Barbara: Hi everyone- welcome to 40 minutes of faith. My name is Barbara Cox and I host this weekly podcast to explore God's word and our relationship with God today's guest is Kenneth Dimmick. I should say the Reverend. When you get to kind of know clergy and it's okay to call them by their first name, but I still want to be respectful.
Our topic today is Malta and pilgrimages in general. I met Ken when I lived in Germany and a church group went on a pilgrimage to Malta. Ken is a lifelong Episcopalian with many diverse experiences, including Bible studies in dorm rooms at college, general Protestant chapel in the Army, charismatic movement in the 1970s, high Anglo Catholic seminary, missionary work in Bolivia, Japan, and Germany, prison ministry and preschool chaplain. He loves the symbolism of smells and bells, which let's explain that to folks in a minute. Ken, welcome- how are things for you these days in Germany?
Ken: Well, it snowed four times today. Never enough to accumulate, but it's still winter time.
Barbara: I know what you mean when you said smells and bells-
Ken: When you have an Episcopal service, that's quite a lot of ritual. There will often be incense used. And then they ring the bells to symbolize various things. And for the people who know what it means, it's very helpful to engage all the senses in worship, not just your brain, but your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears, everything is worshiping God at the same time.
Barbara: the incense I know for sure is in the Bible. I don't know when bells in worship were introduced, but I went to a Catholic junior high school and they had little bells that were shaken around communion time.
Ken: It's when the words of institution are said. It's actually a vestige of Byzantine ceremonial from the court of the emperor of Rome. And they said, well, if it's good enough for the emperor of Rome, it's even better for the King of heaven. And so a lot of Byzantine court rituals were incorporated into old fashioned Catholic liturgy.
Barbara: Thank you for that explanation. Our Bible verse today is from the gospel of Matthew chapter 17. So if you're following along, the gospels are just past the halfway mark in your Bible. And I'm going to read chapter 17, verse one:
“six days later, Jesus took with him, Peter and James and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.”
Ken, what does this verse mean to you?
Ken: Well, it means a lot. It's the transfiguration. And it's a particularly appropriate thing to read right now because when he came down from the mountain top, after the transfiguration, he set his sights on Jerusalem, where he went, arriving on Palm Sunday and resulting in the crucifixion on good Friday and Easter.
So as we're halfway through Lent, we're on the way with Jesus to Jerusalem. So in one sense, we are pilgrims right now with Jesus as he makes his way towards the salvation of the world, through his death and resurrection. But the idea that you go to a mountain top, or that you go with your friends on a journey, these are also important images which have shaped me into a person who loves to put together pilgrimages and travel groups for Holy and religious purposes.
And when I talk about a pilgrimage, this is what I'm saying. We're following in the footsteps of Jesus to a destination, with an intention of prayer and worship and fellowship.
Barbara: I have some photos to share with folks who are able to watch this on YouTube. How did Malta come up?
Ken: this was our fourth pilgrimage when we went to Malta and each year I go to a different place and I try to find something of historical importance and biblical interest and spiritual. I was offered a temporary job in Malta and I said, Hmm, what if the pilgrimage comes to me? I asked one of the local people in Malta- they all said, well, Paul- don't you remember in the book of acts, when St. Paul had been arrested, they were taking him to Rome and they got caught in a storm and they sought shelter on the Island of Malta? And they pulled into the harbor there and they brought him ashore and he was there for about three months.
The Maltese people have remembered the fact that they had St. Paul come and visit and bring Christianity to their Island. And it's in the Bible. It's like a chapter and a half. It's not a big story, but it's telling. And it was memorable to those people who live on the soil where St. Paul brought them the gospel, where they know where he lived, where he stayed, they know the name of his first convert.
And maybe half the churches in Malta are dedicated to St. Paul one way or another- there's even one that's St. Paul's shipwreck, which is a funny name for a church. But when they got into Malta, the storm was so bad, they didn't really just pull up to a dock, they got thrown onto the rocks and they were shipwrecked on a particular Island as their ungracious, welcome to Malta.
