It IS a Wonderful World

The movie Good Morning, Viet Nam was not filmed until 1987 but was set in Saigon, 1965. If not for Robin Williams and the story line involving pop music vs Lawrence Welk’s orchestra, I could not have sat through it. The humor relieved tension as specific images brought me to tears: the convoys, the jungle attacks, the napalm bombs, the screaming civilians. The movie’s action was early depicted against Martha and the Vandellas’ classic “Nowhere to Run” and concluded by juxtaposing Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World.”

Today, amid news of coronavirus and COVID-19, I hear number of cases, number of patients on ventilators, number of dead, refrigerated trucks serving as temporary morgues. It's so dire, it's hard to comprehend, such as the depth of the Vietnam war as I dropped by tween classes at the Henderson State student union, 1966-69.

This week, some say, data may show the “apex” in NYC. While Arkansas’ results have been far below prediction, medical professionals suggest the peak in states sparsely populated is not far off. I am both encouraged and wary. It is a wonderful world, but the world is in a pandemic.

Here I sit on the deck with a slight breeze and the buzz of bumble bees begging to be swatted into next week. An iced beverage to my right and trees of green before me. Robins hop through the clover in search of supper where I just plucked several of the four-leaf variety for my collection. I revel in the vibrant pink and purple Wave petunias I planted yesterday. This morning, a hummingbird checked on my supply of nectar and a walk provided time for reflecting on the beauty of the day against the trials of Holy Week.

And then, I came face to face with a gorgeous dogwood tree, its blossom the symbol of Christ’s cross. Holy week spirals headlong into despair and shudders at that moment Jesus gave up the ghost. Saturday, though, I will pause, I will wait because I know that Sunday’s coming.

It is a Wonderful World.

A novel approach to Esther's story - FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Hadassah: One Night with the King

·       While not a book I'd choose again, this novel was recommended after I posted the beautiful phrase - Perhaps you were born for such a time as this Esther 4: 14 

A novel based on Scripture in Esther – Tommy Tenney from Louisiana – has several similar novels.

·       Take-away about the novel (fiction – or historical fiction)

1.     The author adds details of a ‘back story’ and weaves an enriched story-line into the scriptural passages in the Book of Esther.

2.     The author describes festivals, palaces, homes, people, and adds fictional characters such as Jesse, Jacob, and Rachel who populate the narrative.

3.     The story is from a letter made into a book that is read by the “next in line” of the women to come into a position of power as in married to an influential man. The story is supposed in the hand of the true Queen Esther, told in her voice.

Historical time period

1.     486-465 B.C.

2.     Code of Hammurabi has been in effect

3.     King Darius and King Xerxes

4.     Queen Vashti

5.     Grecian Wars with Persia

6.     Feast of Purim

7.     Time after the story – Xerxes murdered within 4 years and the Palace burned within 6 years

Scripture and Lineage

1.     1 Samuel 15 – about King Agag and the Amalekites

2.     The Chronicles (public record, record of the kings and the city)

3.     Esther 2: 7 – Hadassah, daughter of Abehai

4.     Esther 3: 10 – Haman son of Hamnedatha the Agagite

5.     Esther 3: 2, 4 – Mordecai – son of Jair

6.     Remaining chapters conclude the story with Haman’s demise

Culture

1.     Royal extravagance and opulent beauty

2.     Code of Conduct strict at penalty of immediate death

3.     Ritual role of boys and girls – even in disguising themselves (Yentl – Barbra Streisand movie)

4.     Hedonism

5.     Savagery, torture, ferocity, ruthlessness

6.     Death penalty involving gallows

7.     Palace concubines and eunuchs (how did we suppose these people came to be who and what they are. The author gives his researched take on this cultural institution.)

