"Under God's Umbrella" - Reflection on Chapter 7 - Jim Cheetham

On page 40 of the book, I mention Nancy's brother, Jim Cheetham.  This brief mention of Jim does not do justice to the significance of the influence he has been on Nancy and me.  We went to visit the Cheethams this weekend in Loganville, Georgia, and the memories of those transformative years of which Jim was a part over 40 years ago were brought back.  Our visit with them was to meet the newest of their grandchildren, Gabriele, and spend time with their children and other grandchildren.

Next to the Lord, there is nothing more important to Jim and Kay than their family.    Jim and Kay raised their three children with a strong Christian worldview, and the result are three strong, young families not pulled off stride by the chaos and craziness of our contemporary culture; instead, they are young families who are confident, joyful, and surety of that in which they have placed their hope.  They are anchored to the same understanding of this world as Jim and Kay.   That has been their inheritance.  

This does not mean that these beautiful Cheetham grandchildren aren't going to be buffeted this way and that by the world in which they live, but it does mean they are being given in their Christian home an anchor onto which to hold, and by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they will choose to do so.  This is what Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:14-16:  "...that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." (ESV)

I was blessed to see this so vividly during our visit with Cheethams, and I am thankful to Jim for helping Nancy and me set our anchor firmly upon the Rock.  

Jim Cheetham and our son Robin those many years ago.

On the Passing of Myrle Wilson

 Homily- Myrle Wilson's Memorial Service, February 16, 2023

We just heard four scripture readings that are extraordinarily appropriate for this day. One is the 23rd psalm that so many of us know well… It gives us a promise- the promise is that God will shepherd us to a more beautiful place. This is expressed in such images as peace, still waters, cups running over, goodness, mercy, and having a place in God’s house forever.

 Paul in our Corinthians reading says that God has given us His Spirit as guarantee for all this.  This gift is the indwelling Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to align our wills with the will of our Triune God.  This guarantee is exceedingly evident in Myrle’s life.

Isaiah gives us the same message when he tells us that God will destroy the shroud that is cast over all peoples. That shroud of course is the curse of death, a curse that finds its way into Creation when we stepped back from our love relationship with our Creator.  This curse that infects the human race manifests itself in evil, self-centeredness and rebellion of our fallen human nature.  The story of our fall away from God is told vividly in Genesis chapter 3.  But for Myrle, the Genesis 3 curse is broken.  It is broken through her relationship with her Lord and Redeemer Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  There is no room for doubt about that for all of us who have known Myrle.

Our Gospel reading goes on to assure us that Jesus has gone ahead of Myrle to prepare her a place.  Jesus has now come back, taken Myrle by the hand, and led her there.  Jesus is has been Myrle’s way home.  In this life Jesus has been her source of a life better that than anything this world could have offered.  

So I say bravo to Myrle’s family for selecting these readings.  They tell Myrle’s story to perfection.  Myrle’s story is what CS Lewis calls “a more beautiful story,” more beautiful than anything we could craft by simply slogging our way through this broken and hurting world on our own terms.  These readings happen to be the same readings we heard at Joe’s funeral over 7 years ago now.  For Myrle and Joe, this more beautiful story is not just pie in the sky by and by; it is cake on the plate for them forever.  We could not have a vision of this reality any more clearly expressed than the way our scriptures did so this morning.

I stand alongside the family and all her friends here who grieve her absence from us today, but Myrle has given us all a great gift that we must celebrate.  She has shown God's “more beautiful story” to all of us. 

Thanks be to God.

The Spiritual Gift of Generosity

On a recent Lord's Day at the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinty, I was sitting in my usual place in the choir at the back of the church.  On that particular Sunday, I had a moment to just sit and enjoy our beautiful worship space.  I recalled how in the very early years the Lord remarkably provided all we needed to grow a church in this place.  This space is a warm and wonderful place that contributes to our corporate worship through beautiful sign and symbols of our relationship with the Almighty.  Here are a few details I mused over on that recent Sunday morning: 

I recalled all the parishioners who worked hard to transform this old warehouse into the beautiful worship space that it has become, from the construction of the walls, to the flooring, the lighting, paint color selections, and carpeting.  

I looked at the retable, altar rail, and font that Bill Bargeloh had so skillfully built when we first moved in here.  On each side of the retable (table behind the Lord's Table) are the cathedra and assisting priest's chair that Larry Pettinato had lovingly made.  Larry also fabricated the large cross over the altar that draws my minds to Christ every Sunday.  

Sitting prominently on the retable are the "office candles."  The candelabras were given to Holy Trinity by my brother and sister-in-law.  The Eucharistic candle holders on the Lord's Table were also a gift from a parishioner.  The silver chalice and ciborium (the vessel holding the Eucharistic bread and wine) that we use each Sunday were donated by a person living in Swansea, SC that almost none of us know.  

Then my eyes went delightfully to the frontals, vestments and hangings that had been donated by many over the years.  On the walls around me I could see my wife Nancy's offering of love in the renaissance reproductions telling the story of the nativity.  Had we been in the Easter cycle of the church year, I would have been looking at my mother-in-law's paintings of the "Way of the Cross" that were her Lenten discipline many years prior to the planting of this church.  

Looking at our pascal candle stand, I was reminded of a road trip several of us took to All Saints Anglican Church in Peachtree City, Georgia.  They had started that church just prior to us planting Holy Trinty here in North Augusta.  They were willing to share with us their experiences of starting a church.   This lampstand was a gift from that congregation to us.  

Our noble-looking eagle podium, a great symbol in the Anglican tradition, was given to us by a friend of the congregation living in Fort Mill, SC.  Earl the Eagle Podium, as we affectionately call it, came from a parish church somewhere in rural England.  It is skillfully carved and quite old.  We are blessed to have Earl from which to read our scriptures and lead our prayers. 

These and many other things reflect the spiritual gift of generosity we experienced in this church family in those earlier years, and generosity continues characterizes our life together to this day.  Thanks be to God.

"Under God's Umbrella"- Thoughts on Chapter 12- A Vision beyond Retirement

 The first paragraph of Chapter 12, page 72 speaks a bit about a vision for my retirement years.  I was recently helped with that vision when I attended this year's Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston, SC.  

The conference was opened by The Rev. Dr. Alistar McGrath with a presentation titled, "Longing for a More Beautiful Story: CS Lewis and the Gospel in Today's World."  Dr. McGrath is an Oxford theologian who caught my imagination back in my seminary days and he did so once again with this lecture.  Another amazing presenter in the same vein was Dr. Jerry Root of Wheaton College who stated that there are countless people living in brokenness, hopelessness and desperation who have not discovered that there is indeed a more beautiful story.  

To use the words of CS Lewis, McGrath, Root, and other speakers at this conference, I humbly acknowledge that, by the grace of God, I have discovered this the more beautiful story.  I mention in my autobiography that the Christian worldview is the only thing that finally made sense of this nonsensical world in which I was living ("Under God's Umbella,"page 40); therefore, my vision for my retirement years is tell about this "More Beautiful Story" as it has impacted my life whenever and everywhere I can.  

Dr. Root provided some wisdom about doing this.  We are people who care about other people and are naturally interested in hearing their stories.  It is in the context of someone else's story that we invariably are given the opportunity to share our own story.  

A prime focus in my current life has been to share this "More Beautiful Story" with my grandchildren, which is the reason I wrote my autobiography dedicated to them last year.  My prayer and deep heart's desire are that they discover their own "More Beautiful Story."