Landscape: Rosa Bonheur

Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899), "Relay Hunting", 1887. St Louis Art Museum's art Object of the Day!

"Why the Coronavirus Is So Confusing"

I like "Atlantic" reporting, and this article by Ed Yong has a lot of information about the virus.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/pandemic-confusing-uncertainty/610819/?fbclid=IwAR2I0fzV7I4jPsLdsXMVpa_AJoZHjHFyw3qW0yQSGX0LyS_s_wEOTcbo6Gg

Withering's "Arrangement of British Plants"

I love antique books, and I like to find notable science books from the nineteenth century. Every so often, I write about them on this blog, teaching myself many new things in the process. Click the label "science" below, and you'll find my previous posts (along with my Galapagos photos!).

This lovely set is An Arrangement of British Plants; According to the Latest Improvements of the Linnaean System to Which is Prefixed, an Easy Introduction to the Study of Botany, by William Withering (1741-1799. He was an English physician whose contributions to science are still important: his studies of foxglove lead to the identification of the compound digitalis, prescribed for heart issues.

According to this site, “Withering’s later work, An Arrangement of British Plants (1787–92), was designed to show amateur botanists, many of whom were young women, the utility of the Linnaean classification system. In addition, this work introduced his specially designed field microscope, which subsequently became known as the Withering botanical microscope.”

Here is more on Withering and his life and work. https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Withering#ref1089571

Humboldt's "Views of Nature"

I love antique books, and I like to find notable science books from the nineteenth century. Every so
often, I write about them on this blog, teaching myself many new things in the process. Click the label "science" below, and you'll find my previous posts (along with my Galapagos photos!).

The red book is book is the French translation of Alexander von Humboldt’s Ansichten der Natur: mit wissenschaftlichen Erläuterungen (1808, expanded edition 1849). The book was translated into English as Aspects [or Views] of nature, in different lands and different climates with scientific elucidations. 

Laura Dassow Walls wrote a wonderful book (which I discovered before Wulf’s, below), The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander Humboldt and the Shaping of America (University of Chicago Press, 2009). She writes:

“…years before, when in Berlin’s darkest days, his homeland conquered by Napoleon, [Humboldt] had put together what he called his favorite book, Ansichten der Natur, a collection of essays recalling the beauty and pathos of the tropics. In his preface he had stated, ‘It is to minds oppressed with care that these pages are especially consecrated.’ Humboldt was evoking the wisdom of Kant, who had written that in an age of oppression, the role of the intellectual was to energize the people with hope for better times, les they lose heart in the possibility of reform and accept, in Muthu’s words, ‘the injustice of the modern world as an inevitable necessity.’ Kant’s model was Humboldt’s old friend and teacher Moses Mendelssohn, who had despite every reason for a debilitating pessimism had believed it yet possible to create tolerance and civil rights for Jews. Humboldt’s language of nature, of harmony and freedom, provided not escape but hope that change is possible, oppression can be lifted, and injustice made right. His New World became a state on which a new future might be reimaged for all humanity” (47-48).

Andrea Wulf’s book, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World (Knopf, 2017), has this passage: “In Views of Nature, Humboldt showed how nature could have an influence on people’s imagination. Nature, he wrote, was in a mysterious communication with our ‘inner feelings.’ … What we might take for granted today—that there is a correlation between the external world and our mood—was a revelation to Humboldt’s readers. Poets had engaged with such ideas but never a scientist. Views of Nature again described nature as a web of life, with plants and animals dependent on each other… The lessons that he had begun with his sketch after the ascent of Chimborazo, the Naturgemälde, now became broader. The concept of Naturgemälde became Humboldt’s approach through which to explain his new vision” (133)

She writes earlier that Humboldt’s “infographic" painting of Chimborazo was named
Naturgemälde, meaning a “painting of nature” but https://geographical.co.uk/places/mapping/item/1542-the-invention-of-nature
implying a sense of wholeness and unity (88). See also

Wulf goes on to write that Goethe, Thoreau, Emerson, Darwin, Jules Verne, and others read Views of Nature. Walls also writes considerably about Humboldt’s influence.

Table of contents of the 1850 American edition.

Happy Birthday, St. Louis (the guy)

King Louis IX of France, aka Saint Louis, was born on this day in 1214.

Interesting monarch to read about today! On the awful side, he led two crusades and ordered Jewish books burned. On the good side, he supported the arts and the church, helped the poor, and served as an arbiter in disagreements among other monarchs. He was canonized in 1297, the only French monarch to be declared a saint. There are five American communities named for him--including our fair city---and others around the world.

