Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis's Childhood, Faith

Volume XVII, Issue X

Cover: Addison's Walk (originally called the Water Walk) is a picturesque footpath around a small island in the River Cherwell in the grounds of Magdalen College, Oxford, England. There are beautiful views of Magdalen Tower and Magdalen Bridge from along the walk. The walk is named after Joseph Addison (1672–1719), a Fellow of the College from 1698 to 1711, who enjoyed walking there and wrote articles in The Spectator about landscape gardening. The path most likely dates from the 16th century, although the name "Addison's Walk" has only been in use since the 19th century. Addison's Walk originally finished at Dover Pier, an old Civil War gun position on the River Cherwell. It was made into a circular walk in the 19th century. The walk is referenced frequently in Justin Cartwright's novel The Song Before it is Sung. Addison's Walk was a favourite walk of the author C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), who for much of his life was another Fellow of Magdalen College. He regularly frequented Addison's Walk with friends who included Hugo Dyson and J. R. R. Tolkien.
-- Wikipedia 

Our childhoods shape how we see the world. Our early experiences help define for us the struggle and the place of Faith in our lives. Here is an excellent piece on C. S. Lewis's observations on his own childhood and what he learned.



C. S. Lewis's story of his own journey to Faith. There is commentary by Francis Collins.

Lewis describes the discoveries of his own childhood and how they coloured his coming to Faith. The simple creation by his brother Warnie of a garden in a box opened up the perception of joy and natural beauty to the young 'Jack,' who in his earliest days combined his love of knights in armor and 'dressed animals' to write fanciful stories.

Years later, he and his fellow 'Inklings' would return to such fancies to write the literature they felt no one else was writing. Their work forever enriched the literature of modern times, giving us Middle Earth and Narnia! Their work overlaid the modern 'world of reason' with the proper workings of Imagination and Meaning.

The Life of George Whitefield
[click to read]

by Josh Nielsen

George Whitefield was born in the Bell Inn in Gloucester, England on December 16, 1714. His father, Thomas, was the innkeeper there and was also a wine merchant (Anglican Library). Whitefield often made use of the events of his birth in his sermons later on in his life to “magnify” (Ruttenburg 437) his humble beginnings, though far from being prideful, saying that his nativity followed after “the example of [his] dear Saviour, who was born in a manger belonging to an inn” (Lambert 228-229). Lambert also says that Whitefield defended his autobiography against those who thought it presumptuous to parallel himself with Christ, declaring that “‘the Circumstance of my being born in an Inn has often been of Service to me’ in introducing men and women to the new birth” (229).

George was the youngest of seven children in his family. His father died when he was only two years old and his mother then struggled to provide for her family and run the inn (Anglican Library). George went off to St. Mary de Crypt Grammar School when he was twelve where he “earned a reputation as an actor and orator, but also a[s] a persistent truant” (A short biography of George Whitefield). Believing he would never make a use of his education, at age 15, he talked his mother into allowing him to drop school and help work in the inn (ibid).

One day a student from Oxford visited the inn and spoke to his Mother about how he worked his way through college, and it encouraged George to return to grammar school so he could attend Oxford (Anglican Library). After another year he then went on to Oxford where “he was enabled to attend despite humble family circumstances… by acting as servitor to a number of wealthy students” (Ruttenburg 432). Going to Oxford turned out to be a life changing experience for Whitefield. (read more)

"Safe Danger," The Studio Path
[click to read]

Creating a Journey in a Garden Walk



Phillip Johnson, the architect famous for his 'Glass House' also created on his Connecticut estate a monument to his college friend Lincoln Kirstien. Kirstien was a poet, connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City. He helped found the New York City Ballet. Johnson's monument to his friend, the Kirstien Tower, is a steep stairway of stepping stones into the Heavens. A fitting tribute to a creative spirit!

In describing the tower, Johnson refers to the term 'Safe Danger.' Indeed the steep ascent requires stepping into the unknown and creates a feeling of excitement. Every venture into the creative world should. Thus the pathway to my studio, originally created by the need for an economical solution became a similar stairway into creative wonder. I don't think the Kirstien Tower was a direct inspiration so much as a wondrous connection to my own bit of 'Safe Danger.' (read more)

The Soldier Bear


Wojtek, the Soldier Bear actually fought in World War II with a unit of the Polish Army!

The America I Love
Photos by Bob Kirchman


Bas relief of Claudius Crozet, engineer of the Blue Ridge Tunnel, at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia.


The grave of Traveller, Robert E. Lee's war horse, beside Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia.


Waterslide, Massanutten, Virginia.

James 3

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, since you know that we will be judged more severely. For we all stumble in many ways; if someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who can bridle his whole body. If we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to make it obey us, we control its whole body as well. And think of a ship — although it is huge and is driven by strong winds, yet the pilot can steer it wherever he wants with just a small rudder. So too the tongue is a tiny part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how a little fire sets a whole forest ablaze! Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself. For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures; but the tongue no one can tame — it is an unstable and evil thing, full of death-dealing poison! With it we bless Adonai, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing! Brothers, it isn’t right for things to be this way. A spring doesn’t send both fresh and bitter water from the same opening, does it? Can a fig tree yield olives, my brothers? or a grapevine, figs? Neither does salt water produce fresh. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him demonstrate it by his good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, don’t boast and attack the truth with lies! This wisdom is not the kind that comes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, there will be disharmony and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And peacemakers who sow seed in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

I am reading Jedidiah Jenkins’s book To Shake the Sleeping Self. Jenkins is the son of Peter and Barbara Jenkins, who walked across America and into stardom in the Evangelical community. I enjoyed their books about the walk across the country and The Road Unseen, a book about their journey from a spiritual perspective. Jedidiah follows in his father’s footsteps, setting out to ‘find himself’ by bicycling with his friend Weston from Oregon to Patagonia. The travelogue portion of the book is fascinating. The ‘personal discovery’ portion too soon retreats into millennial clichés. Cycling into the Baja, the two adventurers quickly become overwhelmed as Weston destroys a wheel of his bicycle. Jedidiah prays and the answer comes in the form of a friendly gentleman who invites them into his home and arranges for them to find a repair shop. Here Jenkins, who admits to missing the comforts of California, finds himself in a simple two room adobe house where the father longs to send his children to America. Here Jedidiah, instead of celebrating the hope that America is to so many in the world, launches into a Howard Zinn inspired rant about the evil America. This is ironic because almost in the same breath he can’t wait to return to its comforts. Nonetheless, he parrots the narrative of so many of his age – deriding the society that was able to give hope and comfort to the world. Jenkins is also going to wrestle with spiritual matters, the book seems to promise, but such discussions end quickly and Weston rolls himself another joint. In the end, Jenkins will say that he’s not thinking of the heavy questions and that is fine.

And so I am enjoying the book more as a travelogue. I’m wondering how they’ll make it through the Darien Gap – a seventy mile stretch of jungle between Panama and Columbia. There is no road there because guerrilla forces move about there. He and Weston will take a sailboat around the area and the most hair raising part of that adventure will be an issue over a missing visa stamp. For the most part, that still makes for good reading. “Not many of you should become teachers,” James 3 warns. And to his credit, Jedidiah does not teach much. He raises some questions but quickly moves on. Jenkins may be going off to ‘find himself,’ but he’s not digging too deep. Some critics call him a “Mystic Millenial,” but rather than engage in deep soul-searching, he seems to accept his disjointed life as it is and in doing so invites his fellow travelers to “go no farther.” If Jenkins indeed invites fellow pilgrims to “go no farther,” though, he is really not heeding the advice of James. In fact, he is following somewhat in the footsteps of his father. He is not addressing the problems that supposedly vex him. He offers no great light or wisdom, inferring that it probably doesn't exist anyway.

