Friday Five… What am I…

(courtesy of Reverendmother at the RevGalBlogPals)

1. Wearing: Sweatsuit, tshirt, slippers…I love Fridays at home. New haircut/colour. I love having a friend who does hair. New contacts!! I love not wearing glasses.

2. Pondering: what to write in the monthly pastor’s report. Sigh. Among other reports. Much rather be surfing the Net or blogging. Oh wait, I am blogging….

3. Reading: Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the US Military (Randy Shilts); The Rise of the Creative Class (Richard Florida); Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly: A Biblical Model of Leadership (Lewis Parks and Bruce Birch); I Say a Little Prayer (E. Lynn Harris), to name the ones on the top of the pile. Oh, and the latest New Yorker and Advocate magazines.

4. Dreaming: of a vacation…real time off, not a day here and there. I had hoped to take the first weekend in August off for a retreat or a visit to friends/family elsewhere, but we’ve got a wedding booked, and I really need the fee. So…maybe later in the month.

5. Eating: Um. Not my healthiest breakfast—a bagel and coffee this morning. Pot roast for dinner, though! Had great Chinese last night with friends—crispy ginger beef, eggplant in garlic sauce, and lemon chicken.

No Clever Title Today...

It's been a while and things haven't been good, which is why it's been a while...

The thing is that DP has gone back to her hometown. Economics here in River City were just too difficult for her to work regularly. And we’ve split up.

Why is that so hard to type? It’s been my reality for a few weeks now. Every time I say it or type it, though, it’s real again.

And I think that’s all I’m going to say.

Friday Five: JOY!

Well, an0ther one of “those” weeks…appointments most of every day, more paperwork than hours in the day, overheated discussions on an email group, an extra sermon to write (well, half, anyway), etc. I’m leading worship at Landlord Church this week—generally I can use the same sermon for both congregations, and I think that I can do that again. I’ll add a paragraph or have an alternate ending, perhaps—much as I did when I was serving two churches in the United Methodist Church. So a sermon and a half. At any rate, a busy tim!

The result is no postings this week!

To make up for it, here’s a Friday Five, courtesy of the RevGalBlogPals and Songbird.

Tell us about five people, places, or things that have brought surprising, healing joy into your life.

1. Meditation. I’ve begun taking that half hour I used to spend watching the morning TV news and meditating/praying instead. The increased focus and centered start to my day are giving me better momentum and a fresher start, instead of seeing all the bad news, or the irrelevant clips about fashion and home decorating. It’s been healing as I contemplated some issues that have come up in the congregation and others that have surfaced in my life—a clearer understanding of what they mean and what they really are.

2. A renewed friendship. Back at that denominational conference in November, I renewed a friendship that had, well, drooped, for lack of a better word—we just had not kept in touch. But working together at the conference, we remembered why we were friends in the first place, and what we liked so much about ach other. This person is one of the warmest, kindest, most generous individuals I know, and simply being in the same room with this person brings me joy. I’m looking forward to continuing the process at the conference this summer (unfortunately, we don’t live very close together).

3. Musical exploration. For a long time, I stayed with artists and music I knew, It was safe. Then—and I can’t even remember what sparked it—I began venturing into other kinds of music, other singers, composers, and genres—and guess what? I found I loved some of it—and it offered me a musical language for what I was feeling. Some of those artists, composers include John Rutter, kd lang, Faure, John Mark, Melissa Etheridge, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Marsha Stevens. Not everything that all of them have done, but enough to give me a sense of joy in the possibilities, a path to healing, and sometimes just a lot of fun.

4. The return of spring. This winter was emotionally difficult for me—I was very ready for spring. We’ve been teased here in River City with warm weather though most of March, then a bunch of cold weather and snow. It’s looking (see says cautiously) like we might actually have spring now. I need it badly this year—and I’m welcoming every crocus, daffodil, tulip and dandelion with joy!

5. A sense of the future. The congregation has a great deal to look forward to in the next weeks and months, as do I personally. It is energizing and exciting—not to mention healing after the difficult months just past.

Thanks for this one, Songbird—I needed to slow down and be grateful for the healing and joy!

Shoah Sermon draft...

(Thanks to my deacon for the graphic)

This is a rough draft of the sermon I will preach on Sunday, April 15, Yom Ha Shoah--the Holocaust Day of Remembrance. I have included the Scriptures I will be using. I will also have resource lists and some other materials available. For readers who are interested, I highly recommend Sanantha Powers "A Fine Hell," Richard Plant's "Men of the Pink Triangle," and Rosemary Radford Ruther's "Faith and Fratricide," as well as Carroll's "Constantine's Sword." Constructive comments welcomed!

Leviticus 19:13-19a

You shall not defraud your neighbour; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Holy One. You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbour. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbour: I am the Holy One. You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbour, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Holy One. You shall keep my statutes.

Psalm 77
One: I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that I may be heard.
Many: In the day of my trouble I seek the Holy One; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
One: I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints.
Many: You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.
One: I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit: "Will God spurn forever, and never again be favourable? Has God’s steadfast love ceased forever? Are God’s promises at an end for all time?
Many: Has God forgotten to be gracious? Or in anger shut up God’s compassion?"
One: And I say, "It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed."
Many: I will call to mind the deeds of our God; I will remember your wonders of old.
One: I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
Many: Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples. With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
One: When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled. he clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Gospel: Mark 2:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard Jesus and the Pharisees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, the scribe asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbour as oneself,'-- this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that the scribe answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the realm of God." After that no one dared to ask Jesus any question.

