10. Take Heart!

Here is my second stab at the funeral hymn project. You are welcome to criticize it mercilessly. I want to get it just right, and vanity is no object.

Please note that stanza 3 is thematic for the handful of stanzas that follow it. I added it last, after realizing that I had never explicitly stated the thesis of the hymn: "Death is no longer your enemy. See what good gifts it brings to you!"

The tune I hummed in my head while writing it was good old Komm, Gott Schöpfer.

Take heart, dear lambs! Our friend today
Ascends to view the Shepherd's face,
While watching with (his/her) mortal clay
We lay it in its resting place.

Take heart! This soul does but withdraw;
Rests in Christ's arms, so strong to save;
Awakes beyond both sin and law,
Death's sting, the vict'ry of the grave.

Take heart! Death is no more our foe;
Behold, with blessings it is rife
Since Christ, in dying, laid it low
And took it captive unto life.

Take heart! By one Man's death, we all
Have life no enemy can take;
By one Man's righteousness, our fall
Is ransomed, healed, for Jesus' sake.

Take heart! In baptism we were drowned,
The old man slain for once and aye.
Now we in Christ new life have found;
To us belongs His rising day.

In Holy Sacrament we take
One body slain and blood once spilled
When Christ full testament did make
That all was satisfied, fulfilled.

And so, take heart! When we commune
In Christ's true body and true blood,
We share in one high heav'nly boon
With those beyond the Jordan's flood.

Take heart! The very word of life
Now to our doubting hearts addressed
Can heal our sorrow, sin, and strife,
And wake us from our last, long rest.

And though the seed we plant today
May bide a while in silent dust,
May see corruption and decay;
Though ours may join it when it must;

Take heart! The Lord gives hidden growth,
Like joy to every heart that grieves:
This fallen husk, when summoned forth,
Will burst in bloom and bear in sheaves.

Good Lord, on this our day of grief,
O stand not far from us apart;
To all our sorrows grant relief,
And from Your goodness give us heart!

9. Burial Hymn

Here is my first stab at fulfilling a commission for a funeral hymn. The thought of stanzas 2-3 is based on 2 Samuel 12:23, where David says of his departed son: "Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

Another impetus for this hymn is my annoyance with preachers who make funerals such a "joyful Easter celebration" that hardly any space seems to be saved for grief. Sorrow at the departure of loved ones is not incompatible with the resurrection faith!

Suggested tune: OLD 124TH, without abridgment.

Lord, who once gave the breath of life to men,
And still to each imparts that living breath:
Breathe on all hearts that sigh and sorrow when
You call each living spirit back again;
Guard from the power of the second death!

Take whom You will, and save whom You will save;
In You compassion wisely tempers power.
Shall we resist the rest our spirits crave?
Shall we go down and bring up from the grave
One soul that yielded to Your chosen hour?

As David washed his face, took bread and ate
When his son's final hour of pain was past,
Help us accept our (brother's/sister's) blessed fate:
Not asking (his/her) revival as of late,
But our reunion with (him/her) at the last.

O Lord, who in our world of woe was born,
Who for the love of Laz'rus lately wept,
You cannot laugh our bitter tears to scorn:
Weep, then, with us by death and grief forlorn,
Till all awaken who in You have slept.

Therefore we plant this lifeless seed of clay,
Waiting upon that resurrection tide
When it shall break forth, never to decay,
When all in Christ shall see and gladly say:
Come, brethren! Zion's gates are open wide!

Julie & Julia

I spent my free movie voucher on Julie and Julia yesterday. My review will be short and sweet. Or rather, savory.

The Nora Ephron film features Meryl Streep as Julia Child, French cooking teacher to the English-speaking world, and Amy Adams as a young aspiring writer who spent a year cooking her way through Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogging about her experiences. They both do a great job playing adorable women who, unlike your average movie heroine, are both happily married - their husbands being played by Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina, respectively. The longish (2 hours, 3 minutes) film very charmingly tells their parallel stories and makes you drool over lots of really good-looking food. The movie inspires laughter, tears, pangs of hunger, and a bit of head-shaking at the crazy ways of the world.

I couldn't help going out to eat at a restaurant with tablecloths after this movie. I just couldn't bear to follow up such a feast for the eyes with heat-and-eat packaged food. So I had Pasta House's chicken marsala with a house salad, "Italian potatoes," and a carmel-fudge-pecan torte for dessert. It was all nummy. Sort of an early treat for my birthday, which happens to be today. Happy birthday myself!

Acorn or Apple?

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

If nine is a holy number, it's because of the nine items on this list. In it, St. Paul names the chief Christian virtues. He says they are "fruits of the Spirit." He says there is no law against practicing such things. But is it a law that we should do them?

Well, a few lines farther on Paul does say: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). Certainly the standard of life which Paul describes as "the fruit of the Spirit" is something Christians aim for, and regret falling short of. But is this passage essentially Law? Does it prescribe a pattern of behavior for us to follow? Is it God's command and expectation that we show such virtues in our lives?

In the most literal sense, I think not. Contextually speaking, Paul has just been describing the conflict between the Spirit (of God) and the flesh (of sinful man), which counteract each other "so that you do not do the things that you wish" (5:17). He contrasts the fruits of the Spirit with the "works of the flesh," listed in verses 19-21, to make clear where each comes from. And most significantly he says, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (v. 18).

