Lenten Reading, 2020

The earth once more approaches the part of its path around the sun where the church turns her attention toward Lent, her heart toward the Cross, and her hope toward Pascha/Easter.

Reading:

Bible
Weekdays: Genes5is, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah
Weekends: Psalms, Mark, Hebrews
Holy Week (following Great Lent): Exodus, Ezekiel, Job

From my bookshelf

Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, The Road Back to Christ
Fr John Behr, The Cross Stands While the World Turns
Donna Farley, Seasons of Grace
Fr Lawrence Farley, A Daily Calendar of Saints
Fr Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Spring
Johanna Manley, The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox
Fr Vassilios Pappavassiliou, Meditations for Great Lent
Fr Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey to Pascha
The Lenten Triodion

Book Club
Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes

Podcasts
Cynthia Damaskos will be taking a sabbatical from My Beautiful Lent this year. Recordings from previous years are available through her podcast, The Holistic Christian Life (on her web site, and also on ITunes).

Lenten reading, watching

My Lenten reading:

The Bible and the Holy Fathers for the Orthodox selections for this period, which include the traditional Lenten texts from the books of:

Genesis, Isaiah, and Proverbs on week days, and 

Hebrews and Mark on weekends,

Followed by commentary from the early church Fathers.

When You Pray, by Joseph Letendre.

Viewing:

I have subscribed to the video series My Beautiful Lent, coordinated by Cynthia Damaskos, an Orthodox holistic health coach. She is offering new videos for this Lenten season, along with access to those from last year. Videos remain accessible until a week after the Feast (Pascha or Nativity).

I recommend it, along with her Christmas series, My Beautiful Advent. Both series provide a new spiritual interview on Sunday, and a health-related interview on Wednesday. The web site also offers meal plans for those observing the fasts, and physical workout videos for those who wish to use them.  

Fifth Sunday of Lent: history and hope of deliverance

Refrain:
Climbin’ up the mountain, children,
Didn’t come here for to stay,
And if I nevermore see you again,
Gonna meet you on the judgment day.

Moses went down into Egypt land;
He told old Pharoah
That the good Lord sittin' on His heavenly throne
Said, "Let my people go!"
He said, "Let my people go!"

Daniel went in the den of lions,
And he begin to pray,
And the angel of the Lawd locked the lion’s jaw
Oh, wasn’t that a mighty day!
Oh, wasn't that a mighty day!

Children in the fiery furnace,
And they begin to pray,
And the angel of the Lord put the fire out,
Oh, wasn’t that a mighty day!
Oh, wasn’t that a mighty day!
--Spiritual
(a few lines from the Dixie Jubilee singers, with a German accent, and then a Korean)

This song gives us a sense of our place in the timeline of history, in more ways than one. Many American Spirituals carry layered meanings, proclaiming that God's faithfulness to the Jews in the past continues toward His people in the present. He will bring deliverance---perhaps from slavery in this life, as well as from death in the afterlife.
* * * * * * *
We traveled south over the past few days, passing through country traversed by people escaping north on the Kentucky section of the Underground Railroad.
* * * * * * *
Several weeks ago, I heard a minister state from the pulpit that he admired Tony Blair for his apology to the Irish for Britain's indifference to their plight during the great potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century. (A million Irish people died, as a result.)

He said he wished the President of the United States would issue a similar apology to the African Americans of this country for the tribulations inflicted on them by the practice of slavery here. I wish that, too. This is the time.

Fourth Sunday of Lent: anticipation

(For my aunt)
Fair ye well, fair ye well
Fair ye well, fair ye well, fair ye well

Well, in that great gettin' up morning (Fair ye well, fair ye well) ,
In that great gettin' up morning (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
In that great gettin' up morning (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Well, in that great gettin' up morning (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Let me tell you 'bout the coming of judgement
(Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Let me tell you 'bout the coming of judgement
(Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Let me tell you 'bout the coming of judgement
(Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Let me tell you 'bout the coming of judgement
(Fair ye well, fair ye well).

God goin' up and speak to Gabriel (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
God goin' up and speak to Gabriel (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Pick up your silver trumpet (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Pick up you silver trumpet (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Blow your trumpet, Gabriel (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Blow your trumpet Gabriel (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Lord, how loud shall I blow it (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Lord, how loud shall I blow it (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Oh, to wake the children sleeping (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Oh, to wake the children sleeping (Fair ye well, fair ye well).
Fare ye well, fair ye well, Fair ye well, fair ye well, fair ye well.
(rpt)

They be comin' from every nation (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
They be comin' for every nation (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

On their way to the great coronation (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
On their way to the great coronation (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Dressed in a robe so white as snow (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Dressed in a robe so white as snow (Fair ye well, fair ye well).

Singin' oh, I been redeemed (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
Singin', oh, I been redeemed (Fair ye well, fair ye well).
In that great gettin up morning (Fair ye well, fair ye well),
(rpt several times)
---Traditional spiritual, Mahalia Jackson's lyrics.
Listen to Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman sing a few lines.

Third Sunday of Lent: crossing over

Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
My brothers and sisters are all aboard, hallelujah,
My brothers and sisters are all aboard, hallelujah.

Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
The river is deep and the river is wide, hallelujah,
Milk and honey on the other side, hallelujah.

Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
Jordan's river is chilly and cold, hallelujah,
Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah.

Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah,
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
--Traditional

One of my aunts passed away this past Monday. On the internet, you can find she buried an infant daughter in Mahaddei, Somalia, in January of 1958. And that she lost a sister in 1987. And that a Somali "Muslim Mennonite Sufi" living and teaching in Montreal dedicated a poem to her.

She spent most of her life within a one-mile radius of the house where she was born and raised. Her family settled next door to my grandparents when they returned from Africa. The church was half a mile or so away. She made a home for her husband and six children. She looked in on, and cared for my grandmother, until she passed away. She served the church for many years as member and minister's wife. She had a ready smile, a steady faith, a strong will, a great deal of energy, and a huge garden. She fed many people. Like my grandmother, she was interested in people, especially relatives. She noticed and took pleasure in the simple, daily joys of life, the sign of a grateful heart. In her later years, she spent a great deal of time taking care of grandchildren.

I cannot sum up a person in a blog post. I wish I had been able to see her more often.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15.

Second Sunday of Lent: laying my weapons down

Down By the Riverside
Gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
Ain't gonna study war no more.
Refrain:
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
Study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
Study war no more.

Gonna stick my sword in the golden sand;
Down By the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Gonna stick my sword in the golden sand
Down by the riverside
Gonna study war no more.
Refrain

Gonna put on my long white robe. . . .
Gonna put on my starry crown. . . .
Gonna put on my golden shoes. . . .
Gonna talk with the Prince of Peace. . . .
Gonna shake hands around the world. . . .
--Traditional

Recorded by the modern-day Fisk University Jubilee Singers, who follow in the footsteps of the original Jubilee Singers, "the first internationally acclaimed group of African-American musicians."
Peter, Paul, and Mary adapted lyrics.
Pete Seeger sings it on If I Had a Hammer: Songs of Hope and Struggle.
* * * * * * *
I need this, after the past week. It's amazing how relevant these spirituals continue to be. Dee remembers her grandmother singing Jacob's ladder, and now I'm imagining her singing along on this one, too.

First Sunday of Lent: staying the course

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Soldiers of the cross.

Sinner, do you love my Jesus?
Sinner, do you love my Jesus?
Sinner, do you love my Jesus?
Soldiers of the cross.

If you love Him, why not serve Him?
If you love Him, why not serve Him?
If you love Him, why not serve Him?
Soldiers of the cross.

Rise, shine, give God the glory,
Rise, shine, give God the glory,
Rise, shine, give God the glory,
Soldiers of the cross.
--Af­ri­can-Amer­i­can spir­it­u­al
Pete Seeger's variation
Lewis Scharpf, Jr.'s variation
Bruce Springsteen adds his version of Seeger's, which has also been rendered by Arlo Guthrie.
* * * * * * *
(edited)This song has been running through my mind lately, partly as an affirmation that when some aspects of life begin to seem endlessly repetitive, they are not. Every rung is taking us higher.

Over twenty years ago, I spent two years in the Canadian bush country, living on the edge of a lake which was frozen solid from (roughly) November to April. Over one Christmas break, when the students were gone, the single staff trudged across the vast white expanse of the lake to reach a hill referred to by staff as "King's Lookout," after a former staff who liked to hike to it regularly (if I remember correctly).

When we were out in the middle of the lake, we did not seem to move for long periods of time, in relation to the shoreline. The dry snow was over a foot deep. The leader struck a straight course for the lookout. Those behind him stepped into the deep footprints he left behind, over and over, over and over. At times, the monotony of the repetition seemed as if it would slowly drive one crazy.

However, eventually, over time, landmarks on the shoreline could be seen to shift. And finally, our long strung out line reached the far shore, and progress became "normal" again. We passed a tree, a bush, a rock, dried grass, in rapid succession. We gained elevation; we attained the lookout, where we could see for miles, even view our long, snaking trail across the lake.

Then we began the descent, and the long journey back. We were tired; the destination was not (at first) as exciting,* but we had learned the continuous up-and-down motion of our knees would bear fruit. It was the price of the journey.

Maybe a little like picking cotton, washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, teaching a child to eat or toilet. We are headed home.

*But became ever more attractive as we neared it.