Today we’ve departed from the usual readings and celebrations of the church calendar to observe a day of remembering our lost, our murdered, our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered sisters and brothers in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, as well the other members of the various thnic and religious groups who killed. They weren’t killed in a simple hate crime or impulsive gay-bashing. They were systematically murdered by a national government, as part of a considered policy at the highest levels of that government. I’m referring, of course, to what is often called the Holocaust, or systematic murder, by the Nazi government of Germany during WWII of those they considered not worthy of living. A preferred term is “Shoah,” which means "catastrophic upheaval.” A holocaust is actually a sacrificial term, meaning a burnt offering. The murder of millions is not a sacrifice to the God I worship. The groups sent to the concentration camps included, but were not limited to, Jews—which was a racial category according to the Nazis, not religious—Roma, or gypsies; and Poles. These groups were considered inferior races and therefore not desired in the “new Germany.” Jehovah’s Witnesses and clergy, especially Roman Catholic clergy, were considered dangerous because they were thought to be more loyal to their church than to the German state—which in fact turned out to be true, as so many of them remained faithful to Christ and the reign of love, instead of the German government and their rule of hate. Also, Nazi philosophy was that Judaism was a “dirty” religion, and Christianity was no better because it came from Judaism. Jehovah’s Witnesses, besides being Christian, did not take oaths and cared little for secular politics, believing as they did in the imminent return of Christ. Another part of Nazi belief was that the powerful or “master races” should reproduce as much as possible. Thus heterosexuality was celebrated and homosexuality was brutally punished—for men. Lesbians were persecuted, but they could always be forced to have children, in the Nazi view. So all these groups—gay men, Jews, clergy, Roma, Poles, resistance fighters, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some lesbians—were arrested and taken to the concentration and extermination camps.

This is not a pretty subject. It’s not a happy thing to remember. But it’s a necessary thing to remember. The historian and writer George Santayana write that “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I don’t think historical events exactly repeat themselves, but I do believe that similar attitudes and beliefs arise time after time. The intolerance of women indicated by the witch hunts of the late Renaissance and the hatred of Jews and others by the Third Reich of Hitler are not, in the final analysis, so very different.

And, I think, we have to be aware and alert to signs of a resurgence of that same hatred and intolerance among us today. It doesn’t have to be religious—although the insistence on drawing rigid lines between what is acceptable and what is not is very strong among the religious not-so-right. But it can be political and cloaked in terms of protecting children or jobs or even the environment—but the fact is that someone is being pushed aside, made to be less than human or not matter.

In Jesus’ day, as well as the much earlier days when the book of Leviticus was compiled, given the social and political structure of society, it was the widows and orphans who were shoved aside and ignored, If you were not, or did not have, an adult male attached to you somehow (father, husband, brother, uncle) you did not matter, because only the adult males mattered in that society. If you weren’t an adult male—if you were a young boy, or an unmarried woman, for example—you were only seen as a person in connection with your father, your adult brother, your fiancé, and so on.

But God demands a greater justice. God insists on equality of treatment. Neither the poor nor the rich should get preferential treatment. Honesty, integrity and justice are to rule all that we do in our interactions with each other. Jesus says much the same thing when he tells the scribe that we are to love God with all our heart and soul and strength, and that we are to love our neighbours as we love ourselves—and moreover, that these two commandments are pretty much the same thing. If we love God, we love those around us. And that makes sense.

We are all made in the image of God. Every one of us carries a part of the image of God in us, and so then if we claim to love God, we must also love those around us, who show us God’s face. Not just the ones we like or who like us, but everyone. And that means we have to protect each other, too. Martin Niemoller, the German theologian, knew this well. There are several versions of what he said; one of the better known versions goes:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

We are all in this human predicament together; if we do not have the courage to speak up for our sisters and brothers, we are not loving them, we are not loving God.

Martin Luther King put it another way. He said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

We cannot ask what it will get us to take care of our neighbours—we are required to do so, by the God who made us all equal and in God’s image. There is no hierarchy of suffering. Someone once told me they thought that Jews made too much of the Holocaust and that blacks had suffered more under US slavery. This ranking of suffering is pointless, really—what about the Armenians slaughtered by the Turks in the days before World War I, or the millions killed by Pol Pot? Or the many different people colonized by Europeans? Or the systematic oppression of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people around the world? It’s especially bad in Jamaica right now, by the way—there’s a letter on the back table from our Moderator, Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson telling us about it. A group of mourners at a funeral were attacked because they were thought to be gay men and lesbians. And it goes sideways, too—even within the oppressed groups, there are ranks—lighter-skinned vs darker-skinned, male vs female, the various sub-groups shunned by other sub-groups… Where does it end?

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

As part of my seminary training, I traveled to Poland and visited many of the Shoah sites there—Auschwitz, the Warsaw Ghetto, Treblinka, and others. Many of the memorials and monuments say, “Never again.” Unfortunately, that vow has proved as evanescent as mist. We have only to read our newspapers or watch the news to know that genocide, even state=sponsored genocide, continues to this very day. It’s a laudable goal to stop genocide and oppression—but a very difficult goal to reach. As long as human beings try to define another group of human beings as “Other,” whether it’s based on their race, where they were born, the way they worship God, whether they love another gender or their own, whether they identify with the gender given to them at birth or not—anyone who is different from the group-defined norm is rejected. As long as human beings think this way, there will be hate crimes, there will be murder, there will be genocide.

But I believe that can change. Slowly, painfully, one person at a time. Probably not in my life time—but maybe by the time my son’s children grow up, we’ll be a few steps closer to that goal.

