St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church

13091 Galway Street

Garden Grove, CA. 92844

(714) 537-0604

June 10, 2008

Dear Parish Family:

Most of you believe that I’m away in Turkey but the truth is that I’m not. I managed to pull a human, not realizing that my passport had expired as I made my way to the airport. What can I tell you? Life happens! I was extremely disappointed to say the least. What an idiotic mistake, I literally wanted to cry when I discovered my foible. After that I felt angry at myself, and wanted to bang my head up against the side of a wall but in the end, reason prevailed. Eventually, I was able to laugh about it. So, what have I been up to this week? Well, I’ve been home. I’ve done laundry, house cleaning, and I started catching up on some personal stuff I’ve been wanting to catch-up on but kept putting off. It has actually been a great week. I’ve gotten my mind off work (although not totally since I am writing this letter during my time off). And, I probably should mention that I also managed to make a hospital call on Maria Cristina from our Latino congregation, who I am happy to report is doing well after an emergency operation. That was technically work but you have to do what you have to do when your work is ministry, and that aspect of church work is always a gift. All that aside, I have been relaxing and allowing my spirit to recuperate from the task of endless responsibilities, and obsessing about St. Anselm’s, and the state of Christianity in the 21st Century. The free time has allowed me to take it easy, and that feels really good! Watching old Little Rascals videos in the morning has become an almost daily ritual. That’s exactly what I did every morning when I was a kid during my summer vacations. It was fun then, and it is still fun now, in fact I find these childhood comedy classics funnier than ever.

Last Friday I did something in keeping with my interfaith interests. On the surface it may sound like more work related stuff but it was something I really wanted to do. I schlepped all the way to Beverly Hills to attend a Shabbat service of the IKAR Jewish Community. I dragged Leo our choir director with me. I wanted him to experience the percussion music sung at contemporary Jewish services, hoping some of it would rub off on him, and we could experiment with this type of music right here at St. Anselm’s. I’m glad we made the schlep. It was a gift to be in a place where my soul could be nurtured, and I had no role to play. IKAR is a progressive Jewish congregation. The prayers were beautifully written. The meditations were both inspiring and prophetic. The music and percussion were just what I had hoped for and they brought back memories of last year’s trip to the Holy Land and Jerusalem. I had visions of Jesus dancing at the Wedding feast at Cana, to similar types of music. However, some of the bliss was interrupted when I decided I needed a trip to the little boys room. To my shock I encountered a man who was having a seizure laying face down on the floor of the bathroom. I called 911 and stayed with him until the paramedics arrived. I felt like a Good Samaritan. But even that was a gift, helping someone who needed help. Going back to the service. I realized that night how much my soul longs to be spiritually nurtured, and my own need for Sabbath. It’s too easy for clergy to neglect their spiritual lives it’s like the shoe cobbler who has holes in his shoes. The practice of Sabbath has become eroded in the church, and most ministers have thrown it out the window. Jews maintain a strong tradition of Sabbath; it is a day of rest from all work on the seventh day of the week. It is what Sundays used to be for Christians and then some. The Sabbath begins at Sun down on Friday. I believe this is a tenet of faith that needs to be recovered in Christian circles. So be happy for me, even though I couldn’t make the trip to Turkey, I’ve done some good things for myself this week, and I will do the same next week. Remember, I planned to be away from work two weeks.  

I recently had a dream I feel I need to share. It was one of those dreams I believe contain a message. It was a special dream. In the dream I was a financially wealthy man (that part was funny). I was so wealthy I owned my own elephant (go figure). Although in real life I know nothing about riding elephants, in the dream I was riding the elephant, sitting on its neck and steering it like a veteran jockey. While I road the elephant it would turn its trunk toward me, and I would place small food items on the tip, which in turn the elephant would place in its mouth. This went on for a while until I attempted to give the elephant a piece of white cheese. As it reached for my hand I missed the tip of the trunk so instead I threw the piece of cheese into its mouth. Immediately the elephant began to choke as it fell on its front knees, and it stopped breathing. Its eyes closed. I was alarmed. I was genuinely frightened and afraid it would die, so what did I do? I did the impossible. I stretched my arms around the elephant and began to administer the Heimlich maneuver…

…After about three tugs, the elephant gasped for air and began breathing again. It got up on all fours. Needless to say I was relieved. The elephant had come back to life!

When I woke-up, I wondered about this dream, how bizarre I thought. Was it a revelation? Immediately I knew that the elephant was a symbolic representation of our parish. I think we can all agree that we have an elephant size facility as far as Episcopal parishes go, and a seemingly impossible task ahead of us in an age of rapid mainline membership decline. How do we feed this elephant and keep it alive? In the dream I was able to get my arms around this full-grown elephant and bring it back to life. Something I can’t explain, but in a dream anything is possible. .

This dream has served as a sign of hope to me, and I trust it will do the same for you. It felt like a message from that great mystery we call God. When I feel discouraged about the tasks ahead I often go back to this dream, and I remind myself that ultimately it was breath (Spirit) that brought the elephant back to life. Breath and Spirit in both Hebrew (Ruach) and Greek (Pneuma) are one in the same. We need God’s Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Breath, now more than ever. Although the liturgical color for Ordinary Time (the Sundays after Pentecost) is Green, here at St. Anselm’s we are sticking to Red as a visible sign of the Holy Spirit in our midst. We call upon the Holy Spirit to inspire us, and bring us new life. Red will remain a visible sign in our worship for the foreseeable future, a reminder to us of God’s Holy Spirit, and God’s un-surpassing Love.

Earlier I asked: “How do we become a passionate authentic all-inclusive community rooted in the spirit of Christ? A community centered and grounded in the promises we made at baptism? The very promises that call us to respect the dignity of every human being? How do we re-invent ourselves as a family alive in hope, where we gather in vulnerability, for strength, forgiveness, and courageous renewal?” These questions demand deep reflection. Ironically, we will only find the answers to these questions through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, that aspect of the Blessed Trinity that sanctifies, sustains, and empowers us to move into the future with a new vision of hope. In the end we are being called to ride on the breath of God.

Our current situation is not an easy one. As a church we are financially challenged, and we need to grow. Paradoxically, our current situation affords us the opportunity to re-think just what St. Anselm’s is all about. It is also an opportunity to be guided by dreams. As I continue my leave over the next week I call on all of us to continue discerning our future, and inviting the Holy Spirit into our midst. Pray that we may grow into an authentic community of faith, in the spirit of Jesus, the man who walked in the light of God’s beauty and justice, and continues to show us the way to this day. In-shallah (Arabic for God willing) all will be well, and we will become a truly authentic community in the radical spirit of Jesus.

Veni Sancti Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit!

In Love and Hope,

Wilfredo Benitez +

The Rec. Wilfredo Benitez,

Rector