In his first book's first chapter, Peter Jenkins talks about his first failing marriage as he retreated to the pottery studio and eventually decided to walk across the continent. He “found Jesus” at a revival crusade, pushed on across the country, married a girl he barely knew and rocketed to Evangelical celebrity. He and Barbara were favorite guests of James Dobson. I read all three of their books about the walk and loved them. Jenkins could write and travel, he carried you along with him as he interacted with amazing and interesting people. He excelled at it. But a while later I picked up a book about him journeying through China and something in me said “this is just wrong.” Here he was with young children and a wife needing his support on the farm that they once celebrated as a gift from God, and he’s off on another adventure. Sure enough, it seems he never found healing for the first chapter of his first book. He started cheating on Barbara and she kicked him out. The appearances on Christian media dried up. Another ‘Evangelical Leader’ had fallen.

When Paul was apprehended by Jesus on the Damascus Road, he didn’t immediately become the Apostle, rather he spent a considerable time in Damascus as a disciple. He had been taught extensively at the feet of Gamaliel but he needed to go into obscurity to learn the ways of Redemption in Christ. Peter Jenkins went directly to celebrity status without those years of learning and healing. His family suffered from it. My Redemption is a lesson I am still working on learning.. Last year a student asked me to tell the story of how I came to Christ. For me it was a very sobering question, for I am still coming to Christ – still learning. I hope I was able to convey that reality to her. Paul himself said that he had not arrived, but rather: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.!” Here is a journey I can share! I pray that one day Jedidiah Jenkins will set his prow straight into the waves and make that brave journey into faith. Then his story will be complete.

The great Christian apologist C. S. Lewis had many questions too. When his mother died and his father became distant he abandoned the beliefs of his youth. After a terrible boarding school experience, his father arranged for him to have a private tutor – a confirmed atheist. William Thompson Kirkpatrick taught Lewis to reason impeccably but could not answer the deep longings of his young pupil’s heart. Lewis was willing to face those longings, reasoning that “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” That reasoning would frame for Lewis a new quest. Along with the mentorship of his friends J. R. R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield it would lead him to the deep faith that he is known for so eloquently unfolding in his writings. “The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity


Magic Garden Visitor. Photo by Bob Kirchman

J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis
Reconciling Reason and Imagination

Two friends, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis had a common love of the great myth. The two observed that for many centuries cultures communicated their greatest truths through myth and legend. They lamented the rational society they lived in’s relegation of these myths to ‘children’s stories,’ as they knew grown men and women… even great warriors relished these tales and the great thoughts they conveyed. These tales connected emotionally with their readers and tellers. These stories contained great insight into life and truth that could be observed as well as providing a glimpse into the world unseen, the spiritual realm.

Before coming to faith in Christ, Lewis lamented to Tolkien that it was a shame that the great myths were not true. Tolkien responded that they indeed contained great truths, and walking on Addison’s Walk on the grounds of Magdalen College, Tolkien helped the struggling Lewis reconcile reason and imagination. “The Gospels had all the qualities of great human storytelling. But they portrayed a true event - God the storyteller entered his own story, in the flesh, and brought a joyous conclusion from a tragic situation. Suddenly Lewis could see that the nourishment he had always received from great myths and fantasy stories was a taste of the greatest, truest story — of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.” —Chris Armstrong writes in Christianity Today. Lewis and Tolkien insisted that reason and imagination must be integrated — in any understanding of truth, the whole person must be satisfied.

In 1936 J. R. R. Tolkien had just written The Hobbit and the two friends began to think of a scheme to reignite myth in modern culture. They decided upon science fiction as a vehicle of ‘modern myth’ and assigned themselves topics that would inspire serious works for modern readers. Lewis would write about ‘Space Travel’ and Tolkien ‘Time Travel.’ Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength — the “Space Trilogy” or the “Ransom Trilogy” was Lewis’s offering for ‘Space Travel.’ It fictionalizes a very serious line of thought that he develops in The Abolition of Man, which is really just the publication of a series of lectures he delivered.

Tolkien’s Trilogy became The Lord of the Rings and departed somewhat from the assignment, but it is a great work that has become a classic mythology for modern readers. Tolkien and Lewis sought most of all to bring the type of literature they themselves loved to modern readers. Tolkien himself said to Lewis: “I relish stories that survey the depths of space and time.” I discovered Lewis’s Narnia as a young adult and it brought me to a deeper feeling/understanding of my own faith. My young granddaughter knows these stories as a child and her world is the richer for it. In my youth I had read quite a bit of Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraordinaire and they certainly fueled my imagination. In Around the World in Eighty Days he deals not so much with time travel per se, but the concept of global travel and the ‘lost’ day.


The Inuit live on both sides of the International Date Line. Before travel was restricted by the world's two great superpowers they could literally cross the Bering Strait into another day. Journey to Jesus Mural by Kristina Elaine Greer and Bob Kirchman

Looking at a mural that I was painting with Kristina Elaine Greer of the world’s children ‘around the globe’ that point where you can literally ‘step into tomorrow’ became the inspiration for what I originally intended as a short story — Dinner Stop at the End of the World which originally offered itself as an alternative to some of the dystopian apocalyptic ‘Christian’ literature that was coming out at the time. I was notably concerned that there were people in Bible studies I knew taking all too seriously the work of one author in particular who mixed mysticism with prophecy to create a bit of an alarmist message as his protagonist would continually meet a mysterious ‘prophet’ figure who would give him a new piece of the ‘puzzle’ concerning the judgement of America. It was an intriguing work of fiction — not much on plot, mind you, but it did get you thinking about Biblical prophecy. The problems I had with it were twofold, first of all it created a dark scenario and did not offer much in the way of light or hope. Secondly, it based much of its proclamations not so much on scripture but a form of mysticism that is found in Judaism.

It wasn’t that great a story. Still, the author was appearing on Jim Bakker’s show (yes, he’s still around) and his message was punctuated by advertisements for ‘survival food.’ The publisher produced a companion ‘study guide.’ People were actually directing their lives in response to an interesting work of fiction! What I found tragic was that we were putting aside the inspiration of the younger generation who must have dismissed a lot of this adult behavior as ‘over the top.’ I’m not writing this to dump on someone who’s published a lot of books but rather to say that he did me one great favor — he pushed me to write out of my own imagination and yes a sense of reason that is rooted in the 23rd Psalm which states that “The Lord is my shepherd.” That drove me to do my own study of history. I found that though indeed there were terrible things that sinful man had done, there were the great stories of Redemption as well. Redemption, I would discover, is the ultimate story of time travel for it takes us from death to life — from finite existence to the very doorway to eternity. my own little story grew into PONTIFUS.

APOLLONIUS is my attempt to delve into ’Space Travel.’ As in PONTIFUS, I find myself looking to Lewis a lot… as to Jules Verne who had been my inspiration in youth. I used to draw fanciful flying machines and such. But in all of this, I rather liken to fancy a conversation ongoing at ‘Eagle and Child’ that can inspire us even in our day. Sitting on top of a mountain in Shenandoah Park with my friend Ebenezer Murengezi, we met a hiker. He walked up to the place we were sitting — a gentleman from Alaska, the son of dairy farmers, and he was hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. We were enjoying pleasant conversation when Ebenezer and I remarked at how much nature showed you the wonder of God. “What do you think?” Ebenezer asked the gentleman. “I’m a scientist.” he replied. By that he meant he had no use for our “fables.” He said he had believed as a child but that he was taught “better” by the university he attended. I asked him if he’d ever simply asked God to show Himself to him and he said “I’ve already been there.” I replied “Perhaps God hasn’t finished yet.” At this point the poor gentleman made a hasty exit. I bring this up merely to point out that I DON’T think the issue was resolved for him. In the realm of Reason, God had been discarded. In the realm of Imagination, however, questions had NOT been sufficiently put to rest.