But only if we remember, and recognize the terrible results of not knowing, of not caring, of not loving one another enough to protect each other. To love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

If we remember, then we can work to keep the murder, the hate, from happening; we can work to eliminate it. We can love one another as we love God.

In the name of the Creator of the Universe, amen.

As a means of sermon procrastination as well as early Friday Fiving (bending the ol’ Space-time continuum again), I offer this personal Friday Five in honour of my birthday earlier this month.

Five things I am glad I did this year (since my last birthday):

1. Went on retreat. Quite possibly the best six days of the year. I have waxed over-lyrical about this in the past, so I’ll forgo that this time.

2. Attended local clergy gatherings. A group of my denomination’s clergy gathers for lunch once a month. We’re actually very fortunate to be able to do this, since there aren’t many locations that have as many of us as this area. And the local presbytery of the UC has graciously included me in their gatherings as well, as all of them are affirming and supportive (and working to move their congregations in that direction). The mutual support and laughter (I will not mention certain items I was told could not appear in the blog, even though it would be very funny…) and the sense that I am not alone after all make these gatherings an oasis in the month.

3. Attending denominational conference in the fall. I learned, I worshiped, I deepened newer friendships, and refreshed long-term ones, I worked my tail off…it was wonderful. Even if it looks like it’s going to have to come out of my own pocket after all, it was worth it.

4. Began focusing on my continuing education/professional reading/serious reading (call it what you will). I’ve read several of those “I’ve always meant to read that” books. I’ve loved some, hated others, argued with some, reread some, and in general had a rousing time.

5. Socializing more. I’ve been cultivating friendships outside the church, with folks who frankly have no intention of ever darkening the door of the church. And that’s OK. They are my friends, not potential members. And that’s the way I like them. This may be heretical, but I frankly don’t care if they come to church or not—that’s not why I hang out with them. I am not trying to convert them—I just like them and enjoy their conversation. I’m getting to know more and more people in the community, and I’m enjoying it. I don’t need to always be “the pastor” I scolded on of my friends the other night for introducing me as “Rev RP.” I told him, “Just RP.”

Five things I hope to do in the next year:

1. Move forward with my plan for a doctoral program. I’m still doing research…and thn I need to take the GREs…and put together some applications…

2. Go on another retreat. It may be in August, or possibly in October again. We’ll see.

3. Continue to expand and deepen my friendships. It’s so amazing to me when an acquaintance sparks and becomes something more—a friendship. I love it and I intend to nourish those friendships as especially precious.

4. Move more. I have days when the only movement I do is up and down the stair, from my desk to the kitchen to the living room and back gain. Maybe I take the dog outside, This is bad. I hope to walk, to garden, and just maybe hike. We’ll see about the last one.

5, Read even more. Hey, stop laughing! You know who you are…just stop it. I have so many books I am half-way through…I really want to get them finished.

And no, I’m not telling you which birthday it was. It wasn’t a “round” one, that’s all I’m saying.

Monday, Monday....

First of all, my apologies for the truly odd formatting on the Good Friday service; I did a cut-and-paste from Word, so I suspect some of that formatting snuck in and played with Blogger's brain...not that it takes much.

This is my day of a complete sabbath from church-related stuff, so don't expect much on the Holy Week that is just past.

What I'm thinking about:

• Decisions that made sense at the time don't always make sense later on, especially if thy were made in a time of tension and emotion. Case in point--some decisions I made during my divorce process that I now wish I had not made. My lawyer, to give him credit, really tried hard to talk me out of them, but failed. I screwed myself, folks. Don't do that to yourself. Listen to your lawyers...
• Been watching The L Word, first season. It's on at the same time as ER here, so I didn't watch it when it started, and then by the time ER went on break, I had no idea who any of the characters were on L Word, or the story lines, or anything. So I never got into it. It's now in it's 4th season (I think--and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...) But now I have been lent the entire first season on DVD, and watched the pilot and a few early episodes last week. Today I plan a popcorn and L Word binge.
• The joke here in River City yesterday was "We had a green Christmas, so it's only right we should have a white Easter!" Which we did.
• I'm about to embark on a series of mdical tests which I will not enlarge upon, in case anyone is snacking while reading blogs... but it involves three days of sampling at home... Anyway, I'm forbidden red meat while I'm doing this, and have to eat lots of greens and high fibre stuff. I am tired of Chicken Caesar salad!!! And oatmeal. And fish. And brown rice. Ugh. I'm craving some good Crispy Ginger Beef from my favourite Chinese restaurant, or maybe a splurgalicious Wendy's burger, or even just som bacon at the clergy breakfast next week!! Sigh.
• What a wonderful time I had with TO last weekend. We did see a terrible movie, but we had fun while doing so. He's gone through adolescence and is at the age where parents aren't quite fools anymore. A friend of mine, whose son went through a similar transformation a few years ago, said, "It's just not fair. Two years ago, I couldn't wait for my son to graduate and leave the house. Now that he is about to, I don't want him to anymore. I have my son back, just in time for him leave." Yep.

Off to enjoy a real day off!

Good Friday Worship

Good Friday Service

April 6, 2007

Stations of the Cross
Prayer and Reflection

Prelude

Welcome and Introduction

This is a modified version of the stations of the cross; so if you are familiar with the Stations of the Cross you will notice that some are missing. Each station has a short reading for quiet meditation. This is for you to read, ponder and consider. This is followed by a reflection; a telling of the last of day of Jesus’ earthly life through the eyes of a Roman soldier. The booklet is yours to take with you; may it guide your prayers and devotions over the next two days as we mourn the death of our Saviour. Let us pause to centre ourselves, to bring ourselves into this time and place, leaving aside our cares and concerns, and be truly present for this moment…..

