Joe, Jeff and I traveled to Rome in January 2013 and found this poster everywhere in the city. 
We think it is Constantine’s foot.
The news is full of people today talking about their rights under the Constitution to carry guns. At the risk of sounding unpatriotic (and please remember that I am a Vietnam Veteran who served our nation) I don’t really care what a group of wealthy old white men, many of whom owned slaves, thought about whether or not people should have the right to own muskets and single shot pistols. In fact I think there are far too many people who regard the Constitution with the sort of sacred devotion that should be reserved for God and the Bible. I am not a vegetarian and have nothing against hunting for food. I am less enthusiastic about hunting for sport since killing is not something I enjoy and is not something I would like to teach children to enjoy. Assault weapons, machine pistols, and armor piercing bullets are not suitable for hunting or sport. They are not toys. They are designed to kill people and should be banned from sale everywhere in our nation. Sometimes “rights” are less important than what is “right”.
I hope that you and your family and friends have celebrated a wonderful and joy filled Christmas and are looking forward to receiving even more of God’s many blessings in the year to come. We are now in the midst of those 12 days of Christmas that are remembered in that jaunty little Christmas Carol about Laying Hens and Leaping Lords and such things. At the end of the 12 days we arrive at the end of the short Season of Christmas and begin another short season called Epiphany. The symbols of that little season adds a star and several Magi, or what we have come to call Kings, to those of the stable, manger, and shepherds.But we are not there yet and will speak more about that next week.
Right now we are still celebrating Christmas, and like Mary is said to have done at the conclusion of the reading of Luke’s Gospel on Christmas, we treasure all these words (about the birth of Christ) and ponder them in our hearts:
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
There was a lot to be fearful of in the world of the shepherds who first saw and heard the words of the angels. Life was short and hard in those days and it is often harsh in our own times as well. Their lives and our own could use a bit of Good News and joy such as that proclaimed by the angels. God has come to be amongst us, in our world, in our hearts and in the midst of the painful struggles we often endure. That was Good News and it continues to be Good News today. Maybe we, as a nation, will go over the Fiscal Cliff that we keep hearing about. Perhaps our own bodies will betray us and become weakened by age and disease. Whatever may happen, the angels proclaim that God is still here with us, in our midst. We may not always see him or even feel his presence. Sometimes we are just too numbed by the travails of life to see beyond our own pain and misery and at other times we are so ecstatic with the joys of life we don’t bother to look for God. But that doesn’t mean God has abandoned us or is not present in times of trouble or joy.
Maureen Dowd had an interesting editorial in the Times a day or so ago in which she quoted a wise and caring priest who described mercy as “entering into the chaos of another.” Christmas is really a celebration of the mercy of God who entered the chaos of our world in the person of Jesus, mercy incarnate.” I like that enough to want to spend some time “pondering that in my heart” and I invite you to join me in doing so.
I find that I cannot write to you about our celebration of Christmas this year without remembering those who will not be celebrating this joyful event with their family and friends. They will be in my thoughts and prayers throughout this holy season as I know they will be in yours. I am speaking, of course, of the 20 young children murdered at their school last week. In my own mind I have begun calling them the Holy Innocents of Sandy Hook since they remind me of the biblical slaying of children in Bethlehem by King Herod who feared the birth of a new king sent by God to be a Savior to all people. Far too often the innocent are maimed and killed by those whose lives are warped with hatred and fear and their loss leaves a hole in our hearts that will only be healed by God’s love. And that is what the Incarnation is about, God healing the holes in the world through love. One of the announcers on one of the many stations carrying news in the wake of the killings said that it was sad because “Christmas is for children”. What a silly statement. Christmas is for everyone but it is about a child and about children.
Though we adults often like to pretend that we are “self made people”, independent captains of our own fate, we are all children of God; to paraphrase an old saying, “no one is an island unto himself”, because every life brushes up against and impacts others as it traverses from birth to death in this world. And every life is a gift of God, important to God. And Jesus is clear that how we spend that life is also important. He said that “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”1 A fun little book I recently read features an interesting observation from a dog saying to a former human master, “You humans fascinate us. You spend so much of your lives trying to unlearn what you know.” 2 Of course, the dog means that we begin life as trusting children yearning to be loved and offering love in return, but then we “grow up” and forget how to do that. We even forget how to playfully rejoice in life as we force ourselves to be “realistic and serious”. Jesus says we must relearn the skills of childhood in order to live within God’s kingdom because the rules of this world don’t apply in the kingdom of God.
In the next few days we will celebrate the birth of the child who grew up to teach us everything we have come to know about our God. In fact, as we have come to understand, that child was and is God, come to love us into heaven. My grandmother used to tickle and hug me tight saying, “I want to hug you to death!” That used to scare me until I understood that she really meant she wanted to hug me into a life of laughter and fun. And that is what God has done by being born of a woman named Mary in a small village called Bethlehem some two thousand years ago as angels proclaimed to nearby shepherds that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”3
The Gospel of Luke goes on to say that “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him”4, but unlike us, he never lost the innocence and the loving nature that children seem to have in such abundance. I suppose that is because that is what the very nature of God is all about, boundless joyful love and life! To become like him, to follow Jesus, is to become like a child again, trusting God even when times are hard, and allowing ourselves to laugh with God and one another as often as we possibly can.
