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| Billie Silvey |
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| Comments are welcome. Email me at b.silvey@sbcglobal.net. Feel free to use any material you find useful. I'd appreciate a line stating that you got it from www.billiesilvey.com. "Thanks." --Father Loyd D. Morris "And those of our age remember the printed cotton flour sacks that turned into our dresses." --Jacqueline Williams "Dear Billie, I must re-read your August website again. Like Oliver Twist, I came away from your article, pathetically lifting my bowl and asking for 'More, please.' "You write so well, Billie. But I tend to take everything personally (mea culpa), and you peaked my interest. But an article that refers to cotton and to love and to tolerance prompts a flood of thoughts within me. "I was indeed deeply touched by the story of Rais Bhuiyan which I followed for several months. And, I thought reference to it in your website was very appropriate. "I think I would have liked a fuller treatment of how American slavery was encouraged by the cultivation of cotton. In the section, 'The Other,' I would have used that forum to explain a little deeper how Mandeville's beautiful cotton plant ('lambs on its branches') really became an emblem of pain for the enslaved African Americans. "Your article caused me to re-open a lovely volume that has been in my office for many years, The African American Experience. I turned to it and revisited great illustrations of slaves dragging bags behind them as they walked the rows of cotton plants. Additionally, amazingly clear black and white photographs of share-cropping Blacks in the 1930s show the continued connection of an impoverished people with a plant that is perhaps lovely to look at, but sad to contemplate (with regard to the system of harvesting it). 'The Sally Field film, Places in the Heart, addresses the combination of cotton, oppression, and love. It is one of my favorite films which I show to Japanese students occasionally. "'The Other' section might have benefited from a more developed discussion of the connection between cotton, slavery, and Christianity. One of the great debates during slavery was whether to baptize blacks as that would mean acceptance of their humanity. There is a passage in the writings of Frederick Douglass in which he argues precisely that point. "'Years ago, I happened to be in the deep South. When asked if I recognized the crop whizzing by our car window, I acknowledged that I didn't know what it was. The driver stopped the car and invited me to walk among the rows with him. "This is cotton," he announced. Given to appreciation of flowers and plants, I did notice a kind of beauty and symmetry. My host, holding the plant before me, took note of my complete ignorance of the plant. He had a more personal encounter with the plant earlier in his life. He remarked, "You're lucky that you don't recognize the cotton plant."' "Billie, in our long friendship, both of us have demonstrated a love of words, and a fondness for metaphor. Your discussion of the cotton plant makes me think it just might be a kind of symbol of reconciliation. We should place it on altars (or church platforms) at a new liturgical scene of our choosing: A Time to Celebrate Overcoming and Love. Sincerely, --Harris Ives "Ms. Silvey, It's nice to see the adage 'Christian does not mean closedminded' actually put into practice. I know many more 'so called Christians' who try and legitamize their bigotry and hypocracy with their religion than any other religion. (But, that's probably since I live in the United States instead of Iran, India or Thailand where I would probably know more bigoted Moslems, Hindus or Buddhists.) This open mindedness should also extend to Pagans, Agnostics and Aetheists. The days of the Crusade, the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Hunt are long gone. It's time for Christians to realize that they are far from having a monopoly on goodness and spirituality. If they don't, more and more people will be prejudiced against Christians. " --Barbara Jacobs "Thanks for keeping your website! I really liked the description of Sir John Mandeville's journeys." Best, --Michael Salazar "Hi Billie, We share a love of the King James Bible. You know of my story: I bought my first Bible, a KJV, at Fedco on La Cienga, mistakenly believing that it was the required translation for my Old and New Testament surveys at Pepperdine back in 1969. Not coming from a Bible reading family, I had no idea that were so many translations and versions. Now, of course, I collect them. My garage in Los Angeles holds so many on the shelves; my office and house in Japan are practically Bible museums. But my first love will always be the KJV. "Recently, I bought a new 'retirement car.' I am the last person in the world who would pay extra money for a vanity license plate. But the salesman informed me that personalized plates were free in Japan. He asked to me come up with an acceptable series of numbers quickly. You guessed it, I came up with 1611. The salesman smiled, assuming those were my favorite lottery numbers. His smile changed to a more somber expression when he understood I was not a 'player.' 