WOUNDED BIRD

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Holy Week - Jesus Enters The City

The painting above is from a series of powerful paintings titled "The Passion of Christ" by Doug Blanchard, who is also known as the blogger, Counterlight. Doug says of the paintings:

I am not interested in the literal history of the death of Jesus. As far as I'm concerned, the historical Jesus of Nazareth is an irretrievably alien figure to us, inhabiting a world that no longer exists, speaking a language almost no one speaks anymore.

I am much more interested in the story. What does that story mean to us now on the far end of the 20th century? What is it about the death of Jesus that remains so remarkable among the deaths of thousands and thousands of other innocent young men unjustly condemned throughout history? Why should this death be remarkable in light of everyone¹s death?

I decided to remake the traditional image of Jesus. I wanted to make him charismatic and attractive; as someone who touches and is touched. I wanted to make him a physical being of flesh and blood; not some semi-abstract Byzantine Pantocrator. I wanted to make the body and flesh of Jesus teach compassion to the spirit through its suffering. I wanted that same flesh to be made radiant by the spirit at the Resurrection.

All of the paintings in the series can be seen here and here. I urge you to take the time to view them.

This past Sunday, we commemorated the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem pictured above. He went to the city, although he knew, in the end, he would be killed there.

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Mark 11:1-11

The "Hosannas" did not last long.

I have not kept a very good Lent. Do I ever? What is a good Lent? I spent a good part of the season getting ready for and indulging myself during the wonderful trip to England. Hardly in tune with the penitential spirit of the season. I visited a good many churches and abbeys while I was England. Does that count toward keeping a good Lent? And there was the Lent I persevered in attending the Alpha classes, surely my most difficult Lenten discipline ever.

During Holy Week, I'm trying to do better, beginning with this post of Doug's wonderful painting and his words, along with the passage from Mark's Gospel which tells the story. Reading Doug's blog, where he writes as Counterlight, I'm getting an education in art and art history without paying a dime in tuition fees.

In The Tiled Hall Café

Doorman-Priest made the arrangements for our lunch at the wonderful Tiled Hall Café. We pushed tables together, and our group of nine had a very nice meal and a lovely time chatting and getting to know one another. Credit for the pictures go to Erika. I was too excited about about meeting everyone to bother with pictures. In fact, except for two on Sunday, I stopped taking pictures Thursday. I ran out of energy for picture-taking and decided that I want to BE in the moment rather than RECORD the moment. I'm sorry now, because I don't have pictures of places and things I saw that I wish that I had.

As you can see, the Tiled Hall, situated in the Leeds Art Gallery, is beautiful, a lovely space, and the food is quite good.

The Tiled Hall Café photo is from A Quilter's Journal. Janet, an English blogger, gave me permission to use her picture, which I found through a Google search. Click the link to see more photos at her blog, which show wonderful close-ups of the details of the beautiful tile work.

Pictured above are our man from Sweden, Göran, wearing his Ingemar Bergman preaching bands with his clerical collar (So cute!). I know it's not a movie costume but what the clergy wear in Sweden, but I loved the look, and it reminded me of Bergman's movies. Next to him is the man who worked so hard to make the meeting possible, our own and England's Doorman-Priest. Aren't they handsome brutes? They should be in the movies.

This picture is a little embarrassing. What on earth am I doing? Holding forth, surely. Poor TheMe, in the center, is trapped with no way to turn, but Saintly Ramblings, on the right, wisely looks away. Despite my holding forth, TheMe and Saintly Ramblings were charming and showed great forbearance. I was pleased to sit near them and have a chance to talk to them. Unfortunately, that meant that I was not so near others. I spent time before and after the lunch with Erika, Susan, Göran, and Mrs. DP, but I did not get to spend much time with Mrs TheMe, and I'm sorry about that. Another time? Or perhaps they'll cross the ocean one day and visit me here.

Canon Daphne Pullover from the Diocese of Wenchoster attended our luncheon, but declined to be photographed. However, she brought with her, as a gift for me, a packet of mementos from the diocese, which included a Wenchoster Diocese calendar, post cards, refrigerator magnets from the Order of the Holy Hankie of St. Veronica, and other goodies. What a surprise! All of them were hilarious. In the photo I'm splitting my sides laughing as I look at the calendar.

The pictures below are from our dinner at a wonderful Indian restaurant to which DP took a smaller group of us that evening. I include them because I want you to have a picture of Erika, our chief photographer, and her beloved, Susan.

Susan and Doorman-Priest

Göran, me, and Erika

It was great to meet all those lovely people, one of the high spots of my trip. Now I have a raft of new real-life friends in England and one in Sweden. My whole trip had a magical air about it, despite the mishaps and misadventures, and I will never, ever forget it.

