Archive | July 2009

Books Read in July, 2009

Jul31

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. Semicolon review here.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken. Semicolon review here.

Dough: A Memoir by Mort Zachter. Review coming soon.

A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor. Semicolon review here.

The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz. I read this one after reading A Perfect Union, and between th two I now feel as if I have a decent picture in my mind of who our fourth president was and what he did and believed. Children’s biographies, especially those written within the past thirty years or so and not fictionalized, are a great introduction to historical persons that you might want to get to know but not spend the time and energy that an adult biography would require.

Adrift by Allan Baillie. I mentioned this book in this Maps and Globes post, but I hadn’t actually read it. I think it would be an excellent choice for unit study on Australia or oceans or geography in general. It’s the story of a boy and his five year old sister who, while playing in old crate on the beach, accidentally drift out to sea. The boy, Flynn, must be responsible for Sally and her cat Nebu in spite of his conflicted feelings and inability to know what to do.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams. I thought this book was well-written and absorbing, but ultimately unfair. It’s about a thirteen year old girl caught in a polygamous cult. “The Prophet” says that she must marry a man fifty years older than she is who also happens to be her own uncle. The unfair part is that the polygamy and the underage, forced marriage aren’t enough drama for the author. The cult leaders have to be portrayed as murderers and child abusers and almost every other kind of evildoers that you can imagine. So a person reading from outside such a cult can stereotype polygamists as completely evil in every way, and anyone who reads the book from inside such a group can justify the evils of polygamy by saying that their group certainly isn’t as bad as the one in the book.

Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity by Lauren Winner. I would like to give a copy of this book to each of my four oldest children (ages 24, 22, 20, and 18) and require them to read it. However, I’m not sure what subtext thay would read into such a gift, so I’ll probably be more casual about suggesting it. I might just write about it in a blog post and make them curious. Winner takes a fresh, up-to-date approach to an old and important subject, and makes chastity, if not easy, at least understandable and somewhat attractive to today’s rather jaded young singles —and even young married people. The perspective is definitely (conservative) Christian, but she doesn’t shy away from discussing the most delicate topics with insight and frankness.

Your Jesus Is Too Safe by Jared Wilson. Come back Tuesday, August 11th for a Semicolon review of this new book by Thinkling, Jared Wilson.

And come back Wednesday, August 12th, for several reviews of books about or set in or written by an author from Southeast Asia as a part of Chasing Ray’s One Shot World Tour.

When the War Was Over by Elizabeth Becker.

When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge by Chanrithy Him.

Hitchhiking Vietnam by Karin Muller.

Hymn # 48: Abide With Me

Jul30

Lyrics: Henry Francis Lyte, 1847.

Music: EVENTIDE by William Henry Monk, 1861.

Theme: Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

According to HymnTime, “Lyte was inspired to write this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis; he finished it the Sunday he gave his farewell sermon in the parish he served so many years. The next day, he left for Italy to regain his health. He didn’t make it, though, he died in Nice, France, three weeks after writing these words.”

Abide With Me was sung at the funeral of Mother Teresa in Calcutta in 1997. One of the respondents to my poll said that he chose his list of ten on the basis of whether or not the hymn was worthy to be sung at his funeral. I rather think Abide With Me qualifies on that count as one of my favorites. I certainly wouldn’t mind it being sung at my funeral, were I to have such a thing. (I’m not too fond of funerals, but if whoever is left when I’m gone wants one . . . )

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

A couple of bits of trivia or tangentially related information:

This hymn shows up in LOST, while Charlie is in confession.

Elizabeth Strout wrote a novel entitled Abide WIth Me, reviewed here at Semicolon.
MIndy Withrow reviews Abide With Me here. Carrie’s Mommy Brain review.

What do you want sung or played or read at your funeral?

Hymn #49: Alleluia, Sing to Jesus

Jul28

Lyrics: William Chatterton Dix, 1867.

Music: HYFRYDOL by Rowland Hugh Prichard.
ALLELUIA (WESLEY) by Samuel Sebastian Wesley.

Theme: “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

Alleluia! sing to Jesus, His the scepter, his the throne
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood
Jesus out of every nation hath redeemed us by his blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes nor questions how
Though the cloud from sight received him when the forty days were o’er
Shall our hearts forget his promise, I am with you evermore?

Alleluia! bread of heaven, here on earth our food and stay
Alleluia! here the sinful flee to thee from day to day
Intercessor, Friend of sinners, earth’s Redeemer, plead for me
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal, thee the Lord of Lords we own
Alleluia! born of Mary, earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh, our great High Priest
Thou on earth both Priest and Victim in the Eucharistic Feast.

