And the darkness did not overcome it

The earth's airglow, as seen from the Space Shuttle Columbia, which was destroyed upon re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.

Hi-lair-i-tair

Happy Easter!

The whole bright world rejoices now, Hilariter, hilariter!
The birds do sing on every bough, Alleluia, alleluia!

Then shout beneath the racing skies, Hilariter, hilariter!
To him who rose that we might rise, Alleluia, alleluia!

And all you living things make praise, Hilariter, hilariter!
He guideth you on all your ways, Alleluia, alleluia!

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Hilariter, hilariter!
Our God most high, our joy and boast. Allelluia, alleluia!

Listen to a recording from St. John's Ottawa:



Hilariter is latin for joyfully and is pronounced "hi-lair-i-tair."
It is Hymn 211 in the Hymnal 1982.

Sermon: I love you anyway. Any way.

My Good Friday sermon was just a retelling of one of Jim Quigley's passionate reflections. You can watch his version of the story from the St. Mark's August 2006 U2charist.

wordie.org

The more things change.

Easter, 1914.
Charles Gore,
via Project Canterbury.

"I cannot resist the impression that the Church of England, in particular, has a bad time ahead of it. I think its perils are largely due to its refusal of recent years--a refusal manifested in all classes, movements, and grades of office amongst us--to think clearly about principles. As you know, I have grieved almost all of you by refusing to join in the opposition to Disestablishment, whether in Wales or England. I think that Disestablishment, more than anything else, would throw us upon our principles. I doubt whether anything else will do so effectively. But I should hope that those who do not agree with me about this will agree with me on the necessity, which is urgent in other fields than those which I have been treating above--in the region, for example, of the marriage question--that we should reflect upon and stand by and insist upon those fundamentals of faith and practice by which alone we can hope to hold together, and within those limits exercise the largest toleration of one another, "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," and believing that, through whatever purging trials, our part of the Church has its special vocation for the future and in the whole world."

Sound familiar? You'd think we'd be better at this stuff by now.

PS, Remember how you always wondered what antidisestablishmentarianism meant? Please see above.
And, there's still a row about it.
My brother and I always preferred floccinaucinihilipilification.

I <3 NY

Shining Like the Sun

Today marks the 5oth anniversary of Thomas Merton's epiphany on the corner of 4th & Walnut:

"In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race … there is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun."

"I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all of the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed..."

The Color of Keeping Warm

Finally went to the Gee's Bend exhibit at the Speed Museum. It was even better than I thought it would be. It fascinates me that even in completely utilitarian endeavors (keeping warm), human beings search for beauty.

Mosquitos Coughing

Harvard's Krister Stendahl on how he came to love the Bible.

Color as Field

James Olitski's Tin Lizzie Green (1964).

The Smithsonian Museum of Art is offering the exhibit Color as Field: American Painting 1950-1975 until May 26. 38 pieces are included from 17 artists, notably Helen Frankenthaler, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella, Morris Louis, Sam Gilliam (Louisville and UofL's own), and Gene Davis. The collection begins with Color Field precursor Abstract Expressionism by pointing to its roots in the work of Barnett Newman Mark Rothko, Clifford Still and more. Do you see why I'm excited about it?

The reviews are nearly as interesting as the work. Watch the NY Times slideshow or read their review. The Sun (Sorry, Mr. Simon) has its own analysis. NPR also has a profile and my favorite take so far is from the Washington Post.

Matter of fact, it's all dark.

Maps are cool, right? Then astrogeological maps are even better. Wired wrote about these in November. If you're willing to go through the not-very-user-friendly-but-
worth-sticking-it-out USGS Astrogeology Research site, you will find more maps of the moon, mars, venus, and mercury. They download as pdfs.

This one's from the dark side of the moon.


Here are some of the maps as jpegs:
Mercury 1 | Mercury 2 | Moon 1 | Moon 2 | Moon 3 | Moon 4 | Moon 5

Rock Piles

Still snowing!

Matt Stone's lovely video Snow As Art from the courier-journal.com features snow covered scenes from around the area.

And, yes, it's still snowing.

All the world to lose

Shut Up and Sing, the documentary following the Dixie Chicks as they launched their controversial 2003 tour is playing on Encore. You find out in the movie that they learned of and discussed the Dallas death threat while they were backstage in Louisville. Soon after, they came out and gave us an absolutely incredible performance.

Sing me something brave from your mouth, Natalie.

