The Sounds of Silence

Chapter 42, St. Benedict’s Rule...Silence should be sought at all times by monks and nuns and this is especially important for them at night time.

I mustn’t get out enough. Trends come and go before I am even aware that they are a trend. Take for example reception areas for the public. My recent sojourn into SGH had me in a waiting room for a reasonably short period of time. If knitting does not accompany me, a book does. Comfortably seated, number in hand (the Privacy Act precludes hospital staff using your name in the waiting room; one becomes a number to protect one’s privacy. Unfortunately, when one is in the next stage of the process, nothing is private, including one’s ‘privates’; an irony shared in humour by the nurses).

Anyway, back in the waiting room that I am sharing with two anxious mums with their equally anxious very young daughters and few other old timers such as myself, I am bombarded by CNN on the overhead big screen television monitor that peers down at us like some modern-day gargoyle. The volume is overly loud; the very earnest newsreader is incessantly updating us with reports from a U.S. manufacturing facility where a disgruntled employee has shot seven fellow workers and his supervisor. No details were spared. Desperately attempting to concentrate on my book, I couldn’t help but think what my very young and innocent companions were thinking as they eyes were glued to the TV monitor. By the time that my number was called, I was quite relieved to leave the area.

Post-surgery visit to surgeon’s office was another audio blast. The doc was an hour and one-half late; his receptionist whispered to me as I checked in ‘that things were really backed-up and she still hadn’t been able to locate him yet’. No problem; I had my knitting. Out in the waiting room, six other patients were vocally grumbling and visibly irate. Unfortunately, the country and western station was blaring loudly to us about heart-broken cowboys in pick-up trucks; it didn’t help the mood.

Today, I had an appointment with my G.P. The building has been under renovations for some time now. The new reception area is huge, well-lit and yep...there it is, up there peering down at me again...the audio-visual gargoyle of reception areas. I was relieved to see that it’s not operational yet. Unfortunately, the sound system is quite operational. This time, my host is a Kitchener soft rock station with ’96 minutes of commercial-free sounds of my favourites’. Sorry folks, my favourites include my new Mahler 10th symphony recording and music from the renaissance and baroque periods...not Annie Lennox, the Eagles, Amy Grant et al.

No problem, I have my knitting. However, as the pattern is quite simple and the music quite loud, I am incessantly distracted by the chatter with the commercial-free period. Every second song, I am reminded by the station that this is a commercial-free time. Well, I am almost answering out loud, ‘what’s your definition of a commercial, mister?’ The announcer, as well, keeps telling all of us, how much better our work environment is because we have the radio blaring at us. Really? If I am having some issues concentrating, then what about the staff who are in the same area and exposed to all of ‘these great sounds’ while attempting to work.

The clincher came from another non-commercial commercial. A personal testimony of a listener who could not possibly manage driving on today’s stressful roads without the station’s music lulling her into a state that ‘allowed her to zone out so completely that when she pulled into her driveway, she had no idea how she got there’.

This meditative state for which the listener is so profoundly thankful is very disturbing to me. A novice at meditation, I look forward to the time when ‘the complete zone-out’ occurs; but, not while I am in control of a very powerful mass propelling amongst others at high speeds, thank you very much.

I am called to a brand spanking-new examination room. After the short interview, the nurse practitioner readies things for the doctor which includes turning up the sound system as she leaves. I request silence, please.

In 1952, the American composer John Cage wrote a three movement piece entitled 4’ 33”. It is a composition for any instrument or combination of instruments. ‘The performer or performers come out onto the stage and take their places. And then, they sit. They sit for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. They sit and sit and sit; the audience sits and sits and sits. After the initial uncomfortable period, after the coughs and nervous shuffling settle, people start listening. From the sounds of silence come gentle but subtle sounds...fabric rustling, breaths, paper shuffling, even the subterraneous rumbling of a subway. John Cage’s goal was to teach his audience to listen by actually programming silence’.

More than fifty years later and with the technology today, silence is a lost art form. Full awareness listening is not trendy. Much better that one should be listening and driving or working as well as talking to co-workers simultaneously.

Nearly 1600 years before John Cage, Saint Benedict understood the need for silence in daily life. Chapter 42 of his monastic rule programmed silence into the lives of monks and nuns.