Lewis had his childhood faith put to rest by his mentor William Kirkpatrick, or "The Great Knock," who appears in the Narnia books as Digory Kirk — and far more open to possibilities beyond our world because he’s been there. It was that time of rediscovery with Tolkien that brought C. S. Lewis to great faith. I pray that the gentleman we met on the mountain will find his J. R. R. Tolkien, The resolution of reason and imagination, and most of all FAITH!

Magnolia Blossom
Photos by Bob Kirchman







Day Lily
Photos by Bob Kirchman







A Tale of Two Teachers
[click to read]

By Amber Lee Keller

A while ago I went to a women’s conference in another state with some of my relatives. We heard two different Bible teachers speak. Both of these women had written books. Both were well known. That is where the similarities ended. One women was older. In fact, she was in her eighties. She spoke first. She shared her heart for us younger women. She shared from the Word. She spoke of women to whom she had ministered in countries where believers are being persecuted. Her voice broke as she spoke of her sisters in Christ, living under the constant threat of imprisonment and death. You could see the love she carried for them. She spoke of Christ and the gospel. Her knowledge of the Word was so evident, and her talk was so full of scripture that she just seemed to breathe it out. I left her session with a heart yearning for Christ. I left with a clear picture of what I want to look like if the Lord should give me the gift of old age. Decades of walking with Jesus had made her one of the most wise and gentle-spirited women I have ever seen. (read more)

Bishop Robert Barron on Luke 8:16,18

No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” – Luke 8:16, 18

Friends, today’s Gospel is the parable of the lamp which, placed on a lampstand, gives light to all. Light obviously isn’t for itself; rather, we see things by it. It illuminates things upon which it shines.

We are light by which people around us come to see what is worth seeing. By the very quality and integrity of our lives, we shed light, illumining what is beautiful and revealing what is ugly. The clear implication is that without vibrant Christians the world is a much worse place. Let me illustrate this principle with an example. One of the most painful truths of the last century is that the weakness of Christian witness allows some of the worst elements in society to flourish.

Think of the rise of the evil powers that created World War II. Christianity had become so weak, so uncompelling, so attenuated that great evil was allowed to flourish. Yes, indeed there were a handful of powerful Christian resisters, but let’s face it: the overwhelmingly vast majority of Christians either supported Hitler or remained in silence, out of either fear or indifference.

Francis Collins, Mapper of the Human Genome

Volume XVII, Issue IX

Mapper of the Human Genome

God is the great architect. He is the builder of worlds without end, the maker of the solar and sidereal universe, of the infinitudes revealed by the microscope and telescope. He is the Great Artist. There is no color unknown to His palette, no hue too subtle to escape His eye, no beautiful image of which He is not the author. God is the great musician, for the winds, the birds, the seas, the thunder, the rustling of the leaves, and the music of the spheres belong to Him. God is the great sculptor, for out of the dust of the ground He made man and woman and ‘Child of the pure unclouded brow, And dreaming eyes of wonder.’ [Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland] He made butterflies and bluebirds, and bears. God is the Great Writer. He is the author of the Bible and also of the joyful cry of millions who come to Him as the source of life.” – Clyde S, Kilby, The Arts and the Christian Imagination, p88.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes, and his visionary leadership of the Human Genome Project (HGP), is the former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Dr. Collins, served as NHGRI's director since April 1993. Beside leading the Human Genome Project to completion, he initiated a wide range of research projects that built upon the foundation laid by the sequencing of the human genetic blueprint.

As head of NHGRI, Collins oversaw the HGP, the multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, international effort to map and sequence the 3 billion letters in the human DNA instruction book. Many consider this project to have been the most significant scientific undertaking of our time. The ultimate goal is to improve human health. With Collins at the helm, the HGP attained historic milestones, while consistently running ahead of schedule and under budget. A working draft of the human genome sequence was announced in June 2000, and an initial analysis was published in February 2001. HGP scientists finished the sequence in April 2003, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's seminal publication describing the double helix structure of DNA.

But the exploration of the genome is really just beginning. Building upon the foundation laid by the HGP, researchers around the globe are now collaborating on a wide range of projects that are using genomic tools and technologies to expand understanding of human biology and combat human disease.

NHGRI-supported initiatives currently include efforts to map human genetic variation, to develop less costly sequencing technologies and to unravel the genetics of cancer and other common diseases. Following the precedent set by the HGP under Collins' leadership, these projects are committed to making their data rapidly and freely available to the worldwide scientific community.

Beginnings

Raised on a small farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Collins was home-schooled until the sixth grade. He attended Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia, graduating in 1966. Throughout most of his high school and college years, the aspiring chemist had little interest in what he then considered the "messy" field of biology. He earned a B.S. in chemistry at the University of Virginia in 1970 and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Yale University in 1974. While at Yale, however, a course in biochemistry sparked his interest in the molecules that hold the blueprint for life: DNA and RNA. Collins recognized that a revolution was on the horizon in molecular biology and genetics. He changed fields and enrolled in medical school at the University of North Carolina, where he earned an M.D. in 1977.

From 1978 to 1981, Collins served a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He then returned to Yale, where he was named a Fellow in Human Genetics at the medical school from 1981 to 1984. During that time, he developed innovative methods of crossing large stretches of DNA to identify disease genes.

After joining the University of Michigan in 1984 in a position that would eventually lead to a Professorship of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, Collins heightened his reputation as a relentless gene hunter. That gene-hunting approach, which he named "positional cloning," has developed into a powerful component of modern molecular genetics.

In contrast to previous methods for finding genes, positional cloning enabled scientists to identify disease genes without knowing in advance what the functional abnormality underlying the disease might be. Collins' team, together with collaborators, applied the new approach in 1989 in their successful quest for the long-sought gene responsible for cystic fibrosis. Other major discoveries soon followed, including isolation of the genes for Huntington's disease, neurofibromatosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, and the M4 type of adult acute leukemia.

Leadership at NHGRI

Tapped to take on the leadership of the HGP, Collins accepted an invitation in 1993 to become director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, which became NHGRI in 1997. As director, he oversees the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium and many other aspects of what he has called "an adventure that beats going to the moon or splitting the atom."

In 1994, Collins founded NHGRI's Division of Intramural Research (DIR), an intramural program of genome research that has developed into one of the nation's premier research centers in human genetics.

Collins was particularly excited by the rapid progress being made in uncovering genetic risk factors for common diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and mental illness. The windfall of findings was made possible by a relatively new research approach, called genome-wide association studies. This approach utilizes tools created by the HGP and the NHGRI-led International HapMap Project, which constructed a map of common human genetic variation.

Collins's work in his highly active lab demonstrated his commitment to research involving both rare and common diseases. In April 2003, a team led by Collins identified the genetic basis of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare disorder that causes a dramatic form of premature aging. Besides opening the door to possible treatment strategies for progeria, the discovery may provide insights into the process of normal human aging.

As for common disorders, Collins and his colleagues published a landmark study in the journal Science on genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes. The findings boosted to at least 10 the number of genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to the adult-onset form of diabetes, which affects nearly 21 million people in the United States and more than 200 million worldwide.

