The Gate of the Year

I first heard about this poem after watching the award-winning film, The King's Speech, and determined to remember it for posting during National Poetry Month.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.



So heart bestill:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.


by Minnie Haskins
English Academic
1875 - 1957



The poem, published in 1908, was part of a collection titled The Desert. It caught the public attention and the popular imagination, when Queen Elizabeth handed a copy to her husband, King George VI, and he quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire.



The poem was widely acclaimed as inspirational, reaching its first mass audience in the early days of the Second World War. Its words remained a source of comfort to the Queen for the rest of her life, and she had its words engraved on brass plaques and fixed to the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the King was interred.

Queen Elizabeth was also buried here in 2002, and the words of "The Gate of the Year" were read out at her state funeral.

Book Club: Imagination Method #6

Unstoppable

Am I reviewing Method 6 in Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (book club link)

or

Am I promoting the new movie which demonstrates heroism in action?

Does the titular adjective refer to an overactive imagination which capitalizes on flippancy, sarcasm, and derision?

Or the paradoxical resolution of the movie's name?

There is certainly enough dynamite in the film to blow mountains of heaped-up conformity and dullness sky-high.

Yet in Esolen's essay Pottering the Puny he eschews modern media and points us to the victories found in an host of ancient and historical literary superheroes, all of whom capture the imagination but not all of whom spring from Biblical standards.

The professor's methodologies provide significant insight into the proper application of these stories into our daily lives and the lives of our students,  making them more suitable than modern day versions.

And that is good, but not all.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), American educator, author, orator, and political leader provides an alternate definition of hero.

On the battlefield, when surrounded and cheered by pomp, excitement, and admiration of devoted comrades, and inspired by strains of martial music and the hope of future reward, it is comparatively easy to be a hero, to do heroic deeds.


But to uphold honor in ordinary circumstances, to be a hero in common life, that is a genuine achievement meriting our highest admiration.

Now those words epitomize heroism and capture faith-in-action for me.

Doing everything as unto the Lord (Col 3:23) and being a part of that gathering of the saints (Matt 23:31)  leave every other notion in the dust.  For is hero a Biblical term?

Does my favor for Booker T's summary mean I've fallen prey to the post-modernists who putate heroic equality?

Does upholding honor in ordinary circumstances trump a one-time, fortuitous rescue?

Frank and Will (main characters in the movie) were real, the situation plausible.

So, what is the difference?

It is admirable to have heroes and read about them, but your life is not doomed if you do not.  It is more necessary to know how to size men up and wield a proper weapon.  Thankfully, Esolen uses one example who is all about presenting the gospel (pg 144) and another which points to The Type, Our Savior, Jesus Christ. (pg 147)

The apostle John shares the secret to being heroic in I John 2: 14 (emphasis mine)

I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Esolen understands this and calls us to arms (link to 2008 merecomments).

The holy catholic church, as the Body of Christ, is as always the first defender and last bastion of truth, goodness, and beauty in the God's world. Having preserved the Gospel of Christ in its fullness through the vagaries and degradations of countless heresies, the Church is now facing, quite possibly, the most significant and far-reaching heresy since the Arian controversies - the widespread rejection of revealed Truth and apostolic authority by the majority of the world's population as well as millions of the so-called "faithful."

The gross libertinism of the elite; the vague gnosticism and casual self-indulgence of the many, the willful indifference to the carnage of the innocent. It is the same old story.


So let us gird up our loins, welcome any allies who will join us in the rejection of evil, and armed with the assurance of ultimate victory, meet the enemy with the weapons of truth, courage, fidelity and love.


Thanks be to God for the joy of battle and the endurance of the church militant.


Onward, Christian Soldier!

That's why I'm keep writing about this book and relating it to my ordinary life.


But I do wonder if Unstoppable would make it into Esolen's Netflix queue?

True Grit

Proverbs 28:1 are the opening lines to the recent re-make of this John Wayne movie.

The wicked flee though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Actually the Coen Brothers left off the second line, but I'm including it because it's just as important.

Before heading to the local theater and forking over too much money, we watched the 1969 film on DVD at home.  While the younger crowd thought the first was *cheesy*, I loved it and looked forward to seeing how Hollywood would *update* it.

In short, well done!

I give five stars to both versions and have added Mattie Ross to my top-five list of cinematic heroines.

Talk about true grit.

Mattie's character surpasses Rooster on many levels, modeling admirable traits ~

1)  Family loyalty, i.e. honor thy father (and mother)
2)  Negotiation skills, par excellance
3)  Educated, manners and diction
4)  Determination, appropriately channeled  and
5)  Maturity, beyond her years but not misguided




Overall, I preferred Hailee Steinfeld's interpreation and presentation of Mattie.

What do you think?




PS Do you own the book on which the film is based?

Gran Torino

Today's selected poem is somewhat out of character for me, but read on if you're interested in the explanation.

They are the lyrics to a movie's theme song. 
And no, I dont have it as my ringtone :-\


In reflecting over the movies I'd watched since last April, I could recall only a few.  Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino was one of them.  In fact, I rewatched it last night on HBO.  With a warning about the foul language and gang violence, I highly recommend the film for adults - teenaged children are okay, if parents are watching with them.

