Christmas Treasury, The Life of William Booth

A Christmas Treasury

A Christmas Treasury

Here are presented some of our favorite Christmas features from all time, collected from past issues.

The Life of William Booth



While women weep, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While little children go hungry, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,
While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,
I’ll fight-I’ll fight to the very end!”

– William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army

Christmas in America, 1783
[click to read]

The year is 1783 and the War for Independence has been won. General George Washington has one last promise to keep: to come home for Christmas. Please join in the celebration of Christmas in America 1783 on The Public Square®! Recorded before live audiences in three cities, this show features classic Christmas music and a compelling true story of faith, love and inspiration right from the front porch of Mount Vernon. Please join Dave Zanotti, Wayne Shepherd and an award winning team of musicians and guests on this year’s episode of Christmas In America on The Public Square®. (read more)

The Homecoming



The Bells of Saint Mary's



For Unto Us a Child is Born
Isaiah 9:6,7





Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Op. 71



A Beloved Christmas Story's Story
With Six Children to Feed, the Author Needed a Miracle


Frances Alexander's 1842 painting of the famous author.

The Year was 1843 and he needed a miracle. With six children to feed and a large house in London to maintain, his slipping sales as a writer were of great concern. His installment novel: Martin Chuzzlewit, was selling poorly, unlike earlier works like Nicholas Nickleby, which had given him some measure of success.
Christmas was coming as he bitterly confided to a friend that his checkbook was empty. Walking the streets, he came up with a 'Ghost of an Idea' and set to work. He published 6000 copies in time for Christmas distribution. They sold out, but because he had splurged on hand-coloured illustrations by John Leech he barely broke even. [1.] Yes, even in Nineteenth Century England, good illustration cost you something! [2.]

Fortunately the little work went on to be a classic. It reinvigorated the career of its creator. Today we still love A Christmas Carol and its author: Charles Dickens, not only as a writer, but as one who helped to bring about much needed social reforms in his day.

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Beloved Carol Inspired by a Broken Organ


The pipes of the Trinity Lutheran Church organ in Crimora.

Lynn [click to read] brings us the wonderful story of how one of our most beloved carols came to be written:

In 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. On December 23 they arrived at Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg where they were to re-enact the story of Christ's birth in the small Church of St. Nicholas.

Unfortunately, the St. Nicholas' church organ wasn't working and would not be repaired before Christmas. Because the church organ was out of commission, the actors presented their Christmas drama in a private home. That Christmas presentation of the events in the first chapters of Matthew and Luke put assistant pastor Josef Mohr in a meditative mood. Instead of walking straight to his house that night, Mohr took a longer way home. The longer path took him up over a hill overlooking the village.

From that hilltop, Mohr looked down on the peaceful snow-covered village. Reveling in majestic silence of the wintry night, Mohr gazed down at the glowing Christmas-card like scene. His thoughts about the Christmas play he had just seen made him remember a poem he had written a couple of years before. That poem was about the night when angels announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to shepherds on a hillside.

Mohr decided those words might make a good carol for his congregation the following evening at their Christmas eve service. The one problem was that he didn't have any music to which that poem could be sung. So, the next day Mohr went to see the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber. Gruber only had a few hours to come up with a melody which could be sung with a guitar. However, by that evening, Gruber had managed to compose a musical setting for the poem. It no longer mattered to Mohr and Gruber that their church organ was inoperable. They now had a Christmas carol that could be sung without that organ.

On Christmas Eve, the little Oberndorf congregation heard Gruber and Mohr sing their new composition to the accompaniment of Gruber's guitar.

Weeks later, well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher arrived in Oberndorf to fix the organ in St. Nicholas church. When Mauracher finished, he stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument. When Gruber sat down, his fingers began playing the simple melody he had written for Mohr's Christmas poem.

Deeply impressed, Mauracher took copies of the music and words of "Stille Nacht" back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers — the Rainers and the Strassers — heard it. Captivated by "Silent Night," both groups put the new song into their Christmas season repertoire.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

English translation:

Silent night! holy night!
All is calm, all is bright,
'Round yon virgin mother and Child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

The Strasser sisters spread the carol across northern Europe. In 1834, they performed "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and he then ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas eve.

