Napkin Rings and Nostalgia

I grew up in Meriden, Connecticut, once the home of International Silver Company, known around the world for quality silverware of all sorts. International was divided up and sold in the early 1970’s and Meriden has never recovered from the loss of its largest private employer. I browse in antique shops occasionally and sometimes see items that were made in Meriden. Part of my family founded Meriden Britannia Company, one of the companies that formed International Silver in the 1890’s, and I often see Meriden Britannia items, and pick them up for my collection if they are affordable.

Meriden was in its heyday at that time. Just about everything was made there, from player pianos to silver teapots, bench vises, bronze art deco plaques, fancy desk lamps and curtain rods. When I look at my odd collection of Meriden items I think about what the city must have been like. There were people from a number of different countries, recruited from their parts of Europe because of their particular skills. Their descendants still live in Meriden.

Many feel that Meriden’s past was the best that it will ever be. A lot of people have moved away, including me, never to return. But for the people who still live there it is their home, and they have all the hope in the world that Meriden will become a good place to live again.

My purpose here is not just to tell you about my home town. It is to think about the past in relation to the present and future. It is always tempting to look at the past of any aspect of our lives, our families, church and community and wish that things would be like they were in the past. Nostalgia is an addictive drug when indulged in too frequently. I have often thought that the way to make things more like the past is to move into the future. In the case of my hometown, it’s unlikely that anyone will be making silver napkin rings such as the example from Meriden Britannia that I’m looking at right now. But, the institutions that served the population of Meriden, the clubs, schools, churches and neighborhood groups of various sorts can be recast to fit the realities of today. We can’t wish the past to come back no matter how fervently we wish for it. What we can do is look at the present, realistically look at the resources we have available and apply those resources to wherever we feel God is calling us to do so. We are surrounded by opportunities to serve God by serving our neighbors. God calls us to work at discerning our mission wherever we are, celebrating the past but purposely looking to the future, knowing that God will be there already.

It's all in the eyes

The icon of the week is my copy of an Ethiopian triptych. A triptych is a three-part painting, sometimes hinged, sometimes not. This image dates from around the seventeenth century, although Ethiopian paintings can sometimes be hard to date.

I was drawn to this image because I like Ethiopian religious art. This icon has an almost cartoonish quality to it, which is not to downplay its significance or its impact

The eyes are the most noticeable feature of these figures, especially the eyes of Mary in the center panel. This is typical of Ethiopian art. In much of African art, Christian or otherwise, the head is the most prominent feature, often depicted out of proportion to the body of the person. It may be that the head and face are emphasized since the face is the most distinct feature of a person. Perhaps the eyes, the most expressive part of the face, are made larger for the same reason.

Our eyes can speak very clearly, often more clearly than our words. Through our eyes we can express sadness, joy, confusion, pain, delight, and a whole range of emotions. The famous quote, “The eye is the window to the soul” is attributed to Shakespeare and many other authors, but it doesn’t matter who said it. It’s true. We communicate so much through out eyes. They don’t lie.

Perhaps these figures have large eyes in order to communicate. They express the greatness of the truth that they witness, that they experience.
. In the left wing, the resurrected Christ at the top stands with his hands upraised, surrounded by saints or apostles. A military saint, possibly St. Demetrius, is on a horse at the lower left corner. In the right wing, the crucifixion is depicted at the top, again with saints or apostles below. At the bottom another military saint, possibly St. George, is mounted on a horse with a spear.

What If God Was One of Us?

The icon of the week beginning tomorrow is Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. This event appears in all four gospels but each account is different. Only Mark and Matthew say that John actually baptizes Jesus. Luke and John indicate he was baptized by only indirectly hint at who did it.

The word "baptize" comes from the Greek word baptidzo, meaning to immerse. Dyeing cloth, for instance, was baptizing or immersing it in the dye.

I like to think that Jesus' baptism not only marks the beginning of Jesus' ministry but it also makes a statement. Jesus immersed himself in our existence, with all its messiness and trouble.

A number of years ago a singer that I'm not familiar with, Joan Osborne, recorded a song entitled "What If God Was One Of Us." I won't reprint all the lyrics, but this text asks the basic question--what IF God was one of us?

