Update the Complete Works site vis a vis
Vocal Sonatina No. 2 ("Vatsyayana"), Op. 157 (2008),
edit
Edit page 8
Piano Concerto ("Child's Play"), Op. 122 (2004)
I. Allegro
and dream up text for
Book of Dreams, 2022, Op. 376 (2022)
June 30- July 1
6pm A Smiling Elf...
1am Out-of-Body Experience, Visiting Harriet in the Other Room... Masks as a Proposal,
Circling Around the Long Way at Arcadia Southwest, Left Turn to Woodstock w/ Two Large
Trucks in the Way, Passing to their Right... Can Barely Hold on to Arm of Sofa,
Left Hand Turn to Right..
4am H Trying on Lingerie -- Dynamic Consequences..
5am Trip to Saccramento, Panoramic Shots on Arcadia...
10am Party at George Crumb's House,We Meet in Hallway, Just the 2 of Us,
He Admits to Being Lonely after Death of Elizabeth
[N.B. He Died a Few Weeks Before Her], He Tears Up As We Invite Him to Our House,
Then Realize Vacaville Is a Bit Warm, So Perhaps Bette and George's Condo Is a Better Place
to Meet, Briefly I Think Harriet and I Own the Condo, George Crumb's Residence Is a 1st-
Floor Condominium, Bette and George A. Are Suddenly Present and I Re-Introduce them to
G.C., We Hear Voices and Start Moving to Adacent Are, GC is Briefly on Floor, But OK,
Looking For Something, We Move Into an Adjunct Showdowy Bedroom,
Which I Expected to Be a Gym, or Stage Area from Earlier, "Scenic" view of Garage /
Driveway, House Plan Does Not Make Sense...
Note with sadness the announcement of Chris Erdman's departure from Davis Community Presbyterian Church -- he has been a wonderful positive influence and we hope for continued association with him in his new ministerial position...
***
Dear Members and Friends of DCC;
This is a difficult letter. I write to inform you that I have decided to leave pastoral ministry and shift the focus of my career.
As you absorb this news, I want to assure you that my decision has not been made in response to anything that our church community has or has not done. I love this community, I love you and those I have been so honored to work beside, and I’ve loved my work. Because of all this, my decision has not been made lightly or without awareness of what this change will mean for my beloved friends and community.
There are a number of factors that have motivated my decision. I am at a major crossroads in my life. I am rethinking what I feel called to do and who I feel called to be over the next decade. And so, as I’m re-examining my personal and vocational life, I find myself compelled by forces much bigger than I am.
One of those forces is the long-term call of my heart to work more interpersonally with people who are recovering from trauma and walking through grief toward the light of a new day. My whole journey into pastoral ministry began on the day when, as a nineteen-year-old, I sat in a Presbyterian pastor’s office, trying to be a comforting presence to my childhood friend whose father had just been killed in an auto accident. What that pastor did to guide the family through the crisis and hold my own bewilderment and pain, moved me deeply. It was then that I decided that I wanted to be a pastor. And this theme has been the central thread of my ministry for over three decades. Here’s another example: when I was examined on the floor of our Presbytery in February 2015, the first question asked of me during the examination was this: “In your recent experience of ministry, what is giving you a sense of meaning or joy?” “Helping people die gracefully,” I responded.
I’d like to devote the later years of my ministry to guiding people through the sacred work of grief.
YoloCares (formerly Yolo Hospice) has invited me to manage their Center for Loss and Hope. At the Center for Loss and Hope, I will be able to devote myself to the kind of work that has always given me the greatest sense of meaning and accomplishment. To work interpersonally at the intersection of life and death, loss and hope has always been where my gifts and experience, my interests, and my passions meet the deepest human need. I want to guide the soul through the varied experiences of suffering, denial, fear, and despair and toward hope and healing and the flourishing of life.
Hearing all this, you may feel all kinds of emotions. If we’ve learned anything together these last eight years, it’s that all of these emotions matter—they are all holy—and they need to be noticed and tended, no matter how challenging they may be. When we embrace our grief, Dr. Carl Jung taught, our souls will grow. But that journey of the soul is never easy. I also hope and pray that over time, as the dust settles for us, we might also be able to feel gratitude for what we’ve experienced together, and especially the courageous ways we have managed—and grown and thrived—during a very challenging season of human history. The evidence is clear: DCC is a resilient community capable of enduring difficult times and growing because of them.
The irony is that my new call to focus my ministry on grief (and recovery from it) may bring some of you a sense of grief. So, we must tend this transition, and each other, with compassion.
Let’s do that. Let’s not avoid the difficult emotions that come up. Instead, let’s stay connected and committed to our vision: “tending the wellbeing of the place and people around us;” “helping people thrive, body, mind,
and soul."
I assure you, DCC is led by a stellar staff and team of elders, ministry chairpersons, and volunteers. Many of them are already working on a transition plan. I am confident in their abilities to guide this community through this transition and into a thriving new era. They will work with the Presbytery (the larger association of Presbyterian churches) immediately to find and hire an interim senior pastor who can help guide you until a permanent pastor is hired. Attached to this letter is a timeline prepared by our transition team; it will help you see the short-term map for the months ahead. My final Sunday will be July 31, 2022, and my final day in the office will be Tuesday, August 2, 2022.
While I feel excitement about the ways I can use my gifts at YoloCares to help people through the sadness of grief, I also feel sadness at the loss I anticipate as I leave the DCC community. I am immensely grateful for the journey we’ve shared and I’m enormously hopeful about the future of DCC.
In worship on Sunday, July 3, I will address my departure and explore my hope for the future of DCC. If you are traveling or cannot attend in person, the service will be live-streamed and available for viewing later at your convenience.
Grace and peace to you from God-- above us, beside us, and within us,
Chris
***
Chris's missive, by email and mail -- Day 3 of our Coronavirus lockdown,
the 120th day of summer,
high up a point to 89...
the anniversary of the Justice Department's establishment (1870) and birthdays of
George Sand (1804-1878, here with Frederic Chopin, 1810-1849, in the speculative never-completed 1838 double portrait by Eugene Delacroix, 1798-1863),
William Wyler (1902-1981),
David Brower (1912-2000), and
Willie Dixon (1915-1992) --
the times celebrated sonically in
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) - Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 33 (1890)
and rather a lot of random Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971 -- whatever has happened to have been transferred by now from the old to the relatively newer computer):, including
The Rite of Spring (1913)
Renard (1916)
Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)
Les Noces (1923)
Octet (1923)
Symphony of Psalms (1930)
Babel (1944)
Orpheus (1947)
Mass (1948)
Scherzo a la Russe (1948)
The Rake's Progress (1951)
Agon (1957)
The Flood (1962)
Requiem Canticles (1966)
and only dampened by continued criminality by
tRump and his toadies -- who will hopefully all be brought to justice soon!