So many things going on...
The anniversary of the shuttle Challenger's explosion came and went last week. As someone who grew up during the true heyday of the space program it was a terrible event. I worked at a radio station and my desk was in the news room with most of the other announcers. They had the launch on the small TV that sat over the news desks and I was watching the vehicle climb. To this day I remember the last command given before the explosion "Go throttle up". I listen for it each time I watch a shuttle go up over the last 20 years. It didn't take an expert to see that something catastrophic had just taken place and I know that I cried out. The scene is still vivid in my mind. I try to remember to pray for all those who go where I would still dearly love to go. Into space.
My life as a bachelor continues. With my lady wife in the hospital following hip surgery (which went very well) and my daughter on a mission trip it's me and the two cats for just over a week. It's a great reminder of how much the rest of my family does around the house now that it all falls on me. I'm happy to report that I and the cats are surviving quite nicely thank you. Check back with me in a few days!
I know there were several other things I meant to share but they're eluding me at the moment. I did see a bumpersticker that made me both very angry and very sad simultaneously. I'll write about that soon.
Peace
Monday, January 30, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
A moment to breathe
I've just about run myself off my feet. So let me catch up.
First for Bill Johnson out at the Rocky Mountain News - How's Pittsburgh looking right now? It's a beautiful city this time of year.
Yeah, that was rubbing it in.
In the last week my wife has gone in for hip surgery (long story, short version is that this is a good thing) and my daughter has gone on a mission trip to Honduras. So it's me and the cats for about a week. We'll see how that goes.
Finally I continue to struggle with what this blog is supposed to be. I keep trying to seperate my private life and my faith life. Which I know is silly and just wrong. So I finally sat down and said "OK, let's stop worrying about what we're doing and figure out why"
And I think I have it. Deep in my heart of hearts I don't want people to think about me as a "minister" or "person of faith". Why? Because in my experience such people tend to be tight asses and boring and people who want to beat on you (one way or the other) with their faith. And I want no part of that image. That's exactly who I don't want to be.
Then it hit me - I am a minister and I am a person of faith and I DON'T whale on people with my faith and I don't think I'm a tight ass and I certainly try not to be boring and I hope that I've got some serious joy to share.
So that's what this is going to be about. Being me - a person of faith who's currently trying to minister to some of his fellow children of God who has the occasional drink and has been known to swear when appropriate (and yes there are perfectly appropriate times to cuss), who lives and loves and just generally enjoys the living daylights out of life as much as he can.
I'll keep talking about faith (although I will edit any sermons in the future. 15 minutes of talk is a LOT of print)and talking about the stuff that happens and what makes me craxy in this mized up world and what brings me joy.
And that other image can be sent straight to the shredder. Not wanted nor needed.
Peace
First for Bill Johnson out at the Rocky Mountain News - How's Pittsburgh looking right now? It's a beautiful city this time of year.
Yeah, that was rubbing it in.
In the last week my wife has gone in for hip surgery (long story, short version is that this is a good thing) and my daughter has gone on a mission trip to Honduras. So it's me and the cats for about a week. We'll see how that goes.
Finally I continue to struggle with what this blog is supposed to be. I keep trying to seperate my private life and my faith life. Which I know is silly and just wrong. So I finally sat down and said "OK, let's stop worrying about what we're doing and figure out why"
And I think I have it. Deep in my heart of hearts I don't want people to think about me as a "minister" or "person of faith". Why? Because in my experience such people tend to be tight asses and boring and people who want to beat on you (one way or the other) with their faith. And I want no part of that image. That's exactly who I don't want to be.
Then it hit me - I am a minister and I am a person of faith and I DON'T whale on people with my faith and I don't think I'm a tight ass and I certainly try not to be boring and I hope that I've got some serious joy to share.
So that's what this is going to be about. Being me - a person of faith who's currently trying to minister to some of his fellow children of God who has the occasional drink and has been known to swear when appropriate (and yes there are perfectly appropriate times to cuss), who lives and loves and just generally enjoys the living daylights out of life as much as he can.
I'll keep talking about faith (although I will edit any sermons in the future. 15 minutes of talk is a LOT of print)and talking about the stuff that happens and what makes me craxy in this mized up world and what brings me joy.
And that other image can be sent straight to the shredder. Not wanted nor needed.
Peace
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Choking Game
Okay I'm way behind on things I want to post but this is more important. If you work with youth and haven't heard about the "Choking Game" then you need to read THIS from Tom Reindl at the Faith through Jesus blog. This isn't a joke or some overblown piece of hype. It's something we need to know about and to be ready to deal with because it's 1: Very Dangerous and 2: Very Stupid.
I remember mostly girls doing this same kind of thing when I was in elementary and junior high school so it's not even new. But depriving your brain of oxygen, for ANY reason, is something that we need to stand up and fight.
Other stuff coming tomorrow, I promise.
Peace
I remember mostly girls doing this same kind of thing when I was in elementary and junior high school so it's not even new. But depriving your brain of oxygen, for ANY reason, is something that we need to stand up and fight.
Other stuff coming tomorrow, I promise.
Peace
Friday, January 20, 2006
We Three Kings
Sermon for 1 Epiphany
I talked about the three kings that morning. This is an edit of the whole sermon
Now at this time of year when we speak of gifts our thoughts tend to leap to brightly wrapped packages under the tree but those are not the gifts that have been foremost in my mind. It is the gifts that all of us have both individually and collectively and how we deal with those gifts. The Magi present an interesting example of what to do with gifts.
It is the giving of our gifts that has been central in my thinking recently. Over the next year you're going to hear a lot of discussion about community in our diocese. Community is the at the center of the sharing of gifts. It is in community that we bring together whatever we have and offer it for the common good. Gifts are large and small and the only time that gifts do not work to the good of all is when we refuse to share them. And there's the hard part – sharing. Watch any group of two year olds together and you will see the perfect example of how not to share.
