Archive | July 2009

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

Jul24

Ms. McCracken writes well. And she and her husband seem to have a wonderful, mutually supportive marriage. Those are the good parts of the book.

Exact Replica is a memoir of the author’s experience with the death of her first child and the subsequent healthy birth of her second. I wanted to read it because I once had a daughter that was stillborn. However, although I grieved then and still think of my daughter, Joanna, who is now in heaven, Ms. McCracken takes grief to another level. France (the entire country) is “ruined” for her since her baby was born and died there. (What about the rest of us who manage to cope while living in the same place after losing loved ones?) I am not invalidating or disallowing her reactions and emotions; they’re hers, and she has a right to feel whatever she feels. Nevertheless, her experience wasn’t mine, and I didn’t find much to identify with in this book.

When Joanna died (she would be 15 years old now), I was very sad. I was also very ill, having lost so much blood that I needed a transfusion. I don’t remember expecting all of my friends to send cards and emails and make phone calls and rejecting them if they did not. Of course, it was nice to hear that people cared, but Ms.McCracken is “not speaking” to a close friend because said friend was three months late in sending condolences and then said the wrong thing.

Ms. McCracken’s midwife said something very stupid and insensitive at the hospital when the author was recovering from the birth of her stillborn baby. The rage that Ms. McCracken and her husband felt for this hapless and admittedly thoughtless midwife was all out of proportion; I think, amateur psychologist that I am, that they were angry about the loss of their baby and displaced that anger onto the midwife.

Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone who is grieving the loss of a child; too much self indulgent wallowing in emotion, not enough help for others who are experiencing loss. It made me feel vaguely guilty for not being as devastated as the author was. Do you have a recommendation for reading for a mother (or father) who has lost a child?

Hymn #54: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

Jul24

Lyrics: Ignacz Franz. Translated from German to English by Clarence A. Walworth, 1858. Verse 7 by Hugh T. Henry.

Music: GROSSER GOTT.

Theme:

Cry out, “Save us, O God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
that we may glory in your praise.”
I Chronicles 16:35

Holy God, we praise thy name;
Lord of all, we bow before thee;
all on earth thy scepter claim;
all in heaven above adore thee.
Infinite thy vast domain;
everlasting is thy reign.

Hark the glad celestial hymn
angel choirs above are raising;
cherubim and seraphim,
in unceasing chorus praising,
fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord.

Lo! the apostolic train
joins thy sacred name to hallow;
prophets swell the glad refrain,
and the white-robed martyrs follow.
And from morn to set of sun,
through the church the song goes on.

Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit: three we name thee,
though in essence only one;
undivided God we claim thee,
and adoring bend the knee
while we own the mystery.

Thou art King of glory, Christ:
Son of God, yet born of Mary;
For us sinners sacrificed,
And to death a tributary:
First to break the bars of death,
Thou has opened Heaven to faith.

From Thy high celestial home,
Judge of all, again returning,
We believe that Thou shalt come
In the dreaded doomsday morning;
When Thy voice shall shake the earth,
And the startled dead come forth.

Therefore do we pray Thee, Lord:
Help Thy servants whom, redeeming
By Thy precious blood out-poured,
Thou hast saved from Satan’s scheming.
Give to them eternal rest
In the glory of the blest.

Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray,
By a thousand snares surrounded:
Keep us without sin today,
Never let us be confounded.
Lo, I put my trust in Thee;
Never, Lord, abandon me.

I’ve never heard this hymn, know nothing about it. I’m thinking it’s a Roman Catholic hymn, but I don’t know that its use is limited to that church. Ah, yes, here it says, “It is usually sung during the Benediction ceremony of the Catholic Church, when the Eucharist is placed back in the tabernacle after Eucharistic Adoration.You can listen to a beautiful instrumental (with dulcimer) version of the melody here.

In the 1937 movie Heidi with Shirley Temple, Heidi and her grandfather sing this hymnwith the congregation when Grandfather returns to church and to society as a result of the influence of his adorable granddaughter.

I rather like the hymn itself, and I don’t see anything that would disturb a good Protestant in the lyrics.

More ObamaMed

Jul24

Have you seen this chart? Apparently, it’s so misleading that those Democrats who support this monstrosity don’t want anyone to see it —because we can’t figure out for ourselves whether the 1018 page (as of last report) bill is accurately represented in the chart or not.

We probably can’t —which is the point. They can’t explain it to us either, and they haven’t even read it. The Senate will not vote on health care reform until after the recess, but Speaker Pelosi says the House can’t wait. Why not?

U.S. Presidents Reading Project: Derailed by Jefferson

Jul24

One of my projects for 2009 was a U.S. Presidents Reading Project (part of this larger project).

However I got sidetracked by my antipathy for Thomas Jefferson. I tried three different biographies of Jefferson, and I watched the first episodes of Ken Burns’ documentary of Jefferson, but I never could make myself want to spend that much time with Mr. Jefferson. I know he has redeeming qualities; he wrote the Declaration of Independence, for Pete’s sake, a literary and governmental masterpiece if ever there was one. And he didn’t do such a bad job as president.

