November 14, 2020
Good Morning, God and All! Let us go, rejoicing, to the house of the Lord (Psalm 121:1)…and let us rejoice, for now, for the work that we must do to keep them open amid capacity restrictions, facial coverings, and social distancing…
By The Numbers:
It’s the 319th day of the year, with 47 days remaining.
Days ‘til HanYulFestiMaZaa: 26/37/39/41/42
Days ‘til the Electoral College is supposed to meet to complete the presidential election: 24
Start Your Day With A Song:
Precious Lord, Take My Hand (1938) Thomas A. Dorsey; Performance: Elvis Presley (1957)
My Love (1965) Tony Hatch; Performance: Petula Clark
Saint Laurence O’Toole, Pray For Us!
St. Lorcán Ua Tuathail, known in English as Saint Laurence O'Toole and in French as St. Laurent d'Eu (1128 – 14 November 1180), was Archbishop of Dublin at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. St. Lorcán played a prominent role in the Irish Church Reform Movement of the 12th century and mediated between the parties during and after the invasion. He was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III. (Wikipedia)
Take Me Home, Country Roads, To the Place I Belong (the Message):
It’s been a long road indeed through 2020; longer still when you consider the election (which still isn’t officially decided) process began in the summer…of 2019, before there was a virus that led to the worst pandemic in at least a century. And the numbers are still growing. What we have here is the potential for a repeat of the exile that ‘canceled’ the celebrations of Easter and Pentecost; a ‘live’ version, if you will, of How (The Virus) Stole (the True Meaning of) Christmas. Will we gather ‘round the town squares in our corners of the world and sing Adeste Fideles with masks in place and ten feet apart? Who knows? Has anyone else made this connection, or am I blowing smoke or a gasket somewhere? Who knows.
In the winter of 2014, as my Diane became suddenly ill, and in the time before, as she began to have health issues, I would pray - sometimes aloud - that I would understand what she might be going through, that I could better help her and advise her on options related to her care. All these years later, it seems those prayers are being answered. I am starting to experience disorders which have similar symptoms; mobility issues and lack of stability that comes and goes. Gastrointestinal trouble. At one time Diane said something about an experience where she felt the room she was in was spinning; now I know what that feels like. It’s definitely NOT pleasant. For the last few days I’ve felt I’ve been walking in a fog; one that’s lifted a bit for now, or I would be begging off another reflection this week. As this is one of the things that has helped me stay in focus, I really don’t want to stop until God tells me I have to beyond any other means.
Why is it that places like Walmart, aisles jammed with holiday specials, is not considered a super-spreader, while family gatherings and religious observances are? Even though the Catholic parishes have a program in place that allows them to remain open at the reduced capacity levels that were agreed upon in June - July, it seems inevitable at the moment that we won’t be exempt from a general “stay at home” order if they’re issued. And the diocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of the few to end the dispensation from required attendance at Sunday Mass, has in the wake of rapidly growing positivity rates, has put the dispensation back in place.
Yet through the grace of God, though bruised (and never whole, as I reminded myself); I’m still here. I still believe God is in control, even as many reject that and claim that if there is a God, he’s sleeping at the switch. We’re the ones sleeping at the switch.
The memes have returned throughout social media in America, declaring No matter who is President, Jesus is King. That is important to bear in mind, for the political wringing of hands isn’t stopping any time soon. There is a great deal of stonewalling - on both sides - and Congress and the Senate have wafer thin margins, which likely means whoever actually sits in the Oval Office in late January, a great deal of nothing is likely to get done over the next four years, with citizens, working or not, footing the bill. Yes, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57, NRSV).
And, in the refrain of this week’s featured popular song:
My love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My love is deeper than the deepest ocean
Wider than the sky
My love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change my love.
That’s why I must keep going, and neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor gloom of night or even pestilence will keep me from proclaiming the love of the Lord and that Jesus IS the Ultimate Answer. We must never give up on Him. Governments can - and have, and will - make demands of us that go against God’s commands. Even the human-operated institution of Christ’s holy Church will fail us. Christ’s promises will never fail unless we reject them.
Take my hand, precious Lord! Lead me home!! Lead me in Thy righteousness! Make Thy way plain before my face!
Memorable Moments:
1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile
1851 – Moby-Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, is published in the USA.
1862 – American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1886 – Friedrich Soennecken first developed the hole puncher, a type of office tool capable of punching small holes in paper.
1889 – Pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in 72 days.
1918 – Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
1922 – The British Broadcasting Company begins radio service in the United Kingdom.
1960 – Ruby Bridges becomes the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana.
1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to the surface of the Moon.
1973 – In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.
1979 – Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.
1982 – Lech Wałęsa, the leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after eleven months of internment near the Soviet border.
1995 – A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.
Happy Birthday!!!
1601 – John Eudes, French priest and missionary (d. 1680)
1765 – Robert Fulton, American engineer, Early steamboat pioneer (d. 1815)
1840 – Claude Monet, French painter (d. 1926)
1900 – Aaron Copland, American composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1990)
1908 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)
1921 – Brian Keith, American actor and director (d. 1997)
1922 – Veronica Lake, American actress and singer (d. 1973)
1927 – McLean Stevenson, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1929 – Jimmy Piersall, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
1939 – Wendy Carlos, American keyboard player and composer
1948 – Charles, Prince of Wales
1949 – James Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Stephen Bishop, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1954 – Condoleezza Rice, American political scientist, academic, and politician, 66th United States Secretary of State
1982 – Kyle Orton, American football player
We Remember:
1263 – Alexander Nevsky, Russian saint (b. 1220)
1832 – Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American farmer and politician (b. 1737)
1915 – Booker T. Washington, American educator, essayist and historian (b. 1856)
1997 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (b. 1916)
2014 – Glen A. Larson, American director, producer, and screenwriter, created Battlestar Galactica (b. 1937)
…ALL victims of the COVID-19 pandemic
…ALL victims of violence
…and television personality Alex Trebek (b. 1940) who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8
…and comedian Norm Crosby (b. 1927) who passed away on November 7, from heart failure.
Parting Words:
Pray, pray always, pray all ways - that we may approach these coming days with sense and sensibility; that we may, by God’s grace, overcome these dark days and approach him with humility, and confidence, and in joy.
Until we meet again, may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all…
+the Phoenix
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