Bourbon and Revelations

A bottle of Elmer T Lee Bourbon that had a short, happy life at the wedding reception

Stories from this weekend are going to come in fragments--so here's one...

Before the wedding weekend, I can't say that I knew my sister's fiance well. In fact, I believe I had only met him once in passing at an event with lots of people. So I was glad to have a chance to spend an evening with him in Louisville just before he married my sister. He suggested that he introduce me, properly, to Kentucky Bourbon. What a great idea, I thought!

So we went downtown to a bar with a good selection and spent the first part of our night sampling a "flight" of about 9 fine bourbons. About half an ounce of each was poured into a sample glass and arrayed in front of us. By comparing them to each other we could discover all kinds of subtle distinctions and flavors. I realized, then, that my new brother is a connoisseur! I might have guessed this from the fact that he writes about things like art and food for a living, but I suppose one could write about those things without being a real connoisseur. Being a connoisseur is a disposition of the heart, a Tao of experiencing, that I greatly admire. I like fine things, too, but to be a connoisseur means also spending the time to really learn about the things you enjoy. It's closely tied to sacramental spirituality--in ability to see God in "stuff." Very incarnational. I remember saying to Bob after one memorable sip, "This tastes True." I kept thinking of memorable Single Malt Scotches I've enjoyed with Bede.

From there we went to the Maker's Mark Restaurant on 4th Street. We had another (smaller) flight of Bourbons and talked more about our lives and families and the kinds of things guys talk about to feel close. For supper I had an excellent salad and steak (Rare, of course). BTW, my new Brother-in-Law is far more sophisticated in his ideas about religion and spirituality than the average person. He clearly likes to think about the things that matter to him.

As we were walking back on 4th Street we came to a historical plaque that caught my eye:
Plaque at Fourth and Walnut in Louisville honoring Thomas Merton

in Louisville on the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the middle of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers ... I have the immense joy of being human, a member of the race in which God himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. If only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. there is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the Sun. (From Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)

I was stunned. This is the very corner that my Spiritual Director, Bede, mentioned in his blog a week ago. Bede was talking about interconnectedness. How True does that taste?

So after that evening I feel like I know the guy in the way that guys know each other. He's a "good guy" I would say approvingly!

-t

A Monotheistic Traffic Jam

Image (c) NYT
Doug C. points me to this article in the NYT about the coincidence of Rosh Hashana and Ramadan this year creating an unusual mix of Jewish and Muslim devotion in the Holy Land:

The result has been a kind of monotheistic traffic jam in September along the paths of the tiny walled Old City, especially as dawn approaches each day. The Muslims and Jews walk past one another, often intersecting just at the Via Dolorosa of Christian sanctity, as they hurry to their separate prayer sessions: the Muslims above at the Dome of the Rock, the Jews just below at the Western Wall.

It would be wrong to call these tense encounters, because there are essentially no encounters at all. Words are not exchanged. Religious women in both groups — head, arms and legs covered in subtly distinct fashion — look past one another as if they took no notice. Like parallel universes with different names for every place and moment they both claim as their own, the groups pass in the night. (source)

I have never been to Jerusalem, but it's high on my list of places to go. I'd love to spend some time at St. George's College studying. Sigh. Someday...

-t

Getting Back...

Betsy and I just got back this evening from Kentucky. We were there for my sister's wedding. I was the celebrant and was pleased with how the service went. I tried to record my sermon--I'll post it if I can. It was great to be with family and to spend some time getting to know my sister's husband, as well.

More later--tired tonight.

-t

From the Onion: "Bishop Sick of Local Church Scene"

Bishop Sick Of Local Church Scene
April 14, 2004 | Issue 40•15
SACRAMENTO, CA—Bishop Robert K. Boland of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento announced Monday that, although he remains a devoted servant of God and the Catholic Church, he has become tired of the same old church scene.

"This diocese is okay, I guess," Boland told reporters gathered on the front steps of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. "It's just getting a little... tedious. I've got more than 100 parishes in my diocese, but at the end of the day, they're all pretty much the same."

"Don't get me wrong—I still care about everyone's eternal soul," Boland added. "I care deeply, but I must admit that the congregations have sorta become one big blur of blue-haired old ladies. Lately, when I get the question about whether so-and-so's cats are waiting for her in heaven, I just fall back on a stock answer."

