# 5700
This is the 74th post this month. I was really creative or something. That equals the record set for # of posts in July 2008. For what it's worth. (Yeah, about that much.)
Ramblings of a Boomer Pilgrim in a Post-Modern World.
Bastogne, 26 Dec 1944 |
Painting 'Medics Moving in Near Bastogne / Relief Station at Bastogne' (Belgium) by Olin Dows, 1945 |
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Labels: 101st Airborne, 10th Armored, 1944, 1945, 80th Medical Battalion, Ardennes, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Europe, medics, Metz, Patton, Saar-Moselle Triangle, War, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
While my dad was in Europe, his mother at home kept her own silent vigil. The pages of her diary said very little. She was clearly just trying to maintain whatever semblance of normal she could have. Once in a while a comment would be made about getting gas ration stamps, but overall she cooked, cleaned, visited friends, sat alone as her husband worked on the railroad, her daughter lived 140 miles away and her oldest son passed through weekly.
One amazing bit of information is how often she got letters from my dad, who she usually referred to as "Buddy." I wish I had all those letters. They would certainly add something to what I've been reading and writing about the 10th Armored 70 years ago. I am sure he didn't say anything that would give anything away. All letters were censored, of course. But they might give the same bits and pieces I get from grandma. Like this one note in her diary on December 29, 1944:
Had a letter from Buddy and he sent me a dime for good luckBeyond Dad thinking of her like that, there's not much else until later at the end of the war when he sent postcards which I still have. But that's a few months off.
Dad, Grandma 6/1944 |
12/31 – This is the last day in 1944. Gee, I hope 1945 will be better
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Labels: 10th Armored, 1944, Battle of the Bulge, home, New Year, News, War, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
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With the Christmas postings last week, I didn't get to post the memoriam for Joe Cocker. No one sang like Joe, his rasping voice, body movements, facial expressions all combined to make him one of a kind. He gave us some great rock and roll and blues. While the Beatles' With a Little Help From My Friends is his best known- and maybe best- individual song, his whole body of works is worth listening to. Here are two from 1970, The Letter and Delta Lady:
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One of the top rated Americana music albums of the year (Swimmin' Time) is from a husband and wife duo, Shovels and Rope. Listening to Folk Alley the other evening I got caught by the opening chorus lyrics:
when the devil is all aroundThe whole song is outstanding, but the set-up with this chorus is a real grabber! The image of
got you crawling on the ground
on your hands and your knees
with an apple in your mouth
you will know how far you'll go
to make your peace with God
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I have just finished one of the more interesting, intriguing, disturbing, and enchanting books I've read this year. It is the biography of the rock and roll pioneer and early superstar, Jerry Lee Lewis. Written by Rick Bragg as Jerry Lee's story and his assistance it gets the deep into the grit and dirt of Louisiana, the raw power of the blues, the infectious sound of rockabilly and the amazing intertwining of early rock with country, Gospel, and religion. He may be, as one of his albums called him, the Last Man Standing of the class of the mid-50s that produced what arguably may still be some of the most energetic and power-infused music in American history.
I didn't know a great deal of Jerry Lee's story, although I knew some of the significant details. He grew up with two other famous cousins, Mickey Gilley and Jimmie Lee Swaggart. The interactions of music in Jerry Lee's life with the Pentecostal church faith that infused the land and the air of his family and community produced something far beyond even Elvis' revolution. And like Elvis his own demons sent him on a roller coaster of success and tragedy, hope and loss.
Bragg does a magnificent job of telling the story with honesty and respect for the humanity of Jerry Lee. He always allows Jerry Lee to have the say and express his thoughts. But he does not sugar coat the excesses and out of the mainstream events. He gives Jerry Lee the right to minimize his addictions, to blame it on others and to say he really didn't drink all that much. But Bragg makes sure we know that Jerry Lee has a way of telling his own story in his favor. (Don't we all!) He doesn't excuse the incredibly active sexuality or his numerous marriages or his marrying his 13-year old third cousin. It is almost as if Bragg is saying "That's the way Jerry Lee is. That's what made him the star and huge fireball he became. If it weren't for these we wouldn't be talking about Jerry Lee at all."
Bragg captures it all so very well that all I could hear in the words was that deep southern accent rolling off the pages along with the dust and dirt. He can describe the culture in such clear imagery that you know what it might have felt like in that church or roadhouse. The intensity of Jerry Lee's music came from every pore of his being and every preacher he ever heard calling him to renounce the demons he knew so intimately.
This is a remarkable book that gives an insight into the early days of rock and roll with the rockabilly sound, the country connections, Sun Records and Sam Phillips in Memphis, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. It is an amazing read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having said all that, it has also made me go digging around You Tube for songs and sides of Jerry Lee that I never knew as I moved on in rock and roll in the 60s and 70s and kind of ignored everything but Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Great Balls of Fire. No matter what Jerry did- and he did everything from roots music and blues and country to show tunes- was infused with the same raw sexuality, deep passion, and intense spirit- although one could easily argue which spirit was in control.
