Mtr Taylor Devine
Dear friend,
This weekend is a holy point in our shared Christian pattern of life. All Hallow’s Eve/Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day mark a moment to ponder and pray about death, the Saints, and for those who we love but see no longer. We celebrate the lives of those that have gone before us and pray that we would follow the best of their examples, and we pray for their continued growth from strength to strength.
This coming week I have the honor of officiating a service of Christian Burial here at Saint Philip’s for a unique and deeply faithful woman, Katharine. Because she was a poet there is a record of her early awareness of the reality of the living God, she wrote a poetic reprise the Lord’s Prayer in the ‘30s when she was just 15. She was an early female university graduate, and she and I share an alma mater. I can imagine her walking the same brick paths, sitting in the same ivied-over amphitheater, studying in what was then the Library, and what would become the Religious Studies building in which I studied, when I was a student. I know that she knew the same end-of-day slanted light in the same oak trees, and might have even had some of the same wondering about what it means to know and love God in her era, as I wondered in mine.
I will certainly remember her and pray for her this weekend. The siblings we gain in Christ transcend family lines, which is counter cultural now but would have been even more so when our scripture was first recorded, when kin-structures even more so meant life or death and welfare when needed.
I read some of Katharine's poems when I visited her the last time, and this one hit me right in the heart with its own kind of knowing joy.
The Evensong of Life
In the Evensong of Life we ponder, remember, wonder and Pray.
Episodes from childhood startle and puzzle-
Teenage years, strange and often controversial-
Early adulthood, more comfortable, secure and Responsible-
Lively memories of family and friends abound.
In the Evensong of Life we recall joys, sorrows, achievements,
Failures, opportunities missed and perhaps ignored,
Amid a variety of settings, an angry ocean, a calm sea-
Gentle mountains, endless valleys, a city loved!
Two friends lured me to travel west
After Niagara Falls, and a brief foray into Canada,
We sought the mid-rib of the country-
Open and flat, miles without trees, only sunflowers to
Days of travel, replaced by night train in the Rockies
A soft, comforting cushion after that hard rumble seat.
But not until dawn did I see the Mountains
In the morning light, their height and massiveness invoked
Humility and awe.
Mountains that embraced the summer storms, often with rainbows.
On the forest floor, such an array-pasque lillies, paintbrush, Columbine, gentians, start flowers-
Always in sequence.
Imagine a July birthday, thirty-one different blooms
Gathered to honor the day.
In the Evensong of Life we recall how the mountains embraced,
But it was the desert that challenged.
Mountains warn one to be alert, to look up-
The desert can be fierce, overpower quickly and motivate Patience.
One looks down to find flowers gently clinging to
Rough surface-
The exception is the majestic and commanding saguaro.
Sunsets are brilliant, vibrant-storms
May disperse with a rainbow.
In the Evensong of Life we acknowledge what has been
Cannot be altered. The journey will draw to a close. It has been Circuitous and long-rarely
Predictable.
In the Evensong of Life will I awaken to Simeon's Song once more?
Will I respond to the echoes of Mary's Magnificat-sung or chanted?
No matter, sacred either way.
I give thanks-I listen, I wait and I pray.
-Katharine F. Nutt
Her understanding of time and its hallowing was marked by the songs and prayers of our faith. The Daily Office reading from Hebrews today says:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
As we persevere in faith may we heed this instruction, be inspired by our siblings in Christ, and be reminded to keep looking to Jesus in this holy season.
In Christ,
Mtr Taylor
The All Saints' Day Mass will be at 7pm tonight and the All Souls Day Requiem Mass will be tomorrow at 7pm at Saint Philip's.
*If you are now yearning for Evensong as I am, Choral Evensong is held at Saint Philip's at 4:30 on the third Sunday of the Month throughout the school year, preceded by an Organ Recital at 4.