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Christmas 2006

Crosswalk The official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

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Incarnation, creation, salvation Making connections in a sacramental universe

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“Greater works than these . . .”

What the Incarnation has to say about personal transformation

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Partying on Accepting the Incarnation as an invitation to joy

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Feeding faithfully Food as “real presence”

on the cover The Nativity window at St. Simon & St. Jude, Irmo, photographed by Pam Steude

Visit our diocese online

www.edusc.org

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Crosswalk FROM THE

Bishop’s desk

Around the Diocese

And the Word became flesh and lived among us.

—John 1:14a

St. Luke’s, Columbia, dedicates new windows

I don’t believe that I ever truly loved—either myself, anyone, or anything—until I realized that God loves me.

In late October the people of St. Luke’s, Columbia, gathered to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and to dedicate new front entrance doors and newly installed stained-glass windows.

The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., was the celebrant, with St. Luke’s rector, the Rev. Calvin R. Griffin, serving as concelebrant.

Following the liturgy, a great feast was held in St. Luke’s William F. O’Neal Center.

“Our pews were overflowing,” said Senior Warden Herbert Bynoe, “which truly makes meaningful our mission statement, to spread the Word and share the love of God with all people.” In addition, Bynoe said, “Our present church edifice was built in 1963, and both the window frames and the entrance doors were deteriorating. I commend this parish for coming together with family and friends to replace our doors and windows with such a beautiful honor to our Lord.”

The windows follow a certain progression highlighting some pivotal points in our Lord’s life and ministry, as well as several miracle stories. While it is not possible to show all of the beautiful new windows here, the one pictured above depicts the congregation’s patron saint, blessed Luke the Evangelist. To see all of the new windows, please join St. Luke’s for Mass any Sunday at 10:00a.m.

Sisters and brothers, dearly Beloved:

Crosswalk

Official Publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina 1115 Marion Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201 803.771.7800/800.889.6961 803.799.5119 fax dioceseusc@aol.com Crosswalk E-mail Address phill@edusc.org Bishop The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr. Executive Assistant to Bishop Henderson Jane B. Goldsmith jgoldsmith@edusc.org Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Mark Clevenger mclevenger@edusc.org Assistant to the Canon to the Ordinary The Rev’d d’Rue Hazel dhazel@edusc.org Assistant for Administration Roslyn Hook rhook@edusc.org Canon for Finance and Administration Julie Price jprice@edusc.org Director of Finance and Insurance Cynthia Hendrix chendrix@edusc.org Canon for Communications, Editor of Crosswalk Peggy Van Antwerp Hill phill@edusc.org Canon for Youth Ministry The Rev. L. Sue von Rautenkranz suevon@edusc.org Assistant for Communications and Youth Ministry Bethany Human bhuman@edusc.org Archdeacon and Senior Pastoral Assistant to the Bishop The Ven. Frederick C. Byrd fbyrd@edusc.org Assistant to Archdeacon Byrd Bonnie Blackberg bblackberg@edusc.org Visit us on the Web at: www.edusc.org

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That realization came to me when, by God’s grace, I had a personal encounter with God. I don’t know what else to call it. But it came through Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. Suddenly I could see God, and feel God’s love, because I had at least a sliver of understanding of who God is through His Son—true God and true Man—someone with whom I could relate and through whom I could see and experience love.

The doctrine of the Incarnation is the subject of this issue of Crosswalk.

The Incarnation is also the central doctrine of Anglicanism—indeed, I would say of all Christianity. That does not mean that we can ignore other doctrines; our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers place great emphasis on the Crucifixion, and the Orthodox on the Transfiguration—both of which are also critical to Christian faith and formation. But neither Crucifixion nor Transfiguration would have occurred without the Incarnation— without God becoming one of us.

William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, always a lively Christian—and one who clearly articulated the relevancy of theology to daily living— recognized the centrality of the Incarnation to Christianity. He considered it central because he understood the Incarnation to be the manifestation of God’s personal love—God’s very character being love. “Love,” he said, “could not keep itself secret or hidden.”

And so, the Gospel of John could affirm—as we do whenever we pray the Angelus—“The Word became flesh and lived among us.” In Archbishop Temple’s words, “God is personal—a loving Person—and what is personal can only be communicated and must be communicated in personal action.

The divine Person reveals Himself to human persons in the historic Person of Christ.” Thus it is through Jesus that God reveals himself to you and to me—a “personal experience” some call it, although those experiences take many forms, and are different for different people—none is more authentic, more effective than others. But each is an experience of love— “My heart was suddenly warmed” is how John Wesley described his own encounter with God. So the Incarnation is more than an event—it is also an “inauguration,” the beginning of a process to produce something more. It calls for both an identification with Christ (all of us as indispensable members of his Body, the Church) and for response. (See John 15 for the parable of the Vine and the branches.) Our response is part of a process, which involves the salvation of souls, to be sure—but also the establishment of the Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” When the evangelist John tells us that God sent his Son because God so loved the world, it is clear that the creation— people and universe—is also the object of divine care—and thus an appropriate object of our care. (This makes me even more mindful of the need for our commitment to the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals—the commitment of the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, each of our congregations, and each one of us personally.)

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Please send all Crosswalk address corrections, deletions or additions to: Trevett’s Mailing Service 2217 Lake Murray Blvd.

Columbia, SC 29212 phone: 803.781.3150 email: mail@trevetts.com

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Crosswalk The universe as sacrament . . .

Incarnation, creation, salvation

Christmas 2006

The only question is, to what extent have the Fall and original sin affected the created order?

One can see the deep tension in so important a figure as St. Augustine of Hippo. In combating his youthful flirtation with the heresy of Manichaeanism, Augustine always insisted on the goodness of creation: “Whatever is, insofar as it exists, is good.” But he remained deeply suspicious of the created world for its ability to divert our attention from the one true and eternal Good, God. In later, especially Protestant, theology, that tendency was even more pronounced. It was not only that created things might distract us from God, but that created things, even our mind and reason itself, could mislead us. Thus, the only things on which we could safely rely were our faith, a gift from God, Christ, and revelation.

The goodness of creation

By

Early Anglican theology was not immune from that tendency but mitigating against it was the experience of Anglican worship. By “For “For in in him him all all the the fullness fullness of of God God was was pleased pleased to to dwell, dwell, and and through through emphasizing the Eucharist and by refusing to him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on pursue the radical reforms advocated by Reformed Protestantism (the elimination of earth earth or or in in heaven heaven .. .. .” .” (Col. (Col. 1:19–20).

1:19–20). images and vestments, the de-emphasis of music) and by appealing to reason in theology, D. Jonathan Grieser Anglicanism kept open the door for a full appreciation of the goodness of creation.

Our sacramental theology, by proclaiming that Christ is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, reminds us each time we receive the element that God can be present in the most ordinary things of our daily life.

“In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. [The Logos] was in the beginning with God. All things came into The “fundamental sacrament” being through [the Logos].”

From the sacraments to creation—it isn’t that great a jump. William Temple, All Christian reflection on creation and incarnation must begin with the opening verses of the Gospel of John. Our translations of these verses are skewed by the translation of the Greek word logos as “word.” Logos can mean “word,” but it also means much more in the context of first-century Greek. While it is quite probably an attempt by Greek-speaking Christians to link Christ with the image of Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, it can also be understood to mean “reason,” “order of the universe,” even “natural law.” For early Christians to proclaim that Jesus Christ was the logos was a bold assertion indeed. It meant that the very fabric of the universe was imbued with divinity, that there was a deep connection between Jesus of Nazareth and the universe itself.

