peter krey’s web site

“the Otter”

A father had a daughter and bought her an otter

and taught her that the otter

was hotter out of water.

So the daughter got the otter some water.

“What a life!” said the otter

in the water, chased a fish and caught her.

Then thought-a-the otter:

“I ought-a-splash some water on the daughter

so she gets cooler not hotter.”

So like this daughter

as her father taught her

who bought her an otter,

you ought to get water for an otter that’s hotter.

Josh, Mark, and I were returning from church and we got refreshments beside the Bread Garden Bakery in front of the beautiful white Clairmont Hotel. We were happily composing this poems with as many foolish rhymes as we could possibly think of. What a pleasant experience it was. The date was June 23, 1995 in Berkeley at the Clairmont.

I have not tried to translate this poem. The problem is that it depends on the German pun between a “meatball” and a “knock” on the door. I received a copy of it from a member of Old Zion in Philadelphia. I’ll have to find out who wrote it.

It is so funny the way the fellow goes out of the door because he hears a knock, but stands outside, not knowing why he is outside the door and then knocks to get back in his own door. There’s a self-conscious consternation with complete absent-mindedness that’s hilarious. He mixes himself up with the one knocking outside the door and because he is now outside, there is no one home to answer his knocking on his own door! The dialect makes it even funnier!

„Icke”

Ick sitze da und esse Klops.

Uff eenmal kloppt’s…

Ick kieke, staune, wundre mir.

Uff eenmal jeht se uff, de Tür.

Nanu, denk’ ick, ick denk, nanu,

jetzt is se uff, erst war se zu?

Und ick je raus und blicke.

Und wer steht draussen — Icke!

Wie ick mir sah vor der Tür,

da kam ick mir janz dämlich für.

Was tun? Ick hab die Tür janz sacht

mit leisem Drucke zu gemacht.

Dann kloppt ick, wart’ und denk’: Nanu,

esrt ging se uff, jetzt bleibt se zu.

Es ruft auch keener mich herein,

da wird wohl niemand drinne sein.

Drum mach die Tür ick selber uff —

Ick sah den Tisch, da stand was druff —

Nun mach ick schnell en grossen Hops.

Was fand ick? Uff den Tisch stand Klops!

Uff eenmal . . . usw. usw.

This poem is like the joke about three elderly sisters, who have all become somewhat forgetful. One went upstairs:

“I’m going to go upstairs to take a bath” she said.

When she was stepping into the tub, she called to the other two: “Was I going in or am I already through?”

“Ha, ha.” the second sister laughed. “I’ll come up and help you.” When she was half way up the stairs she asked the other two, “Do you know if I was going up the stairs or if I was coming down? What was I about to do?”

Then the third sister down at the kitchen table laughed. “You two are really losing your memories, very true. Mine is still quite good: knock on wood.” She hesitated a moment and then said, “I’ll come right up to help you as soon as I answer the door.”

I heard this in Salem Nursing Home in Oakland, California and I do not know who authored it.

See Blogging my thought page on the right. I’ve put in some more about FDR and the great depression, making sure Obama’s vision does not stagnate in self absorption, and starting to think about a scheme for common ownership of the corporations through employee’s receiving preferred and common stock. When the government sells its shares, why not allow employees to recieve a lion share of them? Or why not keep tax payer common stock at 40% and let employees get 11% more to actually give the public ownership of the corporations?

Ash Wednesday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church February 25, 2009

Joel 2:1-2,12-17 :: Psalm 51: 1-17 :: 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 :: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Text: Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Joel 2:13)

This is the verse from the Prophet Joel that we will be singing in Lent instead of the Hallelujah. We have to bury the Hallelujah until the forty days of Lent are over. Lent in old English simply means the season of Spring. It is like the word “lengthen” and comes from the fact that our days are lengthening again and the nights are growing shorter. “Hallelujah” means “Praise the Lord!” in Hebrew. It is hard to shout praises to God in the valley of suffering.Yet and still, I don’t believe in wearing a long face, because returning to our Lord and God will set our hearts rejoicing and I believe that rejoicing in our suffering is the best way to cope with it.

