dual personalities

Tag: Episcopal Church

July 12, 2013

T.G.I.F.

by chuckofish

This is my first full 5-day work week since I had a vacation week followed by a short holiday week.

I’m not complaining, but I am ready for the weekend, aren’t you?

I am having a few friends over tonight for “Episcopal Souffle”. One friend is bringing her “Holy Spirit Salad”; another will bring bread and another dessert. Add wine. Voila: dinner! Easy-peasy.

Here is the hymn “Come Labor On” (Ora Labora) at St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue which includes an improvisation by Gerre Hancock (1934-2012), Organist & Master of Choirsters at St. Thomas Church, for all you organ fans. Perhaps you could argue that this hymn is more appropriate for Monday, but I think it works for the end of the work week. (Also note that yesterday was the feast day of St. Benedict who drew up the Rule of Life: Ora et Labora.)

4 Comments
July 8, 2013

The harvest is plentiful

by chuckofish

How was your weekend?

Mine was very quiet and I was able to catch up with all the loose ends in my household. Laundry, groceries, dusting, mulch-spreading, etc. I also read in church on Sunday–another good St. Paul finger-shaker: “God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7–16). Good stuff. We also got to sing 2 patriotic hymns:
“America” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”.

The sermon was about the Gospel lesson (Luke 10:1-11, 16–20) and Jesus sending out the disciples in pairs to spread the good news. There were a couple of digs at the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses–of course we would look down on their success! We were encouraged to be friendly etc. Yeah, right.

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All in all, however, it was a very satisfying service. How often is it even possible for me to say that? So thank you, Lord, from the bottom of my heart.

The boy and his bride came over for dinner. POPS

They took our lawn mower back over to their new house. And some big clippers. Ah, I remember when we use to do that!

I watched Of Gods and Men, an excellent French film directed by Xavier Beauvois, starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale.

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Based on the true story of seven French Trappist monks from the monastery of Tibhirine, Algeria, who were kidnapped in 1996 and found beheaded. The Armed Islamic Group of Algeria claimed full responsibility for the incident. It won the Grand Prix at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn’t even nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar that year. Amazing.

I also watched The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) with Steve McQueen.

Steve McQueen as a Dartmouth man

Steve McQueen as a Dartmouth man

Not really one of my favorites–it’s overly and self-consciously “stylish”–but it’s always worth a look at Steve in those famous Persol shades.

There are also some fine glimpses into familiar Boston locales, such as

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Copps Hill Cemetery where Increase and Cotton Mather are buried along with other notable Puritans.

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Thomas Crown lived in the 2nd Harrison Gray Otis House, built by Charles Bulfinch, located at 85 Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill. Very nice.*

I seem to remember that my parents got a kick out of all the Boston locales back when they went to see it in 1968–their old stomping grounds.

*(Please note that the 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan took place in New York City and Crown is no longer a Boston Brahmin and Dartmouth man, but a self-made rich guy. I wonder if this is because movie-makers assume the movie-going public no longer knows/cares what a Boston Brahmin is and what the heck Dartmouth is. Movie goers just wouldn’t “get” it? Phooey.)

3 Comments
June 3, 2013

Long may you run

by chuckofish

It was quite a weekend. I took part in more socializing than in the first 5 months of the year combined.

A very dear friend and her husband were visiting from Virginia and we had dinner with them at a friend’s house with other members of our high school class–a mini reunion of sorts. There were tornado sirens and we turned on the TV during dinner to make sure we weren’t in the path of disaster. Luckily the tornadic activity passed by us to the north, but you can never be too sure. Unbenownst to us, there was a lot of local damage and power outages galore.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

On Saturday we went to my old man’s 40th high school reunion which was held at his bff’s house up on a bluff above the Mississippi River.

BFFs

BFFs

Such a view!

Such a view!

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river3

There was a pig roast (sorry, no pictures) and lots of nostalgic ’70s music. Hello, Neil Young.

Martin and Cap check out those newfangled phone devices.

Martin and Cap check out those newfangled phone devices.

The boys shot off a cannon and there were fireworks.

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On Sunday I went to church because I was reading the second lesson. It was one of those “as we have said before, so now I repeat…” exhortations that ol’ St. Paul is known for. Great stuff. My favorite to read. While we were passing the peace, the first lector said, “Good job,” to me. “As usual. We had the A-team today.” I chuckled, but I was pleased. I’ve never been on the A-team before. Boo yah.

I had brunch with my BFFs from Virginia and then went home to work in the yard a little before it rained. A lovely end to an exhausting but wonderful weekend.

