The On The Bookshelf Podcast

Kevin Kokomo, Early American History Prof on ”La Florida”, the first colony

“La Florida: Catholics, Conquistadores and Other American Origin Stories“

 by Kevin Kokomoor (Pineapple Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot)

I grew up in Florida, so we learned about the Spanish exploration of our state centuries before any United States. But I still gained lots of cool information about the challenges faced by explorer/colonists and Native Americans as they ran into each other. The reason that we are talking about Florida this week is because the first Thanksgiving meal on the North American continent was not held in Massachusetts Bay in 1621 with pious Protestants and welcoming First Nations; rather, it was a half-century earlier in Florida (September in 1565) with pious Catholic and reluctant First Nations neighbors! We remember the English story because they ultimately prevailed on this continent, but the first explorers and colonizers spoke Spanish and were determined to convert the Indians to Catholicism. It was not wildly successful, and La Florida became the stone that broke many a conquistador’s dreams of wealth and power.

St. Augustine was founded as a Spanish measure to protect their treasure ships as they headed up the Gulf Stream past the East Coast toward Europe. It would be attacked several times and burned, despite it never being that big a settlement. (A century after its founding it finally got the impressive Castillo de San Markos, built from the same plans as castles in Havana, Cuba and Puerto Rico). The territory of La Florida was massive at first, stretching across what is now the entire southeastern US! Over time, parts of it were “civilized” with communities (as Pensacola and two other small towns joined St. Augustine. However, that was pretty much it for more than a century.) Over time, parts of it were carved away by other settlers from other nations.The Mississippian Native American political structure, destroyed by the Spanish colonizers, was eventually replaced with the tribes now recognized across the South (Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Seminole). Small groups from the major bands, including the original Alachua communities, spread themselves so thin in the Everglades that early 19^th century Americans would quit looking for them. St. Augustine later became a destination for those escaping slavery in the Carolina colonies. Even though the Spanish imported slaves before Brits or Dutch did so, they were not as particular about people of different ethnicities living in close proximity as were the Brits. One more legacy from Spanish explorers: food! That includes barbeque, pork, beef, and orange juice!

 

David and Barbara Leeman return with ”Gloria in Excelsis”

David and Barbara Leeman, retired church music and worship director and elementary school music teacher (respectively) created a marvelous book worth reopening every Advent season. I first talked to them in 2020 and 2022 so it might be an annual tradition. They present some of the most beloved hymns for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Some are as old as the 12th century, while a few are practically new, and there are all manner of ones in-between. In each case, they provide the backstories to the lyrics, music and context of each Christmas hymn. Their website, hosanna hymnal.com, gives you access to piano accompaniment books and downloads. Merry Christmas!

Leslie Leyland Fields brings ”A Radiant Birth” for Advent

“A Radiant Birth: Advent Readings for a Bright Season” edited by Leslie Leyland Fields and Paul J Willis (IVP Formatio)

The Season of Advent is upon us, a time of anticipation, of waiting in the darkness for the Light to arise. Christians know that we should be introspective as. We wait for the Christ Child to be born in Bethlehem, and look ahead to when He will return in glory to claim us and to forever banish sin and death. But often we just try to cram a little Advent calendar into all our Christmas busyness, and we miss out on the mystery, and the glory, and the majesty. That’s why Paul J. Willis and Leslie Leyland Fields compiled a wonderful new anthology for observing Advent, with the help of 24 other authors, poets, theologians, preachers and sages. These “wise guides all will help shepherd us through the mistletoe wickets of the season. Consider the first Christmas sermon preserved and passed down through the centuries from Antioch in AD 386 by St. John Chrysostom, a priest who later became the Bishop of Constantinople” (the capitol of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Europe’s Christian strong hold for almost a millennium.) “This is why (they are) here in these pages to behold together, anew. We are following our namesake. All of (those) in these pages belong  or have belonged to the Chrysostom Society, an informal gathering of writers of faith. St. John spoke so eloquently, so passionately, that he was named Chrysostom, meaning ‘golden-tongued’.” Their goal: to inspire us “to behold-again; to hear the good news-again. To know hope-again.” The 42 daily readings take us from the first Sunday of Advent through to Epiphany on January 6, the Twelfth Day of Christmas. (That celebrates the king’s worship and recognition of Jesus as the Messiah King.).My favorites include

“Redeeming All Brokenness”, “Into the Darkest Hour”, and “A Sky Full of God’s Children” by Madeleine L’Engle;

“Joseph at the Nativity” by Tania Runyan;

“Our Merrymaking” and “Melancholy Angel” by Philip Yancey;

“Jesus’ Bloody Birth” and “Christmas and the Cross” by Lauren F. Winner;

“Winter Solstice”  and the two-part “Somewhere in the Judean Hills” by James Calvin Schaap;

“Sermon on the Nativity” by St. John Chrysostom;

“Orphan Christmas” by Daniel Taylor;

“Maundy Thursday” by Walter Wangerin Jr.;

“Old as Clouds, Wise as Wind” by Gina Ochsner;

“A Welcome-Unwelcome Traveler in Narnia” by Matthew Dickerson;

“The Least of Us” by Sarah Arthur;

“Neighbors” by Deborah Dickerson;

“Epiphany” by Lucy Shaw, and

“He Came to Even Me: A Reader’s Theater” by Leslie Leyland Fields

Samuel Blumenthal brings wonderful deep stories for reflection and inspiration

Sam grew up as Reform Jewish, and converted to Christianity in mid-life after some serious personal losses. He doesn't bring overtly Christian stories or even overtly religious stories, but like the OT Book of Esther, God's fingerprints are all over them. His career as a counselor gave him deep insight into the world of mental illness and clinical depression, as well as the critical reality of hope.

Renowned Rock Music author Mark Lego brings a new bio of icon Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker burst onto the rock music scene thanks to the original Woodstock Music Festival and the subsequent film based on the event, cemented his chart status with "Feelin' Alright" , "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "You Are So Beautiful". However, he suffered from low self-esteem and bouts of depression after major positive events, self-destructive habits like smoking and chronic alcoholism and drugs. His fame rose again with the release of "Up Where We Belong" with Jenifer Barnes, but his personal life took a significant change for the better with he married his wife Pam. She got him to stop drinking and smoking. The life of a rock icon, especially with such a unique (and admittedly bizarre) stage presence, nonetheless shines through his deep passion for music, especially the blues.