January 23

Arthur Guinness, Paul Robeson, Phillips Brooks

Author

David Barnhart
January 23, 2025

Turkey Tail Mushrooms, North Alabama, 2021

Today marks the death, in 1803, of Arthur Guinness, who is most famous for the beer that bears his name. What many people do not know is that he first brewed his beer because he felt called by God to reduce his community’s dependence on gin and hard liquor. Guinness also established the first Sunday School in Ireland and was heavily influenced in his notions of Christianity and business ethics by John Wesley. There is a review of a recent biography of Guinness at this link. 

Today also marks the death, in 1976, of Paul Robeson, singer, civil rights leader, antifascist, and activist. He traveled the world using his talent and fame to draw attention to many social justic issues. He forced American politicians to acknowledge the genocide of lynching and refused to be silenced, even when blacklisted by Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. Although his ideological commitments caused him to overlook Joseph Stalin’s atrocities, he was a proponent of solidarity and liberation. 

In the Episcopal Church, this is the feast day of Phillips Brooks, who died on this day in 1893. In addition to being an important Christian voice during the Civil War, he also wrote the hymn O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Reflection:

“Every artist, every scientist, must decide now where he stands. He has no alternative. There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers. Through the destruction, in certain countries, of the greatest of man’s literary heritage, through the propagation of false ideas of racial and national superiority, the artist, the scientist, the writer is challenged. The struggle invades the formerly cloistered halls of our universities and other seats of learning. The battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear.”

I am more keenly aware of the truth of Robeson’s words today, as we witness the growth of fascism and naked white supremacy in the United States. Artists, scientists, clergy, and healers of every kind must take a stand.

Prayer: Our God and Guide, renew public ethics and justice in this place where grift, lying, and ethnic nationalism have been normalized.