Call to Worship

Today the carpenter’s hands are nailed to a cross, the king of kings is crowned with thorns and wears the purple robe of mockery. Today he sets us free, himself imprisoned on a tree. Today is God’s Friday. We come in worship.

Solo

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble...
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Station One Jesus is Condemned to Death

Silent Meditation
It is Friday—early in the morning. Jesus is brought from Caiaphas the High Priest to Pontius Pilate, the Governor on trumped-up charges of treason. Jesus is condemned to death by the Romans.

Reflection

The cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” still ring in my ears. The picture of Pilate sitting on the judge’s bench asking the crowd of leaders and people “Shall I crucify your king?” and their response, “We have no king but the Emperor”…it is an image that haunts me. It haunts me because of the callousness and injustice of it all. The world is often so unjust. But mostly it haunts me because I see this injustice, this callousness, sometimes in myself. Lord, when do I see you hungry, sick and helpless and do not reach out to you?

Prayer

All: Holy One, whose dear child did not go up to joy before he first suffered pain, and did not enter into glory before he was crucified, show us how to walk in the way of the cross, so that we may find it to be the way of life and peace; in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Station Two—Jesus Bears His Cross

Silent Meditation
A heavy cross is put into Jesus’ arms and he is ordered to carry it to the place of his execution. He accepts the cross. Carrying it by himself, he goes out to the Place of the Skull—Golgotha—to be crucified with two others.

Reflection

He went out carrying his own cross…Humanity is burdened with many crosses—war, hunger and famine, greed and poverty, sickness and death. My neighbours bear their crosses. Some there are who mourn, some who struggle to survive financially, some who are in fear and loneliness. Jesus went out carrying his cross alone. He knows what it is like to carry a heavy burden.

Prayer

One: O Merciful God, who answers the poor,
Many: Answer us.
One: O Merciful God, who answers the lowly in spirit,
Many: Answer us.
One: O Merciful God, who answers the broken of heart,
Many: Answer us.
One: O Merciful God:
Many: Answer us.
One: O Merciful God,
Many: Have compassion
One: O Merciful God,
Many: Redeem.
One: O Merciful God,
Many: Save.
One: O merciful God, have pity upon us.
Many: Now, speedily and at a near time.
--Jewish Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) prayer

Hymn Go to Dark Gethsemane v.1,2

Station Three—Jesus Falls For the First Time

Silent Meditation
The cross is heavy and the road to Calvary, the road to Golgotha—the place of death—is long. Jesus, weary from lack of sleep, loneliness, fear, and the beatings he received slumps to the ground. Soldiers quickly drag him to his feet again.

Reflection

All around Jesus are the mockers and those who take delight in human misery. It is hot and sticky in the crowded little street. The air is filled with foreboding on this Day of Preparation for Passover. The world is filled with people, it seems, who have fallen and struggle to rise and there are no hands, not even rough ones, to help. Do I, too, mock him by my unthinking, uncaring gruffness?

Prayer

He called upon his God, saying, “Things overwhelm me: come to my help.”
--Q’uran, Sura (chapter) 54:10

Station Four—Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

Silent Meditation
Jesus is faltering under the load. The soldiers fear that he might die along the way. They seize Simon of Cyrene, put the cross on his shoulders, too, as he stands behind Jesus and make him help shoulder the load.

Reflection

A perfect stranger, coming into the city, just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was grabbed and forced to take the cross. Was he reluctant? Was I? I longed to help Jesus but I was afraid. I was relieved…when they picked someone out of the crowd to help. I was ashamed…that I could not bring myself to step out of character, out of my role to help the man.

Prayer

One: Let us pray to God, who loved the world so much that he sent his only Child to give us life. Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for your Child.
Many: Give us grace to lift heavy loads off those we meet and to put ourselves with those condemned to die.
One: Holy One, hear us.
Many: God, Graciously hear us.

--Caryl Micklem

Hymn What Wondrous Love v.1,2

Station Five—Jesus Falls the Second Time

Silent Meditation
Jesus falls again, despite the help of Simon. He lies sprawled in the dirt, sweat beading on his face, mingling with his blood from the cuts on his forehead and the dust of these well-travelled streets. The soldiers, impatient and anxious to be over this job, roughly drag him to his feet again, cursing him.

Reflection

My heart wrenches. My stomach churns. I feel my own sweat upon my brow. I can only guess at his agony. The weight of the cross is too much and he is very weak. He is baring a heavy burden like so many others in my society and has been forced once again to his knees—like them. How do they feel as they watch this? Do they recognize their own pain? Did they try to hid that pain by laughing at it, like me? Did they reject that pain by jeering at him, like me?

Prayer

All: O Jesus, who for our errors bore the heavy weight of the cross and fell under its weight, may the thought of your sufferings make us watchful against temptation and stretch out your loving hand to help us.

Station Six—Jesus Speaks to the Sorrowing Women

Silent Meditation
A large crowd of women have followed Jesus’ path to Golgotha. They are weeping and wailing—in traditional mourning for this man, their friend. They are overcome by their helplessness. Jesus say to them, “Don’t weep for me, but for yourselves and your children.” Your tears are not enough.

Reflection

They cry, these women, like I am crying on the inside. But our tears are not enough. They cannot stop the agony. They cannot feed the hungry. They cannot bring peace. “If you must weep,” he says, “weep for your own pitifulness and lack.” There is another way. I know it in my heart. We must move beyond weeping. We must also act. But… I cannot.