Queen of Heaven

I keep thinking about this photograph of the moon at the south pole, which made me think of this Durer print, which made me think of the Madonna chapel at St. Sulpice.

The Would-Be Feast of the Wesleys

#8 in John Wesley's "Reasons Against the Separation from the Church of England (1758)":

"Because to form the Plan of a New Church would require infinite Time and Care, (which might be far more profitably bestowed) with much more Wisdom and greater Depth and Extensiveness of Thought, than any of us are Masters of."

Emphasis mine.

"The Unity Declaration"

Project Canterbury offers this sermon (1894) by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Underwood Dudley, 2nd bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky.

"Adaptation there must be, and adaptation there can be, because adaptation there has been. Sometimes in visions of the night, to the soul weary with the din of controversy--controversy in general about matters of mere opinion--weary with the thought of disaster caused by division, of the slow progress of the Kingdom because of the lack of unity of movement, of the waste and weakness in the administration of Christian truth by reason of the jealous maintenance of opinions as principles, of practices and methods as the very essentials of the Gospel--to such a soul comes the vision of reunion, even here in America, of different administrations by the same Spirit, and in one Body."

Sermon: Lent 4A, Playing with dirt.

My sermon today recounted the incredible story of the Hughes family, whose son was born without eyes or the ability to extend his arms and legs. At his birth, his parents lamented that he'd never be able to do all the things they'd hoped for. They cried out to God 'what did we do to deserve this?' That's what the blind beggar's parents would've asked, too. What sin had they committed? What was he being punished for? The Hughes' quickly found, however, that while Patrick might never play football, he had remarkable, unexpected musical abilities. 20 years later, Patrick's exceptional musical talents are fully honed. With the deeply sacrificial help of his father, Patrick now plays in the University of Louisville marching band and says things like 'so God made me blind and unable to walk--big deal?'. Patrick's parents say they still cry out to God, 'what did we do to deserve this?' but now with a different perspective: 'what did we do to deserve this--what did we do to deserve such an amazing son?'. Their response is 'how can I help the world experience Patrick's gifts?'. So, Mr. Hughes wheels his son around campus, helps him in class, pushes him through the marching band formation. Then he works the graveyard shift at UPS and goes home to take care of his other two sons. Through his father's sacrifice, this blind young man can 'see.'

Along with the story of the blind beggar, today we read one of the most beloved pieces of scripture: Psalm 23. We love its gentle tones; we love to take comfort in its pastoral imagery. Many of us have it memorized to calm us during times of strife. But is that really what it describes? Does it really offer a way for us to escape life's places of pain? Psalm 23 was in the lectionary for one of my first sermons and, feeling anxious, I went to meditate on its words in Cherokee park. I laid down in the grass that early spring morning. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, I thought. How lovely. Over to the side was a small creek, and I thought, he leads me beside still waters. And for a while it was nice. Quiet, cool, easy, enjoyable. But, then... the damp ground began to seep into my clothes. My allergies started to react to the grass and pollen, my lungs started to tighten. I had to shoo bugs away. That rock under my hip really started to become uncomfortable. There was trash collecting along the banks of that stream: a coke can here, an old shoe there. I remembered how we get those warnings to rid our yards of standing water--still water--so that they don't become infested with mosquitoes. And then I thought, do I really want a table prepared for me in the presence of my enemies after coming home sneezy, wet, and mosquito bitten? I'd really rather relax with some friends, with people I like.

Yes, God grants us times of refreshment (see commandment #4*. When was the last time you took advantage of that?) but God also calls us into sacrificial love and service. Patrick Henry Hughes could not have lived into God's gifts to him if his family had not turned their lives upside down to serve him. If the band director and members had not been willing to risk thinking creatively and doing some real problem solving and cultural stretching, Patrick's gifts would have been suppressed. If Jesus had not wanted to stick his hands in the mud, the beggar would still be blind. Our living, incarnate God is all wrapped up in the messiness of human existence. He makes us lie down in green pastures. He sits us at tables with our enemies. He takes our lives and says stop, be human, feel what its like to touch creation. Roll around in it. Look for what I'm trying to do in the world, and be ready to sacrifice to make it happen. Get your hands dirty, eat a meal with someone different than you. Stick your fingers in the mud. And behold, the blind can see.

*For Catholics and some Lutheran it's commandment #3. Only one of the problems with state-sponsored displays of the commandments is figuring out which version to use.