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ANNUAL LOW COUNTRY BOIL

Wednesday, April 9
6:00 p.m.

$10.00 per person eating shrimp

R.S.V.P
228-9242 or
allsaint@rose.net
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TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, AND CLIENT #9

As Dante and Virgil enter the first circle of Hell, the poet encounters 'the woeful souls who have lost the good of the intellect."  The phrase fits Wagner's opera and Mr. Eliot Spitzer rather like the proverbial glove.  One hesitates to blame Providence for the fact that an Episcopal priest found himself in New York City March 10, the day that news broke of the Governor of New York transporting a prostitute across state lines -- the same evening the Metropolitan Opera premiered a run of Wagner's masterpiece Tristan und Isolde.  While the newspapers have quite predictably had a field day recounting Mr. Spitzer's hypocrisy, one searches in vain for someone to name the real sin behind the Governor's fall from grace.  It is the same sin as Wagner's lovers:  lust.

In terms of Gregory the Great's list of seven "deadly" sins, lust remains the least culpable.  Nevertheless, its results can be quite serious.  Perhaps no other sin holds as much power to blind its victims to their own well-being, or the well-being of others.  In that first circle of Hell, Dante refers to the lustful as those who have subjected reason to desire. Buffeted about and subject to the slightest breeze, the spirits in hell have no sense of discernment or self-control.  Lust causes its victims to treat others not as persons but as objects - for Mr. Spitzer that would mean Kristin the paid paramour, Mrs. Spitzer, as well as the Wall Street giants he went after with wreckless abandon.  Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal came closest to describing the effects of lust without actually naming the sin:  "We have unrestrained personalities with unrestrained behavior.  Want to see one?  Turn on your TV.  Check the prose on the Web.  No surprise that some people, like Client 9, hit the wall.  Judgment is always the first thing to go." (italics added)

The Governor and Wagner's ill-fated anti-heroes make an interesting juxtaposition.  First, one wonders why the "love-potion" is not called the "lust" potion, as real love always seeks the good of the beloved.  Lust seeks her own good.  Isolde remains deaf to the warnings of her maid:  She is "deluded by the wildness of [her] desire"; she thinks "the world eyes grow dim for [her]"; "[her] love has quenched [her] light of reason."

Consequently, Isolde can wish for nothing but to extinguish the torch, her signal for Tristan that "the coast is clear".  Lust has blinded her to the fact that the torch represents the light of day, some might even mean God:  the Light which would not only illumine her sin for what it is, but also perhaps, elicit enough guilt for her to keep herself  chaste.

When Tristan finally appears, the lovers really have no choice but to sing of their desire to escape forever the light of day:  "Thus we died, undivided, one forever without end, never waking, never fearing, embraced namelessly in love, given entirely to each other, living only in our love."  Blind to every one and every thing, their duet becomes quite simply the poetry of death -- and not for nothing does history consider  Wagner's opera to be the summit and climax of the entire Romantic era.  Indeed, lust causes Tristan to allow himself to be mortally wounded, and toward the end of the opera as he awaits Isolde's return with her magical cures, the orchestra depicts the full effect of lust run amuck - whipping up a musical hurricane to blow Tristan around to the point that he would actually rip away his bandage - the only thing keeping him alive -- only to die in Isolde's arms.  He remains blind to the end, even to the potential good of living long enough for his lover to heal his wound.

Once again, in terms of moral culpability lust is the least serious of the seven deadly sins, but it remains no less lethal.  Its danger lies in its ability to blind, judgment and good sense being the first to go.  Unlike any other sin, it unhinges us.  We become ships without rudders, subject to wherever the next wave would carry us.  Other sins can be - and are more serious, but when we subject our reason to our desire, we beg the probability to develop in Mr. Henninger's more than apt phrase a "disproportionate life", and our fall can be quite potentially disastrous, no matter how smart or strong we believe ourselves to be.  "Disproportionate" might be an understatement for the life of the former Governor of New York and others consumed by lust, but these disastrous waters are sure to beckon when any of us throw discretion and caution to the wind, the inevitable result of having "lost the good of the intellect".  FAB

ECW BOOK CLUB

ECW Book Club will discuss The Life of Pi by Yann Martel on April 9 at 11:50. Leaders will be Father Buechner and Lee Mitchell. On May 14, the book will be, Purple Hibiscus by Chimanada Ngozi Adichie. The leader will be Ann Larson, head of the English department at Brookwood. Lunch will be served, a call to the office to let us know you are coming is appreciated. All, men, women, members, non-members are welcome, please join us.