As Joan Chittester OSB writes, “Silence has two functions. The first effect of external silence is to develop a sense of interior peace. The second value of silence is that it provides the stillness that enables the ear of the heart to hear God who is ‘not in the whirlwind’. The constant blaring breaks the peace of the heart and agitates the soul. Day after day, month after month, the incessant noise thickens the walls of the mind until it become impossible to hear the talk within us that shows us our pain and opens our mind to the truths of life and the presence of God. We live with noise pollution now and find silence a great burden, a frightening possibility. Muzak fills our elevators and radios are set into wrist watches and TV’s blare from every room in the house from morning until night. We say that we do not have the time to think but what we actually lack is the quiet to think. Yet, until we are able to have at least a little silence every day, both outside and in, both inside and out, we have no hope of coming to know either God or ourselves very well.”



I leave you with a poem by Rachel M. Srubas from her book Oblation.

Catching Your Breath

I hear the twilight falling, soft a linen over the earth.
I hear the soil drinking its dew.
I hear my own ear receiving you,
The shell of my flesh catching your breath,
Its concealed canal and deeper drum humming
In answer to your prayer for the world,
More music than word. It sings inside me.
My silence, at its finest, harmonizes.

July 11, Saint Benedict Day; for Fiona
The Web Scribe

Sprituality, Then and Now

Convalescing from surgery has allowed me several opportunities and an insight:

The insight: One should wait more than 24 hours, post-general anathaesia, to post a blog. Gentle readers, I apologize for the typographical error in the last blog (distinction of species should have been extinction of species). As well, a paragraph was inadvertently (more like, mysteriously) deleted; it’s there now and it explains ‘the second disconnection’. Oh dear; and that was after re-reading the blog entry three times before posting it. Lesson learned, hopefully.

Opportunity #1: Reading two, 600-plus page historical saga novels in two and one-half days. It usually takes me months to finish anything of this size. Back-to-back Reay Tannahill novels were a delicious way of distracting one’s brain from the rest of the recovering body.

Opportunity #2: Reading three O magazines. O stands for Oprah Winfrey. A dear relative lent me her three most recent O magazines. Previously, I’ve never looked inside one; I’ve never seen her television show nor heard her on satellite radio. Oprah is not on my radar.

Opportunity #3: Watching an ‘oldie’ movie. From our local library, I was able to retrieve Franco Zeffirelli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon enduring all of the questionable Donovan tunes that are a big part of the movie’s soundtrack. Even more challenging was suffering through some fairly milquetoast acting; the cinematography was the saving grace for this movie.

So, what’s my point?

Oprah Winfrey is a modern-day prophet. Albeit an extraordinarily wealthy one (Forbes Magazine reported that in 2007 she was worth $2.5 billion), Oprah has been identified by Christianity Today as an influential spiritual leader – a postmodern priestess of “the Church of O”. Her fans number in the 22 million range with 75% being female (the North American portion of the Anglican Communion is estimated to be in the 4 million range). She is represented as ‘an icon of a church-free spirituality’.

The May 2008 O magazine (a whopping 348 page, nearly 2 pound high gloss tome) was heralded as “SPIRITUALITY NOW - HAVE YOUR OWN AHA MOMENT, a practical guide to the spiritual side of life (it’s time to wake up and smell the roses!) Doubters welcome”. Interspersed with the 168 full-page advertisements were articles exploring ‘the surge of spiritual energy sweeping the country...28 creative minds on the moment that defined spirituality for them...balancing doubt and faith...answering life’s big questions...restoring one’s soul...exploring the science behind the divine’. The feature article was ‘The O Interview: Oprah Talks to Eckhart Tolle...the remarkable author of Oprah’s Book Club choice on how to live more fully in the moment’.

When sheer exhaustion overcame the gentle reader from all of this spiritual exploration, the mind was eased back into reality with ‘FASHION: O’s Real-World Style Awards...eight designers who love your body and know what you need’, Page 300.

Real life clothing includes: leather hooded jacket ($2,495), camisole ($1,395), wide-leg stretch denim pants ($285) with short-sleeved stretch denim jacket ($345) finished with striped shirt ($295). Get the picture?

Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a dramatization of the spiritual awakening of St. Francis of Assisi. We meet Francesco when he is an indulged, wealthy young man who is enjoying the good life of the 13th century. A serious illness caused a spiritual crisis for the carefree troubadour. According to historical documentation, and reflected in the movie, we follow Francesco’s journey into ‘the dark night of the soul’. When he can no longer accept the values of his family, there is a confrontation with his father that leads to an interview with the area bishop. The story goes that Francesco renounces his father and demonstrates this physically by stripping off his clothing and returning it to his father. Shed of all his worldly ties, Francesco is reborn as a beggar and devotes himself to a life of poverty.

The spirit of St. Francis is kept alive today with the various religious orders and societies that continue under the several rules that he wrote. There exists an Anglican branch that lives under the rule that St. Francis wrote for married and working folk. Living simply, poorly and carefully attempting to imitate the life of Christ, as St. Francis did, a brotherhood and sisterhood around the world strive to live life in accordance with the Gospel. Franciscan work includes hospitality, service to others and caring for God’s creations –animate and inanimate. Self-discovery is supported and celebrated within the community.

We already have the book “The Gospel according to Oprah”. Vanity Fair wrote: “Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, excepting perhaps the Pope.” It has been suggested that, one thousand years from now, a religion known as “Oprahism” will exist.

Hmmm.

I leave you with the prayer attributed to St. Francis:

Lord, make me a channel of your peace;
That where there is hatred, I may bring love;
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of
forgiveness;
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
That where there is error, I may bring truth;
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
That where there is despair, I may bring hope;
That where there are shadows, I may bring light;
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be
comforted;
To understand, than to be understood;
To love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds;
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakes to eternal life.
Amen.

The Eleventh Commandment

Last Sunday at St. James’, we had the opportunity to hear Kerry McManus speak about what we, personally and collectively, can do to live with a raised environmental conscience. She left us with a good challenge: The Ten Percent Challenge. In our everyday lives, if we could reduce, reuse or recycle 10% more than we are presently doing, it would make a small impact in our personal days; collectively, if the world would take on the challenge with us, the results would be in the miracle category.

Ten percent is not particularly difficult. If one would walk only or use public transit, leave the car in the driveway, one day in a cycle of ten, it would be an easy challenge. Choose Sunday as your day, walk to church, stroll along the river and head home. What a gentle way to honour the Sabbath, save gas and reduce your carbon footprint.

In the reuse category, a very easy way to get on board is to stop using plastic bags that the stores offer for us to carry our purchases. We keep our cloth bags in our vehicle at all times; I have a large black bag which folds into a very small sleeve that I keep in my purse. As well, we are using biodegradable garbage bags in our home wherever possible.

Composting is the bright star in the environmental three R’s. Garbage to the curb is reduced and the earth is blessed with the wonderful by-product of compost: humus. Humus is black gold; it is a thing of beauty in the gardener’s eyes.

Humus is the Latin form of Adamah. Adamah is the Hebrew word for earth. From Adamah is derived Adam~literally earthling. Add the Hebrew word Ruach~literally spirit, and one has the making of the Original Formula: Adamah plus Ruach equals Adam. God sculpted man from the clay of the earth, breathed life into the vessel and created the most sacred union: body and spirit. The second century theologian, Iranaeus of Lyons, said: “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.”

In our world, at this very moment, I sense two tragic disconnects that are so destructive that the future of the planet is in serious question. The first disconnection, and back to our Original Formula, is that of man from earth. In these times of unprecedented waste, squandering of natural resources, extinction of species, it comes of no surprise that human disease and illness is at its highest level.

The second disconnection: man has been filling himself with the breath of selfishness, acquisitiveness, power and greed. As Rev. Nancy Roth says, “we have fallen prey to a kind of spiritual and moral breathlessness.” This breathlessness is easily witnessed with the marked decline in church attendance and religious affiliations of any type. Not surprisingly, the rate of environmental destruction is inversely related to the decline in church attendance.

“Man was to be healthy and full of life by breathing in the loving power of God. But man polluted his interior environment. What we see around us in the pollution of the air, the streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, our woods and forest and countryside, and in the jungles of our cities, is but an icon, a dramatic image, externalized of what man is doing within himself in the unlimited expanses of his “inner space.”, writes George Maloney in his book, The Breath of the Mystic.

