Gleaning: Biblical Wisdom for Our Modern World

Volume XVIII, Issue VI: Gleaning in Our Modern World

Gleaning: Biblical Wisdom for Today

Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 'Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.” – Leviticus 19:9-10

I love the Biblical account of Ruth and Boaz. If you are not familiar with it I urge you to read it. Many are touched by the love story therein but there is a deeper love story there that in a hasty reading we may indeed miss. Ruth is the daughter-in-law of Naomi, who though originally from Bethlehem, followed her husband and their two sons to Moab. The boys both married Moabite women. Naomi’s husband dies in Moab, as do both of her sons. She is left a widow and decides to return to her home country. She tells her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab. It is at this point that Ruth makes an amazing declaration: “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” – Ruth 1:16

Upon returning home, Ruth goes out to glean in order to provide for herself and Naomi. In doing so she meets Boaz, the Kinsman-redeemer. This too is a Biblical concept, where no one was left behind because of a prescribed system of responsibility for family. Boaz owns the field where Ruth goes to glean. He arrives at the harvest site and greets his workers: “THE LORD BLESS YOU!” How many of you with employees would so greet YOUR workers? I daresay you might be sued for ‘Religious Harassment,’ but really, how many people would be blessed to know that sentiment from an employer? Really, I think we could stand a lot more of it. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott remembers his younger days, where his manager at Chick Fil A took him under his wing and helped him become confident through mentorship.

How many of you are investing in the lives of young people? We entrust the institution now with the job of preparing them for their futures, but now, with youths out of the institution, do you not see the great opportunity before us? Those of us with a heart for young people; Now is our time! I think of George Westinghouse, inventor of the railroad airbrake. Indeed we remember his contributions to transportation and electric power, but do we remember how the ‘Gentle Genius’ nurtured his colleagues? Westinghouse had been a foot soldier in the Civil War. He never forgot his simple roots and poured himself into the workers around him. The reason his inventiveness did not result in him having more patents than his rival Thomas Edison is simple. While Edison took all of his patents in his own name, Westinghouse was big on making sure his engineers were recognized by having their names on the things they created. Somehow that seems to me not all that different from leaving grain in the corners of your field.

And so we find Boaz leaving extra for Ruth to ‘find,’ even instructing his men to purposefully do so. Naomi notices this kindness. The story has a very happy and amazing ending as Ruth will become part of the family tree that will become the royal line of Israel!

The great stories are born in the worst times. Surely our day shall see such tales. We need to look beyond the present crisis to a time of promise fulfilled. Most importantly, stories like that of Ruth and Boaz give the God-fearer insight into the nature of the Divine. Truly He cares for His people. Let us extend that love to our fellows and see what He might do.



George Westinghouse
American Innovator


George Westinghouse, American Innovator.

The qualities of George Westinghouse which, it seems to me, gave him the supreme quality of genius, were the qualities of imagination, faith, and courage. We know many men of great mental vigor; we know many men of strong character. Those qualities are, of course, the background of any successful career, but I am sure none of us has ever known a man who combined the qualities of faith, imagination, and courage as they were combined in George Westinghouse.” – Paul D. Cravath

We need more heroes like George Westinghouse. In our day the development of great works and human decency are often (mistakenly) considered mutually exclusive. Westinghouse was a brilliant man, an innovator, and a captain of industry. He was worth millions of dollars but never forgot his humble beginnings. Westinghouse as a youth was one you would have not thought likely to succeed. School bored him and he preferred working in his father’s shops where he eventually found himself working at a very young age. Most of us remember that he invented air brakes for trains, but few remember that when he built his great air brake factory outside of Pittsburgh, he built beautiful houses for his workers and set up a monthly payment plan so that they could buy them. He even insured the houses so that if a family were to lose their breadwinner, they would not lose their home.

While other inventors like Thomas Edison accumulated many patents based on the work of their employees, Westinghouse assembled around him the best and brightest he could find and insisted that they receive attribution for their own patents. It is said that he would have well over a thousand patents had he registered them in his own name. His brilliant engineers were not all men either. Because of his generous attribution policy we know that he had in his employ one Bertha Lamme, Nineteenth Century electrical engineer.

