Grand Illumination at the Château de la Motte Husson (Model)
Château de la Motte Husson Grand Illumination
Yes, we built a model of the wonderful Château de la Motte Husson [click to visit] from the TV show. It started as a multigenerational model-making mentorship and ended up as part of our Christmas decor. Things got even more interesting when a friend of mine said that she used to make models just like it of her set designs. That inspired us to create the grand illumination below!
Grand Illumination at the Château de la Motte Husson (Model)
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!”
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
When I first saw the work of Alexey Kljatov, I was amazed. He takes these stunning images with a simple point and shoot camera rigged with an old macro lens and employing skillful manipulation of lighting. Snowflakes landing on his Moscow window reveal their full wonder and individual beauty through his sublime images. Mr. Kljatov graciously allowed THYME to share his amazing work. You can see more of his photography Here [click to view]. Now you can buy beautiful art prints of his work.
Just imagine the swirling dance of these beautiful shapes in a snowstorm!
Glimpses into a World Unseen Act II
The electron microscope further reveals amazing patterns.
Vertical section of the human dna.
Evidence of Divine Design, Great and Small "The Heavens Declare the Glory of G-d; The Skies Proclaim the Work of His Hands." -- Psalm 19:1
Moth wing pattern.
I saw this little creature outside my studio one morning. It got me reflecting on the creative wonder, both large and small, that surround us.
M 51 Spiral Galaxy, NASA photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Detail of the 'X Structure' in M 51, NASA photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The artist is amazed. So much beauty and wonder in the very large cosmos and in the very small things as well! Can a G-d who spins galaxies into being be concerned with things small and personal? Such order and grace in the extreme scales of our world, yet often what we see before us is chaotic and makes no sense.
That is why we if you had stepped into that Bethlehem stable many years ago, you would have not necessarily seen beauty and redemption. The smells of animals and the pain of labor and delivery would have overwhelmed contemplation. Yet Christians around the world will contemplate the wonder of that night; for what happened there ultimately made its mark on human history.
Creche at the National Cathedral
A Particularly Beautiful Representation of the Nativity
Photo by Kristina Elaine Greer.
University of Virginia Chapel A Gothic Chapel amidst Jefferson's Classical Village
This is my painting of University Chapel. When Jefferson created his academic village it did not have a place of worship. In the late Nineteenth Century members of the Charlottesville community raised the money to build this gothic revival chapel designed by Charles Emmet Cassell of Baltimore. The cornerstone was set in 1885, and the completed chapel was dedicated in 1889. The chapel marks a sharp departure from Jefferson's classical forms. Painting by Bob Kirchman.
Forty years ago, I stood in this fine Gothic building as I married the love of my life. Thus this historic building is also a part of the story of our own family. It is a story that includes a hike in a rainstorm on Stone Mountain in Georgia and has continued for well over three decades!
One of the greatest challenges to our Faith is our forgetfulness. Scripture reminds us how the people were instructed to remember the great things G-d had done for them. G-d separated the Jordan, as He had the Red Sea, for the people to walk across and gave them the following command:
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your G-d into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day." -- Joshua 4:1-9
Virginia Magazine, the alumni publication of the University of Virginia says of its recent survey of generations of grads: “We struck a nerve. On our list of 18 topics, openness to conservative ideas ranked as the No. 1 area where UVA needs to do more, though that wasn’t the prevailing view on the subject. Consistent with other survey patterns, it is of greater concern among the older classes than the younger: An average 55 percent across the class years 1970 to 1990 want UVA to be more hospitable to ideas on the right—but as many as 32 percent of the 1995 to 2020 cohort agreed with them. It made for an average of 42 percent saying UVA tilts too far left.”[1.] In their own words, the academy admits to a bias that many of us have known all along. Also telling is the decline in the esteeming of Thomas Jefferson, who founded the school as well as our Republic. The reason they give is “better” scholarship of our founding father. But if you studied Jefferson at a place like Hillsdale College in Michigan you might have a totally different opinion. You see, recent forays into history are more concerned with pointing out the flaws of our founders. That would be fine, “all have sinned and fallen short…” but ‘historians’ like Howard Zinn and the writers of the 1619 Project are all too ready to discard the brilliance of Jefferson’s recasting of the ideals of John Locke. You see, the new intellectuals reject the notion of absolute truth – truth that might inform men of clay to loftier ideals. The problem is that they still see the sin, and THAT is their own “absolute truth.”
For them there is no redemption short of reconstructing society as it exists. Indeed, you could overlay the decline of Jefferson with some societal influences and find clarity. Let’s begin with Saul D. Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals,” published in 1971. Alinsky begins with this thought: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins— or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom —Lucifer.” It means little to Alinsky that that world is Hell, and that so many Marxist experiments have resulted in Hell on earth for their inhabitants, we must rebel. Forgetting the amazing principles of freedom espoused by our founders, young people were encouraged to rebel against the system.
Lucifer had to love the effects of moral relativism and the youth culture’s rejection of faith. Howard Zinn published his “History of the American People” in 1980 and though the era of Ronald Reagan bolstered Conservatism, Zinn’s book became a standard text for the academy. ‘Mainstream’ acceptance of works like the 1619 Project, written in 2019, further diminished academia’s opinion of men like Jefferson. Sally Hemming has little or nothing to do with it at all. In fact, the wonderful truth that flawed men can be inspired to lofty ideals is to be celebrated. That is the challenge to which the academy should strive to rise to.
The academy likes to point out that their “better” narrative on our founding father is why he is less revered. I would have to agree that the emphasis on our failings and the diminishing sense of wonder at the nation we have inherited play large in this. The survey also tells us that those class sizes in the beginning of the period tracked were smaller. Indeed, the academy has marketed itself well and enrollment is much larger. Still, I read in City Journal that the average 25 year old in 1964 was highly likely to be a veteran going to school on GI Bill. He was married with possibly one child. His wife worked to make ends meet. They might have lived in married student housing. Oh, there might have been another child on the way. Historian Ed Hendricks used to tell a very funny story about his graduate student days at UVA. Married student housing was literally right by the railroad tracks. When the Southern Railway increased its nighttime freight schedule, the ensuing use of train horns was responsible for a bit of a population explosion as awakened students and spouses – well – couldn’t get back to sleep. Dr. Hendricks was also quite a scholar of the Reynolds family (mentioned last week).
Fast-forward to this decade. The average 25 year old male lives a different life from his 1960s counterpart. He’s not married. If he’s not still living at home, he’s living in an apartment with three other guys. If he’s not beginning a career, he’s probably working in a stopgap job of some kind. He probably has discovered that not all college degrees are equal when it comes to getting a job. Whereas his 1960s counterpart could have skipped college and worked in industry, his choices are a bit more limited.
The 25 year old from just the decade before may have actually stared Communism in the face in Korea. I am pretty sure he wanted no part in any Socialist Utopia. In the sixties, the radicals began to attack American values. By the 1970s and 80s, they were teaching in the academy. They were also entering professions like journalism in droves. When asked why they went into journalism, the answer was usually “to make a difference,” not “to accurately report the news.” Entertainment also carried the message. The patriotism of a Jimmy Stewart is a rare thing today. I remember when he played band leader Glenn Miller in a movie. Those days are log gone.
Finally, we live in an age where C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man has been realized. Objective truth, though it may be found historically in all cultures, has been cast aside. Everything is supposedly subjective – my opinion, your opinion – all are supposedly equally valid. But they’re NOT. DIVERSITY and INCLUSION are the new ‘objective truth,’ you might surmise from the state of the academy today. Your deeply held religious views are trumped by these standards. In fact, when Mrs. Clinton said that “you are free to practice your religion,” it is clear that she meant “keep it in the church building.” Like so many of her generation, she set out to “make a difference” and was seduced by the rhetoric of Saul Alinsky. Whereas Alinsky was ready to violently tear down the established world, Mrs. Clinton felt the system could be ‘changed from within,’ so she turned down an offer to work with Alynsky after college, though she admired him, and went to law school instead.
From within or from without, and often in the name of ‘righting injustice,’ the American system was under attack. But is the American system really the problem? I have a friend – more like a son to me who came here from Rwanda. He LOVES America. He’s lived in or visited many places in the world and he’s quick to tell you that he’s glad he’s here. There are many more like him. America, with all if her problems, has created something special. Our freedoms our protected from the government, unlike in so many parts of the world where the state tells you what you can and can’t do. Our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, written by men who were quite human, bears the stamp of Divine inspiration – if one will only assent to the reality of such inspiration.
Learn the significance of American citizenship and the threats it faces today. Citizenship is rare in human history but essential to free government. Today, the constitutional rule of citizens in America is threatened by a new form of government, unaccountable to the people, in which power is held by a ruling class that seeks to transform our society.
In this eight-lecture course, students will examine the origins and history of citizenship in the West and the grave challenges American citizenship faces today. Topics covered in this course include: the erosion of the middle class, the disappearance of sovereign borders, the rise of tribalism, the growth of the deep state, the modern assaults on the Constitution, and the emergence of a new form of global government.
Join the thousands of citizens committed to learning how to defend liberty in America by enrolling in this free online course, "American Citizenship and Its Decline," today! (read more)
In what has to go down as the quickest cancel in (and of) “cancel culture,” the decision to rename a venerable campus building itself was cancelled just nineteen days after it was announced.
The Encyclopedia of North Carolina writes of Washington Manly Wingate“Washington Manly Wingate, Baptist minister and college president, was born in Darlington, S.C., the son of William and Isabella Blackwell Wingate. After receiving an A.B. degree from Wake Forest College in 1849, Wingate continued his education at Furman Theological Institution from 1849 to 1851. He was ordained a Baptist minister on 3 Mar. 1852 by the Darlington, S.C., Baptist Church while pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and assistant pastor at Darlington. In October 1852, at age twenty-four, he was elected agent of Wake Forest College to raise a $50,000 endowment, a task he completed in 1857. Wingate was elected both professor of moral and intellectual philosophy and rhetoric and president pro tempore of Wake Forest in June 1853. He served as acting president from 1854 to 1856 and as president from 1856 to 1879. Under his guidance the college grew steadily until the Civil War, when it was forced to close. Its buildings were used as a hospital, and its financial security was invested in Confederate States bonds. During the war Wingate preached as an evangelist to the soldiers, was associate editor of the Biblical Recorder, and from 1862 to 1866 served as pastor of Baptist churches in Franklinton, Oxford, and Wake Forest. After the conflict Wake Forest College reopened, and Wingate began his second term as president in 1866. Faced with the problems of finance, he sent James S. Purefoy to secure endowments from Northern Baptists. The James W. Denmark loan fund was established, a new building was completed, and Wingate selected an excellent faculty. Though a strict disciplinarian, he was aware of the needs of the students; one biographer wrote, "He was so bright and cheerful and lovable." Wingate was an able preacher and speaker and presented the cause of Wake Forest College at many association and convention meetings. He married Mary E. Webb of Bertie County in December 1850. They had seven children: Alice (Mrs. Needham Yancey Gulley), Lizzie (Mrs. W. J. Simmons), WalterBlackwell, William Jonathan, Belle (Mrs. Richard Battle), Sallie (Mrs. M. H. P. Clark), and Ruth (Mrs. Enoch Walter Sikes). Wingate received an honorary D.D. degree from Columbian College (now George Washington University), Washington, D.C., in 1865 and from The University of North Carolina in 1871. He served as the first pastor of the Selma Baptist Church from 1872 to 1873. His only published work was a tract printed for soldiers entitled I Have Brought My Little Brother Back (1862?). For fifteen years prior to his death, Wingate was aware of a heart condition. It finally proved fatal and he died of a heart attack. His funeral, conducted in the Wake Forest Baptist Church on 1 Mar. 1879 by William Bailey Royall, was attended by so many friends that a special train had to be chartered. He was buried at Wake Forest.”
Wingate Hall, home of the Wake Forest Divinity School was named for him – that is until recently when the university’s ‘Renaming Committee’ learned a few disturbing facts about this great leader and benefactor of the school. You see, Wingate was also an outspoken proponent of the institution of slavery. During his tenure as president, the university received a rather unusual gift of property – on May 7, 1860 then president Wingate sold the property to help the struggling institution’s finances. The property happened to be sixteen slaves.
The renaming committee immediately said the name of the building (Wingate Hall) should be changed. Their recommended change: “May 7, 1860 Hall,” that being the date of the infamous selling of people to fund the college. University president Nathan Hatch made a public announcement of the change. The problem is that it was a “really dumb idea” in the words of Jennifer Kabbany, writing in “The College Fix.” [1.]
If alumni were offended by the newly revealed history of the college’s fourth president, they were in no way happy with the building being renamed “May 7, 1860 Hall.” The commemoration of a slave auction was even more offensive than the name of some old guy on a building. Nineteen days after the renaming was announced, another announcement was made rescinding the change. It’s not that easy being ‘Woke.’
The story was even picked up by the UK Guardian [2.] and ‘jumped the pond.’ But there is a lesson to be learned here. It is perhaps one best illustrated by another university’s shamed benefactor, football coach Joe Paterno. After a scandal with one of his assistants, a statue of Paterno was removed from the University of Pennsylvania campus and Paterno was stripped of his (largely titular) head coach position.
Workers remove the statue of legendary coach Joe Paterno.
We all have things we’ve done in our past for which we’re grateful that the internet wasn’t invented yet.”
I mention Paterno because he was a man of stature who led a great program for many years. Largely because of that he still was in a largely honorary position as ‘Head Coach’ though it was obvious that other people largely ran the program. In hindsight, he probably should have taken retirement and a skybox at the games. But as a ‘living legend’ he was on the sidelines, and when a dark scandal revealed itself about the program, well, he WAS the head coach, after all. He had to take the blame and the shame.
Which brings me to my point, no leader is without sin. Look at the Bible. When it describes Israel’s leaders in particular, it is for mature audiences. “All have sinned an fallen short of the Glory of God.” We all sin, we all need Christ’s Redemption – all of us. It’s probably a dangerous thing to have one’s name engraved in the frieze of a great building. “All have sinned…” We all have things we’ve done in our past for which we’re grateful that the internet wasn’t invented yet.
Walking about the campus of Wake Forest, one sees many buildings named for members of the R. J. Reynolds family – a reminder that another vice, TOBACCO, helped to fund the college in the 1950’s. The cigarette factory funded higher education and perhaps is responsible for thousands of cases of lung cancer. The family’s history at Reynolda house is a study in itself. Yes, it is colorful. [3, 4.]
Most of us remember the life of Billy Graham, a man who’s life, like so few others, was lived in the integrity of his calling. So many great leaders in the Faith have fallen, and the question is often asked if their name should be removed from the ministry. The question is a good one. Men who have done great good, but have fallen greatly; what to do with them? Again, the life of Billy Graham is a good place to start. Called to preach the Gospel, he knew the calling involved a lot of travel. He was not one to think himself above temptation or scandal, however. He NEVER traveled alone. He had people around him watching his spiritual backside.
I knew a lady who knew the Graham family personally. She told me that ‘Uncle Billy’ (that’s what she called him) NEVER went into a hotel room alone. [5.] He NEVER went in first. His trusted accountability and security men went in first. He was concerned about two things: One was the obvious danger that as a public figure there could be lurking a trap, such as a scantily clad female and a photographer, wanting to ‘get’ a story. But Graham, the man who brought the news of Divine Redemption to so may, was well aware of his own ability to fall, and he guarded himself well.
Graham was one of the first evangelists to integrate his crusades in that era. In 1953 he held his first integrated crusade in Chattanooga, Tennessee. [6.] He refused to do separate crusades (or have separate sections) for different races, and that got him in some disputes with others in ministry. I mention that simply to underscore the fact that others engaged in Graham’s passion for lost humanity also did great work, though they lacked Graham’s coming to a deeper understanding of IMAGO DEI. So what is history to do? I believe that the most honest telling, warts and all, is far better that erasure.
The "Quickest Cancel in Cancel Culture:" The renaming of Wingate Hall.
So what is history to do? I believe that the most honest telling, warts and all, is far better that erasure.”
James Ralph Scales’ Movie Moment
James Ralph Scales was president of Wake Forest University from 1967 to 1983. He led that institution through the turbulent decade of the 1970s. He was a charming, eloquent man, and a member of the Cherokee Nation. His warm sense of humor no doubt helped him speak to the issues of the day. Few people will remember his brief career in the movies – a cameo appearance in a film called “Somebody Moved My Mountain.”
Scales was friends with Joseph Wallace King, the artist in residence at Reynolda Village, just off campus. It was part of the R. J. Reynolds estate from which the campus was carved in the 1950s. King was an interesting fellow in his own right. As a child he’d wanted to be a trapeze artist in the circus. That dream was not to be. In his biography it says: “Due to an accident and medical negligence Joe lost his left arm at the tender age of 11. With his dreams of being a tightrope walker vanquished, he began to pursue another great interest, drawing and painting. He was hired by Carolina Theatre in Winston-Salem and was making $22.00 a week. That was pretty good money in 1929. He remembered that his teachers at Reynolds were making $20.00 a week. These were depression years and times were hard for everybody.
It was during these years that Joe married his high school sweetheart and model, Earline Heath. She too, was an art student. They moved to Washington. D.C. where they felt there would be more opportunities for them. Here Joe worked as a window dresser for Hecht and Kann’s Department stores. After some years he opened a small shop of his own and was hired back by both these stores to do freelance work. While living in Washington he was able to attend Catholic University and The Corcoran Institute. Paying the bills meant that his studies were put on hold several times according to him.
He was a restless soul and kept trying to find his niche in this world. Aside from the day jobs of window dressing and commercial art work he entertained in clubs and theatres at night as a ventriloquist with his little dummy “Brandywine”. An Audition with Paul Whiteman gave him courage to pursue his love of the stage. He was hired by Whiteman and began traveling as an act between performances of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
Occasionally, he would get a commission to paint a portrait which would help out a bit and eventually, it was his portrait painting which brought him back to Winston-Salem where he had received several commissions and figured that it was time to leave Washington.
Returning to Winston-Salem was the right choice. Soon he was making a living as a portrait painter and through his connections was able to travel abroad and work on developing a style of painting all his own. He had his eye on the blacksmith shop on the Reynolds Estate and managed to convince Charlie Babcock that it would make a better artist’s studio than blacksmith shop. He remembered that they were still shoeing horses on Saturdays when he took over the blacksmith shop and began to transform it into a studio.
Charles Babcockwas married to Mary Reynolds, the daughter of tobacco tycoon R.J. Reynolds and they lived in the Reynolds home called Reynolda. Charlie took a special interest in Joe and his career and made certain that he met the right people. Charlie also financed a trip to Italy under the guise of chaperone for his daughter, Betsy.
Joe was able to see first hand the paintings of the great masters and he began working feverishly to develop his own style.”
Joe had another dream. He wanted to buy a mountain near Winston-Salem and build a studio there. The owner, however, refused to sell. She said, “I don't want to sell it because I always want to feel that my mountain is there,” King said in a 1975 interview. “I wouldn't have moved her mountain.” So, King was never able to build his ‘Olana,’ but the experience inspired his 1972 project where he ventured into cinema.
The film has to be autobiographical, as it deals with dashed dreams and disappointment. While some pretty good performances are put in by Chris Coan and Zan Dula, who went to the North Carolina School of the Arts, most of the cast was – well – King’s vast group of friends! James Ralph Scales was in it as was North Carolina State Senator
Ham Horton, who played a deputy sheriff. The character of Rick Laytham is a thinly veiled portrayal of Zach Reynolds, heir to the tobacco fortune. In a rather slapstick chase scene, Laytham acts out Zach’s passion for cars, airplanes, and motorcycles. I still want to know how King convinced the North Carolina Department of Highways to allow a scene where Laytham flies (actually taxis) a Pitts airplane under a bridge on U.S. 52 near Pilot Mountain.
By casting everyone he knew in Winston-Salem, King unwittingly created the highest grossing film in a week in North Carolina as everybody came to see someone they knew in their ‘fifteen minutes.’ People came over and over again. This was the era before there were DVDs and when the film opened at the Winston Theater, they lined up for it. Ham Horton says “I remember that virtually everybody in Winston-Salem was snuck in there. It was a wonderful polyglot bunch of people who were having a great time. And it turned into a darned good movie.”
The Real Zach Reynolds
Zach Reynolds should be remembered most as a mentor to youth and young men.
Zach Reynolds, born to wealth, actually grew up in what he calls the “backwoods of Winston-Salem.” He lived life with the pedal pressed to the floor, indulging in his passion for drag racing, motorcycles (he owned a whole collection), flying and the engineering behind all of it. He joined the army at nineteen. He raced at LeMans. He hung out with a lot of celebrities. He put a rocket engine in a Galaxy 500 and called it the “Tobacco King.”
But Zack found his true purpose in life as a mentor to young boys in his community. He became an encourager to them. On September 4, 1979 he was passenger in a plane being flown by one of his mentees, eighteen year old Gary Cermak, who wanted to show off his flying skills. The young man had just earned his pilot’s license at the encouragement of Reynolds. Twenty minutes after they took off the plane went down in a wooded area near Pinnacle, North Carolina, killing everyone on board.