In addition to his long list of contributions to basic genetic research and scientific leadership, Collins is known for his close attention to ethical and legal issues in genetics. He is a strong advocate for protecting the privacy of genetic information and has served as a national leader in efforts to prohibit gene-based insurance discrimination. Building on his own experiences as a physician volunteer in a rural missionary hospital in Nigeria, Collins is also very interested in opening avenues for genome research to benefit the health of people living in developing nations.

Collins' accomplishments have been recognized by numerous awards and honors, including election to the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. On Nov. 5, 2007, Collins received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award, for his revolutionary contributions to genetic research. On August 1, 2008, Collins stepped down to explore writing projects and other professional opportunities. He is currently the director of the National Institute of Health.

Courtesy: National Human Genome Research Institute [1.]


Vertical section of the human dna.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” – Psalm 139:14

How the Brain Reads Faces
[click to read]

Brain regions that process faces reveal deep insights into the neural mechanisms of vision

By Doris Y. Tsao

When When I was in high school, I learned one day about the density of curves in an introductory course on calculus. A simple pair of differential equations, which model the interactions of predators and prey, can give rise to an infinite number of closed curves—picture concentric circles, one nested within another, like a bull’s-eye. What is more, the density of these curves varies depending on their location. (read more)

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”

The Man and the Mountain
[click to read]


Korczak Ziolkowski’s plaster model of the Crazy Horse sculpture. Three generations of his family have worked on the project.

Korczak Ziolkowski’s Tribute to Crazy Horse

A monument honoring Native American legend Crazy Horse is slowly taking shape high above the Black Hills of South Dakota. For nearly 70 years, crews have been blasting millions of tons of rock off the mountain. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began construction in 1948. His work on Mount Rushmore drew the attention of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear who invited him to design a memorial to American Indians. “He said my fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man had great heroes too,” Ziolkowski told CBS News’ ’60 Minutes.’ His daughter Monique now oversees the work. Crazy Horse’s face was completed in the late 90s. Crews are now working to shape the horse’s head and Crazy Horse’s outstretched hand. In some spots, the crews only have a few feet of rock left to remove, but finishing just the hand will take years.

Caleb Ziolkowski is the third generation of his family to work on the project. “It is hard from a mile away to see the changes,” he said. “Since the time that I started this hand area has changed immensely.” Native Americans say whenever it’s done it will provide a valuable education and ensure Crazy Horse’s place in history. The work is privately funded through admission fees and donations. In addition to a museum, the master plan for the site includes an Indian University of North America. (read more)



Beverley Street, Staunton Virginia
Photo by Michael Hoover



Rediscovering the Wisdom in American History
[click to read]

By Wilfred McClay

Professional American historiography has made steady advances in the breadth and sophistication with which it approaches certain aspects of the past, but those advances have come at the expense of public knowledge and shared historical consciousness. The story of America has been fractured into a thousand pieces and burdened with so much ideological baggage that studying history actually alienates young Americans from the possibility of properly appreciating their past. Nearly 20 years ago I wrote a small book called The Student’s Guide to U.S. History for ISI Books. I was unable to include in its bibliography a high school or college level textbook on U.S. history, because there was not one suitable for recommendation. But criticism of the status quo is easy. What is harder is to create a better alternative. That was my aim in writing Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story. (read more)

Kernersville, North Carolina
Photos by Bob Kirchman


St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery. Slave Graves.


Hibiscus.

I had a wonderful visit to Kernersville, North Carolina with my great friends Adam and Shannon. We stepped into the old Saint Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery and saw the simple stones that mark the graves of enslaved human beings. At the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden a cheerful hibiscus greeted us. Of course, Kernersville is famous for Körner's Folly, a unique home built in 1880 by artist/designer Jule Gilmer Körner. Measuring 48 feet on each side, the house has a steep cross-gable roof. It was originally built to showcase his interior design portfolio. Visitors can now explore the 22 room house museum and its unique original furnishings and artwork, cast-plaster details, carved woodwork, and elaborate hand laid tile. The uppermost floor is a theater. Polly Körner, Jules' wife, used it for her Juvenile Lyceum Theater.












Körner's Folly.

“The Strangest House in the World”
[click to read]

By Susan Harlan

Built in 1880 and once billed as "The Strangest Home in the World," Körner's Folly in Kernersville, N.C. celebrated its 135th anniversary last Saturday. But it is not really a home in the conventional sense. Artist, decorator, interior designer, and "Man of a Thousand Peculiarities" Jule Gilmer Körner conceived of this structure as an entertaining space, bachelor quarters, horse stables, studio and—most importantly—showroom for the wares of his Reuben Rink Decorating and House Furnishing Company. (read more)


This old photograph shows the third floor theater and the intricate murals.

Laney’s Palette Art Show
Saturday September 14th, 2019 in Crozet, VA


Kristina Elaine Greer and a peacock.


Hummingbirds.


Dolphins and manatees.


The Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit.



Kristina Elaine Greer assisted me on the Journey to Jesus Mural and several publishing projects. She just opened her show at Crozet’s Tabor Presbyterian church with many new works. The show will be hanging in the church for the rest of the month.

Remembering...

Volume XVII, Issue Xa

Remembering September 11, 2001

Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)
Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out in pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Or go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Did you stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to G-d
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?



Lower Manhattan, New York, New York. Photo by Detective Greg Smedinger
 

Arlington, Virginia.
 

Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
___________________________________


We'll Never Forget 911 Budweiser Commercial, aired only once.

What Makes a Nation Great? II, Summer Vacation

Volume XVII, Issue X

What Makes a Nation Great? II

In the end, the state of the Union comes down to the character of the people. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
-- Attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, though it is not a direct quote from his work: Democracy in America.

In the quest to restore and revitalize our great land, one often hears great solutions proposed but often very little in the way of addressing the real problem. We can create all the great economic models we want to, but if we allow greed and self-serving policies to prevail, we will see ever more of the type of destruction we saw in the mortgage crisis. If we attempt to spend our way out of our problems by creating more money, we will end up as a vassal to China. We need Revival! THYME has looked at the problem of Restoring the American Dream [click to read] before. Whether or not we can definitively find the quote in de Tocqueville's writings, the work of Alvin Schmidt [1.] and others documents well the evidence for Faith as a force in making better the human condition.

That is not to say that we don't need to seek and consider better ways to conduct our affairs. There is a practical side to problem solving that cannot be ignored. Consider how George Müller changed the lives of thousands of orphans in Bristol, England. First let us set the stage. The elimination of the slave trade by William Wilberforce in the Nineteenth Century destroyed not only a vile institution, but as an unintended consequence the city of Bristol, a major slave port, was thrown into decline. G-d had two chosen instruments to revitalize Bristol. There was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, [2.] who built bridges, railroads and great steamships to link Bristol to the world! But Bristol needed more than just economic development!

The city's decline had led to thousands of children either losing their parents or being put out on the streets by their desperate parents. George Müller was G-d's next instrument in the revitalization of Bristol. Young Müller came to the city as a minister of the Gospel. As he sought to minister to the soul of a great city, the plight of her orphans tugged at his heart. He, depending on G-d alone, was able to provide five large houses for these unwanted children. He apprenticed all the boys in various trades but took great pains to educate the young women as office workers, nurses, teachers and housekeepers. They stayed at the homes until they were seventeen. This was a practical policy that kept them from being exploited by those engaged in viler trades.

Those who seek to revitalize our own nation would do well to do no less. We must first address the poverty of our national soul before we set into the very necessary business of restoring her fortunes!