Incarnation and the created order These verses bear witness to the profound, majestic, and audacious claims of early Christians concerning Jesus Christ, but the most challenging idea expressed in John 1 may be that “the Logos became flesh and dwelt [literally, ‘tabernacled’] among us.” With these words, the Christians who sang this hymn connected for themselves and for us, the doctrine of creation with the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth. For the last 1,900 years, Christians have struggled to understand and explain how these two ideas fit together.

Christians have inherited from Judaism and from the Hebrew Bible a belief in the fundamental goodness of creation. Genesis 1 makes clear that the universe created by God was good. But within Christianity there is a tendency to view the created world as flawed, the goodness of creation marred by the effects of the Fall.

John Milton expresses this view well in Paradise Lost. The moment Eve ate the fruit:

Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe[.]

Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 to 1944, wrote that “the universe is the fundamental sacrament.” What he meant, I believe, is that in the fact of creation, God’s freely given act of love, we can encounter God, just as we encounter Christ in the sacrament of the altar. Nothing, not the Fall, not our sin, nor our unworthiness, can undo that. While this may be difficult for us to comprehend, it should be no more unbelievable than those words of John’s Gospel: “And the Logos became flesh and tabernacled among us.”

Viewing the universe as a sacrament brings with it a new way of relating to the world around us. Just as we approach the consecrated elements of bread and wine with reverence, we should treat the world around us with the same reverence.

Conservative Christians often equate environmentalism with paganism, but if we believe God created the universe, if we believe that creation bears witness to God, then we must treat the whole of creation with respect and love.

Joining “the raucous throngs” At the same time, we need to remember something else. No matter how good and beautiful the universe may be, it is true that it is not the full and complete creation that God intends. To that extent Milton, and Augustine, were correct. But our salvation, accomplished in the Incarnation, is not a salvation from the created world. It is a salvation with the created world. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:20, through Christ God was reconciling himself not only to human beings but to “all things, whether on earth or in heaven.” It is this idea to which Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was alluding in the sermon at her institution when she said: “Let us join the raucous throngs in creation, the sea creatures and the geological features who leap for joy at the vision of all creation restored, restored to proper relationship, to all creation come home at last.”

The Rev. Dr. D. Jonathan Grieser is assistant to the rector at St. James, Greenville.

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The Incarnation, or . . .

THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN MAKES A HOUSE CALL

By Sister Catherine Unterseher There is an ancient story, recounted by Joan Chittister, of a distressed person who came to the Holy One for help. “Do you really want a cure,” the Holy One asked. “If I did not, would I bother to come to you?” the disciple answered. “Oh, yes,” the master said. “Most people do.” And the disciple said, incredulously, “But what for then?” And the Holy One answered, “Well, not for a cure. That’s painful.

They come for relief.” Like the troubled person in the ancient story, we all long for a “cure,” something that will bring wholeness to the fragmentation, the dis-ease of our souls.

Salvation The Incarnation shouts to us (if we have ears to hear) of the profound love and depths to which God is willing to go to restore and heal a wounded humanity.

Indeed, our word salvation comes from the Latin word salvus, which means wholeness, health. When our first parents disobeyed God’s commandment by partaking of the forbidden fruit, they broke communion, or relationship, with God, with each other, and within themselves—in short, they sinned. We are not whole people. The early Church Fathers, especially St. Athanasius of Alexandria and St. Augustine of Hippo, understood that the human race is wounded and needs a Divine Physician to heal and make us whole.

In need of the Physician Writing in the early fourth century in response to the Arians who denied that Christ was fully divine, Athanasius (later bishop of Alexandria) emphasized that we are created in the image of God, the divine imprint upon our souls that makes communion or relationship with God possible. Yet this divine image has been so damaged and distorted that God’s creation came to be in grave danger of being utterly destroyed. Augustine, the great bishop of North Africa, similarly observed that the human race was “gravely ill” and growing ever more critical, so much so that some were turning away even from the possibility of recovering health. The human race was indeed on the verge of death.

Bridging the gap Out of God’s great love for humankind, he first attempted to send physician assistants to examine us. Though the Torah (or Law) was good and holy, it was

unable to heal the profound woundedness of the human race. Even the holy prophets were unable to bring the necessary medicine. Since the illness was growing so severe, God realized that he had to do something much more dramatic and radical—he had to send the Master Physician himself, who is Jesus Christ. This Christ who is both fully divine and fully human could serve as the great bridge between humanity and divinity. Christ as the great Physician is an ancient Christian theme among the Church Fathers, including the early-second-century bishop of Antioch, Ignatius. On his way to Rome to be martyred for the faith, he wrote to the church at Ephesus that Christ came so “that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.”

Restoring the relationship According to Augustine, Christ had to become a human like us in order to bring us to “complete health.” Rather than providing simply relief, Christ comes to effect the actual healing of the human soul by repairing and restoring the image of God within us. Only the One who is both fully human (except for sin) and fully divine could accomplish such healing. Anyone less than fully divine could never cure the human race.

Moreover, the purpose of such healing is nothing less than to repair and restore communion, or relationship, with the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

Augustine reminds us that we were created to participate in God but in order to do so, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt upon us” to cleanse us of sin and pride so that we might become “partakers of his divinity.” We are created—and redeemed— to share or participate in the divine life with God (2 Peter 1:4).

Sharing in the life of God Sharing in the life of God is our ultimate destiny as baptized Christians. And the gradual healing and transformation of the divine image within us is the purpose of the spiritual journey. Christ does not come simply to provide a band-aid by merely taking away our sins but rather he comes to cleanse the infections of our injuries and to provide divine medicines so that we might increasingly be transformed into Christ’s image. Our journey toward wholeness begins with our —continued on page 13

The doctrine of the Incarnation— Who, what, where, when, why The doctrine of the Incarnation took shape during the fourth- and fifth-century controversies of the Church. Some landmarks: 325—The First Council of Nicea was summoned by the Emperor Constantine to counter the heresy of Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ. This council proclaimed the true manhood and true divinity of Jesus Christ and formulated the Nicean Creed.

431—The Council of Ephesus was convened in response to the heresy of Nestorius, who taught that there were two separate persons in Christ, one divine and one human. This council reaffirmed the Nicene teachings and asserted that in Jesus there was one person with two natures—fully human and fully divine.

451—The Council of Chalcedon was held to counter the Monophysite teachings which argued against the two natures of Christ as well as to reaffirm the Church’s position taken at Ephesus in 431. This council defined the final elements The First Council of Nicea, detail of the larger in the trinitarian formula by declaring that Christ existed in two natures, without mixture or change, without division icon Seven Ecumenical Councils. (Athanasius or separation, but that the two natures were held in union in one person without losing the separate distinction of is the young beardless deacon in the lower right either nature. corner.)

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“Greater works than these . . .”

THE INCARNATION &

PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

By Jonathan Fletcher The tumultuous history of the Church, including the early and not-so-early ecumenical councils, the split between East and West (around 1000 A.D.), and finally the Reformation (beginning around 1500 A.D.) can all be viewed through the lens of our understanding of the Incarnation—an understanding that helps clarify who we are as Christians and Episcopalians today. In thinking about the Incarnation, three questions arise from the history of the Church’s theological dialogue: What does it mean to have, as we Anglicans do, a Catholic understanding of who Jesus was; how does this understanding inform the character of our spiritual journey; and what are some specific ways in which we might act out our journey in accord with this understanding? In other words, how, in fact, might we honor, embrace, and put flesh on that powerful language in the baptismal liturgy calling us to radical transformation: “Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ? (my emphasis). We would have to do some serious shucking and jiving to avoid the radical nature of this call. But what is this full stature? Who was the one we call Christ?

[H]ow might we honor, embrace, and put flesh on that powerful language in the baptismal liturgy . . . : “Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ?”