This is a statue of him in the Gothic chapel Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, which Louis had constructed to house what is purported to be Jesus' crown of thorns, a holy relic that Louis acquired from the Latin Emperor of Constantinople. The crown was later housed at Notre Dame and was rescued from that church's fire. I took this picture last summer, when Beth and I visited Paris! (It's fun to think of traveling, which it's possible again.)

Cuvier's "Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe"

I love antique books, and I like to find notable science books from the nineteenth century. Every so often, I write about them on this blog, teaching myself many new things in the process. Click the label "science" below, and you'll find my previous posts (along with my Galapagos photos!).

This is book with the bright red binding is an 1850 edition of the 1826 text, Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe (Discourse on the upheavals [or revolutions] of the surface of the globe), by Georges Cuvier (1769-1832).

Cuvier had numerous scientific accomplishments. He founded the field of vertebrate paleontology and grouped extinct species into Linnaean taxonomy. He also established extinction as a scientific fact, a controversial conclusion at the time. His study of the geology around Paris founded the principles of biostratigraphy, and he also named the species “mastodon” and “pterodactyl.”

Cuvier followed the catastrophist theory of geology: the theory that the earth’s features could be explained by catastrophic events. He believed that there had been not one but numerous such events, which not only explained geological phenomena but also different kinds of fauna. He advance the theory in his 1812 Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrupèdes (Researches on quadruped fossil bones), and in revised detail in his 1826 Discours sur les révolutions. Ultimately, the theory of uniformitarianism—the earth's features have developed gradually over time—became the leading geological principle following the researches of Charles Lyell and others. But Cuvier's insights, like extinction, were influential for later science, including Darwin's theories.

Discours can be found in English translation here: http://geology.19thcenturyscience.org/books/1831-Cuvier-Revolutions/htm/doc.html

Landscape: Joseph Rusling Meeker

Joseph Rusling Meeker (1827–1887), The Land of Evangeline (1874). The St. Louis Art Museum, which of course is closed at the moment, is posting Art "Objects of the Day" (https://www.slam.org/explore-the-collection/object-of-the-day/) This is today's piece.

Copied under fair use principles.

Landscape: J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner, "Wreckers Coast of Northumberland," c. 1836. His 1775 birthday was yesterday, April 23rd.

Landscape: Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt, "Storm in the Mountains"

Beethoven 250: Piano Works

Therese Malfatti 

As I explained in the January 24, 2020 post, I purchased the Naxos collection of Beethoven's
complete works, which I plan to listen to this year, leading up to Beethoven's 250th birthday on December 16.

These past few weeks, which of course have been spent inside, I’ve been listening to more music! I listened to discs 12-19, listed here as they appear on the set (and in order at the ArkivMusic site). "WoO" means "Werke ohne Opuszahl" ("Works without opus number"), and "Hess" refers to Willy Hess, a Swiss musicologist who compiled a catalogue of Beethoven's works in the 1950s. All of this pieces below are  copied here under fair use principles and come from the Naxos booklet (which has much more detail) and the above website.

12
Concerto for Piano in D major, Op. 61a (the Violin Concerto transcribed for piano, 1806)
Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello in C major, Op. 56 "Triple Concerto" (1804)

13
Concerto for Violin in D major Op. 61 (1806) )
Concerto movement for Violin in C major, WoO 5
Romance for Violin and Orchestra no 1 in G major, Op. 40 (1802)
Romance for Violin and Orchestra no 2 in F major, Op. 50 (1798?)

14
Seven Bagatelles for Piano, Op. 33 (1801-1802)
Eleven Bagatelles for Piano, Op. 119 (1820-1822)
Six Bagatelles for Piano, Op. 126 (1824)
Bagatelle for Piano in A minor, WoO 59 "Für Elise" (1808)
Bagatelle for Piano in A minor, WoO 59 "Für Elise" (1808)
Bagatelle for Piano in B flat major, WoO 60 (1818)
Bagatelle [sketches] for Piano in C major, Hess 57 (1824)
Bagatelle for Piano in C major, Hess 73 (1800)
Allegro for Piano in E flat major, Hess 74 (1800)
Klavierstück in C Major, WoO 54, “Lustig-Traurig” (1802?)

