A Message from the Dean

Dear Cathedral Family,

Sometimes I find that a simple song refrain from the past returns bringing with it a thread that leads to the deeper layers of a larger truth. This week it’s a song from the American folk tradition. In 1946, Merle Travis wrote a song about the life of a coal miner in Rosewood, Kentucky. That song was “Sixteen Tons,” and you may remember its refrain: “You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? / Another day older and deeper in debt. / Saint Peter, don’t you call me, cause I can’t go. / I owe my soul to the company store.”* The singer gives voice to the life of a poor working man in a system poised to produce prosperity in our country. In his situation, what is he to do?

This week’s readings from scripture bring us other versions of the same story out of the long life of the people of God. The Old Testament prophet Amos wrote out of the experience of a farmer and a herder in 760-750 BC, one of the most peaceful and prosperous periods in the life of ancient Israel. His prophetic activity foresaw the devastation and destruction that the kingdom would face within a few decades. His prophetic statement, which we will hear for the next few Sundays, calls attention to the eventual consequences for those who “trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land.”

Jesus, in a parable unique to Luke’s gospel, gives his disciples a head-scratching teaching about faithful living in the earthly world of “dishonest wealth.” The “unjust steward” of the parable is praised by his master for acting shrewdly and using the system that exists faithfully—with awareness that it is illusory and will pass away, to be replaced by the “true riches” of the reign of God.

Merle Travis’ miner tells St. Peter that he “can’t go,” but in reality, of course, he must, and he will go. And so also will go the mine, the store, and the whole system and world that holds it. When it is gone, the true “eternal homes” will be fully realized, and the “children of light” will welcome in the “children of this age.”

What does this mean for you and me as we go about living our lives in this world? In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus counsels his followers to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Live the values of the kingdom in the place where you live. How can you help lighten someone else’s load this week? How can you make generous and loving use of what your life has given you? How can you serve God with whatever “wealth” you have been given?

Faithfully,

Beverly+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk