Archive - 2016
March 29th
The Power Outage
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 03/29/2016 - 21:23It had been a long and exhausting Holy Week, but a truly blessed one as well. Throughout Lent, I spent a lot of time studying scripture and religious texts and did not attend as much to my other writings. As I headed home last night, I got a call from a friend, asking if I wanted to get together for a drink. As we talked at a local shop, he asked about my writing and I admitted that I had not been doing as much poetry or essay writing recently as I would have liked.
On my way home, I listened to some of the New York Public Library’s podcast of Ann Patchett & Elizabeth Gilbert on Writing. At home, I chatted briefly with my wife and daughter and decided to head to bed early. I was still overtired from Holy Week.
For the past month or two, I’ve been getting up at 5 AM to study, and then do my morning social media connections and daily ablutions starting at 6. I would get on the road a little bit after seven for a leisurely drive to work, stopping here and there along the way to play a little Ingress, and still being able to get into the office early. To get sufficient sleep, I try to go to bed by 9 PM. In my effort to get a little extra sleep, I must have gone to bed between 8:30 and 8:45.
At some point in the night, I woke up, aware that my wife Kim was in bed next to me. I glanced over at the clock radio and it was blank. Kim was reading by flashlight and explained to me that the power had gone out. We haven’t had a lot of power outages this winter, but it was windy, so this didn’t come as a great surprise. I rolled over and went back to sleep, figuring that the power would be back on by the time I got up in the morning.
At another point, I was awoken by the cat who wanted to go out into the living room but was hampered by a closed door. I let him out and grabbed my cellphone. It was around midnight. The wind was still blowing hard and the lights were still out.
It was a night filled with strange dreams. In one dream, we were back at the yacht club we had been a member of years ago when I worked on Wall Street. In another, Kim had gotten a great new job. Other details of each of these dreams have vanished. The third dream was particularly disturbing. We were camping somewhere, or something like that. There was an explosion and we went to a neighboring campsite to make sure everyone was okay and see what was going on. At one point, I went up near the crater from the bomb. I looked up towards the hills and saw a man in a brown pickup truck with Ohio license plates driving past us. He tossed something from the window, and I realized it was another bomb. I turned, ran, and dove for cover as the bomb exploded, filling my back with shrapnel.
A little before six in the morning, the dog started barking. There were trucks outside, which I assumed were there to restore the power. With no power, I couldn’t do many of my morning rituals, either online, or in terms of breakfast and shower. So, I rested in bed, hoping the power would be back in any moment. Finally, and 6:40, I got up, to a sponge bath and headed off to work.
I had driven a short ways down the road when I remembered that I had forgotten to grab a book for a study group this evening. I turned around and went back home to find that the power was back on. So, I took a moment to make myself some breakfast and take a proper shower.
As I drove back to work, I thought of those for whom the inconveniences of the day make the power outage seem insignificant. I thought of refugees who stayed in their home towns far longer than it was safe to do so. My mind wandered to the book Dhalgren and the family that lived in aware in the autumnal city.
I started writing this at the beginning of the day, but only now, at the end of the day, do I get a chance to finish it. I’d like to write more on this, but it is time for bed and I have plenty of other topics to explore in later blog posts.
March 28th
The Great Easter Vigil
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 03/28/2016 - 06:04Saturday evening before Easter Sunday our church celebrates an Easter Vigil. The Vigil starts a fire from which we light the Paschal Candle. I went to church early on Holy Saturday, to attend choir rehearsals and then a funeral. I ended up forgetting to bring our fire pit which the fire would be lit in.
After the funeral, I spoke with the priest and apologized for forgetting it. I asked when I should bring it. She responded, “At least an hour before the service”. Wanting to not add to the any anxiety or complicate the final preparations for the service I showed up an hour and a half before the service.
Inside the sanctuary, it was still dark. The altar was unadorned, but odor of Easter lilies wafted in from the wings. I knew it was going to be a long yet beautiful service. Spending an hour and a half in quiet preparation seemed like a long time. Yet it also felt very alluring.
I sat briefly and thought of those times, early in a romance, of waiting for my beloved. While there was a longing for the physical presence there was also something incredibly beautiful about the waiting. Yet I thought it would be good if I got outside and walked a little bit before settling into the long evening, especially considering my health.
Down the street there is a library and a playground. There are also portals in the augmented reality game, Ingress that I play. I headed over to the playground and saw a family taking a picture. There was no one else around so the man was taking the pictures. I got out of the car and offered to take pictures so he could be in them. The lighting wasn’t the best, but I took some pictures and they were appreciative.
Afterwards, I headed up to the little park on the other side of the church. I saw that there was a new Ingress player in the area and I sent him a message. He stopped by and I gave him some Ingress supplies and talked briefly. Then I headed back to the church.
As I sat quietly, the priest along with others who would be helping in the service entered the sanctuary. They discussed the logistics for the service. It would not be the typical service. There would be the fire, candles, lots of readings and hymns, a renewal of baptismal vows, and then the great noise and the altar being transformed. For me, the feeling went from waiting quietly for the arrival of the beloved to a time of preparation.
The service, when it started, went along well. I read The Valley of Dry Bones, and I thought about how, in many ways, my spiritual life had been a valley of dry bones. There had been times of going to church out of habit, or not even going at all. Times when it felt like I was going to church because it was something I was supposed to, like going to the office each day.
Yet after the guided meditation at a poetry conference close to a year ago, my relationship with the God of Love bloomed. Things started connecting, like bone to its bone. Sinews of a new, deeper faith began appearing.
