Notebook, Heidelberg, Germany
Dawna, Joey Pike and I joined the All Saints Episcopal Community yesterday for their "regular" 9 AM service. I put that in quotes because this indomitable group puts no small effort into wiring together worship. Fr. Hanns comes in from the Convocation of European Churches for two Sundays (He has his own congregation.)and leaves behind consecrated bread and wine to be distributed by Lay Eucharistic Ministers Elizabeth Linn and Annemarie Delgado on other days. All this takes no small amount of effort on their part and in the wake of the assurance given by the ministries of Rich Schweinsberg and Gianni Martin I am exceptionally admiring of all that they do and what I witnessed.
For example, on this past Sunday Rosetta (the unassuming dynamo and "gatherer" of the congregation) and Harry Cass picked us up at our hotel, drove us to the post chapel and began the now familiar and tedious process of signing us in. It was there I met again the irrepressible Fr. Hanns who you would never know had had a heart episode a few months before. I should be so healthy.
At the service we were 20 persons strong. All Saints has always been something of a delightful oddity. It claims a greater community of folk who have moved on as members of, "All Saints Elsewhere." Think that's an overstatement? They have a website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AllSaintsEpiscopal-Heidelberg/. Where an intercession "for those who are deployed" might be a brief reference, here it will last a minute or so. These folks are that serious about lasting Christian bonds even when dispersed.
My homily was just OK until I got the idea, left my prepared text, and spoke directly to the valiant community looking me in the eye. I don't recall what I said but I felt more of connection courtesy of their faith in the importance of gathering together in Christ's Name regardless of the challenges.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
An Excuse to Get Together, Thanks to Hitler
Notebook, Heidelberg, Germany
At 2 Euros for 20 minutes on this computer I better make this short. Despite too much coffee to keep jet lag at bay I enjoyed hosting some of the Pike Family on Saturday, i.e., Mom Dawna and Son Joey. Daughter Stephanie had to stay at home with the Girl Scouts and Dad Steve was in Japan with the Navy. Nevertheless we had lunch and toured Hitler's Thingstatte, a slave labor created bowl set on a hillside which was both creepy and an acoustical marvel. (I wired this together only by calling New York and having Brook--thank God for her--find it on a map!)
Back to the outing...you can hear a whisper 200 meters away from the top to the bottom of this stadium, a handy effect for propaganda rallies. You can't throw a rock in Germany without hitting an old Nazi curiosity and weekend strollers found all kinds of ways to goof around on the Third Reich's construction site. It seemed fitting. We took advantage of the joke as Joey repeatedly scampered up the 117 steps to test out if he could hear what Mom Dawna and Bishop George said sotto voce.
When you come down to it one of the lasting things about this episcopacy is that it's an excuse for us to get together.
At 2 Euros for 20 minutes on this computer I better make this short. Despite too much coffee to keep jet lag at bay I enjoyed hosting some of the Pike Family on Saturday, i.e., Mom Dawna and Son Joey. Daughter Stephanie had to stay at home with the Girl Scouts and Dad Steve was in Japan with the Navy. Nevertheless we had lunch and toured Hitler's Thingstatte, a slave labor created bowl set on a hillside which was both creepy and an acoustical marvel. (I wired this together only by calling New York and having Brook--thank God for her--find it on a map!)
Back to the outing...you can hear a whisper 200 meters away from the top to the bottom of this stadium, a handy effect for propaganda rallies. You can't throw a rock in Germany without hitting an old Nazi curiosity and weekend strollers found all kinds of ways to goof around on the Third Reich's construction site. It seemed fitting. We took advantage of the joke as Joey repeatedly scampered up the 117 steps to test out if he could hear what Mom Dawna and Bishop George said sotto voce.
When you come down to it one of the lasting things about this episcopacy is that it's an excuse for us to get together.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Bill Schooler's out of the Hospital
Notebook
I just called Bill Schooler (VA) who had a knee replacement on April 9th. He wasn't wild about the trade offs he had to put up with in order to take the pain medication so he weaned himself off that pretty quickly. As a matter of fact his down time at the rehab hospital was a blur of 10 days!
