tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71389377191567223202024-03-13T09:42:53.150-07:00Mother and AlfredAlfred and Mother live in Park Hills on a quiet cul-de-sac where they enjoy the finer things of life. Indeed enjoying the finer things of life is uppermost in their minds. The ways of the Holy Spirit are mysterious and He begins to intrude on their placid lives when the house next door becomes vacant and Alfred begins to record the events in a journal.R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-84990089022497719282014-08-30T12:40:00.004-07:002014-08-30T12:40:59.952-07:00The Last Glass of Vintage Port<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXChqTGbjme_wM9OZyTqZ3GqgHrHiwRdRog0j06rfQbYfx7BpNGFN2A1zFDeETkEBcTRdqQOgTYlzy6GdvQK7Ry2ndAYId-DNlQMgPhGf3ijxM0g_DTnSYEsnYYLDkHVs3Wi7Rs2Bqum3E/s1600/1994+-+cockburns+vintage+port.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXChqTGbjme_wM9OZyTqZ3GqgHrHiwRdRog0j06rfQbYfx7BpNGFN2A1zFDeETkEBcTRdqQOgTYlzy6GdvQK7Ry2ndAYId-DNlQMgPhGf3ijxM0g_DTnSYEsnYYLDkHVs3Wi7Rs2Bqum3E/s1600/1994+-+cockburns+vintage+port.jpg" height="320" width="136" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Alfred came in from the garden with an empty bottle of
Cockburn 1994 Vintage Port in one hand and a crystal goblet in the other. Truth
be told, he appeared pretty satisfied with himself.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
looked up from her packing and said, “Oh, I was looking for that glass. I
wondered where was.” She took the goblet, rinsed it out, dried it, wrapped it carefully
in packing paper and inserted it lovingly into one of the little compartments
of the box she was packing on the kitchen table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> She
asked, “What were you doing in the garden with a bottle of vintage port and a
goblet?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said Alfred, “I was offering an libation to God in thanksgiving for all His
blessings here in our home.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “A
libation, Alfred?” said Mother, puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “So
many changes, Mother, so many changes, so many people we have known, so many
good-byes.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Yes,
rather, Alfred,” said Mother. It all reminds me of Bilbo’s last speech at his
birthday party when he turned <i>eleventy-one</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
laughed, “Yes, indeed, Mother, very clever. You mean when Bilbo said, “”<i>First of all…I am immensely fond of you all,
and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent
and admirable hobbits…I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like;
and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve</i>.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/Blogs/Mother%20&amp;%20Alfred/96%20The%20Last%20Glass%20of%20Vintage%20Port.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It
has been over all, mostly good, Mother, despite people like Ima Hatchett, Moana
Crutchley and Harry Prudhomme! That is why I was out in the garden offering a libation
to our God and Father.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
gave me the idea, Mother was a verse in the Book of Numbers that says, “For the
drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to
the LORD” [Numbers 15:7], and I thought why not. That Cockburn 1994 Vintage
Port won’t travel very well, and it may take weeks for it to settle after we
move. So I took the bottle out to the garden to make a libation to the Lord in
a place that has always given me such pleasure.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “But,
why the goblet, Alfred?” asked Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
Mother,” said Alfred, “the Cockburn 1994 is after all a very fine vintage port,
so I brought a crystal goblet with me. Oh, Mother, you know! One glass for me,
and the rest of the bottle I poured out before the Lord. It would have been a
shame not to have tasted it after saving it for so long.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Saying
good-bye is such an awkward thing, Alfred,” said Mother, ‘so many mixed
emotions. I swear, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I am particularly
fond of Grace and Horace Whittington.
I’m really going to miss them, and months ago I would never have thought that I
was going to miss our Bible Study group.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Ah,
but Mother,” said Alfred, “Just think of the adventure ahead of us. Jeremy and
Winnifred are about to have a baby, and we are about to see our grandchild grow
up. Not only that we are moving back to the area where we first met and fell in
love. Imagine, we have a contract on a home on Beacon Hill and there is so much
to do in Boston. Why, <i>The Boston Museum
of Fine Arts </i>has a current exhibition on Jamie Wyeth that examines his
imaginative approach to realism over the course of six decades.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Alfred,”
said Mother. “I’m excited to go, but at the same time, I’m sad to leave.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for
welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” [Jeremiah 29:11].<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/Blogs/Mother%20&amp;%20Alfred/96%20The%20Last%20Glass%20of%20Vintage%20Port.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 1</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-65184403612839670912014-08-22T15:11:00.000-07:002014-08-22T15:11:23.131-07:00The Four Seasons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdarUOXVuukTI8HwyU8ji94jcjGgQgLOUspB75M-tBhB_3vgPCkJJ1pnc2Byt-ulVzQYALV03cyT10G_tDYm5qNOMvX4o1pLOgbhNWkuMvYR33THFCqZxDEg2jqc6xmlUT9sMZvPOyPckF/s1600/IMG_1221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdarUOXVuukTI8HwyU8ji94jcjGgQgLOUspB75M-tBhB_3vgPCkJJ1pnc2Byt-ulVzQYALV03cyT10G_tDYm5qNOMvX4o1pLOgbhNWkuMvYR33THFCqZxDEg2jqc6xmlUT9sMZvPOyPckF/s1600/IMG_1221.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">“You
wouldn’t know it by Texas, Mother,” said Alfred, “but there are four seasons;
winter, spring, summer, fall. That’s four seasons and I love them all.”</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
are you getting at Alfred?” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It’s
that letter we received from Jeremy and Winifred yesterday. We have reached our
seniority, a winter of sorts, and Winnie is going to have a baby, a very
different sort of springtime. You know that I have been thinking of retirement
for some time now. Jeremy’s letter brings things into a much sharper focus.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
put down her copy of The New Yorker and looked thoughtfully at Alfred.
“Alfred,” said she. “Jeremy has accepted a new job as a Vice President of Summoner’s
Insurance in Boston, and Winnie has been offered an Associate Professorship in
Literature at a college on the North Shore. Jeremy, Winnie, and the new baby,
are going to be a long way from us for a considerable length of time. It would
be a shame to miss seeing our new grandchild growing up.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Quite,
right, Mother. Quite right!” said Alfred, “If you are thinking what I am
thinking, it would be a tremendous change.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Moving,
Alfred? Moving!” said Mother. “I dread the prospect, but on the other hand
Boston is where we both went to college, and where we met, and where we were
married and began our life together.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said Alfred. “Let’s take a walk in the garden and talk a little more."</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
and Alfred walked down the path from the Solarium and looked around the garden.
Alfred asked, “Mother do you remember the poem I wrote last summer?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the garden where I love to go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I see the hollyhocks all planted in a
row,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peach and apple blossom, hyacinth and
golden bell, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Lily of the Valley, the greater
celandine and daffodil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But nothing can compare with God’s great
beauty rare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In this wild profusion of His glory, a
sight beyond compare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Come walk with me a little, while the
gentle breezes blow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And share with me the beauty of His
garden here below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Even
in the shimmering heat of summer, the garden is lovely still,” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I
know, Alfred. I know!” said Mother, “But winter comes to all gardens, and after
every winter it is spring again. If spring happens in another garden far away,
what have we to fear? Alfred,” said she, “I love my garden, but I love my family
more.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
Mother,” said Alfred. “Let us pray together about it and see what further God
might say to our hearts.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does
not know God, because God is love” [1 John 4:7-8]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-12062787345777902062014-08-16T19:53:00.000-07:002014-08-16T19:53:49.988-07:00Reading the Tea Leaves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVln_raW97evQSJSbKVd534tHSRuccina2UHbiOLNvWdh-Ilg1YjpP6j7bOo2mOLozSgdlM5ABdzxHm7X9lf6ii_CBcimzQeE3I0A0wD3HQ2jmBInTARGe6dZXK0F0UMnWKiklQZw-EVVC/s1600/Royal+Doulton+Tea+Set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVln_raW97evQSJSbKVd534tHSRuccina2UHbiOLNvWdh-Ilg1YjpP6j7bOo2mOLozSgdlM5ABdzxHm7X9lf6ii_CBcimzQeE3I0A0wD3HQ2jmBInTARGe6dZXK0F0UMnWKiklQZw-EVVC/s1600/Royal+Doulton+Tea+Set.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother
and Alfred were sitting in the Solarium on a Sunday afternoon. Before them lay
the remains of their afternoon tea. The Royal Doulton Old Country Roses teapot
stood empty and the matching Royal Doulton teacups and saucers held only the
dregs of their afternoon Darjeeling tea.<span style="font-size: small;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother swirled the
remaining tea in the bottom of her teacup and looked at it in a dissatisfied
sort of way, and said, “Alfred, It is grand that we have finally called a new
Rector, but I must admit to more than a modicum of anxiety.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What is it Mother?”
asked Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I see trouble in the
bottom of the cup,” said Mother looking at the tea leaves, “It’s old Harry
Prudhomme. He is just never satisfied with anything. On the surface he seems
like such a lovely fellow, socially quite acceptable and so very spiritual, but
if you stop to listen to him he is quite disappointing.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“How so, Mother?” asked
Alfred<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother shook her head,
“Well, Alfred, old Harry never seems to stop complaining. There is always
something he doesn’t like. It’s gotten so that I just try to avoid him in
Coffee Hour after Church. It’s always
something. He doesn’t like the music. He doesn’t like the soloist. The choir
robes need to be cleaned. There was a mistake in the bulletin. The sermon was
too long. Why can’t they put the better green hanging on the altar? That young
Mrs. Wilkins should keep better control of the children. Now he is saying that
the Calling Committee didn’t to a good job. If it’s not one thing it’s
another.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The problem with
Church, Mother,” said Alfred, “is that it’s made up of people.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Well, you are
absolutely right Alfred,” said Mother.