A Case for Faith 

On page 563 of his latest biography — John Quincy Adams: American Visionary — author Fred Kaplan (biographer of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Gore Vidal among others) cites this insight of the sixth president:

Christianity had, all in all, he believed, been a civilizing force, “checking and controlling the anti-social passions of man.”

That insight is pretty much all an American needs to know in order to understand why the American Founders considered religion — specifically ethical monotheism rooted in the Hebrew Bible — indispensable to the American experiment; and why the America we have known since 1776 is in jeopardy." -- Dennis Prager.

In an article entitled: America Won't be Good without G-d [click to read] Prager lays out a pretty compelling argument. He writes:

It is easy to respect secular Americans who hold fast to the Constitution and to American values generally. And any one of us who believes in God can understand why some people, given all the unjust suffering in the world, just cannot believe that there is a Providential Being.

But one cannot respect the view that America can survive without the religious beliefs and values that shaped it. The argument that there are moral secularists and moral atheists is a non sequitur. Of course there are moral Americans devoid of religion. So what? There were moral people who believed in Jove. But an America governed by Roman religion would not be the America that has been the beacon of freedom and the greatest force for good in the world."

Here Dennis Prager is spot-on in his analysis of the nature of man. The academy may tell us that we can effectively control the passions that drive us, but history, honestly pursued, tells us otherwise. Prager points out that: "Our prisons are filled with people whose consciences are quite at peace with their criminal behavior. As for reason, they used it well — to figure out how to get away with everything from murder to white-collar crime.

But our prisons are not filled with religious Jewish and Christian murderers. On the contrary, if all Americans attended church weekly, we would need far fewer prisons; and the ones we needed would have very few murderers in them."

Prager goes on to describe the wreckage of the great socialist experiments of the Twentieth Century, and the wreckage of "anything goes" philosophies that encourage casual sex and tell us that fathers are "unnecessary!" Indeed, if the academy would produce more honest studies of the results of the philosopies they have espoused, they might recoil at the burden they have placed on society.

Prager concludes with this sobering thought: "For proof of the moral and intellectual consequences of the secularization of America, look at what has happened to the least religious institution in America, the university. Is that the future we want for the whole country?"

The film: 'Expelled' is a pretty powerful documentary. G-d is getting some pretty bad press these days from esteemed writers such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The Intelligent Design movement, though it is not specifically theistic, is uniformly vilified in the academy. Why is an inquiry into the observable order of the universe so dangerous, especially when open inquiry is such a cherished part of scientific investigation? Perhaps such 'open inquiry' inevitably leads to the 'wrong' conclusions.

Theodore Dalrymple writes in City Journal: "What the New Atheists are Missing." Himself a non-believer, he points to a time when a teacher's hypocrasy led him to question. Dalrymple does not, however, reject the realm of faith as a force in creating and ordering societies. He see's naturalistic explainations and philosophies quite insufficient for dealing with all of human existence. Richard Dawkins' assertions that religious education is tantamount to child abuse, for example seem to Dalrymple no more than the rebellious ranting of a child who's just learned that his parents are not perfect. All of us have experienced some sort of disillusionment in our youth. I remember a time when a nun of the 'Sisters of Mercy' punished me for some infraction I had not [at least in my recollection] committed. I too questioned a lot of things. The Cuban missle crisis fueled more unanswered anxiety as I careened into adolescence.

But something happened in my teenaged years that is etched firmly in my memory. It was a dark and stressful winter day when I decided to walk in the woods near Triadelphia Reservoir. Something spoke to me that afternoon that was more eloquent than the ranting of hormones and the perceived unfairness of life. The buds of the trees were growing fat. here was the hope of spring and new life. Clearly spring would come. The buds gave evidence of an event hoped for. They were indeed the substance of something yet unseen!

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" -- Romans1:20 KJV

Holy writ makes the point that the order and beauty of the creation speaks eloquently of the creator. Thus Intelligent Design, though it merely points out the complex mechanisms of nature, leads one to seek the source of such wisdom. I look to that time in the trees as an affirmation of personal faith in a creator. Though at that point it was pretty detatched and intellectual at best.

"...for he that cometh to G-d must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligenly seek him." Hebrews 11:6b KJV

As a young adult I embraced faith in Christ as redeemer and rewarder. The journey of faith had begun with the fat buds years before though.Therefore I must conlude that those who consider the design of the universe dangerous information have good reason if they fear that others may follow the path I have walked. Dawkins would prefer me to credit space aliens with seeding life to this planet and thus push the hard questions of origin to another world.

Darwinism, in its purest form, rejects the idea that this world is some sort of intentional creation. Of course this leads to the rejection of theism and ultimately the rejection of certain absolutes. 'Expelled' takes a good look at 'eugenics' and how it is supported by a darwinian world view. In the first half of the Twentieth Century certain proponents of eugenics sought to speed evolution along by eliminating the reproduction of certain undesirable types of persons. The results were forced sterilization of the mentally ill and the holecaust. Contrast that movement with Dorethea Dix and others who, motivated by Christian faith, improved conditions for the mentally ill.

Alvin Schmidt makes a good case in his book 'Under the Influence' that faith is a builder of society rather than a force to destroy it. Dalrymple the non-believer would concur. Thus the danger of Intelligent Design leading to dangerous conclusions is much inflated. One might even conclude that the free discussion of order and design,wherever it is found, is wholesome. Certainly there is no basis for its exclusion from the academy.

The argument will no doubt be made: "what about the crusades, what about jihad, religion is dangerous?" Yes, it is certainly something that may be misused, but that must be countered with an honest look at how the so-called "good" science of evolution was the foundation of eugenics. Millions of people were killed in this misguided attempt to improve humanity. Ironically, such brilliant men as Albert Einstein met the criteria for elimination. We reduce the world to only naturalistic explainations at our own peril. The argument for open inquiry stands.


Autumn Leaves. Photo by Bob Kirchman

When through the woods,and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down,from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze"
-- "How Great Thou Art" Verse 2

A Case for Summer Vacation
By Bob Kirchman

How does one nurture the creative genius of a Brunel, or the vision of a Wilberforce or a Müller? I would suggest that men and women of that ilk are often found walking on the "road less traveled!" Walking home alone from a prayer meeting along a quiet street, the great designer, R. G. LeTourneau says he was inspired with the design for a rather complex machine that had stymied his most brilliant designers for weeks. Could it be true that not only should we hold off on 'formal' education a bit, but we should make sure children are not scheduled to the point of losing free, creative time.

If indeed the creative muse shows up in the quiet times, if problems are indeed solved through the exploration of play, wouldn't it make sense for us to esteem these times in the sense their descriptive originally suggests: re-creation?! The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] once argued that Summer Vacation is over romanticized and merely stands in the way of the kids retaining all that book-learning they'll need so they can work for the Chinese some day. OK, I'll give you the point that a certain amount of knowledge is 'lost' as kids pursue other activities... but as one who's life and career was shaped by Summers of 'other activities' I'll raise a clear protest: "Not so fast!"

I spent my Summers drawing, building things, going to camp and playing for hours in the woods. I was Lewis and Clark when I set off to explore the woods surrounding Triadelphia Reservoir... with no Sacajawea to help with directions. Mom got a big bell to ring when it was time to come in for dinner. Sometimes I actually heard it. More often than not my appetite finally brought me back to a plate of cold food. Now I loved my groceries as much as any young boy, but didn't Simon Kenton eat cold biscuits while he was exporing the Ohio Valley?

