31 Days - Day 8 - Perseverance

One of the character traits I have attempted to cultivate in myself and in our children is that of perseverance.  I've often quoted Winston Churchill's famous speech, which includes these words:

"We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..."

NEVER SURRENDER

I want my children to learn to persevere, to carry on in spite of incredible odds.  They come from a line of courageous people who fought for their right to be free, to worship as they saw fit, and to raise their families as they thought best.  In our ancestry, we have Hugenots who fled France rather than give up their faith.  We have shipbuilders who knew what it was like to work on a ship so massive that at any moment their lives would be in danger.  We have fishermen that went out to sea in order to battle for the means to feed their children.  We have architects and nurses and engineers and pilots.  We even have a man (my grandfather) who worked with Nikola Tesla.  Each of these men and women demonstrated strength of character.  They persevered.  They carried on, in spite of incredible set backs. 

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light;

That stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king,

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

~Douglas Malloch - Good Timber

Strength comes through perseverance.

Courage, brother! do not stumble,

  Though thy path be dark as night;

There’s a star to guide the humble,

  Trust in God and do the Right.

 ~Norman Macleod (1812–1872)

Take courage, and carry on.

The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will.

~Epictetus (A.D. c. 50–c. 138)

"Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive,

  The blessing lies." 

~John Townsend Trowbridge (1827– ?)

How about you?  Do you teach your children to carry on in spite of great difficulty?  Have you read to them stories of great men and women who faced insurmountable obstacles, yet carried on in spite of pain and sorrow and loss?  Do you tell your children the stories of family members who left their homes and families to travel to the new world and start over?  Whet their appetite and give them examples of perseverance and courage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwCMf71nOA

31 Days - Death - Day 7

I think about death quite often, but not in a morbid way.  I have come close to dying on a number of occasions, starting as a tot who was nearly hit by a dump truck.  My most recent brush with death was a result of complications during surgery.  Although I was never in the same danger as I was when I'd lost so much blood that there was no discernible pulse, losing over a half litre of blood reminded me that life is short and death is certain.

I'm a Christian, and I have hope.  

Not this kind of hope:

Oh, write of me, not "Died in bitter pains,"

But "Emigrated to another star!"

~Helen Hunt Jackson

This kind of hope, found in a prayer by Scotty Smith:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.Hebrews 3:12-14

Dear Jesus, this portion of your Word is both sobering and encouraging. It leads me to think about friendship this morning and the gospel-posse you’ve given me. I’m so very grateful for the friends you’ve woven into my life. Being an introvert, the journey of investing my heart in long term relationships has required, and still requires the work of the gospel in my heart—a grace work you’ve been faithful to provide.

I’ve already gripped the handle of a couple of friend’s caskets and they’ll do the same for me one day. More than ever, I want us to finish well together in the gospel. What does look like and what will it require, Jesus?

My temptation is to treat my easiest friendships like a broken-in pair of Birkenstocks—I just enjoy these relationships without much thought or effort. It’s a great gift to have a few friends who can finish each other’s sentences, endure one another’s jokes, appreciate each other’s quirks and accept one another’s weaknesses. Surely, this is a gospel-gift.

Yet, Jesus, we’re still foolish men—capable of acting out in very destructive ways, prone to wander, easy targets for temptation. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. With all of my heart, I believe in the “final perseverance of the saints,” but I equally believe that it’s the saints who will finally persevere. Your Word is very clear—continuance in the gospel is a sign of being rooted in the gospel. That doesn’t scare me, but it does humble me.

Help us know how to hold each other accountable for believing the gospel. Help us to take each other’s heart-struggles seriously. Don’t let us confuse flattery with encouragement. Help us never to minimize nor marginalize the hardening power of sin. Help us know how to preach the gospel to our own hearts daily and to each all the time, until Today gives way tothe Day. So very Amen, I pray, in your all glorious name.

 Oh, how I long to finish well.  I do not want to waste my time playing Solitaire and watching television.  I want to be an Ambassador for Christ - His representative here on earth.

Father, I scarcely dare to pray,

So clear I see, now it is done,

How I have wasted half my day,

And left my work but just begun.

 ~ A Last Prayer

I have aches and pains that remind me that my life is a vapour.  This is humourous, and true:

My body, eh.  Friend Death, how now?

Why all this tedious pomp of writ?

Thou hast reclaimed it sure and slow

For half a century, bit by bit.

~Habeas Corpus.

I hope that I continue to be stoic when pain and sorrow invade.

Long, long before men die I sometimes read

Their stoic backs as plain as graveyard stones.

~John Crowe Ransom

Better still, may I look forward to eternity with joy.   That's where I'll see Jesus face to face!

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ~1 Peter 1:8

31 Days - Day 6 - Freedom

I honour the man who is willing to sink

Half his present repute for the freedom to think

And, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,

Will risk t'other half for the freedom to speak.

~James Russell Lowell

Free speech.  In Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognizes that Canada was founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.  Canadians have the following fundamental freedoms:  

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

As a Canadian, I take freedom for granted.  The only real threat historically to our fundamental freedom as a country came during the second World War, when Hitler planned to conquer our Allies.  Of course, during the first World War,  we were a British Colony, and were expected to join the war as Britain's ally and subordinate.  It wasn't until the second World War that Canada flexed its muscles of independence when this country declared war on Germany.

