Charles was intentional in his death. The act of burning oneself in public is a shocking act. I have heard hundreds of monks in Tibet have done so in protest of Chinese rule. I grew up as a high school kid watching a monk in Vietnam burn himself in protest of the Vietnam War. I did not understand it, but I never forgot it and I continued to wonder why someone would be so deeply committed as to give their life to make that statement. I am still wondering. Don
When I (we) was prior of Madison '70-71ish, Charles was our Regional Prior at South House Chicago - with Troxels in Milwaukee, Davis's in Peoria, with the Shanklands etc. It was a momentous year, focusing on the Local Church Experiment and RS1. Charles once said of himself "I am RS1" and indeed there were extended periods of time when he was, challenging us to be RS1 also. I am most grateful for that period of time, being around and included in the warmth of his care.
The last memorable time was in Bruxelles in the fall (?) of '82 when a bunch of us from the House and from Centrum went to see the movie 'Gandhi' for the first time. He led the movie conversation on an outdoor patio near the theatre. It was very, very good.
'The Last Picture Show', a movie depicting a group of 1950s high schoolers coming of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied West Texas town that is slowly dying, was shot in a few different West Texas towns, one of which was Charle's home town. He was he excited about that.
In awe of his death and his life,
Ken
On 2014-07-03, at 9:49 AM, Terry Bergdall via Dialogue wrote:
Charles was a complex and insightful man. His short "new world spin" telling the story of being seated next to an fragile elderly black gentlemen on an airplane, and then being asked to assist his on a trip to the toilet, remains one of the most powerful statements that I've heard heard about the spirit journey of responding to issues of social justice. It was all there, consistent with my experience once he called attention to it: abstract passion, occasional resentment, the ultimate joy of engagement (which at times, if one stops to think too much about it, reveals an absurdity within it all). Charles was not a man to forget then, nor now.
On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 2:18 AM, George Holcombe via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Our colleague Charles immolated himself June 23, see article at http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/retired-pastor-saw-destiny-in-self-immolat...
Memorial service will be held July 12 at Faith Presbyterian Church in Austin.
George Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Tr. Austin, TX 78728 Mobile 512/252-2756
“...we have the choice: we can gratefully cultivate the relationships that make us part of a vast network, or we can take them for granted and allow them to wither and die.” Brother David Steindl-Rast, Deeper than Words
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