The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
Acts 4:22
For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
—————————————————————————————————-
It is curious that the compilers of the three-year Lectionary would leave one line out of the two-chapter story of Peter’s healing the lame man.
The story begins in Acts 3. Peter and John were going to the temple to pray at 3 p.m. A well known man — lame from birth — was at the Beautiful Gate of the temple every day asking for alms (emphases mine):
4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter then gave the people a sermon in Solomon’s Portico. What he said is similar to his first sermon on the first Pentecost in Acts 2.
To those who witnessed the miracle, he said, in part:
13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant[b] Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus[c] has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
For this, the Sadducees arrested Peter and John and held them overnight (Acts 4:1-3). Regardless, the Holy Spirit was at work:
4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
It is quite possible that there were thousands more when women and children were added in.
The elite of the priesthood, including Caiaphas and Annas the high priest, confronted the two apostles the next day. Peter said they worked the miracle in the name of Jesus:
11 This Jesus[a] is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.[b] 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[c] by which we must be saved.”
Note that verse, because it refutes the modern claim that anyone spiritual can be saved, regardless of their religion. Not true!
The priests were taken aback by Peter and John’s boldness then recognised them as His disciples (verse 14). They wondered what further action they should take against the two. They went through the same thought process that they did with Jesus. By whose power do they work these miracles? What can the priests do when everyone is marvelling at the miracle? So, the priests told them not to speak anymore about Jesus Christ:
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
John MacArthur gives us a glimpse as to what Jerusalem must have been like at that moment:
Now there’s 20,000 people running all over Jerusalem proclaiming Him. And it just got worse … And here they hope that they had gotten rid of Him when they killed Him and now they hope they can get rid of Him by shutting up Peter and John.
And roughly two millennia later, the same circumstances still apply, which is rather curious:
And you know, even today as I was in Israel the thing that struck me the most, I think, the most…the clearest thing that I could see in terms of just kind of identifying certain factors, the thing that overwhelmed me every day was that right in the middle of Judaism which rejects Jesus are all of the things that relate to Jesus.
… just imagine having to live in Israel and one bus load after another of pilgrims coming to see the places where Jesus was. There goes another one. They’re all over the place. And everybody’s carrying around little olive wood New Testaments and little Jesus symbols, and everywhere you go in the midst of Israel there are churches with crosses and Jesuses everywhere. They cannot get rid of Jesus. No matter how they try. They can’t.
This brings us to today’s verse, which is important in the context of Peter’s healing the lame man.
Recall that Acts 3:2 tells us he was lame from birth. At age 40, particularly in those days without medical advancement which is still relatively recent (19th century), there was no hope for his condition. Matthew Henry, who died in the early 18th century, appreciated this:
The older he grew the more inveterate the disease was, and the more hardly cured.
Henry adds that the fact that the man is older gives his testimony about his lameness and healing all the more resonance. He could speak with a modicum of wisdom that people would respect.
It is for this reason that I wonder why the Lectionary compilers would omit it. It’s only one sentence!
Henry also related the man’s physical cure to repentance and conversion, which is a practical application of this miracle:
If those that are grown into years, and have been long accustomed to evil, are cured of their spiritual impotency to good, and thereby of their evil customs, the power of divine grace is therein so much the more magnified.
The Holy Spirit was working powerfully through Peter and John. The Book of Acts is a testament to that divine power of the first Pentecost. The two apostles went back to tell their friends all that the high priests said. Everyone prayed aloud (verse 24) and asked for boldness!
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
This is why Acts is such a meaningful book of the New Testament. Acts 4 continues:
33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
God wanted the Church to expand and made conditions perfect in order for this to happen.
The chapter ends with this:
36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Those first months of the Church must have been an incredible time for the disciples and the converts. We are blessed to have a divinely inspired account of it.
Next time: Acts 5:1-6
This week a lengthy dossier and summary about Donald Trump circulated around the world.
It is fake. All of it.
On January 11, Investment Watch Blog (IWB) published an excellent, readable summary of it:
News about the new event including Russia broke the internet this morning. This time, it wasn’t about election hacks and the Democratic party. Instead, it was revealed that Russia is in possession of personal and financial information about Donald Trump. Apparently, the files also included info about Mr. Trump’s sex life. Just a few hours later, Kremlin denied having such files and the President-elect reacted on Twitter, accusing media of witch hunt and an unfair treatment.
The BuzzFeed website published a series of memos which have been floating around for months, containing terrible information about Mr. Trump. You can see those files here. Some allegations made in the memos refer to efforts to influence the elections as well as Trump’s sexual conduct as previously mentioned.
Apparently, it started with the 4chan forum (emphases mine):
The TownHall reports: “What’s worth talking about, however, are swirling claims on Reddit that 4chan users on the board /pol/ completely made the entire thing up. According to a variety of posts on the pro-Trump subreddit r/The_Donald, a user on /pol/, a 4chan board, made up the most salacious story in the report. He then mailed it to anti-Trump Republican strategist Rick Wilson, who then went to the CIA. The story was then included in the dossier published Tuesday by BuzzFeed News. If this is true, this effectively means that 4chan trolled the U.S. intelligence system and the majority of the U.S. media with what’s basically Donald Trump erotic fanfiction, which is terrifying.”
IWB posted the relevant screenshots from 4chan along with a tweet from Rick Wilson denying /pol/ — the political 4chan forum — was the source.
IWB concludes:
If these allegations turn out to be true, it would mean that Rick Wilson along with BuzzFeed and other media representatives who fed on this story lost their credibility in a single day.
Indeed.
Incidentally, the dossier named a Russian technology expert. However:
What probably happened
Any person or organisation who latched onto this phony dossier did so in an effort to delegitimise Donald Trump’s presidency. That includes Republicans, among them Arizona senator John McCain, who ran against Obama in 2008.
Strangely, an MI6 agent by the name of Steele appears to have been involved in compiling the dossier. The Mirror reports that he has gone into hiding. A ‘Trump insider’ told the BBC’s Daily Politics that British intelligence told him that Jeb Bush paid Steele to embellish the dossier; the more he wrote, the more he was paid.
This tweet summarises what probably happened. Note that it includes Evan McMullin, ex-CIA, who was the very marginal independent presidential candidate that the GOPe put up to sap Trump votes:
A commenter at The Conservative Treehouse gives a fuller possible scenario:
4Chan writes up a hoax.
Rick Wilson, GOPe political operative and massive Trump hater takes the bait.
Wilson disseminates the fake material to anyone who hates Trump.
Tries to get the media to report on it calling it “the thing” on Twitter.
The MSM won’t take the bait.
Steele uses the fake info in a fake report
That fake report is shopped around before the election and no one takes the bait.
With time running out to use the fake report, the uniparty Trump haters get the CIA/IC/FBI to happily launder the report and put their seals on it.
The CIA/IC/FBI tell Trump about the report but don’t show him any documents.
