Thoughts on the Eve of Palm Sunday

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,
 and turneth the shadow of death into the morning,and maketh the day dark with night;
 that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The Lord is his name... Amos 5:8

Tonight, after dinner and a movie with Rebecca, I walked up to the barn with the terriers to take care of the evening chores.  High and off to the south shone my good friend Orion, the hunter.  Since we acquired this property, he has been my constant reminder that some things, the important things, never really change.  When I was a boy, my nights were filled with dippers and bears and pole stars.  We watched meteor showers and even got out our telescopes to view the occasional passing spacecraft.  There were fewer lights then, and we saw and knew so much more about the rhythms of the night.  Now, sandwiched between the lights of Lancaster and Columbus, much of my boyhood heritage has passed from sight.  But Orion is still there, defiantly resisting the waste and congestion of modern urban evening illumination, and reminding me that in spite of all which has passed, those things which really do matter are constant in my life.

When Tristan went to Afghanistan, I would look up and remember those days when we looked together at the great Hunter.  When Ashley moved away to start her own family, I found great consolation in the fact that the Hunter was still there, with his great club raised and his shield in position to stop the ravages of lion and dragon.  I still see Orion's presence as God's gift to me, ever telling forth the permanence of those things which are eternal.

So much has changed.  The Republic to which I dedicated my life is not the same place I so gladly served.  The Church into which I was ordained is scarcely recognizable on most days.  But Orion is there, reminding me that God is still in control, and that all the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil will never triumph against Him or his Holy Church.  Kingdoms may rise and fall.  Economies may prosper or languish.  Ecclesial bodies may serve faithfully or lose sight of their calling.  But through it all I remain an incurable, if sometimes rather jaded and cynical optimist, for God reigns and my salvation is secure in Jesus Christ.  Orion helps me to remember these great truths, and to recall a simpler time when being in touch with the rhythms that God has established in creation was perhaps a bit easier, at least for me. 

And so in closing, may God bless my wife and children and grandchildren.  May he bless St. John's and his faithful people throughout the world.  May he bless the idea that America has been and still struggles to be.  May he bless those deployed and those who wait for them.  And may he bring peace to Jerusalem, and to all the world.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.