Joy and Sadness

One of the mysteries of life is the juxtaposition of joy and sadness all within the space of a week of “ordinary” life. One does not seek out these two emotions. They just simply occur.

On the joy side, last Sunday was the official welcoming of our new bishop to his cathedral church.  The term cathedral comes from another word cathedra. This refers to the official seat or chair of a bishop in the bishop’s area of authority, the diocese. Hence the building which houses the chair is called a cathedral. It doesn’t have to be a big building with impressive architecture it simply has to house the chair or cathedra. 

When a new bishop is ordained it is the custom to “seat” the bishop in the cathedra. Our new bishop, Jonathan Folts, was ordained in Pierre. The cathedral is in Sioux Falls. It would have been difficult to seat the bishop on the day of his ordination! So, last Sunday the bishop knocked on the door of the cathedral church and was escorted in and seated. It was the official installation of our new bishop. It was a great liturgy and a joy-filled time. 

Then on Tuesday evening there was another joy-filled celebration as Bishop Jonathan visited our Benedictine Community for the first time as our Bishop Protector. He visited two classes and then presided at the Eucharist. Following Evening Prayer he shared a meal with us and we had time to visit with him. 

Next Monday is the cathedral’s annual service of Lessons and Music.  It is a gift to the community. The cathedral choir and the Dakota String Quartet and other musicians share their talent in a beautiful service of music for the Advent season and appropriate readings. Our rehearsal on Wednesday evening of this week was the last before we sing this service next Monday. There is always a certain amount of apprehension. Will we know the music and will we interpret it correctly and beautifully? We were all happy the rehearsal went very well. It went so well that we were dismissed early!

Friday was my first day back at the Washington Pavilion serving as a docent. It was good to be back, to see other docents with whom I had worked before my cancer diagnosis and to see three classes of fourth graders from Minnesota who were enjoying the Pavilion that day.  I realized how much I really missed the interaction with the children during the time I spent away because of chemotherapy and the related cautions due to a suppressed immune system. The exhibit on the construction of the Arc of Dreams, a dramatic new piece of public art in downtown Sioux Falls was still up. 

The Arc is the work of Dale Lamphere, our South Dakota artist laureate. It is huge and spans the Big Sioux River. You can see from the picture that the Arc is not complete. Neither are our dreams. The exhibit features a video on Lamphere’s work and scale models of the Arc. I worked on convincing the school bus drivers to take the children by the Arc as they departed the city.  

Now the other side of the week’s emotions. The husband of one of my former Denver parishioners was diagnosed with leukemia. As a hiker and a climber of high places he was the picture of health and now he is very sick. As he enters into his treatment I hope and pray that things will go well both for him and for his family. 

My common practice in scanning the local newspaper is to check the obituaries. As I did so this week there was an entry for a former student who died at age 36. I worked with him for seven years. He was a bright young man gone from us at a much too early time of life. I grieve for him and his family.

One of my best friends from high school days, the one with whom I’ve shared many trips, has been having health problems and had been hospitalized. He was home for a time and now has returned to the hospital.

The weather this week was similar to my emotions. It was very cold and then not so cold. We had some snow and sunshine. It was a good week to spend some evenings at home in front of the fireplace. Sophia thought it was a pleasant thing to do as well. We have both enjoyed the bedroom fireplace more this year than ever before. The joy of just taking the time to sit and read or watch the tube has been wonderful. 

Now, to add to the “joy” side of the ledger I’ve just returned from such a beautiful choral concert I really didn’t want it to end. The pew was hard but the music heavenly.  The performing group is Transept.  As they describe themselves: “Transept is a vocal ensemble of elite professional consort singers and select local musicians based in Sioux Falls.”

The program further states: “Transept is inspired by the architecture of beauty. We interweave music for vocal consort, soloists, and choir to draw audiences into an intimate, meaningful journey. We fill spaces with the sounds of transcendence.”  And they do. We are truly blessed to have this group here. They are the equal of or surpass any group I’ve heard. Check them out: https://www.transept.org

I’ll share with you one of Henri Nouwen’s writings on joy which sums up my emotions of this week.

“Joy does not come from positive predictions about the state of the world. It does not depend on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives. Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome the world. Jesus says it loudly and clearly: “In the world you will have troubles, but rejoice, I have overcome the world.”

The surprise is not that, unexpectedly, things turn out better than expected. No, the real surprise is that God’s light is more real than all the darkness, that God’s truth is more powerful than all human lies, that God’s love is stronger than death.”

Thank you all for your concern and prayers, and for sharing in my life.