The 'WEDDING' book has arrived....this is indeed a story I get passionate about. A few weeks in a family conversation a distant cousin mentioned a name in our family ancestry that I didn't recognize. Later that day I devoted some time to searching the name on google, and much to my surprise after visiting a couple websites this notice appeared from a lady not associated with our family.
"I have been to an antique store and came across this 1940 wedding book for sale. It broke my heart to see it there, for such a treasure belongs in the home of a family member, so if you would like to inquire more about it please email me."
This was an invitation I couldn't turn down for the 'wedding' book belongs to the daughter of my great uncle/aunt on my father's side, so I immediately contacted her. She was anxious to send me the book and only asked that I pay the price she had to acquire it and the shipping from across the country, which I was more than happy to do. She even sent me a copy of one of the newspaper clippings in the book, you can imagine how that excited me. So plans were put into motion [at least in my mind]as
to how this precious treasure would be unwrapped in the presence of 'invited' family members who likewise would appreciate its ancestral roots. Well when the package arrived the desire to open it got the better of me - watch out for temptations - and
I couldn't wait, which means I'm so glad my plans had progressed no further than my gray matter.
It is a complete 'wedding' history ... with notes about where they first meet, her planning for both the wedding dress and arrangements. There are photos of the couple before, during and after the wedding ceremony and some pictures of family with them. She has even written three pages journaling their honeymoon experience.
There are lists of wedding guests and a list of gifts received .. and other little tidbits of information. The lady who rescued the book did some detective work before hand and was kind enough to send me a letter with the results.
This lady amazes me; its not the first time she has rescued family heirlooms, most often they are family bibles, and found a relative to adopt them ... its a passion with her. A couple weekends ago some friends from Chicago [incidentally where the couple was married, then later moved from]were visiting with us a small town near our home that has a lot of antique stores, and I found myself taking a lot more time searching for anything with a family name .... I'm not so sure I'm into the rescuing for unknown strangers as I am the thrill of discovery - either way I figure I win!
I've certainly won with the acquisition of the 'Wedding' book.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
An old book
While preparing a special wall in my office for 'family artifacts' that relate to my spiritual roots I came across an old book that my reverend uncle had. I had completely forgotten that I had it, and it went well with the subject being discussed in the Wed.nite Adult Bible Study.
It is a classic holiness book called 'Pentecostal Lights by A.M.Hills.'[I talked with a Librarian and there's a very good likely hood this may be a first edition, though it doesn't say that or that its a reprint??] First it was good to come across the book at such an appropriate time, second, it was really great to have a book printed in 1898 that was classic, and last but not least nearly every one of the 101 pages had been marked on by my uncle. There were some notes written out, but is also a lot of underlining and stars in the margins.....I guess now all I have to do is figure out the underlining [some of it is in different pencil/ink colors] and what the stars stand for, though chances are they will mostly go undetermined.
Probably my uncle never figured anyone would be reading his book, and if someone did they certainly would have little interest in his markings. All that to say this, the main reason I like read books is so that I can make notes and scribbling in them. A friend of mine this past weekend was telling me all about electronic devices[Nook] that let you read a book and make notations ... but there's something old school, and yes I believe beneficial, in doing it the old way! I feel there's that special ambiance, special smell to books as they age that draws you in; ask an old bookstore owner or customer. I have a really neat story about 'old' literature coming up in the near future .... and it goes back to 1940 and is from a cousin I never knew until last week that I had, stay tuned.
It is a classic holiness book called 'Pentecostal Lights by A.M.Hills.'[I talked with a Librarian and there's a very good likely hood this may be a first edition, though it doesn't say that or that its a reprint??] First it was good to come across the book at such an appropriate time, second, it was really great to have a book printed in 1898 that was classic, and last but not least nearly every one of the 101 pages had been marked on by my uncle. There were some notes written out, but is also a lot of underlining and stars in the margins.....I guess now all I have to do is figure out the underlining [some of it is in different pencil/ink colors] and what the stars stand for, though chances are they will mostly go undetermined.
Probably my uncle never figured anyone would be reading his book, and if someone did they certainly would have little interest in his markings. All that to say this, the main reason I like read books is so that I can make notes and scribbling in them. A friend of mine this past weekend was telling me all about electronic devices[Nook] that let you read a book and make notations ... but there's something old school, and yes I believe beneficial, in doing it the old way! I feel there's that special ambiance, special smell to books as they age that draws you in; ask an old bookstore owner or customer. I have a really neat story about 'old' literature coming up in the near future .... and it goes back to 1940 and is from a cousin I never knew until last week that I had, stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Lincoln As I Knew Him
Just the other day a blogger friend held a poll about what president people thought was the greatest .... now the choices were limited to past [not modern era] presidents. I proudly cast my vote for ole Abe. ON my sabbatical I again visited the A.Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois; as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best.