#Oldfriends

#Oldfriends

Oh, this old world
Keeps spinning round
It’s a wonder tall trees
Ain’t layin’ down
There comes a time.

7 Comments
May 20, 2013

And then we were all in one place

by chuckofish

spiritumsanctam

Sunday was Pentecost, and coincidentally, Grace Church officially merged with another parish, so it was an extra big deal for all concerned. However, when I got to church, some new person was sitting in “my pew” (!) so I had to look around for another place to sit. You see how it is.

I moved down the row and sat with my old friend Ron, an 80-year old African-American retired Army Colonel. It was a good choice as we happily made barbed comments throughout the overly-long 2-hour service which included four baptisms–in Ron’s words, “The worst logistical hash-up” of the year–and a brass quartet which intruded on our post-communion prayer time–“so much for our moment of quiet contemplation.” Ron and I were, of course, the only members on our knees in prayer, because for some unknown reason which neither of us understands, kneeling has been phased out of our liturgy. When I asked Ron after the service if he knew why that was, he did not, but commented that “in that other church, they have a Pope who decides those things.” We were on the same page for sure.

Although the choir was off-key most of the time and the brass quartet hit some really sour notes, it was a happy and welcoming occasion. But enough already–I skipped the church picnic afterwards and came home to water my plants and finish up my DIY bathroom project.

Somehow I convinced my old man to take me down to Ted Drewes for some frozen goodness.

paul

It is already in the “hot and humid” range here in flyover land and I refuse to turn on the airco before June, so frozen custard it is.

How was your weekend?

6 Comments
May 7, 2013

Now with gladness

by chuckofish

I read the second lesson in church on Sunday. It was a great passage from the Book of Revelation, the one that starts out “I saw no temple in the city, for the temple is the Lord God Almighty…”

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Here is paradise! The hymns reflected this nicely. We sang #620, “Jerusalem, My Happy Home” and #621, “Lights’ Abode, Celestial Salem”.

The sermon, no surprise, did not address the holy city, but was about “Friends”. The preacher vaguely connected this to the Gospel, but it was a stretch.

I can’t help wondering if some ministers do not want to talk about resurrection and heaven, because they do not really believe in it. It certainly makes them very uncomfortable. Partly I think this is because they enjoy their life here and now too much. They certainly don’t buy into the idea put forth so well in hymn #621:

Now with gladness, now with courage,
bear the burden on thee laid,
that hereafter these thy labors
may with endless gifts be paid,
and in everlasting glory
thou with brightness be arrayed.

But what did old Thomas á Kempis know? Or for that matter, the Victorian (J. M. Neale) who translated it?

Well, who am I to say? It just got me thinking, you know? And Lord knows I have to think about something during those long sermons about #friendship.

2 Comments
May 3, 2013

A blast from the past

by chuckofish

On this day in 1960 The Fantasticks opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, a small off-Broadway theatre in New York City’s Greenwich Village. A musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, it tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play “The Romancers” (“Les Romanesques”) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud. The show’s original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years (!) and 17,162 performances, making it the world’s longest-running musical.

Hard to believe I know, but I have never seen The Fantasticks! I know the famous song Try to Remember–I mean how many people sang that song in Talent Shows in the 1960s? And I know that the original cast included one of our favorites, Jerry Orbach, alias “Lenny”.

Jerry_Orbach_1965_press_photo

Here he is singing Try to Remember.

Interesting side note: Jerry was born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother and raised Catholic. However, he died an Episcopalian and is buried at Trinity Church Cemetery (located in Upper Manhattan between Broadway and Riverside Drive, at the Church of the Intercession, New York) along with Clement Clark Moore, John James Audubon, and many members of New York’s social elite. Way to go, Jerry!

2 Comments
April 1, 2013

Welcome, happy morning!

by chuckofish

Easter turned out to be a lovely day in our flyover town. Warm and sunny. The boy and his bride joined us at church. We were surrounded by small children. They were adorable in their Women’s Exchange finery, but very distracting. I didn’t get a whole lot out of the service, but oh well. It was nice just to be in a (full) church with my family (such as it is with the daughters so far away).

The boy’s Best Man was in town with his girlfriend and they were also at church.

friends

After church we went to Easter brunch at the boy’s in-laws. I brought the dollar rolls and the sticky buns. I did not give the boy a basket this year since he is all grown up, but I had to give him some of these:

wrc

I worked in the yard a little when I got home, but since I hurt my back last weekend shoveling snow(!), I couldn’t do much. But it was nice to be outside, soaking up the vitamin D.

