From the Rev. Jenny Nam’s funeral homily, preached in Hong Kong July 19:
No sharing of Winston is complete without a funny story. He reminded me of the clown in Henri Nouwen’s book Clowning in Rome. “Whenever the clowns appear we are reminded that what really counts is something other than the spectacular and the sensational. Clowns remind us of what happens between the scenes. The clowns show us by their ‘useless’ behavior not simply that many of our preoccupations, worries, tensions, and anxieties need a smile, but that we too have white on our faces and that we too are called to clown a little.” Here is a story that he told his Baptist friend some years ago. Winston was in Southwestern States, Navajo country for some business, and was sitting outside a “trading post’ on a reservation of the native Indians. He had on his cowboy hat and boots. Some tourists drove into the parking lot, saw Winston and asked him if they could take a picture with him. They had never met a “Live Indian” before. So Winston said “Sure, but it’ll cost you $20.” They paid him and took a picture.
Photo from the Archives of the Episcopal Church
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
