A Portrait - G. K. Chesterton

Fair faces crowd on Christmas night
Like seven sons a-row,
But all beyond is the wolfish wind
And the crafty feet of the snow.

But through the route one finger groes
With quick and quiet tread;
Her robe is plain, her form is frail--
Wait if she turn her head.

I say no word of line or hue,
But if that face you see,
Your soul shall know the smile of faith's,
Awful frivolity.

Know that in this grotesque old masque,
Too loud we cannot sing,
Or dance to wild, or speak to wide
To praise a hidden thing.

That though the jest be as old as night,
Still shaketh sun and sphere
An everlasting laughter
Too loud of us to hear.

Vivid

Virtue is not the absense of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing, like pain or a particular smell.

~G. K. Chesterton

Potatoes

Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin--a fact as practical as potatoes.

-From Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton

His Steadfast Love is Forever!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I can not even begin to list the many blessings that have engulfed us this year.

God is good even when we can't understand Him. Even when we go through sorrows or confusion.

He is so much bigger and wiser than I possibly can imagine.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
~James 1:16-18

We will miss you, our beautiful, loving, exuberant Grandy.

You have always been so much of our Thanksgiving, ever pointing us towards Christ and the many, many blessings he has showered on us!

One of those greatest blessings was you!

But now you are with him, enjoying a far greater feast in his presence. And you are well and there is no pain and no longing.

For now, we will miss you...

but mostly selfishly. :-)

May we rejoice in the two new lives God has given to our family. Although they may not have met their dear Grandy, they will grow in the shadow of devotion and we pray that someday mirror her dedication to Christ.

The Lord gives and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

One day we will all be together at a feast far beyond our imaginations and in the awesome presence of our Savior.

How can we not overflow with praise and thanksgiving?

May we be filled with gratitude and song while we work at the tasks He has given us.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God."

~Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

Give thanks to the Lord for His steadfast love is forever!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Miss Pickwickian

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

~ G.K. Chesterton

Pen in the Ink

I want to be able to say this...

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

- G. K. Chesterton

O God of Earth and Altar - G. K. Chesterton

This is my favorite hymn. There are at least two different tunes for it and one is considerably better then the other. I couldn't find good videos of either. The words will have to speak for themselves...and they do that very well. :-)

O God of Earth and Altar

O God of earth and altar,


Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,

Our people drift and die;
The walls of gold entomb us,

The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,

But take away our pride.

From all that terror teaches,


From lies of tongue and pen,
From all the easy speeches

That comfort cruel men,
From sale and profanation

Of honour and the sword,
From sleep and from damnation,

Deliver us, good Lord.

Tie in a living tether


The prince and priest and thrall,
Bind all our lives together,

Smite us and save us all;
In ire and exultation

Aflame with faith, and free,
Lift up a living nation,

A single sword to thee.
- G.K. Chesterton

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Tolerence is Intolerance

"There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions." - ILN, 1/13/06
G K Chesterton

Cheese

"Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."
~G.K. Chesterton

Vision

"Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision." - Orthodoxy, 1908

G. K. Chesterton

Wisdom from Chesterton

• "The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice." - A Defense of Humilities, The Defendant, 1901

• "A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." - Everlasting Man, 1925

• "Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions." - ILN, 4/19/30

• "Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." - The Speaker, 12/15/00

• "An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." - On Running After Ones Hat, All Things Considered, 1908

• "What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism." - Sidelights on New London and Newer New York

• "He is a [sane] man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head." - Tremendous Trifles, 1909