from the rector
May 2010
Way back in my dim past... in 1968... I was chosen as battalion commander of my high school's Army ROTC unit. (This was back in the days when two years of ROTC were compulsory in many schools.)
Our school had a longstanding tradition of excellence in that program. However, I think I have the distinction of being the worst commander they ever had. I suppose it was good to learn at an early age that by temperament I am strictly a "military misfit".
However, the second in command of the unit was excellent at what he did, and his excellence covered for a lot of my deficiencies. (No accident that he did very well in the military after high school.) He was also one of the nicest people you would ever meet. It was obvious very early on in that year that he should have had the top job. But in no way did he ever express any resentment or disappointment, just went on doing his hob (and lots of mine) well. I have always felt grateful to him.
So it was with deep sadness that I learned at our 40th reunion back last summer that he, along with so many other classmates I remembered well, had died some years ago. I had hoped someday I could tell him how much I appreciated him.
A few weeks ago I heard from a visitor to our class website who was a close friend of his wife (also a classmate) who said she thought they had moved out to Texas some years back. They have an uncommon last name, and a quick Internet search led straight to them. And lo and behold - the rumor of his death, as Mark Twain says, was greatly exaggerated. There he was, alive (though not exactly well) in a small Texas town, and happy to reestablish contact.
One of the saddest things about getting back in touch with classmates is learning how many of us have died. But it can't compare to the happiness of learning that one whom you thought dead is still around.
So many Biblical passages are filled with the joy of restoration - of life, of relationships, of hope. Perhaps the clearest is in the parable from Luke which we read a few Sundays ago: "It is right that we should rejoice; for this your brother was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."
The message of Jesus' resurrection takes that joy to a much higher level. It isn't about "we thought he was dead but we were wrong", "he almost died", or any kind of metaphorical "death". It's about "he really died, and God raised him into abundant life" - and in the process opened the same door for us.
We celebrate that joy for 50 full days every year. But even those "great 50 days" cannot even begin to contain it - it spills over into the way we live every day.
Learning that my friend was alive was wonderful news. Here's better news:
"Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!"
Yours in Christ,
David Garrett