Gentle Reader,
I have a special treat for you today. Below is an article from the Will Rogers Memorial Museum website about Will Rogers and his passion for Christmas.
Here is the original link for the article: Will Rogers Christmas. Enjoy!
CLAREMORE — Will Rogers never outgrew the child’s passion for the Christmas holiday. Traveling the world as an actor or cowboy or at home in California with his children, the season took on a special sense, one of joy and sharing with family and friends.
It’s been 80 years, but one Christmas remains vivid for Coke Meyer of Bartlesville, Will’s great-niece. One of Coke’s earliest memories of Christmas was made special by her Uncle Will. She was six and living with her ailing grandmother Maude Rogers Lane in Chelsea.
“I’ll never forget he sent electric lights from New York … No one in Chelsea had ever even heard of lights on trees, except candles and then with care,” she said.
Her father, Chelsea pharmacist Cap Lane, and Monday, a preacher for a black church and the man “who helped Granny in her dairy,” decorated a tree at the end of the lane at the gracious Lane home on Chelsea’s east side.
Coke remembers spending two days moving the mechanical hospital bed Will had sent for Mrs. Lane, relocating her to the “tower room” where she could see the tree. The grandchildren helped fill sacks with and an orange and candy to be distributed to those who stood beneath the window and sang Christmas carols. Mrs. Lane died five months later.
While Will never came home for the holiday after she was born, Coke and her cousin Tim Milam remember his generous Christmas checks. Checks were made personally to the older ones. “He could never remember the last name of cousin Lasca, so he just wrote Lasca on a check and sent it to Dad, who would forward it,” Coke reminisced.
“We always took our money and bought a new pair of shoes, then pooled the rest for a summer vacation.”
Like many men, Will was a last minute shopper. In a book written by his wife, Betty, she tells how he did his own shopping, “usually the day before Christmas.” Remembering everyone who worked for or with him, he would come home with “mountains of toys and clothing” and spend Christmas Eve wrapping gifts.
Often on Christmas Day, the family would retreat to a little log cabin on their property, where they could spend the day in seclusion. The children took turns at being Santa. Once when it was Mary’s turn, she fixed her pony with Christmas trappings, packed a sack and rode the pony into the house.
Only once after his marriage was Will away from home. He sent gifts home in 1931, then spent a lonely Christmas in Shanghai.
His first Christmas gift to Betty was a “little lace handkerchief” sent the winter after he had taken her to Chelsea to meet his family. He was away from home, but sent her the gift he had carried with him since purchasing it in Africa years before while buying lace and needlework for his sisters.
He had been saving it for a special time. The old Indian lady he bought the lace from gave him the handkerchief and asked if he was married. When he said no, she told him to give it to his wife when he married.
He carried it with him through Africa, through Australia, and then home, always intending to do as the old woman said. That year, just a few years before he and Betty were married in 1908, he decided it was for her.
I hope you have enjoyed this article from the Will Rogers Memorial Museum website. Please visit the Systems of Merritt blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Have you ever been blessed? Have you ever been a blessing?
When I was in grad school, years ago, my wife and I lived in married student housing, along with a lot of other young, financially challenged, couples. We didn’t make much money, but we managed to find an extra $50 which we gave to another couple. I can still remember the tears in the wife’s eyes as they received the gift.
This past year, a friend gave us grocery money when we were in need. Blessings seem to flow freely as the Lord meets the needs of his people.
When we consider who the Lord is, the maker of heaven and earth, it doesn’t seem so strange that he meets needs for those “whose hope is in the Lord,” as the Psalmist says. This beautiful image of ocean life, doesn’t begin to come close to conveying the richness and vastness of God’s creation.
Dear Lord, help me to be a blessing to others, as you have blessed me in so many ways. Help me to put my hope in you, my creator, and faith in your son Jesus, our savior. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 146 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes NASB iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
When my children were little, they would come to me for protection and help. “Daddy, he wouldn’t share his crayons, and he hit me!” I would comfort my child by holding them in my arms and try to correct the crayon sharing problem. When all was resolved, they would climb down and go about their business.
Just as my children knew where their “hiding place” was, God provides us with a hiding place where we can go for comfort. Just as the bird in the picture has a safe place among the rocks, God provides us a safe place when we need protection.
As I share these Psalms with you day-by-day, I have noticed that God’s word is always a necessary part of the Psalmist’s message. In this Psalm, in order to enter God’s hiding place, we must hope in his word.
Dear Lord, help us to know your word better, that we may find a hiding place and that we may be upheld according to your word. Amen
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 119 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes KJV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Politicians and candidates that don’t tell the truth really are to be pitied. Reporters and news organizations that make up stories and repeat the lies of the candidates are also to be pitied.
