Prairie View

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

After the School Program

I've added many afterthoughts to what I posted originally last evening.  If you read only this post, you'll get all the updates and save yourself searching through other posts for changes.  This will be an issue only for people who are notified every time a post is published or updated.

*****************

My aunt Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wagler died this evening.  She was in her nineties and had been weakening noticeably during the past several weeks, and especially the past few days.

The death was announced near the end of the Pilgrim High School program at church this evening.

Added later--My sister Dorcas wrote this lovely message on Facebook about dear Aunt Lizzie:  Happy birthday to regal Queen Elizabeth!   My own dear regal Aunt Elizabeth was welcomed home by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords last evening. She was 91.

***************

In other news, my brother Caleb was pictured on the front page of the New York Times yesterday--in an ad for the philosophy department at Messiah College where he teaches.  This may have appeared only in the electronic version, targeted to a select audience.  Caleb's colleague saw it and told him about it.

I can't provide a link to the NYT page, but here's a link to his page at the Messiah College site.

Caleb yesterday, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders today.  Yesterday's NYT paper holds more appeal for me.

Added later--My brother Myron had this comment in our family email group:  "You look like you belong in the Times.  Why don't you build on your fame and submit a few Op Eds and see what happens.  You never know . . ."

****************

Those high school students are just dear . . . (not that all of them will appreciate being referred to in such terms).  I can't claim a lick of credit for anything good that happened with them this year, but they did a fine job tonight, and I loved watching and listening to them.  Hearing the program without hearing any of the practices was a new experience.    Forty-four students were part of the choir.  Probably about a dozen of those were homeschooled students.  Anthony "Tony" Shetler directed the choir and taught music again this year.

David's lament after Absalom's death "David's Lamentation" was a song I had helped our high school choir sing when I was a student in the late 1960s.  I always sing that mournful tune in my head when I read Absalom's story.  "Oh Absalom, my son, my son.  Would to God I had died for thee."

Added later:  This morning when I looked over the program again I was impressed with the theme and organization of the selections.  Credit goes to Tony for these selections.  Under the theme "Tell the Story" were Life Stories, Old Testament Stories of Death and Life, Stories of Jesus and More Stories of Jesus.  I'll email individual song titles to anyone who requests them in the comments--if you provide an email address.

This morning also I remembered the beauty of many of the songs--written and sung well.  Tony and the students all worked hard to master the singing part.  Thanks also to the lyricists and composers who wrote the songs--some from the 1600s, and some very recent.

***************

Joel and Hilda and their family left yesterday for about three weeks of travels.  The first stop was at Yorkville, IL, the headquarters for a software company Joel works for.  Quite a number of states farther east and south are part of the itinerary.

***************

Grandbaby number seven is expected before year's end, joining Grant and Clarissa and Wyatt's household.  Yaaaaaayyyyyy!

Among my dad's grandchildren who are parents, every family--all five of them--have children of only one gender.  In other words, they either have all boys or all girls.  Grant and Clare have the first chance at breaking this tradition.

Jeff and Joelle are expecting their fourth daughter,  Shane and Dorcas have three boys,  Joel and Hilda have two girls, Brandon and Andrea have two boys, and Grant and Clarissa have one boy.

**************

Our recent rains and the calming of the wild winds we've had this spring have provided lots of motivation for working outdoors in the garden and landscape.  Limited time and energy are a bother in perfect weather like this.




0 Comments:

Post a Comment



<< Home