Shakespeare: To See or not to See

William Shakespeare
Public Domain

The difficulty of writing Hamlet was nothing compared to the difficulty of being Catholic in Elizabethan England.  Therefore, people are still trying to figure out whether or not Shakespeare was actually Catholic.

Although Shakespeare's parents were practicing Roman Catholics during the reign of Queen Mary I (who espoused Catholicism), they may not have been during the reign of her successor, Elizabeth I.  That's because Elizabeth I's anti-Catholicism was literally quite deadly.

Elizabeth's spies had already tortured, killed, drawn and quartered Robert Southwell, a Jesuit priest and poet whom Shakespeare had admired.  If Shakespeare were a practicing Catholic, these events could have surely encouraged him to keep his religion a closely-guarded secret.

Elizabeth ordered all citizens to attend Church of England (Anglican) Protestant services - keeping track of those who did, and closer track of those who didn't.  The latter were identified as recusants.  Shakespeare's father was identified as such, as was Shakespeare's daughter.  Plus, there is no record of Shakespeare himself ever having registered as a member of the Anglican Church.

In 1613 Shakespeare purchased Blackfriars Gatehouse.  Its tunnels were said to have been a hiding place for London's Catholics.  There was also talk that he had befriended Edmund Campion (a Counter-Reformation leader), and that his father's will included a copy of Campion's Catholic materials.  An Anglican minister had even written literary notes affirming that Shakespeare had "dyed a Papyst" (one loyal to the Pope).

Some of Shakespeare's memorable characters were Catholic, such as Friar Laurence (Romeo and Juliet), Friar Francis (Much Ado About Nothing), Hamlet's purgatorial ghost (?), Thomas More and others.  The question remains: Was Shakespeare also?

Resources

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2008/04/25/april-25-2008-was-shakespeare-catholic/5519/#:~:text=His%20works%20suggest%20that%20he,by%20the%20Church%20of%20England.

https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/hamlet-ghost-catholic-protestant/

Forget Nazareth: Jesus of Japan

Road Sign in Shingo, Aomori
Photo by calebincatania

Although only 1.5% of Japan's population is Christian, a legend persists that Jesus once lived there.

As the story goes, an itinerant shepherd turned garlic farmer settled in a mountain hamlet of northern Japan approximately 2,000 years ago.  He allegedly lived to be 106 after falling in love and fathering three children.  Some call him Daitenku Taro - others call him Jesus Christ.

Smithsonian Magazine reports that this Japanese hamlet, Shingo, now advertises itself as "Christ's Hometown."  Never mind that the village church has been repurposed into a tourist attraction, the annual Christ Festival is still going strong.

So how did Jesus of Nazareth happen to end up in the hills of Japan?  Local folklore has an answer for that.  It is said that Jesus did not die on the cross, but rather his "kid brother, Isukiri" did.  It is also said that Jesus was over in Japan during those twelve "lost years" that many have wondered about.

It therefore makes perfect sense (assuming you believe the rest of this tale) that Jesus would seek refuge in the "promised land" of Japan after being persecuted in Jerusalem.

Resources

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Little-Known-Legend-of-Jesus-in-Japan-183833821.html?c=y&page=1

Church growth: Better trumps bigger

Village Church in South Sudan
Photo by Ernst Ulz

Many churches embark upon "growth" campaigns without clearly identifying just what that growth means to them.

In an article for The Huff Post Religion Blog, Derek Penwell points out that church growth is not just a numbers game, but also a maturity gain.  However, maturity is much harder to nail down than either membership or financial statistics.

Penwell discusses the usual claims about how many new members have joined the church this year, and then compares them with this other (all too rare) type of assessment: "We've had to grapple with some pretty tough issues lately.  Some have even left our church because of it.  However, those who remained have experienced a deepening of their faith commitment."

He emphasizes that growth is not necessarily about "bigness."  Nor is it necessarily about anything that can be easily seen or quantified.  Just as we (hopefully) don't judge all children, frogs, or stones in the same manner - neither should we assume that all church growth should be about outward expansion.

Resources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derek-penwell/church-growth_b_3782813.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Yogic tale: Alexander the Great Slave

Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii
Public Domain

It is well known that Alexander the Great had been hoping to conquer far more of the Indian subcontinent than he actually did.

H. E. Marshall explained that after Alexander fought many bitter battles within the Punjab region, he was "eager to reach the holy river Ganges and conquer the people there."  His men, however, were just as eager to bid adieu to India's elephants and climatic extremes.  They therefore begged the king to go no farther, and he very reluctantly agreed.

