Archive for Awc

Not even a cubit

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. 

Matthew 6: 25-33

Today’s gospel reading stirred an echo in my memory. Mark Rylance is pretty much perfect here.

O Sons and Daughters

 

This stirring hymn was written in Latin by the Franciscan friar Jean Tisserand (b. France, 15th century; d. 1494). According to www.Hymnary.org it was found in an untitled booklet printed in Paris between 1518 and 1536. A popular preacher (“The most hardened hearts could not resist his sermons,” says the French Wikipedia essay.), Tisserand also founded the Refuge of St. Madeleine, an institution for women seeking refuge from prostitution.

John M. Neale translated the text into twelve stanzas, which were published in his Medieval Hymns and Sequences (1851). Since then, versions of Tissand’s hymn and Neale’s translation have been published in 156 hymnals.

Thanks to Breviary Hymns for leading me to this video.

YE SONS AND DAUGHTERS (O FILII ET FILIAE)

Refrain: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

1. O sons and daughters of the King,
Whom heav’nly hosts in glory sing,
Today the grave hath lost its sting!
Alleluia!

2. That Easter morn, at break of day,
The faithful women went their way
To seek the tomb where Jesus lay.
Alleluia!

3. An angel clad in white they see
Who sits and speaks unto the three,
“Your Lord will go to Galilee.”
Alleluia!

4. That night the Apostles met in fear;
Among them came their master dear
And said: “My peace be with you here.”
Alleluia!

5. When Thomas first the tidings heard
That they had seen the risen Lord,
He doubted the disciples’ word.
Alleluia!

6. “My pierced side, O Thomas, see,
And look upon My hands, My feet;
Not faithless but believing be.”
Alleluia!

7. No longer Thomas then denied;
He saw the feet, the hands, the side;
“You are my Lord and God!” he cried.
Alleluia!

8. How blest are they that have not seen
And yet whose faith has constant been,
For they eternal life shall will.
Alleluia!

9. On this most holy day of days
Be laud and jubilee and praise:
To God your hearts and voices raise.
Alleluia!

Church of Saint Michael
Stillwater, MN
Music Director – Jayne Windnagel
Organist – Joseph Clarke

Risen indeed

Isenheim resurrection

The Resurrection
Matthias Grünewald, 1512–1516.
from the Isenheim Altarpiece

Is it I?

The Last Supper, 1886 Fritz von Uhde Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

The Last Supper, 1886
Fritz von Uhde
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

 

And when it was evening he came with the twelve. And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”  (Mark 14: 17-19)

 

As I think about that final meal, I find myself pondering the moment when the notion of betrayal is introduced. I suppose the disciples suspected that violence and death were near, but they probably thought it would come from outside the group. When they learn that those terrible events will be set in motion by evil within, they are hurt and sad and they begin to question. And in that awful moment, they say to him, one after another, “Is it I?”

Their question makes me draw a breath. There’s so much humanity revealed: the pain and self-accusation; the bewilderment. It’s that place in life where things turn upside down, and we try to figure out what went wrong. Is this all my fault?

It’s astonishing they don’t turn on each other. (“I knew it! You were never really one of us!”) It wouldn’t be the first time they’d argued. Yet, one by one they look to Jesus to reveal the truth that in that moment they cannot know about themselves.

Lord, look within me and tell me what I am capable of. Tell me before it’s too late. Tell me, is it I?

 

Church on Wheels – Motor Chapels and Gospel Autos

Printed on reverse: "Special Invitation" Code 4334 No. 31 /Broadman Supplies/ Nashville, Tenn

Printed on reverse: “Special Invitation”
Code 4334 No. 31 /Broadman Supplies/ Nashville, Tenn

 

It was the color that first drew me to this vintage postcard, but soon the Church Bus carried me down a road of missionary history. The Church has always been about carrying the gospel to those who haven’t yet heard, and also about using new technologies to further that mission. People really shouldn’t be surprised by iPads in worship or online prayer groups. Christian history is filled with people adopting new tools for reaching out to touch hearts and imaginations.

Church bus ministry typically reaches out to children whose parents don’t come to church. It’s relationship-intensive, high-energy, and definitely not for the faint of heart. There are songs and games as soon as you step on the bus, then programming at the church, perhaps a meal, and then more fun on the ride home.

Some other examples of vehicular mission work can be found on vintage postcards. Meeting people where they live has taken clergy out to remote or rural areas where population is sparse and there are no established congregations. One of these missions was carried out in the summertime by the Missionary Fathers of Richmond, Virginia. I suspect the postcard was both promotional and commemorative.

 

Diocesan Missionary Fathers, Richmond, VA St. Mary of the Highways I & II Genuine Curteich Chicago 'C.T. Art Colortone'

Diocesan Missionary Fathers, Richmond, VA 
St. Mary of the Highways I & II
Genuine Curteich Chicago ‘C.T. Art Colortone’ Image via VCU Libraries Digital Collections “Rarely Seen Richmond”

Caption on reverse:

‘Saint Mary of the Highways’ I & II are names of two trailer chapels operated by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Designed by George F. Chaplain, one was built in 1938 and the second in 1948. They were dedicated by Bishop Ireton. Purchased by the donations of the people at the cost of $10,000 each, they contain church equipment, public address system and living accommodations for two priests. During the summer, programs of Scripture, music, prayer, question answering, sermons, movies and literature are presented daily. You are invited to visit the Chapel on the road, or at our home in Richmond.

In 1956, this motor chapel traveled to Petersburg, WV so that Catholics in the Tri-County area without a parish priest might receive communion.

But my favorite church on wheels postcard is this one of the Fulton Gospel Auto that traveled the east coast in the early 1920s.

 

Fulton Gospel Auto

Caption on postcard reverse

As near as I can tell, the Fulton Gospel Auto started out in politics. It was built for Dr. Edwin John Fithian, a Prohibition Party candidate for the governorship of Pennsylvania in 1918. Fithian was a medical doctor and industrialist, a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, and co-founder and President of the Bessemer Gas Engine Company–the same company which manufactured the chassis of this house and church on wheels.

An article in The Evening Independent (January 5, 1921) tells us about the time this “palatial campaign chariot: rolled into St. Petersburg” with John Fulton, a Presbyterian minister, his wife, and William Bedorf “a young man who is said to be a candidate for the ‘foreign field.'” Mr. Fulton and Mr. Bedorf handled the preaching, and Mrs. Fulton (“a noted singer,” according to her husband) lead the musical selections during the meetings they held in the streets of St. Petersburg.

The Church on Wheels was such a marvel that Popular Mechanics (v.36, 1921, p.874) ran a story about it. That brief article noted that Rev. Fulton and his wife would stop at convenient places along popular highways and conduct services off the platform at the rear of the vehicle. The services were attended by motorists and neighborhood residents who couldn’t easily get to regular churches.

Fulton Gospel Auto Popular Mechanics v36 p874

You have to love this kind of enthusiasm and ingenuity. The telephone, the movie projector, amplified sound, and the automobile were all recognized early on as tools that could support evangelism and formation.

Christians can be so inventive. There’s a job to do. Let’s get this show on the road.

Super Bowl Sunday: Bible Cover edition

 

New Found Life Bible Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

 

There are only certain places in this country where you can go to find a really good selection of Bible covers. I happened to be in one of those places a few years back and took these pictures.

Bible covers can be functional. The Bible I’ve used since fourth grade wouldn’t hold together without the plain black canvas cover that surrounds it. Other Bible covers make a statement–about faith or fashion. They may declare, “I am a Christian,” or they may demonstrate that scripture is so much of your identity that it’s been incorporated into your ensemble. They can disguise your Bible so no one will realize what you’re carrying. And then there are the covers that are designed to be conversation starters–because witnessing is easier and less intrusive if it begins after someone asks, “What is that?”

Of all the bits of Christian material culture out there for purchase, Bible covers are one you can usually count on to elicit feelings. The idea of carrying your Bible around with you so much that it needs a cover is foreign to many Christians. Even bringing your personal Bible to church (so you might take notes in it or follow along with the reading!) seems a little too fervent for some. And for others, the idea of having fun with the Good Book is profoundly uncomfortable. The danger of being tacky or disrespectful is just too great.

 

Bible covers purse style

 

Bible covers assorted

 

Whatever your feelings on this matter, you should know that the history of protective and decorative Bible covers goes back more than a thousand years. Medieval Bibles were handmade, not printed, so people went to great lengths to house these precious works in suitable coverings. I doubt that any of our current bookstore offerings will survive to 3016, but they might last 100 years, and I wonder what history will imagine they meant.