Interestingly, it seems that the mainstream press seems to attack, without mercy, candidates that tell the truth. Every detail of their lives, clothing, bank records, shopping habits, children, contents of their trash cans are probed in detail. Candidates supported by the mainstream press can do and say whatever they want, true or false, without question.
In this day and age, we need candidates and politicians with integrity. I think people instinctively sense the efforts of the mainstream press to cast truth as a lie, and a lie as the truth. While there are many people that “ain’t any more interested in politics than they are in long underwear,” as Will Rogers says, I believe that more people are becoming interested.
May God give honest politicians strength to stand, and may God give voters the wisdom to choose truth over lies.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Rogers understands nationalistic pride, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We should be proud of our country. The problem comes when such pride is bent on the destruction of other countries. Germany under Hitler would be a good example.
Even today, there are problems. The leader of Iran says that Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth. Are these idle threats, as Iran seeks nuclear capability?
How would you respond if your neighbor told everyone they were going to threaten your “baby?” Would you ignore the threat, or prepare an effective response?
Image Information: The image of Rogers is from his 1921 silent film Guile of Women. Rogers plays a Swede named Yal who travels with a friend to America to seek his fortune. After misfortunes in love and business, his girlfriend finally arrives from Sweden.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Don’t you wish you could be as happy and carefree as the sea otter in this picture? God seems to have given these playful creatures an energy and happiness above their fellow creatures. You don’t normally associate happiness with a bear, elk, tiger or walrus, do you?
So it is with us. Some people just seem to be happier. Could it be that people who love righteousness might generally be happier than those who don’t? The Psalmist indicates that the righteous person is favored with gladness from God.
In this fallen world, it is amazing that happiness exists at all. Natural disasters, wars, strife, accidents, and so many other events in our lives seem designed to rob us of any happiness at all. The pursuit of happiness seems a fruitless exercise, sadness a certain curse. Is there any hope?
God has “anointed you with the oil of gladness,” says the Psalmist. Deep happiness, gladness, joy, comes from God. God is the one who can turn back the fallenness and give us hope. This is something that we cannot do on our own.
Consider the life of Jesus. Jesus broke though the fallenness of this world with his healings, teachings and miracles, and most important, his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit continues the work of redemption today in the lives of believers. Seek the living God today and ask Jesus for the joy and happiness that comes from forgiveness of your sins. With the help of the Holy Spirit you can “love righteousness” too.
Dear Lord, Save me from this fallen world. Help me to find true happiness, no matter what comes my way. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 45 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Will RogersWill Rogers attended peace/disarmament conferences during the 1920s and early 1930s, mostly for the humor value. He would telegraph his observations back to U.S. newspapers, such as the January 28, 1930 quote seen here, that ran in his Daily Telegraph syndicated column.
As a keen observer of legislative politics in the U.S., Rogers knew that international politics would hopelessly bog down any “peace” progress with procedures and committees. Rogers also knew that anything approaching common sense would never come out of any conference, therefore dooming any results or treaty to failure in any practical sense.
He was right in 1930, and he is still right today. Starry-eyed dreamers hold up worthless treaties and declare “world peace” while compromising the ability of the U.S. to keep the peace with strong defensive capability backed up with unmatched offensive technology.
Such a display of weakness has encouraged rogue nations to aggressively pursue their own weapons programs that threaten entire regions of the world. Common sense left when the conference met to appoint a commission to appoint a delegation to appoint a subcommittee.
Image Information: Will Rogers loved just about anything that involved horses. He had a polo field built on his property in California and would play matches with his friends, as can be seen in this picture.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Do you remember, as a child, being taken somewhere by your parents? If it was a place you really wanted to go, like the state fair, you were very excited. Additionally, you were absolutely confident in their choice to take you where they said they would. Not only was it exciting, it was a great comfort as well, that you could trust them at their word.
Now contrast that with being lost in a big city. You never know if the choice you made to turn left or right will be the right choice – the choice that will take you to your destination. There is no comfort, only anxiety as you search for the way home.
Election in the Bible has to do with God choosing us. It’s amazing, that as you read the Scriptures, how many times we come across passages about how God has chosen us.
As Spurgeon says, it is truly humbling to know that we are not chosen because of anything about us, what we have done or even accomplished. For that undeserved grace, gratitude should pour from our hearts. We can take great comfort in that.
Now if my salvation and standing with God is the product of my choice, it would be unsettling, just like being lost in the big city. Did I make the right choice? If I choose God, can I then “unchoose” God? If I ever do find the way, then it would have been done through my effort, my choices.
I’m no theologian, but it just seems that concerning salvation, God choosing me, is much more of a comfort than me choosing God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Eph 2:8-9 ESV. If we look closely at this passage, we find that even our faith is the gift of God.