Link to excellent movie review 

Realign all the stars
Above my head
Warning signs
Travel far
I drink instead
On my own
Oh,how I've known
The battle scars
And worn out beds


Gentle now
A tender breeze blows
Whispers through a Gran Torino
Whistling another tired song


Engines humm and bitter dreams grow
Heart locked in a Gran Torino
It beats A lonely rhythm all night long

These streets are old
They shine with the things I've known
And breaks through the trees
Their sparkling


Your world
Is nothing more
Than all
The tiny things
You've left behind

So tenderly
Your story is
Nothing more
Than what you see
Or
What you've done
Or will become
Standing strong
Do you belong
In your skin
Just wondering


Gentle now a tender breeze blows
Whispers through the Gran Torino
Whistling another tired song
Engines humm and bitter dreams grow
A heart locked in a Gran Torino
It beats A lonely rhythm
All night long

May I be so bold and stay
I need someone to hold
That shudders my skin
Their sparkling


Your world
Is nothing more
Than all
The tiny things
You've left
Behind


So realign
All the stars
Above my head
Warning signs
Travel far
I drink instead
On my own
Oh
How I've known
The battle scars
And worn out beds

Gentle now a tender breeze blows
Whispers through the Gran Torino
Whistling another tired song
Engines humm and better dreams grow
Heart locked in a Gran Torino
It beats a lonely rhythm
All night long
It beats a lonely rhythm
All night long
It beats a lonely rhythm
All night long


Over and above their utilitarian purpose, there is something seductive about cars.  In my early teenaged years (old enough to drive), I thought I might like to own a Gran Torino.  Furthermore, cars qualify as art.

For at The High Museum there is a widely popular exhibit now open.  The Allure of the Automobile  is on my list of things to see, but I'm thinking that I should take in John Portman's Architecture exhibit first, especially since it's about to close AND there's a walking tour attached.

Now I'm curious....

do you know of a poem about cars?


Better yet, tell me about a car you love(d).

One Art

In Her Shoes is another movie in which poetry plays a significant role.

The main character (Maggie) reads aloud at the request of one of her nursing home patients.  He happens to be a blind retired professor of English literature.

Suffice it to say that this exercise empowers Maggie to pull her life together and reconcile with her family.


Of the three poems in the film, One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop is the one I went in search of last summer when I saw the movie: the one I wanted to remember for National Poetry Month in April.



One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel.
None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
 
 
Read more about Elizabeth Bishop at the Poetry Foundation's website.


Some lines from E E Cummings i carry your heart with me and Jane Kenyon's Let Evening Come were also featured in the movie.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 19th century poet laureate (UK), carries the day (figuratively-speaking) in the 21st century award-winning film, The Blind Side.

It's my favorite scene in the movie.

Sean Tuohy hops up from the sofa where he's watching television and bursts into poetic recitation. The moment is pivotal because the verses provide Michael Ohr with the inspiration he needs to take the next step on his road to success.

Here you can see happiness when things begin to click academically for the main character.


His tutor is thrilled as well.


We can all relate.




Now for the rest of the story.....


Half a league, half a league,
  Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
  Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred.


Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
  Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
  Rode the six hundred.


Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
  All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.


Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
  Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
  Left of six hundred.


When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
  All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
  Noble six hundred!


Share some poetry today.

Flag Day



The opening and closing scenes of this movie are significant and worthy of your attention on this June 14th, Flag Day in the United States.








Never mind the fact that the movie tells a good story, it also demonstrates the widespread ignorance associated with the treatment of our national flag. In the opening scene, the main character portrayed by Tommie Lee Jones is explaining to the janitor of a school the proper way to raise a flag.

Whether you agree or disagree with the policies of the federal government, there is a place for civility and respect in society. There are lots of ways to show that - like standing when our President enters the room, even if I disagree with him. Another is the proper treatment of our national banner.

At the end of the movie, Tommie Lee Jones is again with the janitor and they are talking about how an upside down flag indicates distress. This is so true on many levels, not just in the movie, but in our lives in general.

Today is a good day to think about the stars and stripes by reviewing the link to flag etiquette.

Furthermore, the Israelites lined up around banners/flags. From Numbers 2

1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2"The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance.

Another thought -

Remember who triumphed in the Valley of Elah?

Movies

Choosing movies to watch is a task I usually leave up to DH. He does it well. I enjoy watching what he chooses. When he's not around, I don't usually watch movies. Too much else to do.

But in this case, two of my blogging buddies had recommended this film and I had some free time over the weekend. It was delightfully well-spent viewing this charming film. The story is a testimony to many things - the obvious being the power of love. However, the most remarkable to me was the power of non-verbal communication.

Have you seen Sweet Land?


Here's a link to a Minnesota Monthly article.

Ted Baehr

In conjunction with Vision Forum's Christian Filmmaker's Academy, I just wanted to add my two cents to the pot when it comes to evaluating the entertainment industry. We have supported MovieGuide for almost twenty years. In Oct 1993, we hosted a table at their annual fundraiser in Atlanta GA. Since then Baehr and his lovely wife, Lili, moved to California, to be more involved in witnessing to Hollywood.

On whose reviews do you rely when evaluating movies/films?