Whatever Happened to Anne of Green Gables? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Anne who?

I assume that’s what some of you are thinking right now (even if the name rings a bell, you just can’t think why). Fans, no doubt, are quoting Anne, ticking off how many times they’ve visited Green Gables, and re-enacting “The Lady of Shalott.”

Fans are the majority. So I can safely assume most are thinking: whatever did happen to Anne Shirley, the feisty orphan who impacted so many lives on Prince Edward Island (PEI)?

For the “Anne who?” crowd, keep reading. All will come clear.

To date, L. M. Montgomery’s first novel, Anne of Green Gables, has sold over 50 million copies, has been translated into 36 languages, and has never been out of print. It is the source of multiple movies, television productions, plays, and musicals. Not bad for a 111 year old novel.

As longtime “Fans of Anne,” we recently traveled to Charlottetown, PEI (Canada) to find the answer to our question. It was there we attended Anne & Gilbert, the Musical. The 2.5 hour show is lively, interesting, fun, and, to those wanting to know “what happened next,” informative. Picking up where the first novel leaves off, we learn through song, dance, and dialogue about the post-high school years of Anne-With-An-E and her wanna-be beau, Gilbert Blythe.

There’s a lot to that story and I’m not going to print any spoilers, here. Go see the musical. One of the rewards for doing so is that you will get to enjoy the musical numbers, particularly the toe-tapping, often hilarious, You’re Island Through and Through.

The author was a Prince Edward Island devotee. She once wrote, "We Prince Edward Islanders are a loyal race. In our secret soul we believe that there is no place like the little Province that gave us birth... Prince Edward Island, however, is really a beautiful Province — the most beautiful place in America, I believe."

The song captures this, perfectly, with such lines as:

If You're Pleased As Punch With Where You Live
And Proud Of What You Do
You're Island, You're Island Through And Through
And If You Mind Your Business
And You Mind Your Neighbor's Too
You're Island, You're Island Through And Through

Verse after verse provides reasons why a person could claim to be “island through and through.” Much the same way, the verses in this week’s selection from the Letter to the Colossians provide us a means to know if our citizenship is “above” with Jesus. We are called to set our minds “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

We are to strip off our old selves by dropping those earthly things that argue against our Heavenly citizenship, such as impurity, evil desire, greed (which is idolatry), anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language. We are further commanded, “Do not lie to one another....”

The reward for taking these steps is a renewal that leads to community, a state where our differences no longer divide us, where “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”

In other words, Jesus through and through.


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PHOTO: https://m.viator.com/Prince-Edward-Island-tourism/Anne-of-Green-Gables-on-Prince-Edward-Island/d5643-t18561

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 13 (18) (August 4, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=273

Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23
Psalm 49:1-12
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

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Join us Friday morning at the “Egg and I” restaurant (soon to be renamed “Our Breakfast Place”) for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We start at 8:00, and we fill the hour with scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship (and a little frivolity).

Blessings,
Steve

Giants in the Earth (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Even though I grew up surrounded by them, I was 21 years old before I actually saw my first giant.

I grew up on the Ohio River, an hour north of where it disappears into the Mississippi. Talk of the giants was common. Most of us had heard the tales: they were buried in the large earthen “Indian mounds” common in our area. By all estimates, these folk averaged eight, nine feet; even taller in some cases. Books, newspaper articles —and rare photos— attested to their existence.

While early explorers reported meeting giants in the Americas as late as the 1500’s, considerable archeological “evidence” suggested large tribes of giants lived in America from about 5600 BC to around 400 AD. Burial sites scattered all across the country have yielded giant skulls, extra large femurs, etc. For some, though, the real treasure troves lay in and near the Ohio River Valley where full skeletons were found. They were proportionally larger humans ... giants, in other words.

It’s possible none of it is true. I never actually saw one of those skeletons. It was all stories, books, and articles. Like the reference to giants in Genesis 6:4, it was all old news. Sure, the Israelites fought them from time to time, and we all know the David and Goliath story. But how many have actually encountered a real giant?

I was sitting in church when I happened to look back at one of the doors. There, bending deep because even his shoulders were to high up to fit under the lintel topping the opening, was my giant. After he squeezed through, he straightened up ... and up ... and up some more.

I know what 6’6” looks like, even 7 foot. I’ve seen a lot of extra-tall people in my life, most of them basketball players. They are almost all of a certain body type; elongated arms and legs, long torso. But this fellow was something else, altogether. He was proportional in every way ... except he was at least 8’ feet tall!

I couldn’t take my eyes off him ... nor could anyone else. He just stood there for a bit, looking around the room. There was no way he was going to fit into one of our seats. Eventually, someone found him a wide bench, and he sat there, against the back wall, most of the service. At some point, though, once we were deep into worship, he slipped out. He was gone when next I looked. I never saw him, again. But seeing someone of that stature left a life-long impression.

I write about giants, this week, because our scriptures are about the stature of God’s “chosen.” The 1st Samuel passage concludes with a comment that the boy Samuel continued “to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and with the people.” The Luke passage notes, similarly, that the boy Jesus “...increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with people” (Luke‬ ‭2:52‬ ‭NET‬‬).

Those parallels are not accidental.

The two boys got bigger, physically. That’s not surprising. But they also grew in other ways ... ways that drew the explicit approval of both God and people. Still, you might think these verses have no direct application to you. After all, one is about a future prophet and the other is about the Messiah.

There is a connection, though: Samuel and Jesus were God’s chosen ... as are we.

Our physical stature takes care of itself. If we’re not already physical giants, it’s unlikely we ever will be. However, as God’s chosen, we are to seek an increasing spiritual stature. The Colossians passage tells us how.

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Master those, and you, too, can be a giant.

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PHOTO (Robert Wadlow, 8’ 9” tall, stands next to his 5’ 11” father): http://www.sideshowworld.com/41-GG/121-Robert/Wadlow.html

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
First Sunday after Christmas Day (December 30, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. The hour starts at 8:00 and just tickets along: prayer, scripture, discussion, laughter. Good food, too.

Happy New Year!
Steve