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View from the Pew  Mary Adamski |
Priest’s talk spurs
cleaning of house
to benefit needyDarn it, Father Bernard Bush. I needed to be in the malls this week. There's this long list of presents unbought and un-mailed, and time is getting short.
The pine is in water but it is still naked, a druid thing, not a Christmas tree.
The house is a mess, no cleaning even started. (Well, that part isn't really entirely your fault.)
Cookies, I used to bake cookies. Oh, I am so far behind schedule.
Thanks to you, Father Bernard, my mind hasn't been on the season, it's been in the closet. My beaten path has been from closet to laundry room, from bottom drawer to washer. Forget the dream of getting back down to that size someday. Why do I need six sweatshirts when I always wear the one favorite? Whoa, I don't remember ever buying or wearing these shoes -- are they really mine?
Ten vases, but there's rarely even one bouquet to soak. Boxed gifts of dish, wind chime, gourmet cooking whatchamacallit that cover the closet floor, never used. Furniture stashed from my last move, and that was 25 years ago! Duffles, briefcase, hats, who uses them? Books stacked, shelved, tucked ... but no, I can't go there.
It's all your fault, Father Bernard. I've got the Advent blues and I've got 'em bad.
Your talk at Sacred Heart Church in Makiki this week was just one stop on the Advent circuit, launched with the aim of describing how people in solemn stillness stay to prepare for the spiritual experience of Christmas. I'd already stopped in for a midday meditation with Methodists and a Lutheran soup supper and candlelight prayer. I'd heard Episcopalians trying to reconcile on the subject of ordaining gay priests in a series billed as Advent lectures.
Why not check out this spiritual director of El Retiro San Inigo retreat house in Los Altos, Calif., I thought. The bill of fare for your four-day "mission" quoted you saying, "Our contemporary world is filled with noise, distraction and confusion; it's difficult to hear God speaking." He's a Jesuit, ought to have a way with words, says I.
When you told the crowd of 70 that garage sales are "an abomination and a sin," I recognized that as classic preacher hyperbole. Grab their attention, send them home with some memorable quotes, and they'll come back tomorrow night, right?
"You take stuff with zero value to you. You sell it to get money to go buy more stuff," you said.
"Something that sits around without you using it, if it has no value to you, it belongs to someone else. It belongs to the poor."
"To give what is of no value to you, that is not alms giving."
How many times have I heard that gospel parable about the rich young man who wanted Jesus' short formula for getting to heaven. But the condition of giving up his worldly goods to follow Christ sent him away "sorrowful because he had great possessions."
You tell it very well, Father Bernard.
So, I've started to shuffle the stuff out of my house this week. One closet down and two to go. I delivered the first load of usable stuff to Kaumakapili Church on Thursday. There's a recycle store closer, but I'm not sure whether I want someone to sell this stuff. I'm looking for ways to put my stuff directly into needy hands.
I haven't gone overboard, OK? I'm keeping the cookie sheets and the extra bedsheets. You can never have enough canvas bags to carry, well, you know, necessary stuff. I need some clothes for work and play. You got any problem with that, Father Bernard?
Sorry I didn't make it to your next day's talk. It's just that so much of my stuff has been gathering dust for so long that I need to clean it up to give it away.
I opted to seek a little of the solemn stillness at home, after the whining washer finally shut off.
Besides, how did that preview go? Six priests were lined up to hear confessions the next night. You asked, "Do you want guilt to be the centerpiece of your relationship with God?"
Thanks but no thanks, Father Bernard. Good grief, I'm dealing with the stuff. I just cannot take on any dealing with guilt right now. Are you coming back in Lent?
See you then, Father. Thanks a lot for Advent.
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Mary Adamski covers religion for the Star-Bulletin.
Email her at madamski@starbulletin.com.