It was Steve Allen who actually gave Jerry Lee his biggest break when no one wanted anything to do with his amazingly sexualized music and performances. Steve was willing to give it a try because he had nothing to lose- he was on opposite Ed Sullivan! So Jerry Lee got booked on the show. He was always a difficult person to control so, as he got bored, he left the studo and returned but a few moments before he was to perform.
While Steve was trying to cover and get ready, the musicians were setting up drums and getting ready. Here, is a video of that show as the intensity overflows as only a 21-year old like Jerry Lee could do. This is an extended version that includes the sounds offstage and the commercial break preceding the performance. They actually had very little time left when Jerry came on.
One part of Jerry's act was to stand up and kick the chair away. Allen had been told by Milton Berle offstage that it would happen and that Steve should just throw it back on camera. He did just that. Watch for the piano chair to come back (about 4:14) after he kicks it away. Steve Allen got into the act and pushed it back.
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Labels: biography, books, Jerry Lee Lewis, Music, Rock and roll, The 50s, The 60s, video 0 comments
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Great line:
God’s preferred philological form.
Billy Kangas on Patheos
Translated:
God's preference for "God's Word" is "in flesh"
We call it "Incarnation" and it is quite a truth!
In Context on Patheos (presentation edited for emphasis):
Don’t get me wrong, Jesus’ birth is a significant part of Christmas, but it’s not the primary point. This can be seen in the Gospel reading for Christmas day, which is John 1:1–18. This passage nowhere mentions Jesus birth account but instead is an account of the eternal generation of Christ and the advent of his light in the world.
- Christmas is not simply Jesus’ birthday, but a feast of the incarnation.
- Christmas is a sacrament; it is a time in which we remember the highest outward sign of the inward grace God offers to the world.
- God gives expression of his love in the universal language of flesh and blood, and offers the world a grace that communicates the totality of human existence –
humanity itself.
Read more: LINK
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On Christmas Eve, 1944, General Anthony McAuliffe, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, issued a flier to his men. It was headlined “Merry Christmas,” and the general wrote, “What’s merry about all this, you ask? We’re fighting. It’s cold. We aren’t home.” He went on to praise Allied troops for stopping flat everything the enemy was throwing at them. Then he described a story that happened two days earlier.
On December 22, the commander of the German army had sent word to McAuliffe. The enemy commander had painted a bleak picture of the Allied position, and insisted there was only one option to save the Allied troops from total annihilation.
Surrender.
When McAuliffe read the demands, he fumed, then sent back to the German commander a reply of only one word.
NUTS!
When the messenger asked for further explanation, he was told, “It’s the equivalent of saying, ‘Go to hell.’”
--from Art of Manliness
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Labels: 101st Airborne, 10th Armored, 1944, 1945, 80th Medical Battalion, Ardennes, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Europe, medics, Metz, Patton, Saar-Moselle Triangle, War, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
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Always alert for interesting stickers on cars, I was fortunate to see this one:
Caution:Mine would have to say:
Driver Singing.
Caution:
Driver Singing and Conducting
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With tanks in the lead and dismounted doughs around them, the shot-up force pushed north… The enemy did not emerge lightly from the Team’s determined stand as it lost 15 tanks, 1 armored car, 2 halftracks, 3 anti-tank guns, 184 Germans killed and an undetermined number wounded. Our Teams lost 11 Mediums, 7 light tanks, 17 halftracks, 1 tank dozer and 2 recovery vehicles. In addition 1 Tiger officer was killed, 1 officer and twenty enlisted men wounded and 2 officers and 44 men were missing. Cherry’s Tigers were a tower of strength and fortitude as they held off numerically superior enemy forces to help prevent Bastogne from being captured on December 19.
It was not fully known until studies were made after the was, just how enormous was the German strength…It is difficult to imagine the utter hopelessness of Team Cherry’s situation in view of the tremendous forces arrayed against it, plus the fact that the team was confined to just one road, and to maneuver was out of the question… [While it may have been a minor victory for the Germans,] Cherry’s [Tigers] softened the enemy and… gained precious time for General McAuliffe’s airborne battalions to deploy east of Bastogne
…as the ridges became white and the drifts deeper, the most pressing problem became that of getting the defenders indoors in order to escape the icy blasts of the Ardennes winter.As this important 48-hour period came to an end, the 101st Airborne was able to place several battalions on the front. It was the critical defense by the Tiger armor that had bought the needed time. Nichols writes:
It is likely that without the determined stand taken by the CCB Tigers east of Bastogne, the defense of the city would have been impossible. Subsequent newspaper accounts, movies, and magazine articles about the Battle of Bastogne have given little attention to the significance of the Tigers’ role, but the men who fell and those who survived are themselves the most eloquent testimony that the first twenty-four hours were the most punishing and the most crucial of the German winter blitz…. [The defense by the Tigers] resulted in a major upset of enemy plans, giving General McAuliffe time enough to bring in his troops and drape them around the Bastogne perimeter.
