Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

As a former South Carolina History teacher…it was always fun to teach students about all the “firsts” that happened in Charleston. Charleston has always been known for many first events in our country’s history… mostly good “firsts” but others…well, not so good. But when I discovered this story, long forgotten in the archives of time, it made me proud that Charleston has finally been recognized as the birthplace of the first “Memorial Day” remembrance.

For an extended period of time Memorial Day was called “Decoration Day” because the graves of soldiers who died in war were decorated with ribbons and flags. Several years ago, a Yale history professor, David Blight, made a significant discovery in both our state and national history. Charleston freedmen, on May 1, 1865, decided to honor the Union Soldiers who had died at a POW prison camp where Hampton Park is today with scripture, ceremony, parades and later in the day picnics.

Instead of leaving the Union soldiers interred in one large massive grave…ex-slaves, freedmen, dug graves for all the soldiers who had helped free the slaves. There were parades, crowds of men and women, along with school children singing “John Brown’s Body.” Even the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment marched in the parade. (book and movie Glory)

Yale University historian David Blight places the first Memorial Day in April 1865, when a group of former slaves gathered at a Charleston, S.C., horse track turned Confederate prison where more than 250 Union soldiers had died. Digging up the soldiers’ mass grave, they interred the bodies in individual graves, built a 100-yd. fence around them and erected an archway over the entrance bearing the words “Martyrs of the Race Course.”

(Picture – Once prison to over 250 Union soldiers who died in what is today Hampton Park in Charleston, SC)

On May 1, 1865, some 10,000 black Charleston residents, white missionaries, teachers, schoolchildren and Union troops marched around the Planters’ Race Course, singing and carrying armfuls of flowers of different varietieis. Gathering in the graveyard, the crowd watched five black preachers recite scripture and a children’s choir sing spirituals and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” While the story is largely forgotten today, some historians consider this gathering the first Memorial Day.

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Just a few years ago, on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Charleston, David Blight and then mayor, Joe Riley, Jr. put up a commemorative marker designating the part of the original cemetery (the bodies are now interred in Beaufort National Cemetery) for the site of the marker.

This year another (improved) marker will be erected to recognize the first Memorial Day Remembrance by the freedmen and their families dating back to May 1, 1865.

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – May 2018

The City of Charleston will commemorate Decoration Day and unveil a historical marker Saturday at Hampton Park.

Mayor John Tecklenburg and History Commission member and Virginia College history professor Damon Fordham are expected to speak at the event. Hampton Park is where Decoration Day was first observed in Charleston on May 1, 1865.

The event will include the unveiling of “an improved historical marker,” according to Charleston city spokesman Jack O’Toole.

At the first Decoration Day, early 10,000 former slaves marched onto the grounds of the Washington Race Course, where a prison camp had been established, to honor the lives of hundreds of Union soldiers who had died there during the Civil War.

Some believe that Decoration Day was the inspiration for the Memorial Day national holiday. Memorial Day falls on May 28.

One historian later stated that the tragedy in that first Charleston commemoration was the fact that due to unhealthy conditions in Charleston following the Civil War….thousands of its citizens, black and white, succumbed to disease as new victims of the war…including many of the freedmen who participated in the first Memorial Day remembrance.

In the recognition of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, let us not forget that freed slaves created Memorial Day. Let us remember that their prayers and observations were not just for the deceased Union soldiers on that first Memorial Day, but also for members of their families and their community who died in a war that was meant to free them

So until tomorrow…Let us never forget the tragic high cost of war and the ultimate sacrifices so many Americans have made throughout so many (too many) wars in our country’s history. Stay safe and dry on this special holiday!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

To everyone’s surprise when we woke up Sunday morning…it wasn’t pouring and it stayed dry until about five o’clock. The Turner cook-out stayed “on go” …swimming in the pool is fine with a little rain…you’re wet anyway. I went over early to visit Eva Cate and Jakie before leaving to keep Eloise as Mollie took Rutledge and Lachlan to the Footlight Players children production of Shrek…the Musical. Then we all went back over to John and Mandy’s…John cooked out with an umbrella over his head…but got it done and the pool party/cookout was a huge success.

Eloise does make me laugh…she is the happiest baby I have ever seen…if she puckers up she is either hungry or tired…the rest of the time she has a big old belly laugh!

The children’s performance was at the Footlight Players Theatre on Queen Street…a wonderful old theatre filled with lots of stories to tell.

*The two pictures below ought to be an advertisement for Toy Story…it was on and everyone posing for the picture (except (Mollie) turned to look at Woody on Toy Story…even Eloise!