After they told Trump they (someone in the IC) leaked it to the media.
CNN runs with the fake leak.
Buzzfeed publishes the fake document.
Also:
And McCain takes the report to the FBI under the guise of doing something responsible but it’s really because he wants to hurt Trump as everyone knows the report is fake.
[Chuck] Schumer [Senate Minority Leader] knows the IC has a fake report and that a hit from the IC and telegraphs that it’s coming. Basically threatening Trump for days before the leak.
BuzzFeed and NBCUniversal
It should be noted that NBCUniversal is a significant shareholder in BuzzFeed, founded in 2006.
In August 2015, the media organisation invested $200m in the website, which could expand to other countries besides the United States. Over the next year:
NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed … embarked on a number of partnerships, including the latter producing video clips during the Summer Olympics.
The site also ventured into reporting more on politics and special investigations.
In October 2016, NBCUniversal invested an additional $200m.
Therefore, it is interesting that NBC carried a story on January 11 saying that Trump received no briefing on the fake dossier. Perhaps they figure their report could take the heat off BuzzFeed? Who knows?
The Hill reports:
President-elect Donald Trump was never briefed on the allegations that Russian intelligence services have collected compromising information on him, according to NBC and Trump’s transition team.
Officials prepared a two-page summary of unverified reports that have been circulating Capitol Hill for months in advance of their Friday meeting with Trump, an intelligence official told NBC, but never discussed it with him.
CNN
Trump supporters regularly call CNN the ‘Clinton News Network’.
On November 21, roughly two weeks after the election, Trump met privately at Trump Tower with a number of Big Media organisations, including CNN. The New York Post gave this account, excerpted below:
“Trump started with [CNN chief] Jeff Zucker and said, ‘I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed,’ ” the source said.
“The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing-down,” the source added.
A second source confirmed the fireworks …
“Trump kept saying, ‘We’re in a room of liars, the deceitful, dishonest media who got it all wrong.’ He addressed everyone in the room, calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was [a] network of liars,” the source said.
The Post says that Trump also had a go at NBC. Although he did not name their correspondents, it was clear to the ’30 or 40 people’ in the room that he was talking about Martha Raddatz — sitting there — and Katy Tur.
Trump’s press conference
On Wednesday, January 11, Trump held a press conference near the lifts in Trump Tower.
A noisy exchange took place between the president elect and CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who was extremely belligerent in the clip I heard. From The Conservative Treehouse:
• Jim Acosta: “Since you are attacking us, can you give us a question?”
• Trump replied “No, not you, your organization is terrible!”
• Acosta continued: “You are attacking our news organization, can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir?”
• Trump reminded Acosta: “don’t be rude.” “I’m not going to give you a question. I’m not going to give you a question. You are fake news!”
The Daily Mail‘s Quentin Letts, who must have watched a full-length video of the press conference, found it amusing. His is a rollicking write-up, but the problem is that Letts is missing out on the gravity of the situation and Trump’s growly demeanour. The fake dossier was an attempt to take Trump down. It was meant to serve as a precursor to impeachment.
As The Conservative Treehouse points out:
today’s final exposure of the corrupt media, specifically CNN and Buzzfeed, surrounding the false intelligence reports they used to create a completely false narrative – brings the end to a series of events as transparent as the GOPe “splitter strategy” which preceded it.
That ‘series of events’ amounted to a soft coup intended to keep Trump from the White House:
Slightly more than a week after winning the 2016 Presidential Election, the head of the NSA Cyber Command, Admiral Mike Rogers, went to New York and met with the new President-Elect Donald Trump inside Trump Tower.
A month prior to that specific visit, DNI Director James Clapper advised President Obama to fire Admiral Mike Rogers.
There is every indication, every reason to believe, that Admiral Rogers gave President-elect Donald Trump a very specific “heads up“; warning the incoming president of actions which would be undertaken by political operatives within the intelligence community to undermine the construct of the incoming administration.
All activity from that mid-November meeting through to now, points to Rogers giving advanced notice to Trump of a political intelligence scheme which culminated today with the public embarrassment of the those politicized intelligence agencies, operatives and their vessels for disinformation – the media.
Following the meeting with Donald Trump, it clearly appears Admiral Mike Rogers went back into the matrix and, as an outcome of his position, followed orders – but did so with an arms length approach. The NSA (Rogers) did not support the political intelligence “high confidence” narrative as it was constructed by James Clapper (DNI) and John Brennan (CIA).
What happened next
Shares in Time Warner, owner of CNN took a hit:
That happened despite CNN’s statement earlier that day, before the press conference:
CNN had tried to implicate Trump’s Special Counsel Michael Cohen in the dossier. Trump actually called Cohen to his office with his passport to see if he had been to Russia. Cohen had not.
The outgoing Director of National Intelligence James Clapper quickly issued a statement denouncing the fake dossier:
Let us pray that this concludes these damaging shenanigans. There has never been a coup attempt in American history — until now.
Trump must start draining the swamp as soon as practicable later this month.
President Obama gave his farewell speech in Chicago on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
The Daily Caller provided this summary:
President Obama referred to himself 75 times in his farewell address Tuesday night, according to a review of his prepared remarks by The Daily Caller.
Obama heavily promoted the speech, penning a blog post about it and appearing in a promotional video in the days leading up to the address.
Obama said “I” 33 times during the speech, “my” 20 times, “me” 10 times, and “I’m” or “I’ve” 12 times.
The president made a habit of focusing large chunks of his speeches on himself during his eight years in office.
Democrat operative Bob Creamer, who appeared in the stunningly frank undercover video about violent harrassment of Donald Trump supporters, was seated in the front row (photo courtesy of The_Donald):
This is the Project Veritas video from James O’Keefe which I wrote about in October 2016 (language alert, but the truth must out):
It is interesting that the day before Obama gave his farewell address, this took place:
It is incredible that so many were taken in by a man who, from his candidacy, had all his personal records sealed. Then they re-elected him!
A number of Democrats left the party before Election Day in 2008 and became independents. They were correct in suspecting something wasn’t right.
Below is a graphic from Dr Leonard Coldwell which explains the outgoing incumbent well. After all, we have nothing else to go on other than a contrived, ghostwritten autobiography.
‘They already are lost’, but not for long. Recovery begins on the afternoon of January 20. It cannot come soon enough.
Obama pledged transparency. Americans who could see through him knew he was disingenuous.
For the first time in decades, the United States will have a president who is transparent. Like him or loathe him, he’s an open book.
That president will also love America as she’s never been loved before in our lifetime. Bring it on.
Janus was the ancient Roman god of beginnings and endings.
The Romans worshipped him at the beginning of the year. Early Christians worshipped underground at that time, which explains why January 1 has had special religious significance for over two millennia.
Janus was depicted with two faces, as illustrated in Wikipedia.
The month of January is named after him: closing the door on one year and opening the door to a new one.