WIlliam Chatterton DIx’s father wrote a biography of Thomas Chatterton and gave his son the poet’s middle name. William C. Dix also wrote the words to the famous Christmas carol set to GREENSLEEVES, What Child Is This?, and he translated several hymns from the Greek in addition to writing his own original poems and hymn lyrics. Dix wrote Alleluia, Sing to Jesus specifically to fill a need for Eucharistic hymns in the Church of England hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern; however, nowadays it is often sung without the final verse either as an Ascension Day hymn or as a general hymn of worship and praise.

Sources:
Hymnuts: Alleluia, Sing to Jesus
The Poets of the Church by Edwin Francis Hatfield.

Hymn #50: Because He Lives

Jul28

Lyrics and Music: Bill and Gloria Gaither

Theme: He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee. Luke 24:6
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. Mark 16:6

Here Gloria explains the genesis of this hymn:

The clothes, hair, and music are a bit more up to date in this version:

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!
Chorus:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

And then one day, I’ll cross the river,
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict’ry,
I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives!

52

Jul28

Having as of today, July 28, 2009, spent fifty-two years on this planet, mostly in Texas, I could be expected to say something profound upon the anniversary of my birth. However, all I can think of are lists:
52 Books That Made Me Who I Am,
52 People Who Taught Me All I Know,
52 Quotations for Living,
52 Most Beautiful Words,
52 Questions Still Unanswered,
52 Truths I’ve Learned,
52 Places I’d Like to Visit,
52 Things I’d Like To Do Before I Die,
52 Proverbs for the Young at Heart,
52 Songs That Make Me Smile,
52 Projects for the Next 10 Years,
52 Thoughts on Psalm 52,
52 Names for My as Yet Unborn Grandchildren,
52 Recipes I Want to Try,
52 Recipes Tried and True,
52 Things to Try With a Crying Baby,
52 Wonderful Books You’ve Probably Never Read,
52 Picture Books That Adults Can Enjoy,
52 Ways To Say “I Love You”,
52 Portraits of Fascinating People,
52 Photographs from Before 1950,
52 Bookstores I Want To Visit,
52 Holidays To Celebrate,
52 Historical Events I Wish I’d Seen,
52 Ideas for Celebrating Christmas in the Presence of Christ,
52 Poems That Make Me Laugh,
52 Jokes That Also Make Me laugh,
52 Ways To Simplify and Declutter (I need help),
52 Card Games Anyone Can Play,
52 Games for Playing Outside,
52 Apple-y Activities for Home and School (been saving this one for awhile),
52 Books About Texas and Texans,
52 People I Admire Even Though They’re Not Perfect,
52 Extraordinary People I’ve Known
52 Classes I’d Like to Take
52 Flowers and Plants I’d Like To Grow,
52 Bloggers Who Make Me Think,
52 Things I Love About America,
52 Fictional Characters I’d Like to Meet,
52 Things To Eat Before I Die,
52 Great Words in 52 Languages,
52 Things I Want To Learn,
52 Places in Texas to See,
52 Habits I Need to Establish or Eradicate,
52 Mysteries of History Still Unsolved,
52 People From my Family Tree,
52 Reasons I Love My Engineer Husband,
52 Ways To Show Him I Love Him,
52 Biblical Commands I Can Obey Right Now,
52 Reasons I’m Thankful to Be Alive,
52 Ways To Save Money Now,
52 Names for the God I Love.

52 is the approximate number of weeks in a year, the number of white keys on a piano, and the number of cards in a standard deck of playing cards. At age 52, Alfred Hitchcock directed the film Strangers on a Train, and also at the age of 52 Ray Kroc opened the first MacDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In 1957, the year I was born, Ed Sullivan had Elvis on his show for the third time, showed him only from the waist up, and said: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you. You’re thoroughly all right.”

Published in 1957:
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout.
Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

Movies released in 1957:
Loving You with Elvis Presley.
Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley.
The Bridge on the River Kwai with Alec Guinness, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

On the actual day of my birth an earthquake shook Mexico City and Acapulco. But I doubt if my mom noticed it way out in West Texas.

Also born on July 28th (not 1957): Beatrix Potter, Gerard Manley Hopkins

So it’s a happy birthday for me, and I hope your day is happy, too. If you’d like to see me make an actual list for any of the above (52) titles, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. Right now I’m going to find 52 ways to celebrate my birthday.

