Walter Bruegemann

Born in Nebraska on March 11, 1933, Walter Brueggemann was an influential Old Testament scholar and theologian who used the Hebrew prophetic tradition, and other biblical resources, to address issues like nationalism, consumerism, and militarism. The church must provide a counter-narrative to such forces, he argued. Among his degrees, he received his B.D. from Eden Theological Seminary in 1958. He returned to Eden as professor of Old Testament (1961–1986) and Dean (1968–1982). He was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1958. He wrote many books, many articles, and also commentaries on books of the Bible; for instance, I enjoy his commentary on Exodus in The New Interpreter's Bible. I've scarcely scratched the surface of his contributions to scholarship and to the greater church's ministry. Reading "An Introduction to the Old Testament" (2003), I enjoyed his comments about the work of Brevard S. Childs, whom I had for Old Testament in the late 1970s. Bruegemann came into the Webster Groves, MO Starbucks one time when he was in town, and I gushed my appreciation for his work and offered him my table, LOL. There's no shame in embarrassing yourself when you meet someone you admire, LOL. Brueggemann died last June. The theme of Eden's 2026 Spring Convocation is his life and legacy. 

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Happy Birthday, Shemp!

As a kid, I loved watching The Three Stooges on afternoon kid's TV! Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz) was born March 11, 1895! In 1923-1932, he performed with Moe and Larry. In 1932, he left and pursued a successful solo career. In 1946, when Curly's health caused him to drop out of the act, Shemp returned with Moe and Larry. He planned to stay only until Curly got better. But Curly died in 1952. Shemp remained with the act until his own death in 1955. Of the five Horwitz brothers, the first two were not in show business, Shemp was the third brother, Moe the fourth, and Curly the fifth.

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"The Red Balloon"

 The 34-minute French film, The Red Balloon (Le ballon rouge) premiered at Cannes on March 3, 1956. It was released in the U.S. on March 11, 1957. I remember watching it during the 1960s, at a summer Evans Public Library event for kids. The film is about a boy who has adventures with a sentient red balloon. Interesting to read that the Belleville and Ménilmontant areas of Paris, where the movie was filmed, declined in the 1960s and many locations were razed. So the film provides a visual record of those neighborhoods as they were.

Lorenzo De Ponte

"Don Giovanni, you invited me to sup with you, and I have come...." Born March 10, 1749, Lorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. Later in his career he was Columbia University's first professor of Italian literature. He died in New York and is buried there. You usually see the first picture in books. The second picture is interesting because it's by Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph and noted portrait painter.

Ferdinand and Isabella

  had a friend, of blessed memory, who was a Reform rabbi. He was pleased to visit the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella and to cheerfully tell them, "You kicked the Jews out of Spain, but you're dead and we're still here!" (If you knew my friend's joie de vivre you'd recognize his humor.) Ferdinand II was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he was also King of Castile from 1475 to 1504 (as Ferdinand V). Thus, Ferdinand is the de facto first king of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella's reign marks the beginning of Spain as a world power. The couple sponsored Christopher Columbus' voyage and began the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the same year, 1492, they ordered Jews to be baptized and convert to Christianity or leave the country. They made the same order to Muslims. One of their children was Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII.  Ferdinand was born March 10, 1452.

Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick

"Really don't mind if you sit this one out/ My words but a whisper, your deafness a SHOUT." Jethro Tull's fifth album, "Thick as a Brick", was released on March 3, 1972. OMG, I still love this album, after first buying it from my cousin's local store that summer! Ian Anderson had been annoyed that "Aqualung" (1971) had been called a "concept album".  He decided to make "the mother of all concept albums" as a spoof, in the comic tradition of Monty Python. The album contained one song, filling both sides of the LP. The spoof was that the lyrics were supposedly an epic poem written by an 8-year-old named Gerald Bostock. According to the story, the boy was disqualified from a poetry competition when readers were offended by his attitude and his social commentary--starting with the poem's title. ("Thick as a brick" means a person who's really stupid.) All of this was packaged in a 12-page gatefold album cover that was a "newspaper" from Bostock's town. Anderson said in an interview that the newspaper took a little longer for band members to write that the whole album took to record. John Evan's keyboard prowess really shines through the long song's sections. A prog rock classic turns 54!

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Texas History!