Appointed his bishopric by Pope John Paul II in 2000, Boland said he's weary of both the parishioners and "the entire sacraments thing."

"When you're a bishop, you church-hop constantly, performing the Eucharist throughout the diocese," said Boland, whose diocese covers 20 counties in northern California. "Like, I love to worship God in the joyous celebration of the Mass and sacraments, but the whole thing never really changes. At some point, I went from 'I can't believe I get to do this' to 'I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life.'"

Continued Boland: "Once in a while, there's an exciting shake-up in the diocese, like an excommunication or a priest who misuses funds—but hardly ever."

Boland said he used to bolster his interest in the Church by getting involved with the neediest parishes, but that ultimately backfired.

"I was spending a lot of time at St. Joseph's over in Sutter Creek, because they have a big problem with the youth using crystal meth," Boland said. "But if I spend too much time at one church, the priests at the others accuse me of playing favorites. Next thing I know, [San Francisco] Archbishop [William J.] Levada is on my behind, asking why I haven't been to the St. Monica Parish for six months."

Continued Boland: "St. Joseph's isn't even all that great, but I will say that their Friday fish fry beats the tar out of the usual potluck spread."

Boland said he hasn't always been disengaged.

"At first, I was thrilled to be living out the dream I'd had since the seminary," Boland said. "I had boundless energy. Every pancake breakfast was a new adventure. Now, I can barely choke down those greasy sawdust links the ladies in the Parish Council of Catholic Women call sausages."

Added Boland: "God, I'm in such a horrible rut."

According to Boland, even the magnificent, 1,400-seat Cathedral of The Blessed Sacrament has lost its luster.

"Yeah, it's a beautiful church," Boland said. "Those ceilings are absolutely amazing. You can't believe how far your voice carries without a microphone. But, even so, Sunday morning has become business as usual. It's like, 'Oh boy, let's watch Mr. Harrison nod off during the homily for the 200th time.'"

Boland's request to be transferred to a different diocese was not granted.

"Sure, I mentioned it once, but it never happened," Boland said. "In my request, I may have been a little hazy. I said that I was sick of the same old sacristies. I said that maybe I should help the poor in New Mexico or South Africa or someplace. In truth, the thought of starting over is pretty daunting. I was almost relieved when they never responded."

"What I need to do is climb my way up to cardinal," Boland added. "That'd be my ticket out of this one-horse diocese."

Boland said there's little chance he'll be promoted anytime soon.

"Archbishop Levada isn't going anywhere," Boland said. "He's here until he dies, and he's not much older than me. It's too depressing to think about right now."

Boland said he hopes current events will serve to shake things up a bit.

"I'm grateful for this recent controversy over gay marriage," Boland said. "It allows me to dabble in politics a little. I'm firmly in support of President Bush's constitutional amendment to ban same-gender unions, so I've been trying to stir up some healthy debate on the subject. Anything to do something new in this diocese."

Cardinal Roger Mahony said he was not surprised by Boland's attitude.

"Bishop Boland is going through a temporary period of dissatisfaction, similar to those experienced by many of his colleagues," Mahony said. "As a cardinal, I'm forced to listen to that same complaint again and again. It's getting really old. If he's so unhappy, he's more than welcome to quit the Church and go work at a Taco Bell."(source)

Fundraising

I just met with the chair of the new Fundraising Committee for the church. Over coffee at Starbucks in the trendy Yorkville neighborhood we formulated our plan for fundraising. Phase I is a mailer going out this weekend to ask for money to pay for the mural--mainly this is an appeal to parishioners. Phase II will begin to look at the people who aren't parishioners, but have a strong connection to this place of one sort or another--that's next week. Meanwhile, we are going to hone in on the campaigns driving themes and image. We need a title for the campaign as well as specific, measurable goals. We also need promotional material! So lots of stuff to do.

The most important part of this is that I have someone to help. I'm incredibly thankful to God for giving me someone to head up this effort. I prayed for some help and God sent me someone--someone with experience! Weird how that works. Always a surprise, for some reason, when God answers prayers. Thus I'm feeling less anxious today than I was a few days ago! Yippee!

-t

Time and Timelessness

Bede's post this week is a very interesting discussion of those moments when the barriers between this moment and the next or this person and the next seem to dissolve. He describes feeling this way about time itself on his recent trip to Turkey.

