My Parents' 50th Anniversary

Carl and Judy Lower: June 27, 1964

One of the joys of last weekend was celebrating my parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary--50 years of wedded almost-bliss! :)  Nearly 100 of their family and closest friends celebrated with them at the Bali Hai Restaurant on San Diego's Shelter Island. I don't have photos from the party yet, but I will post them when I do.

In the meantime, enjoy some more of their wedding photos: June 27, 1964:

The wedding party: (Those who attended the 50th Anniversary party are in bold) (L to R): Chris Thompson, Rich Farwell, Pam Wilson-Hammond (maid of honor), unknown groomsman, Judy and Carl, Ronald Lower (best man, deceased 1971), Joanne Lower-Askey (matron of honor), Bob Farwell and Vicki Farwell-Gall)

Back up the aisle, married!

Escaping the church

In the receiving line

Parents with the bride and groom, L to R: Richard Farwell, Dorothy Lower, Wade Lower, Judy and Carl, Mae Farwell

Carl and Judy cutting the cake

Off to the honeymoon...and fifty years of marriage!

Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Today we remember with solemn thanks two apostles and martyrs of the New Testament Church: Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

I think that we get a wonderful perspective on the lives of these two paragons of the Early Church from the Saint-of-the-Day e-mails from AmericanCatholic.org:

Peter (d. 64?). St. Mark ends the first half of his Gospel with a triumphant climax. He has recorded doubt, misunderstanding and the opposition of many to Jesus. Now Peter makes his great confession of faith: "You are the Messiah" (Mark 8:29b). It was one of the many glorious moments in Peter's life, beginning with the day he was called from his nets along the Sea of Galilee to become a fisher of men for Jesus.

The New Testament clearly shows Peter as the leader of the apostles, chosen by Jesus to have a special relationship with him. With James and John he was privileged to witness the Transfiguration, the raising of a dead child to life and the agony in Gethsemane. His mother-in-law was cured by Jesus. He was sent with John to prepare for the last Passover before Jesus' death. His name is first on every list of apostles.

And to Peter only did Jesus say, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:17b-19).

But the Gospels prove their own trustworthiness by the unflattering details they include about Peter. He clearly had no public relations person. It is a great comfort for ordinary mortals to know that Peter also has his human weakness, even in the presence of Jesus.

He generously gave up all things, yet he can ask in childish self-regard, "What are we going to get for all this?" (see Matthew 19:27). He receives the full force of Christ's anger when he objects to the idea of a suffering Messiah: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (Matthew 16:23b).

Peter is willing to accept Jesus' doctrine of forgiveness, but suggests a limit of seven times. He walks on the water in faith, but sinks in doubt. He refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, then wants his whole body cleansed. He swears at the Last Supper that he will never deny Jesus, and then swears to a servant maid that he has never known the man. He loyally resists the first attempt to arrest Jesus by cutting off Malchus's ear, but in the end he runs away with the others. In the depth of his sorrow, Jesus looks on him and forgives him, and he goes out and sheds bitter tears. The Risen Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep (John 21:15-17).

Paul (d. 64?). If the most well-known preacher today suddenly began preaching that the United States should adopt Marxism and not rely on the Constitution, the angry reaction would help us understand Paul's life when he started preaching that Christ alone can save us. He had been the most Pharisaic of Pharisees, the most legalistic of Mosaic lawyers. Now he suddenly appears to other Jews as a heretical welcomer of Gentiles, a traitor and apostate.

Paul's central conviction was simple and absolute: Only God can save humanity. No human effort—even the most scrupulous observance of law—can create a human good which we can bring to God as reparation for sin and payment for grace. To be saved from itself, from sin, from the devil and from death, humanity must open itself completely to the saving power of Jesus.

Paul never lost his love for his Jewish family, though he carried on a lifelong debate with them about the uselessness of the Law without Christ. He reminded the Gentiles that they were grafted on the parent stock of the Jews, who were still God's chosen people, the children of the promise.

In light of his preaching and teaching skills, Paul's name has surfaced (among others) as a possible patron of the Internet.

