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| i thank you God for most this amazing day by E. E. Cummings i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
Here are three different composer’s interpretations of this poem by E. E. Cummings, sung by three very different choirs: Elliot Z. Levine's "i thank You God for most this amazing day," Performed on May 15, 2008 by Sentici, a student-founded, student-directed vocal ensemble from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, NJ. [Note: The video in this one is somewhat amateurish, but well worth listening to.] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IopyueHVU4U&feature=related [accessed 11 APR 2009] Gwyneth Walker’s, I Thank You God, sung by the 2007 TMEA All-State Women's Choir, accompanied by the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JouB6jWWnM&feature=related [accessed 11 APR 2009] Eric Whitacre’s , “i thank You God for most this amazing day”, Sung by the SBTS Seminary Choir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrp6RYymuzs&feature=related [accessed 11 APR 2009]
From XAIPE (Oxford University Press, 1950; Liveright, 2003), 88 pp., s.v. #65. Also printed in Complete Poems, 1913-1962 (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980), 866 pp.; and in E. E. Cummings: Complete Poems, 1904-1962, Rev. ed., ed. George J. Firmage (Liveright, 1994), 1,136 pp. Note: While I am not especially fond of Cummings or his work, I found this poem very thought provoking, and the musical renditions moving. | | |
| When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
I struggled through the riddle of the math on this one, and came up with the following: 1. The other penny is their's. They only offered a penny for a penny's worth of your thoughts, but you gave them another penny's worth unasked for. They can make their money back by passing this (the extra penny's worth of your thoughts) along at the same rate of exchange. 2. The other penny is now worth more due to deflation (or, disinflation) brought on by the precedent set here of gaining two for the price of one. Unless the extra penny's worth is offered back as a rebate, those who offer two cents worth of their thoughts for a penny would soon be out of business. 3. The other penny should go into a piggy bank so that you can later afford to buy this hat: 4. It ends up in the fountain, or in the dish by the cash register at the Quik-Mart! 5. It doesn't really matter anyway, as it was never worth much to begin with! 6. Depending on the current market value of zinc and copper that penny may actually be worth closer to two cents! See also the following which may not be much help in determining where the other penny ended up, but show the variety of places that the question did: I could go on, but that should be enough devaluation for one blog! | | |
| The First Fruits of the Rapture? Colony Collapse Disorder The following information has been widely report during the first half of 2007. [footnote 1] Stefan Lovgren, writing in Los Angeles for the National Geographic News, in an article titled, "Mystery Bee Disappearances Sweeping U.S." dated February 23, 2007 [footnote 2] "Without a trace, something is causing bees to vanish by the thousands." "Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was the first beekeeper to report to bee researchers what's become known as colony collapse disorder (CCD)." ""I came to pick up 400 bee colonies and the bees had just flat-out disappeared," Hackenberg said. "There were no dead bees, no bees on the ground, just empty boxes." "In almost 50 years as a beekeeper, I've never seen anything like it." "A lot of people think honeybees are only important for the honey they produce," entomologist Maryann Frazier said. "But much, much more important are their pollination services." The Pennsylvania State University professor is part of the 12-person task force looking into the crisis. No carcasses are found near the hive—the bees are just gone. "It's a total mystery where they're going and why they're leaving," Frazier said. Epidemics of disappearances like the current one have been documented as far back as 1896. But no cause has ever been established, scientists say. The CCD epidemic "may have started at least two or three years ago," said Jerry Bromenshenk, a University of Montana entomologist who leads a company called Bee Alert Technology, Inc.
An undocumented statement widely attributed to Albert Einstein by various media outlets and internet sites affirms: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man"
This mysterious disappearance of honey bees (which remains unexplained to date) may cause some rethinking of long-held theological beliefs. One eschatological belief that may have to be rethought is that of the rapture of the Church. The traditional views have almost entirely occupied themselves with the issue of the timing of the rapture, i.e. in relationship to the beginning of the Seventieth Week of Daniel (the Tribulation), and the Second Advent of Christ. These views are commonly referred to as pretribulational, prewrath, midtribulational, and posttribulational. The only deviation from this focus to date has been the partial rapture view that sees inclusion in the rapture as tied to one’s spiritual condition when it takes place. There does not seem to have been any serious consideration given so far to the possibility of a progressive rapture wherein the Church is raptured over a period of time rather than suddenly. This is related to the timing of the rapture, but focuses more on the manner in which the event will unfold. The current issue of "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD) among honey bee populations may be the beginning of something directly related to end time events, which, if viewed as a pattern, would indicate that there is a progressive nature to the expected fulfillments not previously anticipated. 1. If, in fact, the insects go first, then the animals, then the humans, this would fit somewhat the pattern seen in the loading of the Ark by Noah, i.e. the animals went on board first, then the family of Noah. [footnote 3] 2. If the disappearance of the honey bees is indicative of how the disappearance of the Church will occur, then the gradual, progressive manner of this disappearance may need to be factored into our eschatological views. Along with the incidence of CCD during the past few decades has been the rise of Progressive Dispensationalism which may provide a sympathetic forum for the consideration of Progressive Rapturism, a new alternative to the traditional views. The most serious objection to this new alternative may come from those who see a sudden, unified rapture required by 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first". This objection may not be insurmountable if the duration of the "shout", the "voice", and the "trump" is more extensive than previously considered. If the possibility may be entertained as plausible that this is more like an entire symphony than a single blast on the trumpet, then the time span may allow for a progressive rapture. What about your church? Noticed any unexplained "disappearances" lately? How is the health of your "colony"? Will there be any of your "hive" left after the rapture? 
