All Hallows Eve

Today is Hallowe’en, the contraction for All Hallows Eve. All Hallows is the “old fashioned” name for All Saints Day, tomorrow. Why is the first day of November All Saints Day? Generally there is a reason behind the name, any name. It is so called because of Pope Gregory IV. Since the fourth century of the Common Era, various Eastern churches have had a commemoration of all the martyrs. Most likely the date of November 1, comes to us from Ireland and/or Britain. There it was celebrated as a “harvest” feast. In 844, the aforementioned Pope established this date for the western Church. It was on this day in that year that the Pantheon, that magnificent circular temple to all the gods in the midst of Rome was made a Christian Church and dedicated as the Church of St. Mary and All Martyrs.

In this day and age the day is remembered for parties for children and adults. I can remember various costumes from the days of my youth and the sacks full of treasures that we brought home to feast upon for the next many days while our teeth rotted from our mouths. I remember how Hallowe’en was a day to be gotten through when I was a teacher. It was the occasion of the first school party of the year. Each PTA room mother was responsible for planning and executing the party. Funny, I don’t remember there ever being a room father. Perhaps that omission has been rectified of late. Anyway, the children were hyped all day in anticipation of the party during the last hour of school. If music, or art, or physical education class were the last class of the day, the party was held previous to that so children were “all sugared up” by the time they came to us. I don’t recall much actual learning taking place in such a class on that day. In my middle school teaching days things were even worse. The students were allowed to wear costumes all day. There was no party as such. The entire day was the party. I was amazed at the number of “cross dressers” that appeared on that day, particularly on the male side of the equation. In my final year the principal announced that there would be no costumes. The students were bummed. The teachers were ecstatic. For most of us the whole celebration of All Saints and All Souls has to do with death and dying. For those of us with terminal illnesses it is a time to pause and think and pray about what our future is. For all persons it should be a time to think about mortality and about how we handle death. Most people of our culture do not handle death well. As a priest I came to the conclusion that people acquired strange notions of death when the churchyard basically ceased to be. When the faithful walked through the cemetery to get to church there was a constant reminder that the departed, though no longer seen, are still very much with us. It is that doctrine of the Church Militant (the church members here), the Church Expectant (those who have died and await the final resurrection which we proclaim every time we say the creed), and the Church Triumphant (the saints and angels in heaven) that is brought home to us. Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: “Once people used to go to our cemeteries on Sundays and walk between the graves singing beautiful hymns and spreading sweet-smelling incense. It set your heart at rest; it allayed the painful fears of inevitable death. It was almost as though the dead were smiling from under their grey mounds: ‘It’s all right…Don’t be afraid.’” Now our beloved departed friends and relatives are buried in lovely parks far away from our churches. Instead of each family lovingly tending for the gravesite, the maintenance is left to a crew who never knew the people over whom they are trodding. Perhaps once a year a visit may be made, usually around Memorial Day. Flowers are brought forth, mainly because “everyone else does it.” The spent blooms are removed by the maintenance crew. Death has become such a large part of our life during this pandemic. At present count over 220,000 persons in our country have gone to the Church Expectant since it began. This is an unimaginable number. Yet people of faith still sing songs like William Irons magnificent hymn: “Sing with all the saints in glory, Sing the resurrection song! Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story, To the former days belong. All around the clouds are breaking, Soon the storms of time shall cease; In God’s likeness, we awaken, Knowing everlasting peace.” The week has gone very well with bright sunshine every day. Mother Nature has almost redeemed herself from the previous week of gloom. Our snow has disappeared. I’ve felt very well. Blood work on Monday, followed by the visit with the doctor and then the first infusion of the week are on my schedule. I hope you are well. Enjoy these final days of autumn. Keep praying and thinking about all those you care for and love. Peace.

…and sanctified a day of rest for all…

 

The title phrase is from the evening Collect for Saturdays from the Book of Common Prayer. The entire prayer reads: “Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven.”

I just said that prayer at the conclusion of the evening office. On my way to the office it struck me that I did not rest today. After oversleeping a bit this morning I read a text from a friend who is currently on the east coast where the weather is much nicer (70º vs. 20º here). In reply I checked on the weather report to learn that we have a winter weather advisory in effect until Monday morning.

