WINTER A.D.

2017

VOL. 59 NO. 4

Trinity Episcopal Church

Williamsport, Pennsylvania
www.trinity-williamsport.diocpa.org
Member of the Parish Partner Plan
 Published quarterly by the Society for Promoting and Encouraging
Arts and Knowledge of the Church (SPEAK, Inc.).

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHARLESTON D. WILSON
VICE CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHRISTOPHER COLBY

SECRETARY/TREASURER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON
THE RT. REV. JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT,
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY J. BURTON,
THE REV. DR. C. BRYAN OWEN,

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY F. M. CLAVIER,
CATHERINE S. SALMON

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2 anglicandigest.org
4 A Letter from the Chairman of the Board
5 Incarnation
7 The Ark of the Covenant
11 Seasons
15 Love and Christmas
18 The Gift of Love
20 Love Came Down at Christmas
23 And the Word Became Flesh
27 Peering Through Frosty Windowpanes
31 The Anglican Bookstore Listings
36 Vintage TAD:
36 A Lenten Story
39 A Holy Season — Lent
41 A Paschal FAQ
47 Thank You, Lord
48 God’s Lone Ranger
50 Law of Moses
52 Heart of the Lenten Journey
55 Jesus Saves!
58 The Seven Virtues
59 Fear Not
61 Necrology

winter 2017 3
 A Letter from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Dear Reader,

When a new bishop is officially seated, the ancient rite begins with the bish-
op knocking loudly on the door of the cathedral, with a crozier, saying, “I
pray that the ministry which we will share may be pleasing to God.” Al-
though I’m certainly not a bishop, nor am I seeking that noble calling, I can
think of nothing better to say to you, dear reader, than the very same, as I
begin my ministry as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Pray with me that
the ministry of The Anglican Digest, which we will undertake together, will
be pleasing to God.

The Digest has a goodly heritage — 2018 is our sixtieth year of “re-
flecting the words and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion.” Also in 2018, Mr. Tom Walker, General Manager of the
Digest, begins his 53rd year of service. In an age where we bounce from job
to job and hobby to hobby at the drop of a hat, Mr. Walker has been qui-
etly and faithfully working to continue the mission begun sixty years ago.
What an example to us all. Please join me in giving thanks to God for Mr.
Walker’s ministry and work among us. We are blessed with dedicated,
talented Editors, a devoted Board family, thousands of faithful readers, gift-
ed contributors, and faithful friends from across the entire Anglican Com-
munion. The Digest family has so much for which to be thankful.

In the coming days, we will continue to strategically position the Digest for
an even brighter future. We will soon be entering a visioning process and
an endowment/planned giving campaign. On the other side of those criti-
cal endeavors, the Digest will emerge stronger than ever and positioned to
serve the Communion for the next sixty years and beyond.
It is a blessing to serve you. Read. Pray. Partner.

Yours in Christ,

The (Reverend) Charleston David Wilson

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

4 anglicandigest.org
gathering
INCARNATION
The Rt. Rev. Dan T. Edwards
Bishop of Nevada
Love came down at Christmas
Love all lovely, love divine.
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angel gave the sign.
— Christina Rossetti
Some say that various denom-
inations absorb the character
of one Holy Day or Season
more than others and that
creates our distinctiveness
more than any of our doctri-
nal peculiarities. Pentecostals
obviously set great store by
the Pentecost moment; Ro-
man Catholicism is especially
defined by Holy Week; East-
ern Orthodoxy enjoys a res-
onance with Epiphany. While
we observe the entire litur-
gical year, it has been rightly
said that we Anglicans are a
Christmas people.
For us, the Incarnation event
is not just a necessarily lead
up to the Cross. We believe in
telling
the Early Church teachings —
especially St. Athanasius, St.
Irenaeus, and St. Gregory the
Great — that the Incarnation
saves us. But how? What dif-
ference does it make that Je-
sus was born for us? How is it
“for us”? No Holy Day evokes
more sentiment than Christ-
mas but, beyond the warmth
of nostalgia and family gath-
erings, what was going on at
Jesus’ birth, and what is hap-
pening in our ritual remem-
brance of it?
St. Mark tells us nothing. St.
Matthew portrays the advent
of a new Moses, a liberator
acting for God to save God’s
people. St. Luke tells us of a
spiritual glory swaddling the
lowliness of a poor family
visited only by outcast shep-
herds. St. John waxes simul-
taneously philosophical and
poetic, saying the Logos (the
Cosmic Order itself) “be-
came flesh and dwelt among
us.” The Early Church was
ecstatic with the wonder
winter 2017 5
connecting
that God should have come
so near to us — so much so
that the Gnostics saw Jesus
as God masquerading as hu-
man. Then the Church had
to insist on Jesus’ humanity.
We tried to make this fit our
brittle human categories and
wound up speculating that Je-
sus was a half-man half-God
hybrid. Even today, we hear
people saying things like, ‘Oh
that was Jesus’ human part
speaking, not his God part.’
Against that demigod picture
borrowed from a dozen Greek
myths, the Creeds define our
faith by holding fast to the
paradox that Jesus is 100%
human and 100% God at the
same time — a Zen koan of
Creed blowing open our lim-
ited notions of God and our
equally limited notions of
ourselves.
Christmas is a mystery we
cannot grasp, but we can
touch – indeed, we draw our
very life from touching it. We
touch that mystery with heart
6 anglicandigest.org
and mind, with word and rit-
ual. We have stammered over
it for two millennia. With
great respect to Athanasius,
Augustine, and all the giants
of our faith, the best theolo-
gian of the Incarnation for me
is Christina Rossetti, a High
Church Anglican in Victo-
rian England, a time when
the celebration of Christmas
was coming to full flower. I
imagine her sense of the In-
carnation event came as a
meditative insight. I imagine
it happened while she was
posing as the Blessed Vir-
gin while her brother Dante
Gabriel Rossetti painted one
of his works on the Nativity.
(She did serve as his model for
Mary.) I imagine her imag-
inatively experiencing the
moment as Mary did, partly
understanding it as Mary may
have done.
Love came down at Christmas
Love all lovely, love divine.
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angel gave the sign.
gathering
In that manger, we see a God
who is not defined by omni-
potence, omniscience, or
some philosophical primacy
as the non-contingent Tran-
scendent Absolute. We see a
God whose very identity is
Love, with all its fragility, vul-
nerability, and longing — yes
God longing — to climb in-
side the beloved, to lose him-
self and find himself in the be-
loved. And we — flawed and
disheveled as a manger — are
the beloved. It is the Love-
God who constitutes us as
the beloved, and that’s what
saves us. How can we not
love God back and in lov-
ing God, we are made
whole and one with God as
God becomes our Beloved.
While Christina sat for hours
as her brother painted, she
saw in her heart,
Angels and archangels may
have gathered there Ebenezer evokes the central
Cherubim and seraphim
thronged the air.
telling
But his mother only, in her
maiden bliss
Worshiped the beloved with a
kiss.
I love the “may.” She is open
to the glory but not sure of it
— and the following couplet
is her certainty, our certain-
ty. What then is the mark of
a Christian engraved in our
hearts by the Nativity?
Love shall be our token
Love shall be yours and love
be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
QQQ
THE ARK OF THE
COVENANT
The Very Rev. Brian Grantz
The Cathedral of Saint James
South Bend, Indiana
For most people, the name
character in Charles Dickens’
classic, “A Christmas Carol.”
winter 2017 7
connecting
For me, it conjures an image
of a beat-up, old recreational
vehicle reminiscent of Cousin
Eddie’s rolling junk heap in
National Lampoon’s Christ-
mas Vacation. Ebenezer be-
longed to a cantankerous and
annoyingly holy octogenar-
ian named Agnes. Together
they had seen a lot of miles
over a lot of years after Ag-
nes, taking advice from Tim-
othy Leary and Jack Kerouac,
dropped out and went on the
road following the collapse of
her comfortable, upper-mid-
dle-class existence in the ear-
ly 1970s. Agnes left behind a
shattered marriage and two
grown children to search —
for years — for that ineffable
something she lost along the
way.
Ebenezer would pull up in
front of the church exactly
once a year, on Christmas Eve.
The rest of the time Agnes was
a “shut-in,” which had more to
do with Ebenezer’s advancing
age than hers, not to mention
8 anglicandigest.org
her great love of holding court
for anyone who was willing to
brave the tangled labyrinth of
flora leading up to the con-
verted chicken coop in which
she dwelled. It was the only
permanent structure left on
what had been a much larger
farm inherited from her par-
ents. As she needed money,
Agnes gradually sold off most
of the land over the two de-
cades since coming in from
the road. In the early days, she
continued to live in Ebenezer,
then added a small, used mo-
bile home, and then finally,
with a crew of students from
a local college and a long-suf-
fering handyman, she moved
into the chicken coop.
Agnes dubbed her home “The
Inn of the Twelfth Happiness”
in homage to the 1958 biopic
“The Inn of the Sixth Happi-
ness.” In the movie, Ingrid
Bergman played Gladys Ayl-
ward, a working class Brit-
ish woman who, lacking the
education to receive official
gathering
endorsement as a missionary,
worked domestic jobs to earn
enough money for passage
to China. Arriving in a poor
village, she began ministering
among the people through
an inn that came under her
direction. God’s movement
in her life — sending her to
be among the poor as an in-
strument of God’s mercy and
grace — came into clear relief
as she continued to serve her
community following the Jap-
anese invasion of China at the
outset of Second World War.
Agnes resonated profound-
ly with Gladys Aylward. She,
herself, had entered discern-
ment with a religious order,
only to be told that her pro-
pensity to challenge author-
ity was not ideal for com-
munity life. From that point
forward, Agnes adopted her
own rule and habit, covering
her head with a white kerchief
and donning an unadorned,
home-sewn tunic dress over
a white t-shirt each day as an
telling
exercise in simplicity, humil-
ity, and frugality. She prayed
the Divine Office daily, devot-
ed time to reading Scripture
each morning, read religious
materials copiously (if not
judiciously), and gleefully ar-
gued theology with a certain
clergyperson whenever the
opportunity presented itself.
This long, formative pro-
cess shaped her into a High
Church Reformed Anabap-
tist Quasi-Hermit who went
to church once a year. At an
Episcopal Church. On Christ-
mas Eve. Because that’s where
and when, after years of wan-
dering lost, Agnes was found.
In the late 1970s, Agnes and
Ebenezer wandered to Con-
necticut where, on Christ-
mas Eve, feeling the profound
sense of loneliness that is the
companion of many at the
holidays, Agnes wandered
into an Episcopal church
during a midnight mass al-
ready in progress. It was, for
her, a vision of heaven itself,
winter 2017 9
connecting
coming in from a cold, dark,
December night into the
warmth and light of a sanctu-
ary resplendent in green and
red and gold. Agnes did not
just receive bread and wine
at the altar rail that night, but
Communion — welcome,
connection, joy — in the
Mystery of the really present,
fully alive Jesus. Agnes stayed
there, kneeling, praying, and
crying great sobs of comfort
and joy long after Commu-
nion ended.
Ebenezer, meaning Stone of
Help, is found at 1 Samuel
7:12. Building a shrine follow-
ing an against-the-odds victo-
ry over the Philistines, Samu-
el places a stone saying, “Thus
far the Lord has helped us.”
This expression of continu-
ing action reminds Israel that
God’s faithfulness in the past
can reasonably be expected in
the future. God had been with
Agnes all along, providing
for her, loving her, carrying
her through her lost-ness in a
10 anglicandigest.org
Winnebago ark. Stepping out
of the darkness into splendid
light, and kneeling and re-
ceiving Jesus, God with us, it
all became clear in an instant.
Ebenezer. Thus far, God had
already been with her, along-
side her, for her, and it was
reasonable to expect that God
in Christ would continue that
course unabated. And so, at
long last, Agnes went home,
assured that God’s love would
continue to fill the empty
spaces.
Church history is full of odd-
balls and misfits, outsiders
and people who are thorns in
others’ sides, who both chal-
lenge our sense of what is
important or necessary and
inspire us to deeper holiness.
Agnes did that, following not
only Gladys Aylward, but also
Clare of Assisi and so many
other holy women who set
aside the things of this world
to embrace Jesus with open
arms. Their lives are our
Ebenezers: outward and visi-
gathering
ble signs that God’s once-and-
future grace truly is sufficient
for us. Like many solitary
saints whose lives are devot-
ed to prayer, following her
homecoming people began
to find their way to Agnes;
young people — and some
not-so-young people — who
ventured out to The Inn of the
Twelfth Happiness to hear the
story again and again of how
Jesus saved a lost and lonely
soul one Christmas Eve.
QQQ
SEASONS
The Rev. Sherry Black, MDiv,
BCC
Chaplain/Spiritual Care
Manager, Herrin Hospital
Herrin, Illinois
For everything there is a
season, and a time for every
matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time
to die;
a time to plant, and a time to
pluck up what is planted;
telling
a time to kill, and a time to
heal;
a time to break down, and a
time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to
laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time
to dance;
a time to throw away stones,
and a time to gather stones
together;
a time to embrace, and a time
to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to
lose;
a time to keep, and a time to
throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to
sew;
a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to
hate;
a time for war, and
a time for peace.
(Ecclesisates 3:1-8)
Navigating the ecclesiastical
seasons of this quarter can
be an emotional roller coast-
er! We move from the coun-
winter 2017 11
connecting
tercultural quiet expectation
of Advent to the joyous cel-
ebration of the Feast of the
Nativity of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. Christmas is immedi-
ately followed by the Feast of
the martyred St. Stephen on
December 26th, the Feast of
St. John the Evangelist on the
27th, and then on the 28th we
are weeping for the murders
of The Holy Innocents. On
January 1st we celebrate the
Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus
Christ; finally, the twelve days
of Christmas concludes on
the Feast of the Epiphany with
the wondrous appearance of a
star leading the Magi from the
East to worship the Child. The
wonders of the seasons can
feel like emotional whiplash
and, if we are taking the jour-
ney seriously, it can be emo-
tionally exhausting.
Five years ago now, during the
holiday season of 2012, my
husband of 27 years was dying
of cancer. Even though he was
really sick, on Black Friday we
12 anglicandigest.org
were up before the crack of
dawn because he wanted to
make Christmas memories.
After several years of hav-
ing a small artificial tree, we
bought the biggest cut tree we
ever had, probably 12 feet tall
and 6 feet in diameter. And
of course a giant tree needed
a giant tree stand, multiple
strands of bigger and bright-
er lights, and a multitude of
big, shiny ornaments. His
three adult daughters and one
granddaughter spent several
days at Christmas with us. It
was wonderful and yet so bit-
tersweet. Sometimes making
memories is hard.
Three months after Christ-
mas, to the day, he died. And
I began to face life alone. Hol-
idays alone. Birthdays alone.
Because it was easier to be
alone than to be with family
and friends, where his absence
would be a real presence. A
couple of times, I traveled
1,000 miles on Christmas Day
to spend a few days with my
gathering telling