Some fundamentals Here are some Catholic fundamentals: (1) Jesus could not leap tall buildings with a single bound, and if he had played golf, he couldn’t have made a hole in one whenever he wanted to. (2) He did not know everything. He knew nothing of television, computers, or Elvis. Specifically, he was just like you and me except that he was without sin. (3) He performed miracles in precisely the same way he expects us to perform miracles—in the perfect will of the Father. “The one,” Jesus says in the Gospel of John (14:12), “who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” In other words, if God wants that person raised from the dead through you, and you are a faithful instrument of the Father’s will, it shall be done. We are simply called upon to be that willing instrument every moment of every day. (4) He was without original sin (the necessity to sin) by his very nature as the Son of God. He was, however, without actual sin by choice. His decisions were just as challenging as your and my decisions, and his suffering was just as painful as ours. (5) Next—and this is where the rubber hits the road—everything that he was by nature has been offered to us by grace. If he was “perfect human being,”

he offers us that same perfection in this life. To quote the seventh-century theologian St. Maximus the Confessor: “A firm and trustworthy basis for hope of the deification of human nature is God’s Incarnation, which makes man god in the same measure as God himself became man.” This radical transformation of our entire being is the whole point of the Incarnation.

The gift of perfect likeness What is the nature of this transformation that has been offered to us through the Incarnation? It is nothing less than a complete transformation into the very likeness of Jesus—the Jesus who walked and talked with us as a human being—the incarnate Lord. This is a transformation so complete that when someone sees you or me they see Jesus, and when they see Jesus, they hear the words, feel the touch, see the light, and experience the life of God. To carry this transformation to its logical conclusion, we must seriously consider the possibility that someone might actually mistake us for Jesus, and that this mistaken identity is precisely what Jesus wants. It doesn’t get much more radical than that. If we can begin to get our hearts and minds around this amazing gift, the gift that closes the gap between God and humanity, we can begin a wondrous journey toward God. In this light, we worship God in Christ in order to be transformed into the perfect likeness of Jesus. We partake of the body and blood of Christ in order to be transformed into his perfect likeness. We get married in the Church in order to use that marriage as an instrument of transformation into the perfect likeness of Jesus. All of our relationships are patterned after the perfect likeness of Jesus. Thus, Jesus is not only the way but also the end of our human journey.

He not only gives us the means for this radical transformation, but he also gives us the model.

Foundations for journey We might get a feel for the nature of this transformation by looking at an example. We might ask how fast Jesus would drive on the interstate, where the speed limit is 60 mph but most drive 70 and some 80. Although the example may seem trivial, even laughable, it does offer a basis for thinking about the kind of transformation that has been offered, about the essence of perfect humanity, and about our own journeys.

First Jesus would be willing to drive exactly 60 mph. Developing that kind of willingness is the foundation of spiritual journey. He would be paying attention to the needs of others on the highway and would not want to endanger anyone. Developing this kind of attentiveness is another foundation of our spiritual growth. He would be compassionate with those who drive too fast and cut him off or drive too slowly and make him late for an appointment.

Developing this kind of compassion is also basic to our journey. He would have the courage to point out to those who were acting in a less-than-holy manner that there was a better way. Developing this kind of courage is another important building block.

—continued on page 14 Butterfly image: ©Elena Ray / Agency: Dreamstime

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Keeping the feast, or . . .

Time out for some incarnational fun!

By Nicholas M. Beasley

And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?”

Matt. 9:15 Among the greatest joys of Christians in generations past were the festivities that surrounded our holy days and seasons, our rites of passage, and our church life. In simple church suppers and exuberant festival days, Christians spoke forth the hope that is in us as they shared food, drink, and good company. At the same time, some Christians and almost-Christians have always been uncomfortable with corporate joy in the Christian life. Dualists of all sorts run down the material world, decrying food, drink, and sexuality as flesh, while holding up some pure, rationalistic, and often lonely spiritual life as more authentically Christian.

Free to be . . .

We’ve all had moments in which our embodied-ness in the visible society of the Church seems more burdensome than joyful. Yet the promise of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is that life in the flesh can now be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Christ has reclaimed the creation for God in his incarnation, setting us free to enjoy, free to celebrate, and free to be stewards of the creation. Bearing our humanity at the right hand of the Father, the Bridegroom is still with us and still calls us away from mourning and into the joy of life together.

We’ve all had moments in which our embodiedness . . . seems more burdensome than joyful. Yet the promise of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is that life in the flesh can now be inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Christ’s own ministry balanced a call to sacrifice with an embrace of the joy of life in community. The marriage service reminds us that Christ’s first miracle was wrought at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, where he turned water into wine, and good wine at that. The boy Jesus went up with his family and later with his disciples to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the great festival meal that marked God’s liberation of the Hebrew people. In between were countless meals with all sorts of people, simple, joyful meals at which Christ shared his hope for the Kingdom of God with those around the table, those wayward, ordinary people who became his disciples. Indeed, Jesus’ critics called him a drunkard and a libertine and suggested that his disciples neglected fasting. Perhaps they did, but who could pass up the table set by the Lord?

Remembering joy Christians have accepted that invitation to joy these 2,000 years, feasting together after baptisms and weddings, sharing Sunday lunches, enjoying a party (at least a pancake) on Shrove Tuesday. But in many places, the pleasure of Christian

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hospitality and conviviality is greatly reduced. Sometimes our celebrations seem scripted for minimal effect. We welcome new Christians in the sacrament of baptism and send them home to celebrate with their biological families. Clergy and wedding guilds often find wedding receptions tedious; the newly married wonder if they should even invite these church officials they often barely know. Prudence and insurance and other policies mean that wine is rarely served at church events. At times when we disagree on so many important things, we wonder if we are really meant to take joy in our Christian life together. In an increasingly individualized and litigious world, we spend less and less joyful time together as the Body of Christ. Our joy is often much less than complete.

Embodying fun

“[T]he party continues until Christ completes his work and our joy in the consummation of all things.”

It may be time to ask ourselves if we are having enough incarnational fun together in church. Have we found the pleasure embedded in the liturgical year, in the cycle of feast and fast? Does Epiphany slip by without a Twelfth Night party?

Do we gather to celebrate our mothers and fathers in the faith at All Saints? Do baptisms, weddings, and even funerals provoke us to joy, to fellowship, food, and gladdened hearts? Anglicans have a gift to share with the world in our long-held belief that we are given the joys of a Spirit-filled life even in the flesh. As head of the Church of England, King James I admonished “Puritans and precise people” not to prevent churchgoers from spending their Sunday afternoons in any wholesome pursuit, “such as dancing, either men or women, archery, leaping, vaulting . . . nor from having of Maygames, Whitsun Ales, and Morris Dances, and the Setting up of Maypoles, and other sports.” To critics who have often demanded drab Sundays and colorless congregational life, Anglicans have offered an understanding of the gospel that believes that the ongoing work of Christ’s Incarnation is the sanctification of the whole world, in sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, spirit and flesh, mind and body.

Partying on What others divorce, we draw together, believing that Christ has already drawn all things to himself in the saving work of the Incarnation. No, the Bridegroom has not left us, and the party continues until Christ completes his work and our joy in the consummation of all things. For then “the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear” (Isa. 25:6–9). The joyful moments we share when gathered as the church are only a foretaste of the greater feast that Christ is even now preparing.

The Rev. Dr. Nicholas M. Beasley, a priest of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, is currently teaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

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Putting flesh on our bones, or . . .

FEEDING FAITHFULLY IN A

FAST FOOD

By C. E. Norman

WORLD

The Meal and meals

Our real work is to look at the things of the world and love them for what they are. This is, after all, what God does. And we weren’t made in his image for nothing.

