cathedral times The Weekly Newsletter of the Cathedral of St. Philip, Serving Atlanta and the World
July 24, 2016
CAN ONE GO HOME AGAIN? By the Rev. Todd Smelser Canon Associate for Pastoral Care In the middle of June I flew to Dayton, Ohio and then on to Liberty, Indiana, where the class of 1966 was celebrating our fiftieth high school graduation. Although I was rather ambivalent about returning to my roots, I made the travel plans and returned. It was my first trip back to Indiana since my mother moved to Atlanta in 2009, so it had been many years since I’d seen any of my classmates. After all of this time, most of us had grey hair (or very little at all) and had added a few pounds. Some friends I recognized right away—others
I had to strain to read their name tags. But since I had known many of these folks since kindergarten days, there were lots of nostalgic memories passed around. The following evening I attended the high school alumni dinner. Served by the Lions Club, our class was honored along with many others. Since my mother had also graduated from this school in 1939, and had taught there for over thirty years, it was also a wonderful opportunity for them to share with me what a great English teacher my mother had been. Person after person told me how influential she had been, and I brought back many wonderful greetings and shared stories. It was the best gift anyone could have given my mom. While there I made my own pilgrimage of sorts. After living in cities most of my life, I enjoyed driving down familiar roads surrounded by acres of corn and cattle grazing in the fields. I also drove by the house I grew up in, toured my parent’s farm, where we moved when I was fourteen, and visited the cemetery where my dad is buried. I also drove by the Methodist Church where so many of my classmates were members, and where I got my first church job as the organist when I was thirteen. Then it was on to Richmond, only fourteen miles away. I drove by the home where mom moved after she sold the farm, toured the new fine arts building at Earlham College where I attended (as did my parents) and then St. Paul’s Church, where I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. All in all, I was very thankful to return and to remember all the nurturing that I experienced there.
“He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread...’” From this week’s lectionary Luke 11:2-3
Recently I read a survey in England in which the largest religious group was identified as the “nones”—which means no religious affiliation at all. Perhaps the English people have decided not only to abandon the European Union, but their own religious heritage as well. Closer to home, my own home parish, St. Paul’s, now shares a priest with another parish, and both seminaries I either attended or on whose board I served have sold their campuses and are trying to “re-invent” themselves. Clearly the religious landscape is changing, but what does the future hold in store? Perhaps it is a good spiritual practice for all of us to “go home again”—literally and metaphorically. What relationships and institutions that shaped our earlier years are still important in how we see the world and live out our commitments and faith? How can we connect with them without falling into a nostalgic reverie? How can this Cathedral parish be a beacon on the hill, in a very crowded and sometimes confused world? Finally, in an increasingly violent and polarized society, how can we proclaim in even bolder terms, the gospel of the Prince of Peace?”