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July 2024
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Dennis Guyon Memorial7/13/2024 "How to Make a Sad Song Better"
Presented at St Vincent de Paul Church Albany, New York How do we remember and honor the life of Dennis Stephen Guyon? How do our sacred texts help us do that? From the Book of Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15) we heard some wise words that borrow from autobiographies and proverbs. At the time, Judea was under the autocratic rule of Hellenistic kings. The average Jew felt hopeless and wondered why God was so silent. Many people feel the same way today about their lives. Old Testament scholar Kathryn Shifferbecker called the Book of Ecclesiastes a collection of skeptical or dissenting wisdom. Though the one who wrote Ecclesiastes, in Shifferbecker’s words, was tired of life’s uncertainties, she somehow saw a “reliable order that God has put in creation.” [1] Yes, as the world and we turn, turn, turn there is a time for everything under heaven. What is required of us in time is humility, accepting imperfection and mortality as normative. At the same time, we do take comfort in glimpses of the lights of a new city that reveal the brighter sides of life. In this sense, as the psalmist suggests, (Psalm 116) we learn to walk in the presence of God all the days of our lives, to map out our journeys. Where do we want to go? To the land of the living, of course. Sometimes the road to the land of the living is not so smooth. To make crooked paths straight we stand up to people who are not humble and who desire only to reap the goods of this earth for their own benefit. We are wary of troubling voices who create fear and suspicion in our minds. This is what happened in the first century to the Colossians, a population of Gentiles and neophyte Christians. [2] In the second reading (Colossians 3:12-17) the apostle Paul noticed that there was trouble brewing among the Colossians. Writing from prison, Paul admonished the people to put away their vices and turn to doing good, to put on love. Paul taught them several high moral standards that undergird the ideal Christian life. Marion Soards, a professor of New Testament studies, puts it this way. “The virtues [listed by Paul] describe the character of Christians living as God’s chosen people who are called out of the ordinary realm of human existence.” Paul, he wrote, “let the word of Christ dwell in [them] richly, which means teaching, and admonishing, and singing [psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs].” [3] Are you thinking of Dennis? Ahh. How can the ideal Christian keep from singing? Perhaps this is one of the questions that energized Dennis. He believed his life flowed on in endless song above earth’s lamentations. Dennis said it himself: “My ministry allows me to share and give back the gifts with which I seem to have been blessed.” Dennis understood, “there is nowhere you can be that isn’t where you are meant to be.” Although Dennis longed to see a day of glory dawning he wondered how long it would be before every tear would be washed away. But we really cannot wait that long, can we? We want peace and justice and loving kindness here and now for all people. And, that’s what Dennis did in a quiet but active way. His ministerial passions spread beyond making music to the parish food pantry and other volunteer programs like working with incarcerated persons in area prisons. Dennis wanted everyone to know that that heavenly place over yonder can be theirs here and now. One of Dennis’s favorite bands [Here’s a clue: they were from Liverpool] resonated with his desires to make a difference in the world, to "take a sad song and make it better.” Here is a sampling of their other lyrics …. Imagine all the people living life in peace, getting by with a little help from friends. We all wanna change the world. There is nothing you can sing that cannot be sung. All we need is love, because life is very short and there’s no time for fussing or fighting, my friends. Life goes on within you or … without you. And just one more word. It is from the gospel of Matthew where the author presents what we have commonly understood to be the responsibilities of Christian disciples. These beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) remain a wonderful lesson for us as we remember how much of a blessing Dennis was to so many of us. Biblical scholar Elizabeth Shively wrote this about the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus applied the presence of the kingdom of heaven to poor and persecuted persons. (verses 3, 10) Those who trust in God will be fortunate forever. She remarked: “Jesus calls those who would be his followers to the same radical commitment and hope” he had. [4] With courage, we too are called to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth. Dennis led a good, perhaps an ideal Christian life. He loved, he worked, he played, he prayed. We continue to remember him, determined to keep his spirit alive. And we know, pondering the precious words of his 4-year old granddaughter Cora when she learned her Grampy had died: “Now he is safe!” —————————-- 1. Shifferbecker, Kathryn. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-after-epiphany/commentary-on-matthew-51-12-3 2. Colossae was once a thriving city located in the southwest corner of what is now Turkey. It is uncertain that Paul ever actually visited Colossae. In Colossians 2:1 he implies that those at Colossae and nearby Laodicea had never seen him “face to face.” 2. Soards, Marion. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/first-sunday-of-christmas-3/commentary-on-colossians-312-17-2 4. Shively, Elizabeth. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-after-epiphany/commentary-on-matthew-51-12-3 |