Theologian's Almanac for Week of October 23, 2022
Welcome to SALT’s “Theologian’s Almanac,” a weekly selection of important birthdays, holidays, and other upcoming milestones worth marking — specially created for a) writing sermons and prayers, b) creating content for social media channels, and c) enriching your devotional life.
For the week of Sunday, October 23:
October 23 is the birthday of physician and poet Robert Bridges, born in Walmer, England, in 1844. Bridges is likely a name you don’t know — but you may know his close friend, Gerard Manley Hopkins (who wrote, among other masterpieces, “God’s Grandeur”). Hopkins published very little of his poetry during his lifetime, but included many poems in his letters to Bridges — and Bridges, after Hopkins’ death, collected and published those poems in 1918. Without Bridges, Hopkins’ poems might never have been remembered at all; it wasn’t until 1930, when a second edition of Hopkins’ poems was published, that people began to recognize him as one of the most gifted, innovative poets of his generation.
October 24 is the birthday of the poet Denise Levertov, born in Ilford, England, in 1923. She published more than 30 books, mostly poetry, but also essays and translations. In 1997, the year of her death, she published the extraordinary The Stream and the Sapphire, a selection of poems with religious themes written over the course of her career.
She said: “Strength of feeling, reverence for mystery, and clarity of intellect must be kept in balance with one another. Neither the passive nor the active must dominate, they must work in conjunction, as in a marriage.”
And again: “I'm not very good at praying, but what I experience when I'm writing a poem is close to prayer.”
Here’s a Levertov masterpiece on divine presence and human absence, “Flickering Mind.” And here’s her classic on the spiritual power of poetry and heritage: “Illustrious Ancestors.”
October 24 is also the birthday of Sarah Josepha Hale, born in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1788. We have her to thank for the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and also for a beloved American holiday: Hale was a vocal, tireless supporter of Thanksgiving. She wrote letters to successive presidents — Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and finally Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing Thanksgiving a national holiday, celebrated that year on the last Thursday of November: “The year that is drawing towards its close,” he wrote, “has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible.” Thanksgiving was born!
October 26 is the feast day of Demetrius, a fourth-century martyr in present-day Serbia. Traditionally, on this day Greek shepherds drive their flocks from their summer pastures in the mountains down to their winter folds on the plain (winter is coming!). As some consolation for summer’s passing, the day was marked with wine and revelry. So break out your favorite beverage, hot or cold, and lift a glass (or mug) to Demetrius!
October 29 is the birthday of quilt maker Harriet Powers, born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia, in 1837. Her quilts used a combination of hand stitching, machine stitching, and appliqué to form small detailed panels telling a larger story, like a graphic novel. This storytelling style of quilting has roots in West African coastal communities, and likewise, Powers’ artistry mirrors the complex rhythms of African-American folk music. Her quilts record legends and biblical tales of hope, perseverance, and divine justice. Her masterful Bible Quilt, created in 1886, now hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Powers' work is now considered among the preeminent examples of Southern 19th-century quilting.
October 29 is also the feast day of Ida of Leeuw, an early-13th-century Flemish mystic and scholar. After entering a Cistercian convent at the age of 13, she became well known for both her mystic experiences and her passion for copying (and correcting) sacred texts. Under her visionary leadership, a scriptorium was established in her convent — one of the only ones of its kind, since most scriptoriums were run by men in monasteries.
And looking ahead:
October 31 is Halloween, or “All Hallow’s Eve.” Here’s SALT’s “Brief Theology of Halloween.”