Eva Cate started dancing for Eloise and she got so tickled…she let out her belly laugh loud and clear.

These pictures sum up why I pray for all those brave men and women who gave their greatest sacrifice…life…so the rest of us can live our daily lives in peace…and celebrate Memorial Day with loved ones in a country like no other!

Dear Reader:

Taking chances…I have never been much of a risk-taker…especially financially… mainly because I felt during all those years of raising children as a single mom… that I couldn’t afford to take a chance on opportunities that I might have risked if it had just involved me and no one else.

Still deep inside…I do harbor a bit of a risk-taker in me…jumping on opportunities to see the world through scholarships and educational institutes that paid for several of my overseas travels. Jumping into graduate school with two children already in college and praying for a scholarship to arrive in the amount needed to take my next class…which always seemed to happen in the most creative ways.

When I reflect back on the times I did gather the courage to take a risk on an opportunity to grow as a person inwardly or as a professional growth extension…it was usually successful.

So when I came across this devotional message (Faith Gateway Today- “A Prayer That is Answered Specifically“) by Anne Graham Lotz…it made me stop and reconsider some ideas that I had planted in my head…which perhaps, needed revisiting.)

Do you pray specifically?

It’s been said that the person who asks God for nothing won’t be disappointed. In other words, people are afraid if they pray specifically they will be setting themselves up for disappointment when God doesn’t answer specifically. 

I know parents who don’t teach their children to pray specifically because they are so afraid their children’s faith will be damaged when God doesn’t answer specifically. Their cautious attitude, of course, does its own damage to their children’s faith by teaching them that He doesn’t answer specific prayer. 

People who don’t pray specifically may not be disappointed but they surely miss out on the thrill of moving Heaven as evidenced by the specific answers God does give. God may still bless them and give them an answer. It’s just that they won’t recognize it as the answer because they never specified what they were asking of Him. I know what it’s like to pray generally and miss out on the blessing of receiving a specific answer. But I also know what it’s like to pray specifically.

She then went on to list some everyday prayers that we all offer up subconsciously most of the time….after reading some of hers I thought a few minutes and added some more specific prayers that have come my way.

Examples from Anne Graham Lotz:

• Locating an empty handicapped parking place when I took my husband to his doctor, 
• Finding the right gift for someone’s birthday, 
• Bringing the dog back when he’s run out of the yard, 
• Helping my granddaughter pull up her math grade, 
• Locating my husband’s misplaced hearing aid — for the hundredth time, 
• Ensuring that the apple pie I make for Daddy is the best ever.

And even some bigger ones from the author like:

• Inspiring thoughts, and the words to express them, for this book,
• Meeting the deadline for submitting the manuscript, 
• Breaking open a passage of Scripture so that I have the framework for a message, 
• Releasing my husband from the hospital in time for Christmas Day at home, 
• Enabling me to remain alert as I stayed with my Mother all night before she moved to Our Father’s House. 

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As I thought back over daily prayers for specific solutions that I once never gave a second thought about…I started realizing the power of prayer in everyday situations

*Praying for a kind motorist to let me in a line of traffic that needed to turn right and the motorist did so with a smile and a wink

*Running late for an appointment and having every single signal light on Trolley Road turn green as I approached it

*Praying that Jakie wouldn’t be shy and cover his face with his hands at his end-of-the year program (like he did last year)…not only did he not cover his face…he was regaling in the limelight and never missed missed a beat the whole night.

*Praying that I won’t start boo-hooing during Rutledge’s pre-school graduation this coming Thursday night…* this prayer is still out for review…pending…

And larger specific prayers….

One that stands out in my mind was an opportunity to travel to Snowbird, Utah as one of two teacher representatives from SC…I was told that the State Teacher of the Year, Jeanne Sink, was going and a teacher from Summerville, Rene Harris, whom I had never met at that time. She had been chosen as the second representative. I had not made the cut…and oh how I longed to go see the West and be a part of the IMPACT II national grant. I kept dreaming about it and looking at pictures of Snowbird.

About a month before the departure date for the others…Jeanne Sink called me aside at a supper we were both attending and asked if I would take her place in representing SC? The meeting coincided with her family’s beach week and that was the most important thing to her…spending time with her family. I remember driving back from Columbia thinking…”God sure does work in Mysterious Ways.”

And…the best part was that I got to meet the invincible Rene Harris who would later become Tommy’s teacher for two years and a dear dear friend to me. If I ever considered myself creative…it floundered beside Rene’s elevated level of creativity.

