4.15.2020 – Let’s go see Old Abe

Let’s go see Old Abe
Sitting in marble. Quiet, yet
A voice forever

Lincoln Monument: Washington
by Langston Hughes in The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, first published 1932

Let’s go see Old Abe
Sitting in the marble and the moonlight,
Sitting lonely in the marble and the moonlight,
Quiet for ten thousand centuries, old Abe.
Quiet for a million, million years.

Quiet —

And yet a voice forever
Against the
Timeless walls
Of time —
Old Abe.

From the New York Times, April 15, 1865.

President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin

The Deed Done at Ford’s Theatre Last Night.

THE ACT OF A DESPERATE REBEL

The President Still Alive at Last Accounts.

No Hopes Entertained of His Recovery.

Attempted Assassination of Secretary Seward.

DETAILS OF THE DREADFUL TRAGEDY.

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, April 15 — 1:30 A.M.

Maj.-Gen. Dix:

This evening at about 9:30 P.M., at Ford’s Theatre, the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. LINCOLN, Mrs. HARRIS, and Major RATHBURN, was shot by as assassin, who suddenly entered the box and approached behind the President.

The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the rear of the theatre.

The pistoi ball entered the back of the President’s head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying.

About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. SEWARD’s apartments, and under the pretence of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary’s sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed, and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds may not be mortal. My apprehension is that they will prove fatal.

The nurse alarmed Mr. FREDERICK SEWARD, who was in an adjoining room, and hastened to the door of his father’s room, when he met the assasin, who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of FREDERICK SEWARD is doubtful.

It is not probable that the President will live throughout the night.

Gen. GRANT and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this evening, but he started to Burlington at 6 o’clock this evening.

At a Cabinet meeting at which Gen. GRANT was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very kindly of Gen. LEE and others of the Confederacy, and of the establishment of government in Virginia.

All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. SEWARD, are now in attendance upon the President.

I have seen Mr. SEWARD, but he and FREDERICK were both unconscious.

EDWlN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

Postscript: In one of those odd happenstances that dot the life of this blog, as I wrote this, Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man was playing on the radio …

4.14.2020 – instant mystery

instant mystery
it all changed, in a moment,
twinkling of an eye

Today’s haiku is adapted from the Bible verse, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52 (KJV)

Many know it as the text to the recitation that precedes the aria, The Trumpet Shall Sound from Messiah by George Frideric Handel.

I never noticed the use of the word, Trump, but I digress.

Today is the anniversary of Handel’s death but that is incidental.

It is also the anniversary of the day when RMS Titantic hit an iceberg.

Best guess is that she hit the iceberg around 11:40PM (ship’s time) and sank at 2:20AM on April 15th.

Two hours and 40 minutes.

160 minutes.

Less time than it takes to watch the movie, TITANIC, made in 1997.

One thing also seems to be clear from survivor interviews.

The scene in the movies where the Captain consults the ships designer (who was making the trip to check on any needed changes or improvements) really happened.

And it happened within 15 minutes of the accident.

The designer, Thomas Andrews, asked for information about the extent of the damage to Titanic.

From the answers he quickly determined two things.

One, the ship was going down and nothing could stop it.

Two, it would take about 2 hours or less.

The Captain and Officers of Titanic knew they had 2 hours to get everyone off.

A twinkling of an eye.

One moment the industrial triumph of the modern age with all the latest features in engineering brought together in one ship is steaming along, fancy free.

The next moment, that ship has become a death trap.

In a moment.

Everyone knows there weren’t enough life boats.

But there also wasn’t enough time.

Again in any of the movies on the disaster, notice that officers are trying to launch the last spare boats as the ship is going down.

Had they had more boats, it is doubtful they would have had time to launch them.

Just as an aside, when RMS Lusitania was torpedoed and sank in 1915, it had twice as many lifeboats as Titanic.

RMS Lusitania sank in 18 minutes and managed to launch six of 48 lifeboats saving about 761 passengers and crew and 1,200 people dead

SS Eastland also had a full set of lifeboats equal to the 2,600 passengers it was licensed to carry in 1915.

But Eastland turned over into the Chicago River in just 15 seconds.

No lifeboats were launched and 844 people drowned just feet from the docks in Downtown Chicago.

Back on Titanic, the Captain and the Officers had to convince the passengers that the modern marvel was a marvel no more.

And they had two hours to get their convincing done.

