"Moby Dick" - A Sermon in a Book

What better book for a Sunday Sermon than Herman Melville’s immortal “Moby Dick”. So many people complain about having to read this book in high school and college classes. I have even heard it referred to as being irrelevant. What a shame! 

This book has grown more relevant with each passing year since it was first released in 1851. Though unappreciated when it was first released, over time it has become recognized as a true classic with a real message about human frailty and vengeance.

The story of Ishmael, the novice whaler, and his journey through an immoral and indifferent world has never lost its relevancy or its bite. We still live in a world of Ahab’s chasing personifications of Evil, mostly to the detriment of the innocent.

The questions raised within this book are timeless and universal. Who has the right to Vengeance? Is it the provenance of the man afflicted by Evil? Or does Vengeance truly belong to a Power larger than ourselves?

As a literary gem, this book is still worth the time it takes to read it. From the naming of Ishmael as the principal character, to the Resurrection of the coffin after the Apocalyptic battle between Ahab and the Whale, the book is filled with references to Scripture and the lessons within.

Perhaps, in our modern world of 60 second sound bites and fleeting fifteen minute fame, the book seems overly complicated. There are no special effects; just meaningful words spoken by characters both flawed and innocent. That alone should make the story both familiar and applicable to just about everybody you know.

The Saturday After Midnight

You could never tell where the kitten

would be sittin’.

He had so many places he liked to hide.

In the summer it was the porch

lying in the shade.

In the winter he found shelter inside.

In the garage there was a heating pad and chair.

And on summer stormy nights

there was a Christmas tree in there,

and he took special comfort from the lights.

We ran them anytime,

when the wind began to whine

or thunder cracked.

And it worked in winter, too,

making him feel that he was warmer than he was.

He loved that tree.

And the shadow from the lights grew longer

as the kittens time grew shorter;

‘til there was an empty place on my porch.

In my garage, the Christmas tree is gone;

the lights only lit the empty spaces in the night.

For Midnight - He was a great cat.

2011-2014 

Second Version

You could never tell
where the kitten would be sittin’.
He had so many places he liked to hide.

In the summer it was the porch
lying in the shade.
In the winter he found shelter on the inside.

In the garage there was a heating pad
and where on certain summer stormy nights,
with the tree ablaze, he would sit and stare,
taking special comfort from the lights.

We ran them anytime, when the wind began to whine
or thunder cracked, and the wind would moan.
And it worked in winter, too, made him feel warmer than he was.
He loved that tree and didn't feel so alone.

But the shadows from the lights grew longer
as the kittens time grew shorter;
‘til there was an empty place on my porch and in my heart.

In my garage, the Christmas tree is gone;
now that his time is done,
they only lit the empty spaces in the night.

Move Over Barack - Elizabeth is Not the Queen!

President Obama is not the only world leader to have his legitimacy questioned in recent years. While looking up something on You Tube concerning the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 I ran across this intriguing short documentary. Basically, it follows the family lineage of Queen Elizabeth back through the centuries in order to prove that Elizabeth is not the rightful heir to the throne of England.

Ordinarily I would not really have spent much time watching the video, but it is pretty interesting. Not in respects to the purpose stated; that Elizabeth is not the rightful heir; but for the wealth of English history contained in the film. For Americans, English history can be a bit confusing, but this neatly constructed video forms a tight little package covering the years of the English Civil War and Cromwell’s March; both seminal events in the understanding of both England as a world Empire, and the Britain of today.

You have to wonder if this film has been of any comfort to President Obama. He has been under attack about that birth certificate for so long now that this film must surely have the effect of making him feel not so alone anymore. I’m glad I’m not a politician, or a world leader in any respect. It would be so difficult to wake up one day and find out that I’m not really me!

"Labeled with Love" - Squeeze (1981)

The English never get full credit for their interpretation; and writing; of American style country music. From the Rolling Stones to early Fleetwood Mac, English pop music is replete with wonderful country music which never gets played on American country stations.There is no real reason that “Faraway Eyes” isn’t played, right along with “No Expectations” or even the original version of “Honky Tonk Woman”, called “Country Honk”, which was written in Australia.

I was going to write something about pop music and how the words are like the paints used by traditional artists. Then I ran across this country ballad by Squeeze, an English band from the late 1970's and early 80's. They still tour today, and Jools Holland, the founding member, is finally back on keyboards. As for the vocals, well Glenn Tilbrook still sounds exactly the same as in this 1982 live performance of "Labelled With Love." By the time this performance was filmed, Holland had already left the band. I saw them once in Spain, with Jools Holland, it was the first time I'd ever heard of them. This was about 1979 or so. They were fantastic.