As I look at the place of young people in the Body of Christ the problem I see most often has to do with the sharing of gifts. Or rather the TROUBLE with the sharing of gifts. It is a problem on both sides of the equation too, both young people and adults. How often do things NOT happen because either the young people or the adults aren't willing to give up their time, their effort, their talents to make something work. Like the Magi we need to bring our gifts, lay them down and walk away. And in doing so we will discover that we walk away richer than when we began. As a community of faith we will make not only our lives but the lives of those around us richer as well.
So what gifts do we have to offer our young people and what gifts do they have to offer us? As the older brothers and sisters in Christ we carry with us tradition and inherited wisdom from those who have gone before us. This does not make us wise necessarily but rather makes us bearers of wisdom. That wisdom is not ours in any way shape or form. Rather it is gift that we have been given responsibility. Central to that responsibility is the requirement, not the option I believe, but the REQUIREMENT to pass it along, to share it, to teach it, to live it. If that wisdom is not freely and easily accessible to our younger brothers and sisters then of what use is it to them? In fact why should they even believe that such wisdom exists? Wisdom is a road map that says this way was tried before and this is what happened and this is why. So maybe you want to try a different way or at least try a different approach. It is also a tool that grows and remains sharp only when it is used.
I also mentioned tradition. I should note that mentioning church tradition to most teen agers will get you rolled eyes and an agonized moan. The reason for this is that too often they see tradition as manacles designed to stop them from doing things rather than tools that can make their journey easier. My contention is that sharing tradition means that we understand that tradition is a way of joining a community, a community not only of those folks we see here at St. Philip's on Sundays in the 21st century but also with the people who have worshiped in this community going back to its founding. And that our traditions make us members of a community that dates back through the history of our country, leaps back across the ocean to England and from that island to the earliest Christian communities in the Holy Land.
Here's one of my favorite traditions, the Book of Common Prayer. It is a rich resource for any person's life in faith but I think it is an especially valuable tool for a young person just beginning their walk with God. I will admit that upon occasion, when the sermon has not deeply touched me, I will explore the Book of Common Prayer in my pew. I have always felt that clergy would prefer that to me nodding off and snoring. What a wondrous book this is and yet one that many of us spend all too little time with most days. If you are a young person beginning a life in faith it can be hard sometimes to figure out what you're supposed to do or say. Young people tell me all the time that they don't know what to say when they pray. I tell them not worry, just look it up. (This book is filled with prayers for every occasion plus guidelines for history and even daily study of the Bible) I did a quick scan and found prayers for the Use of Leisure Time, for an election, for families and another for our enemies, plus one specifically for young people and even one on the proper use of God's gifts. Next time a young person needs to say grace remind them that there are no less than FOUR in the prayer book.
There are also traditions of love and support and healing and understanding that can give our young people the strength to carry on in a difficult world.
We must also remember that community is a two way street. What then are the gifts that our young people bring to us? As a group what gifts can they offer their community of faith?
I believe that the most important one is making us uncomfortable. The natural questions of someone who is exploring the world are exactly what we need to keep us thinking. It is far too easy to become comfortable, to simply walk our way through without pause or consideration. And because young people are not expected to know everything they can ask questions that maybe many of the adults would like to ask but are too embarrassed to admit they don't know the answer. Their questions become a gift when we allow ourselves to be drawn back into the process of discovery. Often we will find that in doing so we too discover something that we had forgotten or had never seen before. The questions continue the growth of the wisdom that our young people will then care for, preparing to pass it along to the generations that follow them.
Another of the gifts they bring to us is impatience. An impatience with waiting, an impatience with things that don't make sense. Because that impatience forces us to reassess what we're doing and how we do it. It forces us to decide what's important and what isn't. Their foot tapping, eye rolling, big sighs "Will you please get on with it" impatience makes us trim the dead wood away from our life in community. It's easy to live with somethings that really don't work any more simply because we're comfortable with them. Our young people will look at those parts of our life together insist that something needs to be done about them. When we find ourselves fighting to preserve every last button and dust mote we need to remind ourselves that while lighting the house with candles was certainly good enough for Jesus we really do have better ways of doing that today. Everything that we hold as traditions today was once a new and exciting change. Another historical aside – when the Book of Common Prayer was first created in England it was greeted with riots in some churches.
When we add in all the individual gifts that we each bring, be it music or cleaning or organization or preaching or teaching we find that we can live in a community of faith that is so rich and diverse that we may be dazzled by the possibilities Any humble home may become the center of great richness and joy.
Unlike the Magi we will not have to travel for years to find our goal, we will not have to inquire if we've found the right house.
Here is the house that you seek. You are the Magi the wise men and wise women, the wise young people and wise children bearing with you a multitude of gifts unimagined by those Magi two thousand years ago. Gifts still offered to the King of Kings. Not on one day only but now and forever.
Amen.
I talked about the three kings that morning. This is an edit of the whole sermon
Now at this time of year when we speak of gifts our thoughts tend to leap to brightly wrapped packages under the tree but those are not the gifts that have been foremost in my mind. It is the gifts that all of us have both individually and collectively and how we deal with those gifts. The Magi present an interesting example of what to do with gifts.
It is the giving of our gifts that has been central in my thinking recently. Over the next year you're going to hear a lot of discussion about community in our diocese. Community is the at the center of the sharing of gifts. It is in community that we bring together whatever we have and offer it for the common good. Gifts are large and small and the only time that gifts do not work to the good of all is when we refuse to share them. And there's the hard part – sharing. Watch any group of two year olds together and you will see the perfect example of how not to share.
As I look at the place of young people in the Body of Christ the problem I see most often has to do with the sharing of gifts. Or rather the TROUBLE with the sharing of gifts. It is a problem on both sides of the equation too, both young people and adults. How often do things NOT happen because either the young people or the adults aren't willing to give up their time, their effort, their talents to make something work. Like the Magi we need to bring our gifts, lay them down and walk away. And in doing so we will discover that we walk away richer than when we began. As a community of faith we will make not only our lives but the lives of those around us richer as well.