mother and family. One year our lives, our churches, and
I made the best of it and pre- our communities.
pared a fabulous meal — just
Please be aware of those who
for me. And once I was able to
grieve for any reason this sea-
spend Christmas with my son
son, and for those who are oth-
and his family.
erwise struggling. And know
that every person who grieves
For many people every year,
has different needs. Some may
the Holiday season in general,
do well surrounded by fami-
and Christmas in particular,
ly and friends. Others would
is a struggle. Those who are
prefer to be left alone, but still
grieving may paste a smile
acknowledged and remem-
on their face, but they are
bered. Invite the grieving and
inwardly aching. And grief
struggling to your homes and
comes from so many sources
and experiences besides the church events with gentleness
and grace, giving them the
death of a loved one. What
freedom to respond as they
about those who are facing
need. Be welcoming without
life after divorce or separa-
hovering. Allow them space,
tion? Those who have lost a
and yet let them know you
job? Those who are living with
love and care for them, and
cancer or other life-threaten-
that they are welcome — even
ing illness in themselves or a
welcome to choose their level
family member — where the
of involvement.
future is truly unknown, or
even the heartbreak when a The Holiday Season in the
person we know and love is Church is already bittersweet.
practically guaranteed to die I have always been especially
soon. These kinds of human drawn to T.S. Eliot’s poem,
situations make the joy of the “The Journey of the Magi,”
season painful for many in and especially the last stanza:

winter 2017 13
connecting

All this was a long time ago, in much the same way that
I remember, spring follows winter. Ac-
And I would do it again, but cording to Martin Luther,
set down “Our Lord has written the
This set down promise of resurrection, not
This: were we led all that way in books alone, but in every
for leaf in springtime.”
Birth or Death? There was a
Birth, certainly, Nadia Bolz Weber, an ELCA
We had evidence and no pastor, wrote that “[d]eath
doubt. I had seen birth and
and resurrection — the recur-
death, ring experience of seeing the
But had thought they were emptiness, weeping over our
different; this Birth was inability to fill it or even un-
Hard and bitter agony for us,derstand it, and then listening
like Death, our death, to the sound of God speaking
We returned to our places, our names and telling God’s
these Kingdoms, story — is a messy business.”
But no longer at ease here, in
Birth and death, and all the
the old dispensation, life experiences described in
With an alien people clutching
Ecclesiastes, are messy. And
their gods. yet it is the business of the
I should be glad of another church, it is our business, to
death. wrestle both with the chang-
ing seasons of our lives — and
Bittersweet: Life and death, those of our heart — in rela-
birth and death — is it the tion to Christ.
same thing? Two sides of the
same coin? The Christian I began this article with words
story reminds us that death from Ecclesiastes and while in
is followed by resurrection all of our lives there certainly

