Work!
Those of us of a certain age may recall the role that first made Bob Denver, the late comedian famous, the one that preceded his eponymous ship-wrecked urchin on "Gilligan's Island". It was as Maynard G. Krebs the beat-nik best bud of the equally eponymous, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis".
The running gag on "Dobie Gillis" (which was a guy's name and played by Dwayne Hickman, as a love-lorn, college freshman) was that every time someone uttered the word "work", no matter how casually or in whatever context, Maynard's immediate reaction was to repeat the same word in an exclamatory, almost ejaculatory fit of horror. the trope here was that beat-niks, who were the predecessors of would come to be known as "hippies" a half-generation later, were afraid of work (as well as proper foot attire, shaving, haircuts -- the entire catalogue of 1950s parental vigilance.)
Last night's EFM class evoked a similar reaction among the seven or eight us in attendance. It was part of another Spiritual Reflection method that Fr. Ed had suggested we try.
Unlike the other methods which begin with either microscopic happenings that must be worked up into universal themes (or, vice versa, big themes that must be squeezed into everyday applications), this method, which we called "The Evocative Method", begins with a simple, yet highly charged word and, from there, everyone shares stories or feelings evoked by the word. Last night, it was the word, W*O*R*K.
It was a good exercise. People got right down to brass tacks. We run the gamut as a group, from people who hate their jobs all the way to one or two people who cannot imagine doing anything else. I guess I fall somewhere in between.
At the end of the two hours, it was my turn to lead the class in Compline, something I have been dreading since the last time I had to do it, about six months ago. Compline, as I may have explained at the time, is a written liturgy situated very near the beginning of the Book of Common Prayer. It's suitable for every occasion and when done well can be an effective and affecting grace-note to the end of a day.
Unfortunately, my attitude towards Compline sort of parallels my attitude towards work: it's a wonderful thing until it becomes my turn to do it.
It's about eight pages of reading, with stage directions written in the tiniest font possible. At strategic moments you are given choices as to what you might say or have the congregation repeat. But, that only makes the whole experience even more like a multiple-choice question test or a quiz show dilemma.
Six months ago I had to switch from one section of the BCP to another because it was during Lent and the stage directions called for a specific prayer to be said -- and, I lost my place coming back.
Last night was better; I didn't drop any sections. I was so nervous, I actually borrowed a BCP from one of the church pews, took it home, and undrlined the stage directions in yellow high-lighter (Dear Lord, I hope I don't burn in Hell for defacing a sacred text.) But, there was still something improvisatory about the whole experience. It left my rib-cage moist at the very end. Which is strange because the whole idea of Compline is to *eliminate* the guess-work from leading a liturgy.
Work!
The running gag on "Dobie Gillis" (which was a guy's name and played by Dwayne Hickman, as a love-lorn, college freshman) was that every time someone uttered the word "work", no matter how casually or in whatever context, Maynard's immediate reaction was to repeat the same word in an exclamatory, almost ejaculatory fit of horror. the trope here was that beat-niks, who were the predecessors of would come to be known as "hippies" a half-generation later, were afraid of work (as well as proper foot attire, shaving, haircuts -- the entire catalogue of 1950s parental vigilance.)
Last night's EFM class evoked a similar reaction among the seven or eight us in attendance. It was part of another Spiritual Reflection method that Fr. Ed had suggested we try.
Unlike the other methods which begin with either microscopic happenings that must be worked up into universal themes (or, vice versa, big themes that must be squeezed into everyday applications), this method, which we called "The Evocative Method", begins with a simple, yet highly charged word and, from there, everyone shares stories or feelings evoked by the word. Last night, it was the word, W*O*R*K.
It was a good exercise. People got right down to brass tacks. We run the gamut as a group, from people who hate their jobs all the way to one or two people who cannot imagine doing anything else. I guess I fall somewhere in between.
At the end of the two hours, it was my turn to lead the class in Compline, something I have been dreading since the last time I had to do it, about six months ago. Compline, as I may have explained at the time, is a written liturgy situated very near the beginning of the Book of Common Prayer. It's suitable for every occasion and when done well can be an effective and affecting grace-note to the end of a day.
Unfortunately, my attitude towards Compline sort of parallels my attitude towards work: it's a wonderful thing until it becomes my turn to do it.
It's about eight pages of reading, with stage directions written in the tiniest font possible. At strategic moments you are given choices as to what you might say or have the congregation repeat. But, that only makes the whole experience even more like a multiple-choice question test or a quiz show dilemma.
Six months ago I had to switch from one section of the BCP to another because it was during Lent and the stage directions called for a specific prayer to be said -- and, I lost my place coming back.
Last night was better; I didn't drop any sections. I was so nervous, I actually borrowed a BCP from one of the church pews, took it home, and undrlined the stage directions in yellow high-lighter (Dear Lord, I hope I don't burn in Hell for defacing a sacred text.) But, there was still something improvisatory about the whole experience. It left my rib-cage moist at the very end. Which is strange because the whole idea of Compline is to *eliminate* the guess-work from leading a liturgy.
Work!