So what gifts do we have to offer our young people and what gifts do they have to offer us? As the older brothers and sisters in Christ we carry with us tradition and inherited wisdom from those who have gone before us. This does not make us wise necessarily but rather makes us bearers of wisdom. That wisdom is not ours in any way shape or form. Rather it is gift that we have been given responsibility. Central to that responsibility is the requirement, not the option I believe, but the REQUIREMENT to pass it along, to share it, to teach it, to live it. If that wisdom is not freely and easily accessible to our younger brothers and sisters then of what use is it to them? In fact why should they even believe that such wisdom exists? Wisdom is a road map that says this way was tried before and this is what happened and this is why. So maybe you want to try a different way or at least try a different approach. It is also a tool that grows and remains sharp only when it is used.
I also mentioned tradition. I should note that mentioning church tradition to most teen agers will get you rolled eyes and an agonized moan. The reason for this is that too often they see tradition as manacles designed to stop them from doing things rather than tools that can make their journey easier. My contention is that sharing tradition means that we understand that tradition is a way of joining a community, a community not only of those folks we see here at St. Philip's on Sundays in the 21st century but also with the people who have worshiped in this community going back to its founding. And that our traditions make us members of a community that dates back through the history of our country, leaps back across the ocean to England and from that island to the earliest Christian communities in the Holy Land.
Here's one of my favorite traditions, the Book of Common Prayer. It is a rich resource for any person's life in faith but I think it is an especially valuable tool for a young person just beginning their walk with God. I will admit that upon occasion, when the sermon has not deeply touched me, I will explore the Book of Common Prayer in my pew. I have always felt that clergy would prefer that to me nodding off and snoring. What a wondrous book this is and yet one that many of us spend all too little time with most days. If you are a young person beginning a life in faith it can be hard sometimes to figure out what you're supposed to do or say. Young people tell me all the time that they don't know what to say when they pray. I tell them not worry, just look it up. (This book is filled with prayers for every occasion plus guidelines for history and even daily study of the Bible) I did a quick scan and found prayers for the Use of Leisure Time, for an election, for families and another for our enemies, plus one specifically for young people and even one on the proper use of God's gifts. Next time a young person needs to say grace remind them that there are no less than FOUR in the prayer book.
There are also traditions of love and support and healing and understanding that can give our young people the strength to carry on in a difficult world.
We must also remember that community is a two way street. What then are the gifts that our young people bring to us? As a group what gifts can they offer their community of faith?
I believe that the most important one is making us uncomfortable. The natural questions of someone who is exploring the world are exactly what we need to keep us thinking. It is far too easy to become comfortable, to simply walk our way through without pause or consideration. And because young people are not expected to know everything they can ask questions that maybe many of the adults would like to ask but are too embarrassed to admit they don't know the answer. Their questions become a gift when we allow ourselves to be drawn back into the process of discovery. Often we will find that in doing so we too discover something that we had forgotten or had never seen before. The questions continue the growth of the wisdom that our young people will then care for, preparing to pass it along to the generations that follow them.
Another of the gifts they bring to us is impatience. An impatience with waiting, an impatience with things that don't make sense. Because that impatience forces us to reassess what we're doing and how we do it. It forces us to decide what's important and what isn't. Their foot tapping, eye rolling, big sighs "Will you please get on with it" impatience makes us trim the dead wood away from our life in community. It's easy to live with somethings that really don't work any more simply because we're comfortable with them. Our young people will look at those parts of our life together insist that something needs to be done about them. When we find ourselves fighting to preserve every last button and dust mote we need to remind ourselves that while lighting the house with candles was certainly good enough for Jesus we really do have better ways of doing that today. Everything that we hold as traditions today was once a new and exciting change. Another historical aside – when the Book of Common Prayer was first created in England it was greeted with riots in some churches.
When we add in all the individual gifts that we each bring, be it music or cleaning or organization or preaching or teaching we find that we can live in a community of faith that is so rich and diverse that we may be dazzled by the possibilities Any humble home may become the center of great richness and joy.
Unlike the Magi we will not have to travel for years to find our goal, we will not have to inquire if we've found the right house.
Here is the house that you seek. You are the Magi the wise men and wise women, the wise young people and wise children bearing with you a multitude of gifts unimagined by those Magi two thousand years ago. Gifts still offered to the King of Kings. Not on one day only but now and forever.
Amen.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Some things require a response
In the past I have mentioned how impressed I've been with the people in the state of Colorado. In fact with the exception of my personal jinx at Denver's airport I've never had a bad thing to say about anyone or anything in that state.
That may have to change.
Bill Johnson is a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News. In a current column in preparation for the upcoming Steelers Broncos playoff game apparently he visited the 'Burgh (link to the column in the title). I say apparently because he refers to Pittsburgh (my home town) as "...one butt ugly town".
Apparently he was taken aback by the vociferous nature of Steelers fans. If you've never been around some of my homeboys it can be a little surprising. Pittsburgh is a FOOTBALL town. The Pirates? Nice. The Penguins? OK. Basketball? Well them Panthers seem to be playin some good ball. But Steeler football? You better step back and make a little room because there WILL be a demonstration. I can understand him being put off if he wasn't prepared.
I'm a little puzzled as to where he was staying since he says he was "...across the Ohio" from downtown. The Ohio flows straight away from downtown (or dahntahn as it's pronounced in my home country). If you're across a river it's either the Allegheny or the Mon.
