After worshipping with us at Parish the first few times, people will often comment on how delightful, among many other things, are the sights and sounds of our “lively family atmosphere” and our wiggling, squirming, and murmuring children. These …
Pearl’s Infamy
Onthis day in 1941, “a day that will live in infamy,” a surprise attack by Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, thrust the United States into the conflagration of the SecondWorld War. At anchor in the harborwas nearly the entire Un…
St. Andrew’s Day
Numbered among the Apostles, the brother of Simon Petereventually became the revered patron of both Greece and Scotland where hisfeast day, November 30, remains a kind of national holiday.Andrew (c. 10-60) may well have been,as tradition asserts, the f…
Grantian Florilegium 2011-11-28 21:20:00
“If you cannot readall your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them—peer into them,let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arreststhe eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on y…
The Vicar
Nearly every time I go exploring in the vast, uncharted realms of Arthur Quiller-Couch’s anthologies, I find some heretofore overlooked gem. This summer as I was working my way through his Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, I ran across this wonderf…
Thanksgiving in Boston
Earlyon the settlers expressed their thanksgiving for the evidence of God’s goodprovidence in their lives. Despiteall the hardships they faced, they recognized the peculiar opportunity they hadbeen afforded. Thus, theyoutwardly affirmed t…
The First Proclamation
The Mayflower was not the first ship ofcolonists to arrive in the New World. It was not even the first in the English domains. Yet it retains a place of first importancein the lore and legend of this land. In this romantic verse&n…
A Literary Life
Long before the bane of cable television and the internet invaded our every waking moment C.S. Lewis commented that while most people inmodern industrial cultures are at least marginally able to read, they just don’t. In his wise and wonderful bo…
The Battle of Lutzen
In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Lutzen—one ofthe most crucial engagements in the bloody Thirty Years War—it was announced tothe world that King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had died. During the course of the battle on thisday in 16…
Christmas Wish List
1. “Civilization” by Niall Ferguson2. “The Kingdom New Testament” by N.T. Wright3. “Bully” by Rick Marschall4. “Death of Kings” by Bernard Cornwell 5. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson6. “Holidays in Heck” by P.J. O’Rourke7. “…
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer was born on this day, Martinmas, in 1491 in the Alsace-Lorraineborderland between France and Germany. He would eventually become one of the most influential men in the GreatReformation.He served as a mediator between Luther, Zwingli, …
Favorite Quotes on Prayer
1. “Prayer does not fit us for thegreater work; prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers.2. “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better,not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost canuse—men of pray…
The Prevailing Power of Prayer
“Prayer does not fit us for thegreater work; prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers“Prayer can never be in excess.” C.H. Spurgeon”Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in thecloset.” E.M. Bounds”There is no power like that of prevail…
Martinmas
Martin of Tours was a faithful pastor in Gaul who was martyred on this day in397. Also on this day in 655,Martin of Umbria was martyred during the great Monothelite controversy. Both men demonstrated perseverance inthe face of political per…
A Most Zealous and Efficient Evangelist
According to tradition, on this day in the year 432, a youngBritish monk—formerly held captive as a slave by the very people he now soughtto serve—arrived in Ireland to begin his ministry.Patrick was said to have been born at one of the littleChris…