March 2 is not only Sam Houston's birthday (see below). It is also Texas Independence Day. By 1834, American settlers in Mexican Texas outnumbered Mexicans. The Texians (Anglo-American Texans) felt that Mexico was reneging on its generous 1825 Colonization Law, and Mexico was alarmed at the influx of slavery into Texas. On March 2, 1836, 59 Texians who were delegates to the convention approved the Texas Declaration of Independence and declared the Republic of Texas. George Childress (1804-1841) was the principal author of the document. Texas' southern border remained controversial--the Rio Grande, or the Nueces? That issue was critical at the beginning of the Mexican-American War. The republic existed from March 2, 1836 until February 19, 1846, when it became the 28th state following American annexation.  https://www.tsl.texas.gov/treasures/republic/declaration.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawQSmiZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyekN0TFBwQnlKNU9DRTZSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvKRJSKMklzRtahzjRoAjEe1Gyb1uNgXIGX8OdhXhNu2HcvrmKLIgzHRR-NP_aem__FS3cTgGLRAvCS-a2faLJw

 

During the Texas Revolution, Sam Houston led the Texan Army to decisive victory againt Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto. Subsequently, he was elected the first and later the third president of the Republic of Texas. He also was one of the first two senators from the state of Texas in Congress. As governor of Texas (1859-1861) and also of Tennessee (1827-1829), Houston was the only person to be elected as governor of two different states.  He was born March 2, 1793. 

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Three Papal Birthdays!

Pope Leo XIII was born March 2, 1810. He reigned in 1878-1903, the third longest pontificate after Pius IX and John Paul II. He is remembered as a pope concerned for social justice. In his 1891 encyclical "Rerum novarum," he argued for the rights of workers to a fair wage, to trade unions, and safe work places. His upholding of free enterprise and property rights steered a course between laissez-faire capitalism and socialism. He also promoted the use of the rosary and the revival of Thomism. When our current pope took the name Leo, he made an explicit connection to the teachings and example of his predecessor. 

Born March 2, 1876 as Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII reigned in 1939-1958. He oversaw canon law reform and liturgy reform. He clarified the nature of the church's teaching office, and also encouraged biblical scholarship. He defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. Pius remains controversial because he did not condemn Nazi atrocities contrasted to his opposition to Soviet Communism. This article from the Holocaust center Yad Vashem discusses the issues: https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/academic/pius-and-the-holocaust.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawQSglNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwa2UyQnoyYnBKZURCdmlUc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHl0Tj2Si5zhTQUdpKpMHqeEPfsNDQRHLuSoJ1byMii6bQvkeF-Wq8TLDPBn2_aem_a9F1Be-ansprsKFL7SlClw

Pope Adrian VI, born in Utrecht as Adriaan Florensz Boeyens on March 2, 1459. He ascended to the papacy in January 1522. He inherited dire challenges: the difficult situation of the papal finances; the early years of the Protestant Reformation; and the challenge of the Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent in the east. Adrian had only twenty months as pope before he died; poison was suspected but more likely he succumbed to stress-related illness. He was the only Dutch pope. He was the last non-Italian pope until the Polish archbishop Karol Wojtyła was elected as John Paul II in 1978.

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Poinsett and Poinsettias

Born March 2, 1779, Joel Roberts Poinsett was a physician, botanist, diplomat, and politician. He served in the South Carolina state legislature as well as representing the state in Congress. He was very opposed to nullification and led South Carolina's Unionist efforts in the 1830s. A respected expert in Latin American affairs, Poinsett was also the first ambassador to Mexico. He was also interested in Russia and was offered a position by Tsar Alexander I, which Poinsett declined as American and England approached war in 1812. Tragically, Poinsett oversaw the Trail of Tears during the late 1830s. He is perhaps best known for introducing what was then called the Mexican flame flower or "Flor de Nochebuena" (Christmas Eve flower) to the U.S. The plant soon became known as the poinsettia. I've read that the indigenous name of the plant is Cuetlaxochitl (kweh-tla-SO-cheetl). Should the plant be called that, rather than by the surname of an Anglo slaveowner?  

Black History Month's History

I read something about 100 years of Black History Month, so I looked it up. In 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson (pictured) along with the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), created "Negro History Week" for the second week of February, coinciding with the birthdays of Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14). African-American communities were already observing those days. In the 1930s, Negro History Week was a helpful antithesis to the growing southern "lost cause" idea that slaves had been well treated. Then, in 1969, black students and teachers at Kent State University proposed a Black History Month. The first such month happened at Kent State the following year. The observation caught on and soon was celebrated across the country. President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month in 1976 during the national Bicentennial.