But anyway, we decided I'll do the pilgrimage and we'll try to go to as many places in Malta that have a reference to St. Paul as possible. And it turned out to be quite easy. We could have easily done another week. It was a challenge for me to try to find out what to eliminate because we just couldn't do it all. But we stayed very busy the week we were there, we shared lots of things to see.
Barbara: And we were on the water a lot. So I wanted to show this photo of us on a boat. And this boat's a little unique. You can see cruise ships and other, probably industrial boats in the background, but this one was made out of wood.
And for those of you who are able to look at the photo, there's even a Maltese cross on the wood, right on the boat. Probably to tie up some ropes. It fit about 10 people or so, and I just was curious, Ken, if you had a chance to ever get to meet or get to talk with some folks whose livelihoods depended on the water on this Island nation?
Ken: Well, there's not a lot of industry in Malta, but tourism is a big one. And when they get off the big white boat this boat in the distance, they swarm all over the Island. And you take these little taxi boats to get over to various bits and pieces.
It looks rather like a Venetian gondola. That's the kind of boat we were on and they just roll across and some have a little gasoline motors. But it's a very protected Harbor and the waves are never very big. And I found myself any day I had nothing to do. I just take a taxi ride on the boat just because the water is the life of the Island and for the fishing, the tourism from time immemorial, this is how people have survived. The waters of Malta are crystal clear and turquoise blue. And if you get white sand on the bottom of the water and the sunshine, it's just like you have a jewel in your hand. It's just unbelievable and beautiful.
Barbara: I'm glad you mentioned the sand, because pilgrimages are not necessarily the same thing as a vacation. And you had hinted at that a few minutes ago, but I just wanted to check in when you're designing a pilgrimage, how is it different from what folks might think of as a typical vacation?
Ken: Pilgrimage is as an intention of being with God through the whole thing. Not some Christians do this, even in their vacations. They just are very spiritual people. And they're always aware of the presence of God. We visit the churches. They always do these Holy things, but most people when they're on a vacation, they think they're trying to get away.
On a Pilgrimage we'll start every day by gathering for morning prayer. We'll try to eat breakfast together. We'll have directed conversations sometimes during the day. And then we end every day with the compline service in the hotel where we're staying, where we can be together. We can discuss what we saw and sort of try to dissect, digest everything.
I would work as the program leader of purposely having us pass by things which would stimulate spiritual thinking. You want to make it fun because frankly, I'll say this as a priest, being with God should be enjoyable. If we're going to spend eternity with God, let's just assume it's going to be pleasant. It's going to be fun. It's going to be great. So why not practice enjoying the presence of God in a beautiful touristic place?
Barbara: And some people might even argue that God has a sense of humor. While to other people that might sound like kind of a strange thing to say. And do we have room for what you just said, an attitude of joy and playfulness. Sometimes that doesn't come across in our earthly institutions.
Ken: when I was studying in seminary, our professor would ask different people to read the lesson. And he said, how you read it will interpret to the listener, what you think the meaning is. And somebody would get up there and they'd put on their God voice and they would talk like some big Hollywood production.
The next one would get up there and just read it sort of normal. And then he would get up and read it as if it were sort of tongue in cheek. And that there was a little sarcasm here and there. Like, when Jesus said “you brood of vipers,” he said, was Jesus smiling when he said this? Or was he frowning when he said it, was he angry or was he being sarcastic? And he said, I think he was probably being jokey. He was not really that kind of an angry condemnatory person, but he would choose really strong language to capture the attention, but then sort of smile. And maybe everybody would giggle because it was so unexpected.
I liked that kind of a Jesus who says, I made you to enjoy you and I want you to enjoy you. And I want you to enjoy this creation. And while we're at it, there's plenty of work.
Barbara: And speaking of perhaps judgment, I did not take a picture of the police officer who we met outside one of these buildings in these two photos. Do you want to share that today?
Ken: We were at the cathedral in the town of Medina, which is in the middle of Malta. It's the old Capitol - the Romans built this town of Medina. So the cathedral is there and we had just finished the tour and we were sitting on the steps.
