survey, taught by the eminent scholar and lovable professor, Dr. Huff. I’m not going to re-read all the books and poems I read for that course, probably more than fifty, but I am going to post to Semicolon the entries in the reading journal that I was required to keep for that class because I think that my entries on these works of literature may be of interest to readers here and because I’m afraid that the thirty year old spiral notebook in which I wrote these entries may fall apart ere long. I may offer my more mature perspective on the books, too, if I remember enough about them to do so.

Author: Euripides, one of the trio of great Greek dramatists which includes Sophocles and Aeschylus, lived during the fifth century BC. He wrote approximately ninety-two plays, of which nineteen are extant, but he only won four prizes in the great dramatic contests of the time, probably because of his somewhat unorthodox views. He was the first to reduce the importance of the chorus in his plays and to instead emphasize the study of character.

Characters:
Medea, a sorceress and wife of Jason.
Jason, the Argonaut who, with the help of Medea, won the Golden Fleece.
Creon, King of Corinth.
Chorus of Corinthian women.
Medea’s nurse.
Aegeus, King of Athens, Medea’s protector.
Messenger.

Quotations:
Attendant: “Art learning only now that every single man cares for himself more than for his neighbor, some from honest motives, others for mere gain’s sake?”

Creon: “A cunning woman, and man likewise, is easier to guard against when quick-tempered than when taciturn.”
(Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. ~Julius Caesar)

Medea: “Ah me! Ah me! to mortal man how dread a scourge is love!
Creon: “That, I deem, is according to the turn our fortunes take.”
(Love is a thing aye full of dread. ~Chaucer)

Messenger: “Not now for the first time, I think this human life is a shadow; yea, and without shrinking I will say that they amongst men who pretend to wisdom and expend deep thoughts on words do incur a serious charge of folly.”
(“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” ~Macbeth)

Chorus: “Many a fate doth Zeus dispense, high on his Olympian throne: oft do the gods bring things to pass beyond man’s expectations; that which we thought would be is not fulfilled, while for the unlooked for, god finds out a way; and such hath been the issue of this matter.”
(“Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises; and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits.”
~All’s Well That Ends Well)

Either Shakespeare knew Euripides, or else the translator whose work I read was well steeped in Shakespeare —or these are just universal statements of truth.

100 Apple-y Activities for Home and School

Sep27

File1. Buy at least three different varieties of apples. Cut them into slices and take a poll as to which variety is the tastiest.

2. Sing an apple song.

3. Make an apple doll.

4. Make mini apple pies with canned biscuits and apple pie filling. Add a little filling to each biscuit and fold in half. Press the edges closed and bake according to the biscuit instructions.

5. Cut an apple in half, then into fourths, then into eighths. Talk about fractions and then eat an eighth.

6. Read Robert Frost’s poem “After Apple Picking.”

7. Write an apple acrostic poem.

8. Draw pictures of different varieties of apples, color, and label.

9. Do an apple craft project.

10. Eat an apple.

11. Take a trip to an apple orchard. (I wish we could do this; no apple orchards in South Texas.)

12. Go to an apple festival. (Again, none in Texas, but if you live north or east, you might be in luck.)

13. Or visit the National Apple Museum in Biglerville, PA.

14. Draw a cartoon sequence of the events that an apple passes through from blossom to grocery store.

15. Divide your paper into four parts, and draw an apple tree in each of the four seasons. Read The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree.

16. Look at Cezanne’s Still Life With Apples and Oranges and his Pommes et Biscuits. Set up your own still life and paint or draw.

17. Make an apple place mat. Cut a large piece of construction paper into an apple shape. Cut vertical slits in the paper, then weave in strips of a contrasting color.

18. Write ten words that describe how an apple tastes.

19. Make a list of products that are made from apples.

20. Find out how to prune an apple tree and how to graft an apple tree. Write a paragraph telling how to do these tasks in an apple orchard.

21. Make apple-shaped birthday cards for all your friends and relatives who have a birthday in September or October. Give the card with an apple for a birthday gift.

22. Drink hot apple cider.

23. Ask your friends and neighbors for their favorite apple recipe. Then invite them over for an apple party. Everyone brings his or her favorite apple apple dessert and a copy of the recipe. Make a booklet of apple recipes.

24. Make caramel apples.

25. Bob for apples.

26. How many words can you make out of the letters that spell “APPLESAUCE”?

27. Give each student an apple and a piece of poster board. Have students draw a picture of the apple in the center of the poster. Then make a poster by adding apple facts all around the apple. Measure the apple. Weigh it. Count the seeds. Put all this information on the poster.

28. Read the story of Snow White. Act it out, using a real but not poisoned apple, of course.

29. Cut an apple in half crosswise and look at the star in the center. Draw it.

30. Stand a bushel basket in the center of a table. Guess how many apples will fit in the basket. How much would the basket of apples weigh? How many books would fit in the same basket? When you’ve finished eating all the apples in the basket, fill it with books to find out.