Comment:
We would probably go to confession to Peter sooner than to any of the other apostles. He is perhaps a more striking example of the simple fact of holiness. Jesus says to us as he said, in effect, to Peter: "It is not you who have chosen me, but I who have chosen you. Peter, it is not human wisdom that makes it possible for you to believe, but my Father's revelation. I, not you, build my Church." Paul's experience of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus was the driving force that made him one of the most zealous, dynamic and courageous ambassadors of Christ the Church has ever had. But persecution, humiliation and weakness became his day-by-day carrying of the cross, material for further transformation. The dying Christ was in him; the living Christ was his life.

The Collect for Saint Peter's Day from the Book of Common Prayer 2011:

ALMIGHTY God, who through your Son Jesus Christ gave to your holy apostle Peter many excellent gifts, and earnestly commanded him to feed your flock; Make all Bishops and Pastors diligent in preaching your Holy Word and your people faithful in following the same, so that they may receive the crown of eternal glory; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (References: 2Peter 1.1-2; John 21.15-17; 1Peter 5.3-4) 

So as we celebrate this Lord's Day, each Sunday lauded as a mini-Easter, may we focus on the Holy Trinity: the Father who created us, the Son who died and rose again for us, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. And may we also remember and emulate the saints who have trod the Pilgrim Pathway before us, especially Saint Peter and Saint Paul. 

Have a blessed day!

Trinity Sunday, Father's Day, Anniversary, and Quotes for the Week

Partially from the Archives....

The Sunday following Pentecost/Whitsunday is the celebration of the Holy Trinity. Trinity Sunday is a celebration of just one day, and the liturgical color is white, symbolizing the purity and sinlessness of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now that the Holy Spirit has arrived on the scene to complete the Trinity, Ordinary Time shall begin starting next week, stretching over twenty-some weeks to Advent in late November to early December. Nearly half of the Church Year consists of Ordinary Time for which the liturgical color is green, symbolizing the continual growth of our faith as we follow Christ and endeavor to become more like Jesus. During Ordinary Time, the weeks are counted as being "after Trinity": the First Sunday after Trinity, the fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, etc.

But today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The website Church Year explains:

Trinity Sunday, officially "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity," is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. On Trinity Sunday we remember and honor the eternal God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, and lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday. Westerners do as well, although they set aside a special feast day for the purpose.

The Collect from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

For the Epistle today, the 1928 BCP requires the reading of the fourth chapter of Revelation; you may read it here in the English Standard Version: Revelation 4 ESV.

The Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday is written in the third chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John, the first verse through the fifteenth. You may read it here, again in the ESV: John 3:1-15 ESV.

Today is also the Feast of Title for two churches in the San Diego area, both of which have removed themselves from the liberal San Diego Episcopal Diocese and have put themselves under the authority of Biblical leadership: Holy Trinity in Ocean Beach (part of the city of San Diego) and Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity in Alpine, thirty miles east of San Diego. I have been attending weekday healing services led by Father Keith Acker when he was Rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church and also after he and his church left the Diocese and reformed as Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity which is now part of the Reformed Episcopal Church. So blessings to both churches on their Feast of Title!

So today we give special thanks to our Lord who is realized in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although we praise God for the Trinity each and every day of the year, this day we celebrate it more than usual, remembering His gracious goodness, His lovingkindness, and His everfaithful mercy. In the words of the Gloria Patri, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

Here's the Collect for Trinity Sunday from the Book of Common Prayer 2011:

ALMIGHTY and eternal God, who gave grace to your people to proclaim the true Faith, acknowledging the glory of the eternal Trinity and, by the power of your Divine Majesty, worshiping One God; Keep us standing firm in this Faith and always defend us from danger; Who lives and rules, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Also, I wanted to share a couple of quotations on The Trinity...which are not easy to find, by the way. But I think I like these words from an Anglican who started the Holiness movement:

"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God."      
~John Wesley

And one more quotation, this time from a friend of mine, a former missionary to East Asia (China) who shall remain nameless to protect her identity:

"Because of the cross, everything is redeemable."
~K.L.