Twenty years after "Silent Night" was written, the Rainers brought the song to the United States, singing it (in German) at the Alexander Hamilton Monument located outside New York City's Trinity Church.

In 1863, nearly fifty years after being first sung in German, "Silent Night" was translated into English (by either Jane Campbell or John Young). Eight years later, that English version made its way into print in Charles Hutchins' Sunday School Hymnal. Today the words of "Silent Night" are sung in more than 300 different languages around the world.

The English version we know today was written by the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, however the standard English version contains just three verses, whereas the German version contains six. (only verses 1, 6 and 2 from the original Joseph Mohr version are sung in English).

The Story of 'Joy to the World'
A Beloved Hymn Written in Celebration of Advent


Graphic by Kristina Elaine Greer, who writes: "I overlaid the entire picture from photos I took of the music in the most recent United Methodist Hymnal. I simply clipped out the music part and compiled them together then cut and pasted them to the template and changed the opacity."

A Short History of 'Joy to the World'
by Kristina Elaine Greer

Most people think of the wonderful hymn, “Joy to the World,” as Christmas Hymn proclaiming the joy of Christ’s birth, but there is a different history behind this marvelous song. The original words to “Joy to the World” by English hymn writer Isaac Watts were based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. According to Wikipedia “the song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship.” Isaac Watts originally wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return stated in the book of revelation, instead of as a song celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. This song was meant more for Advent than Christmas and in some hymnals today you will find it in the holiday concordance of the hymnal under Advent instead of Christmas (which is correct). Interestingly, we only sing the second half of Watts' lyrics when we sing this beloved hymn. The music of this song was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839. The melody is said to have been from an older melody, which was then believed to have originated from Handel, partially because of the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing...). This appears in the beloved orchestra opening and accompaniment of the “Comfort ye” from Handel's Messiah, the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses “Lift up your heads” and “Glory to G-d” from the same oratorio. Handel, however, did not compose the entire tune. In fact “Antioch” is the generally used name of the tune. As of the late 20th century, “Joy to the World” was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. Today we still enjoy it during the holiday seasons of Advent and Christmas time no matter the history it reminds us to be joyful that we have a Savior, who came to earth as a baby, lived among us, died for us, was raised again victorious, and is our Lord who will come again in glorious acclamation.

Unpacking The Twelve Days of Christmas
You Will Never Look at this Song the Same Way Again


"Partridge."

I always assumed the song: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" to be a simple frivolous song of celebration. Not so!, this song is instructive in basic truths of the Christian Faith! Here is the explanation by Father Edward Dowling:

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” celebrates the official Christmas season which starts liturgically on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later on the Feast of the Epiphany. “My true love” refers to God, “me” is the individual Catholic. The “twelve lords a leaping” are the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church as outlined in the Apostles Creed. The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the treachery of Judas. The “ten ladies dancing” are the Ten Commandments. The “nine drummers drumming” are the nine choirs of angels which in those days of class distinction were thought important. The “eight maids a milking” are the Eight Beatitudes. The “seven swans a swimming” are the Seven Sacraments (or the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit) [click to read]. The “six geese a laying” are the Six Commandments of the Church or the six days of creation. The “five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah which are generally considered the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament. The “four calling birds” are the Four Gospels. The “three French hens” are the Three Persons in God or the three gifts of the Wise Men. The “two turtle doves” represent the two natures in Jesus: human and divine or the two Testaments, Old and New. The “partridge” is the piece de resistance, Jesus himself, and the “pear tree” is the Cross."

Here is More Historical Background [click to read] from Father Dowling. h/t Kristina Elaine Greer G-d bless you all during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons!

Sherando Lake Island and Ice


The island in Sherando Lake. This photo is displayed in the Virginia Blood Services Waynesboro Facility.
Photo by Bob Kirchman

Christmas Treasury, The Life of William Booth

Volume XIX, Issue XX

A Christmas Treasury

Here are presented some of our favorite Christmas features from all time, collected from past issues.