14 anglicandigest.org
gathering
are times to mourn and times
to weep, for me, for now, this
is followed by a time to laugh,
to dance, and to embrace as I
prepare for a new life with a
new love. A new season!
QQQ
LOVE AND
CHRISTMAS
Rev’d Michael D. LaRue
Houston, Texas
I had a colleague who used to
repeat, every year, “Christmas
is for children.” This never sat
well with me. In fact, I thought
at the time, that I much more
appreciated Christmas as an
adult than I had ever done as
a child. It was fun waking
up to presents under the tree,
and I always especially en-
joyed staying at my grandpar-
ents’ house, where we spent
most Christmases, but I did
not, I think, really appreciate
before my teenage years what
Christmas meant.
telling
I began to understand when,
as a teenager, instead of going
to the early children’s service,
I first went to midnight mass
at my hometown parish, St.
Matthias’ Episcopal Church
in Athens, Texas. It was not a
cute version of Christmas that
I encountered there. This was
something different, over-
whelming, and more than a bit
scary. The baby I encountered
was not a greeting-card baby.
There was a baby, but this
baby concealed the person of
the Lord God, the creator of
the Universe, the dread King
of all, who would come again
one day to judge the living
and the dead and the world
by fire. This baby was coming
to be sacrificed at the hands of
the wicked to free the wicked
from their wickedness — and
that meant me, for we are all
wicked. The paradox, and the
mystery of it all, caused me to
fall in love with the Christmas
baby for the first time in my
life.
winter 2017 15
connecting
As the years passed, Christ-
mas brought much sadness.
Both my grandfather and
my father died at Christmas
time, and later a dear friend
— all important men in my
life. However, far from recur-
rent Christmases being oc-
casions of unconsolable grief
(as they are for some I know),
Christmas, and Christmas-
tide, proved a consolation
to my griefs. The themes of
death and sacrifice and new
life came to mean more to me
each year. I celebrated and
thought about St. Stephen, St.
John, and the Holy Innocents:
St. Stephen, the first martyr;
St. John, the only one of the
apostles who followed Jesus to
the Cross; and the Holy Inno-
cents, the baby boys who were
slaughtered in the place of
Jesus. If you do not really be-
lieve in who Jesus is, Christ-
mas in this context makes no
sense, and you will be tempt-
ed, as many of our congre-
gations are, to ignore these
Christmastide celebrations.
16 anglicandigest.org
However, if you do believe,
and take time to consider,
then you will learn that love
requires ultimate sacrifice,
and redeems even the unwit-
ting death of the innocent.
At Christmas, our Lord made
the sacrifice to become hu-
man, to live among us, not
as a great king, but as a poor
child; not as sufficient in him-
self, but as dependent upon
his mother and father; not as
safe from harm, but as a refu-
gee whose life was in danger.
As we move further through
the feasts of Christmas, the
meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice
unfolds. At our Lord’s cir-
cumcision, Jesus sheds his
blood for us for the first time,
a foreshadowing of his shed-
ding of his blood on the cross.
At Epiphany, we see that he
came to give himself not just
for God’s chosen people, but,
as symbolized by the Wise
Men, he came to give himself
also for the gentiles, the pa-
gans, and those who do not
gathering
even know God. Jesus came
to give his whole life for all of
us. Christmastide reveals to
us that God is love. It tells us
that that love is the offering of
one’s whole life. It tells us that
God’s love excludes no one.
God the Father sent a child to
us at that first Christmas, so
that we, too, may be his chil-
dren. In this way, Christmas
really is just for children, for it
calls us all to be God’s children.
As that baby was born the Son
of God from the womb of the
Virgin, so in Baptism we are
born babies of God from the
womb of the Church. And as
a father shares his life with
his children, so God offers us,
his adopted children, a share
in that divine life that he has
already given to his begotten
Son.
God not only shows us a fa-
ther’s love at Christmas, but
also a mother’s love. He does
this, not by becoming our
mother, but by giving us the
mother of Jesus to be our
telling
mother. United to Christ, and
adopted as fellow children of
his Father, we call Mary our
mother, too. Like our Lord,
we can be assured of her love
for us as she reigns with him
now in heaven. In Mary, God
the Father shows us not only
that he loves us, but that he
calls us, as he called Mary, to
love — to love him, to love his
Son, and to love one another.
And God not only wants us to
love one another as he does,
he wants us to be what he is.
He not only loves. He is love.
Love is God’s nature. To be a
child is to be a new person ac-
cording to the nature of one’s
parents. To be a child of God
is not just to love Christmas,
or to love God, or to love the
baby, or to love one’s neigh-
bor. To truly be a child at
Christmas is to become love,
the love that is God.
winter 2017 17
connecting
THE GIFT OF LOVE
The Rev. Marc A.M. Wolverson
St. James Church, Leyland
United Kingdom
Christians around the world
celebrate the birth of Christ at
Christmas time. We celebrate
God’s love coming to us in
the most humble and difficult
of circumstances, and yet we
believe that the birth of this
child brought salvation, for-
giveness, and healing to a bro-
ken and hurting world. God
sent us the greatest and most
sacrificial gift of his son, and
yet this gift did not come in a
grand and powerful manner,
but as a child born to a poor
family in the most unlikely of
circumstances.
One of my favourite hymns
and choir anthems is a set-
ting of the poem “Love came
down at Christmas”, by Chris-
tina Rossetti. It reminds us
of this tremendous gift of
love, given to us in Jesus. In
the first chapter of St. John’s
Gospel, often read at Christ-
18 anglicandigest.org
mas services, we are told that
“the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, full of grace
and truth.” This is the true
miracle that we celebrate at
Christmas. God loved us so
very much that he was willing
to come to us, and make him-
self known to us as a fragile,
vulnerable human child. This
is not the sentimental love so
often portrayed in Christmas
films and advertisements, but
the unselfish love of a self-giv-
ing creator who is determined
to be intimate and at one with
those he created. This love is
“Emmanuel”, God with us,
now and always.
It sometimes seems we are
too familiar with the story of
Jesus’ birth. It has been the
subject of Nativity plays and
children’s songs for many gen-
erations. Perhaps, at times,
nostalgia, sentimentality, and
childhood memories can
cause us to overlook the very
difficult circumstances in
which Jesus was born — in a
gathering
stable, far from a clean or hy-
gienic environment, with ani-
mals and animal droppings all
around. The reason Christ’s
birth took place in this most
desperate of locations was
that Joseph and Mary could
not find a more suitable place
to stay. They were refugees,
and had been turned away
several times. Does this sound
familiar? It must have been
a smelly, noisy, and frighten-
ing environment for a young
woman to give birth in, yet
God was willing to come to us
in that most humble of places
and circumstances. God’s love
came to us in the midst of fear,
pain, and chaos, the messi-
ness of ordinary human ex-
istence. Amongst those who
were present at the birth of Je-
sus were the shepherds, again
often portrayed in warm and
nostalgic imagery. Shepherds,
however, were not consid-
ered trustworthy people in
the time of Jesus, and were
often viewed with suspicion
and contempt. Many thought
telling
of them as criminals. God’s
all-embracing love, therefore,
came down to all people, re-
gardless of their background
or reputation. The Magi or
“wise men” were foreigners
of a different faith and cul-
ture, who had travelled from
far away. They too were the
kind of people who are often
rejected or viewed with sus-
picion in our own time. God’s
love was there for them too!
The true joy of Christmas,
therefore, is not to be found
in expressions of sentimental
love, but in grasping more ful-
ly the love of God expressed in
the giving of a Saviour in Jesus
Christ. This is the greatest gift
that we could ever know. The
love which would show its ul-
timate expression in Christ’s
painful death on the cross was
not the love of romance nov-
els and story books, but the
self-giving, sacrificial love of
a Father determined to give
everything to save the hu-
manity he loved. Potentially
winter 2017 19
connecting
the most well-known verse
in the New Testament is John
3:16: “ God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” For us to more
fully celebrate the festival
of Christ’s birth, we should
try and better appreciate the
hugely self-giving nature of
God’s love for us.
At Christmas, we celebrate
the miracle that God’s love
has come to us in our own
nature and experience. Jesus
came to us, as a human being
with earthly parents, who ex-
perienced every emotion and
temptation that we have expe-
rienced. When we remove the
veil of sentimentality from
our Christmas celebrations,
we are better able to see the
God who went to extraordi-
nary lengths to be at one with
humanity with all its flaws
and attributes. That is truly
something to celebrate and
give thanks for!
20 anglicandigest.org
LOVE CAME DOWN
AT CHRISTMAS
The Rt. Rev’d John
Bauerschmidt
Bishop of Tennessee
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
— Christina Rossetti
This poem by the nineteenth
century poet Christina Ros-
setti captures the warm heart
of Christian faith, especially
in the Christmas season. The
words are simple, yet wor-
thy of reflection. The poem
is found as a text in our 1982
Hymnal, and may very well
gathering telling

be sung in your church this The poem appeals to our

Christmas. deep memory of the Chris-
tian story, to the star that led
The daughter of Italian po- the Wise Men and to the an-
litical refugees who fled Na- gels heard by the shepherds.
ples and settled in England, More importantly, it puts the
Rossetti was a devout Angli- child born at Christmas at the
can influenced by the An- center of the story. Rossetti is
glo-Catholic movement with- not afraid of dogmatic state-
in the church. Her brother, ments: “Love Divine”, “Love
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was Incarnate”, a “Godhead” to
also a noteworthy poet and an be worshipped. Our minds
artist, as well as a leader in the are certainly engaged. Yet any
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood child can understand and feel
that sought to reclaim the what’s going on in this poem.
value of symbol and feeling
in art. The spirit of Romanti- The poem engages not only
cism was abroad in the land, our minds but our feelings.
renewing the value of the past The Love that the poet is
and reclaiming the place of concerned with is affective,
the emotions. Brother and touching us at the core. The
sister were but two members Love that comes down at
of an amazing family that in- Christmas is the Divine Per-
cluded revolutionaries, crit- son who speaks to both head
ics, writers, and artists. Chris- and heart. The Divine Love
tina Rossetti played her own is “lovely,” as the poet says.
role in this artistic commu- There’s nothing passionless
nity, though her religious and about that word. Love Incar-
ascetical commitments (even nate demands not just the
in the Victorian Age) set her genuflection of the soul but
apart. the bending of the knee. The
winter 2017 21
connecting

worship offered is not cere- of an inward and spiritual

bral, but a matter of the heart. grace,” as we all know, reveal-
The poem is meant to move ing the grace of God that has
us on many levels, evoking appeared in Jesus Christ (Ti-
within us the memory of what tus 2:11). When we share the
God has done for us. sacrament of Holy Commu-
nion at Christmas time, we
God’s love for us is not ab- are sharing the sign of God’s
stract, but takes flesh in Jesus love.
Christ. The Son of God cross-
es the gulf between God and Then “gift,” a Christmas word
humanity because God loves if there ever was one. Jesus
us in a wonderfully concrete Christ is God’s gift, the One
way. When we want to know whom we appropriate over
whether God loves us, and and over again as we grow
how, Christians look to the in grace and in the knowl-
Divine Person who is both edge of the Lord and Savior
human and divine, and to (2 Pet. 3:18). Our relationship
the mighty acts of salvation with Jesus Christ, who is alive
in Christ that begin at the and who reigns now with
Christmas crèche. God, is God’s gift to us and
Rossetti’s poem ends with to our brothers and sisters in
three words linked to love Christ. The turn of the secular
that are also evocative. First, year, taking place during the
in reverse order, “sign,” con- Christmas Season, is a con-
juring up the world of symbol venient time to remember the
(reclaimed by the Pre-Rapha- gift and what it might mean in
elites) and sacrament (reem- our lives.
phasized by the Anglo-Cath- Finally, the word “plea.” Love
olics). The sacraments are Incarnate in Jesus Christ is
“outward and visible signs an appeal addressed to all of