Today is also Father's Day as well, so I wish all fathers, including my own and the wonderful father of our children, a wonderful and special day!!

In addition, today is also my and Keith's 29th wedding anniversary!! We plan to enjoy being home today and then to go to the Fair later this week. So to further celebrate our anniversary, I post this Collect today from the Book of Common Prayer 2011:

GRACIOUS God, who consecrates the covenant of marriage to represent the spiritual unity between Christ and his Church; We ask your continued blessed on your servants, Keith and myself, that, as husband and wife, [we] may continue to love, honor, and cherish each other in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, so that [our] home may always be a haven of blessing and peace; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (References: Malachi 2.14-15; Ephesians 5.25, 28, 32; Colossians 3.18-19.)

So on this very special day in so many ways, I wish you all a blessed Father's Day and Trinity Sunday as Ordinary Time begins once more....

News on 20th Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea

"The Greek" Amphitheater at Point Loma Nazarene University, home of The Writers' Symposium by the Sea.

Point Loma Nazarene University will host its 20th Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea in late February. The amazing writers who have attended and shared their thoughts on the craft of writing over the last two decades have been phenomenal: Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Anne Lamott, Donald Miller, Philip Yancey, Kathleen Norris, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Eugene Peterson, Calvin Miller, and other journalists, novelists, poets, bloggers, and non-fiction writers, both Christian and secular. A good number of videos of past featured writers at the Symposium are available via UCSD-TV's Writer's Symposium page. 

The news was just released that to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Writer's Symposium by the Sea, Dean Nelson (my former creative writing professor and later my kindly office mate when I taught there) will be having a conversation with Joyce Carol Oates. The announcement with details may be seen here if you scroll down a bit (and ignore the "19th Annual" heading): Joyce Carol Oates at Writer's Symposium.

Dean has outdone himself in obtaining such a major figure in American literature to celebrate the Symposium's 20th anniversary. I am so thrilled that Joyce Carol Oates will be coming on February 26. 

Tickets will go on sale in November, and I'll be one of the first in the virtual queue. Meanwhile, I have a copy of a small book I snatched from the library shelves last week to read (once I finish teaching Romeo & Juliet at Brave Writer this Friday!): First Love. It's a small, illustrated Gothic novelette, and I'm very much looking forward to perusing it as my first book on my Summer Reading List. 

The Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council's Writer's Workshop is hoping to host another of our popular Write-Ins next month to coincide with July's Camp NaNoWriMo  so that we can enjoy coffee, tea, treats, and a few bursts of creative conversation while we tap away on our keyboards or scratch away in our notebooks for a few hours, usually from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. As soon as we have a date cleared with the Pine Valley Library for the use of their Community Room, I'll post the date here on this blog and on the MECAC Writer's Workshop website.


Happy Writing, Everyone! 

Pentecost: The Joy and Comfort of the Holy Spirit

A repost from the Archives as I frantically attempt to keep up with my wonderful Brave Writer students in our discussions of Romeo and Juliet...


I just do not understand something. Why don't evangelical churches celebrate Pentecost? Scripture tells is that the Gift Jesus promised His disciples has arrived: the Holy Spirit! We read Christ's promise in the 14th chapter of the Gospel According to Saint John, beginning at the 15th verse:

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.... 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you....(ESV)"

Then on the Feast of the Pentecost, with Jerusalem filled with Jews from around the known world, Christ fulfilled his promise fifty days after His Resurrection. We read in the second chapter of The Acts of the Apostles:

"2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested [1] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.' 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' 13 But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine'” (ESV).

Peter then preaches to the astounded visitors to Jerusalem (also in Act 2), quoting the prophecy of Joel hundreds of years past as well as passages from the Psalms of David while also relating what he and the other disciples witnessed of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as well as the many sightings of Christ following His resurrection from the dead until His ascension to the right hand of the Living God. Peter concludes:

"32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts 2, ESV).

