“Déjà vu part Deux”

“Déjà vu part Deux”

The Albertville Adventure Continues 

Saturday, August 4 began with breakfast at Merrill Gardens with my mother Eunice.  What a wonderful breakfast of sausage, eggs, biscuits and lots and lots and lots of coffee.  Mama has been living at this wonderful assisted living facility for two months and has gained five pounds, is no longer in pain, no longer falling, and is playing bingo to win such necessities as Kleenex, toilet paper and paper towels.  Makes sense to me.  As a priest I have been in many assisted living facilities and nursing homes and this is the best one I have ever seen:  immaculate facilities, wonderful staff, more activities than I have the energy for and, as mentioned earlier, great food.  And, they prepare it, bring it to you and clean up after you leave.  I could really get used to that. 

After breakfast I met my brother, Pat at the relatively new Albertville History Museum, located in the old Primitive Baptist Church on West Main Street, across from the pre-Civil War Cemetery.  The program planned for the day was a look at the History and sounds of Sand Mountain Music.  The musical legacy goes back to the late 1700’s when the musical Johnson family camped out in Hustleville on their way to Arkansas. One of the Johnson brothers killed a deer, fed the family and decided that there was no good reason at all to get back in the wagon and continue on to Arkansas.    Gary Pledger, a long time friend, and a descendant of the Johnson family gave a wonderful and entertaining history of his family and the impact they had on the music of our area. 

Additionally, Jim Connor, award winning banjoist, and author of “Grandma’s Feather Bed” made famous by John Denver, played and sang his way through the history of Sand Mountain music, focusing on “Uncle Arthur Kuykendall” (pronounced Kirkendall) one of the most famous banjoists and cloggers in the history of Sand Mountain Music.  What a joy to hear the old music again and to have a better understanding of where it came from and how we received it and how we might continue it.   

I left the program early to prepare for the evening wedding of Amber Blackburn and Chris Rogers which was to be held at the Senior Center on Lake Guntersville.  Walking down Main Street, through the Main Street Music Festival, watching the crowds, listening to the music from both stages and seeing  the massive “Blowup Water Park” for the kids was thrilling.  What a great Albertville event for citizens of all ages. 

As a priest, I just love weddings. It is so exciting to see people joyful and happy and excited, not only about the moment but about the rest of their lives together, and about the lives of their children, siblings and friends.  The group of young people who made up the wedding party and the friends of the bride and groom had come together primarily around the common connection of Jacksonville State University.  What a joy to see young people who loved each other and enjoyed being together and relished the joy of their friends who were getting married.  The wedding was truly a group event made possible by the love and talents of these wonderful young people.  To be invited to be the priest at this wedding was both a privilege and a blessing.  For any who might be tempted to lose hope for the future of our nation, let me just assure you that we are in good hands! 

A postscript:  On the way to the reception, a woman stopped me and said, “you must be Bennett’s and Eunice’s son.  I responded affirmatively and asked her how she knew.  She said that I look just like Daddy did at my age (she is correct).  She was Nancy Cornelius, mother of groomsman Destrey Cornelius, daughter of Jim Martin and granddaughter of Lola Martin who lived just on block down the street from my grandparents, and is married to Rodney Cornelius whose mother is a new friend of my mother.  Talk about “déjà vu all over again!” 

“Déjà vu All Over Again”

“Déjà vu All Over Again”

(Quoted from New York Yankee Great, Yogi Berra) 

This past weekend was truly one of those where the whole was much greater than the parts.  In an attempt to put it all together I must go back to February of this year.  My Wetumpka friend, Peggy Blackburn, Managing Editor of the Wetumpka Herald as me if I would be willing to officiate at her daughter Amber’s wedding on August 4^th in Albertville, Alabama, my home town.  Since I like Peggy and since I travel to Albertville twice a month to visit my mother I readily and happily agreed.  About two months later I was visiting my mother and dropped by Christ Episcopal Church to visit my friend the Reverend David Kendrick.  David asked me if I would be able to preach and lead worship on August 5^th at Christ Church when he and his wife, Laura, were going to Washington D.C. for their son, John’s wedding.  Since I was going to be in Albertville anyway I readily agreed. 