He's home now with his wife, Ruth. Keep her in your prayers. She has glomerulo-nephritis, an inflammation of the capillaries of the kidney.
Bill is looking forward to getting back to the hospital where he serves as a chaplain.
Despite their setbacks these fine folks continue to give from glad hearts.
I just called Bill Schooler (VA) who had a knee replacement on April 9th. He wasn't wild about the trade offs he had to put up with in order to take the pain medication so he weaned himself off that pretty quickly. As a matter of fact his down time at the rehab hospital was a blur of 10 days!
He's home now with his wife, Ruth. Keep her in your prayers. She has glomerulo-nephritis, an inflammation of the capillaries of the kidney.
Bill is looking forward to getting back to the hospital where he serves as a chaplain.
Despite their setbacks these fine folks continue to give from glad hearts.
Some Good News
Notebook
I called Ira Houck (Active Army) about his son Cory who we have all been praying for and found out he is out of the woods. Cory is a student at Viginia Military Institute (VMI) and came down with complications to what appeared to be mononucleosis; he had to leave school because of it. It looked very serious but as Ike said, "He was nursed back to health through the gentle care of his mother." It turned out to be a very bad infection of the esophagus. By the way, we send our condolences to Margaret Houck on the death of her father John McKenna. Mr. McKenna was the much beloved and acclaimed football coach at VMI for many years.
Mike McEwen (Army Reserves) called me with the wonderful news that his kidney surgery was a complete success! Not only was the tumor on the outer surface of the kidney, it was benign. When we spoke only two days after the procedure he was already home and other than a little achy from the incisions he sounded wonderful and very relieved. Mike even expected to be able to attend the Diocese of Oklahoma walkabouts for the new bishop election. I told him to introduce himself to Wes Smith (Army Reserves) who is one of the candidates as the miracle man who has been on our prayer list!
I called Ira Houck (Active Army) about his son Cory who we have all been praying for and found out he is out of the woods. Cory is a student at Viginia Military Institute (VMI) and came down with complications to what appeared to be mononucleosis; he had to leave school because of it. It looked very serious but as Ike said, "He was nursed back to health through the gentle care of his mother." It turned out to be a very bad infection of the esophagus. By the way, we send our condolences to Margaret Houck on the death of her father John McKenna. Mr. McKenna was the much beloved and acclaimed football coach at VMI for many years.
Mike McEwen (Army Reserves) called me with the wonderful news that his kidney surgery was a complete success! Not only was the tumor on the outer surface of the kidney, it was benign. When we spoke only two days after the procedure he was already home and other than a little achy from the incisions he sounded wonderful and very relieved. Mike even expected to be able to attend the Diocese of Oklahoma walkabouts for the new bishop election. I told him to introduce himself to Wes Smith (Army Reserves) who is one of the candidates as the miracle man who has been on our prayer list!
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Complete Circuit Chaplain
Notebook
George Ortiz-Guzman has come full circle in his companionship with those who are deployed. In a very short time his series of jobs as an Air Force Reservist have been: at Malmstrom AFB in Montana where families were feeling the impact of a recently deployed parent; in Afghanistan with a ministry among the deployed; in Germany where he bid farewell and welcome home to colleagues to and from southwest Asia; and now in a sobering assignment at the Dover AFB mortuary in Delaware where American dead are escorted for their final trip home.
George, a widower with two grown children, resigned his parish to accept this unusual string of assignments. "It's what I think I'm called to do in this stage of my life. Perhaps I can step in and substitute for another chaplain with a young family," he says.
Chaplain Ortiz-Guzman didn't sound like a stand-in when I heard him speak before the Diocese of Delaware Convention recently about the solemnity of his work of preparing bodies for shipment home. Too often he and the team struggle to identify the "disassociated" remains of some disfigured souls because of their very traumatic injuries. He sounded like a man who spoke with the conviction of having lived in all parts of the drama of this war.
George Ortiz-Guzman has come full circle in his companionship with those who are deployed. In a very short time his series of jobs as an Air Force Reservist have been: at Malmstrom AFB in Montana where families were feeling the impact of a recently deployed parent; in Afghanistan with a ministry among the deployed; in Germany where he bid farewell and welcome home to colleagues to and from southwest Asia; and now in a sobering assignment at the Dover AFB mortuary in Delaware where American dead are escorted for their final trip home.