And then we read the response of the crowd listening to Peter:

"37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' 38 And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.' 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, 'Save yourselves from this crooked generation.' 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2, ESV).

The events of this Pentecost were simply incredible, and it is from this amazing Gift of the Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit of God, that the Gospel of Christ first began to spread and the Church first began to form. Why evangelical churches do not celebrate Pentecost is a mystery to me. It always lands on a Sunday and thus it can be easily celebrated with Scripture readings, with praise songs and hymns about the Holy Spirit, with sermons grounded in the Holy Spirit, and perhaps even with baptisms since approximately 3,000 people were baptized and added to the Church on the first Pentecost after the Resurrection in Acts 2. Pentecost is a Biblical holy day, and we can celebrate it Biblically, too, with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart[s]" (Ephesians 5:19, ESV).

In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, one of the Collects (collective or public prayers) for Pentecost reads thus:

"Almighty and most merciful God, grant, we beseech thee, that by the indwelling of thy Holy Spirit, we may be enlightened and strengthened for thy service ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen."

And the Book of Common Prayer 2011's Collect for Pentecost (also in the sidebar of this blog):

"O GOD, you teach the hearts of your faithful people by sending us the light of your Holy Spirit; By your Spirit, give us right judgment in all things, so that we may rejoice forever in his holy comfort; Through the victory of Christ Jesus our Savior, who lives and rules with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen." (References: John 14.26; Acts 2.1-4; Philippians 1.9-10; Acts 9.31)

The Anglican Church has an interesting name for Pentecost: Whitsunday which comes from the white garments worn by those who are baptized this day, just as over 3,000 people were baptized on that first Pentecost in Acts 2. In the above hyperlink to the Catholic Encyclopedia entry of "Whitsunday," an interesting fact is given:

"Whitsunday, as a Christian feast, dates back to the first century, although there is no evidence that it was observed, as there is in the case of Easter; the passage in 1 Corinthians 16:8 probably refers to the Jewish feast. This is not surprising, for the feast, originally of only one day's duration, fell on a Sunday; besides it was so closely bound up with Easter that it appears to be not much more than the termination of Paschal tide [Eastertide]."

So why is this important Biblical Holy Day, celebrated from the very earliest days of the Christian Church, hardly mentioned in evangelical churches, including my own? I don't know. I simply don't get it. But I pray that the evangelical churches will indeed start to celebrate Biblical Holy Days more and more in the future, pulling on the rich, 2,000-year heritage of Pentecost/Whitsunday.

Wishing you a blessed Pentecost,

A Blessed Ascension Day

Reprinted (with a few alterations) from the Archives....

Today is Ascension Day, forty days after Christ's Resurrection, when He gave His final earthly encouragement and directions to His disciples before Ascending to the right hand of the Father. Today's Epistle reading is from Acts 1:

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (English Standard Version)

The Gospel reading relates the same event, also told by Luke at the close of his gospel account:

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God. (ESV)

The Collect for Ascension Day from The Book of Common Prayer 2011 which Father Keith Acker of Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity modernized and I helped to edit:   

ALMIGHTY God, as we believe your only eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven; Grant that we may also ascend into heaven in heart and mind until, at the last, we may dwell with him forever; Who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and always. Amen.

Father Bosco Peters, an Anglican priest in New Zealand who runs the amazing Liturgy.co.nz site, posted a wonderful reflection on Ascension can be read here: Ascension Day.

On Twitter, Father Peters noted that Ascension Day is a holiday in several European countries, such as France, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, etc. Yet we in America hardly even know of this Biblical holy day, at least among American evangelicals. Part of Eastertide which lasts until Pentecost (just ten more days!), Ascension is obviously noted in Scripture as being forty days after Christ's Resurrection. 