In June, my brother, Pat, sent me a Face Book Message telling me about the Main Street Music Festival which was going to be held in Albertville on Saturday, August 4.  He told me that included in the festival activities was to be a History of Sand Mountain Music led by Jim Connor, legendary banjoist and writer of “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” and my long time friend, Gary Pledger, descendant of the Johnson Family of Johnson Family Band fame.  Talk about “synchronicity 

Fast forward to August 3:  On the way to Albertville I meet long time friend, Cheree Collins Carlton catching up on the 42 years that had elapsed between our last visit in 1972 and our reconnecting in late June of this year.  After lunch I stopped by her home to meet her husband, Eric, whom I had never met.  What a wonderful, energetic man who, as it turns out, shares my love for the outdoors, backpacking and Mission projects in Latin America. 

Arriving in Albertville just before 5:00 p.m. I stopped to visit briefly with friends Anneva and Richard Hard whose daughter, Amy is very, very ill and then headed to the Assisted living facility to have a catfish dinner with my mother.  As it turns out it was only my first catfish dinner of the evening.  After a wonderful time with my almost 90 year old mother, Eunice, I headed down the road for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for Amber Blackburn and Chris Rogers.  What a wonderful evening, what wonderful young people and what a great (second) catfish dinner of the evening, made even better by being topped off by homemade vanilla ice cream.   

August 3 continues with a celebration for the happy, soon to be married couple.  As family and friends begin to arrive I become aware that the unifying factor in this group is Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama.  The bride met many of the wedding party at Jacksonville, some of whom were from Albertville and introduced her to the groom.  And “the rest” as they say, “is history.”  As I began to meet the young “wedding partiers,” and their families I found that the parents  our host’s girlfriend were in high school with me at Albertville High School and that one of the groomsmen was the great grandson of a couple who lived a block from me and my parents when I was growing up.  His grandfather and my father’s youngest brother were best friends growing up and played football together at Albertville High School.  I am beginning to get a sense of family and history and the connections that join as together. 

The most exciting part of the evening was seeing the love and friendship these young people have for each other and how much they enjoyed being together and how few (like none) of them were on cell phones or texting.  They were actually there for each other and enjoying each others’ company and companionship, their new wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends and babies 

“Déjà vu” part “Deux” will pick up with the history of Sand Mountain Music.

Family, History, Jesus, and the Church

(A sermon preached on at Christ Episcopal Church, Albertville, Alabama on August 5, 2012) 

Family, History, Jesus, and the Church 

What a wonderful weekend of family, friends and history.  First, allow me to explain how I came to be in Albertville this weekend in the first place. The story began several months ago in Wetumpka when my friend, Peggy Blackburn, managing Editor of our newspaper, the Wetumpka Herald, knowing that I often come up to visit my mother, asked if I would officiate at her daughter’s wedding on August 4 in Guntersville.  I readily agreed and not long afterwards, Father David Kendrick asked me if I could supply here because he and Laura were going to Washington D.C. for their son John’s wedding. Again I agreed.  And just over a month ago my brother Pat told me about the Main Street Music Festival and the program of Sand Mountain music history that was to take place this weekend.  Jim Connor (who wrote Grandma’s Feather Bed) and is one of Sand Mountain’s most famous musicians,  along with my friend Gary Pledger were to tell the “family” history of music on Sand Mountain.  Add to that my regular visits with my almost 90 year old mother, Eunice, and there really was no other place I wanted to be or could be this weekend. 

This convergence of family and friends and history reminds me of the convergence of family, friends and history which I found in this week’s opening collect (prayer) and this week’s lectionary readings from Exodus and Ephesians.  When my life experience and the scriptures come together like this it both excites me and scares me to death.  I sit up and listen because I am pretty sure God is about to communicate something I need to hear. 

I continue by rereading a portion of today’s opening collect: 

“Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . .” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 232) 

Keep this prayer in mind as we journey together as the family of God and the body of Christ, the Church.  We read in Exodus 16 that “the whole congregation of Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.  The Israelites said to them, if only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt, but you have brought us here to die in the wilderness.  Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘say to the people, draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining. . . .Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the people that I shall feed them and they shall kno that I am the Lord their God.” 

Apparently God’s people have complained from the beginning of time.  They have misunderstood God, they have disagreed with God’s plans and with their fellow human beings.  God’s people have not liked God’s plan, they have not liked change, they have not liked the unknown and have very often not liked the ideas of their fellow travelers. 

