Archive for the ‘American History’ Category
The Unforgettable Sunday
Posted in American History, Christian Faith, Christian Living, Christmas Joy, Christmas leads to Calvary and the Resurrection, Forgiveness, God hates the enemies of Israel, God's Gift, God's Gift of Salvation, God's chosen people, God's nation of Israel, God's Promises to Israel STAND!, God's Word is literal, Great is Thy Faithfulness!, Growing up in Wisconsin during World War II, He is coming again!, He is Risen!, Hope in Sorrow, Israel's glorious future!, Israel---God's Chosen Nation, Israel--God's chosen people!, Learning from History, Life, Life in the 1930s and 40s, Memories of WW 2, Merry Christmas, Our Lord will return!, Our Messiah Jesus Christ Will Return to Reign in Jerusalem, Pray for revival, Prayers for our nation, Prayers for Revival, The CROSS of Christ, The Cross will prevail! on December 7, 2016| 2 Comments »
Glass!
Posted in "Old" is Creative!, "Old" equals FUN!, American Glassware, American History, Antique shops, ART!, Artists and art, Arts and Crafts, Creative Aging, Creative Living, Creative Memories, Creative minds are never bored!, Entertainment, Family Matters, Gracious Living, Growing old is a great joy!, Growing up in Wisconsin during World War II, Hearth and Home, Life in the 1930s and 40s, Living abundantly in a condo!, Never say "downsizing"!, Slow lane living in a fast lane culture!, Small Town Living, The joy of collecting, The Joy of Creating, Victorian glassware, Vintage Living, Vintage Stuff, tagged American Glassware, Antiques, Arts and Crafts, Creative Living, Family Matters, Fenton, Gracious Living, Heisey, Northwood Glass, Reflective Musings, Toledo Glass Museum, Toledo Masterworks Chorale, Vintage Living, Vintage Stuff on January 5, 2013| 7 Comments »
Glass has been a major interest and source of delight for me as long as I can remember. When I was a child, my parents took me to antiques shops which were often located in homes back in the 1930s and 1940s. When visiting or traveling via small towns (there were no interstate or toll highways to bypass communities in those days) we would cruise through neighborhoods looking for window signs which read: ANTIQUES.
Some children might have been bored to distraction by such a pastime, but I was not “some children”. I can’t even begin to express the joy I experienced when touring these home shops. My hands were well-trained to remain with fingers interlocked behind my back, so there would be no temptation to touch anything. In this rather uncomfortable position, I would quietly inspect every shelf within reach of my eyes, and every table-top arrangement of gorgeous Victorian and Art Nouveau glassware.
My parents were collectors of American glassware—especially abundant due to the soils of states such as Ohio, West Virginia, and parts of Pennsylvania and Indiana, and often created by skilled immigrants from Eastern Europe where glass blowing and molding were time-honored arts. Thus, in the manner of individuals with a happy childhood, I grew up to continue pursuing that hobby which my parents enjoyed so much. FENTON, NORTHWOOD, AND HEISEY are practically household words for me!
Given this background, my recent weekend in Toledo was memorable. Joe and I went with our son, Eric, and his wife, Cheri, to visit their daughter, (obviously our granddaughter) Nicole, and her husband, Travis. Along with being together, the ultimate highlight of this weekend was attending Nicole’s Christmas concert with the Toledo Masterworks Chorale.
But a runner-up to Nicole’s concert, was the fun of being involved in MAKING GLASS! The Toledo Glass Museum offers ongoing workshops, in which participants make different glass items around the year: roses, pumpkins, and whatever. Since my workshop was near Christmas, I made an icicle.
Here are some photos of stages in the exciting process of making a glass object. I let the workshop expert do the 5000 degree oven phases—and I just did the easy stuff: rolling the molten glob and shaping it into a rectangle on a metal table, and crimping my icicle with a pincer-type tool to form spirals while the teacher pulled the substance up at the top.
After a glass item is formed, it must cool down very slowly in an insulated container over a period of 2 or 3 days—depending on size. Since we returned to Wisconsin the next day, Nicole picked up my icicle and brought it to me at Christmas. And here it is! ↓
Indeed, there are some instances where a picture is worth a thousand words!
Margaret L. Been, ©2013
December 7th . . . remember Pearl Harbor, but move on!
Posted in American History, Artists and art, Christian Faith, Christian Living, Classic poetry, Forgiveness, God's chosen people, God's nation of Israel, Great is Thy Faithfulness!, Growing up in Wisconsin during World War II, Haiku, He is coming again!, He is Risen!, Ireland, Irish History, Israel, Israel's glorious future!, Israel--God's chosen people!, Learning from History, Music, Pearl Harbor, The American West, Uncategorized, tagged American History, Bach, Beethoven, Christ will return!, Christian Living, December 7th, English Gardens, English language and literature, Forgiveness!, gemütlichkeit, Haiku, Hitler, Irish History, Japanese art, Japanese Gardens, Oliver Cromwell, Pearl Harbor, Stalin, Trail of Tears on December 4, 2011| 3 Comments »
Every year at this time, since I began blogging, I’ve commemorated Pearl Harbor with a photo of the disaster. This year, I can’t bring myself to feature the photo. Recently, whenever I think of Japan I think of the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Necessary from a military standpoint? Yes! Unthinkably tragic from a human standpoint? YES!