This holy day has been celebrated since the early years of the Church, as the Catholic Encyclopedia notes:

The observance of this feast is of great antiquity. Although no documentary evidence of it exists prior to the beginning of the fifth century, St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal observance of the Church long before his time. Frequent mention of it is made in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and in the Constitution of the Apostles. The Pilgrimage of Sylvia (Peregrinatio Etheriae) speaks of the vigil of this feast and of the feast itself, as they were kept in the church built over the grotto in Bethlehem in which Christ was born (Duchesne, Christian Worship, 491-515). It may be that prior to the fifth century the fact narrated in the Gospels was commemorated in conjunction with the feast of Easter or Pentecost.... Representations of the mystery are found in diptychs and frescoes dating as early as the fifth century.

You may read the full article from the Catholic Encyclopedia here: Feast of the Ascension.

I just don't really understand why American evangelical churches do not celebrate these Biblical festivals, or at least Pentecost if not Ascension. Pentecost lands on a Sunday every time, so there's really no excuse not to at least mention it...if not read the Scriptures recounting the gift of the Holy Spirit to the waiting disciples and perhaps even preach on the subject. Yes, every day of our earthly existence should be a celebration of what Christ has done for us, and every Sunday should indeed be a celebration of the Resurrection power and love of Jesus. But noting and celebrating these other Biblical holy days seems like a wonderful idea to me, one in which we can walk in the footsteps of our Risen Lord, glorifying Him who first loved us.

Enjoy a blessed Octave of the Ascension,

Prayers for Memorial Day

My grandfather, Captain Richard E. Farwell, was serving as First Officer on the USS Ward just outside Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941 when the Ward fired upon and sank a Japanese mini-sub shortly before the attack began. For more on his service, see this previous blog post: A Day to Remember.

I hope to have time to slip down to Greenwood Memorial Park to put a flag on his grave as I have in past years.

Mark D, Roberts, who writes the amazing Daily Reflections for The High Calling, today sent out a prayer for Memorial Day which I include here in its entirety:

PRAYER: Gracious, Sovereign God, Lord of all nations,

On this Memorial Day, we pause to reflect upon our blessings as a nation and the high cost of those blessings. We offer our prayers of thanks and intercession.

Thank you for the freedom we enjoy in this country, for opportunities to flourish, and for the security of our land.

Thank you for those who have served in the armed services of our country, risking their lives for our liberty.

Thank you for those who have given their lives in service to our country, sacrificing in such a costly way for the sake of others, including me. Thank you for those who have given their lives so that those who live in other countries might experience freedom from tyranny.

Thank you for a day set apart, not just for celebration, but also for solemn remembrance as we consider the sacrifices of so many in our military.

O Lord, may we be more aware of just how blessed we are as a nation. May we be more grateful for our blessings, more faithful in stewarding them well, more eager to share them with others.

We pray today for the families and friends of those who have given their lives in service to our nation. May they be comforted in their sadness. May they be reassured that the sacrifice of their loved ones contributes to a worthy cause. May they be proud of those they have lost, entrusting their ultimate fate into your gracious hands.

Even as we remember those who have given their lives in the past, we also think of those whose lives are on the line today. Protect them. Encourage them. Bring them home safely...and soon.

Give wisdom to the leaders of our armed services, that they might know how best to deploy the troops in the cause of freedom. May their efforts be successful, so that peace with justice might be established in our world.

Guide those who lead our nation in international affairs. Help them to pursue diplomatic paths that prevent needless conflict. May they have your wisdom about when and how to use the military might you have entrusted to us.

God of peace, stir in the hearts of the leaders of all nations and in all who would use violence to further their cause. Change their hearts and minds. Give them a passion for peace. Bring an end to the pain, suffering, injustice, and violence in our world.

We know, dear Lord, that ultimate peace will not come until your kingdom is here in all of its fullness. Nevertheless, we pray for a foretaste of the future. We ask for the growth of peace throughout our world today, so that fewer and fewer men and women will have to risk and even to sacrifice their lives. We long for the day when people will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4).

May your kingdom come, Lord, and your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven!

All praise be to you, God of grace, God of mercy, God of justice, God of peace, King of kings, and Lord of lords! Amen.

*****

And adding to this prayer, I post the Collects For Those Serving in Our Armed Forces and For Memorial Days from The Book of Common Prayer 2011:

LORD God of hosts, stretch forth your almighty arm to strengthen and protect the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guards of our country; Support them in the day of battle, and in times of peace keep them safe from all evil; Endue them with courage and loyalty, and grant that in all things, they may serve without reproach; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (References: 2 Samuel 22.2-4; Deuteronomy 31.6; Hebrews 13.5-6)    

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give you thanks for all your servants who have laid down their lives in the serviceof our country; Grant to them your mercy and the light of your presence, so that the good work which you have begun in them may be perfected; Through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen. (References: John 15.12-17; Ephesians 2.5-6) 

*****

Wishing you all a blessed memorial of those who have served and died for the sake of freedom and a joyous celebration of those who continue to serve our country.

The Venerable Bede and Grading, Grading, Grading....

Grading Essays....

Today marks the Saint's Day of The Venerable Bede, one of my favorite English saints. The wonderful Saint-of-the-Day e-mails from AmericanCatholic.org, from which I learn so much about the men and women  on the Pilgrim Pathway before us, tells us a little about his life. I here include the daily e-mail in its entirety:

Sunday, May 25, 2014 St. Bede the Venerable (672?-735)

Bede is one of the few saints honored as such even during his lifetime. His writings were filled with such faith and learning that even while he was still alive, a Church council ordered them to be read publicly in the churches. At an early age Bede was entrusted to the care of the abbot of the Monastery of St. Paul, Jarrow. The happy combination of genius and the instruction of scholarly, saintly monks produced a saint and an extraordinary scholar, perhaps the most outstanding one of his day. He was deeply versed in all the sciences of his times: natural philosophy, the philosophical principles of Aristotle, astronomy, arithmetic, grammar, ecclesiastical history, the lives of the saints and, especially, Holy Scripture. From the time of his ordination to the priesthood at 30 (he had been ordained deacon at 19) till his death, he was ever occupied with learning, writing and teaching. Besides the many books that he copied, he composed 45 of his own, including 30 commentaries on books of the Bible. Although eagerly sought by kings and other notables, even Pope Sergius, Bede managed to remain in his own monastery till his death. Only once did he leave for a few months in order to teach in the school of the archbishop of York. Bede died in 735 praying his favorite prayer: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As in the beginning, so now, and forever.” His Ecclesiastical History of the English People is commonly regarded as of decisive importance in the art and science of writing history. A unique era was coming to an end at the time of Bede’s death: It had fulfilled its purpose of preparing Western Christianity to assimilate the non-Roman barbarian North. Bede recognized the opening to a new day in the life of the Church even as it was happening. Comment: Though his History is the greatest legacy Bede has left us, his work in all the sciences (especially in Scripture) should not be overlooked. During his last Lent, he worked on a translation of the Gospel of St. John into English, completing it the day he died. But of this work “to break the word to the poor and unlearned” nothing remains today. Quote: “We have not, it seems to me, amid all our discoveries, invented as yet anything better than the Christian life which Bede lived, and the Christian death which he died” (C. Plummer, editor of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History).

As we remember this amazing Saint, we can also access his Ecclesiastical History of the English People free through Christian Classics Ethereal Library here: Bede's Ecclesiatical History of the English People. Although I read this book back in my Christian Tradition course as an undergrad at Point Loma Nazarene University, I've been wanting to refresh my memory of this wonderful work. And as an informal Anglican (I've been attending Friday Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Healing Services with Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity for the past eight years and helped to edit The Book of Common Prayer 2011 which uses the English Standard Version for all Scriptures), I want to re-read Bede's History in light of all I've learned about the English Church since my college days.

But such reading projects will have to wait. The moment I finish this post, I need to grade the final MLA research essays submitted by my Expository Essay I and II classes at Heritage Christian School's East County II Class Days; with our final class meeting this Thursday, I must grade and return these essays plus compute final course grades for my students. Fortunately, Engrade is a huge help in tracking grades; I've even started using it for my Literary Analysis courses at Brave Writer to keep track of all of the points for various discussion question responses, etc.

