Over a Month - 27 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 625

Micah 6:8
Revelation 21:1-5
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

It's been over a month now since my Dad died. It's a bizarre mixture of sadness, happiness, surprise, and grief. It's pretty much and every day occurrence that I think, "O, I should call Dad and tell him about that," and then I realize I don't know his number now.

It's much easier to deal with since we know he was both ready and prepared, but it's weird (as my cousin, Christy, said the other day) to be the oldest one in the family now. I can't call a parent to ask advice - now I'm the sage. Pray for my kids.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Good Grief - 26 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 624

Micah 6:8
2 Corinthians 7:8-10
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Good Grief Day - simply the commemoration of the birth (on this date in 1922) of Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon.

Why not celebrate by pulling the football away as your friend tries to kick it?

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Thanksgiving - 25 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 623

Micah 6:8
2 Timothy 1:4-6
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Thanksgiving! Time to actually give thanks to the giver, the Lord who, through His Providence, guides us through our lives.
Oh, and we might as well celebrate with friends and family and food, right?

Just the other day I came across a copy of the prayer my Grandma E used to say every morning before breakfast. I don't know why I've never learned it - I know I intended to at one point - but it's worth sharing here, especially today.
Why not join me in planning to learn and use this daily?

Morning Prayer
Father, we thank Thee for the night
and all that makes the morning brithd.

Help us do the things we should
and be to others kind and good.

For rest and food and loving care
and all that makes the world so fair,

In all we do and all we say,
make us thankful every day.

Amen.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Prep Day - 24 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 622

Micah 6:8
1 Corinthians 10:30-33
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Thanksgiving Eve Day! It's the day we get the house organized for the family gathering coming tomorrow.
We'll pre-prepare some of the sides and make sure the turkey will be at a good temperature for cooking on the morrow.

It's a busy day, but filled with good business. I kind of miss the Thanksgiving Eve worship services we had at church for a few years. It was a time to stop the preparation and start the thanking, and it really worked. It was a good time of rest, worship, and fellowship.
It's probably something we need to restart - just not tonight.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

That's a Sequence! - 23 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 621

Micah 6:8
Genesis 15:4-6
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Fibonacci Day! Perhaps you've heard of the Fibonacci sequence - start with 1 and 1, then the next term is always the sum of the previous two, thus 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and so on.
Did you see it? 1 1 2 3? 11/23. Just imagine how great a celebration it must have been in 1958! 11/23/58!

Anyway. The ratio of terms in this sequence converges on the Golden Section (or Golden Ratio), the which is (according to ancient Greek thought) the most pleasing proportion for a rectangle. It's about 1.6, so look at a 16x10 rectangle for a rough idea. I think they're right - it is a very pleasing proportion.
When I was at university I took a music composition class. One of the assignments was to compose a 12-tone composition. This is the once-modern notion that all 12 pitches in the chromatic scale ought to have equal emphasis, rather than the antiquated notion that the notes that sound good together ought to get some kind of preference. (The very picture of equity and anti-discrimination, in a sense.)
At any rate, being a Mathematics major, I thought that rather than creating a random tone row as the basis for the composition, I'd make one based on the Fibonacci sequence - expecting it to sound better than most random things would. I think I was correct. The tone row started on middle C, rose one half step to C#, then one half step to D, then two half steps to E and so on. Each time I encountered a previously-used pitch, I'd simply move on to the next one in the sequence until they were all there.
The rest of the compositional work was to use the translations, inversions, reversals, and all those other transformations of the tone row to create a piece that didn't sound horrible.
I actually succeeded in that quest. I created a trio, originally for trumpet, cello, and flute (because those three instruments were available in the class to perform it), but later changed to viola, cello, and violin (the instruments are listed in the order of their entrances).
If you'd like to hear it - and who doesn't love a good bit of atonal music now and again? - here's a link to a synthesized performance.

Today is also Doctor Who Day. This venerable programme premiered on the BBC on 23 November 1963. I remember when it was a great show. Sadly it seems the current Doctor ought to be called Doctor Karen rather than Doctor Who. Shouty, preachy, heavily accented, dismissive of all prior Doctors, frankly there's not much to recommend it these days, other than the fact that she's reached the end of her run and we'll be getting a new Doctor next season. Fingers are crossed, but with more trepidation than optimism.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

A Carrot? - 22 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 620

Micah 6:8
Romans 14:1-3
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

As I am a Baron - that title accorded me by the nation of Ladonia - today's celebration of Start Your Own Country Day really hits home with me. I urge all and sundry to celebrate in a reasonable way.

I will also add my commentary to the commemoration of the assassination of President Kennedy on this date back in 1963. I'm old enough that I really should remember it fairly well, but that's just not the case. I mostly remember hearing other kids say that their parents said if he had survived, he would have been a vegetable. In my mind I was imagining the President somehow turned into a giant carrot. It's an odd image that's never really left me, and now you know just how odd I was and continue to be.

Sadly, Kennedy's was not the only remarkable death on that day.
On 22 November 1963, both Aldous Huxley (the English author of "Brave New World" and other works), and C. S. Lewis (the Irish poet and author of the Chronicles of Narnia, a Space Trilogy, and massive numbers of books and writings on theology and Christianity).
It took the assassination of the 35th US President to prevent the world's noticing these two literary giants' passing.

So, once you've founded your own nation, why not read "Profiles in Courage," "Brave New World," and "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?"

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Worship - 21 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 619

Micah 6:8
John 18:33-37
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one? 

 

For our 9:30  EST worship service we will have the Chancel Choir at offertory time, and three(!) hymns for congregational singing. Remember, we'll be streaming for all those who can't join us in person, and intend to continue that practice indefinitely. Still, know that we miss seeing you in person - please come join in corporate prayer, praise, and worship as soon as you feel ready.

As usual, today's stream should just appear as the latest entry on our YouTube channel, here.
You'll find all our previous worship videos right there at that same place, and today's stream will stay there as a recording as well.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264