I spent a good part of this Easter weekend watching Ben Hur. My husband surprised me with the fancy 50th Anniversary boxed set (on super sale since that was 4 years ago!) Blu-Ray edition of the film–complete with a book about the making of the movie, a facsimile of Charlton Heston’s diary and a whole disc of special features.

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Never since the old Lord of the Rings days have I felt like such a nerd. But a happy nerd.

How was your weekend?

Here is the King’s College Cambridge version of one of my favorite Easter hymns which we never sing at church.. It does not include verse 4–my favorite–but I could not find the Radney Foster rendition.

3 Comments
March 21, 2013

Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest

by chuckofish

Thomas-Cranmer-ez

On this day in 1556 Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake at Oxford. At the very end, he repudiated his final letter of submission, and announced that he died a Protestant. He said, “I have sinned, in that I signed with my hand what I did not believe with my heart. When the flames are lit, this hand shall be the first to burn.” And when the fire was lit around his feet, he leaned forward and held his right hand in the fire until it was charred to a stump. Aside from this, he did not speak or move, except that once he raised his left hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Cranmer is commemorated in the Anglican Communion as a Reformation Martyr on 21 March.

Merciful God, through the work of Thomas Cranmer you renewed the worship of your Church by restoring the language of the people, and through his death you revealed your power in human weakness: Grant that by your grace we may always worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Cranmer_burning_foxe

“Cranmer said to him, when they were talking late one night, St. Augustine says we need not ask where our home is, because in the end we all come home to God.”
–Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

4 Comments
March 15, 2013

Rock of ages

by chuckofish

5StPeterLadue

Yesterday I went to a “Service of Thanksgiving” for the life of the father of a friend of mine who died the day after his 95th birthday. The funeral was at the church we went to together when I was growing up. They stayed; we left. I have been a member of two churches since, but I am seriously considering going back. I like the plain windows that let the sunshine in and the total lack of iconography.

Anyway, this man had an amazing life. According to his obit in the paper, he was president of his senior class and “the lead in several high school musicals”. He graduated from college in 1939 (!) and then spent 5 years in the U.S. Army during WWII. He finished the war as a Major, having taken part in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. He had a very successful career and served as the president of his country club and on the vestry of his church (where he was a member for over 60 years), as well as on multiple boards.

I knew him as a cheerful, kind man, who always knew my name. He was an authority figure who knew his duty. He took care of his family, was present, but not overly involved. His children were all devoted to him.

Best friends in third grade--1965--I was giggling in this picture as I usually was when in her company.

Best friends in third grade–1965–I was giggling in this picture as I usually was when in her company.

His wife, of course, did not work. She kept the home fires burning. Their house was impeccable and so was she. She still is!

Times have changed. It’s a different world. Maybe it’s better, maybe not. I can’t help wondering who is going to take the place of men like this. I knew lots of men like him back in the day. I miss them.

P.S. The funeral was your basic Episcopal memorial service (sans communion). Included were excellent scripture choices (KJV) and good hymns, although the organist charged through them like he was in a hurry. But oh well.

I sing a song of the saints of God,
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green;
They were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right for Jesus’ sake
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
And there’s not any reason, no, not the least,
Why I shouldn’t be one too.

They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.

5 Comments
March 4, 2013

Bread of Heaven

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? I went home a little early on Friday and got right in my pajamas and hunkered down, as I had been fighting off some version of this winter’s flu for a few days. I went to bed and didn’t wake up ’til almost 10 o’clock the next morning which is four hours later than usual. I stayed in bed most of the day reading Willa Cather, only rousing myself to talk to loved ones on the phone.

But the next day was Sunday and I was scheduled to be a lay reader, so I got up, endeavored to make myself presentable and went to church. I read the second lesson which turned out to be some excellent fire and brimstone from Saint Paul to the Corinthians warning about sexual immorality etc.: “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.” Oh, how I do love him. And I say that without irony.

We also sang “Bread of Heaven”, one of my favorite hymns, which always conjures up images of the Reverend Jones in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain

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stabbing the tires of the surveyor’s car while muttering the refrain of this hymn. The words, indeed, are all quite evocative:

When I tread the verge of Jordan
Bid my anxious fears subside
Death of death, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side

I left church renewed and with a light heart and feeling that a reward to myself was overdo. So I went to my neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts:

DD

for a cup of:

cup of jo

and this crispy goodness:

photo

Life is good. But lest we forget: “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” (I Cor. 10:13) Have a great week!

6 Comments