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Labels: 101st Airborne, 10th Armored, 1944, 1945, 80th Medical Battalion, Ardennes, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Europe, medics, Metz, Patton, Saar-Moselle Triangle, War, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
I will be preaching tomorrow at the church where we are now members. I came across this on Facebook from Fredrick Buechner, preacher, writer, storyteller extraordinaire. I will let it speak for itself about preaching. (I have edited the presentation of it, but not the content, to show my emphasis.)
I HAD NEVER understood so clearly before what preaching is to me. Basically, it is
-Originally published in Telling Secrets
- to proclaim a Mystery before which, before whom, even our most exalted ideas turn to straw. It is also
- to proclaim this Mystery with a passion that ideas alone have little to do with.
- It is to try to put the Gospel into words not the way you would compose an essay but the way you would write a poem or a love letter—putting your heart into it, your own excitement, most of all your own life.
- It is to speak words that you hope may, by grace, be bearers not simply of new understanding but of new life both for the ones you are speaking to and also for you.
- Out of that life, who knows what new ideas about peace and honesty and social responsibility may come, but they are the fruits of the preaching, not the roots of it.
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With all the work I've been doing on following the 10th Armored Division through their European campaign on 1944-45 the situation at home hasn't been far from my thoughts. My Dad had just been married in May of 1944 and then shipped out in September. The American homefront was clearly invested in the war- rationing, recycling, extreme and extraordinary commitments and sacrifice were all over the country.
As 1944 was coming to a close there was at first a sense of hope. D-Day had been successful. But by Christmas, as the news began to be reported, a number of days late, of the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes, tensions, fears and uncertainty became very real. I did a quick search on Christmas 1944 and found a few postcards and posters that were from that era.
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Labels: 1944, Ardennes, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Christmas, Europe, photography, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
To me one of the most exciting and innovative musical genres today is Roots Music. It can be "Americana", blues, bluegrass, rockabilly or country, some exciting things are happening there.
The wonderful people at Bluegrass Situation have come out with their list of the Best of 2014. If you think you know what "roots music" is, give their list a try. Some good, old boot-stompin' music, some amazing storytellers, some old-timers and some newcomers. It is nothing short of amazing.
Here's one of them from an amazing young musician named Parker Millsap who, as Bluegrass Situation says deserves to be on the list for using the name Tucumcari in the lyrics.
Then there's 22-year old Jonah Tolchin bring Delta Blues into the 21st Century with power!
And one more, this one a plaintively beautiful and haunting song by Water Liars.
Amazing music- and this is only a small sample.
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With only a week to go, here is my Christmas greeting video to all of you. I have done some work learning the video editing software and I hope you enjoy some of the fun things I have added.
Merry Christmas to all!
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Labels: 10th Armored, 1944, 1945, 80th Medical Battalion, Ardennes, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Europe, medics, Metz, Patton, Saar-Moselle Triangle, War, World War 2, WW 2 0 comments
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Being a pastor was never just a job. Far from it. I did what I did because I was called. That word is not about hearing voices or some vision of heaven. It is living at the center of what God has given us the gifts to do.
For thirty years it was almost entirely within the context of a local church and a larger denominational setting. It was exciting, challenging, always new, and never what I expected it to be. I was honored, blessed, and humbled day in and day out with the opportunity to walk with people in their struggles and pilgrimages. I was able to sit in sick rooms, at death's door, in times of deep tragedy. I was also able to sit at weddings and baptisms, confirmations and graduations. I was there in some way or another as myself and as a servant of the church that called me.
At the heart of the call is to trust God. As believers we listen to Jesus' call to live in a faithful way. None of us does that well, which is where grace enters the picture. We all have different ways of doing that. The call- and ALL Christians are called- will change, grow, evolve. My ministry has been outside the institution for 10 years now, working with people who, in many cases have been hurt by the church or were afraid of setting foot inside one. It is no less important than when I was in the parish.
When I was leaving the parish ministry I would speak of "leaving the ministry" since that is often how the church sees it. I never left the ministry. I finally heard God calling me to a "secular-based" ministry. (That takes another couple of pages of description.) There is no difference between the ministry within the church and outside. Ministry is ministry is ministry. We all as followers of Christ are called to do it.
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Labels: calling, church, ministry, pastor 0 comments
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