Audio Update
Note the addition of content to the Audio Visual Page. The eulogies of Eric Julin and Timothy Pent have been added.
Note Card: The Manner of Scripture
Written on a 4x6 note card by Stan Julin.
Memorizing Isaiah 66, it struck me that the manner of scripture is not always information or instruction. Sometimes it is the tossing to and fro of thoughts as one would have while sitting in a window on a rainy and windy day and sipping coffee with no rush, pondering a matter in a rare enlightened moment when thoughts come easily and quickly...
Memorizing Isaiah 66, it struck me that the manner of scripture is not always information or instruction. Sometimes it is the tossing to and fro of thoughts as one would have while sitting in a window on a rainy and windy day and sipping coffee with no rush, pondering a matter in a rare enlightened moment when thoughts come easily and quickly...
Note Card: A Significant Kindness and a Prayer for My Sons
Written on a 4x6 note card by Stan Julin.
[Blog Author's Note: There are three things that struck me about this short note card entry. First, he recorded the exact date and time. He frequently recorded the dates of his entries but not the times. So the recording of the time is his indicator that his words mark a very significant event. Second, I know that he was by that point in his life having some noticeable brain problems. Indeed, the problems are evident in his writing (I have typed it exactly as he wrote it.) Third, in spite of brain trouble, he was memorizing the 26th Chapter of Isaiah. ("Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.")]
[Blog Author's Note: There are three things that struck me about this short note card entry. First, he recorded the exact date and time. He frequently recorded the dates of his entries but not the times. So the recording of the time is his indicator that his words mark a very significant event. Second, I know that he was by that point in his life having some noticeable brain problems. Indeed, the problems are evident in his writing (I have typed it exactly as he wrote it.) Third, in spite of brain trouble, he was memorizing the 26th Chapter of Isaiah. ("Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.")]
Wedneday, August 6, 2008 11:21 AM
Someone anonymous had the lady at the place where people get coffee + at Borders (had her) give me a card with the remark that I was a good guy. I do not yet know $.$. I guess he was moved that I am memorizing Isa 26 I am moved. - very much- to tears.
Note Card: We Are Not Dealing With Spiro Agnew Here
Written on a 4x6 note card by Stan Julin.
[Blog Author's Note: I searched the Internet a for a little while, looking for what my father had in mind regarding Spiro Agnew. I found several stories that could have been the source of my father's rather obscure reference to him but nothing that seemed to surely match his thinking. Still, I thought the line made a good title.]
[Blog Author's Note: I searched the Internet a for a little while, looking for what my father had in mind regarding Spiro Agnew. I found several stories that could have been the source of my father's rather obscure reference to him but nothing that seemed to surely match his thinking. Still, I thought the line made a good title.]
It will be a good idea to recommend letting [people's]minds wander as to what it will be like in eternity - in heaven. No sitting on a cloud playing a harp - what did God save us to? No seeing Jesus from a distance as he waves from the limousine - these are infirm thoughts of one who is used to this life - we are not dealing with Spiro Agnew here.
Audio Update
Note that I have added two of the songs from my father's memorial service to the Audio Visual Page. I experienced some trepidation in doing so. I do not think the sound system did a completely accurate job of recording them. Nonetheless, for the time being at least, they are there.
Twenty Minutes On a Swing
Something has been leering at me through my kitchen window for the last few days. It sits in my back yard and beckons to my thoughts every time it falls within my line of vision. The last time it caught my attention was at 2:30 this morning, when I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. There it was, its light color visible just outside the window despite the moonless night. I went back to bed.
It is now 3:15 AM, and I am back out of bed, sitting in my living room, writing my thoughts on a piece of paper. The significance of the view out my kitchen window passed from my subconscious to my conscious mind about the time I tried to go back to sleep. Forty minutes later, it was evident that sleep would come after I had committed my thinking to paper.