Let’s move forward another 1200 years in our “family” history and see what “the prisoner of the Lord” has to say in his letter to the church in Ephesus, another congregation that has also fallen into disagreements, perhaps misunderstood Paul’s teachings and maybe even understood God’s calling but did not like what they heard. 

“I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you were called, with all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain  the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-16) 

As I read these words I felt in my soul that this is the key, this is the Gospel God sent Jesus into the world to call us into.  That it is through this lens that we are called to see and be the church in the world.   

As I looked at our beloved church and world through this lens and reflected on Bishop Sloan’s report from General Convention and his statement that the discussions there about important issues of human sexuality and relationships were both difficult and respectful.  The same, he said was true for the many other issues brought before convention from open communion to re-organization of the Episcopal Church.  I also read and reflected on the responses to our Bishop’s remarks and they too were respectful, whether they agreed or disagreed with the bishop’s decision to vote for a liturgy for the blessings of same sex relationships or agreed or disagreed with his decision not to implement the liturgy in our diocese. 

Whether we agree or disagree with Bishop Sloan is not the point.  The point is that “we treat one another with all humility, gentleness’ and patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. WOW! 

Paul continues in this passage from Ephesians: ‘for there is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.”  But we as God’s people are not and should not be one in ideas, beliefs or talents. . . . “For each of us is given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.”

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord and we are given gifts, not to tear down the body, but to build up the body.  We are joined together in baptism with the Lord and with each other and as I tell people at baptisms, we are “stuck with each other and we do not have the luxarary to tear ourselves lose from one another.  Are baptism does not require us to agree with one another on everything, not even theology or the bible, but according to St. Paul it does call us to treat one another with “all humility, gentleness, patience bearing with one another in love, making every effort two maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  In a few minutes we will all come to the altar to receive the very body and blood of Christ, the very presence of Christ which joins us together with one another and with God.  When we stand or kneel together, quite likely beside someone with whom we disagree, we are the church, in all of our humanness and messiness.  And we see each other as who we are, children of God.  I believe this is God’s Call to us in our faith, in our politics, in our families and in the world.

Let us pray: “Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your church, and because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness. Amen.

“Build My Church:” Buildings and Bible School

Honduras Good Works: Days 4 and 5, July 21 and 22, 2012

“Build My Church:” Buildings and Bible School

When God told the 12^th and 13^th century St. and Mystic, Francis to build His Church Francis had a small misunderstanding and believed he was to rebuild the building of the Church of San Damiano near Assisi in Italy.  Francis set out to accomplish this task which he did successfully.  Francis later realized that God had, in fact, called him to “build His Church,” to bring people into a true and honest and life giving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  He spent the remainder of his life doing just that.  He formed an order later known as the Franciscan Order and their purpose was to bring the people of Italy into that relationship.

Our purpose in Zarzal was not unlike that of Francis.  We went with the intention of “Building Christ’s Church.”  Our first task was to begin the building of the church building.  We followed this task with a three day Bible School for the children of Zarzal.  Bible school was scheduled from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  The theme of our time together was “Campiones de la Fe,” taking our cue from the upcoming Olympic Games as well as from the life of Jesus.  Pat Ritchie organized and coordinated the program, Kathy Doane led the physical exercises and games and Tracey was our all around “do whatever needed to be done guy.  Elizabeth Miller and I told the stories about Olympic champions as well as spiritual champions.  We also led discussions and watched our own heads spin around as we spent several hours each “speaking in tongues (Spanish).”

The 3 to 11 year olds really got into everything and the teens of the community were a great help in leading the activities and working with the children.  A couple of the teens even led a rousing game of “Simon Dice.” (Simon Says).  We took journeys with Jesus as well as a journey with a young man named John as he participated in his first Olympics.  We drew pictures depicting Jesus’ work of salvation for us and for all of God’s people and we played lots and lots of games.

After the first day, the 1:00 p.m. start time became 9:30 a.m.  So we took turns playing games and creating activities with the children and working on the building.  I suspect St. Francis may have had some of these same issues of budgeting his time.  Day one and two brought us 24 children along with several parents and day three 50 children had shown up before lunch time and they were joined by a dozen teens who helped make things happen and keep things calm.