When my younger siblings were old enough, Dad loaded us in Mom's VW Microbus [Mom was there first when it came to the minivan] and we took road trips. Man, I loved road trips. We'd go to places like Gettysburg and crawl into sniper's nests. We'd imagine what it must have been like rushing up the hill in Pickett's Charge. Then we'd go to Antietem and wonder some more. When I turned sixteen, Dad actually let me drive on the trips. Oh the white-knuckle thrill of the Capital Beltway! The endless perspective of NC Route 12 heading to Hatteras and the rollercoaster ride down US 29 to Grandma's. Life was good in the Summer. I hired myself out to the local farmers to bale hay and other jobs. Hot, nasty work is good for the teenaged soul.

One farmer had a wife who'd make us grape juice and lemonade. I've never found sweeter refreshment in all my life.

One Summer Dad decided I needed to build a greenhouse. He let me draw up the plans and he took them to the county... I was thirteen at the time. He gave me a budget and set me loose. I learned to lay block, build walls, buy old storm windows and pretty much whatever it took. The guys at Talbott's Lumber Yard in Ellicott City gave me lots of free advice. They pretty much convinced me I could do it. I wonder how much Dad was paying them?

I was not a licensed electrician... that presented a problem for hooking up the power. Dad said it wasn't a problem. He had a buddy who was licensed and came out and did the whole job in exchange for a bottle of Jack Daniels [Black Label] that Dad cheerfully 'donated' to the building fund. In addition to the electric heater, we got the brilliant idea that it would benefit the plants with both heat and moisture if we ran the dryer vent in there.

What to do about lint? Well, here's where it got really interesting. When we discovered that a discarded nylon stocking fit over the vent and caught the lint while allowing air to flow, we had our problem solved. Dad enjoyed the 'conversation piece' that resulted too.

The greenhouse, built of redwood, served our family for many years. Finally it succumbed to termites after I was gone and married. It's lessons are still with me today.

How Government Programs Ruined Childhood
[click to read]

By Kerry McDonald

An op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times entitled “We Have Ruined Childhood” offers disheartening data about childhood depression and anxiety, closely linked to school attendance, as well as the disturbing trend away from childhood free play and toward increasing schooling, standardization, and control. “STEM, standardized testing and active-shooter drills have largely replaced recess, leisurely lunches, art and music,” says the writer Kim Brooks, who is the author of the book, Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear. (read more)

Children and Stress
[click to read]

Many people associate stress with the struggles of adult life, but often forget that children also deal with stress. On this classic broadcast, Dr. Dobson talks about this subject with renowned author and psychologist, Dr. Arch Hart. They examine the pressure on our kids and identify the various physical, emotional, and mental indicators of anxiety. (read more)

Children and Stress 2
[click to read]

In this fast-paced society, many children struggle to keep up and can develop severe anxiety problems. On this broadcast, Dr. Dobson continues to talk about our kids and stress with best-selling author and psychologist, Dr. Arch Hart. They discuss how trauma, hostility, overstimulation, and drastic change can intensify a child's stress level. (read more)

Reigniting the Dream
Lois M. Tupyi’s ‘Redemptive Compassion’

People who live in chronic need often lose their ability to hope, dream and make plans for their future.” – Lois M. Tupyi

Sometime around 1933 the United States government entered the business of meeting human needs. As the Great Depression drag on, Government found that it could indeed provide necessities and build houses. Eleanor Roosevelt’s planned community of Greenbelt, Maryland provided clean and new (albeit uniform) houses and apartments to replace the old ‘substandard’ housing of the previous century. In the surrounding fields of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, modern chemical dependent agriculture was being developed to assure we’d never have another ‘Dust Bowl.’ While the intent was indeed noble, the result was that people no longer depended on neighbors. Churches ceased to be the primary engine of compassionate care, called ministers being replaced by caseworkers. People became trapped in what would become known as generational poverty. Living from government check to government check, they lost the spark of IMAGO DEI – the ‘Image of God’ that really defines each one of us. Living in chronic need (or chronic dependency) can alter a person’s thinking. If we do not see the roots of it it may look like laziness or mental incapacity. People in the church who want to help become frustrated. Ministry is ineffective at best because there is no real connection between people.

Lois Tupyi is the Executive Director of Love in the Name of Christ, Treasure Valley, Idaho. She’s a Renaissance woman and the author of Selah: Pause and Consider, a devotional that goes beyond the short reading format to encompass Bible reading, praise music and beautiful photography. She’s all about restoring Christian ministry as the Defining Difference, bringing its impact to the local community. Seeing that the church often struggled with trying to provide relational ministry to people in need, Tupyi developed her Redemptive Compassion curriculum. So many of our commonly used methods seem so ineffective in reducing or alleviating ongoing need, and Redemptive Compassion addresses that deficiency by seeing the total person. Scripture shows us that humankind exists in body, soul and spirit. Love in the Name of Christ indeed begins by providing material help but begins immediately to bring disconnected individuals into relationship.

On Thursday evenings in Fishersville, Virginia, the Love Your Neighbor time begins. Church vans from area churches bring ‘Neighbors’ from Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County together for a meal and encouraging fellowship. If it looks a bit like the Biblical coming together for “Prayer, Teaching and Breaking of Bread,” that is by design. We begin arriving a few minutes before six and there is much lively conversation between Neighbors and ministry volunteers. Karen, our leader, calls us to prayer as her little daughter socializes with people in the room. A dinner is provided each week by a different local congregation. After dinner, Neighbors gather in small classes that teach Godly self image, basic finances and how to have a relationship with God. A whole group of local churches are involved in the ministry and the goal is to bring Neighbors into ongoing relationship, not only with God, but with His people.

When a Neighbor has completed all of the classes offered, and that may take a couple of years, they graduate from the program. They often offer stirring testimonies on the graduation night and by then have hopefully developed relationships in one of the local churches represented. Love in the Name of Christ is not a church, but it is an arm of THE Church to bring compassion and healing. Many former Neighbors do continue to volunteer in the program which has many opportunities. There is a warehouse for meeting physical needs, a thrift store and of course the Thursday night program. The real ministry is that a person moves from simply being a recipient of help to someone who dreams of making a difference in the world – a person fully alive!

Why Beauty Matters
Roger Scruton



Belmar, New Jersey Remembers


A sand sculpture on the beach in Belmar, New Jersey honors the memory of those who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Cover Photo: Dark Hollow Falls Rainbow by Bob Kirchman.

Laney’s Palette Art Show
Saturday September 14th, 2019 in Crozet, VA

Works by Kristina Elaine Greer will be on display at the gallery space of Tabor Presbyterian Church, 5804 Tabor Street, Crozet, Virginia 22932. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, September 14th, 2019 from 1:00 to 4:00pm at the church. All are invited. The show will feature Laney’s Acrylic Paintings and Pencil Drawings from 2004 – 2019.

What Makes a Nation Great?, Power of Play

Volume XVII, Issue IX

The Philippians IV Challenge

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” ‭‭— Philippians‬ ‭4:8‬




Volume XVII, Issue IXa

What Makes a Nation Great?

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] once asked: "What makes a school great?" THYME asks: "Why stop there, what makes a NATION great?" As we seek to teach our children the foundations of our Nation, we can agree with the 'other' magazine that it takes great teachers.

No doubt, some will insist that it is a simple matter of perfecting institutions. Some will venture so far as to address the character of man himself, but it is quite evident that those who crafted the original documents our nation is founded on saw a need for a hand greater than their own to guide them. Their own writings give us a clear indication that they did,  so here are some thoughts from our Founding Fathers:

John Adams and John Hancock:
We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]

John Adams:
“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of G-d.”
“[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." [John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817]

Samuel Adams: 
“He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” [ "American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia]

“ Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” [October 4, 1790]

John Quincy Adams:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?
--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”
John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61

Elias Boudinot:
“Be religiously careful in our choice of all public officers . . . and judge of the tree by its fruits.”

Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence
" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." [Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.]

Benjamin Franklin:
“ G-d governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 original manuscript of this speech

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” [Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787]

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."

In 1787 when Franklin helped found Benjamin Franklin University, it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

Alexander Hamilton:
Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:
(1) Christianity
(2) a Constitution formed under Christianity.
“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”

On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of G-d, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." [1787 after the Constitutional Convention]

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

John Hancock:
“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.
"A Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775"

Patrick Henry:
"Orator of the Revolution."
This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

John Jay:
“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed., (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393.

“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ung-dly and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.” [The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p.365]

Thomas Jefferson:
“ The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

"I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital) [Source: Merrill . D. Peterson, ed., Jefferson Writings, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.]

Samuel Johnston:
“It is apprehended that... Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

James Madison:
“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart.”

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of G-d.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]

• I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare the unsatisfactoriness [of temportal enjoyments] by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.
Letter by Madison to William Bradford (September 25, 1773)

• In 1812, President Madison signed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible
.
“ An Act for the relief of the Bible Society of Philadelphia” Approved February 2, 1813 by Congress

“It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”

• A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven. [Letter by Madison to William Bradford [urging him to make sure of his own salvation] November 9, 1772]

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22;
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
He will save us.”
[Baron Charles Montesquieu, wrote in 1748; “Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separated from legislative power and from executive power. If it [the power of judging] were joined to legislative power, the power over life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislature if it were joined to the executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same … body of principal men … exercised these three powers." Madison claimed Isaiah 33:22 as the source of division of power in government
See also: pp.241-242 in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History: The Principle approach by Rosalie Slater]

James McHenry – Signer of the Constitution:
Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

Jedediah Morse:
"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. . . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg:
In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, 1776, he preached from Ecclesiastes 3.

Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenberg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenberg finished the Revolution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.

Thomas Paine:
“ It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal.” “The Existence of God--1810”

Benjamin Rush:
• “I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them…we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism.” “By withholding the knowledge of [the Scriptures] from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.” [Letter written (1790’s) in Defense of the Bible in all schools in America]
• “Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.”
• “If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into our world would have been unnecessary.”

"Let the children who are sent to those schools be taught to read and write and above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”
Letters of Benjamin Rush, "To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools", March 28, 1787

Justice Joseph Story:
“ I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]
“ Infidels and pagans were banished from the halls of justice as unworthy of credit.” [Life and letters of Joseph Story, Vol. II 1851, pp. 8-9.]
“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]

Noah Webster:
“ The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to G-d-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.”

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
[Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]

Let it be impressed on your mind that G-d commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. [Noah Webster, The History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, 49]

“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” [Noah Webster. History. p. 339]

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook
in all fields.” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5]

“Education is useless without the Bible” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5 ]


Statue of George Washington, National Cathedral. “I have tried to show not the soldier, not the President, but the man Washington, coming into Christ Church, Alexandria, pausing a moment before going down the aisle to his pew,” said sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877-1963).

George Washington:
Farewell Address: The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion" ...and later: "...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."


“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without G-d and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” [speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" [May 2, 1778, at Valley Forge]
During his inauguration, Washington took the oath as prescribed by the Constitution but added several religious components to that official ceremony. Before taking his oath of office, he summoned a Bible on which to take the oath, added the words “So help me G-d!” to the end of the oath, then leaned over and kissed the Bible.

Nelly Custis-Lewis (Washington’s adopted daughter):
Is it necessary that any one should [ask], “Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?" As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to his country. His mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For G-d and my Country."

“ O Most Glorious G-d, in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving Father; I acknowledge and confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of my sins, but so coldly and carelessly that my prayers are become my sin, and they stand in need of pardon.”
“ I have sinned against heaven and before Thee in thought, word, and deed. I have contemned Thy majesty and holy laws. I have likewise sinned by omitting what I ought to have done and committing what I ought not. I have rebelled against the light, despising Thy mercies and judgment, and broken my vows and promise. I have neglected the better things. My iniquities are multiplied and my sins are very great. I confess them, O Lord, with shame and sorrow, detestation and loathing and desire to be vile in my own eyes as I have rendered myself vile in Thine. I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son and only Savior Jesus Christ who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thou gavest Thy Son to die for me.”
[George Washington; from a 24 page authentic handwritten manuscript book dated April 21-23, 1752
William J. Johnson George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.]

"Although guided by our excellent Constitution in the discharge of official duties, and actuated, through the whole course of my public life, solely by a wish to promote the best interests of our country; yet, without the beneficial interposition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we could not have reached the distinguished situation which we have attained with such unprecedented rapidity. To HIM, therefore, should we bow with gratitude and reverence, and endeavor to merit a continuance of HIS special favors". [1797 letter to John Adams]

James Wilson:
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Supreme Court Justice appointed by George Washington
Spoke 168 times during the Constitutional Convention

"Christianity is part of the common law"
[Sources: James Wilson, Course of Lectures [vol 3, p.122]; and quoted in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, 11 Serg, & R. 393, 403 (1824).]

Source: Quotes of the Founding Fathers.

The National Cathedral
“A Great Church for National Purposes”


View from the Bishop's Garden.

As Pierre L’Enfant was laying out the new capital city, George Washington and L’Enfant imagined “a great church for national purposes.” It was originally envisioned as being in the spot now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery, but when in 1893 Congress actually granted the charter for the cathedral, it would come to be located on the high ground it now occupies North of Glover Park and the Naval Observatory. Mount Saint Alban was the most commanding hill in the District of Columbia and the Right Reverend Henry Yates, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, selected it. In 1898 President William McKinley attended the dedication of the Peace Cross on the Cathedral Close marking the end of the Spanish-American War. Architects George Frederick Bodley and Henry Vaughn created the design – a Gothic Cathedral with flying buttresses!

The Foundation Stone was set in place on September 29, 1907. The Cathedral would be constructed entirely with donations. It was completed in 1990. The sculptures Ex Nihilo (out of nothing) over the entrance doors were carved by sculptor Frederick Hart over a ten year period in the mid 1970s. He entered a competition for the façade but his initial entry was rejected. Undeterred, he submitted a refined proposal and the rest is history.

Hart’s career path was anything but conventional. He dropped out of the Corcoran School. Took some art classes at American University and then took a job in the mail room of the National Cathedral for the specific purpose of pestering Roger Morigi. Morigi was the Cathedral’s master carver. He had carved the frieze for the United States Supreme Court Building. Hart wanted Morigi to take him on as an apprentice and eventually he did, becoming like a father figure to him.

Morigi was a temperamental perfectionist and a genius. He started Hart out carving details high up in the structure. As he became a master himself, he was allowed to work on the intricate details closer to the ground. When the great entry sculptures were needed, he was himself a master!






Flying Butresses.








The work: Ex Nihilo, completed in 1982, Hart’s depiction of the birth of mankind is considered one of the most important commissions of religious sculpture in the 20th century. The tympanum above the central door features half-formed figures of men and women emerging from the void. Beneath stands the figure of Adam, his eyes not yet open and his body not fully freed from the surrounding stone. The north tympanum depicts the Creation of Day, and the south tympanum depicts the Creation of Night.






Inside the Cathedral.


Inscription: This Cross is raised in the Historic Year A.D. 1898 to Mark the Founding of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul That it may please Thee To give to all Nations Unity Peace and Concord We beseech Thee to hear us Good Lord
JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNER STONE
Photos by Bob Kirchman.

