Stephen C. McKinney Memorial Thread (1969-2001)

[Stephen C]

Christmas Day, 1986 1:02am

It’s Christmas time again, that joyous time when all my family is home and gathered to celebrate the birth of our Lord. We have just come from midnight services, and I was privileged to sing my favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night, this year and after, read from the Bible:

And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign onto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” --Luke 2:16 KJV

I did not actually have to read it, for I know it in my heart and memory. What a glorious and precious story! The account of our dear Lord Jesus’ birth. On this holiest of nights I am filled to the brim with His presence.. “my cup runneth over”. I do not know what is ahead of me in this life, but I know, somehow it will be a short life. Why? I have no answer, but I know it, as certain as I know my own name. So, on this Christmas Eve, I am comforted by having my Lord in my heart. And there He will remain, until He calls me Home.

Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let Earth receive her King!

“God bless us, every one.” –Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

[duchess of malfi]

Thank you, Furls. It's always good to hear your brothers words.

[Furls Fire]

I wish to share something that happened last Christmas, during dinner. Each year we go around the table and say what we are thankful for. We have the camcorder going. Last night, we watched last year's....

From Isaiah:

"I have been living a solitary life, one full of lonliness and sadness. I belonged nowhere and wandered everywhere.

(a small pause, to wipe tears away)

But no more.

(Another pause)

I thank the Lord for bringing me home to my family. There is no greater gift than love. And I have been given it in abundance. I can never repay you, Tracie and Russ, for guiding me home. I can only offer my complete gratitude and humble acceptance of your wondrous gift to me. Merry Christmas."

God bless you all

Peace

[Fist and Faith]

Awesome, Tracie. Not even a tiny bit surprising, though. I wish I could have been there with all of you. Your house must have been literally dripping with the light of love.


You know, I just can't read Stephen's quote from Luke without hearing Linus' voice.

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

Heehee!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[Furls Fire]

Hey everyone,

This is Russ, Tracie's significant other. I wasn't able to just post here as a guest so I logged in under her name.

Anyway, our anniversary is Christmas Eve, we've been married 22 years now. This year I've left little things around the house and yard for her to find randomly to let her know know how much I love her. So bear with me. This is just another little something I'm leaving her...

Tracie,

You are the greatest part of me. Without you, I would be nothing. I think God everyday for you. Each day you amaze me just by being you. "You complete me." Fits us so well, doesn't it?

Here's our song...

Love, soft as an easy chair
Love, fresh as the morning air
One love that is shared by two
I have found with you

Like a rose under the April snow
I was always certain love would grow
Love, ageless and evergreen
Seldom seen by two

You and I will make each night the first
Everyday a beginning
Spirits rise and their dance is unrehearsed
They warm and excite us
'Cause we have the brightest love

Two lights that shine as one
Morning glory and midnight sun
Time, we've learned to sail above
Time, won't change the meaning of one love

Ageless and ever ever green.-- Barbra Striesand

I love you, Baby. Happy Anniversary.

Russ



(Thanks for your indulgence all...)

[danlo]

Right on Russ! That Tracie is a gift from God! You're a very lucky man! Congrats! Both of you!

[Fist and Faith]

Anyway, our anniversary is Christmas Eve, we've been married 22 years now. This year I've left little things around the house and yard for her to find randomly to let her know know how much I love her. So bear with me. This is just another little something I'm leaving her...

:LOLS::LOLS: Russ, this is the coolest thing ever!!!!

Happy anniversary, you two crazy kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dlbpharmd]

Furlsy is going to cry over this, I'm thinkin'.....that Russ is a pretty smooth fellow, can he give lessons?

[Furls Fire]

sneaky is what he is I love you with all my heart and soul, Russ

Thanks for the anniversary wishes Fist, Danlo and Dlpsy I'm truly blessed.

And as for all "the little things" left all over the place. He's outdone himself. We are on our way to Las Vegas on March 19th to see Joshie!!! He left those "little things" in Stevie's, Naeem's and Ayize's diaper duffle. I didn't find them until yesterday!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! Ours was beautiful as usual. We missed those we lost, but rejoiced knowing they were safe and at peace now. Had dinner at my In Laws this year, she insisted. So, that is where we were when you called Fist We didn't stay too long...she gets nervous with all the kids around, especially the babies...hehehehe

Happy New Year to all my loved ones here at the Watch. May 2005 bring you joy, peace, and most important...Love.

God Bless

[Furls Fire]

Hail everyone!!

Guess what? Russ and I are off to South Africa again!! We go to bring back our new daughter, Imani. She's 3 years old and sooooooo precious. She has tested HIV positive so we are hoping to get her to Liz right away and have it eradicated.

I've been trying to find a home for her since before Christmas, and then Russell, the smart man that he is, said "Let's just bring her home." So, that's what we are going to do. I'll be gone for a week or so, but Brooke might be around, she said she wanted to type up one of Stephen's entries and post it. Since I haven't done that in a long time.

Take care everyone, and God bless!!

[Fist and Faith]

*shakes head & quietly laughs*

[ChoChiyo]

Simply amazing. Tracie, you are a gift to the world.

[Fire Daughter]

Hi everyone

As promised I have typed up one of my favorite journal entries of Uncle Steve's. It's a simple one, nothing like some of the ones my mom has posted. I chose this one because he talks about one of my favorite movies. One that I am only now beginning to fully understand.