The Life of William Booth



While women weep, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While little children go hungry, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,
I’ll fight
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,
While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,
I’ll fight-I’ll fight to the very end!”

– William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army

Christmas in America, 1783
[click to read]

The year is 1783 and the War for Independence has been won. General George Washington has one last promise to keep: to come home for Christmas. Please join in the celebration of Christmas in America 1783 on The Public Square®! Recorded before live audiences in three cities, this show features classic Christmas music and a compelling true story of faith, love and inspiration right from the front porch of Mount Vernon. Please join Dave Zanotti, Wayne Shepherd and an award winning team of musicians and guests on this year’s episode of Christmas In America on The Public Square®. (read more)

Leaving Your Life Imprint
[click to listen]

Kenny Mauck

Dr. James Dobson once said, "inheritance is something you leave to someone, while a legacy is something you instill in someone." On this broadcast, Dr. Tim Clinton looks at the importance of a godly heritage with author and therapist, Kenny Mauck. The two reflect on their own families' stories and how meaningful Christian lessons were passed down from one generation to the next. (read more)

The Homecoming



The Bells of Saint Mary's



For Unto Us a Child is Born
Isaiah 9:6,7





Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Op. 71



A Beloved Christmas Story's Story
With Six Children to Feed, the Author Needed a Miracle


Frances Alexander's 1842 painting of the famous author.

The Year was 1843 and he needed a miracle. With six children to feed and a large house in London to maintain, his slipping sales as a writer were of great concern. His installment novel: Martin Chuzzlewit, was selling poorly, unlike earlier works like Nicholas Nickleby, which had given him some measure of success.
Christmas was coming as he bitterly confided to a friend that his checkbook was empty. Walking the streets, he came up with a 'Ghost of an Idea' and set to work. He published 6000 copies in time for Christmas distribution. They sold out, but because he had splurged on hand-coloured illustrations by John Leech he barely broke even. [1.] Yes, even in Nineteenth Century England, good illustration cost you something! [2.]

Fortunately the little work went on to be a classic. It reinvigorated the career of its creator. Today we still love A Christmas Carol and its author: Charles Dickens, not only as a writer, but as one who helped to bring about much needed social reforms in his day.

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Beloved Carol Inspired by a Broken Organ


The pipes of the Trinity Lutheran Church organ in Crimora.

Lynn [click to read] brings us the wonderful story of how one of our most beloved carols came to be written:

In 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. On December 23 they arrived at Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg where they were to re-enact the story of Christ's birth in the small Church of St. Nicholas.

Unfortunately, the St. Nicholas' church organ wasn't working and would not be repaired before Christmas. Because the church organ was out of commission, the actors presented their Christmas drama in a private home. That Christmas presentation of the events in the first chapters of Matthew and Luke put assistant pastor Josef Mohr in a meditative mood. Instead of walking straight to his house that night, Mohr took a longer way home. The longer path took him up over a hill overlooking the village.

From that hilltop, Mohr looked down on the peaceful snow-covered village. Reveling in majestic silence of the wintry night, Mohr gazed down at the glowing Christmas-card like scene. His thoughts about the Christmas play he had just seen made him remember a poem he had written a couple of years before. That poem was about the night when angels announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to shepherds on a hillside.

Mohr decided those words might make a good carol for his congregation the following evening at their Christmas eve service. The one problem was that he didn't have any music to which that poem could be sung. So, the next day Mohr went to see the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber. Gruber only had a few hours to come up with a melody which could be sung with a guitar. However, by that evening, Gruber had managed to compose a musical setting for the poem. It no longer mattered to Mohr and Gruber that their church organ was inoperable. They now had a Christmas carol that could be sung without that organ.

On Christmas Eve, the little Oberndorf congregation heard Gruber and Mohr sing their new composition to the accompaniment of Gruber's guitar.

Weeks later, well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher arrived in Oberndorf to fix the organ in St. Nicholas church. When Mauracher finished, he stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument. When Gruber sat down, his fingers began playing the simple melody he had written for Mohr's Christmas poem.

Deeply impressed, Mauracher took copies of the music and words of "Stille Nacht" back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers — the Rainers and the Strassers — heard it. Captivated by "Silent Night," both groups put the new song into their Christmas season repertoire.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

English translation:

Silent night! holy night!
All is calm, all is bright,
'Round yon virgin mother and Child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

The Strasser sisters spread the carol across northern Europe. In 1834, they performed "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and he then ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas eve.

Twenty years after "Silent Night" was written, the Rainers brought the song to the United States, singing it (in German) at the Alexander Hamilton Monument located outside New York City's Trinity Church.

In 1863, nearly fifty years after being first sung in German, "Silent Night" was translated into English (by either Jane Campbell or John Young). Eight years later, that English version made its way into print in Charles Hutchins' Sunday School Hymnal. Today the words of "Silent Night" are sung in more than 300 different languages around the world.

The English version we know today was written by the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, however the standard English version contains just three verses, whereas the German version contains six. (only verses 1, 6 and 2 from the original Joseph Mohr version are sung in English).

The Story of 'Joy to the World'
A Beloved Hymn Written in Celebration of Advent


Graphic by Kristina Elaine Greer, who writes: "I overlaid the entire picture from photos I took of the music in the most recent United Methodist Hymnal. I simply clipped out the music part and compiled them together then cut and pasted them to the template and changed the opacity."

A Short History of 'Joy to the World'
by Kristina Elaine Greer

Most people think of the wonderful hymn, “Joy to the World,” as Christmas Hymn proclaiming the joy of Christ’s birth, but there is a different history behind this marvelous song. The original words to “Joy to the World” by English hymn writer Isaac Watts were based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. According to Wikipedia “the song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship.” Isaac Watts originally wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return stated in the book of revelation, instead of as a song celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. This song was meant more for Advent than Christmas and in some hymnals today you will find it in the holiday concordance of the hymnal under Advent instead of Christmas (which is correct). Interestingly, we only sing the second half of Watts' lyrics when we sing this beloved hymn. The music of this song was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839. The melody is said to have been from an older melody, which was then believed to have originated from Handel, partially because of the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing...). This appears in the beloved orchestra opening and accompaniment of the “Comfort ye” from Handel's Messiah, the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses “Lift up your heads” and “Glory to G-d” from the same oratorio. Handel, however, did not compose the entire tune. In fact “Antioch” is the generally used name of the tune. As of the late 20th century, “Joy to the World” was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. Today we still enjoy it during the holiday seasons of Advent and Christmas time no matter the history it reminds us to be joyful that we have a Savior, who came to earth as a baby, lived among us, died for us, was raised again victorious, and is our Lord who will come again in glorious acclamation.

Unpacking The Twelve Days of Christmas
You Will Never Look at this Song the Same Way Again


"Partridge."

I always assumed the song: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" to be a simple frivolous song of celebration. Not so!, this song is instructive in basic truths of the Christian Faith! Here is the explanation by Father Edward Dowling:

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” celebrates the official Christmas season which starts liturgically on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later on the Feast of the Epiphany. “My true love” refers to God, “me” is the individual Catholic. The “twelve lords a leaping” are the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church as outlined in the Apostles Creed. The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the treachery of Judas. The “ten ladies dancing” are the Ten Commandments. The “nine drummers drumming” are the nine choirs of angels which in those days of class distinction were thought important. The “eight maids a milking” are the Eight Beatitudes. The “seven swans a swimming” are the Seven Sacraments (or the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit) [click to read]. The “six geese a laying” are the Six Commandments of the Church or the six days of creation. The “five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah which are generally considered the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament. The “four calling birds” are the Four Gospels. The “three French hens” are the Three Persons in God or the three gifts of the Wise Men. The “two turtle doves” represent the two natures in Jesus: human and divine or the two Testaments, Old and New. The “partridge” is the piece de resistance, Jesus himself, and the “pear tree” is the Cross."

Here is More Historical Background [click to read] from Father Dowling. h/t Kristina Elaine Greer G-d bless you all during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons!

Sherando Lake Island and Ice


The island in Sherando Lake. This photo is displayed in the Virginia Blood Services Waynesboro Facility.
Photo by Bob Kirchman

THYME’s ‘Person of the Year’

This will be the last issue of THYME for this year and as the ‘other’ weekly news magazine has chosen their ‘Person of the Year,’ so have we. Our person of the year is probably not on your radar. She’s not sailing across the ocean in a $4,437,240.00[1.] racing yacht. She’s not accusing anyone of ‘stealing’ her future – in fact, she’s too busy building it. I’m talking about the young people who are my personal heroes. They don’t end up in magazine articles (except here), but they are out there every day making this world a better place. They are the young couple I know in the mountains of Virginia who pastor a church and do many creative things to bring the Gospel to their community. Two young women I know who mount their electric wheelchairs every day and create beauty and hope while fighting the effects of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. They are the young students in our art classes who hone their critical thinking skills along with their artistic ability. They are the young nursing student who travels to Guatemala to share her skills helping people in another part of the world and another young woman who is preparing to become an advocate for the aging – along with my most faithful young reader who lives in Kernersville, NC, a man who writes inventive computer programs. They are the young people who are building a bright new world.

Remembering a Special Day


Winter scene, St. John's United Methodist Church in Staunton, Virginia. The painting celebrates the wedding of Kristina Elaine and Jonathan Greer six years ago! Happy Anniversary!  
Painting by Bob Kirchman.

The Gifts of the Spirit, Astound the Age

 
Volume XIII, Issue XXII

The Gifts of the Spirit 

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: A spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, A spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD (piety), And his delight shall be the fear of the LORD."
-- Isaiah 11:2,3a

A young friend of mine has been unfolding the Catechism behind the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' and it has been both fascinating and instructive. The 'Partridge in a Pear Tree' being Jesus on the cross and so it goes, most of the imagery referring to numeric imagery very familiar to the modern Church.

Coming to yesterday's 'Seven Swans a Swimming,' two images were provided, one being the Seven Sacraments, with which most of us are familiar, but the other being the Seven Gifts of the Spirit. Most of us are familiar with the Fruits of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." listed in Galatians 5:22-23. 1 Corinthians 12 lists the Ministry Gifts of the Spirit, but the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are found in Isaiah 11:2 and 3.

They are listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: [1.]

Wisdom: It is the capacity to love spiritual things more than material ones;

Understanding: In understanding, we comprehend how we need to live as followers of Christ. A person with understanding is not confused by the conflicting messages in our culture about the right way to live. The gift of understanding perfects a person's speculative reason in the apprehension of truth. It is the gift whereby self-evident principles are known;

Counsel (right judgement): With the gift of counsel/right judgment, we know the difference between right and wrong, and we choose to do what is right. A person with right judgment avoids sin and lives out the values taught by Jesus;

Fortitude (courage): With the gift of fortitude/courage, we overcome our fear and are willing to take risks as a follower of Jesus Christ. A person with courage is willing to stand up for what is right in the sight of G-d, even if it means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or physical harm. The gift of courage allows people the firmness of mind that is required both in doing good and in enduring evil;

Knowledge: With the gift of knowledge, we understand the meaning of G-d. The gift of knowledge is more than an accumulation of facts, it also helps us to choose the right path through life;

Piety (reverence): With the gift of piety/reverence, we have a deep sense of respect for G-d and the Church. A person with reverence recognizes our total reliance on G-d and comes before G-d with humility, trust, and love. Piety is the gift whereby, at the Holy Spirit's instigation, we pay worship and duty to G-d as our Father, Aquinas writes;

Fear of the Lord (wonder and awe): With the gift of fear of the Lord/wonder and awe, we are aware of the glory and majesty of G-d. A person with wonder and awe knows that G-d is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love. This gift is described by Aquinas as a fear of separating oneself from G-d. He describes the gift as a "filial fear," like a child's fear of offending his father, rather than a "servile fear," that is, a fear of punishment. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

The source of the traditional names of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Septuagint and the Vulgate read “piety” for “fear of the Lord” in its first occurrence, thus listing seven gifts.


