Sat, 30 Oct, 2021
Murphy’s Oil Soap, Silver Polish, …Joy
Elaine Wilson
On March 26, 2020, I wrote a reflection about the many cancellations during the Covid Pandemic, many weddings, graduations and scheduled trips. Yes, in looking back and at what was to come, it was whiney. My last question to all readers was related to my granddaughter’s college math class that was being cancelled until further notice. The professor said the student’s solace was to realize that Isaac Newton discovered the theory of optics when he was sent home during the plague. My question to you at that time ---thinking that it would be a brief time---was “What will you discover? What will you bring back to St. Johns when we all return?” I began to ponder that question during this week, anticipating Homecoming.
I have a dear friend who lives in deep East Texas when he’s not travelling all over the world. He says that “Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the writin’ on the wall.” That was what happened to me this week. Helping Ashley, Rebecca, Bertha, and others answering the summons to clean the whole and Holy parts of St. Johns was going to be one of my favorite things. Yes, among my other idiosyncrasies, I love to clean. Our first walk through revealed that construction during this time had made the dirt dirty. However, with our work definitely and literally cut out for us I thought about what I would discover what the church might need, what changes we might make.
Ashley and Olin had already worked on the Philbrick room and Sunday School rooms with Olin cleaning the carpet. Chuck Silva, Senior Warden, helped load my car for a trip to Goodwill. Chuck has proven to be a member of the trio, now quartet of the Merry Men of the Buildings and Grounds Brotherhood—AKA: Reggie Baird, Gerry Simpkins, Barry Heckler. These men pop out of every doorway, hole in the ground, or crevasse to be seen on the church grounds. If they eat lunch, it is usually as they are walking to another location or making sure some of the other workmen have a lunch. It is fun to catch them standing together and laughing in the parking lot or at the top of the hill. Rebecca recently returned from a long arduous –but fun road trip in Colorado and Utah. She might be back on the road soon after supplying every possible request during the cleaning as she looked for yellow pencils, pledge cards, paper clips, and also answering the phone. After she was gently ushered back to her desk after carrying a box of dishes downstairs to the Philbrick room, she went to her desk to loan her pencil sharpener. Yellow pencils found!! Ashley and Olin had also regrouped Ashley’s office for Choir School and Sunday School carrying supplies, choir school robes, and anything that got in the way to a new location. Rob and Anne are “all over the place” in a loving, compassionate way as they continue to minister to all during a very busy week of normal activity with additions of a Celebration of Life and baptisms. (This is a Frederic Buechner “Beyond Words” sentence to try to put into words all that they do and are.)
Bertha and the Altar Guild workers are a force to be dealt with. Nancy took over vacuuming the pew cushions (sawdust) after Olin (not an official member of the Altar Guild) vacuumed the balcony. Jane, Pat, Ginny, Al and Ginny, Sandy, polished anything that wasn’t moving. Chuck was in and out offering help in any way that he could. During this time, it is always lovely to have Jen practicing the organ that she turns it into the magnificent organ that it can be. Then she’s off-- back across the street to work on the bulletin for Sunday. She has had full CHOIR PRACTICE this week also.!!! In her spare time, she looks for spare time with Ashley as they work on Choir School.
As I moved from one various task to another, I kept thinking about what we could do for St. Johns. What could we bring back to St. Johns? I thought of finding Rev. Evans scrapbook that had fallen behind other books, and sidetracked me in its pages; a pleasant surprise to find Dorothy Polando’s sticker with her complete address on it on a crayon box; kneeling to dust and polish the altar rail and thinking of hundreds –no, thousands of knees that had knelt there; going into the back room where the silver and cleaning supplies are kept and see the great care that is evident in polishing, taking care of history; polishing the ends of the pews and finding that Daniel Webster has a pew next to David Rocray’s pew; and that we have enough crayons to fill any other tunnels that might be unearthed.
I found that I could not think of a thing that I could bring to St. Johns that was not already there. That is what is meant by “not seeing the forest for the writing on the wall.” It was the perfect week to look more closely at St. Johns as this Community of Faith anticipated Homecoming Sunday. It was a busy week, all the better to see the depth of the sense of spirit and grace that is alive. It is a church filled with really good people who do really good things. They know how to work together, laugh together and love each other.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”