'It's the year of the publication of the KJV,' I informed him, 'And if it's taken, I want 1066' (Norman Invasion). "I think the fact that you and I are such shameless Anglophiles -- and lovers of the KJV -- is part of the reason for our longtime friendship. "Sunday, I will preach my third sermon in as many weeks. I used to pride myself on never repeating a sermon; I can no longer afford that time and luxury, so I will again preach Psalm 62 -- A Song for Difficult Times; its imagery of fallen fences, tottering walls and shaken lands fits our current situation of earthquakes and aftershocks. "I have not been using the KJV for this round of sermons. Though I love the King James Version greatly, the New International Version rendering of Psalm 62 gives a more suitable reading of Verses 3 and 4. The implication in the NIV is that the good man is assaulted by enemies who continually beat him almost down to the ground. The victim is like a tottering wall, but he remains steadfast and upright in his faith. The more modern language makes the heroic faith more apparent, than the quaint words of the KJV. "In the last weeks I have preached the same sermon using the NIV at the Omika Church of Christ, The Ota Church of Christ, and this coming Sunday I will preach it at the Tsukuba Assembly of God. Three weeks will be a long enough hiatus from the KJV -- I must come up with a series of lessons that will return me to my first love. " --Harris Ives "Billie, I'll check out the Egypt information... especially since my oldest granddaughter is majoring in Egyptology in college!" Take care, Cari Silvey "hi billie, i love black and white photographs. i love the contrast and clarity of the composition. best of all i like to imagine what the colors would look like. it is just like reading a good novel vs. seeing the book made into a movie. in a book i can lose myself into my imagination, picture the setting, the characters and make my own music to lead me into the suspenseful scene. "a movie tells me what to see, takes away from my idea of what the character should look like and show me every scene. it was not that long ago i was well into a book i was enjoying when it was announced that a movie was coming out staring tom hanks. from that moment on i could not enjoy the book. i had someone in my mind whose looks i made to be the leading character. the book was spoiled for me. "by the same token when black and white movies let my imagination run wild. i get to color in the dress, the house, the entire set. i think i enjoyed the simple times of my youth before it took a whole new industry to produce a movie. "keep up with your websites, billie. i thoroughly enjoy them." --love, rona "Hi, Billie! I do enjoy reading your website every month! Your writing is beautiful! "I am quickly sliding into grumpy-old-man-ness, and offer my thoughts (maybe rants is a better term) to you, for thought provocation and possible publication: "I keep noticing that younger people than I, which is quickly becoming most people, write, and say, some things that drive me crazy. The most recent ones are using "then" in place of "than", "This is much better then that one," and "on accident" rather than "by accident." I'm not sure where either of these originated, or why they have seemed to catch on, but, when I think logically about it, it's probably just a natural progression with languages, slowly changing over time. I'm sure the English can get very upset by what we, the Americans, have done to their language, and some other Europeans probably were unglued by what the English did to theirs. "Now our younger people are building an entirely new language, that I sometimes use, I'm afraid, based on saving time with texting. I reply with a "thx" by email when someone at work has completed some task for me, and I even say "lol" sometimes on Facebook. "So why should I get upset? I also get frustrated with myself when I play golf poorly, even though I only play an average of about 9 holes a year. I should not have any expectation of doing well if I don't practice the game, but I do. It's probably my loss of patience, and my progression toward becoming a patient in some nursing home. Anyway, thanks for reading my vent, and let us know how everyone is doing there in your part of the world! " --Paul "I enjoyed the articles this month, especially the comments on the Revelation. This world can get pretty scary. Our futures sometime seem very tenuous . However, as you stated, we can rejoice because GOD WINS, and if we are on his side we have no reason to fret! " Thanks, --Keith Brisco 'Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I still think of LA as Eden, still full of creativity, albeit after the fall!' --Marilyn Adams |