15
Klavierstück for Piano in B minor, WoO 61 (1821)
Klavierstück for Piano in B minor, WoO 61 (1821)
Allegretto quasi andante for Piano in G minor, WoO 61a (1825)
Seven Ländler for Piano, WoO 11 (1798?)
Six Ländler  for 2 Violins and Double Bass, WoO 15 (1801-1802)
Twelve German Dances for Orchestra, WoO 8 (1795)
Minuet for Piano in C major
Six Minuets for Piano, WoO 10 (1795?)
Allegretto for Piano in C major, WoO 56 (1803)
Allegretto for Piano in C minor, WoO 53 (1796-1797)
Fantasia for Piano in G minor, Op. 77 (1809)

16
Twelve German Dances for Piano, WoO 13
Twelve Contradances, WoO 14 (1802)
Six Ecossaises for Piano, WoO 83
Minuet for Piano in E flat major, WoO 82
Bagatelle for Piano in C Minor, WoO 214, Hess 69
Polonaise for Piano in C major, Op. 89 (1814)
Rondo for Piano in C major, WoO 48 (1783)
Prelude for Piano in F minor, WoO 55 (1805)
Two Preludes through 12 Major Keys for Piano/Organ, Op. 39 (1789)
Fugue for Piano in C major, Hess 64 (1795)
Rondo a capriccio for Piano in G major, Op. 129 "Rage Over a Lost Penny" (1795)
Two German Dances, Hess 67
Twelve Miniatures for Piano from the Sketchbooks: No. 9, Menuetto in D Major

17
Rondo for Piano in C major, Op. 51 no 1 (1797?)
Rondo for Piano in G major, Op. 51 no 2 (1798?)
Rondo for Piano in A major, WoO 49 (1783)
Twelve Minuets for Orchestra, WoO 7
Four Bagatelles for Piano, WoO 213
Anglaise for Piano in D major, Hess 61 (c. 1800)
Bagatelle for piano in A major, WoO 81
Waltz for Piano in E flat major, WoO 84 (1824)
Waltz for Piano in D major, WoO 85 (1825)
Menuett in F Major, WoO 217
Ecossaise for Piano in G major, WoO 23 (c. 1810)
Ecossaise for Piano in E flat major, WoO 86 (1825)
Waltz for Piano in C Minor, WoO 219
Minuet for 2 Violins, Viola and Cello in B flat major, Hess 331 [fragment] (c. 1799)
Minuet for 2 Violins, Viola and Cello in B flat major, Hess 331 [fragment] (c. 1799)
Minuet in D Minor

18
Sonata for Piano no 1 in F minor, Op. 2 no 1 (1793-1795)
Sonata for Piano no 2 in A major, Op. 2 no 2 (1794-1795)
Sonata for Piano no 3 in C major, Op. 2 no 3 (1794-1795)

19
Sonata for Piano no 4 in E flat major, Op. 7 (1796-1797)
Sonata for Piano no 5 in C minor, Op. 10 no 1 (1795-1797)
Sonata for Piano no 6 in F major, Op. 10 no 2 (1796-1797)
Sonata for Piano no 7 in D major, Op. 10 no 3 (1797-1798)

Of course, Beethoven wrote a lot of piano music! I enjoyed listening to all these pieces and waiting for a particular one to stand out, like the “Happy and sad” Klavierstück in C Major, WoO 54. So many of the shorter piano works have a great charm.

I hadn’t realized that there were two versions of Für Elise (the 1810 is apparently the most common), or that it was published posthumously, or that it had a more technical title, Bagatelle No. 25 in A Minor. I just knew that I liked to play it on the piano, years ago! The identity of “Elise” isn’t known for certain, perhaps his musician friend Therese Malfatti (pictured above).

Performing the 32 piano sonatas are a goal of the greatest pianists. Today I started on Disc 20, which begins with the Appassionata Sonata. I had a moment of nostalgia for the old Karl Haas radio programs, "Adventures in Good Music," which began with the Appassionata's second movement.

Loved Music: Fanfare for the Common Man

Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man", performed by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2zurZig4L8

Loved Music: Vaughan Williams "Serenade"

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Romance, from Serenade in A minor (1898)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meF4O_MEYE0

Loved Music: Moeran, "Lonely Waters"

Ernest John Moeran, Lonely Waters (1931)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebP_ehR6oLE

Landscape: Édouard Cortès

Édouard Cortès (1882-1969), Place St. Michel, Notre Dame

Copied under fair use principles. 

Landscape: Kanō Kōi

Kanō Kōi, Pheasant and Pine, c.1626; six-panel folding screen, St. Louis Art Museum. 

Copied under fair use principles.

Landscape: Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Three Trees, 1643.

Copied under fair use principles. 

Article on the Pandemic

A long but informative article about the virus and what may lie ahead.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/pandemic-summer-coronavirus-reopening-back-normal/609940/?fbclid=IwAR3VcYzbriGFWoWSgMEKar6TaYzb7LIMKuOFWhsewDXM4R-GIPX1LWmtnAQ

Resurrection and Hope

Resurrection and Hope

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/561964859728937392/

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 28:1-10

  

I’ve always liked cornerstones on buildings. The cornerstone of my home church in Illinois indicates that the building was constructed in 1900, replacing an earlier church that burned in 1899. Of course, such a stone is typically of fine quality, not just any old large rock. 

Psalm 118 has a wonderful verse: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Applied to Jesus, the verse shows the surprising ways of God in gaining our salvation through an itinerant teacher who was put to death by occupying forces. God’s ways are unexpected! To follow the Lord, we shouldn’t rest upon expectations. 

Matthew 28:1-10, for instance, has a similar Easter account as the other Gospels: the (male) disciples of Jesus do not go to the tomb, but the women are brave enough to visit the guarded location. Mary Magdalene Is accompanied by “the other Mary,” the mother of James. They experience an earthquake, which incapacitates the guards. An angel bids them to return to Galilee to tell the disciples, and on the way, the risen Jesus appears to them. Although Jesus does not exclude his eleven remaining disciples, he appears first to his women followers, who are essentially the first sent-out preachers of the Gospel!  

Another story of God’s surprises is the story of Peter and a very unlikely new disciple, the centurion Cornelius. Read that whole story in Acts 10. Within that story, which takes place a few years after the first Easter, Peter preaches some important aspects of Jesus’ work:  

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:34-43, NRSV). 

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality”! In this story, not only is Cornelius a non-Jew (most of the first Christians were Jewish), but he’s also an enemy! He’s part of the occupying force that oppresses the Jews in their land. People like him executed Jesus. But the Lord excludes no one! Soon, Cornelius and his whole household accept faith in the risen Jesus. 

What a wonderful story of how the Lord showers us with love and blessing through the Holy Spirit! What a wonderful Easter message!   

(A devotion written for our church) 

A Good Friday Reading

"From the Catecheses by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop

'If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

"If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

"There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.

"Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life."

From The Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. II, Lenten Season and Easter Season (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Corp, 1976), 474-475.

Landscape: Corodi

Hermann Corodi (1844-1905), "Walk of monks in the cloister of Mount Athos" (1905).

"To Fulfill the Scriptures"

The Gospel accounts of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are filled with allusions and quotations to Old Testament passages. The New Testament authors sought to demonstrate the messianic nature of Jesus by showing correspondence of Jesus' experiences with the biblical traditions. It is so difficult to discuss Holy Week scriptures without sounding anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic; the Gospels were written by Jews about other Jews, but as history moved along, Christianity became a predominantly Gentile religion, and the portrayal of Jews in the Gospels caused Christians to hate and persecute Jews. We must never forget this as we study the scriptures; in my book, I tried to show Jesus' continuity with the scriptures of his religion rather than to take a supersessionist approach.

With all that in mind: if you have time, look up some or all of these passages, so you can appreciate how the Gospel writers interpreted Jesus' experiences as deeply rooted in Hebrew scriptures. The way the Romans treated Jesus reflected their perception of Jews as a troublesome people who, in their religious integrity, refused to respect the Roman gods.

Then [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” 
(Luke 24:44-47)

• Judas betrays Jesus (Ps. 41:9; Matt. 26:14–16; Mark 14:10–11; Luke 22:3–6; John 13:21–30) and receives thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12–13; Matt. 26:14–16; 27:3–7).
• Jesus’ friends abandon him; the sheep are scattered after the shepherd is struck (Ps. 38:11; Zech. 13:7; Mark 14:50).
• The witnesses accuse him (Ps. 27:12; 35:11–12; Matt. 26:59¬–61; Mark 14:55–57).
• Jesus is silent before his accusers (Isa. 53:7; Matt. 27:13–14; Mark 15:3–-5); he does not respond to them with deceit or violence (Isa. 53:12; 1 Pet. 2:22); but he testifies to the victory of the Son of Man (Ps. 110:1; Dan. 7:13; Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:67–70).

For Good Friday, Old Testament passages connected to Jesus’ experiences are many.

• Satan will “bruise” him (Gen. 3:15; John 12:31–33; 19:18).
• Jesus will suffer for the world (Isa. 53:4–6, 10-11; Rom. 5:6–9).
• Jesus experienced insults, rejection, and abuse (Isa. 49:7; 50:6; Ps. 22:8; Matt. 27:41–44; Mark 15:31–32;, Luke 23:35–38). He is spat upon (Isa. 50:6; Matt. 27:30; Mark 15:19). People gloat (Ps. 22:12–13, 16; 38:11; 109:25; Matt. 27:39–40;, Mark 15:29–30; Luke 23:35), and they reproach him and mock him (Ps. 22:6–8, 16–18; 44:13–16; 109:25; Matt. 27:27–31, 39–40; Mark 15:16–20, 25–32; Luke 23:35–36;, John 19:19–20).
• He is led as a “lamb to the slaughter” (Exod. 12:3–13; Ps. 44:11; Isa. 53:7; John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7).
• He is disfigured and brutalized (Isa. 52:14; Ps. 22:16–17; Matt. 27:26; Mark 15:2; John 19:1–3).
• He is pierced (Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10; John 19:33–37; 20:25–27).
• His betrayer dies and the money is used for a potter’s field (Jer. 18:2–3; 32:6–15; Zech. 11:12–13; Matt. 27:3–10).
• He is executed with criminals (Isa. 53:12; Matt. 21:38, 44; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:32–33; 39–43; John 19:18).
• He expresses thirst (Ps. 69:21; John 19:28).
• He is given vinegar to drink (Ps. 69:21; Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36).
• Lots are cast for his clothing (Ps. 22:18; Matt. 27:35;, Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24).
• He makes intercession for those who kill and mock him, and he invokes the compassion of God for them (Isa. 53:12; Luke 23:34, 39–43; Acts 2:36–39).
• He cries, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which is the first line of Psalm 22 (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
• He experiences the onslaught of death (Ps. 69:15).
• He declares, “It is finished” (Ps. 22:31; John 19:30).
• He prays, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” which is taken from Psalm 31:5 (Luke 23:46).
• Romans did not break Jesus’ legs, which would have hastened his death; that his bones were not broken connects us to Psalm 34:20, as well as to Passover Scriptures like Exodus 12:43–46 and Numbers 9:12. These Passover texts, in turn, connect us back to the image of Jesus as the Lamb of God.
• God did not abandon Jesus to death, corruption, and anonymity (2 Sam. 7:12–13; Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:31, 31–32).
• He is given another man’s grave (Isa. 53:8–9; Matt. 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42).
• Jesus accomplishes God’s salvation (Isa. 25:8, and many others).

Remember that nearly all these Psalm references come from Psalms of King David, connecting Jesus’ sufferings with those of his ancestor David and thus saying something about the kind of monarch Jesus is affirmed to be.

(A post from 2016) 

Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday. A possible reason for the word "Maundy" is the Latin "mandatum," or "commandment" to love, from John 13:34. But another reason may be the old English word "maund," which were baskets poor people carried to receive alms.

That reminded me of a verse that has always haunted me: "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the Lord" (Jer. 22:16). If we love God but begrudge care and justice for the needy, we not only fail in loving them, we fail in loving God and do not even know God! According to Jeremiah, though, the righteous King Josiah knew God.

Jeremiah 22:16 dovetails with Micah 6:6-8, and 1 John 4:20b, as well as Matthew 25:31-46 and James 2:14-17. Even the famous John 3:16 implies helpfulness to the needy, for if you believe in Christ as John 3:16 instructs, you respond to “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40).

Traditionally (though not this year!), most churches will have communion services this evening. Years ago, I had an elderly friend who didn't take communion because he didn't feel worthy. I was a teenager and didn't know the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:27---a passage that I wish Paul had expressed differently, because of its potential to be misunderstood---and I don't know if anyone tried to explain the meaning of "unworthiness" to my friend.

Of course, the Eucharist is a sacramental means of grace for sinners. If you feel unworthy, then you're exactly the person Jesus wants to share the meal! The meaning of that whole passage (1 Cor. 11:17-34) is that the Corinthians tolerated divisions in their congregation and, at the meal, some ate and drank their fill and left nothing for the others, thus humiliating them. Not surprisingly, the persons left out at the meal were the less-well-off. Thus Paul scolded the church for missing the meaning of the experience.

When Paul talks about "discerning the body," his phrase has a double meaning: discerning the body of Christ in the Eucharist, but also discerning the body of Christ in the fellowship of Christians where, instead of insisting on our own way, we're sensitive to the needs and feelings of others.

*****

Another aspect of Maundy Thursday is foot washing. John 13:1-20, where Jesus washes his disciples' feet, is a sobering and challenging passage. A host would show hospitality by providing guests water and a towel so they could wash their feet (or a servant did the washing). Jesus “lowered” himself in order to show love to his disciples, who arguably didn’t deserve his love and certainly didn’t understand at that time the depth of his love. Jesus, in turn, calls us to love him in such a way that we place ourselves in his care, and also to love one another so deeply that we, too, are willing to “lower” ourselves to serve each other.  

That's really hard for a lot of us, including me! What if all of us tried to live by these words (with the help of the Spirit)? Say you have a congregation in the midst of conflict; people are critical, gossiping, and unsupportive of one another. Tell the folk that all further decisions about finances, building programs, and program development will stop immediately and won’t be resumed until we’re able (at least hypothetically) to wash each others’ feet. Joe, you want John fired from the staff: wash either others’ feet. Fred, you’re sweet to Sally's face but you talk about her behind her back … There is a bowl of water ….

I would never “use” a scripture just to trick people, but I wonder what would happen if we offered people a chance to be reconciled to each other through mutual, though very humbling service. People might not get together all… or, the Spirit might work wonderful transformation… or, the Spirit would continue to work in other ways.

(A post from 2013)

“And the world came together as the people stayed apart.”

Here is my wife Beth's devotion for our church for Palm Sunday.

“And the world came together as the people stayed apart.”

These words, chalked on the steps of a home in South City, inspire my thoughts about the celebration of Palm Sunday as we remain physically separated from one another in these challenging days.

Every experience and image I associate with Palm Sunday involves close proximity to others, in fact, many others.  As John describes Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on that day, he paints this picture:

“The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted, ‘Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord—Blessings on the King of Israel!’ “ (John 12:12-13)

Hymns we sing on this day pull us into a moment of jubilant celebration:

“From Olivet, they followed mid an exultant crowd, the victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud.” (Number 278)

“Filled with excitement, all the happy throng spread cloaks and branches on the city streets… From every corner a thousand voices sing praises to him who comes in the name of God.” (Number 279)

“All glory, laud, and honor, to thee, Redeemer, King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.” (Number 280).

I imagine vast, pressing crowds of people of all ages, craning for a look at Jesus on the donkey.  I see the enthusiastic waving of the palm branches, high above their heads, pulled quickly as flags and beacons of emotion. I hear a deafening din of gleeful cheering and yelling as everyone is caught up in this moment for which they have waited.

In Palm Sunday worship, we typically recreate through word, song, and the waving of palms the story of that triumphal entry.  What is more difficult is to recapture the experience of that day, even when we gather in physical community with each other.  And this year, we do so without the emboldening and encouraging closeness with our fellow congregants.

Those words on the South City steps speak not only to what we are experiencing during a global pandemic; they call us to connection that is deeper and stronger than simple proximity affords. We are often encouraging each other by saying, “We are in this together.”  And we truly are—while the effects of the health crisis vary by geography and individual, no one escapes the impact of these life-altering circumstances.  We are finding new ways to feel the bonds of shared humanity with one another. Together we are mastering ways to use welcome technologies. Simpler joys of human connection have gained value and priority as our lives have become a bit less crowded.

Yesterday I was beckoned to the front yard by a parade of cars and vans honking their horns at families at the edges of sidewalks in our neighborhood.  As Holy Redeemer teachers motored by, waving at their students and families, they received enthusiastic cheers from their flock. What a lift to the spirit for all of us!

While I crave a parade, the feeling of being part of something larger than myself and my own home, the experience of being in the joyful Palm Sunday throng, I know as a Christian, that the Palm Sunday triumphal entry had different meaning for Jesus.  He surely knew the days to come, the isolation he would feel, the experience he alone would suffer on the cross, and the sacrifice he would make for the benefit of the world—those present that day and generations to come.

Dear God, as we celebrate Palm Sunday this year, may we come together with the world to praise Jesus as my King and Savior, knowing that with his sacrifice we are made whole. Strengthen, us dear God, during these days, and keep us safe in our service to each other. Hosanna! Amen.

"Social Distancing Is a Privilege"

Good column by Charles Blow:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/opinion/coronavirus-social-distancing.html?referringSource=articleShare&fbclid=IwAR1XcaPwvkM3Cm-r5VNHDzOH0dCZKkb8zyxbvHO9y1QHfmXsa1JInvrv1Cc