Elaine wanted to go to Krug Chapel for the Maundy Service. I had never been to one, so I went with her.
Maundy - the definition says its the actual or symbolic washing of people's feet in commemoration of Christ's washing of his disciples' feet. And, in front of the chapel, there was a pitcher and a basin and cloths.. all ready for Chaplain Jimmie to use on the stinky feet of his elderly flock.
Because Elaine is in a wheel chair, we sat in an open area reserved for such things. It filled up quite quickly with nice old folks who settled down to a quiet nap as soon as festivities began. However, one of these folks kept asking where she was. But only after she screamed a few times and asked for someone to help her. It reminded me of my mother... she screamed in pain and the people in the nursing home dismissed her cries as the noise of a senile person. Only after I inherited the same ailment that she had and experienced 10 level pain, did I understand what she must have been going through.
We were given programs for the service.. the cover of which showed a marvelous wood carving of the last supper. Looking at that, I thought about how far we have come from the early days when cavemen outlined their hands with ash to make a statement.
The Last Supper Wood Carving
I had a lot of questions about the carving:
o Is this all one piece of carving?
o Why are there only 11 disciples shown?
o Is Judas missing?
o What is that in one man's hand that looks like a bunch of pencils?
o Isn't that Judas next to Christ, holding his hands to his chest, looking like he is saying: "Is it me, Lord?"
o Where is the table? Hidden by the bodies?
o Who carved this masterpiece?
o Why are there what appears to be two holes in one of the men's head?
o Who is the person wearing a hat?
o In a group of bearded persons, who is the clean-shaven one?
Now, I know that you don't see the carving.. just guess what it is like. Twelve figures in rubes
gesticulating and obviously carrying on lively conversation.
This carving must have take years and years to carve. I hope that the carver got proper recognition for his effort and his faith. The name Carnach comes to mind.. I will search the web and see if I can find out if that is the person who created this work of art.
(Later, I found out that this is a detail from the Altar of the Holy Blood, Rothenburg, Bavaria, 1501-1505. The sculptor, Tilman Riemenchneider was a very prolific artist who was active in the Wuerzburg area from 1483. Because of copyright issues, I cannot reproduce a picture here, but you could Google it.)
The Service
The assistant pastor gave a sermon that boiled down to one point: Jesus said: :...to love one another as I love you..." When I went to a Baptist Sunday School, I heard two things that contributed to me changing my life: (to paraphrase)
o Do unto others what you would have others do to you.
o If a man asks you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles.
I've lived with those two directives for all of my life since then. And, I tried to teach them to my kids.. I think they learned them very well and I am extremely proud of my children.
As a non-religious person, I still think that religion is a good thing. Without it, some people would be very depressed about life.
Some folks were afraid that they would be asked to come forward, remove their shoes and socks, and have their stinky feet washed by Pastor Jimmie, so nobody said anything about it.
Communion
I pushed Elaine in her wheelchair to get her wafer... the person who give it to her prepared to give me one, but I waved her hand away. (I think that this is a throwback to barbarism.. although I am glad that the slaughter of young animals as an offering has stopped .. mostly). Any way, I would be a hypocrite if I took communion.
Also, I saw Pastor Jimmy looking my way when I did not stand and recite the Apostles' creed that I could not in good conscience state. He did not look happy. But that's the way it goes, Rev. At least I got to this service... and the ceiling did not cave in..
Curiosity
Some questions to think about:
o If God is omnipotent, why does he let little children die? (Theodicy)
o Why is there racial intolerance in the world? (Aren't we all "God's Children?")
o How can we reconcile the different sects of Islam?
o How can we reconcile the different sects of Christianity?
o How can we educate people who are involved with Christian cults? (I have a family situation that is related to this.)
o What do we do about political hypocrites?
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Enough
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