Links and Thinks

Jul27

On paying for college, courtesy of Mental Multi-Vitamin.

What do Stephen King and Jerry Jenkins have in common? Well, they are both writers who’ve both sold a lot of books. Other than that, I’m not sure I would ever have thought of them in the same room, but Writer’s Digest did a joint interview with the two best-selling authors, and it’s a good read.

What happens when the doctor becomes the patient? It’s a brief trailer for the new season of House. I was actually afraid after the last episode of last season that the Powers That Be would just end it there. But it looks as if Greg House is not to be written off so easily.

Dutch researchers find that fetuses have memories. “A call to NARAL Pro-Choice America for comment on the implications of the research were [sic] not returned.”

And finally, little did I know that my Top 100 Hymns Project may have revolutionary implications. In Fiji, it’s looking as if the police and the government are afraid an annual hymn-singing contest and Methodist conference may spark a revolution or a change in government or something. If the Methodist choirs can’t sing in Fiji, what’s next?

Hymn #51: Of the Father’s Love Begotten

Jul27

Lyrics: Aurelius Prudentius. Translated by John Mason Neale.

Music: DIVINUM MYSTERIUM

Theme: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOd, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3.

I posted about this hymn last Christmas, so I thought I’d do a repost. This hymn has become one of my favorite Christmas carols.

*****************
This week we’ve been learning and singing this o-l-d hymn from the fourth century. (We’re studying the Middle Ages and the Renaissance this year in school.) Anyway, the hymn poem was written by a man named Aurelius Prudentius who lived in Spain and wrote in Latin in the fourth or fifth century. It was translated into English by John Mason Neale in the mid-nineteenth century in England. The version I copied for the urchins and me to sing runs to nine verses, and we sang them all, much to someone’s chagrin. I always want to sing all the verses.


1. Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!

2. At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!

3. He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!

4. O that birth forever blessèd,
When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
Evermore and evermore!

5. This is He Whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore!

6. O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
And extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!

7. Righteous judge of souls departed,
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!

8. Thee let old men, thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!

9. Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!

Here’s a different translation, this one by R.F. Davis.

Hymn #52: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Jul26

Lyrics: Helen H. Lemmel, 1922.
Alternate Title: The Heavenly Vision

Music: Helen H. Lemmel, 1922.

Theme: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.
Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion –
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you – He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.

I was a bit surprised to find this hymn/gospel tune on the list. Not that it is unfamiiar, I’ve heard it all my life, and I think it has a great message. I just didn’t know that it was all that well-known. As it turns out in addition to the Alan Jackson countrified version above, Amy Grant, Hillsong, Newsboys, Michael W. Smith, Cynthia Clawson and many others have recorded this song.

The composer and author of the hymn, Helen Lemmel, was the daughter of a Methodist pastor. From a gospel tract called Focused by Lilias Trotter, a missionary to the Muslims of Algeria, Ms. Lemmel heard the words, “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”

As she meditated on those words, Ms. Lemmel said: “Suddenly, as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.”

Helen Lemmel wrote more than 500 other hymns, but this one has endured.

Sources:
Our Favorite Hymns: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
Wikipedia: Lilias Trotter.

A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor

Jul26

Quick, what do you think of when you think of Dolley Madison? One of two things: either cupcakes or the image of Dolley saving George Washington’s portrait from the depredations of the invading British Army during the War of 1812?

I did learn a lot more about Dolley Payne Todd Madison and her husband, James, from this biography than I knew before I read it. Did you know that:

Dolley was married to John Todd before she married Mr. Madison, and she had only one son who survived to adulthood, Payne Todd. Dolley and James Madison never had any children together, and he was accused of being impotent, a particularly malicious accusation for a man in those days. Dolley, on the other hand, was said to have been “oversexed”, thus destroying Mr. Madison’s manly force by her inordinate demands. (Only the opposition press said or hinted at such things. We only think the press nowadays is obsessed with sexual scandal and impropriety. Back then, it was no holds barred.)

Dolley’s son Payne was a wastrel and an alcoholic who was nevertheless adored and pampered by his blindly affectionate mother.

Dolley exercised considerable power in Washington society and as a partner in James Madison’s presidency, although she disclaimed any knowledge or influence in political matters as befitted a woman of her time.

Dolley Payne was born into a Quaker family. Her father owned slaves, but he freed them and moved to Philadelphia as a matter of conscience. However, the Madisons were an old, venerable, and slave-owning Virginia family, and after her marriage Dolley became enmeshed in the “peculiar institution” of slavery and never expressed any reservations about slavery or about her participation in owning slaves.