George, a widower with two grown children, resigned his parish to accept this unusual string of assignments. "It's what I think I'm called to do in this stage of my life. Perhaps I can step in and substitute for another chaplain with a young family," he says.
Chaplain Ortiz-Guzman didn't sound like a stand-in when I heard him speak before the Diocese of Delaware Convention recently about the solemnity of his work of preparing bodies for shipment home. Too often he and the team struggle to identify the "disassociated" remains of some disfigured souls because of their very traumatic injuries. He sounded like a man who spoke with the conviction of having lived in all parts of the drama of this war.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Getting Together in Blacksburg, Anywhere
Notebook
We had sworn off the first responder role in crisis events after Katrina because, well, we were stretched too thin with deployments and, thankfully, because Episcopal Relief and Development hired--with our enthusiastic support--Rich Ohlsen as the new disaster coordinator. And Rich has been up to his eyebrows in disaster response with all manner of events, unfortunately. Then along came that fateful day on April 16th when a sober faced and very prepared Seung-Hui Cho gunned down 32 persons to include himself at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Ironically Brook and I had taken Bishop Neff and Dorothy Powell out to dinner here in New York City exactly a week before since they were in town for his sabbatical. His cell number was still on my phone so after the tragedy I called and asked if I could help. What followed was a series of spontaneous contacts with him and the clergy of southwestern Virginia as we put lessons learned in prior crises to work for the beleaguered University community as it grappled with a means to be supportive.
Dr. Karen Binder-Brynes became the expert who was contacted by phone for this past Saturday's meeting of the senior leaders in the Blacksburg area. There was the usual reluctance to a get together...trauma has that dampening and isolating effect...everyone wants to retreat from contact. Yet the subsequent meeting was so effective, that one clergy leader said of the time with Bishop Powell and the phone conference with Dr. Binder-Brynes, "Soon we forgot she was calling in from outside and enjoyed being together." The coincidence I want to share here is that at the same time Dr. Karen was urging them to get together in Virginia she was urging me to do the same thing at our conference in Germany with our Iraq returnees.
Trauma in whatever instance is a terribly isolating event which persists, hangs on, yet slightly disperses by getting together with others who have been similarly affected. As Dr. Binder-Brynes says, "Just to cast your eyes across the room to see somebody else...that alone brings healing."
We had sworn off the first responder role in crisis events after Katrina because, well, we were stretched too thin with deployments and, thankfully, because Episcopal Relief and Development hired--with our enthusiastic support--Rich Ohlsen as the new disaster coordinator. And Rich has been up to his eyebrows in disaster response with all manner of events, unfortunately. Then along came that fateful day on April 16th when a sober faced and very prepared Seung-Hui Cho gunned down 32 persons to include himself at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Ironically Brook and I had taken Bishop Neff and Dorothy Powell out to dinner here in New York City exactly a week before since they were in town for his sabbatical. His cell number was still on my phone so after the tragedy I called and asked if I could help. What followed was a series of spontaneous contacts with him and the clergy of southwestern Virginia as we put lessons learned in prior crises to work for the beleaguered University community as it grappled with a means to be supportive.
Dr. Karen Binder-Brynes became the expert who was contacted by phone for this past Saturday's meeting of the senior leaders in the Blacksburg area. There was the usual reluctance to a get together...trauma has that dampening and isolating effect...everyone wants to retreat from contact. Yet the subsequent meeting was so effective, that one clergy leader said of the time with Bishop Powell and the phone conference with Dr. Binder-Brynes, "Soon we forgot she was calling in from outside and enjoyed being together." The coincidence I want to share here is that at the same time Dr. Karen was urging them to get together in Virginia she was urging me to do the same thing at our conference in Germany with our Iraq returnees.
Trauma in whatever instance is a terribly isolating event which persists, hangs on, yet slightly disperses by getting together with others who have been similarly affected. As Dr. Binder-Brynes says, "Just to cast your eyes across the room to see somebody else...that alone brings healing."