So we're set up in front of the cathedral is sort of a historical marker and the police woman came over to us and I was absolutely sure she was going to castigate us for sitting on that Canon. And the truth was she had recognized that our group was different than the other groups who'd come through. And I had on my collar, I guess I looked like a priest who we were sitting on the steps one or two on the Canon. And we were just smiling and we'd look peaceful and happy.
And she came over and she said, are you all Christians? Are you believers? And yes, yes. We're here to visit your lovely Island and this church. And she was there because she wanted to know more about the kind of faith that could bring this diverse group of people from far away and just having a good time and enjoying the beauty and the spirituality.
And we tried to answer her questions, but it clearly was one of these situations where we could witness to her for several hours and her thirst was going to be unquenchable. And so I really encouraged her to come and talk to her own clergy there from the cathedral and not to be afraid of them.
I like when a pilgrimage can reveal to us that we're not the only ones in the world who deal with issues in our lives and in our spiritual pilgrimages, sometimes going off to a strange place allows us to see them from a different angle.
Barbara: sometimes the formality of some clergy roles, maybe some people feel that they're unapproachable or maybe, I don't want to bother them. They're important, or is my concern worthy enough? Or is my simple, basic question worth their time? So that's great that you encouraged that continual seeking.
Ken: I don't think I've ever met a priest or a minister or a rabbi who wasn't flattered in a way, if someone comes up and says, I really want to talk about God with you. Do you have some time? Sometimes they'll say, well, Tuesday at four, but this is our life. We love to share what we've experienced in our theology. And questions are a source of great joy. I can't always answer them because yeah, I don't have the mind of God any better than most people do.
But I have some experiences or maybe have a few vocabulary words that are different. And I have a sense in my heart that God is never far away. And if we have really, really tough questions, don't ask the priest, let the priest with you, ask God together. And seek his wisdom.
Barbara: we have a few church stories that we could share. And in this sanctuary, Ken knew the clergy and the staff. I'm wondering if you have any particular story for us on this one, they had a cafe in their basement and this is really busy.
Ken: This picture when we're looking at it, the churches, the part on the left and apartment buildings are the fart on the right, but they do show something interesting about Malta.
The whole Island is made up of this same lime stone. It's sort of honey colored, which is where the name Malta comes from because when the Greeks discovered this Island and they saw all that honey-colored rock, they used the Greek word for honey Melita, which then got over the years, turned into Malta.
So the whole country is named honey, and it is a very sweet place. Yeah, but the tower on the left-hand side is St. Paul's Anglican. It's absolutely beautiful.
And if somebody does want to see lots of beautiful pictures of it, you can go Google St. Paul's Anglican cathedral in Malta. The town is actually called Valletta. I worked with the priests there.
In fact, the year after the pilgrimage, I went back and did three months working in this cathedral as a guest preacher and a guest a teacher. I did a Bible study course and of course did a lot of scuba diving and sitting on the sand of the beaches as well.
You mentioned the cafe in the basement and it's because they really wanted an outreach center because there are so many English speaking tourists who come to Malta and to come to the Anglican church, they can read everything and then they want to get a cup of coffee.
But we're on the suburban side of town with the Harbor right there. There's not a lot of restaurants around, so it's like an outreach to their tourist ministry to have this coffee shop down in the undercroft of the church. And it was a beautiful place. On the hot Maltese days, you can go - it was so cool inside and so nice and peaceful.
Barbara: this had been completely finished and was very relaxing. It was a respite. I really don't mind sharing that I have mixed feelings about this cathedral [new photo], the elaborate gold is of course beautiful, but it's just too much for me. And we were told that the donors wanted to honor God with all of this decor and they also took care of people in need, but I'm really wondering how can we balance luxury and stewardship on behalf of others?
Ken: Oh, that's a very heavy topic, but let me explain something about what we're looking at in this picture. This is not very much gold. This is the same honey colored limestone that's been carved into all these shapes and there's just the slightest bit of gold leaf on them. If you took all the gold in that whole building, it might be maybe one pound, you know, but it spreads so thin.
