Fall is in the Air!

Church of Old Lyme by Childe Hassam

Fall has finally descended on Dallas!  It is time to pull out the sweaters.  How delightful to wake up to crisp fall air and warm fall memories this morning.  My favorite memories are mostly centered around our time in Fairfield County, Connecticut, where the air surrounding our Wilton home was fresh, crisp and musty all at the same time with striking fall leaves covering our two-acre land.  In mid-afternoon, with our youngest who was then a toddler bundled up in layers of sweaters, topped with a knitted cap (a cute round ball as her father affectionately called her), we would head out to our massive front yard to rake leaves and wait for the school bus to bring home our kindergartener.  How we looked forward to the yellow automotive pulling up to our driveway and our pint-sized child with her lollipop-colored glasses and her too-big backpack alighting the bus, her little legs carrying her swiftly down the long driveway into my arms for a big snuggly hug.  Hot chocolate, warm cookies and apples soon followed in our dated flower-wallpapered kitchen with earnest chatter of our day.

I was a much more enthusiastic cook then and our kitchen in the fall was often suffused with the smells of pumpkin bread or apple pie or pot roast in the oven, or a hearty stew or soup on the stove, not to mention the scent of cinnamon on just about everything!

Thanksgiving was a big affair at our home in Connecticut as my parents (who often stayed long enough for the holiday and before the first snowfall) and my husband's family (who lived across  the border in Westchester, New York) and international friends gathered around the table for a stupendous meal.  Everyone contributed to the meal with my mother helping with the turkey, my mother-in-law with the side dishes, and Aunt Diane with cheesecake and Italian cookies.  I would serve an Italian appetizer before the turkey meal, one year making calzone, another seafood lasagne.  I did usually go crazy with the dessert, one year we had as many as six different kinds of dessert on the table, including a hummingbird cake!  This adopted holiday is by far my favorite holiday and I would reckon my parents' as well.

Psalm 37:3-4

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

A Better Story

Painting by Norman Rockwell

I recently read a promotional blurb on a book that got me a little riled up.  It goes something like this:  "...when the credits roll in your life, are people going to think your story sucked? If there’s any chance of that happening, read this book and start living a better story."

Seriously?  In the first place, when the credits roll in my life, what other people think about it, whether it sucked or not, will be the least of my concerns.  And why are there people standing around judging if other people's lives sucked (such a grating word, by the way) in the first place?  Are they not busy enough living and appreciating their own lives?

I did go on to read the book as it was recommended to me, on a loan, I might add.  The book, thankfully, is less arrogant and less condescending than the promotion.  The author, a single man in his 40s, gave some good insights, but was eschewed towards promoting life's "better stories" as introducing inciting incidences like biking across the country, starting a mentoring program, hiking the Inca trail in Peru, inviting world leaders into your home, etc.

That is all very exciting and commendable.  And I know people who live such intriguing lives and I do find their stories appealing and exciting.  Maybe I am just not one to be impressed with showiness in lifestyle or personality for at the end of the day, the people whose life stories I find the most compelling are the ones who have very "uninteresting" stories to tell.  They will never be recognized for starting any programs, for dining with world leaders, for living and traveling to remote locales, or for writing books telling others how to live their lives...They just live their quiet lives filled with love for what they do and especially for the people who fill their lives.  They do not feel the need to feed their lives with inciting incidences but instead make their lot as "exciting" as possible.  They are the ones who wake up in the morning, content with their lot:  grateful to go to work; hold their babies; call their loved ones; write an encouraging note; pray; contribute time and money without ever being recognized by anyone, let alone world leaders; clean bathrooms; give a smile; listen; hold a hand; cook a meal, etc.
 
I think we can all start "living a better story" right where we are now by filling our very ordinary days with love and gratitude for what we do have instead of looking for the next inciting incidence.  If we can't appreciate the work we have at hand and love the people who now fill our lives, what makes us think that we will enjoy drilling for water in Africa or loving the destitute in Indonesia?  We will carry the same discontent wherever we go and to whomever who meet.  If you can't be generous, love and sacrifice for your family and friends at hand, you will not be able to do so with strangers in faraway lands.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against starting mentoring programs or biking across America, but pursuing such endeavors does no equate to living a better story than living a seemingly "mundane" life  with a grateful attitude and loving the people around you.  Not many of us have such privileged lives that we can take time off from our responsibilities to hike the Inca trail

I want to salute my octogenarian friend Lois who spent the past 50 years of her life teaching piano, loving and encouraging the students who sat at her piano bench; my other octogenarian friend Catherine whose eyesight though dim spends her day praying fervently for her family and friends; for my mailman in Winchester who always delivered our mail with a smile (and once in a Santa suit); for my daughter's school bus driver Mr. Ephraim in Wilton who made sure she was never let off the bus unless we were at the driveway to collect her; to my friends who mentor one-on-one, teach bible studies to the blind, make the effort to encourage a friend, take in an ailing friend, love their families...all very ordinary people, living very ordinary lives but with so much love for what they do and the people they do it for.