But that to one side. "Butt Ugly"? I'm afraid I may have to set aside my preference for non-violent confrontation and ask Mr. Johnson to step outside. Quite simply Pittsburgh has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. Several travel magazines over the last decade have agreed. Want the best view? At night, either on Mt. Washington (that would be across the Monongahela River from downtown Bill) or as you come through the Liberty Tunnels (or Tubes) from the south side of town. Check these out:
or this:
Butt ugly? I see from his pic that Bill wears glasses (as do I). Time to either clean 'em or get them checked Billy boy.
The game this weekend should be a barn burner. Two great running teams with two great defenses. As a member of Steeler Nation I hope and believe that the Black and Gold will prevail.
And the next time Bill Johnson rolls into town I'll personally give him the grand tour and buy him a meal at Primanti's.
But only if he promises to get his eyes checked.
Peace
That may have to change.
Bill Johnson is a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News. In a current column in preparation for the upcoming Steelers Broncos playoff game apparently he visited the 'Burgh (link to the column in the title). I say apparently because he refers to Pittsburgh (my home town) as "...one butt ugly town".
Apparently he was taken aback by the vociferous nature of Steelers fans. If you've never been around some of my homeboys it can be a little surprising. Pittsburgh is a FOOTBALL town. The Pirates? Nice. The Penguins? OK. Basketball? Well them Panthers seem to be playin some good ball. But Steeler football? You better step back and make a little room because there WILL be a demonstration. I can understand him being put off if he wasn't prepared.
I'm a little puzzled as to where he was staying since he says he was "...across the Ohio" from downtown. The Ohio flows straight away from downtown (or dahntahn as it's pronounced in my home country). If you're across a river it's either the Allegheny or the Mon.
But that to one side. "Butt Ugly"? I'm afraid I may have to set aside my preference for non-violent confrontation and ask Mr. Johnson to step outside. Quite simply Pittsburgh has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. Several travel magazines over the last decade have agreed. Want the best view? At night, either on Mt. Washington (that would be across the Monongahela River from downtown Bill) or as you come through the Liberty Tunnels (or Tubes) from the south side of town. Check these out:
or this:
Butt ugly? I see from his pic that Bill wears glasses (as do I). Time to either clean 'em or get them checked Billy boy.
The game this weekend should be a barn burner. Two great running teams with two great defenses. As a member of Steeler Nation I hope and believe that the Black and Gold will prevail.
And the next time Bill Johnson rolls into town I'll personally give him the grand tour and buy him a meal at Primanti's.
But only if he promises to get his eyes checked.
Peace
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
You have WHAT kind of homework?
Saw this over on Marko's blog ysmarko and just about fell out of my chair! At what point did the teacher's brain stop working?
Porn homework
Peace
Porn homework
Peace
Whew! That's a relief!
A liberal but not a heretic..hmmm........
Peace
You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451.
Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com |
Peace
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Welcome from Indy!
I'm in Indianapolis for the weekend. What a time for a native Pittsburgh boy to visit this fair city! The Colts are here tonight at the same hotel as me too! I have a Steelers sweatshirt that I'm probably going to wear tomorrow. The Patriots just lost as I type this.
I'm at a national Christian Ed conference in my denomination, nice folks but about as boring as it sounds.
Peace
I'm at a national Christian Ed conference in my denomination, nice folks but about as boring as it sounds.
Peace
Monday, January 09, 2006
A neat moment
I've suddenly got lots of ideas for blog entries! But I wanted to share this real life moment with you all.
I have a former youth, now a young adult who works at a business locally that I frequent. It's allowed me to stay in touch with him (unlike most of his contemporaries) The years since he left youth group have been tough. He's had several bad relationships, one of which ended up in a beautiful little girl. The mom has sometimes made his life pretty difficult. I've heard stories that this young man has had some problems with drugs as well. His financial situation has been up and down needless to say. Through it all I've just tried to stay in touch, say hello, ask about his daughter, whatever. He's been in my heart a lot over the years, hoping that this kid (I once gave him a letter of recommendation that said if my own daughter ever brought home a young man like him I'd be quite proud. I've never felt the inclination to change that assessment even when I knew he was in some very bad places)
Well I saw him again the other day. He told me about the new house he'd just bought, the better relationship he was in, how well his daughter was doing and the decision he'd made to get the "bad people" out of his life and focus on "the good people". I felt like cheering.
I didn't have anything to do with the immediate changes in his life. I can only hope that something I helped plant years ago helped him hang on and got him headed in the right direction.
I thank God for watching over this young man and will tap me on the shoulder if the time comes when I can help him again.
Peace
I have a former youth, now a young adult who works at a business locally that I frequent. It's allowed me to stay in touch with him (unlike most of his contemporaries) The years since he left youth group have been tough. He's had several bad relationships, one of which ended up in a beautiful little girl. The mom has sometimes made his life pretty difficult. I've heard stories that this young man has had some problems with drugs as well. His financial situation has been up and down needless to say. Through it all I've just tried to stay in touch, say hello, ask about his daughter, whatever. He's been in my heart a lot over the years, hoping that this kid (I once gave him a letter of recommendation that said if my own daughter ever brought home a young man like him I'd be quite proud. I've never felt the inclination to change that assessment even when I knew he was in some very bad places)
Well I saw him again the other day. He told me about the new house he'd just bought, the better relationship he was in, how well his daughter was doing and the decision he'd made to get the "bad people" out of his life and focus on "the good people". I felt like cheering.
I didn't have anything to do with the immediate changes in his life. I can only hope that something I helped plant years ago helped him hang on and got him headed in the right direction.
I thank God for watching over this young man and will tap me on the shoulder if the time comes when I can help him again.
Peace
Thursday, January 05, 2006
He's got a screw loose
The story link is in the title above.
Pat Robertson believes that God has been bumping off Israeli Prime Ministers. Yep, Ariel Sharon's stroke was a divine intervention.
My question? Too many to go into but the primary one is why do we pay any attention to Pat anymore?
Peace
Pat Robertson believes that God has been bumping off Israeli Prime Ministers. Yep, Ariel Sharon's stroke was a divine intervention.