ECW NEWS

The ECW will meet on Wednesday, April 9 at 5:00 p.m.  Please plan on attending.  The nursery will be available.

CONGRATULATIONS

Many of you know that Laurel Sanders last month was accepted to the Medical School at Florida State University.  She learned this week (Holy Week as this is written) that she has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa from Sweetbriar College.  What a tremendous honor!
 

MEMORIAL CONCERT

A Memorial Concert celebrating the life of Emily Searcy will be held on Sunday, April 6 at 3:00 PM at the Thomasville Cultural Center. This tribute will feature chamber music and solo performances by an outstanding group of the countless professional artists whose lives have been touched through her friendship, leadership of Thomasville Entertainment Foundation, support of Brevard Music Center and legacy to the music world at large. The memorial celebration is open to the public and tickets are not required.  For additional information, call 226-7404.

ST. CECILIA AND ST. DAVID CHOIRS

The choirs will not rehearse Wednesday, April 2 (Spring Break).  Both choirs will sing Sunday, April 20.  Choir Award Sunday, and the last time the choristers will sing this year will be Pentecost Sunday, May 11.

Thanks,
Kathy B.

VESTRY MEETING

The Vestry will hold its meeting this month on Sunday, April 20 at 8:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall Library

A WONDERFUL EASTER WEEKEND

On Easter Eve, about 150 people came to church to celebrate our Lords Resurrection.  Add this number to the approximately 250 present on Easter Day, and All Saints' reached a record attendance of 400.  The previous high was 375 a few years back.

I want to thank and congratulate the many younger couples who brought their children to church for Easter Eve, and then returned the next morning.  Such commitment adds so much to that service, making it more meaningful for all.

Last but not least, our gratitude to the Choir, Altar Guild, Acolytes, Layreaders, Ushers, Easter Egg Hunt planners and everyone else whose presence added to our collective Easter experience.  FAB

USHERS FOR  APRIL

April 6, 2008    
Bill Ladson    
Bernie Lanigan

April 13, 2008
Robert Lynde
Paul McCollum

April 20, 2008   
Buck Mitchell    
Rick Nudd

April 27, 2008
Denny Lewin
Charles Olson

SUNDAY SCHOOL PARENT'S DINNER

Please make sure and reserve Wednesday, April, 23, at 6:00 p.m. on your calendars.  There will be a dinner at church that evening for all parents of Sunday school children, and I hope that as many parents as possible can be here that night.  There will be food for the children as well, so be sure to reserve that night for everyone in the family.   The main agenda item is for our parents and teachers to have some time together over dinner so that you know what we have been doing this year, hear our plans for next year, and discuss additional ways for more parents to get involved with Christian Education.  Please be sure to RSVP to Nikki by phone or e-mail so that we can have an accurate count for food.  Please give a total number of adults and children, and there will be childcare available for all ages.

Our teachers have done a marvelous job with a new curriculum this year, and I have received positive feedback throughout the year.  I hope that your children have been going home talking about what they learned in Sunday school from week-to-week.  Fr. Buechner and all of our teachers join me in saying what a joy and privilege it is to play a role in our children's spiritual formation.  We also understand what a tremendous responsibility is entrusted to us.  This is one of the main reasons for this gathering, and I look forward to our time together on the 23rd.

WNM

EYC SCHEDULE FOR APRIL

4/6      Dinner and a movie at the McQueen's 
                  Meet for dinner at 5:30 with movie to follow
4/13     Church at 6:00 with program to follow
4/20     Frisbee Golf at the Simmons' house        
                  Meet for dinner at 5:30 with golf to follow
4/27     Church at 6:00 and then off to Granddaddy's

TRANSITIONS:

Happy Birthday in April to:

William Thomas Bragg   4-1-98
Michael Houston   4-1-93
Caroline Sewell    4-2-96
Olivia Enright    4-4-02
Elizabeth Anne Rollins   4-14-03
Annalee K. Jackson   4-28-96
John Treadwell (Jack) Josey, Jr.  4-29-07

Happy Birthday in May to:

Ella Simmons    5-18-01
Samuel Sewell    5-18-94
Audrey Simmons   5-22-95
Christopher C. Watt   5-27-99
Samuel Bruhn    5-28-01
Savannah Singletary   5-29-96

THE PARISH REGISTER
Baptisms

Rebecca Susannah Campbell received the sacrament of
Holy Baptism on March 16, 2008.

Wyatt Jackson Davis received the sacrament of
Holy Baptism on March 22, 2008.

William Banks McCollum received the sacrament of
Holy Baptism on March 22, 2008.