Dear Lord, Grant me the gift of faith, that I may believe. Help me to know how perfect your choice is. Help me to take comfort in your election, your choosing of the saints. If there is any uncertainty in me, help me to begin to understand the depth and completeness of your grace, and let my heart bring forth gratitude and praise. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
There are so many great opportunities in government employment these days. With the great pay and benefits, who wants to work in the private sector any more. In fact, government employment is so good, why have a private sector at all?
Recently I learned that there were over 80 jobs available in the Federal Government as tanning salon inspectors. What could be more exciting than examining the books and customers at tanning salons across the country?
If you love to read, you can get a job as a regulator in the EPA. The new EPA regulations required for monitoring green house gasses (GHG) requires lengthy reports from small businesses across the fruited plain. Even if a small business doesn’t need to monitor their GHG emissions, they still need to submit a lengthy report explaining why not. Not only do they need an army of report readers, they need an army of new inspectors to visit every business that has a gas powered engine or storage tank of fluid that might belch out dangerous gasses.
If you love animals you could become a member of the elite bovine flatulation research team. Your mission is to put a cork in the emission of deadly gasses into the atmosphere. Applicants must be vegan, and are required to wear protective clothing, hard hat, hearing protection, respirator and face shield.
If you love to dream, then OSHA is the place for you. Dreaming up new ways people can hurt themselves with common everyday items and then writing new business regulations can be exciting. Oil workers are now safer in their white coveralls that must be changed when soiled by a drop of oil. Day care centers now deploy haz-mat teams in the changing areas to better handle toxic waste.
Applying for a government job is easy. Just sign up at your local unemployment offices. The 12 language 200 page application form is designed to prepare you for your new career as a government employee.
Image Info At the time of his death in 1935, Will Rogers was a major box office draw, second only to a very young Shirley Temple. Movies were only one of the reasons for Will Rogers’ popularity. He was a daily syndicated columnist, radio commentator, humorist and political mover and shaker. If you look closely at the images, you will faintly see the words: “The most beloved man of the masses.” Will Rogers was a great man, an inspiring personality, and is worth remembering even today.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
If ever a Will Rogers quote was relevant today, it is this one. When I send my hard-earned money off to Washington, I hope that they would spend it wisely. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently so! When I hear about the pork barrel spending and waste, it just burns my grits. We’re talking about huge amounts of money here folks. When a government accountant sneezes, a million dollars goes up in smoke. When a politician blinks, a billion dollars vanishes and when the president gives a speech, wealth disappears.
The President is a rich guy. His tax bill this past year was over $400,000. He talks about the rich people needing to pay their fair share, but if I sent that kind of money to the government, I would expect a “thanks,” and a little accountability.
Instead, my money is spent on failed programs, by the billions. We have a Federal Education department that hasn’t improved education by any measurable result. The War on Poverty has had more negative results than positive. Yet we hear how important these programs are, and that more money is needed to fix the problems they created in the first place.
Any belief that elected officials in this administration posses any special wisdom and common sense went out the window when the Vice President said: “Just becaust the Recovery Act was a monumental failure, does not mean that it is not working.”
My only hope is that candidates in the next election come up with something better to offer than empty promises. Is that too much to ask?
Image Info: Wiley Post is pictured with Will Rogers in this colorized image. Post was one of the most famous aviators of the 1930s, and set records for high-altitude and round-the-world flights. Rogers and Post were killed in a plane crash in Alaska in August of 1935.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
I love my customers, and quotes like the following make it all worthwhile!
A good way to start the day
This is a nice app. Each day there is a nature picture and a quote from Spurgeon worthy of pondering. Very easy to use.
Another Comment
Though He Be Dead, Yet Still He Speaketh…I love this man….WOW!!!
Labor Day is a funny name for a holiday. It’s a day when nobody works, or wants to work. Labor unions started observing a labor day in 1882, and Congress passed an act in 1894 making the first Monday in September a national holiday.
In 1929, Will Rogers noted that: “How Congress knew anything about labor is beyond us…” I guess, not much has changed since Will Rogers’ day. Congress didn’t pass a budget last year, they spend money like a drunken sailor, unemployment is up, and the administration hires another professor from academia to advise the president on economic affairs. Do we have any confidence that anyone in Washington knows what they’re doing when it comes to business and labor?
Here’s the latest word from the genius economic advisors in the administration. Unemployment checks are good because people spend the money and stimulate the economy. The more checks, the more stimulus! I don’t think these guys can tell the difference between grits and sawdust!
As if that weren’t enough, the EPA, DOJ, INS, NLRB, and every other Federal agency is burdening business with regulations and lawsuits that kill job growth.