People can really spoil things for others. Do you remember Mildred Hutchins? Mildred couldn’t take a hint and just
continued grousing; but you know me Alfred, I’m not meek and mild. When she
wouldn’t stop grousing I finally said, ‘Stow it, Mildred! No-one wants to
listen to you complaining.’ Well,
Mildred was furious and went storming out, but not before saying, ‘You’re
new. What would you know about it?’ She
was an awful woman. Isn’t there a verse
in Proverbs that says something like, ‘A cheerful heart makes a good medicine,
but a grousing spirit rots the bones,’ or something like that? </span>Even if it’s not there, it ought to be. Well,
she is long gone, and I’m still here in our church, but so is old Harry
Prudhomme. I just hope that our new Rector has a thick skin.”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“You know, Mother,”
said Alfred. “Every church that has tucked some history under its belt has its
complainers like Mildred and old Harry. In
the tale of King Arthur and the Round Table Sir Launcelot du Lake said, “It is
hard to take out of the flesh that which is bred in the bone” (Mallory, </span><u>Le
Morte d'Arthur</u><span style="font-size: small;">). What Harry needs is
not just a heart transplant, but a bone replacement. </span>The very structure of his life may need to be
torn up, so that God in his grace can begin again. Harry is like a ruined pot
on the wheel and the Potter may have to scrape him off the wheel, pound the
lumps out of him, and reshape him all over again. Even at that Harry might just
say to God, ‘I am perfectly fine, thank you. Leave me alone.’ He must be very
unhappy; we really need to pray for him.”</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-85494000337563229932014-08-04T02:21:00.001-07:002014-08-04T02:21:12.558-07:00Alfred’s Morning Cuppa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguoDaPmXpQBGb19iV2oI97Jnd10yyfwyDh37n_f4Wqln9a8QGDMtNZIqKYdvAwIWq64UYheBQJq1BkPUB8pQZPDR_rQoJOvzKQzh6gG-P4xwF65sC-f3-VIix6IVJk2aZoWTU85qLlu_vo/s1600/Cup+of+Tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguoDaPmXpQBGb19iV2oI97Jnd10yyfwyDh37n_f4Wqln9a8QGDMtNZIqKYdvAwIWq64UYheBQJq1BkPUB8pQZPDR_rQoJOvzKQzh6gG-P4xwF65sC-f3-VIix6IVJk2aZoWTU85qLlu_vo/s1600/Cup+of+Tea.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred stood in
the kitchen before the open pantry surveying the largesse of imported teas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said he, “I hardly know which to choose. I rather enjoy Lapsang Souchong early
in the morning. Its strong smoky flavor makes it a real eye opener. However it
is too strong a flavor for the second cuppa.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
Alfred,” said Mother, “what about the Dao Ren Qianxu tea that we brought back from
our trip to mainland China? It’s mild enough to provide a strong contrast to
the Lapsang Souchong.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mild
it is, Mother. Too mild by half! But it’s not sturdy enough to stand up to the
challenge of the day.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Quite
right, Alfred!” said Mother, “then how about Taylor’s of Harrogate Yorkshire
Tea?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That’s just the ticket
Mother,” said Alfred reaching for the tin of Taylor’s of Harrogate Tea. “A pot
of Yorkshire tea steeped in our Brown Betty teapot should stand us in good
stead.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred filled the
electric kettle, measured out six teaspoons of tea into a small dish and waited
for the water to begin to come to a boil. Soon the water began to boil and
Alfred poured a little boiling water in the Brown Betty, swished it around,
poured it out, poured the loose tea into the teapot and dropped the tea cozy over
the teapot. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then Alfred put four
crumpets in the Dualit Toaster and said, “That should do it Mother. By the time
the crumpets are toasted the tea should have steeped almost exactly four
minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few minutes later
there was a small ding from the Dualit and Alfred said, “Break out the Dundee
Ginger Preserves, Mother! Breakfast is ready.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Did you know, Mother,”
asked Alfred as they were sitting down, “that picking out the right tea for the
right time of day is somewhat analogous to picking the right priest for
Rector?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother laughed, “If I
remember Alfred, three weeks ago you said that picking out a Rector is like
picking out a cigar.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred looked sheepish
and said, “Too right I did Mother! You want a man with substance, flavor and
the right aroma, but considered the further implications of picking out the
right kind of tea. It really gives us a parable of sorts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“If you pick a man that
is strong flavored like Lapsang Souchong he might be a little too smoky for a
long run in a congregation. Even St. Paul wasn’t good for more than a couple of
years in any one place. On the other hand if you pick one that is like Dao Ren
Qianxu he might have a little exotic snob appeal but end up being just too mild
to get the job done. Then again if you pick a strong person that is like
Harrogate Yorkshire Tea you may have one that will be strong enough to go the
distance.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I see what you mean,
Alfred,” said Mother, “But consider a further refinement to your parable. There
are two kinds of Taylor’s of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea, one is Yorkshire Regular,
and the other is Yorkshire Gold. You would think that Yorkshire Gold would have
an added attraction, at least the name would suggest a significant upgrade, but
we still have a partially used tin of Yorkshire Gold that has worked its way to
the back of the pantry. It just didn’t match our water and the result was an
inferior cuppa.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Excellent, Mother!
Excellent!” said Alfred. “I will have to bear that in mind. The person we call
must not only be strong and have a good aroma and flavor, but that person must
also be a match for the congregation. The right person must not only look good
on paper and in the interview process, but must also feel good on a subjective
level. There is a subtlety in that, to which we must give heed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-32456317646550622092014-07-23T07:53:00.000-07:002014-07-23T07:53:57.485-07:00The Old and the New<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred tilted the
goblet and considered the translucent medium-red cranberry color of the 1983
Cockburn Vintage Port before taking a sip and saying, “Mother, ‘I love
everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old
wines.’” <span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That sounds like a
quote, Alfred,” said Mother looking up from her new copy of Neal Sperry’s Lone
Star Gardening book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well, yes it is
Mother. It’s from Oliver Goldsmith in The Vicar of Wakefield, but that doesn’t
make it any the less true.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Let me be the first to
challenge that, Alfred,” answered Mother. “Surely something being old isn’t the
only value by which we should measure things. What did you think about the Paul
Revere House in Boston? It was built in 1680. That’s old, but it’s an ugly
house.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I see what you mean,
Mother,” said Alfred. “The Paul Revere House may be old and historically
significant but it’s not beautiful. I love it because it’s old, but I would
hate to live in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKppI70waPVWA9DZjlxkzUrLWiVvU266PfJk-Wy8cj-Am4z2OU06DJgzt9cErjPAsOaxA8pcGsgYVqwl2ctZS0Z620GsmVlyv8ZS1bmxMD1qj21FMwEHg7oR8smMXPI_HYCYKnDXai-pz_/s1600/The+Curates+Egg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said Alfred,
“I didn’t mean to make being old a universal standard by which to appreciate
everything. I just happen to like a lot of old traditional things, as you very
well know. Take for instance the new 1979 Book of Common Prayer. It has its
critics, as well it should, but it rests on a venerable tradition going back to
1549, and many parts of it go well back beyond that. However some of the
attempts to modernize the language fall short of the promise. It kind of
reminds me of the Curate’s egg.”<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKppI70waPVWA9DZjlxkzUrLWiVvU266PfJk-Wy8cj-Am4z2OU06DJgzt9cErjPAsOaxA8pcGsgYVqwl2ctZS0Z620GsmVlyv8ZS1bmxMD1qj21FMwEHg7oR8smMXPI_HYCYKnDXai-pz_/s1600/The+Curates+Egg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKppI70waPVWA9DZjlxkzUrLWiVvU266PfJk-Wy8cj-Am4z2OU06DJgzt9cErjPAsOaxA8pcGsgYVqwl2ctZS0Z620GsmVlyv8ZS1bmxMD1qj21FMwEHg7oR8smMXPI_HYCYKnDXai-pz_/s1600/The+Curates+Egg.png" height="188" width="320" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What on earth,
Alfred,” said Mother, “does that have to do with the Curate’s breakfast?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Ah, well,” said
Alfred, “the Curate was invited to breakfast with the Bishop. As he sat there
stirring his boiled egg with his spoon the Bishop looked up from his tea and
crumpets and asked, ‘Is there something wrong with your egg my son?’ To which
the Curate replied, ‘No, my lord, parts of it are very good.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That’s surely not the
same thing, Alfred,” said Mother. “There might be some things you like in the
new Prayer Book, and a few things you don’t, but you don’t need to let the
things you don’t like spoil the things you do like. “However if you have a bad
boiled egg, it has to be bad all the way through.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That raises another
question, Mother,” said Alfred. “When I interview people to work in our department
store, I want them to ring true. By that I mean I want them to be honest,
industrious, and not shirk some of the hard jobs. I don’t enquire about other
things. They have to be good enough, but not perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“As you know, Mother, I
have decided to serve on the Calling Committee and that raises other issues. I
want to know if they have a personal faith, and I want to know if they believe
that Holy Scripture is an adequate standard for faith and morality. I also want
to know if they love people. I don’t expect a candidate for Rector to be
perfect, but we can’t afford to call a bad egg. That just won’t do.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all
people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our
blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ”: [Titus 2:11-13].<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0A2h3wZupcB8-OynfOmlpoO6Kc_9oobBWR-HBE3I7LfKdSDsd1wJYEPjXPICk2ioS1f633X7Xow_wJdhF0Np8qWXilKsTAY9SLHRmquVygPGa0wxXvH4l5Tv88lW7WJQGOYLHJ-F2bzTL/s1600/old+phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0A2h3wZupcB8-OynfOmlpoO6Kc_9oobBWR-HBE3I7LfKdSDsd1wJYEPjXPICk2ioS1f633X7Xow_wJdhF0Np8qWXilKsTAY9SLHRmquVygPGa0wxXvH4l5Tv88lW7WJQGOYLHJ-F2bzTL/s1600/old+phone.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ah,
at last a few moments of quiet and peace; a time for refreshment and solace for
the soul. Mother and Alfred are sitting together at the dining table enjoying a
magnificent repast that had been prepared for them by Agnes Findlay their
Scottish housekeeper.<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What a treat, Mother,”
said Alfred, serving himself a generous portion of Agnes Findlay’s horseradish
and herb crusted prime rib and a great slice of Yorkshire Pudding.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Now this is marvelous,
Alfred,” said Mother, spooning out some of the Asiago and Sage Scalloped
potatoes. “Just look at this Butter Nut Squash au Gratin, what a treat.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> They
had just loaded up their plates when they were interrupted by the harsh jangle
of the telephone. They stopped to listen to the caller I.D. The obnoxious
electronic voice said, “Charles Wentworth.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Do
you know a Charles Wentworth, Mother,” asked Alfred? “Neither do I. How do
these telemarketers know when we sit down to dinner? It’s most unfair.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
took his embroidered linen napkin off his lap, placed it on the table, and went
to the side board and picked up the telephone saying, “Bonjour, comment ça va?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The
voice on the other end answered, “This is Charles Wentworth. You’ve been
specially selected . . .”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
interrupted, “Pardon? Parlez-vous Francais?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The
voice on the other end of the line said blankly, “Huh?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
continued, “Je ne parle pas Anglais.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The
voice on the other end of the line gives it another try, “I’m calling to offer
. . .”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
says hopefully, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Nein?” Then he tried again, “Spreek je
Nederlands? … Parli Italiano? … Snakker du Norsk?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The
voice on the other end stammers, “I don’t understand.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
gives it another try, “Yabba Wobbi Spork?
Key whocka whacka? Poogi woogi?!”