Discourse on these topics:

1.     The presence of God

2.     Discerning the Voice of God

3.     God’s overall plan for Good

4.     Questions of Why? And God’s response

5.     Relationship with God as Father

6.     Conversations with God

7.     Intimacy

8.     Marriage

9.     Health and Dietary laws

10.  Sexual love

Concepts that persist through Christianity

1.     “My heart broke with you…” in the midst of your pain.

2.     “I simply conversed with God.”

3.     “A reason that would reveal itself over time.”

4.     “God’s Law guides our choices but does not guarantee our outcome.”

5.     “Make godly choices within the course available to you. He will guide you.”

6.     “God walks through disappointments with us.”

7.     “God goes before me and prepares the way.”

8.     “What we purpose in our hearts…”

9.     “God has a different path – Trust Him.”

10.  “Please, LORD, Give me wisdom.”

11.  Page 194 in the novel – FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

Incongruencies in dialogue (sounds too modern to have been written or spoken by Queen Esther)

“literally and figuratively”     “I bit my tongue.”   “going off in my head.”  “good old-fashioned disgust.”

Private parts, slop bucket, tip-toed, puffy eyes, “Well, girls…”  “butterflies”  “Give me 10 minutes.”

“From the looks of things…” How Hadassah became Esther (name change, etc…totally contrived)

To me, these words and phrases sound too colloquial for something supposedly written in a scroll and then transcribed into a book.

Novel Pandemic

       It is rare for me to delve into horror expert Stephen King's world. I did read Pet Sematary (misspelled by a child - part of the plot). Much later, I read 11/22/63...about changing the past to impact the future.
      I would never have read The Stand (1978) about a horrific virus for which there is no cure and one that wipes out the world's population. Doomsday, sky is falling characters are extremes in how they confront the world around them.
      "Fear not," says Stephen King. King does not mean for the pandemic which is quite real in our 2020 world to be dismissed. It's serious. King suggests we should do what we are advised to do. This situation is not in his or any other author's novel; it is in our day to day lives. King tells his readers that the coronavirus outbreak pales in comparison to the fictional pandemic in 1978’s The Stand. The fictional disease from The Stand "could kick coronavirus’ butt."
       Excellent writers fascinate me, especially those whose books tend to be taken as non-fiction when, in fact, they are totally fiction. The author's valid research for their novels can make fiction seem real. It's called "verisimilitude." ' A work of art, or any part of a work of art, has verisimilitude. The story is believed as true; it seems realistic. Authors strive to make their work realistic. The reader must  recognize what's happening. Samuel Tayor Coleridge coined the term "willing suspension of disbelief," meaning that there should be enough "verisimilitude" in a novel so that readers can choose to set aside their rational and realistic thoughts The author carries the reader into his world and there's enough reality to have the reader "willingly suspend his rational understandings."

        Novelist Dean Koontz' 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness  is not intended to predict this pandemic coronavirus but  his descriptions do relate to a pneumonia like illness with realistic qualities. Koontz is a writer, not a soothsayer. He's an excellent researcher. Novelists  conduct extensive research even into the "well, it could...and if it did..." to make their words tell a realistic, believable story.
        Conspiracy theorists have jumped to say that 40 years ago Koontz predicted the current virus.The novel contains a section about a fictional biological weapon Koonz called Wuhan-400 because in his novel it was developed outside the city of Wuhan. Yes, it's coincidental, but it's still fiction.

In another extreme, in this case, the extreme of the ostrich mentality, I think of the classic 1936 novel Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Scarlett O'Hara never understood what was right in front of her. Pre-war, she was all about bar-b-ques at Twelve Oaks, flirting with anyone's boyfriend or husband, and eating like a bird. Scarlett believed in all possibilities and based her will and determination on the red earth of Tara and the attention that followed her like the gazes of the Tarlleton twins. She got what she wanted at major expense. Fiddle-de-de and all that.

       When faced with the worst situation of her life - beyond the losses and the deaths, the demise of her familiar civilization, she looked forward with naive resolve and said, "Tara. Home. I'll go home, and I'll think of some way to get him (Rhett Butler) back."