In linguistics there are Janus words: those which carry contradictory meanings. Susie Dent, an English lexicographer and etymologist as well as the queen of Dictionary Corner on the brainy game show Countdown, explained in last week’s Radio Times (31 December 2016 – 6 January 2017):
Such words are usually known as contranyms: in other words, they have meanings that directly contradict each other, depending on the context. To “sanction” something, for example, can mean to authorise its use, but it can also mean to penalise it. To “screen a film is to show it, but to screen something from view is to hide it. You can be in a fix, but you might also be able to fix the same problem.
Mental Floss, among other websites, has more examples of Janus words.
Going back to January, this is the start of many endings and many beginnings which will take place around the world, starting in the United States on Friday, January 20. What timing. It will be a long weekend for a number of Americans who plan to take the day off and celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump, even if they do it from the comfort of their own home.
Washington DC will be a madhouse that day:
Newsweek has the full three-day schedule of events, which begins with a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington Cemetery on Thursday, January 19 and ends with the interfaith National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral (Episcopalian) on Saturday, January 21.
Inauguration 2017 has more detailed information.
The parade following the swearing-in ceremony will be shortened this year. Trump is eager to get to work — and probably has a low boredom threshold — so it will only be an hour long. Similarly, there will only be three official inaugural balls that evening. The incoming president and first lady will appear at all three.
As is customary, past US presidents and their wives will be in attendance to witness the transfer of power. Although George HW Bush will not be present because of health problems, his son George W Bush and wife Laura will be there. Jimmy Carter is going. Bill and Hillary Clinton will also attend.
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr will conduct the swearing-in ceremony at noon (Eastern time).
We are about to begin an exciting time which will reverberate throughout the world.
France, Germany and the Netherlands have elections this year, so it will be interesting to see what the Trump Effect will be.
Foreign policy will also change dramatically. We can look forward to a time of peace in that respect, as Trump prefers negotiation to conflict.
Furthermore, as I said two weeks ago, it will also be a time of great revelations with regard to the Democrat/Republican combine.
Stay tuned! A new chapter of history is about to be written and we’ll be alive to witness it.
Acrylic paint has several advantages, among them ease of use and quick drying time.
Unfortunately, it isn’t very good for subtle tones. As a result, the finished canvas often looks sophomoric.
However, for high school art classes, acrylic’s advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Art
I’ve only ever seen two acrylic paintings that were any good. Both were by an amateur artist who exhibited them at an art fair in our area last year.
The artist did well to paint on small canvases which allowed her to use the medium to its best advantage: achieving fine detail.
That sounds contradictory, however, this lady’s paintings — one of a field of poppies, the other of daisies — were marvellous. She must have spent a lot of time on them, because all the leaves of grass were visible and natural, as were the dozens of flower petals. Both were pleasing to the eye and a joy to look at.
It was clear the artist understood and had perfected her brush strokes with the medium.
By contrast, I had a friend many years ago who painted large canvases with acrylic and achieved mediocre results for the most part. He was unable to properly blend one colour into another. That happens to most big-canvas acrylic artists who try to paint portraits or street scenes. Acrylic is best left for the abstract which requires dramatic colour and broad brush strokes.
An example of an acrylic painting follows. Subject matter aside, the brush strokes need work, a common mistake. Art teachers really need to teach students more about brush control, particularly according to paint medium.
The Cannon Tunnel, which connects the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol Building in Washington DC, is home to an exhibit of artwork by American high school students, winners of the Congressional Art competition. The artwork changes every year.
This photo shows part of the current selection, which, as you can see, is of high quality. I particularly like the masterful detail in the painting of the pair of shoes in the lower left hand corner.
The other painting which is striking is the black Liberty in the upper right hand corner. That student understands brush control, texture and subtlety.
There is a noticeable gap on the wall. An acrylic painting hung there, but a Republican congressman removed it for its subject matter. The amateurish acrylic brush strokes are a greater reason why it should not be there. Bill Clark of CQ Roll Call took this photo of Untitled #1:
The depiction of Ferguson, Missouri, comes so close. The technique holds it back.
Roll Call reports:
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter has removed from display in the Cannon tunnel the controversial student art contest painting of police-community relations in Ferguson, Missouri, that depicts police officers as animals.
A Huffington Post reporter first tweeted a photograph of the empty space and said that Hunter removed it.
Hunter took it upon himself to take down the painting, Washington Republican Rep. Dave Reichert’s office later confirmed. It was sponsored by Missouri Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay, who had defended it.
Reichert, who spent 33 years in law enforcement, had criticized the artwork earlier, and gave Hunter a phone call on Friday after finding out about the removal.
Fox News tells us that the Congressional Black Caucus issued a statement which read in part:
“The rehanging of this painting for public view represents more than just protecting the rights of a student artist, it is a proud statement in defense of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression to every American,” the statement said, noting it had been “removed without permission or proper authority” by Hunter.
Hunter, R-Calif., personally unscrewed and removed the painting last Friday, saying he was angered by its depiction of law enforcement officers. He then delivered the painting to Clay’s office.
“Lacy can put it back up, I guess, if he wants to,” Hunter told FoxNews.com at the time, “but I’m allowed to take it down.”
The painting, hanging since June, was done by high school student David Pulphus, who had won Clay’s annual Congressional Art competition.
However:
After the piece was removed Friday, Ron Hernandez, president of the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said in a statement they were “very pleased.”
He said: “At a time of our country facing rising crime and a shortage of those willing to work the streets as police officers and deputy sheriffs, we need to make it clear that depictions of law enforcement officers as pigs in our Nation’s Capital is not acceptable.”
One could make a case for both points of view.
However, looking at the other Congressional Art winners on the wall, it does seem as if the painting was chosen for its subject matter rather than its artistry.
Art teachers should spend the first few lessons teaching brush technique. A small canvas will help students greatly in developing the patience — and art — of working with acrylics. Instead, I suspect, they teach colour mixing, perspective and get the students to begin expressing themselves boldly straightaway.
I arrived at this conclusion after attending an evening a few years ago with the since-deceased London Evening Standard art critic Brian Sewell who studied at the Courtauld. He told us that a university art student sought his advice about improving his painting. Sewell advised the student to buy finer brushes — the type used to achieve detail on feathers and fur — and really practice with them before committing to a working canvas. Sewell lamented the lack of today’s training even at Britain’s best art schools. The brushes are on sale, he said, but teachers ignore them, consequently, students are unaware of them. The instructors, he concluded, are not interested in teaching fine art.
Reality
Moving on to Untitled #1‘s subject matter, it is surprising that, after two terms — eight years — of the nation’s first black president at the helm, America has such a racially divisive atmosphere, the likes of which have not been seen since the late 1960s when civil rights laws were just coming into existence.