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Chaplains in Perpetuity
Notebook
I'm trying to write an after dinner speech for the Diocese of Delaware Convention. They pointedly asked me to do it about chaplains yet it has a daunting quality because talking about our work I imagine, in that context, will generate the same interest as watching C-Span coverage of Congress on break time.
Don't get me wrong, our work as chaplains is vital but keep in mind last year this Convention was galvanized with the presence and words of The Reverend Doctor James Forbes, the charismatic preacher of Riverside Church. Hard act to follow. To punch it up a little I'm tempted to sprinkle my remarks with material like, "A rabbi and a chaplain went into a bar..." You get the idea.
But no. I think I'm having the same fuzzy sense we all have from time to time of remembering where we came from. In some distant place in history St. Martin of Tours dismounted his horse after battle, cut his cloak in half, and clothed a beggar who he would later realize was Christ. Martin tried to live an ordinary life again but, as the story goes, this charism, now accessed, persisted. Indeed, the origination of the archetype seems to have occurred at other times too. We recall St. Francis similarly discerning after his trauma of battle to the presence of Christ as a beggar.
Now whether the story of Martin is in part folktale or not is of less importance than the endurable transaction God brings to moments when people are stricken with worry, fear, and even terror. Eyes are opened; companionship and meaning are sought. And that's where we want to be. +gep
I'm trying to write an after dinner speech for the Diocese of Delaware Convention. They pointedly asked me to do it about chaplains yet it has a daunting quality because talking about our work I imagine, in that context, will generate the same interest as watching C-Span coverage of Congress on break time.
Don't get me wrong, our work as chaplains is vital but keep in mind last year this Convention was galvanized with the presence and words of The Reverend Doctor James Forbes, the charismatic preacher of Riverside Church. Hard act to follow. To punch it up a little I'm tempted to sprinkle my remarks with material like, "A rabbi and a chaplain went into a bar..." You get the idea.
But no. I think I'm having the same fuzzy sense we all have from time to time of remembering where we came from. In some distant place in history St. Martin of Tours dismounted his horse after battle, cut his cloak in half, and clothed a beggar who he would later realize was Christ. Martin tried to live an ordinary life again but, as the story goes, this charism, now accessed, persisted. Indeed, the origination of the archetype seems to have occurred at other times too. We recall St. Francis similarly discerning after his trauma of battle to the presence of Christ as a beggar.
Now whether the story of Martin is in part folktale or not is of less importance than the endurable transaction God brings to moments when people are stricken with worry, fear, and even terror. Eyes are opened; companionship and meaning are sought. And that's where we want to be. +gep
Friday, April 13, 2007
Continuing Chronicle of Life Together
Notebook
Compiled from semi-annual reports and other places...
Carl Wright AF has joined Frank Wismer USAR and Ralph Clarke USA in Kuwait; ARNG Bill Pursley ARNG has decided to retire and reports some remorse in doing so, we bid him Godspeed with much gratitude; John Weatherly ARNG is indeed home and grateful for it, he enjoyed the tour very much to include his time with Bill Cantrell USNR and Craig Reed USNR;
Bishop Charles Keyser USN (ret.) made a strategic addition to a resolution at the recent HOB meeting, we are most proud of him; Dedra Bell USN continues to recuperate from her broken right leg; Sean Cox USNR has now deployed to his purple unit in Afghanistan; David Thames USN is newly deployed to Iraq from Okinawa where wife Elizabeth is holding down the fort and taking college courses; Elizabeth Pumphrey is on Okinawa too with spouse Michael USN who is assigned to the hospital, she competes in a flower arranging competition, loves it, and will be starting an interactive column on our website soon;
Neal Goldsborough USNR and Jeff Jencks ARNG were featured in the recent "Rhode Island Monthly" magazine with stories about their deployments; Vic Sheldon USNR is mobilized for six months and is serving stateside; Sarah Shirley ANG anticipates being on Guam for 30 days in December; Jeff Neuberger USAF is home from Iraq; Stuart Kenworthy ARNG received special recognition at the Diocese of Washington convention for his time in Iraq; Jeff Whorton ARNG and Phil Boeve ANG are assigned along the Mexican border; Robyn and Roy Hoffman USN are happily relocated in England; Lynne and Carl Andrews USAF anticipate reassignment to Lackland AFB soon; greetings and Godspeed to Tom Barnett ANG in his retirement; Pat Ranft (wife of Mike Pollitt VA) received special recognition for her scholarship; Ann and Jeff Logan USN anticipate reassignment this summer;
