Not Walking Alone

 

A Reflection and Poem for Pentecost Proper 16 B                            St. Luke's, Roper and Grace, Plymouth

August 25, 2024                                                                                Thomas E. Wilson, Guest Preacher

1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43      Psalm 84       Ephesians 6:10-20      John 6:56-69

Not Walking Alone

From John's Gospel for today: “Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

The disciples are of two camps; those who can live with mystery that they cannot fully understand and those who decide they cannot live comfortably mystery; that which is beyond their control or understanding. Poet Mary Oliver wrote a poem of living with mystery:

Mysteries, Yes
Mary Oliver

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
   to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
   mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
   in allegiance with gravity
      while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
   never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
   scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
   who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
   “Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
   and bow their heads.

The disciples who left Jesus did not understand who Jesus was. They had thought he was a religious man who had the opportunity to become a political leader and could be a leader to changing the government and the corrupt religious establishment. That was their hope, but he was not there to fulfill their hopes for a return to the past; he wanted them to change. He wanted them to look to the unknown future and know that the Spirit of the Risen Christ would be walking with them each step of their lives, even if Jesus would not be there in bodily form; they would never have to face the future alone

Gothic Horror author H.P Lovecraft observed, "The oldest and strongest emotion of (hu)mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." The disciples who left were afraid of the unknown future and so they walked away alone.

This last week I went to a series of concerts, these were the 10^th Anniversary of the Annual Surf and Sounds Chamber Music Series, sponsored by the Don and Catherine Bryan Cultural Series. I had done Hospice Ministry with Don and Catherine as they died, and since Don was an artist, he wanted to set up an endowment to keep the arts alive. It has been my pleasure to attend the annual series and in the beginning they were held at the church in which I was the Rector. My wife, Pat, and I got to know members of the Quartets and Quintets and one of the high points of our year was to attend and have a meal with them. Pat loved to attend and catch up with the artists. This was to be the first time I would attend without Pat and I felt so incredibly alone.

This year was also different because a young man, Tshombe Selby, who grew up in the Outer Banks was to be a special guest to sing with the quintet.. Tshombe performs with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, but he brought in a whole range of types of music. The artistic highpoint was Ralph Vaughan Williams' settings for parts of A.E. Houseman's A Shropshire Lad. Breathtaking! Then I was caught with him singing:

XVIII
        
Oh, when I was in love with you,
         Then I was clean and brave,
And miles around the wonder grew
         How well did I behave.
        
And now the fancy passes by,
         And nothing will remain,
And miles around they'll say that I
         Am quite myself again.

The theme of that poem is that his beloved has passed him by. I thought of how Pat was not with me anymore and I was far from being myself again. I longed for the past; when I needed to live fully in the present and move into a new future. Much later Tshombe sang two popular songs which really caught me, for they caught me where I was, off-balance, and they were about going deeper into the present moment to gather strength in having to face the future alone.

One of the songs he sang that night, accompanied by the Quintet, was, “You' ll Never Walk Alone”, a Rogers and Hammerstein's song from the Broadway Musical, Carousel, based on the play Liliom , of a carnival roustabout who dies and is allowed to come back in spirit to provide comfort to his widow and his daughter. The musical opened in New York City in 1945 during the last months of war on the German battlefields. Lots of brave men were dying and their wives and families were needing hope as they feared the telegram which might come from the War Department. This song was for those who faced an unknown future where they may have to walk on alone after they had known of what Mary Oliver was to write decades later, “How two hands touch and the bonds will/ never be broken.”

I have heard that song dozens of times sung by different people from Claramae Turner in the movie version and Shirley Jones and others singing it at the end of the movie. Outside the movie, there were so many others from Elvis Presley to Judy Garland , opera to country, rock to ballad, and so many people in between. You don't need to be a great singer to do justice to that song, but you have to have hope and love in your heart. The Liverpool England Football club's fans sing it before each match to pledge their loyalty with the team.

That evening I needed to hear that song. It was a gift to be reminded that while we cannot control the future, we are surrounded by God's love and we will never walk alone.

The other song that spoke to me about facing a future alone is the song “The Wind Beneath My Wings”, a song dealing about loss of a loved one and thankfulness about being able to go on alone by giving thanks for for the continued strength that was still available in the deepness of the relationship. I am one of those people who always aware that in the Christian tradition that the “Spirit of God”, the “Holy Spirit” is usually manifested in the “wind”, the breath from God. The last lines of the song are:“Thank you, thank you,/Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.”

The next night I went back to the concert which was held in the church I once served as an interim, partly because I still had work to do with the music that had given my soul light. I had to go back and find more grace to live with hope. Oh, and how we all responded. Time after time we jumped to our feet in admiration and applauded with our hands, throats and hearts. We were living in the last line of Mary Oliver's poem :

Let me keep company always with those who say
   “Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
   and bow their heads.

In the Episcopal Church service, we are called to leave our pews and exchange the Peace of God with each other as a preparation for being fed by the body and blood of our savior; later leaving the church building and doing the same with our neighbors. Hopefully doing it in the style as suggested by Mary Oliver: Let me keep company always with those who say
   “Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
    and bow their heads.

I am pretty sure that all members of this congregation has lived with loss in the present or the past, where the future looked daunting. Don't be afraid, for when we place our trust, one step at a time, one day at a time, in God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Risen Christ he breathed on his disciples with God's spirit we will never walk alone and we will know the wind beneath our wings; as “How two hands touch and the bonds will/ never be broken.”

Not Walking Alone

Pat'll say; “You know, I love who you are!”

Lovers often say things to remind all of us,

we, as people of faith, we aren't hopeless,

for some strong family ties guide our star.

Now, I'm the oldest one who is still left,

who each day, has to wrap memories,

songs or any inspirational accessories,

together, tied up to give hope some heft.

Today my hope; I'll not be walking alone,

but surrounded by examples and stories

of those with faith of yesterday's glories,

so tomorrow, of acts I'll not need to atone.

Today, give me the strength to remember

your strength from January to December.