The object that leers at me from the back yard is a yard swing, a plain and simple bench swing suspended from an A frame, the likes of which can be procured from the garden department at any Wal-Mart or Target in the United States. Purchased in March of this year, it was a birthday gift for Marci, requested by her not only because she knew she would enjoy having it but also because it occurred to her that my parents, particularly my father, might enjoy it. She was correct in that assessment, and my father whiled away many hours on that swing.
We are right now in the midst of those months which, in Florida, are unpleasant for sitting outside; so the swing has a cover over it and has not recently been used. But I know exactly when I last sat on that swing. It was May 16th of this year, beginning at about 8:00 PM.
It is now 3:15 AM, and I am back out of bed, sitting in my living room, writing my thoughts on a piece of paper. The significance of the view out my kitchen window passed from my subconscious to my conscious mind about the time I tried to go back to sleep. Forty minutes later, it was evident that sleep would come after I had committed my thinking to paper.
The object that leers at me from the back yard is a yard swing, a plain and simple bench swing suspended from an A frame, the likes of which can be procured from the garden department at any Wal-Mart or Target in the United States. Purchased in March of this year, it was a birthday gift for Marci, requested by her not only because she knew she would enjoy having it but also because it occurred to her that my parents, particularly my father, might enjoy it. She was correct in that assessment, and my father whiled away many hours on that swing.
We are right now in the midst of those months which, in Florida, are unpleasant for sitting outside; so the swing has a cover over it and has not recently been used. But I know exactly when I last sat on that swing. It was May 16th of this year, beginning at about 8:00 PM.
Note Card: She Coming Worshiped Him
August 16, 2005
Matthew 15:25 "She coming worshiped him, saying, 'Lord help me.'" This is worship, to beg of God. This is good for me. I often feel like a beggar before God. To hear that such an approach can be considered worship is good for my soul.
Note Card: A Thought That Perched Upon My Mind
May 3, 2006
Just a thought that perched upon my mind while gazing at Psalm 47: from verse 8. "God sitteth upon the throne of holiness." I cannot help but think that perhaps the throne of God features, or embodies holiness, while the throne of the Son features righteousness. Holiness of character suggests that it must be followed by a character of righteousness in behavior. Righteousness of behavior suggests a foundation of holiness of character behind it. The two of them must go together. Psalm 45:7 We speak of the unseen in spirit. Yet the unseen cannot be suppressed; life must find an outlet for manifestation.
Note Card: Holding Fast... Notes from Hebrews 3
May 3, 2006
Hebrews 3:6 "If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." This appears to be a peculiar feature, that it is needful for us to use determination to keep ourselves believing. But we hold the Word of God in our hands. However, we see some who resist it, and we see others who believed but were careless and thus were made cold. And there always are those who never really warmed and have a light approach to that which should mightily grip their hearts. And it has mightily gripped mine.
Note Card: The Angels Desire to Look Into These Things 2
[Blog Author's Note: This note card is closely related in content to another note card that I entered in May of this year. The other entry is linked here.]
May 3, 2006
The angels witness the folly of man regularly. Contrasted is God in his glory and his judgments. The difference must be to them dramatic, convincing, and instructive. The outward works of God are known from the beginning, but the secret, inner wonders of his nature have been and are being displayed in his words and in his patient work of salvation of men. In that he reveals what he is really like on the inside.
As a Result Of Alzheimer’s, Not In Spite Of It
[Blog Author's Note: Below, Marci answers some questions that I asked at the end of my eulogy for my father. Alzheimer's Disease, it turns out, is not all curse and no blessing.]
It is a common understanding that Alzheimer’s changes the personality of those afflicted with the disease. Another related perception is that the patient is no longer really there, since, after all, the mind is largely gone. Are these statements true? I would like to share some thoughts on these matters from our perspective because this dreaded disease is increasing in frequency, and preconceptions inevitably shape the attitude, approach, and care given to those who suffer with various forms of dementia, especially as they near the final stages.
Certainly Alzheimer’s affects the personality of the patient, but is that really all bad? Before the last stages of the disease, Stan was largely quiet. As his daughter-in-law, I had very few conversations with him throughout my previous nineteen years as a part of the Julin family. He was more of a fixture beside the more effervescent Connie. I knew what manner of man he was and respected him greatly for it but knew very little about him, and we certainly had no relationship to speak of. That was all to change due to Alzheimer’s.