22 anglicandigest.org
gathering
us. God is pleading with us,
in the midst of a world with
many problems, for more
love. This plea is both a whis-
per in the ear and a deafening
trumpet blast. Jesus Christ is
the sign of God’s love for us,
but a sign that is meant to be
shared. “Love be yours and
love be mine”, “Love to God
and all men”. We are con-
scious each Christmas, but
no more so than now, of the
plea that God addresses to us
to love God and to love our
neighbor as ourselves.
QQQ
AND THE WORD
WAS MADE FLESH
The Rt. Rev. Chandler Holder
Jones, SSC
A happy Advent and Christ-
mas to you all! Christ-Mass
is not only a wonderful hol-
iday, a time for family and
friends, and a joyful occasion
for gift-giving — certainly it is
all of these things. More im-
telling
peratively, it is a theological
event, a revelation of God, a
life-altering reality we again
and again re-live through the
Church’s liturgy. The greatest
challenge to the twenty-first
century Church is not the
Reformation polemics of the
sixteenth century or the ra-
tionalism of the eighteenth
century, but the theological
controversies of the fourth
century. Christology will be
the focus of the Church in the
next generation. The ancient
heresies that deny the Divin-
ity of Our Lord are again in
vogue and are finding a fresh
expression in the purportedly
novel methods of what Father
Richard John Neuhaus wittily
called ‘the sideline churches.’
Whether we consciously rec-
ognise it or not, the struggle
for Christians in our contem-
porary age is to recover and
promote the old paths, the
Old Time Religion. “Stand ye
in the ways, and see, and ask
for the old paths, where is the
winter 2017 23
connecting

good way, and walk therein, incarnate in the flesh as Je-

and ye shall find rest for your
sus Christ, is not a creature,
souls” (Jeremiah 6.16). Ortho-
not a being created by God
dox Christians are today chal-
the Father before all other
lenged firmly to uphold and created things or beings. The
term homoousios, “of one
boldly to proclaim in ancient
and yet ever revitalized ways
substance” with the Father, is
the truth that Jesus Christ, the
used by the Church to affirm
Babe in Bethlehem’s manger, that Our Lord is truly God. If
is not merely a good person,Jesus Christ is not God, is not
a prophet, or a noble teach-of one essence or substance
er, but the true God made with the Father, and is not a
Man. The Feast of Our Lord’strue divine Person sharing the
Nativity recapitulates for us
divine life and communion
each year the central doc- of the Father by nature, then
trinal truth and mystery of God Himself did not assume
the Christian Faith, the In-human nature in the Incar-
carnation of Jesus Christ, nation, and thus man has not
the Word made Flesh. Who been redeemed or saved. The
is born in Bethlehem on Holy Fathers of the Church
Christ-Mass Day? The Baby teach that “only that which is
in the manger is God. “God of
assumed can be redeemed.”
God, Light of Light, Lo! He Our Saviour brought about
abhors not the Virgin’s womb:
atonement and the salvation
Very God, Begotten, not of mankind, for he is God,
created; O come, let us who assumes all that pertains
adore him, Christ the Lord” to human nature, body, mind
(Hymnal 1940, Hymn 12). and soul. Jesus Christ is the
Second Person of the God-
The Son of God, the pre-ex- head and “One of the Holy
istent Logos, who became Trinity.” Christmas is the

24 anglicandigest.org
gathering
Feast of the revealed dogma
of the Trinitarian nature and
communion of God, Three
Persons in One Essence, one
and undivided. The Father is
unbegotten, the Son is eter-
nally begotten of the Father
alone, and the Holy Ghost
eternally proceeds from the
Father, and is sent through the
Son and rests in the Son. On
Christmas, we contemplate
the Lord Jesus in his identi-
ty and mission: the Word of
God, the Logos, who became
Man in the Incarnation is the
Most High God.
The New Testament describes
Our Lord as monogenes in
Greek, “only-begotten.” This
term designates the myste-
rious and eternal relation-
ship of the Son to the Father
within the communion of the
Trinity. The Son has for all
eternity come out from the
Father and derives his eter-
nal existence, his generation,
from the Father, the sole Or-
igin, Source and Fountain of
telling
the Trinitarian life. The words
of the Nicene-Constantinop-
olitan Creed purposely utilize
the language of the New Tes-
tament regarding the Person
of Our Lord and declare that
the Lord Jesus Christ is “one
Lord, the only-begotten Son
of God, begotten of his Fa-
ther before all worlds, God of
God, Light of Light, very God
of very God, begotten, not
made, being of one substance
with the Father, by whom all
things were made...” From all
eternity, the Son derives his
eternal being, glory and maj-
esty from the Father’s essence.
He is eternally born of the
Father, co-equal, co-eternal.
Begotten means “from God
forever,” eternal generation
from the Father, not a created
status.
“And the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and
truth. No man hath seen God
winter 2017 25
connecting

at any time; the only begotten born again in Holy Baptism

Son, which is in the bosom of by Water and the Holy Ghost
the Father, he hath declared (Saint John 3.5) unto eternal
him” (Saint John 1.14,18). life. ‘In this was manifested
the love of God toward us, be-
“For God so loved the world, cause that God sent his only
that he gave his only begotten begotten Son into the world,
Son, that whosoever believeth that we might live through
in him should not perish, but him’ (I Saint John 4.9) “Who-
have everlasting life. He that soever believeth that Jesus is
believeth on him is not con- the Christ is born of God: and
demned: but he that believeth every one that loveth him that
not is condemned already, begat loveth him also that is
because he hath not believed begotten of him” (I Saint John
in the name of the only begot- 5.1).
ten Son of God” (Saint John
3.16,18). ‘Mild he lays his glory by, Born
And what for us is the result that man no more may die,
of this begetting, the Son eter- Born to raise the sons of earth,
nally begotten of the Father Born to give them second birth’
and now begotten in time and (Hymnal 1940, Hymn 27).
in human flesh by the Holy God bless you!
Ghost of the Blessed Virgin?
Our own new birth, our beget-
ting by God, our adoption as
the children of God by grace. “The message of Christmas
We become by grace what the is that the material world is
only-begotten Son is by na- bound to the invisible spiritual
ture. From Christ’s timeless world.”
birth from his Father and his – Taddled
earthly birth of Mary, we are

26 anglicandigest.org
gathering
PEERING THROUGH
FROSTY
WINDOWPANES
The Rev. Dolores F. Wiens
Chicago, Illinois
Christmas is nigh upon us.
Kitchens are filled with the
fragrance of baking cookies.
Homes are glistening, light-
ing up the streets with red
and green and yellow and
blue lights. Traditionally, An-
glicans, Catholics, and other
Christians restrain them-
selves, waiting to decorate
their Christmas Trees until
afternoon on Christmas Eve,
in anticipation of the feast of
Christmas beginning with
the celebration of Midnight
Mass on Christmas Eve. As
windows light up, fireplaces
spread warmth throughout
the homes. Soon beautifully
wrapped packages appear un-
der the tree heightening the
expectancy, gifts which are
chosen with thoughtful delib-
eration, chosen to touch the
telling
heart of the recipient show-
ing a degree of the love with
which it is given. Isn’t that
what is meant by the gifts we
are to receive? Don’t we feel
loved by the giver through the
expression of the gift? At best,
our gift giving is a demonstra-
tion of our love.
Outside, eyes are peering
through frosty windowpanes,
yearning to step into the
scene, craving a gift, hunger-
ing for an expression of love.
For some of those eyes, how-
ever, the panes are blackened
as if glazed over by layers of
soot. These eyes are those for
whom hope is diminished by
despair, faith has lost its sight,
and eyes, brimming with tears
and filled with sorrow, for
whom love seems lost forever.
Where is the warmth, where
are the gifts and where is the
expression of love?
Christmas has the answer.
The poet, Christiana Rosset-
ti penned these words many
years ago:
winter 2017 27
connecting
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Stars and angels gave the sign.
Love offers hope to eyes filled
with despair, Love restores
faith, where faith has been
lost, and when in sorrow,
Love is the comfort. This is
the Love that came down at
Christmas, Immanuel, God
is with us. God so loved the
world that he gave his only
begotten son, Jesus, Jesus
who is Wonderful Counsel-
or, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace, Jesus
who came to love, to heal and
to restore our souls.
God gave his son, his only
son, to become truly human,
to have a nature like ours.
God gave his son, his only
son, to be born of a virgin and
laid in a manger to bear our
defenselessness and depen-
dence, our fatigue, our sor-
row and our pain. God gave
His son, his only son, to cover
28 anglicandigest.org
our sin with his blood for our
pardon, to die that we might
live, to rise that we too might
be resurrected, and to reign in
glory, all for the love of you
and me and the whole world.
There are those of us who live
in the warmth of God’s love.
Because we have received the
gift of God’s love in Jesus, we
have been able to receive the
gifts that come with it. We
have been able to receive gifts
of grace and peace and joy
and hope and healing and
much more. For us, we are
inside the room, enjoying the
fire and realizing the love that
comes through these gifts.
But, what of those on the out-
side? Those who don’t know
the love that comes from God
through Jesus our Savior?
How shall they know if they
are not told? How shall they
feel love if it isn’t reaching
out to them? How shall they
receive the peace that passes
all understanding, how shall
gathering
they receive this gift of love
for all the world?
The prophet Isaiah exclaims
in this paraphrase of Isaiah
52:7: How beautiful on the
mountains are the feet of the
messenger who brings good
news, the news that God loves
you enough that he sent his
son, his only son, who is the
good news of peace and sal-
vation, that through his son,
his only son, he reconciled
the world to himself, the great
news that the God of Israel
and his only son, Jesus reign
in great glory and continues
to love the world and all who
dwell therein.
Are you willing for your feet
to be his feet, the feet of a
messenger bringing the good
news to those around you,
this Christmas? Are you will-
ing to reach out to those who
so desperately need to know
the love of God through your
care? Are you willing to move
out of your comfort zone to
touch the heart of the one
telling
whose eyes see only the black
soot on the window as they
peer in?
What can you do for the
mother of the autistic child
who melts down in the gro-
cery store, the mother who is
exhausted with the constant
care of a child whose behavior
is erratic at best? Or, what can
you do for the autistic child
whose world is in constant
flux driven by fear and anxi-
ety? What about the woman
living down the street who
frequently shows up in the
neighborhood with bruises
on her arms and face? Will
you be the Presence of Jesus
for one of these?
While chaplain at a major
medical center, I was hurry-
ing across campus to get to
a meeting, which I chaired;
I was almost late. Out of the
corner of my eye, I caught
sight of a tiny woman with a
plate screwed into her arm.
This little old woman was
making circles with her body,
autumn 2017 29
connecting

pivoting on one foot, swirling woman’s eyes filled with tears.

herself round and round, all
the while puffing on a ciga-
rette not more than an inch
long. Walking ten to fifteen
steps past, I suddenly heard
these words, “And the priest
walked on by!” I stopped dead
in my tracks, whirled around
and walked back. Putting my
arm around her, I asked if I
could pray with her. She re-
plied, “Oh, yes.” Guiding her
over to a seat nearby, I covered
her and her needs in prayer.
Opening my eyes, I found the
“And to think, I almost didn’t
come this morning, I almost
didn’t come,” she murmured.
I thought to myself, “And to
think, I almost passed her by.”
Sometimes it just takes a little
time and energy, sometimes it
takes a lot, sometimes it may
interrupt an agenda, but even
if it does, will you be the Pres-
ence of Jesus to others this
Christmas? May it be so, Lord
Jesus.

