Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
October 5, 2003
Vol. 48, No. 34

Roses and Thorns
We are always “becoming.” This is reflected in the statements, “God isn’t finished with me yet,” and “I am a ‘work-in-progress.” Are you a “work-in-progress?” Of course you are; so am I. We are always “becoming.” And what we are becoming mainly depends not on what happens to us, but on how we respond to what happens to us.

I saw a powerful and compelling film yesterday, “The Magdalene Sisters.” Be warned that it is a difficult movie to watch. It tells the story of the residential “laundries” set up by the Roman Catholic Church over many years and in various locations. Residents were (usually young) women who had, or were thought to have, transgressed the sexual mores of their day.

The inhabitants of these institutions might stay for months, years, or a lifetime. They were forced to do all the work that it took to do great amounts of laundry, cleaning, and whatever else the Sisters assigned to them. The Sisters, with seemingly complete power over the populace, were, according to the film, cold, harsh, and at times cruel.

Three young women are the focus of the movie. As a result of the life they live in this place, one of them goes mad, another grows more and more bitter, and a third one continues relentlessly to try to believe that this is not all there is, that life can be good; she remains open to others, and hopeful.

If you have ever played poker, you’ll understand this. If you are dealt five cards and you have a poor hand, you can either sit there and moan about what a rotten bunch of cards the dealer has given you, or, you can strategize as to how best you can use what you’ve got--and look forward hopefully to the cards that will be dealt to you for the next hand.

For sure, life is no bed of roses. There are roses here and there, but if we are to enjoy them we must deal with thorns and not let the thorns become, for us, all there is.
Bill Kolb+

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