Prayer

All: O Lord Jesus, we mourn and will mourn both for you and for ourselves; for your sufferings, and for our sins which caused them. Teach us to mourn so that we may be comforted, and escape those dreadful judgments prepared for those who turn away from you.

Hymn Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed?

Station Seven—Jesus Falls for the Third Time

Silent Meditation
No sleep. Nothing to eat or drink since supper the eve before, the interrogations, the scourging, the mockery—they have all taken their toll. Jesus falls again to the dust and grime of the crowded street of Jerusalem amidst the noise of weeping and heckling.

Reflection

This is almost too much. How much more will he, will we, have to endure? Jesus has become a spectacle. The laughter as he struggles once more is awful. How can they laugh? Can’t they see he’s trying? Don’t they feel any pity? I should talk. My patience is wearing thin to get this over with. I want to go home. This poor creature won’t.

Prayer
One: By your wounded hands
Many: Teach us diligence and generosity.
One: By your wounded feet
Many: Teach us steadfastness and perseverance.
One: By your wounded and insulted head
Many: Teach us patience, clarity and self-mastery.
One: By your wounded heart
Many: Teach us love,
One: Teach us love,
Many: Teach us love
All: O Master and Saviour.
--Daphne Fraser

Station Eight—Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Silent Meditation
Finally…they arrive at the God-forsaken place where he will be crucified. People dump their garbage here. Hurriedly, roughly, his clothes are stripped from his back, leaving him naked in front of the crowd—naked, exhausted and humiliated.

Reflection

Stripped naked. Nothing left, not even dignity. Is this His poverty or is it ours? We took his clothes, we took his dignity, much like this world strips naked hundreds and thousands of its people every day with its greed and its uncaring. Our selfishness stands exposed for what it is when we stripped Jesus naked.

Prayer

All: O God, as on this solemn day we bow at the foot of the cross, may the love that was manifested there stream into our hearts, challenging and subduing them and winning from us that response which is your will for us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--Leslie Weatherhead

Station Nine—Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Silent Meditation
Roughly, contemptuously, the soldiers thrust Jesus down onto his cross. Holding him down—some sit on him—they pound the nails through his hands and feet. After he is lifted up, the soldiers throw dice for his clothing to fulfill the Scripture, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Solo

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Reflection

The ring of the hammer on the nails, the sickening sound of flesh and bone crunching…they echo in my brain. I’ll never, never, ever forget this. Somehow this one crucifixion is different than all the others I’ve been to. The torture, for that’s what it was, has not stopped. It still happens every day. From utter brutality to the unkind word that flays the soul—it still happens. But the nonchalance, the ease with which the soldiers threw the dice beneath his feet…as if nothing were happening…it horrifies me today. I know—I was there. I threw the dice with the rest.

Prayer

All: Today the One who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the cross. He who is Ruler of the angels is crowned with Thorns. He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery. He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon his face. The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails. The Child of Mary is pierced with a spear. We venerate your Passion, O Christ. Show to us also your resurrection.
--Greek Orthodox Hymn for Good Friday

Solo Cross Upon a Hill: The Lament of Peter

Station Ten—Jesus Dies on the Cross

Silent Meditation
The nightmare of pain and suffering, the agony of betrayal and loneliness come to an end. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her and he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” The thief on the cross beside him cries out, “Remember me, O Lord, when you come into your kingdom.” After three mercifully brief hours on the cross, suspended between earth and sky, Jesus dies. Choking on the hyssop dipped in wine, he gasps out the words, “It is finished.” He bows his head and gives up his spirit.

Reflection

I watched…I heard the words he spoke. I saw his agony…I felt the spear dig in his flesh. I saw the blood and water pour out down his side, down his thighs to the ground. Violence and death. I hung my head. I could no longer see for the tears that flowed, like his blood, down my face. I could not stop the words, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” I felt overcome. Why did I have a hand in this? How have I let it happen?

Litany
One: Let us recall the words Jesus spoke from the cross.
Many: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
One: We thank you, God, that Jesus did as he told others to do, and forgave those who wronged him. Help us to forgive others from our heart. And forgive our world for still committing acts of great cruelty.
Many: Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
One: We thank you, God, that Jesus gave this assurance to a man convinced he deserved to die. Awaken us to a true understanding of what we are and what we have done. But give us too, the same assurance, that whatever we have done, nothing can separate us from your love.
Many: Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother.
One: We thank you, God, that Jesus thought of others even when dying. Deliver us from self-pity, from brooding on our own wrongs and misfortunes. Help us to be like Christ to our neighbour, acting as Jesus would act, mediating your love.
Many: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
One: We thank you, God, that Jesus was fully human, and no stranger to the anguish of despair. Help us also through the dark times, so that we may emerge with faith strengthened.
Many: I am thirsty.
One: We thank you, God, that someone answered this cry. Help us to answer the cry of those in our world who are hungry and thirsty.
Many: It is finished.
One: We thank you, God, that Jesus died believing he had done your will and accomplished your work. May we too be single-minded, and when we die need not to regret that we have squandered your gift of life.
Many: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
--Caryn Micklem

Solo
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb....