SOCIETY OF KING CHARLES THE MARTYR

XXXV SOLEMN MASS OF S. CHARLES, K.M.
11 a.m., Saturday, 27 January 2018
St. Timothy’s Anglican Church, Fort Worth, TX
Celebrant/Preacher, The Rt. Rev’d Keith L. Ackerman
Followed by BUFFET LUNCHEON
Reservations required for Luncheon; $20/person
Make check to “St. Timothy’s” – memo line “SKCM”
Send to church by 19 Jan. at 4201 Mitchel Blvd., Fort Worth TX 76119
SOCIETY INFORMATION
www.skcm-usa.org or email membership@skcm-usa.org
Join our growing devotional society via our website; click join or contribute
Advertisement

30 anglicandigest.org
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BOOKSTORE

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connecting

PRAY LIKE A GOURMET: Creative Ways to Feed Your Soul

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FEEDING YOUR FAMILY’S SOUL: Dinner Table Spirituality

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gathering telling

A HOMEMADE YEAR: The Blessings of Cooking,

Crafting & Coming Together
By Jerusalem Jackson Greer
This gorgeously-designed book is a guide which
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Item L0163 (paperback, 224 pages, $21.00)

BECOMING THE GOSPEL

Paul, Participation & Mission
By Michael J. Gorman
The first detailed exegetical treatment of
Pau’s letters from the emerging discipine of
missional hermeneutics, Michael Gorman’s
Becoming the Gospel argues that Paul’s letters
invite Christian communities both then and
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Showing that Pauline churches were active public particicpants
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winter 2017 33
connecting

FOR YOUNG READERS

MAKE ROOM: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter
By Laura Alary
This unique book teaches children of all ages
a broader understanding of Lent, to experi-
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LENTEN SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR KIDS

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Written for 7-11 year olds, this playful guide
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34 anglicandigest.org
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winter 2017 35
connecting
VINTAGE TAD
QQQQQQQQQQQ
a lenten story
The Rev. Terry Russell,
St. James, Painesville, Ohio
Once there was a man who
had a large and happy family,
a big farm and many cattle.
He feared and loved God; he
helped and took care of his
neighbors, for God had bless-
ed him. His name was Job.
But one day God and Satan
were talking and Satan said,
“Your servants serve you only
because you reward them.
Take away a person’s family,
property and health and see
what happens.”
Satan was extremely persua-
sive, so God said, “All right;
test Job!”
So — Job’s cattle died; his
sons and daughters died; his
friends, all but three, left him,
and his body became covered
with sores. Job sat in dust and
ashes, in misery, and his three
36 anglicandigest.org
friends sat with him in silence
in that ash-heap. Job sat in the
ash-heap of his sorrow and
suffering and asked, “What is
the meaning of life? Is this all
there is?” Everyone searches
for the meaning of life, but
when we are in deep agony,
we feel its horror. Job sat in
his ashes and suffered his rid-
dle on earth.
Ash Wednesday begins the
season of Lent, reminding us
of brokenness and humility.
Jesus came so that we might
have abundant life, and he
became the channel of that
abundant life to the world.
On the other hand, the Phar-
isees of that day believed they
knew who God was and what
he willed for everyone. God’s
laws for living were clear to
them and they felt comfort-
able in that knowledge.
Then came Jesus, a humble
preacher, a carpenter from
gathering
Nazareth, who healed on the
Sabbath. And the Pharisees
cried out in anger, “It’s a sin
to do that on the Sabbath; it’s
against the Law of our an-
cestors! On the Sabbath we
rest!” And James looked at
Jesus. “Master”, he said, “I’m
sorry. I was so hungry. You
know how long we have been
healing people?” James tried
to explain and apologize for
healing on the Sabbath, but
Jesus put his hand on James’
shoulder and said, “It’s al-
right. I was the one who told
you to eat. Let me speak to
these Pharisees.”
But before he could speak, the
Pharisees shouted. “You can’t
heal on the Sabbath!” Jesus
looked into the frightened
faces of his disciples. They
didn’t know what to say or do.
Then he looked into the an-
gry faces of the Pharisees who
lived by all those rules. “If you
had a sheep or an ox, and it
fell into a hole on the Sabbath,
would you help it out and save
telling
it?” The Pharisees frowned,
but didn’t say a word.
Jesus continued “A person is
more important than a sheep.
You preach God’s word on the
Sabbath. We DO God’s will
on the Sabbath, because God
wants all creation to be well
and whole”. The Pharisees
stared at Jesus with hatred.
He had not only broken their
holy laws, he had made his
own law of love sound right.
Among themselves they said,
“We have to get rid of this
man,” and they plotted to kill
him.
As Job sits upon his ash-heap,
we sit with him as we are re-
minded that Lent is the time
to re-examine ourselves, try-
ing to recognize the ways we
plot to silence the Christ in
our lives. As Jesus overthrew
the values and practices of his
day, he threatens our estab-
lished beliefs today as well. In
Lent Jesus tells us how God
breaks into our lives, reveal-
winter 2017 37
connecting
ing our illusions so that we
may face the reality of God’s
love; a love which transcends
all our failures, successes,
sins, and even our assurances,
so we may experience forgive-
ness.
In Lent we also mourn. With
threats of war, terror and de-
struction all around us, we
mourn over the lack of justice
and peace. We mourn be-
cause when one person suf-
fers, we all suffer — and God
suffers most. Lent is a time to
weep; a time to fast; a time to
cry our tears in the very plac-
es where we cry our prayers
to God who then takes all of
it and turns it into our prepa-
ration for reconciliation. Pray
for peace; pray that war will
be averted.
Jesus came to baptize us with
the Holy Spirit as we commit
our lives to him. It’s not easy
to walk through flames, to
burn in the fire that leads to
the ashes of life, or to shed the
38 anglicandigest.org
masks of life, or to be trans-
formed into a new creature.
The ash-heaps of life are
sometimes a necessary evil.
But the end is good news. St.
Paul says: “In all these things
we see more than conquer-
ors through him who loves
us. For neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor world powers,
nor things present, nor things
to come, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the ash-heaps of life we
find victory. Was it not so on
the Cross? For there we find
all whom we love, even Jesus
Christ who died on that ash-
heap of the Cross and rose
from the dead to declare for-
giveness, victory, and eternal
life for all who put their trust
in him.
  May the mercy and peace
of Christ be with you always.
— Reprint from Lent 2004
gathering
A Holy Season—
Lent
The Rev. Gedge Gayle,
St. Martin’s, Metairie,
Louisiana (with help from
the Rev. Canon Stephen
Holmgren, Grace,
St. Francisville, Louisiana)
“I invite you, therefore, in the
name of the Church, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by
self-examination and repen-
tance; by prayer, fasting, and
self-denial; and by reading
and meditating on God’s holy
Word.” (Book of Common
Prayer, p. 265)
These words introduce the
Ash Wednesday liturgy in
Episcopal Churches across
the nation and around the
world each year. They are
words that echo the ancient
view that Lent is a special sea-
son—a holy season—which
can be a great gift to every
one who observes this time
of the Church Year. Like so
many things in life, it does
telling
not just happen automatically.
For Lent to be a holy season
requires some choices. Some
conscious attention to how we
will live during these 40 days
and 40 nights can lead to an
enhanced experience of our
Lord’s presence in our lives.
The spiritual practices men-
tioned above may sound re-
mote from our experience
perhaps because they may
sound like the description
of the life and discipline of a
monk or nun. And yet they
are practical things that ev-
ery one of us can do, with-
out causing ourselves great
discomfort or inconvenience
(and this is usually our chief
concern!) Let’s look at how
this can be so.
Self-examination: Ask your-
self this question: Do I live in
the way that God through our
Lord Jesus calls me to live? Do
I use my time, my energy, my
talents, my money, in ways
that are consistent with the
winter 2017 39
connecting

call of the Gospel? The only have the opportunity to make

person who can answer these a choice about food, choose
questions for us is we our- one thing less. Once we find
selves. Asking these questions that we can get by without
involves self-examination, this or that food (or drink)
something each of us can do. item, we are in a position to
discover how fulfilling it can
Prayer: “Prayer is respond- be. We have the freedom to
ing to God by thought and by make such choices and to dis-
deeds, with or without words.” cover the joy of doing with
(BCP p. 856) Most of our lives less, or without.
are spent responding to the
world around us. God is not Self-denial: Self-denial works
absent from that world. In on the same principle as fast-
fact, when we respond to the ing, but applied to other areas
world, we are often respond- of our lives besides food and
ing to God’s presence within drink. There is no end to the
it. Yet most often our focus is possibilities we have of dis-
on how that world can please covering how we can get by
us or be used for our own with less in our lives. Think:
purposes. Responding to God “Simplify!” ...at least for Lent.
is most likely to happen when Maybe it will become a habit.
we are intentional about it—
when we consciously choose Reading & meditating on
to respond to God in our God’s holy Word: Do you
thoughts and actions, wheth- have a Bible at home? If not,
er we use words or not. borrow one. Choose to read at
least one short passage every
Fasting: Here we find our day; “Forward Day by Day” is
greatest challenge! Yet it does a help in this discipline. Take
not have to be difficult. If you home the bulletin insert each