What I really like about this song is the full range of imagery that Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford have displayed in their writing. The song is from the 1981 album "East Side Story." You can actually see and feel the cold chill of an English winter as this old woman struggles through each year, pawning her valuables to keep the electric on. I can smell the cat piss. And when she reminisces about having married the soldier and moving to America, I can feel the desert heat and see the trailer they probably lived in, though it is never mentioned.

Chris Difford had this to say about how he arrived at the lyrics, after seeing a photograph of an old woman sitting at a bar in Paris in the 1930's; "'Labeled With Love' was an adult lyric in a way that the older generation could latch on to and understand. My mother absolutely loved it. The story is about the end of a relationship after the war. I'd been reading about American soldiers in Britain during the war who married English girls and whisked them off their feet to the States."

As with all of their collaborations, Tilbrook and Difford are among the more visual of the "pop" writers to emerge from the 60's style of songwriting. Together they bridged the "punk" rock years, and Squeeze became one of the bands that kept "pop" alive through the 1980's. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do. Here are the lyrics;

"Labelled With Love" - Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford

She unscrews the top of her new whisky bottle,

and shuffles around in her candle-lit hovel.

Like some kind of witch with blue fingers in mittens,

She smells like the cat and the neighbours she sickens.

The black and white T.V. has long seen a picture,

The cross on the wall is a permanent fixture.

The postman delivers the final reminders,

She sells off the silver and poodles of china.

Drinks to remember I, me and myself

Winds up the clock, and knocks dust from the shelf.

Home is a love that I miss very much,

So the past has been bottled and labelled with love.

During the wartime an American pilot

made every air-raid a time of excitement.

She moved to his prairie and married the Texan,

She learnt from a distance how love was a lesson.

He became drinker and she became mother,

She knew that one day she’d be one or the other.

He ate himself older, and drank himself dizzy,

Proud of her features she kept herself pretty..

Drinks to remember I, me and myself,

Winds up the clock, and knocks dust from the shelf.

Home is a love that I miss very much,

So the past has been bottled and labelled with love.

He like a cowboy died drunk in a slumber,

out on the porch in the middle of summer.

She crossed the ocean back home to her family,

But they had retired to roads that were sandy.

She moved home alone without friends or relations,

lived in a world full of aged reservations.

On moth-eaten armchairs, she’d say that she’d sod-all

the friends who had left her to drink from the bottle.

Drinks to remember I, me and myself,

Winds up the clock, and knocks dust from the shelf.

Home is a love that I miss very much,

So the past has been bottled and labelled with love.

Rin Tin Tin (The Real Story)

Now I never knew this before, but Rin Tin Tin was a real dog! If you already know this to be a fact you can stop reading now. But, if like me, you have been ignorant of this for about the last 60 years, read on. It’s a pretty cool story.

Rin Tin Tin was actually a German Shepard who was rescued from a battlefield by an American soldier. He had no idea that he would become a star at the time. He was just glad to get off the dam battlefield alive. Lee Duncan, the American soldier who found him, named him Rinty and began to train him for work as a stunt dog in silent films. He made 27 of the films in all. Darryl F. Zanuck is said to have built his storied career on the success of those 27 films.

The only dog who had achieved such success in films at that [point was another German Shepard named Strongheart. These 2 dogs are responsible for making German Shepherds acceptable as family pets. When the 1929 Oscars rolled around Rin Tin Tin received the most votes for Best Actor in the film “Frozen River”. But the Academy decided to go with a human that year instead.

In 1932 Rin Tin Tin made his final exit from stage and life. But the show must go on, and several dogs related to the original Rin Tin Tin were now featured in stories in movies and on the radio. Rin Tin Tin, Jr; Rin Tin Tin III both appeared in films during the 1930’s, and Rin Tin Tin III went on to help train dogs for the Second World War. That must have been strange; German Shepard’s training to fight other Germans. C’est le guerre. He also appeared in a film in 1947 with Robert Blake.

By the mid 1950’s Duncan was training Rin Tin Tin IV for a role in a television series. But the dog just ccouldn'tcut it and was replaced with a dog from noted canine trainer Frank Barnes's kennel. That dog was named Flame, Jr. This was not something which the network wanted to advertise. Rin Tin Tin IV was secreted away to his home in Riverside and Flame, Jr. performed in his name.

