[Propertalk] Last Epiphany

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

I had a funeral this afternoon - now to read this ... Happy 
Transfiguring!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY                 THE LAST 
SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY A
EXODUS 24:12-18                                   6th MARCH, 2011
2 PETER 1:16-21 
PSALM 99
MATTHEW 17:1-9

When I get time – like maybe an extra thousand years or so – I should be 
able to catch up on the books which are sitting all over the place, 
waiting to be read. One of the authors, represented by three – or is it 
four? – books is Marilynne Robinson. She’s written some really 
interesting sounding work. I’ve skimmed through the tables of contents; 
I’ve read reviews; I’ve had friends recommend her books. But they’re 
sitting there, waiting for me to “find that extra time” – as if time 
grows on trees!

What should I do, then? The sensible answer would be to budget time – 
every day – to read both for work and pleasure. But then, “sensible” may 
not figure in our vocabularies as often as if should. In the same way 
that “responsibility”, and “engagement”, and “facing and accepting 
difficulties” should be.

In the meantime, I can live with coming across fascinating quotes or 
extracts from Marilynne Robinson’s writing – like this one: 
“Spirituality sometimes becomes the invention of a life that makes us 
emotionally comfortable, and thus doesn't address the very real demands 
of a religion. Serious engagement with any religion requires the 
adherent to acknowledge its demands and difficulty.” 1

Think again about that last sentence. “Serious engagement with any 
religion requires the adherent to acknowledge its demands and 
difficulty.” ANY religion! Including Judiasm.

It’s well-known that spirituality figures heavily in people’s lives. 
It’s not being cynical to talk about those who say, when questioned 
about what guides them through their lives, that they’re spiritual, 
they’re not religious. That’s good. Spiritual is good. It talks about 
what in us seeks to respond to what is outside us. It talks about trying 
to make sense of who we are and what we’re doing here. It acknowledges 
that there’s more – MUCH more – to life than what we can perceive with 
the senses. Spiritual is Good.

But is it enough?

That’s a question we have to ask ourselves. We MUST ask ourselves – are 
we spiritual or are we not? Do we think that we can get through life 
with this, or do we need something more?
Spirituality and religion actually share much in common. One source 
suggests that “Religion is form: tradition, doctrine, rites and rituals. 
Spirituality is content: communion with the divine, seeing the holy in 
all creatures and objects.” 2But this may be too clear-cut, and isn’t 
hard-and-fast. And it sounds so cold. More than that, though, my heart 
seems to resonate so much to what Marilynne Robinson says – namely that 
religion’s demands are what set it apart and make it, ultimately, so 
satisfying. Not that we’re saved by works, but we NEED them. More to the 
point, the world NEEDS to see them in us, as a sign of our commitment to 
and engagement with Jesus.

Which takes me back to what have been a somewhat cryptic reference to 
Judaism being included in religious demands.

Jesus was winding up His rallies around the country. He realised that 
He’d come to what would be the pinnacle of His ministry in drawing 
everyone to Himself and reminding them of God’s love for them all. He 
was about to go to Jerusalem and the most severe confrontation 
imaginable. As a sign of this, then, as a sign of who He was, as a sign 
of His love, He ascended the Mount of Transfiguration and there 
identified Himself completely with His faith, with Judaism, with the 
structure and with the heart of everything that were implied in the 
relationship between God and Israel.

It would have been so much easier to have said, “Hey, you’ve seen Me; 
you’ve heard Me; now it’s up to you to work this out by yourselves.” But 
Jesus knew that if He didn’t wrap Himself in every last detail of the 
Law and the Prophets, and if He didn’t submit to every single one of 
those details as they opened up a link between humanity and God, then 
His work and His talk would have been empty. By going up the Mount of 
Transfiguration to embrace Moses and Elijah not only was He distancing 
Himself from the distractions of the world which would separate Him from 
love with God, He was also fulfilling what God had said to Him way back 
at the Jordan when the waters cascaded through His entire system.