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> There
is a click on the other end of the line. Alfred looked at Mother and said,
“That really is a shame. At dinnertime I only accept </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="line-height: 115%;">polyglottal</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> sales calls. If they
speak French, German, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, or even Wobbi Spork they might
have a chance.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
looked quizzically at Alfred, and said, “Wobbi Spork?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred sat back down at
the table, picked up his linen napkin and placed it in on his lap before answering,
“Wobbi Spork? I just made that one up Mother. The point is that we were
receiving so many of these calls that it actually is abusive. There are times
when we really need to shield ourselves from predatory marketing. I just prefer
to do it with a little bit of humor.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Thank
you, Alfred,” said Mother, as she took a bite of her prime rib. “You know that
since you have started answering those calls we have had a lot less of them. I
wish it was that simple in other areas. I’m almost afraid to go into a
furniture store because I don’t really want to be preyed upon by an over eager
salesperson.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,
said Alfred, “there is nothing wrong with setting limits. We have to do that in
many areas of life. If we don’t set limits we will be driven hither and yon by
every stray wind that blows.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
continued, “That is even more important in matters of faith. I was reading
Ephesians this morning and St. Paul says that we should aspire to “mature
manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed
to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human
cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in
love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”
[Ephesians 4:13-14].<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-25281104609718422352014-07-12T16:22:00.000-07:002014-07-12T16:22:19.667-07:00The Changing of the Guard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpX1y0NZfdZJhdBBC93nS1fd-Td86wicNnOIckaa-T37Ax7WeSTYIWgmxfOZc8swfULQsMTG1tpFCuqv2noUIz9U_EMOF9ofOBhU9SscoxY6zwy9f_MnD31dpa_AaF-VPQDrKaA2EKuVa/s1600/Interim+Priest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpX1y0NZfdZJhdBBC93nS1fd-Td86wicNnOIckaa-T37Ax7WeSTYIWgmxfOZc8swfULQsMTG1tpFCuqv2noUIz9U_EMOF9ofOBhU9SscoxY6zwy9f_MnD31dpa_AaF-VPQDrKaA2EKuVa/s1600/Interim+Priest.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It had not been a
propitious morning at Church for Mother and Alfred, and perhaps not for most of
the congregation. It should be noted that acid-tongued Moana Crutchley actually
appeared to be gloating. And certainly Ima Hatchet would have been delighted.
After all Father Goodfellow had given her marching papers and she was now well
ensconced and infecting another parish. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What had happened was
simply this, Father Goodfellow had announced at the morning service that he had
accepted a call to be the Rector of St. Walburga’s in Franklin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred took off his
blue blazer, took his leather Anaconda cigar case out of the breast pocket, and
folded the blazer carefully over the back of a chair, so that the gold Wilfred
Choate school initials were prominently displayed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said he, “What
a shame, and just when we have celebrated our one year anniversary at St.
Fiacra’s. I can hardly believe it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Six weeks, Alfred,”
said Mother, picking up Alfred’s blazer and hanging it just as carefully in the
hall closet. “In six weeks Father
Goodfellow will be gone, then what will we do?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“As I understand it
Mother, “the bishop will appoint an Interim Priest until we are able to call a
new Rector.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“How long is that going
to take, Alfred,” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With that Alfred opened
the Anaconda cigar case and said, “Well, Mother it’s quite a process. The
Vestry will consult the Bishop, appoint a Calling Committee, develop a profile
of the parish, seek names, visit prospective candidates to hear them preach,
invite them for interviews, check with the Bishop again, and if all goes well
then call someone to be our new Rector. That all takes time. One hopes that the first names of prospective
candidates will provide a suitable candidate, and if it doesn’t we look for
some new prospects.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alfred,” said Mother,
“I had no idea it was that complicated,” she paused, then added, “I also had no
idea that you knew so much about it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred winced, “Well, I
didn’t, but Horace Whittington has asked me to consider being on the Calling
Committee. I don’t know; it’s quite a time commitment.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred drew two cigars
out of the case, held one up to his nose and sniffed. “Now Mother,” he said,
“Selecting a Rector is like selecting a cigar. For instance take these Villar y
Villar 754s cigars. At first sight they seem acceptable. They may be hand
rolled in Nicaragua, but they are not really a special occasion cigar; far too
mild and non-descript for that, sort of a run-of-the-mill smoke.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With that Alfred
dropped the two cigars in the trash, saying, “When we call a new Rector, we
want him not only to look fine at first sight, but we want him to actually be
fine; to have a good aroma, and after the first year to be just as fine as he
looked at the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He
must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for
gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and
disciplined. He must hold firm to the
trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound
doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” [Titus 1:7-9].<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-55343866059716775682014-07-05T07:24:00.000-07:002014-07-05T07:24:27.545-07:00American Camelot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSRf_fVn8h-sBoO7IV7SOBmx1hQXxDAN09g6TofiXto4gAmgdpdmsnixeIZa5JGqcTu1Ob-YHgAI85DIyuca8W-t1o-lPhmVKoGP1Z-l8acYtFHwYuhqYK2sgqcAX5nWD0lVqGsyUb9p4D/s1600/Camelot_Castle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSRf_fVn8h-sBoO7IV7SOBmx1hQXxDAN09g6TofiXto4gAmgdpdmsnixeIZa5JGqcTu1Ob-YHgAI85DIyuca8W-t1o-lPhmVKoGP1Z-l8acYtFHwYuhqYK2sgqcAX5nWD0lVqGsyUb9p4D/s1600/Camelot_Castle.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You know, Mother,”
said Alfred, looking up from the New York Times, “Harry Truman was the last
President we had that didn’t want to be king.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother put down her Royal
Albert Old Country Roses teacup and daintily wiped her lips with her
embroidered linen napkin, raised an eyebrow and asked, “How so? Alfred.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s this business
about President Obama carrying on the Camelot of the Kennedys,” said Alfred, ”Even
if Ted Kennedy did endorse him at the American University in 2008, I still find
it a little too difficult for me to contemplate today; especially in light of
the current popularity polls.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At
that point Alfred began to sing sotto voce, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We're knights of the round table <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We dance whenever we're able <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We do routines and chorus scenes <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With footwork impeccable <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We dine well here in Camelot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We eat ham and jam and spam a lot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That is why, Alfred,” said Mother, “I’m going
to vote for Queen Elizabeth for President.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Now, Mother,” said
Alfred, “you know she can’t run; she wasn’t born in the United States of
America.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well, neither was
Senator Cruz,” said Mother with a twinkle in her eye, “he was born in Canada;
but then again you know very well that I always vote Democrat just so that I
can cancel your vote.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> When
Alfred stopped laughing he said, “Mother, the thing that started this odd chain
of thought was reading St. Peter.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “St.
Peter,” asked Mother?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “This
morning and I ran into this verse, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear
God. Honor the emperor” [1 Peter 2:17].
Now I thought to myself, I can understand “honor everyone, and love the
brotherhood, and I can even understand ‘fear God,” although I would rather love
Him. What causes the problem is ‘honor the emperor!’ We have a democratic
system where we do not have a king, nor do most Americans want one. That makes
it difficult to ‘honor the emperor.’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> “I suppose, Alfred,” said Mother, “the uncomfortable
application is that we should honor our political leaders</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">‽</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That poses a problem Mother,” said Alfred, “what if they
are not honorable?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That is what elections are for,” said Mother. “If they
are not honorable, vote them out of office, no matter what party they belong
to.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I suppose, Mother,” said Alfred, “underlying all of this
is, that in our case, it is the Office that should be honored, both by the
politicians and by the people who elect them, or vote them out of office.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred continued, “St. Peter also said, “Be subject for
the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as
supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to
praise those who do good” [1 Peter 2:13, 14], because if we don’t honor
authority, whether elected or not, the whole system falls apart.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I think, Alfred,” said Mother, “that the same thing
applies to the Church, even though that in the Church it can be just as
difficult.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Obey your leaders and submit to them,
for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an
account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of
no advantage to you” [Hebrews 13:17].</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-17867074627198394482014-06-17T06:35:00.000-07:002014-06-17T06:35:14.948-07:00Zoot!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6f7u_Vg1KIkWLQbTd2cEjFqBPMM4NY0X8wnTu126lA702ODp3hM2EkXnEwJ5NAxIg6ZO0iKxrq6UWCLGUWKaeegMiUcgZNxpSt4z7ltGXkP9AX7cZad78BZsxG-jdUMEoBXfTJUaXmGwO/s1600/zoot+running+shoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6f7u_Vg1KIkWLQbTd2cEjFqBPMM4NY0X8wnTu126lA702ODp3hM2EkXnEwJ5NAxIg6ZO0iKxrq6UWCLGUWKaeegMiUcgZNxpSt4z7ltGXkP9AX7cZad78BZsxG-jdUMEoBXfTJUaXmGwO/s1600/zoot+running+shoe.jpg" height="126" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, I don’t know, Mother,”
said Alfred looking down at his new Zoot Ultra Kalani 3.0 running shoes. “I
know I need to exercise, but when I get right down to it, it’s very hard to
start.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“A man, must do, what a man
must do,” said Mother unsympathetically. “I’m going to Gloria’s Golden Spa
instead. You won’t catch me wobbling around the streets.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You know, Mother,” replied
Alfred, “My Pater was never much for exercising; I always addressed him as <i>Pater</i>, which as you know is Latin for <i>Father</i>. He always said, “If God intended
man to exercise He’s have given man better knees.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Excuse me for saying it,
Alfred,” said Mother, “but your Father wasn’t exactly the paragon of physical
perfection.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That is really unkind,
Mother,” said Alfred huffily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, it’s the truth,” said
Mother. “Any man who thought that a cigar and shot of John Jamison a day would
keep the doctor away, isn’t destined to be a model of athleticism.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Too true, Mother, too true,”
said Alfred. “But I do wish he had lived longer. I remember his one foray into
physical conditioning. General
Mountebank at the Officers Club had recommended the Royal Air Force Dynamic
Tension Exercise System to him, not that General Mountebank ever exercised
himself. Pater wrote off for the booklet
and began a program of exercise. It lasted for about a month, and Pater lost
interest in it and it went by the wayside.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred stood up, stretched,
attempted to touch his toes, then headed for the door. Twenty minutes passed.
Mother took another sip of Earl Grey tea, and turned to the International
Section of the morning paper, and muttered, “You would think that nothing
happened in the world that was more important than the World Cup.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The front door slammed. Alfred
came in and stood by the front table, puffing and blowing. “Mother,” he said,
“Pater had a point. Man’s knees aren’t made for running; nor for that matter,
man’s lungs. I might have to give up smoking.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother raised her eyebrows, but
said nothing, which for Mother was an accomplishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred, picked up a Special
Reserve Churchill Cigar and regarded it wistfully, then put it back down unlit.