Hopefully this information has not caused any emotional harm to anyone. It would seem strange though, to see an episode of the show and see the credit as “Flame, Jr!” instead of Rin Tin Tin. It just doesn't have that ring to it.

“Water for Elephants” with Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz (2011)

Beautiful cinematography and a wonderful screenplay make this film a sensual experience to watch. The film begins with Hal Holbrook; who plays the main character of Jacob as an old man; talking to a younger man who runs a circus. He is obviously “missing” from his nursing home and has a tale to tell. The younger man decides to listen and the film dissolves into a flashback, where it will remain for the entire film.

The young Jacob; played by Robert Pattinson; is unable to complete his education at Cornell, where he was studying to be a veterinarian. While riding the railroads during the early days of the Great Depression he meets some men who introduce him to life working odd jobs at a circus. The star attraction of this circus is a beautiful woman named Marlena; played by Reese Witherspoon; who rides an equally beautiful white stallion. Jacob is taken with both the woman and the animal.

Marlena is married to the owner of the struggling circus, a man named August; played by Christoph Waltz; who is always looking for another way to make his circus unique; and profitable. His relationship with his wife is odd and he seems to be lost in his own dreams and fantasies. Marlena is clearly unhappy.

When Jacob notices that the horse is not well he finds himself at odds with Marlena; who thinks she knows more than he does about her horse; and August, who is insanely jealous and controlling. When Jacob tells them that he is a veterinarian he is given the job of taking care of the horse and restoring it to health.

Realizing that the horse is in great pain and will never recover, Jacob puts him down with Marlena’s consent. This infuriates August who tries to kill Jacob over the incident. But soon he has his sights set on an elephant named Rosie as a way to make his show turn a profit. Accordingly he places Jacob in charge of the animal.

When the elephant seems not to be able to learn any tricks August becomes enraged, beating the elephant within an inch of its life. The carny’s and roustabouts all pitch in and help Jacob bring the elephant back to health. But they must come up with a way to keep August from hurting Rosie again.  During this time Jacob and Marlena become very close; verging on the edge of a romantic relationship. August senses this and takes his rage out on Rosie as well as Jacob.

While tending to Rosie Jacob discovers that the elephant used to belong to a Hungarian circus and has been trained in that language. With the help of his fellow workers he is able to turn Rosie back into the class act she once was. This further fuels August’s anger and sets up a confrontation with Marlena.

To find out what happens you’ll have to see the film. Suffice to say the film ends with Hal Holbrook finishing the tale he began, leaving his one man audience flabbergasted enough to offer the old man a job in the circus.

Based on Sara Gruen’s bestselling book of the same name, this film with keep you in your seat waiting to see how it all turns out for Rosie, Jacob and Marlena as they navigate the three rivers of life, love and loyalty. Beautifully directed and filmed this is a movie you will want to watch more than once.

"This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed" by Charles E. Cobb (2014)

White Supremacists take note; African-Americans have the same love affair with the Second Amendment as you do. And more reason to cherish that right. After all, they were actually enslaved, you weren't. In this engaging little book the author has taken on the subject of just what part guns played in the non-violent movement for Civil Rights in the 1960’s.  And you know what? Even Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. kept a loaded pistol handy.

Tracing the story of slavery and the early slave rebellions Mr. Cobb shows just how the mere specter of armed blacks sent cold fear up the spines of their owners. (What a nasty term to apply to another human being – owner!) This is also a book filled with heroes; the ones they never taught you about in school. These were the people behind the headlines; the ones who sheltered the Civil Rights workers from the north when they came down south to help secure the Right to Vote.

Each chapter is filled with new names of ordinary people who; though down at the bottom the pecking order of a racist environment; managed to make not only make a difference, but also maintained some of their dignity in the process. 

How to explain the actions of old Mr. “Joe” McDonald who, after being shown the Constitution for the first time by the author, went into town and demanded that the sheriff return the shotgun which had been confiscated illegally. “I came to get my gun”, was what he said. When the sheriff told him he had no right to it, old Mr. Joe produced the book which the author had given him and said, “This here book says I do.” The startled sheriff returned the weapon without any further ado.

The author also traces the relationship between slavery and the path of gun control in America. The first gun control law was passed in 1640 in Virginia and was aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of slaves. Since Africans outnumbered the colonists this was of genuine concern. Have you ever seen the film “Mandigo”? This was a real fear to the plantation owners.

