Ripe and rotting, but hoping not to be rotten

Today I give thanks to God and celebrate 54 years of life.

I share my birthday with:

1714 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach German composer, son of JS Bach
1841 Oliver Wendell Holmes Massachusetts, 59th Supreme Court justice (1902-32)
1857 Ruggiero Leoncavallo Italian composer (I pagliacci/Zaza) 1859 Kenneth Grahame author (The Wind, Willows)
1911 Alan Hovhaness Somerville MA, composer (Lousadzak, Ukiyo)
1943 Lynn Redgrave London England, actress (Georgie Girl) Weight-Watcher
1945 Mickey Dolenz Los Angeles CA, actor (Circus Boy) singer (Monkees)
1959 Aidan Quinn Chicago IL, actor (Legends of the Fall, Michael Collins, Benny & Joon, Reackless)
1963 Kathy Ireland model/actress (Alien From LA, Side Out)

This day we commemorate

St. John of God, patron saint of booksellers (is that neat, or what?)

Edward King (1829-1910)
O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your faithful servant Edward to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

These folks died on March 8:

1869 Louis Hector Berlioz French composer (Symphony Fantastic), dies at 65
1874 Millard Fillmore 13th President (1850-53), dies of at 74
1917 Ferdinand von Zeppelin Dutch count/air pioneer, dies at 78
1961 Thomas Beecham English conductor (Last Night of the Prom), dies at 81
1983 William T Walton English composer (Belhazzar's feast), dies at 80

On this Day:

1618 Johann Kepler discovers the third Law of Planetary Motion.
1702 Queen Anne becomes the monarch of England upon the death of William III.
1790 George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address.
1858 Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci" is produced (Naples)
1862 Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched
1880 U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes declared that the United States would have jurisdiction over any canal built across the isthmus of Panama.
1898 Richard Straus' "Don Quixote" premieres in Keulen
1902 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 2nd Symphony
1913 Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes
1930 Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India 1934 Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars
1952 - Ronald Reagan marries Nancy Davis
1959 Groucho, Chico & Harpo's final TV appearance together
1966 Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
1972 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp
1974 Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris France

These are the readings for Morning Prayer from the Daily Office.
How wonderful that they should include some of my favorite texts:

Reading (nrsv) Exodus 2:23-3:15
One of my favorite Scripture passages: God reveals his Proper Name: I Am. This is big stuff for Thomists!

Canticle 12
Daniel 3:52-90 (not available in Protestant Bibles)
What a wonderful song--all creation, from angels to elements to animals to humanity to the People of God glorify the Lord. I wish I could paint a picture befitting this vision.

Reading (nrsv) 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 kjv
Another one of my favorite texts:
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."

Reading (nrsv) Mark 9:14-29
"This kind can come out only through prayer." How many times have I come to this conclusion....