When you realize how gracious the Lord our Lord is and how abounding in steadfast love, then it makes our returning a thing of joy. Those who repent and get ready for baptism in the old Black experience were called mourners. “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” But they were in for a surprise, just like we are in for a surprise, because our reunion with God will be a thing of joy. We just can’t even imagine how loving our God is. Yet and still, it is right for us to mourn our sin. Sadness and sorrow fills our hearts when we realize how much time we have wasted keeping our distance from God. Some people are afraid of God’s anger, but more are afraid of God’s love. How can we possibly not be swept off our feet, when on our return we meet with the abounding love of our gracious and merciful God?

I think of the prodigal, the wasteful son, who memorized his little verse returning to the Father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me like one of your hired hands!” (Luke 15:18-19) But the gracious and merciful Father abounding in steadfast love runs to the son while he is as yet far off, hugs and kisses him, says, “Get him a robe [for all God’s children have a robe], put a ring on his finger, get him a new set of clothes, kill the fatted calf and celebrate, because this my son was dead and behold he is alive; he was lost, and now he’s found.”

And the parable could be told about a prodigal daughter just as well: “Get her a robe [for all God’s children have a robe], put a ring on her finger, get her a new dress as beautiful as Michelle Obama’s, kill the fatted calf and celebrate, because this my daughter was dead and behold she is alive; she was lost, and now she’s found.”

Doesn’t that make you want to come back? Doesn’t that make you want to learn to know God better by reading the scripture, communing with the saints, spend quiet time with God in prayer? Just speaking intimately to God and making your relationship stronger once again?

Often a sin will prevent our hearts from becoming closer to the throbbing heart of God. Sometimes I ask myself why keep checking out the balance in my pension? Our heart can be wrapped up in money whether we have it or do not have it. It does not say, “Return to money, because it is gracious and merciful.” It is not. Everything does not turn into money and money cannot reproduce everything. Love, hope, patience, faith, solid relationships, real friends are all outside of the power of money to buy.

So our real treasure is Jesus in heaven, from whom we get all the really important things that matter in life. Our treasure is God in heaven, our God who is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, unshakeable love, overflowing love that you can count on. Our God is a God dying for you and me to return, as he really did in Jesus Christ when he died on the cross for us.

When we refuse to return and because God is slow to anger, it takes a while, but then God really does get angry. Doesn’t it feel like God is angry with us? We are in two wars. Our sons are getting blown up by roadside bombs. All the main brokerage houses have collapsed into the banks and the banks have to be propped up by our government so they don’t call down like a house of cards. Our financial storm is worse than Katrina: so many more people are losing their houses and jobs because of it. When we leave God we leave the blessed and good creation and find ourselves mingled in all kinds of self-destruction.

In Joel’s time it was the day of the locust. Great clouds of grasshoppers covered the land and ate up all the crops and they stared starvation in the face. The crackling noise they made when they ate was louder than a forest fire eating up our trees and burning up our houses. They swooped over the people and left them in utter darkness.

Joel said, “Blow the trumpet, declare a fast, let everyone appear in the temple and cry for the mercy of God! Let the priests intercede and cry and weep for the people” from the front doors all the way to the altar, that is, through the whole length of the church, so that God’s anger relents once we have gone too far and ignited it.

We have gone too far. How did we say it as children? Ooh, now you did it. Ooh, you’re going to get it! And this frightened sinking feeling came over you, knowing that you were going to be punished by an angry parent. All you could do was face the music.

I remember Deacon John, who told about how he used to drink secretly from his father’s wine. He would refill the bottle with water to the top so his father would not know. But he could tell when it was almost all water. “Get me a switch from the peach tree, boy. And it better be a good one.” And woe if he brought one back that was too small! And the old man still shuddered to think about the lashing he’d receive.

I’m describing this. I don’t believe that kind of punishment is good for kids. But psychological punishment can be worse. “You’ll never amount to anything!” can be a curse that parents put on their children and it keeps coming back in mind and making them fall down at the worst possible times.

Our God is slow to anger, but if we go too far, God will throw the book at us. But have you heard the Gospel? Jesus came down and took all our sins on himself, to give us the way to return and become reconciled with the Father. God is so gracious and merciful and abounding in steadfast love that when we went too far, he sent his Son and made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God the Son covered us and shielded us from the anger of God. Jesus acted as if it was his sin, even though we were the ones who sinned. He acted as if he had gone too far and all God’s wrath and fury struck the cross like a lightening rod, instead of us.