Doorman-Priest, thank you from my heart for your hard work in organizing and coordinating our meeting. You're a busy man with your family, your job, and your seminary studies. Thanks to all of you who traveled to attend the gathering. I hope that everyone enjoyed our time together as much as I did.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

You Are God's Beloved

As I was walking tonight, I thought of the folks I know who think very little of themselves, who think they count for nothing, who see themselves as persons of no value, and that made me quite sad. I prayed that these people might one day come into the knowledge of the One, the source from which flows my sense that I am someone who counts, a person to be valued. I am God's creation, a creature whom God has declared to be good, and I rest secure in the infinite love of that same God, a love which is beyond what I can imagine. I want all to have that same sense of being God's beloved.

Lord, open our eyes that we may see you.

Lord, open our ears that we may hear you.

Lord, open our hearts that we may feel the power of your love for us.

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage

From the AP:

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

Excellent news! Civil unions are not marriage. They're in the same category as as the old separate-but-equal school segregation system. Separate is never equal.

H/T to Crapaud in the comments.

UPDATE: From Roseann in the comments:

Being Peace said...

I long for the day when the term "gay marriage" goes away and we just say marriage. I love my gay friends and I pray for full equality under the law for them.
The 14th Amendment says, "Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

It is time for equal rights and equal protection in all states. Stand up Obama. Get over this civil union crap. Marriage is marriage is marriage between two people, not just a man and a woman.

I love you my gay friends and I stand with you until you have justice. None of us are free until all of us are free!

To which we all say, "Amen!"

Bacon Sandwich Cures Hangover

From the Telegraph.

A bacon sandwich really does cure a hangover - by boosting the level of amines which clear the head, scientists have found.

Researchers claim food also speeds up the metabolism helping the body get rid of the booze more quickly.

Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University's Centre for Life said: "Food doesn't soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.

When you wake up the morning after an overdose of the drink, wishing you had died in the night, have someone who still cares about you prepare you a bacon sandwich, or, failing that, get your arse out of bed, or off the floor, or wherever you wake up and fix yourself a bacon sandwich. The scientist says so.

Thanks to Lapin.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Holy Week & Easter At Wenchoster

From the Pharisaios Journal:

Mark, Chapter 16 (The Codex Codpiecium. Translated from the Latin.)
And lo! The day after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, (1) and yet another Mary, and Salome (no, not that one) (2) brought a selection of balms, and came they unto the garden. And it was exceeding dark, and slippery. And behold, they sat on an rock and waited for the sun to rise. And at the appointed hour it verily did. And it came to pass that, squinting, came they unto the tomb. Now they were sorely troubled, for they knew of the stone which had been placed diligently at the entrance to the tomb, for it was a whopper and exceeding heavy, with rough edges. And lo! They looked, and behold the stone was rolled back. And it was so. Then entered they into the tomb and saw a youth, fair of face and limbs, dressed in white. And he was amazing (3). And he did wink, and saith he unto them, “You’ve just missed Him. He is not here. He arose early and said something about getting unto Galilee before you.” And lo! The women ran out quivering deeply, and said nothing, for they were sore afraid. Verily.
Footnotes:
(1) Yes, that one.
(2) Early manuscripts omit this comment.
(3) Here the text is unclear and rather shaky.

A little different, but I like it. Verily.
An excerpt from "Word From Wormingdale" by Canon Daphne Pullover. At one of the Compline services, the canon read from the diary of the Rev. Truegood, who served at Wormingdale in the 19th century.

CANON PULLOVER MUSES ON THE FLEETING NATURE OF HOLY WEEK
On Good Friday, Truegood went to the church and discovered what Mrs Greyflood had done to the font: “The wooden cover was removed, and in the ancient stone bowl was placed a china chamber full of flowers in water, the whole surrounded by flowers all wild, primroses, violets, wood anemones, wood sorrel, periwinkles, oxlips and brilliant yellow daffodils, all laid upon ferns, with larch sprays drooping over the brim. Around the base were laid bands of ivy and moss.” Truegood was so enraged by this desecration of the holy basin that he scooped up all the flowers and flung them out of the church door, from whence Mrs Greyflood ran screaming to her husband, a former prize-fighter and champion of the Wenchoster Fights of 1817. It was only the presence of the churchwardens that prevented a bloodbath of epic proportions when the angry husband arrived to deal with “that blasted vicar!”

Read the rest of Canon Pullover's musings at Word from Wormingdale. Click and scroll down.
And last, but not least, a word from Bishop Codpecium himself.

Hello! You know, Easter for me is a tame of anticipat-i-on after what hes been a lawng Lint. Es we awl troop through Holy Week we cen feel secure in the knowledge thet there are certain things to which we cen look forward. After the gloom end desperat-i-on of Good Frayday the late of the Paschal Ceremonies brings much joy. Plunging the incense grains deep into the cendle awlways gives me a Passover thrill. Cerrying the cendle aloft dine the nave end singing “The Late of Christ,” the hot wex dripping over may fingers; soaring tribles in the Exultet; the flush of the asperges end the scent of finest grains in the thurible. Awl these are things of the senses end cen be expected over the feast. Then there are the more earthy celebrat-i-ons: Large gins in the study after Hay Marss, luncheon with the Dean (who awlways produces a fane chocolate pudding garnished with candy balls end chocolate chicks) end getting on one’s hends end knees with the cwar boys to hunt for Easter eggs in the thickets behained the Pelace. Ah, Paschal bliss indeed! May we awl come to shar in the Resurrect-i-on this Easter, end lake Mary be amazed in the garden!
Bliss you awl!
+ Roderick Codpiecium

Explore the entire website of The Diocese of Wenchoster.
Bliss you awl at Wenchoster and everywhere!