“You know Mother,” said he, “my health might be more important than small
pleasures. But it’s very difficult to come to the point. This morning as I was
reading the Psalms and I received a bit of a jolt. “The years of our life are
seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty” [Psalm 90:10]. That is not
something I usually like to think about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother put the morning paper
down and regarded Alfred thoughtfully. Finally she said, “Alfred, sometimes one
needs to walk before one starts to run. Perhaps what you should do is get a
physical trainer?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now that’s an idea, Mother,”
said Alfred, “But what about you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother quickly picked up the
paper, opened it, and hid behind it, muttering. It was her morning for
muttering. “Alfred,” said she, “I’m younger than you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, I know Mother; you have
reminded me of that more than once, but after all what’s good for the gander is
good for the goose.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak
knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be
put out of joint but rather be healed” [Hebrews 12:12-13].</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-56343982531839421192014-06-15T19:41:00.000-07:002014-06-15T19:41:22.612-07:00Bloom Where You Are Planted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2R6NpfreNrr7XrmNzvlUf6TIpqEUAWQm8ggIrV3pWRxhOBdArBwa3Rfe9OQSMl6V3lwLUStOeh8Tvmrer0gpJ14DgArwoQwrpgvBNlQ500PbjIR4EhE2K2OCB1_OTsylVyRhUfO2Ypfn/s1600/fiacre+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2R6NpfreNrr7XrmNzvlUf6TIpqEUAWQm8ggIrV3pWRxhOBdArBwa3Rfe9OQSMl6V3lwLUStOeh8Tvmrer0gpJ14DgArwoQwrpgvBNlQ500PbjIR4EhE2K2OCB1_OTsylVyRhUfO2Ypfn/s1600/fiacre+1.jpg" height="320" width="152" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It seems to me, Mother,” said
Alfred, “that I had just no idea of the amount of turmoil there was in the
Episcopal Church when we first joined St. Fiacre’s.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That’s the truth, Alfred,”
said Mother, “nor had I expected the turmoil that has been caused by people
like Ima Hatchett and Moana Crutchley. Gossip and backbiting is really
tiresome. I might complain about them to you, but that’s safe. I’m not going to
compound the problems by joining in the fracas.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, Mother,” said Alfred, “I
don’t really find them easy to deal with either. The press and the internet
just love to pick up negative stuff and run with it. Have you ever noticed the
artificial excitement of news commentators when they are puffing up the next
juicy tidbit?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Alfred,” said Mother, “It just
goes to show: Never do anything wrong on a slow news day. Sure enough you will
end up hitting the headlines.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred replied, “The
complainers in the parish and the commentators on larger church affairs are all
cut from the same bolt of cloth. It’s a power thing. Sometimes they are right,
and sometimes they are wrong; but whether right or wrong they just stir up fears
and stress in those who listen to them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What can we do, Alfred? What
can we do?” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Put things in perspective,
Mother,” said Alfred. First, as for those on the parish level, whatever we do,
we can’t give them credence. If we don’t like what they are saying we can
choose to ignore it, or when the time is right just say ‘I don’t feel that way
about it.’ If we play the game with them, they win, and we only end up being
upset.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There’s really nothing new
under the sun,” said Alfred, picking up a book from his desk. “I was reading
Alfred Plummer’s,</span> <u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Church of England in the Eighteenth Century</span></u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, the
other day. Listen to what he has to say, In 1771 some clergy petitioned
Parliament in England because they wanted to abolish the traditional teaching
of the Church. Edmund Burke, a member of Parliament replied, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“These gentlemen complain of
hardships: … They want to be preferred clergymen of the Church of England …;
but their consciences will not suffer them to conform to the doctrines and
practices of that Church. … They want to
be teachers in a Church to which they do not belong; and it is an odd sort of
hardship. They want to be paid for
teaching one set of doctrines, whilst they are teaching another.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Our parish is named after St.
Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners,” said Alfred, “Instead of pulling up our
roots to go look for better soil, we should work on cultivating our own
spiritual garden and bloom where we are planted. There has always been stress
in the Church because the Church is made up of people. But the poet John Donne
put things in the right perspective when he said,’ The Scriptures are God’s
voyce; the Church is His eccho.’ The denial of the authority of Holy Scripture
leads to confusion and spiritual despair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I
will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep
and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke
against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built”
[Luke 6:47-48]. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-17786021551482530372014-06-11T13:34:00.000-07:002014-06-11T13:34:13.098-07:00Murder Will Out<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpP74EDXq0yAKn1HJEByy5GcQEdqHlE4KhRRUnnKNfEpfzaJN5IqgCEU4YKeW37W55RM5-s09w6ch0I4p9zXI3_oBBA0n_2_GdzGBKIfrlaH6Fj4QmBRxgk9Hm2WpGAQcIMcVhRdEvgqwu/s1600/A+Certain+Justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpP74EDXq0yAKn1HJEByy5GcQEdqHlE4KhRRUnnKNfEpfzaJN5IqgCEU4YKeW37W55RM5-s09w6ch0I4p9zXI3_oBBA0n_2_GdzGBKIfrlaH6Fj4QmBRxgk9Hm2WpGAQcIMcVhRdEvgqwu/s1600/A+Certain+Justice.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> “You know, Alfred,” said Mother, “I
really love reading English Mystery stories, certainly Agatha Christie and her
stories about Hercule Poirot, and the inimitable Miss Marple. On a more erudite
level I enjoy reading the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy Sayers. Lately I
have discovered P. D. James and her detective Adam Dalgleish.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The odd thing is that the
Church of England forms the background for each of these writers. Not only
that, but they breath the very air of England. But there is something about
each of these mystery writers and their stories that leaves me a little
unsettled.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why is that, Mother,” asked
Alfred?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, Alfred, it’s this. Often
you can tell just who is going to be murdered. You might not know who the
murderer is, but to borrow a word from one of these mysteries, you can tell who
the “murderee” is going to be, you know, the one who is about to be murdered. I
find myself thinking, ‘That person is so nasty and troublesome they really
deserve to be killed; and sure enough they are.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I know what you mean, Mother,”
said Alfred, “but that raises a moral question. Is it right to say Mr. X is
such a bad fellow that he ought to be done away with? But then, on the other
hand, Mr. X really is a bad fellow who is destroying the lives of others and
making everybody else miserable.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That is exactly my point,
Alfred,” said Mother. “I’ve been reading ‘A Certain Justice,” by P. D. James.
The murderee is a brash obnoxious woman who is just nasty to everyone. When she
is murdered I think, “Well, she won’t cause any more trouble, and there is no
end of people who have a motive to murder her. On the other hand I’m aware that
someone will have to pay for murdering her. It’s odd. It seems to be an act of
justice that she is killed, but at the same time someone will have to be hanged
for it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“One of the benefits of these
stories, Mother,” said Alfred, “is that each of these writers has a strong
sense of moral accountability that not only affirms that there is right and
wrong, but that justice ought to be done. I might point out Mother, that
accountability is not very popular today. We have quite a few people who are of
the opinion that a savage murderer ought to be treated with mercy, and perhaps
even be paroled back into society.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred continued, “Jesus,
Himself, embraces the law and at the same time makes us look deeper at its
meaning.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"You have
heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders
will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with
his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be
liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell
of fire Matthew 5:21-22].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ouch!” said Mother. I guess
that means that I had better lighten up on the antics of that magic mouth Moana
Crutchley! Murdering her with my mouth really only makes me upset. ”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alfred sighed, “You are
probably right Mother. When she starts her stuff, I suppose that the
appropriate thing to do is ignore it, or tell her forthrightly, but kindly,
that we disagree with her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Not only that, Alfred,” said
Mother, “but I think I had better add her to my prayer list instead of getting
angry.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-64493433267552977822014-05-30T07:57:00.000-07:002014-05-30T07:57:21.614-07:00Summer Is A Coming In<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBsg8VWnuu2GXHSvVtSBWrclIl3IjNlO71W2YKWC_8o1k5-TsUUIQvIXvAVKTk_4-nQQA7FxvkAu1U7L09eXfXy6_zDQg2xmJ5SmbeNtOqescWN252EnJdFWgw2m8dkFiuZyP2AXPN7HH/s1600/Cuckoo1653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBsg8VWnuu2GXHSvVtSBWrclIl3IjNlO71W2YKWC_8o1k5-TsUUIQvIXvAVKTk_4-nQQA7FxvkAu1U7L09eXfXy6_zDQg2xmJ5SmbeNtOqescWN252EnJdFWgw2m8dkFiuZyP2AXPN7HH/s1600/Cuckoo1653.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Summer
is a-coming in</b></span></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: white;"><b>Loudly
sing cuckoo<o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: white;"><b>Groweth
seed and bloweth mead<o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i style="background-color: white;">and
springs the wood anew</i><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Sing
cuckoo!</b></span> [<i>Anon. 13<sup>th</sup> C].<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “There is
something delicious, Mother, about early summer,” said Alfred. “The trees are
alive with a thousand shades of green; green with hues of yellow, purple, red,
and even hazy blue in early morning. The roses are already in full bloom, the Grandiflora
and the Granny Grimmets in glorious color.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Right you
are, Alfred,” said Mother. “Do you remember the old poem Gather Ye Rosebuds
While Ye May by Robert Herrick?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Ah, yes,” said Alfred, “but to you
remember what it actually says?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 40.5pt;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, <o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 40.5pt;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Old time is still a-flying: <o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 40.5pt;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>And this same flower that smiles to-day <o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>To-morrow will be dying.</b></i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother
laughed, “Certainly, Alfred, but do you remember what it applies to? It’s
advice to young virgins to get married before they age and the bloom is off the
rose. Neither of us are young and I suspect that for us the bloom is already
off the rose.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoi4YLG9UrlyIqWsMdEsLsNT3OTnFqOZnPky0jwGpisYNGuuGWiVYb1YyWnY1jfxBchcYQ_7Uw9_gyWbY013GR5WQBkmBZFUij4uCv_AsiPM2VfLgy2VMN8VwVBgWV7-FiWGrmLflfUwG/s1600/roses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoi4YLG9UrlyIqWsMdEsLsNT3OTnFqOZnPky0jwGpisYNGuuGWiVYb1YyWnY1jfxBchcYQ_7Uw9_gyWbY013GR5WQBkmBZFUij4uCv_AsiPM2VfLgy2VMN8VwVBgWV7-FiWGrmLflfUwG/s1600/roses.jpg" height="125" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said Alfred, “There
is another way of looking at it. There
is an old saying, “Yesterday is a cancelled check, and tomorrow is only a
promissory note, and all we really have is today.” In the day we have we should
stop to enjoy the roses. There are so many things in this wonderful world. Too
often people focus on the glum and even frightening things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That’s a shame, Alfred,” said
Mother. “When there are so many things to rejoice in, not only in the flowers
of the field.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Nor the forests green,” said
Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Nor the lofty mountains capped
with snow,” answered Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Nor the mighty rolling ocean
waves,” answered Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are other wonders to
rejoice in,” said Mother. “There is the beauty of young lovers holding hands in
the park, and the laughter of little children.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes,” said Alfred, “and don’t
forget the beauty of old well weathered love that has withstood the ravages of
time.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“There are so many beautiful
things, Alfred,” said Mother. “We should make it a practice to enjoy beauty
wherever we find it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes, said Alfred, “We should
make it a conscious point to revel in the beauty of the world around us.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”
[Philippians 4:8].</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-22629527396577263392014-05-25T19:17:00.000-07:002014-05-26T05:20:38.152-07:00Alfred’s Memorial Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKL2I3xuIhgoEjlDySfK_DHlEv9HqPjF60iCpbAVD4DiSISUr6UHRyDP-jQuX_Tew-iZeeWtnIyGQqkxnh_tuUnvIIs4mu35RPdwBEB2Dp9YcJ9vA60BKwTSA5_HTXxkZ25mb2xeXoMIu/s1600/Mustang_NA-73+1941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKL2I3xuIhgoEjlDySfK_DHlEv9HqPjF60iCpbAVD4DiSISUr6UHRyDP-jQuX_Tew-iZeeWtnIyGQqkxnh_tuUnvIIs4mu35RPdwBEB2Dp9YcJ9vA60BKwTSA5_HTXxkZ25mb2xeXoMIu/s1600/Mustang_NA-73+1941.jpg" height="190" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">The air in Alfred’s study was blue
with the fragrant smoke of Captain Black from his English Estate Ashton Old
Church Bent Billiard. Mother came in fanning the air with her copy of Southern
Living magazine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
is going on, Alfred,” said Mother? “I thought you had given up smoking for
Lent.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You
are right, Mother. I did,” growled Alfred, “but Lent is over.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Surely
that’s not all,” said Mother. “What else is going on?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well
Mother,” said Alfred, “Memorial Day is this Monday, and I was thinking of my
uncle Ainsley Montrose. You never knew him, and I barely did. It was late in
1941 and the newly constructed Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls had just been
completed. Uncle Ainsley flew his Mustang fighter plane under the Rainbow
Bridge and a family legend was born. Unfortunately Ainsley didn’t make it
through the war and he was lost somewhere over Germany. A lot of good men have
died defending our country.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Has
there ever been a time when there wasn’t a war going on somewhere,” asked
Mother?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Not
really,” answered Alfred, “and most of the time in the last few centuries it
seems like we have been involved in whatever scrap is going on anywhere in the
world. That’s really nothing new. Jesus said, ‘You will hear of wars and rumors
of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is
not yet’ [Matthew 24:6]. There is such a thing as right and wrong. The trick
is, not to be on the side of what is evil in the world. It’s not as simple as
just defending one’s country; it’s more complicated. What we need to defend is
the cause of truth and justice. It’s not just who oppresses us, but who
oppresses our neighbor; especially when he can’t defend himself.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “A
lot of people really don’t think that Christians should be involved in conflict
in other parts of the world,” said Mother, “but it seems to me that if we don’t
fight terrorists overseas we will end up fighting them here anyway.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You
are quite correct Mother,” said Alfred. “The poet John Donne said, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: -9.0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No man is an island, Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed
away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well
as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes
me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;">“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would
you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you
will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do
wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant
of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer”</span></i><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"> [Romans 13:3-4].</span> </span></span><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-13937644759088156032014-05-19T06:30:00.000-07:002014-05-19T06:30:18.850-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUdan6RFyVeNcEZHw4MImExyHGH_fqp7MwVUXVkniwVC7AKo98mdXTL878PLLKXzGIwCf1paXHRqFAyVFsUvTvSPfmozlolLVDGzFcAZouZJnwpaIl75HLtLChW5koA31jTjpqJURL_tP/s1600/bread3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUdan6RFyVeNcEZHw4MImExyHGH_fqp7MwVUXVkniwVC7AKo98mdXTL878PLLKXzGIwCf1paXHRqFAyVFsUvTvSPfmozlolLVDGzFcAZouZJnwpaIl75HLtLChW5koA31jTjpqJURL_tP/s1600/bread3.jpg" height="138" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said Alfred, “I do
like bread.” He cut a thick slice of bread from the warm and fragrant loaf of
honey whole wheat bread on the table. “There is nothing quite s0 satisfying to
the taste as a slab of fresh bread smeared with Pure Irish Kerrygold Butter.