When we look up at Jesus on the cross, then we are seeing our Lord and God, gracious and merciful, and abounding in steadfast love for us. So what force could possibly be stronger than this love of our wonderful God attracting us with overflowing and abounding compassion for us? God is like a cup overflowing with love and concern for us. That is why our treasure is in heaven. God is our portion and our cup overflowing with goodness for us.

So how can we return to God? Some may want to fast. Do it in secret. Do your good in secret so that it sneaks up from behind and suddenly overwhelms people with the goodness that can over power the evil done in secret. You may want to give something up. Chocolates, cake, liquor, movies, ice cream, what have you. You have the freedom of a Christian to do such things or not. Just don’t hurt your health. That is not the point.

Sometimes we add some discipline: like what about my cooking for Nora a couple times a week instead of always having her come home from work and then still cook for me? Ah, that hurts!

The point however is to get our hearts throbbing in time with the loving heart of Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus is our priceless treasure and our hearts have to be inside his.

On my website, I have translated an old German poem from the days of courtly love, I’ll put it like this:

Jesus, you are mine, I am yours.

You can be sure it’s true.

Into my heart, I’ve gotten you.

Locked its lock, Lost the key,

So you’ll never get back out, you see.

No one is going to steal my God from me! And with Jesus in our hearts we will become like him: children of the heavenly Father. We’ll be gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So let’s return to God.

Say this whole world were mine. I’d give it up anytime, just to have a closer walk with Jesus!

“We are to love God with all our heart, strength, soul and mind and our neighbors as ourselves!” Have you told your dear God lately that you love him? At home we never said that we loved each other. Our son Mark introduced it. Did you hear the story about the Norwegian farmer who loved his wife so much he almost told her? And if you love God show it with your lives. It’s a sin to tell a lie!

O God how much we love you and celebrate your wonderful creation, such a gift to us. So we gladly serve you, because Jesus is our priceless treasure and nothing would give us more pleasure than to know that Jesus, you are mine and I belong to you.

You are mine and I am Thine and that’s for all time!

Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  Amen.

Seminarian Carlton Monroe preached for us on Bethlehem’s Black History Month Celebration. I’ll preach again for Lent on March 4th.

A Grace for Black History Month at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Oakland, California

Let’s steal away to pray:

Swing low sweet chariot and lift us up out of all the trouble we see. We’ve come this far by faith leaning on your word and through it all we’ve learned to depend upon your word. We lift every voice and sing, because Jesus, you are our Lord and King, and together we share all the gifts you bring. Thank you, Jesus for the hands that have prepared this food and for your servants, who have prepared and carried out this celebration. Amen.

A Communion Blessing:

On the cruel rails of the cross Jesus endured suffering, hurt, and pain for us and set our hearts rejoicing by his Gospel message of love, hope, and salvation. Amen.

A Valentine for 2009

If this whole world were mine,
without qualms,
I’d give it up any time,
Just to have you,

My queen of charms,

Right here in my arms.

Be my Valentine?

Our Lord Jesus is full of love, life, and healing and he is our cure for death, giving us a safe passover from death to the bossom of God our Father. Amen.

Epiphany Season will end soon with Ash Wednesday, 2009. Here’s for next Epiphany!

If you need a song for Epiphany or the Day of the Three Kings, El Dia de los Tres Reyes in Spanish, then here is the old familiar song by Andraé Crouch with some additional verses for this

occasion.

Refrain:

Soon and very soon, we’re going to see three kings,
Soon and very soon, we’re going to see three kings,
Soon and very soon, we’re going to see three kings.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we’re going to see three kings.

2. Herod got a scare, we’re going to see three kings, etc.

3. A bright star led them there, we’re going to see three kings, etc.

4. Costly gifts they bear, we’re going to see three kings, etc.

5. Oh, see them kneeling there before the new born king, etc.

In the page to the right under “Blogging my Thoughts” I gave excerpts from my bible study yesterday at Bethlehem on Matthew chapter 8. But that made me struggle with the larger picture of our financial and economic troubles in a second part. Does the proclamation of the Good News of  Kingdom of Heaven annul the boundaries of countries? It does, but that cannot be a law, it remains the gospel, which is impossible from a human perspective, but one can’t help carrying it out far-away beyond the call of duty, living out of the Holy Spirit’s grace and truth.

