“Keep me, above all things, from sin. Keep me from loving money, in which is hatred. From avarice and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the deadly works of vanity and the thankless labor for pride and money and reputation.” – Thomas Merton, Book Of Hours.
It was great to be back at the Mansion this morning, fingers are crossed, but the Mansion has staved off the worst of the pandemic once more. Good for them, and good for me – it’s safe to go back. Next week, I return to Bishop Maginn High School.
How unlikely for me, born a Jew, turned Quaker and admirer of Jesus Christ, to be leading a prayer group in a Medicaid assisted care facility in cold and distant upstate New York. Here, I feel I am trying to do the Lord’s work, sitting with the needy, the vulnerable, and the sometimes forgotten.
It is strange to me, yet it feels like one of the most natural things I’ve ever done. There is great love and feeling between the older adults who have come to pray with me and start their days and me. They are the most loyal and appreciative people I know.
This time off due to the pandemic once more has been productive for me; I’ve learned a lot about my Leica, taken a lot of interesting photographs, and gone to work to refocus the blog a bit on its original root. I had a chance to be alone, to think, and put that time to good use.
I’m back at the Mansion twice this week.
This morning, I was Acting Pastor Katz, a title I never imagined having, leading the morning prayer and contemplation service. Zinnia came along, of course. I brought a good ally, Thomas Merton himself, and his Book Of Souls, a daily prayer, meditation, and contemplation guide.
(The Book Of Hours, above, and one of the dozen crosses I handed out today.)
Thursday, my meditation class resumes. It is all booked up, with no room for any more people due to the health regulations at the Mansion.
In addition to Thomas Merton and Zinnia, I also brought Amish necklaces and some small but graceful crosses; the necklaces and the crosses were gone in a flash. We talked about God and humility and surrendering our fears and regrets to a higher authority.
Most of our talking is not especially religious but practical. They want and need to talk about where they are in life and how they feel.
They loved hearing Merton’s thoughts and prayers, and they loved being read to as well. These gatherings are important to me, and I hope to the residents. Thursday. I’m excited to be conducting my meditation class again; I can’t overstate how good it is for the residents to get to talk so openly about their loves, fears, and memories.
And to learn to calm their sense of isolation and loneliness.
The pastor thing kind of fits me, I have to confess. Big egos help to do almost anything. Several residents from Memory Care came up to join the service. They were very welcome.
Zinnia, as always, comes along and greets every person in the room and every newcomer.
When I start talking, she curls up at my feet and goes to sleep. There may be a message in that.
Next week, at their request, I’ll begin reading from my book Running To The Mountain, about my year on a mountain alone with two dogs reading the journals of Thomas Merton. This year marked the beginning of the journey that was to change my life in almost every way.
I ended the service today with this verse, also written by Merton:
“We lift our eyes to you in heaven, O God of eternity, wishing we were poorer, more silent, more mortified. Lord, give us liberty from all the things that are in this world, from the preoccupations of earth and of time, that we may be called to cleanness, where the saints are, the gold and silver saints before your throne.”
