A Song from the Road

Posted on October 15, 2019 by awtraughber

Holy Trinity StratfordDuring my recent trip to England and Scotland with students, we had the opportunity to spend some time in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.  While the main reason for going in is seeing the place where Shakespeare is buried, it’s also a beautiful church in and of itself.  As I sat in the silence, I took out the pew-rack hymnal and came across this hymn:

“O Happy Band of Pilgrims” by St. Joseph the Hymnographer and J. M. Neale

1 O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With Jesus as your fellow
To Jesus as your Head!

2 O happy if ye labour
As Jesus did for men;
O happy if ye hunger
As Jesus hungered then!

3 *The cross that Jesus carried
He carried as your due;
The crown that Jesus weareth,
He weareth it for you.

4 *The faith by which ye see him,
The hope in which ye yearn,
The love that through all troubles
To him alone will turn,

5 *What are they but forerunners
To lead you to his sight?
What are they save the effluence
Of uncreated light?

6 The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure,

7 What are they but his jewels
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder
Set up to heaven on earth?

8 O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize!

It was, of course, a song appropriate to the moment, particularly as we were about halfway through our trip.  At the same time, the hymn speaks to the broader reality of the Christian journey.  You’ve got some Augustinian sense of Jesus as the Way in the first stanza and some solid reminders of how God works on this side of the journey in stanzas four through seven.  And all with the picture of pilgrimage.

You can learn more about the song here.

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Meet the Press

Posted on October 13, 2019 by awtraughber

Last year while in Scotland, I got to enjoy the day-to-day life more than when traveling with a group.  Part of that meant enjoying shows on the BBC and ITV (which culminated in the first episode of the newest season of Doctor Who).  I got to watch one episode of the show Press, which tells the story of rival newspapers at a precarious time for print journalism.  A few days ago I learned that the show had finally made its way to PBS in America as part of Masterpiece on Sunday nights.  The second episode (of six) airs tonight.  Here’s the preview for the series as a whole.

I recently told a friend that I only do PBS for Sherlock and Downton Abbey, which means I don’t do PBS much at all these days.  This is a nice break with form for me.

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Back from the Road

Posted on October 9, 2019 by awtraughber

Yesterday was a day of airports and airplanes.  We left our hotel in Edinburgh at 6:45 in the morning and touched down in Honolulu around 10:30 last night.  Along the way we stopped in (and ran through) the airport in Philadelphia as well as LAX.  Besides some slight frustrations at each (well, that last sprint at Philly was more than just a frustration), the flights themselves went well: all arrived a little early, each fed us well.

The trip went well.  We had nice weather, at least while we were out and about at each site.  The rain tended to fall while we were in the bus.  The weather was cool to cold, with one or two days that were shorts-worthy.  We got to do most of our itinerary.  We weren’t rushed as much as we had been in the past.  Traveling with students in a large group is definitely different than traveling solo at your own pace.  We did get to retrace some of my itinerary from last year’s Scotland trip, particularly in visiting parts of Hadrian’s Wall at Steel Rig and seeing the Augustinian abbey in Jedburgh.  We also stopped at the Scottish border, which was cold and windy and wet, making it just right for the moment.

One of my personal goals was to track down the three Rivers of London books that I had not read yet.  One was a novel only available in hardback in the US at this point.  The remaining two were novellas.  I found the novel and one of the novellas at the Blackwell’s in Oxford.  When we got the hotel that night, I found that the novella (hardback) was actually signed by Aaronovitch as part of an independent booksellers promotion.  I found the other novella (paperback) at the Blackwell’s in Edinburgh.  Collection complete.  The bookseller there recommended another series in a similar vein.  I picked up the first book in that series.

I refrained from starting those books on the trip.  Instead, I finished Jamie Smith’s book on Augustine.  I also started reading through some of Augustine’s letters on my Kindle (where ancient texts are often free or cheap).  Beyond that, it was a trip of looking at landscapes and enjoying the countryside.  My downtime in the hotels was spent on paperwork, room checks, and regularly sifting through the purchases of the day.

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Thoughts from the Road

Posted on October 1, 2019 by awtraughber

The traveling has gone well these last few days. While it’s been a little rainier than usual for us, we’ve still had more than our fair share of sun. We spent Monday in London, starting with the Globe and ending with dinner just beyond Trafalgar Square. We walked a lot.

Today was spent at Stonehenge (in the morning) and Oxford (for lunch and dinner). I was able to pick up a couple of Rivers of London novels (one as signed!). I also bought sodas for my group at the Eagle and Child, which was great as always.