Book Cover with Byzantine Icon of the Crucifixion Metropolitan Museum of Art Accession Number: 17.190.134

Book Cover with Byzantine Icon of the Crucifixion
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Accession Number: 17.190.134

 

 

Signs and wonders and the way God works

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

John 4: 43-54

At Capernaum, Jesus is asked by an official to come and heal his son. Jesus tells the man “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official begs him to come before his son dies and Jesus replies, “Go; your son will live.” Then we read, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. ” 

I think a lot about signs and wonders. Things have changed so much since Bible times. In Jesus’ days, signs were a witness–proof that someone was speaking for God. Everyone believed that was the way the system worked. No signs, not true.

Now days, I suspect the opposite is true. People are suspicious of miracles. I once attended a church where the pastor was decidedly anti-miracle–even going so far in his Ascension Sunday sermon as to ridicule the idea that Jesus ascended bodily into heaven “like a helicopter.” I’ve read other, far more conservative writers who preach that the age of miracles is over and the Holy Spirit doesn’t work that way anymore. Gospel truth is set; we don’t need miracles now for revelation (certainly not for individual revelations), and if you want to know what God’s truth is, they will tell you–in much the same way as the more liberal anti-miracle pastor. They were all of them so very sure.

But the idea that keeps me flexible in this regard is a firm belief in God’s omnipotence. He does what He pleases. And while we may very well be skeptical of God’s desire for us to find parking, or his speaking to us through fortune cookies, we probably ought to believe that he could. That he might. If he wanted to.

That belief that God might want to do something we hadn’t anticipated or desired seems to be a stumbling block for all kinds of people: liberals and conservatives, scholastics and skeptics. All of them trying to pin God down to a system so his actions are logical, or at least predictable. Many people just want to know how this all works, and then hold God to it. They may call it Justice or they may call it Love, but somehow, it all seems to work the same.

Here’s a thought, for what it’s worth: if God is God and does what he wants, maybe we should spend our energies trying to better understand his desires. Maybe we should seek to know his heart. I can’t tell you how that’s done. I’m trying to figure it out myself. But I don’t think it will look like a system; probably something a bit wilder and fiercer, and more beautiful.

 

Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 

Illustration by Pauline Baynes

Illustration by Pauline Baynes

The sensational Rev. Billy Sunday in Kewanee, IL

Promotional postcard of The Rev. W.A. "Billy" Sunday, Mailed from Kewannee, Illinois, November, 1906

Promotional postcard of The Rev. W.A. “Billy” Sunday,
Mailed from Kewannee, Illinois, November, 1906

“A very good picture” is the only message on this card mailed from Kewanee, IL to Galesburg, IL from someone who must have attended evangelist Billy Sunday’s revival at the newly-constructed Kewanee National Guard Armory. Sunday’s campaign lasted five weeks, from October 27 to December 3, with one meeting each weekday evening except Monday, and four meetings on the weekend. According to Larry Lock (writing for The Kewanee Historical Society), the weekday meetings drew 2,000 to 3,000 each evening, the weekend meetings at least 3,000 and each Sunday evening the evangelist preached to a packed house of 4,000. By the end of the crusade, the estimated attendance was 200,000 people. The local newspaper, The Star Courier, printed the names of all 3,018 persons baptized in the Dec. 4 issue.

If you’re not familiar with The Rev. Billy Sunday, he was a most colorful character even among the colorful ranks of traveling American evangelists.

A professional baseball player, Sunday became a Christian after hearing a gospel preaching team from the Pacific Garden Mission. He began attending a Presbyterian church and there met his future wife and manager, Helen Amelia “Nell” Thompson. In 1891, Billy Sunday quit baseball to do mission work for the YMCA. Two years later he became assistant to J Wilbur Chapman, a famous evangelist of the day, and three years after that, Billy Sunday set out on his own.

Billy Sunday, Center Field., Chicago White Stockings, c. 1887 Goodwin & Co. tobacco baseball card Image: Wikimedia Commons

Billy Sunday, Center Field., Chicago White Stockings, c. 1887
Goodwin & Co. tobacco baseball card
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Eventually the Billy Sunday team would include Homer Rodeheaver and Virginia Asher, whose musical duets helped popularize “The Old Rugged Cross” and “In the Garden.” (You can hear a recording Rodeheaver and Asher singing “The Old Rugged Cross” thanks to the Winona History Center at Grace College.)