In other words, what the Law is meant to control is the mind and will of our flesh. While our sinful flesh survives, we can only desire good things because of the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Even as Christians, we live in struggle: the flesh wanting to do some things, the Spirit wanting to do others. By itself the Law can only deter us, somewhat, from abandoning ourselves to the flesh's desires. Without the Spirit of God we could neither desire the fruits of love nor do them. Only with new life planted in us can we bear fruit in keeping with the Spirit.

So the fruits of the Spirit issue freely from the grace, from the gift, from the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit has no need of the Law; it bears fruit according to its nature. As Paul says elsewhere in his letter to the Galatians, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (2:20).

To put it in a parable: Suppose a man owned a oak tree, which every year became full of fruit after its kind. One day he said to it, "Oak tree, I am sick of your acorns. I forbid you to make any more of them. From now on, you must bear tart, juicy apples!"

What do you suppose happened? Did the oak tree remain an oak, or did it become an apple tree? For it is certain that, unless it became an apple tree, it could never bear any fruit but acorns. Unless that man's Word had the power to change one kind of tree into another, in vain did he command the oak to bear apples.

Now supposing it did become an apple tree. Would that be a credit to the tree for its obedience to command? Wouldn't it, rather, bear witness to the power of its master's word?

Cellular Tackiness

Spotted today on the neighborhood ELCA church's lighted sign:

GOD HAS UNLIMITED ANYTIME MINUTES

Yeah, but you should see the contract he had to sign - it cost him his firstborn!

On the other hand, is there any guarantee that a given church is on the same network? Hmmm...

Classical Whimsy

TEACHER: Today, class, we are going to discuss Latin phrases that have become part of the English language. Let's start with one I'm sure you all know. Harold, can you explain what the phrase vice versa means?

STUDENT #1: Yes, ma'am. The Vice Versa is what my Uncle Dave calls the late-model Nissan he uses to cruise the...

TEACHER: That'll do, Harold. I don't suppose anyone knows the meaning of ad fontes? Lucy?

STUDENT #2: To ad fontes is to install a style of letters and numbers on your computer.

TEACHER: Uh-huh. Cathy, would you care to tell us what an alter ego is?

STUDENT #3: Oh, that would be a person like my cousin James. Just because he gets to light the candles in church, you'd think he can walk on water!

TEACHER: You don't say. Peggy, what can you tell us about Anno Domini?

STUDENT #4: Only that she's the nastiest little Irish scamp I ever kicked on the...

TEACHER: All righty! Now, Gerald, who or what is ante bellum?

STUDENT #5: I'm sorry, ma'am. My parents say I'm not to talk about her.

TEACHER: This gets better and better. Vicky, can you tell us what bona fide means?

STUDENT #6: Bonified -- that's what happens to all your cartilege when you get old.

TEACHER: Mmm. And Marty there -- hello? Are you with us? What does cui bono mean?

STUDENT #7: Er, wasn't that, like, what they called Sonny and Cher's little baby...

TEACHER: (Shuddering) Let's move on from that mental picture, quickly... What's your take on fiat lux, Richard?

STUDENT #8: Er, I suppose that would be whatever Harold's Uncle Dave picked up, back when he used to drive that little Italian...

TEACHER: That's enough! It's already quite clear that I'll have to move the heavens to cover this unit. I know just the phrase to start with. Everybody repeat after me: flectere si nequeo superos, Achaeronta movebo...

"9"

I have just come back from seeing the animated movie 9. Though it has Tim Burton's name all over it, the actual creative force behind it was one Shane Acker, who both wrote it and directed it, presumably based on his Oscar-nominated, 2005 short by the same name.

Let me first say, DON'T TAKE YOUR KIDS TO SEE THIS FILM. Three reasons:

1. It will probably go over their heads. If your kids didn't love City of Ember, you can count on it.
   
2. It might scar them for life. The bit with the dolly-snake-killing machine especially.
   
3. It's definitely too good for them. The brats don't deserve it.

Instead, HIRE A BABYSITTER AND GO TO SEE IT YOURSELF. You'll thank me for it. It's a fantastic movie. Correction: it's a breathtaking, awesome, spectacular, visionary film. In my fairly humble opinion, it deserves to become the first animated feature to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

But it's also extremely dark, atmospheric, and scary. There are tons of action in it, and oodles of shocking and frightening images. It takes place in a ruined world where, as the story begins, the last surviving human being has just breathed his last. A dictator has commandeered the work of a foolish scientist, hoping to use it as a weapon of power. The machine and its offspring having turned on mankind, all that is left of the human soul resides in nine little animated dolls, each identified by the one-digit number painted on its body. The title of the film is both a head count of these pieces of the scientist's soul and the name of the main character.

The cast is a small ensemble of powerhouse voice talent. Elijah Wood, lately "Frodo" in The Lord of the Rings, plays the title role: a wide-eyed, curious creature whose foolish mistake unleashes a tragic train of events, and whose vast courage derails it. His buddy "5" has the distinctive voice of John C. Reilly, soon to appear as the vampire in The Vampire's Assistant. Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover ("George McFly" in Back to the Future), and Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly give voice to numbers 1, 2, 6, and 7 respectively. Their performances add a great deal to a movie that is already visually tremendous, exciting, and touching.

So, bottom line: send the kids to see Ponyo while you see 9.

I earned a loyalty voucher for a free movie ticket today. I was tempted to see District 9, which would have made this post an interesting double review. But I decided I was too tired to watch another movie today, especially another one as full of violent action as I hear District 9 is. Maybe tomorrow I'll catch Julie & Julia. It looks like a nice little film, and it won't cost me anything if I don't like it.