Good Friday

For the last several years I have disciplined myself to read an entire gospel on Good Friday.  I broke that tradition this year and read Romans instead.  We had studied Romans in our Women's Bible Study at church and it seemed so fragmented.  So today I sat with the Oxford English Bible and read the epistle in two sections while occasionally highlighting something in my New Revised Standard Version.  It was a good exercise.  It made it seem more like a letter with Paul's personality and concerns and love for his God and the Romans coming through.

As always, I had questions for Jim.  What was the Greek word for "grace" in Romans 4:16?  Was it "sheer grace" as the Oxford translator put it?  No, it wasn't.  That was the translator's interpretation.  And what about the idea of "in Adam we all die but in Christ we are made alive?" (Romans 5 and the Messiah libretto!)  That is mostly Paul's idea and not expressed elsewhere.  Yes, I am always questioning!

Romans was not the gospel story but it was the gospel--"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." "Who is to condemn?  It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us."


I thought there was going to be a violin-organ performance for Holy Week at the Sacred Heart Basilica at noon today but I was wrong.  I have to learn to read carefully--it was on Wednesday.  So I sat quietly in the basilica and prayed for a while.  Many others were doing the same and even more were lined up on either side to make their confessions. It was a little glimpse into another tradition.

We had our own church's traditional Good Friday service tonight.  I had the joy of being in the congregation and having no responsibilities except to enter into worship.  I felt such a sense of fellowship and unity with our church family as I listened to each reader and I thought how they were people I knew and loved.  We sang beautiful songs and I prayed that it would be true in the words of "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" that I would "never, ever outlive my love for thee."  Our preacher gave a powerful message on the servant passage in Isaiah.  The candles were dimmed one by one and with the last one the strepitus ended in a loud crash. We entered the sanctuary in silence on Good Friday and we left in silence.

Tomorrow it's Holy Saturday.  Two young boys will be baptized with all of us surrounding them at the font.  Jim will be one of the readers. I have to play a few hymns at the organ but that is not enough to cause me any stress--I hope.

Easter Egg fruit plate!

I have played for many Easter services but this year my only responsibility is to sing with the choir.  We'll have a big Easter dinner at friends--with maybe 20 of us eating and taking a long walk afterwards. I miss my children and grandchildren for the holidays.  But I have been told that a few of the young ones at our dinner are counting on Grandma Mary's bunny cake which they will decorate with jelly beans.  I am grateful for a church family when our own is far away.

Mary, Be Positive!

"Mary, be positive." This was Jim's text to me after I sent him an adorable photo message of A and his friend holding hands on a play date.  I laughed and then had the sobering thought that I would have to live a very long time to see A holding hands with his bride walking down the aisle. 25 years? Age 97?  Probably not.  And if I am living, could I get to his wedding?  Probably not.  I'm not being negative, just realistic.

Following that interchange, I got the mail and received the information I had requested from Cedar Grove Cemetery at Notre Dame.  When we were in North Carolina, I said I was happy to live there but did not want to be buried there.  I didn't really consider myself a Tarheel!  But I don't think of myself as a Hoosier either.  And we certainly have very few ties to the Hudsonville, Michigan area where we met and where my parents are buried.  No place seems right for our final resting place!

I am getting more comfortable with the idea of cremation.  While walking with a friend at Cedar Grove Cemetery, I noticed that Catholics accept cremation but only if the remains are kept in one place--not scattered somewhere with an implied denial of the resurrection of the body.   Could this be an option for Jim and me?  No matter where we are when we die, it would be easy enough to ship the remains here and have a place for them.  At least there would be a place that could be photographed even if no one would be here to visit it.  There may even be a virtual reality tour.

And then to add to these reminders of mortality today, St. John's Abbey sent their Holy Week greetings including a Youtube video "I Can Only Imagine"--supposedly the best-selling Christian single every written.  I had never heard of it before but I listened and in some way, it gave my cynical self a glimpse of future glory.

We have a friend who has just asked Hospice to help him be more comfortable.  We have another friend who has begun receiving chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.  We have lost a young friend to a heart attack this year.  Another friend is recovering from the effects of a serious stroke.  Jim's brother Hank is gone.  We are not young even if we feel strong and sometimes even youthful!  So it may be good to think on these things.  We will take a walk at Cedar Grove together soon and then decide if that is right for us.

Notre Dame Historians and the VKs

In the last few weeks we have attended two events hosted by historians at Notre Dame.  The first one was a workshop funded by an NEH grant in which Abram Van Engen, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, presented a chapter of his forthcoming book The City on a Hill.  Abram invited us to attend and we were honored to accept.

 The room in the new Duncan Student Center was full of faculty and graduate students.  Abram presented briefly followed by two assigned respondents.  I enjoyed the time for questions and comments from the group.  There were many affirmations for Abram's work along with specific suggestions of things he could pursue.   The entire session was an example of academic cooperation.  Plus it was so much fun to see a handsome and appreciative Professor Van Engen in his grown up role--the fellow we have known since he was a pre-teen at our church.

Yesterday was our second event for historians--a conference in honor of Mark Noll hosted by two of his graduate students at Notre Dame.  One of the conveners, Jonathan Riddle, is a good friend of ours and welcomed our participation at the lunch and dinner events when Mark was speaking.  It was an occasion for us to greet not only Mark and Maggie, but also other friends who have left the area--George and Lucie Marsden and Julie and Nathan Hatch.

The Morris Inn put on two wonderful buffets with attractive and delicious entrees of a more unusual sort--polenta with vegetables,  orzo with mushrooms, a lasagna with a pesto sauce, and salmon and chicken dishes.  It was fun to try a little of each!   We were able to eat with friends (Judy and David Hatch--also non-historians but friends of M and M)  and enjoy good conversations and many laughs.

After lunch, John Wilson, former editor of the now defunct Books and Culture, interviewed Mark about various books he had reviewed or blurbed and others he had written over the years.  At one point Mark asked the audience how many had ever written for the journal--and I would guess 50 hands were raised.  I need to follow up on authors that were mentioned--especially those who wrote on world Christianity, a particular interest of Mark's.

A very touching moment at the evening banquet was when Dean John McGreevy remembered that the conference was postponed last March because of Maggie's stroke.  A year later Maggie was there looking lovely and well and able to greet many old friends.  The group began applauding and there was a standing ovation for Maggie.  It was a beautiful moment to have a tribute for her as well as Mark.

Mark spoke of the importance of Maggie's support at home and her work as a research assistant for him.  The theme for his remarks was being disqualified for military duty in the 1970s as a 1Y but not being designated as a 4F.  He went on to give his own 4F list of appreciation for family, friends, faculty, and formation,  a chance to tell stories and mention lots of people who had been important to him. He also incorporated counsel for young scholars stressing humility and cooperation.  "The mark of a true scholar is magnanimity as well as expertise" is one example he used after telling an incident of George Marsden's graciousness.

Jim and I are not historians. In some sense, Jim with his work on the Scrolls and now R.H. Charles is a historian  and I guess I have a historian's curiosity which Mark said was basic.  We were honored to be included in these occasions and are thankful for our own friends, young and old,  in these areas.

Lent 2018

A gift left for me at the organ
on Holy Saturday!

Last year I posted "Observing Lent in the Trump Era."  Once again I am taking the attitude of taking on something for Lent and not giving something up.  I joke each year about taking on Cadbury Creme Eggs but I noticed they are 99 cents at CVS so that makes them easier to resist.  Plus I am pretty sure they get smaller every year.

This year I am trying to sing a hymn or two or three each day.  Sundays are a given; the other days I pull out one of my many hymnals and play the piano and sing.  I am not happy with how my voice sounds especially at first.  Aging has affected my vocal range.  The singing posture of sitting down at the piano doesn't help.  And I want to sing when no one else is around--like my dear husband!

Music is important for my faith.  When we sing in church, the words go into my soul and I believe them in a way that I can doubt at other times.  At times this month the words I have sung have really been God's word to me.

"When we seek relief From a long felt grief, When temptations come alluring Make us patient and enduring; Show us that bright shore Where we weep no more.  Jesus, still lead on, Till our rest be won; Heav'nly leader, still direct us, Still support, console, protect us, Till we safely stand In our Father's land."

When I think of how much beautiful music has been inspired by the Christian faith, it makes me trust that it must have a basis in truth.  I feel a part of all those who have gone before and have composed and sung these songs.

I've been singing out of the Lutheran Book of Worship (1979) this week.  So many of the last stanzas seem to end in a hope for a peaceful death like the one quoted above.  Is it a product of the turmoil of Martin Luther's time?  Do Lutherans today still sing those songs regularly?

"Lord, let your presence brighten the night Till the last sunrise; then, in your might, Pardon and spare me, Summon and bear me Homeward at last." 

 Actually that one is from the mid-1800s not Martin Luther's era.   We rarely sing songs like that these days in our worship.  Is it too depressing to sing about our final hours? Maybe when it is time for me, those words will be even more meaningful.  I'd like to think that I could be singing at the end.

In Praise of Google Search

In early February I went to a recital at the brand new Notre Dame O'Neill Music building.  Jamie Jordan, Daniel Drucker, and John Liberatore presented several very contemporary pieces for soprano and percussion and glass harmonica.  The pieces were so unusual that sometimes it was only by body language that I knew that the piece was over and it was time for applause.  Jordan and Drucker are NYC performers; Liberatore teaches composition at Notre Dame.  Maybe there were 35 of us at this free recital.  There should have been many more to hear artists of this caliber.

Every Monday Jim forwards a list of ND events to me.  John Liberatore was giving a lecture entitled "You've Got to Have the Right Notes. " I thought it would be interesting to see how he put together his compositions.  Again, there were not many of us in the audience.  At first I thought I was going to be the only woman there but two others showed up.   Craig Cramer, a professor of organ and a concert organist, took a seat next to me and we shared a score to follow.  The pressure was on!  Could I follow the score and turn the page at the right spot?  For the most part, the answer was yes!  And what fun it was to see how the pieces we were hearing were notated.

Liberatore's enthusiasm was great.  His lecture was interesting but at times I felt as if it was another meta-cognitive experience at Notre Dame, when I am an outsider looking in.   At least I am getting a glimpse of someone else's work and life even if I cannot understand all that I am hearing.

So why is this in praise of Google search?  I heard a term that I don't remember ever hearing before--"hocket."  I was not embarrassed to ask Craig  who quickly explained it to me in an aside.  Today I looked it up.  Hocket is one voice taking the melody while the other rests.   I understand the concept.  It's not complicated but I did not know the term.  I accessed two You-tube videos that explained it well along with musical examples from medieval monks singing plainsong and Duke Ellington's jazz with trombones alternating single notes very rapidly. In contemporary music like Liberatore's, there is usually a variety of timbre in the alternating voices.

I had to share it with my 14 year old grandson who plays trombone in a couple of jazz ensembles.  I hope he enjoys it too!