Fr. Dale Matson
Activities of Daily Living (2011)
“ADLs are defined as the things we normally do...such as
feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure.
The ability or inability to perform ADLs can be used as a very practical
measure of ability/disability in many disorders.” (MedicineNet.com).
While the Christian life is one of liberty as led by the
Holy Spirit, it is also one that is conducted decently and in order. (1 Cor. 14:40, KJV). The passage is used
most frequently when discussing the order of worship but it is primarily about
the witness of worship. This can also
be applied to life in general which is lived as worship. How do we offer
witness to others by the way we conduct our lives? I am not just talking about
the public witness of church attendance. Are we faithful in conducting our
Christian ADL’s?
I do not believe that a Christian led by the Holy Spirit
needs to live a hectic, undisciplined, underproductive life. It is contrary to
the life that Christ has given us. “I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10b, KJV).
The prayer closet part of the Christian’s life is conducted
as the Christian ADL’s. Here are some ideas for the ADL’s. How do you begin
your day?
I rise early before the other occupants of the house awaken
and begin with a daily devotional. It
sets the tone for how the rest of the day is conducted and there are numerous devotionals
available to choose from. Following this I journal the previous day’s
highlights and this also reminds me of things left undone. I include my dreams
because God speaks to us in our dreams. My wife and I walk our dog together and
discuss our previous day and anticipated events of the current day. So much of
remaining oriented requires a continual reorienting as we move through our day.
I then exercise with various sport activities. As a part of my day, I make sure
to connect with at least one friend and one relative. I don’t mind being the
one who usually initiates the contact. Meals are a great reason to get together. I am
retired so volunteer work is helpful to others and necessary for me however
these ADL’s were a part of my life while employed. My email and blogs are
modern ways I also stay in touch with others and attempt to affirm or encourage
them. I also attempt to write on a topic
that strikes me each day and reframe a complaint into a statement of the
desired end result.
What about travel? I take the same routine on the road with
me. I have a travel journal that I can remove pages from and put them in my
home journal. I take swimming goggles, bike helmets, running shoes etc. with
me.
These are my ADL’s that regularize, standardize and organize
an ordinary life. These are not measures of an especially Holy life. They are
the measures of an ordinary normal Christian life that continues to sustain me
and those who God brings me into contact with including those He brings to my
remembrance. I hope others never feel that I don’t have time for them and that
when I am with them; I am not paying attention because I am frantic to be
somewhere else. “Come unto me, all [ye] that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28, KJV).
A Man Of Joy, Courage and Prayer: Bishop John David
Schofield RIP (2013)
I left an autographed copy of my first book on his desk the
previous morning and stood in Bishop Schofield’s office door the following day.
Fishing for a compliment, I asked, “So Bishop, what did you think of my book?”
“Find yourself a good editor”, he responded. This was followed with predictable
gales of laughter. Although an
intellectual, his office was filled with humorous cartoons along with an
impressive library. Most of the time his humor was self-deprecating. In
exasperation, he said to me the last time we were together, “I’m busier in
retirement than I was as a Bishop.” I responded, “That’s because June (his
administrative assistant) is no longer here to save you from yourself.” He
hated meetings and freely admitted that he did not have the gift of
administration. +JDS had more stories than you can shake a stick at and
mentioning her name ‘reminded’ him of a story about her. June had a habit of
reading the ending of a book to determine whether she wanted to read the book.
He once gave her a book with the last pages removed to get her to read the
book. I will always remember his laughter. He was a man of joy.
Bishop Schofield was the first bishop to remove his Diocese
from the Episcopal Church. It was a necessary step in the eventual formation of
the Anglican Church North America (ACNA). For that he has made enemies who
reviled him. A man is as well known for his enemies as he is for his friends.
His friends loved him. He suffered more than we will ever know. He was
tormented with physical ailments akin to Job. He once told me that Satan
attacked him through his sister’s afflictions until she died and then Satan
came after him. With failing health, his last two years as bishop were
difficult but he stayed on at the request of Archbishop Duncan.
