It’s Easter 2007. I’ve just attended church and have walked away with an epiphany.
It’s not often I attend church, although with my children I have attended more church since the days of my pre-teen years. I’ve always found my content with working. It’s my belief that when you work hard and keep a decent life, that you’ll be rewarded after. I attend church when I feel there’s a need to pray for someone, or my prayer needs to be heard. I figure God’s got his own busy schedule and this guy (me) who is going to church after X period of time- MUST be goin there for a reason- so maybe he’ll pop by to have a look into what’s goin on with Steve. I do tend to go to church also on Christmas and Easter. Well… sometimes I think there’s reasons for being a place at a particular time, which maybe only you are meant to see.
Looking back, I’m not really sure where I was in the progress of my novel. I’m sure I must have been working on it, because this served as an inspiration. As I sat there and looked at the Cathedral from the back, I noticed something I hadn’t done before. It occurred to me that if you were to take the building and turn it upside down, it would resemble the hull of a ship. As I made these shapes in my mind, I noticed the stained glass windows, could have been representative of gun turrets in the hull of ship- a clipper ship or one of the many galleons which you’ve seen through time. It got me intregued and kept my mind active for the surmon the Bishop was to give.
At this mass, the Bishop of Metuchen decides to elaborate on a gift he received from a fellow priest who did a sabbatical in France. This particular priest had written a journal entitled “Pilgrim Road” and it was about his stay on the island of Honorat. Ile St. Honorat measures 800 yards by 500 yards and has been active in the monastic community for 1600 years (supposedly St. Patrick had been taught there). The reason of this island being so important was because of it’s water supply, and as small as the island is, its provided by an abundant supply of fresh water, which flows through from the main land.
In the surmon he describes the island of Honorat being symbolic of Christ’s resurrected life (I know because I kept the Easter summary) . He discusses the flowing waters of baptism. He relates by way of analogy it’s similarity to the movement of blood that flows from the heart to every part of the body. The monks tapped into the river to sustain their lives with it’s water so Christ’s resurrected life could flow into every aspect of our lives. He finishes it by asking if we’ll tap into the waters of Christ’s grace as they flow and states “it’s up to us to make it happen”.
Wow- it was pretty powerful to me. When I went home, I was inspired to sketch. I did a sketch of the Cathedral both right side up, and upside down. I penciled in a represative crowd who appeared like abstract marks in the church and when upside down they actually looked like waves of water. I wrote notes and questions regarding the surmon, and correlated it into one of the pivitol moments in my work. The strange thing is, I’d had a vision of where I was going in the novel, but not quite sure of how I was going to get there. So many things at the church that day “CLICKED”, I found it not to be coinsidental. It’s not something I can really elaborate on at this point in time, BUT I tell you this. The novel IS about SOUL. It’s taken some pretty interesting turns, of which I never question any more.
For whatever the reason, the idea of writing this came to me in a shallow sleep this morning, prior to getting up. Easter 2007. Maybe it’s a sign for me to really get back to the reason I need to work on this book- it EXCITED me.. Perhaps it’s a reminder to “tell me” this has got to get done.
Memories are amazing things. Sometimes they grab you, shake you around, and wake you up to the fact… we all have a mission.
Have a wonderful Sunday all! Rest today, for tomorrow there’s work to do.