CarpetBurger & The Ascension
Spring 1978, after I retired from the Navy, the Australian Department of Defence invited me to come to Australia for five weeks as their guest, to conduct seminars for Australian defence industry manufacturers, on doing business with American defense industry.
Details have been told in my +Time blog more than once over the past ten years. But what's not been recalled is that during that first of several visits over the next few years, one evening at a steakhouse in Sydney, my hosts introduced me to the Carpetbagger. Quite a large, round, maybe two inch thick filet mignon, split and stuffed with Sydney rock oysters, seared both sides on a red hot grill.
This memory rose to my surface yesterday morning as I contemplated the hamburger of ground sirloin that I was intending to cook for breakfast. I sear it on both sides Power Hot in a small cast iron skillet so it's crispy on the outside, red rare center. I might have it plain. Or between two slices of toasted Good Seed bread, with or without mayonnaise, with or without a tiny smudge of yellow mustard on each bite. With or without a thick slice of raw onion. With or without tomato, lettuce. No pickles in my hamburger, if I have pickles I want them on the side. With or without, most often with, a strong cheese such as from TJ's in Tallahassee. With or without an over-medium fried egg on top. Occasionally loaded and with juice running down both arms as I bite into it.
Yesterday though, as I took an egg from the refrigerator to fry and lay atop my sirloin burger, I noticed the pint of oysters chilling next to the egg drawer. Comes to mind a Sydney steakhouse as a Carpetbagger is set down before me: a bread and butter plate sized filet mignon, two inches thick, stuffed with raw oysters. "Why not?!!" is a rhetorical question.
CarpetBurger. On a slice of Good Seed bread, toasted. A large patty of ground sirloin, seared crispy on both sides, six raw Gulf coast oysters laid on top. Covered with the other slice of toast, light mayonnaise. Salt of course, nobody lives forever. Breakfast: in lieu of a dry red Australian shiraz, a glass of ice water. CarpetBurger.
Wednesday, isn't it, promised as a Bible Study or some sort, of at least semi serious musing. Tomorrow is Ascension, one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Church, so I'll choose the Acts reading for next Sunday:
The First Lesson
Acts 1:6-14
When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
+++++++++++++
Acts was written by the anonymous author of the Gospel according to Luke, which has this account of the Ascension:
The Ascension of Jesus
Luke 24:50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
++++++++
The two accounts were written by the same author, who may have written them at different times, possibly separated by some months or years, because Luke (the author of all four canonical gospels is anonymous, but the early church put the name Luke on this one, so I'll call him Luke) did not take pains to make sure the two accounts were identical. It doesn't matter, he's not testifying in court, he's writing for someone he calls "most excellent Theophilus".
But let's look at a couple of things. In the Luke account, the Ascension seems to happen the evening of Easter Day: a postResurrection appearance, after the risen Lord Jesus has had supper with the disciples (same supper as Gospel John describes where first Thomas isn't there, but in Luke the distinguishing event is not Thomas but that the gathered disciples are joined by the two disciples who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus). After supper he leads them out toward Bethany (which as I understand it is just the other side of the hill, where Lazarus and his sisters lived) and as they watch, he ascends, and they go back to Jerusalem.
In the Acts account the Ascension is not immediate. Over a period of forty days, Jesus appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one as he will, before finally ascending. Luke's Acts doesn't say, but there has been speculation, and I once read an imaginative book about what Jesus did during those forty days.
Common to both accounts, Luke and Acts, is the importance of the disciples remaining in Jerusalem during that time (they do not go to Galilee as Matthew has it), Jerusalem is so significant to Luke: a prophet's relationship to Jerusalem, Luke's gospel begins and ends in Jerusalem, a prophet cannot die outside Jerusalem, baby Jesus is committed to God in Jerusalem, when he's twelve years old Jesus converses with the Temple elders in Jerusalem, in Jesus' temptation by the devil, the ultimate temptation is at the temple in Jerusalem (unlike Matthew, where ascending temptation rankings are bread, Jerusalem, kingdoms of the earth, in Luke the rankings are bread, kingdoms, Jerusalem), in Luke Jesus dies, is raised, reappears and ascends in Jerusalem. All this is special and significant to Luke. And now finally Jesus ascends near Jerusalem, and the disciples return to the city, where at Pentecost begins Luke's sequel to the greatest story ever told!
What else? Well, we have some great hymns of the Ascension that, social distancing for Corvid19, we will not be singing this year. Ascension always come on the Thursday between Sunday Easter Six and Sunday Easter Seven, and seeing that BCP rubrics permit All Saints to be observed on the next following Sunday, as a parish priest I usually took the liberty of replacing Easter Seven with the Ascension propers, and singing the hymns.
And with Psalm 47, where God goes up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a ram's horn:
Oh, the Disappearing Feet. There is a lot of art depicting the Ascension. Disciples gathered and watching as Jesus disappears into the clouds. Usually the Virgin Mary is there, shown clothed in her traditional blue. There are many magnificent works of art on the Ascension. More than enough depict the disciples staring up at Jesus' feet as he vanishes from sight. Here's one by Hans Suess von Kulmbach, with the BVM in front:
This one by Salvador Dali may be my favorite Ascension work:
and I love the idea of it as a contrasting victory climax to Dali's painting of the crucifixion:
T+
Details have been told in my +Time blog more than once over the past ten years. But what's not been recalled is that during that first of several visits over the next few years, one evening at a steakhouse in Sydney, my hosts introduced me to the Carpetbagger. Quite a large, round, maybe two inch thick filet mignon, split and stuffed with Sydney rock oysters, seared both sides on a red hot grill.