My question? Too many to go into but the primary one is why do we pay any attention to Pat anymore?
Peace
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Italian Court to determine if Jesus Existed!
Hokey Smokes Batman!
This is a for serious case between two Italian guys. The court has tried to make it go away but failed. Click on the title for the story.
I can hardly wait to see what they decide!
Peace
This is a for serious case between two Italian guys. The court has tried to make it go away but failed. Click on the title for the story.
I can hardly wait to see what they decide!
Peace
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
365+ to be an Episcopalian
The link to this site is in the title above, just click and go. It's an ongoing project involving Anglicans from all over the globe.
I love my tradition. Boy did I have to think about the wording of that sentence! There's plenty I don't love about my denomination, locally, nationally and worldwide. But I can't imagine being anything OTHER than a 'Piskie. The combination of protestant and catholic, the big tent on worship and belief.
Just thought I'd share. Not everyone will agree with every idea about being an Anglican. But that's a part of being an Anglican too.
Peace
I love my tradition. Boy did I have to think about the wording of that sentence! There's plenty I don't love about my denomination, locally, nationally and worldwide. But I can't imagine being anything OTHER than a 'Piskie. The combination of protestant and catholic, the big tent on worship and belief.
Just thought I'd share. Not everyone will agree with every idea about being an Anglican. But that's a part of being an Anglican too.
Peace
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Something for the end of the year
Always a good time to re-evaluate who you are and what you're doing. Guess I'm doing Ok but a little exercise and plate discipline would probably help.
Peace and Happy New Year
| This Is My Life, Rated | |
| Life: |  6.9 |
| Mind: |  6.3 |
| Body: |  5.3 |
| Spirit: | 7.2 |
| Friends/Family: | 7.2 |
| Love: | 7.3 |
| Finance: |  7.6 |
| Take the Rate My Life Quiz | |
Peace and Happy New Year
Monday, December 19, 2005
A Christmas thought
I take a moment to rise to the defense of a beloved part of my personal Christmas celebration. It has nothing to do with God and my spiritual life except that it brings me joy and it is a shared work within my family that draws us together at the holidays.
It's also one of the most universally derided parts of the season.
Yes, it's fruitcake.
Let me state from the outset that what most of you know as fruitcake, a sugar encrusted lump with a density just slightly less than lead is an abomination before the Lord. Do not send these things to one another, do not accept them from others. I refuse to even sniff such offerings.
Fruitcake in my family is home made. The cake exists only to the extent that it holds the fruit together. The fruit (this is the ONLY time that pineapple enters my mouth) is soaked in brandy then baked for hours in a batter of flour and spices. The result is a heavy cake (there's about 4 pounds of ingredients in our recipe) that is just brimming with flavors. The cake is then wrapped in cheese cloth and aged for about a month (I'm behind schedule this year so we're going to see if vacuum packing pulls more flavors out) occasionally sprinkled with more brandy. Then it is sliced and savored.
My brothers and I love it. Our wives and children haven't come around on it yet. That's fine, there's more for us!
When my mom passed away in October I realized that our loss could be compounded since she had taken on the fruitcake baking duties for the last several years. Please don't think that I'm saying the lack of fruitcake is somehow equal to losing Mom, it's not. But the first Christmas without Mom will be hard enough. I think it's vital that we maintain our traditions, the traditions that we were taught by our parents. In doing so they will continue to be with us. So over the weekend I broke out the monstrous mixing bowl she used and peered at the stained, hand written recipe.
The fruitcake's done now and beginning it's aging process. My mom and dad will be remembered in part this Christmas as I slice off that first piece of fruitcake.
So you can just take your fruitcake trash talk somewhere else. That don't play at my house.
In case I don't get a chance to blog again this week. A Merry Christmas to you all. Remember what the holiday is really about - God caring enough for his creation to become part of it. To walk with us, laugh with us, cry with us. And maybe even enjoy a bit of fruitcake.
Peace
It's also one of the most universally derided parts of the season.
Yes, it's fruitcake.
Let me state from the outset that what most of you know as fruitcake, a sugar encrusted lump with a density just slightly less than lead is an abomination before the Lord. Do not send these things to one another, do not accept them from others. I refuse to even sniff such offerings.
Fruitcake in my family is home made. The cake exists only to the extent that it holds the fruit together. The fruit (this is the ONLY time that pineapple enters my mouth) is soaked in brandy then baked for hours in a batter of flour and spices. The result is a heavy cake (there's about 4 pounds of ingredients in our recipe) that is just brimming with flavors. The cake is then wrapped in cheese cloth and aged for about a month (I'm behind schedule this year so we're going to see if vacuum packing pulls more flavors out) occasionally sprinkled with more brandy. Then it is sliced and savored.
My brothers and I love it. Our wives and children haven't come around on it yet. That's fine, there's more for us!
When my mom passed away in October I realized that our loss could be compounded since she had taken on the fruitcake baking duties for the last several years. Please don't think that I'm saying the lack of fruitcake is somehow equal to losing Mom, it's not. But the first Christmas without Mom will be hard enough. I think it's vital that we maintain our traditions, the traditions that we were taught by our parents. In doing so they will continue to be with us. So over the weekend I broke out the monstrous mixing bowl she used and peered at the stained, hand written recipe.
The fruitcake's done now and beginning it's aging process. My mom and dad will be remembered in part this Christmas as I slice off that first piece of fruitcake.
So you can just take your fruitcake trash talk somewhere else. That don't play at my house.
In case I don't get a chance to blog again this week. A Merry Christmas to you all. Remember what the holiday is really about - God caring enough for his creation to become part of it. To walk with us, laugh with us, cry with us. And maybe even enjoy a bit of fruitcake.