I definitely feel like I’m showing my age on this trip. I’m a little more by-the-books and systematic (a trait that has been growing more and more these last few years). Having gone on the trip a number of time also changes the feel of things. There’s also something odd about being the one who is always trying to keep things on schedule. You hold it as best you can, of course: not too tightly, but also not too loosely. And there always has to be room for discovery. But you’ve also got places to go and promises to keep.

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These last few days of my Old Testament readings have come from the stories of Hegelian in both Kings and Chronicles. I found Chronicles’ retelling of Hezekiah’s reform to be quite moving. It’s easy to forget just how “far gone” the people had been prior to his kingship. Besides that, I found the Kings story of what happened after Samaria is resettled by Assyria … and I’m not even talking about the part with the lions. It’s about the inability of the people to understand and hold on to the faith. A very sobering passage to reflect on more.

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Tomorrow we make our way to Stratford-upon-Avon. The weather should be really nice. Hopefully, we’ll go boating on the river. We’ll end the day with a presentation of King John by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hoping it’s good enough to keep us all awake!

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On the Road Again

Posted on September 29, 2019 by awtraughber

I write this entry from the D terminal of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. After six hours flying from Honolulu to Texas and a good seven hours’ layover a few miles from Cowtown, my traveling group and I are ready to board our nine-hour flight to London.

Whether alone or with others, travel is a funny thing. It rubs you raw in odd ways, points out your flaws when you didn’t even ask for any kind of personal critique. My goal this time is to be open to the Spirit and learn from the frustrating moments.

Along the way, I’m going to continue reading Jamie Smith’s On the Road with Saint Augustine. It’s one of two books that I’ve brought along for the ride. Here’s a great quote from the section titled “Orientation”:

The key is to know where we are, and whose we are, and where we’re headed, and not to be surprised by the burdens of the road.

Smith is talking about the things we can learn from Augustine as we consider his personal travelogue. That paragraph from page 17 ends with this:

To know where you’re headed is. Not a promise of smooth sailing.

I’m trying to practice prayer as I walk and grace as I talk. I am hopeful about arriving, having left the idea of “the joy is in the journey” behind with other things that sound nice but just aren’t true.

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Sunday’s Best: The WuMo Filter

Posted on September 8, 2019 by awtraughber

This week’s “Sunday’s Best” is actually last week’s “Sunday’s Best.”  I did not get around to posting last week’s WuMo which did a great job of capturing something critical about our particular moment in time.

WuMo FilterI’ve found my use of social media continually on the slow-down.  It’s not just the posting, mind you; it’s also the reading and perusing.  I’d much rather blog, even if it is posting to the void for me.  I find that I just don’t have the personality for tweeting.  And I don’t have the consistency necessary for a real presence on Facebook.  Instagram is mostly for travel.  None of these things helps in good ways for me (except for Twitter, because that’s where some of my favorite thinkers and writers are present).

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The school year is already flying by.  September will be over in a snap, it seems.  The next three weeks are particularly crazy, with a social, a camp, grading, and final preparation for travel to England and Scotland.  Beyond that, I’m working hard at my new position at school, visiting teachers as they attempt “faith integration” lessons.  I’ve got a meeting with administration this week to check-in and articulate some plans and ideas for what is next.

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The bookshelf has been kind to me lately.  I’m currently reading the sixth Rivers of London novel: The Hanging Tree.  I’m amazed at how unique each of Aaronovitch’s novels ends up being . . . and all while building one large narrative.  After a novel set in the countryside, book six has Peter Grant back in London and working a case with the wealthy.  Beyond that, I just finished Faith for Exiles, the latest Barna book.  It’s a great read in the way that everything Barna does is great: it gives you permission for good but difficult conversations.  I’m just over halfway through The Outrageous Idea of Christian Teaching by Glanzer and Alleman.  It’s been a really good read for me, a good way to filter and add to my understanding of teaching from a faith perspective.

(image from gocomics.com)

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Birnam, Fangorn, and Ephraim

Posted on August 19, 2019 by awtraughber

RivendellThese last few days I’ve been thinking how this time of year, this time of life, would be a great time for a nice visit to Rivendell, the Last Homely House East of the Sea.  Something about deep rest, I think.  Fireside and song and a kind of leisure often not found in the day-to-day.  As I was thinking about it, I looked back to The Hobbit to see what all had to be said of the place in Tolkien’s first published work: there really isn’t much, mostly just moon runes.  The House of Elrond gets a much fuller rendering in The Fellowship of the Ring.

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Something else Lord of the Rings came to mind this morning during my Bible reading.  It actually traces from Shakespeare’s Birnam Wood to Tolkien’s Fangorn Forest to a moment in the story of David from 2 Samuel 18.  At this point in the story, David has been exiled from Jerusalem.  Absalom is seeking to take over the kingdom fully and has decided to bring an end to his father.  Then this happens:

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

You just kind of want to imagine that the forest was more than just a location . . . that some kind of long-traveling band of Ents showed up in the shadows of the story of David bringing justice with their branches.  Ah well.