We would end up taking several more trips together around the country and even to Demark… having so much fun! Rooming with Rene kept me in stitches the whole time! I would fall asleep in sheer exhaustion from laughing.

*Rene had a big benchmark birthday last summer and I am still thinking what creative “gotcha” gift I can come up with….am bringing in reinforcements…Honey Burrell…together we will plan a sneak attack…Rene will never see it coming.

So until tomorrow…When we ask God for what He wants to give us, we can be fairly sure He has a plan already in place. Our specific prayer gives us the thrill of not only participating in what He is doing, but knowing that we are part of a Divine plan.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Ah…there is nothing like it in the world! The sweet scents of flowers in May. I think every perfume in the world should come from a southern garden at this time of the year.

Even if April showers brought more (lots more) May showers, (besides the flowers) this season…they  also brought the most aromatic fragrances to our yards and gardens. Some of these scents are so secretive they sneak up on you. One minute you don’t detect anything and the next…you are practically consumed in their perfume …especially gardenias, of course.

But when one has gardenias, Confederate jasmine growing on the fences, and magnolia buds opening….wow…it doesn’t get much more southern smelling than that…the combined scents bring back so many childhood memories from summers of long ago.

The rains continue to fall and with the tropical disturbance in the Gulf it looks like we will continue to have rain throughout Memorial Day weekend and even more next week. Surely…by the time this is all over (about three weeks worth now) we will be out of drought conditions hopefully.

I must admit the lazy gardener in me is still loving it…it will be a shock to have to get out and start watering again (after all this time.) I am out of practice.

So my thoughts have turned inward to the house…actually towards the purchase of a rug for the den while they were all 50% off at Tuesday Morning last week. My last rug was almost 10 years old and starting to flip up on the ends. I wanted to keep the rug simple so I could display the newest addition to the sofa…a bright colored summer sofa throw.

The rain-nourished flowers in the garden continue to drink happily and bloom in all their beauty. Each day brings new surprises.

I got a call Thursday from a wonderful teacher-friend from Alston Middle where I taught…who is now an assistant principal at Dubose Middle School, Kelly Kennedy, to let me know that a friend of mine, Jackie Canaday, was retiring and they were giving her a party. Wow! Jackie used to teach with me at Alston as another eighth grade social studies teacher decades ago.

My immediate response was…Jackie has still been teaching all this time? Unbelievable…and when I arrived at the retirement party yesterday afternoon…I found it to be true. 45 years in the classroom! How amazing is that…and she is just as strong a teacher this year as every year before. The tribute the school gave her was heart-warming and so appreciative. Over the years Jackie came to represent everything that was best about her beloved school and second home…she became the symbol of all that is right and beautiful in teaching.

When it came time to present gifts from the different grades and teams…the principal asked her to come forward to accept a special recognition. Look what it was! So deserving…from now on out…a special hall is named in her honor!

*Besides a delicious meal and desserts…there was a sweet bun by everyone’s place. Apparently Jackie would be the first teacher at school each day and treat herself to a sweet bun and coffee in peaceful bliss. I loved the saying on it…so creative!

Now she can hit the beaches and it looks like an Hawaiian trip is being planned for the future. Congratulations Jackie…you are awesome! I was so happy to be able to share this special moment of recognition with you and our time together teaching 8th Grade Social Studies! Social Studies Teachers rule!

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With all the rain lately…the Dingle Five should be feeling right at home in the “Irish” lowcountry…showers and green grasses everywhere. In fact fairy homes are popping up all over too…so keep your eyes open…you never know when a little fairy might just appear from underneath?

So until tomorrow…Father thank you for cooling showers, green grass, blooming flowers, and teachers who continue planting seeds and a thirst for knowledge to another generation of students.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

“When you are most simple is when you feel really free.” Why has it taken me a lifetime to learn this lesson? Slow learner, I reckon.

It is not as if I have ever had the extravagant means to live a completely luxurious life…but not-with-standing… I have certainly acquired more “stuff” in my lifetime than my meager presence in the world required. It has taken me the last few years of retirement to  literally ‘un-rid’ myself of “stuff” that was simply taking up room and gathering dust.

As I started this massive overhaul I remember staring at certain objects, in my hands, wondering why in the world I ever thought I needed any of ‘this or that’ or even should have desired it?

The one thing, I do know for certain, is that with each trip to Goodwill or other charitable organizations…I have felt lighter and freer than ever before in my life. One drawer cleaned out and my day shines brighter for it. I have gotten to the point now that I am becoming actually claustrophobic when there is too much of my “stuff” lying around the house.

