Prayers of the People 9/23/12

We gather in prayer, offering our thanks to God whoe trnsforming love sets our herts on the pth to everlasting joy.

In thanksgiving for the peacemakers, especially Barack our President, who sow seeds of reconciliation throughout the world, and who waits with faithful patience for the harvest to appear.

We pray that we may embrace our children with God's unconditional love, and receive tfrom them the freshness of word and spirit that enlivens the community of faith.

That our seminaries may prosper as they begin a new year of forming priests, religious educators, missionaries, and evangelists.

That a spirit of simplicity may prevail throughout our culture, leading to changes in our use of financial resources, the purchase of goods and services, and a responsible use of natural resources.

That we may put aside actions that speak of evny and self ambition and embrace virtues that honor the presence of God in every person.

That the eternal Christ will welcome into the arms of his mercy all who have died unloved and un-mourned, without family and friends.

For this we pray.

Hear us, O Spirit of Truth.

Where Have I Been?

When you are working on the communication budget for the diocese and your blog is linked and you see that the last time I wrote was in June - where have I been?

Well, some of the time I have been ignoring my laptop at home.  I hate the keyboard and so I stopped writing.

I did not stop noticing phrases, or songs, or sermons, or people.  I wrote them down with the greatest intentions about being faithful.

However, I really hate that keyboard.

More times than not, I would have written a great deal, hit the enter key and my pinkie really hit the back arrow key. 

Argh! as Linus used to say.

Imagine my surprise as I was gripping that I could actually buy another key board and use it with my lap top.

What?

Where has my mind been not to have thought of that myself?

Well, it has been involved with my daughter living in New Jersey, and dating a wonderful young man by the name of Nick.  

I have been working with the Reach Academy for Girls plant expansion.

I have been working with Sts. Andrew and Matthew on welcoming some folks from The Cathedral Church of St. John.

I have been gardening, and more gardening.

I have been relaxing in the pool.

I have been reading.

I have attended the wedding of my dear friends Lloyd and DL.

I have been hanging around work a lot.

So no more excuses.  It is August.

I better find the time between visiting my daughter, the pool, the garden, work, Reach and work to communicate a little bit better.

I knew that

This morning was not what had been planned.  Get up somewhat early, clean the pool, go to church and then pick up Cynde's monitor at Best Buy.  However, last evening after the performance of Opus One Jazz ensemble benefit for Friendship House at Trinity Parish, my engine warning light came on.  Well that was what changed my plans for Sunday morning.

A little before 9 AM I packed up a book, iced coffee and headed to Pep Boys.  Optimistically I had dressed for church from the waist up and threw the skirt into my bag.  However, it took and hour and 15 minutes which meant I missed church.

Next stop, home to drop off the skirt, and head to the mall, to replace my wonderful Walking Store Sudan sandals.  Back home, cut the grass, sit in the pool and to inside.  Way too cool today for the pool.

Yankees started playing at 1:30 pm.  However, I am a fickled game watching.  I have to have something else to watch.  Today that was the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? (also written What tнē #$*! D̄ө ωΣ (k)πow!? and What the #$*! Do We Know!?) starring Marlee Maitlin.  A 2004 film that combines documentary-style interviews, computer-animated graphics, and a narrative that posits a spiritual connection between quantum physics and consciousness. The plot follows the story of a photographer as she encounters emotional and existential obstacles in her life and begins to consider the idea that individual and group consciousness can influence the material world. Her experiences are offered by the filmmakers to illustrate the movie's thesis about quantum physics and consciousness.

To say that this is weird is an understatement, except that there was a part that spoke about all the wonderful things that God puts before us that if we notice leads to a wonderful growing of our soul.

After watching the Yankees win, listen Philly they are doing the best to help you by beating the Nationals, I decided to go get something to eat.  Whatever place I picked would provide me with lunch tomorrow.

Met Eric, a 45 year-old with 5 girls.  He was waiting at the bar for their reservation and they were shopping until called.  What great conversation.  And, because I was talking I had lots of food left for tomorrow.  Sitting there sharing conversation and laughs I realized how blessed I am with the gift of gab.  I am so my mother's daughter and my grandmother's grand-daughter.  And, I smiled when I realized my daughter is the same.