Organic Prayer, A Spiritual Gardening Companion (Seabury Books, Church Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59627-063-3) by Episcopalian priest Nancy Roth is the first volume on my summer reading list. It is from this powerful little book that this week's blog thoughts were derived. Nancy defines Organic Prayer as a metaphor for both the individual’s contemplation of God and for the individual’s attempt to live in harmony with God’s creation. “Because organic prayer springs from the reality of the human condition, it helps us integrate as whole people-mind, heart, and body. It does not distract us with an otherworldly ideal of holiness, but helps us to discover the sacredness of our ordinary day-to-day living. It helps us to discover God’s presence in new ways: within us and within nature as well as infinitely beyond us, known through creation’s mysteries and miracles, from compost to columbines. It opens our hearts to compassion for the rest of God’s creation, and our minds to the truth that we are all interconnected. Such prayer delights in the earth, whose breathtaking complexity and beauty is an icon of the Creator, more skilfully wrought than any Byzantine masterpiece.”

The church, the Body of Christ on earth, has a sacred duty to lead with organic prayer. The ten commandments teach us that love is an action, not a sentiment. The eleventh commandment commended for this postmodern world: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof: thou shall not despoil the earth, nor destroy the life thereon.

The Web Scribe

Saints

I am the first to admit it: There’s more that I don’t know about Anglicanism than I do or should know. In fact, the more time I spend in Anglican-land, the less that I want to know about the upper-inner administrative workings of this branch of the Christian faith tree. In this case, perhaps, ignorance is bliss.

For example, saints. Last week, I learned about the Episcopal Church in America saint, Enmegehbowh. St. James’ unofficial but brilliant reference doctor, Joyce Banks, quickly brought my attention to the Anglican Church of Canada saint, Henry Budd; the first Anglican Church of Canada Native Canadian ordained priest.

Saints have become a focus for my current spiritual growth. Specifically, I am interested in worthy notables, those modern saints without extraordinary miracles. Everyday people that give me insights into the ‘journey’ with their lives well lived. Like Evelyn Underhill, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or the most recent addition to the Canadian church’s listing, the 1992 addition of Florence Li Tim Oi, the first woman ordained into the priesthood, 25 January 1944 by the Bishop of Hong Kong. She died in Toronto in 1992; hence, her Canadian link.

Reviewing the life of an ancient saint can be equally beneficial. When I read about women such as Julian of Norwich, Hildegard von Bingen or Etheldreda, I am reminded of the courage and brilliance of the early women church builders.

What is interesting about Florence Li Tim Oi is the journey of her ordination. Although she was ordained in 1944, she resigned her license in 1946 to defuse the post-war storm of controversy her priesthood had created. The 1948 Lambeth Conference officially sealed the female ordination door closed with Resolutions 113-116 setting out that a woman’s work within the hierarchy of the church should remain as a deacon. Lambeth 1978, Resolution 21 – Women in the Priesthood: basically acknowledged that the American, Canadian, Hong Kong and New Zealand churches had admitted women priests to the presbyterate and seemingly saying ‘the world had not stopped spinning so we should just maybe get on with business and accept this radical change’. Lambeth 1988, Resolution 1 – The ordination and consecration of women to the episcopate: seems to be saying ‘that not only do we have female priests but now there are female bishops and the world had not stopped spinning so we should just maybe get on with business and accept this radical change’.

And in the end, Florence was given back her priest license, continued to practice her Holy Orders (which she never did stop doing sans licence) and received Doctorates of Divinity from General Theological Seminary in New York and Trinity College in Toronto. The world continues to revolve and women continue to contribute to the building of the church.

The study of this one Anglican saint’s life gave me an insight, in a general basis, into the complexity of Anglicanism. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, where the Pope is the CEO and everybody reports to the CEO and, where every saint is venerated as a saint by everybody, the Anglican church seems to me to be the largest sitting committee in Christendom. In an organization where there is an implied super ‘first amongst equals’ (the Archbishop of Canterbury) and then there are implied sub ‘first amongst equals’ (the remaining primates of the worldwide communion), it doesn’t surprise me that events like the once-a-decade Lambeth gathering of ‘equals amongst equals’ (unless of course you are not invited, like Bishop Gene Robinson of the American branch of the Anglican Communion) are complicated events.

