Shakespeare/Playwright
Seasons
Forty Days of Lent
12, 13 and Superstition
Green/St. Patrick’s Day
Vernal Equinox Day
Patrick Henry
Maryland
College of Cardinals

Shakespeare/Playwright
06/03/01

        One of the significant characteristics of this Christian retirement community is the amazing breadth and depth of talents and expertise of its residents who have served in various capacities in many countries around the world.  This is obvious both in the personal conversations we have with those residents who happen to sit at the same table in the Dining Hall and in the lectures we hear in more formal settings.  At the meetings of the Symposium on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday afternoons of a month, one of the residents delivers a lecture, sharing the result of his/her research on a pertinent theme.  At a recent Symposium, the lecturer was a retired professor of English Literature, who specialized in Shakespeare’s dramas.  William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright.  (When many people hear this word, they think it is spelled p-l-a-y-w-r-i-t-e because it denotes the “writer” of a play.  However,  “wright,” spelled w-r-i-g-h-t, signifies “a person who constructs something.”  Thus, even as a “shipwright” is a carpenter employed in the construction of ships, a “playwright” is a person who writes plays.)  In case you have difficulty remembering how to spell the name of this great playwright, you need not feel bad.  It is said that that name has been spelled over forty different ways.  The theme of the Symposium lecture was “King Lear,” a tragedy written in 1605.  We were introduced to the various characters in this drama, each with a different character, and to the overall plot, but I consider the following quotation a good one to remember: “Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest.”  (942)

Seasons
06/03/04

            In some tropical areas of the world, the seasons of the year are divided into dry and rainy seasons, but in most temperate areas, four seasons are usually recognized: spring, summer, autumn and winter.  These seasons are divided by the natural movements related to the earth and the sun: equinoxes (when the day and night are about equal)  and solstices (when the sun seems to stand still and the days lengthen or shorten).  Equinoxes occur in the middle of March and September; solstices occur in the middle of June and December.  In old Japanese tradition, following the Chinese tradition, a year was divided into 24 seasons.  These seasons are now not synchronized with the present calendar, but in some agricultural regions, they are still recognized.  According to that old, 24 seasonal calendar, spring begins (risshun) the first part of February followed by a season of “rain water” (usui), when water from snow becomes water from rain.  The third season, which begins about the 6th of March, called keichitsu (literally referring to the “opening” of what was “hidden” or “concealed”), is considered the season when insects come out of hibernation and again become active.  We usually consider “hibernation” (the dormant state of some living creatures during winter) to be limited to mammals, but alert people will recognize the appearance of insects they have not seen for some time at this time of year. In this retirement community in northeastern Florida, I have seen a number of wasps recently.  Please note, that I wrote “wasp” in small letters.  When written in capital letters, WASP denotes the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants that used to be the dominant class in the United States of America.  (943)

Forty Days of Lent
06/03/09

        The French poet, novelist and politician, Victor Hugo, wrote: “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.”  About one century later, Walter Pitkin, an American writer, wrote a book entitled Life Begins at Forty, which stimulated considerable attention and that title has become a common cliché for many persons in their forties.  In the Bible, the number 40 is used so often in so many different settings that many readers or commentators consider it a special number with a special symbolic meaning.  Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18).  The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert (Deuteronomy 2:7).  Elijah, the prophet, traveled 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God (I Kings 19:8). The rain of the great flood fell for 40 days with another 40 days passing before Noah opened the ark (Genesis 7:12; 8:6).  The city of Nineveh had 40 days to repent (Jonah 3:4).  Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert (Matthew 4:2) and appeared to his disciples for a period of 40 days after his resurrection (Acts 1:3).  More than 40 men were involved in a plot to kill the Apostle Paul before he was taken to Rome (Acts 23:13).  In the Christian Church calendar, the 40 weekdays before Easter Sunday, called Lent, are a time of quiet meditation, self-examination and penitence.  For some Christians, it is a time of fasting and abstinence as they consider the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  This year, the season of Lent began on March 1st.  “Lent” is the old English word for “spring,” for at this season of the year, the days “lengthen.” (944)  