Some tags discussed: globalization, out-sourcing labor, income caps versus progressive taxation, Wall Street, investment earnings versus earnings from labor, etc. I keep struggling to understand what is going on in our boom and bust, boom and bust, bubble, bubble, pop, pop economy!

More German Medieval Love Poems
From Middle High German (ca.1050-ca.1450)

1. Were this Whole World Mine

Were this whole world mine
From the great sea to the Rhine
I’d leave it without qualms,
if only the queen of England
were in my arms.

Could this have been for
Eleanor of Aquitaine or Poitiers?

For our Valentine purposes:

If this whole world were mine,
without qualms,
I’d give it up any time,
My queen of charms,
Just to have you in my arms.

Modern German:

Wär alle Welt mein,
vom Mär bis an den Rhein,
des wolt ich mich darben,
so nur die Königin von England
liegen würde in meinem Armen.

In Middle High German:

Wær diu werlt alliu mîn
Von dem mere unz an den Rîn,
dez wolt ih mih darben,
daz diu künegîn von Engellant
læge an mînen armen.

These following two poems are macaronic, that is, they are written in Latin and German (MHG) and I have stayed as close as I could to the originals. What do you think? My Latin could use improvement.

2. Stetit puella, rufa tunica

Stay awhile, Puella
in your red hair
and tunica bella:
Should I touch it,
Don’t make much-of it. Ah, yes!

Stay awhile, Puella,
for a fella!
Your face glows
and like a rose,
your mouth blossoms. Ah, yes!

Stay awhile, Puella,
under the umbrella
of this tree.
I’ll carve amorem
in this arborem.
Stay awhile, Puella, with me.

Then just when Venus came,
Puella’s heart took flame,
and courtly from above,
Gave her man
all her love.

In Modern German

Bleib ’ne Weilchen, Puella,
Rothaarig in tunica bella.
Wie kann ich fühlen
Ohne dein Kleid zu berühren? Eia.
Bleib ’ne Weilchen, Puella,
so schön in tunica bella.
Im Glanz deines Gesichts
blüht dein roter Mund
Wie eine Rose. Eia.
Bleib ’ne Weilchen, Puella,
so schön in tunica bella.
Ich schreibe amorem
An diesen arborem.
Plötzlich kam Venus an.
Erbarmung magnam.
Viel minnige Liebe,
bot sie ihr Man.

In Middle High German

Stetit puella
rufa tunica:
si qui seam tetigit,
tunica crepuit. Eia.
Stetit puella
tamquam rosula
facie splenduit,
et os ejus floruit. Eia.
Stetit puella
bî einem boume,
scripsit amorem
an eime loube.
Dar chom Vênus alsô fram;
caritatem magnam,
vil hôhe mine
bôt si ir manne.

(“fram” bedeutet “sogleich”)

3. May Forests Flourish

May forests flourish where’er you go;
No, my friends, I feel so much woe.
Again and again the forest gets green,
My love, however, I have not seen,
Since he’s ridden into it.
Woe is me, who will love me?

In Modern German:

Floret silva undiquê

Der Wald wächst um mich je,
Neh, meine Gesellen, mir ist weh.
Grünet der Wald allenthalben,
wo ist mein Geselle, all so lange?
Der ist geritten hinnen,
Oh weh, wer soll mich lieben?

In Middle High German

Floret silva undiquê
nâh mime gesellen ist mir wê.
gruonet der walt allenthalben,
wa ist mîn geselle alse lange?
der ist geriten hinnen:
owê, wer sol mich minnen?

4. The nightingale sang so well

The nightingale sang so well,
that thankfulness my heart did swell,
and for the other little birds.
Then longingly I thought
of my woman, the queen of my heart.

Modern German:

Die Nachtegal sang so wohl
Dass man ihr’s ewig danken soll
Und andern kleinen Vögellein.
Dann an meine Frau
gingen meine Gedanken hin,
Die ist meines Herzens Königin.

In Middle High German:

Diu nahtegal sanc sô wol
daz man irs iemer danken sol
und andern kleinen vogellîn.
dô dâhte ich an die frouwen mîn:
diu ist mîns herzen künigîn.

These poems are taken from the Heath Anthology of German Poetry, edited by August Closs and T. Pugh Williams, (Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, Undated, 1950?), pages 73-75.