A Presbymeme

I have been tagged by Viola Larson at Naming His Grace to participate in a "Presbymeme" that she saw on the PCUSA Moderator's blog. So here goes:

What is your favorite faith-based hymn, song or chorus?

I can't name just one. I love hymns by Ralph Vaughan Williams for their beautiful music, and so two that I will always name right away are "Come Down, O Love Divine" (with the wonderful 15th-century words by Bianco da Siena) and "For All the Saints".

There are two aspects of the words of "For All the Saints" that I like. One is the encouragement in the midst of our troubles on earth. It's the same feeling I get from The Lord of the Rings, or The Last Battle:

"And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the air the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong,
Alleluia! Alleluia!"

(A note here: The warfare mentioned is spiritual warfare, and the triumph is triumph of good over evil.)

For this same reason, from modern hymns, I love "In Christ Alone", by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty. The last verse sets me tingling:

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand.
Till he returns, or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

The other of the two aspects of "For All the Saints" that I like is what I like the most in my favorite hymns: I love hymns that praise God's majesty and glory, and that envisage the beauty and grandeur of heaven. So the last verse of "For All the Saints" always uplifts me:

"From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!"

This is why I also love hymns such as "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"; here is its last verse:

"O that with yonder sacred throng we at His feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all!
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all!"

I thrill to picture myself one day amid that sacred throng, joining in that everlasting song.

Now on to the rest of the meme.

What was the context, content and/or topic of the last sermon that truly touched, convicted, inspired, challenged, comforted and/or otherwise moved you?

I can't remember; I hear good sermons all the time, but I have also been hearing a variety of preachers at different churches this summer, and it's getting mixed up in my head. But here's something I noted down from a sermon last May by Scott Dudley, our senior pastor. He said that what people long for most is transcendance, community, and significance. (I think he got this from John Stott.) However, people go running after our culture's trinity of pleasure, comfort, and happiness, and what they end up with is fear, envy, and loneliness.

If you could have all Presbyterians read just one of your previous posts, what would it be and why?

I would want them to read my post "The Atonement Is Good News." The Atonement is the best news ever, and people need to know about it.

What are three PC(USA) flavored blogs you read on a regular basis?

I'm afraid that I don't read any blogs on a regular basis, but the ones I read the most often are The Berkley Blog, Naming His Grace, and the blog of Mark Roberts.

If the PC(USA) were a movie, what would it be and why?

I guess I can't be specific here, but I'd have to say it would be one of the many World War II movies that focuses on a particular group involved in a particular struggle--but of course they are not the only ones; there are many other struggles going on all over the world at the same time. And the outcome is not yet known at the time the movie is made.

This leads me to end this post by repeating one of the verses from "For All the Saints":

"And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the air the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong,
Alleluia! Alleluia!"

A Fun Little Tag

I've been tagged again, by Judy at Stitch Along with Me. This time I need to give answers to a bunch of categories, and they all need to start with the same letter as my first name. So here goes:

What is your name? Debbie
Four letter word: deer
Vehicle: Dodge
TV Show: Dr. Kildare (OK, it's old, but he sure was cute!)
City: Downey (where I grew up)
Boy's Name: David
Girl's Name: Diana
Occupation: developer
Something You Wear: dress
Food: dim sum
Something Found in a Bathroom: dental floss
Reason for Being Late: disaster
Something You Shout: Don't jump!

Manning the Gate of the Soviet Embassy

I have been asked to explain item #3 in the list of 6 quirky items about myself that I posted on my blog last night, so here it is.

In 1970-71 I spent my college junior year in France, and for spring vacation, I took a tour, designed for American students living in Europe, of Prague, Moscow, Leningrad (now back to its original name of St. Petersburg), and Warsaw. It was thrilling because very few Americans at that time had ever been to these cities, and I was stunned with the beauty and charm of Prague, which few living Americans had as yet discovered (now it is overrun with Americans.)

Anyway, after our 3 days there, at the airport for our flight to Moscow, I discovered that all my money and papers were missing; I had apparently been pickpocketed. The tour guide gave me some money, and then everyone flew off and left me there. They did at least leave me in the hands of a couple of Czech college guys who had been our official escorts (in those days in those countries, Western tourists didn't go anywhere on their own.)

I was allowed to stay in the same hotel with a group of Swedish students who were on a tour, and then the Czech boys helped me go around to the Czech police, the American embassy, and the Soviet embassy, in order to get a new Czech exit visa, a new passport, and a new Soviet entry visa. The American passport was the hardest, that is, they were the least willing to give me new papers, because I had no proof of who I was, but I think I must have looked pretty harmless, because they finally relented. (It was cool having a passport issued in Prague; I was sorry when I had to surrender it when it expired and I needed a new one.)

It took 3 days to get everything, and in the interim I went places with the Swedes, or the Czech guys, and was mildly romanced by the Swedish tour leader's very handsome son, so all in all it was kind of fun, and I fell head over heels in love with Prague. One day one of the Czech boys and I stood talking on the Charles bridge for an hour or two, and no one ever passed by. Now the Charles Bridge is filled with tourists and hawkers selling trinkets.

Finally all I needed was the Soviet visa, and at the Soviet embassy they said that they were waiting for a telegram to arrive saying that it was OK. It was getting late in the day, and they were going to lock their gate. So they suggested that I walk down to the end of the driveway where the locked gate was (the embassy was like a mansion in estate-like grounds), so that I could let the car in that was bringing the telegram.

So there I stood, a 20-year-old American girl, with the power to give access to the Soviet Embassy to anyone I wanted to! It was a funny feeling. Of course I didn't let anyone in who didn't belong there, and I got my visa, and then that evening I flew off to Moscow on a plane full of Russians, and another part of the adventure began (it started with an official in the Moscow airport saying to me, "What are you doing coming into Russia ALONE?")

The postscript to this episode is that as soon as I realized my predicament, I sent off a postcard to my parents telling them that I was in Czechoslovakia (as it was called then) with no money or papers. Then three days later I sent them another postcard saying I was fine and was rejoining my tour group. But that postcard was delayed for two weeks, and so they spent two weeks worried about their daughter, lost behind the Iron Curtain. Now that I'm a mother, I know how awful that must have been!

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Viola Larson at Naming His Grace. Apparently a tag is kind of like the game of tag, and now I'm It. I have to do what the tag is about (if I want to.) I'm supposed to tell 6 quirky or unimportant things about me, so here goes, in no particular order.

1. My favorite food is cereal.

2. I always know how many days old I am. This is a result of my liking to play with numbers in my head, whenever I'm not doing anything else.

3. In 1971, fully in the midst of the Cold War, I once (as a 20-year-old American college girl) manned the gate of the Soviet Embassy in Prague, allowing vehicles in and out. This was behind the Iron Curtain.

4. Several times, to accompany the church choir I sing in, I have played a percussion instrument called a VibraSlap.

5. In college I studied Mandarin Chinese for two years. I took Sanskrit, too.

6. I know all 50 states in alphabetical order. Also backwards alphabetical order. Also their capitals.

That's it! This is trivia. Now I think I will tag Judy Shaw at Stitch Along with Me.