And speaking of Brave Writer, my Literary Analysis: Romeo & Juliet class is gearing up to discuss the play starting this week. In past courses, I've received 75-100 essay posts within 24 hours that I need to respond to, commenting on content and depth of analysis.

So with finishing up our last three weeks of the school year, with B finishing 8th grade and J completing 11th,  with Heritage Christian School, grading research papers and computing final grades for my Expository Essays courses at Heritage's Class Day, and keeping up with the students in my Romeo & Juliet class at Brave Writer, you may not see me again until after June 13, our last day of school and the final day of the Romeo & Juliet class.

So, needless to say, The Venerable Bede will be waiting until then as well.

But to keep me on track for the next couple of weeks, I've posted this quotation on the wall above my desk as a reminder:

"The divine moment is the present moment."
~Saint Catherine of Genoa

Those are good words to live by, I think, especially during these next three crazy-busy weeks.

See you after the grades are all in!

Bitten by the Writing Bug...and Quotes of the Week

When I was a child, I loved the idea of becoming a writer. I used to pound away on my mother's old manual typewriter from the early 1960's, but I was usually writing letters from one stuffed animal, my blue camel (remember the old "Camel with the Wrinkled Knees" from the Raggedy Ann books?) to my brother's equally blue stuffed French poodle named Pierre, and he would respond in kind on Pierre's behalf.

But writing stories? I think I sat down only once to write a story, and I think I wrote two pages. Writing fiction didn't seem to be my "thing."

In my high school Creative Writing class, I learned how to compose poems and did fairly well--well enough to be published in a couple of our school's yearbooks and in a couple of literary magazines during my junior and senior years.

Once I attended college at Point Loma Nazarene University, I wrote more poems for the literary magazine and enjoyed writing essays for my various literature classes, but writing fiction remained a difficult task. In my Creative Writing class with Dr. Dean Nelson, I struggled with believable characters and plot lines.

After that course, I decided that I just wasn't a writer of fiction...and never would be.

But then a bunch of e-friends jumped onto the National Novel Writing Month(NaNoWriMo) bandwagon, and in 2008 I joined them. I drafted 50,000 words of a novel, and in 2009, I completed the novel. Well, mostly completed it; I still have a LOT of editing to do.

In late 2010 I started writing on Wattpad under a pen name, and I haven't stopped writing fiction since. I've now completed one novel of 146,000 words, another of just over 200,000 words, and my third novel is at 70,000 words, not to mention several shorter works of about 10-15,000 words.

So it took me entering my 40's before fiction writing really grabbed my mind and heart and soul. But I write a lot now--nonfiction on my blog and for the various courses that I teach at Heritage and Brave Writer, plus writing fiction. It's become a compulsion, even an addiction. Perhaps someday I'll be able to publish my work; we shall see.

So here are two intriguing quotations from women writers of the 20th century into the 21st. Their thoughts on writing are provocative and thought-provoking...and so very true.

"You become a writer because you need to become a writer--nothing else."

~Grace Paley (1922-2007)

"Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself... It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent."

~Harper Lee (1926-)


So have a wonderful week, everyone--and keep on writing!!

Writing with you,
 

I Did It!!!!

Yep, I barely sneaked in under the wire at the last possible second, but I did it!!

I wrote 30,000 words during the month of April for Camp NaNoWriMo. :)

For those of you not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, hundreds of thousands of people around the world sign up to encourage each other as they tackle a unique goal: writing 50,000 words during the month of November. I've "won" (met the goal of writing 50,000 words in 31 days) in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012.

So what happened in 2010 and 2013, you ask? Well, in 2010, I knew I had a crazy-busy November, so instead I chose a different writing goal: The Editor-in-Chief of The Poet's Market, Robert Lee Brewer, hosts a PAD (Poem A Day) Challenge: writing a poem a day following the prompts given on Robert's Writer's Digest blog, Poetic Asides, for the entire month of November (and he offers another PAD Challenge in April). I'm not sure if it was less time-comsuming to write a poem a day or write 1667 words of fiction a day, but I did accomplish the PAD Challenge in November 2010.

