Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the
fruit of lips that confess his name.
"There are wild birds' feathers--the owls, the nightjars. I shall dream wild dreams. I should lie at
peace here with only the sky above."
"Someone who liked to think put this here," said one woman, who read the inscription aloud to
her husband.
It is estimated that the bench weighs 600 pounds and it had to be hauled down a steep
embankment to rest where it does. Whoever was responsible, the city has decided that the
monument can stay.
There is something to be said for silent gestures like that. And Jesus warned us about making
a show of our religion. Still, when a friend is floundering in darkness and needs someone to
say something positive, something reassuring, something life-giving, then remaining silent may
not be the best tact to take. There are times when the disciple must put in a good word for
Christ. It need not be an eloquent statement. It need not have all the subtleties of theology
ironed out. It does need to be a statement of simple faith--an affirmation that Christ is alive
and that Christ is available to all who call on his name.
(Hebrews 13.15
NRSV)
I was interested to read a story that took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It seems that
somehow a finely crafted red granite bench has mysteriously appeared in a public park. And
no one--or next to no one--knows who put it there. Not only is the bench quite attractive, but it
bears a passage from Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel ORLANDO. The inscription chiseled atop
the 4-foot surface of the bench comes from Chapter 5 of this novel. It reads like this:
Dear God, help me to not be afraid of sharing the love and hope in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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