Thought for December 21

 History:

  • 1872: Phileas Fogg completes his trip in "Around the World in Eighty Days"
  • 1891: First basketball game using the Naismith rules
  • 1898: Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium
  • 1914: First feature length silent film comedy--"Tillie's Punctured Romans"  with Charlie Chaplin and Marie Dressler
  • 1929: First group hospital insurance plan offered--Dallas
  • 1941: The BBC airs the first play in a series by Dorothy Sayers about Jesus, "The Man Born to Be King." Some are offended that a human speaks the voice of God.
  • 1959: Tom Landry accepts coaching position with the Cowboys
  • 1968: Glenn Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" reaches #1
  • 1970: Supreme Court lowers voting age in federal election to 18
  • 1988: Pan Am 103 destroyed over Lockerbie Scotland killing 258
  • 1969: Vice President Quayle sends Christmas card with a misspelling
  • 1995: Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control
  • Born: Thomas Becket, Roger Williams, Benjamin Disraeli, Walter Hagan, Josh Gibson, Paul Winchell, Joe Paterno, Jane Fonda, Frank Zappa, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evert, Ray Romano, Florence Griffith Joyner, Kiefer Sutherland, Karrie Webb
  • Died: John Newton ["Amazing Grace"], James Parkinson, F Scott Fitzgerald, George Patton, Alfred Gross [walkie-talkie], Dick Enberg
Thought:
I hope you have seen the movie "I Heard the Bells" the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writing the carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Longfellow wrote some of the greatest American poetry: "Paul Revere's Ride," "Evangeline," "The Children's Hour," "A Psalm of Life," "Song of Hiawatha." He wrote a poem that you may not be familiar with called "The Cross of Snow." Longfellow's wife died in 1861 when her dress caught fire in their home. The "Cross of Snow" is a poem expressing his grief. 

In 1863, Longfellow's son, Charley, 17, ran away to join Lincoln's army. He fought at Chancellorsville but contracted typhoid fever and malaria and was sent home. In August of 1863 he rejoined his unit and was shot at the battle of New Hope Church Virginia. His spine was nicked and he was almost paralyzed. Longfellow went to his son in Washington and brought him home to Cambridge to recover. Sitting by his son's bedside on Christmas morning 1863, he penned this hymn.  Longfellow looked around at the war and grieved, war had drowned out the bells. In despair he bowed his head and said, "there is no peace on earth . . . for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men." But then he heard the bells remind him that God is not dead nor does He sleep--night gives way to day, because the Prince of Peace has come---Wrong shall fail, Right prevail with peace on earth good will to men.

Today take a look at this poem of confusion and despair transformed into a song of joy and peace by the Advent of our Lord. If Christmas somehow brings sad thoughts, listen to the bells---and await the trumpet. This Child will win the battle and there will be peace on earth. 

Blessings
Larry

 

             

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for July 19

History: 1553: Lady Jane Gray deposed after 9 days 1692: 5 people hung during Salem Witch Trials 1848: First women's rights convention -Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls NY 1910: Cy Young wins his 500th game 1941: US Army flying school at Tuskegee AL dedicated 1945: USS Cod saves 51 sailors from Dutch sub--only sub-to-sub rescue 1957: Firing of first rocket with nuclear warhead-Nevada 1984: Geraldine Ferraro is first major party female VP candidate 1996: Olympics open in Atlanta 2007: Madmen debuts 2018: Duck Boat sinks in Table Rock Lake killing 17 Born: Samuel Colt, Edgar Degas [painter], Lizzie Borden, Charles Mayo [Mayo Clinic], George McGovern, Al Haig, George Hamilton IV, Vikki Carr, Ilie Nastase, Stuart Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch,  Died: Syngman Rhee [President South Korea], Clyde Beatty [circus animal trainer], Mary Jo Kopechne [passenger with Ted Kennedy], Jack Warden, Frank McCourt [Angela's Ashes], James Garner, Garry Marshall
Read more

Thought for November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!  1664: Blaise Pascal is converted following a vision. He wrote the date and time of his conversion and said, "Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of philosophers and intellectuals. Certitude, certitude, joy, peace. The God of Jesus Christ." Laid the foundation for the law of probabilities; genius in hydrodynamics and hydrostatics developing Pascal's principle of pressure; taught the experience of God through the heart rather than reason; mathematician and philosopher. 1783: Annapolis Maryland becomes U.S. Capitol until June 1784 1863: Patent for making color photographs granted 1889: First jukebox debuts in Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco 1897: Pencil sharpener patented 1904: Summer Olympics in St. Louis close [1st Olymics in U.S.] 1921: President Harding signs an Act prohibiting doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes 1923: Cecil B. DeMille's first "The Ten Commandments" premiers
Read more

Thought for April 5, 2024

1722: Easter Island discovered 1792: First Presidential veto 1815: Mt. Tambora erupts. Largest eruption ever witnessed. Created year without summer in 1816--frost and snow in North America in June and July. Largest part of eruption on April 10th. Killed 10,000 in initial blast.  1906: Mt. Vesuvius erupts killing 100 1923: Firestone begins producing inflatable tires 1936: Tupelo almost completely destroyed by a tornado--216 die 1972: Baseball strike costs 86 games 2063: On "Star Trek", earth has its first contact with the Vulcan species Born: Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Lister, Booker T Washington, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Arthur Hailey. Gale Storm, Frank Gorshin, Colin Powell, Pharrell Williams Died: Robert Raikes [Sunday School], Douglas MacArthur, Howard Hughes, Abe Fortas, Sam Walton, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Charlton Heston, Honor Blackman Thought: Reading Daniel 1:5-7 this morning. Continuing with the thoughts about Nebuchadnezzar's plan. Having brough
Read more