In 2013 I had another crazy-busy November ahead of me, so instead of wisely choosing another writing challenge, or more wisely yet, not taken up ANY writing challenge that crazy month, I tried NaNoWriMo...but only made it to just under 12,000 words.

So I promised myself that when I had a break in teaching, I would catch up on NaNoWriMo. And I did, with one of NaNoWriMo's two Camp NaNoWriMo events, held each April and July. We set our own writing goals for this "Writing Camp" and we aren't limited to novels only--any kind of writing qualifies.

So with 30 days in April (including a two-week Easter vacation from homeschooling and a co-op Expository Essay class working feverishly on their MLA Research Essays which means no grading of their essays for me !), I planned to write 30,000 words--1,000 per day. Not too difficult, right? Although April was half-free of the daily routine of home education and I didn't have loads of essays to grade for our co-op Class Days through Heritage Christian School, I was still juggling one of the Brave Writer family workshop classes, namely the Shakespeare FamilyWorkshop. But as this class is fully prepared because I have taught it before, it requires minimal time and effort, mostly just responding to questions and posts from the families.

So I hunkered down and began Camp NaNoWriMo, starting with new chapters for my current novel, Only by Moonlight, and on a story that started as a dream in the novel but took on a life of its own. So the dream turned into 10,000 words of a new novella called An Enchanted Evening. I moved the setting of the novella from the dream taking place in Chicago during World War I in Only by Moonlight to the Regency era in England--London, to be precise--the time period and general location for Jane Austen's books.

It didn't help much that on April 30, the final day of Camp NaNoWriMo and also the deadline for a writing contest on one of the sites where I post my writings, we had the strongest winds we've experienced since moving to this mountain village in 2001. With winds topping 101 mph in Julian, another mountain town, and our own town experiencing winds of 90+ mph, we lost electricity starting at 5:45 AM. And the power wasn't restored until 5:45 PM. Thus out of the final 24 hours of Camp NaNoWriMo, 12 hours were without power.

I used my laptop's battery power to do a final edit on the unposted three parts of An Enchanted Evening, having posted the first three parts of the novella on April 29. Utilizing my smart phone's FoxFi app which provides a WiFi hotspot for getting online (but drains my phone battery very quickly!), I managed to post the final three chapters just before both my phone and my laptop ran out of battery power. Once the power was back up, I continued writing for Camp NaNoWriMo once I had caught up on my neglected e-mail inboxes and responded to the various posts for my online Shakespeare Workshop, but I knew I was cutting it close on completing the 30,000 words I needed to meet my goal.

And I posted precisely 30,001 words at 11:59 on April 30! When I added 11 more words for a total of 30,012 words a few seconds later, I was denied a chance to update; midnight had arrived, and Camp NaNoWriMo for April was over and gone. That's how close I was to NOT completing my writing goal for the second time in four months.

Now that I completed my goal, Camp NaNoWriMo offers some lovely "prizes" for "winning"--and chief among them is a free printed copy of my work--which I'll think about doing if the printed copy of my adventure story/romance is REALLY free as I study the fine print of the offer.

So Camp NaNoWriMo has been a success, and I'm thrilled that I not only have two new chapter to add to Only by Moonlight, but that I also have An Enchanted Evening ready for some final edits and tweaking.

After enjoying such a productive month of writing, I couldn't resist adding two new writing quotations to the Quotation of the Week in my sidebar, and I'll include them here as well:

"I am a galley slave to pen and ink."

~Honore de Balzac (1799-1850)

"Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish."

~John Jakes (1932--)

So now I'm off to start editing my latest chapter of my novel and embark on yet another busy week of teaching writing, squeezing my own writing endeavors into the corners of my busy homeschooling days now that school is back in session and we begin the final week of the Shakespeare Family Workshop with an overview of the Bard's tragedy plays, focusing later on Hamlet in particular.

Have a lovely week!!

Writing with you,