“How vividly actual, and therefore marvelous!”
“How vividly actual, and therefore marvelous!”
–William Steig
“How vividly actual, and therefore marvelous!”
–William Steig
Recently my daughter and I finished reading William Stieg’s Abel’s Island together. I had picked up a copy at a used bookstore because I vaguely remembered reading it as a kid, and vaguely remembered liking it.
I was not prepared for how weird this book was. It is basically the story of Castaway but with a Victorian fop of an anthropomorphized mouse instead of Tom Hanks, and like Tom Hanks, the mouse slowly loses his sense of self and finds it again.
I was also not prepared for how gorgeous the prose would be. There’s a point in the story where Abel survives a blizzard in his little hollowed-out log, and after weeks of no or dim light, weeks of nothing but getting up and eating and laying down again and sleeping in a dull, freezing nothingness, the sun thaws enough snow that he can open a shutter. As the shutter opens the light pours in, and in the light, Abel perceives unspeakable beauty. After his prolonged, purgatorius twilight, everything the light touches seems real; realer than real. William Steig writes, “How vividly actual, and therefore marvelous!”
There may be moments in the coming days, weeks, months, when you throw open the shutter and discover that the world seems realer than real. Perhaps this has already happened, in an embrace with a loved one, or a new friend you’ve only ever seen on a screen. Perhaps it’s the gulp of fresh air from a maskless face. Perhaps it’s the music of ten staff singers in a harmony of voices you haven’t heard in far too long. Perhaps it’s the wafer, pressed into your palm.
When these flickers of realness come to you, when your life becomes vividly actual, stop for a moment. Because these moments are marvelous. These moments of vivid actuality are brushes with the holy, the transcendent. Allow yourself to marvel at the goodness of God’s work, marvel at the closeness of God, marvel at the grace of the reality that hems us in on every side, the reality we are too often too busy living to see. So, stop and marvel. Give thanks. It’s Easter, after all, the season of the marvelous.
Grace and peace,
The Reverend Canon Becky Zartman
Every Member Canvass
If you have yet to make a pledge commitment for 2021 but are planning to financially support Christ Church Cathedral this year, please know that there is still time to make your pledge online, over the phone, or via email. We are so grateful for the continued support of the Cathedral’s mission in the year ahead!
Ways to make your pledge:
- Pledging online is easy.
- Return the pledge card you received by mail to 1117 Texas Ave, Houston, TX 77002.
- Make a pledge over the phone at 713-590-3338 or by email by contacting Karen Kraycirik, minister for stewardship.
Ways to pay your pledge:
- Go online to make an electronic payment via credit or debit card. You can also set up recurring payments via this form.
- Donate using PayPal via the Cathedral’s website: christchurchcathedral.org/give/
- Text the word “Give” to 888-998-1634
- Send a check to the Cathedral address: 1117 Texas Street, Houston, TX, 77002.
- Make a gift of stock or securities, using our stock donation instructions.
Learn more about this year’s EMC at: christchurchcathedral.org/emc
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