This is something we need to think through very carefully. A spiritual 
life IS good. No one denies that. But what seems to be frightening to so 
many in today’s society – especially, but not only, in the Pacific 
Northwest – is the way in which Jesus looks for the very real demands 
asked of us at Baptism and Confirmation. Those promises aren’t designed 
to make us feel all warm and fuzzy. They’re not to be engaged in order 
to impress grandparents, or aunts and uncles, or the local Lions Club. 
Not even the local priest! Right from the time of Jesus’ friends with 
whom He spent such an intense time on top of that mountain, those who 
came to Jesus were drawn into a life of activity, of DEMANDING activity, 
in which they were called to show their intimate relationship with Jesus 
twenty-four – seven. No matter how uncomfortable a thought may be; no 
matter how tired we may think ourselves to be; no matter how much we may 
feel that we’re “used-up”, Jesus invites us to engage with Moses, and 
Elijah, and all His modern-day righteous, and to find strength in them. 
Jesus is looking for people who’re willing to go to the highest point 
imaginable in life. And He’s looking for people willing to go also to 
the riskiest, darkest areas to help those who live there.

Commitment, then, is what religion is about; commitment to nourish 
ourselves; commitment to nourish others; commitment to nourish Jesus. 
Yes, I said nourish Jesus, because whatever we do to any other human in 
the world we do to Jesus. That’s what’s so personal about the 
Transfiguration. It’s not an academic exercise so that Jesus can check 
out to see how He felt about Moses and Elijah. This was an early General 
Ordination Exam, if you will – Jesus seeing how well He identified with 
all that was true and pure in Jewish relationships with God; Jesus was 
reaffirming how important law and prophecy were and are for a life of 
discipleship. This was Jesus showing something of the connection between 
the commitment of the mind and the commitment of the heart.

I was glad to note that most, if not all of you, made it through the low 
temperatures of the last couple of weeks. Not all were so fortunate, 
however. I know that because of requests to refill propane tanks, so 
that people in less than ideal conditions could heat themselves 
minimally and cook up something warm to eat when St. Mary’s soup kitchen 
wasn’t open. A description from a friend told of even more severe 
circumstances.

On a “Tuesday night, (a month ago) after warnings of (sub-zero) temps 
threatening life and limb, St. Mark's Church in Casper kept its doors 
open all night as an Emergency Warming Shelter for the community's 
homeless and inadequately housed. The shelter, organized strictly 
through alerts on Facebook, spurred generous donors into action and 
volunteers into service, transforming St. Mark's parish hall into a 
well-stocked and welcoming venue within hours of the first Facebook 
alert.  The response from folks wanting to help was astounding with a 
steady stream of families and volunteers pouring through the church's 
back door, laden with sleeping bags, bedding, coats, gloves, hats and 
boxes of food.  By mid-afternoon, a local small business owner (someone 
who'd never visited St. Mark's before) commandeered the large commercial 
kitchen and began preparing vats of soup, along with hundreds of cookies 
and muffins.

“Throughout the evening mobile crews with carloads of coffee, cookies, 
coats and bedding scoured the city's underpasses, parking lots and 
out-of-the-way places in search of homeless people still outdoors in the 
near minus-30 weather. Within a half-hour, two individuals were brought 
to the church for respite and care.  The couple were so severely 
under-dressed for the weather that they never would have survived the 
night. Local law enforcement agencies alerted all of their on-shift 
officers about the emergency shelter and Casper’s print & broadcast 
media – also notified only via Facebook – began an evening of extensive 
coverage starting at 5 p.m.  Radio stations repeatedly put out the call 
for donations throughout the evening and following morning. One viewer 
of the 10 p.m. newscasts immediately tracked down a long-time homeless 
man and they came to the church to collect provisions for 18 cold souls 
huddled in an apartment elsewhere. (One interesting note: it was a 
semi-homeless man who came to volunteer who served as the best 
consultant for where and how to find this often invisible segment of our 
community.)