Depart in Silence

It’s a Friday, so you know that has to mean a Friday Five…

Here’s the Holy Week Five, as created by Reverend Mother:

1. Will this Sunday be Palms only, Passion only, or hyphenated?
We’re doing the hyphenated version. I’m trying my hand at stitching together two services—a palm service and a passion service—with Communion as the seam joining them. It means I have to be very creative about the Communion prayer and consecration, and our musician is searching desperately for music that help serve as a bridge…but rather than jump too abruptly from one to the other, Communion can be a bridge. When I have a complete order of service, I’ll post it. I’m lucky in that the congregation is willing to let me experiment a bit…within certain limits, of course. There will be two readings, and two meditations, tied together in some fashion. I think around letting things be incomplete, untidy—we don’t know whether the crowd on one Sunday was the same people as Friday’s mob; it matters, but we can’t know. We have to just sit with that, and acknowledge the contradictions within ourselves. And then the Crucifixion—that’s not the way things are supposed to go in a good story. If Luke were a Disney story, the crowd on Palm Sunday would have taken over the palace, kicked out the Romans, and made Jesus king. But that’s not the reality, and so we have to accept that too—that Jesus was Crucified and no angels came to rescue him. He was killed, he was dead. We have to accept that. The reading for the second part of the service isn’t the passion story; it’s the account by David Mundy of his partner’s agonizing death as a result of AIDS. Mundy says he had to accept it, to sit with George’s death, every step of the way with him. And that is what he suggests we need to do with the Crucifixion, too. Very powerful, moving stuff. I’m going to want to tread carefully, as some of our members are HIV+, others have lost friends and loved ones to HIV/AIDS—it’s going to stir some memories. But they know as well as I do that we cannot forget. And what better time to remember the ones we loved who are no longer with us than at Easter when we also remember the One who conquered death?

2. Maundy Thursday Footwashing: Discuss.
One of those things that works better in theory than in practice. The alternative, handwashing, is even worse (who washed his hands on Maundy Thursday/Good Friday?).

3. Share a particularly meaningful Good Friday worship experience.
This is very sad. I can’t com up with one. I can imagine all kinds of services that would b moving and powerful—but they haven’t been done. The problem is that when I'm leading worship, I can’t (or I don’t) allow myself to be drawn completely into the experience. I’m always focussing on the next thing, on the logistics of getting to point A to point B—I can’t relax and go with the flow. So for the last ten years, at least, I’ve been leading or assisting with worship on Good Friday (always a good thing to give to the clergy candidate or intern or seminary student..). The service this year will be very powerful, I think—modified stations of the cross, with “Were you there…” a verse at a time, as appropriate (solo), with some other hymns and prayers (including one from the Q’uran and one from a Jewish Kaddish). We end with the Seven Last Words as a litany (the congregation saying Jesus’ words), and then the last verse of the solo…”Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb….” Trailing into silence, unfinished. And we all leave in silence.

4. Easter Sunrise Services--choose one:
a) "Resurrection tradition par excellence!"
b) "Eh. As long as it's sunrise with coffee, I can live with it."

And as long as Eastr isn’t too early in the year…I’ve been to far too many frozen Sunrise Services to stand it. Can we keep it indoors?
c) "[Yawn] Can't Jesus stay in the tomb just five more minutes, Mom?!?"

5. Complete this sentence: It just isn't Easter without...
Spring flowers all over the altar! The altar guild at one church used to literally create a garden in the chancel on Easter Sunday (I think they spent most of Easter Saturday working on it) with cedar edging and the lilies, azaleas, tulips, hyacinths and hydrangeas arranged just so. Stunning. They should have gotten together with my friend who created a tomb out of papier mache that he used on Good Friday for a tomb, and then on Easter it became the altar for Communion…also very cool. It would have ben visually stunning to combine the two.

Bonus: Any Easter Vigil aficionados out there? Please share.
If they are done well, yes. That and if I have a sympathetic companion to help me get there in the first place, and then keep me company all the way through. Otherwise I’d wuss out at the last minute.

Still Guilty...

...Only now I'm feeling a tad guilty because I'm sitting here working on this instead of going to bed as I really should be.

But I do feel a responsibility to my readers (hello? all three of you there?), especially since I missed out on last Friday's meme--which I really meant to do, but somehow suddenly Friday was gone and I hadn't written it, and Saturday, when I could have used a distraction from the sermon, I...forgot. Which I find amazing, considering I used to do them (you'll pardon the pun) religiously. I haven't been able to do the reading for the blog either.

So what have I been doing, you may well ask? I wish it were big exciting things, but it's just not. Mostly some basic strategic administrative things I should have been doing all along. That and now that I live alone, I have to do all the housework--house is the same size and many things need to don just as often (laundry, dishes) even if there aren't as many to b done, and some things just don't change (yard work, feeding the dog). I am trying to focus on catching up with my reading, so maybe that's part of it.

I've done some more looking into doctoral programs, and the DMin programs don't seem to offer enough of the meaty theological stuff that I want, but the PhD programs seem to require a reading knowledge of one (if not two) languages beyond English. It makes sense, especially for a theology degree, but still....the thought of learning another language is a tad scary. I can squeak by in German, I think, with some brush-up and some vocabulary expansion. My German vocab leans more towards art, sailing, and food then Schliermacher, Moltmann and Barth, I'm afraid....It's what I was into when I lived in Germany, what can I say? SO there's on, but the other? Please don't ask me to learn French, I've tried and I cannot get the accent....Oh, wait. This is a READING knowledge...so maybe I could learn it. I have Francophone friends, perhaps they would help me with tutoring (not that kind of help and not that kind of friend--by some odd coincidence, they are all gay men. [puzzled look]).

Anyway, I'm rambling now, and I've done that rare thing, an off-the-cuff blog entry (rare for me).

