Christ Figure

I dedicate this book to my beloved fifteen-year-old black Lab, Venus, whom I had to release to God while beginning to write this book.  Without any apology, lightweight theology, or fear of heresy, I can appropriately say that Venus was also Christ to me.  - Father Richard Rohr

David and I have been watching some old but highly praised movies on TCM while we've been recuperating.  One was the 1958 film "The Young Lions," a movie about three soldiers during WW II.  Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin, play American draftees.  The other, Marlon Brando, a conflicted German soldier.

One reason to watch this film is that Brando and Clift were two of the greatest Method actors of their time.  The movie is brutal and tough to watch in some places, but eventually satisfying.  The torture didn't take place on the battle field, it happened in Montgomery Clift's platoon.  He was brutalized by men in his own unit.  Why?  Because he was an American Jew.  But the way he responded was remarkable, especially when he later saved one of his tormentors.

For some reason I haven't been able to get this character out of my head and my heart.  And then it dawned on me,  Montgomery Clift's character was a Christ figure for me.  But I had no intention of sharing that view with you...

...until I started reading Father Richard Rohr's new best seller, "The Universal Christ"  and saw that he dedicated this book to his dog, Venus, who he said in his dedication was "Christ" to him.

I am blessed to be around so many folks who don't believe the way I do or live the way I live but, in the last few weeks, I have seen Christ in them - whether they know it or not.

Check out "The Young Lions."  You'll see what I mean.


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What Time iIs It?

When four grandchildren were here a couple of weeks ago I told them about one of Dave's cognitive tests (which, by the way,  he passes with flying colors.)

For example, for this one the therapist handed Dave a blank sheet of paper and asked him to draw a circle.  Then he was asked to draw the numbers on a clock.  And next he was asked to set the hands at ten minutes after ten.

Piece of cake. right?

However every one of these smart, high tech kids said they couldn't do it.  What an eye opener for me.  This generation of young people apparently tell time digitally - exclusively.

When we asked them how they would follow the instruction, they said the answer would look like 10:10.  They are apparently unfamiliar with the little hand on the 10 and the big hand on the 2.

I wonder if when they go to The Magic Kingdom they will start clockwise or counterclockwise.

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And Then There Were Nine

Over the years you've often heard me refer to my Power Rangers.  This is a group of ten women who've been together for twenty-five, plus, years.

We started as an accountability group and over the decades became so much more.  Much good has come to the world through this gang of ten.   Far more than we could have accomplished separately.

We began as a group of powerful women - and in the ways that really count, we still are.  But now we are missing one.  Robbi Walker died a few days ago.  She was the powerful matriarch of a powerful family and a powerful force in my life - and so much more.

Several months ago Dave told me he couldn't sleep the night before.  Why not?  Those of you who know Dave will be surprised with his response.  He was praying.  More specifically, he was praying for Robbi and her family.

I said, "tell me about that."

Well he started in explaining to God about who Robbi was and is.  He didn't know her well but he cared very much for her and loved hearing me talk about her accomplishments and how she impacted my life.  Dave explained to God about how Robbi, after her children were grown, went off to seminary to become a United Methodist minister and after she finished she was the pastor of a tiny church in Winter Park, Florida for a few years before she retired.

After the Robbi reports, Dave told God some things about Bill, her husband, and what an amazing leader he was (and is) in law, Methodism, business, raising chickens, etc.

This is where I started rolling my eyes.  If God didn't already know these things about the amazing Bill Walker, God was the only one in the Southeastern United States who didn't.

But, then, Dave thought he needed to tell God something about the magnificent children the Walkers had raised.  He told God several things about Michele, and her many triumphs and tragedies and more triumphs.

By this time I actually said to Dave, "I'm glad you don't know Sean and Kennan because we'd never get out of this kitchen."

But wasn't Dave asking questions that most of us have asked?  Why has a family, one that has blessed so many, been given such challenges?

I don't know.  I only know that I loved Robbi; she fought the long, hard fight and is now at peace with God.


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Today is D-Day

Our Memorial Day was kind of a blur this year.  But, today, D-Day, I was surprised to see lots of coverage.  However one article in the paper was about how the D-Day invasion is fading from memory.

In 2007, two years before we married, David and I took a romantic cruise from Paris to La havre France.  Seeing Monet's home and the beautiful towns along the way was pure joy.  But one spot was different.  Normandy.  It was solemn and more moving than I ever imagined it would be.

War is hell.  Instead of writing something about D-Day, I've decided to share my mother's poem about Armistice - the signing , in 1911, of the end of World War I (the war to end all wars.)

My mother, Carmen Strange Riley, wrote beautiful, funny, intelligent poetry.  She died at age 37  after spending years in a TB sanitarium.  I don't know how old she was when she wrote this poem in celebration of Armistice Day in Louisville, Kentucky.   She wrote several poems from a child's point of view and sometimes as an only child which was interesting because she was one of the youngest of 13 children.  But, no matter when she wrote it, she expresses all of our feelings about having our loved ones return from war.

P.S.  Let's try not to let D-Day fade from memory.  Watch "The Longest Day"




The Kid's Armistice 

My paw's coming' home now,
'Cause my maw, she 'ist said so.

Boy, won't I be glad to see him
He had to go to war you know.

Paw, he was kinda' young
When maw an' him first met;
An' I wuz young when paw went to war,
An' I ain't very old yet.

Maw, she says there's most a thousand people kilt;
I wonder what they kilt 'em for.
I sure am glad my paw didn't get hurt
In that mean old war.

Last night the whistles blew and blew,
An' maw sang the sweetest song
Maw said 'twas Armistice, and I'm glad
"Cause now my paw'll come home.

Uncle Bob (that's maw's brother) got kilt,
An'when maw got the message, she just cried;
An last night when the whistles blew, she said
"I don't know what we'd done if paw had died."

My Paw's coming' home now,
In a week or two or three;
And I'll kiss him and look in his pockets,
Cause he'll bring home something to maw an' me.

Carmen Strange


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