"After all, tomorrow is another day." 

       I, too, look toward tomorrow with hope and I pray for that better day to come. And while I am being asked only to curtail social involvement, to stay home to avoid the virus' spread, I will not believe in the world's doom by this virus. American resolve will win the day.        
      Nevertheless, it will take a concerted, combined national effort; it will take more than last memorable lines of a revered novel to confront and solve our current health crisis. 
      Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions,” says Stephen King.

(Thank you, Gail, for the conversation.))

Do you know Eleanor?

     Just finished reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.  Eleanor learned that the correct answer when asked as to one's well-being or health is but one word: FINE. "I'm FINE." No one expects an in-depth recounting of how one really feels. Several of my friends and I used "FINE" as a code word. We added inflection to "I'M FINE!" by showcasing a wide-eyed, strained smile expression.
    Eleanor's story stemmed from the author's wish to delve into the situation of adult loneliness and social awkwardness. What might cause a person to gradually withdraw into a vacant, sterile world and perpetuate the situation by withdrawing from society more and more, alienating just about everyone within her sphere. They did not understand Eleanor any more than she understood herself.
     For Eleanor, she finds herself involved with two people due to a happenstance and through these two who begin to populate her world more intimately that anyone could imagine, she finds her own voice and herself.

     Eleanor exists as the hope for those who love the Eleanor Oliphants of this world. I hope that the Eleanors can find a way to be "found," or "opened up" or even joined with other people without the social awkwardness. Perhaps the Eleanors can confront their demons and with the intervention of an excellent counselor and therapist and can emerge relatively whole. I hope that our Eleanors can find peace and love and acceptance and happiness. To whatever degree that is possible.
   

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than fine.



      Eleanor of my life died last year. We'd begged her to go to the doctor. She refused passionately. I'M FINE. Well, damn it.
     
        Do you know Eleanor, too?

   

"Blessed TRINITY!"

     In a flash, forty years vanishes.
     Do you remember "the times of your life" as crooned by Paul Anka?
     The focus of memory today is Trinity United Methodist Church in the historic Evergreen district in mid-town Memphis-at the corner of Evergreen and Galloway, to be exact. The historic, Gothic building's design from over 100 years ago garners praise and accolades for its beauty because its architectural basics are the same as the Memphis Pink Palace.
     Multiple stained glass windows and gorgeous interiors speak to decades of loving use as it stands a landmark for the neighborhood. This building serves as the backdrop for five wonderful years of my life. David arrived and was baptized there. My ex-husband and I shared some of our very best married years there. The GSLS (Gulf Shores Literary Society) was founded within the New Beginnings Sunday School class at Trinity United Methodist Church. Oh, what dear friends and memories.
   

Trinity UMC - 1980s

     The decades evaporate in a split second and nostalgia catapults me into the choir loft with Mary Shoup at the pipe organ and Dr. Dave Hilliard in the pulpit. Memory is magic. It preserves everything at its most beautiful state, like a Doris Day glamour photo with its gauzy, misty haze that blurs the lines of reality. Buildings do not age, do not crumble or become stained with rain, tree-sap, and age. Nor do friends seated in their same pews, not aging one iota.
     I learned of the changes at Trinity when David notified me "something is different" as he drove past the buildings on Galloway. Friends from that era who are still active at Trinity filled in the gaps of the story.
     The congregation meets in the old Fellowship Hall across the street because the church determined it best to sell the massive stone relic to a Historic Preservation group to reduce the ever-climbing six-figure debt incurred when fewer and fewer young professionals and retired couples attempted upkeep and dove further and further into the abyss of debt. As my friend said, "We are serving God, meeting the needs of our community, and climbing gradually out of debt. We are not as concerned about upkeep on a deteriorating building as we are about meeting needs as Jesus taught."
     Memories are luxuries to be enjoyed for a moment as we stare into the eyes of today, of what is before us to live and serve and enjoy. The building does not a church make - the church is the people, of course. But, in this case, it is the trigger for a preponderance of precious memories. God is the Three-in-One, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is the Trinity in the lyrics of that majestic hymn Holy, Holy, Holy. A special memory-message to me remains as the God-Head Trinity first, and my beloved Trinity in remembrance. "... blessed Trinity."