It's like gold dust on everything, but. That carves so easily because the honey limestone of Malta, you can carve it with a teaspoon. It's a very soft stone. And so it encouraged the artist to carve deeply and beautifully.
And it wasn't built as a cathedral. It was built originally as the monastery for the Knights of Malta, the religious order who were warrior monks dedicated to fighting off. The Islamic Navy of the Ottoman empire. And this church was the burial shrine for all the Knights who were killed in battle. And so it's really more than just a parish church. It's a shrine and a Memorial and yeah, it does challenge us.
Would we want this in a parish? And I would probably be over nourished by it. I would feel like I need to like put on blinders to pray, but as a shrine and as a memorial, I find it to be very interesting that the donors who did it were almost always the head monks, the superior of the order who usually came from some aristocratic family in Europe.
They were like the second sons who didn't inherit the titles. So they'd go into the church and they've becomes the Knights of Malta. And when they died, they were treated with great heroic beauty around each of them. They would build their own little chapels and decorate with their family crest.
And yeah, it's not the way we think of stewardship now. And it's not a form of charity that we think of now. But the church is a little over the top.
Barbara: I didn't put in a photo of the inside of the hospital that we saw, which the tour guide said this was the first place that had individual indoor toilets for sanitation purposes to prevent the spread of disease.
And there's really nothing to look at. It's just a little nook, there isn't even a seat with a circle in an or anything. So the photo is kind of boring, but I thought, that's amazing. They were forward-thinking with sanitation and cleanliness and individual privacy. To the extent that it was related to medical need.
Ken: The Knights of Malta had gotten pretty good in the healing arts and they didn't understand germs. They didn't have microscopes, they couldn't see the bacteria and the viruses and things.
But they understood the diseases could be communicable. Each bed was surrounded by a curtain wall so that no disease could be passed from one bed to the next. And they had the separate toilets so cholera wouldn't pass around.I don't know if it's true or not that they invented the concept of quarantine, which is very timely topic now.
It's it means 40. Is it means 40 days and they would hold people in their sort of quarantine cells for 40 days before they would let them to roam around the Island. Make sure they didn't bring the bubonic plague or cholera or smallpox. So the Knights of Malta were quite advanced for their day.
Barbara: at this point, we'd be happy to take 40 days cause it's been a lot more than 40 days, but that's all right. We're making progress. I hope.
Ken: It's like the 40 years in the wilderness, it's a symbolic number, meaning so much.
Barbara: Well, we're past the 40 weeks now. And this is the Island that you had mentioned earlier, and this was one of my favorite moments during the pilgrimage.
And I believe for the rest of the group as well, we took a boat out here and we had a very short communion service. The wind was whipping and it was at the end of the day for the boat. Cause that's how we just got to go out there, our small group. And then we headed back to the main Island.
Ken: shipwreck Island. These are the very rocks upon which St Paul's Roman vessel was thrown by the wind onto these rocks and it crashed and they pulled themselves to shore. But it’s very desolate and always has been, it's not an Island where anybody lived, but they were able to get out of the storm.
And then the Maltese found them the next day, when they saw the shipwreck. I knew that this was a very Holy place.
We set up our card table. We put on our linen tablecloth. The wind was blowing so much I was afraid that the bread and the wine would blow away before we had a chance to eat it. And it was so memorable. And to think that this is a place of great antiquity and profound meaning. And that was one of my very favorite memories of the whole pilgrimage of Malta, because the weather was against us, but we managed, we overcame the odds. And it was a beautiful event, us singing there. Every hand of the group holding down something on the table. So it didn't blow away, singing our little songs and sharing the body and blood of Christ.