Canada was a place of freedom when the United States of America still had many slave-owners.  I recently watched a movie, "Twelve Years a Slave", based on the life of Solomon Northup, a free man who was captured by cruel men and sold into slavery in the South.  You can read this book here.

One of the things that caught my imagination was the fact that Solomon was not permitted to express himself.  He, an educated man with many talents, had to pretend to be uneducated and dull.  He was never allowed to express an opinion.  To do so meant a whipping, or even death.

"Freedom has a thousand charms to show,

That slaves, howe’er contented, never know."

~William Cowper (1731–1800) 

 Even in the best families, a slave was still a slave.  Less valuable than the owners and their kin, unimportant and without the right of free expression.  There was no justice.  No freedom.  No joy.

"Truth is its [justice’s] handmaid, freedom is its child, peace is its companion, safety walks in its steps, victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the Gospel; it is the attribute of God. 

~Sydney Smith (1771–1845)

In a truly JUST society (--> shades of Trudeau there for those of you who know Canadian History) people are free to say what they want to say, go where they want to go, and do what they want to do as long as their actions break no laws.  

"A democracy,—that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people;  of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness’ sake I will call it the idea of Freedom."  ~Theodore Parker (1810–1860)

Notice that the principles of eternal justice come from the unchanging law of God.  

That is true freedom.

How about you?  Are you willing to risk your reputation for freedom of expression?  Do you thank God for the principles in His law that led to the freedoms you enjoy in our North American societies?  Are you aware (painfully aware) of groups like ISIS or ISIL that do not respect basic freedoms of expression or religion or association?  

31 Days - Day 5 - French

"Whene'er I hear French spoken as I approve,

I feel myself quietly falling in love."

Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, Earl of Lytton

I was born in Quebec City, Quebec.  I was raised in a series of small towns such as Sept-Iles and Loretteville and Ste. Foy and Montreal and Lac Beauport.  By the time I was in my teens, the French language was part of me.  I easily flipped from English to French, and sometimes found myself switching to French more readily than English, because what I was trying to express just worked better in French.

I left Quebec at the tender age of 17.  Married at 18, and immersed in the culture and practices of Ontario, I left French behind.  Yet, once a language has gripped your soul, you can't forget it.

"Unhappy lovers always should be Frenchmen, 

So sweet a tongue for any kind of pain!"

 ~Christopher Morley

A friend of mine phoned me a few months ago, saying "Do you want to go to Paris and Rome?"  

Are you kidding me?  Paris and Rome for $1200?  Three nights in Paris, three nights in Rome?  A dream come true!

I told Jane that she has to learn Italian.  After all, her maternal grandfather's name was Giovanni Marcantonio.   You can't get more Italian than that!  I made a bargain with her.  She can speak Italian, and I'll speak French.  I've been brushing up on my French, using Duolingo to learn vocabulary and grammar, and I'm using YouTube videos to listen to the spoken language.  I've been perusing grammar and reading books.  It's amazing how much French I've retained after being away from Quebec for over forty years.

I love the language, and I love the French people.  Here's a few quotes from John Bartlett's Familiar Quotations:

The French are emotional:

There is an old French air,

A little song of loneliness and grief --

Simple as nature, sweet beyond compare --

And sad -- past all belief.  

~George Louis Palmella Busson Du Maurier

The French are practical:

The Frenchman, like the old Scotch golfer, endeavours to do what there is to be done without superfluous weapons or fancy gestures.  He sits down, ties his napkin behind his ears, picks up a knife and fork and goes to work with admirable directness.   He dunks his bread in the juice of the snail, he chases fragments of steak and gravy with a piece of crust, he licks his fingers , says "Ah!' and gets fed. ~Westbrook Pegler

The French like to chat:

A Frenchman must be always talking, whether he knows anything of the matter or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing, when he has nothing to say.  ~Samuel Johnson

I can't wait to visit Paris.

Oh, London is a man's town, 

there's power in the air;

And Paris is a woman's town, 

with flowers in her hair.

~Henry Van Dyke

How about you?  Do you like the French language?  Is it music to your ears?  Have you ever tried using Duolingo, a free online program for learning various languages?  Have you ever been to Paris?

Diplomacy

Diplomacy is to do and say

The nastiest thing in the nicest way.

Isaac Goldberg  1887- 1938

I'm not as diplomatic as I ought to be.  I've noticed that my children have inherited this trait, and they say what they mean, and they mean what they say.  Sometimes, the things they say are misconstrued by their hearers.  It is a strange art, the art of diplomacy, and it is wise to learn how to balance truth with grace.