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Happy Birthday, Fayette County, Illinois

Fayette County, Illinois, where I was born and raised, was established 205 years ago, February 14, 1821. Here is part of the 1821 law. From parents to a few 4th-great-grandparents, I have 36 ancestors buried over there (42 if I include folks who may be buried there but have no stones), and lots of other relatives. Lots of living relatives, too!  The county is one of MANY places in the country named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. .... Regarding the law: the reason for the need to establish a county seat for Bond County, is that when Fayette was created, the Bond County seat--Perryville--was consequently within the bounds of Fayette. Thus Greenville became the Bond County seat, and Perryville (in the southwest corner of Fayette) soon became a ghost town.... Illinois was settled south to north. Like many counties of the time, Fayette was larger than it became and extended into northern, sparsely settled land: https://genealogytrails.com/ill/1825map.html

Zitkala-Ša : 150 Years

So interesting to learn about this woman this evening. Zitkala-Ša, who also used the name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist who wrote about Dakota culture, cultural identity, and Native American stories. She co-founded the National Council of American Indians, that fought for citizenship and civil rights for Native Americans. She also took issue with the boarding school system. Zitkala-Ša studied and played the violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and taught music to Native children. She also wrote the libretto and songs for the first American Indian opera, The Sun Dance Opera (1913). Zitkala-Ša was born February 22, 1876.

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Happy Birthday, Rashi

Born February 22, 1040, French rabbi Rashi (an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) wrote commentaries on the Torah, Tanakh, and Talmud. He is still a key author in Jewish religious literature. He was known for elucidating the simple meaning of the biblical or talmudic text, thus appealing to both beginners and scholars. Since the 16th century, Rashi's commentary has been part of the Talmud text, printed beside the Mishnah and Gemara, the oldest writings therein. His work is also one of the major commentaries in the Torah edition called the Mikraot Gedolot. Rashi translated many Hebrew works into French, extending his influence. His writings were even translated into Latin and German by Christian scholars. Tragically, he lost family and friends in the orgies of anti-Jewish violence committed by Crusaders in 1096. Rashi died in northern France in 1105.

Anniversary of the Birth of the G.O.P.

On February 22-23, 1856, the first Republican National Convention was held in Lafayette Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The delegates formally organized the party on a national basis, elected the first National Committee, and set the stage for the party's first nominating convention held later in June 1856. At that June meeting, the party nominated John C. Frémont as the first Republican presidential candidate.... Meanwhile, on February 22-25, 1856, the American Party held their first national convention. Formerly the nativist Know-Nothing party, the new party included many former Whigs. This convention nominated former president Millard Fillmore for the 1856 presidential race.... Meanwhile, the Illinois Republican Party took first steps toward organization at their "Editorial Convention" on February 22, 1856. They met at Decatur, Illinois' Cassell Hotel, later called the St. Nicholas Hotel. Lincoln was at this meeting. He gave a speech.

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Four Religious Days This Week

 This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 18. Observed by many Western churches as the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday is 40 days (minus the Sundays) before Easter, reflecting the 40 days of Jesus' fast in the wilderness, as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. The imposition of ashes--the burned remains of palm branches of the previous year's Palm Sunday--reflect the following biblical passages. "[T]hen the Lord God formed [the human] from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7). "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). "All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again" (Ecclesiastes 3:20). There is a pun in the Hebrew language: "adam" means “human", and "adamah" means "soil". By reminding us of our mortality and connection to the earth, we are called to reflect upon and seek renewal of our relationship with God, who has given us physical life and promises eternal life.

The month of Ramadan begins today (depending on the sighting of the crescent moon) and lasts until March 19. Prayers for Muslim friends during this month and all year! As this says, Muslims fast from food and drink from pre-dawn to sunset. "The ultimate goal of fasting is gaining greater God-consciousness, known in Arabic as taqwa, signifying a state of constant awareness of God. From this awareness, a person should gain discipline, self-restraint, and a greater incentive to do good and avoid wrong. In commemoration of the revelation the Qur’an, which began in the month of Ramadan, Muslims attempt to read the entire book during Ramadan. The entire Qur’an is also recited during special nightly prayers." https://ing.org/resources/for-all-groups/calendar-of-important-islamic-dates/ramadan-information-sheet/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQCy19leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEegV9-1fn925w-_OVdqJ1JYWrr4liaOTWe2jm4uKXV7IeIoJno_WeniGbfwXE_aem_m2jyf7QBbAJAejGvJcdsRg

The Lunar New Year began on February 17th!  https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cgqg0pwkq2kt?fbclid=IwY2xjawQCy5lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeJxOnYQn1OQrtudoVzXmh4UQ1bejIOvokD4M2DTYkOle9WlKI_-_unAJkenk_aem_O3kqshnGCdHPFyfDqOQaPg It's very uncommon for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Ramadan, and the Lunar New Year to happen about the same time like this. 