When the times and circumstances of Lincoln's presidency are considered, his love for his country and the desire to keep it united is hard to equal. True not all his decisions were maybe the best, and granted there were times he stepped outside presidential powers, but what president hasn't done that for the good of the nation, or want of power?
While visiting the museum I was privileged to go thru a magnificent exhibit by Doris Kearns Goodwin's work, 'A Team of Rivals.' Though I have not read her book so my perspective is very limited, as I read the labels it slowly dawned on me that the principle reason for choosing who Lincoln chose is not the perspective through which modern politicans view it ....... but that discussion is for another blog. Let conclude with this exhibit is on until Aug.15, 2011.
Back to the book 'Lincoln As I Knew Him' ... the author, a re-known Lincoln historian has drawn from history the reflections of people from his family, his personal/political friends, co-workers, military personnel, newspaper editors, journalist and authors,and bitter foes to intimate White House officials. The many recollections come from almost every conceivable quarter and offer a varied yet comprehensive picture of the man himself, although Lincoln never wrote about himself and as the author alludes to often, a man who was publicly well-known and following his death set off a great deluge of books/memorabilia about him, but who to this day remains a private mystery. I loved the book and read that final week of my sabbatical. A neat aspect of this collective biography is that the reflections are short and it is an easy read to pick up and lay down .. although it's hard to not finish out a section at the same time.
How did this relate to my spiritual roots? Aside from a couple of stories about my ancestors having business/court relations with the young Lincoln, Abe was convinced as he alluded to several times in his writings that he was divinely destined for his course in life, and that he seriously doubted he would outlive the Civil War and if he did he would not live long .... how true that was. His faith in the rightness of his course, and his personal relationship with his Creator was an inspiration.
LINCOLN AS I KNEW HIM by Harold Holzer. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. 1999, ISBN: 9781565126817
When the times and circumstances of Lincoln's presidency are considered, his love for his country and the desire to keep it united is hard to equal. True not all his decisions were maybe the best, and granted there were times he stepped outside presidential powers, but what president hasn't done that for the good of the nation, or want of power?
While visiting the museum I was privileged to go thru a magnificent exhibit by Doris Kearns Goodwin's work, 'A Team of Rivals.' Though I have not read her book so my perspective is very limited, as I read the labels it slowly dawned on me that the principle reason for choosing who Lincoln chose is not the perspective through which modern politicans view it ....... but that discussion is for another blog. Let conclude with this exhibit is on until Aug.15, 2011.
Back to the book 'Lincoln As I Knew Him' ... the author, a re-known Lincoln historian has drawn from history the reflections of people from his family, his personal/political friends, co-workers, military personnel, newspaper editors, journalist and authors,and bitter foes to intimate White House officials. The many recollections come from almost every conceivable quarter and offer a varied yet comprehensive picture of the man himself, although Lincoln never wrote about himself and as the author alludes to often, a man who was publicly well-known and following his death set off a great deluge of books/memorabilia about him, but who to this day remains a private mystery. I loved the book and read that final week of my sabbatical. A neat aspect of this collective biography is that the reflections are short and it is an easy read to pick up and lay down .. although it's hard to not finish out a section at the same time.
How did this relate to my spiritual roots? Aside from a couple of stories about my ancestors having business/court relations with the young Lincoln, Abe was convinced as he alluded to several times in his writings that he was divinely destined for his course in life, and that he seriously doubted he would outlive the Civil War and if he did he would not live long .... how true that was. His faith in the rightness of his course, and his personal relationship with his Creator was an inspiration.
LINCOLN AS I KNEW HIM by Harold Holzer. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. 1999, ISBN: 9781565126817
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
First Book Read on Sabbatical
The first book that I read on sabbatical was a historical fiction by Kristin Hannah. Althought the story line is fictional the background is historical ... it begins by taking place in the Russian town of Leningrad besieged by Hitler's Nazi forces, and takes place during the coldest months of winter. This setting is not only historical but it sets the emotional stage for the relationships in this story.
In this environment the young husband/father Sasha is taken from his family to fight in the Russian Army. The horrors and tragedy of tring to raise two children in these
circumstances is almost more than Anya, the wife/mother, can bear. The decisions she must make are heart-wrenching, but truly representative of parents in those times.
Anya is finally rescued by American forces and marries Evan who brings her to America to start her life over again. Even the blessings of freedom and the birth of two precious daughters, and an ever loving/caring husband can not wipe out remembrances of the past. It is truly a work of art in the way the author has interchanged chapters of the present and the past, synchronizing them to keep the story moving forward without a sense of getting stuck in the past as so many authors
suffer from.