From Doxy - Please Pray....

As I type this, David’s brother-in-law, Jim, is in emergency surgery. He apparently began experiencing paralysis today as a result of bleeding in his brain and was admitted to Neuro ICU in Charlottesville, VA, where the family lives. From the information we have gotten, the surgery is strictly to try and buy some time by stopping the bleed and releasing some pressure---the brain tumor itself is too deep to be removed.

I will be so bold as to ask your prayers for Jim, Ruthie, and the boys—and for the medical team. Apparently Jim was lucid and verbal before surgery and he had a chance to talk with both boys. My heart is breaking for all of them.

Love,

Doxy

UPDATE: 1 a.m. report:

Judi (one of David’s three sisters) reports that Jim is awake from surgery, and Ruthie is with him. He is mentally alert and responding. We won't know more until tomorrow but are thankful for this.

And this came in while I was typing this note:

(From Judi) I just saw Jim. He's not yet fully awake and still has a tube in so he can't talk - but he squeezed my hand very firmly many times. The CT scan showed that they did what they thought they could do with the surgery. Ruthie is anxious for them to take tube out to see if he can talk. That will probably happen late morning.

Thank you for your prayers! I am mindful today that every moment we have with those we love is a gift.

Love,

Doxy

Sunday, April 5, 2009

In The Bloomin' Garden

Yersterday was a beautiful, cool spring day. The sun shone with only a few wispy clouds in the sky. We tend to jump from winter to summer here, with little that we can call spring weather, but we had spring yesterday. Our garden is not near its high point with blooming flowers, but I found a few flowering plants which are pleasing to the eye.

Mock Orange

There's another name for this bush, but I can't think of it now.

Petunias

More Petunias

Plumbago

~~Impatiens~~ Vincas

Thanks to Lisa for the correction.

Red Tip Photinia

I'm not sure about the name for this bush. The leaves at the top are a reddish color. We have four of them planted in front of the house, but only one has blooms of any consequence. Online I find only a redtop grass.

UPDATE: I corrected the name of the bush in the bottom photo. Thanks to Pat-Arkansas for the proper name.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church

Stained glass window at St. Luke's

Doorman-Priest serves at St. Luke's as a Candidate Pastor and Lay Minister. On my first Sunday in England, I attended DP's church. It was my first time to attend a Lutheran service. That's hard even for me to believe, but it's true. That Sunday was a Communion Sunday, and the service seemed somewhat like a cross between an Anglican service and a Roman Catholic service, but similar to both. I felt quite at home. The congregation is diverse. You can see by the schedule of services just how diverse. Along with members from European countries, there were those from African countries and perhaps the Caribbean.

In Estonian Contact: *****
In German Second sunday at 4:00pm
Contact: *****
In Latvian Contact: *****
In Polish First sunday at 9:30am
Contact: *****
For Lutheran Students Contact: *****

The church is quite near my hotel, but I managed to get lost, as seems to happen much too often, and I took the long way there.

Our man Doorman-Priest in his alb

DP preached that Sunday, and a lovely sermon it was. You can find it at his blog, The World of Doorman-Priest. I thought it was so good that I wanted to applaud, but I didn't, being a visitor and all. I expect that he'll make a wonderful priest.

That Sunday was Mothering Sunday, and members of the congregation were invited to go forward and take a flower, name their mothers, speak a descriptive phrase about them, and place the flower in the vases near the altar.

After taking Communion, the communicants remain standing in place as the priest (well, a bishop that day) prays a blessing before they return to their places. It's a lovely moment in the liturgy.

Window near the entrance at St. Luke's

The church is next door to the bishop's house, and was once the stables to the house, but a lovely job of renovation made it into a small, but quite pleasant church building.

Forgive me, but I'm rather proud of my pictures posted here.

After church, DP drove me to his house, where I met the whole family, Mrs DP and their two lovely daughters, and we dined on Mrs DP's delicious lunch. After lunch we chatted and later watched "Lavender Ladies" with the marvelous actors, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. I'd seen the movie before, and they had, too, but we all love it, and it was a joy to watch it again.

Sunday was the worst day of my English cold, and I was sneezing and sniffling all afternoon. Mrs DP gave me my very own large box of tissues with a healing component embedded in them to use there and take back to the hotel with me. I needed them badly.

The dears knew I needed a quiet day. God bless them.