What a blessing to teach, learn and travel with God’s people in the world.  When God calls you to build The Church, be ready for whatever God sends your way!

“Iglesia de La Epifania, Zarzal, Honduras”

Honduras Good Works: Day 3, July 20, 2012

“Iglesia de La Epifania, Zarzal, Honduras”

Though arriving a day late, I became the Designated Driver (it’s not what you think) for our time.  Having worked for the US Forest Service in years past and dodged my share of logging trucks on one lane mountain roads in California I was simply elected.  We had two projects in Zarzal.  The first was to assist with building a building for the Church of the Epiphany and the second was to lead a Bible School for the Children of the village (Bible School Story will come later).  Fortunately for us and for the good people of Zarzal, the Deanery through “Reverando Dagerburto Chacon” hired Jorge, a man who knew what he was doing, to supervise the project and to make sure that Pat, Tracey, Kathy, Elizabeth and I along with the local volunteers did our part properly so that the building will stand as it should.

Zarzal is about five miles “off the paved road” on a narrow dirt and rocky track that requires four wheel drive to traverse.  Due to this remoteness we mixed concrete by hand on the ground using shovels as mixing tools.  We then carried the concrete in three gallon buckets or by wheelbarrow to the trenches we had helped to dig, pouring it in over the rebar we had also put into place (having learned how to do that “on the job.”)

As we worked side by side with the local adults and teenagers we learned more about Honduras Good Works Mission.  We learned that in 2004, a grass roots scholarship movement grew out of a conversation around a table while folks relaxed after a long days work in the medical portion of the mission.  Today, Honduras Good Works provides $250 Scholarships to 140 teens, which allows them to attend a “collegio” for middle school and high school.  Education in most villages ends with the sixth grade.  The $250 does not pay for everything, but added to what the families can pay and the service work donated to the community by the teens themselves it makes this education a reality.

The teens in Zarzal, male and female worked right beside us, digging ditches, mixing concrete, hauling buckets of concrete (yes, the girls too) and thus fulfilling their part of the “win/win” agreement.

Money was donated by friends of our group as well as others to purchase the materials and pay Jorge.  The work will continue until the money runs out and will be suspended until more money is raised. This is the way things work.  Not ideal, but as my friend and former Associate, The Rev. Susan Kennard says, “what is, is.”  And it works.

What a blessing to spend several days building and learning and building some more.  What a humbling experience and a blessing to be reminded that the “Americans” are part of the team and not the source of all wisdom, knowledge and skill.  What a blessing to be reminded that in God’s Economy, all are necessary and that the image of God is only complete when all of us are included in it.

“Leaving on a Jet Plain, Racing Through Tegucigalpa”

Honduras Good Works: Day 2, July 19, 2012

“Leaving on a Jet Plain, Racing Through Tegucigalpa”

After a wonderful day at the Houston Passport Office and environs, Becky, Reign and I journeyed back to the Houston International Airport to secure our boarding passes and make sure our other two stragglers were accounted for and would be with us at 6:30 the following morning.  Boarding passes accomplished, and 50% of our companions accounted for, the final member of the team made it down on the 20^th of July.

The next morning we passed through security again with our newly minted passports.  The TSA officer noted that the shirt in my passport photo was the same shirt I was (still) wearing.  I guess he figured that one out.  Getting on the plane with a passport good for ten years (until July of 2022) was a piece of cake.  Anyone who has ever flown to Tegucigalpa, Honduras knows that the approach and landing is a life changing experience.  As the 737 comes across the last hill approaching the airport, one can see the smiles on the faces looking out of the windows of the homes (which appear to be at wing level), and then the plane almost skims the surface as it heads for the airport.  If one was not religious when the mission began, I promise you will find yourself praying to God or to anyone else who might listen.  According to the flight attendant, this airport is the second most dangerous in the world.  Wherever the most dangerous one is, I do not want to go there.

The four of us met Randall, the coordinator of our mission at the airport as well as three young Honduran women who were to be translators for some of the medical practitioners.  The women had heard of our mission the day before, via cell calls from a friend of a friend of a friend.  They turned out to be wonderful, caring young people and an asset to our group.