I Corinthians 13: 1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane

August Renoir:  Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892

Our daughter Lauren treated us to the play "The Pianist of Willesden Lane" at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago this past week.  It was a moving one-woman poignant tribute by concert pianist Mona Golebek to her mother's harrowing experience during WWII.  It traces the life of Lisa Jura as a young talented, aspiring musician as she played the piano through the turmoil and adversity of the Holocaust.  Golebek interspersed her theatrical  performance with her own stirring piano performances of well-loved music by Grieg, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Debussy. 

As I sat mesmerized by the exquisite music as it weaved through the tale of survival, I was once again reminded of the crucial role fine arts plays in our humanity.  In this case, music helped Lisa Jura survive the darkest of times as she sought to carry out her own mother's parting charge to hold on to her music as she was swept up in the Kindertransport to London.  (Her parents later perished in Auschwitz.)

I don't think my father was trying to be high-brow when he guided my brothers and me to appreciate the fine arts, for it is in the realm of great music, art, and literary works that we are catapulted from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Here's a little preview of "The Pianist of Willesden Lane".

Psalm 71: 22-23

²² I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have redeemed.

I Am His Favorite

Painting by Claude Monet

My husband and I walked by a florist shop recently and there was this little plaque with the inscription:  Jesus loves you but I am his favorite.  My husband said he thought those were my exact sentiments.  We laughed.  My first thought was how silly and how theologically unsound.  But the little saying kept nagging at me.  As silly as the saying goes, I do feel like I'm God's favorite in the sense that He loves me most intimately and exclusively.  It reminds me of how the Apostle John described himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.   I don't think that in so describing himself,  John was implying that Jesus did not love the other disciples or that He did not love them as much, but that in his mind and heart, he knew without a doubt that the Lord Jesus loved him immensely and exclusively.  I think everyone of us who loves our Lord would feel that way; God loves the world but He also most definitely loves each one of us exclusively!

Do you feel that you are the one whom Jesus loved?  And if not, why not?  May I venture to say that if you do not feel like you are His favorite, that perhaps it's because He is not your favorite. 

John 20:2
So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

John 21:20
[ Jesus and the Beloved Apostle ] Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

Memento Mori

Painting by Edouard Vuillard

Memento mori means "remember that you must die" in Latin.  Some say it serves to remind us of our mortality, of our mistakes and failures, and of the inevitable transformation of life into death.  It that sense, it is quite a morbid reminder.

But I like to think that as much as it reminds us of our mortality, Memento mori can be a freeing and positive life transformation reminder.  Instead of living our lives without much thought  about death, we should remind ourselves frequently that this is the fate awaiting us all, young and old, rich or poor.  There is no greater certainty in life, no greater equalizer than that we will die.  The Bible tells us that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all humankind, and in this way, the living will take it to heart (Ecclesiastes 7:2).  If we allow ourselves to remember that death awaits us all, I think we who trust God would  live life more purposefully, with more compassion and humility, with greater generosity, and with less resentment toward the injustices of this world.

Memento mori, how then shall we live? 


Psalm 90:12, 17

¹² So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹⁷ Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Luke 12:16-21
And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Psalm 73:23-28

²³ Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me to glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷ For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    that I may tell of all your works.

Hebrews 9:27-28
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. 

Psalm 37: 7-11

⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹ For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

¹⁰ In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Haman

Esther Denouncing Haman to Ahasuerus by Ernest Normand

⁹ And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. ¹² Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. ¹³ Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

Esther 5:9-13

I was listening to the book of Esther on my ipod the other day, and the above passage stood out to me.  Everybody knows Haman was a very wicked man - avaricious, conniving, filled with hate and ready to exterminate God's people without cause.  His hatred for Mordecai was especially vehement because Mordecai was not afraid of him and refused to kowtow to him.  According to this passage, it appears that all of Haman's wealth and accomplishments meant nothing to him so long as Mordecai was around. 

And then I thought, is there a Haman in all of us?  We hope we are never so consumed with hatred like Haman to the point of plotting to kill, but do we harbor any bitterness toward anyone that so consume us that we cannot appreciate the blessings that we do have?  Or have we been so focused on  one thing that we don't have or can't have, that everything we do have pales in comparison? 