I look in the mirror and think…“Who is this gal staring back at me that once surrounded herself with stuff and thought nothing about it at all?”

I have even gotten to the point where I don’t want to win a million dollars..that scenario would just create a lot of worrisome decisions to be made and probably hurt feelings. I would like to win just enough to pay off any loans so I would be entirely debt-free with an adequate emergency fund to prevent sleep-less nights worrying about what next might break around the house? That’s it…anything else would just be needless baggage.

I don’t know about you but the old axiom  “An idle mind is the devil’s playground” was dispersed verbally (a lot) in my family growing up. I am sure it was wise advice when meted out but unfortunately it has been a hard custom to break. I still feel guilty when I find myself, some days, just really not wanting to do anything…even, perhaps, dare I say it?…taking a nap in the middle of the day!

This excerpt from an article I just read has reassured me that I am not alone in trying to throw off the shackles of guilt when I want to spend time with “nada” (nothingness)… and still feel good about it!

“I am just as guilty as the next person, but I am doing my best to change it. I am trying harder to live in the moment, to not think the house has to be cleaned every day, to be OK with taking a nap in the middle of the day.  Sometimes, there really isn’t anywhere or anything that we should be doing. It’s a hard feeling to accept, as we are bred to always be looking to the next thing that needs to be done…but if we are always too busy getting ready to live, we might be missing out on actually living.”

Source: Home: Simple Life: “Too Busy Getting Ready To Live, But Never Living.”

So until tomorrow…

*Just got this picture from Mollie…I think our gal, Eloise, is telling her Boo Boo  that I can simplify all I want…but she still wants two fingers to suck on and  two poodles to cuddle with. 🙂

P.S. It is 2:45, a thunderstorm has just rolled through dropping the temperatures to the cool mid-seventies; the ceiling fans are on…the skies are overcast and guess what…I am going to take a nap….I am finally free to take a nap and not feel one iota of guilt…(well maybe half an “iota” …but I will get over it! 🙂

I had lunch with my niece, Bekah, today. She had just come back from Sires Elementary School where her daughter Ady attends. For their annual school fundraiser the children ran laps while adults got to “spray paint” them as they went around. Lots of fun and for a good cause.  Ady was loving it.

* Some of you might have seen this on the news last night but every time I see a story like the one I saw…it renews my spirit in the American Dream. It is still alive…harder to find…but still alive.

(ABC Nightly News)

A Philadelphia teen by the name of Richard Jenkins used to sleep in a homeless shelter and was nicknamed “Harvard” by bullies for being a bookworm. Now he is going to the same Ivy League School, as his taunts, on a full scholarship.

“I view it as like, a symbol that hard work does pay off, and also that faith pays off as well because I had faith in myself that I could do something like this, just not that I could go to Harvard but that life would work out for me… things would get better,” said Richard “Tre” Jenkins.

After being homeless from fourth grade to sixth grade and suffering from migraines, Jenkins said he had a realization.

“I was walking home with friends, and he [Jenkins’ friend] knows where his house is and pointed to his house, and he’s like ‘Hey, where you live?’, and I lived in a shelter at that time, but my shelter looked like it could’ve been a huge house. I said ‘That’s my place over there,’” said Jenkins.

He said he was “embarrassed” to have to lie about something like that. He says that’s when he decided his life had to change for the better.

Jenkins gives a large part of his academic success to Mighty Writers...an education  non-profit that provides free writing classes to over 3,000 inner-city Philly kids a year. While his friends were playing sports after school and on weekends, he read and learned to write essays which went far into getting him into Harvard…his entrance essay, “The Boy Who Slayed Dragons.” 

For all the Richard Jenkins in the world…

‘Cause faith will hold you closer
Faith will keep you safer
Faith will take you farther than you dream’

Dear Reader:

I don’t know how many times I heard my mother use that expression, “Oh we’ll make do”  when worried about financial matters (which was a lot of the time) when we were growing up. But she also, always added one more phrase, “With God’s help we’ll make do.” 

And the thing is…we did. Mother put three children through college working as a single mother with one hand. Her faith was unwavering…not that she didn’t have her moments of tears, anger, bewilderment, disillusionment, questioning, and doubt…mother was human…but in the end she never lost her faith. And it was faith that provided solutions to everyday problems…turning doubt and fear into “OH, we’ll make do…with God’s help.” And God never let us down.

I have been thinking about that phrase a lot for several reasons…I have been caught up in making lots of changes with my banking institute and my insurance company over documents and changes that I have needed to do for quite awhile but just kept putting it off. Financial decision-making is definitely not my forte and way out of my comfort zone…but now that I have completed a good portion of these overdue changes I feel so relieved that I did it.