They had evidence evident to everyone that the ship was going down.

Water was pouring in.

The deck was taking on a pronounced forward slant.

The passengers needed more proof.

There was room for 1,200 people in the lifeboats.

There were 2,200 passengers and crew on board.

In the end, there were only 700 or so survivors.

Psalms 90, verse 4 states:

A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by

In Heaven, one day is like 1,000 years on earth.

That comes out to just over 42 years per hour.

If you live to be 80, you have about 2 of hours of Heaven time to make your mind that all this on God, Jesus and eternity is true.

A moment.

A twinkling of an eye.

This ship called Earth is filling up with water.

The clock is running.

4.13.2020 – Ring in nobler life

Ring in nobler life
Sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out want, coldness

Taken from

Ring Out, Wild Bells by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

4.12.2020 – On Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday
In the Year 2020
Tomb is still empty

I was about to write that Easter Sunday arrives this year at a time when uncertainty about the future, at levels previously unknown, impacts much of the world.

Then I thought, how is this different.

How is this different from any other day?

For crying out loud, I live in a city where a big chunk of freeway burned up.

BURNED UP!

A concrete and steel freeway!

Who predicted that?

What certainties are they in there in everyday life?

Truly, there are reasons for uncertainty today.

The global coronavirus fears have everybody guessing and worrying.

Yet studies have shown that there is less anxiety when I know what to worry about.

I know there will be change.

I know that I will impacted and or affected by these changes.

Very uncertain.

On Easter Morning for me there is at least one over riding certainty.

That tomb over near Jerusalem is still empty.

For me, that empty tomb is beyond a hope and more than a promise.

It is fact.

Uncertainty raise your ugly head and do your worse.

I have certainty in a future in will bring the best.

4.11.2020 community we had

community we had
community we have, get to
community we need

Could there be a silver lining to the coronavirus?

Can a positive spin be spun on covid-19?

Maybe.

Maybe there will be a chance to start over again.

A national reset.

A global reboot.

A chance once more for the ‘City on a hill.”

In American History, the phrase comes on the stage in 1630.

John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1630 to 1634, used the phrase in a public address titled, “A Model of Christian Charity.”

Winthrop looked to the Bible verse, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

According to the Wikipedia Article on the speech, Winthrop felt that God made people have different positions from one another, “To foster an inter-dependence among mankind, that “every man might have need of others, and from hence they might be all knit more nearly together in the bonds of brotherly affection.”

Every one might have need of others certainly describes community today.

Winthrop then moves on to explain that there are two overriding “rules” which should govern all interactions within a community, “two rules whereby we are to walk one towards another: Justice and Mercy.”

The overriding principle is: “if thou lovest God thou must help [thy brother].

Justice.

Mercy.

Help thy Brother.

Mr. Winthrop saw the need back in 1630.

400 years later, still trying to get to that City on the Hill.

Maybe.

Maybe there will be a chance to try again.

I am reminded on an episode of that old, bizarre show, Family Affair.

Jody, Buffy, Mrs. Beazley and Mr. French.

We watched the show because it was on TV after school.

We didn’t watch the show because we wanted to watch the show.

We watched the show because we watched TV after school.

There were three channels.

We could watch a soap opera, Mike Douglas or something else.

For a long time, reruns of Family Affair was something else.

ANYWAY, there was an episode where Buffy and Jody noticed that no one in their New York apartment building interacted.

They arranged a get-to-know-you party in the lobby with treats baked by their Uncle’s butler, Mr. French.

It was kind of weird show at that.

No one came to the party.

The kids were down cast and returned to their apartment.

Later there was a loud commotion out in the hallway.

The elevators had jammed and people were trapped.

All the people who lived on that floor were out in a panic.

The kids Uncle Bill (Played by Brian Keith – you have to see him as Theodore Roosevelt in The Wind and the Lion) took charge and told Dads to go to other floors.

The plan was that they would all press the elevator buttons to see if that would clear the system.

The idea worked and the elevator service is restored.

Lots of hugs and handshakes all around.

Crisis averted!

Buffy and Jody notice the crowd and run back to their apartment and return with the punch and snacks and cups.

By the time they return, everyone has gone back to their apartments and the hallway is empty again.

Uncle Bill explains that people want privacy but they are there when you need them.

I started typing this about Family Affair with grave misgivings about a transition from A City on a Hill to Buffy and Jody.

But that last sentence works.

People want privacy but they are there when you need them