Peace
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
My perpetual dance
A couple days ago I offered "A Few Thoughts at Advent". In that post I took to task several mega-churches who have chosen not to have a Christmas morning service. I mounted that high horse of mine again (will no one relieve me of this cursed horse?)and made some slighting comments about congregations who would choose to do such a thing.
I need to step back from some of that today. This seems to be the dance that I am perpetually involved in. Two sharp steps forward, one slow step back. I can only hope that in the end I will be found to have progressed through the steps.
First to acknowledge some personal biases. I'm not a big fan of mega-churches nor of the kind of worship commonly (though not always) found there. Having been raised an Episcopalian I like worship in groups up to a couple hundred, I like vested choirs and much (though not all) of the music of our Hymnal, I love the liturgy of our Book of Common Prayer. Contemporary Christian music is fun but it does not inspire in me a feeling of communing with the divine. My lady wife on the other hand loves it. With that in the background I tend to look a little askance at much of what goes on at places like Willow Creek. That is my failing not theirs and I need to own up to that.
After reading through a discussion on the subject elsewhere I find myself uncomfortable with my previous position. First because I think the attitude ill befits a Christian and second because it makes me a bit of a hypocrite. While I must say that personally I find the idea of "closing" church on Christmas morning inexplicable it doesn't give me the right to look down my nose at my brothers and sisters who have chosen to do so. As pointed out there is a significant body of history of the church that even supports such a decision. Christmas has not been universally celebrated throughout our history. Who am I to say "That's wrong", especially when I am known to resent the hell out of other Christians doing the same thing to me about MY piety? While I can't imagine it I change my stance to:
May God bless them in what they do that day, and
May God open my heart to greater compassion.
And the dance goes on.
Peace
I need to step back from some of that today. This seems to be the dance that I am perpetually involved in. Two sharp steps forward, one slow step back. I can only hope that in the end I will be found to have progressed through the steps.
First to acknowledge some personal biases. I'm not a big fan of mega-churches nor of the kind of worship commonly (though not always) found there. Having been raised an Episcopalian I like worship in groups up to a couple hundred, I like vested choirs and much (though not all) of the music of our Hymnal, I love the liturgy of our Book of Common Prayer. Contemporary Christian music is fun but it does not inspire in me a feeling of communing with the divine. My lady wife on the other hand loves it. With that in the background I tend to look a little askance at much of what goes on at places like Willow Creek. That is my failing not theirs and I need to own up to that.
After reading through a discussion on the subject elsewhere I find myself uncomfortable with my previous position. First because I think the attitude ill befits a Christian and second because it makes me a bit of a hypocrite. While I must say that personally I find the idea of "closing" church on Christmas morning inexplicable it doesn't give me the right to look down my nose at my brothers and sisters who have chosen to do so. As pointed out there is a significant body of history of the church that even supports such a decision. Christmas has not been universally celebrated throughout our history. Who am I to say "That's wrong", especially when I am known to resent the hell out of other Christians doing the same thing to me about MY piety? While I can't imagine it I change my stance to:
May God bless them in what they do that day, and
May God open my heart to greater compassion.
And the dance goes on.
Peace
Scariest test yet
This is the scariest of these online quizzes I've ever taken. Why? Because Math has been my bete noir since the fourth grade. I have deep seated resistance and fear issues when it comes to math. This is why I don't balance my own checkbook!
So this is entirely Len Evans fault (Len's blog Once I finished it and hit the button I wasn't sure if I wanted to know if I could pass 8th grade math. How embarassing would that be? Trusted with all these funds for youth ministry and can't do junior high math.
So here's the results:
Yeah baby! Na, na na na nah, na na na nana na nana nah! I dance the dance of joy! I am victorious! My life is justified (in a non-theological way of course!)
I have faced my fear and whupped it!
Yes.
peace
So this is entirely Len Evans fault (Len's blog Once I finished it and hit the button I wasn't sure if I wanted to know if I could pass 8th grade math. How embarassing would that be? Trusted with all these funds for youth ministry and can't do junior high math.
So here's the results:
| You Passed 8th Grade Math |
 Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct! |
Yeah baby! Na, na na na nah, na na na nana na nana nah! I dance the dance of joy! I am victorious! My life is justified (in a non-theological way of course!)
I have faced my fear and whupped it!
Yes.
peace
Monday, December 12, 2005
A few thoughts at Advent
Two big stories in the news the last week or so having to do with preparations for Christmas.
First you may have heard that there's a campaign to "force"stores that have dropped Merry Christmas/Christmas sale for Happy Holidays/Holiday sales to go back to using Christmas.
If you see or get a copy of such a petition do me a favor - delete it, destroy it, throw it away.
The underlying logic seems to be that we need and want Christmas to associated with sales and shopping and gifts.
Wrong.
In fact I would ask ALL the retailers - leave Christmas out of it. While you have every right to run big sales this time of year the close association between merchandising and Christmas is destroying our religious holiday. I want Christmas back. If you're not celebrating the birth of the savior of the world please find something else to celebrate. What the heck, it's already been created. Festivus! Festivus sales and parties and whatever. Then maybe we Christians can really start focusing on the Christ child again.
And in a related story...
We have the various mega churches around the country (mega-churches if you're not familiar with the term are humongous congregations with membership in the thousands. They do everything BIG! That works for some folks but I'm personally not a fan) Several of the better known ones have decided NOT to have a Christmas morning service (which would be Sunday morning) because Christmas is a "family day". Apparently going to church isn't something you do on a family day.
Am I missing something here?
My home congregation WILL have a service Christmas morning (one instead of the usual two, and there's a baptism scheduled!) I'll be honest with you normally I'd be 50/50 on going that morning. Mostly because we do a midnight service and I do a live "narration" of it on a local radio station(being doing it for almost 20 years now). So I won't get home till about 1 AM and technically I'll have been at church on Christmas morning. This year my wife and daughter have duties that morning, and the family will probably like to get a video tape of the baptism service (I and a couple youth take turns operating our video system). We talked about it as a family and have decided that we're just going to sleep in, go to church and open presents AFTER!