Creme Brulee French Toast

My dear friend Carol shared this delightful recipe with me.  My husband loves french toast and this is a big hit with him.  What's also wonderful about this recipe is that I can prepare the dish the night before and put it in the oven the morning of.  It is definitely thumbs up!  What can go wrong with a recipe that calls for challah bread and Grand Marnier?!  Give it a try. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups firmly backed brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 loaf challah bread, sliced 1-inch thick with each piece sliced in half diagonally
6 eggs
2 cups (1 pint) half-and-half
2 cups (1 pint) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions:
This recipe requires advance prepartion.
1.  Lightly butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2.  Melt butter and brown sugar with the corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat;
     stir until smooth and bubbly.
3.  Pour mixture over the prepared dish.
4.  Arrange the bread slices on top in two overlapping rows, slightly stacking the bread.
5.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, milk, vanilla, sugar and liqueur until
     combined; pour evenly over bread.
6.  Cover with foil and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
7.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8.  Bake until set in the center, approximately 45 minutes, then uncover and bake another additional
     15 minutes or until golden brown.
9.  Dust with powdered sugar  (optional)

Black is always elegant

"...black is always elegant, and that being well-dressed depends in a large degree upon the shoes one wears."  Simone de Beauvoir, "Chantal", When Things of the Spirit Come First.


I may not agree with Existentialist writer, Simone de Beauvoir, on several fronts, but I  absolutely agree with her on this bit of fashion advise she gave through one of her fictional characters.  One cannot go too wrong with black as far as I'm concerned; it's been my choice of color for attire for the longest time, to my mother-in-law's chagrin.  I stayed away from it for a while when we moved to Dallas; I don't know why...maybe the sunny climate cries for something softer, lighter and brighter. But I think I'm going to go back to basic black again.

And I totally agree with de Beauvoir about the shoes.  The right shoes complete the outfit, and they do get noticed more often than one thinks.  My mom was of the belief that scruffy footwear absolutely destroys any outfit.  I must agree with her.

Here's Princess Kate in a black gown.  Regardless of the color she wears, she is a young woman of immaculate taste -- restrained, elegant and classic!

 

Schubert Impromtu Op. 90 No. 3

Painting by Joseph Turner (1775-1851)

Schubert Impromtu Op. 90 No. 3 has to be one of the most moving piano compositions ever written, as far as I'm concerned.  For some reason, listening to it brings back memories of my parents.  I hope my daughter Kathryn will learn it someday and play it for her mom!

Here's Alfred Brendel's stirring rendition.

Good Friday

Painting by Edouard Vuillard

This Friday is good Friday because Christ has died for us, and this Sunday is happy Easter because Christ was raised!

- Sinclair B. Ferguson

Here are links to two talks by one of my favorite professors, pastors and theologians, Sinclair B. Ferguson, that I highly recommend you listen to this Easter season:
- Resisting the Cross
- Experiencing the Necessity of the Cross

⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5: 8-10

¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope^[b] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:17-19

Pollini and Muti

 Painting by Edouard Vuillard: Window overlooking the Woods

Apparently, Maurizio Pollini will be performing with the Chicago Symphony late April.  I wish I could be here for it - other than being confident it will be a superb performance, it'll be wonderful to treat my girls to the collaboration of two of their grandfather's favorite musicians, pianist Pollini and conductor Riccardo Muti.  Interestingly, they are both Italian, both graduates of the Giuseppe Verdi Music Conservatory in Milan.


 The piece they will be collaborating on April 25-27 is Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21.  Another wonderful composition that will be showcased is Schumann Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish), as well as Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture and Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture.  A pretty good lineup, I would say.

 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 

James 1: 16

Training Our Minds

Painting by Edouard Vuillard

I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché about "the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master". 

 - David Foster Wallace

My daughter Kathryn alerted me to this commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2008.  I read it last night and was struck by what he said about "learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think."  He said that the default setting of our mind is to think that we are the center of the universe.  We are so hard-wired to think that way that we are not even aware of it, like the case of fish to water.  To him, this kind of default thinking is "totally wrong and deluded" as much as it is automatic and unconscious. We therefore need to consciously break out of it and choose "to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of [our] natural, hard-wired default setting, which is to be deeply and literally self-centered and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self."   We can and need to exercise control over how and what we think instead of being swallowed up by our worship of self.  Which brings him to his next point that there is  no such thing as atheism because everybody worships something.  And most of us fall back on our default setting of the worship of self because it is unconscious and the world encourages it.  To him, the truly important kind of freedom is the effort to choose to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over again, and that is what will keep us alive rather shooting ourselves in the head.

As much as I agree with him, I feel that that is not enough.  It is still rather self focused.  I agree with him that it is within our power to experience not only meaning but compassion and love in any situation but I think he needs to go further and consider the source of that compassion and love.  It can't be me and it can't be the people I am choosing to care and sacrifice for.  I don't know about you, but "other people" can be pretty disappointing at times.  No matter how many kind thoughts and gestures we offer to others, we often come away disillusioned.  How then can we keep on thinking positively toward others, toward loving and serving them?  I think the only way is to remind ourselves of the compassion and love and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  To me, the truly important kind of freedom is the effort to choose to love and worship God above all else, recognizing that in God we find the ultimate source of meaning, love and compassion.  It is from Him then that  we draw the power to love, care and sacrifice for others, over and over again.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Romans 12:1-2

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God,which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

Philippians 4:4-8