December 2020 - Page 2 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Lydster: Be Kind to Your Parents

Fanny

Florence Henderson 1954 — Florence Henderson, 1954

There were several tunes I sang to my daughter when she was younger. One was Be Kind to Your Parents. It was a recording my sister Leslie and I owned on this red vinyl 45 when we were young. We even sang it, including fairly recently. I have no idea who the artist was.

As it turns out, the song is from a 1954 musical called FANNY. It ran on Broadway from Nov 04, 1954, to Dec 16, 1956, with 888 performances. The music and lyrics were by Harold Rome.

In the program, Be Kind to Your Parents sung primarily by Florence Henderson and Lloyd Resse. It was subsequently covered by Pete Seeger, Michael Cooney, and Michael Feinstein.

The lyrics as I remember them:

Here’s a piece of good advice. Think it over once or twice.

Be kind to your parents though they don’t deserve it
Remember the grown-up’s a difficult stage of life
They’re apt to be nervous and overexcited
Confused by the daily storm and strife.

Just keep in mind though it’s so hard I know
Most parents were once children long ago. Incredible!

So treat them with patience. And sweet understanding
In spite of the foolish things they do
Someday you may wake up and find out you’re a parent too.

This version from a kid’s show changes the line “though they don’t deserve it” to “you know, they deserve it.” Meh.

Now it’s time

When she was still a baby and toddler, I’d sing her Good Night, the song from the Beatles white album.

There was also a song I made up.

I love Lydia (X2)
‘Cause she is my daughter, oh yeah
She is my daughter

I knew I had copped the tune from somewhere. But it wasn’t until years later, I realized it was from I Eat Cannibals by Total Coelo. Of course, it was.

In the very first month of this blog, I noted how my daughter was named. I had a LOT of rules. And in spite of all of them, the first reference I hear to her name came from a Marx Brothers flick. One just cannot plan for every contingency.

What Christianity means to me

morning stars sang together

I’ve been thinking a lot about what Christianity means in an increasingly non-Christian believing country. This 2019 Pew survey notes that “both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009.

“Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious ‘nones’ – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as ‘nothing in particular,’ up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population.”

You might find it odd for me to suggest that I think it’s a rather good thing. Purported faith when everyone else is just like you is comparatively easy, perhaps even theologically lazy.

I believe should always be considering how this passage in Matthew 25:37-40 applies to our lives.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Sing, sing a song

My friend and Bible Guys buddy Eric sent this out. It occurred to me that it’d be an appropriate post for Christmas.

God has prepared for Himself one great song of praise throughout eternity, and those who enter the community of God join in this song. It is the song that the ‘morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy’ at the creation of the world (Job 38:7).

It is the victory song of the children of Israel after passing through the Red Sea, the Magnificat of Mary after the annunciation, the song of Paul and Silas in the night of prison, the song of the singers on the sea of glass after their rescue, the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3). It is the song of the heavenly fellowship.

―Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Wikipedia says: “Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book The Cost of Discipleship has been described as a modern classic.”

Merry Christmas.

All I want for Christmas is…

maybe eggnog, too

When I first got married to my bride of one score and one, she was often buying me “practical” gifts such as shirts, and pants, and socks. I mean, they were nice shirts and comfortable pants and snazzy socks.

But I wanted the “fun” stuff. A Hess truck! Music! Books! Movies, in whatever format we were using at the time! And I tried to buy her fun stuff, such as some time at her spa, or a massage, or candy, or jewelry.

In the nature of things, I discovered that she really likes receiving the “practical” stuff. Baking items? OK! So that’s what she’s getting. And the odd thing is that I’ve developed an appreciation for the pair of warm gloves, or scarf, or the like.

What I REALLY desire…

I’m putting my list out here, OK? All I want for Christmas, what I’d REALLY want:

Real action to slow climate change such as sustainable energy
Ending food insecurity, because there is enough food
Ending housing insecurity and discrimination

Voting rights for all eligible people, ending voter intimidation, suppression, and disenfranchisement
An end of gerrymandering

A fairer immigration policy that will actually make America great, such as a pathway to citizenship for the DACA folks
The beginning of the end of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of xenophobia
Criminal justice reform
Fair labor policies, including the institution of a living wage

A belief in science, with the understanding that the scientific method means learning new things

Is this too much to ask for? I think not. But I suspect that no guy wearing a red suit, utilizing eight or nine flying reindeer is going to put these items under my tree. We have to continue to bring these things ourselves by demanding fairness and – dare I say – love to the process as we engage with our various levels of government.