But I just don’t trust the guy. With John Adams, and even with the reserved Mr. Washington, you knew where you stood. Jefferson comes across as a back-stabber and a hypocrite. I’m glad he and John Adams mended their friendship at the end of their lives, but I never felt Jefferson’s heart was in the relationship.

SO, I’m going to skip Jefferson and read this book that I found at the library: A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor. I know that Madison was Jefferson’s protege, but somehow I think I’ll like Mr. Madison better. Or maybe at least I’ll enjoy getting to know Mrs. Madison.

Obamamed

Jul23

Bill Kristol: “The juvenile happy talk reached its peak with this presidential statement: ‘If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that’s going to make you well?’
Now, there’s good idea. Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that? For this reform, we need to spend $1 trillion?”

Norma at Collecting My Thoughts: “I’ll believe he’s serious about improving health insurance when he says, ‘I know this can work, and we’ll start with all federal, state and local officials, elected and appointed, me and my family, Congress and SCOTUS included, and civil service staff, run it as a model for 5 years to tweak and improve it, just to show to you it can work.'”

Richard Land: “Unless Congress specifically prohibits abortion services being covered as an ‘essential benefit,’ government bureaucrats will inevitably create an “abortion mandate” for both public health insurance plans and publicly subsidized private plans. Then tens of millions of Americans will be forced to pay through their taxes for that which they find morally reprehensible.”

The Senate will NOT vote on the health care legislation until after the August break. In the meantime you can do something to stop this ridiculous legislation that will give the federal government control over something that they have no right or responsibility to control: our health and the doctors and hospitals that dispense health care.

What you can do if you DON’T want Obamamed:

1. Pray
2. E-mail and write letters to your Representative and two Senators.
3. Call the Washington office and the local office of your Representative and two Senators.
4. Spread the word! Distribute this flyer to everyone you know and use Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail samples.
5. Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper.

Hymn #55: My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less

Jul23

Lyrics: Edward Mote, 1834.
Alternate Title: On Christ the Solid Rock

Music: SOLID ROCK by William Bradbury, 1863. the vocalists are a group of homeschooled sisters called The Cadet Sisters:

Or MELITA by John Dykes. Here it is sung by Deborah Liv Johnson:

Theme: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 3:11

Read here for the story of Edward Mote’s writing the hymn’s lyrics.

LifeSpring Hymn Stories: The Solid Rock.

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

Jul21

I’ve seen two movies based on books written by Paul Gallico: Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris starring Angela Lansbury, Omar Sharif and Diana Rigg and the blockbuster 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure starring Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, Ernest Borgnine, and Jack Albertson. However, I’ve never read anything by Mr. Gallico until now.

Paul Gallico was a movie critic, then a very successful sports writer, but he wanted to write fiction. He wrote short stories for various magazines, got a $5000 check for one story, and promptly retired from sports-writing to write fiction. His first and most successful novel(?) was The Snow Goose. Not really a novel or even a novella, the book clocks in at 58 small, widely spaced pages, and I would call it a short story. It was first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1940, and The Snow Goose was one of the O. Henry prize winners in 1941.

The story itself is set on the Essex coast of England, beginning in “the late spring of 1930” and ending approximately ten years later. The main action of the story takes place in and around the evacuation of Dunkirk by the British near the beginning of World War II. It’s a romantic, and sad story about an artist, his young friend and protege, and a Canada snow goose that makes its way somehow to the Essex coast and becomes a symbol of hope for survivors of the debacle and rescue that was Dunkirk.

I would think that as a gentle introduction to World War II literature, The Snow Goose would be a winner among high school students. Other books and movies featuring the evacuation of Dunkirk:

Books:
The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord. Nonfiction.

Dunkirk: The Complete Story of the First Step in the Defeat of Hitler by Norman Gelb. More nonfiction.

Dunkirk: The Men They Left Behind by Sean Longden. Times Online review/

On Rough Seas by Nancy L. Hull. Young adult fiction. Fourteen year old Alex lives in Dover, England in 1939, and he is eventually a hero as he participates in the rescue of the British soldiers at Dunkirk.

The Little Ships: the heroic rescue at Dunkirk in World War II by Louise Borden. Picture book. “A young English girl and her father take their sturdy fishing boat and join the scores of other civilian vessels crossing the English Channel in a daring attempt to rescue Allied and British troops trapped by Nazi soldiers at Dunkirk.”

Dunkirk Crescendo by Brock and Bodie Thoene. Rather melodramatic, fast-paced Christian fiction by a pair of prolific writers in the genre of historical fiction. This book is Book #9 of the Zion Covenant series published by Tyndale House.

Atonement by Ian McEwan features Dunkirk in the second half of the story. Semicolon review here.

Movies:
Dunkirk (1958) “Documentary-style film which tells two sides of the evacuation of more than 350,000 troops from Dunkirk beaches in 1940. A British corporal (John Mills) finds himself responsible for getting his men back to Britain from the Dunkirk beaches, after their officer is killed and they are separated from the main allied forces. Meanwhile, a civilian reporter (Bernard Lee) follows the build-up to the eventual evacuation of British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk.”