The final chapters in this book are truly mind-boggling as the author ties up the two stories and brings to the forefront lessons of the importance of family roots, the importance of truly 'listening' to each other and hearing the story behind the story. I'll not reveal the ending, which I've read at least three times, but let hasten to add, you will not be disappointed. I picked this book to be the first to read on my sabbatical because of its reference to roots, and it inspired me. Hope that you will read and find the same.
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. St.Martin's Press, New York, N.Y., 2010
ISBN: 9780312663155
In this environment the young husband/father Sasha is taken from his family to fight in the Russian Army. The horrors and tragedy of tring to raise two children in these
circumstances is almost more than Anya, the wife/mother, can bear. The decisions she must make are heart-wrenching, but truly representative of parents in those times.
Anya is finally rescued by American forces and marries Evan who brings her to America to start her life over again. Even the blessings of freedom and the birth of two precious daughters, and an ever loving/caring husband can not wipe out remembrances of the past. It is truly a work of art in the way the author has interchanged chapters of the present and the past, synchronizing them to keep the story moving forward without a sense of getting stuck in the past as so many authors
suffer from.
The final chapters in this book are truly mind-boggling as the author ties up the two stories and brings to the forefront lessons of the importance of family roots, the importance of truly 'listening' to each other and hearing the story behind the story. I'll not reveal the ending, which I've read at least three times, but let hasten to add, you will not be disappointed. I picked this book to be the first to read on my sabbatical because of its reference to roots, and it inspired me. Hope that you will read and find the same.
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. St.Martin's Press, New York, N.Y., 2010
ISBN: 9780312663155
I'm Back
Wow, I really didn't realize how long I had been gone from blogging. I truly did miss it and every time it seemed I started something came up and drew me away. During the month of January I was on Sabbatical leave, and it was a glorious time, and also a very challenging one.
Before my recall vote, which in the Nazarene church, means the church board comes together with the d.s. and determines whether or not to extend your pastorate for another four years ..... they did in my case; the d.s. informed me that he was going to ask the church to give me a two-month sabbatical since I had been here over 10yrs.
When it was offered by the board I asked if I might take a month this year and one next year and they agreed, and I said I would like to take January 2011 and 2012. Now one thing that I had to determine was what my 'goal' would be during this Jan.2011, and I chose to search for my spiritual roots on my father's side. I knew some of my genealogy on both my father and mother's side, but wanted to focus on what my spiritual roots were, and the overhwelming majority of religious persuasion came from my father's roots....and so I began.
As I researched my roots, and more and more information became available it was awesome ... and to this day new information continues to surface. My father's roots go back to the Swiss Anabaptist, through Germany and finally to France .. where under the pressures both from the 'established church and protestant reformation, and Napoleonic crusades they launched out for America. They didn't take the usual route through Ellis Island, instead they came up thru New Orleans, up the MIssissippi and then onto the Ohio River to Butler County, Ohio. To make a longer story a wee bit shorter, after settling in Butler County many of them eventually continued on to better promised farmland to Tazewell Cty, Illinois. Then around 1912 a land agent from Pioneer Ohio visited the area and sold them on the fertile grounds of northwestern Ohio, 'come back east young man!,' and my grandpa/grandma packed up family, household goods and livestock, boarded trains and returned to Ohio only on the opposite end of the state this time [Butler being in the south and Pioneer is in the north, though both are in western Ohio]..... and eventually I arrived!
But I ventured from my goal of finding spiritual influences ... since my fathers roots are grounded in anabaptism and the amish-mennonites there were many, many pastors in the family on both grandpa/grandma's sides, and even today I continue to find pastors/bishops in the family roots. I attribute this to many things, mostly the fact that even today pastors tend to associate with pastors, in my own nuclear family my son is an ordained associate/youth pastor and my oldest daughter is a pastors wife, and my middle daughter is heavily involved in church along with her husband, so there is definitely a social/cultural more to being in ministry ... also a big reason for their coming to America was for religious purposes than they didn' come seperately they came in many family groups and those groups tended to stay close together.
One of the benefits of this continuing journey is the acquisition of family artifacts and certificates of birth/marriage/death that give a certain air of authenticity that you can see and touch, which is extremely humbling. Last week I watched a show on tv that highlights movie stars and their finding their roots and it was about Rose O'Donnell and how she went to Ireland and there found the 'poorhouses' that her ancestors lived in during the potato famine until they were
fortunate enough to be picked to migrate to Canada .... and how she wept to think of the pain, suffering and horrors her family had gone thru and how fortunate she is ... that episode brought tears to my eyes as I remember the literal persecution my family went through in Europe and then the prejudices they endured even here in America ... compared to them I've been most fortunate.