Vic McInnis USN reports delight in the visit of his young adult daughter Samantha to see him in Sicily; Mark Wilburn VA hopes to move to the Waco VA Medical Center. George Ortiz-Guzman USAFR is now serving at Dover AFB Port Mortuary and hopes to see the Bishop during his Delaware Convention visit; Sarah Dudley is getting married this month, her Dad, Lee, USA reports a congregation of 15-20 each Sunday at Fort Bragg; congratulations to Dan USANG and Charmaine Leatherman on the birth of their baby on Good Friday; Steven Smalley USAF (ret) has qualified for a VA assignment; Tom Farrar VA has had prostate surgery and doing well; Ted Albert’s CAP eldest son, Andrew, is a “People to People” ambassador program en route to Australia; Beth Echols USA is very happy living in the Diocese of Olympia; Martha Kester ANG has completed first half of her CHOBIC class enjoyed it very much; had contact with Bob Eldridge USA also at the Army School.
Please pray for: Jeff Seiler's USN Mom, Marilyn; healing of Gina Crozier’s USAFR (sp) shoulder; Mike McEwen USAR as he faces kidney surgery; Brad Ableson USN as he continues to get stronger after surgery; for Kate Neuberger USAF (sp) and her hip surgery; thanksgiving for Barbara Glick USARNG (sp) for her third year check-up free from cancer; George Holston USAR is home after a brief hospitalization for lung embolism;
For the repose of the souls of Joan Barclay (wife of Daivd) Alice Humphreys (wife of Bill) and Douglas Parker (father of Hank Parker of Guam); condolences to Cope Mitchell USAR on the death of his Dad, Dick, on Christmas Day. +gep
Compiled from semi-annual reports and other places...
Carl Wright AF has joined Frank Wismer USAR and Ralph Clarke USA in Kuwait; ARNG Bill Pursley ARNG has decided to retire and reports some remorse in doing so, we bid him Godspeed with much gratitude; John Weatherly ARNG is indeed home and grateful for it, he enjoyed the tour very much to include his time with Bill Cantrell USNR and Craig Reed USNR;
Bishop Charles Keyser USN (ret.) made a strategic addition to a resolution at the recent HOB meeting, we are most proud of him; Dedra Bell USN continues to recuperate from her broken right leg; Sean Cox USNR has now deployed to his purple unit in Afghanistan; David Thames USN is newly deployed to Iraq from Okinawa where wife Elizabeth is holding down the fort and taking college courses; Elizabeth Pumphrey is on Okinawa too with spouse Michael USN who is assigned to the hospital, she competes in a flower arranging competition, loves it, and will be starting an interactive column on our website soon;
Neal Goldsborough USNR and Jeff Jencks ARNG were featured in the recent "Rhode Island Monthly" magazine with stories about their deployments; Vic Sheldon USNR is mobilized for six months and is serving stateside; Sarah Shirley ANG anticipates being on Guam for 30 days in December; Jeff Neuberger USAF is home from Iraq; Stuart Kenworthy ARNG received special recognition at the Diocese of Washington convention for his time in Iraq; Jeff Whorton ARNG and Phil Boeve ANG are assigned along the Mexican border; Robyn and Roy Hoffman USN are happily relocated in England; Lynne and Carl Andrews USAF anticipate reassignment to Lackland AFB soon; greetings and Godspeed to Tom Barnett ANG in his retirement; Pat Ranft (wife of Mike Pollitt VA) received special recognition for her scholarship; Ann and Jeff Logan USN anticipate reassignment this summer;
Vic McInnis USN reports delight in the visit of his young adult daughter Samantha to see him in Sicily; Mark Wilburn VA hopes to move to the Waco VA Medical Center. George Ortiz-Guzman USAFR is now serving at Dover AFB Port Mortuary and hopes to see the Bishop during his Delaware Convention visit; Sarah Dudley is getting married this month, her Dad, Lee, USA reports a congregation of 15-20 each Sunday at Fort Bragg; congratulations to Dan USANG and Charmaine Leatherman on the birth of their baby on Good Friday; Steven Smalley USAF (ret) has qualified for a VA assignment; Tom Farrar VA has had prostate surgery and doing well; Ted Albert’s CAP eldest son, Andrew, is a “People to People” ambassador program en route to Australia; Beth Echols USA is very happy living in the Diocese of Olympia; Martha Kester ANG has completed first half of her CHOBIC class enjoyed it very much; had contact with Bob Eldridge USA also at the Army School.