All of the pots were still on the deck and the deck furniture as well. That all needed to go somewhere. The somewhere for the ceramic pots is the garage.  Normally I love having a basement garage except for one day in the spring and one in the fall. How does one get those huge pots to the garage? Well, if one is big and strong one can carry the pot down the hill. Unfortunately I am not big (in that sense) and strong. The year + of chemo has not added to my physical strength. The

Remember how the deck looked.
This is it today.

lack of workouts at the fitness center due to COVID-19 has not helped. Enough with the excuses. The upshot is that I cannot carry the heavy pots down the hill in the side yard.  The other option is to use my “wagon,” a handy device that was gifted to me which can be a hand truck or turned into a wagon. That option requires going down the sidewalk and through the culdesac and up the driveway into the garage. This is a trip of nearly a city block. Push having come to shove there was no other option so I began heaving pots on the wagon (two per trip) and making the trek. The furniture also had to go to the basement through the garage.  Hours later I was finished and tired.  The aches and pains will show up tomorrow.

This day of frenetic activity was preceded by a whole week of gloomy weather which did not motivate me to do much of anything that needed to be done. We have, perhaps, had a total of 6 hours of sunlight all week.  For those of us with SADS it was not a happy week. Looking out the window now one can see the snow has begun and will not stop until we accumulate 2 to 5 inches. After all the onsets of winter I’ve experienced, it is never something to which I look forward. If one wants to experience the change of seasons (which is one of the reason given for living here) then winter is an experience. Each year I question my sanity in choosing to “experience the change of seasons.” Once winter has arrived it doesn’t seem all that bad. The arrival and departure thereof seems trying every year. 

Yesterday was another day of busy-ness. I volunteer at the Pavilion of Arts and Science in the morning until 1 PM. I grabbed a sandwich and went on my way to the auto service center for an oil change. Then I went to the cathedral to pick out some music for November 1, so I can play for the service. I don’t think I’ve played for a service for over a year so some heavy duty practicing will have to happen this week. Then it was time to run to the meat market for a couple of items and finally home. Having been away from 9:30 until 5:30 Sophia was wondering if she had been abandoned.

Sophia appears to like having me around.  For most of the day she is satisfied if we share the same room. Regularly she has a period of time in the afternoon when she parks herself on my chest and purrs loudly. This occurs sometimes in the evening as well. Every morning we are expected to have game time. She races up the steps ahead of me when she sees me heading to the bedroom.  After my shower we have to “play the game.”  There is a mangled tinsel thing suspended from a string which she loves to chase. There are times when she becomes quite acrobatic in the pursuit of the “toy,”  leaping and doing twists in the air.

This was the first of my two weeks off from chemo. I did get the first of my shingles vaccine shot. Our Benedictine group met in the Oratory again this week.  It is like coming home when we are there. Most of the group joins us for the live-stream. We can only accommodate a few in person in order to maintain physical distancing.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  Things are going well for me.  Remember to pray for all those who are suffering in various ways from the pandemic. Pray also that the eyes of those who “think” nothing is wrong with the way it is being handled may be opened.

Depends on the Traffic

 When I’m on my way to the Cancer Center for my infusion the timing of my arrival has a great deal to do with the traffic. Traversing the Great Twenty-Sixth Street Construction Project is always a little dicey.  One day they were allowing traffic only one way at a time which made for a monumental snarl.  Another day they allowed no westbound traffic, only eastbound. The reason for this is that they are setting huge beams to hold up the street over the railway tracks. 

Who knew a storm sewer 
retention pond could be
so beautiful?

The point of all this is not to report on the street construction but to say that I sometimes arrive early at the Center.  Several times this week I’ve been able to take a walk around the campus. It is a fairly large operation with the Cancer Center, and Orthopedic Institute, a transplant institute, the main hospital, at least three other buildings for various clinics, doctor’s offices, etc.

I’ve mentioned before that one of the reasons I am pleased with my care there is the holistic approach they have to cancer treatment.  There are not just the usual chemotherapy and radiation treatments but music therapy, beautiful art, TaiChi, yoga, aroma therapy and probably more which does not come to mind right now.