Walking to the a car that makes me smile each time I look at it, holding an Olive Garden bag with the leftovers, in my new sandals and a pant suit that has not fit for two years, the blessings rippled over me.

So it was the blessings that had me handing over these leftovers to a homeless man at the light.  Why did this make me want to weep?  And why is this becoming habit with me.

A habit I was not aware of until tonight.

I did not know that.

Memorial Day 2012

At 7 AM on my way to Dunkin Donuts and then to Shop Rite, I was listening to NPR interview a mother from Cherry Hill, NJ about the loss of her eldest son, a 19 year-old Marine, in combat in Afganistan.

Crier that I am, by the end of the interview, I am sitting in my car sobbing for her and the rest of us as she recounts her story, his story.  I think about my Uncle John, an ex-Marine, and Andrea and their son Jeffrey, another Marine.

The next story was about President Obama laying a wreath at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to mark the 50th Anniversary of the United States entry in what we call the Vietnam War.  I was 11.  That war shaped who I am today as much as anything else. 

It has formed my aversion to combat as a solution, of political expediency, right or wrong, expediency that shifts over time.

That memory takes me to the Rev. James Lewis, another ex-Marine, who is never on the side of war.  A man who puts what he believes in out there for all to see, cheer or jeer.  And the wonderful woman, Judy, that is by his side always.

The year 2025 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

I think today, and am thankful for, all the men and women who have answered the call of their governments.  Thankful for those that have returned, and those that have not.

I am saddened to think and visualize all the Flander's Fields there are around the globe.

May we all be spurred to action to support those that return.

And, by the Mercy of God may those that have not rest in Peace.

Why I do and You should Work for the Episcopal Church

My friend recently returned from the B+E+S+T conference in upstate New York.  B+E+S+T stands for Bishop's Executive Secretaries Together and it is 25 Years Young this year.  She passed along to a few of us the homily that Bishop Wolfe, Vice-President of the House of Bishops, gave. 

After reading it, I decided that it was G+R+E+A+T and that the section of why someone should work for the Episcopal Church was so spot on that I am sharing it with you.

"Now let me begin by saying at the outset that there are many other wonderful traditions within
Christianity, and I’m well aware of the many imperfections that exist within our own branch of
the Christian church. I know not all of you here are members of the Episcopal Church, and the
Episcopal Church has richly benefited from a variety of people who come from different
religious traditions (and sometimes no religious tradition.). But a lot has been said and written in
recent years about our denomination, and I thought I might try to set the record straight.

• You should work for The Episcopal Church if you believe men and women are
fundamentally equal in the sight of God, and that women as well as men should be able to
serve in every office in the Church. In the Episcopal Church there are women who are
acolytes, women vestry members, women senior and junior wardens, women deacons,
woman priests, woman bishops and even a woman Presiding Bishop! I am a man who
believes this is not only a very good thing, but I believe it is a genuine glimpse into the
Kingdom of God, where men and women have equal access to the glory and the love of
God.

• You should work for The Episcopal Church if you believe age, race, sexual orientation or
disability shouldn’t keep anyone from having an equal place in the House of God. This
policy of inclusion has created tensions in our fellowship, and those tensions will not
evaporate any time soon, but I believe the positions we have taken in these matters will,with the benefit of history, make us look as though we were guided by the Holy Spirit in
our time.

• You should work for The Episcopal Church if you believe in the power of both the Word
of God preached and in the Presence of God as revealed through the sacraments. If you
find solace and strength in hearing God’s word preached with power and in receiving the
Body and Blood of Christ on a regular basis, you’ve come to the right place.

• You should work for The Episcopal Church if you believe that the glory of God can be
revealed through beautiful architecture, beautiful music, beautiful liturgy, beautiful art
and beautiful literature. Episcopalians believe God is fully revealed in the midst of such
beauty, and we seek to support and value the aesthetic in all of life.

