Timeless Thanksgiving

Millennia before Europeans discovered the New World, people celebrated Thanksgiving. Undoubtedly, the Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock were most familiar with this well known Psalm:

Psalm 100
(King James Version)

1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

At Mom's Bible Journal, I found an excellent verse by verse commentary of Psalm 100. The journalist makes the comment that "all" are invited to "enter into his gates with thanksgiving."

The Book of Psalms is the ancient Hebrew hymn book as we are encouraged to "come before his presence with singing." And whether or not you can sing, the psalmist invites all to - "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord..."

How did Psalm 100 sound when it was first sung perhaps by King David? The musical slideshow below may give us a hint. The words of the Hebrew Text shown with its transliteration and translation are sung in the ancient melodic line, accompanied by a Celtic harp.

The Music of the Bible Revealed - Psalms 100
(The music starts about 1 minute after the introduction.)




May your Thanksgiving in the year of our Lord 2009 be filled with worship and praise.

For all those traveling during the holidays, be safe!


Other Thanksgiving and Psalm 100 links:

Treasury of David by Charles H. Spurgeon

The Thanksgiving Story

The Real Story of Thanksgiving



Related Links:
photo from everystockphoto.com : praise

The Trinity Site: Where the First Atomic Bomb was exploded

Twice a year, the Trinity Site in New Mexico is open to the public, the first Saturdays of October and April. October 2008, I visited Ground Zero where the first atomic bomb was exploded on July 16, 1945.

My memoirs and some pictures of that visit are published in the online magazine TRAVEL THRU HISTORY.

Please feel free to check out my article: The Trinity Site: Where the First Atomic Bomb was exploded.

Walking about Ground Zero and the McDonald ranch house, where the first bomb was partially assembled, was a somber experience.

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Photo: by S. K. Smith (that's me)

Note: As you see in my picture, "where the toilets are" is very important to us vistors.

For another travel article that I have written from BeatenPaths:
A pilgrimage to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel

Catch a Falling Star out of Leo?

When I was active in Amateur Radio, we Hams got excited about the Leonid meteor shower.

This time of year, the earth passes through the debris left behind by the Temple-Tuttle comet. The particles passing through the earth's atmosphere result in a delightful cosmic light show that appears to come from the constellation Leo. Hence, this meteor shower is often called the Leonids.

Since the meteors ionize the air, radio waves reflect off the upper atmosphere. When this happens, the Amateur Radio Operators (Hams) love to get on the air and talk around the world .

Also, for those who like to wish upon a star, this is a good time.

Here are some pictures of past Leonid meteor showers, courtesy of environmental graffiti: Meteor Showers!!!

For stargazers: Happy viewing this Monday and Tuesday of the Leonid Return.
For Hams: May your talk be heard around the world: As the World Turns Ham Radio News.


For more information, check out:
The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower at the NASA site, science.nasa.gov
Heads up! Leonid meteor shower is next Tuesday at the Kansas City Science News Examiner site.
Major Meteor Showers in 2009 at skytour.homestead.com/


Links:
Photo from everystockphoto.com: Meteor Shower

Veterans Day - World War One Soldiers Remembered

When my grand mother passed away in 1975, I collected a metallic shaving mirror inscribed with a sergeant's name. The sergeant was her fiance. His mother sent her the mirror after he was killed in action during the Great War, which we now call World War One.

My grandmother later married a veteran of the Great War, an immigrant from Denmark. (I still have his dog tags.) For his service to his country, my grandfather earned his US citizenship.

My mother said her father talked little about the devastation of the mustard gas that he had witnessed or his life in the trenches, which affected his legs for the next 50 years. It was an experience he wished to put behind him.

This Veterans Day, in memory of the World War One soldiers like my grandfather and my grandmother's first fiance, the following YouTube.com scene is my tribute to their sacrifices as well as the sacrifices of all the men and women who serve their country.

One BBC comedy that I have enjoyed is Blackadder, whose four seasons span various periods of English history. The last season, Blackadder Goes Forth, is set during the Great War. After three weary years in the trenches, the British soldiers finally get the order to "go over the top."

According to BBC news, "The poignant finale of sitcom Blackadder has been voted the best farewell episode of a TV series." The YouTube clip is approximately 4 minutes. Or you may link to the YouTube site: Blackadder Final Scene





In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army


Other links from YouTube.com:

In Flanders Fields
(tribute of music and images set to the words of the poem above.)

Over There: Remembering WWI
("Vintage Antique Classics" presents "Over There" patriotic music by George M. Cohan, sung by early 20th century Pop sensation Bill Murray.)


Links:
photos from everystockphoto.com
photo of poppies

Review - Eva Galuska and the Christmas Carp: A Novella

Halloween is over! Now thinking about Christmas?

Last year I had purchased the novella by Kathleen Clauson - "Eva Galuska and the Christmas Carp." It is a great Christmas book.

In 2008, I wrote the following review at authorsden.com -

Kathleen Clauson’s writing first got my attention on AuthorsDen with one of her short stories “Night Owl”. I read her excerpt from “Eva Galuska and the Christmas Carp: A Novella” and was intrigued. Then, I recently purchased the novella and read it.