The art is just not in the buildings but at several locations throughout the campus. One of the most stunning is a giant

The Lamphere sculpture

sculpture by Dale Lamphere, the artist laureate of South Dakota. He is the one who created the Arc of Dreams over the river in the heart of the city. He enjoys creating big things, obviously, given that he also created the beautiful Dignity statue which stands overlooking the Missouri River at Chamberlain.  It is 50 feet high! He enjoys working with metal and polishes it in interesting ways which enhance the sculptures. The sculpture incorporates the cross since the hospital system is faith-based. It was founded by the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Benedictine sisters.

While I was walking around there were some spectacular trees and shrubs in their autumn finery.  

All of the infusions went well with no side effects for which I am so grateful.

I've never seen so many colors 
on one tree - spectacular!

One of Henri Nouwen’s meditations for this week was on Gratitude. I’ll share that with you.  It really spoke to me.

“Deciding to be Grateful

Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an “accident,” but a divine choice. It is important to realize how often we have had chances to be grateful and have not used them. When someone is kind to us, when an event turns out well, when a problem is solved, a relationship restored, a wound healed, there are very concrete reasons to offer thanks: be it with words, with flowers, with a letter, a card, a phone call, or just a gesture of affection. . . . Every time we decide to be grateful it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for. Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love.”

This past Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving Day and our National Thanksgiving Day is next month.  We need to learn to be thankful everyday.

Our Benedictine Oratory has a brand new floor! The previous flooring was carpet, about thirty years old, with some indeterminate stains thereon.  Now we have a beautiful porcelain tile floor.  Some of us met today to move “back in” all the stuff that had to be removed to facilitate the floor replacement.  With willing hands and the work the Junior Warden had done before we finished the job in just over an hour. 

I continue to do well.  I continue to thank God for your prayers and thoughts and good wishes, and I thank you. Have a wonderful week.

Sophia has found a cozy corner.

It Was a Lovely Week

I do love these October days when the sun shine brightly, the temperature is reasonable, and the trees show their autumn colors.  There are some stunning trees in my neighborhood. It is so pleasant to walk through the leaves as they rustle beneath your feet with the fresh air just waiting to be inhaled.  

This is the tree that had only started to change
last week now see this week.

The hay fever has not struck with its usual force bringing forth the runny nose, the itchy eyes and the multitude of sneezes. Perhaps those two allergy meds I take every night have some effect! I’m sure the “fever” will come so I’ll enjoy autumn while I can.

Last Sunday afternoon I went strolling through one of the cemeteries here in the city.  I like to do that in October and November.  November 2, is the commemoration of All Souls. When I was a parish priest we made it a practice to visit all the cemeteries and pray at the graves of the departed members of the parish.  It is a good thing to remember the dead, to relive the memories, and to pray for and with them. The words of Samuel John Stone set to a tune by Samuel Sebastian Wesley remind us of our relationship with the dead: “Yet she (the church) on earth hath union with God, the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.” That is from the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

It seems like the week has flown by. The usual round of activities has kept me busy. Friday I was up bright and early for my CT scan. I’m not used to bright and early so this was kind of a shock.  Actually it is early but certainly not bright at 5:30 AM. Nevertheless my appearance was noted at 7:30 waiting in the lab at the Prairie Center.  My port had not been accessed for two weeks so there was a little struggle to get the blood flowing but the nurse succeeded.  Then it was off to the third floor to the imaging center. Within 40 minutes one must drink two bottles of water laced with some substance that tastes faintly of iodine which the “machine” likes so it can take better pictures. The scan itself only takes a few minutes. Then I ran errands all over town until the meeting with the doctor in the afternoon to get the results. 

Sophia in a pensive mood undoubtedly 
pondering the change of seasons

This whole chemotherapy thing is kind of a mystery. One goes through the infusions and from certain side effects, like hair loss, one assumes it is working, and especially one hopes it is working on the cancer. One way they tell in my case is to check my sodium level. Evidently my tumors love sodium. The other way is through CT scans and MRIs. I have CT scans more frequently than MRIs. Those procedures really show what is going on. The report, this time, says: No concerning nodules or masses seen in the lungs. In the liver, one lesion is “stable to smaller over the last 2 exams.” The other lesion is stable. So, in the doctor’s words the lung lesions have basically disappeared. The liver lesions are not growing and one is shrinking a little. And the very good news is that the cancer has not spread elsewhere.  So I’m grateful and ready to go for another round of chemo next week. Scans will happen again in nine weeks.