African-Americans fighting in the American Revolution faced the hard choice of gambling on becoming free men if they worked for the British, or maybe becoming free men sometime in the future by working for Independence. Surprisingly few slaves actually went over to the British. But their participation in the fight for freedom did nothing to assuage their lot as slaves. As a matter of fact, with the passage of the new Constitution they were enshrined forever as less than whole human beings.

The Civil War was a kind of tipping point for African-Americans and their exposure to weapons. W.E.B. DuBois characterized it like this, “The slave pleaded; he was humble…. And the world ignored him. Then the slave killed white men; and behold he was a man!”

But the best part of this book is the section which covers the African-American journey to freedom between the two World Wars and just after. The old song “How You Gonna Keep ‘em Down On the Farm” was never more applicable than it was for African-Americans returning from the First World War. Having been treated on a somewhat equal basis in Europe, the average black soldier was hard pressed to dampen his disappointment upon returning to the United Sates. He had fought for this country and half expected that sacrifice to be acknowledged. It wasn't.

After the First World War the South seemed to double down on restrictions where African-Americans were concerned. Jim Crow became even tighter and lynching’s; which were never uncommon; increased. Night riding KKK members resurrected the old bed sheets and began a reign of terror against the African-American which would continue unabated for the next 50 years.

I must note, here, that there is a common misconception which holds that the average African-American at the time did not consider the Second World War to be of concern to black folk. This belief is common to both black and white people, but the fact of the matter is that the Second World War was all about race; from genocide in Europe at the hands of the Germans, to enslavement in the Far East by the Japanese. Black folk had to have known that. And after fighting against racism abroad they expected some improvement back home. Moreover, they were now willing to fight for it.

At the end of World War Two things really began to stir. In early 1946, in Columbia Tennessee, an ex-serviceman named James Stephenson, along with his mother Gladys, went to a department store to retrieve a radio which had been left for repair. The radio had been sold after 30 days, which was store policy. But the way in which they were treated and even beaten by store employees on the way out created an incident in which Stephenson; who had been a boxer in the Navy; knocked out a white man. The mother and son were arrested, but the arrests caused such outrage that they were released. But it didn't end there.

Fearing reprisals the black residents of the town massed in the section known as the “Bottom” and organized a defense. Many of the men were ex-servicemen and all had rifles or shotguns in their homes. When the local riff-raff showed up, intent on violence, they got it. Caught between cars of sentries posted at both ends of town, the white intruders were allowed to enter and then escape under a withering fire of bullets. They didn’t bother to return. This was probably the beginning of the armed resistance to the outrages of Jim Crow.

By 1949 this scene would be repeated in several locations; and nowhere more dramatically than in Monroe, North Carolina. Monroe was home to a returned serviceman named Robert Williams; no relation to me, unfortunately. I would be honored to have it so.  After another black man in Monroe was beaten for needing a half day off work and asking for his pay, there was a fight and the man was convicted of murder for defending himself. He was executed in 1947. The KKK would not allow the townsfolk to have a funeral. They threatened the undertaker and anyone else who sought to simply bury the man, who was also a wounded ex-serviceman with a Purple Heart.

At this point Mr. Williams began to organize the towns African-American citizens into a defense league. They surrounded the funeral home armed to the teeth. When the KKK showed up they were fired upon. Just as in Columbia, Tennessee, the KKK fled under a hail of bullets. Williams eventually became President of the local NAACP, over the objections of many other blacks, including Thurgood Marshall, who all considered him to be too radical. He was later exiled to Cuba, later returning home to America where he died in 1996. Rosa Parks gave the eulogy.

The story of a man named C.O. Chin is so fascinating and inspiring that I will leave it to you to read the book if you want to know about him. He was a legend in Madison County, Mississippi and had land holdings, night clubs; including the famous Club Desire; and a thriving liquor business. He played an instrumental role in the early life of CORE.

 

The Deacons for Defense and Justice, the SNCC, CORE and all the rest; even Martin Luther King; owe a great debt to the Second Amendment and the people who availed themselves of that right while living under great peril during the time of Jim Crow. Their stories are told here, some for the first time, by the author.

This is a book which is long overdue, written by a man who was actually there with old Mr. Joe McDonald and showed him how to get his gun back. Until you have read this book you cannot have a complete understanding of what the Second Amendment meant to the Civil Rights movement. Simply put, this is a superb book.