31. Which two states claim the apple blossom as the state flower?

32. Try making an alphabet book with a picture of a different variety of apple for each letter of the alphabet: A is for Alexander and Arkansas Black, B is for Baldwin and Bailey Sweet, etc. Include pictures, either drawings or pictures from the internet.

IMG_3697.JPG33. Give an apple to a favorite teacher or to a neighbor.

34. Eat apples dipped in peanut butter or in honey.

35. Make an apple pie.

36. Tell the story of Atalanta from Greek mythology. Have a footrace and give the winner an apple.

37. Try to peel an apple in one continuous strip. See who can get the longest strip of unbroken peeling.

38. Read Henry David Thoreau’s essay, “Wild Apples”.

39. Make applesauce.

40. Use an apple corer and then cut the core in half to expose the “star” and then use that as a stamper in tempera paint to put stars on either an apple cutout or an apple tree.

41. Count the apple seeds inside an apple.

42. Burn an apple-scented candle to make the house smell all apple-y.

43. Collect a variety of round fruits such as an apple, peach, orange, nectarine, etc. Place the fruit in a bag. Choose a student to touch the fruit, describe it and guess its name. Repeat with each fruit, discussing the characteristics.

44. Give out an apple award.

45. Do your handwriting practice on apple lined paper or apple-shaped writing paper.

46. Find out why apples turn brown when you cut them. How can you keep them from turning?

47. Make some apple leather.

48. Read The Apple Doll by Elisa Kleven and then, make one. Reviewed at Becky’s Young Readers Blog.

49. Make an apple ornament.

50. Play the game Apples to Apples.

51. While eating an apple, locate the seeds and remnants of the flower’s calyx and stamens.

52. Apple Unit Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade by Sallie Borrink.

53. Make some apple dumplings.

54. Find out which varieties of apple are best for cooking and which are best for eating raw. What makes each variety better for the given purpose?

55. Who was Granny Smith?

56. Read the book Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSeig. Try to stack ten apples on top of someone’s head.

57. Plant an apple seed and see what happens.

58. Learn all about Johnny Appleseed.

59. Read some apple picture books.

60. Make an apple man.

61. Make some dried apple snacks.

62. Apple Word Search.

63. Try an apple art project.

64. Watch a funny movie: The Apple Dumpling Gang from 1975 starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts.

65. Sing another apple song.

66. Read the poem “Apple Pie and Cheese” by Eugene Field and then eat some.

67. Or try some apple pie a la mode —with ice cream on top.

68. Hand out red and green construction paper and see who can tear the paper into the closest approximation of an apple shape.

69. Who was Pomona? Define pomology.

70. Use these ideas for an apple unit study.

71. Read about an Apple family.

72. Enjoy an apple salad.

73. Learn a new/old hymn, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.

74. Make apple crisp for breakfast.

75. Make Dawn’s Crafty Apple tote.

76. Try some apple pudding with caramel sauce.

77. Tell a Johnny Appleseed story.

78. Shoot an apple off someone’s head? Too dangerous. Use rubber-tipped arrows and shoot the apple off a doll’s head or off the top of a pole or a fence. Read about William Tell.

79. Illustrate an apple aphorism.

80. Memorize Psalm 17:8 or Proverbs 7:2. More apple verses here.

81. Find Kazakhstan on the map. This region is where the wild ancestor of the apple is thought to have originated.

82. Find out whether the story of Isaac Newton the falling apple is true or not. Watch an episode of the science series Newton’s Apple if you can find one at the library.
IMG_0967.JPG
83. Take an apple quiz.

84. Bake some apples.

85. What city is called the Big Apple? Why?
Walking Off the Big Apple: a Strolling Guide to you-know-where.

86. Print out and color an apple coloring page. Or an apple numeral coloring page.

81. Look at some photos of apple trees.

82. Write a story or a poem about an apple or about an apple doll or about the Big Apple or something else related to apples.

83. Drink some apple juice.

84. A Is for apple: Ten Fall Apple Activities.

85. Host an Apple Party where you use some of the above activities to add to the festive apple fun.

86. Make Apple Dumplings.

87. Make an apple pencil holder.

88. Apple coloring pages.

89. Play Apple Corps (sort of like Mr. Potatohead).

90. Research the nutritional value of an apple and tell what each vitamin and mineral does for your body.

91. Read “The Little Red House With No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside.”

92. Celebrate Apple Day or Apple Night.

93. Cook some more apple recipes: apple sausages, apple slaw, apples with caramel dip.

94. The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson.

95. One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly, reviewed by Lesa. “One Bad Apple is an example of everything that is right with the cozy mystery. Her book has a likable heroine, an attractive small town setting, a slimy victim, and fascinating side elements.”
Also reviewed by Bookish Ruth. (for the adults)

96. A Shiny Red Apple by Patricia Karwatowicz techaes children that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Reviewed at Christian Children’s Book Reviews.

97. October 21st is Apple Day in England. Also check out

98. How about some Mint Flavor Apple Jelly?

99. Tricia shares her favorite apple (and pumpkin) books at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

100. All Semicolon Apple posts.

Enjoy your Apples!