I am no artist but I enjoy Bible Journaling

     Big Tatee (Frances Gordon Usrey), a great aunt, entertained me as a toddler with stories and drawings. Sometime before the artwork was completed, Big Tatee would dissolve in gales of laughter. I joined in.

     At Lila Newcomb's kindergarten, I colored a birthday cake solid black, much to my mother's concern. She thought I must have a dark psyche since other cakes had been colored in pastels with flower decorations. I explained to her that the cake was chocolate.

     Grade school teachers and my Public School Art professor confirmed my lack of artistic ability. No one was surprised when I changed my elementary education major after one semester.

     Ability, the lack thereof, has not kept me from attempts at artistic endeavors. I can see the beautiful end result in my imagination, but I can not make my arm, hand, and fingers cooperate.

Thus, I have surprised myself with how much I've enjoyed the "bible journaling" time that adds to my appreciation and love for special Scriptures. 

    A note-taking bible allows me to elaborate on biblical understandings in the margins, add sermon notes, and with encouragement from young women in my bible study, I've added some artistic flair. I've made notes, added comments, and drawings to illuminate many of my favorite verses.

Fake News is not New

     Living across the street from the public library as a young girl began my love of reading. Those blue, cloth-bound biographies I devoured. Mrs. Yawn, 7th grade English teacher, created reading day on each Friday...catch up on SRA, work ahead, or read. I read, uninterrupted, for a whole class period. Read many historical fiction stories You Were There at ——-, stories of children at historic American events. I relished the Wilders' adventures in their Little House.
    By reading all kinds of material, I learned to love romance as well as research. Reading is a part of me.
    Erik Lawson writes non-fiction. Isaac’s Storm was the first of his books that I read. It’s about the alarm that was raised by a single man who took his job seriously. The time period was early 1900s, decades before the creation of the National Weather Service. The storm/hurricane he warned a region about wiped out Galveston, Tx.
     More recently I read Devil in White City. It’s about a horrid series of events involving architects and others during the building of the White City that showcased Chicago’s World’s Fair. The origin of Ferris’ Wheel...who knew?
     Heavily researched and thoroughly documented, In the Garden of Beasts is slow to develop because of the thoroughness of the telling as it relates to Dodd and his grown daughter, Martha. The book chronicles US ambassador Dodd, a Jeffersonian Democrat and historian, along with his family, during their five years in Berlin, 1933 - 1938.
   It takes a few years and 2/3 of the book for Dodd to see and understand what was happening in Germany and in diplomatic language and fashion he crafted communiques to inform his superiors.

    I’ve always wondered how such atrocities against human beings could take place in a civilized society, in a beautiful country, (with the world watching) and this book lays it bare. ‘Oh, to be a horse in Hitler’s Germany,” where cruelty to animals was against the law while the unchecked underbelly of the German government lay waste, with cruel yet subtle laws, against anyone, any business, any art, music, science from non-Ayrian sources.
     Marlene Dietrich got out of Germany early as did Albert Einstein.

*Have you wondered if American officials knew about the “situation?’
*Do you think about politics, the economy, and how they interplay with foreign policy?
*What were diplomats throughout Europe and elected officials in America thinking as Hitler promised peace and prosperity, all the while violating the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI?

Plenty of opportunity existed to stop Hitler's regime in the early stages of his massive military buildup. So, why didn’t they?

It’s not a book to be read in one sitting.
I borrowed it online in ebook format through Rector Public Library system.