Please pray for: Jeff Seiler's USN Mom, Marilyn; healing of Gina Crozier’s USAFR (sp) shoulder; Mike McEwen USAR as he faces kidney surgery; Brad Ableson USN as he continues to get stronger after surgery; for Kate Neuberger USAF (sp) and her hip surgery; thanksgiving for Barbara Glick USARNG (sp) for her third year check-up free from cancer; George Holston USAR is home after a brief hospitalization for lung embolism;
For the repose of the souls of Joan Barclay (wife of Daivd) Alice Humphreys (wife of Bill) and Douglas Parker (father of Hank Parker of Guam); condolences to Cope Mitchell USAR on the death of his Dad, Dick, on Christmas Day. +gep
Thursday, April 5, 2007
The Crepuscular Hope of Easter
Notebook
Maundy Thursday
As background to this entry, I sent the following Easter Message to all chaplains,
Not far from our home you can see deer and coyote tracks; occasionally you'll actually see one, but not often. The reason is that they are crepuscular by habit. That's an odd word but appropriate as the local naturalist described the ways of these animals to our family during an outing at a nearby nature preserve. Crepuscular means active in twilight or dim light, the definition even expands to embrace both dawn and dusk with references like matinal and vespertine behaviors. With those refinements the descriptions seem almost ecclesial!
My wife Brook thought it was a way of looking at the important events in the Bible, notably Holy Week and certainly Easter. As she said, "the rest of the world was up and around doing ‘important’ things in the full light of day yet the drama of the Resurrection occurs in one of these crepuscular times...it's neither here nor there."
That "neither here nor there" theme intrigues me and I invite the same for you. Jesus' resurrected appearances are perfect and not in prime time. Indeed, during his earthly ministry even the hours of little light are preferred for prayer and reflection. Don't we live our lives wondering about Easter yet how often do we realize that it is meant to come to us from off stage during twilight moments? It makes so much sense that it does. How about the Easter moments that arrive in a relationship after great anguish and suddenly find resolution in ways never conceived of? All the while the answer was residing where Christ was bringing resurrection -- a place that was “neither here nor there” just prominently in our midst.
I bid you greetings in "the neither here nor there" when/where Christ breaks through the obvious, the loud, and the so-called important moments to bring a presence that redeems and changes everything."
George: When we’re loading the car at 0500 Hours to do that sunrise service this Easter Sunday don’t mention “crepuscular” until after I’ve had my coffee.
Brook: Same here..it's not the time for the poetic. The word came to me during one of my own crepuscular moments - rustling around for food before dawn - and seemed like an interesting framework to look at events in scripture. I started thinking about things that happen at dawn or dusk - times in the day where the lack of clarity in terms of time conflict with the surety of an event.
George: That lack of clarity from our side of things (the human side) I find intriguing. It's as if our participation in a crepuscular atmosphere is this uncertainty which matches "the neither here nor there" quality of the dim light of dawn or dusk. We are invited into that kind of moment.
Brook: So true - I don't think a coyote perceives hunting times as the "Twilight Zone" but we do.
George: Yes, the classic example is the Easter appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. The day lengthens, they continue to walk with the still unrecognized Jesus, and all their uncertainty, sorrow, and worry come tumbling out.