So--good things to look forward to--dinner out with a friend Thursday, friends over for dinner Friday, my son arriving Saturday, Palm Sunday on Sunday, to my mother's Sunday and Monday, dinner with still yet more friends on Monday night, a wedding on the next Saturday, Easter, a weekend off spent with my mom and sister and her husband...further ahead, a trip back to Large Capitol City (where TO lives) for his HS graduation and visit with many old friends, our denomination's general conference (which I actually enjoy very much), another wedding, and, looking way ahead to August, a weekend off that I am contemplating expanding into a week and spending at my favourite retreat centre (see my entries from October).

In spite of the glitches and bumps, life is good, you know?

Cottage at GilChrist Retreat Centre...a little taste of Paradise on Earth...
A bit of the woods, the fields, the animals, people...
A bit of meditation and contemplation...
All wrapped in the arms of God.

Guilty, guilty guilty!

I have not posted in so long I feel like a stranger.
Life is my only excuse.
I'm working on one! A post, not an excuse.
Check back later.
In the meantime, I do usually find time to post comments at the RevGalBlogPals (they're a lot shorter).

Friday Five—Haftas and Wannas

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five (courtesy of ReverendMother) is five things I plan to do today and five things I would like to be doing today…

Haftas

1. Sermon preparation

I have a meeting tomorrow which will probably take up much of the afternoon, and a community event I must attend tomorrow night, so I need to get a good start on the sermon today. However, while I’ve done some research and preparation, I have no idea where I’m going with it.

2. Vacuum the house.

My dog, Mr. M., is a Pembroke Welsh corgi. He has a double coat. It is spring, He is shedding both of them at once.

3. Get my laptop to functional mode.

Actually, I’ve already done this one. My laptop’s (my only computer) screen has been flickering and fading. Impossible to do much on it, of course—except that my sermon notes (what I do have), order of service, prayers, etc., are on it. Today I was able to borrow a monitor from a church member who had an extra one lying about. The good news—it works, so the video card in my laptop is OK. The bad news—that means it’s either the wiring or the screen itself. I don’t want to buy a new computer!!

4.Bake cookies for the event tomorrow night.

How can I make chocolate chip cookies green? It’s a St. Patrick’s Day potluck, and we’re supposed to bring green food. I’m seeing a lot of lime jello and key lime pie in my future… I was going to go to the bulk food store and pick out green M&Ms from the bin, but I don’t have time. I refuse to add green food colouring.

5. Reading

I have a book I am supposed to have read for my mentor, and another I’ve been working on for far too long, and several more I’m in the middle of, and then the RevGals are starting a reading blog… Help! So many books, so little time, indeed.

Wannas

1. Read.

Besides the “should” reads (see above), I have some I’m trying to read for myself—those anomalous books that aren’t exactly pleasure reading, in the sense of a mystery novel, but that aren’t really professional reading, either—books I want to read and I enjoy reading…on theology and queer theory and history…

2. Go to bed early.

Like, 10:30 pm would be nice.

3. Finish writing the Good Friday worship service.

It isn’t that far away.

4. Watch a movie.

A friend lent me the DVDs for the first season of “The L Word,” after I mentioned I had seen only a couple of episodes (it’s on at the same time as “ER,” for crying out loud). That was a month ago, I need to get them seen and back to her (no, I can’t pretend to have watched them, because they’re a hot topic and I need to know about them…)

5. Mindless Web surfing

It sounds like a waste of time, but somehow I almost always end up finding some information or a website that I can really use. No today though…

So, I guess it’s time to work on the sermon and Good Friday service, and after dinner bake cookies and vacuum. Maybe I can fit in some reading, too, before 10:30.

See you tomorrow morning bright and early for the preacher’s party!

Back on the Blog Again…

With apologies to Willie Nelson, I think it was…

For the last week or so, I have been operating with great difficulty—my laptop screen was not functioning. It would work for about ten minutes after I turned it on, then flicker and flash until I turned it off. When I turned it back on, it would work for maybe three minutes. And so on. I was pretty much just answering critical email, and nothing more. No journal, worship planning, no Bible study, no Web surfing or sermon research, and certainly no blogging.

Today I was lent a monitor to use—and it works! Which means it’s probably either the wiring or the screen dying. I don’t really want to buy a new laptop, both because of the expense and because it’s such a hassle to get everything working the way I like it. I’ve had this one for five years, and we know each other now.

However, it means I can do the Friday Five! Oh, and a sermon tomorrow. So I’d better get to work…

You Say Tom-ay-toe, I Say Tom-ah-toe…

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five this week is five things I like (or dislike) that an SO dislikes (or likes). Got that? Good. Here we go…

1. Spinach. This popped right into my head. My mother loves the stuff—I can’t stand it. We had a rotation of vegetables for dinner when I was a kid—peas, green beans, salad, corn, and spinach, with an occasional wax beans, applesauce or canned pears/peaches thrown in. Problem is, it was canned spinach…globby, tasteless and with a texture that made me gag. Mom loved it—she poured vinegar over it, or butter, and ate it up. Ugh. I was always glad she didn’t like liver…

2. Turnips. DP loves turnips, and will eat them in place of potatoes. The first time she made them, she didn’t think to ask me if I liked them. I thought they were odd-looking potatoes and dug in. Well… After that, we cooked a turnip for DP and a potato for RP.

3. Bang-bang-shoot-em-ups, as I call those movies that primarily consist of gun battles, car chases, and helicopters swirling out of a midnight sky to chase Bad Guys. TO and his father love them…I can’t stand them. When they rented one, I’d go in the other room to read. When they went to see one, I’d see something else or go shopping.