What is surprising and disappointing, in a gathering of equals, is that there are ‘unequals’ like Robinson. It is even more discouraging that there are equals who are declining to sit with their equals because they consecrated Robinson.

Equally confusing is the GAFCON gathering in Jerusalem which will precede the Lambeth gathering and will include Bishop Don Harvey from Canada, Archbishop Peter Jensen from Sydney Australia, Archbishop Greg Venables, and a host of African and South Asian bishops; all of whom were invited to but will not be attending Lambeth. I understand that Bishop Gene Robinson was not invited to this gathering, as well.

On the GAFCON website, one of the ‘frequently asked questions’ is: Is this all over a gay Bishop? The answer posted is:

No. GAFCON is about churches being grouped by what they have in common. We’re for growth, we’re passionate about the truth. We want to look to the future. That’s what the conference is about-Global Anglican Future.

Another FAQ from the website: Aren’t you splitting the church? GAFCON’s answer to this question:

No. Communion depends on having something in common. Churches in the Global South are growing. They’re passionate about the truth and their faith. We are building on this strength. As the Anglican Communion develops, some of the old bonds are loosening, some new bonds are being formed. That’s a good thing. These bonds involve churches which are growing, and which have something distinctive to say to the world. GAFCON is enthusiastic about mission. Its focus is the future.

As I read that last answer, the 'old bonds that are loosening' are to the Anglican worldwide communion that is gathering for the Lambeth conference. The 'good thing', the new bonds, is gathering in Jerusalem for the GAFCON conference.

Which conference would Jesus attend? Isn’t Jesus a powerful and significant enough ‘something in common’ in the Anglican communion? Isn’t the commandment that Jesus gave us: Love one another? What is the truth? Too many questions.

Back to the saints, ignorance and bliss. Some sixty years after her ordination, Florence Li Tim Oi is a saint in the Canadian and American branches of the Anglican Communion, and women priests and bishops are a reality within the Communion. It only took the Lambeth Conference sixty years to officially catch up with the reality of its laity and clergy.

Maybe I will just put all the lists of Anglican saints on one global, universal, all-inclusive calendar, for my own sake and purposes. My present focus for spiritual growth will be the past. There is so much to learn from these lives.

As for a sixty year wait on the current reality check for the Communion and at my age, I don’t think I have time; is ignorance bliss?

The Web Scribe

Enmegahbowh

June 11, 2008 will be a day of record in the Canadian history books: the day of the formal apology by a prime minister for the residential school program sins committed against Native Canadians. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine called it “the dawn of a new era in aboriginal relations with the rest of Canada”. Although I don’t disagree, I am now aware of a model of relations that existed prior to the birth of Canada’s confederation that seems to have been lost in our history.

Alright, everyone: Raise your hand if you know anything about Enmegahbowh?

Enmegahbowh is honoured on June 12 by our sister church south of the border. He was the first Native ‘American’ to be ordained as a priest. Born as a member of the Odawa band and raised as a Christian, he had a complete knowledge of his tribe’s traditional healing ways as he was intended to become a medicine man. He used this cross-cultural background successfully in founding missions, training other native Christian leaders and developing mission strategies and policies within the Episcopalian Church.

The story goes that Enmegahbowh, at one point, attempted to cross Lake Superior. One of the countless and infamous Lake Superior storms raged during this crossing. Enmegahbowh had a spiritual turning point during the storm, a Jonah experience. Instead of carrying on with his original intent, he returned to Minnesota and eventually founded the St. Columba mission at Gull Lake.

Rev. John Johnson Enmegahbowh was ordained by Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple (at the right in the photo), the first bishop of Minnesota. Whipple was referred to as ‘Straight Tongue’ by the aboriginals in his diocese; a moniker justified by his actions. He was a straight-talking, hard-working, fair-minded and visionary leader. He was best known for his dedication to the welfare of the Native people, a man who definitely walked his talk. His views were not welcomed by many in his diocese and several of his fellow bishops deemed him to be a fanatic. Whipple gave Enmegabowh (in the centre of the photo) special dispensation for the missing Greek and Hebrew education required for ordination. Enmegabowh had refused to learn these languages stating that he “was sent to work among the living, not among the dead”. Throughout their careers, these two men were in continuous dialogue about the state of affairs of the aboriginals in their care. Both men were committed to the service of their brothers, with radical colour-blindness.

