The pranks are on

Let the Hunger Games begin...

The epic life was anything but over, instead ...

John Wesley was born in 1703 in Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Lincoln, the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna (née Annesley). His father was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a Church of England rector.

In 1689, Samuel had married Susanna, twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annes minister. Wesley's parents had both become members of the established Church of England early in adulthood. Susanna bore Samuel Wesley nineteen children, but only ten lived. In 1696 Wesley's father was appointed the rector of Epworth.

At the age of five, Wesley was rescued from the burning rectory. This escape made a deep impression on his mind and he regarded himself as providentially set apart, as a "brand plucked from the burning" quoting Zechariah 3:2. As in many families at the time, Wesley's parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they could walk and talk. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School to increase their knowledge.

Today, as I read more and more about John, and his talented, gifted brother Charles, I'm reminded of what John Mellencamp had to say of the brothers. Almost no one could recite one of John's sermons. Almost everyone could recite and/or sing one of Charles singing. That's just the way it was. Charles' work was memorably written. John's work was written, memorably.

Let's begin our work together, piecing together memories as if they were grains of sand to be conjured. Charles was a craftsman, a Sears I-pad/pod/puddle pensively pranking