Add a dollop of Follain Gooseberry Jam and you have a fair treat fit for the
kings or the pixies.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother looked up from her copy
of the English Garden Magazine and said, “Alfred, I think you are quite right.”
She put her magazine down, looked at Alfred and said, “Share and share alike!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred cut another generous
slice of honey whole wheat bread, slathered some Irish butter on, and added the
required dollop of gooseberry jam, before saying, “It wasn’t always this easy
to get a tasty loaf of bread. Before the beginning of the last century the
breaking of bread was a time consuming task for the woman of the house.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother interjected, “Thank
goodness those days are past! I would rather putter around in the garden than
in the kitchen, and I so appreciate having Agnes Findlay as our housekeeper.
That has been absolutely marvelous; it gives me more time to putter where I
want to putter.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You are most welcome Mother,”
said Alfred, “and I must say that I hadn’t bargained on a housekeeper who was a
wonderful baker. Why, I remember when my own mother began to buy bread from the
baker who came to the kitchen door of our home. Down the walk he would come
carrying a wire basket laden with a choice of white bread and brown bread,
crumpets and Eccles Cakes. Now the
crumpets and Eccles Cakes were quite fine, but the bread left a lot to be
desired. It was made from chemically bleached flour in a sanitary factory, and
it tasted like chemically bleached bread. That is to say, it had hardly any
taste at all.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know what you mean, Alfred,”
said Mother. “My mother would go to the Italian bakery near our house and come
home with a loaf, or two, of pagnotta. It was very good bread, but when she
didn’t do that she came home from the grocery store with a loaf of Bond Bread.
Even though Bond Bread sponsored Hopalong Cassidy it was still tasteless
compared with the pagnotta.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That reminds me, Mother,” said
Alfred, “Talking about tasteless, I’ve been thinking about the little round crackers
that we get for communion. The best that can be said is that when the priest’s
breaks the host at the Fraction it makes a satisfying snap. Other than that
it’s not really a taste treat.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Since I began serving on the
Altar Guild, I’ve discovered a few interesting things,” said Mother. “I’m sure
the basic reason is practicality, especially when you consider that communion
bread should be made of fine white flour, pure water, yeast, and salt. Those
are the same ingredients that you find in the Bible. No yeast, no whole wheat,
no honey, no oils. The emphasis should be on what it represents, not on whether
or not it would be good with Irish butter and gooseberry jam.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well, Mother, “I suppose
you’re right, but still!?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know! I know, Alfred,” said
Mother, “but from an Altar Guild perspective a loaf of honey whole wheat would
be very hard to manage, and you would have crumbs all over the place.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The Lord Jesus
on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he
broke it, and said, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me” [1 Corinthians 11:23-24].</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-67606025024759441002014-05-06T14:44:00.000-07:002014-05-10T18:13:41.366-07:00Trenching Celery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizI2sNo2Pr9ETUFE-VpiY5T3VgZ_hpiSEXRSD_bRU2izr_jfQz-ntPkAj090pIUNCg-PvzLyJWZOi4aXXP52IlnDYi4uia0cCVn4hDwCcBQW-9CClr0vJy9iT-FjiFr7i_KclK6Q43WreT/s1600/trenching+celery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizI2sNo2Pr9ETUFE-VpiY5T3VgZ_hpiSEXRSD_bRU2izr_jfQz-ntPkAj090pIUNCg-PvzLyJWZOi4aXXP52IlnDYi4uia0cCVn4hDwCcBQW-9CClr0vJy9iT-FjiFr7i_KclK6Q43WreT/s1600/trenching+celery.jpg" height="144" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">“Well,
Mother, trenching celery may be the best method of growing celery,” said
Alfred, “but how deep does this trench need to be?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “According
to Medwyn’s of Anglesley,” said Mother, “the trench needs to be 12 inches deep
and 18 inches wide. We will need a trench about twenty feet long. That Stewart
Thermostatic Seed Propogator we purchased has given us a lovely array of
seedlings.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That
is a lot of digging, Mother,” said Alfred. “Let me see the illustration again.”
Alfred looked over the illustration and the directions carefully “Oh, I see. We
are to plant the seedlings on a bed of mulch and manure in the bottom of the
trench, as the young plants begin to grow we add more soil. Then three or four
weeks before harvest we completely fill the trench and build the soil up around
the celery. That seems awfully complicated.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That
is supposed to keep the celery stalks from turning dark green and reduce the
amount of stringy fibers,” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You
do know, Mother,” said Alfred, “that when the celery begins to ripen, that
there will be an awful lot of celery. I certainly hope that you do love
celery.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I
do, Alfred. I do,” said Mother, “but not that much. When the celery is ready,
we will certainly eat some of it; but I have a plan for the rest of it. I was
looking for a way to serve the Lord by serving others, and I thought that
giving it away at church would be a novel idea. And it’s something that you and
I can do together.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
laughed, “You mean my brawn and your brains?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Exactly,”
said Mother. “and there is something else that I’m going to do. With each bunch
of celery I’m going to give a tub of homemade crab and cream cheese filling for
the celery. I thought that would be rather special.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Do
you have any idea who you are going to give it to?” asked Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Certainly
I’m going to give some our Bible Study group at the Whittingtons, and to our
Organist Choirmaster William Weaver, and of course some to Father Goodfellow,
and the Altar Guild, and if there is enough, I’ll give some to any visitors
that we have in Church that Sunday.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Have
you thought, Mother, of giving some to Moana Crutchley.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Yes,
Alfred, I have thought about that. She might complain about it, but I thought
that I would give some to her and let that be her problem.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,
that’s commendable,” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
Alfred,” said Mother, “at our Bible Study at the Whittington’s last week we
were looking at 2 </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Timothy, and one verse just stuck in my mind, </span><span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">“The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to
everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">[2 Timothy 2:24].</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-29035419320406028562014-05-04T17:38:00.000-07:002014-05-04T17:38:50.502-07:00Stinging Nettle Soup <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnmnsE-WJ1_nM5zut_vR_Vpb2pRvU7U-7-REase85XBc5gJUwWatehhusgK6BntsvKAGswu5LlJ8qvSmyFOsCnEYnRp9fPkLRkCae7mVW7sQSICYmOKHsxRVWZMaH7aUU11jKA04gxRSZ/s1600/nettle_soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnmnsE-WJ1_nM5zut_vR_Vpb2pRvU7U-7-REase85XBc5gJUwWatehhusgK6BntsvKAGswu5LlJ8qvSmyFOsCnEYnRp9fPkLRkCae7mVW7sQSICYmOKHsxRVWZMaH7aUU11jKA04gxRSZ/s1600/nettle_soup.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">“Alfred,” said Mother,
“Just what am I going to do? As wonderful as Easter Sunday was, last Sunday was
terrible. That Moana Crutchley! What am I going to do?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Alfred
looked up from his new copy of the American Art Review and said, “What seems to
be the difficulty Mother?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “You
know, Alfred, that when Ima Hatchett left the Church I thought that we had
weeded out the major source of complaining. But I was wrong. That Crutchley
woman is quite onerous. What bothers me is that she is always carping about
something. She is an authority about absolutely everything and she is just so
negative. Everything must be performed to her expectations and she is always
right. What confuses me is that she acts so spiritual, and when I listen to her
pray; her prayers are so much more eloquent than mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I’ve
had a little experience with her myself Mother,” said Alfred. “Mind you, I
think she does better with men than with women, but I’ve noticed that she’s a
sharp shooter, and a subtle one at that. If you’re not careful you can wind up
full of holes and you don’t know how you got them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “That’s
exactly what I have been experiencing Alfred,” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Abbot
Wigbert said that evil is like Whack-a-Mole game,” said Alfred. You bang it
down in one place and it pops up in another. As Abbot Wigbert said, it’s just
an uncomfortable part of growing in grace, but let me tell you a story that
might help.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “One
spring day when I was a little boy in short pants I was running in the garden behind
our home when I ran through some bushes not realizing that they were stinging
nettle. It hurt like billy-yo and I ran crying to the house. The first thing my
mother did was gently rub off the area with cold water and a rag; then she
applied a paste of baking soda and water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “She
asked me where the stinging nettle was, because she said she had an interesting
way of dealing with it. She put on some rubber gloves, took a plastic grocery
bag, and a pair of clippers. Then we went to the back of the garden and I
showed her where the stinging nettle patch was and she cut a bag full of
stinging nettle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “When
we got back to the kitchen she put the kettle on and when it came to a boil she
put the stinging nettle in a sieve and poured hot water over it which took all
the sting out it. Then she cut it up and cooked it with carrots, onions and
potatoes, and made soup out of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> “It
tasted OK, if you like that sort of thing, but I </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">didn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> really care for it
because I remembered how much it stung; but my father thought the stinging
nettle soup was quite fine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> “Mother,”
continued Alfred, “dealing with Moana is like dealing with stinging nettles.