Dolley owned a pet macaw named Polly. Polly was impressive to guests for “her colorful feathers and ability to talk”, but the macaw was also a menace, dive-bombing visitors, screaming and pecking at them.

Dolley enjoyed writing poems, epigrams, and letters, but many of her letters were burned after her death by her nieces in an attempt to protect her reputation, privacy, and legacy.

Although she was a church-goer, Dolley Madison was not baptized into any church until 1845 when she and her niece Annie Payne were baptized at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

As James Madison lay dying in June 1836, his doctors offered to prolong his life with drugs so that he could die on the Fourth of July as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had done ten years earlier in 1826. Madison declined their ministrations, saying that he preferred to die “in full possession of all his noble faculties.” Madison died on June 28, 1836.

Dolley lived until 1849 and became the most celebrated woman in Washington society.

Ms. Allgor’s biography of Dolley Madison is readable and features lots more interesting facts and observations; however, the book does have a couple of drawbacks as far as I’m concerned. It begins with a “note on names” in which Ms. Allgor explains her rather confusing system of nomenclature. Rather than refer to men by their last names, as in “Madison” and “Jefferson” and “Adams”, and women by their first or first and last, as in “Dolley” or “Dolley Madison”, the author chooses to call some by first names only (men and women in “political partnerships”) and others by their last names or full names. The result is confusing and distracting.

Also, as another seeming manifestation of overactive feminism, the author spends a great deal of time, like half of the book, “proving” that Dolley was a consummate politician even though Dolley Madison herself claimed to eschew politics as an essentially manly pursuit. Ms. Allgor’s premise that Dolley Madison was involved in politics and a full partner in her husband’s presidency is indisputable, but it comes across in a “protests-too-much” manner that wore me out as a reader after a while. Yes, I get it. She was doing politics in the parlor and in the drawing room even while Mr. Madison met with the Cabinet upstairs. Now, get on with the story.

Aside from these two niggling issues with Ms. Allgor’s biography, I did enjoy the book, and I would recommend it. I feel as if I gained some measure of insight into the political life of early nineteenth century America and into the lives of James and Dolley Madison. (And yes, I put James’s name first because I thought that putting Dolley’s first would be distracting and annoying. I’m a bad feminist.)

Next up on the Presidential Hit Parade: James Monroe. I have James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity by Harry Ammon on my list of possibilities for this project. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a good biography of Mr. Monroe?

Hymn #53: All Glory Laud and Honor

Jul25

Lyrics: Theodulph of Orleans, c.820. Translated by John Mason Neale, 1854.

Music: ST THEODULPH by Melchoir Tesner, 1615. This tune, and the lyrics, cry out for organ:

Theme: Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9

Another hymn that’s not on my playlist nor that of any church I’ve ever attended. This one started out as in Latin written as a processional hymn, in the Middle Ages when the priest and the congregation used to carry the cross or relics through the town in procession on special occasions such as Palm Sunday.

Refrain:
All glory, laud, and honor
to thee, Redeemer, King!
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,
thou David’s royal Son,
who in the Lord’s Name comest,
the King and Blessed One.

The company of angels
are praising thee on high;
and mortal men and all things
created make reply.

The people of the Hebrews
with palms before thee went;
our praise and prayer and anthems
before thee we present.

To thee before thy passion
they sang their hymns of praise;
to thee, now high exalted,
our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises;
accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest,
thou good and gracious King.

Theodulph of Orleans was born in Spain about 760 AD. He was both a poet and a theologian.The Emperor Charlemagne appointed him Bishop of Orleans, France. However, when Charlemagne died, his son, Louis the Pious suspected Theodulph of treason, and he was imprisoned in Angiers in 818.

While in prison, Theodulph wrote the verses that give us this hymn. Theodulph died in while still in prison in 821.

John Mason Neale noted “another verse was usually sung until the seventeenth century, at the quaintness of which we can scarcely avoid a smile”:
Be Thou, O Lord, the Rider,
And we the little ass,
That to God’s holy city
Together we may pass.

Quaint. Yes, and we think some of today’s praise songs have somewhat foolish lyrics. I don’t know whether we can blame Theodulph or Neale or someone else for trying to make us all into donkeys.

Sources:
The Center for Church Music: All Glory Laud and Honor.
Precious Lord Take My Hand.
Catholic Encyclopedia: Theodulf