25 Nov The Gift to Be Simple

The Gift to Be Simple
By Cliff L. Wood

“Tis the gift to be simple
Tis the gift to be free
Tis the gift to come down
Where we ought to be”

This old Shaker hymn is one that I have sung over the years at Episcopal churches.
I love the hymn, its simple melody, and its simple words. As I drove home on a recent Friday evening, returning from an 1860 farmhouse on Putney Mountain, I found myself humming then actually singing the song. As soon as I got home, I researched the history of the tune.

“Simple Gifts” was composed by Joseph Brackett in 1848 in Alfred, ME. The song became known worldwide when Aaron Copland used it in his score for the ballet Appalachian Spring in 1944, the year of my birth. “Appalachian Spring” was also the final Jeopardy question in a recent broadcast. “Simple gifts” permeates the universe!!

As I thought about the hymn, I realized it was in my stream of consciousness because it expressed the feelings I had that afternoon during this grave pandemic.
Then, I was going home after visiting my nonagenarian Hospice client whose goal is to celebrate his 100th birthday. I love my weekly visits with him at a time when contact with family, friends and the community is limited. Weekly visits with Mark are a simple gift that brings me joy.

Mark is an extraordinary man, an ivy league educated lawyer, who had a brilliant and distinguished career. Our visits are a simple time, where we sit socially distanced, sometimes quietly and sometimes chatting as Mark enjoys his 5:00PM
martini with three olives, his daily ritual over many years. On this particular Friday, when I arrived, Mark Schlefer was at his computer, researching the New York Times. Over his 99 years, he has been an avid reader of the NYT and the Washington Post. He says he misses the daily paper, which is not delivered where he lives. I tell him that my wife reads the New York Times daily online and forwards to me the articles she thinks I need to read.

These days our most frequent topic is the election, which is for Mark a grave concern. We also talk about his wife of more than 70 years. He misses her very much. Once I asked him what he misses most about his wife. He paused for a long time, as he often does when I ask a question. Sometimes I think he is searching for an answer, and sometimes I think he is reminiscing because of the serenity in his eyes. He did answer the question, saying, “I miss the travel. We visited all of Central and South America and all of Europe.”

I asked him, “Of all the places you have visited, what was your favorite?” There was another long and thoughtful pause. “I think I liked our trip to Greece best.” he said. “I think Greece was my favorite.”

“In visiting Greece, did you like the islands or the mainland best?” I queried.
Another long pause.
He smiled, saying, “I liked the mainland because of the antiquities.”
It was a simple answer from a classy, well-educated gentleman.

Mark also has a great sense of humor. When I mentioned last summer that I was going to a small lawn party for our neighbor who was celebrating her 95th birthday, Mark looked up at me and said, “A mere child.”

So, in this time of social isolation, these weekly visits and conversations with Mark are a special yet simple gift that is free, and as I turn, turn, I am where I want to be.

Thank you, Mark.

Cliff wrote this essay in October 2020 for the Covid Chronicle, a publication of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Brattleboro, VT. It is about his visits with his Brattleboro Area Hospice client. Mark died suddenly on Nov. 2, 2020. At the request of Mark’s family, Cliff identified his client by name.

Simple Gifts performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss.