2nd Sunday After Epiphany 01/15/1967

References

Romans 12:6-16

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;[a] never be conceited.

John 2:1-11

The Wedding at Cana

2 On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio - W.H. Auden

O God, put away justice and truth for we cannot understand them and do not want them. Eternity would bore us dreadfully. Leave Thy heavens and come down to our earth of waterclocks and hedges. Become our uncle. Look after Baby, amuse Grandfather, escort Madam to the Opera, help Willy with his home-work, introduce Muriel to a handsome naval officer. Be interesting and weak like us, and we will love you as we love ourselves.

The miracle is the only thing that happens, but to you it will not be apparent,

Until all events have been studied and nothing happens that you cannot explain;

And life is the destiny you are bound to refuse until you have consented to die.

Aurora Leigh - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,

And daub their natural faces unaware.

Zorba The Greek - Nikos Kazantzakis

The Chestnut Scene

He sat down once more on the ground, poked some chestnuts amongst the embers and filled the glasses with wine. He drank, drank again, shelled a chestnut and gave it to me.

'Can you make it out, boss?' he asked me. 'It's beyond me.

Everything seems to have a soul - wood, stones, the wine we drink and the earth we tread on. Everything, boss, absolutely everything!'

He raised his glass: 'Your health.'

He emptied it and filled it afresh.

'What a jade this life is!' he murmured. 'A jade! It's just like old Bouboulina!'

I started laughing.

'Listen to me, boss, don't laugh. Life is just like old Bouboulina. It's old, isn't it? All right, but it doesn't lack spice. She knows a trick or two to make you go off your rocker.

The Collapse Scene

Monks, villagers, and workmen crossed themselves.

'In the name of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Virgin!' they murmured.

In a single bound Zorba was at the first pylon, pulled the cord and down came the flag.

It was the signal for which the men at the top of the mountain had been waiting. All the spectators stepped back and looked towards the summit.

'In the name of the Father!' cried the abbot.

Impossible to describe what happened then. The catastrophe burst upon us like a thunderbolt. We had scarcely time to run away. The entire structure swayed. The pine tree, which the workmen had attached to the cable, assumed a demoniac impetus.

Sparks flew, large splinters of wood shot through the air, and when the tree arrived at the bottom a few seconds later it was no more than a charred log.

Zorba gave me a hang-dog look. The monks and villagers retreated prudently and the tethered mules began rearing. Big Demetrios collapsed, panting.

'Lord have mercy on me!' he murmured, terror-stricken.

Zorba raised his hand.

'It's nothing,' he said with assurance. 'It's always the same with the first trunk. Now the machine will be run in ... Look!'

He sent the flag up, gave the signal again, and then ran away.

'And the Son!' cried the abbot in a rather trembling voice.

The second tree-trunk was released. The pylons shivered, the trunk gained speed, leaping about like a porpoise, and rushed headlong towards us. But it did not get far, it was pulverized half-way down the slope.

'The devil take it!' muttered Zorba, biting into his moustache. 'The blasted slope isn't right yet!'

He leaped to the pylon and signaled with the flag once more, furiously, for the third attempt. The monks were by now standing behind their mules, and they crossed themselves. The village worthies waited with one foot raised, ready to take flight.

'And the Holy Ghost!' the abbot stammered, holding up his robe in readiness.

The third tree-trunk was enormous. It had hardly been released from the summit when a tremendous noise was heard.

'Lie flat, for God's sake!' shouted Zorba, as he scurried away.

The monks threw themselves to the ground and the villagers ran away as fast as their legs would carry them.

The trunk made one leap, fell back on the cable, threw out a shower of sparks and, before we could see what was happening, sped down the mountainside, over the beach and dived far into the sea, throwing up a great spout of foam.

The pylons were vibrating in a most terrifying fashion, several of them were leaning over already. The mules broke their tethers and ran off.

'That's nothing! Nothing to worry about!' cried Zorba, beside himself.

'Now the machine's really run in, so we can make a proper start!'

He sent the flag up once again. We felt how desperate he was, and anxious to see the end of it all.

'And the Holy Virgin of Revenge!' stammered out the abbot as he raced towards the rocks.

The fourth trunk was released. A tremendous splintering noise resounded twice through the air and all the pylons fell down, one after the other, like a pack of cards.

'Kyrie eleison! Kyrie eleison!' yelped the villagers, workmen and monks, as they stampeded.

A flying splinter wounded Demetrios in the thigh and another was within a hair's breadth of taking out the abbot's eye. The villagers had disappeared. The Virgin alone was erect on her rock, lance in hand, looking at the men below with a cold and severe eye. Next to her, more dead than alive, was a trembling parrot, his green feathers standing out from his body.

The monks seized the Virgin, clasped her in their arms, helped up Demetrios, who was groaning with pain, collected their mules together, mounted them and beat a retreat. Scared to death, the workman who had been turning the spit had abandoned the sheep and the meat was beginning to burn.

"The sheep will be burnt to a cinder!' shouted Zorba anxiously, as he ran to the spit.

I sat down beside him. There was no one else left on the beach, we were quite alone.

He turned to me and cast me a dubious, hesitant glance. He did not know how I was going to take the catastrophe, or how this adventure was likely to end.

He took a knife, bent over the sheep once more, tasted it and immediately took the beast off the fire and stood it up on the spit against a tree.

'Just right/ he said, 'just right, boss! Would you like a piece, as well?'

'Bring the bread and the wine, too,' I said. I'm hungry.' Zorba hurried to the barrel, rolled it close to the sheep, brought a loaf of white bread and two glasses. We each took a knife, carved off two slices of meat, cut some bread and began to eat.

The Dance Scene

He leaped into the air and his feet and arms seemed to sprout wings. As he threw himself straight in the air against that background of sea and sky, he looked like an old archangel in rebellion. For Zorba's dance was full of defiance and obstinacy. He seemed to be shouting to the sky: 'What can you do to me, Almighty? You can do nothing to me except kill me. Well, kill me, I don't care! I've vented my spleen, I've said all I want to say; I've had time to dance ... and I don't need you any more!' Watching Zorba dance, I understood for the first time the fantastic efforts of man to overcome his weight. I admired Zorba's endurance, his agility and proud bearing. His clever and impetuous steps were writing on the sand the demoniac history of mankind.