Jared Sparks Thoughts On General Washington's Faith

Jared Sparks (1789-1866), was a noted writer and historian. Sparks’ herculean historical productions included not only the writings of George Washington (12 volumes) but also Benjamin Franklin (10 volumes) and Constitution signer Gouverneur Morris (3 volumes). Additionally, Sparks compiled the Library of American Biography (25 volumes), The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution (12 volumes), and the Correspondence of the American Revolution (4 volumes). In all, Sparks was responsible for some 100 historical volumes. Additionally, Sparks was America’s first professor of history–other than ecclesiastical history–to teach at the college level in the United States, and he was later chosen president of Harvard.

In his research regarding George Washington's faith he reached out to Washington's adopted daughter, Nelly Parke Custis. 

When Martha [Custis] married George Washington, she was a widow and brought two young children (John and Martha–also called Patsy) from her first marriage into her marriage with George. The two were carefully raised by George and Martha, later married, and each had children of their own. Unfortunately, tragedy struck, and both John and Patsy died early (by 1781). John left behind his widow and four young children ranging in age from infancy to six years old.

At the time, Washington was still deeply involved in guiding the American Revolution and tried unsuccessfully to convince Martha’s brother to raise the children. The young widow of John was unable to raise all four, so George and Martha adopted the two younger children: Nelly Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, both of whom already were living at Mount Vernon.

Nelly lived with the Washingtons for twenty years, from the time of her birth in 1779 until 1799, the year of her marriage and of George Washington’s untimely death. She called George and Martha her “beloved parents whom I loved with so much devotion, to whose unceasing tenderness I was indebted for every good I possessed.”

Miss Marcia

Miss Marcia. Role model. Teacher. Musician. Singer of Happy Birthday using the highest notes imaginable. She took over a show originally called "Romper Room" in 1962 and a year later the show was renamed "Funtime". Every kid back then knew that at 9:00 am, Miss Marcia was on the television, channel 9, (one of three channels we could get with our rabbit ears antenna). You could look forward to possibly hearing her call out your name during the famous Happy Birthday segment, but she also introduced generations of kids to music, how to tie your shoes, and how to tell time. Clocks were a mystery to me until I figured out that when the big hand was on the 12, and the little hand was on the 9, that was 9 o’clock: Funtime!

I was actually on her show twice, once when my piano teacher volunteered me to play a song for her, (I think I was eight or nine) playing the same piano she used each week to play Happy Birthday! It was too cool! The second time I was part of a group of young piano players promoting an upcoming Pianorama event at Memorial Auditorium. Both times I remember the hot, very bright lights, but also how small the actual studio was, (and how cold!) and how the big cameras on wheels would easily roll to their next assignment, guided by men who had to be the luckiest people on the planet to be that close to Miss Marcia every single day! 

When God Changed His Name

Okay, correction forthcoming, God didn't really head to the local courthouse and fill out paperwork to change His name, but He did add a name to the list of names used in the Bible to describe Himself. If you would like to discover what prompted Him to add a different name for Himself, today's blog is for you. 

Genesis - Chapter 1 - The creation chapter. The Hebrew word for God in the first chapter of Genesis is "Elohim". This word describes the majestic, universal title for God as Creator and Ruler. But you might also notice that this word is not personal, it's more of a 30,000 foot view of the Creator and his processes. It's like the difference between a speaker describing himself to a group versus his interaction when conversing with a small group of individuals. 

Moving on . . . 

____________________________________________________________________________

Genesis | Chapter 1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day . . .

Billy Joel - The Ballad of Billy the Kid