Happy New Year

It is 8:00 p.m. on January 1, 2014. So far you have frittered away 20 hours of this new year that you've been given! Better get busy doing something!!

Popular posts in 2013

Below are links to some of the more popular posts of 2013. 

* 7 more books along the Bible version trail
* Answering the Anti-KJV Agenda, Part 2
* Carroll -- B. H. -- was a "Landmarker"
* Old song books online
* Reporting child sexual abuse
* Singing and Such
* The Father of Modern Landmarkism
* When was Jesus born?

Unchastity in males

It is...common to speak of the animal impulse to these sins (unchastity) as one so strong that it is scarcely reasonable to expect its control; and, indeed, to regard their uncontrollable strength as rather an element of praiseworthy manhood. The shameless impudence of this is sufficiently rebuked by naming such men as Lee and Jackson, men as chaste as Dian, at whose mess-tables, though surrounded only by rough, battle-stained men, no word was ever heard or tolerated that would have tinged the cheeks of their pure and venerated wives and daughters. Had these heroes full manhood? Were they less men, because scrupulously chaste, than the creatures whose chosen trait of manhood is the one which most assimilates them to the ass and the goat? Faugh! He is most the man who can always govern himself. He who cannot is, to that extent, an imbecile.

—Robert L. Dabney, 1868, as reprinted in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. V, No. 1, Jan-June 1997, p. 4

In memory: Hugh Bill McGuire, 1930-2013

Today at 2:30 p.m. a funeral service will be held at Parker Memorial Funeral Home in Bruce, Mississippi for Hugh Bill McGuire. He was born June 20, 1930 in Calhoun County, MS and died December 26, 2013 at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo at the age of 83. Interment will be in Spring Creek Cemetery, Banner, MS. Survivors include his wife, Alice Trumps McGuire; sons Hugh McGuire of Oakland, CA and Henry McGuire of Florence, MS; and daughter Sarah M. Tidwell of Oxford, MS. In addition many other family and friends.

There will be an hour of Sacred Harp singing at the funeral home, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Mr. Hugh Bill was quintessential Sacred Harp of the old school! All indigenous locations of Sacred Harp singings have their own traditions, and North Central Mississippi had some that were a little different than ours. But what is the essence of the tradition is unmistakable to those who know it. Mr. Hugh Bill had that. When I first saw him I immediately knew he was one to pay attention to. I am glad to have had the privilege to know him, and wish I had known him even better.

An "Interview with Hugh Bill McGuire, singer" can be found HERE.

Come, Holy Spirit, now impart,
Join ev'ry voice, join ev'ry heart;
Help us, O Lord, our voices raise,
And sing the great Redeemer's praise.

Dear brethren, we may meet no more
This side the bright, celestial shore;
But when relieved from toil and pain,
Dear brethren, we shall meet again.

More things I've noticed

The message of the Daily News is that we are sitting on the edge of disaster.

Don't rue the patter of little feet. Far too soon they'll be gone.

Those who police the speech of others will soon be policed.

The grass is greener on the other side of the fence -- if your neighbor fertilizes and waters it.

Any two tuned by the same tuning fork will be in tune with one another.

When you do something "so no one will be offended" -- someone will be offended.

Philpot on the witness

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." 1 John 5:10

The grand point to have decided in a man's bosom is, whether he is Christ's or not; and this is a problem which none but the Lord himself can solve. Blessed is he who has the witness in himself; and this he can only have by believing on the Son of God, as John speaks, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." This is the internal witness of the Spirit, as the Apostle declares, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." -- J.C. Philpot (1802-1869)

Miracles associated with the birth of Jesus

Just thinking about some of the miracles that are associated with the birth of Jesus.

The announcement, birth and naming of John the Baptist
The timing of the birth of Jesus (in God's predetermined time, e.g. Gal. 4:4)
The angelic appearance and announcement to Joseph
The angelic appearance to Mary
The miracle of conception without humans means
The announcement to the shepherds
The visit of the wise men and the star marking the place when the child had been moved

These are just a few things that come to mind, and some of them encompass more than just the things listed above (for example, the visit of the wise men includes God's warning to them). 

What miraculous events do you associate with the birth of Jesus the Christ of God?