In Judaism, February 17 was Rosh Chodesh Adar, the beginning of the month of Adar that contains the joyous holiday Purim, brightening the whole lunar month with joy.

Remembering Margo Frank on Her 100th Birth Anniversary

 Born February 16, 1926, Margot Betti Frank was the older sister of Anne Frank. It's the 100th anniversary of her birth in Frankfurt. Margo received a deportation order from the Gestapo in 1942, the reason that the family went into hiding. Anne wrote that Margot also kept a diary, but it has never been found. So we learn her story via Anne's. She and Anne died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen in February or March 1945.

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Happy Birthday, Dickens!

Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812. He published 15 major novels, several novellas, many short stories, and some plays and non-fiction works. He died when he was 58--leaving his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished and with no clues as to the story's resolution. Some folks get concerned if they think "Merry Christmas" is socially discouraged, but it was actually Dickens who popularized the phrase in his beloved (secular) story of Scrooge and his transformation. Dickens was sharply critical of aspects of America during his 1842 visit but had more positive experiences during his 1867-1868 return trip, including a sleigh ride in Central Park.

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A Remarkable Story

 Happy birthday to model-actor Jeremy Meeks, born February 7, 1984! He already had a criminal record and had served time when he was arrested in Stockton, CA in 2014 on a felony weapons charge. His mugshot was posted among with those of several other persons on the Stockton Police Dept.'s Facebook page. The police hadn't expected his mugshot to go viral, with thousands of persons responding to his model-ready looks. The picture became a meme. A Twitter page was set up with the hashtag # feloncrushfriday. Meeks was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon and was sent to federal prison. He served 13 of a 27-month sentence. Upon his release, he gained a lot of modeling and runway opportunities through an agency that had earlier approached him. He appeared in a music video of a Russian artist. In the 2020s, with many modeling gigs to his credit, Meeks branched out into acting. He has written on his Instagram about his gratitude to God and about his talks to juvenile offenders. His autobiography will be published this coming August.

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Landscape: George Inness

George Inness, "Delaware Water Gap" (1857). From:  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10241588340504868&set=gm.26303589242559478&idorvanity=630255120319576

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Thirteenth Amendment Anniversary

The Thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864. It was passed by the House on January 31, 1865. The required 27 of the 36 states ratified the amendment on December 18, 1865: 

"Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

"Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

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The Tet Offensive Anniversary

The Tet Offensive began on January 30 and 31, 1968. It was the largest military campaign of the Vietnam War up to that time. Named for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the battle was a surprise attack of North Vietnamese forces against those of South Vietnam and the United States and their allies. The offensive's three phases lasted into the autumn. The North Vietnamese leadership perceived the offensive as a failure because it did not cause a great uprising among the South Vietnamese. However, the American public opinion began to turn against the conflict. Over 16,000 American soldiers were killed in 1968; meanwhile, the Selective Service called for a larger number of draftees. On February 1, 1968, in a public execution in Saigon, South Vietnamese General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan shot a Viet Cong officer in the head. We've all seen that distressing photograph, which won the Pulitzer Prize. The picture contributed to growing American alarm about the war. 

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Happy Birthday, Albert Gallatin!