This memory rose to my surface yesterday morning as I contemplated the hamburger of ground sirloin that I was intending to cook for breakfast. I sear it on both sides Power Hot in a small cast iron skillet so it's crispy on the outside, red rare center. I might have it plain. Or between two slices of toasted Good Seed bread, with or without mayonnaise, with or without a tiny smudge of yellow mustard on each bite. With or without a thick slice of raw onion. With or without tomato, lettuce. No pickles in my hamburger, if I have pickles I want them on the side. With or without, most often with, a strong cheese such as from TJ's in Tallahassee. With or without an over-medium fried egg on top. Occasionally loaded and with juice running down both arms as I bite into it.
Yesterday though, as I took an egg from the refrigerator to fry and lay atop my sirloin burger, I noticed the pint of oysters chilling next to the egg drawer. Comes to mind a Sydney steakhouse as a Carpetbagger is set down before me: a bread and butter plate sized filet mignon, two inches thick, stuffed with raw oysters. "Why not?!!" is a rhetorical question.
CarpetBurger. On a slice of Good Seed bread, toasted. A large patty of ground sirloin, seared crispy on both sides, six raw Gulf coast oysters laid on top. Covered with the other slice of toast, light mayonnaise. Salt of course, nobody lives forever. Breakfast: in lieu of a dry red Australian shiraz, a glass of ice water. CarpetBurger.
Wednesday, isn't it, promised as a Bible Study or some sort, of at least semi serious musing. Tomorrow is Ascension, one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Church, so I'll choose the Acts reading for next Sunday:
The First Lesson
Acts 1:6-14
When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
+++++++++++++
Acts was written by the anonymous author of the Gospel according to Luke, which has this account of the Ascension:
The Ascension of Jesus
Luke 24:50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
++++++++
The two accounts were written by the same author, who may have written them at different times, possibly separated by some months or years, because Luke (the author of all four canonical gospels is anonymous, but the early church put the name Luke on this one, so I'll call him Luke) did not take pains to make sure the two accounts were identical. It doesn't matter, he's not testifying in court, he's writing for someone he calls "most excellent Theophilus".
But let's look at a couple of things. In the Luke account, the Ascension seems to happen the evening of Easter Day: a postResurrection appearance, after the risen Lord Jesus has had supper with the disciples (same supper as Gospel John describes where first Thomas isn't there, but in Luke the distinguishing event is not Thomas but that the gathered disciples are joined by the two disciples who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus). After supper he leads them out toward Bethany (which as I understand it is just the other side of the hill, where Lazarus and his sisters lived) and as they watch, he ascends, and they go back to Jerusalem.
In the Acts account the Ascension is not immediate. Over a period of forty days, Jesus appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one as he will, before finally ascending. Luke's Acts doesn't say, but there has been speculation, and I once read an imaginative book about what Jesus did during those forty days.
Common to both accounts, Luke and Acts, is the importance of the disciples remaining in Jerusalem during that time (they do not go to Galilee as Matthew has it), Jerusalem is so significant to Luke: a prophet's relationship to Jerusalem, Luke's gospel begins and ends in Jerusalem, a prophet cannot die outside Jerusalem, baby Jesus is committed to God in Jerusalem, when he's twelve years old Jesus converses with the Temple elders in Jerusalem, in Jesus' temptation by the devil, the ultimate temptation is at the temple in Jerusalem (unlike Matthew, where ascending temptation rankings are bread, Jerusalem, kingdoms of the earth, in Luke the rankings are bread, kingdoms, Jerusalem), in Luke Jesus dies, is raised, reappears and ascends in Jerusalem. All this is special and significant to Luke. And now finally Jesus ascends near Jerusalem, and the disciples return to the city, where at Pentecost begins Luke's sequel to the greatest story ever told!
What else? Well, we have some great hymns of the Ascension that, social distancing for Corvid19, we will not be singing this year. Ascension always come on the Thursday between Sunday Easter Six and Sunday Easter Seven, and seeing that BCP rubrics permit All Saints to be observed on the next following Sunday, as a parish priest I usually took the liberty of replacing Easter Seven with the Ascension propers, and singing the hymns.
And with Psalm 47, where God goes up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a ram's horn:
Psalm 47
To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.
1 O clap your hands, all ye people;
shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the Lord most high is terrible;
he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us,
and the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us,
the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the Lord most high is terrible;
he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us,
and the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us,
the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5 God is gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises:
sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth:
sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the heathen:
God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princes of the people are gathered together,
even the people of the God of Abraham:
for the shields of the earth belong unto God:
he is greatly exalted.
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises:
sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth:
sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the heathen:
God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princes of the people are gathered together,
even the people of the God of Abraham:
for the shields of the earth belong unto God:
he is greatly exalted.
Oh, the Disappearing Feet. There is a lot of art depicting the Ascension. Disciples gathered and watching as Jesus disappears into the clouds. Usually the Virgin Mary is there, shown clothed in her traditional blue. There are many magnificent works of art on the Ascension. More than enough depict the disciples staring up at Jesus' feet as he vanishes from sight. Here's one by Hans Suess von Kulmbach, with the BVM in front:
This one by Salvador Dali may be my favorite Ascension work:
and I love the idea of it as a contrasting victory climax to Dali's painting of the crucifixion:
T+