This Too Shall Pass

Perhaps you don’t reflect much on the past or the past year as the new one is dawning. However, I am plagued with a mind that is always reflecting on things great and small. 2008 was a really mixed bag for me. It was an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows. Mostly, though, it was difficult. So, when I came across the following quote it hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe it will speak to you, and may 2009 be the best year ever for you and your family.

“And the king wanted an inscription
good for a thousand years and after
that to the end of the world?”
“Yes, precisely so.”
“Something so true and awful that no
matter what happened it would stand?”
“Yes, exactly that.”
Something no matter who spit on it or
Laughed at it there it would stand
And nothing would change it?”
“Yes, that was what the king ordered
his wise men to write.”
“And what did they write?”
“Five words: THIS TOO SHALL PASS AWAY.”

Carl Sandburg
The People, Yes

A Lesson from the Rolling Stones

One of the things that interest me is longevity. I enjoy looking at classic cars, old ruins, and things that have grown in value over the years. Well, I guess you could say, the Rolling Stones could be on the Antique Roadshow – their value to me, though, is priceless. It is interesting when one of the few intact rock bands meet one of the (arguably) great filmmakers of our lifetime, Martin Scorsese. There is no question in my mind that the cinematography of his film about the Rolling Stones “Shine Your Light on Me” is beyond compare. If you watch it closely, you can see a master at work, and if you study just the band members with their gestures and the way they interact, you discover the aura that surrounds each of them. For example, I really enjoyed Keith Richards who may look like a character out of “The Night of the Living Dead” but comes across to me as a sweet, affable, and friendly old rocker. They all look as though they have been through a few winters, but they come alive when they strap their guitars on and walk into each other’s presence in a theater like the Beacon in New York, where this was filmed.

What flows out of this film for me is that the Stones still have it after all these years, but far more important than that, they love what they do. Throughout the film there are excerpts of interviews with each of them, and the same question comes up ad nauseum: “How long are you going to keep doing this?” You see pictures of them in every decade, being asked this question, over and over and over again. The answer is, they don’t know. All they know is they love it. They love to play the guitar and jam, they love to sing and perform, and they are doing it not for the money anymore but for the love of it. My guess is that they will do it until they can’t do it anymore. Richards put it this way: “Honestly, I’d do this job even if I were in a wheelchair.”

The more I thought about it as I watched the DVD for the second time, the reason it is so inviting or enjoyable is that you can see they just love what they do. And when you can see that, it is inspiring. How many of us could say that we love what we do? I don’t mean just the job you have, but the other things we do in life. I would like to think I could.

A Place at the Table

A few years ago I took a special trip with my friend Tim to the Palestinian city of Cana where I went to the church of the Wedding of Cana. It was a small area in this very populated city. In order to find the church we had to drive down narrow one-way streets until we arrived at our destination with very reasonable souvenir shops surrounding it. There were almost no tourists. I circled around the place and looked at the church and its well-kept gardens. It was very nicely done, but nothing that I would characterize as overwhelming or remarkable. It was beautifully understated. This is so often not the case in the Holy Land where most sacred spots and shrines can even seem a bit gaudy.

The miracle of Cana is traditionally the first miracle of Jesus that begins his ministry. There are many interpretations of the significance of this event, which range from a spat with his mother, to the miraculous power of Jesus, to the symbolism of the wedding occurring on the third day. There is much to draw from the story, and it remains part of the collection of the miracles of Jesus that were recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.


Years later, I made a visit on a member of my parish who, during the course of our conversation, told me that she had a dream about the wedding of Cana and the wine that Jesus had changed from water. She woke from her dream with a thirst that made here want to taste that wine. Then it dawned on her that she had already tasted it, at the altar on Sunday morning. When she related the story, I, too, was enlightened. Blessed and holy wine ready to be tasted… The Eucharist is a celebration of transforming wine that transmits the presence of our Lord. Thank you, Jill - that story will have an even deeper meaning for me. Keep dreaming…