For All the Saints: John Donne

In the Anglican communion, as well as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the English poet and cleric John Donne (1572-1631) is honored today, the anniversary of his death.

Here is an excellent summary of his life and influence (and the source of this picture): http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-donne

And here are three favorite poems:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

******

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

******

Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
         Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
         And do run still, though still I do deplore?
                When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
                        For I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won
         Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
         A year or two, but wallow'd in, a score?
                When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
                        For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
         My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
         Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
                And, having done that, thou hast done;
                        I fear no more.

Landscape: Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer, "Lots Frau" ("Lot's Wife"), 1989. Cleveland Museum of Art.

For All the Saints: John Klimatos, & an Uncondemning Monk

Icon of John Klimatos,
from Wikipedia

On the Orthodox calendar, St John Climatus (John of the Ladder) of Sinai is honored today in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, and he is also honored in Orthodox churches on the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent. Few facts are known of his life during the 600s; he joined the monastery at Mount Sinai during his teens and lived there until his death at 80. During a period of twenty years when he lived in a cave, he wrote a classic work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which is still read a treasury of spiritual wisdom which is read in its entirety in monasteries during every Lenten season. In that work, Jacob's Ladder Genesis 28) is used as an analogy for the progression of one's body and should to God. Each step corresponds to different virtues until one reaches the highest, which is love. In the 19th century, philosopher Soren Kierkegaard used "John Climatus" as one of his pseudonyms.

March 30 is also the day for honoring "an uncondemning monk." The Orthodox Saints site has this:
"This monk died joyfully because he had never in his life condemned anyone. He was lazy, careless, disinclined to prayer, but throughout his entire life he had never judged anyone. And when he lay dying, he was full of joy. The brethren asked him how he could die so joyfully with all his sins, and he replied: 'I have just seen the angels, and they showed me a page with all my many sins. I said to them: "The Lord said: 'Judge not, that ye be not judged.' I have never judged anyone and I hope in the mercy of God, that He will not judge me." And the angels tore up the sheet of paper.' Hearing this, the monks wondered at it and learned from it."

Landscape: Tryon

Dwight William Tryon, "Autumn" (1892). From: http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/american/Tryon_slideshow.asp#autumn

Landscape: Monet

Claude Monet, "The Seine near Giverny," 1888.

A Year's Music: Tavener's "Veil of the Temple"

This is a very long piece that I plan on listening to during the upcoming week: http://paulstroble.blogspot.com/2014/03/taveners-veil-of-temple.html

For All the Saints: Richard Allen

On the Episcopal Church calendar, Richard Allen (1760-1831) is honored today, the anniversary of his death. Born into slavery, Allen founded the first independent black denomination in the US, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1794, and was elected its first bishop in 1816. In the AME Church, he hoped to give free blacks a place to worship with respect and dignity. He also organized Sabbath schools to teach literacy, promoted the well being of American blacks, and operated an Underground Railroad station. As a young person he had taught himself to read and write. Already active in Methodist evangelizing, he was qualified as a preacher in 1784 when the Methodist Church was founded at at the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore.  He became a preacher at the St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, but when the white Methodists ordered the blacks to worship separately, he and the rest of the black congregation left and formed the basis of the AME Church, which in twenty years had nearly 1300 members.