Today is the Day
There is an old war movie or Twilight Zone episode (or something like that) that takes place in a battle of a war. If I recall correctly, it was World War II era, but it has been many, many years since I have seen this film, and I can no longer remember what the name of the film was or what it was about. Obviously, it was not all that great a production.
There is this one scene, however, that has always stuck in my mind, not because it was that particularly well produced nor mind blowing cinematography. It seems to be one of those odd childhood moments the mind etches into memory like a photo negative. The scene was just a rather typical battle scene where the main character was shot and died on the spot. All the action of the battle fades into the background and the character dies in the field. The camera pans around to a now ethereal, almost transcendent, view of the chaos. The viewer suddenly realizes that outside the battle, it is a beautiful, sunny day with blue sky and a bird sings in the background.
At this point, I do not remember if the movie ended at that point or not. I suppose it matters not. I spent the morning taking my mentor priest around to some of the sights in Lincoln. He wanted another pair of cowboy boots, so we went to the aforementioned good ole' boy store. We then went up to the top of the Nebraska capitol building to look out of the dome walkway.
It is a beautiful spring day in Lincoln; a few clouds hovering on the horizon. We then went to St. Mark's, and I gave the grand tour. There was hustle and bustle of the altar guild and the hospitality committee putting up stuff. Having just come from that highest point in Lincoln, the goings on reminded me of that movie scene from so long ago.
Today is the day. I will be ordained as a priest in Christ's one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. This is the goal that I set for myself, worked hard for, prayed about, for going on 5 or 6 years now, and something I have pondered for many years before that. It is a journey that took me to another city, to another culture in South Dakota, to another continent, to Narnia itself.
Today is the day that segment of the journey ends. Another, longer, more exciting journey begins. Today is the day.
Pray for me, a sinner.
There is this one scene, however, that has always stuck in my mind, not because it was that particularly well produced nor mind blowing cinematography. It seems to be one of those odd childhood moments the mind etches into memory like a photo negative. The scene was just a rather typical battle scene where the main character was shot and died on the spot. All the action of the battle fades into the background and the character dies in the field. The camera pans around to a now ethereal, almost transcendent, view of the chaos. The viewer suddenly realizes that outside the battle, it is a beautiful, sunny day with blue sky and a bird sings in the background.
At this point, I do not remember if the movie ended at that point or not. I suppose it matters not. I spent the morning taking my mentor priest around to some of the sights in Lincoln. He wanted another pair of cowboy boots, so we went to the aforementioned good ole' boy store. We then went up to the top of the Nebraska capitol building to look out of the dome walkway.
It is a beautiful spring day in Lincoln; a few clouds hovering on the horizon. We then went to St. Mark's, and I gave the grand tour. There was hustle and bustle of the altar guild and the hospitality committee putting up stuff. Having just come from that highest point in Lincoln, the goings on reminded me of that movie scene from so long ago.
Today is the day. I will be ordained as a priest in Christ's one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. This is the goal that I set for myself, worked hard for, prayed about, for going on 5 or 6 years now, and something I have pondered for many years before that. It is a journey that took me to another city, to another culture in South Dakota, to another continent, to Narnia itself.
Today is the day that segment of the journey ends. Another, longer, more exciting journey begins. Today is the day.
Pray for me, a sinner.
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