Unto Death - and beyond.

I've been doing a bit of reading today about some of the more interesting Northern European folklore (reading about the Morrigan, some Norse myths, some swedish, etc.) and came across the following.  For reference, Vikings were cremated with their personal belongings, though some were buried as corpses.  A draugr was a creature believed to be the body of the deceased, i.e. a person can come back as a draugr, which have all kinds of mythical traits (can change size, shape-shift, etc.), but nonetheless, check this out:

It was Christmas Eve, and Ola went down to his boathouse to get the keg of brandy he had bought for the holidays. When he got in, he noticed a draugr sitting on the keg, staring out to sea. Ola, with great presence of mind and great bravery (it might not be amiss to state that he already had done some drinking), tiptoed up behind the draug and struck him sharply in the small of the back, so that he went flying out through the window, with sparks hissing around him as he hit the water. Ola knew he had no time to lose, so he set off at a great rate, running through the churchyard which lay between his home and the boathouse. As he ran, he cried, "Up, all you Christian souls, and help me!" Then he heard the sound of fighting between the ghosts and the draugr, who were battling each other with coffin boards and bunches of seaweed. The next morning, when people came to church, the whole yard was strewn with coffin covers, boat boards, and seaweed. After the fight, which the ghosts won, the draugr never came back to that district.

Communion of Saints anyone?  I also always have liked how in some of the transitional cultures (i.e. old Pagan cultures that have by-and-large converted to Christianity but still have some of the survivals of the Old Ways) the idea exists that both the old Gods/spirits/demons exist alongside the Christian ones, and it seems that usually the Christian Saints and/or Angels and/or Faithful always triumph.  But that story, man - entertaining and cool in its implications.

Ascension Sunday

"So when they had come together, they asked him 'Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?'  He replied, 'It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own Authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'  When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight."

Acts 1:6-9

And when the Son returned to the Father, the Father greeted Him with open arms and asked "My Son, so good to see you!  What have you been up to down there?"  And the Son replied, "Father, I have taught a group of my closest friends to take care of your children, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, teach the ignorant - and I have arranged for our Love the Paraclete to go to them, to guide them.  They are to continue all that I have started from now until I return."  And the Father said "Why Son, that's wonderful!  But what's your back-up plan?  What if they don't do it?"

And the Son replied to the Father "There is no backup plan.  If they don't do it, it won't get done."

Christ has no body now but mine,
No hands, no feet on earth but mine,
Mine are the eyes with which he must look with
Compassion on the world,
Mine are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Mine are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

-Adapted from St. Theresa of Avila

And if we don't do it, it won't get done.

The Advantages of a Community

Last night I had a poignant experience of one of the advantages of being in community:

Strength.

Mutual, strength.

I nearly broke my fast - but with some encouragement, did not.  On my own, I would have failed, but together, I did not.

I find an echo of this in our community with Christ - on our own, we are bound to fail to love as we should.  But through Christ, all things are possible.  Through Christ, even bliss is possible.

On our own, we fail.  Together, we triumph.  With Christ as with Each Other, de nunc ad infinitum.

Amen.

Silence Is...

One thing that I have learned in my brief stint as a waiter...and I should have figured this out a long time ago:

Silence is not an external circumstance - it is an inward attitude.

Quiet is not an external circumstance - it is an inward orientation.

We can have peace and quiet, solitude, silence even amidst the noisiest and busiest bustle of life - and believe me, a popular restaurant gets pretty busy, especially for a new server such as myself.

And yet - I find my peace of mind not to be determined by how many guests I have, how many tables I'm waiting on, how backed up the bar is - but instead determined by my own choices in how I am going to live each moment.  Am I going to let myself get distracted from the people I'm serving?  Or am I going to remember always that no matter what may happen, He is Risen?  The choice is mine every day and every moment - and yours too.