• You should work for The Episcopal Church if you think churches should be built around
the worship of God and not around the charisma of any one clergy person. Robert
Schuller was an incredibly gifted orator, but his great Crystal Cathedral is now on its way
to becoming home to a Roman Catholic diocese looking for bargain real estate in
southern California. Our ecclesiology makes it difficult, though as we know all too well
not impossible, for charismatic clergy to lead parishes into unhealthy relationships with
them. In The Episcopal Church it is always God, and not the clergy, who remains the
center of our focus.

• You should work for the Episcopal Church if you believe frightening imperfect
Christians with the fiery flames of hell or with crushing, unrelenting guilt is not only
unbiblical, but unchristian. This is a church where the grace of God trumps the wrath of
God, and this is a church where God’s love has the power to redeem any and every one.
A God who can forgive your deepest and most haunting sins may be a God who is loving
and powerful enough to forgive mine. The Episcopal Church attempts to posit itself midway
between “an acrid orthodoxy and an arid liberalism,” and we try to maintain this “via
media,” this “middle road,” in almost everything we do."

Thanks be to God.

Amen and Amen.

Couldn't you have told me that before

Saturday, a beautiful morning as I head down to St. Paul's in Georgetown for the Celebration of New Ministry for the people of St. Paul's.  The Rev. Joe Rushton has joined them.  Wonderful service and I met Evan, Joe's dog, who truly has the run of the place all the time.

Connected with friends and family as I traveled.  I used to talk all the time with Amy, my friend who passed away in June 2008.

At the reception, I spoke with folks from Primeros Pasos and The Way Home.  Re-acquainted myself with friends I had not seen in a while.  And, I met one of the newest priests to the Diocese, Donna Jeanne, who started at St. Peter's in Smyrna.

Leaving St. Paul's the weather was still beautiful, the promised rain not arrived.  Fastening my seat belt I pulled away from the curb and instantly recognized the sound of a flat.  On the right front, the same right front I had hit the curb with when I arrived.  Argh.

That goodness for AAA.  I am well passed the age of feeling that I had to prove that I too could change my tire.  Nope,rather I put on the flashers, turned on the radio, rolled down the windows and waited. 

Thirty minutes later I was on the road with my donut on the front and a speed limit of 55 mph.  Yikes that hurts worse that traveling with a donut tire.

Though Georgetown is sizable, a Pep Boys is not around.  So on the way home I dropped into the Dover Pep Boys.  Not much to do in this all male habitation.  Wandered around, found a tweety-bird key chain, then went to the waiting room to read.  Not much there either.  Men's Health Magazine.  Great stuff.  Learned a lot about how men view women, etc.  However, in an article that talked about weight loss, one of the biggest mistakes a person can make is to announce to his friends and family that they are embarking on a new weight loss program.

Now they tell me. 

To do so fills someone with a sense of accomplishment towards weight loss when nothing has occurred.

So, the universe had to provide me with a flat tire so send me to Pep Boy's to read a Man's magazine to learn I had made a mistake.

What, couldn't there have been an easier way to learn this?

Color Coordinated Eating

Well I have kept my promise to keep moving.  Yesterday I worked outside on the front gardens for an hour until almost dark. 
Now that work has ended and I am waiting to attend a 7 PM service, I have switched clothes and will pull out the bands around 5:30.

And, I am eating by colors. Eat as many colors during the day as possible.  Therefore, having three bean salad with corn for dinner followed by fruit is a no brainer.  And, let's not forget pumpkin soup with brown rice from LeShio in the Fairfax Shopping Center.

Today, I brought Kale to work.  Judy, my co-worker, taught me how to cook it.  Three of us ate a bowl and it was good and easy.  However, it is a lot of fun slicing and dicing with someone else around.  So I have had green, red, brown (?peanut butter), brown (raisins), peach and I am well on my way.  This is how people should be taught to eat.  Notice no white anywhere.

I am still grappling with the question about buying a scale.  Taking measurements was no big deal.  However, the number at my feet still makes me cringe.

And, I have to admit I have discovered that biting into a Gala apple each day at 4:30 is a delight.  Whether stuck in traffic or at the desk, the sound of my the biting is wonderful.  So does my delight come from the taste moving towards my brain or the fact that it feels good to eat right?