As I write this, it is the last day of May, 2024. Obviously, tomorrow marks the first day of June, 2024. And my grandsons, oblivious of what year it is, are all hyped!
You see, they have all been quite busy making their way through the hallowed halls of Pre-K, Kindergarten, and the First Grade. Though they all are at different ages, and thus at varying stages in this process, they are all still learning the basics, including all the various colors, all the various shapes, as well as all the basic numbers and all the letters of the alphabet.
The older ones are even learning to build on these things and to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Better yet, they are learning to read!
I recently discovered that they also are grasping the concepts of the differing days of the week and of the months of the year as well. Already, the oldest, who happens to be a gifted athlete, has figured out which month of the year brings about which sport he gets to play!
Of course, they have also grasped that the months of June, July, and (in part at least) August together constitute the summer season. These months also collectively mark the time when they are all out of school.
During this special time, they get to go on vacation, to go to the lake, to go to the amusement park, to go to the swimming pool, to grill out, and to undertake any number of similar seasonal activities. There is little doubt, therefore, that they all love to see June roll around.
As a child, I was no different. Of course, as an adult, I learned that the three months traditionally associated with summer here in the northern hemisphere – June, July, and August – were all named by and for ancient Romans.
Scholars tell us that “Etymologically, June is ultimately derived from the Latin month of Iunius, named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno (Latin: Iūnō).” Iunius, it seems, was originally the fourth month of the Roman year, which actually started with March.
They further tell us that Juno was “an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology and a goddess of love and marriage.” Is it any wonder so many weddings take place in June?
Similarly, we are told that July “was named by the Roman Senate in honor of Roman General Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before then it was called Quintilis, being the fifth month of the calendar that started with March.”
August shares a similar history. It seems that “The month was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year…”; but that “in 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus.”
All these things I came to discover and to know in college and seminary. I am glad that I did. It is important to know Western Civilization and its origins. There are reasons why all of us are who we are. Still, few if any of these facts have consumed me this last night of May before the dawning of June, 2024. Instead, I find myself thinking about one particular individual.
That person was my maternal grandmother, Junie Mae Jackson. Family lore recounts that my father’s mother was born so near midnight between May 31, 1914 and June 1, 1914, that she was named Junie Mae as a result.
I have never known any other person who bore that combination of first and middle names. And for this I am thankful. For, to me (and no doubt for all who knew her), she was a unique individual.
You see, it mattered not to me what her name was. She could have been named April-May, or Julia-Augusta, or any one of several dozen other such possible month-based nomenclatures. It would have mattered little to me.
What did matter is that, outside of my own mother, she was the one woman in all of my formative years that had the most impact on my life. As I little boy, I saw her as a giant of a woman. (Indeed, at about 5’9” or 5’10”, she was larger than most of the other women in the small community where we all lived.)
But for me, she was larger than life in so many other ways as well. Even as a child, I recognized and valued her work ethic. There was not a single lazy bone in her body.
I saw her deep devotion to family. She loved my grandfather, their children (among them my father), and grandchildren (myself among them); and it showed.
I saw her quiet unassuming spirit. She never once displayed inappropriate language or behavior in any situation that I ever witnessed.
Above all, I saw her commitment as a believer to her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
More times than I can count as little boy, I sat on an old fashioned wooden pew in the little country church where my family and I all attended, right next to my father and mother and, just behind my grandfather and grandmother, as together we all sang these words…
While passing through this world of sin,
And others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you;
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Your life's a book before their eyes,
They're reading it through and through;
Say, does it point them to the skies,
Do others see Jesus in you?
What joy 'twill be at set of sun,
In mansions beyond the blue,
To find some souls that you have won;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave, and true,
And lead the lost to life and light;
Let others see Jesus in you.
On this last day before May and June, I’ll say this for Junie Mae Jackson. She clearly let others see Jesus in her! I was among those who did. And for that, I will always be thankful.
In his First New Testament Letter to the Corinthian believers (chapter 11, verse 1), the Apostle Paul once wrote: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” I never had the privilege of meeting the Apostle Paul in this world. That day will come in eternity.
But I did have the privilege of meeting at least one other individual who could honestly say, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” That individual was none other than my maternal grandmother, Junie Mae Jackson. She clearly let others see Jesus in her.
May I always follow the example she set. May I always follow the Lord she served!
CALENDAR SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(mythology);
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August.