Barbara: optional homework for listeners is check out Acts chapter 27. That's sort of the lead up and then Acts 28, the first 10 verses. Or you can keep going if you want to. We want to show one more Island location, and then also talk about the broader concept of pilgrimage even if you can't get on a plane right now and go to Malta. So another one of my favorite locations was the Island of Gozo, which is just a short distance from the larger Island of Malta. And we visited three churches on that Island that I can remember that particular day. And I was just curious, Ken, how often, when you were on Malta for a while, did you go back and forth, and do you have a sense of the difference between the two islands? Because they really felt unique to me from each other. They weren't the same.
Ken: well, You're right. Gozo is much smaller and they've always been the sort of the stepchild. All the attention was down in Malta and Gozo was always left behind, but it's a huge ferry boat that goes back and forth four times an hour.
And while I was working there, one of my regular duties was to go every Wednesday and do a church service on Gozo. So I would take the public bus up there, take the ferry boat across to Gozo, get a taxi cab, to take me to the church and do the service. And the architecture looked very much like that Shrine of the Knights of Malta where they carved into the stone and touched up with gold leaf and various colors.
And the Island is smaller. It's more agrarian. And the Gozo people are very, very proud. There's talk of building a tunnel so you could drive back and forth and everybody on Malta wants it, probably so they can get a summer house, and they can get back and forth, but the Gozo people aren't so sure they want to have Malta coming to their little Island.
Right now it's a little bit more unspoiled and less developed. It's beautiful nature if you like the sort of deserty scenes.
Barbara: Yep. I would really endorse a trip to Malta by all means. And then the last two photos are from my favorite church building because of its simplicity on Gozo. And I know that you have been on many pilgrimages, in many churches, cathedrals, probably just your little field shrine. And I'm wondering, can you articulate better than I can, Ken, sometimes you just walk into a place and it just feels different from other places?
Ken: the one we're looking at right now, ironically, was built as a pilgrimage church. It was not built to be a parish church. And it was a place where there was a vision of the blessed Virgin Mary to some farmer in the field, and they named the church after the farmer. They're still building it, so that's why it's a little bit cleaner and a little bit more simple looking. I hate to say this, Barbara, we'll give it another 100 years and it may be all gold leaf as well.
But it's not what we call modern, but by Maltese standards, it's quite modern. But the idea is it's a place for personal prayer, lots of little side shrines and side altars. And you can walk around as if you're doing the rosary. You can do your own private prayers. You can find your favorite saints and go up to that.
And it's not for a public mass, with a thousand people, all sitting in the pews. This is for the individual. Confined a place for private prayer and devotion. And we'd walk around and we'd see, you know, somebody deep in prayer, often a corner, maybe weeping or maybe a veil over their face or something that they went there not to be public.
They went there to be private and it does change the atmosphere, but we walked into that place and we knew it was a place where we shouldn't be talking to each other. You know, it was a place of silence, profound of stillness, like the stillness you want to have in your soul when you finally get home.
And so there's something that speaks in this kind of a place. And I think it's the echo of all the prayers that have been said in this church since it was built. I like to imagine that the prayers go out like acoustical sound waves and they embed themselves in the stone so that you can go back 10 years later. And the prayers are still there and the more prayers that have been added, the stones become just filled with the prayer life of the people who've visited. It's a pretty church. But more than that, it's a prayerful space.
Barbara: how do we find Holy places to visit on personal pilgrimages in this time? Right now, when travel is restricted, how do we continue to seek that connection with God anywhere?
Ken: I think we start by realizing that pilgrimage as a journey can be a metaphor. You know, we're not able to fly off to Europe to go find some Roman ruins. But as a metaphor, we are always on our journey from the time of our baptism until the time of our resurrection to eternal life.
We're always journeying and we're journeying in the direction of God. I mean, this is part of moral theology, like in a dilemma, what should I do? Which is the better way, which draws you to God, which takes you off on a diversion? Just keep on the road following to God. During COVID at least we're lucky enough to have the technology where we can journey through slide shows like this or through a travel logs. There are countless videos. If you know of a place you particularly want to go, you could do it with technology, and I suggest you spread it out slowly. Don't just binge. Don't just see how many you can pack into one day. But take it slowly as if you're on a walking journey and work your way through the place you want to visit, but do it with the intention of praying along the way.
