St. Robin
St. Robin
Robin Williams was not only a comedic genius but he was, much more importantly, an Episcopalian.
There is a story of how Robin comforted Steven Spielberg in the most Robin Williams way possible.
When Steven Spielberg was working on Schindler’s List, Robin Williams was working on Aladdin as the voice of the genie. They knew each other well and Robin knew how hard it was working on Schindler’s list for Spielberg, who was Jewish and whose father had lost 20 relatives in the holocaust. For Spielberg the spiritual weight, the heaviness of it, was grueling.
Robin Williams decided to do the most Robin Williams thing ever. He started calling Spielberg every week and would deliver his trademark manic rapid fire humor. He would go on for 15 minutes until Spielberg was in stitches, and then when he was laughing loud enough, Williams would abruptly hang up. And then he would do it again the next week.
C.S. Lewis said that “Joy is the serious business of heaven”. I think that St. Clive would be cheering St. Robin on.
Williams captured a bit of what it means to be Episcopalian in a comedic bit that Episcopalians everywhere laugh at, but also are amazed at how it captures us: the Ten Best Things About Being Episcopalian.
The 10 Best Things About Being Episcopalian
- No snake handling
- You can believe in dinosaurs
- Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them
- You don’t have to check your brains at the door
- Pew aerobics
- Church year is color-coded
- Free wine on Sunday
- All of the pageantry – none of the guilt
- You don’t have to know how to swim to get baptized
- No matter what you believe, there’s bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you