Sadly, Obama never visited Ferguson. Instead, he sent Attorney General Eric Holder. However, the situation was so violent by then that the president should have made the journey himself. He missed a great opportunity to converse with the residents in person. He could have appealed for calm by giving them more facts behind the events, excerpted below:
Michael Brown robbed a Ferguson, Missouri, convenience store of two handfuls of cigarillos just minutes before Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot him on Aug. 9, according to his friend Dorian Johnson’s testimony before a St. Louis County grand jury. Wilson testified Brown’s possession of the cigarillos was the impetus behind the encounter that ultimately led to his death.
Wilson avoided indictment on criminal charges Monday after the grand jury decided there was a lack of probable cause to suggest that he committed a crime. The decision generated widespread outrage, particularly in Ferguson, where police used tear gas to subdue crowds that started fires and destroyed property.
In the days and months after Brown’s death, the convenience store robbery was considered a major factor in determining his and Wilson’s motives during their fatal encounter …
Johnson testified he had planned to pay for the cigarillos, but Brown reached over the counter and grabbed them. Brown walked toward the door and the store clerk rushed around the counter to prevent his exit. He shoved the clerk and left the store. As they walked out, the clerk said he would call the police …
But as Johnson and Brown walked down the middle of Canfield Drive, they encountered Wilson’s police cruiser. Wilson testified he told the pair to move to the sidewalk, prompting a vulgar response from Brown. “It was a very unusual and not expected response from a simple request,” Wilson told the grand jury …
Johnson testified Wilson initiated physical contact, that he never saw Brown throw a punch and that Brown was outside the police cruiser when Wilson shot him.
Wilson testified he acted in self-defense after Brown punched him and attempted to grab his gun. During the struggle for the gun, he said, Brown “had the most intense aggressive face. The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that’s how angry he looked.”
Obama could have also explained that the average citizen looks at each police incident as an isolated event. By contrast, law enforcement officers see things differently. They encounter criminals or strange situations all the time. It’s what they do. They are trained professionals.
A 2015 US Department of Justice report agreed with Wilson’s actions (p. 84 of the PDF). The quotation below explains how difficult it is to fully judge a situation when seconds could mean life or death (emphasis mine):
While Brown did not use a gun on Wilson at the SUV, his aggressive actions would have given Wilson reason to at least question whether he might be armed, as would his subsequent forward advance and reach toward his waistband. This is especially so in light of the rapidly-evolving nature of the incident. Wilson did not have time to determine whether Brown had a gun and was not required to risk being shot himself in order to make a more definitive assessment.
For my readers who do not live in the United States, it is important to understand that American police shoot more white suspects than black. A 2016 study conducted at Harvard revealed the statistics. Emphases in the original below:
The study was conducted by the Harvard University economist Roland G. Fryer Jr., an African-American, who said it produced “the most surprising result of my career.” His team studied over 1,300 police shootings in 10 major police departments over the 2000-2015 span …
When encountering a suspect, police officers were about 16-19% more likely to use their hands on the suspect, push the person into a wall or to the ground, use handcuffs, and draw their weapons, if the suspect was black. They were also 24-25% more likely to point their weapons or use pepper spray or batons on a black suspect.
But when it came to shooting the suspects, police officers were more likely to fire without having first been attacked if the suspects were white. Additionally, the study learned that black and white civilians in the shootings were equally likely to be carrying a weapon.
And while zeroing in on the police department in Houston to get a more detailed picture, Mr. Fryer found that in situations of justifiable use of force, when, for instance, the officer is being attacked by the suspect, officers were 20% less likely to shoot at a black suspect. Accounting for other control factors in tense situations, Mr. Fryer saw similar results that there was either no difference between how blacks and whites were treated or that blacks were less likely to be shot.
Furthermore, police kill more whites and Hispanics than blacks. The Daily Wire has an equally interesting set of statistics from Heather MacDonald, the Thomas W Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Excerpts follow (emphases in the original):
1. Cops killed nearly twice as many whites as blacks in 2015. According to data compiled by The Washington Post, 50 percent of the victims of fatal police shootings were white, while 26 percent were black. The majority of these victims had a gun or “were armed or otherwise threatening the officer with potentially lethal force,” according to Mac Donald in a speech at Hillsdale College.
2. More whites and Hispanics die from police homicides than blacks. According to Mac Donald, 12 percent of white and Hispanic homicide deaths were due to police officers, while only four percent of black homicide deaths were the result of police officers.
“If we’re going to have a ‘Lives Matter’ anti-police movement, it would be more appropriately named “White and Hispanic Lives Matter,'” said Mac Donald in her Hillsdale speech.
4. Black and Hispanic police officers are more likely to fire a gun at blacks than white officers. This is according to a Department of Justice report in 2015 about the Philadelphia Police Department, and is further confirmed that by a study conducted University of Pennsylvania criminologist Greg Ridgeway in 2015 that determined black cops were 3.3 times more likely to fire a gun than other cops at a crime scene.
5. Blacks are more likely to kill cops than be killed by cops. This is according to FBI data, which also found that 40 percent of cop killers are black. According to Mac Donald, the police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black than a cop killing an unarmed black person.
MacDonald concluded that the ‘Ferguson Effect’ has resulted in a 17% murder spike in America’s 50 largest cities (emphases mine):
as a result of cops being more reluctant to police neighborhoods out of fear of being labeled as racists. Additionally, there have been over twice as many cops victimized by fatal shootings in the first three months of 2016.
It should also be noted that, contrary to 50 years ago, the United States has many more minority police officers. They get shot, too.
Master Sgt Debra Clayton lost her life on duty in Orlando on January 9, 2017. She had served 17 years as a law enforcement officer.
Clayton was one of the first responders to the Pulse shooting in June 2016. She was also a loving wife, a devoted mother and a caring neighbour. The photo below comes courtesy of the Orlando Police Department via the Orlando Sentinel:
The Sentinel reports that she:
was gunned down Monday morning near a Wal-Mart on John Young Parkway and Princeton Street in Pine Hills while confronting 41-year-old Markeith Loyd, who is wanted for murder.
Markeith Loyd is wanted for the fatal shooting on December 13, 2016 of his ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon:
“Markeith Loyd is a suspect this community is familiar with. He should be considered armed and dangerous. He is a suspect in the murder of a pregnant woman in the jurisdiction of the Orange County Sheriff Office,” [police chief John] Mina said.
Dixon’s brother, Ronald Steward, was also shot and critically injured when he tried to come to her aid, investigators said.
Loyd is currently on the run. Interestingly, the admins at Facebook have not suspended his page:
It gets no realer then me,like it or not I’m go keep it 1,000…. I wear no mask,what you see is what you get..
Local ABC affiliate WFTV reported:
A witness to the shooting said the gunman was wearing a shirt that read “security,” but Mina said Loyd was not a security guard.
“(The shooter) was an average-looking dude, he walked by me, had a security vest and everything,” witness James Herman told Channel 9. “I was walking down the sidewalk, right past the officer, and I heard her tell him to stop, or whatever, and he shot her. He shot her down. He took off running. It’s unreal.”