Longfellow: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

According to what I've read, Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day 1863 (some say 1864). He had been despondent since the death of his wife in 1861. As she was sealing some of her daughter's curls in an envelope, hot wax dripped on to her dress and a breeze fanned the smolder into a flame. Though he tried, and finally did, extinguish the fire -- and was himself burned in the process -- his wife died the next morning. His gloom was expressed in his diary we such entries as these:

“A ‘merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.”

"How inexpressibly sad are all holidays."

"I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace."

To add to Longfellow's misery, his oldest son Charles joined the Union Army against his father's wishes. Not only that, he was severely injured in the Battle of New Hope Church (Virginia). It is with this background we understand the lines such as "'There is no peace on earth,' I said".

In 1872 the poem was set to music by the English organist John Baptiste Calkin, with a melody he had previously written.

"Christmas Bells"
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Further reading
The Civil War: beauty from tragedy, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"
The Cross of Snow

Christmas related quotes

...and a few things to read.

“How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!” -- Benjamin Franklin

“Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included.” -- Unknown

“Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more....” -- Dr. Seuss

“I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays.” -- Henny Youngman

“Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” -- Oren Arnold

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” -- The Bible

* 5 Things Christians Should Stop Saying -- "...sometimes our attempts to say something spiritual actually come out unbiblical, or at a minimum, not very helpful."
* Couple has been living under a rock -- Literally!
* The Genuine Conflict Being Ignored in the Duck Dynasty Debate -- "Is anyone really surprised to discover that the Duck Dynasty star is opposed to homosexuality on moral grounds?...An evangelical Christian points out that there is, in fact, a tension between orthodox Christianity and homosexuality. Saying otherwise robs American society of an honest debate about how to reconcile sexual tolerance with religious tolerance."
* The Pull to be Everywhere During the Holidays -- "I loved holidays. Before marriage. Before the pull to be everywhere at the same time."

Longfellow: The Village Blacksmith

After Mother quoted "A Psalm of Life" and "Trees", I asked her if she remembered "The Village Blacksmith." (I actually didn't remember the title, but thought of the first two lines, "Under a spreading chestnut-tree, the village smithy stands..."). She professed to once knowing this good stout poem, but could only quote the first stanza. Read as Longfellow expounds on work...life...memories.

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands. 

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man. 

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low. 

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor. 

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice. 

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes. 

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose. 

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in 1840

Kilmer; Trees

Another poem my mother likes to quote is "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918). It's not so long as Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life". With a little work, I might even be able to master this one!

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-- This was originally published in Trees and Other Poems (Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914).

Christmas lights, I mean links, X 7

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

* 5 things to know about ruling on Utah bigamy law -- "A landmark ruling from a federal judge in Utah striking down key parts of the state's polygamy laws handed a legal victory to polygamist families across the state — but the battle might not be over."
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow website -- Poems and biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* Honesty and Ethics Rating of Clergy Slides to New Low -- "Nurses again top list; lobbyists are worst"
* “I have the right to do anything” ( 1 Cor 6:12) Really? -- "Freedom is not the gauge by which we make decisions. Sometimes freedom is self-limited because there are other things that are more important beneficial, such as love."
* Paper or Plastic? Britain Joining Currency Trend -- "The decline of one of the world’s greatest inventions gained momentum on Wednesday when Britain announced that the British pound, a reserve currency that has been printed on cotton-based paper for 300 years, will be made from plastic."

* 'Virgin Births' Reveal Problems with Health Surveys -- The study's real finding is the problems inherent in researching sensitive information.

* Wise Men Worship and a Maniacal King Murders: A Christmas Reflection -- "Jesus is polarizing."

Longfellow: A Psalm of Life

The human mind is a strange and wonderful thing. I'm no doctor or scientist, but apparently everything  that has ever been downloaded into it is still in there somewhere, even if we can't always consciously access it. A crossword puzzle clue often evokes an immediate memory of a word or name that I could not have recalled with 3 hours of consistently racking the brain. Just the other day the word "Hidy" (the greeting, not the woman's name) drew up something from Cheech & Chong I hadn't thought of in 40 years (and I'd hit the delete button on that, if I knew how).