Detail from 'The Sower Prepares the Way' by Kristina Elaine Greer.

Astound the Age



Michel Dufrénoy's Guide to Our Past Century
By Bob Kirchman

Copyright © 2017, The Kirchman Studio, all rights reserved

Chapter Four

After the Wilhelm left the Paris Canal, it sailed briskly for six days to reach New York. Lucy and Michel were married by the captain and enjoyed their ‘homeymoon cruise’ to the new world. The Wilhelm was a smaller vessel than Leviathan IV and carried freight and passengers. The staterooms could be had for a bargain so the group traveled in style compared to steerage in the larger ships. Each cabin had an ample porthole and since there was no class distinction on a freighter, the group enjoyed full access to the deck for daytime recreation. The German working man demands good victuals, so the food was better too. After life in the catacombs it was refreshing to soak in light and sea air for even a few days. The crewmen were friendly and personable.

Richelot was happily surprised at the captain’s ample supply of Rhine wines. He had expected only beer. Here he discovered another irony. The captain had a very fine collection of music discs and played Motzart and other fine composers. Captain Zimmerman remarked to the old scholar: “Funny, but the fine things of the past have been spurned by the intelligentsia but we working stiffs have now embraced them as our own. In government schools they are taught to embrace discordant harmony but you will find that in places such as this, we educate our own children. They often find a taste for the good things quite on their own.” Indeed the mess room, if you would stoop to calling it that, featured some fine Romantic paintings from the likes of Frederic Church and the other Hudson River School painters. Between meals it served as a classroom for the crews’ children. If Leviathan IV was a ‘floating city,’ Wilhelm was in itself a floating community.

Indeed there was a sense of extended family here as wives and children sailed alongside their seafaring husbands, plying artisan trades that enriched their floating village. There were manufacturers of clothing, brewers, carpenters and leatherworkers. Families taught their own children and organized athletic games for them on deck.


1964 New York World's Fair Painting. Artist Unknown.

Chapter Five

All too soon they made landfall in New York City’s harbor. Here towered buildings taller even than those in Paris. The Parisians wandered the Manhattan streets in a sense of awe. A train was engaged to carry them to Long Island’s village of Flushing, where they could stay in accommodations built for the 1964 Word Exposition in Flushing Meadow Park. The fair was about to open and the hotels, fearing a lower attendance at first, offered very inexpensive lodging in an effort to cut their expected losses. That is how Michel and Lucy Dufrénoy found themselves at the Fair.

Joining themselves to the first-day crowds, the young couple entered the ‘world of the future’ presented by the fair. It differed from the great World’s Fairs of the turn of the Century in several ways. First of all, the buildings were no longer in the form of a white classical city, they were generally more utilitarian. Among them was a giant ferris wheel in the form of an automobile tyre that towered above the fairgoers. There was a giant umbrella, representing an insurance company. An enormous egg towering above a forest of metal trees housed an exhibit about modern calculating machines.

There were giant boxes on stilts. Elevated trains ran on a single rail suspended above the fairgrounds. Flying machines landed and took off from the top of a large ‘T’ shaped structure. In the center of it all towered a gigantic model of the earth made from steel panels and struts. The continents were solid and the oceans described only by the meridians, which formed the structure for the massive globe. For three days the French immigrants wandered about the fairgrounds, taking in the wonders of the world. They awaited their journey by train to Montréal in French America. From there they would set out for parts unknown.