12, 13 and Superstition
06/03/12

        The previous message (#944) was related to the number 40.  Today’s message is related to the numbers 12 and 13.  Some people in the West consider 12 a perfect number.  There are 12 months in a year, 12 hours in a day, 12 inches in a foot and, in old English currency, there were 12 pence in a shilling.  There are also 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, 12 disciples of Jesus in the New Testament and 12 signs in the Zodiac.  There is even a separate word (“dozen”) for 12.  Some superstitious people consider 13 an unlucky number.  There are various reasons for this, one of which is because it follows the “perfect” number 12.  A more relevant reason, however, is because there were 13 men present at the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples.  During that supper, Jesus predicted that one of his disciples would betray him and that is what happened (according to the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verses 2, 21-30 and chapter 18, verses 1-12).  “Superstition” denotes a belief that is based on ignorance or irrationality.  There are many kinds of superstitions that have been handed down from generation to generation without a reasonable basis.   How to distinguish superstition from a reasonable faith, however, depends on the viewpoint or presuppositions of the viewer.  What some people consider superstition, others would consider common sense or, simply, tradition.  A healthy faith is not expressed in how one views numbers or in performing certain rituals but in one’s basic attitude toward others, one’s priorities and one’s activities in daily life.  (945)

Green/St. Patrick’s Day
06/03/15

        An emerald is a bright-green, transparent precious stone and the island west of England has been called the “Emerald Isle” because of its bright green vegetation.  It is also known as Eire or Ireland.  The patron saint of Ireland is St. Patrick, whose feast day is March 17.  Every year on this day, people of Irish lineage, along with friends and neighbors they have influenced, include something green in their clothing or decorations.  On St. Patrick’s Day, the biggest annual parade in New York City is held as over 100,000 people walk along Fifth Avenue in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  There are many terms in English that begin with “green.”  A “greenhorn” is an inexperienced person.  A “greenhouse” is a glass-enclosed structure used for cultivating plants that require controlled temperature and humidity.  A person who seems to have a knack for making plants grow well may be said to have a “green thumb,” and the person who has been given permission to proceed may be said to have been given a “green light.”  The paper currency used in the United States of America may be called “greenbacks,” but a person who is jealous may be said to be  “green-eyed.”  In the old English saying that “the moon is made of green cheese,” “green” does not refer to the color but to cheese that is new and has not had time to age properly in the earliest days of cheese making. Such new cheese often resembled the moon in shape and coloring.  One of the most well-known passages in the Bible is the 23rd Psalm, which begins with the words “The Lord is my shepherd” and includes the statement that “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”  (946)

Vernal Equinox Day
06/03/19

        In our home, we have a number of picture calendars hanging on the walls of different rooms.  Some calendars were sent from Japan and others were made in the U. S. A.  Consequently, the red-letter days signifying holidays and the data written on certain dates is different, depending on the calendar.  For example, on the March 2006 calendars from Japan, March 21st is a red-letter holiday called “Shunbun no Hi,” meaning “Vernal Equinox Day” or “First Day of Spring.”  On American calendars, however, March 20th, is a black-letter day, on which it is written “Spring Begins,” “First Day of Spring” or “Vernal Equinox.”  March 21 is a national holiday in Japan, marking the beginning of Spring, but the equinox, when the lengths of day and night are equal, may occur on the 20th or the 21st.  In Japanese tradition, the equinox is the middle of a week when departed ancestors are remembered by various customs and rituals because on that day, the sun seems to set directly in the west (the direction of the heavenly paradise according to Buddhist belief).  That week is called “Higan” (“yonder shore” where departed spirits reside in contrast to “Shigan,” “this shore,” the land of the living).  A Japanese calendar indicates that March 18 is the beginning of “Higan.”  This week, family graves will be visited, vegetables, fruits, noodles and other non-animal kinds of food will be offered at the family altar before which a Buddhist priest will chant a sutra.  From my perspective (faith), however, if departed spirits are really aware of the actions of those still living, they will find greater satisfaction and enjoyment in seeing loving, merciful, honest, helpful, ethical behavior in daily life than in periodic rituals.   (947)

Patrick Henry
06/03/22

            During my years of service in Japan, I tried to follow Japanese customs insofar as I was able—one of which was to write my name in the normal Japanese order of surname followed by given name rather than the reverse order common among Westerners.  This often caused confusion, since my given name, Clark, was the surname of a famous educator from the U. S. A. who had taught in Japan a century before.  Consequently, many people thought that Clark was my surname.  There are a number of names of Americans that can be used both as surnames and given names.  One well-known example is that of Patrick Henry, who gave a speech in the Colony of Virginia 231 years ago, on March 23, 1775, the final words of which have become one of the most memorable phrases in American history.  Patrick Henry had little formal education, had failed twice as a storekeeper and once as a farmer before becoming a lawyer, but his courtroom oratory as a trial lawyer soon won him a wide reputation and an impressive practice in Virginia.  At the age of 29, he was elected to the Virginia legislature and became a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.  His speech as a member of the provincial assembly of Virginia was given less than one month before the war with Great Britain began.  It was in support of the proposition he had introduced to have a militia organized for the defense of the colony in case a war with Great Britain should occur.  It ended with these words, the final ten of which have become famous: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!  I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”(948)

Maryland
06/03/26

            Three months ago, during the Christmas season, I composed a message entitled “Mary/Marry/Merry” and this message could be entitled “Merry Maryland.”  Maryland is the name of one of the United States of America, one of the original 13 colonies, the 7th state to enter the Union.  March 25th is a legal holiday in that state, commemorating the arrival of its first colonists in 1634.  Lord Baltimore, who had been appointed proprietor over the colony by the king, named this colony after Henrietta Maria, the Roman Catholic queen consort of the Protestant King, Charles I.  Lord Baltimore, a leader in the colonization of America, had received a grant of part of Newfoundland, now a province on the eastern coast of Canada, but the climate of a southern colony was more attractive to him.  As a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, he envisioned Maryland as a refuge for his coreligionists who suffered much in Anglican England.   His son, the second Lord Baltimore, recruited some 200 men and women who sailed from England.  A month after their arrival in the “new world,” they held a thanksgiving service on March 25, 1634, erected a cross and established the town of St. Mary’s as the capital of the colony.  Since the number of Protestant residents outnumbered the Roman Catholics, however, Lord Baltimore persuaded the Protestant governor and the legislature to pass an “act concerning religion,” which granted religious liberty to all who affirmed a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, a limited but significant step forward in 1649.  The city of Baltimore is now the largest city in the state and the present capital, Annapolis, meaning “City of Anna,” was named in honor of Princess Anne. (949)

College of Cardinals
06/03/29

            The word “college,” derived from a Latin word meaning “association,” is used in a number of different ways.  It is most commonly used for a school of higher learning that grants a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts or science or both.  It may denote a particular division within a university or a technical or professional school; but it may also designate simply an assembly of persons having a common purpose or common duties, such as a “college of surgeons.”  It is used in a very special sense, however, in the Roman Catholic Church for a body of priests, bishops or archbishops who have been chosen by the pope and whose authority is surpassed only by the pope, whose title is derived from “papa,” or “father.”  The College of Cardinals is the body that elects the pope and also serves as a council with which the pope may confer as needed.  “Cardinal” may also denote a red color and the distinguishing characteristic of the Roman Catholic cardinals is the red cap and gown that they wear.  A recent news article focused on the ceremony in which the pope welcomed fifteen new cardinals into this College.  For centuries, the maximum number of cardinals was set at 70, but now, there are 193, including the newcomers.  Only those under the age of 80, however, are eligible to vote.  Of the 120 who meet this condition, 60 are from Europe, 20 from Latin America, 16 from North America, 13 from Asia, 9 from Africa and two from Oceania.  Thus, it is obvious that while the Western influence continues to be strong, other areas of the world are recognized by this part of the Christian Church, which is reported to have one billion members. (950)