QUARANTINE BLOG # 87

June 25, 2020

Captain Obvious reports that this past Sunday was Father’s Day.  I asked the good Captain (and that is simply a metaphor, not a reference to any single person you may know) to share that with you so I could offer a quote from one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner, which reminded me of a Father’s Day 61 years ago.

Buechner, in his memoir Now and Then, tells about the reason he, a teacher and a novelist, went to seminary.

“I wanted to learn about Christ – about the Old Testament, which had been His Bible, and the New Testament, which was the Bible about Him; about the history of the church, which had been founded on the faith that through Him God had not only revealed His innermost nature and His purpose for the world, but had released into the world a fierce power to draw people into that nature and adapt them to that purpose ... about the theological systems that the passion of His original followers, and of Saint Paul in particular, had been distilled into.

“No intellectual pursuit had ever aroused in me such intense curiosity, and much more than my intellect was involved, much more than my curiosity aroused.  In the unfamiliar setting of a Presbyterian church, of all places, I had been moved to astonished tears which came from so deep inside me that to this day I have never fathomed them.  I wanted to learn more about the source of those tears and the object of that astonishment.”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a “call narrative” as beautiful and as powerful as that.

God called me into ministry on Father’s Day, 1959 (it was also the 21st of June, the same as this year).  The Men’s Fellowship of Loch Lynn Evangelical United Brethren Church had charge of the entire morning worship service.  Dad was asked if he would read a poem, and as he always did, said, “Yes,” and then as he always did, got stage fright with accompanying butterflies, knocking knees, and shaky voice (when he became the Scoutmaster for Troop 95 that all went away – I don’t understand how, but it did). 

That Sunday morning Dad asked me if I would read the poem he had volunteered to read and I immediately replied in the affirmative – an awesome privilege.  The poem was titled, “If I Had A Boy,” and as I stood in the pulpit and read it, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.  It was as if He stood beside me and whispered into my ear: “Just as you are now speaking words on behalf of you father, so I want you to speak words on behalf of your Heavenly Father.”  It was a call I never doubted.

👉  Today’s trip down Memory Lane continues with an introduction to Saturday morning cartoons, 1950s and 60s style.  If readers would like to remember cartoons from the 1970s and 80s, I invite them to share the names of their favorites with me, and we’ll look at them in a future Quarantine Blog series.

Writing in Philadelphia magazine, Aaron Mettey listed “The 20 Greatest Saturday Morning Cartoons of All Time.”  Before the list, he introduced his subject with a paragraph that took me farther along in the Way Back Machine.  His list started in 1969 with Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (and an honorable mention to the Jetsons of 62-63) up through 2001s Recess (I know nothing about it – you will have to look it up).  Here is Mettey’s intro:

“I know it’s a ‘back in the day’ or ‘walked up a hill both ways’ thing to say, but I think kids today are being robbed of a magical experience.  With everything now available 24-hours by cable or streaming, the specialness of cartoons is completely gone.  I wish my nieces and nephews were able to wake up early on Saturdays (not because they had to, but because they wanted to) – with their Pound Puppy in one hand and a bowl of Boo-Berry in the other – and fight with their brother and sister about who got to pick the shows that morning, one of the most important decisions a kid could make.  After all, with only 4 channels airing cartoons for only a few hours a week (and long before DVRs and, actually, VCRs), you could miss a new episode of your favorite show.  And never know when you would actually see it.”

With apologies to Mettey’s too-new list, that paragraph did take me back to Saturday mornings at 117 Shenandoah Avenue and watching cartoons (all in black and white because we did not have a color TV) with my brother, Kyle, while we consumed peanut butter toast.  On Saturdays when we played Monopoly with Wayne Callis we ate plain buttered toast and chili, but that’s a story for another blog.

There is a difference between the cartoons of my youth and the cartoons the JAMM Kids (Jennifer, Amy, Michael, and Matthew) watched.  My cartoons were animated stories told by cats and mice and rabbits and dogs and woodpeckers and magpies and bears and squirrels and moose.  The cartoons which my offspring watched were animated stories told by a variety of characters who functioned as advertisements for the latest toys.  But I reckon each group enjoyed their own cartoons and looked forward to Saturday mornings.

And with that, let’s watch The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65t-OzhlmvE

The title characters were, of course, Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle Moose.  The main antagonists in most of their adventures are the two Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, both working for the Nazi-like dictator Fearless Leader.  In addition to squirrel and moose, segments include “Dudley Do-Right” (a parody of old-time melodrama), “Peabody’s Improbable History” (a dog named Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman traveling through time in their Way Back Machine), and “Fractured Fairy Tales” (classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion).

Rocky and Bullwinkle is known for its quality writing, clever – often pun-filled – humor, and topical satire.  The animation is choppy and unpolished, but since its first airing on ABC on November 19, 1959, the show has been enjoyed by adults as well as children.

Well, I’m already into page 3, so tune in tomorrow for more details about our favorite moose and squirrel and their adventures.

👉  Today’s close comes from Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me by Beth A. Richardson

For One Who Is Hurting

God, your peace,
Your comfort,
Your healing presence.

Send them into
The places of deep sadness,
The wounds,
The disappointments,
The tears and aching hearts.

Touch the tear-lined cheeks
With your kiss of peace.

Hold your child close,
Child full of sorrow.
Hold your child close,
Child all alone.

Bring comfort and healing,
Balm for broken hearts,
Freedom from fear,
And courage to face forward.

You are the Miracle Worker,
The Great Healer,
The Mender of the Breach.

Come, now,
Come, quickly,
Come.

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