1964 New York World's Fair Painting. Artist Unknown.


1964 New York World's Fair Painting. H. L. Klein.


1964 New York World's Fair Painting. Artist Unknown.



Chapter Six

The train made its way to Albany along the much painted Hudson River and the evening light on the water evoked those romantic images anew. From Albany, the next train made its way North to the customs house in Rouse’s Point near Lake Champlain. Then it was but a short journey further into Montréal. The travelers were disheartened to find that Vieux-Montréal, the old French center of the city, had been swallowed up in a sprawling modern metropolis much the same as modern Paris. In some regards it differed from New York only in that the language was different. There was no abundance of lodging here, however and the little group experienced their first tenement housing as they prepared to acquire land for their new settlement.

It seemed now that fortune had turned against the weary band as there was little property to be had in the rich farming lands. What remained was Northern muskeg and permafrost – land that did not promise any kind of existence past subsistence farming. Michel was charged with taking the search further out and found to his chagrin that the cost of anything that would support the colonists far outpaced their limited resources. Montréal offered little in the way of employment opportunities and the group squeaked by doing odd labor jobs as they came up.

Michel had kept correspondence with Jean Dumont, who informed him that he was headed to British Columbia to take a position with a highway builder. He would be presently traveling by airship to Montréal and then heading West by railway. “Would you like to come along, Michel, and seek opportunity for yourself where the world is expanding?”
(to be continued)

Epiphany Edition II

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume XI, Issue I

The Epiphany, It is Important

The traditional celebration of Christmas lasts for twelve days. It begins on Christmas Day with the celebration of the birth of the Redeemer and ends on Epiphany, which celebrates Christ's revelation to the gentiles. The MAGI, or the Wise Men came from Persia seeking a prophesied King. It is very likely that these were men who had studied the writings of Daniel and now saw the signs of the fulfillment of things he had written: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." -- Daniel 7: 27

The revelation of Christ to the Gentiles also fulfills a promise made to Abraham: "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." -- Genesis 22:16-18


"Partridge."

I always assumed the song: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" to be a simple frivolous song of celebration. Not so!, this song is instructive in basic truths of the Christian Faith! Here is the explanation by Father Edward Dowling:

The Twelve Days of Christmas” celebrates the official Christmas season which starts liturgically on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later on the Feast of the Epiphany. “My true love” refers to God, “me” is the individual Catholic. The “twelve lords a leaping” are the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church as outlined in the Apostles Creed. The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the treachery of Judas. The “ten ladies dancing” are the Ten Commandments. The “nine drummers drumming” are the nine choirs of angels which in those days of class distinction were thought important (or the Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit) [click to read]. The “eight maids a milking” are the Eight Beatitudes. The “seven swans a swimming” are the Seven Sacraments (or the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit) [click to read]. The “six geese a laying” are the Six Commandments of the Church or the six days of creation. The “five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah which are generally considered the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament. The “four calling birds” are the Four Gospels. The “three French hens” are the Three Persons in God or the three gifts of the Wise Men. The “two turtle doves” represent the two natures in Jesus: human and divine or the two Testaments, Old and New. The “partridge” is the piece de resistance, Jesus himself, and the “pear tree” is the Cross."

Here is More Historical Background [click to read] from Father Dowling. h/t Kristina Elaine Riley Greer

The 'Old New Land'

Friedrich spoke thickly. "Don't you think, Mr. Kingscourt, that people would be much better if they were better off?"

No! If I believed that, I should not be going off to my lonely island; I should have stayed in the midst of humanity. I should have told them how to better themselves. They needn't wait to begin. Not a thousand years, not a hundred, not even fifty. Today! With the ideas, knowledge, and facilities that humanity possesses on this 31st day of December, 1902, it could save itself. No philosopher's stone, no dirigible airship is needed. Everything needful for the making of a better world exists already. And do you know, man, who could show the way? You! You Jews! Just because you're so badly off. You've nothing to lose. You could make the experimental land for humanity. Over yonder, where we were, you could create a new commonwealth. On that ancient soil, Old-New-Land!"

Friedrich heard Kingscourt's words only in a dream. He had fallen asleep. And, dreaming, he sailed through the Red Sea to meet the future."

-- Theodor Herzl, Altneuland (1902) [click to read]

Inspired by Herzl's visionary novel, we present a visionary work for the Twenty-first Century: Pontifus [click to read]...