We need to remember history, mainly because we could benefit from learning. History could provide foresight and wisdom. But it’s been shown again and again that people do not learn from history. We may remember history, but we simply play it again.
As Christians, we are commanded to forgive. Forgiveness is the very core of our faith, and the reason why we are standing here rather than decimated and plowed under by God’s wrath. Yet there are historical characters whom I cannot forgive in my fallen humanity: especially Hitler, for his atrocities to God’s people the Jews. And Stalin.
And, going way back—Oliver Cromwell. I read a lot of documentaries on Irish history. I’m currently experiencing a formidable challenge knowing that I have to forgive the British Empire, not only for its mindless brutality in Ireland but for centuries of power lust and domination in India and Africa. My husband, always the wit, suggests that I gather up all my English tea and dump it in the harbor a mile from our home.
However when I think England I want to think tea and English country gardens—along with Shakespeare, Jane Austin, Keats, the Brontës, Thomas Hardy, John Galsworthy and other authors too numerous to name. I want to think our precious English language, and English theatre which (in my opinion) is second to none.
When I think Russia I want to remember ballet and Tchaikowsky who, tortured as he was in his personal life, left the world a legacy of hauntingly beautiful music. When I think Germany I want to recall Bach and Beethoven—and the tradition of gemütlichkeit reflected by German Americans in the cultural history of Wisconsin. When I think Japan I want to focus on centuries of exquisite art traditions: painting, poetry, gardening.
Every nation on earth has its shame as well as its pride. Individuals are born sinners. National shame is sin multiplied. America is not exempt from national sin. Just ask the decendants of the Cherokee and other Native Nations who walked the Trail of Tears from the deep South to Oklahoma and points West. Or ask the descendants of slaves.
There is only One Remedy for sin, and that was accomplished for us at Calvary. God’s Remedy for sin came to us as a baby, born in a crude and humble manger some 2000 plus years ago. He is coming again! “And He shall reign forever and ever!”
Meanwhile I will remember December 7th, 1941. Remember, but move on!
Margaret L. Been, ©2011
Where can I begin to thank our Lord?
Posted in Amazing Grace, American History, Ancestral Roots, End Times, Family Roots, God's Gift of Salvation, God's Love, God's nation of Israel, Great is Thy Faithfulness!, He is coming again!, He is Risen!, Ireland, Irish History, Israel, Israel's glorious future!, Israel--God's chosen people!, Thanksgiving!, the Jews, tagged American History, Christian Faith, God's chosen people, Irish History, Israel, So thankful!, the Jews on November 24, 2011| 1 Comment »
Where can I begin to thank our Lord? I have nothing but thanksgiving: for God, and whom He is; for salvation, and the promise of eternal life; for more blessings on earth than I can begin to count—a happy childhood, ongoing cultural opportunities, a precious marriage of almost 59 years, a large and loving family, friends, a sweet dog, fresh air, the beauties of nature, a pleasant and comfortable home, food to eat, clothes to wear, a bed, a plethora of books, and an abundance of creative hobbies.
Where can I begin? Perhaps with that huge blessing which is not listed above, yet one for which I thank God every single day: FREEDOM. With all that is wrong in America, we are still free. We can publish our views around the world, via the internet—without censorship—at least for now. We can choose our children’s education. We can worship in public. We can read our Bibles and pray in coffee houses and bistros, without fear—at least for now. We are still free!
I read a lot of historical novels and documentary non-fiction on the subject of Irish history. Actually I know Irish history nearly as well as I know that of my own country! As I read, I think over and over: Lord thank you that, with God’s enabling, my ancestors (many of Scottish and Irish descent) were a part of our American Revolution. The tenacity of the Irish people, like that of our early Americans, stirs my heart profoundly!
I thank God that, throughout history, that there have been countless heroes who sacrificed everything they had for the cause of freedom! And of all those heroes, no other people on earth loom larger in their quest for freedom than God’s chosen people—the Jews. I’m thankful for American history, Irish history, and for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
Meanwhile although Christians everywhere have inner, spiritual freedom in Jesus Christ, much of the world is still in physical bondage. I praise the Lord Jesus for His promise to return, and reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Someday, hopefully soon, the entire world will be free!
“Yea, many people and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.” Zechariah 8:22
Margaret L. Been, ©2011