Saturday November 25, 2023
Mary Watts
A Reminder…
In reading Fr. Rob’s reflection on Thursday morning, Nov. 16th I was struck by his words on Love. He actually spent more time on Community, and for SJC maybe that’s the greater truth of what goes on, inside those buildings and beyond. It is, however, Love which is the cornerstone, the underlying foundation of what all the members of SJC “do.” For literally centuries the parishioners of SJC have loved their neighbors, their community, their church and their Lord, and it shows every day in every way.
When people learn that I’ve moved 41 times in this life they are usually either (a.) disbelieving, or (b.) astounded. Well, it’s true. There is a file in this computer with all those places and most of the actual street addresses, sometimes even an old phone number and a reason for being there. Inevitably, the next question will be “what was your favorite place?” That’s only a little difficult to answer. I loved quite a few of those places, as one loves a geographic location and/or a house, and don’t believe I hated any of them. Some just were what they were, to be lived as best we could for a short time, and then the next Air Force base, the next house, the next town came along. Each place had its good points and some, well...not so much. Portsmouth was, without doubt, one of the places my husband and I loved - LOVED - and we tried on several occasions to manage a real estate purchase that would have us settled there in retirement (whenever that came along.) It didn’t work out, but one of the biggest factors to loving Portsmouth was SJC. Even now I am often heard to say that I’d move back to Portsmouth in a heartbeat and if asked, “Why?” the answer is St. John’s Episcopal Church. I would love to be in-person with your family again, would join into several groups they sponsor, could almost literally fill the rest of this life in service to the Love you give away so freely.
For those of you who live in the Seacoast area, please know that a goodly part of your giving is done virtually. I read every posting, every email, even check out what the menu will be for Common Table that week (and think, oh yum!) I read every daily reflection and often forward those words to a friend or two who might need such a message or encouragement. I sit in church with you on Sunday mornings at 8:00. Each time I see the interior of that beautiful building, I am transported back to the late 1970's when we were stationed at Pease AFB, and we attended church at SJC and sat in the back row on the gospel side, my husband and me. Our little boy was downstairs in nursery or Sunday School. And we loved it, all of it, all of the people, all of the liturgy, all of the words and music, all the smells and bells. The love from that congregation became part of our souls, the words of the liturgy ingrained in our hearts. We could hardly wait to go to church on Sunday mornings. Even when George was dying of brain cancer and rarely spoke, he could whisper the Creed, the Prayers of the People and most of the words which are usually spoken by the priest during Consecration. I remember when Fr. Gary and Fr. Stephen came to lay on hands, to provide extreme unction. George was beyond speech or vision, but we knew he could still hear us. As they read the order for ministration to the sick, his lips moved slightly as though he was reciting with them. So great were the lessons learned and the Love that we carried, decades later, from St. John’s that even as the cancer stripped away his brain, the old prayers, the comfortable words remained.
If, as Fr. Rob suggests, the focus of “what he has to sell” is Love, well, let me assure you that SJC has it down. We enjoyed services at other churches over the years, but never like SJC. We participated. George was on a vestry or two, I baked a hundred casseroles for potluck meals and was on more than one altar guild. We loved all the same things as we had found at SJC, the faith, the liturgy, the family of one parish or another, but I don’t ever remember feeling it come back to us ten-fold, a hundred-fold, like at St. John’s.
For those of you who attend SJC weekly, sit in those pews, kneel on those needlepoint cushions, listen to that organ being played, be reminded. You are surrounded by Love: spiritual, architectural, organizational, emotional, even ethereal. Your community is almost beyond description and most unusual in our world today. Your Love positively radiates! It spans the internet and splashes out onto my desk (and many others, no doubt) every single day. You don’t have to DO anything personally. Just by an amazing accident of people, place and 300 years of time, it happens almost automatically. Yes, there are some very hard-working people who put all the reflections together, man the computers and A/V equipment, rehearse the music, keep the place running physically, but the end result is greater by far than the sum of individual efforts would suggest. I am here, in Oklahoma, for the rest of this life. For various reasons there will be no way to move again, but through the magic of technology I can still be with you. You stretch yourselves in my direction and light up the life of one past member, who is a member anew. Covid was terrible. Still is. But it opened wide the door to SJC for those of us who cannot be there in person, and here sits one woman who is deeply grateful beyond all words to express.
The third leg of Fr. Rob’s reflection: Jesus, no doctrine, no dogma, just a life well lived. Again, you've got this! I’m not suggesting or even surmising that SJC will rest on its laurels. No, the work will go on, the rugs vacuumed, Common Table menus will continue to be mouth-watering, hymns selected, budgets balanced, outreach pushed to the limits. But, if you will, especially during this season of thanksgiving and celebration of our Lord’s birth, take a quiet moment to re-member, to love the Love, revel in the community, and appreciate the lives well lived daily by those around you.
God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!