The grackles are back in the Park. They're not as popular as robins, of course, nor as tuneful. They're blackbirds, after all, from which we stand off a bit.
I remember, from my childhood, listening to the radio at the breakfast table on weekday mornings, how John Gambling and Peter Roberts used to joke about grackles. John Gambling was the host of Rambling with Gambling on WOR. (My mother never missed.) Peter Roberts was his newcaster on the half-hour, and they had this thing called the "John Gambling Research Foundation." Gambling was the straight man, and Roberts the cut-up.
Why they got such a kick out of grackles, I don't know, and just what they said about them, I can't remember. But what I think they must have noticed is that grackles (being blackbirds) are smart and audacious, and they have attitude.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The blog of Reverend Doctor Daniel Meeter of Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (718)638-8300
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2008
(44)
-
▼
March
(11)
- What Spirituality Means to Me
- Sermon for March 30, Easter 2
- Easter 2008: Resurrection Fact, Metaphor, and Mystery
- Good Friday, 2008
- Homily for Maundy Thursday
- Despise the Shame
- "I Want A Sober Mind"
- Grackles
- Spiritual Formation 7: Community
- The Event for the Homeless at Old First
- Spiritual Formation 6: Seeing and Believing
-
▼
March
(11)
Our Members & Projects
Our Faith Community
Our History
Our Neighborhood
About Me
- Old First
- Daniel James Meeter grew up in Manhattan, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Jersey, and Long Island. He was ordained to the Reformed Church ministry in 1980, and has served churches in Jersey, Michigan, and Ontario. He earned a Ph.D. from Drew University in 1989, and has published two technical books in theology as well as many articles. He is married to Rev. Melody Takken Meeter, the Director of Pastoral Care at the Lutheran Medical Center of Brooklyn. They have two married children. The Old First Mission Statement: Old First Reformed Church is a community of Jesus Christ in Brooklyn. We welcome persons of every ethnicity, race, and orientation to worship, serve, and love God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We embrace the following missions: 1. To offer God's word, prayer, the sacraments, and discipleship; 2. To offer outreach, education, fellowship, and music; 3. To offer sanctuary to anyone seeking spirituality and hope; 4. To offer hospitality to community groups and the arts; 5. To care for the gifts we have been given through our Reformed Church, including our historic sanctuary and building.
3 comments:
Peter Roberts used to say "After all is done and serd (said)...the grackle is a noble bird".
I too have a mom who listened faithfully to John Gambling & Peter Roberts joke about the noble grackle. It was a standing joke between the two & it went on for years. They used to tell tales of how grackles caused mischief & how Peter Roberts was often made to look foolish by grackles. I'm glad someone else remembers this show & the grackle jokes.
This came back to me last evening, when my lady found an injured grackle in our backyard and took him to a local bird rescue group. Had thought of Gambling in many years, but he was there with us at breakfast all through my childhood.
Post a Comment