QUARANTINE BLOG # 44

May 13, 2020

A very happy 5th birthday to Tate!  Seems like just yesterday ...

👉  Against the day when cruise ships will once again be plying the planet’s oceans, and Bonnie and I will be on board doing enrichment lectures, I have a series about art, colors, painters, photographers, museums, writers, and composers called “The Creators.”  In the art section, I have talks about red and purple, with one or two others planned.

Colors are such fundamental, tangible things that it’s hard to imagine not having names for them, but the number of words for colors varies widely by language.  In nearly all languages, the first colors to get names are black and white.

“Black” comes from very old words that meant “to burn” or “burned.” The Oxford English Dictionary points out that “black” could also be used to describe something bright, shining, or glittering, perhaps related to the idea that something which is burning is all those things. So it took “black” a while to be limited to what we think of as black today.

“White” is a little more straightforward. In Old English, it meant “bright and radiant, or clear and fair.” It could be describing something we think of as white such as snow, milk, or an old person’s hair, but it could also describe something transparent, or something light yellow, pale gray, or silver. Online Etymology Dictionary says “White” is also one of the oldest surnames in English, originally referring to people with fair hair or a fair complexion.

There are still languages today (“Darkinyung,” an Australian language, “Dani,” spoken in Papua New Guinea, and “Bassa,” spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone) that have just two words for colors that are essentially “white” for all light or warm colors and “black” for all dark or cool colors.  If a language has three terms, the new one is almost always “red.”

Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at red.

** “Captain Kangaroo” is our third look back at children’s television programming.

The Captain got his start in 1955. The show was conceived by Bob Keeshan, who also played the title character. He based the show on “the warm relationship between grandparents and children.” The premise was pretty simple: Captain Kangaroo – so named because of the large pockets in his jacket – would entertain children every day in a treasure house, where friends would drop by. Not only was Keeshan the Captain, but he also played Mr. Pennywhistle, Mr. Doodle, Wally, and the Town Clown. And before Captain, he was Clarabelle, the silent clown, on Howdy Doody.

Other members of the Captain’s Treasure House were Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, Grandfather Clock, and the Banana Man. This Banana Man clip is 8 minutes long, but it’s a good 8 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJqLKM3dtw

One of my favorite parts was the Tom Terrific cartoon. Do you remember the intro? “Terrytoons presents the real great adventures of me, Tom Terrific!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgniqcgdFo Tom wore a cap that looked like a funnel, and he could shape-shift. He had a sidekick named Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and a nemesis, Crabby Appleton, whose tag line was, “I’m rotten to the core!”

And the Toothbrush Family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV-9Mq0F2KU

One more.  Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, and the ping pong balls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDgpQyuvAo

Tomorrow we will visit Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

**  How about another trip down memory lane?  59 is fine!

** And a couple more funnies – these from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

** I don’t remember who said it, but I once heard someone say, “You know you are having a real revival when the preacher gets saved.”

That unremembered speaker could have been speaking of the Wesley brothers, John and Charles.  Both ordained clergymen.  Both unsure of their salvation.  For Charles, it came on May 21, 1738. He wrote in his journal that the Spirit of God “chased away the darkness of my unbelief.”  For John, that assurance came three days later at a Bible study held in Aldersgate Street (and it came not in response to a sermon, but to the reading Martin Luther’s preface to his commentary on the New Testament letter to Romans).

During his ministry, Charles wrote more than 6,000 hymns.  On the first anniversary of his conversion experience he wrote an 18 stanza hymn to celebrate what the Lord had done in his life.  His praise to the Lord was titled “For the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion.”  The first verse began, “Glory to God, and praise, and love be ever, ever given.”  That stanza and the next 5 deal with Charles’ own emotions at his spiritual transformation.

Verse 7 is the climatic expression, “O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,” which was an echo of an expression used by Peter Bohler, a Moravian minister who told a struggling John Wesley, “Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”  That declaration was, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with them all!”

I remember a time, more than 30 years ago, when I was struggling in faith.  I was in my study at the church we were then serving, and Bonnie brought me the mail.  One of the pieces was a letter from my mother.  Mom had the most beautiful handwriting; if you’ve ever seen it you will always remember it.  Well, she had a way of preaching to me in her letters and I tossed it aside, expecting a sermon.  After an hour or so, I picked it up, opened it, and there was the sermon I was expecting.  She said, “I know you are experiencing a hard time right now, but I think if you would start counting your blessings, you will see that it will all work out.”

“O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace.”

Having troubles today?  Take Mom’s prescription.  You may find, like John Wesley  on that May 24th at Aldersgate, your heart is “strangely warmed.”

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