SONG SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/while_passing_through_this_world_of_sin.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/11-1.htm.
You see, they have all been quite busy making their way through the hallowed halls of Pre-K, Kindergarten, and the First Grade. Though they all are at different ages, and thus at varying stages in this process, they are all still learning the basics, including all the various colors, all the various shapes, as well as all the basic numbers and all the letters of the alphabet.
The older ones are even learning to build on these things and to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Better yet, they are learning to read!
I recently discovered that they also are grasping the concepts of the differing days of the week and of the months of the year as well. Already, the oldest, who happens to be a gifted athlete, has figured out which month of the year brings about which sport he gets to play!
Of course, they have also grasped that the months of June, July, and (in part at least) August together constitute the summer season. These months also collectively mark the time when they are all out of school.
During this special time, they get to go on vacation, to go to the lake, to go to the amusement park, to go to the swimming pool, to grill out, and to undertake any number of similar seasonal activities. There is little doubt, therefore, that they all love to see June roll around.
As a child, I was no different. Of course, as an adult, I learned that the three months traditionally associated with summer here in the northern hemisphere – June, July, and August – were all named by and for ancient Romans.
Scholars tell us that “Etymologically, June is ultimately derived from the Latin month of Iunius, named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno (Latin: Iūnō).” Iunius, it seems, was originally the fourth month of the Roman year, which actually started with March.
They further tell us that Juno was “an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology and a goddess of love and marriage.” Is it any wonder so many weddings take place in June?
Similarly, we are told that July “was named by the Roman Senate in honor of Roman General Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before then it was called Quintilis, being the fifth month of the calendar that started with March.”
August shares a similar history. It seems that “The month was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year…”; but that “in 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus.”
All these things I came to discover and to know in college and seminary. I am glad that I did. It is important to know Western Civilization and its origins. There are reasons why all of us are who we are. Still, few if any of these facts have consumed me this last night of May before the dawning of June, 2024. Instead, I find myself thinking about one particular individual.
That person was my maternal grandmother, Junie Mae Jackson. Family lore recounts that my father’s mother was born so near midnight between May 31, 1914 and June 1, 1914, that she was named Junie Mae as a result.
I have never known any other person who bore that combination of first and middle names. And for this I am thankful. For, to me (and no doubt for all who knew her), she was a unique individual.
You see, it mattered not to me what her name was. She could have been named April-May, or Julia-Augusta, or any one of several dozen other such possible month-based nomenclatures. It would have mattered little to me.
What did matter is that, outside of my own mother, she was the one woman in all of my formative years that had the most impact on my life. As I little boy, I saw her as a giant of a woman. (Indeed, at about 5’9” or 5’10”, she was larger than most of the other women in the small community where we all lived.)
But for me, she was larger than life in so many other ways as well. Even as a child, I recognized and valued her work ethic. There was not a single lazy bone in her body.
I saw her deep devotion to family. She loved my grandfather, their children (among them my father), and grandchildren (myself among them); and it showed.
I saw her quiet unassuming spirit. She never once displayed inappropriate language or behavior in any situation that I ever witnessed.
Above all, I saw her commitment as a believer to her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
More times than I can count as little boy, I sat on an old fashioned wooden pew in the little country church where my family and I all attended, right next to my father and mother and, just behind my grandfather and grandmother, as together we all sang these words…
While passing through this world of sin,
And others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you;
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Your life's a book before their eyes,
They're reading it through and through;
Say, does it point them to the skies,
Do others see Jesus in you?
What joy 'twill be at set of sun,
In mansions beyond the blue,
To find some souls that you have won;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave, and true,
And lead the lost to life and light;
Let others see Jesus in you.
On this last day before May and June, I’ll say this for Junie Mae Jackson. She clearly let others see Jesus in her! I was among those who did. And for that, I will always be thankful.
In his First New Testament Letter to the Corinthian believers (chapter 11, verse 1), the Apostle Paul once wrote: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” I never had the privilege of meeting the Apostle Paul in this world. That day will come in eternity.
But I did have the privilege of meeting at least one other individual who could honestly say, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” That individual was none other than my maternal grandmother, Junie Mae Jackson. She clearly let others see Jesus in her.
May I always follow the example she set. May I always follow the Lord she served!
CALENDAR SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(mythology);
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August.
SONG SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/while_passing_through_this_world_of_sin.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/11-1.htm.