The twenty foot tall Peace Cross is a Celtic cross formed from two pieces of limestone. It was designed by the architect, Robert W. Gibson (who also designed National Cathedral School’s Hearst Hall), and donated by Cathedral Trustee Dr. William Cabell Rives. It bears on its front the litany for unity, peace, and concord.The Peace Cross was erected on October 23, 1898, at a memorial service at which President McKinley spoke, denoting that this land be set apart for sacred purposes. Mr. Nourse, senior warden at St. Alban’s church and a descendant of Joseph Nourse, the original owner of the land on Mount St. Alban, pulled the cord that held the flag enveloping the Peace Cross. “It was raised on Sunday, October 23, 1898, not only to mark the sign of the Cross, the site of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, but also to commemorate the ending of the war between Spain and the United States and the first meeting of the General Convention in the Capitol. Here for three decades open air services of public worship have been held on Sabbath afternoons from May to September.” Cathedral Age, Michaelmas, 1928


The 'Space Window' was designed by St. Louis artist Rodney Winfield and fabricated under his supervision. It contains a moon rock. Whirling stars and orbiting planets are depicted in orange, red and white on a deep blue and green field. Image Credit: NASA






This architectural model was built in 1915 to represent the original plans for the Cathedral as designed by George Frederick Bodley and Henry Vaughn. It was used to show people all around the country the majestic cathedral they proposed.

Monticello and Tiny Houses
[click to read]

By Griffin Daughtry



When Thomas Jefferson originally moved into the South Pavilion of his Monticello estate in 1770, it was little more than an incomplete two-bedroom brick building and a cleared mountaintop. Over the course of the next 38 years, the author of the Declaration of Independence would personally design and oversee the construction of his “essay in architecture.” The main house at Monticello, as it stands today, is a piece of architectural wonder; its design embodies themes derived from both Classical and Palladian styles of work. While the Renaissance man himself was never formally trained as an architect, you can hardly tell, as his home consists of numerous unique features including a triangular pediment supported by Doric columns and his famous octagonal dome. Inside, the walls are covered with a variety of objects that highlight the former president’s interests and accomplishments. Even today, you can still find one of the last remaining original artifacts from the Lewis and Clark expedition—a pair of elk antlers—in the entrance hall. But just like the great Roman cities that heavily influenced the design of Jefferson’s home, Monticello wasn’t built in a day. Despite the fact that Jefferson amassed a great deal of debt by the time of his death, which can largely be attributed to debts he inherited from his father-in-law and his extensive list of hobbies, one can hardly argue that he failed to make sound economic choices with regard to his early years of homeownership. People do not start their adult lives the way early Jefferson did anymore. Today, most young individuals leave college and either become renters, pouring thousands of dollars a year into a property they will never own, or naively “take advantage” of artificially low interest rates and acquire a mortgage they can barely afford to pay off. There is an alternative path, however, and it is very much akin to the home-owning path Jefferson took at the end of the 18th century. (read more)


Photo by Nick Page.

School Starting Age: The Evidence
by David Whitebread

Earlier this month the "Too Much, Too Soon" campaign made headlines with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, from the Faculty of Education, explains why children may need more time to develop before their formal education begins in earnest.

"In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously" -- David Whitebread

In England children now start formal schooling, and the formal teaching of literacy and numeracy at the age of four. A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal ‘schooling’ in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being).

This is a brief review of the relevant research evidence [1.] which overwhelmingly supports a later start to formal education. This evidence relates to the contribution of playful experiences [2.] to children’s development as learners, and the consequences of starting formal learning at the age of four to five years of age

There are several strands of evidence which all point towards the importance of play in young children’s development, and the value of an extended period of playful learning before the start of formal schooling. These arise from anthropological, psychological, neuroscientific and educational studies. Anthropological studies of children’s play in extant hunter-gatherer societies, and evolutionary psychology studies of play in the young of other mammalian species, have identified play as an adaptation which evolved in early human social groups. It enabled humans to become powerful learners and problem-solvers. Neuroscientific studies have shown that playful activity leads to synaptic growth, particularly in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for all the uniquely human higher mental functions.

In my own area of experimental and developmental psychology, studies have also consistently demonstrated the superior learning and motivation arising from playful, as opposed to instructional, approaches to learning in children. Pretence play supports children’s early development of symbolic representational skills, including those of literacy, more powerfully than direct instruction. Physical, constructional and social play supports children in developing their skills of intellectual and emotional ‘self-regulation’, skills which have been shown to be crucial in early learning and development. Perhaps most worrying, a number of studies have documented the loss of play opportunities for children over the second half of the 20th century and demonstrated a clear link with increased indicators of stress and mental health problems.

Within educational research, a number of longitudinal studies have demonstrated superior academic, motivational and well-being outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, play-based pre-school programmes. One particular study of 3,000 children across England, funded by the Department for Education themselves, showed that an extended period of high quality, play-based pre-school education was of particular advantage to children from disadvantaged households.

Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7. Their results show that the early introduction of formal learning approaches to literacy does not improve children’s reading development, and may be damaging. By the age of 11 there was no difference in reading ability level between the two groups, but the children who started at 5 developed less positive attitudes to reading, and showed poorer text comprehension than those children who had started later. In a separate study of reading achievement in 15 year olds across 55 countries, researchers showed that there was no significant association between reading achievement and school entry age.

This body of evidence raises important and serious questions concerning the direction of travel of early childhood education policy currently in England. In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. [1.] The original article appears Here [click to read].

This Will Replace K-12 Schools and Colleges
[click to read]

By Peter Gray

The cat is slowly scratching its way out of the bag. Ever more people are becoming aware of the colossal waste of money, tragic waste of young people’s time, and cruel imposition of stress and anxiety produced by our coercive educational system. Children come into the world biologically designed to educate themselves. Their curiosity, playfulness, sociability, and willfulness were all shaped by natural selection to serve the function of education. So what do we do? At great expense (roughly $15,000 per child per year for public K-12), we send them to schools that deliberately shut off their educative instincts – that is, suppress their curiosity, playfulness, sociability, and willfulness – and then, at great expense and trouble, very inefficiently and ineffectively try to educate them through systems of reward and punishment that play on hubris, shame, and fear. For far less expense we can facilitate, rather than suppress, children’s natural ways of educating themselves. (read more)

Building Outside the Box
[click to read]

By Sarah Chase

Molly McElwee-Malloy uses her music degree every day in her work with health care professionals, advocacy groups and insurance companies to help people with diabetes. (read more)

Playing in Puddles
[click to read]

By Katie Day

Playing freely and having little adventures is part of childhood. So why do so many parents give me strange looks when my children roam and play?”

At a park near my house on a hot summer day, my five-year-old and two-year-old discover the water fountain. They make a game of splashing water out and stomping in the puddle with their bare feet. Other young children try to join in, but parent after parent says “no” and takes them away, sometimes in tears. These unhappy parents look offended as they search for the lazy mom who must not know her children are causing trouble. (read more)






DuPont Circle Fountain, Washington, DC. Photos by Bob Kirchman.

Laney’s Palette Art Show
Saturday September 14th, 2019 in Crozet, VA

Works by Kristina Elaine Greer will be on display at the gallery space of Tabor Presbyterian Church, 5804 Tabor Street, Crozet, Virginia 22932. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, September 14th, 2019 from 1:00 to 4:00pm at the church. All are invited. The show will feature Laney’s Acrylic Paintings and Pencil Drawings from 2004 – 2019.