My mother is 98 years old. She may be a little forgetful at times, but she is still very sharp. On Tuesday she quoted to me the whole of Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" (or which you may think of as "Footprints on the Sands of Time"). She didn't stumble through it, but quoted it with expression, as she had learned it. She learned it over 80 years ago for a county school competition and still remembers it. Several weeks ago my daughter recorded her quoting and posted it on YouTube. [Two corrections: 1. Mother just learned the poem in school, but not for the county school competition. That was something else. 2. My daughter posted it on Facebook, not YouTube. But now it is on YouTube: Mawmaw recites Longfellow]

Here's Longfellow's Psalm of Life:

A Psalm of Life
What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
   Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
   And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
   And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
   Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
   Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
   Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
   And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
   Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
   In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
   Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
   Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
   Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
   We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
   Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
   Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
   Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
   With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
   Learn to labor and to wait.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in 1838

When reality stars get real

[Disclaimer: I have never watched Duck Dynasty, neither do I have any intentions to do so. When I hear reality show, I run the other way.]

Whether or not you watch Duck Dynasty, you've probably heard the furor over family member Phil Robertson's comments about sin, homosexuality, promiscuity, bestiality and so forth. In what I read, though I did finally find it, most didn't want to discuss the text of Robertson's statements, but more the context. I'm not going to quote the comments either. Part of it is pretty plain (or not so pretty if you will).

Bottom line is that Phil Robertson's declaration of homosexuality as a sin has created a firestorm. GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz has called Phil's comments lies (“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe.”). But they are his beliefs and opinions, not "lies" (Notice Cruz has an opinion about what "true Christians" believe).

The uproar really has A & E on the hot-seat. This is their bestseller, the cream of their crop. How will they walk the line to keep from offending either the viewers who are making the show a success and the detractors who would love to shut it down? I think they'll hope that time will heal the wounds and the show will go on.

This is an example of some of the kind of stuff I was thinking of in my blog post I wish a month ago -- the stopping of ears and gnashing of teeth. We have been so googley-eyed so long for politicians who never issue a statement that's not coated profusely in Teflon that we can't stand anyone just plainly saying what they believe when asked what they believe. GQ asked Phil. He told them. That's what plain folks do. That's free speech. You don't have to watch Duck Dynasty. You don't have to recommend it. You don't have to support its advertisers or its network.

Strange contradictions

"Thus amidst the strange contradictions which meet in a believing heart, he is never so prayerful as when he says nothing; never so wise as when he is the greatest fool; never so much alone as when most in company; and never so much under the power of an inward religion as when most separated from an outward one." -- J. C. Philpot

Singing and dinner on the ground

Some interesting reads I've stumbled across (or been introduced to).

* All Day Singing, Dinner on the Ground, and an Upright Piano -- “One of the scenes in my novel, Catfish Alley, involves an all day singing and dinner on the ground. During the editing process, my New York editor asked me, 'Can’t you just say picnic?'”
* CDSS Sings—Imagining “The Last Words of Copernicus” -- "“The Last Words of Copernicus” is a lively yet simple shape-note song sung a cappella in four-part harmony."
* Gadsby's Hymns -- This site contains all the hymns from Gadsby's Selection, by author, first lines and meter.
* Southern Shape-Note Music -- "These are the syllables used by oldsters in rural regions of the South to intone the major scale, exactly as they were used in the British Isles long before Shakespeare."
* The Ground and the Fury -- "Every square foot of splintered table space was contested and every element of a good 'spread' subjected to off-stage critique."
* What’s on the Praise Menu? Examining the legacy of the gospel song -- “'What shall we sing?' has long been a dependable hot-button question in the church.”

With a name like that...

...I'd also go by "H."

For quite some time I've been compiling biographical information about composers and arrangers whose tunes are in the Cooper editions of The Sacred Harp. I hope to eventually publish a book for those composers represented in the 2012 edition of the Cooper Book. I've gotten behind with my "Old Path" posts while working on this. So I'm giving you a sample of  what I'm doing -- here's "H. McMath" today. Anyone who bore the name "Hachaliah" throughout life deserves to be mentioned somewhere! 

Yes, I'd probably go by "H. McMath" also.