Well, that’s all I’ve got to say about that. Now I have to submit Form GOLB1024 to the Dept. of Communication, confirming that this blog was non-partisan and meets the kindness threshold for internet blog posts. By the way, the form states that the Office of Paperwork Reduction has cut the length of the form in half by reducing the size of the type from 12 point to 6 point.
Have a great Labor Day!
Photo Information: Once Will Rogers found out he could get places faster by flying, he was constantly in the air. In this picture, Will climbs into an open cockpit airplane.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Rogers is right on target as usual with this quote. How many times do we read in the papers that the experts are “surprised” by the latest economic news?
This quote comes from the Will Rogers Daily Quotes iPhone app. Each quote is coupled with an image of Will, and the image information is included after the quote.
The image is from Rogers’ movie Ropin’ Fool. Rogers is twirling his lasso as he talks to the young lady. If you look close you see the lasso is circling both of them.
The movie Ropin’ Fool was produced by Rogers to show is expertise with the lasso. It’s fun to watch. Some of his tricks have never been duplicated, and the movie uses slow motion to allow the viewer to catch the motion of the rope.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Psalm 2 7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
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I’ve been so sick on occasion that I didn’t feel like doing anything. I didn’t even want to sit up and read because my eyes were sore. Sickness, grief, depression and other afflictions can get us down to where it feels like our soul clings to the dust, and our soul melts from heaviness, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:25. We feel like a desert wasteland, as shown in the image. Nothing is growing, nothing is green.
It’s amazing what a little medication can do for the body. A friend can come alongside to share the grief, or offer an encouraging word to help lift the heaviness of our heart. Rain in the desert can bring out beautiful blossoms and colors.
The Psalmist also asks for God’s help. “Quicken me” he says, “Make me understand the way of Your precepts” he prays. Once we start thinking about it we can begin to meditate on his wondrous works and offer the Lord praise for his grace and kindness toward us.
The passage continues: “Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law graciously.” God’s word or law is our help and comfort.
Dear Lord, when our body is sick or our soul is heavy, please help us to turn to your word. Let it revive us, strengthen us and comfort us. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 119 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes KJV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
A refuge is a place of safety and shelter. It is a place that offers protection from any dangers that may affect us from outside. It is a place where we can find rest. An example of refuge for many of us, would be the arms of our parents when we were young. They were …
This quote from Will Rogers in March of 1932 is certainly relevant today! Sometimes when I read one of his brilliant humorous quotes, I have to laugh out loud. But as I ponder the meaning, it sends a chill up my spine. This is one of those quotes. One of the reasons it costs so …
Folks, you just gotta love Will Rogers! Here’s a classic quote about war and the Federal Reserve from 1929 that still rings true today. The Federal Reserve (The Fed) is responsible for conducting the nation’s monetary policy to help maintain employment, keep prices stable, and keep interest rates relatively low. The poor folks running The …
In Will Rogers’ day, they had organized crime problems. Today, we have domestic terrorism threats. Perhaps there’s not much difference when you have people wanting to kill each other. The quote from Will Rogers indicates that the killing and hate don’t end at the prison door. Inside the prison, the hatred and struggle for power …
What a glorious Psalm about God’s goodness. To ponder such great goodness, brings about praise as the Psalmist says: “Your saints will extol you.” Not only is God good now, but His goodness extends through all generations and beyond. Sometimes I struggle with why so many bad things happen to me. Bad things are all …
We don’t think much about the importance of rivers today, as we drive comfortably across bridges in air conditioned cars sipping from a bottle of clean water. To folks in the 19th century and earlier, rivers were their source of life-giving water. To have convenient access to a clean, clear, abundant supply of river water …
Politicians and candidates that don’t tell the truth really are to be pitied. Reporters and news organizations that make up stories and repeat the lies of the candidates are also to be pitied. Interestingly, it seems that the mainstream press seems to attack, without mercy, candidates that tell the truth. Every detail of their lives, …
In this beautiful photograph you can see the effect of the sunlight as it lights up the sky. Beautiful shapes and colors emerge, where before there was nothing but blackness. We need God’s light to guide us, and we also need His truth. The Psalmist asks that they guide him to God’s dwelling. We cannot …
Have you ever felt the exuberant joy described in Psalm 47? Have you ever been overwhelmed with the wonder of the greatness of God that you just had to praise Him? I’ve been in audiences where the person on stage received a standing ovation. We clapped and shouted. Everyone had a smile on their face. …
This Will Rogers quote must be true. How else do you explain how legislators get reelected after scandalous behavior or legislating against the will of the people. It’s just astonishing that some of these politicians have any credibility left, but they keep getting elected. It’s as regular and predictable as the milking schedule on a …