It seems odd to me that Enmegahbowh is only considered a ‘saint’ by the Episcopal Church in America. He is not found in the Anglican Church of Canada’s ‘saint listing’. Should he be? Given that he was born at Rice Lake near Peterborough, the son of a chief of the Odawa (Ottawa) band of Ojibwa, makes me think that he is more ‘Native Canadian’ than the credited ‘Native American’ cited by the history books. When he attempted crossing Lake Superior, he was trying to get back to Sault Ste. Marie. He was ordained in the year that Canada became a country.

For the one hundredth anniversary of his death, the diocese of Minnesota commissioned an icon by indigenous artist Rev. Johnson Loud to commemorate Enmegahbowh. The translation of the Ojibwa name is “The man who stands by his people”. The icon contains two critical symbolic elements: fire – the catalyst for change, and a peace pipe; a powerful summation of the man’s life.

At any rate, the prime minister’s formal apology was long overdue; maybe too is Enmegahbowh’s

‘Canadian sainthood’. And, maybe we should embrace the pureness of cultural relationships that was embodied by Bishop Whipple and the Rev. John Johnson Enmegahbowh, over one hundred years ago.

The Web Scribe

The Apostle, the Eunuch and YouTube

Brother David Steindl-Rast (O.S.B.) challenges us, as Christians, to forego the “narrowness, exclusivism, or sexism” that too often typifies an entrenched and defended posture in partisan communities – as the only viable and productive path to meaningful dialogue. Speaking from an entirely ‘different’ background, Thich Nhat Hanh (a Vietnamese Buddhist monk) censures the caution (when one ponders the parallels and overlaps of a variety of traditions) that we ought not to make ‘fruit salad’ of these practices with the delightful observation that “fruit salad can be delicious”! This parishioner’s thoughts on the political side of church till similar soil with yet another hoe.

David Howard.

The Apostle, The Eunuch and YouTube

BCE: Before Computer Era. For a tax accountant, those were interesting days. Well, for some of us, BCE stood for Before Calculator Era. Indeed, any accountant worth their mettle, could add columns of numbers swiftly and accurately in the latterly named times. But science kept gently nudging accounting forward. Soon, there were the hand-crank calculators and summing columns in one’s head became a lost art. The CE, Computer Era, brought significant changes to accounting practices. For tax practitioners, the availability of online forms from other countries probably reduced the sales of extra-strength pain relievers threefold. No longer were the procrastinating clients with their U.S. returns a problem. In the U.S., taxpayers are normally required to file federal, state and municipal income tax returns. Finding a paper return for Small-town, N.J. on April 14th BCE in a Stratford Ontario accounting office was an impossibility. This task, in the Computer Era is a no-brainer; the main complaint now is if the online form is not a fillable form.

Perhaps there are similarities for faith communities. What brings this to mind are the availability of websites that support followers of The Way. The Daily Office is an Episcopalian website that provides noon and evening online offices. It is visually attractive and usually has sound bites from choirs around the world. The discipline of observing daily offices is an important tradition of the Anglican Church. I am often surprised where this practice takes me.

This week, the poll surveys visitors on the question: Why did God tell Philip to baptise the Ethiopian eunuch? The scriptural reference is Acts 8:27-39. Interestingly, there is a YouTube video link, with the poll, that recreates this event recorded by Luke. Two young men, with background music from the movie Chariots of Fire, cleverly and succinctly bring the scripture reference to life.

I reread the biblical text and contemplate the question. The obvious reasons are purposely blanked out. Requiring some stimulus, I Google Philip and the Eunuch. 243,000 results; oh dear. Of the 243,000 results, one attracts me: The Ethiopian Queen of the Desert: researching theology, celebrating diversity. Let’s check this out.

The subtitle of the article is Philip and The Ethiopian Eunuch: Two Role Models for Inclusivity. The author has three university degrees and supports his article with references. There are no spelling mistakes (my first criterion for worthiness).

