Post Christian, pluralistic but up at dawn for song and prayer

Anything that is done for 500 years merits attention, even if it means getting up at 4am to catch the village bus to Oxford. For the last half-millennium people have risen at dawn on May 1st to gather below the tower at Magdalen (pronounced "Maudlin") College (where C.S. Lewis taught Medieval and Renaissance Literature) to listen to the choir sing from the tower welcoming spring. Oxford students stay up all night at galas and balls, then stagger in their tuxes and gowns(did I mention they drink a lot?) to the street for this tradition. Thousands of towns-people join them. We had been warned about the drunken students. We had been told that greeting the spring was a pagan tradition. So we were not prepared for the glorius sacred music that the choir sang, nor the very Christ-centered prayer that the vicar prayed, nor the quiet, respectful crowd of thousands. England is certainly post-Christian, but this very secular culture holds tightly to its Christian roots. The names of school terms still honor the religious -- Michaelmas, Trinity, etc. Evensongs are celebrated in most college chapels. This very secular city will not give up God, even if much of the time God is ignored or relegated to "appropriate corners."


After the songs and prayer, there was dancing by Morris Men (yawn), Quakers (fun!), and Cloggers, and renaissance music by punk rockers. There were walking trees being led about on leashes. The gospel was being preached in the streets, setting the record straight about the Christian roots of welcoming spring, the honoring of nature and creation while directing our worship to the Creator.

Reading and Writing

Tina has been reading a biography about Etty Hillesum, a contemporary of Anne Frank, whose faith became real as she and her family were carried off to concentration camps. Tina loves observing the lives of others and has enjoyed getting to know Etty through her diaries. The book was quoted by Henri Nouwen in another book Tina completed, Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity and Ecstacy in Christian Perspective. That book powerfully conveys the love of God, the way God values every person, and the ways we sideline this love in our lives by our strivings and self preoccupation. Finally, she was really hooked by the book Born on a Blue Day, by autistic savant, Daniel Tammet.

I have been reading mystery novels by Laurie King because they are well written and that's all. I've tried a few other substantive books by notable Christian teachers and leaders, but nothing has caught hold. I have absolutely reveled in my hours in the University's Bodleian Library, reading poetry from the 14th century on -- dipping in at will here and there, ordering from the stacks. My two books are now in the Bodleian reserves, and are available to students.

I have also nearly completed work on my book of poetic intercessions, and have recently added an appendix on historic poetic prayers from various cultures.