We spent several days in Philadelphia, staying with my parents, before traveling to suburban New York City, where we are right now, staying with Donna's sister. While in Philly we had dinner Saturday evening with a couple of high school friends - we started at about 5 p.m. and left the restaurant about 10 p.m. Great time. Donna's sister from Tupper Lake NY, and Pam's daughter from Greensboro NC met us in CT for a couple of days.
Yesterday we went into the city and started at the Federal Hall museum. Federal Hall is where George Washington was inagurated in 1789. Cool. We also went to Ground Zero, which was a very powerful experience. They have started the rebuilding there, and we saw what they are planning to build. It looks very nice. In a kind of preview museum, we could see the model of what is to be built there, and also some videos and photos of 9/11. We do tend to forget the enormity of that event, and what the people there had to go through. I need to remember that event more.
The highlight of the day, though, was that Tim met us at the train in Grand Central Station, and we ended up having lunch at the Boat House Restaurant in Central Park. Beautiful place, good food, and there were 8 people there (Pam's son met us there, and Tim had his girlfriend, Miriam, there; it was the first time we met her - good first impression). I knew it would be expensive, and when the bill came, I almost hit the floor. Wow! Credit cards sure come in handy.
While in Philly we were able to get to a lot of historical places. Friday we saw the National Constitution Center, then Christ Church Burial ground (saw Franklin's grave, as well as 7 other signers' graves). Saturday was Declaration House (where Jefferson wrote the Declaration in an upstairs room); Christ Church (we sat in Washington's pew); a portrait gallery, and a couple of other sites. Sunday was a day trip to Ocean City, NY, for lunch with my brother and sister-in-law, and a very hot walk on the boardwalk. Monday we went to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Congress Hall (saw where Adams was inaugurated as the second President, the first Supreme Court, and Franklin Court. Tuesday was a travel day to CT.
It is good seeing a lot of these historical sites, and going back in time to the colonial period. At the National Constitution Center, we saw statues of most of the people at the Constitutional Convention, which was really good. One could then take that mental picture as one enters Independence Hall. Fun.
Tomorrow is the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (with Tim again as our tour guide). Then Saturday it is off to Boston. I'm looking forward to that.
That's it for now. Hope you are well.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
When one travels to Washington, DC, one ends up doing a lot of walking. Wow. We arrived Saturday July 17, and walked (and walked, and walked, after taking the Metro) to the Jefferson Memorial, then walked and walked and walked back to the Metro. Sunday we went to Mount Vernon, and found that very interesting. Monday we saw the US Capitol, Library of Congress (saw Jefferson's personal library; very impressive; makes mine look amateurish), Museum of American History, walked past the White House, and briefly saw the WWII memorial. Tuesday was National Archives - seeing original signatures is very imposing, and I listened to a part of a conversation between the governor of Mississippi, Robert Kennedy, and President Kennedy. Pretty cool.), National Portrait Gallery (with some very famous portraits of the Presidents), and Arlington National Cemetery, where we saw the Tomb of the Unknowns, as well as the gravesites of the Kennedy's. Even with a wonderful public transit system like Metro, you do a lot of walking.
Today (Wednesday) we left DC by train, and went to Baltimore, where we got to the hotel, checked in at 11 a.m.(!) and left at 11:10 to walk to Camden Yards to watch the Rays play the Orioles. In DC we saw a young family from Brandon who were doing what we were doing, except they were headed back to DC after the game. When we got to the light rail system to take us to the hotel/ballpark, they were on the train with us again. We also spoke to a couple of folks from Philly who were there for the game. In addition, we waved to Todd Kalas, and he said hello to these two gray-hairs from Tampa who were wearing their Rays' T-shirts.
Tomorrow we head to Philly - again by train, and we'll be there for 5 nights. We'll visit with my parents, some high school friends, and see a lot of history. I'm not reading as much right now, but I'm seeing places these people lived, even helped to build. So it's fun. I'm not sure how many miles we've walked in the last 5 days, but it is more than we would have walked if we were home doing our exercising.
Hope you're well.
Today (Wednesday) we left DC by train, and went to Baltimore, where we got to the hotel, checked in at 11 a.m.(!) and left at 11:10 to walk to Camden Yards to watch the Rays play the Orioles. In DC we saw a young family from Brandon who were doing what we were doing, except they were headed back to DC after the game. When we got to the light rail system to take us to the hotel/ballpark, they were on the train with us again. We also spoke to a couple of folks from Philly who were there for the game. In addition, we waved to Todd Kalas, and he said hello to these two gray-hairs from Tampa who were wearing their Rays' T-shirts.