And the thing is…it was all quite easy and nothing half as bad as the scenarios I had conjured up in my own mind. I feel so much more confident now about my ability to plan and carry out my life with a deeper understanding and more confidence than ever before. With God’s help…I am making it happen.

Take for example, even something as simple as the Easter lily in the title photo. Apparently it had fallen out of a container it was in at Easter…decorated with bright paper and ribbons. I must have thought the Easter lilies were dead and thrown the container away…but in doing so…one lily (with root still intact) sat on top of the ground and somehow managed to get the root underneath enough leaves and compost to grow again.

Yesterday as I walked over to the driveway to get in my car and start pulling out…something white caught my eye. I put the car in neutral, got out and lo and behold there was a white Easter lily! Because the root wasn’t deep in the ground…the bloom was just lying on the ground too…fully open.

I quickly looked for a tomato stake or any kind of stake to prop the stem up  …but there was nothing. I turned off the car and walked back in the house…suddenly I saw it. My favorite cross that Joan Turner gave me one year…so pretty and unusual. It would work!

I took it outside and draped the lily bloom over the cross. It took my breath away…how beautiful! It was just as if that cross had been made for just this special occasion! Tomorrow…I will track down another stake…but tonight and early in the morning…the cross will keep the Easter lily bloom upright and shining. It deserves its moment of fame through everything it has done to survive and bloom again.

After it blooms…I will gently dig it up and plant the flower roots in the right depth so next year…the stem can stand on its own.

But for right now…the cross will certainly “make do.”

So until tomorrow…Father , give us insight and creativity to help ourselves ‘make do’ as needed. You gave us the ability to reason out these daily problems…and  keep your glorious nature alive.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Here are some more “glorious nature” blooms from the garden!

I got a good report on my overall health from my primary doctor…Dr. Montoya yesterday. I am still having some very low white count showings but Dr. Jeter, my oncologist, is on that too and I have complete faith that she will figure out what to do with some of the medications I am taking that is causing this side effect.

In the meantime I will just “make do” by staying as healthy as possible…*I know it was my cereal piled high with bananas and blueberries that provided the good health report today! Cheerio!

Dear Reader:

I love blueberries! So happiness is ….blueberry season has arrived! I have so many memories of David and I (and the dog Old Blackie) following Grandmother Wilson to her blueberry patch and picking blueberries. David was always the funniest…what is it about little boys wanting to show off their blue tongues and lips?

After eating more than he picked, David would stick out his blue tongue and point to his blue lips…Grandmother Wilson, bless her heart, would smile and nod…just like she had never seen anyone do anything like that before. Isn’t that what grandmothers do best? Make you feel special, no matter what!

Home churned vanilla ice cream, blueberry pie…and if there were still enough berries…berries sprinkled on top of the ice cream. Life didn’t get much better than that…in my childhood memories on Grandmother’s farm.

*I was just thinking how funny it is that suddenly all my grandsons, Rutledge, Jakie, and Lachlan want a blueberry lollipop when given the opportunity to pick one from the Charms’ mini-lollipop bag. And after licking it for awhile, they all have to run over and show me their tongues and lips….some things in childhood never change.

*The grandchildren love the real blueberries… more so I am sure I will see them eating blueberries with their cereal now.

Blueberries are probably one of the healthiest foods around…the more you read about them…the more good things they seem to do…things like: keep the brain and memory healthy while benefiting the heart as well as being an anti-oxidant that helps fight and control cancer. A win-win food choice.

If you have ever gotten a blueberry stain on your shirt or blouse or whatever…the only down side is that it can be hard to get out. Blueberries are also natural food dyes. *During colonial times, early American colonists boiled blueberries with milk to make a gray paint.

What got me started on this blueberry theme today, besides I love them and they are in season, is that Anne called, yesterday, while I was out in the garden to ask if I was home and if so, she wanted to drop something off. The only thing that brought me back in from the garden was a pop-up shower that started pouring down on me.

As I was drying off I remembered to check my phone/text messages and there was the message from Anne. I had no longer texted her back than I saw her car pull into the driveway. She came bearing fruit…blueberries….straight from her garden!!!  And not only had she brought me my favorite fruit…but she had taken the time to paint them also on a card…the best!

Now I know that there was a reason for the blueberries yesterday…unknowingly, while Anne was dropping off this healthy food item for memory and remembering…I mistakenly thought my doctor’s appointment was today (Wednesday the 23rd at 11:30) and instead it was Tuesday (yesterday) at the same time and the exact same time that Anne was bringing me good memory foods to eat. Obviously much needed!