Billy Sunday was a fiery preacher, and a terrific showman. He would run across the stage and gesture wildly while exhorting and admonishing the crowds. He was not a theologian, and his language was often crude–some considered him indecent–but the people loved him. The reporter for the Kewanee Star Courier wrote that the first of the meetings attracted 3,500 people to hear a “coatless, collarless, cuffless, and breathless” Rev. Sunday expend “enough energy to operate a street car line.”

By the 1910’s Billy Sunday’s growing fame enabled him to preach in big cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. During the first World War he contributed significantly to the war effort, raising a great deal of money, and encouraging people to observe “meatless and wheatless days” and buy war bonds. Unfortunately, Sunday equated Christianity with patriotism, and his sermons were at times cruelly anti-German. Praying before the House of Representatives in 1918 he called the Germans “a great pack of wolfish Huns whose fangs drip with blood and gore.” It was a time of terrible anti-German sentiment in America, and I wonder if Sunday feared his connection to German immigrant grandparents (named Sonntag) would damage his reputation. Regardless, the evangelist certainly knew what went over with the audience as he inflamed their racial hatred and stirred up their patriotic fervor.

Billy Sunday also promoted Prohibition, preaching a famous “Booze Sermon” in Boston. Though typically a political conservative and sometimes accused of being a tool for big business, he sided with Progressives against child labor and in favor of urban reform and woman’s suffrage. After World War I the size of his audiences and his staff began to decline, but Sunday continued preaching until a week before his death.

People today have mixed feelings about Billy Sunday’s legacy. Some hail him as an amazing evangelist and patriot. Others are appalled by his lack of theological education and crude, sensational rhetoric. From my limited perspective, he appears to have been all those things. He was certainly great at getting people to sign a pledge, which doubtless helped his effectiveness with the war effort and Prohibition. And it’s noteworthy that his career was untouched by scandal. Unlike many, he lived the life he preached.

If you’re interested, there are videos available of the Rev. William Ashley Sunday preaching, some footage taken not too many years before his death. I can still see the baseball player in his delivery, and I can only imagine what his younger self must have been like during those five weeks in Kewanee, when this postcard was mailed.

Working for our daily bread

Lord's Prayer postcard printed by P. Sander, NY. 1908

Lord’s Prayer postcard
printed by P. Sander, NY.
1908

 

Today is a snow day, but before I get suited up for shoveling the white stuff, I’ll share a bit of Christian material culture that I picked up last week.

This postcard is one of a series printed in 1908 by Philip Sander. Postcard sets of The Lord’s Prayer and The Ten Commandments were popular during the early 20th century. Each card would depict a different petition or commandment so that a person could collect or send the entire set.

Such cards are still fairly common out in the world of ephemera collectors, and you can pick them up for not too much money if you’re interested. I’m fascinated by the way they reveal the values and assumptions of religious people in an earlier age. With one foot in the world of religion and the other in the world of commerce, these cards may not show the church’s official positions, but as images that were marketed and purchased, they can tell us a lot. A successful postcard has an easily understood, high-impact image. A viewer ought to be able to take it all in quickly and feel something that makes them want to share (that is, buy and send) the postcard. They’re are a lot like today’s social media in that respect.

I was drawn to this particular postcard because, instead of showing us people eating, this one presents two different ways to earn our daily bread. It’s more complicated than just “provide us food.” There’s the farmer harvesting wheat, and the businessman talking on the phone with factories that are likely intended to represent flour mills in the background. It’s a country life/city life juxtaposition that speaks to the urbanization of America which had been taking place since the 19th century; and it unites the two men by depicting the farm-to-mill chain of production.

Unlike the pictures of people saying grace at the table (which are often quite lovely), or the sentimental images of angels feeding destitute children, this Lord’s Prayer postcard clearly shows people working for their daily bread. “Give us our daily bread” becomes “Reward our daily labors with bread.” The card doesn’t tug at the heart strings, but it does convey the ideas that “work is noble” and “work is important.” It all feels very American and very Protestant.

There’s a lot to like about this card, though I can’t really call it art. The curls on the dividing line are a nice touch that give an impression of time, and I like all the detailed office supplies on the desk. And then there are the roses on the windowsill adding a touch of beauty to that skyline of factory smoke!

 

The Kiss

Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, detail Image: Musée Rodin

Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, c.1882, detail
Image: Musée Rodin

 

I will listen to what the Lord God is saying,
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring up from the earth,
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

The Lord will indeed grant prosperity,
and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness shall go before him,
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

Psalm 85: 8-13