I think these experiences are pretty common. I think, in fact, that they happen with both frequency and regularity. But in our radically secular culture we are trained to ignore them. And if they are strong enough that we have to notice them, we almost never, ever mention them to another person. People in our society don't talk about that sort of thing. You have to be someone pretty quirky, like a monk or a teen, to do that. But these experiences of awareness of the spiritual dimension of things are part of life. People who do brain research can even point to the places in the brain where they happen. They are part of the gift of our human nature; God pulling us to that place where boundaries aren't what we thought, and where we are really one with each other and with the world as it is and as it was. Quite a thing for an old man and a young man to share. (source)

Bede also talks about the role of meditation in noticing such things:

I first began noticing it in meditation. Meditation is an old and familiar experience to me, and the technique is part of my ordinary consciousness: attend to your breath (or whatever you're using), when you notice that you've drifted away, bring yourself back to the present, and do that as many times as necessary, with a gentle but firm touch. So if I'm sitting there meditating and find a thought of, say, the city of Sardis in Turkey coming into my mind, I just label it as "thinking", and bring myself back to the present. The trouble is that I'm no longer sure that Sardis is part of the past. What if that ancient city, those ancient ruins, are actually part of my present? This isn't anything that I'm thinking my way into. It's just happening. I can't seem to muster up the energy necessary to regard Sardis as a "distraction", because it seems very much a part of now. (source)

The Bridge in West Cornwall
I've noticed this sort of thing myself from time-to-time. For instance, a few years ago I was visiting my therapist at the time, Mary, up in a place called West Cornwall, Connecticut. It's a beautiful New England village in a small river valley. It is best known for an old-fashioned covered bridge across the Housatonic River. I was approaching this red bridge walking along the bank when I noticed--I mean really noticed--the sight and sound of the river flowing over the rocks in the river. Suddenly I felt as though I was a part of that river and that it was part of me. I sat down on the bank and stayed with the feeling until it began to fade.

It's a wonderful thing to notice, and I think Bede is right that pretty much everybody has these moments. It's too bad we are conditioned to ignore them, as they do reveal something very important about the nature of things.

-t

Nantenbo Scroll Photos

As promised, here is a picture of that scroll by Nantenbo.

Interestingly, neither the dealer that sold the scroll to me (who is Japanese, btw) nor the dealer he bought it from (a specialist in scroll collecting) can read the script. Nantenbo was never very interested in making particularly legible characters; he was more interested in cultivating a kind of unstudied immediacy in his work. By comparing this work with others by the same artist, I think the characters in the upper left hand corner (next to the signature stamp) say "Daruma." Daruma (Sanskrit: Bodhidharma) is the saint who took Buddism from India to China. He's a popular motif in Zen art. That's him seated at the bottom of the scroll.

Daruma--the Patriarch of Chinese/Japanese Buddhism
The contrast between the quick, almost careless calligraphy at the top and the carefully executed Daruma at the bottom of the scroll is deliberate, obviously. Nantenbo was famous for his sense of humor and playfulness.

One of the stories about Daruma that fascinated Nantenbo goes like this: some time after arriving in China, Daruma was called before the Emperor. The Emperor asked, "What is your teaching?" Daruma replied: "Vast empiness; nothing sacred." Then he went away and spent nine years meditating facing a wall, speaking to no one. Nantenbo and other Zen Masters painted portraits of Daruma facing the wall. In this instance, it seems that we are the wall Daruma is facing. Nor does he seem particularly happy about that!

The composition of this portrait of Daruma also incorporates another important Zen motif: the Enso circle. It symbolizes "...enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and the void"--in other words, everything. But what's most beautiful about the Enso in the moment of creating it. Drawing a circle free-hand is much more difficult than you might imagine, and the very task requires Zen-like presence. If you don't believe me, just try it!

Inside this Enso Nantenbo wrote:

Born within the ensō of the world
the human heart must also
become an ensō

Good stuff. I'm going to enjoy thinking about this scroll more.

-t

Eucharistic Prayers for Children

My brother-priest Sherman Hesselgrave over at Holy Trinity, Eaton Center, asked on the APLM List Serve whether anyone knew of Eucharistic Prayers written specifically for children. Kurt Huber pointed us all to Prayers 6 and 7 of the Holy Communion service authorized in 2004 by the Church of Wales. Here's an excerpt...

Eucharistic Prayer 7

Suitable for use when a significant number of 7–11 year-olds is present.

In place of the Proper Preface [Through him you made us …], three or four children may each read out a brief sentence of thanksgiving for the love of God in Christ.

The Lord be with you. or The Lord is here.
And also with you. or His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is always right, wherever we are, to thank you and to praise you, God our Father and King for ever, through Jesus Christ, your Son.

[Through him you made us and the whole universe. When your Holy Spirit came to Mary,
Jesus was born as one of us. He loved us so much that he died for us; on the first Easter Day you raised him to life; and death and evil were conquered for ever. At Pentecost, you gave the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised, to help us to live as your children.]

So here on earth, with the angels and archangels and with everyone in heaven
we praise your name and say / sing:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Father in heaven, listen to the prayer we make in Jesus’ name; through the Holy Spirit’s power, gentle as a dove, may this bread and this wine be for us Jesus’ body and blood.

Father, we remember when Jesus had supper with his friends
the night before he died, he took the bread; he thanked you, broke it, gave it to his friends and said: Take this and eat it – this is my body, given for you.
Do this to remember me.

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine; he thanked you, gave it to his friends and said: All of you drink from this cup, because this is my blood – the new promise of God’s love. Do this every time you drink it to remember me.

Together we remember that Jesus is always with us and say / sing:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come in glory.

Father, as we remember your Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again,
we offer you these and all the gifts you freely give to us. Send your Holy Spirit to be with us and all who share this bread and drink from this cup. Help us to trust you, bring us closer together and welcome us, with all your people,
into Jesus’ glorious kingdom.

All honour and glory belong to you, Father, through Jesus, your Son, with the Holy Spirit: one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (source)

They also have a version intended for those 7 and younger. Nice and simple. I could imagine using this in the Children's Chapel some day (with the Bishop's permission, of course).

-t

Nantenbo

Yesterday I finally bought that Japanese Zen scroll I've been thinking about. It was written in 1918 or 1919 by a Buddhist priest named Nakahara Nantenbo. He was a colorful figure that served as an important bridge to 20th century Zen. Here's a bit about him:

"If I cannot become a priest of extraordinary accomplishment, I will not walk upon the earth," vowed eighteen-year-old Nantenbō (Tōjū Zenchū) to his Zen Master.' The impassioned spirit of this precocious young man was to burn brightly throughout his eighty-seven years. Not only did he rise through ecclesiastical ranks to an exalted position at one of the most prestigious Rinzai Zen monasteries in Japan, he was "a Zen priest of the people."' In his determination to restore Zen to its former purity and brilliance, he emulated the severe methods of legendary Zen masters from the distant past. The thick staff of nandina he used to "encourage" disciples and frighten "false priests" resulted in a great deal of notoriety, giving him the nickname Nantenbō (nandina staff). He also published ten volumes of Zen commentaries, headed numerous Zen study groups and, by his own estimate, brushed over one hundred thousand calligraphies and paintings, which he freely gave away to anyone brave enough to ask. Certainly his efforts helped maintain Zen during Japan's tumultuous modernization. By wielding the brush with unmitigated vigor, he also may have unwittingly exerted tremendous influence on twentieth-century "action" artists and avant-garde calligraphers."

This son of a Samurai attacked the scroll with unusual speed and energy. "Splash" marks at the beginning of his strokes are common, as are abbreviations and bold, dynamic movements.

I'll post a picture when I get a chance. It's not often that I get to collect a piece of fine art, so I'm very pleased about this acquisition--a real treat.

-t

Tay in the Bouncy Castle

Here's a shot one of my Warden's took of me enjoying the "Bouncy Castle" at this year's back-to-church BBQ...


I really do think I have more fun than most priests.

-t

Sauce Update

I'm doing a lot of multi-media work today, so I thought I'd upload a snap shot from the Tomato Sauce Project. I had some of it last last night on some breaded eggplant: excellent!


-t

Website Updates

I made a bunch of updates to the COTM website today. I'd really fallen behind on a lot of that--so now I've added a bunch of stuff. I'm particularly pleased with the new "Donate" button that I put on every page. This makes it possible for people to quickly donate on-line to COTM. I also created a "Support our Ministry" page to make giving us money easier. There is also a large section about the mural with pretty pictures.

-t