He was my best friend

 He Was My Best Friend

Folks, it took a while but I finally got this whole thing figured out. Like the Scripture says; “In my father’s house there are many mansions.” I know today’s Gospel says “dwelling places” but I like the old translation “mansions”. So I’d like to go a little upscale when it comes to my sojourn in the Heavenly Habitations, having lived in Lynn the last 15 years, if its all the same to you. 

There’s lots to do there like there is here. Places to go and things see and people to love…and especially Bill. His beloved Bill. How happy they are to be together once again. Forever.

To mix things up there’s a host of friends to visit. I call him my best friend but there are many who will claim him their best friend too. So big was that man’s heart, so extravagant his love, that he likely considered you his best friend…at least that’s how he spoke of you to me.

There were the three of us in seminary and we were quite the triumvirate. There was Phil and Graham and me. We had nicknames for each other but I can’t tell you what they were, not here, not now.  And I alone am left. Phil is tapping his toes, saying; “Will you hurry up Bresnahan…I need you here to lighten things up a bit. Graham can be a bit intense.” 

“Hold your horses, Phil, I’m in no hurry. Cindy and I have plenty of living to do still. You will just have to wait.” 

You may wonder, do I really believe all this stuff? I kinda have to. Its what you might call an occupational hazard. It comes with the territory. Do I have my doubts…you can be certain of that. But I just can’t help myself. I love people so much that the thought of leaving them or their leaving me is so exquisitely painful that to allow my love to diminish or change makes my spirit kinda short circuit. My love is very, very strong and requires me to believe.

It all depends on whether there is a God. Trouble is I love Science too. I am fascinated by astronomy and theoretical astrophysics, Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Stephen Hawking’s understanding of Black Holes and all that stuff. And lots of folks have long since jettisoned the idea of God as being unnecessary since Science has a “better explanation”. And they have a point. 

But I love theology and the church, and the liturgy, and the Book of Common Prayer. I love Shakespeare, Classical and Folk Music and playing with trains. I love life in all of its dazzling abundance. 

But focus now. Focus on Phil. He was alive once you may remember. How could you forget? You talk about love…there was no better practitioner of the art than my best friend Phil. He loved people. He loved music. What a voice, especially in his younger years. He loved to play the pipe organ and the people in his beloved choir and all the members of St. Peter’s, Beverly and a panoply of others along the North Shore. And of course his family. 

Like Bill, Phil was a beautiful human being. And they both worked a little shop in Salem called Beautiful Things. How aptly named, since they too were among the most beautiful things I’ve ever met.

Whenever you came into the presence of Phil you would come within a force field of pure affection. His radiance would lighten your soul. He would envelop you his love and humor. If he delivered flowers to you he’d brighten your day as he did day in and day out for decades. 

Remember it? The doorbell rings and you answer and there he is, that smile and a line that would tickle your heartstrings. “Come in Phil.” Oh God, do I miss that man. Oh for a cup of tea or a splash of something stronger. More than once in these past few weeks have I shed a tear or two.

Ah but I got that part figured out too. Because when John the Divine envisioned the experience of heaven he saw “a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne”, and in the grace of that moment “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”.

And my dear family; Phil’s family. I know how he touched your hearts and how each one of you touched his. To say that you were precious to him is to vastly understate the extent and the intensity of his love for you. I want to thank you personally for the care you took of Phil in these latter days. Things were not going well on High St. and my buddy was in real danger there. You took the time and the energy and somehow by the Grace of God engineered the extrication of Phil from the home he loved and lived in for all those years with Bill and managed to get him to move to Colonial Gardens.

For a while that worked out but then Phil had more or less made up his mind that he had had enough. Winter came and this time, he did not make it out.

But this I have also figured out. He loved a good meal with family and friends. Every time he went to a holiday gathering with his beloved family, I heard all about it whether I wanted to or not. Being with you was like a foretaste of heaven to him, so much did he love you.

Whenever Phil and I had a chance we would go to our favorite haunts. He especially loved the Old Tyme on Boston Street in Lynn. And when Bill took sick and we spent a day at the Brigham we’d end up at Mr. Dooley’s in Boston. 

When we walked into the doorway of an Irish pub it was like passing through the Gate of Heaven. All the world’s troubles evaporated into thin air and the music of the uilleann pipes, and the bodhrán eased our pain. We’d order a drink and a bite to eat and thought the moment might last forever. 

All this have I all figured out. Because we’ve all been invited to the Great Messianic Banquet. I hope you were paying close attention to the first reading because it describes what Phil and Bill, and Graham and so many more loved most. To sit down together and feast together in the eternal presence of friendship. To tell stories, to laugh until our sides hurt, to confide in one another as the best of friends will and to do so as it was in the beginning, is now one will be forever. This is a foundation stone of faith.