Kind of a family day set of activities. I think the churches in question out to be ashamed of themselves and reconsider.
Peace
First you may have heard that there's a campaign to "force"stores that have dropped Merry Christmas/Christmas sale for Happy Holidays/Holiday sales to go back to using Christmas.
If you see or get a copy of such a petition do me a favor - delete it, destroy it, throw it away.
The underlying logic seems to be that we need and want Christmas to associated with sales and shopping and gifts.
Wrong.
In fact I would ask ALL the retailers - leave Christmas out of it. While you have every right to run big sales this time of year the close association between merchandising and Christmas is destroying our religious holiday. I want Christmas back. If you're not celebrating the birth of the savior of the world please find something else to celebrate. What the heck, it's already been created. Festivus! Festivus sales and parties and whatever. Then maybe we Christians can really start focusing on the Christ child again.
And in a related story...
We have the various mega churches around the country (mega-churches if you're not familiar with the term are humongous congregations with membership in the thousands. They do everything BIG! That works for some folks but I'm personally not a fan) Several of the better known ones have decided NOT to have a Christmas morning service (which would be Sunday morning) because Christmas is a "family day". Apparently going to church isn't something you do on a family day.
Am I missing something here?
My home congregation WILL have a service Christmas morning (one instead of the usual two, and there's a baptism scheduled!) I'll be honest with you normally I'd be 50/50 on going that morning. Mostly because we do a midnight service and I do a live "narration" of it on a local radio station(being doing it for almost 20 years now). So I won't get home till about 1 AM and technically I'll have been at church on Christmas morning. This year my wife and daughter have duties that morning, and the family will probably like to get a video tape of the baptism service (I and a couple youth take turns operating our video system). We talked about it as a family and have decided that we're just going to sleep in, go to church and open presents AFTER!
Kind of a family day set of activities. I think the churches in question out to be ashamed of themselves and reconsider.
Peace
Friday, December 09, 2005
Just some filler
A silly spiritual test. Link is in the title above.
You are a Sage, characterized by a thinking or head spirituality. You value responsibility, logic, and order. Maybe that's why you were voted "Most Dependable" by your high school classmates. Structure and organization are important to you. What would the world be like without you? Chaos, that's what! Your favorite words include should, ought, and be prepared. What makes you feel warm and fuzzy? Like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof it's tradition! tradition! tradition!
Because you love words, written or spoken, you enjoy a good lecture, serious discussions, and theological reflection. Prayer for you usually is verbal. You thrive on activity and gatherings of people, such as study groups. Sages on retreat likely would fill every day with planned activities, leaving little time for silence or solitude.
We need Sages for your clear thinking and orderly ways. You pay attention to details that others overlook. Sages make contributions to education, publishing, and theology. You often are the ones who feel a duty to serve, give, care, and share with the rest of us.
On the other hand, sometimes you seem unfeeling, too intellectual, or dry. Can you say "dogmatic"? You may need to experience the freedom of breaking a rule or two every now and then. God's grace covers Sages too, you know!
I don't think most of this is particularly true but what can you say? It's just filling up space!
Peace
You are a Sage, characterized by a thinking or head spirituality. You value responsibility, logic, and order. Maybe that's why you were voted "Most Dependable" by your high school classmates. Structure and organization are important to you. What would the world be like without you? Chaos, that's what! Your favorite words include should, ought, and be prepared. What makes you feel warm and fuzzy? Like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof it's tradition! tradition! tradition!
Because you love words, written or spoken, you enjoy a good lecture, serious discussions, and theological reflection. Prayer for you usually is verbal. You thrive on activity and gatherings of people, such as study groups. Sages on retreat likely would fill every day with planned activities, leaving little time for silence or solitude.
We need Sages for your clear thinking and orderly ways. You pay attention to details that others overlook. Sages make contributions to education, publishing, and theology. You often are the ones who feel a duty to serve, give, care, and share with the rest of us.
On the other hand, sometimes you seem unfeeling, too intellectual, or dry. Can you say "dogmatic"? You may need to experience the freedom of breaking a rule or two every now and then. God's grace covers Sages too, you know!
I don't think most of this is particularly true but what can you say? It's just filling up space!
Peace
Monday, December 05, 2005
Go Navy!
I'm not a huge college sports fan. Basketball interests me very little (I wait till March Madness then root for all the little teams to pull upsets) and college football is much the same.
With one exception.
The Army Navy game. If it is at all possible I'm parked for that one. Sports the way it was meant to be played, for pride and honor. Disciplined athletes striving with one another for supremacy. I love it.
Plus I'm a Navy brat, sort of. My dad was on active duty on an aircraft carrier the day I was born. He was stationed in the Mediterranean so he was a long way away. (This is also why my family does not financially support the Red Cross, but that's another story). I didn't grow up with an active duty father, he went reserves by the time I was about 3 but I love the Navy and I have a big soft spot for the families back home.
Navy made it four years in a row. That means this years graduating class from West Point has NEVER been on a team that had beaten the Naval Academy. I've never been to Annapolis but I'd love to visit. My dad was an Officer's Candidate School graduate rather than a "ring knocker" (I know that's not necessarily a nice phrase but it's ingrained) but I still have the greatest respect for the Navy and Marine officers who come from the Academy.
Can hardly wait for next year.
2005 Navy 42 Army 23.
Go Navy! Beat Army!
Peace
With one exception.
The Army Navy game. If it is at all possible I'm parked for that one. Sports the way it was meant to be played, for pride and honor. Disciplined athletes striving with one another for supremacy. I love it.
Plus I'm a Navy brat, sort of. My dad was on active duty on an aircraft carrier the day I was born. He was stationed in the Mediterranean so he was a long way away. (This is also why my family does not financially support the Red Cross, but that's another story). I didn't grow up with an active duty father, he went reserves by the time I was about 3 but I love the Navy and I have a big soft spot for the families back home.
