GreatRidge Station

I suppose, to paraphrase the old 1970s TV commercial, “It’s not nice to fool with the liturgical calendar.” That doesn’t stop me, though.

I have always looked at today as Great Commission Day: March Forth!

Who would have thought that a bad pun could help me remember something so significant.

The term “Great Commission” is a term that Christians apply to Christ’s final command:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matt 28:18-20 (ESV)

Edgar Guest is not a well respected name in literary circles. He is, however, one of my guilty pleasures of popular poetry. Somehow, in his unpolished way, he manages to capture something of both life and truth in his work.

Here is Guest’s poem, “A New Year’s Plea”. Somehow, it seems appropriate this year. Give Mr. Guest a little mercy–this obviously is the product of a much more male-dominant age: Get the kernel of meaning, and ignore his political incorrectness. I have no idea if there are copyright issues on this–it appears that all of his work has passed to public domain. May God richly bless you in the upcoming year.

A New Year’s Plea
By Edgar Guest

Lord, let me stand in the thick of the fight,
Let me bear what I must without whining;
Grant me the wisdom to do what is right,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.

Let me be true as the steel of a blade,
Make me bigger than skillful or clever;
Teach me to cling to my best, unafraid,
And harken to false gospels, never.

Let me be brave when the burden is great,
Faithful when wounded by sorrow;
Teach me, when troubled, with patience to wait
The better and brighter to-morrow.

Spare me from hatred and envy and shame,
Open my eyes to life’s beauty;
Let not the glitter of fortune or fame
Blind me to what is my duty.

Let me be true to myself to the end,
Let me stand to my task without whining;
Let me be right as a man, as a friend,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.

Tomorrow, a personal story about Edgar Guest’s work.

Ah, yes, Christmas. I love this time of year, not for the chaos and shopping, but for the real meaning behind it. It has been many a year since we actually sent out a Christmas Letter, mostly because–well, it will become obvious in the next few minutes (assuming that you keep reading).

Again this year, my well-intentioned Christmas Letter will never be mailed out. It is an obscure cultural reference to a fellow named Don Marquis and his fictional cockroach, Archy. I think Marquis died in 1937, so except for the few Archy fans that remain, he is largely forgotten. I remember him because of my much-loved, now departed, piano teacher, Juanita Beck.

So, without further adieu, this year’s useless Christmas Letter:

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hello.

i am a box-elderbug and i live with sam and kellie. i am writing this letter because the old scrooge will probably never get around to it and neither will sam. ha-ha.

i can use the keyboard pretty good, but i have to climb up and jump down to land on the key i want. it takes me a while to type a letter like this. the good news is that sam uses his laptop more than this desktop, so what if it takes me three days to write.

so far they got four christmas letters from people’s cats. isn’t that silly. cats can’t type and they always try to eat the mouse. they also have too many run-on sentences

kellie was all braggy about getting her bachelor degree. i guess you can have that and still be married. i thought sam was going tohave to move out. now she is going to get her master degree, even though she seems to be the master already. sam showed her though. he is now a phd, whatever that means. i think it means he forgot how to read because he doesn’t spend every day reading books big enough to squash a bug. sam also got or daned whatever that is, but i think that means he can get paid for being a christian. what,more sermons. say it aint so. ha-ha.

IT WAS A HARD YEAR (&^%#%%@@#%). sorry but i turned the shift lock on. it looked like i said a bad word. well not really. but it was hard year. sam’s dad died in may, so that was not good,but kellie said he was ready. they miss him. he worked on a lot of projects here, and even built the clock where my brother lives–don’t tell sam–and sam’s aunt\his dadsbrotherswife\ passed away justbefore thanksgiving too. i have a million aunts and uncles so what do i know about grief.

as everyone says now have a merry christmas. don’t tell sam and kellie about me. and if you visit don’t squash me.

bye.
eddie the bug,
with apologies to don marquis