Theologian's Almanac for Week of October 24, 2021
Welcome to SALT’s “Theologian’s Almanac,” a weekly selection of important birthdays, holidays, and other upcoming milestones worth marking — specially created for a) writing sermons and prayers, b) creating content for social media channels, and c) enriching your devotional life.
For the week of Sunday, October 24:
October 24 is the birthday of the poet Denise Levertov, born in Ilford, England, in 1923. She published more than 30 books, mostly poetry, but also essays and translations. In 1997, the year of her death, she published the extraordinary The Stream and the Sapphire, a selection of poems with religious themes written over the course of her career.
She said: “Strength of feeling, reverence for mystery, and clarity of intellect must be kept in balance with one another. Neither the passive nor the active must dominate, they must work in conjunction, as in a marriage.”
And again: “I'm not very good at praying, but what I experience when I'm writing a poem is close to prayer.”
Here’s a Levertov masterpiece on divine presence and human absence, “Flickering Mind.” And here’s her classic on the spiritual power of poetry and heritage: “Illustrious Ancestors.”
October 24 is also the birthday of the writer Sarah Josepha Hale, born in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1788. We have her to thank for the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and also for a beloved American holiday: Hale was a vocal, tireless supporter of Thanksgiving. She wrote letters to successive presidents — Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and finally Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing Thanksgiving a national holiday, celebrated that year on the last Thursday of November: “The year that is drawing towards its close,” he wrote, “has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible.” Thanksgiving was born!
October 26 is the feast day of Demetrius, a fourth-century martyr in present-day Serbia. Traditionally, on this day Greek shepherds drive their flocks from their summer pastures in the mountains down to their winter folds on the plain (winter is coming!). As some consolation for summer’s passing, the day was marked with wine and revelry. So break out your favorite beverage, hot or cold, and lift a glass (or mug) to Demetrius!
October 29 is the birthday of quilt maker Harriet Powers, born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia, in 1837. Her quilts used a combination of hand stitching, machine stitching, and appliqué to form small detailed panels telling a larger story, like a graphic novel. This storytelling style of quilting has roots in West African coastal communities, and likewise, Powers’ artistry mirrors the complex rhythms of African-American folk music. Her quilts record legends and biblical tales of hope, perseverance, and divine justice. Her masterful Bible Quilt, created in 1886, now hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Powers' work is now considered among the preeminent examples of Southern 19th-century quilting.
October 29 is also the feast day of Ida of Leeuw, an early-13th-century Flemish mystic and scholar. After entering a Cistercian convent at the age of 13, she became well known for both her mystic experiences and her passion for copying (and correcting) sacred texts. Under her visionary leadership, a scriptorium was established in her convent — one of the only ones of its kind, since most scriptoriums were run by men in monasteries.
And looking ahead:
October 31 is Halloween, or “All Hallow’s Eve.” Here’s SALT’s “Brief Theology of Halloween.”
October 31 is also Reformation Sunday, traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday in October, since on October 31 — exactly 504 years ago today — Martin Luther sent his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” (later known as the “Ninety-five Theses”) to the local archbishop. There’s a story, likely apocryphal, that Luther nailed his disputation to the front door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg — but in any case, whether he nailed it or mailed it, the event set off what became known as “The Reformation” in sixteenth-century Europe. The plural “Reformations” is more like it, since the movement took different forms in different countries, resulting in several of the Protestant denominations still around today (Lutherans from Germany, Presbyterians from Scotland, Dutch Reformed from the Netherlands, and so on).
Luther’s initial protest was against “indulgences,” essentially payments to the church made by the faithful, the proceeds of which were used to pay for St. Peter’s Basilica, solicited with the promise that they would secure divine mercy for the donor and/or the donor’s loved ones. Luther found indulgences both repugnant and theologically disastrous — and the resulting series of arguments eventually led him to arrive at the idea that not only are human beings not saved by financial transactions, we aren’t saved by any of our efforts whatsoever, but rather by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, not works.
But in practice, the sixteenth-century Reformations in Europe were as much about lived religious experience as they were about doctrinal disputes over salvation: for example, these movements led to widespread translations of the Bible into languages other than Latin, congregational singing (previously singing was typically done by specialized choirs), and reception of Communion, both bread and wine, by congregations (previously only a yearly event for many Christians, and only the bread, not the wine; the weekly Eucharist was typically received only by clergy). For anyone interested in this reform movement in sixteenth-century Geneva, check out SALT’s own Matthew Myer Boulton’s Life in God: John Calvin, Practical Formation, and the Future of Protestant Theology.