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make Its way home

God was indeed one of us, made real in the Incarnation, signified by Jesus' baptism.

Icon of the Week: St. John Climacus

This week’s icon is an early twelfth century depiction of St. John Climacus’ “Ladder of Divine Ascent.” The original, shown here, is in the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai.

The Monastery of St. Catharine is a treasure house by any standard. Because it is in a remote setting in the Sinai peninsula it has avoided the ravages of war. It has been continuously occupied since the fourth century. Within its walls is one of the largest collections of icons in the world, numbering around four thousand. They date from the mid-fifth to the eighteenth century. Among them is the oldest icon of Jesus, and a number of others that survived the periods of iconoclasm in the eighth and ninth centuries when the Byzantine emperor Leo III ordered all icons in the empire destroyed. The icons of Mt. Sinai survived because the monastery was in a Moslem region. The monastery is also known for its world class collection of ancient biblical and religious manuscripts. Their collection is second only to the collection in the Vatican.

The theme of wilderness draws me to this icon along with the dramatic imagery of monks trying to climb the ladder toward a higher spiritual life while demons try to drag them down into destruction. For St. John Climacus the cares and temptations of the world would threaten to distract us from our journey up this ladder where Christ awaits us at the top. At the lower right corner a group of monks cheer on those who are climbing the ladder. I don’t know if they are waiting their turn or if they have already arrived. At the upper left corner a choir of angels looks on.

This image of angels and saints encouraging us on reminds me of the concept of the Church Triumphant, that part of the church which has already passed on. I take great comfort that the saints of the past pray for us and encourage us on as we climb that ladder.

Icon of the Week: St. Jerome

I’m behind on posting pictures of the icon of the week. Last week it was Fra Angelico’s “Penitent St. Jerome, painted in the early 15th century. The picture here is of the original which is now in the Princeton University Art Museum.

Jerome was born in what is now Bosnia in 347 AD. He was drawn to the study of the classics and went to Rome as a young man to further his studies. While he was in Rome he was a typical college student, partying and the like. He went on an extended tour of the Middle East, studying in Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and then back to Rome. He eventually became convinced that his lifestyle was in conflict with his faith and spent some time in the wilderness in repentance. This period in his life became a favorite subject for artists in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Jerome is depicted in a wilderness scene in prayer, reading, or  beating his chest with a stone, as Fra Angelico depicts him here.

An image of Jerome that became popular in the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance is St. Jerome in his study. Jerome was the consummate scholar, and in these paintings he is shown as a Renaissance scholar, often wearing the red robe and hat of a cardinal. For Jerome this is anachronistic since the office of cardinal did not exist in the Roman Catholic Church during his lifetime. He is often portrayed with a lion, as tradition has it that he pulled a thorn from a lion’s paw. Sometimes the lion is shown sleeping on his study floor!

Eventually Jerome settled in as a hermit in Bethlehem, traditionally occupying a cell underneath the Church of the Nativity. When I was in the Holy Land four years ago I had the chance to see the cell from the outside, but since it is now a chapel a mass was in progress and I didn’t want to interrupt it.

Jerome is held in the highest regard for his literary output, most notably the  Latin Vulgate, the translation of the entire Bible in Latin. He probably didn’t do it all from scratch. Many scholars think that he had Latin translations of sections to begin with and he revised those sections and translated the rest. The Vulgate was the standard translation of the Bible for more than a thousand years.

I am drawn to this image of Jerome mostly because of the image of wilderness. The theme of wilderness is very prominent in the Scriptures and in Christian thought in general. The wilderness is a place for reflection and prayer. Lent is a good time to consider Jerome as a guide in the wilderness.

Icons for Contemplation During Lent

Lent is a time to slow down and work on our relationship with God and each other. We’ll have some opportunities for working on our relationship with God. The labyrinth will return during the first week of March. It will be available in the Fellowship Hall from Tuesday morning through Thursday night. I will return it to the New Hampshire Conference office on Friday. There will be evening hours until 8 PM all three nights. As we did last year there will be a basket of stones available. You will be invited to select a stone which you can carry with you as you walk the labyrinth, and leave the stone in the center. A number of people came several times. There’s no limit as to how many times you can walk it.