McMath, Hachaliah Jr. (July 20, 1843—October 16, 1916) was the youngest of 13 children born in Georgia to Hachaliah McMath and Elizabeth Harbuck. The McMaths lived in Sumter County, Georgia, from where the senior Hachaliah was elected as a State Representative in 1840. This family was in Henry County, Alabama by 1860, though some returned to Georgia. Hachaliah Sr. & Elizabeth are buried at the Shiloh Baptist Cemetery in Sumter County. The senior McMath's tombstone is engraved "Hachariah," though Hachaliah is probably correct. The name is biblical, from Nehemiah 1:1: "The words of Nehemiah, son of Hachaliah..." Hachaliah McMath Jr. married Elizabeth Marietta Prudence Shelly (1840—1934) and they had 9 children. They lived at Cottonwood in Houston County, where he had resided and farmed 40 years at the time of his death due to stomach cancer. H. McMath was a Mason and a Confederate veteran. He had one song and two arrangements added to the book in the 1909 edition. Cooper is an arrangement of Jordan by William Billings (see Steel, page 86). The McMath version adds notes to the treble part in the first five measures (equivalent to the first line of poetry). In the Billing's original the trebles are silent (Cf. 1991 Edition, p. 66). Sweet Rest was replaced with Judge Jackson's (q.v.) My Mother's Gone in 1992.My Soul's Delight was removed in 2006 to make room for the Coda ending of Love at Home. In this tune McMath used the words ofPenick (p. 387) but rearranged the words of the stanza to "Here lies the dust of H. Mc, His spirit sings at home." These words are inscribed upon his tombstone, where he and his wife lie at rest in the Ramah Baptist Church Cemetery in Houston County, Alabama. Interestingly, the 17 year old is listed in his father's household in the 1860 Henry County census as "H. Mc."

489      Cooper (arranged)

519a    My Soul's Delight (removed 2006)

519b    Sweet Rest (removed 1992)

You can view his tombstone HERE.

A quota of quotables

"Oh, what a dreamy, shadowy thing is a mere profession of religion! And what a delusive cheat is all the pleasure to be gained by sin! How it leaves a soul naked and bare, wounded, stripped, and guilty before God! We have often promised ourselves pleasure in sin; and what have we found? The wormwood and the gall." -- J. C. Philpot

"I listened to a news broadcast/commentary on my way to work. They were discussing the shootings at the elementary school in Connecticut.   They each in turn expressed incredulity that a human being could be so evil as to do such a thing and were seeking answers...
"...such things occur not as “aberrations” to convince us of their oddity but in order that we might never forget the underlying corruption that is in us all by nature. It is truly of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed." -- Mike McInnis

"Please let's not shout and yell at the poor Wal-Mart greeters if they say 'Holiday'. They are just trying to be nice.  Those of us with Jesus in our hearts should be able to do the same." -- Dan Barnes

"Goats never make sound church members; only the sheep walk in His statutes." -- Stanley Phillips

"Anger is a growth-killing, soul-chilling sin." -- Dave Miller

"Every counterfeit Christian is a tribute to the value of Christianity." (We counterfeit things with value.) -- Adrian Rogers

“God knows when something glorious in the future necessitates something difficult in the present.” -- Beth Moore

Mentioned by Martin on Music

The following enticing comments were made by James S. Martin of Scurry, Texas. They are found in his piece, What’s on the Praise Menu?.

“A century of over-dependence on major key, 'happy-clappy' praise songs has dulled our senses to the more serious expressiveness of minor key songs.”

“Songs do not merely preach; they change our thinking in ways we are not aware of. 'Gospel songs' have probably done more to shape our concepts of salvation and conversion than all our preaching put together.”

"The Law allowed the poor to bring turtledoves, and God certainly honors the saint who brings Wonderful Story of Love. At some level, we are all musically poor. Our finest hymns are humble little offerings compared to the music of heaven. Jesus taught a powerful lesson from the lady who gave two mites, but He did not teach that we should all give two mites so that no one feels left out."

"We ought to maintain a healthy distrust of our natural inclinations in music."

Habits of a Less than Effective Leader by Dan Barnes

Some points he made were:

Don't just lead the people who are going the same direction as you. 
Don't criticize everyone.
Don't do everything.
Don't lie.
Don't hide stuff.
Don't take credit for someone else's work.  
Don't make excuses.
Don't take credit for God's stuff.