The medical office had called to check on me and make sure I wasn’t feeling badly and couldn’t come in…and even more ironic…a new appointment had just opened up for today (that I could now take) at same time I thought my original scheduled appointment was for today.

Irony at its best. Sometimes the universe just likes to play with us for a little fun, I think. But I certainly took advantage of these healthy berries and ate them all day yesterday and on my cereal this morning…so I should be in tip top condition for my check-up! Perfect timing after all Anne! Thank you! The card is on my fridge to remind me of the blueberry surprise day!

So until tomorrow…Eat healthy, keep a sense of humor, and let the fresh fruit seasons of spring and summer take you back to your childhood memories of the ‘good old summertime’.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• It turned out to be a really favorite day of mine….Luke and Chelsey got back from their honeymoon in Hawaii…and came over with a hens and chicks plant since they have chickens now in their backyard. They are so cute. We will be getting fresh eggs soon…love living on my street now…it’s like a little bit of country has landed. Too fun! Welcome back Luke and Chelsey…we missed you!
• 

Dear Reader:

Isn’t the magic of God’s Creation, the universe, the greatest magical trick in the world…not just our own little world…but the many, many other worlds that make up the universe?

It is easy, during the day, to forget that the stars are still right where we left them the night before….we just can no longer see them. As a curious child two questions always followed any viewing of the stars for me. Most of the time the response (or non-response) came from an adult who didn’t know the answer to either question and they would simply nod that the questions were interesting but didn’t go any farther than a pat on the head. So finally when I got old enough to look it up…I discovered the answer to both questions.

Why can’t we see the stars during the day? (Without getting too technical)

Stars do glow during the day, but we can’t see them because of the glare of sunlight. When the sun is up, the blue color in sunlight gets scattered all over the atmosphere, turning the sky the familiar bright blue color. This blue light is much brighter than the faint light coming from the stars, so it prevents us from seeing them.

*If you were standing on the Moon, for instance, where there is no atmosphere, you would see the stars both day and night.

(Source: Ask an Astronomer)

With so many stars in the sky…why is the night sky still so dark?

There are a lot of stars out there—an estimated 70 billion trillion.With so many stars beaming their light our way, it seems only logical that the night sky would be as bright as day.

There is a lot of debate over which astronomer or physicist first figured out the answer to why the night sky remains so dark, in spite of the number of stars shining brightly…but this source might surprise you. Edgar Allen Poe!

…”According to the website of the American Museum of Natural History, the first plausible explanation for the paradox came in Eureka: A Prose Poem, an 1848 essay by Edgar Allen Poe.

As the museum’s website has it, Poe suggested that the universe simply isn’t old enough to fill the sky with light.

The universe may be infinite in size, he thought, but there hasn’t been enough time since the universe began for starlight, traveling at the speed of light, to reach us from the farthest reaches of space.

That turns out to be surprisingly close to the explanation given by present-day astronomers.

The simplest explanation goes like this:

Dr. Anil Chandra Seth,  assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, told The Huffington Post in an email: “There are a couple reasons the sky isn’t bright. First off, the universe is expanding and has a finite age; this means we can’t see galaxies infinitely far away (even if the universe is infinite). Also, the expansion means that light loses energy as it travels.”

In addition to these two reasons, Dr. Seth said some of the light emitted by all those stars is absorbed by interstellar dust in the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system.

“If it weren’t for dust,” he said, “the Milky Way would be much brighter in the sky.”

The last reason the night sky is mostly dark has to do with our human eyes’ insensitivity to the wavelengths of light that reach the Earth from the most distant stars.

(Source: Here’s Why The Night Sky Is Dark Even Though Jillions Of Stars Are Shining Light Our Way- David Freeman)

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Morning Glory bloom from the ground vines coming back from last year. * I think a fairy slept inside the bloom on the ground last night and forgot to turn out the magical light…don’t you?

My second Stokes Aster Daisy bud from another plant….bloomed beautifully yesterday. For me…every bloom is magical.

*Just as I was about the close down this blog entry around 7:30 last evening…something red caught my peripheral vision….Sammy had returned and was sitting on the high trellis above the moon flowers (that are just now starting to develop tendrils to begin climbing.) It was as if he was simply stopping by to wish me a good night. Life is all magical. (Looks like an abstract painting, Anne, because it was taken through the screen window by the computer and enlarged.)

*Look at our baby Eloise….growing in leaps and bounds…and staying just as happy as she can be! (Still loves sucking those fingers…no pacifier needed.)