Westinghouse went on to develop Alternating Current electrical generation capability, demonstrating it at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. He continued to pioneer improvements in railway equipment including electric locomotives and sophisticated block control systems which enhanced railroad safety greatly. He was inspired by Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. He looked to Tesla’s work as he sought to make Alternating Current practical for powering industry. In his lifetime Westinghouse created over forty different companies and made possible many of the appliances we take for granted in our homes today.

Westinghouse practiced Christian principles in his management style though he firmly believed in the freedom of his workers. He chose to live his beliefs in example rather than by preaching. He was a modest and temperate man, always devoted to his wife Marguerite Erskine Westinghouse. This quote says volumes about the man: “If someday they say of me that in my work I have contributed something to the welfare and happiness of my fellow man, I shall be satisfied.”



If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Today we join with many churches praying for an end to the Corona Virus. We pray for reconciliation and healing for our land.

Narnia Painting, Through the Wardrobe, Psalm 91

Volume XVIII, Issue V: Narnia Painting by Kristina Elaine Greer

Through the Wardrobe!
Capturing the Magic of Childhood Adventure


A new painting by Kristina Elaine Greer captures the magic of a journey to Narnia!

Narnia was born in troubled times. As the Nazis bombed London and children were being evacuated to the countryside, two girls came to stay with “the professor” C. S. Lewis at ‘The Kilns.’ One day Lewis found one of the girls playing in a wardrobe and the inspiration was planted. Lewis would weave his own journey to faith into the stories of this magical world, inspiring generations to follow. During the great war he would produce a series of talks for the BBC about faith that gave hope and comfort to a people besieged. Later those talks would become the basis for his book: Mere Christianity. This work, compiled by a layman, is considered one of the great works of Christian Apologetics. Now Kristina Elaine Greer, in a new painting of Narnia, brings the wonder of this world to a new generation!


Aslan!


























Can you find a reference to each of the Narnia Chronicles in the painting?

Hope and Promise for Our Troubled Times


Doves. Detail of a Mural by Kristina Elaine Greer and Bob Kirchman

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my G-d; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 
– PSALM 91

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Chicago's 1893 White City, A Future Vision

Volume XVIII, Issue IV: The White City Vision

Augusta County Courthouse
An Argument for Well-Crafted Classicism
Photos by Bob Kirchman




















Standing the test of time, the Augusta County Courthouse was built to this form in 1901...

The Augusta County Courthouse is a two-story, red brick, public building in Staunton, Virginia. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was designed by T.J. Collins, and construction ended in the Autumn of 1901. It is located in the Beverley Historic District. It is the fifth court house constructed on the site, the first having been a log building constructed in 1755. At the time the present edifice was built, the ‘City Beautiful’ Movement put forth by Daniel Burnham and other prominent architects greatly influenced civic architecture of that time. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations. Advocates of the philosophy believed that such beautification could promote a harmonious social order that would increase the quality of life, while critics would complain that the movement was overly concerned with aesthetics at the expense of social reform. The work of the late Roger Scruton and Leon Krier continues in that tradition.

Certainly the Classical courthouse makes a strong argument for traditional style as a civic architecture. Plans created for a relocated and much expanded Augusta County Courthouse proposed for the future added Classical elements to a decidedly modern building. The resulting design – generated by computer – perhaps illustrates the folly of legislating architectural style. Good design does indeed create spaces that lift the human experience, but such design often defies codification. Indeed, there are great Modernist buildings and poorly thought traditional ones. This is particularly true where the designer lacks a sense of appropriate proportions. It must be noted here that there is always a healthy popular support for traditional style and government should acknowledge that. Architectural review boards, as a whole however, tend to discourage healthy innovation.






...compared with the District Courts Building, built in the late Twentieth Century.


In 2016 Moseley Architects proposed a replacement courthouse to be constructed in Verona. Classical detail is added to what is essentially a modern building mass.

When the Future Came to Lake Michigan


In the Nineteenth Century, a vision for future America rose on the shore of Lake Michigan.

A Classical Foundation for America


Dr. William Thornton's original design for the United States Capitol.