Herman said the man continued to shoot behind him as he was running from the scene.
“As he was running, he was shooting back, he was shooting backwards,” Herman said. “I hit the ground on the side over here because I wasn’t sure where the shooting was coming from at first.”
Clayton was outside the Walmart when she was approached by a shopper, Herman said.
“The customer walked up to her and said that someone they were looking for, wanted, was in the store in the line to check out,” he said. “She went in there, I guess, to confront him. As she was going back to Walmart, he was coming out, and he shot her.”
May Master Sgt Debra Clayton rest in peace. My condolences to her many friends and family at this difficult time.
What this goes to show is how complex — and dangerous — law enforcement is. I have not been the greatest supporter of the police in the past, but reading about these recent cases has given me pause for thought. Perhaps others feel the same way.
It’s easy for us, so far away from the line of fire, to criticise people who put their lives on the line every day for our safety.
Yesterday’s post about Plough Monday looked at a post-Epiphany tradition revived in the Fens of Cambridgeshire.
Today’s post takes us to Cambridge, where a beloved institution celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2016: Heffers bookshop.
(Photo credit: Heritage Explorer, showing the children’s bookshop in the late 1960s.)
As most Cambridge University colleges are closed to the public, especially during term time, a visit to Heffers is often the closest people get to sharing a slice of the student academic experience. For book lovers and curious tourists, no visit to Cambridge is complete without a trip to Heffers.
The Michaelmas 2016 issue of CAM (Cambridge Alumni Magazine) had a fascinating feature on Heffers. The article, by William Ham Bevan, begins on page 20 of the PDF and continues through page 25. (Michaelmas is the feast of St Michael and All Angels, September 29. Cambridge maintains traditional term names that follow the Church year: Michaelmas, Lent and Easter.)
‘The bookshop known all over the world’
The bookshop is so much a part of town and university life, that author Julie E Bounford, also a tutor at the University of East Anglia, wrote a book about it called This Book Is About Heffers: The Bookshop That Is Known All Over The World. With the help of researcher Rob Webb:
The project is based in part on a fascinating personal collection of photographs, press cuttings and other ‘memorabilia’ of the firm’s activities gathered by the late Winifred Anstee (Julie’s great aunt). This covers staff outings, Heffers family occasions and other key events, dating back to 1913 …
Both Julie’s and Rob’s families have had a long association with Heffers. Julie’s great-grandfather, Frederick Anstee, worked for the company for forty-seven years (starting at the age of thirteen). On his death in 1944, E. W. Heffer wrote an obituary in The Bookseller trade journal. Her great aunt, Winifred Anstee, her grandmother, Lillian Saunders (nee Anstee) and her mother’s cousin, Bryan Anstee, also worked for the firm (as a secretary, shop assistant and printer, respectively).
Rob’s grandfather and father worked for the company during the 1910s and 1940s-70s, respectively. Rob also worked at Heffers during the 1970s.
Bounford, who grew up in Cambridge, has fond memories of the firm’s children’s bookshop, where she bought a paperback every week with her pocket money. Her website has an article about this time in her life, ‘Choosing books, living life’. This would have been around the time the photo at the top of this post was taken. Julie says (emphases mine):
Note the absence of the paraphernalia that you tend to get in children’s bookshops today. Like children’s diaries, the bookshops were less cluttered in those days. The focus was the books. Choosing was always a delight but never took long (it took more time to queue for our wares at Sainsbury’s meat and cheese counters afterwards) and I would be even more delighted if the need arose to use the oak library steps to reach a particular volume.
She included the announcement on the death of her great-grandfather, a loyal lifelong employee:
On his death in 1944, E. W. Heffer wrote in the trade journal,
‘We are grieved to announce the death suddenly, on Sunday June 18th, 1944, of Mr Frederick Anstee, of 27 Humberstone Road, Cambridge, aged 60 years. Mr Anstee entered our employment as a boy, forty-seven years ago, and by most faithful, conscientious and capable service he rose to be head of our science department. He was known, appreciated and respected by a great number of eminent scientists throughout the world.’ The Bookseller, 22nd June, 1944
Origins
In 2014, The Bookhunter on Safari (Bookhunter, for my purposes here) posted an article about Ernest William Heffer (1871-1948).
Today’s readers will be surprised to learn that his father William Heffer, born in 1844, was the son of an agricultural labourer. He married a housemaid, Mary Crick, who later became a cook for a local doctor. At the time of their wedding, Heffer was 18. Mary was 14.
By 1871 the couple had six (of an eventual total of nine) children to support and Heffer was employed as a humble groom. There is some suggestion that he subsequently managed a public house, but it was apparently with the aid of a modest loan that he was enabled to set up in business as a stationer.
That would be unthinkable today.
Bounford told the CAM reporter that Heffer set up shop in 1876 (p. 24 of the PDF). Heffer started as a stationer, selling paper products and filing boxes to students and faculty. He sold his wares by walking to the colleges with bundles of merchandise. He was so well known that, when he died, the Vice-Chancellor [head] of Cambridge University attended his funeral.
When he started, Heffer’s workshop was at 104 Fitzroy Street. In 1899, he became a printer and publisher, with agreement from London publishers, to keep the cost of books affordable. He first printed Bibles and hymnals. They were such big sellers that he opened a bookshop in 1896 at 3-4 Petty Cury. He was also good at marketing the shop, using branded bookmarks and print advertising. The bookshop sold textbooks and became a regular destination for students.
Bookhunter tells us:
As the younger children grew up in the bookshop, surrounded by books, they naturally enough joined in. By 1901 five of them were employed in the rapidly growing concern – Kate Adelaide Heffer (1867-1940), Ernest William Heffer (1871-1948), Lucy Mary Heffer (1873-1951), Frank Heffer (1876-1933) and Sidney Heffer (1878-1959).
It was as the oldest son engaged in the bookshop that Ernest William Heffer, the sixth child, became first a partner and eventually head of the firm. On 7th September 1897 he married Louisa Marion Beak (1869-1939) at All Saints, Peckham. His new wife was the daughter of the late and rather splendidly named Worthey Beak, a Berkshire farmer. She had previously been working as a nurse at the Woolwich & Plumstead Cottage Hospital. Living first at 7 Mill Road and later at 24 Chesterton Road, Ernest William and his wife had three children of their own – Arthur Beak Heffer (1899-1931), Eleanor Mary Heffer (1903-1991) and Reuben George Heffer (1908-1995).
Reuben, a trained printer, took over the firm in 1948 and served as chairman between 1951 and 1975. Reuben’s son Nicholas became chairman in 1984.
Bookhunter says that by the end of the 1920s, Ernest William Heffer — the founder’s son — was selling notable second-hand books. He purchased important collections from private individuals. In 1933, he served as president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association. His wife died in 1939. He died a week before Christmas in 1948, aged 77. Although he left a comfortable fortune:
He was buried at the Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge (Plot: 1B1), his grave adorned by a simple wooden cross (Find A Grave Memorial# 34761969).