Father C. H. Powers, Rector
- (MT 18:3)
- Dirks, Leland; Dirks, Angelo (2011-09-15). Seven Dogs in Heaven (p. 35). . Kindle Edition.
- Luke 2:9-12
- Luke 2:40
For the past few weeks we at Saint John’s have joined with Episcopal parishes around the country in sharing together six weeks of discussion on how it is that we have each one been Blessed by God in order to be a Blessing to others. In the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us our trespasses just as we offer forgiveness to others. So when we consider the blessings of life, love, talent and treasure that God has bestowed upon us we should also consider the way in which we have used those things, those blessings, to reach out and touch and bless others. If we don’t do that then we have misused the blessings that God has given us. So the question we need to ask ourselves each day in our life of prayer should be, “How have I blessed someone today?”
If it be your will
A baby began to cry as the plane took off from JFK for my almost 6 hour flight to Seattle so I pulled out my iPod and plugged in my earphones. It turned out to be one of the best flights I can remember in the past few years. As we crossed the country I crossed a number of years as I reacquainted myself with some old but beloved friends, one of whom was Leonard Cohen. One song that spoke to me especially in this Easter season was “If it be your will”. Jesus prayed these or similar words in the Garden of Gethsemane and we pray similarly each time we offer the Lord’s Prayer as we ask that God’s will be done here on earth as it is done in heaven.
As I listened to that old song I let my mind wander a bit. I remembered a dear old lady from my youth who used to say that she would ask God each week what sort of cake she should bake for the fellowship hour on Sunday and that she just did his will. Even as a child I thought that was sort of strange. I still do. I really don’t think God cares what sort of cake we bake as long as it is baked to be lovingly shared with others. So what do we mean when we say that we seek to do God’s will? And is God concerned with every decision we make in life?
Theologians have been asking and discussing these questions for centuries. Some people believe that God has already predestined everything and that whatever happens and whatever decisions we make have been preordained. But then how do we deal with this Christian doctrine of Free Will? Was Free Will bestowed upon us as some kind of cosmic joke so that God, who already had determined our fate, could sit back and enjoy the show as we struggle along in life? That doesn’t sound like the kind of God Jesus told about. Free Will was actually bestowed upon us as an act of love, not as some sort of test to see what we might do with it.
God is far more complex that we can possibly ever completely understand. Our finite minds can only see glimpses of God sort of the way we can see bits and pieces of something as huge and complex as the Grand Canyon. The Canyon is so big we can only see a bit at a time. So it is with God. But one thing we Christians do understand about this wonderful complexity we call God is that he/she is a being of love. And though our own love is not perfect, we understand enough about love to know that love seeks love in return. It is part of the nature of love to want to be with the one beloved. And another thing we know about love is that it cannot be forced or coerced. It must be offered freely, with Free Will, or it is not love at all and is worthless.
The parental God Jesus continually described is a God who loves us as a parent loves her children. Just as a father allows his children to make decisions which may prove to be painful to them and to him rather than forcing them to always do what he thinks is best, so God allows us to decide what to do with the lives he has given us. That doesn’t mean that parents, and our heavenly Father, don’t have hopes and dreams for us. They do and so does She. That is what we seek when we seek “His Will” for us. We seek to know what God’s desire is for us – not what God demands but rather what God hopes – maybe we could even say what God dreams for us. Because that is what parents do – they have hopes and dreams for their children. We seldom live up to those dreams, but they keep on loving us anyway. So does our God.
A young teenager named Trayvon Martin went to the store to buy some candy and on his way home was gunned down in the street by someone who claimed that he was protecting himself. Trayvon had a bag of candy. His killer had a gun. A gunman in France wanted to kill children. He caught a young girl by her hair and shot her dead. How sad that we live in a world where things like this can happen. The French murderer claimed that he was getting revenge for Muslim children killed. How warped and how sad. Children are children, the death of one does not bring the other back.
Perhaps it is even more sad for us who live in what we used to consider such a fair and just country. I was a soldier in a war long ago in Vietnam. A just war? I don’t know. I don’t think it was a war that brought any sort of benefit to anyone who was involved in it. Americans died in large numbers and Vietnamese died in even larger numbers. Huge amounts of treasure were expended which might have been used to cure cancer, diabetes or perhaps to create new sources of energy. Or something else. I do know that when I was young and in the Army I had a feeling that most people in my country wanted to be fair and just. I am not sure I feel that way anymore.
Many people seem to vote for those who are hateful. They don’t seem to care that old people and kids don’t have medicine. They took vows never to ever raises taxes, but not vows to help those who are in need. I have to say I don’t like them much. They don’t represent the country I thought I was fighting for and for which many of my friends died. I would prefer to have statesmen, both Democratic and Republican, like we used to have. They never agreed on everything. But they did love our country and its people.