Classical Revivals, Past and Present 

When Dr. William Thornton created the original drawings for the United States Capitol, he drew on classical forms. A new nation built her civic buildings in the style of the great ancient civilizations. White columned and stately, they rose out of the swamps of the Potomac River. Thomas Jefferson raised a replica of the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple in Nimes, France; on a hill overlooking the James River as a Capitol for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Yes, Classical Architecture indeed defined the style for America’s first civic edifices – a departure from the Georgian Style so often associated with the Colonial period.

Architects like Benjamin Henry Latrobe continued the tradition. Many fine works were built with great optimism in those early days. As our country grew Westward, a hasty hodgepodge grew up as the railroads pushed across the land. Speculators laid out sprawling Chicago in grids as far as the eye could see. It was sprawling, intimidating and unhealthy. The Nineteenth Century was a period of unparalleled growth, but there was need again for a vision to uplift that growth. In 1851 London held what is considered to be the first World’s Fair. Wonders were shown in an immense building called the Crystal Palace. Inspiration and innovation were to be found their by the many people who visited.

As the Nineteenth Century came to its end, Paris held the 1889 Exposition Universal with its grand halls and the great Eiffel Tower. Showcasing innovation and invention, the fair presented a vision for the future. The 300th anniversary of Columbus’s ‘discovery’ of the ‘New World’ presented an opportunity for America to host such a fair. Congress passed a motion for it and then the competition began for which city should play host to it. Philadelphia seemed a logical choice, but New York was the bustling port – America’s gateway to the world (as well as her largest city). Surely New York should be the site.

But out on the shores of Lake Michigan, stretching into the prairie, stood America’s SECOND largest city. Chicago was rapidly becoming the hub of American commerce. Chicago began in earnest to compete for the fair. Popular Mayor Carter Harrison Sr., a crafty political force, worked to bring the fair to Chicago. Honor bound to create something rivaling Paris, the city turned to Architects John Welborn Root, Daniel Burnham and Charles Atwood to design a grand vision of what an American metropolis should be. Frederick Law Olmsted, the creator of New York’s Central Park, was coerced into creating a landscaped site plan. The result was a grand campus with lakes, canals, a wooded island and surrounding those water features would stand a Classical world with colonnades and monumental fountains.

Time was not on the builders’ side, however. There was not time to build the buildings out of carved stone in the traditional manner. Instead, the builders would build steel and wooden frames covered with wood lath. Plaster would be applied to the lath (this was called ‘staff).’ This allowed the buildings to go up fast, but assured they would be temporary. Spray painting was invented to allow the ‘white’ coating that protected the plaster to go on in a timely manner. Hand painting would have been impossible in the time allotted. As it was, the fair opened for a one season run in 1893, not 1892.

Special rail lines were built to serve the fair. Visitors detraining at the lakefront would step into a surreal vision of a ‘Celestial City’ White edifices towering over reflecting pools would inspire the design of American civic architecture well into the Twentieth Century. Frank Baum saw the fair and it inspired his ‘OZ,’ also a white city, but one had to view it through green sunglasses! Walt Disney’s father worked building the fair buildings. But it was a mirage. Only one fair building was solid construction – the Palace of Fine Arts. Since it would hold treasures from around the world, the insurers demanded real masonry construction. It is the only fair building that remains today.


The Palace of Fine Arts, today the Museum of Science and Industry.

A Day at the Fair in 1893


The Palace of Fine Arts.


Aerial view of the fair showing the design of Frederick Law Olmstead for the site.




The Peristyle.




The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. With a height of 80.4 metres (264 ft) it was the tallest attraction at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, where it opened to the public on June 21, 1893.


Great exhibition buildings surrounding the canals...


...in a landscape created by Frederick Law Olmstead. Here is the Illinois State Pavilion.




The Liberty Bell at the World's Fair.


“Thomas Moran, a follower of the British painter J. M. W. Turner, was drawn to dramatic natural features in places such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. In this view of the lagoon and central buildings constructed for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893—an extravagant, nationalistic salute to the westward advance of “civilization”—Moran bathed the scene in the glowing colors of a vivid sunset and violet shadows that might have seemed extreme if rendered in oils.” – The Brooklyn Museum