Heffers expanded during the 20th century. Their large stationery store was in Sidney Street, the Penguin paperback shop in Trumpington Street with the children’s bookshop in Trinity Street. I remember these various Heffers shops. Unfortunately, only the Trinity Street branch exists today. It houses everything for reasons which I will explain below.
Services to students
CAM detailed the story of how Heffers became such a local institution: marketing, branding and customer service.
In 1900, Heffers began issuing academic book catalogues to first year students at Cambridge University. Later, the firm printed branded diaries which it issued to undergraduates (p. 24).
Term time
At the beginning of term, Heffers cleared out the front of the main shop to stock it with textbooks. Staff were entirely at the beck and call of students; no publishers reps were allowed to call during that time (p. 24).
Students then and now became well acquainted with Heffers booksellers, particularly once they moved into specialist studies. Employees knew exactly what the student required and where it was located (p. 25).
Until credit cards became well established, Heffers offered credit themselves. A student had only to apply for an account. Payment was collected without fail. Anyone who owed the bookshop more than £20 found that Heffers sent his tutor a copy of the bill!
Extras
Heffers also printed calling cards for undergraduates (p. 25). By the 1930s, everyone had a set. Calling — visiting — cards with one’s name on them enabled someone to indicate they had stopped by to chat in the event no one was there. They were left at the door. By the 1950s, this old social custom was dying out and their production ceased.
Early in the 21st century, Heffers created a small café, which enabled students to relax with a book. With the consolidation of shops a few years later, however, the café disappeared, and children’s books replaced it.
Recent developments
Today, only the shop in Trinity Street exists. It houses everything from stationery to textbooks to paperbacks and children’s books.
In 1999, the Blackwell Group — booksellers based in Oxford but with branches around the country — bought Heffers, which still trades under the original name.
It is interesting to note that Benjamin Henry Blackwell (1849-1924) founded his company in Oxford in 1879, around the same time that Heffer established his. He and his parents were very religious and teetotal. They objected to the government collecting excise tax on alcohol. Like Heffer, Blackwell also served as president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association.
It seems that Blackwell, still a family-run firm, looked beyond Oxford to make various acquisitions in the 1990s. It is difficult to know whether Heffers could have done likewise. Perhaps the appetite for expansion just wasn’t there.
In any event, Heffers is definitely worth a visit. Everything is well organised. Not a book is out of place. Service is exceptional. Staff are on hand to find that elusive volume for you and do it with ineffable courtesy.
Heffers is a true English experience not to be missed.
In parts of England, mainly to the east and the north, the first Monday after Twelfth Night is known as Plough Monday.
This is an ancient day which probably came to England from the Nordic countries’ invasions. Later, it was associated with the Church and by the 18th century purely with secular folk traditions. It is so called because it was when field workers returned to their labour after the Christmas holiday to till the soil. Back then, they celebrated twelve days of Christmas. Because of the cold weather, it was impractical to till the soil to ready it for sowing.
Origins and traditions
It is thought that the tradition of dancing for Plough Monday originated with the Northern Goths and Swedes when they were still pagans.
The man to document this was the last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden, Olaus Magnus (1490-1557), who fled to Italy and became a historian once the King of Sweden, Gustav Wasa, adopted Lutheranism as the country’s Christian denomination.
In Italy, Magnus became a cartographer and historical researcher. Among his works was History of the Northern Nations, printed in Rome in 1555. Pope Julius II granted a ten-year copyright which saw the 22-volume work translated into Italian, English, Dutch, French and German. (Ironically, it was not translated into Swedish until the 20th century.)
Elaborate dances to music
Hymns and Carols of Christmas gives a summary of what Magnus wrote about the Sword Dance and accompanying music which must have become a custom after the Nordic peoples invaded England in the Dark Ages. Later it would become part of Plough Monday festivities, as the Revd John Brand (1744-1806), an antiquarian and Anglican clergyman, documented (emphases mine):
He [Magnus] says that the Northern Goths and Swedes have a sport wherein they exercise their youth, consisting of a Dance with Swords in the following manner. First, with swords sheathed and erect in their hands, they dance in a triple round : then with their drawn swords held erect as before: afterwards, extending them from band to hand, they lay hold of each other’s hilts and points, and, while they are wheeling more moderately round and changing their order, throw themselves into the figure of a hexagon, which they call a rose: but, presently raising and drawing back their swords, they undo that figure, in order to form with them a four-square rose, that they may rebound over the head of each other. Lastly, they dance rapidly backwards, and, vehemently rattling the sides of their swords together, conclude their sport. Pipes, or songs (sometimes both), direct the measure, which, at first, is slow, but, increasing afterwards, becomes a very quick one towards the conclusion. (Citing Brand) Olaus Magnus adds of this dance that “It is scarcely to be understood, but by those that look on, how gamely and decent it is, when at one word, or one commanding, the whole armed multitude is directed to fall to fight: and clergymen may exercise themselves, and mingle themselves amongst others at this sport, because it is all guided by most wise reason.” (“See also Strutt’s Sports 8vo. p. 214.”)
Olaus Magnus calls this a kind of Gymnastic rite, in which the ignorant were successively instructed by those who were skilled in it: and thus it must have been preserved and handed down to us- “I have been” says Mr. Brand “a frequent spectator of this dance, which is now, or was very lately, performed with few or no alterations in Northumberland and the adjoining counties: one difference however is observable in our Northern sword dancers, that, when the Swords are formed into a figure, they lay them down upon the ground and dance round them.”
Disguises and begging for money
By the Middle Ages, Plough Monday was the time when boys with ploughs were to return to working in the fields. However, because the socioeconomic system of that era was so oppressive, the ploughboys disguised themselves and went to the houses of wealthy landowners instead to extort money. The ploughboys received no pay when they were not working, and the gulf between rich and poor was so great that it was one way they could redress the balance.
These itinerant workers — also known as Plough Jacks, Plough Bullocks or Plough Stots — blackened their faces so that the landowners would not recognise them. This tradition continued for centuries afterwards. PloughMonday.co.uk says:
In the Cambridgeshire Fens children would collect money, often before school, this was known as Ploughwitching.
The Church
By the 1400s, Plough Monday was dedicated to raising funds for local parishes — boundaries of which were determined by church location. The church collected money to help the parish, comprised of a village or two and surrounding land. Groups of skilled ploughmen formed plough guilds which had a plough light in the local church, possibly as a way of asking for God’s blessings on the fields, in the same way we light a candle or votive light for a special intention today. A portion of the funds collected on Plough Monday helped to keep these lit throughout the year. Some priests also blessed ploughs on this day.
By 1538, when the Reformation took hold in England, plough lights were forbidden and plough guilds were disbanded. Anyone who conducted a drive for money on Plough Monday was fined.
Depending on the political and monarchical climate, Plough Monday waxed or waned until the early to mid-1600s.