The other opportunity for reflection will be offered in the Chapel. Each Sunday morning I will have a new icon of the week which will stay in the Chapel for the week. Any time the church is open and there isn’t another activity in the Chapel you will be welcome to come and practice contemplative prayer using the icon. During Holy Week I will have several different icons during the week depending on the specific day. This will go through the second Sunday of Easter, April 12.

Contemplative prayer is the practice of simply sitting with a thought, a word or an image and reflecting on it as you look at it. This may sound simplistic, but as you focus on the image you will find that other thoughts and worries will recede to the background. If you have been to a Harmonic Healing event it can be the same sort of feeling, a feeling of release from your worries and challenges.

I realize that icons are not a traditional part of the Protestant tradition. I offer this as an alternative way to work on your relationship with God. Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions have preserved and nurtured the use of images in prayer. The instinctive Protestant reaction is that images can easily become idols, which is true. That doesn’t mean that idolatry is inevitable with the use of images in prayer. If you focus on the deeper meaning that an image conveys rather than the image itself you will find yourself transported beyond the image to the reality it represents. That is why an icon is often referred to as a window.

I have found that painting icons is a wonderful vehicle for contemplative prayer. I reflect on the subject as I paint and I find that I am able to push away all the concerns and worries that try to crowd in. The icons that I will have in the chapel this Lent are all copies that I have painted.

At first I had to overcome the hurdle of idolatry before I was able to appreciate iconography for what it is, a vehicle for prayer. I have always known what icons are, but I didn't have a clue as to how they could enhance my prayer life. The faith that I grew up in was intellectually oriented. Prayer was seen as a practice of the mind. I have found richness in the invitation to prayer through the contemplation of images. Many Protestants have experienced this invitation and taken up the use of icons in prayer as the older boundaries between Protestantism and other branches of Christianity have eroded. There is much more appreciation for the traditions of other branches of the Christian church than there has ever been.

Each week I will post the icon that will be available in the chapel.

Being Thankful for Teachers

I am often reminded of the gifts I have been given--gifts both large and small. Today I think in particular of two of my seminary professors. One of them, Bill Holladay, taught Old Testament. He is still active at the age of about 90, although he has retired from teaching. I am reminded of him whenever a text from the Book of Jeremiah appears in the Revised Common Lectionary. Jeremiah was his specialty.

While I was in seminary (1980-86) Prof. Holladay was writing what is now considered the definitive commentary on the Book of Jeremiah. It was at a time when home computers were in their early stage of development. Laptops didn’t exist at that time. I don’t remember what he had for a computer, but I remember him telling our Old Testament class how his son had developed a word processing program that allowed him to type in Hebrew. That may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but Hebrew is written right to left, and computers compose left to right. I believe the message of hope in Jeremiah was what attracted him to this particular book in the first place. Writing a commentary on a book of the Bible can take decades, and I know he worked on it for many years. I have a set of the two volume work, and I use them whenever I preach on a text from Jeremiah.

I also have thought lately of another seminary professor, George Peck. A native of Australia, he was the dean and later the president at Andover Newton, and taught theology. He was a missionary in India for many years. He was a proponent of the theology of Karl Barth, a German theologian who dared to stand up to the Nazi regime in the years previous to World War II. Barth eventually moved to Switzerland to escape the Nazi government, and spent the rest of his life there. During his career he wrote a multi-volume work entitled “Church Dogmatics.” I have recently completed my collection of all fourteen volumes, and have started reading. It will probably take a few years but it will be worth it. It’s like being in school again.

George died very suddenly only a few years after I graduated from seminary. He was only 60 years old as I recall. For years my daughter has remembered his fondness for small children, since he didn’t have grandchildren of his own. I remember more than once seeing him carrying around a small child of one of the students at the Christmas party that he and his wife always held in the President’s house.

I often think of the debt I owe to many people who were my teachers. We all have had important teachers in our lives, whether they were teachers in public school, Sunday School, sports coaches, family members or neighbors. It is a good thing to express gratitude for our teachers. I can’t contact George because he is no longer with us, but I have gotten Bill’s address from Andover Newton and plan to write him a note of thanks. He taught many students over the years, and I doubt he will remember me, but I am sure he will appreciate my taking the time to thank him for his work that still has value and that lives on in his writings.