First, as much as you can, avoid going into the stinging nettle patch. Second
don’t wear short pants in that part of the garden; you have to go in with your </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">defences</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> up. Third, you may need to handle encounters with her with kid gloves on. Having said that, remember that even stinging nettle has its uses. She
probably can’t help what she is, and inside she’s probably just an unhappy,
frightened woman.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We know that for those who love God all things work together
for good” [Romans 8:28].<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-68323039473425969982014-04-23T10:43:00.000-07:002014-04-23T10:43:35.276-07:00Yorkshire Parkin Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWd9R4RVfrhMhBNIOjm4o3Up54hbq4juvRwrKS-h8wC4jCJFVjV6nKePsX87TnjQfb3KquFwujHXw8a8-JNoVuWKajY4UGqmJ6Wbuu1oPXq7cnvEzkEsQTCPOlW2syymyfloFjyJutGzj/s1600/parkin+cake+yorkshire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWd9R4RVfrhMhBNIOjm4o3Up54hbq4juvRwrKS-h8wC4jCJFVjV6nKePsX87TnjQfb3KquFwujHXw8a8-JNoVuWKajY4UGqmJ6Wbuu1oPXq7cnvEzkEsQTCPOlW2syymyfloFjyJutGzj/s1600/parkin+cake+yorkshire.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was the Tuesday
after Easter and Mother and Alfred were enjoying a mid-morning cup of St.
Helene coffee, and a wee bit of Parkin; that moist, dark, Yorkshire cake, made
of ginger, oatmeal, and black treacle molasses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Ah, Mother,” said
Alfred, “What a treat! Did you know that Parkin is made with Lyle’s Golden
Syrup, and Lyle’s Black Treacle Molasses? I have always been fascinated by the
Lyles motto, “Out of the strong came sweetness.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That’s such an odd
saying, Alfred,” said Mother. “Where does it come from?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother, I had wondered
about the same thing. After a little research I discovered that it comes from
the Book of Judges where Samson kills a lion and bees build a nest in the
carcass. Samson comes by later and scoops out some honey from the carcass, then
poses a riddle, “Out of the strong came something sweet.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “How
odd,” said Mother, taking a bite of her Yorkshire Parkin Cake. “My, that’s a
strong flavor.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Yes,
indeed, Mother, one of many strong flavors,” said Alfred. “With joy, it is only
one of many strong flavors.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Yes!
Quite! Alfred,” said Mother. “And do you know what has been another strong
flavor for me? Easter! Alfred. “Easter!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Yes!
Quite! Mother,” said Alfred.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
I hadn’t expected, Alfred,” said Mother, “was that the presence of Jesus would
be so real, so very real. It’s like that prayer from the Book of Common Prayer,”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
prayer is that, Mother,” asked Alfred?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Just
a moment,” said Mother, leaving the room and returning a moment later with her
Book of Common Prayer. She ruffled through the pages and finally read,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Be
present, be present, O Jesus, our great High Priest, as you<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">were
present with your disciples, and be known to us in the<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">breaking
of bread; who live and reign with the Father and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the
Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It
was just like that for me, Alfred,” said Mother. “When I talked with Abbot
Wigbert in the garden last week I told him everything that had happened. He
gave me Absolution, and I knew, I absolutely knew that I was forgiven. I have
been floating ever since. But when I knelt at the Altar Rail on Easter Sunday I
felt the Presence of Jesus in a way so strongly that I stand amazed.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
bowed his head in gratitude. “Mother,” he said, I know what you mean. Last year
at Easter when we were singing that beautiful Palestrina hymn, ‘When the Strife
is O’er, the Battle Done,” I was undone. When we came to the fourth verse, ‘He
closed the yawning gates of hell, the bars from heaven’s high portals fell,’ I
knew in my heart of hearts that he had died for me. Mother, that was when I surrendered my life
to Him.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
smiled, “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time last year, but I really felt so
bereft, so very alone, and I knew you had discovered something precious that I
thought I could never have.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said Alfred, “Don’t worry about it. Goodness knows that coming to faith wasn’t
easy for me either.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Though you have not seen him, you
love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with
joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your
faith, the salvation of your soul” [1 Peter 1:8-9].</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-42841890908480754762014-04-09T14:35:00.000-07:002014-04-09T14:35:20.415-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In The Garden<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EqKSJLcZDxN04Kenx4AXgtgxQOk6YluE-KdAKCIbQnF5U17FVX8_Ydyii8EmP6Lwur1hKlRBCCw4QCqHGn9fLnK0NhyfGR68jgPFQog32sPQgiW9fZxfIitzmnoPVMqvXz8ftnSymETr/s1600/lilies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EqKSJLcZDxN04Kenx4AXgtgxQOk6YluE-KdAKCIbQnF5U17FVX8_Ydyii8EmP6Lwur1hKlRBCCw4QCqHGn9fLnK0NhyfGR68jgPFQog32sPQgiW9fZxfIitzmnoPVMqvXz8ftnSymETr/s1600/lilies.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16pt;"></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the garden where I love to go</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">There are lilies standing in a row,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">All their faces shining bright,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, what a wond’rous beauteous sight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ~ Alfred Montrose</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “There sits
Mother,” commented Alfred to himself, “and Abbot Wigbert beneath the blue
wisteria, chair by chair, Mother with her Prayer Book upon her knee, and
seraphic Abbot Wigbert with a gentle smile upon his face.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Half an
hour previously Alfred had stepped out of the solarium onto the garden path
with a tray bearing afternoon tea. The Brown Betty teapot with Scottish Blend
tea, three Royal Standard Fine Bone China Floral cups and saucers, and a dainty
dish of McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits. What a fine repast for a springtime
afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Abbot
Wigbert had caught Alfred’s eye and with an almost imperceptible nod and had
warned him away. It was Mother’s time and she had serious business to do with
God, with Abbot Wigbert, and with her troubled conscience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Alfred
nodded to the Abbot, turned about face, headed quietly back to the kitchen, and
put the tray back down on the kitchen counter. He looked out the window briefly
at Mother and Abbot Wigbert, then averted his eyes and stood in awe, amazed at
the grace of God. Who would have thought that Mother would actually make a
confession to God in the presence of the Abbot? Will wonders never cease?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Alfred
poured himself a cup of tea, picked up three McVitie’s biscuits, and headed to
the study with Pippa the frou-frou dog trailing behind him. As he sat at his mahogany
19th Century Partner's Library Desk he briefly bowed his head and said a prayer
for Mother. Truth be told Alfred was quite pleased. He loved Mother dearly and
he knew that she wasn’t quite easy in her mind over that business with Paolo
Vizzini years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Alfred had
never felt the need for a formal confession. Goodness knows that he had spent
many hours pouring his heart out to God in his own private prayers, and what
few things that still nagged him he had
shared with his good friend Horace Whittington. It was wonderful to have a
trustworthy friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> In their
own ways both Mother and Alfred had truly discovered that it is good not to be
alone with their sins, and the pains, of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">__________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Examine your lives and conduct by the rule of
God’s commandments, that you may perceive wherein you have offended in
what you have done or left undone, whether in thought, word, or deed. And
acknowledge your sins before Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment
of life, being ready to make restitution for all injuries and wrongs done by
you to others; and also being ready to forgive those who have offended you, in
order that you yourselves may be forgiven. And then, being reconciled with one
another, come to the banquet of that most heavenly Food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And if, in your preparation, you need help and
counsel, then go and open your grief to a discreet and understanding priest,
and confess your sins, that you may receive the benefit of absolution, and
spiritual counsel and advice; to the removal of scruple and doubt, the
assurance of pardon, and the strengthening of your faith” [The Exhortation in
the Book of Common Prayer, p. 317]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-1042763944098101452014-04-02T14:22:00.000-07:002014-04-02T14:22:32.152-07:00The Abbot<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J38oLzsT3ODxgq4FQ1f9wMfEXuxvt1Iubd2xCznYFxrNtwJzaL4zRoUbYaU8o1LcedgynJhuvaN26oAxVgjNg3tnXIeaIJ5brxy-oD-TYDXxcM-7k0BJBGHQEJI4YwKY35nk-e7fzMA0/s1600/monkeys-hear-no-evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J38oLzsT3ODxgq4FQ1f9wMfEXuxvt1Iubd2xCznYFxrNtwJzaL4zRoUbYaU8o1LcedgynJhuvaN26oAxVgjNg3tnXIeaIJ5brxy-oD-TYDXxcM-7k0BJBGHQEJI4YwKY35nk-e7fzMA0/s1600/monkeys-hear-no-evil.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Abbot
Wigbert had been with Mother and Alfred for two days and the household had
fallen into a new routine. Mother and Alfred were sitting out under the pergola
in the back garden, and it was mid-afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I
don’t quite know what I expected Mother,” said Alfred, “but it certainly wasn’t
this fusion of solemnity and joy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You know Alfred,” said
Mother, “”I asked him how we should address him. He said, ‘Just call me <i>Wiggy</i>. <i>Wiggy</i> at home and <i>Abbot
Wigbert</i> in the parish.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">“Wiggy</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">!”
snorted Alfred, taking a sip of his Lapsang Souchong Tea. “<i>Wiggy</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“He prays four times a
day,” said Mother, “and he has invited us to pray with him; Morning Prayer,
Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline at night. It’s a bit much, but it
really does add a sense of orderliness and peace to the day.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said Alfred,
“He also gets up to pray the Office of Vigil at sunrise.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know,” said Mother,
“he asked if I would lay out the makings for coffee in the morning so he could make
himself a mug before Vigil.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“A mug?” said Alfred.
“I didn’t know we had any mugs.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“A mug” replied Mother!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
took another sip of Lapsang Soochong, then asked, “Out of curiosity, Mother,
what mug did you give him?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “The
one that Jeremy left the last time that he and Winifred visited,” said Mother.
“You know, the one that says ‘Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
laughed, “You gave a Monk a mug with three Monkeys on it? What did he say?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
replied, “He actually said, ‘Monkey see. Monkey do.’ Then he added that “Hear
no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil,” was sound advice for Monks as well as
Monkeys, and probably wouldn’t do the rest of the Church any harm either.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Wiggy
is a remarkable man,” said Alfred. “It’s not just his sense of humor. I found
him out in the garden yesterday afternoon pulling weeds. Do you know what he
said Mother? He said, ‘It’s all about balance. If I have not worked I cannot
pray, and if I have not prayed, I cannot work.’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That
would explain why he insisted on doing the dishes after breakfast,” said
Mother. “He the easiest house guest I’ve ever had. He also asked if I would
mind if he cooked us dinner on Friday. “I think he doesn’t eat meat on Friday.