(Rivendell image from Tolkien himself)

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A Simple Code

Posted on August 16, 2019 by awtraughber

This past week I spoke to some students about the importance of having some kind of code (or what others would call a rule).  The context was the realization that a lot of things were being thrown at them (which is true of all, regardless of academic standing), and that they would benefit from having something personal to serve as some kind of filter.  I also showed this nifty “trailer” for The Kid Who Would Be King, which brought together the threads of “the knights’ code” from the movie.

What I didn’t share during the short talk (because there was so much other stuff to cover) was my own short list that could act as a kind of code.  Here’s what it boiled down to:

  1.  Use tools, not people.  I’ve been thinking about the instrumentalization of people (often by organizations) for some time now.  It came back to me this summer while rereading Augustine.  It’s something we are all at least a little guilty of.  But people are meant to be loved, not used as pawns or parts of some mechanism.
  2. Take up your cross daily . . . and don’t forget to follow Jesus.  This, of course, comes straight from the Gospels.  It’s too easy for me to do the hard work of taking up my cross and going my own way with it.  That way leads to disconnect and despair (and seeing God as someone guilty of breaking #1 above).  Taking up your cross only makes sense when you follow along with Jesus, the author and perfector of the way we are walking.
  3. When in doubt, go for a walk.  This has been something for me for years, really.  Some places are easier to get a good walk in than others, of course.  But it’s a great way to pray, clear the mind, and imagine things differently.  It’s good because it’s tactile.  It’s a version of what I  learned a few years ago on my first trip to England, where our tour guide told us that the best thing to do when you’re stuck or in a quandary is to make a cuppa tea.

I might get around to sharing this with the students next week. Maybe the adult leaders?  We’ll see.  Either way, it was a good exercise to do before giving the challenge to others.

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SHIELD’S Sixth Season End

Posted on July 23, 2019 by awtraughber

Marvel just announced that the seventh season of Agents of SHIELD will be its last.  The show is such an odd duck.  It never quite got the interconnectedness with the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we were hoping for.  At the same time, it never got the interconntectedness with other Marvel properties that you find with the DC heroes on the CW.  Even still, ABC has kept it around, giving it time to create its own twisty world full of interesting stories.  The show’s six season is about to come to an end, and what an interesting season it has been.  Two odd storylines, one on-world and another off, converged a few weeks ago into something quite different from both.  Here’s the Comic-Con trailer that points to how things might wrap up.

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Wendell Berry and “The Commitment That Doesn’t See Any End”

Posted on July 22, 2019 by awtraughber

Wendell BerryAt the end of a recent interview with Amanda Petrusich of The New Yorker, Wendell Berry characterized the life of faith with some interesting wording.  When asked about religion, particularly in terms of his parents’ faith and his upbringing, Berry responded:

I attended church under protest. I disliked enclosure, and as I came to consciousness I objected to the belittlement of earthly life I heard too often—but not from my parents. I heard the King James Version quoted and read, and I’m still attached to it. To me, it’s not just an influence on English, some of that is English. What Ruth says to Naomi? And Luke’s passage about the birth of Jesus, and John’s account of Mary’s visit to the tomb—my goodness, that’s my language.

I tried to get along without it, because I thought I was going to be a modern person. But you can’t think about the issues we’re talking about without finally having to talk about mystery. You’ll finally have to talk about the commitment that doesn’t see any end. That’s a life that you are not going to be able to prescribe, that finally you’re not in charge of. I think my dad was speaking religiously when he said, “I’ve had a wonderful life and I’ve had nothing to do with it.” That was a submission.

“You’ll finally have to talk about the commitment that doesn’t see any end.”  What a wonderfully sober way of thinking about the Christian life.  Don’t get me wrong: it’s clear to me that there are some point about the Christian faith that Berry and I probably don’t see eye to eye on, but this descriptor is not one of them.  Sure: there is an “end” to the Christian life.  But the road between here and there can often look or feel description-less, far more open-ended in certain ways that are difficult to articulate because life is a mess from our end unpredictable.  The life of faith requires a certain kind of openness.  Not an openness that says “anything goes.”  That’s a mistake that will shipwreck you.  It’s an openness captured in a great hymn: wherever He leads, I’ll go, even if it is through the valley of the shadow of death.

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There’s a lot more of value in the interview, by the way.  Berry says interesting and challenging things about limits and marriage and joy, all worth reflecting on.  I might come back to some of those things later.  But next I want to go to a recent First Things article and what it says about one of our primary guides on this commitment without visible end.

(image from newyorker.com)

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