—Robert Farrar Capon

Forgetting what food is means we also forget who God is, who we are, and the nature of the world we inhabit.

—L. Shannon Jung In 1979 a curious little book appeared that interwove theological reflection with instructions for making a very good lamb dinner. It soon attracted a cult following among an emerging subculture of American society we now know as “foodies.”

When The Supper of the Lamb was reissued four years ago in a series devoted to “gourmet classics,” the author, Episcopal priest and home cook Robert Farrar Capon, attributed its success to his “full force” treatment of both theology and cooking. Capon insisted that food is not “just some fuel we need to get us going toward higher things.” Attention to and delight in food can teach us something about “the God who invented dirt, onions, and turnip greens . . . and pronounced a resounding ‘Good!’ over his own concoctions.” Food is “sacramental,” he proclaimed, “a real presence” of “gorgeous mystery.”

Forgetting the connections Coming from one who regularly presides over the Eucharistic table this should come as no surprise, especially to those of us who regularly feed at that table. Yet some secular foodies come closer to understanding what Capon is saying than do most of us who give or receive Christ in the bread and wine on a weekly basis. If we “know God in the breaking of the bread,” by the time we get to the junk food and bad coffee, we have forgotten the connections between eating and “who God is, who we are, and the nature of the world we inhabit.”

Early Christianity paid attention to those connections. “The Supper of the Lamb” was a real meal, at least until the third century, according to Anglican scholar Andrew McGowan. Christians met to eat and drink,” he states, “following the example of Jesus, whose eating and drinking had been a most visible and important part of his ministry.” The eucharista (“thanksgiving”) was a feast celebrating God’s creation and re-creation in Christ. It was also a realization of them through eating.

General Seminary professor John Koenig underlines the link early Christians made between the “bodily sharing” together of the meal and participation in “God’s covenantal redemption of the world.” Our liturgy still affirms this. We are invited to celebrate God’s creative activity and to commune with Christ and each other. We are commissioned to “go forth into the world . . . to love and serve . . . as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.”

Many things can make one forget the connection between the Meal and meals these days, whether you have ever given much thought to what you put in your mouth or you ruminate on the perils of our fast food culture ad nauseam. It is difficult to savor as sacrament a shrink-wrapped something that bears little resemblance to anything created by God (especially while driving). It is a challenge to give thanks while counting fat grams. It is hard to see the “gorgeous mystery” in inhumanely produced mystery meat. It is a struggle to believe your cooking is a ministry when others see it as “just making dinner” (and you have already worked all day). It is overwhelming to contemplate bringing forth God’s kingdom in a world saturated by poisons, pesticides, and poverty. And yet we are called “to look at the things of the world and love them for what they are.” That is, for what they really are as God created them, with their sacramental possibilities.

It is difficult to savor as sacrament a shrink-wrapped something that bears little resemblance to anything created by God (especially while driving).

Feeding faithfully How do we feed faithfully in a fast food world? With Capon, I suggest we begin by paying attention to food. That might mean savoring the wonder that can still be tasted in a locally grown apple. It might mean learning about the challenges its farmer and her land face. It might mean taking a basket of those apples to coffee hour. Or making an apple cake for coffee hour rather than purchasing some overprocessed afterthought. Or acknowledging (and helping!) others who take that —continued on page 13

Photographer: Gene Lee / Agency: Dreamstime

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One

By Luci Shaw

Winter, and very cold, and the night at its deepest. The politicians as usual, double-tongues.

The town chaotic, teeming with strangers.

And tonight, as often in winter, in Bethlehem, snow is falling.

ulze

I always love how each flake, torn from the sky, arrives separately, without sound, almost unnoticed in a flurry of others. How each one (on a clear night) lies there glittering on the swelling breast of snow, crisp and intact, as wholly itself as every radiant star in a sky sparkling with galaxies.

How many new babies tonight in Judea, coming like snowflakes?

But plucked, dazzling, from the eternal heavens into time, tonight is born The One.

Poem reprinted from Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation © 2006 Luci Shaw. Reprinted with permission of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved. To purchase this book or other Luci Shaw titles, visit www.eerdmans.com.

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SOUL FOOD Giving thanks for God’s own

By Pam Steude I have two sons. My first son, my husband and I adopted after going through many years of waiting. While waiting to adopt a second child, I became pregnant with my second son.

I consider them both equally special “gifts from God.” In fact, we chose the name Jonathan for our first son before we knew that it meant, literally, a “gift from God.”

Joseph—Unsung hero When friends of ours recently adopted a child after waiting many years, the father mentioned that Joseph had to adopt and accept Jesus as his own so many years ago. It made me stop and think, because I had never really thought about Joseph as an adoptive father before. The circumstances were much more difficult for Joseph and Mary than they are for the average couple adopting a child today. Joseph had to have a lot of faith and trust to be able to do what he did.

And, it is the most worthwhile, lasting and joyous emotion a person can ever experience. We are all adopted and loved. Let us, as Christ commanded, share that love.

Adopted children of a loving God Advent and Christmas are times full of wonder—when we try to understand the beautiful story of Jesus’ birth and why he came to save us. It is a time of year that can truly bring forth blessings and comfort, as we come to understand that we are all the adopted children of a loving God. Pam Steude, former editor of Crosswalk, is a member of St. Francis of Assisi, Chapin.

Adoption by grace Sometimes I feel that Joseph did not, and still does not, get enough credit for his part in the story. It must have been very difficult, especially considering the culture of that time.

I want to borrow the words of our former diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. William A. Beckham. He wrote these words on the occasion of his grandson’s adoption in March 1983, and they were published in Crosswalk’s predecessor, The Piedmont Churchman: Some time before his arrival, my son Bill, asked if I would object to an adopted child being given my Christian name. My response was that I would be hurt if he received any other name.

There was in my mind no difference between an adopted grandchild and one of my blood lineage.

And, do you know, there really isn’t any difference! I have discovered that grandparents really adopt every grandchild. Your wife didn’t bear them. You don’t sleep next to or carry grandchildren for nine months before birth. They are a generation removed. You have to will yourself to receive them as your own. It’s not an automatic relationship. You have to adopt them!

Perhaps that’s what makes grandchildren so very special. You choose to love them. When you love them they respond.

I now understand better what St. Paul meant when he proclaimed that we are God’s children by adoption and by grace.

God chose to make us his own. He loves—we respond in love. It’s a very special relationship— more personal and precious than one can imagine. Only experience makes it real.

And, when you take one more step you realize that this is the kind of love called for in the commandment that we love one another.

We have to choose to love and to adopt brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not automatic. It takes working, giving, caring. It demands a willingness to share pain as well as joy. It includes forgiving and being forgiven.

CHRIST THE HOLY SILENCE AS AN ANGEL This icon, by Sue Zoole, is one of a series by the artist on permanent display at Church of the Advent, Spartanburg, where Zoole is a member. Here are her notes: This icon depicts Christ as a beautiful young angel with crossed arms. The halo of this particular version of Christ is typical, being eight-sided and displaying two colors. In the world of iconography, angels are considered androgynous, and therefore they are not viewed as being either masculine or feminine.

The design is based on a Russian icon of the 19th century, which in turn used a miniature from a 14th-century manuscript for its pattern. The manuscript was part of the collection found in Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai. The figure is a reference to Isaiah 42:12: “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or shout, or make his voice heard in the street.”

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FOR THOUGHT...

ELEVATION

What, then, does a Christian do with the definintion reached by the Council of Chalcedon [that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine]? . . . As on contemporary theologian put it, “We can't live with it and we can't live without it."

The lighting is dimmed in the nave of the world.

