{"id":4983,"date":"2015-04-04T11:28:47","date_gmt":"2015-04-04T15:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/?p=4983"},"modified":"2015-04-04T11:28:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-04T15:28:47","slug":"the-still-point-of-the-turning-world-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2015\/04\/the-still-point-of-the-turning-world-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Still Point of the Turning World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The first time I went to a Catholic church on Good Friday, to celebrate the liturgy of the Lord\u2019s passion, I was confused by the empty holy water font, the darkness, and the absence of the Mass. The next year, when I went again as a Catholic, I was unnerved by it all. \u201cBut where is<\/em> He?\u201d I whispered urgently to the Ogre. \u201cWhere is Christ, right now? If He is always here, where is He now<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the idea of time in the Mass. It\u2019s called the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not the Remebrance of the Holy Sacrifice. It\u2019s the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the Cross. It\u2019s like the Crucifixion happened once, and never stopped happening. It happened two thousand years ago and it happened last week, and it will keep happening, again and again until the end of time.<\/p>\n

Except not today. Today, there is silence and the world is still.<\/p>\n

Last night as I left the church, I felt that same sort of unsettled emptiness that I did eight years ago. The candles were gone, the water was gone, the altar was bare, and Christ was not there.\u00a0 He is in His tomb today, and in Hell, and here on earth time is still as we wait for His return.<\/p>\n

\"Hans_Holbein-_The_Body_of_the_Dead_Christ_in_the_Tomb\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the enchainment of past and future
\nWoven in the weakness of the changing body,
\nProtects mankind from heaven and damnation
\nWhich flesh cannot endure.<\/p>\n

Time past and time future
\nAllow but a little consciousness.
\nTo be conscious is not to be in time
\nBut only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,
\nThe moment in the arbour where the rain beat,
\nThe moment in the draughty church at smokefall
\nBe remembered; involved with past and future.
\nOnly through time time is conquered.<\/p>\n

\u2013TS Eliot, from Burnt Norton<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Apologies for the screwy formatting in the Burnt Norton excerpt \u2014 I tried to fix it a few times but couldn\u2019t spend any more time on it when I should be making spanakopita. It\u2019s really bugging me too, though, so don\u2019t feel alone in your lit-geekery.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Image via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time I went to a Catholic church on Good Friday, to celebrate the liturgy of the Lord\u2019s passion, I was confused by the empty holy water font, the darkness, and the absence of the Mass. The next year, when I went again as a Catholic, I was unnerved by it all. \u201cBut where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[241,242,199,138],"class_list":["post-4983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christ","tag-holy-saturday","tag-poetry","tag-ts-eliot"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Still Point of the Turning World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first time I went to a Catholic church on Good Friday, to celebrate the liturgy of the Lord's passion, I was confused by the empty holy water font,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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