Seth asked some profound questions in his eulogy for his father. “How, in his condition, did he remain a hero to me and become a hero to my wife and son? Why do I almost feel guilty that we got to have him live with us while my brothers missed out on that privilege? How did he manage to command greater respect even as his cognitive ability diminished?”
These Things Struck a Chord Within Me
With my father's passing, I have done some thinking about my reasons for maintaining this blog. The original intent was to use the blog honor him during his lifetime. Now that he is gone, the opportunity to so honor him has reached an end. I am finding, however, that there are still reasons to continue blogging. Here are my thoughts:
To watch a man who, for over forty years, had only treated me with kindness... to watch that man be trampled by a disease that knows no mercy... To see that same man stagger to his feet and fight back every time the disease knocked him down and to watch him keep fighting long after his most valuable traits had been taken...
To observe a man who had labored day and night to feed his family and had, in so doing, become a highly skilled craftsman... To see that man too reduced to turn a doorknob or put on shoes and to have that same man, not recognizing me as his son, come to me and, with a beaten down look upon his face, humbly ask me for a job...
To watch a man who, for over forty years, had only treated me with kindness... to watch that man be trampled by a disease that knows no mercy... To see that same man stagger to his feet and fight back every time the disease knocked him down and to watch him keep fighting long after his most valuable traits had been taken...
To observe a man who had labored day and night to feed his family and had, in so doing, become a highly skilled craftsman... To see that man too reduced to turn a doorknob or put on shoes and to have that same man, not recognizing me as his son, come to me and, with a beaten down look upon his face, humbly ask me for a job...
Enthusiastic Oar Dipping
Written on a 4x6 note card by Stan Julin.
[Blog Author's Note: What follows are my father's musings as he read Matthew 8. I found these thoughts interesting enough to share in spite of the fact that they are not organized into a carefully built line of reasoning.]
[Blog Author's Note: What follows are my father's musings as he read Matthew 8. I found these thoughts interesting enough to share in spite of the fact that they are not organized into a carefully built line of reasoning.]
April 8, 2000
Matthew 8: When the disciples awakened Jesus, they were probably not standing, the waves were so fierce. When Jesus sat up, He was not groggy but rational: Why are ye fearful, little faiths? He said that sitting down; then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, etc. I imagine there was usually some drudgery associated with rowing across Galilee, but this time I suppose there was some thinking going on with every dip of an oar the rest of the way across.
Audio Update
June 17, 2011
I (hopefully) have solved my technical difficulties and finally added Sam Julin's eulogy to the Audio Visual Page. Now in place are the eulogies of all three of Stan's sons. As I am able, I will add other highlights from the memorial service, as well as some other items.
I (hopefully) have solved my technical difficulties and finally added Sam Julin's eulogy to the Audio Visual Page. Now in place are the eulogies of all three of Stan's sons. As I am able, I will add other highlights from the memorial service, as well as some other items.
Regarding the Addition of an Audio Visual Page
June 14, 2011
Feel free to link up to the audio visual page I have added to this blog. Note that this feature is still very much under development and is not very well tested. So if it works on your system, great. If not, check back later when I have had time to work out any issues that may arise.
Also, regarding the fact that my eulogy and Ethan's eulogy are available in this section, but Sam's is not yet available: The problem is simply a logistical one... which I will soon have resolved. Sam's eulogy, along with some other highlights of the service, will be online soon.
Feel free to link up to the audio visual page I have added to this blog. Note that this feature is still very much under development and is not very well tested. So if it works on your system, great. If not, check back later when I have had time to work out any issues that may arise.
Also, regarding the fact that my eulogy and Ethan's eulogy are available in this section, but Sam's is not yet available: The problem is simply a logistical one... which I will soon have resolved. Sam's eulogy, along with some other highlights of the service, will be online soon.
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