When my hometown was laid out in 1819, several of the streets were named after statesmen of the time: John Randolph, Arthur St. Clair, Richard M. Johnson, Ninian Edwards, and Albert Gallatin. (Jefferson Street was originally North Street.) Although Vandalia has a Main Street, Gallatin St has always been the town's primary thoroughfare of the business district. Albert Gallatin himself was a Swiss-born politician and diplomat who was secretary of the treasury in 1801-1814 (Jefferson's and Madison's administration). He also represented Pennsylvania in the US House and Senate, and was US minister to the UK and to France. In 1794, he calmed the protesters in the Whiskey Rebellion because the army could intervene. Gallatin also studied Native American languages and has been called "the father of American ethnology." He founded New York University. ALSO, he had the idea for a National Road. In his old age, he wrote a statement criticizing the Mexican War. When he died in 1849, he was the last surviving member of Jefferson's cabinet and the last surviving senator from the 18th century. Since photography was new in the 1840s, he lived long enough to sit for a picture. He was born January 29, 1761. There will be no quiz on all this, LOL. Back in the 1960s, when mailing a letter cost 5 cents, Gallatin appeared on the 1.25-cent stamp. Here is his grave in New York: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/375/albert-gallatin

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Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austin's second novel, "Pride and Prejudice", was published on January 28, 1813. She completed the first version in 1797 when she was 21. She had challenges during the years in between, including the difficulty of a woman finding a publisher in a male-dominated profession. Even published, she had to accept the convention that a woman author shouldn’t have her own name on the title page. (The Brontë sisters used male-sounding pen names, while Mary Shelley published "Frankenstein" without her name.) These are all immortal authors! Austen’s novels are among the most beloved of all novels. The first American edition of this one, slightly retitled "Elizabeth Bennet; or, Pride and Prejudice", appeared in 1832. Photo from Wikipedia. 

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The Famous Madame X

Born in New Orleans on January 29, 1859, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau was a Parisian socialite married to a French banker and shipping magnate. She was celebrated for her fashion and beauty routine that emphasized her hair and her pale skin. One of John Singer Sargent's famous paintings is of her: "Portrait of Madame X" (1884). Unfortunately, the painting caused a scandal: her fair complexion was perceived as a symptom of poor health, and her dress (at first with only one strap) was provocative. It's hard not to read moral superiority rather than aesthetic judgment in the reviews. Eventually Sargent sold it to its current place, the Met in New York--and the portrait is considered one of the artist's greatest works. Gautreau had other portraits commissioned, too. She died in 1915.

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Anniversary of an Important Darwin Work

Darwin's long work, "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" was published on this day in 1868. Published a little over eight years after "Origin of Species," the book provides Darwin's data about mechanisms of variation among domestic species and the role of environment in species development. Darwin offered his "provisional hypothesis" on what he called "pangenesis," a kind of particle mechanism for how species features are passed among generations. He didn't have the benefit of Mendel's researches on genetics, which only became widely known over thirty years later. So Darwin's provisional hypothesis wasn't as well received as his accumulation of data about variations.

 

Landscape: Bazille

"Paysage au bord du Lez" (Landscape by the River Lez) from 1870.  French impressionist painter Frédéric Bazille was born on this day in 1841. 

Pow! Bam! Thunk!

"Batman" premiered 60 years ago. The show was on ABC, with 120 episodes. The show ran from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. The show was such a big deal!

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Sergei Korolev and the Soviet Space Program

 Born January 12, 1907, Soviet engineer Sergei Korolev (on the right) was the lead designer and engineer in the Soviet space program of the '50s and '60s. Here he is with Yuri Gagarin, the first human to go into space. Korolev invented the R-7 rocket, the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1, and the satellite Sputnik 3. He worked on the missions that sent dogs into orbit, and also Gagarin's mission and that of Alexi Leonov, who made the first spacewalk. A successful manned mission to the moon remained out of reach for the Soviet space program. In 1938-1944 Korolev--at the time an engineer at a research institute in Leningrad--was incarcerated and sent into the Gulag system as a consequence of Stalin's Great Purge. It's likely that some of Korolev's health issues leading to his death in 1966 stemmed from that awful period.

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John DeLorean and His Famous Car

Back in the late '90s, I was filling up my car at Burnt Prairie, IL, a little place along I-64, way out in the country. A DeLorean pulled up for gas, and I thought, That's neat!  Then a second one arrived, and a third, and a fourth. What's going on? It was a DeLorean car club, traveling together. No flux capacitors.... John DeLorean was born 100 years ago, January 6, 1925, (He died in 2005.) He was a General Motors executive who oversaw the development of the Pontiac GTO, Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix, and the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega. He left GM to found the DeLorean Motor Company. But the production of the cars was long delayed. The first DMC DeLorean sports car was completed on January 21, 1981. They had quality issues resulting in recalls, and they arrived amid an economic downturn. DeLorean was caught cocaine trafficking, to pay his company's debts, but he was ultimately acquitted with the defense of police entrapment. The Back to the Future movies helped his car gain immortality.

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