Rector's Rambling, May 2010- Alfredus Magnus

Rector’s Rambling- May 2010

Those who know me best say that I am rather predictable. Some of them also know that when I truly believe that my world is passing, I reach for a well thumbed copy of G. K. Chesterton’s “Ballad of the White Horse.” The flurry of Easter activities precluded my reading of the news about our denomination, country, and world. But the passing of that great day led me back to the news servers, and I reached again for my well loved copy of the story of King Alfred and my other beloved friends. Mark, the dutiful Roman, has always called me to what I hope to be, but fear I am not. On the eve of the Battle of Ethandune “His speech was a single one,… Dig for me where I die, he said…Bear not my body home, For all the earth is Roman earth, And I shall die in Rome.” Eldred the Saxon has always been my favorite character. In the midst of battle he thought of beautiful things, and of home. “But while he moved like a massacre, He murmured as in sleep, And his words were all of low hedges, And little fields and sheep. Even as he strode like a pestilence, That strides from Rhine to Rome, He thought how tall his beans might be, If ever he went home.” And then there is “Alfred born in Wantage, who (sic) Rules England till the doom.” Of him our Lady had spoken, “But you and all the kind of Christ, Are ignorant and brave, And you have wars you hardly win, And souls you hardly save. I tell you naught for your comfort, Yea, naught for your desire, Save that the sky grows darker yet, And the sea rises higher.” And yet Alfred did prevail for a time, though his world was changed forever. In his brokenness and humility, he faithfully lifted high the Cross of Christ, knowing full well that every generation of Christians would be called to do the same.
And now is our time, for the vision of Alfred is fulfilled. “I have a vision, and I know, The heathen shall return. They shall not come with warships, They shall not waste with brands, But books be all the eating, And ink be on their hands. Not with the humor of hunters, Or savage skill in war, But ordering all things with dead words, Strings shall they make of beasts and birds, And wheels of wind and star. They shall come mild as monkish clerks, With many a scroll and pen; And backward shall ye turn and gaze, Desiring one of Alfred’s days, when pagans still were men…By this sign you shall know them, The breaking of the sword, And Man no more a free knight, That loves or hates his lord. Yea, this shall be the sign of them, The sign of dying fire; And man made like a half-wit, That knows not of his sire. What though they come with scroll and pen, And grave as a shaven clerk, By this sign you shall know them, That they ruin and make dark. By all men bound to Nothing, Being slaves without a lord, By one blind idiot world obeyed, Too blind to be abhorred; By terror and the cruel tales, Of curse in bone and kin, By weird and weakness winning, Accursed from the beginning, By detail of the sinning, And denial of the sin; By thought a crawling ruin, By life a leaping mire, By a broken heart in the breast of the world, And the end of the world’s desire; By God and man dishonoured, By death and life made vain, Know ye the old barbarian, The barbarian come again- When is great talk of trend and tide, And wisdom and destiny, Hail that undying heathen, That is sadder than the sea. In what wise man shall smite him, Or the Cross stand up again, Or charity or chivalry, My vision saith not; and I see No more; but now ride doubtfully To the battle of the plain.”
And so with Alfredus Magnus, Rex Brittorum, I am called to ride forth this day. How the battle will progress I cannot know, but I know the end. In faithfulness and patience we are called to serve our Lord, and that will be enough. As the good king sang before the Dane, “That though you hunt the Christian man, Like a hare on the hill-side, The hare has still more heart to run, Than you have heart to ride. That though all lances split on you, All swords be heaved in vain, We have more lust again to lose, Than you to win again.” Let us rise above our realities and serve faithfully that greater truth.

To Christ, the True King!

Bill+

Citations are from G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse, SanFrancisco, Ignatius Press, 2001 (A beautiful reprint of the 1928 edition illustrated by Robert Austin)

A Tough Month

This has been a difficult month, but it has had its blessings as well. On the twenty-eighth of June, my father died. He was a good man, and he set the standard for who I ought to be. Christ was in his heart, and it was a place of love and forgiveness. He served God and the Republic well, he cared deeply and had a great sense of humor, and I miss him terribly. Then came General Convention in Anaheim. The Church that I love so well, or at least the largest part of her North American branch, voted to normalize monogamous sodomy, declared the New Testament to be anti-Semitic, and repeated several chronic socialist agenda items that have been banging about mainline protestantism for several decades . There were no real surprizes, but my heart is still heavy, and I ask God's forgiveness for my own shortcomings this side of glory. This week, a dear friend and brother of mine has been in the hospital and the Docs can't figure out what ails him, another dear friend has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and this afternoon, Rebecca and I found out that our beloved West Highland White Terrier Quincy just might have cancer. It has been a difficult month indeed.

But on the other side of the ledger, my folks were able to move in with us before Dad died, and that is a good thing. Friends from our past and present poured out more love on us than anyone deserves during Dad's illness and burial and beyond. God met us in the Burial Service (1662 BCP Daily Office with Commendation and Committal.) I shall never hear the Navy Hymn again without fond memories of my father. And for it all, Tristan and Ashley and Margaret were here with Dad and with us. Matthew was able to join us for the services (both Masonic and Christian), and served with distinction, along with Dave Halt and Mel Truex, comrades from adventures long past.

Three of our greatest blessings revolve around our children. First, Tristan is home safe from Afghanistan. I praise God for his mercies usward, and pray his consolation on those seven families in Lima Company 3/8 who grieve the loss of their sons.

Second, Matthew and Ashley have traveled to the Diocese of South Carolina for a summer internship there. God willing and Bishop Lawrence consenting, he will soon begin the discernment process for Priestly ordination in that beautiful and most orthodox part of the world. May God shower his blessings on Bishop Salmon for his vision and discernment in the lives of my children. Finally, Margaret's first birthday party was celebrated in true southern form (for details see Ashley's excellent blog http://horatiusatthebridge.blogspot.com/), and we, like her paternal grandparents, were blessed to be present.

Life is truly a mixed bag, but through it all, I have found God's sweet presence to be a constant and abiding comfort. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that all who read this might know Him as Saviour and Lord, and that they might find that same peace that I have known.