“While the shelter was scheduled to close after the 7 a.m. breakfast, 
people needing warm clothing and food continued to visit the church 
throughout the day.  St. Mark's Cross Roads Kitchen Ministry, comprised 
of women seeking to rise out of poverty, participated in the ‘warming’ 
during their regular Wednesday morning work session. Each of them left 
the church that day with thick clothing and donated food.  The 
outpouring of community generosity was so vast that the neighborhood 
Safe House and local Salvation Army kitchen were also provisioned with 
foodstuffs and bedding. Poverty Resistance will distribute the remaining 
bedding and clothing for free to the area's poor.

“The flash flood of concern, compassion and action – as manifested by so 
many gifts and offers of assistance – was an important and poignant 
reminder to never underestimate people's desire to do good...and of the 
manifold blessings bestowed upon all of those involved, especially the 
gift givers.  People wrote on their Facebook pages of weeping in their 
cars after visiting the shelter, overwhelmed to be living in a community 
where people demonstrate such spontaneous kindness.  As one St. Mark's 
volunteer said, ‘It was a grace-filled night on so many different 
levels.’

“A tremendous gift to the people of St. Mark's was the cache of 20- and 
30-something dedicated and passionate young adults who volunteered most 
of the night at the shelter – none of whom presently attend a church (as 
is common with their age group.)  One volunteer was heard to say, ‘I am 
not a churchy-kind of person, but something about this place really 
resonates with me.’

“St. Mark's phone rang all day Wednesday with offers of more help and 
kudos from other community service
agencies in Casper and Midwest who do outreach with the homeless. 
Lengthy conversations have already begun regarding how various groups 
can partner to prepare an emergency management plan for the homeless 
that would be activated whenever winter temperatures become 
life-threatening. (Natrona County's current Winter Emergency Plan only 
covers providing aid to ‘housed’ people – such as warming shelters in 
the event of a power outage.)

“While tonight is also terribly cold, we are relieved there's been no 
word of any loss of life during this brutal arctic blast. We continue to 
pray that God shield the homeless in our community and yours as well!” 3

Peter, James and John wanted to erect something, some shelter. For a 
long time I’ve pictured these structures as a bit like Port-a-Potties. 
Not altogether bad. They have their use too. But Jesus knew that the 
real need would be at the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration – on the 
countless Roads which lead to Jerusalem and Golgotha. Jesus knew that 
THAT would be the commitment which His followers would need to embrace 
in order to protect and bless the world.

Providentially, at the same time as I was thinking about Marilynne 
Robinson and her writing, my daughter in Philadelphia sent me another 
quote, this time from Maya Angelou. That wonderfully prescient poet 
wrote, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because 
without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You 
can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without 
courage.” 4

One thing remains, though. I SHOULD make some more time to read. I owe 
that to you. I owe that to myself. I owe that to the people of Albany, 
as long as it continues to open my eyes. I owe that to GOD! It’s the 
responsible way to live. It goes along with accepting that my faith MUST 
bring me challenges. That’s the Jesus thing to do. This – reading – is 
one way that ears, and eyes, and hearts, ARE opened to love in practical 
ways. And so we move into Lent.

NOTES

1  Marilynne Robinson, quoted in “Voice of the Day” 24th February, 2011 
in Sojourners “Verse and
Voice”  Sojourners, 3333 14th St NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20010 
Copyright 2011 Sojourners All Rights Reserved. 
http://www.sojo.net/?action=sojomail.subscribe

2 http://www.religiousscholar.com/religion-vs-spirituality-terms/

3 PAMELA RW KANDT St. Mark's-Casper 307-377-7763  PamelaGRW at aol.com see 
also “WYOMING: Casper Episcopal parish becomes warm shelter from the 
stormy blast” By ENS staff, February 03, 2011 
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_126883_ENG_HTM.htm

4 Interview of Maya Angelou regarding Martin Luther King. Poet and 
Historian. January 22, 1997
High Point, North Carolina 
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ang0int-1

Robert P Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban
PO Box 1556
Albany OR  97321   541-921-1076 (cell)
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