For 23 years, he led the Diocese of San Joaquin. As the
bishop, he attracted and hired conservative clergy. It made our diocese
different. The clergy were, for the most part, more conservative than their
parishioners. He had discernment about
things and his wisdom was employed as an exhortation to people like me. He ordained me as a vocational deacon. After
two years, I went into his office and asked what he thought about me seeking
the priesthood. “I was wondering when you would ask that question.” “I’m
surprised you haven’t asked already.”
There is also a pastoral side to him that his clergy
especially experienced. Before our ordination, he would spend two days with us
on retreat at our conference center in Oakhurst. During that time, he handed
down the faith once delivered and instructed us about self-care including
nurturing our spirituals lives. As he talked about his mornings spent in
intercessory prayer and showed me his book of prayers he recited daily, I
became fully aware of the depth of his spiritual life.
A devotional given to me by my brother Fr. Van is called
Voices of the Saints: A Year of Readings. (Bert Ghezzi) Bishop Schofield’s life
compares favorably to many of the saintly stories. At 75, he lived longer than
most. If he were to respond to my comparison, he would say, “Why, of course I
compare!” “In fact, some of them were rascals.” He would then offer up one of
his patented belly laughs. God bless you Bishop Schofield and thank you for
your service.
Alcatraz and Anchorites (2013)
I had an opportunity to take a tour of Alcatraz and realized
that confinement is mainly a state of mind. As I walked through the cell blocks
it dawned on me that prison life is a form of monasticism. There are the
prisoners who take temporary vows and ones that take on permanent vows based on
their past life and the strength of their convictions.
Alcatraz was a kind of monastery situated high on a rocky
island surrounded by the San Francisco Bay, which is connected to the Pacific
Ocean. There is a barrenness and bleakness to the main structure from which it
was reputed that there was no escape. The wind was constant and the cold sea
surrounding it eternally formed a moat that discouraged the prisoners from
escaping. Even with the prisoners no longer there, I could sense the
hopelessness and desperate effort to cling to their humanity in this place.
Their names had become numbers.
Sharon and I visited Mont Saint-Michel on the coast of France a few
years ago and Alcatraz reminded me of it by its setting and structure. It too
is an island fortress but intended to keep people out. There was a monastic
community within these walls also and their warden was an abbot. They were a
community of men who lived and died within the walls of Mont St. Michael. There
was however a different sense about this place. As I walked around the drafty
heights I could visualize monks occupied by the task of illuminating
manuscripts, prayer and the daily office. Their life was routine, confined and
dedicated to poverty chastity and obedience. Their life had purpose and meaning
and their vocation sought after holiness. They took on new names in accord with
their station.
In Alcatraz, the solitary confinement cells 9-14 in “D”
Block were considered the harshest living conditions for those who refused to
obey the rules of the order of prisoners. Their cells were carved out of the
wall of the prison which forms the back of their cell. They were only allowed
out of their cells for a weekly shower. Their vows were similar to the monks but
imposed on them for a similar reason by the prison warden. The rules are for
conversion of manners also. Those in solitary confinement lived the
contemplative life with opportunity for visions. Robert “Birdman of
Alcatraz" Stroud was probably the most famous of the unrepentant residents
of D Block.
Anchorites lived in a cell formed from part of a monastery
wall. The door to the cell was permanently sealed with bricks and they lived in
this cell until they died. Their bodily waste was removed by a chamber pot and
they were brought food and fed though a small opening in a common wall. My wife
and I visited a church in Ireland that had a cell in the sanctuary wall for an
anchorite. St. Julian of Norwich was an anchoress in the medieval period that
led a contemplative life and experienced visions. An anchorite was considered a
source of spiritual advice and counsel to abbots.
Some monastics eventually leave the order because they find
the life too limiting. Some prisoners return because they find freedom too confining.
Each of us lives much of our daily life in a cell of similar dimensions without
walls, sometimes with partitions. Are you in prison or are you free? “To know
You is eternal life and to serve You is perfect freedom.” (Book of Common
Prayer, from "A Collect for Peace” p. 99). Amen
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