40 anglicandigest.org
gathering
Sunday and spend time read-
ing and reflecting on those
passages during the week.
From the Prayer Book, try
daily Morning and Evening
Prayer, or some of the brief
Daily Devotions on pages
136—140.
Lent can become a holy sea-
son for each of us. Regular
worship with our commu-
nity-in-Christ at church,
participation in Bible study,
and other opportunities for
growth will be of great value...
but a conscious decision is re-
quired on your part. Give it a
try.
— Reprint from Lent 2004
telling
A Paschal
FAQ
[This informative question and
answer series is from The Rev.
Richard Losch, Livingston,
Alabama.
Almost anywhere we turn
these days we see an out-
growth of the Internet, the
ubiquitous FAQ. For the com-
puter illiterati, this stands
for “Frequently Asked Ques-
tions.” We have assembled
here an FAQ about Lent and
Easter.
Why is Lent’s liturgical color
purple, the color of royalty?
   The purple that is used for
Lent and Advent is not royal
purple, but penitential purple.
Royal, or “Tyrian” purple, is
a reddish purple, almost ma-
genta. In ancient times it came
from a rare mollusk that grew
only off the shores of Tyre
in the Mediterranean, and it
was very expensive. The pur-
ple associated with penitence
winter 2017 41
connecting
and mourning is a deep bluish
purple, anciently made from
berries and grapes. Lent is a
season that emphasizes pen-
itence for our sinfulness. It
expects self-examination and
self-discipline in preparation
for the benefits of the death
and resurrection of Jesus that
saves us from damnation be-
cause of that sinfulness. As an
emblem and reminder of that,
we use purple.
Then why is purple a color of
Easter, a time of rejoicing?
   It isn’t. The color of Easter
is white, the color represent-
ing purity and joy. Secular
Easter practices often use lav-
ender as an Easter color, but
this has no Christian sym-
bolism. It is undoubtedly an
“overflow” from the purple
of Lent, which most secular
Easter celebrations ignore al-
together.
Has Lent always lasted forty
days?
   No, but that length became
42 anglicandigest.org
common by the end of the
4th century, so it is very an-
cient. The earliest Christians
observed a fasting period of
three to seven days, depend-
ing on the region. For at least
two centuries most Christians
observed only Holy Week, but
they observed it with extreme
penitence and fasting.
What is “Pre-Lent?”
   The observance of a three
week long pre-Lenten peri-
od began in its modern form
about 600 years ago. It was
common through Christian
history for additions to be
made to feasts, fasts, and the
Mass itself, until they became
awkwardly long and com-
plex. There would then be a
massive cutting back, and the
process would start all over
again. Pre-Lent in the An-
glican tradition has been ob-
served since the 15th century,
but generally as only a teach-
ing period, not one of fasting
or formal preparation. The
Episcopal Church dropped it
in 1979.
gathering telling

Why are there no altar flow- copal Church, many Episco-

ers during Lent? palians practice it, at least in
   Lent is a penitential season, Lent.
and flowers are usually asso-
ciated with rejoicing. For this Why do we talk about the for-
reason the altar is bare, and ty days of Lent, when there
we use none of the usual sym- are actually forty-six days by
bols of rejoicing, such as sing-the calendar?
ing “Alleluia.” Even though   Sunday is always a feast
Sunday is never a fast day, in day, even during Lent. Being
order to encourage the Lent- the commemoration of the
en discipline we make Sunday Resurrection, it can never be a
services more somber during fast day. It is sometimes called
Lent. a “little Easter.” Discounting
the six Sundays, Lent is forty
Are we required to fast in days long.
Lent?
  No, although it is strong- Does that mean that I don’t
ly recommended. The Epis- have to observe my Lenten
copal Church has few man- discipline on Sundays in Lent?
dates, preferring to leave most    Technically, yes. Most peo-
spiritual discipline up to the ple, however, find that it is
conscience of the worshiper. easier and more spiritually
Likewise, the Roman Catho- rewarding to continue the
lic Church recently dropped Lenten discipline on Sundays,
its Lenten mandates other even though it is not required.
than to require fasting on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday. Do we have festive events
Even though abstinence from such as weddings or baptisms
flesh meat on Fridays has nev- during Lent?
er been mandated in the Epis-    No. They are not absolutely

winter 2017 43
connecting
forbidden, but they are very
strongly discouraged, and are
usually done only in an emer-
gency. For example, if a cou-
ple wants to marry and the
groom is about to be shipped
off to war, most parishes
would allow a Lenten wed-
ding. The Great Vigil on Holy
Saturday is a traditional time
for baptisms. In the ancient
Church this was the only time
that people were baptized,
having been prepared for it
during Lent.
What is Maundy Thursday?
   This is the day of the com-
memoration of the Last Sup-
per, the first Holy Eucharist.
At the Last Supper, Jesus
washed the feet of the Apos-
tles and gave them “a new
Commandment, that you
love one another.” The term
“Maundy” comes from the
Middle English maunde,
“foot-washing.” This comes
from the Old French mande,
“commandment,” referring
to the commandment that he
44 anglicandigest.org
gave them after washing their
feet.
Why is the day of Jesus’ death
called Good Friday?
  For all the horror of the
Crucifixion, the day is never-
theless good for us, because
by the death of Jesus we are
freed from the bondage of sin.
The name of the day, however,
is actually a corruption of the
Middle English Godes Fridai,
“God’s Friday.”
What does “Paschal” mean?
  “Paschal” (pron. pás-kal)
stems from the Hebrew pe-
sach, “Passover,” and is the
adjective for both Passover
and Easter. Jesus died and was
resurrected at the time of the
Passover. His sacrifice on the
cross is closely associated with
the sacrifice that the Jewish
Law commanded at Passover.
Why is Jesus often referred to
as the “Paschal Lamb?”
  The Covenants between
God and the Jews were sealed
gathering telling

with the shedding of blood in ter the equinox, and whether

the sacrifice of a lamb. At the it should be the Sunday near-
first Passover, the Hebrews est or after.
sacrificed a lamb and smeared
Where does the word “Easter”
its blood on their doorposts
come from?
to identify themselves as wor-
   This word actually has pa-
shipers of God. John the Bap-
gan origins. It is a corruption
tist referred to Jesus as the
of Oestra, an ancient Celtic
“Lamb of God.” Since the New
goddess of sex and fertility
Covenant was sealed with the
(comparable to the Roman
blood of Jesus on the cross, He
Venus or Greek Aphrodite),
is often compared to the sac-
whose festival was celebrated
rificial lamb that was offered
in the spring. Oestra stemmed
each year in the Temple at
from the Middle Eastern fer-
Passover. He is thus the Pass-
over lamb, or “Paschal Lamb.” tility goddess Ishtar or Ash-
toreth. As Judaism arose it
Because of this, lamb has
replaced this pagan spring
become a traditional Easter
festival of Ashtoreth with the
meal.
celebration of the Passover.
Why does the date of Easter When Christianity came
to Britain, the Paschal feast
vary?
  The ancient church calen- overtook the worship of Oes-
dar, like the Jewish one, was tra, but the name remained
based on the phases of the and eventually evolved into
moon. The date of Easter is “Easter.”
tied to the full moon at the What do rabbits have to do
time of the Vernal Equinox. It with Easter?
was argued for centuries as to   Absolutely nothing. The
whether it should be the full rabbit is an ancient symbol of
moon nearest, or the first af- Oestra, Ishtar, and Ashtoreth.

winter 2017 45
connecting
Considering the rabbit’s fer-
tility, it is an appropriate em- tomb. It is obvious that such a
blem of these goddesses of
fertility. This pagan symbol
seems to have hung on for
centuries, even though the
goddesses it represents are
long forgotten. The “bunny”
has become a deeply embed-
ded symbol of secular Easter
celebrations, but it will not be them had been all but forgott-
seen as a Christian symbol in
any church (at least we sin-
cerely hope not!).
And what about eggs?
   The egg is also an emblem eggs is pure American whim-
of Oestra, Ishtar, and Ash- sy.
toreth, but it nonetheless has
a distinctly Christian symbol-
ism as well. It is a very ancient
pagan symbol of spring, rep-
resenting the re-birth of the
earth from a seemingly dead
“stone.” To Christians, how-
ever, the chick emerging from
the egg is symbolic of Christ
emerging from the tomb. Ear-
ly Christians would cut off the
end of an egg and remove the
contents, leaving the empty
46 anglicandigest.org
shell as a symbol of the empty
joyful symbol should be gaily
decorated, and by the Middle
Ages, Easter egg decoration
had become a fine art form in
many Mediterranean regions.
By the time Fabergé wrought
his magnificent jeweled eggs,
the religious significance of
en (although Tsar Nicholas
gave a Fabergé egg to the Em-
press Alexandra every year at
Easter). The idea of the Easter
bunny laying colored Easter
— Reprint from Lent 2004
QQQ
WANTS AND NEEDS
FAITH IN GOD will not get
for you everything you may
want, but it will get for you
what God wants you to have.
The unbeliever does not need
what he wants: the Christian
should want only what he
needs. — Vance Havner in
By the Still Waters
gathering
Thank you, Lord
St. James, Tigard, Oregon
Thank you Lord, for giving
me the chance to share this
message with others and also,
for giving me so many won-
derful people to share this
with. If you have food in the
refrigerator, clothes on your
back, a roof overhead and a
place to sleep, you are richer
than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the
bank, in your wallet, and
spare change in a dish some-
place, you are among the top
8% of the world’s wealthy.
If you woke up this morning
with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the
million who will not survive
this week.
If you have never experienced
the danger of battle, the lone-
liness of imprisonment, the
agony of torture, or the pangs
telling
of starvation, you are ahead
of 500 million people in the
world.
If you can attend a church
meeting without fear of ha-
rassment, arrest, torture, or
death, you are more blessed
than three billion people in
the world.
If your parents are still alive
and still married, you are very
rare.
If you hold up your head with
a smile on your face and are
truly thankful, you are blessed
because the majority can, but
most do not.
If you can hold someone’s
hand, hug them or even touch
them on the shoulder, you are
blessed because you can offer
healing touch.
If you can read this message,
you just received a double
blessing in that someone was
thinking of you, and further-
winter 2017 47
connecting

more, you are more blessed need anyone else to be com-

than over two billion people plete. Perhaps we fear that if
in the world who cannot read we admit our need for others
at all. Have a good day, count in the Body of Christ we will
your blessings, and pass this demonstrate weakness. This
along to remind everyone is particularly problematic
else how blessed we all are. for men, because most have
THANK YOU LORD! grown up competing with
— Author Unknown each other rather than devel-
oping relationships.
— Reprint from Lent 2003
This lone ranger attitude plays
QQQ out in a number of ways. At
one extreme a man will say,
GOD’S “I just have no need for God.”
LONE RANGER That argument started in the
The Rev. Canon Paul Jagoe, Garden of Eden. Adam and
Cathedral Church of St. Luke,
Orlando, Florida Eve figured they just needed
to eat the fruit and they would
I’ll be God’s Lone Ranger, not need God anymore. His-
though I really hate to boast. tory shows they were wrong
I’ll be God’s lone ranger, on in their thinking with severe
fire from coast to coast. I’ll consequences for all who
be God’s solo worker, though came after them.
it’s never worked before…
These words are from a song Another argument goes some-
I heard back in the 1970’s. It thing like this. “My life is okay
was a funny song with a point: and besides, if I am going to
we modern Christians have get into heaven, I can work it
swallowed the Enlighten- out on my own. To depend on
ment thinking that we do not Christ is a cop-out. Either we