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was a busy church service….it was the Sunday to recognize the conclusion of many achievements from members of the congregation….things like recognizing our teachers, high school and college graduates…even pre-school graduates…yes, you little Andrew.

It was also confirmation Sunday and it touched my heart to see these amazing young people, including my mentored recipient, Sara Limehouse, becoming an official member of the church by her own volition. I had forgotten how much I loved this age and teaching my eighth graders….Sara was wise beyond her years and a joy to mentor.

In fact as each confirmand read their statement of faith to the session yesterday, I couldn’t help but think, that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for all of us…to pause occasionally, and think about what our own statement of faith would look like now, as we near the back end of our path, instead of the beginning. Interesting thought.

One thing that stood out to me as I reflected on the time spent with my confirmand over the past last few months…is that I hope Sara realizes now that she will never be alone. By accepting God as her Creator and the One who will lead her down her own personal path…she is admitting that she alone can’t make the journey but she also recognizes and now understands that she will never be alone on it. What a huge relief!

Sarah Addison Allen, one of my favorite “magical realist” authors, whom I have talked about  on the blog a few times, also keeps up a blog and while helping her mother through a long illness, as well as, finishing up her latest novel…she writes short stories in it… based on phrases or pictures she comes across.

This type of creative writing…building a story around a picture, reminds me of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. (I loved writing creative stories around those mysterious illustrations!)

This is the picture Sarah found to build her short story around.

Cara was raised by her Gran, and Gran loved Cara fiercely from the moment the four-year-old was delivered to her doorstep, which had surprised everyone who’d known this infamously ornery old woman. It was a love demonstrated with sausage balls every Christmas and chocolate cake made with coffee every birthday, and quick, dry kisses on the cheek before school, and sometimes even a hard whack on the leg with a wooden spoon if Cara gave her too much sass.

Cara spent her whole life trying to dodge those kisses, and giving heavy sighs when made to sit down to a meal with Gran. But on her birthday — her twenty-second — just weeks after her Gran had died, when no birthday call came, and no tiny, creaky voice demanded that she come by to pick up a lopsided cake decorated with candles recycled from several previous cakes, Cara sat down at her desk in her solitary home office and cried all day. Cried because she knew she would never be loved like that again, cried because she was no longer the most important person in anyone’s life. That kind of sadness reaches like tentacles to grab onto thoughts of why friends hadn’t emailed lately to ask how she was doing, even when she knew they were happily posting on Facebook. She felt alone, drifting, when everyone else around her seemed anchored to support systems she no longer had.

Dear Reader:

For once in my life…I actually timed watching the royal wedding perfectly…accidentally. Nature called around 6:30 Saturday morning…waking me up…and just as I was about to fall back in bed some sleepy neuron remembered the royal wedding.

I grabbed pinkie (robe) and my big white pillow as I plopped on the sofa and turned on the television. Perfect timing! The cars were heading to St. George Chapel and Meghan was getting out before I could barely get my eyes focused. For the next four hours I lay there glued to the television…taking in all the pomp and pageantry.

Don’t royal weddings bring out the little ‘wanna be’ princess still inside us from our childhoods…even though our adult minds are thinking about all the challenges that go with that life style and societal expectations?

I thought the most beautiful scene of Meghan was as she entered the chapel (on her own) followed in suit by the adorable children…the light from outside shone on her and by walking half the distance to the alter alone…the beauty of that moment was only intensified.

If anyone hadn’t felt the love before the wedding message was delivered by Bishop Michael Bruce Curry (The Power of Love)…they sure did afterwards. I doubt if that old chapel had felt that much passion in a long time. Everything uttered in this soul-stirring message was about love…the power of it, unconditional love, and the mandate by God to live that love.

*(Bishop Michael Bruce Curry had already made history before the wedding -he was previously from the Diocese of North Carolina…before Chicago-and the first African-American to serve as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.)

I really ‘felt the love’ when he quoted lines from my favorite African-American spiritual…”There is a Balm in Gilead.” *I remember I asked Carrie to sing it at mother’s graveside service a cappella. It was mother’s favorite song of all. She loved hearing Carrie sing it that day I have no doubt! We used to talk about it and its haunting melody that seeps into one’s heart and soul while listening to it.

The real connection between the lyrics from There is a Balm in Gilead and Prince Harry and Meghan’s union is their united interest in making a difference in the world…by trying to improve living conditions through medical and food supplies, as well as, education. They appear to really want to provide a “balm in Gilead” to this old world…desperate for it.