The oblate moon is raised, and the shadows of things slip down on their knees.

SKYROCKET

God’s delight heal my heart.

Holiness, awaken my desire.

Marianne Micks, Loving the Questions: An Exploration of the Nicene Creed

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead bodily: he was not the whole of God, only the part of God which could be contained in a human body. That is where the church has gone astray . . . . . . Jesus came to show us what we all could become, but we made hum so special no one else could be like him.

Verna Dozier, The Dream of God: A Call to Return

Suddenly—a rustling in the cave then movement, voices, light— exploding pieces of the gloom spiraling upward, setting night afire with incendiary grace to signify that now, at last, the blessed event has taken place: deliverance from our Caesarian past.

“The Word was made flesh” signifies that by taking the human condition on himself, with all its consquences, Jesus introduced into the entire human family the principle of transendence, giving the evolutionary process a decisive thrust toward God-consciousness.

Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience

“Elevation” and “Skyrocket,” by the Rev. Lennart Pearson, retired priest of the diocese.

“God’s delight,” poem and drawing by the Rev. Jack Hardaway, rector, Grace Church, Anderson.

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make way for the IMAGE OF GOD

By Timothy Dombek

Some thoughts on incarnation

There is something mystical for me about the Twelve Days of Christmas, that time between Christmas Day and the Feast of the Epiphany. Jesus is born in Bethlehem but the magi have not yet arrived to adore the Christ child. They still seek the way, not completely sure of their destination, but guided by the star. It is a time of uncertainty.

My experience of the Incarnation changed dramatically one October 13 years ago. My wife and I lived in Dallas at that time, where I served as a curate on the staff of a large suburban parish. I had been diagnosed with hyperextended vocal cords and was on six weeks of total vocal rest— no preaching, no presiding at Day School chapel or celebrating the Eucharist, no teaching or public speaking, and severely limited telephone usage. In short, I was not supposed to talk at all. (Yeah, right!)

Laced with tears During that period of no talking and intensive, reparative speech therapy, our son Jonathan was born on October 26, 1993. After a nearly picture-perfect pregnancy for my wife Beth and a mere four hours of labor, Jonathan, our long-anticipated child entered our world. Within moments of holding him in her arms, Beth observed clues to what later tests would confirm—that Jonathan had Down syndrome.

While we struggled to comprehend this life-altering news, we also noticed that he began to turn blue. Doctors learned that he also had pulmonary hypertension— a potentially fatal condition in which his lungs were not oxygenating his blood. So in a matter of hours we went from a happy couple expecting their firstborn child to a couple in shock and grief dealing with unexpected news about a life-long disability and our child fighting for his life. It was a time of uncertainty for us; our prayers were laced with tears. Why us? Why this?

Seeking our way Jonathan spent his first month of life in a neonatal intensive care unit. Prayers and expressions of concern poured in from all over the country. On the day after Thanksgiving, Jonathan finally came home. He still had to use a nasal feeding tube, but our life as a family at last settled into something resembling a routine. In addition to getting used to having a tiny, completely dependent child in our lives, we also had to learn about the world of raising a child with Down syndrome in a culture not inclined to including people with disabilities fully. This latter adjustment was the most difficult to make. Christmas arrived, as well as grandparents, and we began to feel more like a budding family. Like the wise men, we were still seeking our way, not completely sure of our destination.

By late December my speech therapy had progressed to the point where I could resume all of my duties at church, and so I was scheduled to preach on the second Sunday after Christmas. This would be my first time in the pulpit since all these events had happened in my family life, and for many members of the parish it was the most anticipated sermon of my ministry to that point.

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The gift of God’s Eyes During the weeks since Jonathan’s birth, I had given much thought to God’s will for me, and us, in all of this—who wouldn’t have? In preparing for that sermon, while reflecting on the Incarnation, I remembered something that the members of the Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) did for us that would serve as the focal pint for my sermon. When the day finally came for me to preach, I preached about the gift from the EYC. A week or so after Jonathan was born, the youth in our parish did a very sweet thing to remind us that they were thinking of us (and praying for us). They made a shoebox full of God’s Eyes for our Christmas tree. If you don’t know about them, God’s Eyes are popsicle sticks wrapped with colored yarn in creative patterns. On one of the God’s Eyes a member of our youth group had written: “Made in the Image of God.” When I read that quotation, it called me to some serious thought: here is my infant son, born with Trisomy 21: Down syndrome. Possessing an extra chromosome in the 21st pair of chromosomes, Jonathan has extra genetic material. In a real sense, he is more human than you or I. Because of that extra chromosome, he will have certain developmental delays throughout his life—mentally, physically, and verbally.

I asked myself: “How is he made in the image of God? How does someone with Jonathan Dombek, newest acolyte at St. mental retardation display the image of James, Greenville, in procession (at left) God?” This, of course, leads to the larger and with his dad, the Rev. Timothy question: How does any human being display the image of God? Dombek.

A guiding star Framing this question caused me to rethink how it is that I look at all people— the instantaneous judgments I make, the unconscious biases and assumptions I carry, the “already listening”(and knowing what will be said) that I practice without realizing it. That question began a now-13-year process of becoming more open, more accepting of the images of God that I encounter—especially the one I see in the mirror every morning. Having Jonathan as my son taught me that. And he continues to teach me.

There exists an ancient Orthodox legend that says that before every human being there go ten thousand angels, shouting in a loud voice, “Make way for the image of God! Make way for the image of God!” How would we look at and treat each other if we really believed that? What would the world look like if we really believed that?

What would your world look like if you really believed that? I’ll tell you something: if you really believed that, it would turn your world upside down, and quite possibly, ultimately, the larger world as well. How’s that for a guiding star? “Make way for the image of God; make way for the image of God!” —continued on page 14

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Book Reviews

Women on a journey . . .

Answering the call to full humanity Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, by Barbara Brown Taylor (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), 231 pages.

God at the center

A word of caution about the title—Leaving Church is not a book about “trashing” the Church (either Christ’s Church universal or the Episcopal Church, in particular). Nor is it a book about Church politics or current Church issues, although some do briefly make their appearance in the book.

Reviewed by Calvert B. Klopp And, most important of all, this is not a book about leaving God. Far from If you are familiar with Barbara Brown Taylor, it; God is still very much in the center.

Leaving Church is the story of how and why Barbara Brown Taylor came then you already know her books are a delight to read. Through narrative essays she invites readers to the conclusion that the best way for her to live out her faith is not at the into her life as if they are intimate friends sitting altar where she had been living it for the past 15 years but in the world, still down with her to swap confidences over a cup of a priest but leaving her collar behind. Taylor describes this journey in the coffee. She has a rare gift that few writers have—the gift of making each most accessible way of all— through stories of day-to-day living, allowing reader feel as though he or she is totally invested in the outcome of the story. the reader glimpses of weakness as well as strength, grief as well as joy.

In Leaving Church, Taylor relates that while her life has not turned out as Taylor’s latest memoir, Leaving Church, is in many ways an extension of her much earlier book, The Preaching Life, published in 1993. In her latest she thought it would, the “central revelation” of the journey has been “that offering, Taylor continues to reveal her spiritual journey as she travels from the call to serve God is first and last the call to be fully human”—to serve the staff of a large Episcopal parish in downtown Atlanta to becoming the God best means to be doing what makes us feel most alive, most fully how rector of a small parish in the north Georgia mountains and then finally God created us to be, while at the same time keeping God at the center. leaving parish ministry to become a professor of religion at a nearby college.

—continued on page 14 Along the way she shares stories of her struggles with call and discernment and a strong partiality for rescuing others before she turns to saving herself.

