"Do Not Be Afraid - Of This Risen Life"

The children in our church planted the garden at the beginning of Lent, and here it is bursting with new life in bloom on the day when we celebrate the new life of the Risen Christ. Once again we are called to remembrance that we share this new life with Jesus Christ.

Ann sent me the link to this post from the Urban Hermit:

We share in the great awe and joy of the women at the tomb as we celebrate with all creation and make visible the new life that pulses through all creation.

So, the Resurrection greeting, “Do not be afraid”.

“Do not be afraid – of this Risen life.”

The entire post is surely worth a read. Thanks, Ann

Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!

"The Resurrection" - Fra Angelico - San Marco Museum, Florence

Mark 16:1-8

The Resurrection of Jesus

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

PRAYER

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

RESURRECTION, IMPERFECT - by John Donne

SLEEP, sleep, old sun, thou canst not have repass'd,
As yet, the wound thou took'st on Friday last ;
Sleep then, and rest ; the world may bear thy stay ;
A better sun rose before thee to-day ;
Who—not content to enlighten all that dwell
On the earth's face, as thou—enlighten'd hell,
And made the dark fires languish in that vale,
As at thy presence here our fires grow pale ;
Whose body, having walk'd on earth, and now
Hasting to heaven, would—that He might allow
Himself unto all stations, and fill all—
For these three days become a mineral.
He was all gold when He lay down, but rose
All tincture, and doth not alone dispose
Leaden and iron wills to good, but is
Of power to make e'en sinful flesh like his.
Had one of those, whose credulous piety
Thought that a soul one might discern and see
Go from a body, at this sepulchre been,
And, issuing from the sheet, this body seen,
He would have justly thought this body a soul,
If not of any man, yet of the whole.

Desunt Caetera

Painting courtesy Christus Rex.

Silence And Stillness

Since today is a day of silence and of rest, I'll let others speak for me. So far the others are but one, Ann Fontaine, who has a lovely essay at the Episcopal Café.

Holy Saturday brings a Sabbath from noise. We sit in the stillness of grief wondering. Where has he gone? What has happened? How can this be?

Is it a time of rest as the Holy Saturday collect from the Book of Common Prayer proclaims?

"O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Do read the essay in its entirety.

The Day Before

From Ann:

My favorite Easter poem by John Niehardt, 1908 (author of "Black Elk Speaks")

Easter

Once more the northbound Wonder
Brings back the goose and crane,
Prophetic Sons of Thunder,
Apostles of the Rain.

In many a battling river
The broken gorges boom;
Behold, the Mighty Giver
Emerges from the tomb!

Now robins chant the story
Of how the wintry sward
Is litten with the glory
Of the Angel of the Lord.

His countenance is lightning
And still His robe is snow,
As when the dawn was brightening
Two thousand years ago.

O who can be a stranger
To what has come to pass?
The Pity of the Manger
Is mighty in the grass.

Undaunted by Decembers,
The sap is faithful yet.
The giving Earth remembers,
And only (we) forget.

Thanks, Ann. I like it.

Good Friday

"Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)" - Salvador Dalí (1954)

READINGS:

AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory], 22; PM Psalm 40:1-14 (15-19), 54
Lam. 3:1-9, 19-33; 1 Pet. 1:10-20; John 13:36-38 [AM]; John 19:38-42 [PM]

PRAYER

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Did You Die For Me?

Did you die for me,
Jesus, did you?
Did God raise you for me?

Why? Why for me?
What good am I?
What use to you?

You say because you love me.
Why do you love me?
Because you are love, you say.

I must love my brother.
I must love my sister.
As you love me, so must I love.

Spirit of God,
Dove of love,
Fill my heart to overflowing.

June Butler - 3-20-08

GAYLE'S ASHES

As I said in my earlier post, Spreading Ashes, my brother-in-law, Frank, (husband to my deceased sister, Gayle) and I went to New Orleans to spread a few of her ashes in City Park, because the place had meaning for us, since we had spent time there as children and because the park was the place where Gayle and Frank met.

The picture above shows the spot in City Park where Frank spread Gayle's ashes, somewhere between the palm and the oak tree. It's a beautiful place, across the lagoon from the Peristyle. I didn't think to say a prayer, but I believe that the whole outing was a prayer, including lunch and a later visit to Audubon Park to put ashes in the lagoon there. I hope that Frank won't mind my sharing this, but they used to park and talk at Audubon Park after school - trust me, it was mostly talk, because it was often daylight. Sometimes, the police would come by and drive them away from their talk.

Altogether, Saturday was a lovely day. We felt somewhat sad, but mostly we experienced a sense of rightness about what we were doing, leaving a part of Gayle in the city that she loved to visit in places that were meaningful for her and us. Frank and their children and I all feel the ache from Gayle's absence in our lives every day, Frank and the children more than I, I'm sure. We'll never stop missing her, however, all in all, it was a good day.

Pictured below on the left is the restaurant, La Vita, where Frank and I had a delicious lunch of Italian food after the spreading of the ashes in City Park. The picture on the right shows the bar in the restaurant, made of what look to be rough, old barn boards cut to size. It's a funky thing of beauty.

Maundy Thursday

"The Sacrament of the Last Supper" by Salvador Dalí.

Readings:

AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 142, 143
Lam. 2:10-18; 1 Cor. 10:14-17, 11:27-32; Mark 14:12-25

PRAYER

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Last Supper

Come, my friends, it's Passover night.
Find the room; prepare the table.
Buy the bread; get the wine.
One of you will betray me.

Take and eat. This is my body,
Given for you.
Drink the cup, my blood shed for you
And many.

We'll not eat together again
Till kingdom come.
Sing with me now, for you'll run
When they take me.

"Oh, no, Lord, not I!"
Peter, my friend, you will,
And deny me, too.