He says that he wants to cook us Grey Havens Fish Stew. It’s sounds delicious.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Hmm,”
said Alfred, looking at the recipe that Mother had handed him, “that looks like
a wonderful way to fast.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">St. Benedict’s Instruction to Abbots</span></span></i></b><i><span style="color: #002060; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">: “He must show
forethought and consideration in his orders, and whether the task he assigns concerns
God or the world, he should be discerning and moderate, bearing in mind the
discretion of holy Jacob, who said: If I drive my flocks too hard, they will
all die in a single day (Gen 33:13). Therefore, drawing on this and other
examples of discretion, the mother of virtues, he must so arrange everything
that the strong have something to yearn for and the weak nothing to run from” [The
Rule, Chapter 64].</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-26781568244602603942014-03-27T06:53:00.000-07:002014-03-27T06:53:03.860-07:00Rice Pudding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7BvttkwaGHnnJnow5Ye_SWoxKO_h8JD6l1Q9m1mEp2nSI3BkwxI45e0qCxMainFxWZlhOPqBovIuxGzTuRuCZq4MAHtgtJVcaPStpUdmwInbyZ1Q9sseE0R9OleULAXm1HFakpGOGnaG/s1600/ambrosia+rice+pudding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7BvttkwaGHnnJnow5Ye_SWoxKO_h8JD6l1Q9m1mEp2nSI3BkwxI45e0qCxMainFxWZlhOPqBovIuxGzTuRuCZq4MAHtgtJVcaPStpUdmwInbyZ1Q9sseE0R9OleULAXm1HFakpGOGnaG/s1600/ambrosia+rice+pudding.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alfred,” said Mother,
“I have discovered a wonderful recipe for Rice Pudding,” putting a bowl of rice
pudding down in front of Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh?” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The old recipe I had
took eight hours in my Euro-Pro Ninja Multi Cooker” said Mother. “This new
recipe is quite as good, and only takes a minute or two in the microwave.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfred looked up from
his New York Times Crossword and asked, “What’s a eight letter word for
improbable? It has to start with a “U”…“Oh, I know, “Unlikely,” said Alfred,
picking up his Crown Princess Pattern silver dessert spoon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I have also discovered
a new word,” said Mother. “‘Snarky’, as in “Don’t be snarky, Alfred.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Snarky,” asked Alfred,
“Is that a word?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It
means ‘crotchety’ Alfred,” said Mother. “We have to be open to trying new
things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
there you have me,” said Alfred. “You are quite right.” He paused, took a
spoonful of the rice pudding, and added, “Hmmm!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I
take it, that ‘Hmmm’ means you like it?” asked Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
is it, Mother,” asked Alfred, putting the second spoonful in his mouth and
savouring it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
retreated to the kitchen and returned with a tin of Ambrosia Creamy Rice
Pudding. “Our Scottish housekeeper Agnes Findlay swears by it. I think that she
picked it up at the British Emporium in Grapevine.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Quite
good, Mother, quite good,” said Alfred scraping out the last of the rice
pudding from his bowl.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “As
we get older Alfred,” said Mother, “I don’t want us to get stuck in our ways.
Nothing could be worse than degenerating into two stuffy old people who won’t
try new things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You
mean ‘Grumpa’ and ‘Grumpma,’” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Exactly,”
said Mother, “Grumpy, rocking on our rocking chairs and vegetating in the sun.
By the way Alfred, I decided to accept Father Goodfellow’s invitation to host
Abbot Wigbert next week. That ought to be interesting; I’ve never met a monk
before.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Wigbert,”
that’s an odd name,” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That’s
what I thought,” answered Mother, so I asked Father Goodfellow about it. He
said it means something like Fighter, Warrior and Bright.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Bright
Warrior?” said Alfred. “If he lives up to his name he ought to be a spark to
have around. Hosting an Abbot is like having something old and something new at
the same time. Centuries old in tradition, but new to us.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You
and I, Alfred,” said Mother, “have always enjoyed having an adventure, and this
ought to be an adventure. After all, if I understand Father Goodfellow
correctly, Christian life is an adventure, a journey to new places we’ve never
been before.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It’s
kind of like Ambrosia Creamy Rice Pudding,” said Alfred. “God values the old
things, yet He is always doing new things.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>“Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them” [Isaiah
42:9].</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-41629403305748132062014-03-21T18:45:00.000-07:002014-03-21T18:45:29.634-07:00Horse Latitudes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrPPZ2Mft52915gexzND_PWhf8_AUj4fmoIW62AEkNgQFyDUTf0bTqHhCvR-Rl9xGIh7bUXI1BzfpC1stvrouPyjrWvEs8cql7296PhqtQCxbBb6ji_iTByBOr5n0nWcodVnVywyE3kwy/s1600/horselatitudes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrPPZ2Mft52915gexzND_PWhf8_AUj4fmoIW62AEkNgQFyDUTf0bTqHhCvR-Rl9xGIh7bUXI1BzfpC1stvrouPyjrWvEs8cql7296PhqtQCxbBb6ji_iTByBOr5n0nWcodVnVywyE3kwy/s1600/horselatitudes.jpg" height="152" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Alfred,”
said Mother, “I am in the dumps, in the doldrums, and I just can’t shake off
this feeling of lethargy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Horse
Latitudes,” Mother, “Horse Latitudes,” said Alfred. “I was feeling much the
same thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What are
Horse Latitudes, Alfred,” asked Mother?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “The old tales,” said Alfred, “tell us that
when sailing ships got in the subtropical zone where winds were weak and sails
would hang limp, the ships would just sit becalmed waiting for a breeze. As
water and food began to be depleted they would throw their horses and cattle
overboard to save on supplies.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Oh,
Alfred,” said Mother, “say it isn’t so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,”
said Alfred, “In any event the word ‘doldrums’ is another nautical term for
getting stuck in the subtropical zone. I
remember a poem by Coleridge that describes it pretty well:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day after day, day after day,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We stuck, no breath no motion;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As idle as a painted ship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Upon a painted ocean.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/Blogs/Mother%20&amp;%20Alfred/73%20Horse%20Latitudes.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That,”
said Mother, emphatically, “is exactly how I feel, stuck! What can we do,
Alfred, what can we do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “In a way
Mother, it’s the Mid-Lent Blues, and it’s a long way to Easter.” said Alfred, “I’m
in a bit a funk myself, and I surely wish I hadn’t given up smoking for Lent.
It’s dashed hard. I’ve been thinking
about it, and I have an idea. I learned a long time ago in business that if I
wanted to succeed I had to just keep putting one foot in front of the other no
matter how I felt. It is sort of like Cricket, “Don’t worry about the ball
hitting the wicket, just keep running between the wickets if you want to rack
up a score.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “We need to
do something, Alfred,” said Mother. How do you get out of the doldrums?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “First,”
said Alfred, “I remind myself not to poke around at my feelings to take my
temperature. If I did that in business I
wouldn’t get anywhere. Then in business I pay special attention to keeping a
regular discipline about the things I needed to do. So I thought that if I did
the same thing spiritually it would turn out just fine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Alfred,”
said Mother, “Don’t beat around the bush. Get to it! What did you do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Well,
Mother,” said Alfred it was actually very simple. I decided to do Morning
Prayer from The Book of Common Prayer. When things got busy last month I
slacked off, but I have a suggestion. Why don’t we do Morning Prayer together
at the breakfast table every morning?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Really,
Alfred?” said Mother, “But I like to do the Sudoku in the paper every morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That’s
perfectly alright Mother,” said Alfred. “I like to do the Crossword. How about
having a second cup of coffee, doing the crossword and Sudoku, and then doing
Morning Prayer?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Alfred,”
said Mother, “that sounds just fine.
Let’s try it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #002060;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear
as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not
rebellious; I turned not backward” [Isaiah 50:4-5]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/Blogs/Mother%20&amp;%20Alfred/73%20Horse%20Latitudes.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Samuel Taylor Coleridge:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel <o:p></o:p></div>
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R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-55530757538562282642014-03-15T12:20:00.000-07:002014-03-16T02:19:41.924-07:00Mother and Alfred's Lenten Discipline<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtZr8NAsHrMG_-hRnmMd4g6TZn9o3Q-izDx7_6dzvG-cQgJO1gkLH_Dkc37BG6TMMXyl4Xs0X2A7d_z51S6CDWcb_WZJtEAz2SZ6fhutkIktCsRnnSMdkc2EPrFGauvkQYNZGODdssnmy/s1600/spinach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtZr8NAsHrMG_-hRnmMd4g6TZn9o3Q-izDx7_6dzvG-cQgJO1gkLH_Dkc37BG6TMMXyl4Xs0X2A7d_z51S6CDWcb_WZJtEAz2SZ6fhutkIktCsRnnSMdkc2EPrFGauvkQYNZGODdssnmy/s1600/spinach.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother,” said Alfred
triumphantly, “I know what I have decided to give up for Lent! I have decided
to give us spinach!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alfred,” said Mother, “You don’t
even like spinach!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes, I know Mother, but giving up
spinach is a whole lot easier than giving up smoking, which is I what I really
want to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alfred, I noticed,” said Mother,
you haven’t been smoking since Ash Wednesday. It looks like you’ve already
given it up for Lent!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know, Mother, I know,” said
Alfred, “it’s just that if I admit it out loud, then I’m afraid I will really
have to stick to it. I might be biting off more than I can chew. The very idea
of giving up things for Lent is something we never did when I was growing up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That is why, Alfred,” said Mother,
“I always eat meat during Lent. My
family was Roman Catholic and every Lent we were condemned to eat fish. We
weren’t all that devout. It was sort of a
Talliaferro family joke, ‘Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes, so get some rest
and eat fish on Friday; ‘cause the priest says so.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What
stirred up all this, Alfred,” asked Mother?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It was the
Ash Wednesday service, Mother,” said Alfred, “That line about ‘prayer, fasting,
and self-denial’ just stuck in my mind. I really felt I ought to do something.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You know,
you are right Alfred,” said Mother. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I
suppose that just because my family treated it like some nonsense imposed by
the priest, doesn’t mean that it’s not a right thing to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
wandered off into the kitchen while Alfred sat in his study looking at his
marvelous collection of pipes; his Ashton Bent Billiard Briar, and his Old
Church Bent Billiard, his marvelous hand carved Meerschaum, the Damiano Rovera Briar,
and his other fine pipes. He idly picked
up his Rodgers Rosewood Chancet pipe knife and toyed with it for a minute; put
it back down on his pipe stand along with the Lalique Jamaique ashtray, and
with a sigh picked up the stand with all of his pipes and put it on a shelf in the
antique oak credenza in the corner and closed the cabinet door. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well, that’s that,” said Alfred,
“Hopefully out of sight, out of mind!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> A few
minutes later, Mother came back into the room looking a little somber and said,
“I know what I have to give up for Lent.
