brick by brick

Amen, fittingly that was the last word I spoke before entering silence.

Twice a year the entire seminary community enters a day of silence and prayer. There are no classes, course work is to cease, cell phones and computers are turned off. The entire campus is silent. The mid-day meal is eaten in silence.

I was struck by how warm and friendly everyone was, without uttering a word.

I spent part of the morning wondering through the cemetery that is on campus. Sitting in the cemetery I wrote down these thoughts:

Sitting in hallowed space

Beneath a dog wood tree

This tree, who the legend says, chose to never grow so large as to have wood suitable for the cross of a crucifixion

This tree whose beauty belies the pain of the Passion

I sit on a bench in memory of the daughter of a seminarian.

Alice Mae died at the age of 6 months and 10 days

What a blessing she must have been to her family

I can only pray that the VTS seminary community was also a blessing to this family in their time of need

Each person memorialized before me has built the church that we have today. The lives of these people, both clergy and laity, became the bricks that form our church.

What substance do I have to also form a brick?

Shalom