48 anglicandigest.org
gathering
work it out or we do not de-
serve to go.” That argument is
not new either. It goes back at
least to the time of the Phari-
sees who figured if they could
live the law perfectly they
would win God’s favor. Jesus
showed them differently. Even
St. Paul, who was among the
best of the Pharisees, said, “All
have sinned (even the Phari-
sees) and have come short of
the glory of God.”
A common way this lone
ranger attitude comes out
is: “I do not need to go to
church to be a Christian or to
worship.” I think the biblical
writers would have a prob-
lem with that. They saw that
the community of God’s peo-
ple was essentially tied up in
the individual’s relationship
with God. That is why putting
someone outside of the fel-
lowship of God’s people was
so painful and scary. To leave
the fellowship of God’s people
was to leave the fellowship of
God.
telling
To put it in a positive way,
God saved us to be reconciled
vertically (with Him) and
horizontally (with the people
of God). So working out our
salvation, as Paul wrote to the
Philippian church, includes
our relationship with both
God and the Church. Build-
ing relationships is essential.
Together we can accomplish
more for the kingdom of
God. Together we are stron-
ger in our faith. Together
we protect one another from
the temptations and evils of
the world. Conversely, since
Christianity includes rela-
tionship with God and with
His people, to abstain from
building relationships with
others is to be deficient in our
life and faith.
I encourage each of you to
make a commitment to de-
velop relationships with other
Christians. Join a Bible study.
Take a small group course.
Go on a retreat. Find a way
to make those relationships
winter 2017 49
connecting

happen. Take advantage of sianic mission by Simeon.

the various offerings at your Holding Jesus in his arms, he
church. Whether or not we prayed the words recorded in
feel like it, we do need each Luke, “Lord, you have now
other to be successful in our set your servant free to go in
life and faith. peace as you have promised
For these eyes of mine have
And, by the way, even the seen the Savior whom you
Lone Ranger had a compan- have prepared for the entire
ion. world to see a Light to en-
— Reprint from Lent 2003 lighten the nations, and the
glory of your people Israel.”
QQQ
To Mary, Simeon directed the
Law of Moses following prophetic words
that were the direction-
The Rev. Robert Godley, al headings for the journey
St. Barnabas’,
Ardsley, New York that would follow over time
to Calvary and Easter. “This
The Christmas season ends as child is destined to cause the
Jesus, the Light, is brought to falling and rising of many in
the temple by Mary and Jo- Israel, and to be a sign that
seph in compliance with the will be spoken against, so that
Law of Moses which required the thoughts of many hearts
a male child to be presented will be revealed. And a sword
to God on the 40th day. [Cele- will pierce your own soul too.”
brated liturgically on Feb 2nd
as The Presentation of Our Simeon had the faith sight to
Lord in the Temple.] While see the Light he was holding,
there, they are given further but you and I are bearers of
testimony to the child’s Mes- that light. Jesus himself iden-

50 anglicandigest.org
gathering
tifies us as “The Light of the
world.” (Matt. 5:14) He tells
us what we must do with that
light in order to make it visi-
ble for others. “Let your Light
shine before men, that they
may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven.”
(Matt. 5:16)
On Ash Wednesday, the
source and substance of that
light, Jesus of Nazareth, will
begin to direct our atten-
tion to the ultimate purpose
of God coming among us in
flesh. We will start the yearly
journey to Calvary and Easter.
Our hungry, sick, bleeding,
broken, and terror-stricken
world is dying from the con-
sequences of self-will run riot.
The burden of our collective
sin is so great and its pain so
disorienting that we seek only
relief from the symptoms of
our disease. The thought of an
ultimate remedy is dismissed
more often than not as the
impossible dream of fools.
telling
But that is exactly what Jesus
offers and begs us to accept.
Yet we, as bearers of the light,
through which others come
to recognize their need and
the Savior who has addressed
it, have we accepted the rem-
edy, or are we still interested
only in relief from symptoms
too?
Take Lent and its God-given
purpose to heart this year.
Take God at his Word, Jesus
Christ. Accept the remedy,
his atoning death provided.
Come to grasp more clearly
the biblical story that explains
the gift and the reason we
each so desperately need it.
— Reprint from Lent 2003
QQQ
A big worry drives out
a small one, and since
there is always a bigger
worry coming along, you
have nothing to worry
about.
QQQ
winter 2017 51
connecting

Heart Of The somber, time. Leaving things

Lenten Journey behind involves loss. And this
puts us in touch with the per-
The Rev. James V. Stockton, sonal loss, the spiritual loss,
Church of the Resurrection, the unimaginably holy loss,
Austin, Texas
that Christ suffered in dying
for us on the Cross. His death
Lent is well understood as a is God’s willing self-surrender
season of simplifying, distill- of all godliness that separated
ing down, and concentrating God from humanity and hu-
on one’s relationship with manity from God. It’s the loss,
God. In so far as they derive then, of all that might have
from one’s relationship with spared God the experience of
God, Lent is also a time to human finitude, the sting of
examine the nature of one’s injustice, and the loneliness of
relationships with one’s fellow dying an outsider’s death.
human beings, with creation,
and with oneself. I like author If you or I happen to feel guilt
and reporter Nora Gallagher’s about any of this, I don’t want
observation about Lent. to dismiss it lightly. However,
I suggest that such guilt is less
She says it “is a journey that the heart of the Lenten jour-
you have to start by unpack- ney than is the hard work of
ing.” “The point,” she says, “is baring one’s soul to God as
to leave things behind, every- well as before one’s fellows
thing that’s getting in the way.” and also to one’s self, in order
to appropriate anew the death
Because leaving things be- and resurrection of Christ,
hind can be a tall task, I think, and so fulfill the journey that
we Christians correctly un- Lent represents. This is the
derstand Lent as a sober, even work that teaches, challenges,
52 anglicandigest.org
gathering
and grows us in our faith and
faithfulness toward God.
By definition, grace is free.
But humanity knows itself
well. You and I know our own
unworthiness and so we force
upon ourselves a struggle
around God’s grace. More of-
ten than not, our struggle will
be with our ideas of God. And
it will be a struggle against the
insight that your ideas of God
don’t quite measure up to all
that God really is, to all that
really is God. Thus, though it
may feel it, our struggle is not
with God, nor is it with oth-
ers. Our struggle is with our-
selves.
Sooner or later, each of us
is called by our relationship
with a real God to return to
the Lord, to be reconciled to
God, even at the cost of un-
packing and leaving behind
the baggage that we bring to
our relationship with God.
This is that baggage that you
or I like to cling to and dip
telling
into to pull up things with
which to clothe God and cov-
er him over, so that he might
seem to us more the God that
suits us, and less the God who
summons us to become more
the people who befit him.
It’s a costly journey, this Lent-
en thing. Costly, for any real
relationship with God, and
any real relationship there-
from, ultimately is a personal
thing between you and God,
between God and me; and be-
tween the me that I am and the
me that God wants me to be.
It’s also true that our relation-
ships with God bear on those
we have with one another. In
his letters, the Apostle John
reminds the early Christians
that it isn’t possible truly to
love God without loving one
another. In short, the cross is
both vertical and horizontal
in its effect, or it’s of no effect
at all.
So trying to put down those
comforting bags of tricks, we
winter 2017 53
connecting
come to this time when we
very intentionally focus upon
our relationship with God.
Each of us examines him-
self or herself, to discover
and celebrate the strengths
of our relationship, yes; but
also to find where our rela-
tionship with God is perhaps
delusional or self-serving,
weak from neglect or suf-
fering from abuse, or how it
is in any need at all of God’s
further grace. We confront
that spiritual shallowness,
that relational hollowness,
that spares us from having
truly to know one another,
ourselves, or even God, and
instead makes us consumers
of the Church and clients of
God, rather than ministers
with one another of the Gos-
pel and servants together of
Christ Jesus. We soon meet
the barriers that we’ve raised
between God and ourselves,
between ourselves and others,
and the barriers we’ve put up
internally that divide our own
soul.
54 anglicandigest.org
We unpack all the hobbies,
the work, the tasks, the com-
mitments, the entanglements,
even the friendships, that
we’ve used to hide our alien-
ation, isolation, and fear, and
to keep a comfortable distance
between one another, and be-
tween ourselves and God.
And finally, at the far end of
the journey, we come to that
which we can find in no other
way but to make the hard trek
for ourselves. We discover
again that, though we manage
often to avoid God, neverthe-
less, whenever we re-engage
our effort to turn to him, we
find God himself leaving ev-
erything behind, rushing to-
wards us, fulfilling his jour-
ney in order to meet us in the
midst of our own.
— Reprint from Lent 2005
QQQ
KEEP THE FAITH —
AND PASS IT ON!
QQQ
gathering
jesus saves!
The Very Rev. Samuel G.
Candler, Dean,
Trinity Cathedral,
Columbia, South Carolina
Perhaps most of us are accus-
tomed to seeing those words,
“Jesus Saves!” scrawled across
a concrete wall or painted in
rough letters on some rural
sign. Perhaps we expect to
hear the phrase shouted re-
peatedly amid the static of
a fading radio station. But
somehow, seasoned Chris-
tians rarely expect to hear it
amid our sophisticated ser-
mons and essays. Worse, we
get nervous when we do hear
the phrase, “Jesus Saves.” We
brace ourselves for what we
imagine will be shallow think-
ing or frothy emotionalism.
And that is too bad, for Jesus
really does save.
Unfortunately, for many of
us in America, we have lost
the message “Jesus Saves” be- We do need saving, as much
cause we do not know what today as yesterday. Perhaps
telling
we need to be saved from.
In other words, many of us
seem to be doing so well, that
we feel no need for salvation.
We have well-paying jobs, or
we have good investments in
the stock market, or we have
ample savings accounts, so we
don’t worry about money too
much. For many of us, if some
need arises, we just buy our
way out of it. In those condi-
tions, it is difficult to realize a
need for faith in Jesus.
My short answer to the ques-
tion, “What does Jesus save us
from?” is that “Jesus saves us
from death.” And one of the
most threatening character-
istics of this age is that many
of us are dying without realiz-
ing it. We have been seduced
by today’s relative luxury and
leisure into thinking that all
these nice things in our lives
really will protect us. Worse,
we forget what sin is: any ac-
tivity that leads to death.
winter 2017 55
connecting
we will not say “Jesus Saves”
in the same way that the sign
along the road says it. But
we still need to say it. And
the more well-off we feel, the
more we need to experience
those parts of our society
which need more physical sal-
vation than we do: the houses
and projects of the poor, the
prisons, the people who are
on the underside of the cur-
rent American wealth wave.
Esssentially, we must ac-
knowledge our need for God.
There is plenty around us that
Jesus still needs to save. And
there is plenty inside us that
Jesus still needs to save.
— Reprint from Lent 1998
QQQ
announcements
St. Mary’s Church,
El Dorado, Arkansas
Ladies, don’t forget the rum-
mage sale. It is a good chance
to get rid of those things not
56 anglicandigest.org
worth keeping around the
house. Bring your husbands.
The peace-making meeting
scheduled for today has been
cancelled due to a conflict.
Next Thursday, there will be
tryouts for the choir. They
need all the help they can get.
The agenda was adopted...
the Minutes were approved...
the finanacial secretary gave
a grief report. Barbara C. re-
mains in the hospital and needs
blood donors for more transfu-
sions. She is also having trou-
ble sleeping and requests tapes
of Rector’s sermons. The ‘Over
60s Choir’ will be disband-
ed for the summer with the
thanks of the entire church.
Announcement in a church
bulletin for a National Prayer
& Fasting Conference: “The
cost for attending the Fasting
& Prayer conference includes
Meals.” Miss Charlene Ma-
son sang, “I will Not Pass This
Way Again,” giving obvious
pleasure to the congregation.
— Reprint from Lent 2000
gathering telling