After the readings came the renewal of baptismal vows.
“Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”
This great love from God that we had been waiting for, preparing for, will you show that love to your neighbors? That is what I’ve felt called to over this past year. That is what I’ve been spending time trying to discern how God wants me to share it in new deeper ways.
“I will, with God's help.”
The priest and acolytes then proceeded into the congregation splashing us all with holy water. She seemed particularly joyful about giving me a good dousing with the holy water and it was part of our shared Easter joy.
Since I had been in the church as the priest prepared for the service, I was called into action, to help remove the cover over the altar, revealing it in its glory, and to help move the Easter lilies into place around the baptismal font and the altar.
It was a wonderful service, full of God’s love, peace, and joy which I hope to carry with me as I return to the struggles of daily life.
In my neighboring town, adults fought over Easter eggs. In Pakistan terrorists targeted Christians celebrating Easter. God’s love, a love which conquers death, is sorely needed. Will I be able to proclaim it, to show it to my neighbors?
“I will, with God's help.”
March 27th
Holy Week at Pez, before the Resurrection
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 03/27/2016 - 12:46I take a moment after a beautiful Easter Sunday morning worship service to read the news.
The Easter egg chaos took place in a neighboring town, so I read the news with particular interest. The story was about what you would expect. Lax security at a large Easter egg hunt because you shouldn’t really need security at an Easter egg hunt, right?
Yes. It made me sad that some people’s greed and self-centeredness destroyed an event meant to bring joy to children. Yet what was more depressing was the comments.
Conservatives are blaming liberals and vice versa. Democrats and blaming Republicans and vice versa. Religious people are blaming the irreligious and vice versa.
It seems as if there are too problems, one is the rampant self centeredness. Call it greed, call it entitlement, call it whatever you want, it is about people trying to get what they can at the expense of those around them. Yet this is fed by perhaps a greater problem, the “it’s not my fault” problem. It is always the other that is the problem. Republicans. Democrats. Immigrants. People of Color. White people. Gay people. Straight people. Whatever you aren’t.
As I think of this, one of the songs we sang during Holy Week came to mind.
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee!
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.
March 25th
Good Friday Anger Management
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 03/25/2016 - 12:11Yesterday a friend was angry about something I had done. It probably isn’t a rare occurrence for me or for any of us. I felt that I was justified in my actions and my friend’s anger was unjustified. I could have argued about this, but I didn’t see any benefit of this, so I tried to let it go.
It seems like hanging on to anger is a big problem in many ways right now. I see people hanging on to anger and spreading it on social media. It seems to drive much of the political discourse in America right now.
Yesterday, I was talking with a pain specialist who suggested that much of the problem with opioids these days is they are being prescribed for pain which would better be treated by other approaches like stress reduction and anger management.
We see this play out on the geopolitical scale as well; terrorists striking out in anger at some perceived injustice and others seeking to strike back ever harder out of even greater anger. Where does it all end?
Good Friday.
Jesus Christ, taking all the hatred and anger on the cross.
I am bound to do things that will anger friends in the future. I am bound to get angry myself in the future. Yet I believe all that hatred and anger has been addressed in the cross. I need to let the anger go and seek to show the love God has for each of us to those that are angry with me or that I am angry at.
March 24th
The Cross, The Easter Bunny, and Validation
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 03/24/2016 - 06:43The health center I work at has a holiday celebration each year around Christmas and a spring celebration each year around Easter. For the past few years, I’ve Santa at the holiday celebration and I’ve learned a lot from it.
There are children that are afraid to see Santa. They break down in tears as they approach. There are some that are timid, hiding behind the person that brought them. Some are eager to see Santa and come and give me a big hug.
They are mostly kids that are referred to as ‘underserved’. They may not have a stable family. The only gift they receive may be the one they get at the holiday party. It took me a while before I learned how to be a good Santa.
As kids wait in line, I smile at them, wave, wink, and beckon them to come to me. As they approach I let them know that I am so glad they have come, that I have been waiting for them. I let them know that Santa loves them.
Often, I ask them what good things they have done recently for someone they love. Even if they focus on having been bad, I let them know they are loved.
I have seen caregivers wipe back tears as they realize there is still love in this world, even for the underserved.
All of these things came to mind this week as a kidney stone journeys through my system, causing great pain and as I spiritually journey to The Cross of Good Friday. They came to mind as I read headlines of yet another bombing, or a priest captured by terrorist being tortured, whom the terrorist are threatening to crucify on Friday. I think of these things as I listen to our political discourse, or read of a person who has overdosed or committed suicide.
Tuesday was the Spring Celebration. An AmeriCorps member dressed as the Easter Bunny, and I shared a YouTube video that I think helps get into the mindset for being Santa or the Easter Bunny.
To me, the ultimate validation comes from God, from a greater being, becoming human and saying that they love me, individually, by name, so much that even with my brokenness and being underserved, they are willing to suffer great suffering than I can imagine, even with my kidney stone, and to die.
At work, we have a holiday celebration and spring celebration because not everyone uses the same language to speak about a greater being, or even acknowledges a greater being. Online, I talk with friends that believe in Jesus, but more as a metaphor than a historical event. Some of my more conservative friends may get all hung up about what one must believe to be ‘saved’. To me, these things don’t really matter.
What matters is that a great being became like me and validated me, showing great love amidst great suffering. He smiles at us, waves, winks, and beckons us to approach. She tells us that she has been waiting for us and loves us.
