27 September 2009

Sunday, 27 September 2009 - Meat among other things



This, by the way, is probably one of the best restaurants in Florence!  Every, time I'm here, I eat here. The food is simple, unapologetically toscano and quite simply delicious. As I passed it this morning, on my way to church, I recalled my first time there with my friend Barton Sheffield.  At the end of the dining room, one could see back into the kitchen where there was a large wooden chopping block.  Sitting on the block were large sections of beef, pork, and veal, awaiting the orders of the customers.  On Saturday, I passed another butcher shop, and there in the cases were large pieces of meat, awaiting the same orders.  The thought came to mind, that a society so bound by a sense of community, family, and culture should yet value the individual slice, the piece cut to order, the piece that meets individual expectation.  It is equally odd, that such individual choices so beloved by Americans, are simply not available to most Americans.  Ah, the sociology of meat!

I go to Saint James American Episcopal Church in Florence.  Since I learned all of my sense about time and church from my father, I get there an hour early - time to check out the place.  There is a lovely garden and outbuildings (office, rectory, all designed to look more at home in Venice than Florence).  The church itself was built in the first decade of the last century, with its cornerstone being laid by the U.S. Ambassador to Italy.  Who says we don't have a state church?  The building is OK, but in a city of stunning churches, I guess its OK for this church to just be OK.  My tour of the grounds doesn't take that long, so I sit in a nice park bench that is directly in front of the church portico.  My thought is that I'll pretend I'm at Taizé at Trinity and that the silent meditation is 45 minutes long rather than 10 minutes long.

People come and go, all of them passing me by.  The ushers look out, anticipating crowds (There was a breast cancer Correre per Vita - and here the color is orange, not pink) however many are running the course and not attending St. James.  Finally I enter, and there is a good crowd, a visiting priest from France (the new rector is coming in two weeks), and lots of people from Malawi.  The service is BCP, and in the pews (I'll have to get one) are BCPs in Italian (naturally) and German!  The sermon is quite good, with the priest speaking on inclusion and discussing quite pointedly the decisions of the American Church to open up all orders to LGBT people.  The crowd didn't stir, not even the ones from Malawi.  I was impressed.  Good hymns, lousy organist - there was no true prelude, just sort-of toodling around on the nice new instrument.

This, however, has to be one of the most unfriendly churches that I have ever experienced.  With the exception of the priest (who visits San Francisco frequently, and with whom I'll keep in touch) not one single soul said, "hi," "boo!", or "go away".  Perhaps they are inured to visitors - we don't pledge.  This, by the way, is really not all that unusual.  There were various signs and announcements of welcome, and commentary on how this is one friendly church.  Like most churches - it couldn't be bothered to make it work.  I saw it at Saint Francis, and I see it at Trinity.  And we wonder why people don't come back.




On my way back into the center, I decide to revisit Santa Maria Novella.  I don't spend a great deal of time.  What is interesting about this building is that it is quite stunning in its simplicity.  Of course if you get up close, you can see amazing details, but standing back in the nave all is focused on the large crucifix suspended before the crossing.  It is enough to enter, walk around a bit, remember, and then go on.

Part of the problem is that being in Florence is like eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days on end.  Finally there is a digestion problem.  I go back to the hotel and sleep for two hours.


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