Brook: Debussy has a piece called "Crepuscule", which a lot of anthologies translate as "Twilight", but I like to think it describes these times of days. In typical Debussy style it shimmers with harmony, somehow evolves as a piece without any obvious cadences. I imagine the women walking to the tomb having no idea what lies ahead of them - just thinking it's another dawn activity, surrounded by this greyness when the atmosphere shimmers.
George: The utter surprise of Easter is that they expect the experiences that count will never be crepuscular but then there's this young man who talks to them in the tomb (Mark 16:4-5), and another time a gardener for Mary (John 20:13-14).
Brook: That boy in Mark! That speaks to me so much. You're trudging along doing what needs to be done, and there it is - almost like Hope as the ultimate creature to fly out of Pandora's box. And even in that story, Hope lingers. I wonder if in these grey times of day - often misty in our part of the world - the atmosphere is infused with an invisible hope that lingers.
George: And lingers...thanks be to God!
Maundy Thursday
As background to this entry, I sent the following Easter Message to all chaplains,
Not far from our home you can see deer and coyote tracks; occasionally you'll actually see one, but not often. The reason is that they are crepuscular by habit. That's an odd word but appropriate as the local naturalist described the ways of these animals to our family during an outing at a nearby nature preserve. Crepuscular means active in twilight or dim light, the definition even expands to embrace both dawn and dusk with references like matinal and vespertine behaviors. With those refinements the descriptions seem almost ecclesial!
My wife Brook thought it was a way of looking at the important events in the Bible, notably Holy Week and certainly Easter. As she said, "the rest of the world was up and around doing ‘important’ things in the full light of day yet the drama of the Resurrection occurs in one of these crepuscular times...it's neither here nor there."
That "neither here nor there" theme intrigues me and I invite the same for you. Jesus' resurrected appearances are perfect and not in prime time. Indeed, during his earthly ministry even the hours of little light are preferred for prayer and reflection. Don't we live our lives wondering about Easter yet how often do we realize that it is meant to come to us from off stage during twilight moments? It makes so much sense that it does. How about the Easter moments that arrive in a relationship after great anguish and suddenly find resolution in ways never conceived of? All the while the answer was residing where Christ was bringing resurrection -- a place that was “neither here nor there” just prominently in our midst.
I bid you greetings in "the neither here nor there" when/where Christ breaks through the obvious, the loud, and the so-called important moments to bring a presence that redeems and changes everything."
George: When we’re loading the car at 0500 Hours to do that sunrise service this Easter Sunday don’t mention “crepuscular” until after I’ve had my coffee.
Brook: Same here..it's not the time for the poetic. The word came to me during one of my own crepuscular moments - rustling around for food before dawn - and seemed like an interesting framework to look at events in scripture. I started thinking about things that happen at dawn or dusk - times in the day where the lack of clarity in terms of time conflict with the surety of an event.
George: That lack of clarity from our side of things (the human side) I find intriguing. It's as if our participation in a crepuscular atmosphere is this uncertainty which matches "the neither here nor there" quality of the dim light of dawn or dusk. We are invited into that kind of moment.
Brook: So true - I don't think a coyote perceives hunting times as the "Twilight Zone" but we do.
George: Yes, the classic example is the Easter appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. The day lengthens, they continue to walk with the still unrecognized Jesus, and all their uncertainty, sorrow, and worry come tumbling out.
Brook: Debussy has a piece called "Crepuscule", which a lot of anthologies translate as "Twilight", but I like to think it describes these times of days. In typical Debussy style it shimmers with harmony, somehow evolves as a piece without any obvious cadences. I imagine the women walking to the tomb having no idea what lies ahead of them - just thinking it's another dawn activity, surrounded by this greyness when the atmosphere shimmers.
George: The utter surprise of Easter is that they expect the experiences that count will never be crepuscular but then there's this young man who talks to them in the tomb (Mark 16:4-5), and another time a gardener for Mary (John 20:13-14).
Brook: That boy in Mark! That speaks to me so much. You're trudging along doing what needs to be done, and there it is - almost like Hope as the ultimate creature to fly out of Pandora's box. And even in that story, Hope lingers. I wonder if in these grey times of day - often misty in our part of the world - the atmosphere is infused with an invisible hope that lingers.
George: And lingers...thanks be to God!
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