Since the term “humdinger” can apply to a remarkable person, place, action or thing…as applied to the royal wedding… it covered every aspect of it. Bishop Michael Bruce Curry was a passionate humdinger, who delivered a humdinger of a message on love, and the actions from this humdinger of a delivery will live on in the memory of all who heard it for a long time. He and the message he brought were (as we in the South would say)” The Real Humdinger!

So until tomorrow…I hope all the celebrations, yesterday, continued to go as smoothly as the wedding and that Queen Elizabeth and later, her son, Charles, ‘put on the dog’ for their grandson/son and his beautiful wife. This is that rare time when “putting on the dog” is an accepted and expected “over the top” “once in a blue moon” occasion!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Musically…The rendition of “Stand by Me” was the humdinger of the wedding.

In full: Moving rendition of Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ at royal wedding …

My last observation…as I watched people from all around the world stopping in  their everyday lives to excitedly share in this expression of love…I couldn’t help but think how badly the world needs and wants love…and how we are drawn to it like moths to light. Now if there was just some way humanity could find a way to hold on to this most powerful force in the world….Ah! What a wonderful world this would be!

*Dionne Warwick was right….“What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”

What The World Needs Now Is Love / Dionne Warwick – YouTube

*I know I am a little bias on floral arrangements (prefer simple)….but if I could pour out the contents of my front yard barrel into a beautiful huge gorgeous planter…it would be the orange zinnias, yellow lantana, and creeping jenny that would bring about an ooh or aah….with a dragonfly on top for good luck! Think about it next time royal family!:)

Dear Reader:

When we look back over past mistakes and recognize, in hindsight, that a particular mistake was definitely a personal, teachable lesson…we are satisfied with the knowledge. But, sometimes a mistake can be a “perfect” mistake…I know it sounds completely like an oxymoron statement but God Winks filter through our daily mistakes also.

The following true story is a prime example of this….

“A Perfect Mistake”

My mother’s father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was really upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. “It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. “But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses wedged between two blankets.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.”

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

Source: From Functions of Providence

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This story reminded me of someone I met accidentally when I returned the day after the Easter Service to see if my sunglasses were in the lost and found bin. I was so absorbed in hanging onto Jakie during the service…(we all left quickly following the last song) that I walked right out of church without them.

I had to wear my bunny sunglasses all day Easter since I didn’t have my regular sunglasses.

I still remember when I bought these sunglasses from a gift shop that went out of business soon after (almost a decade ago)…I thought the clerk told me the glasses were a one-digit price…until she reached for my card and said the amount…an 0 was on the right side of the number. I almost fainted.

I had and never have ever paid that much for a pair of sunglasses. I was so befuddled and embarrassed I went on with the transaction chastising myself silently over and over. But you know what? I still have those sunglasses whereas before…I bought the Dollar General ones by the gross and lost them by the gross. I have never held on to anything in my life as long as I have these sunglasses.

(Walsh always teases me that they look like Elton John glasses with the bling decorations on the side…but every now and then a young person will give me a puzzled look and say “Cool glasses lady”…the highest compliment from a teenager or young adult.)

So every time you have seen me in sunglasses in photos…which is a lot… you will recognize the same glasses. Rarely I might change out for a day or two but then I always go back to them.

Monday morning I went to the church office to check…but everyone was gone…as I started to walk out another young man stopped me and asked if he could help me. I explained that I had left my sunglasses under my seat at the Easter Service the day before. He had a key to the sanctuary and said he knew where they would be placed temporarily in the foyer. Sure enough…they were sitting on a table by the back wall. I thanked him again for all the trouble and he assured me it was nothing and he was happy to do it.

I asked him what happened to lost and found items that were never claimed? He said they were given to charities/shelters in the hopes that someone might just need that exact item…and he concluded,“It is strange, but you know, it usually works out just that way. “A personal need is met.”

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So until tomorrow…Always look for “perfect” mistakes…it is just a guardian angel ‘taking from Peter to pay Paul.’ 🙂

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I talked about the simple beauty of a white daisy in a clear plain vase…well guess what Sam and Donna. One of the Stokes Aster Daisies (pure white) is starting to bloom with all the recent showers we have had. It is gorgeous!

The most beautiful pale yellow day lily has popped up and a couple of new additions to the garden to continue diversifying sizes, colors, and styles. Another Stokes Aster is just about to pop….will see if it is white or a different color. ( I love waiting for buds to bloom to find out a color…it is like listening to “Pop Goes the Weasel” while winding the Jack in the Box!)

Happy Wedding Day Prince Harry and Meghan! May 19, 2018