The story is full of detail and rich with description of superstitions and traditions - especially around Christmas - in the lives of immigrants and their children, who settled in the great melting pot of the Chicago area. It takes place in modern times, and yet the Old World influences them as they pursue their American dreams.

In a short time, I got to care about the characters and got to know them. I experienced their life, their culture, their short-comings, their triumphs, and a unique slice of Americana. I regretted when the story ended, for I wanted to know more, especially some of the mystery about Eva Galuska.

A parallel is Earl Hamner’s “The Homecoming”, another tale spun about Christmas. This novella became “The Waltons.” Who knows? There is a basis for a script in “Eva Galuska and the Christmas Carp.”


Link:

www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?id=27766&AuthorID=89736

Halloween 1517

After moving and settling down in a new area of the country, I joined a Protestant church in the community. As part of the new member's class, we got an introduction to the denomination and an overview of church history. And Halloween of 1517 was a most important date.

October 31, 1517, Martin Luther had nailed "The Ninety-Five Theses" to the castle church door at Wittenberg, which outlined grievances against the Catholic Church, in particular the abuse of indulgences. Some historians have pinpointed this act as the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation and later the Counter-Reformation (also known as the Catholic Reformation or Revival), which sought to remove abuses within. Many Protestant churches see their genesis in the posting of Luther's "95 Theses."

In my new member's class, we covered the different styles of church government and traditions of the Catholic and various Protestant denominations. Which one is right?

Taking Luther's lead of Sola Scriptura, "by Scripture alone," the New Testament does not give details in governing or even following many cherished Christian traditions (like observing Christmas on December 25). What the New Testament gives are great principles and guidelines. Therefore, it seems that any system of church governance will work if there are godly leaders of character. Without godly character, it does not matter. No system will work.

Catholic? Protestant? Which is the "true" church?

The Scriptures say in Ephesians 4 (King James Version):
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Strong's Greek Dictionary gives our English translation of "church" as ekklesia, a called out assembly. The "one true church" is comprised of all believers whom Jesus Christ has called out to Himself.

In the words of St. Peter:

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
I Peter 2 (King James Version)

The church of the New Testament and the ancient creeds (Apostles, Nicene) transcend all denominations, whether Catholic, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical ...

Using the Protestant definition of "saint" as any Christian, what more appropriate day for "all saints" to reflect than the Eve of All Saint's Day - Halloween in 1517 - a turning point, which called the church back to the Bible?


Related links:

Photo from everystockphoto.com:
Martin Luther - everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=2546814

Biblegateway.com

Roger Bacon - a scientist ahead of his time

Continuing from the past 2 blogs ....

This summer, I had read the Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons and was fascinated by the renewed Science vs. Religion debate. Science and the Bible are some of my favorite topics.

During research of life in the Middle Ages, I discovered that the Church did not see Science and Religion as poles apart as we may view them today. In the Medieval Church, pursuing Science was encouraged as a means to better understand God. One of the most remarkable Churchmen and Philosophers of those times was Roger Bacon.

Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294) was a Franciscan Friar who wrote his Opus Magnus for Pope Clement IV. In the area of science, he was hundreds of years ahead of his time.

The Earth is Round:

Two centuries before Christopher Columbus sailed for America, Roger Bacon wrote that the curvature of the earth explained why we can see farther from higher elevations.

Splitting White Light into a Rainbow:

Four hundred years before Sir Isaac Newton's experiment (in the 1660s) that split white light with a prism into the spectrum of the rainbow, Roger Bacon in the 13th century passed light through a glass bead to produce the rainbow.

Father of Modern Science:

"Isaac Newton's discoveries were so numerous and varied that many consider him to be the father of modern science." Yet, a few scholars credit Roger Bacon as a pioneer in the advancement of natural science, who emphasised the importance of mathematics and "experimental science." In his works, Bacon mentions gunpowder and lenses and proposals for horseless carriages and flying machines.

The telescope:

In the "The Starry Messenger," Galileo had improved the telescope (invented by Flemish spectacle-maker Hans Lipperhey in 1608) and turned it to the heavens to observe such things as the craters on the Moon and the four satellites about Jupiter. In the Cipher of Roger Bacon, the manuscript suggests Roger Bacon was in possession of a reflecting telescope, which he observed and drew a spiral nebula.

To sum up the Medieval philosophy of the Church concerning Science: If the Bible contained the truth, how could the Church be threatened by understanding the truth better? Only later, during the time of Galileo, the Church became frightened of Science. (That could be the subject of another blog. )

A great find on the Science vs. Religion debate was the Terry Jones' (of Monty Python fame) series - Medieval Lives. Medieval Philosophers were the scientists of the "Dark Ages" which were not as dark as they seemed.

For a humorous history lesson of Medieval Science, check out youtube video on episodes of Medieval Philosophers:

Medieval Lives Ep06 The Philosopher Part 1/3

Medieval Lives Ep06 The Philosopher Part 2/3

Medieval Lives Ep06 The Philosopher Part 3/3

Related link:
Roger Bacon photo from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roger-bacon-statue.jpg