It doesn’t do to pray about things like this.” Then she said
declaratively, “I believe that I am supposed to give up complaining.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That ought
to be a challenge, Mother,” said Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Watch it,
Alfred,” barked Mother. “On the edge! On the edge!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than
pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it” </span></span></i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">[Hebrews 12:11].</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-22728250642781373952014-02-26T13:11:00.000-08:002014-02-26T13:11:08.993-08:00The Talliaferro Family Reunion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghP-mWAQJviBtdokhc6jfbvrsKOaJrURqdE9Xvei65md9-p4n7T_SJEjmtPjC7dnC0Ad6ppkz4aI6u2dcVdW87Hy-cVqUuKvlaZ20Ca7riZV0H7eo70MrGnE_REd-qIr3jFr20N8vxHBrz/s1600/mafia+plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghP-mWAQJviBtdokhc6jfbvrsKOaJrURqdE9Xvei65md9-p4n7T_SJEjmtPjC7dnC0Ad6ppkz4aI6u2dcVdW87Hy-cVqUuKvlaZ20Ca7riZV0H7eo70MrGnE_REd-qIr3jFr20N8vxHBrz/s1600/mafia+plate.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Talliaferro Steak house was
nicely appointed in a ‘Vegas slick’ sort of way; all chrome, dark wood
furniture and black leather, crystal chandeliers and red velvet drapery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred and
Mother had arrived a little early, but not too early. The Maître d’ was looking
over the guest list, “I don’t see your name,” he said, and then with the sound
of surprise in his voice, “Oh, Colonel and Mrs. Montrose, you’re at the head
table.” He looked at Mother and Alfred and asked, “Immediate family?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred gave
him a steely-eyed look that said, “Mind your own business.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Maître
d’ took the hint and said, “Let me show you to your table.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother’s
brother Calo was already standing there by the table scanning the crowd. He
turned to them saying, “Rosabella, Alfred, glad you could make it.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> There was the
customary round of hand shaking, then Alfred held out a chair for Mother,
saying, “Rose, let me help you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Calo raised
an eyebrow, “Rose, not Rosabella?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
replied, “Rose Montrose is a beautiful name.” Alfred remained standing beside
Calo as Mother was seated and looked around the room. Finally he said, “there’s
a lot more than immediate family and relatives here.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Calo said
with a snarky grin, “There’s family and there is famiglia.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred,
responded, “I can see from the bulges in jackets that some of them mean
business.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Forewarned is forearmed,” laughed Calo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> All this
while Mother was fidgeting nervously. Finally,
she burst out, “Is the Vizzini family here? Whatever happened to Paolo?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Calo turned
serious, “Look, Sis, I told you that you wouldn’t see Paolo no more.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I know you
did, Calo,” said Mother, but what actually happened to him?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “We’re not
animals,” said Calo, “and there were other considerations. Paolo was the
grandson of Don Vizzini back in Sicily. It was important for the Talliaferro
family to keep the peace with Don Vizzini, so we came to an agreement with him
and sent Paolo back to Palermo. Don Vizzini was very unhappy with Paolo. Part
of our agreement was that the Don take back Paolo’s family along with Paolo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What if he
comes back?” asked Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That’s not
going to happen,” said Calo. “Paolo was stupid and didn’t learn from his
mistakes. He pulled the same stunt with
somebody else’s sister and that kicked off a family vendetta. Paolo is dead.
Many of the male members of his family are dead. There are many graves in
Sicily. Finis!” said Calo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Later in
the evening Mother and Alfred were back in their room at the Mandarin Oriental
Hotel. Mother heaved a great sigh, and
said, “Alfred. All these years I have lived with the fear of the Vizzinis. I
should have asked earlier, but I just couldn’t face it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said Alfred, “it’s over.” Then he asked, “Do you want to drive up to Cape Ann
on the North Shore tomorrow?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You know,
Alfred, I don’t think so,” said Mother. “Now that I don’t have to worry
anymore, I think that I would like to spend a little time with my family before
going to Cape Ann. It’s been such a very long time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #002060;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their
heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the
days of famine they have abundance. But the wicked will perish; the enemies of
the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish- like smoke they
vanish away.” [Psalm 37:18].</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #002060;"><br /></span></i></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-41773687050804467752014-02-20T06:57:00.000-08:002014-02-20T06:57:53.943-08:00There Are No Secrets<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_CoYQwu6zd13cVyVtVzRRCwrBj-q11A2yzPA9v1DTGTcJYHgyUGCnrWlAcvqxlVV9JN-zyvIXOEqVq9girysnpRbVuJcqO_nBUXFzNdxDGIwG1ykCzs5j_ftSv3nEgbBlUIjNHKysfOg/s1600/distinguished_service_cross_medal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_CoYQwu6zd13cVyVtVzRRCwrBj-q11A2yzPA9v1DTGTcJYHgyUGCnrWlAcvqxlVV9JN-zyvIXOEqVq9girysnpRbVuJcqO_nBUXFzNdxDGIwG1ykCzs5j_ftSv3nEgbBlUIjNHKysfOg/s1600/distinguished_service_cross_medal.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred put
down the phone on his mahogany 19th Century Partner's Library Desk and said,
“Well, Mother that is a surprise.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What is
it, Alfred?” asked Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That was
Sergeant Petrovski. He served under my command in Vietnam in 1964. Good man,
but a bloody awful war,” said Alfred. “I met him at the Dallas Gun show two
years ago, and I said that if he ever needed a job he should look me up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “You’ve
never said much about your experiences in Vietnam,” said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
reflected for a moment before replying, “I was in the Military Assistance
Command, Studies and Observations Group, usually referred to as SOG. Our task
was black ops and for a long time we were told not to saying anything about
them. Not only that but there are some things that happened that are very
difficult to talk about.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I should
know, Alfred,” said Mother. “After all I have not been exactly forthcoming
about that terrible experience with Paolo Vizzini years ago.” Mother paused
then added, “What did happen when you served in Vietnam?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
frowned, then picked up his Old Church Bent Billiard pipe, reamed it out,
tamped in some Captain Black tobacco, and lit it while he pondered how to
answer Mother’s question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother knew
Alfred very well and she sat down on the Chesterfield wing chair in Alfred’s
study and picked up a copy of the American Art Review Magazine and thumbed
through it looking at some of the pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred eyed
Mother and perceived that she was just going to wait it out for an answer. “You
know, Mother,” said Alfred, “I was brought up to believe in the Ten
Commandments, particularly in the 6<sup>th</sup> Commandment, ‘Thou shalt not
kill,’ yet I have, not only once,” he paused, “but many times. It was a tough
tour of duty. Not only that I have sent the men under my command to kill and
sometimes to be killed. It’s not something I like to think about.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Isn’t that why you received the
Distinguished Service Cross?” asked Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mother, I was good at it,” said
Alfred, “and that is a terrible thing to be good at.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother and Alfred sat quietly
together for a few minutes. Eventually Mother said, “You were defending our
country, Alfred.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I’m not so sure,” said Alfred. “It
was Vietnam and many people, even some of our soldiers, thought we shouldn’t be
there at all. In many ways it was an unpopular war, and the moral issues seem
so very complicated.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I know, Alfred, I know,” said
Mother. “Years ago when my brother Calo said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You won’t ever have to see Paolo again,’ I
was relieved and I felt guilty at the same time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You are right Mother,” said
Alfred, “But there are times when we get into difficult situations that are
beyond our control. Then we’re left with
our feelings. I have asked God to
forgive me for the things I’ve done, but still sometimes the guilt just comes
back.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alfred,” asked Mother, “Isn’t that
what the Church Year is about?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“How so?” asked Alfred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Soon it will be Ash Wednesday and
the beginning of Lent. That’s a time of Penitence and Forgiveness. As for me, I could use a little bit of both,”
said Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“If we walk in the light, as he is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his
Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”[1 John
1:7-9]. </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7138937719156722320.post-20439538858069665932014-02-12T13:10:00.002-08:002014-02-12T14:05:39.356-08:00Reservations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUXGKJbkSC6bgXRCRy4LzSHmQGClTUOSs2oklvAlw0uYbz0qWBgSieDvXNwJZSexg6Di2k1iWooDjBkBgZCUUtkL2cWO5nuv1XvIGffyw99zwII8x18ZdnX8K3sASDi1fikyq417Kulph/s1600/Mandarin+Oriental.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUXGKJbkSC6bgXRCRy4LzSHmQGClTUOSs2oklvAlw0uYbz0qWBgSieDvXNwJZSexg6Di2k1iWooDjBkBgZCUUtkL2cWO5nuv1XvIGffyw99zwII8x18ZdnX8K3sASDi1fikyq417Kulph/s1600/Mandarin+Oriental.jpg" height="151" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alfred was
taking his time cleaning his favourite Old Church Bent Billiard pipe with his
Rodgers Rosewood Chancet pipe knife. He ran one of his chenille pipe cleaners
through the stem of the pipe; then picked up a fresh pipe cleaner, and dipped it in
a little Louis XIII de Rémy Martin cognac in the crystal goblet on the table, before
running it through the stem of his pipe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> He filled
the bowl of his pipe with Captain Black tobacco, lit it and lovingly drew a
little smoke, and blew a lovely smoke ring which drifted toward the ceiling
before saying, “Well, Mother, March 1<sup>st</sup> and the Talliaferro Family
Reunion is almost upon us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother put
down her Atlantic Monthly magazine on the Sheraton table and looked hesitantly
at Alfred. “I know, Alfred, I know,” said
she. “I’m not sure just how much
exposure to the family I can endure without saying something thoroughly
inappropriate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Alfred
continued, “Attending the dinner is fine Mother, but I thought that it would be
wise for us to limit the amount of time we have to spend with your family. In
particular I am eager to avoid having to respond to an invitation to stay with
your brother Calo and his wife Marilena. Calo is too busy playing the Underboss
and all kinds of people are trooping through their home; and Marilena is sure
to pressure you to attend daily Mass with her.
You don’t need to be explaining why you are not still a Roman
Catholic. Accordingly I have made a
reservation for us at the Mandarin Oriental in Boston. It’s on Boylston Street and a decent distance
away from the North End."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mother
nodded vigorously, “Oh, Alfred, thank you! What a good idea. I love my brother
Calo, but I don’t love what the family does for a living. Marilena is sweet,
but I don’t want to feel trapped by staying with them and not being able to
take a break.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Mother,”
said Alfred, “Marilena always says that fish and relatives spoil after three
days, but three Talliaferro days only last about twelve hours. Not only do we
have reservations at the Mandarin Oriental, but I have also reserved a Bentley
Continental GT for the entire time we are in Boston. That will enable us to drive up the North
Shore and visit Gloucester and Rockport.
Maybe we can spend a night at the Peg Leg Inn in Rockport as a late
Valentine’s Day celebration."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “That would
be lovely Alfred. My family can be very difficult, but what I’m really afraid
of, is seeing Paolo Vizzini’s family. That was such a painful episode in my
life. By the way cousin Angelo called the other evening to ask if we were
coming. He said it’s a big deal and that Don Giovanni is coming up from Dade
County in Florida, and that all of the button men and bagmen are going be
there. How can I love my family when
they are involved in such terrible things?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “In little
doses, Mother. In little doses,” said
Alfred. “Even Jesus spent most of his
time with the people who were responsive to him, and very little time with
difficult people like the Pharisees, even though he loved them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives
me receives him who sent me” [Matthew 10:40].<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><br /></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
R. Penman Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657044905859339037noreply@blogger.com0