I remember Phil had his doubts about this whole Resurrection thing.

So I told Phil the story of the Turtle and the Alligator to help bump up his faith just a little bit. While that had mixed results he loved the way I told the story. He made me promise I would tell you this story some day when the chips are down. 

Phil the chips are down today and and “a promise made is a debt unpaid”. So here goes.

Friends bear with me for to tell the story I have to put on the persona of a Cajun/Creole from way down yonder in the bayous of Louisiana. With my apologies to the real thing here’s my take on the story the the “Toitle and de Allumgadah.” 

Wan day, toitle he go swinnin’ in de swaump.

An’ de suuune shyne down

                  Toitle he mine his business cool hiseff off

                  But ownne de show dey be allumgadah.

Allumgadah, he luuke own dat toitle,

He say, “Mmmmmm, dat look gooude

So he own sliddle in de wawdah lak ‘dat wan

Real quiet like, smooooove….

        Den toitle he say “mmmmm…Sunnen lookin’ at me!

He look own his shouldah, an dat wen he see

Allumgadah!

So he get to moving fassah, moon his foots quick

Den ‘gatah shooks his tail ‘en he slice de wawdah quick

Toitle he say “I beddah move fassah…”

He moon his back foots too

But gatah he too quick for dat toitle

An’ toitle he say; “What I goin’ dew? What I goin’ dew?

Well, you know what dat toitle done?

I’ll tell you what dat toitle done.

He pull hiseff up, he stood right on top of de wawdah

He looks up seen de branch hangin’ over dat swamp

He ben’ his knees, den he jumps up out de wawdah

He grab on dat branch, pull hisself up, ben hisself over

An’ gadah he snap his jaw but he cain’t get no toitle

Now I know what yow thinkin’. 

I know zackly what yow thinking 

“Hain no toitle ken jump up out de wawdah lak dat wan.”

What you mean toitle cain’t jump up out de wawdah?

He haaad to!

All of which is to say that you have all been invited to a magnificent banquet in one of many mansions where God will wipe away every tear from your eyes and never forget my friends,

“Dat toitle he ken wawk on wawdah!” Because…. “he haaad to!”

In the Name of God, the Most Holy Undivided, Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

"Blessed are the Merciful"

 “Blessed are the Merciful” ~Jesus, Matthew 5

The President demands an apology from the Bishop. The Bishop has declared that no such apology will be forthcoming. In the long history of Church/State relationships there have been some “testy” moments.

The Biblical narrative is full of confrontations between Kings and Prophets. Daniel was thrown into the Lions Den because he refused to worship King Darius ~Daniel 6. 

My personal favorite; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego also refused to worship the Golden Image and they were cast into the fiery furnace. ~Daniel 3.

In the defining moments for the Children of Israel Moses went head to head with Pharaoh to demand an end to slavery and it took a succession of plagues to convince him to let the people go. 

In the American context we were blind to our cruelty to Native Americans as we took their land and drove them through the Trail of Tears to a land we would later steal again.

There were Abolitionists on the one hand and those who used the Bible to justify slavery on the other. Our history is full of cruel chapters full of lynchings and race riots. We left the Greenwood section of Tulsa in ashes, hundreds dead and quickly erased the history of that event lest history hold us accountable. I will never forget the Sunday four little girls died in a bomb blast in Sunday School. 

In the Episcopal Church we fought for Civil Rights, Gender Equality, LGBTQ inclusivity in hopes that we might fulfill the Biblical notion of Paul that “in Christ there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” ~Galatians 3:28

We ordained women and I was there for the consecration of the first Gay Bishop, Gene Robinson. He had to wear a bulletproof vest and there were bomb threats from “christians” of course. But for the thousands in attendance at that service the joy knew no bounds as we watched God’s embrace of humankind extend yet again in ever broadening circles. 

And now this. The diminutive form of Mariann Budde speaking truth to power, humbly asking for mercy, giving voice to the voiceless. And for speaking so to the President she has been vilified by both the President and his minions. 

With the release of the January 6 insurrectionists it is as though the Wizard has unleashed his “monkeys” to wreak vengeance on any who would have the temerity to speak out of turn or disagree with the President. He has removed protections from the likes of Mike Pompeo, Anthony Fauci and fifty others and has said that he would feel no responsibility if any harm befell them. 

