TRAVERSE CITY (AP) – Surrounded by some new art, and sitting beneath a sign that designated the space as purgatory, about fifteen people of various lineage gathered at the Pub during Holy Week, or more precisely, on Maundy Thursday.

What exactly is Maundy Thursday?

Great question – but they weren’t there to answer that. (Though it’s apparently also known as the Thursday of Mysteries.)

Some wonderful brews on tap, not least of which was the Darkstar Stout flowing from the cask.  (You can never go wrong with the cask).

First topic:  What is your earliest memory?

There were several good ones.  Here’s a taste:

– “I remember being spoonfed a sundae by my mother at Dairy Queen while sitting in the stroller…”

–       “There was an old barn across from the apartment complex we lived in.  I remember distinctly sitting on the hill by our apartment, watching a large barn across the street burn to the ground.  I was three.”

–       “Something about being on the stairs, and my sister wasn’t around yet, which makes it about the only memory I have from then.”

–       Mine: “I was probably four, in the basement with a friend.  My mom was doing the laundry in the room next to us.  We were throwing plastic bowling pins up at the naked lightbulb.  Eventually we managed to hit it – throwing glass and darkness all over us.  There were screams.”

–       “My earliest memory is of my older brother having his dirty diaper changed, which means I must have been about six months old.  Wait… that can’t be right.”

–       The best one:  “I have no particular memory of my early years.  Just some vague feelings.”

There was general debate about when the earliest you can remember is… Some said three, others said four.  One claimed to have a memory from much earlier.

I noted that my kids watch videos of themselves from when they were babies and toddlers, and we all sort of wondered about what that would do to their memories as they grow up.  (I make a year-end video of the kids every December – Lubbergho.  Perhaps I’ll post one on youtube one of these days).

It was a great opening conversation, and we went various places from there, hitting on a few of these topics:

1.    Have you ever felt truly alone?
Describe the situation.  What did you do?
Are there practices that help you in those moments?

2.    What is your favorite day of Holy Week?
Do you connect more with Good Friday or Easter?

3.    What do you believe happened on the cross?

4.    “To believe in the gospel in today’s day and age, one must first understand that language does not only denote objective realities.”

5.    Does all knowledge derive from experience?

6.    Do atheists get respect in our culture?  Why/Why not?

We wrapped up the evening by musing on the following poem:

Alone

I am afraid

The gulf between us is vast

As all eternity

The frozen hand of death

Touches my throat

Catching my words unspoken

Alone we die

Together we live

Reach out now

Help me live

In love together

We cannot die

If you have a thought on the above, or an earliest memory you’d like to share, post it below!