Stories, issues, and insight for spiritual journey

summary of the book and its purpose. The women are not formally introduced. They are placed in the context of the book’s larger story of life as a spiritual journey. There are some other good stories here, too.

Chapter 1, “Learning to Listen,” describes how the author learned to listen when people listened to her. I found reading about the benefits of Four Women, Three Faiths: Inspiring Spiritual being listened to far more effective than a call to be a good listener with a Journeys, by Cecile S. Holmes (Augusta, GA: list of techniques.

Chapter 2, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” is the most personal, Harbor House Books, 2006), 156 pages. emotional chapter. It is about the effects of good and bad parenting on a very devout, open, giving person.

Chapter 3, “Dwelling in the Upper Room,” is full of facts and statistics Reviewed by Cai Armstrong on world hunger and extreme poverty. So often we think of the “Upper Four Women, Three Faiths is an unexpected treasure.

Before I read it I expected a standard narrative—brief Room” as a place apart from the world. To me, this chapter is the most biographies of four women, a description of the engaged with the needs of the world.

Chapter 4, “God as Mother,” is about broadening our view of God religion to which each one belonged, and an explanation of their significance for anyone who reads the book. Imagine my surprise when— beyond rules into love. Hinduism names many gods as a way of reaching after the four women are named in the middle of the preface—other people the divine diversity and abundance. We Christians can use this chapter to find our own descriptions of God’s loving nuture and abundance. were the subjects of the first chapter.

Chapter 5, “Seeking Justice for Muslim Women,” contrasts the Islamic I also thought—short book, quick read—and was wrong there, too.

There is much to think about on each page. I took several months to read, teachings of peace, justice, and equality with the cultural practices in many mark (in my heart since I had a borrowed copy), and inwardly digest the countries that promote violence and oppression. It reminds Westerners that many nuggets I found. Now that I’m about to return it, I’ll need to buy my what we see and read is a distortion. It challenges all of us to look at the issues raised within our own cultures. own copy.

When you read this book do not skip the preface. It is a concise

—continued on page 14

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Mission Profile

BODY

P • A• R• T• S

Church of the Nativity, Union

By Kimberley Higgins Who:

The Church of the Nativity, Piedmont Convocation, 320 South Church Street, Union, South Carolina 29379. Average Sunday attendance: 30. Priest-in-charge: The Rev. Roy Cole.

Where:

Just three blocks off the quaint main street of Union, South Carolina, sits this 151-yearold historic church. Made from granite, this gothic structure stands out among the modest lower income homes that surround it. Union, once known as Unionville, has, until recent years, been an active textile town. This is “a small church in a declining economy,” states priestin-charge the Rev. Roy Cole. “The community consisting of between seven and eight thousand has long been devoted to the mill and textiles industry but over the years most mills have closed down, which has caused a gradual loss of membership.”

When:

A distinguished local planter and prominent lawyer, Judge “Colonel” Thomas Nuckolls Dawkins, fell in love with Miss Mary Poulton, an English lady, who had moved to Unionville to teach after the untimely death of her father. ”She agreed to marry him if he would build her a church just like her home church in England,” says Cole. “And he did.” Dawkins undertook the task to fulfill his wife’s longing to worship in her own dear church. Based upon a Canadian model, the Church of the Nativity is virtually identical to St. Anne’s Chapel in Fredericton, New Brunswick, built less than 10 years prior. It is a perfect example of gothic revival architecture. Frank Willis, a noted ecclesiastical architect of the 19th century, designed this church and at least a dozen others. The design of the building was adapted and executed by Nativity’s first priest, John DeWitt McCollough.

Another noteworthy bit of history deals with a “Union Soldier who along with the 7th U.S. Calvary (Custer’s Outfit) occupied Unionville during the Reconstruction period,” according to Cole. “The soldier was the horse-shoer from B troop, 7th Calvary, and had the misfortune to die in Union while stationed here.” A problem arose when “no one else would bury him.” The Episcopal church finally agreed to lay him to rest, but, “instead of facing him toward the rising sun, they pointed him north, in a little slice of the cemetery segregated from the rest.” Judith Earle, a communicant at The Nativity, says, “Northerners, or Yankees, as we call them, are threatened with the same fate if they start acting up.”

Inside the majestic Church of the Nativity, beautiful stained-glass windows tell the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection through images and symbolism.

A soaring arch has the inscription “THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME AND I WILL FILL THIS HOUSE WITH GLORY, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS.”

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How:

To Cole’s knowledge, the Church of the Nativity has always had a Rite I Liturgy. “Rite one is the dominant liturgy; it probably has been that way from the very get go. It is beautifully sung, a classic Anglican, Morning Prayer, Communion, Holy Eucharist, sung as much as we can, liturgy.” Cole beams. “Classically old Anglican.”

The average age of the communicants is around 50 or 60 with four youth. “It doesn’t take too many young people to really change the character of the church, even though they are the minority.” Adds Earle Ralph, a member of the church, “They have no Sunday school at this time, but Cole is preparing two adults and a youth for confirmation and one adult for baptism.”

The church has opened its doors to sponsor the only Girl Scout troop in Union.

“We don’t have a youth group, but we have a whole bunch of Girl Scouts, so in the absence of a youth group we can really open the church up to the girls and support them,” explains Cole. “There are close to as many Girl Scouts as there are members of the church. The girls are already raising funds to go to the National Cathedral in the spring.” “Because of our numbers, we do very little in the way of charitable work under the Episcopal flag,” admits Ralph; “however, we do have a large presence in community charitable work.”

Nativity members practically run the Meals On Wheels in Union, and they work closely with the Salvation Army Board. They also give money to support these programs. “Many of us also work with the local Methodist church to buy Christmas gifts for children,” states Ralph.

Why:

“Aside from the Holy Spirit and grace of God, what keeps us going, I think, is the bonding, the connection that these people have,” says Cole.

“The people of Nativity are not terribly homogeneous; it is definitely through the church that we truly derive a sense of uniformity,” says Ralph.

Every last Sunday of the month the people of Nativity enjoy a pot-luck lunch together. But unlike every other Episcopal church Cole has ever served, they have no coffee hour after church. “It is my hope to adopt a program called The Community of the Cross of Nails, which basically brings people together, meeting in their homes for a meal once a month,” explains Cole. “What I’m trying to do is get around the lack of coffee hour and help people to know each other better.”

Quote: The Rev. Roy Cole: “My point of view is that, yes, growth is fine, but it’s the cohesion, the love, the care and the sharing, and the depth of spirituality that’s more important in the congregation. You have that and the other things follow.”

Kimberley Higgins is a member of St. Paul’s, Batesburg.

Pictures provided by Charles B. Waddell, parishioner at Nativity,Union.

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—continued from page 4

baptism as God forgives our sins and claims us as his beloved sons and daughters. But this is simply the first step. The healing begun in baptism is “done gradually by making steady progress in the renewal of [God’s] image,” according to Augustine.

As we are increasingly transformed into the image of Christ, our lives are to reflect the beauty of God. The apostle Paul alludes to this when he insists, “All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). Or in the edgy translation of Eugene Peterson in The Message: “And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” Christ, the Incarnate Son, comes and dwells among us to heal the deepest wounds of the human race so that we might mature and grow to reflect his divine beauty and glory in our lives. And as we do so, we are drawn into increasing communion with God, which is our highest human vocation or calling.

The mystery and the wonder As the ancient Church Fathers rightly understood, only the One who is both fully divine and yet also fully human like we are except for sin could embark on such a rescue mission of restoration and healing. For only the One who is fully divine can lead us to share in the divine life with the Triune God. For this holy One comes not simply to bring relief and comfort but to heal the very brokenness that ruptures relationship with God, with each other, and within ourselves. Christ came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly as we partake of the divine life (John 10:10). This is the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation.