Here are a few more quotes about diplomacy:

I'm always diplomatic when heavily outnumbered by armed strangers. ~S. M. STIRLING, The Sunrise Lands
All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means. ~ZHOU ENLAI, Saturday Evening Post, Mar. 27, 1954
All war represents a failure of diplomacy.~ TONY BENN, speech, Feb. 28, 1991
An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. ~SIR HENRY WOTTON, inscribed on the album of Christopher Fleckmore, 1604
There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished. ~JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH, "The American Ambassador," Foreign Service Journal, June 1969
The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy — give one and take ten. ~MARK TWAIN, Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a stick. ~VERNON K. MCLELLAN, Wise Words and Quotes
To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy. ~WILL DURANT, The Story of Civilization
A diplomat is a man who can juggle a hot potato long enough for it to become a cold issue. ~VERNON K. MCLELLAN, Wise Words and Quotes
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. ~JOHN F. KENNEDY


Until points of gravest import yielded slowly one by one,

And by Love was consummated what Diplomacy begun.  ~Concepcion de Arguello   ~
 Francis Bret Harte

How do you know that I am a diplomat?
By the skilful way you hide your claws.
~Emund Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

Some diplomat no doubt
Will launch a heedless word,
And lurking war leap out, ~ John Davidson, 1857 - 1909

 

31 Days - Day 3 - Food

I have celiac disease.  This does not define me, but it is something that I must not ignore.  At home, it's easy - we are well aware of our food allergies, which are many and varied, including wheat/gluten, soy, corn and dairy.

When we go out to eat, whether it's at church for potluck or at a restaurant with friends, we have to be ever vigilant, or we end up sick, weak, and ailing for days or even weeks.

Of course, my husband doesn't have any food allergies (at least none that he admits to), so eating out with him is a test of my patience.  He always lets me order first, then says pointedly, "Now for the easy order."

The way to my man's heart is definitely through his stomach.  In the book of Familiar Quotations, I found this quote:

Food

We may live without poetry, music and art;

We may live without conscience and live without heart;

We may live without friends; we may live without books;

But civilized man can not live without cooks.

He may live without books, - what is knowledge but grieving?

He may live without hope, - what is hope but deceiving?

He may live without love, - what is passion but pining?

But where is the man that can live without dining?

~ Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, Earl of Lytton

That made me chuckle, because unlike my husband, I'd be lost without poetry, music, art, and books.  I think I'd rather miss a meal than miss a chat with a friend.  

We were fairly strict parents when we had a bunch of little kids at home, and one of the rules we enforced was "If a man will not work, neither will he eat."  In other words, if a chore was not completely properly and on time, the person who did not get his job done had to miss the next meal.  That actually included writing assignments, which brings me to this poem:

God have mercy on the sinner

Who must write with no dinner,

  No gravy and no grub,

  No pewter and no pub,

  No belly and no bowels,

  Only consonants and vowels.

  ~John Crowe Ransom, Survey of Literature

 How about you?  Would you rather eat dinner than spend time practicing an instrument or completing an art project?  Do you have a husband like mine who equates food with love?  Are you a mom that considers an occasional missed meal a valuable training tool in bringing up a child in the way he should go?

Even when we're boating, we have to stop for breakfast.

31 Days - Day 2

My Garden

"A Garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
   Rose plot,
   Fringed pool,
   Ferned grot -
   The veriest school
   Of Peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not -
Not God! in Gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign:
'Tis very sure God walks in mine."
                     ~ Thomas Edward Brown

I'm a terrible gardener.  This year we started well, but my husband's dream that took over 40 years to come true ended up consuming most of our time.  We are now happy owners of an old boat.  We are not great gardeners.

But oh!  How I love to see the dahlias in all of their glory!  They are still blooming, bigger and brighter than the mums with their tiny orange and yellow flowers.  Our petunias are still bravely flowering, purple and white, ignoring the dying stems.  It's as if they think that the more they flower, the later the snows will fly.

Our cherry tomatoes produced bucketsfull of fruit.  We had a few squash, some kohlrabi, and cauliflower.  We dried some chocolate mint leaves, and look forward to sipping hot peppermint tea all winter.  My favourite herb, basil, grew well, in spite of terrible neglect.

"God Almighty first planted a garden.
And because the breath of flowers
   is far sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes, like the warbling of music)
                    than in the hand, 
therefore nothing is more fit for that delight
than to know what be
         the flowers and plants 
                  that do best perfume the air."
                     ~Francis Bacon

"How deeply seated in the human heart 
is the liking for gardens and gardening."  ~Alexander Smith

We're drawn to plants and flowers.  There's such a joy in growing your own vegetables!  I've picked romaine lettuce, little tomatoes, cucumbers and basil for a home-grown, delicious salad!  It tastes better when you grow it yourself!  You invest emotional energy in the plants, along with the sweat of your brow.

"If you have once planted a tree for other than commercial purposes, -and in that case it is usually done by your orders and by the hands of hirelings, - you have always in it a peculiar interest.  You care more for it than you care for all the forests of Norway or America.  You have planted it, and that is sufficient to make it peculiar amongst the trees of the world." ~Alexander Smith

How about you?
Do you love gardening?  Are you drawn to particular flowers or plants?  Are you able to grow enough vegetables to feed your family and put some in the freezer for winter?

The joy of gardening is like the joy of being a Christian.  His mercies are new every morning.  As far as the garden goes, there's always next year.