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Sunday, March 22, 2009


In Celebration & Praise of The Annunciation
of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
“Hail, thou that art highly favored…”

A reflection,
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB
Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal)
Mill Valley, CA USA
(North of San Francisco)
Wednesday Eucharist, March 25, 2009
Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1994

Isaiah 7: 10-14
Hebrews 10: 5-10
Luke 1:26-38
Psalm 40: 1-11

In the name of God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The word of David is fulfilled this day as we celebrate Mary, who says “Yes,” to the Lord. The obedient young woman, the virgin Mary, Mother of God, says “Yes,” to the Lord after the Angel Gabriel greets her: “Hail, you that are highly favored…”

Let us add our voices and hearts with others, as we consider: Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. The fields shall be joyful, and all the trees of the wood before the Lord, because He cometh. And in what way, what special way, did God give his only Son to mankind? Born of a virgin, bringing into the history of God and man a new life with God in Christ, a new period in the history of the divine-human relationship that will be for ever and ever. For Gabriel said in greeting: “Hail, you that are highly favored…”

The pure Virgin Mary cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. And the Angel immediately proceeded to say, The Lord is with thee: fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call him Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Shall I still remain a virgin?

And while she was yet in perplexity as to these things, the angel placed before her the summary of his whole message, and said to Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Meekly, then, did grace make election of the pure Mary alone out of all generations.

Mary was obedient, and holy. She was pure. It was goodness that brought Jesus Christ into the world, and specifically the goodness of God who loves us that brought the Saviour of the world and mankind. Listen to these words in celebration of Mary by a woman poet:

Virgin
by Luci Shaw

As if until that moment
nothing real
had happened since Creation

As if outside the world were empty
so that she and he were all
there was--he mover, she moved upon

As if her submission were the most
dynamic of all works: as if
no one had ever said Yes like that

As if one day the sun had no place
in all the universe to pour its gold
but her small room


Let us imagine together this event, so awesome and holy, so large and cosmic as to create in us the need to recognize that God’s ways are not our ways.
The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary is the beginning of Jesus in His human nature. It is through His mother that He is a member of the human race. So the story tells us: The virginity of Mary before, during, and after the conception of her Divine Son was always considered part of the deposit of faith. The Incarnation of the Son of God did not in itself necessitate this exception from the laws of nature. Through Mary a new generation begins of the children of God.

We recite words like these that make the miracle real: “…[M] aker of heaven and earth, /of all that is, seen and unseen…God from God, Light from Light, /true God from true God, /begotten not made…”

The Redeemer does not arrive in the way of earthly generations: the power of the Holy Spirit enters the chaste womb of the Virgin, forming the humanity of Christ.
This Holy Spirit, which enters Mary in its creation, creates an incarnate God, a man to be born of woman, in Mary’s womb. But the spirit of Christ Jesus is so large, so immense, so cosmic a spirit that He is in reality begotten into the world. In the words of the Hymn by Third Century Syrian Poet Ephrem:

He dwelt in the vast wombs of all creation.
They were too small to contain the greatness of the Firstborn.
How indeed did that small womb of Mary suffice for Him?
It is a wonder if (anything) sufficed for Him.
Of all the wombs that contained Him, one womb sufficed:
[the womb] of the Great One Who begot Him.

The womb that contained Him, if it contained all of Him,
Is equal to the wonderful womb
That is greater than [the womb] of His birth.


As we celebrate and remember Mary and the Annunciation, her obedience to God, let us thank God for this cosmic act in love of humankind. Let us be grateful for Christ Jesus and his life. Again, the poet Ephrem may with his voice, help us--we join him when he writes:

Glory to Your coming that restored humankind to life.
Glory to that One Who came to us by His First-born.
Glory to that Silent One Who spoke by means of His Voice.
Glory to that Sublime One Who was seen by means of His Dawn.
Glory to the Spiritual One Who was well-pleased…

…Glory to that Hidden One Whose Child was revealed.
Glory to that Living One Whose Son became mortal…
…Glory to that One Power Who fashioned Him.
The Image of His greatness and Form for His hiddenness…
…Glory to that Hidden One Who even to the mind
Is utterly imperceptible to those who investigate Him.


Of what became of Mary in her life with Christ--we know this of the Lenten season from the Lenten story and text “The Way of the Cross.” In the hymn “Stabat Mater,” we are reminded that she kept her station at the Cross: how sad and “sore distressed / Now as she, that mother blessed /Of the sole-begotten-One.”

At the end, the body of Jesus is placed in the arms of His mother. She tells us to behold and see if there is any sorrow like hers…”for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” Our hearts go out to Mary. We are moved by her life, and mostly by her faith and obedience.

For His tender mercies sake, let us say together:

Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.


You have redeemed the world. Amen.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009


Summer Hat
A poem (2002)
By Peter Menkin


There, the light tan. Putting it on his head
he comes to pay, and bowing at the register
profers the money. Happy is he who has a new hat.

Wearing the hat,
jaunty, the man
walks down the store aisle with a new step.

Makes for doing a little dance.





Notes from a discussion of the poem on the Academy of American Poets writers workshop ( http://www.poets.org ) .


Willi Gian (poet) says:
The language seems ponderous and verbose to me. For example:

he comes to pay, and bowing at the register (why does he bow)
profers the money (what else would he pay with).

All that has been said is: he went to the register and paid for the hat.

Happy is he who has a new hat. Stilted, I think. A new hat makes a man happy.

and so on......I like hats and know what you are talking about....but this is
not a good fit....w.....


Peter says:
Willi:
What good suggestions and criticism. The poem is an amusement, so I am not too serious with it. The language adds to the humor, so I thought. As for the culture, or practices of the man buying the hat, I could make some guesses why he bowed. But he did. I suppose the formality of so common an act, and its importance, adds to the poetic dimension. Or so was my ambition.

With thanks for your criticism and suggestions,
Yours truly,
Peter

Peter says:
Willi:
Sometimes people come to the register to pay. At Sears, the register is in an area of about 10 square feet, and frequently they come to ask a question, like how much is this? Or they want to talk (yes, talk to pass some time sometimes), ask a question, like Where are refrigerators? They don't always come to the register at Sears to pay.

Note that the tone of the poem sets a humorous and almost kind of satiric note about the plain jane (some call dowdy) Sears & Robuck. Customers who like this man, and they are few, consider the store a formal place, but it is not an upper crust shop (big building, too, by the way). How people enter into the formal side of shopping is also highlighted by the kind of "ponderous" language used in the store--the almost stereotype of the comic elite store manager portrayal.

My hope is in gently mocking, yet still communicating the Sears experience in an amusing slant will put a shopping and human perspective on the smaller side of ordinary life. Afterall, a hat at Sears is not a chapeau (did I even spell the word right?)

I do appreciate your serious stance in critting the poem. It is complimentary to be taken seriously, and I am grateful for both your comment and the spirit within which it is made. Maybe you are right, too?
Yours truly,
Peter



Photograph: Peter Menkin in Television Sales Department, Sears, San Rafael, CA USA (north of San Francisco). 1999. Note the poem was written some time later, hat buy done in Men's Clothing Department, same store.

Sunday, March 08, 2009


Your question: Where is God?

I assume yours is a religious question. There are two easy answers: Come and see, as in attend Church and there you will find God; God is present whether you know it or not, which is to say we are not always aware of God. But where you may be is where God is.

Should you gain some feeling and belief, you may find God in your heart, on your lips, and in your mind. Nonetheless, God is the other. "My ways are not your ways," says God, and he remains somewhat a mystery. Your question is a point of departure, and the beginning of a journey.

There are theologians who believe God is in heaven and that life of heaven is also present on earth. "Your kingdom come," is a familiar phrase in the Creeds, and one worth meditating on if for no other reason to gather oneself in quiet. God is found in the quiet. He is not in the lightning, as the phrase goes from Isaiah. "Be silent and know that I am God," is a well known phrase.

God is revealed and found in Jesus Christ, who points the way and is an entry way to God. God is goodness, and where goodness is found, there you have evidence of God. Creation is good. Most people find good in creation. "Thank you God for my creation," is a good prayer of praise and thanksgiving. It offers gratitude and evidences the same. That is an affirmative statement, and helps on the way.

There are so many answers to your question, Where is God, and it isn't the number of answers but the many facets of the Almighty: the way of Christ in his journey tells us what we need to do to get closer to God. The Bible tells us about God, and in both the Old and New Testament the works are illuminated. They are, "The word of God." Even the "Word" is a way of saying God for the "Word" is the wisdom that is Jesus Christ, and it is in wisdom literature and living that one finds a way to live with God. He is too great to grasp, too awesome to behold, too beyond mankind in conception to understand, he is the other; He is spirit.

"Seek and ye shall find." "Ask and it shall be given." There are so many ways to God in Christ, that the daily work and living is part of the God experience. "I am the vine, and you are the branches." Shortened as these readings may be, they are departure points for the inquirer and seeker. Without doubt, God is an ambiquity, and matter of wrestling with life and Him, of even giving up ones life to find God in Christ. A wise man told me, "Live the questions."

So to know how to find Christ is the answer, to find God and with the Holy Spirit's help, to seek and live in the unknowing and the knowing is where God can be found.

--Peter Menkin, Pentecost 2008 (August)



Photo: "Water Buckets Filling," by Henry Worthy, London (Camaldoli Oblate).