Mrs. Miniver (1942) “Mrs. Miniver nobly tends her rose garden while her stalwart husband participates in the evacuation at Dunkirk. She personifies grace under pressure as the Miniver family huddles in their bomb shelter during a Luftwaffe attack, while she is forced to confront a downed Nazi paratrooper in her kitchen, and while she is preparing for her annual flower show despite the exigencies of bombing raids.” I saw Mrs. Miniver about a year ago, and I thought it was delightful. If you like The Snow Goose and its somewhat sentimental picture of a world at war, you’ll enjoy Mrs. Miniver, too.

The Snow Goose itself was made into a 1971 film starring Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter. I’ve not seen the movie; have any of you?

Nicely maintained website for fans of Paul Gallico and his books.

Hymn #56: Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven

Jul20

Lyrics: Henry Francis Lyte, 1834.

Music: LAUDA ANIMA by John Goss, 1869. Eric Wyse, editor of the Christian Life Hymnal, specified this tune when he included Praise My Soul in his list of ten favorite hymns.
Hymntime has several alternate tunes.
Christopher Miner also has a tune for this hymn, but I don’t like it as much as I do some of his other compositions.
In fact, despite this plethora of tunes and the preference among most sites and individuals for LAUDA ANIMA, I have only one tune in my head for this hymn. It’s the only tune I know for it: LAUDA ANIMA (ANDREWS) by Mark Andrews. It took me forever to find the “right” tune, probably because it’s called by almost the same name as the older, more familiar (to some) one.

Theme:

Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Psalm 103:21-22
Robert Cottrill: “Two or three of his hymns are found in many hymn books: Abide with Me; Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken; and Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven. The latter, published in 1834, is based on Psalm 103.”

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Fatherlike He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows.
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely yet His mercy flows.

Frail as summer’s flower we flourish,
Blows the wind and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish
Our God lives unchanging on,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the High Eternal One!

Angels in the heights adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.

Queen Elizabeth II chose this hymn to be sung as the processional at her wedding. Interestingly, the wedding took place on November 20, 1947, exactly one hundred years after the death of Henry Francis Lyte.

I like this artwork by Diana Wolverton based on this hymn.

Sources:
Center for Church Music: Songs and Hymns.
Hymn Studies: Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.

Public School Hoops

Jul20

I’m talking about the hoops you have to jump through. The public high school that Brown Bear Daughter will be attending in the fall just called, and they want only four things:

1. A copy of her birth certificate.
2. A copy of her Social Security card.
3. Her immunization record.
4. Proof of residency.

Bad, disorganized mother that I am, can you guess which of those things I can actually produce on demand? Well, I do have two of them and half of another. I hope I don’t have as much trouble getting her a Social Security card as I did my oldest son. We practically had to pass an act through Congress to get him a Social Security card a few years ago, soon after 9/11.

Anybody know what hoops I have to jump through to get a Social Security card these days? We’ve always homeschooled, and now I feel as if I’m committing Brown Bear Daughter to an institution; wait, I guess I am.

Hymn #57: Jesus Lover of My Soul

Jul19

Lyrics: Charles Wesley

Music: ABERYSTWITH by Joseph Parry.
MARTYN by Simeon Butler Marsh.
HOLLINGSIDE
by John Bacchus Dykes.
Greg Thompson at Indelible Grace/RUF has a new tune setting.

Theme: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

Henry Ward Beecher: “I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley’s than to have the fame of all kings that ever sat on earth; it is more glorious, it has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. He will die after a little while, pass out of men’s thoughts, what will there be to speak of him? But people will go on singing that hymn until the last trump brings forth the angel band; and then I think it will mount upon some lips to the very presence of God.”

1. Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly,
while the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

2. Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on thee;
leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is stayed, all my help from thee I bring;
cover my defenseless head with the shadow of thy wing.

3. Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall! Lo! on Thee I cast my care!
Reach me out Thy gracious hand while I of Thy strength receive;
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold I live!

4. Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in thee I find;
raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy name, I am all unrighteousness;
false and full of sin I am; thou art full of truth and grace.

5. Plenteous grace with thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
let the healing streams abound, make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of thee;
spring thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

When Charles first presented the lyrics of Jesus, Lover of My Soul to his brother, John Wesley rejected it as being too sentimental. I’ve heard this hymn ridiculed as a sort of Jesus-is-my-boyfriend, hiding from the world, pietist ode to complete withdrawal from the all things earthly. However, it doesn’t really read that way, does it? It’s more an acknowledgment of my complete dependence on the grace and mercy of Jesus. And what is sentimental about the words “I am all unrighteousness/False and full of sin I am”? I rather like the frank and unsentimental estimate of my unworthiness and Christ’s sufficiency.

Sources:
Hymntime: Jesus Lover of My Soul.
Suite 101: Jesus Lover of My Soul.
Hymnary: Jesus Lover of My Soul.