TUSCAN CANNELLINI AND KALE SOUP

2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 small onion, finely diced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup pasta shells
3 cups kale, trimmed
1 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste

Saute onion and garlic in oil in soup pot. Add broth, tomatoes,
and beans; season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Bring to a
boil; add pasta and cook for 12 minutes. Add kale and cook
until wilted.

winter 2017 57
connecting

the seven virtues:

a lenten meditation
Three thousand years have left us this
Précis of health and sober bliss:
Temperance, the broad firm base,
The drink refused with quiet grace;
Prudence, rich at folly’s expense,
The interest of common sense;
Justice, blind in the balanced scales,
The weak man freed from strong men’s jails;
Fortitude, outfacing dread,
The great poem done as the cancer spread.
Such natural virtues well defined
By Greece and Rome, the classic mind,
Prepare us for the higher three,
Faith, Hope, and Love called Charity;
Faith, the flower of reason’s seed,
Rooted deep in fear and need;
Hope, the craving of the soul
That cannot think itself the whole;
Love, by which we know the One
Who Loves us as He loves His Son;
And to these antidotes to vice,
Gentlefolk will add the spice
Of Courtesy to sweeten up
The virtues’ sometimes bitter cup
As John once stood apart, yet near,
In honor of the Virgin’s tears.

David Middleton is poetry editor of the Anglican Theological Review.

This poem originally appeared in The Anglican, January 1999

58 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Fear Not overtake our better hopes. It

happens when our fears wear
The Rev. Jeffrey H. Walker, us down and occupy the best
Christ Church,
Greenwich, Connecticut of our time. They make us lose
heart and they keep us from
Jesus told this parable to his living more fully. We fear that
disciples about their need to our past will actually catch
pray always and not lose heart. up with us. Fear also has us
— Luke 18: 1 crossing bridges we may nev-
er get to. It is a lifelong game
The story that Jesus told to il- of “what if ” that wastes our
lustrate his point was, as usu- time and erodes our present.
al, one that made his listeners If perfect love casts out fear,
scratch their heads and squint then it is also possible for per-
their eyes. After all, it was a fect fear to cast out love.
comic story about the poorest
of women, the most powerless   But, scared living never
of people, ultimately winning makes us more than we could
her case against a crooked but have imagined before. Fright-
powerful judge. And why did ened living never strives for
she prevail? Because he would something beyond our reach;
just as soon settle up with her never imagines a better, larger
rather than listen to her nag- future. A frightened life never
ging forever. Not exactly how dreams. We lose heart.
we usually like to think of not
losing heart.    The answer to fear is cour-
age. But that sounds so un-
  But, we do lose heart. It realistic. When we think of
happens to us so often. It hap- courage, we usually think of
pens most when our fears, heroes who talk and act bold-
our intimate lifetime enemies, ly, without any trace of fear.

winter 2017 59
connecting

Fearless leaders, people who willingness of everyday peo-

don’t know the meaning of ple to stand up even when
the word, fear. I don’t think they stand alone, even a pow-
that is very real at all. erless woman who Luke tells
us would just never give in,
Courage isn’t the absence of never give up. This nameless
fear. It is staring fear right in woman is our real hero.
the face and not being crip-
pled by it. It is going ahead Where does that courage
even when you are scared to come from? I believe that the
death. It is a willingness to same God who walked with
risk something of ourselves. any hero the world has ever
Do what needs to be done called by that name is the
anyway. Risk looking foolish same God who walks through
or failing. Risk looking stupid. your life and mine. The God
who tells us that, no matter
Courage isn’t the movies. It is what happens to us, we are
someone walking into an AA never alone. His love, pres-
meeting for the first time. It ence, and mercy all give us the
is knowing the pain of che- courage to be present to our
motherapy and knowing the own lives, to face this day and
slim chance of surviving, and the next one. The same God
going anyway. Enduring it who is with us when we stare
anyway. Courage is the will- into the darkness, and who
ingness to say “I love you” holds out his hand from the
instead of fearing that love other side of darkness itself
won’t be returned. Courage is and says to each of us: “Do
getting up in the morning and not lose heart. Fear not, for I
facing the day, when yester- am with you always, even to
day offered only sorrow and the end of the ages.”
death’s memory. Courage is a

60 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

NECROLOGY
The Rev. Dr. Rick Hart- also served in the U.S. Marine
ley, 48, in Mukwonago, Wis- Corps during the Korean con-
consin. A graduate of Nasho- flict. He was ordained in 1957
tah House where he was asso- and served parishes in Bates-
ciate dean for student services
burg, Ridge Spring, Greer,
and an affiliate professor of and Spartanburg, SC as well
ascetical and pastoral theolo-as serving on the Board of the
gy. He also served churches inPresiding Bishop’s Council of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mon- Advice, the University of the
tana and, Louisiana. South, Kanuga Conference
Center and, in retirement
The Rt. Rev. Arthur E. in Kairos. He was Suffragan
Walmsley, 89, in Deering, Bishop of Upper South Caro-
NH. A graduate of the Episco- lina from 1985 to 1989 when
pal Theological School, Cam- he was elected Bishop of
bridge, MA, he was ordained Southwest Florida and served
to the priesthood in 1952. He until 1997.
served parishes in St. Louis,
MO, New York, NY, and New The Rev. Henry Cornick
Haven, CT. He became Bish- Coke, III, 89, in Dallas, TX.
op Coadjutor of the Diocese He was a graduate of Yale
of Connecticut in 1979 and College and The General
Bishop from 1981 to 1993. Theological Seminary, he was
The Rt. Rev. Rogers S. ordained to the priesthood in
Harris, 87, in West Colum- 1954 and served churches in
bia, SC. A graduate of The Wichita Falls, TX, Santa Bar-
University of the South he bara, CA, and in Dallas, TX.
winter 2017 61
connecting

The Rev. Harry T. Cook, served as Episcopal chaplain

78, in Royal Oak, MI. He was to Portland State University
a graduate of Garrett-Evan- and four other colleges. Upon
gelical Seminary he was or- retirement he continued to
dained to the priesthood in serve on the staff of several
1968 and served parishes in Oregon churches.
Pentwater, Detroit and Claw-
son, MI. He also worked for Charles Hemenway, 80,
the Detroit Free Press. in Covington, LA. He was a
teacher and administrator.
The Rt. Rev. Jean Rigal He served 24 years as head-
Elisee, 90, in Livingston, NJ. master of St. Paul’s Episco-
A graduate of Philadelphia pal School in Covington and
Divinity School he was or- one year as headmaster of the
dained a priest in the Diocese Lower School at Christ Epis-
of Haiti and served in Gam- copal Church in Covington.
bia, Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, The Rev. Gregg D. Wood,
and Liberia. In 1980 he was 76, Wawarsing, NY. He was
consecrated Bishop of The a graduate of the Episcopal
Gambia and the Rio Pongas. Theological School and was
In 1986 he came to the United ordained a priest in 1968.
States and worked as a sup- He was a Professor of Pasto-
ply Bishop in New York and ral Counseling at the Mer-
Newark. cer School of Theology and
served churches in Ellenville
The Rev G. Palmer Par- and Greenwood Lake, NY.
dington, III, 78, in Portland,
OR. A graduate of General May they rest in peace,
Theological Seminary he was and rise in glory.
ordained a priest in 1966 and
62 anglicandigest.org
 connecting

PLANNED GIVING
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discussing long-term tax savings with your attorney and gift planner – and
we hope you will also consider a charitable bequest in your will to benefit
the work of The Anglican Digest. Please contact us at 479-253-9701 for more
information.
autumn 2017 63
Trinity Episcopal Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania