Volume 50, April 2023

They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was

talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Luke 24.32

We are all familiar with ‘Emmaus moments’ when the veil over the ordinary is

lifted and we see, as for the first time, the true meaning of something.

Broken bread and a shared cup become the Body and Blood of Christ and we

understand, as never before, what that means.

Someone speaks, and the words touch the very depths of our being.

In our life as Christians we long for Jesus to explain the scriptures to us and find

ourselves blessed on those occasions of grace when we in fact realize that he does

so when we read or have the scriptures read to us. Those moments help us to see

the Lord walks with us too--- every step of the way, no matter how long or lonely

our way may seem.

The important thing, at the very least, is to allow for those occasions of grace by

the actual regular reading of the scriptures.

I remember a leading layman in a large church of some several thousand members-

--being asked: ‘How does your church keep renewing itself spiritually and

growing?’

He replied that spiritual growth and renewal is a challenge for any church---no

matter whether large or small.

He went on to talk about a spiritual growth survey his parish underwent.

He said, 

“We took the survey at our church, and the results mirrored the results of many

evangelical churches. The keys to spiritual growth the survey showed are not that

surprising.  

[Spiritual growth is dependent upon] having a daily time where you meditate on

scripture, especially from an application point of view. Regular time in prayer and

giving were other elements too.”

He was basically testifying that we grow spiritually [and hear the voice of Jesus]

by prayer and regular Bible reading.

His final observation bears this out as well. He said that, across the board of

churches participating in the survey, it is revealed that, conversely, those who felt

distant from the Lord in most cases were not practicing the daily round of reading

the scriptures and prayer.

Samuel Johnson, that wise and scholarly 18th century Christian who is the author of

the first English dictionary- once admonished: Keep your friendships in good

repair.

The Easter story of the risen Lord and his disciples on the road to Emmaus,

similarly, encourages us to keep our friendship with the Lord in good repair—by

prayerful attentiveness—to his voice, and his telling of the story—amidst all the

discordant voices in and around us. 

On the road to Emmaus Jesus tells a story, or rather, retells a story so the stories the

disciples have in their head and heart suddenly make sense in the light of the

greater or whole story retold by the risen Lord.

In the Introduction to his Luminaries: Twenty Lives that illuminate the Christian

Way, Rowan Williams writes:

‘The resurrection enables people to retell the whole story of God’s dealings with

his people throughout the centuries as this gradually comes to its focus and climax

in the death and resurrection of Jesus.'

He goes on to say:

‘Jesus tells stories so as to change people’s world. There he is, physically

confronting his audience, saying, ‘At the end of this story, you will not be where

you were at the beginning.’

Williams invites us to think similarly of the parables, especially the great parables

recorded in Luke’s Gospel. These stories are designed to take you out of your

depth and invite you to think afresh of who and where you are. Williams ends by

saying:

The parables of Jesus push us towards getting away from the clichés in which we

imprison ourselves, towards taking us into another world, or several other worlds,

where we don’t yet know the end of our story and where the categories and

conventions, we’ve been taking for granted don’t automatically apply.  

I very much like what Williams is saying. His words make the New Testament

parables and stories come alive as vitally relevant to our lives and as real catalysts

towards a ‘new life’ for each of us—beginning with the story Jesus retells his

disciples on the road to Emmaus.

A happy Easter to you and all your loved ones.



Douglas

Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the

breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in

all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of

the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

A Stranger on the Road to Emmaus

In this illuminated manuscript page c. 1190 we see Jesus and two of his disciples breaking bread at Emmaus, and all of them are wearing Judenhut or the Jewish hat of the time. The illustration is thought to come from Norfolk or Norwich. It is remarkable because only forty years earlier William of Norwich had stirred up virulent antisemitism. In 1290, a hundred years after this illumination portraying Jesus as a Jew among Jewish brethren, the entire Jewish population of England (about 3,000 people) was expelled from the country on the orders of Edward I.

Jewish people had been in England since the Norman Conquest, invited to settle there by William the Conqueror. Over time, the Jewish community had become an essential part of the English economy as Jews were allowed to loan money at interest which Christians were not allowed. Jewish settlements in important English towns consisted of highly skilled individuals who were doctors, goldsmiths, and poets. Jews returned to England in the 1650s, when they were invited to resettle by Oliver Cromwell.

What does this image of Jesus breaking bread at Emmaus suggest to us? To my mind, it illustrates how history changes, sometimes unexpectedly and swiftly, and not always for the better—so any freedoms we are given, or we give to others ought never be taken for granted. It also, ironically, leads me to think of the figure of the ‘stranger’ in our midst today, the respect for the stranger in the Old Testament and Jewish tradition, and Jesus as the ‘stranger’ the disciples encounter on the road to Emmaus. May we never dismiss others. It may be to our own peril.

Do not oppress a stranger; you yourselves know how it feels to be a stranger, because you were strangers in Egypt. Exodus 23.9

…. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25.35

Book Review

Stephen Cottrell. The Things He Said: The Story of the First Easter Day

How much do you know of the Easter story? Perhaps one place to begin an answer is with another question.

In the Introduction to his book aimed at helping guide us through the Easter story as it is relayed to us in the four gospels, Stephen Cottrell writes that one of the great joys of episcopal ministry is the rush of confirmation services during Eastertide. As Archbishop of York, in a given year, he will have confirmed hundreds of people. During Eastertide confirmation services, most of his sermons have begun with the same question: what were the first words that the risen Christ said on the first Easter Day?

Not infrequently, although it was meant as a rhetorical question, quite a few people in the congregation hearing him ask the question, would shout out an answer. He found they invariably got the answer wrong. Having learned that, Cottrell shifted his emphasis slightly from a straightforward question to ‘wondering aloud’ what we think Jesus might have said. Would it be something triumphant—‘I have risen from the dead!’ or maybe something credal--- ‘I have conquered sin and death; I have opened the gate of glory’?

Cottrell tells us the answer is surprisingly different” ‘so surprising, so apparently innocuous, that the words themselves have failed to stick in many people’s minds’. The most popular guess shouted out is ‘Mary.’ Yes, this is one of the things Jesus says, but it is not the first. So which is it?

It is a bit of a trick question. The answer is different in each of the four Gospels, and each Gospel has its own fascinating twist.

In Mark, Jesus does not say anything at all (or at least in the more ancient version ending at Mark 16.8). There is just silence. The women come to the tomb. They have a sense that something has happened. They depart in fear.

In John’s account, Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty, goes and fetches Peter and John, and then she lingers at the tomb when they leave. She is the first person to actually see the risen Jesus although she mistakes him for the gardener. Jesus says to her, ‘Why are you weeping?’ and then, ‘Who are you looking for?’ and then simply her name, ‘Mary.’ She holds onto him and he says, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.’ And then he tells her, ‘But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.”

In Matthew, the women run from the tomb after the angels tell them what has happened and what it means. In running, they then meet Jesus who says to them, ‘Greetings . . . do not be afraid: go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

In Luke there is no record of Jesus saying anything until the evening: then on the Emmaus road he comes alongside Cleopas and his companion and says to them, ‘What are you discussing as you walk along?’ They tell him astonished that he must be the only person who does not know what has happened in Jerusalem. ‘What things?’ Jesus asks. Then then tell him what we would know as the outline of the passion or gospel only they do not interpret it as good news. So Jesus says to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets declared. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”

There, having put before us, or reminded us, of what Jesus said, on that first Easter Day, Cottrell expands each of these sayings into a sustained meditation in its own right. In the first part of the book, which is only some seventy-six pages in total, he concentrates primarily on the account in John’s Gospel and in the second half in concentrates on Luke’s account.

Throughout the book Cottrell reminds us that it is striking that many of the things Jesus says are questions asked by someone who is often not recognized. We are confronted with:

‘a risen Christ who cannot easily be pinned down …. who demands response. But it is not a coercive demand, It is more the magnetic attraction of great and puzzling beauty; the sort of beauty that takes us beyond ourselves. Just as great art poses great questions, so does the resurrection of Christ.’

Cottrell’s book challenges us to slow down and hear afresh the story of the resurrection and to ponder the questions more clearly Jesus poses to his disciples and to reflect on our own relation to the one who offered himself on the cross and who was raised with a new and incorruptible life.

Easter Collect

BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, to joy and rejoicing unspeakable and full of glory in him; to whom with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Spirit, one blessed Trinity, be ascribed all honor, might, majesty and dominion, now and forever. Amen.

Based on 1 Peter 1. 3-4.

Book Review

Lerita Coleman Brown. What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman, published February 7, 2023.

Lerita Coleman Brown, the author of this book about the 20th century Florida born theologian, mystic and civil rights leader Howard Thurman is remarkable and distinguished in her own right.

Dr. Coleman Brown is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology at Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia. She has also pursued a full life in ministry as a spiritual director and in promoting contemplative spiritual practices by conducting workshops and leading prayer groups and retreats across the country.

Her earlier book, When the Heart Speaks, Listen tells of her experience of undergoing heart transplant surgery as a 41-year-old single psychology professor and listening to her heart both physically and spiritually in the months before the transplant in 1995.

Her newly released book about Howard Thurman was recommended to me in the months before it was published by Canon Allison DeFoor. I believe he heard about it from his association with Mari Kuraishi, President of the Jesse Ball duPont Fund. Ms Kuraishi is a Trustee of Agnes Scott College.

How much do you know about Howard Thurman? It would be ample enough to know, as  Coleman Brown introduces him in her book advertisement, as ‘the godfather of the civil rights movement’ who ‘served as a spiritual adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders and activists in the 1960s. Thurman championed contemplation, unity and nonviolence as powerful dimensions of social change and as a sure foundation for any social movement.

If you have not heard of Howard Thurman, Coleman Brown is the ideal guide to discover his approach to contemplative practice as combined with social involvement and living one’s life responsibly in the church and in the community. Over the course of many years of her own spiritual formation and training as a spiritual director Coleman Brown never learned of Thurman in spite of the fact she had been longing to discover a spiritual writer coming forth from contemporary American life and from an African American heritage.

Howard Thurman’s background is of special local interest to us. He was born November 18, 1899 near Palm Beach but brought up by his mother and grandmother in Daytona Beach. His grandmother Nancy Ambrose had started her life as an enslaved woman in north Florida near Lake City. She had survived the hardships of slavery by holding fast to the conviction, shared with her by a traveling preacher, that each and every enslaved person was a holy child of God.

In the early 1990s, in Daytona Beach, African American children were only permitted formal education through the seventh grade. Realizing his abilities and promise, Thurman’s local community ensured that he was given private tuition that enabled him to leave home and attend the Florida Baptist Academy in Jacksonville where he graduated from high school as class valedictorian. That ends the Florida chapter of Thurman’s biography.

From Jacksonville, Thurman won a scholarship to Morehouse College where, once again, he graduated as class valedictorian. Following college, he went on to study and graduate from Colgate Rochester Theological Seminary as valedictorian of his seminary class. Then followed  an increasingly distinguished academic career interspersed with pastoral charges and with a number of theological and religious books published and well received by some of the most influential and thoughtful Christian leaders emerging in the 1960s in the midst of the civil rights movement and the Viet Nam war.

Having read so much of Howard Thurman’s works, and having become a chief interpreter of his work through leading retreats, workshops, and lectures, Coleman Brown says that she still likes to dream about going for a walk with him:

I imagine he would talk about many subjects: silence and solitude, nature, being a holy child of God, divine intervention, the religion of Jesus, mysticism, inner authority, and spiritual mentoring.  

These are indeed the core topics of her book.

You can gain a very good introduction to Howard Thurman by reading his own autobiography, Howard Thurman, With Hand and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, 1981. There is also real value in being introduced to Thurman by Dr Coleman Brown. She writes:

Thurman’s work links the quest for the authentic self to mysticism, to religious experience that demands social change.

We will learn from Howard Thurman that God is moving us toward unity and oneness, and that any attempts to usurp this cosmological certainty will eventually fail. He equips us with the expertise and practices to maintain a rich spiritual life, an aspect of our existence that we often ignore and rarely nurture.

Thurman would insist that we need a rich spiritual life to feel alive. Rather than attempt to escape the world, Thurman suggests we “center down” for spiritual renewal. We may not be conscious that we are on a spiritual journey, but when crises and tribulations arise, a spiritual anchor is essential.

The title to the book Coleman Brown takes from an anecdote recorded by the Roman Catholic writer Gil Baile, who said:

‘Once, when I was seeking the advice of Howard Thurman and talking to him at some length about what needed to be done in the world, he interrupted me.” Thurman replied, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”’ 

I enthusiastically recommend Coleman Brown’s book. In the meantime, awaiting your copy of the book, have a look at her website: https://leritacolemanbrown.com/. There you will find a lot of interesting things about her own work and events and also an excellent section specifically on Howard Thurman with a good bibliography of his works and a timeline of his life and contributions.

Resurrection

Sleep, sleep, old sun, thou canst not have repassed

As yet, the wound thou took'st on Friday last;

Sleep then, and rest; the world may bear thy stay,

A better sun rose before thee today,

Who, not content to enlighten all that dwell

On the earth's face, as thou, enlightened hell,

And made the dark fires languish in that vale,

As, at thy presence here, our fires grow pale.

Whose body, having walked on earth, and now

Hasting to heaven, would, that He might allow

Himself unto all stations, and fill all,

For these three days become a mineral;

He was all gold when He lay down, but rose

All tincture, and doth not alone dispose

Leaden and iron wills to good, but is

Of power to make even sinful flesh like his.

Had one of those, whose credulous piety

Thought, that a soul one might discern and see

Go from a body, at this sepulchre been,

And, issuing from the sheet, this body seen,

He would have justly thought this body a soul,

If not of any man, yet of the whole.

Desunt caetera. [i.e., unfinished]



John Donne

Archdeacon's Corner

The Name of God

In the story of Moses and the burning Bush, God appears to Moses and says that He is sending Moses to free the Israelites from slavery. So, Moses asks God a question “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, ‘The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,’ and they shall say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say unto them? “And God said unto Moses, “I Am that I Am.” In Hebrew, the passage uses the verb ehyeh (a form of the word hayah), normally translated “I am” or “I will be.” That translation works most of the time. But for the meaning of God’s name in Exodus 3, hayah represents God himself.

Now Moses can't go to the Israelites and say, “I am, or I will be,” has sent me. So, in the next sentence God tells Moses “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: YAHWEH (THE God of your ancestors) hath sent me unto you.” 

Moses’ question is valid. Until revealing his personal name God seems to have been called by several different names at different times. Among ancient Israel’s neighbors, people referred to the most powerful god as El, which is not actually a name, but an ancient Semitic title for god. It could refer to many gods, but the chief deity of all the other gods was simply titled “EL,” (in capitals) meaning “THE god.” In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for God is most often Elohim (supreme God or mighty God), which is used over 2,000 times to refer to the God of Israel and a few dozen times in reference to other gods. You can see by the shape of the word that “El-ohim” is a longer form of EL.

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Pilgrimage to the Holy Land & Jordan:

Oct. 24 - Nov. 4, 2023

This fall on Oct. 24 - Nov. 4, 2023, the Rev. Canon Douglas Dupree will be hosting a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Jordan, Asia. On the trip you'll explore destinations such as Mt. Beatitudes, Megiddo National Park, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and more!

To view the brochure, please click here. For more information, please contact the Rev. Canon Douglas Dupree: ddupree@diocesefl.org.

First Coast Wind Symphony Performance and

Art Exhibition at St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville

You're invited to join St. John's Cathedral on Sunday, May 14 for an evening full of art and music!

The Art Guild of St. John’s Cathedral presents an Easter Season exhibition in keeping with the transformative nature of Jesus’s life on earth, his death and resurrection.

The First Coast Wind Symphony begins at 5 p.m. in the Cathedral Nave. The Artist reception Laird: Nature Transformed, will take place at 6:15 p.m. in Taliaferro Hall. The photography exhibition is open to the public through May 27. All artwork is for sale through the St. John's Cathedral Bookstore and Gift Shop.