Today 21 states have laws that allow people to kill people if they feel threatened. I felt threatened a week or so ago as I locked up the church and found a homeless person inside. He scared me. But he was just a sad and lonely person looking for a place to rest his head. I am glad I didn’t shoot him. There are many people today in Florida and in a lot of other places who defend the killer of Trayvon whose only crime was to buy some candy and walk home in the rain with his hoody up to cover his head. Where are those who call for justice? In our baptismal vows we pledge to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” That includes Trayvon. Let us pray that justice be done in the state of Florida. And while we are at it, I at least am going to pray for more sane laws regarding the proliferation of guns in this country. I fought for it long ago. I wonder, did the murderer of Trayvon do that?
On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 7:02 PM, Sherry Weaver <sherry> wrote to me (Father Powers) and asked me to share with you:
Dearest Friends and Family, Jean Claude, Claire, Krista and I went to the morgue this morning to identify the body and then to the police station. I haven’t been able to speak to anyone because my voice died yesterday with Paul. I thought it was permanent. My plan was to have Paul cremated and bury his ashes under the lilacs at our country house, next to, Tinkerbelle, our cat and my mother’s ashes. I thought grief would be a solitary activity. But Paul is so loved by so many people that it is impossible for me to squirrel him away.
Today, gradually, we started sharing stories-a lot of them were about his beautiful innocence, an innocence that he never managed to lose even though he died homeless, mentally ill and an addict. . Homeless but never alone; his circle of friends was amazing. He cared for them and they cared for him in such a loving way. His money fed many mouths. He would show up on a freezing day with no coat because a friend was cold so he gave his coat to him. His meager possessions were scattered here and there.
If we, the well fed and sheltered, could create a world as complete as Paul’s was, the world would be as God intended.
A few days ago, Claire, Paul and I were talking and Paul said that one of his friends had a crush on Claire.
I said, “But he’s homeless”.
Without a beat he said, “He’s not homeless, he lives with me.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote a short story entitled, Gimple the Fool. It was about a man who had a terrible life and died, homeless, penniless and alone.
On his death bed, he said, “It is written, better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil” .
My son, Paul, was never mean for one second. Paul was the kindest person and taught us all about love.
We’ll be gathering at, Paul’s brother, Mark’s apartment on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday from 5 pm to 8 pm. 611 Carroll St, ground floor
His funeral will be held at St John’s Episcopal Church, 139 St John’s Place near 7th Ave, Saturday March 24 that noon.
Afterward we’ll have food and stories! Please come and partake
This morning I gave a sermon in which I told a story I had heard about a boy named Paul. Paul grew up in a small town in Washington state many years ago – before telephones had dials much less buttons! When he was about 7 years old his family got a phone and his mom showed him how it worked. She told him that if he picked up the receiver he could ask the operator for Information. A few days later when he was at home alone he smashed his finger with a hammer. The pain was horrible and he didn’t know what to do – until he remember the phone. He picked it up and asked for Information Please. A kind sounding voice answered, “Information”. He said “I smashed my finger with a hammer and it hurts real bad and I don’t know what to do.” There was a pause and then the voice asked, “Are your parents home?” “No” he said, I am all alone. After a moment the voice asked him if he could open the ice box and he said that he could. “Then take out some ice and put it on your finger, then tell me how you are doing”.
He did and the pain almost went away. He thanked Information and she told him to sit still and do nothing until him Mom got home. As the months and years past Paul called Information many times. The voice helped him with his homework. He was not good at spelling and once asked her to help him spell the word “Fix” and she also helped him with Math. When he was about 8 years old his canary died and he was very upset and called and told her about it. After a moment she said, “Paul I know it hurts a lot now because you loved your friend the canary. But Paul, you should know that there are many other worlds to sing in and your friend is singing in one of them now.” He remembered that a long time, even after his family moved away across the country to Bosten.
Years later when he was on the way to Stanford University he passed through that small town and took a chance. He dialed 411, which you had to do then to get Information. Amazingly, all these years later the same voice answered. After a moment he asked her if she could help him spell the word “Fix”. After a long pause she said, “I guess your finger is much better now!” They laughed and he told her how much she had meant to him as a small child often left alone. She told him that she had never had children and that his calls had meant the world to her. She told him to call anytime he was in the area and ask for Sally.
At the end of the semester as he was returning home to Boston he called Information and asked for Sally. The operator said that Sally no longer worked there. Surprised he asked if she had retired and the operator said no that she had died a few weeks before. Paul could hardly speak but thanked her. Then the operator said, “wait – is your name Paul?” He said yes and she said that Sally had left a message just in case he called. The message was “Paul, I am OK, I am singing in another world now.”
I liked that story and so I told it. This afternoon I got a call from a friend who is the step father of a young man named Paul Chetrit that I baptized many years ago telling me that Paul had died. I immediately went over to see his mom and his sisters who were at church this morning. We prayed for Paul and we thought about him singing in another world – one we will join him in one day. May God bless him and his family – and may God teach us to sing in our own lives and world.
The Baptismal Font is now moved to its new (actually old) location in the Chapel! Now people in the pews can see and be a part of baptisms easily and comfortably! How nice it looks!
Father Clark
Saint John's Church 