We Will Meet Again

"I wanted to share the Camino experience with my younger brother. ...Almost every workday Adam and I would sent each other short e-mails, his from an office on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center in New York City. Regardless of the content of our messages, the subject lines always referenced Jack Daniels. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Adam's message was cryptically entitled, "JDJDJackJDJDDanielsJDJD" In it, Adam noted that the account he was in the office early to work on that day "will be the end of me." That fateful morning my brother and best friend, J. Adam Larson, became one of the casualties of the horrific terrorist attack on our country. Ten years later, I continue to be consoled by words of St. Ignatius, who considered all of life on earth a pilgrimage, with heaven as its destination: "... But being we are pilgrims on this earth, we should not consider it a great loss when those whom we love in our Lord depart a little before us, for we shall follow them before long to the place where Christ our Lord and Redeemer has prepared for us a most happy dwelling in His bliss."--Keeping Community with Saint Ignatius by Luke J. Larson. 

    I recently attended a funeral for a friend of mine's father. I was happy to be there, for it was a difficult time for her and I wanted to be part of the community supporting her. However, what struck me about the service itself was the priest, who in his homily explained to us exactly what was going to happen to our souls after death. I had to wonder, "How can he be so confident that he not only knows what's going to happen, but he is determined to share with us his knowledge, we being a group of people who are largely strangers to him?" I can't convince myself that I have any idea what is going to happen, let alone share that knowledge with anyone else, friend or stranger. The quote above comes from a book about the author and his pilgrimage along the Camino Frances with his wife. As I myself hope to hike the Camino Portuguese next fall, I have been reading as much spiritual literature I can find, and currently am enjoying this book. I read the passage above recently and was struck by the story about his brother and his hope to see him again, which resonates with me, particularly after the memorial service we had for my brother last month. My Christianity is--and always will be, I'm afraid--disturbed by my doubts. Yet I continue on describing myself as a Christian, I go to church almost every Sunday, engage in religious practices such as meditation every day. Although I can never be without doubt, my efforts do comfort me; I can't explain why, but they do. So when I read the passage above, I thought to myself, I can accept my brother Harry's passing, because I will see him again. 

Here at Maryknoll Lay Missioners, when we have candidates for mission for orientation, the organization invites the staff to participate with the missioners in morning prayer, and also to lead a session or two, if the person feels comfortable with that. When I have led prayer in the past, I have frequently done a sort of Litany of Saints, a practice where we call on the saints to pray for us as we face a new endeavor or challenge. Borrowing the idea from Downtown Monks by Br. Albert Holtz, I use a practice where we ask not just the "official" saints to pray for us, but we invite people who were important in our spiritual development and now have passed away to pray for us. Each person asks two or three personal saints to pray for him or her. I would like to share with you a few of my personal saints. 

First, I'd like to mention my brother Harry, the most recent addition to my group of saints. Harry was my younger brother, twenty months younger to be precise. We went to the same schools through high school just one year apart. I wouldn't say we were frequent companions; I think we each were strugging to create our own lives, distancing ourselves from each other and our older siblings. Pretty normal childhoods, until Harry developed Stage One Diabetes. The impact was immediately apparent, he sprang up in height to well over 6 feet tall, without gaining any weight, in what seemed to me a matter of weeks. His arms and legs were the thinnest I had ever seen. Yet somehow he kept running. Eventually his weight began to catch up with his height, and he continued to pursue his various interests. After I graduated college, I left the Pacific Northwest, first for California and finally for New York. So we saw and spoke to each other rarely, yet what conversations we had were somehow bringing us closer. He told me he admired my involvement with Maryknoll and the Episcopal Diocese of New York's antiracism committee and said it had motivated him to try to make a difference in his local community. We each have our own gifts: Harry’s were his talent as a certified public accountant and an engaging personality that enabled him to reach out to strangers and charm them with his humor and his interest in their lives.

So he started writing a column in an online newspaper about the local government. He felt that the governments of towns like his have a lot of power over its citizens’ lives, and the people concerned have little understanding of how it works. He decided to reach out and tell them what they should know through his column. Eventually he began hosting “Coffee with Harry” sessions at a local restaurant at which he would interview local city officials. His most inspiring column to me, however, concerned how he befriended a tired-looking woman whom he noticed drinking coffee by herself at one of his hangouts. She turned out to be a prostitute who had been abused as a child, lost her own children to child welfare and was struggling to get by as best she could. He talked to her and tried to help her with food, money and, perhaps most important, friendship. When she passed away from a drug overdose, he wrote a column about their relationship. This led to the paper being contacted by the adoptive parents of her two children, who had been searching for her. Harry agreed to meet with them and tell them about her, so that they could share this information with her children.

I could not be any prouder of my brother than I am now. His lifelong struggle with diabetes, which slowly diminished him physically, and his caring heart, which touched so many other people’s lives. I know he is looking down at me from heaven, wishing me well.

I have one other personal saint I would like to share with you today, Fr. Larry. When I decided to return to the church, the nearest Episcopal church was St. Stephen’s Woodlawn, just a few blocks from my home. The rector at the time was Larry. That first visit, I wrote a review, of sorts, for the website Ship of Fools, and as instructed, I left a piece of paper indicating “The Mystery Worshipper” (MW) had been present. I also signed the church registry. As it turned out, Larry was familiar with mystery worshipping, and he sent me a card asking if I was the MW, and if so, suggesting I be kind and also inviting me to return. Thus began a relationship that would continue for his remaining tenure at St. Stephen’s and after his retirement until his passing.

Since I hadn’t been attending church at all for 25 years, and never the Episcopal church after my baptism, I had lots of questions. Larry patiently answered each one as best he could, and prepared me for confirmation in my late 40s. This began a series of theological conversations which persisted throughout our relationship. He was also very fond of my partner Mary, and the three of us had a number of meals together, both at his home and at restaurants, which were spiced by lively conversations. One of the restaurants in the neighborhood was apparently a hangout of his, for as we sat down, the waitress would usually bring up a martini for him before he asked. He could be charming and brilliant. When he served at the altar, he gave thoughtful and intellectually challenging sermons. But what most impressed me about Larry as a priest was the way he seemed to live the liturgy. He seemed totally involved even though he was repeating words he had said hundreds, if not thousands of times. Each service it felt like he was living every word, saying them for the first time. When I told him about my impression, he responded by saying, “That’s because I am constantly praying throughout the whole service.”

He was also a generous friend to me. When my last car died and I couldn’t afford to replace it, he immediately offered me the use of his car. I told him I didn’t feel comfortable taking advantage of his generosity, he replied, “But I want to help.” So I did borrow his car, and as he became more ill, I also drove him around when he needed help. In fact, Larry was ill the entire time I knew him with AIDs. He had contracted the disease before he became a priest, and with medication he was able to live into his 70s. But as our Bishop said at his funeral, he spent most of his life in tremendous pain. He covered it well, but as he got older, it got harder for him. I think it made him erratic emotionally, prone to bursts of anger and feelings of abandonment. Through it all, he remained committed to his faith and his role as a priest. Even after he retired, he would fill in when our regular priest couldn’t make it, and sometimes he would just come and play the organ at the service. He loved to play the organ. 

After he retired, he moved out of the parish house to the apartment building next to mine. And now that he’s gone, I’m reminded of him each time I walk past the building. I miss him dearly. He played a large role in my spiritual development. I am counting on him to pray for me in difficult times.

So I recommend to you to think about those people who shaped your life, spiritual or otherwise. Take some time to remember them and thank them. If you’re a praying person, pray for them and ask them to pray for you. I am sure they will respond, if you ask.