Chrysalis

Lately, I find myself oft walking in pastoral moonlight at the invitation of a rediscovered friend. It is a spiritual walk through grove and field, with much talk of theology and mystical views. We strolled last night ahead of a predicted wind storm. I could smell the charging air. Weather was indeed afoot.

As we walked through a grove, I was struck by how ALIVE the flora seemed. I swear I could feel the trees and plants bursting from their winter quiescence into an exultant sentience. I commented as much.

"Oh," replied my friend, Chris. "That's because we're in the midst of Beltane. It isn't just a one-day celebration. The party is still going on."

In contemporary times, Beltane is celebrated on May 1 - also known as May Day. It is a Celtic festival that marks the midpoint of the spring season. It is characterized by bonfires and birth, by the making and the springing forth of new life. It does make sense that the world would feel especially alive right now.

We walked into a open grass field. "Can you feel it?" I said.

"Indeed," he replied.

"I have the strongest impulse to roll in the grass,"

"Well, then, why don't you?"

So I did. I took off my coat, lay down in the grass and rolled and rolled and rolled. When I finally whumped to a halt on my back, I was so dizzy that the cloudy sky spun for several minutes, making me nauseous. But I laughed delightedly, and the spinning - and my stomach - slowly calmed.

I arose and staggered around. (I have a cranky inner ear.) As I wobbled home, I felt as though I had tumbled in long filaments of spirit-stuff, which were now swathed about me in a light, gauzy cocoon.

The feeling persists today. I wonder what will be born of this chrysalis?

I'm SO not in Charge

In discussing my potential clergy call in a prior post, I noted that "once God wraps Her arms around you, She never lets go." It is truth. I was not able to abandon the discernment process. Instead, I was compelled to make peace, and to move forward with a gracious spirit. Excerpt from a recent essay assignment:

"To understand the need for clergy, we have to accept that Christianity is not a rational, civilized religion; rather, it is a wild and bloody mess. As followers of the Christ, we gather together each week, sit before a smeary altar, and watch as our priest utters words of incantation that change the mundane into the profoundly sacred. We kneel before a torturous symbol and insume the body and blood of our God via human sacrifice.

If we pretend our religion is otherwise, then there really is no need for clergy. But if we accept that we follow a God who demands no less than our bodies and souls, who did not spare even His own son, then we can perhaps begin to divine the necessity for those learned and brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to attempt the rituals that are an integral part of our faith. It is the clergy who risk standing before God in the rites of Communion, Baptism, Marriage and the rest. It the clergy who lay themselves bare upon the altar and offer themselves as a shield for the laity.

Clergy are called upon to heal body, mind and soul. They uniquely proclaim the forgiveness of sin. They pray, they educate, they comfort. They stand as a representative of both God and humankind in the midst of the most terrible times. Through death and disaster, Christians and non-Christians alike look to them for leadership, for comfort, for wisdom, and for healing. It is an impossible task, but they serve an impossible God, and nothing less is required."