Sister Catherine Unterseher, O.S.B., Ph.D., is a member of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field, Columbia.

Feeding faithfully

Christmas 2006

—continued from page 7

priestly ministry upon themselves. It might mean encouraging your church to abandon the sludge for Bishops Blend, great tasting fair-trade coffee that benefits the environment and laborers in developing countries through Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) and Pura Vida. It might mean helping to feed the hungry here and abroad. It means doing what you can to feed the kingdom of God into being, even if that means doing it one meal at time. After all, we believe one meal changed the world.

Resources Andrew McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals John Koenig, The Feast of the World’s Redemption Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb L. Shannon Jung, Food for Life: The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating

Good sources on food issues The Nation: The Food Issue (September 2006: www.thenation.com/issue/20060911) www.sustainabletable.org www.foodroutes.org www.worldhungeryear.org/info_center/default.asp Marion Nestle, What to Eat: An Aisle by Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation

For Pura Vida Bishops Blend Coffee www.puravidacoffee.com/store/partnestorer/_erd.asp Bishops Blend is a premium line of Certified Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffees from Central America and Indonesia. Purchasing Bishops Blend helps ERD meet needs worldwide. To order for your business or church, call 877.469.1431.

Dr. C.E. Norman is a member of St. James, Greenville.

W a n d e r i n g s Incarnation—Speaking love

By Duncan C. Ely There is a story of an African boy called Emmanuel, who was always asking questions. One day he asked, “What language does God speak?” No one could answer him. He traveled all over his country, but did not get a satisfactory answer. Eventually he set out for distant lands to find the answer. For a long time he had no success. At last he came one night to a village called Bethlehem, and, as there was no room in the local inn, he went beyond the village in search of a shelter for the night. He came to a cave and found that, the cave, too, was occupied, by a couple and a child.

He was about to turn away when the young mother spoke, “Welcome Emmanuel, we’ve been waiting for you.” The boy was amazed that the woman knew his name. He was even more amazed when she went on to say, “For a long time you have been searching the world over to find out what language God speaks.

Well, now your journey is over. Tonight you can see for yourself what language God speaks. He speaks the language of love as expressed in sharing, understanding, mercy, and total acceptance.”

Another African, a South African citizen who is now a young man, has been traveling, too (see Crosswalk, October 2002). Peter Mukwevho has followed God’s call in Africa and in lands distant from his home, such as the United States. In May of this year Peter earned a bachelor of science degree from Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. In January 2007 he will begin studies for a master’s in science degree in food nutrition and human nutrition at Clemson University.

In between, Peter had to return to South Africa to obtain a new visa. He did not want to go back, and he worried that getting a visa would take months, or that he might not get one at all. But God blessed his time in Africa. He received his visa in three days, although he couldn’t return to the United States until just before Christmas. What, he wondered, was he to do with the time on his hands?

Peter has been witnessing in churches by giving inspirational talks to congregations and to youth groups, many of whom have little hope of escaping the terrible poverty and racism that still exists there. He has shared with them how people in his life have reflected Christ’s acceptance and unconditional love. Peter says, “I tell them about the way God can work through us in these modern times.” He tells them how he originally came to the United States to be a counselor at Camp Gravatt, how a family adopted him, and how the people he encountered reflected the light of Christ in a world that, for him, was sometimes dark.

Peter asked his pastor how a person can just up and leave South Africa and go to the U.S. and find a family there. His pastor replied, “God did not just send you to the United States, but he prepared the family in the States to be there for you. It’s only through God’s miracles that this came to happen.”

Like the African boy Emmanuel who visited Jesus in Bethlehem and Peter Mukwevho who came to be with us in the United States, we too can be the Body of Christ in this world, examples of incarnation living out a ministry of witness, kindness, and compassion for others. By example and deed we can touch the lives of others and participate in God’s miracles as Christ’s incarnation and the love of God transform the world.

Duncan C. Ely is a member of St. Philip’s, Greenville.

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Personal transformation —continued from page 5 In this context of these qualities, he would find the speed that was the perfect will of his Father. (I’ll bet it is probably somewhere around 63.7 mph.) And the way he would know that he had found it would be his feeling of the peace of God that passes all understanding instead of the grinding conflict that you and I feel as we go hurtling around at our frenetic pace, trying to get from A to B without tasting the sweetness of God in between.

The point of this trivial exercise is that it isn’t trivial at all. It cuts to the very core of our understanding of the Incarnation by suggesting that every moment of every day is a potential spiritual exercise in which we can grow into the likeness of Jesus—in which we can experience the peace of God. Paul called it praying ceaselessly. This

Full humanity Many treasures

approach to life is what Jesus modeled for us—the good news that God and humanity are no longer divided by necessity, the good news of the Incarnation.

Living into the truth of God Lest we delude ourselves, let us be reminded that the peace of God is not without worldly pain. To have the willingness, attentiveness, compassion, and courage of Jesus is to live into the truth of God, which will inevitably call us into difficult situations in precisely the same way that Jesus was called. To speak or act on the truth will often bring a cross. When our journey takes us out of our comfort zone into the business of evangelizing or changing whole environments (not just making soup for someone who is sick), we will be

—continued from page 13

I found many treasures while reading Leaving Church — bits and pieces that helped give clarity to my own puzzling journey. At times most helpful of all was simply knowing that someone I have great respect for has had some of the same questions and doubts that I have experienced along the way.

Leaving parish ministry was painful for Taylor. There were many losses, much to grieve. But, for her, the cost of staying was too high. She wrote of totally exhausting her “spiritual savings.” “My dedication to being good,” she wrote, “had cost me a fortune in being whole. My desire to do all things well had kept me from doing the one thing within my power to do, which was to discover what it meant to be fully human.” How many times have you or I told ourselves that we would learn to say “no”? That we would, instead of trying to be all things to all people, focus on what we love and do well? I would bet I’m not the only person to identify with those feelings.

In the months following her decision to leave parish ministry, Taylor recounted her many experiences of loss. One of my favorite chapters is from this period. She wrote, “If my time in the wilderness taught me anything, it is that faith in God has

ON THE BACK COVER

Artist’s Notes

“Incarnation,” by Roger W. Hutchison

T

his painting, for me, came out of a sense of anticipation and excitement.

This sense of searching, waiting, and watching captures the spirit of Advent. Then with Christmastime celebration we greet Jesus at his birth.

Creation. Celebration. Incarnation.

My daughter loves to throw pebbles into water. She loves to watch the ripples extend from the center, eventually reaching the edge of the body of water. Like that pebble tossed from a small child’s hand, Jesus broke through the surface, a baby, a teenager, a man, and sent ripples moving out from the center.

The tide is turning. Let those ripples of water and change wash over you.

It is a whisper. It is a breath. It is gratitude. It is hope. It is trust.

It is Jesus.

Roger W. Hutchison is canon for children’s ministries at Trinity Cathedral, Columbia.

Reach him at 803.771.7300, Hutchison@trinitysc.org.

14

walking the walk that he walked and encountering conflicts as he did. We do not have to be perfect in this journey, but we are called to be faithful, doing our best to speak and act as we believe God would have us do.

So there is good news. The Incarnation offers us the possibility of being transformed into one whose life embodies all the goodness, kindness, compassion, and holiness of Jesus. The Incarnation also offers us the possibility of being transformed into one whose life confronts and embodies the challenges that Jesus encountered. In both of these cases, the peace of God that passes all understanding is the fruit of such a transformation—right here and right now.