June Butler - 3/12/08

Prayer Request From Kate Morningstar

Kate Morningstar said...

Mimi -- I'd e-mail you directly, but I'm not having any luck. I'm requesting prayers for my Diocese, and the senior clergy of the diocese, for tomorrow, Maundy Thursday. You can see why here.

From Kate's blog:

Late in February, three parishes of the Diocese voted to secede from the Diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada, and receive Episcopal oversight from the Province of the Southern Cone. They intend to take the real property of the parishes with them. Ownership of the property has gone to court, and the court granted temporary, sole occupancy of the premises to the parishes, which belong to something called the Anglican Network of Canada. The issue is scheduled to go back to court tomorrow, Maundy Thursday. We don’t know what time. The Diocese holds the position that the Diocese owns all parish property, and that the people who gave money for their purchase in the first place intended for the parishes to be part of the ACC.

Please, hold us in your prayers tomorrow: the Diocese of Niagara, Bishop Michael Bird, Executive Archdeacon Michael Patterson, and Secretary of Synod, the Rev. Canon Dr. Rick Jones. I’m a secretary in an Anglican parish, and doing a pre-internship M. Div. student placement in the same parish. I’ll be putting in at least an 11-hour day tomorrow. Also, I’ve got the flu, and may not have energy to make a blog entry. Please, keep the diocese in your prayers, and you can check for updates at this link.

Were You There?

Our man in black, Johnny Cash, and the Carter family. They were young, weren't they? That's Mother Maybelle Carter on the right, June Carter second from right, and perhaps, Anita Carter second from left. I don't know who the other woman is. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, because I'm guessing.

Thanks to Ormonde at Through the Dust for calling the video to my attention.

UPDATE: Ormonde Plater said...

As someone (Susan S) on my blog advised, the four Carter girls are (from right): Mother Maybelle, June, Anita, and Helen. I'm guessing the date is 1968 (the year Johnny married June) 1963 or thereabouts.

Iraq War Blogswarm

Statement of Purpose

This blogswarm will promote blog postings opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of foreign occupying forces in Iraq. Five years of an illegal and catastrophic war is five years too many. On the March 19 anniversary of the conquest of Iraq by the Bush Administration, there needs to be a loud volume of voices countering the pro-war propaganda from far too many politicians and corporate media outlets.

You can believe the number of 1,000,000 Iraqis dead or not. I've had folks argue with me about the number. No one is really counting, but I'll wager the number is, at least, in the high hundreds of thousands. There are untold numbers of wounded, many with horrible wounds, loss of limbs, blindness, brain damage, with not much in the way of good medical care, since many medical facilities have been destroyed. Doctors and other medical workers have been killed and kidnapped, with the result that a good number have fled Iraq.

Much of the infrastructure in Iraq is destroyed. Once the war stops, it will be a decade or more until life returns to anything approaching normal in the country. The task of rebuilding will be daunting and extremely expensive - but not until the war is over can the rebuilding begin.

The numbers of refugees inside and outside Iraq total between 2 million and 4 million, many of them living desperate and dreadful lives in refugee camps. The countries which admitted them do not have endless resources to care for them. We should be helping those countries more than we are now. We should be taking in more refugees ourselves, if they want to come here, especially those who have cooperated with the US and will be likely targets when we leave.

On Democracy Now, I watched the testimony of three young men who served multiple tours in Iraq, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, on what they had seen and done, the orders that they had been given, and the "rules of engagement" of the US troops in Iraq. It was difficult to watch, because the three that I saw were obviously traumatized, each in his own way, by the war, and again by recalling the memories and giving their testimony.

At Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, I learn that 3990 3992 3996 American troops have been killed - getting close to the 4000 number. Nothing significant about the number, except the passing of another thousand mark.

I note this at ICCC:

Wasielewsk, Anthony Raymond 08-Oct-2007
Cassidy, Gerald J. 25-Sep-2007
Richards, Jack D. 29-Jul-2007
Salerno III, Raymond A. 16-Jul-2006
Smith, John "Bill" 01-Oct-2005
Note: The soldiers listed above died from wounds received in Iraq, however, the DoD has not included their deaths in their official count.

What's with that? Why aren't they counted?

The total number of wounded at ICCC is 40,229. Again, many of these troops suffer from terrible wounds, lost limbs, blindness, deafness, brain damage, but that number does not include many of the wounded in soul and spirit, nor does it include the numbers who suffered from undiagnosed concussions, with resulting brain damage, which are only now being given attention. That's not counting many cases of PTSD resulting in ruined lives, divorce, and homelessness amongst veterans.

We've learned that many are not receiving the best of care in military hospitals. We hear of difficulties and neglect of the veterans after they're discharged from military hospitals. Many of the disabled must fight long and hard to get their disability pensions, if they get them at all. In gratitude for serving their country, this is what the vets get from the government who sent them to war.

John McCain says that the surge is working. It's true that the incidents of violence have decreased, but the numbers may now be creeping back up. However, our troops are worn out, their equipment is worn out. We don't have the resources to continue in the increased numbers of the surge.

Does anyone see signs that Iraq will have a functional government in the near future? That was the purpose of the surge, a last-ditch opportunity for the Iraqi leadership to make progress in forming a workable government. John McCain is prepped for a hundred years war in Iraq if it takes that long. What will be left for the government to govern, if the war goes on for much longer?

It's time to begin to bring the troops now. Make a responsible plan for withdrawal - complete withdrawal, with no US military bases left in Iraq. Give Iraq back to the Iraqis. End the occupation.

BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

UPDATE: please read Johnieb's essay at Here Still Running. He's been there. He knows. No, not in Iraq, but in Vietnam. Don't say they're not the same. War is war. War is hell.