I’ve read the article three times now. It is a thoughtful and progressive look at the scripture; verse by verse I am given new insight to the text. Superficially, most commentaries (and many of the other 243,000 results as well) focus on the baptism scene and the road to salvation. This author opens my eyes to the profound yet subtle significance of elements of the text. The Ethiopian eunuch is as significant a character, now in my mind, as the Samarian woman at the well. In our age, we are numbed to the powerfully radical actions of Jesus, in the case of the Samarian woman, and Philip, in this case of the Ethiopian eunuch.

Interestingly, another YouTube video focuses on the present-day story of a young Ethiopian immigrant to Israel. His family went to Israel for a better secular and religious life. Neither has happened. The family has met only bigotry, exclusion, racism and poverty. The young man has found his identity through a theatre school and fully intends to fulfill the family vision. It has been a sad and painful journey.

Back to Acts 8 and Philip. Philip is a Jewish Christian who purposely engages the Ethiopian believer. What unfolds is a vision for the Church today. Philip, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, acts with unconditional and radical inclusivity. Philip does not hesitate to receive the hospitality of the nameless African neutered male and enters his chariot. The climactic scene has Philip entering water with the eunuch in a symbolic act of inclusivity; Philip baptises the eunuch to affirm that there are no barriers to life in Jesus. Philip does not worry the issue with words, he doesn’t check in with the authorities for approval, he doesn’t spend years researching if this is doctrine or core doctrine. He simply acts.

Did Jesus believe that the way to God was through the observance and fulfilment of covenantal laws? Did Jesus prescribe the Way for us? It seems so simple, unconditional and radical, the prescription: Love one another. Maybe, we the Church today, need to step back to the vision of Jesus. Spend less time talking about how we can or should be Christians; let’s act, like Philip.

Unlike the impact that the Computer Age has had on the day-to-day affairs of accounting professionals, access to the global Church, digitally, has complicated life for me in that it is constantly challenging my views, broadening my scope of awareness and continuously making me contemplate The Way. I don’t want to go back to summing columns in my head or being unchallenged in my faith.

The Web Scribe

Corpus Christi

Community matters! Over the past few weeks, a few reminders of this fundamental truth have crossed my consciousness: in these instances, in the guise of two good books, a questionable movie – and now a contribution to the blog from within the St. James’ community. The movie, Into the Wild’s insight by numbers (aka, the Dick and Jane manual to self-awareness) reminds us of the critical role played by those someone(s) with whom to share our life experiences. The writer, E.M. Forster’s opening epithet – “Only Connect” – somewhat more articulately expresses the same sentiment in the novel, Howard’s End. Andrew O’Hagen makes a strong argument against community being simply “a club for resentment” or a “background against which to measure one’s superiority” in his recent novel, Be Near Me, as his disenchanted priest struggles to make sense of his alienation in an, at times, hostile and rejecting Scottish village.

The St. James’ parishioner’s journey into Toronto’s heart through the city’s varied and frequently challenging neighborhoods triggered some thoughts that they wanted to share with our community. I encourage any who wish to contribute to St. James’ ‘community voice’ through the forum of our blog to do so.    David Howard

Corpus Christi

Last trip to Toronto, I made a mental note: Gardiner ramp off 427 down to one lane for the summer; find alternative route. Last Sunday, as I approached the GTA on the 401, I decided to let ‘Judy’ Garmin, our onboard computerized GPS navigation system, direct me down to the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene using Eglinton Avenue.

Our ‘Judy’ is a good gal but she does not take well to overriding her directions: “Recalculating”, she snarls as I decide not to take the Dixie off-ramp. I convinced her, through deceptive programming, that I wanted to get to Plant World on Eglinton and then proceed to Manning Avenue, in the heart of the Annex, where Saint Mary Mag’s is situated.

As I proceeded down Eglinton, I was given opportunity to catch glimpses of towering apartment buildings where small villages of people share homes. One of the singers in the St. Mary’s choir faithfully twice a week, once for choir practice and once for the Sunday mass, travels from one of these massive buildings down to the Annex using the TTC- she had to give up her car in order to make ends meet as a single mom of two teenagers. It is a 40 minute trip one-way using public transit. She rarely misses practice or mass.

