https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/ Recent content on Lift Up Your Hearts! Hugo en-US Mon, 19 Oct 2026 11:48:10 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/looking-for-monsters/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 11:43:10 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/looking-for-monsters/ Facebook's record for showing me items of value is dismal—but there are still enough gems to keep me on the platform.  Whatever is neither a good idea nor genuinely funny I prefer to ignore, because to write about bad things gives them publicity.  I've never forgotten one newspaper columnist who wrote, "I don't care if you love me or hate me, as long as you read my columns." However, some ideas are so bad they require warnings, and a post I saw in my feed the other day needs to be called out. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/a-rare-bird-sighting/ Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:40:26 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/a-rare-bird-sighting/ Noah took me for a spin in a Cessna Skylane recently. This is not our plane. This is an F-22 Raptor, here from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for a local air show. We taxied past it on our way to the runway. Fun fact: That plane is from the same unit that shot down the Chinese balloon a few years ago. Was it the same plane? We'll never know, but it's fun to imagine. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/happy-coincidence-day/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 11:26:18 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/happy-coincidence-day/ Having never personally gotten over the Uniform Monday Holiday atrocity that changed our holiday calendar back in 1971, I am very pleased that this year I can wish you all a very   Happy Columbus Day! on the "correct" day of October 12th. I still haven't gotten over the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, nor the use of CE and BCE instead of AD and BC, nor the movement that changed " https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/we-have-a-new-rector...again/ Sun, 11 Oct 2026 05:50:12 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/we-have-a-new-rector...again/ This is not the first time God has decided that his plans are better than mine; nor shall it be the last. After a long year of depending on supply priests to lead our Sunday services, and on non-ordained staff and congregational volunteers to provide for the needs of our people, our church has called a new rector. It will be good to get someone who will belong to us, who will be the " https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/lovely-connecticut-house/ Thu, 08 Oct 2026 06:17:48 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/lovely-connecticut-house/ Would you like to live in Connecticut?  Check out this gorgeous home in Salem.  No, we're not selling it, though we do know the owners.  And we don't want to buy it.  The bulk of our immigrant ancestors did call Connecticut home, but at this point our roots run deep in Florida's sand.  But I can't deny that the Zillow listing is very attractive.  Here's a front view, and my favorite of the inside photos https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/flydubai-information/ Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:40:43 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/flydubai-information/ If you are interesting in learning more about the recent FlyDubai hijacking, may I again recommend MentourPilot for straightforward, knowledgeable commentary with minimal speculation. Here you can click on his latest short posts for a taste. He's still collecting authoritative data and working on a long form post, which should be fascinating when it comes. You won't get the lastest news and gossip, but you will get what appears to be reasonable and accurate data. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/grace-update-life-behind-no-news-is-good-news/ Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:54:45 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/grace-update-life-behind-no-news-is-good-news/ It's been a long time since I've posted an update on Grace, which is of course very encouraging! But here's something Jon posted recently that demonstrate that "no news is good news" hides a life that is far from normal, even though you'd never guess it from a casual encounter. There's a lot they don't tell you when you begin a complex medical journey—or maybe they do, but it's just too overwhelming to be taken in. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/times-change-human-nature-remains/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:48:39 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/times-change-human-nature-remains/ Let a man do right, nor trouble himself about worthless opinion; the less he heeds tongues, the less difficult will he find it to love men. — George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons George MacDonald lived from 1824 to 1905, but he nailed one of the chief dangers of social media. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/welcome-autumn/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 05:46:03 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/welcome-autumn/ Autumn came gently this year. Yes, we have notable seasons in Florida, just not the ones taught to preschool children. (Well I remember, when our children were that age, looking through a kindergarten workbook from a well-known publisher, and recognizing in a lesson on the seasons the same old spring, summer, winter, and fall that I knew from my childhood—especially the mounds of snow in winter. Good for a child in more northern climes, I noted, but certainly confusing for those growing up in Florida. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/nature-and-nurture/ Sat, 26 Sep 2026 05:40:12 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/nature-and-nurture/ Our two-year-old granddaughter is a sweet, tender little girl. With four older brothers. Recently she was overheard crooning this little lullaby while rocking her doll: Little baby Jesus, I love you. Sing with me. Rock, baby, Will FALL! At the word "fall," she chucked the baby across the room. Undoubtedly she figured the baby enjoyed the ride as much as she enjoys playing with the guys in her life, who swing her around until she's dizzy, toss her high into the air, and give her rough, bouncy " https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/early-morning-sunshine/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 07:11:14 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/early-morning-sunshine/ In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candlelight. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I cannot wait for the return of Standard Time! The above lines by Robert Louis Stevenson return to me every morning these days. In point of fact, I have been "dressing by yellow candlelight" all summer, too. In Orlando, the earliest sunrise is about 6:30 EDT, which occurs in early June, and the latest sunset about 8:30 EDT, in late June. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/all-is-gift-george-macdonald-and-c.-s.-lewis/ Sun, 20 Sep 2026 07:39:11 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/all-is-gift-george-macdonald-and-c.-s.-lewis/ If you were reading Lift Up Your Hearts! regularly back in 2020, thank you. The following may consequently sound familiar, but it's worth reprising. C. S. Lewis is well-known, and classic. George MacDonald is much less so, though he has enjoyed somewhat of a revival thanks to renewed availability of his writings. What is worth bearing in mind is that he was Lewis's mentor, though they never met; it was his writings—and the character they revealed—that influenced Lewis so greatly. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/apple-hunting/ Thu, 17 Sep 2026 06:51:02 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/apple-hunting/ I must share a wonderful article from Yankee Magazine. Many years ago, when we were first married, my in-laws gave us a subscription. It was interesting, but not so much so that I've missed it in the many years since we let our subscription lapse.  But recently I came upon "The Heirloom Apple Hunters," and was overwhelmed by a wave of homesickness for the Northeast. I've come to love Florida; what's more, New York and New England have changed far too much for me to want to move back there. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/when-did-everything-become-disposable/ Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:21:00 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/when-did-everything-become-disposable/ When I promised you more Mollie Engelhart, I was anticipating drawing on a backlog of her earlier columns that I've marked for the purpose. But today's jumped out at me and took precedence. "When Did Everything Become Disposable?" is her reflections on the trend of travelling to an event empty-handed, buying everything needed at the site (coolers, tents, chairs, clothes), and abandoning it all when the event is over. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/ancient-history-current-danger/ Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:54:54 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/ancient-history-current-danger/ For me, September 11, 2001 might as well be yesterday. But not one of our 13 grandchildren was alive when my generation had its "Pearl Harbor" moment, and realized that our country is not invulnerable. Even for the eldest grandchild, it must feel as ancient as the division of Germany into East and West feels to me. To mark this 25th anniversary of the day our world turned upside down, I offer two choir anthems that were written shortly after the events. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/debunked-by-nature/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:09:42 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/debunked-by-nature/ Debunked by Nature: How a Vegan-Chef-Turned-Regenerative-Farmer Discovered that Mother Nature Is a Conservative by Mollie Engelhart (Acres U.S.A., Inc., 2025) When and where I first heard about Mollie Engelhart I no longer remember, but it is enough to realize that the foreword of this book is written by Joel Salatin, whose agricultural revolution I've admired for years. I've been enjoying Engelhart's well-written columns for a long time, and have occasionally quoted from them here. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/mentour-pilot/ Sat, 05 Sep 2026 08:15:59 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/mentour-pilot/ Porter discovered a YouTube channel called Mentour Pilot, and we both quickly became fascinated. Petter Hörnfeldt, a well-credentialed airline pilot, uses this channel to inform both fellow pilots and ordinary airline passengers about aviation practices, procedures, and safety, mostly through exploring spectacular aviation accidents: what caused them, how they were handled, what was learned from them, and what changes were then made. You might think that learning the details about mostly gruesome aviation events would make people afraid to fly at all, but I find that it actually demonstrates why flying continues to be an exceedingly safe mode of transportation. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-ghost-wing/ Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:40:21 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-ghost-wing/ Someone on Facebook captured the hippocampe ailé (winged seahorse) in the winglet of an Air France jet. That's what Porter was trying to get while we were flying from Paris to Florence. Instead, the emblem is completely missing, and all you see is a large, white dot. But that's not the strangest part of this photo.  You beautiful Italian countryside, you see the winglet—but where's the wing? https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/old-glory-is-not-an-emoji/ Sun, 30 Aug 2026 06:09:37 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/old-glory-is-not-an-emoji/ It's time to stop half-staff flag abuse. I've nothing in particular against Dolly Parton, but the decision to lower flags to half mast when she died prompted me to write about something that's been irking me for quite a while. Flags are so frequently flying at half-staff nowadays that my reaction has been reduced to a guessing game, with all the impact of an emoji: I wonder who died now. https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/a-cheer-for-almond-paste/ Thu, 27 Aug 2026 05:52:46 -0400 https://sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/a-cheer-for-almond-paste/ I love almond paste. It was a late-in-life acquired taste, introduced to me by my mother-in-law, who fed us marzipan in several forms at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Marzipan is great, and almond paste, which is not as sweet, is even better. While making almond paste spirals (a type of pastry) this afternoon, I decided to query about the nutritional value of almond paste. This is the answer I received—I assume from Leo, as I was using the Brave browser.