Navy made it four years in a row. That means this years graduating class from West Point has NEVER been on a team that had beaten the Naval Academy. I've never been to Annapolis but I'd love to visit. My dad was an Officer's Candidate School graduate rather than a "ring knocker" (I know that's not necessarily a nice phrase but it's ingrained) but I still have the greatest respect for the Navy and Marine officers who come from the Academy.
Can hardly wait for next year.
2005 Navy 42 Army 23.
Go Navy! Beat Army!
Peace
Monday, November 28, 2005
Not helping ourselves
I start today with a big sigh. One of those big deep "Oh Lord WHY do we keep doing this?" kind of a sigh.
It all begins with two brothers in Christ, Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.
(Right about now some of you are thinking "Oh boy, he's wading right into the quicksand on this one". Let me assure you that this isn't a diatribe against either of these two. That I don't agree on virtually anything with them probably isn't a terrible shock. But this isn't about any of those kinds of issues. Whether I agree with them or not they are brothers in Christ and that's where my problem is)
About a month ago I stumbled on Rush's show as I channel surfed the radio on a long drive. Normally I'd keep right on going but he was doing a rant about the court case concerning the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. What got under my skin was his repeated statements that atheist "hate God". It bothers me because that is absolutely NOT what the atheists I've known would say. A fair number of them hate the church and many of the members of the church (often with good reason). But they don't "hate" God. For them it would be like "hating" Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. You don't "hate" imaginary figures. And for them that's what God is, an historic figment of the popular imagination. One that they feel has been a stumbling block to humanity and civilization. While I certainly disagree with that assessment (the human institution known as the church has in its history been such a stumbling block but not God in my belief) it's dishonest to spin that into a hatred of God. Sadly it's a spin that I hear all too often.
Our other spotlight figure is the well known televangelist Pat Robertson. Pat has recently been quoted advocating the assassination of a foreign head of state and warning a town in Pennsylvania that God will abandon them because they voted out members of the school board with whom they disagreed. I hope I don't have to explain the ridiculousness of both those statements.
The part that bothers me most about them both is the damage done by such high profile Christians making such patently self serving statements to standing of the church within our society. And the even greater damage done to our ability to reach the unchurched when the rest of the Body doesn't call them on it. Allowing our faith to be represented as being intellectually dishonest, violent and power oriented makes the work harder. A fellow youth minister I know in passing recently asked his youth what the biggest stumbling block for them living as people of faith in their real lives was. The answer? Televangelists. I'd bet a large portion of ALL high profile Christians would probably also qualify. Allowing people of faith to be seen as buffoons, incapable of reasonable discourse or outright hypocrisy (which I believe the assassination statement to be for any Christian).
Do you believe that the words "under God" should stay in the Pledge? Good, go argue your case. But don't do it by mis-stating other people's beliefs in order to support your own. Think the President of Venezuela is a looney? Fine but don't claim that you find justification for killing a democratically elected head of state in the faith set forth by Jesus of Nazareth. And kindly don't use your pulpit as the stage for your opinion.
Either our faith is strong enough to endure on it's own merits, without subterfuge or disingenuous statements or it's not. And if it's not then the bright light of examination needs to be turned inward, not outward.
Peace
It all begins with two brothers in Christ, Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.
(Right about now some of you are thinking "Oh boy, he's wading right into the quicksand on this one". Let me assure you that this isn't a diatribe against either of these two. That I don't agree on virtually anything with them probably isn't a terrible shock. But this isn't about any of those kinds of issues. Whether I agree with them or not they are brothers in Christ and that's where my problem is)
About a month ago I stumbled on Rush's show as I channel surfed the radio on a long drive. Normally I'd keep right on going but he was doing a rant about the court case concerning the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. What got under my skin was his repeated statements that atheist "hate God". It bothers me because that is absolutely NOT what the atheists I've known would say. A fair number of them hate the church and many of the members of the church (often with good reason). But they don't "hate" God. For them it would be like "hating" Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. You don't "hate" imaginary figures. And for them that's what God is, an historic figment of the popular imagination. One that they feel has been a stumbling block to humanity and civilization. While I certainly disagree with that assessment (the human institution known as the church has in its history been such a stumbling block but not God in my belief) it's dishonest to spin that into a hatred of God. Sadly it's a spin that I hear all too often.
Our other spotlight figure is the well known televangelist Pat Robertson. Pat has recently been quoted advocating the assassination of a foreign head of state and warning a town in Pennsylvania that God will abandon them because they voted out members of the school board with whom they disagreed. I hope I don't have to explain the ridiculousness of both those statements.
The part that bothers me most about them both is the damage done by such high profile Christians making such patently self serving statements to standing of the church within our society. And the even greater damage done to our ability to reach the unchurched when the rest of the Body doesn't call them on it. Allowing our faith to be represented as being intellectually dishonest, violent and power oriented makes the work harder. A fellow youth minister I know in passing recently asked his youth what the biggest stumbling block for them living as people of faith in their real lives was. The answer? Televangelists. I'd bet a large portion of ALL high profile Christians would probably also qualify. Allowing people of faith to be seen as buffoons, incapable of reasonable discourse or outright hypocrisy (which I believe the assassination statement to be for any Christian).
Do you believe that the words "under God" should stay in the Pledge? Good, go argue your case. But don't do it by mis-stating other people's beliefs in order to support your own. Think the President of Venezuela is a looney? Fine but don't claim that you find justification for killing a democratically elected head of state in the faith set forth by Jesus of Nazareth. And kindly don't use your pulpit as the stage for your opinion.
Either our faith is strong enough to endure on it's own merits, without subterfuge or disingenuous statements or it's not. And if it's not then the bright light of examination needs to be turned inward, not outward.
Peace
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