17th century and after
Once Plough Monday revived in full, its ecclesiastical character disappeared.
By then, landowners ensured all their workers were well fed and watered throughout the twelve days of Christmas.
More farmworkers participated and used the day for personal gain by collecting money, joining in revelry and ending with a feast. Wikipedia describes a typical festival:
The customs observed on Plough Monday varied by region, but a common feature to a lesser or greater extent was for a plough to be hauled from house to house in a procession, collecting money. They were often accompanied by musicians, an old woman or a boy dressed as an old woman, called the “Bessy”, and a man in the role of the “fool“. ‘Plough Pudding’ is a boiled suet pudding, containing meat and onions. It is from Norfolk and is eaten on Plough Monday.[2]
Householders who refused to give money often saw their doorsteps or gardens pulled up by the farmworkers with the plough.
The procession with the plough went like this, according to an old account:
Long ropes are attached to it, and thirty or forty men, stripped to their clean white shirts, but protected from the weather by waistecoats beneath, drag it along. Their arms and shoulders are decorated with gay-coloured ribbons, tied in large knots and bows, and their hats are smartened in the same way. They are usually accompanied by an old woman, or a boy dressed up to represent one; she is gaily bedizened, and called the Bessy. Sometimes the sport is assisted by a humorous countryman to represent a fool. He is covered with ribbons, and attired in skins, with a depending tail, and carries a box to collect money from the spectators. They are attended by music, and Morris-dancers when they can be got; but there is always a sportive dance with a few lasses in all their finery, and a superabundance of ribbons. When this merriment is well managed, it is very pleasing.
Although the day was one of revelry, farmworkers as well as farmhouse cooks and servants got up as early as they could to show willingness to work during the season ahead. According to the aforementioned account, a kitchen maid was given a cockerel for Shrovetide before Lent. However, Plough Monday determined whether she received it:
Then Plough Monday reminded them of their business, and on the morning of that day, the men and maids strove who should show their readiness to commence the labours of the years, by rising the earliest. If the plough-man could get his whip, his plough-staff, hatched, or any field implement, by the fireside, before the maid could get her kettle on, she lost her Shrove-tide cock to the men. Thus did our forefathers strive to allure youth to their duty, and provided them innocent mirth as well as labour. On Plough Monday night the farmer gave them a good supper and strong ale. In some places, where the ploughman went to work on Plough Monday, if, on his return at night, he came with his whip to the kitchen-hatch, and cried “Cock on the dunghill,” he gained a cock for Shrove Tuesday.
The Revd Francis Blomefield was, like the aforementioned John Brand, an Anglican clergyman and antiquarian. He lived between 1705 and 1752. He documented the histories of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
In his History of Norfolk, he described the Plough Monday processions in that county. Although they were secular in nature then, men still collected for the ancient plough light, requesting ‘money for light’. However, instead of collecting for the church — as had been done in the 15th century — they were collecting money to be spent at the local alehouse.
Blomefield also wrote of the mummer play — folk play with local amateur actors — typically performed on that day, ‘The arraigning and indicting of Sir John Barleycorn’. It was a humorous sketch featuring characters from all walks of life: some admired, some despised. In the end, Sir John Barleycorn was always acquitted, but as Blomefield concluded:
From this facetious little narrative may be learned the folly of excess, and the injustice of charging a cheering beverage, with the evil consequences of a man taking a cup more of it than will do him good.
Regional variations
Plough Monday festivities died out in many places from the 19th through to the 20th centuries. However, some towns are reviving these old traditions.
Project Britain has a fascinating summary with recent pictures of Plough Monday where it has been revived.
Yorkshire
An account from 1808, describing the custom in the North Riding of Yorkshire, says that any new tenant farmer received the labour of his neighbours as well as their ploughs on this day in order to prepare his land for sowing.
The account, written by Miss Hutton in her ‘Oakward Hall’, describes the great feast of homemade bread, dumplings, beef and Cheshire cheese at the end of the day.
Cambridgeshire
In an area of the Huntingdonshire Fens (fens are lowlands):
a straw bear was led through the streets on Plough Monday. It is speculated that this may have grown out of a pagan ritual or just maybe an extension of disguising oneself using straw, inspired by dancing bears that used to tour the fenland villages.
Plough Monday traditions died out here in the 1950s but were revived in 2009:
Five hundred children from Ramsey Junior School and 14 other primary schools had been learning about Molly Dancing and other Plough Monday customs as part of the Heritage Lottery funded project “Cambridgeshire Roots”. The children from eight local schools came together to parade through the town of Ramsey and to dance on the Abbey Green. This was recorded by BBC Countryfile.
This custom has gone from strength to strength and the children now sing their own song as they process through the streets as taught to them by two ladies who went “ploughwitching” in the area 1950’s. It was thought that Plough Monday customs had largely died out in the Cambridgeshire Fens in the 1930’s until Gordon Phillips and Nicky Stockman met Anne Edwards and her husband during a performance by the children of Benwick Primary School. Anne told us about the antics of her peers who grew up in Ramsey Heights and visited local houses, dressed up with blackened faces to sing and beg for money. More local people who remembered the custom came forward during the intergenerational project “Ploughwitches and Bears”.
These videos from 2016 give you a good idea of Plough Monday past and present with Molly (Morris) Dancers, a play, sooty faces and a straw bear:
Another Fenland town, Whittlesey, holds a Straw Bear Festival:
a direct descendant of the Plough Monday customs, and there are revivals with a variety of names, often performed by local morris dancers. Look out for Plough Jags, Stots, Witchers and Bullockers … and Old Glory (see Cutty Wren) also perform on Plough Monday.
In other areas, sometimes the Straw Bear was paraded through the streets in lieu of a decorated plough in the 19th century.
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly are far away from the usual Plough Monday areas. They are in the Irish Sea, far off the coast of Cornwall. However, even there:
locals would cross-dress and then visit their neighbours to joke about local occurrences. There would be guise dancing (folk-etymologically rendered as “goose dancing” by either the authors or those whom they observed) and considerable drinking and revelry.[7]
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I look forward to comments from anyone who has seen or participated in a Plough Monday event.
Sources:
Plough Monday (Hymns and Carols of Christmas)
Olaus Magnus – History of the Nordic Peoples (Avrosys)
Plough Monday in England (PloughMonday.co.uk)
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
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My last post — the first concerning the Book of Acts — discussed the first Pentecost, after which the 70 — Jesus’s closest followers — who had received the Holy Spirit began speaking in tongues for the Apostolic era. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in foreign languages in order to expand the church.
These tongues were recognised languages to the Gentiles present who had come from faraway lands. The Jews present did not understand these languages, so instead they accused the 70 of being drunk at 9 a.m.
Peter, in his characteristic boldness, immediately stood up: one, to demonstrate he was sober and, two, to give his first sermon inspired by the Holy Spirit.