But I still want the Hess truck! Do I have to offer it up to the Christmas creature?

Holiday links

Christmas ads in New Zealand.

Maybe Next Year On The Mistletoe – Freezepop.

Coverville 1338: The Christmas Cover Show 2020.

The Dream Isaiah Saw by composer Glenn Rudolph, sung by the Alma (MI) College Choirs (2011). The First Presbyterian choir sang this piece in 2016, which was played for our December 20, 2020 service. We were good! I miss choral singing. Maybe next year…

A very unique take on pet peeves

quietly vent

As I usually do, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning recently. Dr. Jon Lapook pointed out some of his pet peeves. His “mostly have to do with the use of language. Something cannot be ‘very unique.’ It cannot be ‘very one of a kind.’ It is either unique or not unique.” Truth!

He posits that perhaps pet peeves are actually a good thing. “I blew off some steam about something that means absolutely nothing in the scheme of things. And I do think I’m feeling a little better.

“Pet peeves are just important enough to irritate us, but not important enough to make a difference in our lives.” Yeah, I’ll buy that. I was watching the Spectrum News and they were featuring Small Business Saturday. For the clip, they filmed a little bit of footage from a well-known small business, one I’ve supported for decades. On the screen for less than two seconds was a sign that read LADIE’S TOPS. I glommed onto this right away.

If it had read LADIES TOPS, I wouldn’t have noticed. The use of the apostrophe seems to be the largest problem in spelling, from its/it’s to breaking into a word ending in S – the JONE’S GARAGE, e.g. When I’ve noted a while back that I had essentially surrendered my Grammar Nazi cred by giving up correcting it’s/its, I was chastised.

Buttoned lip?

But the doc says: “In this age of social media, should you keep your pet peeves to yourself?” Oops, too late. “Should you silently seethe, or try to inform? My vote, as we hope to enter an era of increased civility: keep them to yourself. There are enough people weighing in on other people’s faults.”

I suppose it depends. Who am I correcting? I have blogger buddies and we point out each other’s typos all the time. But its understood, I mean it’s understood that we have no editors and that we do it to fix the finished project, not as a gotcha.

Another one of my pet peeves my buddy Chuck wrote about recently. It’s that Coincidence does not equal Fact.

Dr. LaPook thinks “Our pet peeves actually serve a purpose. While they’re irritating, they let us quietly vent about something that truly does not matter … without ruining somebody else’s day.

“So, embrace your pet peeves, but don’t let them bite anyone else. Like all pets, they can be very therapeutic.”

Am I allergic to penicillin?

Over-diagnosed and Under-addressed

My allergist’s office sent me, and I suspect, many other patients a letter this autumn. I was genuinely excited to receive it. The notice indicated as this FAQ suggests, that “the majority of patients (greater than 90%)” who believe they have an allergy to penicillin may not be. “Most people lose their penicillin allergy over time, even patients with a history of severe reaction such as anaphylaxis.”

Why did I think I was allergic? I was 16 to 18 years old, but it was definitely before I went to college. I had a cold or maybe the flu that lingered. My doctor gave me a shot of penicillin. In fairly short order, I itched like crazy, especially on my arms. For three days, calamine lotion became my best friend. It was so PINK.

On Veterans Day 2020, I received a penicillin skin test. I got poked four times on my forearm. The fourth one itched a bit; that was a marker to make sure I had not in fact taken an antihistamine such as Zyrtec in the past 72 hours, as instructed. I passed that hurdle. Then a couple more series of tests. The whole procedure took about three hours, including talking with my allergist afterward.

There is a good reason for me to know this information. If I were to have major surgery, such as for this situation, one doesn’t want to deal with the complicating factor of this patient having a bad reaction from the antibiotic.

Go to the link above for a couple of podcasts, including Penicillin Allergies: Over-diagnosed and Under-addressed.

The peanut

Since we’re on the broad topic, my daughter is for sure allergic to peanuts. I found this article on the nose. ” Things I Wish I’d Known About Raising A Child With A Peanut Allergy. My daughter’s diagnosis made me realize just how misunderstood life-threatening allergies are.” That is for CERTAIN, especially when she was younger.

The plan is for her to be in one of those trials that will, over time, to become acclimated to small bits of peanut. Unfortunately, because of COVID, that testing, to take place over several weeks, has been postponed. I do hope she gets the chance to participate in the next year.