Footnotes: 1. Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder. 2. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees.html. 3. Genesis 6:11-7:10. | | |
| Still on the LineAn incident that occurred June 23 in Wichita, Kansas provoked a response from the local Chief of Police. The incident was reported by Roxana Hegeman of the Associated Press on July 4th in an article titled "Kansas Shoppers Step Over Dying Woman". Part of the response by Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams to Wichita Eagle columnist Mark McCormick was reportedly, "What happened to our respect for life?" I am not left wondering long which leaves me more incredulous: 1) the shoppers stepping over the dying stabbing victim, LaShanda Calloway, without rendering aid, or 2) the question asked by Chief Williams. His question wins hands down. Let me explain. But, first let me quote a great old song popularized by Glen Campbell: "I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road
Searchin' in the sun for another overload
I hear you singin' in the wire, I can hear you through the whine
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line
I know I need a small vacation but it don't look like rain
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line" [footnote 1]Chief Williams, I may be just a lineman for the county, not a police officer, and not a media reporter, but I "hear you through the whine", and I can't believe what I am hearing. Your question leaves me incredulous. I cannot believe that the Chief of Police of Wichita, Kansas can be asking such a question in 2007. Why would I say that? Why would I respond with such incredulity? Can you really be asking, "Why?", in Wichita, Kansas? Can you really ask, "What happened to our respect for life?" especially in a city, Wichita, Kansas, which is the Nation's "Abortion Capital" [footnote 2] ???? If Wichita, Kansas had "respect for life" there would have been no need for the "Summer of Mercy" in 2000 and 2001, and no need for the "Wichita Awakening" on July 14-16, 2007!
[footnote 3] In 2003 there were 11,600 babies murdered in "bloody Kansas". [footnote 4] How many of these murders were committed in your city, Chief Williams, where you ask, "What happened to our respect for life?" Here in Pennsylvania we don't ask that question. We stopped asking that question in 1973. We know better. We know that our Nation has no respect for life. We know that our governments, including our Congress and Supreme Court, the medical industries, the many pro-murder non-profit organizations, and the Nation's doctors have no respect for life. If they did there would not have been 48,589,993 babies murdered in this nation from 1973 to 2003.
[footnote 5] Chief Williams, some of us are "still on the line"! Our nation stands in jeopardy of the judgment of God because of what goes on every day, day in and day out, in cities like your's where human beings are murdered, cruelly destroyed, their blood shed on the ground crying out for the vengeance of Almighty God. [Note: This letter has been sent to the editor of the Wichita Eagle, and to Chief Williams.] Footnotes: 1. "The Wichita Lineman", by Jimmy Webb. Lyrics from "Oldie Lyrics" at: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/glen_campbell/wichita_lineman.html. For further information see Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_Lineman. 2. Operation Rescue at http://www.operationrescue.org/?page_id=582. 3. "Summer of Mercy observes relatively quiet conclusion", by Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press, on MorningSun.net, http://www.morningsun.net/stories/072201/kan_0722010008.shtml, and "The Wichita Awakening" on ProLifeUnity.com at http://www.prolifeunity.com/index.php/article/the_wichita_awakening_july_14_16_2007/. 4. Centers for Disease Control, Morbitity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance Summaries, November 24, 2006, "Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2003, by Lilo T. Strauss, MA, Sonya B. Gamble, MS, Wilda Y. Parker, Douglas A. Cook, MBIS, Suzanne B. Zane, DVM, Saeed Hamdan, MD, PhD, Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm. Kansas is not unique in deserving the title of "bloody". She earned that title in the mid 19th century, however. Today, every one of the states wears it as the murder of the unborn continues within their boundaries. The entire United States is bloody with complicity and guilt deserving of the fearful judgment of the Creator. 5. National Right to Life, "Abortions in the United States: Statistics and Trends" at http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html. | | |
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