ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH - BLESSING OF THE SCATTER GARDEN

After the church service on the morning of June 9, 2013, the congregation at St John's gathered for the blessing of St John's Scatter Garden.  Fr Ron, our interim priest-in-charge, instructed us to pray for clear weather on the day of the blessing, but earlier in the morning, the rains came.   I wondered whose prayers hadn't worked or who among us had sinned so grievously that God sent the rain despite the prayers.  Fortunately, the early rain proved to be only a distraction, and the prayers were efficacious, as you see from the shadows cast by the shining sun in the pictures below.

Just in case, a tent had been set up to keep the congregation dry, but instead the cover served to keep us cool and out of direct sunlight. What was the plan for Fr Ron and those who assisted him in the blessing, had the rain continued? I don't know, but with the clearing skies, we did not move to Plan B.

Fr Ron's swing with the aspergillim (Ha! I bet you're surprised I know the name of the vessel that sprinkles holy water.) is strong, indeed.  Over the years, the arm and shoulder muscles have developed suitably for sprinkling.  Then, too, picking and strumming the guitar year after year helps develop the finer muscles for the proper aim.
 

Here's Fr Ron coming right for those of us under the tent aiming, no doubt, for a direct sprinkling hit with the holy water in the aspergillim.

Joking aside, Julie Green, a member of our congregation, carved the lovely Celtic cross that stands in the middle of the scatter garden.  Photos do not do justice to the beautiful motif carved on the cross.  Once the smaller plants in the ground surrounding the cross grow as ground cover, the site will look much more attractive.

My instructions to my family for when my "little life is rounded with a sleep" are for my remains to be cremated, but I had no instructions for what to do with the ashes.  I think that neither they nor I would wish to have them in a box or a vase on the mantle, and I've thought and thought about an appropriate spot to spread the ashes, and, before the scatter garden came to be, I had no idea.  Now the problem is solved.  The garden is a lovely, peaceful area, shaded by ancient oaks.  What more would they or I want? 

SCATTER GARDEN AT ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Julie Green carving the cross

Residents will soon have a new way to remember their deceased loves ones in Thibodaux.

St. John’s Episcopal Church on Jackson Street is putting the finishing touches on a scatter garden, which will eventually be home to countless cremated ashes.

“We want it to be a place where you can come visit your ancestors who are there,” said the Rev. Ron Clingenpeel, priest in charge for St. John’s, which dates back to 1843. “It is a place where one can encounter God, holiness and a real sense of peace in their lives, knowing this is where their loved ones are.”

The scatter garden will be a space where families can spread the ashes of their loved ones and go to remember them in the following years, Clingenpeel said.

The cross that will stand in the scatter garden is beautiful.  Julie, a parishioner, is a true artist, and her carving is a work of art.  And what a fine idea to have the scatter garden at St John's.

Enclosure walls of the future scatter garden

The grounds of the scatter garden are unfinished. All that's complete are the brick wall segments that will define the garden area.

My family knows of my wish to be cremated...not yet, of course,...but I had not decided where I wanted my ashes scattered.  I knew I did not want them placed in a container on the mantlepiece, and with the advent of the scatter garden, my decision was easy.

UPDATE: The intention is to scatter the ashes, but if family and friends of the deceased would prefer burial of the ashes in a biodegradable container, then that will be an alternative.  Of course, the garden will be made beautiful with landscaping.