Dr. Jonathan Fletcher, is a member of St. John’s,Columbia.

both a center and an edge and that each is necessary for the soul’s health.” I’m a visual person, and I loved this image of some sort of spiritual map with a center and lots of edges. In my mind I enjoyed taking the metaphor further, adding many obstacles along the way—mountains, rivers to cross, cities to get lost in, and many uncharted areas yet to be discovered.

Saving your life now At the end of Leaving Church is a wonderful chapter called “Keeping.” In it Taylor ponders the things she has let go of and the things she will take with her on her journey. She also offers us a question to ask ourselves. Some years ago at a dinner party the host asked this question of her, and she has continued asking it and answering it in the years since. The question was simply “Tell us what is saving your life now.” She describes the special things that are saving her at this point in her life: teaching school . . . living in relationship with creation . . . observing the Sabbath. . . encountering God in other people . . . committing herself to the task of becoming fully human. It’s a good question . . . a question we would all benefit from contemplating every now and then.

Calvert B. Klopp is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia

Spiritual journey

—continued from page 13

Chapter 6, “Embracing the Other,” is about engaging with people who are different. Since every person is unique, the content of this chapter is well worth applying to those who are almost like us as well as to those who are radically different.

It is easy to recommend this book to a women’s study group because each chapter offers several opportunities for discussion. I think it would be even more useful in a mixed group or a men’s study group, because people in those groups are less apt to discuss God as Mother, nurturing, commonality, and other issues still considered the concerns of women.

I recommend this thought-provoking book highly. It offers stories, issues, and insight for both meditation and action.

Cai Armstrong is a member of St. Simon & St. Jude, Irmo.

The image of God

—continued from page 10

As we approach the Christ child, the incarnate God among us, let us remember that we, too, bear the image of God in the world, and so does every human being that we encounter. Perhaps if we adopted this vision, seeing all our human brothers and sisters and the whole of creation with God’s Eyes instead of our own, the future would not seem so uncertain, and the destination, the Kingdom of God on earth, would be a vision that we all might see, here and now, yet, at the same time, still to come, if we will strive to bring it about.

The Rev. Timothy Dombek is rector at St. James, Greenville, where Jonathan Dombek serves as acolyte.

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Bishop’s desk

—continued from page 2 But perhaps I digress. The Incarnation, for which we prepare during Advent and which we celebrate throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, involves more than the birth of the Messiah. It is what Temple might have called an umbrella concept, because the Incarnation covers many sides of Christian faith and practice: the birth, yes, but also the Lord’s ministry of teaching and healing, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension. “Taken together,” Temple said, “these things—often called ‘the work of Christ’—resulted . . . in the Atonement”—reconciliation between God and human beings. “Christ by His manifestation of His love awakens love in us, and. . .this is the Atonement.”

So, Beloved, we cannot separate the cradle from the cross, nor the manger (or cave?) from Calvary—nor the events of our Lord’s earthly life one from another. Nor can we separate the Incarnation from our world or our lives. How is Christ’s love awakening love in us?

Jesus said, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). How are you and I working in love so that God’s Kingdom may “come on earth as it is in heaven”?

With prayers for a joyous Christmas and with a blessing, I remain Faithfully yours in our Lord,

Upper South Carolina VII

PUPPY LOVE

Christmas 2006

Around the Diocese —continued from page 2

St. Timothy’s dedicates garden in honor of Bishop Beckham In early October the Beckham Quiet Garden at St. Timothy’s, Columbia, was dedicated in memory of the Rt. Rev. William A. Beckham, sixth bishop of Upper South Carolina.

Bishop Henderson led the dedication.

The Beckham Quiet Garden is located on the grounds of St. Timothy’s, at the corner of Lincoln and Calhoun Streets in Columbia. The garden is designed for meditation, reflection, and prayer.

The garden will be affiliated with the Quiet Garden Trust, a charity registered in the U.K. Their vision is “to initiate and resource a network of local opportunities. . .for prayer, silence, reflection and the appreciation of beauty; for learning about Christian life and spirituality; and for experiencing creativity and healing in the context of God’s love.”

...

More thoughts on the Incarnation from our bishop It is impossible for me to contemplate Advent and Christmas without recalling one of a series which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, a weekly magazine popular in my youth. The series, always contained within a bold frame, offered a set of challenging circumstances taken from real life experiences, and then, invariably, posed this question: What Would You Have Done? The one I remember vividly involved a puppy which had fallen into a dry well. The circumference of the well was too narrow for anyone to enter in order to rescue the poor puppy, so recourse had to be found. As I recall, they first lowered the well’s bucket, but the puppy would not get in. They tried again and again, once with food and water in the bucket, once with the puppy’s sleeping blanket, once with its favorite toy, but nothing worked. The frightened creature could not be enticed to get into the bucket so that he could be raised up to safety. The boxed item concluded, as always “Turn to page ___ for the solution”. So . . . what would you have done?

It finally occurred to someone to place another puppy from the same litter into the bucket. It worked! The bucket and its passenger were lowered, the desolate puppy recognized one of its own, scampered into the bucket, and was raised up to safety.

Is that not like the Incarnation? God sent to rescue us “one of our own,”

whom we would recognize, with whom we could identify, whose encouragement and companionship we could accept. By sending Jesus “down” to us, God raised us up to safety—to new and eternal life. “He lived and died as one of us, in order to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.”

Not only does this speak to me about the nature of the Incarnation—God manifesting his love for us in the kind of personal manner we can understand—it also comforts me greatly to know that through Jesus God does indeed understand the challenges of being human.

So I am reminded in turn of one of my favorite excerpts from Scripture which relates directly to the Incarnation.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to

sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16). “In every respect has been tempted as we are” . . . there is no temptation in our experience that Jesus did not confront! Therefore I may approach the throne of grace with boldness, because nothing I confess there will be “new” and so shocking to God as to be unforgivable— rather, there, through the love of God and our Lord’s intervention, there I will be forgiven and “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. Now, at least in my mind, “that’ll preach . . .”

+DFH

MONEY TALK

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Crosswalk The official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina

“We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.”

Meister Eckhart, 13th-century German mystic

Incarnation, by Roger W. Hutchison, Trinity Cathedral.

Read the artist’s notes on page 14.

Diocesan calendar

Jan

Feb

1

Diocesan House closed

6

School for Ministry Winter Session begins

Mar

4

Bishop’s visitation to Epiphany, Laurens

4

Bishop’s visitation to Incarnation, Gaffney

11

Bishop’s visitation to All Saints’, Cayce

11

Bishop’s visitation to St. Davdi’s, Columbia

9-11

DYLTC (Sr. High), Camp Bob, Kanuga

18

Spring House of Bishops, Camp Allen

7

Bishop’s visitation to Trinity, Abbeville

12

New rector/Clergy orientation, Diocesan Hosue 10 AM

14

Bishop’s visitation to St. George’s, Anderson

12-14 Bishop’s visitation to Good Shepherd, Columbia

15

Diocesan House closed

14-18 Pre-Lenten Clergy retreat, Gravatt

21

Bishop’s visitation to Church of the Cross, Columbia

18

Cursillo #107

24

Bishop’s visitation to Christ Church, Greenville (evening)

19

Diocesan House closed

28

Bishop’s visitation to St. John’s, N. Augusta

Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina 1115 Marion Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201

10

ECW Convention, All Saints’, Cayce

23-25 Happening #57, Gravatt 25

Bishop’s visitation to St. Paul’s, Graniteville

17-22 House of Bishops, Kanuga 21

Ash Wednesday

25

Bishop’s visitation to Good Shepherd, York

DEADLINE for next issue of Crosswalk: February 1.

Send submissions to phill@edusc.org.

Send photos to photos@edusc.org.

Send items for the calendar to bhuman@edusc.org.

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