MY FRIEND ANN FONTAINE

Ann and Jim

A lovely article about my good friend Ann Fontaine in the The Daily Astorian:

Fontaine has lived in Cannon Beach full-time for two years since she and her husband, Jim, retired. Though the couple lived in Lander, Wyo. for nearly 35 years, they owned a house in Cannon Beach for nearly as long. Ann, a professional interim minister ordained in 1996, realized long ago that the heart of her spirituality lay at the Oregon Coast.

Early in life, Fontaine’s ties to the North Coast grew. “I grew up in Portland and spent all my summers with my grandparents in Seaside,” she said. “My uncles – Norwegians and Scots – all fished the Columbia River and put down deep roots in this area.” As an adult, she raised three children in Wyoming where her husband was a doctor. Whenever possible, the Fontaines made the trek west to their home in Cannon Beach. “We owned a home here for years and always knew we’d retire here one day,” she said. “It was always like coming home.”

Read more at the Astorian.

Ann and I were virtual friends for a few years before we met in person at General Convention 2009 of the Episcopal Church.   Looking back over the time I've known Ann, I'm grateful for her good company, sympathetic listening, wise advice, guidance and support through the highways and byways of Episcopal Blogland, and source of jokes, cartoons, and funny pictures.

From my description, Ann sounds downright pastoral, doesn't she?  I expect that the churches where she has served during the interim from one rector to another are grateful for her gifts.  Wise guidance through an interim period is, as I've come to see from my experience in my own church, a vital bridge toward a smooth transition from the departure of a rector to the arrival of another.

Ann says the North Coast has always been "the home of my heart", and I'm pleased that she and Jim, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, are settled in their home on her beloved Oregon coast.  Ann can't seem to settle into retirement, but maybe it's not yet time. 

ASH WEDNESDAY

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Joel 2:12-14

Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
for the Lord, your God?

Psalm 103:8-14

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Ann Fontaine reflects on Ash Wednesday at what the tide brings in.

Why do we gather on this day? Why do we receive ashes on our foreheads with the sign of the cross? What are we doing here? Do you notice the gospel asks us not to make a display and yet many of us wear our ashes all day. I have been thinking about this "disconnect" between our actions and our readings.

Read the rest of Ann's fine post.

In the end, it's about the heart.

A PRE-SCHOOL TEST FOR YOU

Which way is the bus below traveling? To the left or to the right?




Can't make up your mind? Look carefully at the picture again. Still don't know?


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Pre-schoolers all over the United States were shown this picture and asked the same question. 90% of the pre-schoolers gave this answer. "The bus is traveling to the left."


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When asked, "Why do you think the bus is traveling to the left?"

They answered: "Because you can't see the door to get on the bus."


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How do you feel now ???

"Stupid!" was my answer to Ann Fontaine, who sent me the test.

And why not visit Ann's blog, What the Tide Brings In, and read her notes for a sermon for Lent 4 and see the drawing and quote from one of my favorite books?

BLESSINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ANN!

As the search continues for a full-time priest to replace the retired Paul Barthelemy at St. Catherine Episcopal in Manzanita, the church had to look no further than its own backyard to find an interim vicar.

Ann Fontaine, who lives in Cannon Beach and attends St. Catherine regularly, was named to fill the post effective Feb. 13. Fontaine is no stranger to the north Oregon coast it turns out.

From the North Coast Citizen. What you see is what you get, because to read further, you need a subscription. But anyone who regularly visits the Episcopal Café, where Ann a contributer, or this blog already knows Ann. She's pictured above with her husband.

HAPPY 15TH ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY TO ANN FONTAINE

Ann and her husband, Jim

Read her post at What the Tide Brings In, which includes the wonderfully apropos poem by T. S. Eliot, "Journey of the Magi", and a link to a fine recording of Eliot reading the poem.

Here's a teaser:

"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

The rest of the poem is at Ann's blog.

The mysterious hand on Ann's shoulder is that of her husband. It's a lovely photo of the two of them. I cropped Ann's mate out of the picture, but, if she gives me permission, I'll put him back in.

PS: Do read Ann's story at the Daily Episcopalian of how she came to be a priest in the Episcopal Church.

UPDATE: Ann's mate, Jim, is back in the picture with Ann's permission.

THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT - GAUDETE SUNDAY

Notes from Ann Fontaine's sermon for III Advent at What the Tide Brings In:

John the Baptist is in jail – and soon to lose his head, it is the low point in his life. Since he first leaped in the womb of his mother Elizabeth at the approach of Mary pregnant with Jesus- the gospels tells us that he has spent his life pointing to the one who was to come. From the high point of the baptism in the river Jordan when it all seemed to be coming true to now—seems like one of the saddest moments in our readings. He had been so sure – now – he sits in prison and wonders.

How many times in your life have you devoted yourself entirely to something or someone only to be disappointed in the outcome? Perhaps you worked hard in a job and still did not get the promotion you dreamed of? Perhaps there was a boyfriend or girlfriend or even your spouse to whom you placed your hopes and dreams and yet they left in the end? Or did not live up to your expectations. Perhaps it was a civic project to which you gave your time and energy but it was dashed to pieces in the politics or finances of the time? And then you wonder – like John the Baptist - was it all for nothing? Was it worth all that I gave it – will there be any good result.

Please read the rest of the notes from which Ann will preach tomorrow. She quotes the wonderful words of Roman Catholic Archbishop Óscar Romero, who died a martyr's death by assassination:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

As I said in a comment over there, "...the words of Oscar Romero are heartening in times of discouragement. I've read them before, but they never get old." I'd add that San Romero's words also address our moments of self-doubt when we wonder whether any of what we do does any good at all.

Although San Romero is not yet included in the canon of saints by the Roman Catholic Church, he has a place in the calendar of the saints of the Episcopal Church and is considered by many to be the patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador.

San Romero, ruega por nosotros.