Jan 2 Adelard 9th c

Thom and Jack
Good Morning, I love you


January 2
Adelard 9th c

I suggest you see the play Pepin. I was lucky enough to see it with Ben Vereen in the lead. I went to the play the night before and was among the full house who groaned when they announced that Mr. Vereen would be replaced by his understudy. The story and music and the entire rest of the A-team and the able understudy carried the production. It was a great show. I came back to see Mr. Vereen, the superstar of the production. It was a wholly different performance. It does matter who’s on stage with you….

I don’t know why I pulled our Adelard, the grandson of Charles Martel, the nephew of King Pepin, and first cousin to Charlemagne – except, I suppose, because I have lots of Pepin related memories. I’ve got the music and play it still. My summer at Fairfield University, I took a History of Western Europe course – a course of Church history in many ways. Charlemagne and Pepin played big roles in that drama. Our professor was a ham; his mocking of Charlemagne was almost as good as what I saw on stage on broadway.

But Adelard. Adelard became a monk at Corbie in 773. His first assignment was as a gardener of the monastery. Cousin to the emperor and here he was a gardener for Christ. Maybe they made t-shirts? Adelard prayed throughout the day. We are exhorted to Pray Always. It might seem easier to do as a gardener in a monastery than in our work – hospital, theatre, school – or during any part of our day. That’s what monks do; they pray all day. Try it for a day. Go down to the Abbey. Make yourself to home in the church or the gardens. Then pray. All day. We cannot Pray Always until we first learn to pray at specific times. To give ourselves to conversation with God in prayer. In the morning. In the evening. Grace before and after meals. At our own prayer space in our humble abode. Pray throughout the day in little ways. Like a Knight, carry your rosary – as a reminder to pray, to finger the beads, oh, say, while standing at the urinal; or while driving across town; it’s much safer than texting. Pray regularly, no matter what. What is really most important? See God in the Garden of your Day. Thank God for His gifts that flower your life.

Adelard did his job humbly. Trying to plant and nurture a garden is a humbling experience – green thumb or not. Humility is acknowledging everything is a gift from God. The soil. The seeds. The water. The sun. The critters who want to munch on the leaves. The rain and clouds and wind; or the draught that forces us to carry the buckets of water up the hill and through the brambles to pure the water into the insatiable ground. It’s the Zen of Motor Cycle Maintenance to the Nth degree. Be humble. Be happy.

Adelard became Abbot at Corbie. Maybe being cousin to the emperor helped. Probably had something to do with his great virtues, his ability to see the monks as the plants in the garden of the monastery and nurture them, with humility, praying all throughout the day.

All good deeds get punished. Adelard became Charlemagne’s counselor. The Emperor wanted Adelard all to himself. Besides, commuting between jobs in the eighth century wasn’t as fast as it is today. Although I doubt if they did full body scans before they got up on the donkey. Adelard was given the task of being Pepin’s chief minister, cook, and bottle washer – well not cook but Pepin was such a child prince, or prince of a child, I’m sure washing his bottles was included in his job. Which he did out of obedience to his cousin King, humbly, praying throughout the day.

Adelard got caught up in the politics of the Court. He picked the wrong horse – against the Emperor. THAT has got to be a bigger story that we get in the bio blurbs. A lesson in office politics. Watch your back. Have friends watching your back too. When you pick against the Emperor, be prepared to be exiled when the Emperor wins. Adelard got five years on the island of Heri.

But only five years. What goes around comes around. The winds change. Have your sail ready for the next tack. Adelard returned to Court in 821.

From Court, Adelard later retired to the Abbey at Corbie. Keep your connections with your roots. Call, write, text, visit now and then; send presents. Life is a Circle, you’ve heard of the Circle of Life, Lion King, or the Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash. Life comes full circle – we are created and we stand before our creator. In between time, those who love or support you at the beginning, you want there at the end too. You never know when you too will need a helping hand, a place to lay your head….

I love you
Dad
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