Alexander allegedly remained fascinated by stories he had heard about yogis.  IndiaDivine.org tells us that when he was about to leave the subcontinent, Alexander "remembered that his people had asked him to bring to them an Indian yogi" in order to receive blessings.

After meeting such a yogi, Alexander asked him to come to Greece.  After the yogi politely declined, the king was enraged.  No one had ever dared to refuse such a "majestic" request.  He then bellowed, "I am the great king Alexander.  If you will not listen to me, I shall kill you - cut you into pieces!"

The yogi replied: You cannot kill me!  You can only kill my body...  You say you are a king.  May I tell you who you are?  You are a slave of my slave!  He then told Alexander:  Anger is my slave...  You are a slave of anger, and therefore a slave of my slave!

Resources

http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/hinduism-forum/272183-alexander-great-yogi.html

http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/alexander.htm

Church attire: What would Jesus wear?

Changing Fashion
Public Domain

In modern-day Western societies, the amount of clothing is inversely proportional to the outside temperature.  As the heat scales up, the clothing scales down.

Although this might (greatly) please bikini fans, it might not bode as well for church attendees.  That is why some churches have taken to posting signs like this one from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Bethesda, Maryland: Dignity & Decorum: Please try not to wear beach shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Thank you.

Michelle Boorstein of The Washington Post points out that casual is superseding formal on airplanes, in offices, and pretty much everywhere.  The last outposts of formal wear have (somewhat) been churches.

There has even been a movement called "Modest is Hottest" among Evangelical Christian women.  But younger females have been challenging this slogan, contending that a woman's heretofore private parts "all proclaim the glory of the Lord."  Some also interpret "Modest" to refer only to "the depth of one's spirit, not their neckline."  In other words, modesty is "an orientation of the heart" which "begins with putting God first."

Judging people in their entirety is something that Jesus was clear about, and clearly against.  Therefore, is judging people by what they wear (or don't wear) to church holy, or is it merely holier than thou?

Resources

http://wwm.org/articles/40267/?place=united-states

Airport chaplains: Fly the spiritual skies

Photo by Quintin Soloviev

Whether for pleasure or necessity, air travel often indicates a break in the regular routine.

Breaks like these can zap a person out of ordinary awareness and into a whole new state of consciousness.  Such shifts have a way of bringing spirituality to the forefront.

That is a major reason why more and more airports are not only providing chapels, but also chaplains.  These chaplains represent numerous faiths and denominations.  Although scheduled worship services are held, most airport chaplaincy occurs on the fly.

Such chaplains can find themselves in the front lines during health crises, weather extremes, employee burnout issues, plane crashes, terrorist threats, family tragedies, etc.  When Rev. Dr. Donna Mote served at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, she observed the following: "There's the world in grief, the world in joy - really the whole world is passing through there."  

And when Rev. Hutz Hertzberg served at Chicago's two main airports, he aptly concluded: "In the 21st century, we need to bring the ministry to where the people are instead of waiting for them to come to our churches." 

Resources

https://chaplaincyinnovation.org/projects/donna-mote-atl

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/airport-chaplains-let-fliers-connect-heavens-080144213.html

Vitamin N: Combating 'Nature Deficiency Disease'

Morning Glory
Public Domain

It turns out that folks like Thoreau and Whitman really had it right when it came to extolling Nature's virtues.

Those (i.e., most "civilized" beings) who are suffering from NDD (Nature Deficiency Disease) often don't know what they're missing.  While scurrying through sealed-in environments, they experience vague symptoms that could likely be relieved with just a little green grass and sunshine.  Blankets of snow with cloud-covered skies would also suffice.  As long as it's Nature with a capital N...

This "prescription" isn't just a poetic flight of fancy.  As reported in the July 2009 edition of the AARP Bulletin, 38 research participants were assigned to take a 50ish-minute walk in either the Ann Arbor Arboretum or in that city's built-up downtown section.  Guess whose attention and memory spans improved by 20 percent?  You got it: the Arboretum group's.

The study's lead author, Marc Berman, explained that a Nature walk has enough stimulation to capture the attention, yet not so much as to overwhelm the thought processes.  This beneficial combination lulls the mind into an "active rest" which "tends to be restorative."

Which resonates well with the following quote from Whitman: A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.

And with this quote from Thoreau: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. 

Resources

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-07-2009/nature_science_shows.html