Saturday, November 11, 2023
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
Veteran’s Day
Miles 7th birthday
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Intimacy with everything
Greet Priscilla and Aquilla, my co-workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life.
Perhaps because it’s November there are four conflicting activities on my calendar today. My friend Harlow is having a birthday party in south Austin. The Texas Book Festival holds forth around the Texas Capitol Building, where Walter Isaacson and Lawrence Wright, two of my favorite historians will be speaking along with many others. Dad’s Day at the University of Illinois hosts the football Indiana Hoosiers at 11 am.
But the winner, and the event I’m going to choose, is Miles’ birthday party. Being seven years old officially today, he has fallen in love with legos. This after also loving Pokemon, and also loving Paw Patrol. But today his friends and family will join him at a lego wonderland for punch and cookies and cake. I think. Then on Sunday Miles is taking us all to the Austin revolving sushi restaurant, Kurasushi.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
Last Saturday we spent the day at a Celtic festival in Austin. Next weekend we’ll eat oysters and shrimp on my birthday, then have a gala early Thanksgiving at a friend’s home, and on Monday head for Scholz Biergarten with our birthday team, Mike and Diane.
The days are just packed.
Why am I thinking about all of this? I’m an enneagram seven, labeled “the enthusiast” but subject to the deadly sin of gluttony. Here’s a thought from the internet: “The passion or deadly sin for Sevens is gluttony—they have a need to devour positive experiences that is almost compulsive. They are full of inexhaustible optimism.”
I knew this in college at Valpo, where I labeled myself as an experiential materialist. For years I have kept track of the books I read, the movies I watch, even the restaurants where I have eaten. Since we moved to Austin in December of 2020, I have driven back and forth to Urbana 25 times, and I have a record of both dates and details of each trip.
My friend said, “Well, who is going to remember if you don’t?” Which isn’t the point, I don’t think. The point is more that in all this archiving, at least some creativity is swallowed up. I take photos compulsively sometimes, too. And then the other facets of my moment are lost. At least an iPhone allows me to continue facing the scene, whereas when my eye was tied to a viewfinder, all I saw was what the camera saw.
This brings up a question I prefer not to answer, but only to ask. Which viewpoint matters more, which is God’s desire for me, which is better? Can I safely remove all the extra and concentrate only on the good, true and beautiful, the framed masterpiece, which I cannot even see at first, but only after framing it? I think God gives me eyes to see those “parts” of the world, far beyond my own point of view.
On the other hand, I think God’s other desire for me is to “love my neighbor as myself,” which at least means to listen to their stories of how God has framed the world for them. Right? Each of us has memories of cute kids, ocean beach, mountain serenity, party times in the park … I can take pictures or I can listen to stories of what you took pictures of just last week, and that you long to share with someone.
Now to him who can strengthen you,
according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages
but now manifested through the prophetic writings and,
according to the command of the eternal God,
made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith,
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ
be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Today’s memorial recognizes St. Martin of Tours, favorite in France, patron saint of horses, soldiers and South Africa. Statues of St. Martin often reflect his military bearing. Martin must have been a lover of adventure, although he allowed God to give him a ministry to men and women who needed a hero.
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be …
But which of us (and that means me, too) doesn’t think now and again that those who need a hero might seek … well, me? God’s desire for me to love you as I love myself must have many facets, and many possibilities. No doubt I will choke while trying to swallow too many of them at once. But if I can determinedly chew them one at a time, and taste them, and feel their texture, and each of the blessings God presents to me (and you), even a momentary heroism, will surely bring us both nourishment.
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
 (Romans 16, Psalm 145, 2 Corinthians 8, Luke 16)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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