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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