In the meantime the Republican Party remains silent. But not our Bishop. Not Marianne Budde. In the kindest and gentlest way she asked for mercy on behalf of of those who were scared, frightened. They are the vulnerable in our midst. The LGBTQ folk and the immigrant community, many of whom do the work white folk won’t do; picking the fruit and vegetables laboring in the hot sun, cleaning offices, hotels, taking care of the elderly in our nursing homes. Not all of them are documented and not all of them are criminals. 

Is it not possible for you to have mercy, Mr President?

You do know that Jesus did say; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”?

You have read the Beatitudes? Matthew Chapter 5. 

You do know that the word “Mercy” is used in the King James Bible 132 times and that all forms of that word are used in both the New and the Old Testaments 210 times? 

Sadly I suspect that your lust for power has blinded you to any thought for mercy. And more tragically for you and for our nation your fragile ego cannot admit you lost an election. Thus you became the one to lead us to the Insurrection of January 6,2021. And now that Insurrection has come to this moment. 

That is why our Bishop had to call you to account as she did from that noble pulpit adorned as it was with a spray of flowers around the perimeter of its breadth. All she did was ask for mercy.

For the sake of the Nation I hope you will reconsider. 

One more thing Mr. President. I’m not sure you have read about the Judgement of the Nations but I urge you to read Matthew 25:31-46

In summary Jesus says; “Insofar as you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to me…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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Mind you, if you do not extend such mercy to those in need, Mr President, you may be held accountable by a Higher Authority than anyone on this planet. You may want to read to the end of Chapter 25.

Your call Mr. President.

How did I get to be so lucky

 “How Did I Get to Be So Lucky?”

A Farewell Meditation by Fr Paul

In the Name of God; the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen

How did I get to be so lucky to be your Anamchara? What were you thinking of when you picked the likes of me? You realize it has been 10 years this past Sunday. What a fun ride that was! And what a privilege to walk with you the Pilgrim’s Way. It was also 10 years ago that I underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost more than 100 lbs! And I’ve maintained that weight loss. Ain’t I lucky to have a medical team I have. And talk about luck. It has been 15 years since my prostatectomy and radiation treatments. There’s some of you know that story! Now I’m on two forms of hormone therapy to keep the cancer confused as to my gender identity. Talk about being non binary! How lucky am I.

And that’s just me. Imagine my ancestors survived the Great Hunger in the Old Country. Two thirds of the villagers died in my ancestral home. Another two thirds died aboard the coffin ships in the passage to America, and a bunch more got shipped back again when disease claimed their souls in quarantine. There was immigrant hostility in Yankee Boston; “Irish need not apply”. And here I am a priest in “the” Yankee church for 52 years this month. How did I get to be so lucky?

My dad and his shipmates played hit and miss games with German U-boats during WWII. His eyes would light up his head would rear back and he’d roar with laughter when he told me; “Hey kid, life is a crap shoot!” And now here we are each with a story to tell of how we come to be gathered together today. How did we get to be so lucky?

But it wasn’t by a roll the dice that we got to be here. I believe it is by the Grace of God that we are here, Grace upon Grace. As Peter tells us in today’s first lesson; “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” What a Joy to follow the Way of Jesus! I cannot begin to describe the love that’s in this room and online today. Do you have any idea how much I love you, have loved you will love you? But infinitely more is the love of God for us. Not only here and now, but when we leave this place and return to our homes, workplaces, churches for the Grace of which I speak fills us and carries us in ways we can hardly begin to fathom. As the Psalmist says; “Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; * so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.”

Which brings us to the intersection of this moment. We prepare our hearts now to pass the baton. The Abbot to the Abbess and the Anamchara to the Anamchara. Brother/Abbot John Brendon to Sr/Abbess Patricia Sarah and Fr Paul to Fr Jeff. What Grace!

But hold the phone…do you have any idea what you’re getting yourselves into? God has cast a holy eye upon you, Sr. Pat and Fr Jeff. I give thanks and praise for you, that you are willing to say yes. I’d like to say that your tenure will be uneventful. But if my experience is any indication; or if the experience of our founders and successors bear witness, life is not without its occasional challenge from time to time. 

No question we find ourselves tossed into the occasional maelstrom. Like Jesus in a storm on Lake Galilee or faced with impossible questions like whether to pay taxes to Caesar. In the former case he simply told the sea; “Peace, be still!” With the biblical literalists it was not so easy. Whatever the answer eventually they will catch him in his words and find a way to crucifixion. 

Thankfully, it never got that bad being Anamchara, Abbot, Abbess. But sure and its a wild ride we’re on from time to time.

So let me give you something to take hold of as you live into your calling, as we all live into our calling. What else do we have but the Grace of the Triune God? That’s all I’ve ever had all my life but I find its been more than enough. 

When I think of God I think of the Creator of all that is in Heaven and Earth. Jesus is my Savior and the Holy Spirit is the One who makes everyone and everything Holy. And we are the choir singing in harmony with the Host of Heaven.

We are partners with God in Creation. I think of you in your spare time engaged in the creative arts. Some of us are regaling one another with good stories and conviviality. Some seek a moment of quiet to pray or to write or read. But there’s hardly a moment goes by without our being one with God in Creation. We love to create and care for beautiful things. Art and music and literature and in ways to too many to number. Every spare moment of her life my grandmother would crochet. And her afghan still gathers me in the warmth of her love.

We are partners with Jesus in the business of salvation. God knows we’re always working to salvage what we can of the messes we make in life. This is exactly why God sent Jesus into this world. Quoth God; “Will you look at the mess! Go see what you can do to salvage what you can of the lives of those folks.” And look what he did for us. He touched our hearts and changed our lives.

Mind you we face some challenging times. There are wars and rumors of wars and climate change hastens its way towards us. And whatever happens in the election this November, America will never be the same again. But then read the history books. We’ve seen it all before. Vikings have laid waste to our sacred people and places long before this. Empires come and empires go and through it all we have endured and prevailed because only God remains Supreme. 

Be advised I have no idea how “orthodox” this approach is to the Trinity. It may smack of “modalism” or some other heresy. But I’m not all that bright. What I do know is how God is at work in me and in those around me and that’s why I speak the way I do about the God I love. And by now you may sort of catch on as to how I’m living into my faith. I speak in terms I can understand. 

Because we are also partners with God the Holy Spirit: the Hagia Sophia, She who is the Holy Wisdom from on high. She’s so beautiful.

My grandmother comes to mind of course. She was my storyteller, the gift giver of my faith. I could flee to her for a hug, a healing touch, a moment’s refuge. There’s not a day goes by I don’t call on her; “Ma...” The Spirit that moves between us is always living and true and you can see it on my face even now. Or my darlin’ bride. Talk about lucky! How did I ever find her? Talk about Holy Wisdom, intelligence or just plain love. There’s not a moment I am not without her sacred presence. 

If ever I learned anything about the sanctification of life I learned about it from them. Which brings me up to the here and now of this sacred time. You. How beautiful you are. I hope you realize how beautiful you are. How much in the presence of the Holy I feel when I’m with you. What Wisdom there is in this place. What love and affection. What a gift you are to me to each other. The Holy Spirit is palpable among us. 

Therefore Sr Patricia Sarah and Fr Jeff. Do you mind standing up for just a moment? We would very much like to hold you up in prayer. And Abbot John Brendan let’s you and me stand up too. God knows this crowd holds us up in prayer. Now it is time for you in your turn to answer God’s call as we did in ours. God knows what you’ll be called to do and who you will be called to be for us but of one thing I am sure. “The Great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant will equip you with everything good that you my do God’s will working you that which I is well pleasing in sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom be glory forever and forevermore. Amen” ~Hebrews 13:20-21.

Now I come to you with these concluding words as your Anamchara. There’s an old Portuguese folk saying. “Deus escrive certo por lignas tortas”. With apologies to my friends in Brazil for errors in pronunciation etc that means “God writes straight with crooked lines.” That is to say, as we walk the Labryinth of Life the Triune God is at work in us every step along the way, with every detour. No matter how far we wander or stray….God the Creator, God the Savior, and God the Holy Spirit is always writing straight into our hearts working out the particulars of our salvation with us. For with the triune God there is always forgiveness, reconciliation and love.

How did we get to be so lucky!

And now may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen

Respectfully submitted,

Fr Paul Bresnahan, Companion to the Fellowship

Readings from which the above meditation stems.

2 Peter 3:11-18

Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Final Exhortation and Doxology

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Psalm 90

• 1  O God, you have been our refuge * from one generation to another. 
• 2  Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, *
  from age to age you are God. 
• 3  You turn us back to the dust and say, *
  “Go back, O child of earth.” 
• 4  For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
  and like a watch in the night. 
• 5  You sweep us away like a dream; *
  we fade away suddenly like the grass. 
• 6  In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
  in the evening it is dried up and withered. 
• 13  Return, O God; how long will you tarry? *
  Be gracious to your servants. 
• 14  Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
  so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. 
• 15  Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *
  and the years in which we suffered adversity. 
• 16  Show your servants your works *
  and your splendor to their children. 
• 17  May the graciousness of our God be upon us; *
  prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork. 

Mark 12:13-17

The Question about Paying Taxes

Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.