Also something I've found out is that most pastors in the amish-mennonite tradition had to juggle ministry, family and farming at the same time .... full time pastors just simply rarely existed ... also pastors were drawn by lot. Now there is the pre-pentecostal example in scripture where two disciples are chosen by lot in the Upper Room, and though I have no proof, I'm fairly certain these had great influence on those early times ... and this method in itself brought on an almost overwhelming sense of responsibility, for the people themselves had chosen you to this esteemed postition and they were not slow in holding you responsible.
As time goes along I will continue to write about those experiences, for they have and they are making a definite difference in my life ... and one day it is my dream that maybe a grandchild, or great grandchild will become curious about their heritage and I will have this wonderful foundation for they to begin with ... for the journey never stops it just keeps gaining momentum one generation at a time!!
Before my recall vote, which in the Nazarene church, means the church board comes together with the d.s. and determines whether or not to extend your pastorate for another four years ..... they did in my case; the d.s. informed me that he was going to ask the church to give me a two-month sabbatical since I had been here over 10yrs.
When it was offered by the board I asked if I might take a month this year and one next year and they agreed, and I said I would like to take January 2011 and 2012. Now one thing that I had to determine was what my 'goal' would be during this Jan.2011, and I chose to search for my spiritual roots on my father's side. I knew some of my genealogy on both my father and mother's side, but wanted to focus on what my spiritual roots were, and the overhwelming majority of religious persuasion came from my father's roots....and so I began.
As I researched my roots, and more and more information became available it was awesome ... and to this day new information continues to surface. My father's roots go back to the Swiss Anabaptist, through Germany and finally to France .. where under the pressures both from the 'established church and protestant reformation, and Napoleonic crusades they launched out for America. They didn't take the usual route through Ellis Island, instead they came up thru New Orleans, up the MIssissippi and then onto the Ohio River to Butler County, Ohio. To make a longer story a wee bit shorter, after settling in Butler County many of them eventually continued on to better promised farmland to Tazewell Cty, Illinois. Then around 1912 a land agent from Pioneer Ohio visited the area and sold them on the fertile grounds of northwestern Ohio, 'come back east young man!,' and my grandpa/grandma packed up family, household goods and livestock, boarded trains and returned to Ohio only on the opposite end of the state this time [Butler being in the south and Pioneer is in the north, though both are in western Ohio]..... and eventually I arrived!
But I ventured from my goal of finding spiritual influences ... since my fathers roots are grounded in anabaptism and the amish-mennonites there were many, many pastors in the family on both grandpa/grandma's sides, and even today I continue to find pastors/bishops in the family roots. I attribute this to many things, mostly the fact that even today pastors tend to associate with pastors, in my own nuclear family my son is an ordained associate/youth pastor and my oldest daughter is a pastors wife, and my middle daughter is heavily involved in church along with her husband, so there is definitely a social/cultural more to being in ministry ... also a big reason for their coming to America was for religious purposes than they didn' come seperately they came in many family groups and those groups tended to stay close together.
One of the benefits of this continuing journey is the acquisition of family artifacts and certificates of birth/marriage/death that give a certain air of authenticity that you can see and touch, which is extremely humbling. Last week I watched a show on tv that highlights movie stars and their finding their roots and it was about Rose O'Donnell and how she went to Ireland and there found the 'poorhouses' that her ancestors lived in during the potato famine until they were
fortunate enough to be picked to migrate to Canada .... and how she wept to think of the pain, suffering and horrors her family had gone thru and how fortunate she is ... that episode brought tears to my eyes as I remember the literal persecution my family went through in Europe and then the prejudices they endured even here in America ... compared to them I've been most fortunate.
Also something I've found out is that most pastors in the amish-mennonite tradition had to juggle ministry, family and farming at the same time .... full time pastors just simply rarely existed ... also pastors were drawn by lot. Now there is the pre-pentecostal example in scripture where two disciples are chosen by lot in the Upper Room, and though I have no proof, I'm fairly certain these had great influence on those early times ... and this method in itself brought on an almost overwhelming sense of responsibility, for the people themselves had chosen you to this esteemed postition and they were not slow in holding you responsible.
As time goes along I will continue to write about those experiences, for they have and they are making a definite difference in my life ... and one day it is my dream that maybe a grandchild, or great grandchild will become curious about their heritage and I will have this wonderful foundation for they to begin with ... for the journey never stops it just keeps gaining momentum one generation at a time!!
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