One of the members of our Benedictine community called this afternoon and told me he has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This whole pandemic thing seems suddenly more real when it comes to those with whom we are close. I’ve not been in the same room with him for almost two weeks and we were masked then so I don’t think I have anything to worry about. Still there is a little germ of fear that lingers in the back of one’s mind.

Hopefully next week will be a good one for you. Thank you for reading and for all of your thoughts and prayers. May God bless you.

Did Anything Happen This Week?

 As I began pondering what would be in this week’s blog, the thought crossed my mind - nothing happened this week. Today it just seemed like any other week which has hurried by without any outstanding events.  Then, when you really stop and think…

Calvary Cathedral held “in person” services this past Sunday and our bishop was present as celebrant and preacher.  It is good to be in church even if there are only a handful of people there.  It is also good to see and hear the bishop. The diocesan office was moved to Pierre a few years ago, and this bishop, ordained just eleven months ago, chose to keep it there. When the office was in Sioux Falls it was not an unusual thing to see the bishop several times each month.  Obviously, the sighting of the bishop is now a rarity.  

"What do you mean, 'You are not 
being helpful?'"

Expecting to spend Sunday afternoon watching other services and critiquing sermons (that’s what retired clergy do!), the plan was up-ended when a call came from a friend who was obviously desperate. He needed to get to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Friends do things for friends so off three of us went eastward.  Wisely I asked another friend to go along because I wasn’t sure how tired I would be on the return trip. We made it there and back by midnight.  My friend is doing better, for which I am grateful.

Monday became a recuperation day. Not being a particularly exciting day, weather-wise it turned out to be a fairly good nap day. I had a few things to do to get ready for Tuesday and spent the rest of the time in a vegetative state.

Tuesday was the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. That feast is my anniversary of ordination both to the diaconate and the priesthood. Our Benedictine group planned to celebrate the Eucharist that evening, pray Evensong and visit with our friends from far and near who join us each week via Zoom.  We had not “broadcast” from our Oratory before so this was a new technical challenge.  It worked out well to all reports. The viewers could see and hear, a minor miracle.  We will try it again this month and perhaps move to doing it every week.  

Lovely flowers from a dear friend
for the anniversary celebration.

The next days were fairly quiet. I do attend the Eucharist at Good Shepherd Church on Thursday afternoon and meet with the postulant of our Benedictine community following.

Friday is my morning volunteer opportunity at the Pavilion of Arts and Science.  It is good to return to working there. It is a “safe” position in which I am not in contact with a lot of people.  Let’s face it, there are not a lot of people.  The Pavilion was closed for several months so now the populace has to be reintroduced to the offerings we have.  If the COVID situation would improve, attendance will pick up, I’m sure.

I am forsaking the opportunity to attend the first SD Symphony concert this evening. I’m a little nervous about being in an auditorium with a lot of other people right now.  Maybe next time.

Friend Lou Buquor loaned me one of the jigsaw puzzles she acquired so she would have something to do whilst recuperating from back surgery.  I love puzzles. They do drive me crazy until I finish them.  This particular puzzle looked fairly easy, and it is not bad.  Nasty puzzle-makers who do evil tricks are not nice.  The picture and box cover both had the title as part of the puzzle, “A Floral Fantasy In An Old English Garden.” The puzzle itself reads, “A Floral Fantasy In An English Garden.” Do you have any idea how much time can be wasted looking for the pieces to spell “Old” when it is not included in the puzzle? Grrrr.  

There are not a lot of plans for next week, just the usual. That’s what I thought last week and it turned out to be fairly busy in a good way. I’ll work on the puzzle. My CT scan is Friday morning and I’ll see the doctor in the afternoon.

Thanks for reading, for thoughts, for prayers, for messages, for all you do. I do depend on all of those things.  Hopefully you are all well.  God bless.

What is on the puzzle.

What is on the box.