Tomorrow we head to Philly - again by train, and we'll be there for 5 nights. We'll visit with my parents, some high school friends, and see a lot of history. I'm not reading as much right now, but I'm seeing places these people lived, even helped to build. So it's fun. I'm not sure how many miles we've walked in the last 5 days, but it is more than we would have walked if we were home doing our exercising.
Hope you're well.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tomorrow we leave on our vacation/history trip. We'll go to Washington, DC first. We have plans to go to Mount Vernon on Sunday, then to the US Capitol on Monday morning (we'll also get to the Library of Congress on Monday). We plan to do the National Archives and the Museum of American History while we're there as well.
Wednesday is play day, as we'll be in Baltimore to see the Rays plan the O's in a 12:30 game. After the game we'll probably take in the Inner Harbor (might we go to Phillips Restaurant for some cream of crab soup?). Then Thursday to Philadelphia to visit my parents, some high school friends, and also see Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, Christ Church, etc. After that we'll go to NYC to see Tim, and then to Boston to see all the history there.
I'm about to finish Frank Lambert's book The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. It's not about the Founding Fathers as much as it is about a history of Christian faith from Jamestown and the Puritans, through the writing of the Constitution. A very good and informative book. It's interesting to see that there were many people - including many Christian groups and many clergy, including Baptists - who were fighting for the separation of church and state, because of the concern that a state church was a violation of religious freedom and individual rights. I've developed a fondness for Isaac Backus, a Baptist preacher who was very forceful in calling for that separation of church and state. I like what he said and what he wrote. It's also interesting to see that there were a number of people who saw the American Revolution not just as a political revolution and political independence, but that it had a very strong religious background, to the point where some would even go so far as to say that the Revolution was a religious revolution more than a political one. Where was all of this when I studied history in high school and the first year of college?
I do plan on taking a couple of books with me on the trip, as well as a couple of novels (I was told I should read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol before going to DC. Well, I started it, so that will go with me also.
I'll give some reports while we are on our travels.
Peace!
Wednesday is play day, as we'll be in Baltimore to see the Rays plan the O's in a 12:30 game. After the game we'll probably take in the Inner Harbor (might we go to Phillips Restaurant for some cream of crab soup?). Then Thursday to Philadelphia to visit my parents, some high school friends, and also see Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, Christ Church, etc. After that we'll go to NYC to see Tim, and then to Boston to see all the history there.
I'm about to finish Frank Lambert's book The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. It's not about the Founding Fathers as much as it is about a history of Christian faith from Jamestown and the Puritans, through the writing of the Constitution. A very good and informative book. It's interesting to see that there were many people - including many Christian groups and many clergy, including Baptists - who were fighting for the separation of church and state, because of the concern that a state church was a violation of religious freedom and individual rights. I've developed a fondness for Isaac Backus, a Baptist preacher who was very forceful in calling for that separation of church and state. I like what he said and what he wrote. It's also interesting to see that there were a number of people who saw the American Revolution not just as a political revolution and political independence, but that it had a very strong religious background, to the point where some would even go so far as to say that the Revolution was a religious revolution more than a political one. Where was all of this when I studied history in high school and the first year of college?
I do plan on taking a couple of books with me on the trip, as well as a couple of novels (I was told I should read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol before going to DC. Well, I started it, so that will go with me also.
I'll give some reports while we are on our travels.
Peace!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
I have completed my third week of the sabbatical at this point. I'm not feeling as rested as I would like, I guess because there have been so many weeks where I had to get up so early. My body just doesn't understand what it means to sleep past 6:15. But I have continued my reading, and I'm learning a lot about the Founding Fathers and the Christian church. Some books are starting to get a little repetitive, but I'm still fascinated by what I am reading and learning.
The books I've finished this week are Washington's God and Founding Faith, by Stephen Waldman. There is a little blurb about Waldman's book by Joseph Ellis (a noted historian who has written several books I've read, including His Excellency, a book on George Washington), that says, "There is a fierce custody battle going on out there for ownership of the Founding Fathers. Founding Faith strikes me as a major contribution to that debate, a sensible and sophisticated argument that the Founders' religious convictions defy our current categories." It's a very good book.
I mentioned in my last post that sometimes people want to rewrite history in order to fit their current thinking. Waldman mentions that one well-known contemporary Christian writer totally discounts Thomas Jefferson's comments on Christian faith by simply saying that Jefferson was not a Founding Father, as he was in France during the time of the Constitutional Convention. If that is the case, then one also has to disregard John Adams, John Witherspoon, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and many others who were in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 but not in the summer of 1787. Jefferson was in France during the Constitutional Convention, but he still had a lot of influence in the thinking of that time, and James Madison, who was not all that interested in a Bill of Rights, was told by Jefferson that there had to be a Bill of Rights in order for the constitution to be ratified. But, according to this contemporary Christian writer, we don't want to include Jefferson because we don't like his ideas, so we'll just bump him off the list. That is similar to Jefferson going through the Bible and cutting out the parts of the New Testament that he didn't like. He has the right to do that, but you then cannot claim that what you end up with is authentic or true.
I'm finding that all of this is a very complex study. It involves looking at what Waldman calls the "Planting Fathers" (Puritans, Jamestown), as well as the Founding Fathers. And I'll tell you, I'm glad I didn't live under the Puritan system. They were so concerned about people going to church that there were significant penalties if you did not go to church. Three months without going to church meant you could be executed. Now think about some of the Founding Fathers and their emphasis on liberty and individual rights. It wasn't just political.
One of the books I just got in this week is by Frank Lambert, a history professor at Purdue University. The book is titled, The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. I just started it this morning, and already have lots of highlighting in it, and several pages flagged for important thoughts. It looks like another good book.
I also finished James Lee Burke's novel called Rain Gods, and tonight I will finish Tami Hoag's Deeper than the Dead. I'll return them to the library tomorrow, then go back to the library at the end of the week to get some more novels. Two trips, because we leave Saturday for our history trip, starting in Washington D.C. I'm looking forward to being there.
This past Thursday night we were at Tropicana Field to see the Rays beat the Indians. Carl Crawford hit two bombs to right field - about the longest home runs I've seen to right field. We had great seats, too, in the press level. No foul balls came our way, though a couple went above us into the upper deck.
Hope you are well.
The books I've finished this week are Washington's God and Founding Faith, by Stephen Waldman. There is a little blurb about Waldman's book by Joseph Ellis (a noted historian who has written several books I've read, including His Excellency, a book on George Washington), that says, "There is a fierce custody battle going on out there for ownership of the Founding Fathers. Founding Faith strikes me as a major contribution to that debate, a sensible and sophisticated argument that the Founders' religious convictions defy our current categories." It's a very good book.
I mentioned in my last post that sometimes people want to rewrite history in order to fit their current thinking. Waldman mentions that one well-known contemporary Christian writer totally discounts Thomas Jefferson's comments on Christian faith by simply saying that Jefferson was not a Founding Father, as he was in France during the time of the Constitutional Convention. If that is the case, then one also has to disregard John Adams, John Witherspoon, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and many others who were in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 but not in the summer of 1787. Jefferson was in France during the Constitutional Convention, but he still had a lot of influence in the thinking of that time, and James Madison, who was not all that interested in a Bill of Rights, was told by Jefferson that there had to be a Bill of Rights in order for the constitution to be ratified. But, according to this contemporary Christian writer, we don't want to include Jefferson because we don't like his ideas, so we'll just bump him off the list. That is similar to Jefferson going through the Bible and cutting out the parts of the New Testament that he didn't like. He has the right to do that, but you then cannot claim that what you end up with is authentic or true.
I'm finding that all of this is a very complex study. It involves looking at what Waldman calls the "Planting Fathers" (Puritans, Jamestown), as well as the Founding Fathers. And I'll tell you, I'm glad I didn't live under the Puritan system. They were so concerned about people going to church that there were significant penalties if you did not go to church. Three months without going to church meant you could be executed. Now think about some of the Founding Fathers and their emphasis on liberty and individual rights. It wasn't just political.
One of the books I just got in this week is by Frank Lambert, a history professor at Purdue University. The book is titled, The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America. I just started it this morning, and already have lots of highlighting in it, and several pages flagged for important thoughts. It looks like another good book.
I also finished James Lee Burke's novel called Rain Gods, and tonight I will finish Tami Hoag's Deeper than the Dead. I'll return them to the library tomorrow, then go back to the library at the end of the week to get some more novels. Two trips, because we leave Saturday for our history trip, starting in Washington D.C. I'm looking forward to being there.
This past Thursday night we were at Tropicana Field to see the Rays beat the Indians. Carl Crawford hit two bombs to right field - about the longest home runs I've seen to right field. We had great seats, too, in the press level. No foul balls came our way, though a couple went above us into the upper deck.
Hope you are well.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Since my last post I have read two more books - American Gospel, by Jon Meacham (which I read earlier, so this was a re-read), and What Would the Founders Do? by Richard Brookhiser. Meacham's book I found much more helpful, especially the first part of the book. Some of these books deal not only with the Founders, but continue on throughout American History - Meacham talked about Lincoln, all the way through JFK and MLK, Jr. Very helpful book, though.
