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On Today’s Menu:
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** Share some birthday galette for an Irish playwright’s tale of a French hero.
** Linger to consider some wisdom given by my mother to me.
** Savor a last ½ cup unraveling a Celtic knot of meanings around a single date.
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STT-75
First Sip
Dunois:
You have the makings of a soldier in you.
You are in love with war.
Joan (startled):
Oh! And the Archbishop said
I was in love with religion.
– from Saint Joan
a play by George Bernard Shaw
Scene 3
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Slice of Cake
Robert:
Oh! You think the girl can work miracles, do you?
Poulengey:
I think the girl herself
is a bit of a miracle.
– from Saint Joan
a play by George Bernard Shaw
Scene 1
Saint Joan is a play
by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.
It first opened on Broadway in 1923.
I read it for the first time this week.
The Archbishop:
This creature is not a saint.
She is not even a respectable woman.
She does not wear women’s clothes…
and she rides round the country with soldiers.
– from Saint Joan
a play by George Bernard Shaw
Scene 2
What’s interesting—and new to me—is how Shaw
puts Joan of Arc in the middle of so much historic change.
Cauchon:
This girl has never once mentioned The Church,
and thinks only of God and herself…
She has never once mentioned the peerage,
and thinks only of the king and herself.
– from Saint Joan
a play by George Bernard Shaw
Scene 4
Not just political power shifting from a feudal system to nationalism,
and religious power shifting from Catholic heirarchy to Protestantism, but—
(according to Shaw’s play, anyway)—
it was also during the seismic shift in warfare:
from seeing skirmishes between knights to using canons.
Joan:
What use is armor against gunpowder?
– from Saint Joan
a play by George Bernard Shaw
Scene 5
Of course, this play is fiction and not history.
Maybe next year, I’ll look for a book that lends some facts
to these historic shifts—and Joan of Arc’s place within them.
Or maybe I’ll just wait for a new play to come out!
Because fascination with this 17-year-old soldier/adventurer
never seems to die out.
And in these days of brave teenage activists,
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joan of Arc
re-invisioned again soon!
Happy 611th birthday
** Jeanne d’Arc **
– born January 6, 1412
in Domrémy, France
.
Linger Awhile
This week I’ve been thinking about gifts. Especially, what we
carry with us from the past.
I spent some time thinking back,
trying to work out what it is that I learned from my mom—
and what from my childhood am I still
carrying forward today.
** 4 Messages I got from My Mom **
While Growing Up…
(Not said in so many words—
but in so many ways.)
* I love you. I trust you.
* You’re strong. You’re sensitive.
Both are good.
* We’re all here to help each other.
* We’re all God’s children.
Every damn one of us.
“Half Cup More”
January 6 has something of
a Celtic knot of intertwined meanings for me…
Joan of Arc was born on January 6, 1412.
My mother’s father, sent to France in 1918,
spent the war in Domrémy—the same village where
Jeanne d’Arc was born and raised.
He came home to Michigan, got married, and named one
of his daughters Jean, after Jeanne d’Arc.
My mother baptized me Kelly Jeanne in 1961—
named after my Aunt Jean, with Joan of Arc as my patron saint.
My mother died on January 6, 2018.
January 6 is also the Feast of the Epiphany,
the day the Three Magi brought their gifts.
I made my first sky-t-tray post on January 6, 2019,
partly in remembrance of my mother.
And sky-t-tray, in its roundabout way, has brought many gifts
around to me.
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Take-Away Box
my mom in 1962
with me, taking a look back
(and my big brother, just looking cute!)
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Thank you for reading!
— Kelly J Hardesty
Thoughts? Questions?
Scroll down to the end—and you can leave me a note!
Always so lovely to hear from you. .
You Can Read More…
STT-75
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© Kelly J Hardesty 2023