Judy takes me down Jane to Dundas. There are no more huge apartment buildings; the streetscape reminds me of small-town S.W. Ontario. The difference between Stratford and this part of Toronto is definitely demographics...we WASPS are a visible minority; the middle-class is the marginal economic group, too. Roman Catholic churches noticeably bear the scars of graffiti. Store-front churches bear names like The Church of the Good Prophet (the accountant in me sees the sad pun...this church was the paradox...the Church of the no-so Good Profit, as it was boarded up and had a For Lease sign hanging askew on its curtained door). People on the streets look tired, rough, angry and dejected, despite the glorious sunshine and first real warmth in weeks.

Dundas to Dupont: abandoned and decaying factories look like make-shift shelters for street people. Sad and tired houses have little shrines to the Virgin Mary as focal points in their postage stamp front gardens. Corner stores have this summer's gardening stock on the street. There are more WASP-ish types on the street...mostly young people wearing vogue clothing. In a ridiculous juxtaposition, out of nowhere, a Jaguar dealership holds court.

Dupont to Manning: homes are huddled so tightly together that it appears that owners could shake hands with each other by just hanging over their porches. The street is tree-lined and many folk are out putting their distinctive stamps onto their gardens. Speed bump after speed bump, stop sign after stop sign, I finally arrive at St. Mary Mag’s. Wonderful-my favourite parking spot in front of the school under the ancient maple tree is available. As I walk towards the church, I hear the brass quintet playing Renaissance music out on the front lawn. Today is a feast day-The Feast of Corpus Christi. As a Lute-pisker or Ang-lutheran as we are known in Canada, this feast day doesn’t mean anything to me. My son, a member of this parish, strongly urged me to come today for the festivities. “It is a very special day, Mum; you gotta come!”

Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist, unbounded by the Passion of Holy Week. This feast day is primarily due to the petitions of a 13th century Augustinian nun. Eucharist is derived from the Greek language and means thankfulness, gratitude, giving thanks.

The centrepiece of the celebration is an outdoor processional. Starting in the church’s nave, we follow six little girls, the clergy and wardens. We are followed by the choir and brass players. And we are to sing. I must quickly decide whether or not I will join in. This is not something an introverted Ang-lutheran feels comfortable doing...takin’ it to the streets. I throw caution to the wind and file in. We leave the church with the organ in full voice loudly encouraging us to carry the melody out to the street. As we sing, the little girls are tossing rose petals into the air that slowly descend to the asphalt. People in their front gardens stop working and look up to watch the parade. I have the good fortune to be between two delightful singers...a tenor and a baritone. A soprano is just behind us...we have an impromptu quartet that sounds quite good. At Harbord, the police escorts on their bicycles squint at us behind their reflective sunglasses as they hold back the car traffic. We turn at Euclid and make our way back to the church. In between hymns (we sing seven hymns in total), it is quiet like I’ve never experienced in Toronto...a peaceful quiet except for the song of what sounds like dozens of birds. They seem to be responding to us in kind.

As I walk on rose petals, down the centre of a downtown Toronto street, singing to my heart’s content, I realize how powerful this experience has been for me. How grateful I am to be included in a community that has been celebrating the Eucharist twice a week. How thankful I am that I can publicly display my faith in a country that will protect me as I do this. How fortunate I am that I live in a beautiful community, own a comfortable home and have access to the family car (with its navigation system) for my every need and whim.

In the Muslim countries, a muezzin calls the people to prayer five times a day from a minaret. Many Christian churches celebrate the Eucharist daily. I used to view this as an extreme practice of one’s faith. As with most paradoxes, the obvious is absurd: in this age of more, we seem to have less. George Carlin the comedian says, “We’ve learned to make a living but not a life. We’ve multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often.” The Eucharist reminds us to give thanks. By Luke’s account, at the Last Supper, Jesus takes the bread and gives thanks. Perhaps, here is a new paradox: in these uber-busy times, we need to stop for the Eucharist. Maybe the best thing we can do for our egos, our souls, our family and our community, is to stop and ritualistically give thanks by partaking in the Eucharist with full awareness of all that we have to be grateful for. And, perhaps, once a week is not really enough; but once a week is a good start.