¦ In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

A couple of months ago now, after my father's cremation, my family stepped out onto the pavement of the industrial west side of Birmingham, Alabama.

The heat was blinding and everything donned and parched in every conceivable way.

A Franciscan friar walked by.

I saw his robe first, then the rope around his waist.