Clarification

To clarify, it was my sister who took organ lessons from Mark Thallander at SCC the year she was there. I never took any lessons from Mark. I vaguely remember seeing his face around campus but I don't think we ever met. If I really wanted to take organ lessons from Mark I am sure that would have been a good time to do it but anyway I was never interested in learning organ. All those foot pedals and switches and bells and whistles, it's not really my kind of thing. Organs are nice in their places but you cannot pack an organ like that in a suitcase and take it with you. Those things are attached and go with the building.

Connections

Am I just dreaming this or am I remembering Joanne Keller, the secretary at Lockman Foundation in La Habra, Calif., telling me that she had some connection to Dina Knox of Yuma, Ariz.? Her husband is Dina Knox's father, a second marriage of elderly people obviously. I don't really remember this but maybe there was a connection.

Let Them Eat Crow

Maggie Brass was a Native American of the Crow tribe, living on the Crow Reservation in Montana. She and two other ladies made the trip to Los Angeles to visit the Azusa Mission in about 1909. Mrs. Brass did not speak English, but the ladies were mightily touched by the revival and brought Pentecost back to Montana. Today Maggie's granddaughter is married to the pastor of Arrow Creek Christian Center in Pryor, Montana. (borrowed from AzusaStreet.org)

On Stephen Speirs Craig

Who is this Stephen Speirs Craig who wrote for Trust magazine in 1910 and 1911 and thereabouts? He was originally a Canadian pastor, Presbyterian who is thought to have worked at Zion Congregational Church in Toronto, Ontario, some time around the turn of the century. He apparently turned Pentecostal later and  emigrated to the United States in 1915 and worked some time for the Duncan sisters in Rocheter, New York.

Interestingly, my great-great-great-grandmother was Ana Eliza Speers. Well, you know, spellings vary widely on these ancient census documents so who's to say how her name was supposed to be spelled? Anyway, Ana Eliza Speers was a Canadian living in Ontario. She married John Levins and had many children there in Canada, one of whom was the father of my great-grandmother. However, whether she, and thus we, ever had any kinship connection to this Stephen Speirs Craig is nigh impossible to say for sure, and even if it were so, it would not explain how my great-grandparents became Pentecostals all on their own living out there in California within easy driving or walking or bus or tram distance to the Azusa Street church where things really got rolling.

Anyway, the only Craig persons I know of here in Florida are definitely NOT related to me, thank heaven. Nor would they have a clue about the Speirs, as neither would I, come to think of it, not that it matters in the least.

The fact remains that my hand was pierced by an actual African spear that my sister and I were fighting over in San Bernardino, moving into a house formerly occupied by missionaries to Africa who had left behind some artifacts, not that I remember anything about that. There is obviously no connection there to Pentecostal Canada for those of us who know how to spell.

On the Prince of the Air

The article by Stephen Speirs Craig is an interesting take on "Satanic Strategy" and how the Prince of the Air is strategically opposed to Christian revivals today.

To clarify, Craig says: The word 'deep' should be Abyss." (Obviously he is not saying that everything must be superficial or that everything 'deep' is hellish. This is a specific reference to Luke 8:31 in which the original Greek word apparently does mean hell or the bottomless pit or Abyss or something like that and is sometimes translated more specifically. The demons cast out of the Gadarene man are the ones who are afraid of the "deep," in case you had not noticed. The demons are the ones always looking for something new and novel to keep them entertained. Craig makes the following points:

1. Satan's new brand of fanaticism aids his quest to injure the cause of Truth.

• a. Intellectual fanatic: Obsessed with new interpretations and novel doctrines.
• b. Emotional fanatic: Revels in manifestations.
• c. Spiritist: Persons with an affinity for evil spirits or demons.

2. Denominational resistance to the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostal movement.

3. Individual resistance to the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostal movement. 

"Alas! What shall they do when they stand before the 'Bema' face to face with the ten thousand whom the Great Shepherd has gathered into the fold from India, China, Japan, Africa, and the round globe as the fruit of this movement?.... And how will they conceal their astonishment and remorse when they see the jeweled crowns placed on the heads of the Pentecostal overcomers? Let the curtain fall for the present and let that Day of Days give its own answer. Methinks there will be sorrow in Heaven that Day."

Stereotypical Pianists

Yes, Geraldeane "Dina" Knox is one of those church pianists who fits the stereotype that is being bashed by those little boys who are trying to reform the Pentecostal reality. She is a worst-case scenario to them, being extremely overweight, single, and sort of obnxiously overbearing in a way so that obviously people are just going to leave her be. She actually was a very nice sixth grade teacher and a good piano teacher for that level but, anyway, not someone that I personally would want to emulate or to be like in the future of adult life, thanks anyway, not that I would ever say this in real life. But, anyway, the Pentecostal reformers have kicked all the single women church pianists to the curb to make room for young guys with drums and guitars. I am just saying the facts. It wasn't really my plan but sometimes one just has to go with the flow when these little boys are axing the furniture because obviously they have been programmed to think that old-time music is boring and that everything has to be electrified to the hilt, lots of screaming and bluesy. Sad that there is no music appreciation in church these days, just boring repetitive chanting of the mind-numbing variety. Maybe eventually we can get our brains back into the mix and get some real music that is not just a lot of pumped up robotics but I might not live that long so I am not going to hold my breath.

Danny Boy

Truth be told, there is not much place in my life for second or third cousin Daniel. He has his place in Pasadena and he does not need anything from me. I fail to understand why I should pretend to be connected to Daniel just because we met once or twice at family funerals. I vaguely remember that at the funeral he talked about seeing his redheaded distant cousins, my sister and I, when we first met as children on some occasion that I do not recall, and it made him feel better about being a redhead because he saw that it was not only him. There were quite a few of us in the family tree, including three Butterfields not to mention other occurrences. It's just one of those things that you never know. It doesn't appear in every generation, only now and then. No one can say whether their children will be redheaded or not. But if you do have them, you should not make them feel like they are from some other planet. I vaguely remember Irene Cool, a co-worker at Lockman's, mentioning that her niece was a redhead and got way too much attention from strangers, and that something needed to be done to put her in her place. That is the usual treatment that redheads get from certain people and it is hard for others to understand what this does to your head but whatever. It's just who you are, it's not like you are trying to dye your hair red. If you are like Daniel, you are just a truck driver who works for a plant nursery or something like that. You could have gone to college and done a lot more but you took it too personal when people put you down and you forgot something and started thinking that making money was more important so now you'll never catch up. But at least it's better than being a blonde like Geraldeane Knox who plays piano well by ear and yet weighs maybe 500 pounds by now and has to wear a tent, I would imagine, because she always did eat voraciously.