He addressed not the Gentiles, but rather the Jews who had witnessed Jesus’s ministry. Some of them might have even called for His death on the day of His Crucifixion.
The Holy Spirit worked through Peter to cite Old Testament scripture, including the prophet Joel and, later, David, revered by all the Jews, from Psalm 110.
Peter’s message was that the Jesus of Nazareth they saw and heard was, indeed, the long-awaited Messiah. Now was the time for them to realise it. Forget the scribes, the Pharisees and their other religious leaders. Scripture prophesied Jesus. They had to realise that and come to God through His only begotten Son.
Today’s verses are at the end of his sermon which concluded with:
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Peter pulled no punches.
In verse 33, Peter was telling the Jews that Jesus — resurrected and ascended to heaven (Acts 1 describes the Ascension) is at the right hand of His Father. Furthermore, God promised Jesus He would send the Holy Spirit to His followers on this day. Essentially, Peter was saying, ‘You are witnessing what He promised to us.’ Therefore, it was no laughing matter: ‘No, we are not drunk. We have received a divine gift, one we were told would come.’
At this point, he mentioned David and cited Psalm 110:1 — the clincher (verses 34, 35). No Jew listening could ignore either. They revered David and loved his psalms.
Peter said that David was not speaking of himself there, because he had not ascended to heaven. He was speaking of the Messiah. David did not sit at the right hand of God, either. Therefore, what he said could not be about himself, but the Son of God.
Acts 2:37 tells us that the Jews hearing Peter’s words were cut to the core. They asked what they should do (emphases mine):
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Peter was saying that this gift of the Holy Spirit would be given not only to them but also to Gentiles (‘all who are far off’). Note, however, that he qualified it. The gift was for those whom the Lord God calls to Himself. Therefore, by that, he is referring to the elect. The Lord God must call us in order for us to be saved.
We pray that as many as possible are called to be saved, because not all of us are among the elect. Only God our Father knows for certain. But as we are called to the Great Commission which Jesus ordained, we must ensure that as many people as possible are invited to become members of the Church.
I would encourage everyone to read the commentaries by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur linked to above. Both give excellent expositions of Peter’s sermon. Sadly, the three-year Lectionary schedules that sermon for weekday readings. Because of the time limitations for weekday services, officiating clergy are unlikely to be able to explain the significance of Peter’s transformation on Pentecost and the divinely inspired words he preached. More’s the pity.
The Holy Spirit worked powerfully through Peter; he echoed Jesus’s words (verse 40) and, as a result, made many converts among the Jews:
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
In Acts 3 — all of which is in the Lectionary — Peter healed a beggar and preached again to the Jews, exhorting them to repent and believe that Christ Jesus is their Messiah and Lord.
Next time: Acts 4:22
The Republican-majority House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday, January 4, 2017 stating that any federal regulations approved since May 2016 could be made null and void after president-elect Donald Trump assumes office.
Last-minute regulations approved by a president near the end of his term in office are called midnight rules.
What congressmen have approved is a shotgun approach, whereby only one majority vote would be needed to repeal any or all of these recent regulations — provided Donald Trump gave his official approval as president.
Reuters reports (emphases mine):
Under a law known as the Congressional Review Act, Congress has the right to review regulations for a certain period of time after they are issued. That means any federal regulation approved since May could be voided by the Republican-led Congress once President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House and can sign off on their disapproval.
Also:
On its second day back in session, the House passed the bill on a vote of 238 to 184. The Senate is expected to soon consider companion legislation, which could face a harder time because it would need eight votes from Democrats.
However:
It takes only a simple majority of both chambers to reverse a rule, giving Senate Democrats little power to block a vote with a filibuster.
Those on the Left — including Democrats and the media — will say that the Republicans are putting Americans at risk by rolling back Obama administration regulations on energy, the environment, transportation, banking, finance, education and media ownership. In fact, another Reuters report states that Democrat legislators:
acknowledge they lack the votes needed to stop repeal legislation being pushed by Republicans, who will control the White House and both chambers of Congress when Trump takes office. But they are warning of the risks of the repeal legislation in hopes of spurring a public backlash against it.
This negative campaign will centre around Obamacare:
The emerging Democratic strategy is to warn that Republicans risk throwing the entire U.S. healthcare system into chaos by moving to dismantle the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, without a plan to replace it.
The narrative that has been circulating for several days at least is that people will be left uninsured overnight. Trump said that would not happen. He pledged during his campaign that a new health insurance system would be developed which would give people a choice. It won’t be done overnight.
Suddenly leaving millions of Americans uninsured for health would not make sense and would create chaos for everyone, the sick and health providers alike. It’s not going to happen, so don’t believe any hype appearing in the media over the next few weeks.
See and hear what Mike Pence had to say on January 4 about an ‘orderly transition’ regarding the future of health care (5:00 in):
Going back to the first Reuters article, there are two points to be made in defence of this bill.
First, some of these new regulations hark back to circumstances during Obama’s first term and were finalised only within the last several months:
Many Wall Street regulations inspired by the 2007-09 financial crisis have only recently taken final form or are on the cusp of completion, putting them in the disapproval line of fire. That includes two pending rules on payday lending and mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts – both of which have raised Republican ire.
Secondly, as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte pointed out:
Because outgoing administrations are no longer accountable to the voters, they are much more prone to issue midnight regulations that fly in the face of the electoral mandate the voters just gave the new, incoming administration. Waves of midnight rules can also be very hard for Congress or a new administration to check adequately.
As Zero Hedge points out, this measure could whittle down Obama’s legacy considerably.
Sounds like a great start to 2017.
The Feast of the Epiphany takes place on January 6 every year.
It was the one event where Jesus was paid great tribute by great men, Gentiles from faraway lands who did not know Him. This signifies that He came for all people, not just for the twelve tribes of Israel.
It took the Magi many months crossing difficult terrain to reach the Christ Child.
The liturgical season of Epiphany in 2017 runs from this day through to Transfiguration Sunday on February 26. Ash Wednesday follows on March 1 this year and marks the beginning of Lent.
The Lectionary reading and Psalm from the Old Testament for Epiphany prophesied of Jesus Christ and of rulers from far away nations who would pay Him homage, bearing gifts:
Isaiah 60:1-6
60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
60:2 For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.
60:3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
60:4 Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
60:5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
60:6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
72:1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
72:2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
72:3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
72:4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
72:5 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
72:6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
72:7 In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
72:10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
72:11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.
72:12 For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.
72:13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
72:14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
I wrote about the Epistle and Gospel for this feast day last year. The readings are the same every year, so do not be dissuaded by seeing Year C in the title:
Epiphany — Epistle (Ephesians 3:1-12)
Epiphany — Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12)
Other helpful past posts on this feast day are below:
A Lutheran pastor reflects on the Epiphany
More Lutheran reflections on the Epiphany
Remembering the Epiphany in chalk
Why the Epiphany is so important — a Lutheran perspective
A Lutheran perspective on the Magi
What to remember about Epiphany