"gather ye rosebuds while ye may"

[Stephen C]

June 18, 1991 11:09pm

There is a part in “Dead Poet’s Society” when Robin Williams’ character has the boys all stand up on his desk and look at the world around then. Showing them, with just a slight change in perspective, how dimensional their lives really are. These boys, bred to be who their parents ordained, learn to become “free thinkers” under the guidance of Professor Keating. Tragically, however, it is not met with approval or tolerance.

If we shadows have offended
think but this and all is mended
That you have but slumbered here
while these visions did appear
And this weak and idle theme
no more yielding than a dream
Gentles do not reprehend,
if you pardon, we will mend
And as I’m an honest Puck,
if we have unearned luck
How to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue,
we will make amends ere long
Else the Puck a liar call,
so goodnight unto you all
Give me your hands if we be friends
and Robin shall restore amends.

A Midsummers Night Dream, William Shakespeare

And then there is this:

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life! To put to rest all that was not life. And not, when I came to die, discover that I have not lived.--Henry David Thoreau

Oh, how this movie tugs at me. My heart cries as the scenes go by one after another…

“I sound my barbaric yawp!”

And although only a movie, such themes are very much reality. Conformity, lack of individualization, the consensus that all must be as society demands. Neil wanted to be an actor, that is where his true self found inner peace, inner contentment, inner accomplishment. His father, insisted he become a doctor, thrusting his dream onto his son. Not heeding Neil’s wish: no, not wish, need, his need to be something else. A need so strong that when it was denied him, it broke him, and drove him to end his life. How utterly sad, how utterly criminal.

Could I be happy if my life were already arranged for me? Could I live such a life? Is this living a life deliberately? To me, such a life would be mere existence. A shadow walk. The sun only the dial by which the days are measured. And then, coming to end and discovering that I have not lived. Oh, life is way too short for that!

“I wish to sail beyond the sunset…”

Carpe Diem…seize the day.

[dlbpharmd]

Thanks, Firesy - that's a great post. DPS is one of my favorite movies!

[Kymbierlee]

ME, too. That was beautiful. I forgot how much I loved that movie.


"I shout my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world....." now theres a line to give us all strength.

[Fist and Faith]

Oh man!!! Me too!! What a great movie!!!

KEATING:
Thank you Mr. Pitts. "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may." The Latin term for that sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows what that means?

(Meeks immediately puts his hand up.)

MEEKS: Carpe Diem. That's "seize the day."

KEATING: Very good, Mr.-

MEEKS: Meeks.

KEATING: Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Why does the writer use these lines?

CHARLIE: Because he's in a hurry.

KEATING: No, ding! (slams his hand down on an imaginary buzzer.) Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die.

(Keating turns towards the trophy cases, filled with trophies, footballs, and team pictures.)

KEATING: Now, I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You've walked past them many times. I don't think you've really looked at them.

(The students slowly gather round the cases and Keating moves behind them.)

KEATING: They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlmen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in.

(The boys lean in and Keating hovers over Cameron's shoulder.)

KEATING: (whispering in a gruff voice) Carpe.

(Cameron looks over his shoulder with an aggravated expression on his face.)

KEATING: Hear it? (whispering again) Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.

(The boys stare at the faces in the cabinet in silence.)

KEATING: We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering - these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love - these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman:

O Me! O Life! Of the questions of these recurring
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish.
What good amid these, o me, o life?
Answer:
That you are here. That life exists, and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.

(Keating looks up at Todd.)

What will your verse be?

Actually, that's not quite the complete Whitman poem, so here it is:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
O Me! O Life!

O ME! O life!... of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks, Brooke! Your taste is as good as your uncle's. No surprise. You have the GREAT fortune of having parents who will encourage and help you "fully understand" such things. I'm sure you will make your life as extraordinary as theirs are.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs. Hero In Me, by Jeffrey Gaines.

<I>He's lived as long as he possibly can
Given the circumstance
'Cause he's protected himself from the world
He never gave it a chance
And he says: Here in my security
I've put a limit on my self-potential and my possibility

She's seen these walls and they never change
Everything's in its place
Her relationships so neatly arranged
Down to religion and race
And she says: Here in my security
I don't make a move unless my friends approve
I do what's expected of me

And as I grow older
And there's so much that I do not know
I'm drawn to those who are bolder
And go where no one dare to go

And I sleep
And I dream of the person I might have been
Then I'll be free again
And I speak
Like someone who's been to the highest peaks
And back again
And I swear
That my grass is greener than anyone's
'Till I believe again
Then I wake
And the dream fades away and I face the day
And I realize
That there's got to be some hero in me

They've been suppressing their every desire
They do nothing on a whim
She's lost her sparkle and he's lost the fire
Their future looks very dim
And I say: Here in my security
I've simply let myself go
I've developed a co-dependency

And as I grow older
So many places that I've never been
Time is tapping my shoulder
I hope it's never too late to begin

And I sleep
And I dream of the person I might have been
Then I'll be free again
And I speak
Like someone who's been to the highest peaks
And back again
And I swear
That my grass is greener than anyone's
'Till I believe again
Then I wake
And the dream fades away and I face the day
And I realize
That there's got to be some hero in me</I>

[Avatar]

Always loved Dead Poets Society myself.

--A

[Furls Fire]

Ahh...perfect one Brooke!!

I remember Stephen saw this movie before I did. After it was over he called me and told me I just had to see it. It instantly became one of my favorites too. Robin Williams deserved an Oscar for it in my humble little opinion.

O Me! O Life!

What will your verse be?