November 21, 2020
Good Morning, God and All! Long live Christ, the King of the Universe! Thanks be to God!
By The Numbers:
It's the 326th day of the year, with 40 days remaining.
Days 'til the end of Atlantic hurricane season: 9
Percent of fresh fruit that's imported into the U.S. according to USDA: 52%
Current per-barrel price of oil: $41.52
Percent of Americans who have passed off a store-bought pie as homemade, according to Parade: 7%
Temperature the inner thigh of a turkey (and stuffing, if used) must reach to be deemed safe to eat, according to federal guidelines: 165 degrees
Start Your Day With A Song:
Thanks be to Thee Attributed to George Frideric Handel (1685-1759); performance by Daniel Rodriguez Tenor - Nederlands Zingt in Haalem
Saint Columbanus, Pray For Us!
Columbanus (Irish: Columbán, 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in present-day Italy. He is remembered as a key figure in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, or Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.
Columbanus taught a Celtic monastic rule and Celtic penitential practices for those repenting of sins, which emphasised private confession to a priest, followed by penances levied by the priest in reparation for the sins. Columbanus is one of the earliest identifiable Hiberno-Latin writers.
He is the patron saint of bikers (motorcyclists), according to Wikipedia.
Thankfully, I Have an Archive Somewhere (the Message):
(Publisher’s Note: With prospects for the winter holidays shrinking due to the surge in the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve taken a look backward to a time when the overall mood was less frenzied. In fact, nearly all of this week’s Post is reposted from five years ago today; before politics went compleetely haywire and long before making sure there was enough toilet paper in the house; before face masks became a fashion and/or political statement. The parallels, even with current draconian restrictions, should not surprise us. If they do, we’re in a lot more trouble than we thought. Still, when we stop to personally reflect, most of us should find something for which to give thanks to God.)
We've reached the last week of the church year. Next week begins Advent, the season of preparation for the true Christmas. I'm not going to rant about that this week; there's still four weeks beyond today to say anything I might have missed or return to a point that needs more attention.
Having said that, you're not necessarily off the hook. This last week of the church year is dedicated to the role of Jesus Christ as King of the Universe. It may be coincidence, but more likely divine intervention that puts Thanksgiving Day in America in this same week.
Presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt anchored the holiday in late November. They had political motivation, to be sure. Plus, there's the tale of that first festival in Massachusetts in which the harvest, the survival of the colony, and a wary but not openly hostile relationship with the native tribes were celebrated with a feast. The fact that such a feast even occurred says something I'm not sure could be said of us today.
The popular cause with regards to this holiday has become what immediately follows it. While I sympathize with the sentiment to allow people to have the day to spend with family and friends, and to keep holiday shopping off the agenda, there's a chunk of the picture we continue to forget. Public service officers and medical technicians must give up at least a portion of their holiday to work in their respective jobs. Then there are those who do not have family, or are hospitalized, or are homeless. How do they spend this day? There are those who will spend part of their holiday volunteering at soup kitchens and are thankful for the opportunity to serve.
But don't be fooled. Just because a retailer will not open its doors to the public on Thanksgiving Day doesn't mean its employees are guaranteed the day off. Many will work late into the night stocking shelves and setting up displays for the shopping safari that will take place the following morning. That's a result of the relationship between capitalism and consumerism; a relationship that might well have best been summarized by my dear departed wife Diane (may God grant her eternal rest), who generally referred to this phenomenon as the public "wanting cheese doodles at 3:00 AM."
Let's first try to consider being thankful - to God, and ourselves as well - for what we have, things that are not measured by what's in our checkbooks or knick-knack shelves. Recall the story of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Ten were healed; only one went back to Jesus in thanksgiving; and he was a Samaritan (or a Muslim refugee by today's standards). Be thankful. Then, give out of that sense of thankfulness to others.
Memorable Moments:
164 BC – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
1620 – Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).
1789 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.
1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
1902 – The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeated the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first ever professional American football night game.
1905 – Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal Annalen der Physik. This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².
1922 – Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
1927 – Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.
1942 – The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway is not usable by general vehicles until 1943).
1945 – The United Auto Workers strike 92 General Motors plants in 50 cities to back up worker demands for a 30-percent raise.
1979 – The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.
1980 – A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
1985 – United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
1986 – Iran–Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Happy Birthday!!!
1643 – René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French-American explorer (d. 1687)
1694 – Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1778)
1729 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 6th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795)
1854 – Pope Benedict XV (d. 1922)
1937 – Marlo Thomas, American actress and producer
1940 – Dr. John, American singer-songwriter
1944 – Dick Durbin, American lawyer and politician
1944 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1945 – Goldie Hawn, American actress, singer, and producer
1962 – Steven Curtis Chapman, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
1965 – Björk, Icelandic singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (The Sugarcubes)
1966 – Troy Aikman, American football player and sportscaster
1969 - Ken Griffey, Jr., American baseball player and actor
1971 - Michael Strahan, American football player, actor. and talk show/game show host and commentator
We Remember:
615 – Columbanus, Irish missionary and saint (b. 543)
1924 – Florence Harding, American publisher, 36th First Lady of the United States (b. 1860)
1993 – Bill Bixby, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1934)
2012 – Mr. Food, American chef and author (b. 1931)
2017 - David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
Parting Words:
In honor of the coming holiday, and with some thanks to David Letterman:
Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For On Thanksgiving Day In America
10. Apocalypse SNOW! (or, Stormageddon) - let's get it out of our system, winter's around for three months!
9. Football, Football, and FOOTBALL!!
8. Macy's Parade trying to stall off the arrival of the next holiday until the end when a certain Mr. S. Claus arrives.
7. John O'Hurley and the National Dog Show!
6. No Politicians!
5. Kids are occupied so there's nobody throwing dinner rolls across the living room.
4. Food! (Who isn't thankful? There are those who are thankful they don't have to cook, and those who are thankful that they're making or bringing something special.)
3. Friends!
2. Family!
1. God...it doesn't get better than that!
Thank you, God and All...and, until we meet again, whether in-person or virtually, “live” or recorded;
may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all…
+the Phoenix
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