We then loaded into three Nissan four wheel drive trucks and began “The Amazing Race, Tegucigalpa Style.”  Randall knew where he was going and Becky and I stayed right on his tail lights, not letting little things like traffic lights, stop signs and other vehicles get in our way.  After driving round and round and round, we finally ended up on the road to Zamorano and the Kellogg Agriculture Institute.  Not only does the institute provide an excellent agricultural education for students from this region, but they also boast of a very good hotel and cafeteria.  This would become our home for the next week.

As our colleagues began to arrive from the villages we shared stories of our own particular adventures during the twenty-four hours we were apart.  It seemed much longer because of all we accomplished during that time.  After Dinner our worship time included a commissioning as missionaries lead by Dr. Don Hopkins, founder of the Mission, The Rev. Paul Moore, board member, Mr. Randall Hollihan, coordinator of the mission,  and The Rev. Deacon Pat Ritchie, coordinator our teams church building and Bible School efforts.  What a powerful reminder of the reason we were there and the presence of God and others in this mission.  It was an excellent message that we are never alone, that a mission such as this must have a group of people with a diversity of gifts and talents and personalities.  I guess what I am trying to say is that if any one of us had been missing, that the image of God would have been incomplete.  We were presented a multicolored cross as a symbol of this mission, which I will treasure forever.

Tomorrow we take a look at life in the village of Zarzal.

“The Houston Passport Office”

Honduras Good Works: Day One

“The Houston Passport Office”

I was invited to go with wonderful friends from Beaumont, Texas on a mission trip to Honduras.  Having served as Rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Beaumont, I was excited to join Pat Ritchie, Kathy Doane and Elizabeth Miller and new friend, Tracy Donaie as we became part of a fifteen year old mission, Honduras Good Works.  HGW Mission is primarily a medical mission based out of the Kellogg Agricultural Center in Zamorano, Honduras and St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Texas.  Our team of five a different perspective to the larger group, as we were to help build a building for “La Iglesia Episcopal de la Epifania,” in Zarzal, a small community located about 40 Kilometers from Zamorano.

All went well as we met the team at the Houston International Airport at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  We received our boarding passes, had our passports checked three times and all was well. . . .UNTIL WE TRIED TO BOARD THE PLANE.  Passports were checked one more time and two of us found that two months remaining on our passports was not sufficient for us to leave and re-enter the USA, even for a one week trip.

Thus began our adventure: “Spending the day at the Houston Passport Center in order to obtain an expedited passport.”  As inconvenient and time consuming and humbling as it was, I found the experience to be a “learning opportunity,” and a time to build friendships and “share our pain and our gain.”

The mother of my “partner in crime,” a 19 year old by the name of Reign,” was a Captain with Southwest Airlines, who, wearing her full dress uniform drove us to Houston and stayed with us through the entire ordeal (except when she had to leave to feed the parking meter).

Just about the time we began to feel “put upon and mistreated,” a mother from San Antonio arrived, having driven three hours with her four children who ranged in age from 7 years old to four months.  At the end of the day she would drive the three hours back to San Antonio.  Needless to say, we decided our lives were pretty good. 

After standing in two lines we finally received confirmation that our passports would be ready that day and were told to report back at 2:30 p.m. (As it turns out, 100 other people were told to report back at 2:30 p.m. as well.  The three of us in our party walked over to a small Thai Restaurant where I had, arguably, the best Thai food I have ever eaten.  We also got to know each other better as we shared our stories and our lives.

Returning at 2:30 p.m. we spent the next two, yes, two hours making more friends, sharing more stories and waiting patiently  for our names to be called out of the 100 of us who reported for our 2:30 appointment.

I learned and reflected on many things.  First that “what is, is” as my former associate, Susan Kennard used to say.  Secondly, don’t panic, take a deep breath, slow down, talk to the airline representatives, and develop a plan and stick with it.  I learned that if you are going to need a one day turn around passport, Houston is a really, really good place to need one.  I was also reminded that no time is wasted and that everything that happens to us helps to make us who we are, reminds us that none of us is perfect and that we all can and will make mistakes and that maybe, just maybe this will help us to be less judgmental and more understanding of others.

It reminds me of the maxim, “If you want to  hear God laugh, just tell God your plans.”

Unplanned, well spent time can truly be a gift from God.