Now, a second way to make a pilgrimage is find the Holy places in your local area. There's nothing that says God only lives in Europe. You know, maybe the churches were in Europe first, but there are Holy places where God has done great things through interesting people all over the world.
I was living in Shreveport Louisiana many, many years ago, and I asked somebody about a pilgrimage place- where's someplace close we could go? And they said, Memphis, Tennessee. And I said, I do not count Graceland and Elvis to be a pilgrimage destination. And they said, no. We're talking about the Episcopal cathedral in Memphis, the shrine of the sisters of Memphis, the martyrs of the cholera epidemic, stayed behind to take care of the orphans. And they all died from the disease. And they go, here's the book, read it. And I said I've got to go. And that was the very first pilgrimage I ever organized getting a bus load of people to go with me, to the martyrs of them to visit their places.
And along the way, we had chances to talk and discuss and share the stories from the book. And by the time we got there, these sisters who had been virtually unknown to us before, they felt like they were our sisters. And when we went to their graves, we brought our flowers to decorate their graves. You can find a local Holy place someplace near your home.
Now the third form of pilgrimage is to make your home the Holy place. Set up in a corner of your living room or in the spare bedroom or down in the basement, sort of a grotto or a Holy place where you can light your candles, have the table where you put out all your most Holy things- the cross you were given when you were baptized or your prayer book that you got from your grandfather or the Holy family Bible light, some candles and sit there.
I've sat for half an hour in silence, looking at the flickering candle, feeling the presence of God, feeling my grandmother who gave me that cross or feeling my grandfather gave me the Bible or create your own Holy place. And then daily make your pilgrimage there to say your private prayers. I have with age, gotten much more accustomed to the idea of just enjoying the silence. I've had so many years where I was talking to God, talking to God, talking to God, but never taking time to listen, to see if God was talking back. Sometimes I'll put on a little music, sometimes I'll read a Bible verse and I do have a lovely icon of painting of Jesus.
And I'd like to just stare at that for a while. And I realized that I'm not really staring at the picture, but I'm allowing my brain to focus on one thing so that I can listen to whatever the Holy Spirit's telling me.
Barbara: And maybe the visual image is sort of a cue that I'm in a Holy presence right now.
Ken: I think this depends upon your personality. Some people really like to be populated by lots of art. Other people may do better with a plain white wall or just a simple candle or maybe a picture of the grandmother that we keep talking about, whatever draws you close to God.
Take advantage of that. And intentionally say, I'm going to sit down here. I'm going to seek God's presence. Or better theology to say, I'm going to invite God into my presence and he'll come.
Barbara: When you spoke about the heritage that we received, I thought about first nations people who really felt that creation is God's sanctuary as well. And I do feel close to God when I'm in creation and don't always need to have a building around me to feel like I'm with God.
Ken: I should have thought of that too, because you're absolutely right. Taking a hike through the woods is a very spiritual thing to do, especially when you can get to the point when you say.
Oh, God, that's a beautiful flower. Thank you for that flower. Oh Lord. Look at the way the light shines down to the trees. Thank you for the sunlight and for the trees. Oh Lord. What a beautiful smell on the wind. Thank you for the pine fragrance of this forest, you know, and let it be an exercise in prayer, not just how fast can I walk and why did these people litter?
And what am I going to eat for lunch when I get back? You know, those things stop us from being on pilgrimage, but the intentional seeking the presence of God can turn any moment of any day into a spiritual pilgrimage. We're journeying with Jesus on the way, not just the way to Jerusalem, but the way to the Mount of the Ascension.
And even the way to our heavenly home awaiting us. It's a long journey, but when we get there, what an adventure that's right. What a joy that will be.
Barbara: Thank you very much. I am so grateful for your wisdom.
Ken: Well, thank you for inviting me to talk with you.
Resources:
Matthew 17:1
https://www.metropolitanchapter.com (Mdina Cathedral)
https://www.stpaulspromalta.org
https://www.stjohnscocathedral.com
Acts 27 and 28