Brookhiser's book has much to do with the Founders, but only one chapter was about the Founders and religion. Some good points in there, though. I saw the book at Borders, and I probably should have just sat down and read the chapter there, rather than ordering the book. Oh well.
I am now reading Washington's God, by Michael Novak and Jana Novak (father/daughter). I am finding that in history, as in Biblical exegetical work, it often happens that we go into the history, or into the text, with the idea that we know what we want it to say, so we're going to find how it can say what we want. Washington no doubt was religious, but it may well be that for him - as well as many of the other Founders - religion was useful and helpful, and led to good conduct and good citizenship. What did Washingto have to say about Jesus? Not a whole lot. Maybe, say the Novaks, that is because he was a taciturn Anglican.
Another book came in this week - Inventing the Great Awakening. I'm still waiting for two more books to come to the house, and one should be coming to the church this week, called The Faith of the Founding Fathers. Lots of reading, but it looks like I'll get it all done with plenty of time to reflect and write on what I have found.
On another note - I didn't get as much reading done this week as Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon were spent thinking about and worrying about Andrew. It's a very strange feeling to know that your youngest - he's 22, but still - is in the emergency room about 450 miles away, waiting for tests to see if he will need surgery to remove his appendix. It was also a strange feeling to be told at 6:30 p.m. that he would be going in for surgery shortly, so you expect a phone call perhaps by about 10 p.m. No call. Nothing until 9 a.m. the next morning, when Andrew calls and says it is all over. "Didn't the doctor call?" "No." "Well, I guess that's ok, since it would have been about 2 a.m. before she could have called." Seems that there was an O.R. delay, so Andrew didn't go in until about 11:30 at night. I'm glad the doctor was able to stay awake! Then at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon he called and said he had been discharged. While we were pretty calm through it all, it was still very good to get that phone call.
Last Sunday we worshiped at St. Andrew Pres. in New Tampa. Tomorrow we will probably go to Palma Ceia. It's interesting to be a church visitor, and giving me a lot of things to think about with that as well.
The Rays came back to win today - when Matt Joyce came to the plate I said, "this would be a good time to break out of that slump." A couple of pitches later - grand slam. Nice. We'll see them on Thursday night against the Indians. Hope they're on a roll at that point.
That's all for now. Stay healthy and happy!
Brookhiser's book has much to do with the Founders, but only one chapter was about the Founders and religion. Some good points in there, though. I saw the book at Borders, and I probably should have just sat down and read the chapter there, rather than ordering the book. Oh well.
I am now reading Washington's God, by Michael Novak and Jana Novak (father/daughter). I am finding that in history, as in Biblical exegetical work, it often happens that we go into the history, or into the text, with the idea that we know what we want it to say, so we're going to find how it can say what we want. Washington no doubt was religious, but it may well be that for him - as well as many of the other Founders - religion was useful and helpful, and led to good conduct and good citizenship. What did Washingto have to say about Jesus? Not a whole lot. Maybe, say the Novaks, that is because he was a taciturn Anglican.
Another book came in this week - Inventing the Great Awakening. I'm still waiting for two more books to come to the house, and one should be coming to the church this week, called The Faith of the Founding Fathers. Lots of reading, but it looks like I'll get it all done with plenty of time to reflect and write on what I have found.
On another note - I didn't get as much reading done this week as Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon were spent thinking about and worrying about Andrew. It's a very strange feeling to know that your youngest - he's 22, but still - is in the emergency room about 450 miles away, waiting for tests to see if he will need surgery to remove his appendix. It was also a strange feeling to be told at 6:30 p.m. that he would be going in for surgery shortly, so you expect a phone call perhaps by about 10 p.m. No call. Nothing until 9 a.m. the next morning, when Andrew calls and says it is all over. "Didn't the doctor call?" "No." "Well, I guess that's ok, since it would have been about 2 a.m. before she could have called." Seems that there was an O.R. delay, so Andrew didn't go in until about 11:30 at night. I'm glad the doctor was able to stay awake! Then at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon he called and said he had been discharged. While we were pretty calm through it all, it was still very good to get that phone call.
Last Sunday we worshiped at St. Andrew Pres. in New Tampa. Tomorrow we will probably go to Palma Ceia. It's interesting to be a church visitor, and giving me a lot of things to think about with that as well.
The Rays came back to win today - when Matt Joyce came to the plate I said, "this would be a good time to break out of that slump." A couple of pitches later - grand slam. Nice. We'll see them on Thursday night against the Indians. Hope they're on a roll at that point.
That's all for now. Stay healthy and happy!
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