4. At one time, TO liked a certain rap star known for his racist, misogynistic and homophobic lyrics. TO wanted to buy a poster of said person for his room (and was of an age when his parents had to approve all purchases).. I usually let him decorate his room as he liked, listen to what he liked—because I remembered from being that age that if your parents don’t object, eventually you realize that the singer/writer/actor is boring. But this time I put my foot down. I sat down with TO and explained why this person’s face was not welcome in my house (this was before I had come out). TO did not want to listen to reason. TO’s father felt “it’s just a poster,” and couldn’t understand my resistance. However, I eventually prevailed, and the poster was not purchased. TO now views that rap star with disdain.

5. I hesitate to mention this one…Beer. DP doesn’t like it at all. I love it. Not your Miller Lite, Budweiser beer, though. I’m more high maintenance when it comes to beer. I like a light pilsner or a good yeasty wheat beer. Hand-crafted, with plenty of flavour. Preferably brewed within five miles as the crow flies, although that’s not an absolute requirement. A honey ale is one of my favourites. Having said all that, I hasten to add that I actually drink about one a week, maybe two if things are rough. I bought a six pack back in early February and I still have one left. Maybe what I want to say is that I don’t drink to get drunk, I drink to enjoy what I’m drinking.

Bonus: Something nobody likes: Tripe. Does anyone actually eat that stuff, or is it like fruitcake that people pretend to like? Something everyone likes: chocolate. At least a little bit… Not that everyone eats it, but everyone likes it.

Friday Five: A Beautiful Thing

Reverendmother at the RevGals is suggesting this Friday Five, about creating....

Creation
by Andrea Ford

1. Would you call yourself "creative"? Why or why not?
Yes, I would. Not in terms of craft-work, perhaps (although once upon a time I did a fair amount of cross-stitch), but in terms of making something new that wasn’t there before. My creative bent is more with words—sermons, prayers, blogs, fiction—and with a garden. The first takes lots of editing—which took me a while to learn. It’s OK to re-write a paragraph or a prayer or a whole sermon completely—that’s how you get to the point where it needs to be. Your first effort is almost never exactly what you want—the discipline and the skill is reworking it—removing, adding, changing—to get it to the place it needs to be. In gardening, creating takes patience. You have a vision, as you do in writing, of the end product, but it takes a lot longer. And you have to be willing to partner with Nature—you may think Four O’Clocks would be perfect in a certain corner, but if it gets too hot there, they will never grow, and your vision has to be altered. Sometimes you don’t know until you’ve tried something whether it will work or not (whether you’re writing or gardening), and you have to be willing to uproot/delete what just isn’t working. Maybe you move it to another bed/piece of writing, but you take it out of the place where it doesn’t work.

2. Share a creative or artistic pursuit you currently do that you'd like to develop further.
As every even semi-regular reader of this blog knows, I want to write more, be published, get my ideas out there and get some feedback. I do get some here, and that’s great—but I think there’s maybe a wider audience out there.

3. Share a creative or artistic pursuit you have never done but would like to try.
I’d love to try working with stained glass. I see so many nice things—suncatchers, panels for screens, windows, church pieces—that I’d love to know more about how they are made and the limitations and the freedoms of stained glass.

4. Complete this sentence: "I am in awe of people who can _____________."
Compose music. Oh, I once pasted together a simple psalm response for a seminary class (pass/fail, luckily), but anyone who can work not only with multiple chords and harmony but different instruments and voices, who is familiar with the different keys and when you might want to use one over another…I am awed.

5. Share about a person who has encouraged your creativity, who has "called you to your best self." (I'm pretty sure that's from the Gospel of Oprah).
Oh, my. I can’t name one person. I have been blessed with many people who have encouraged and supported and praised my efforts, from my mother’s praise for my elementary school poetry to professors in library school who appreciated my more creative papers to seminary professors who encouraged me to create liturgies to my colleagues and superiors now who compliment my sermons and worship services to the readers of this blog who say, “Well done,” or “beautiful,” or “this post was so moving.” If I don’t make my creative goals, it won’t be for lack of encouragement and support!

Just Another Brick in the Wall…

As some of you know, my ministry is going through a rough patch right now. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in ministry, lay and ordained (admittedly, mostly the former), I’ve been in the work force a while, I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. But the last few months have been the most difficult I have ever endured, by far.

Back in November, I went to a denominational conference. I had a wonderful time—worked my surplice off, but I had a great time. I learned good stuff; attended amazing worship; connected with old friends, renewed friendships, and made new friends; raised my profile among my colleagues (which may or may not be a Good Thing); and was energized to come back and put some of those new ideas into place.

I came back and hit a brick wall.

Now, people who know me will tell you—I’m not exactly the bulldozer type. I didn’t come back and try to impose stuff on people. I don’t lead by commanding folks to fall in line. If anything, I’m too much the opposite—I try to seek consensus when sometimes I should just lay down the law. So the wall didn’t come from resistance to my insistence. Perhaps the wall had been there all along, and I just hadn’t noticed it until I was away for a while, getting some affirmation and opening myself to new opportunities and ideas, getting some support for who I am and the work I’m doing. And then when I came back, all charged up and ready to go, there it was, in the way.

It hurt big time.

And I have continued to beat against that brick wall. RDQ and I were going to dive into new ministry patterns together…I think I jumped into an empty pool.

It’s gotten a bit better in the last few days—a lifeline or two has been thrown my way, and I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel—unless it’s an oncoming train (to mix metaphors beyond belief).

On my other blog, Lavender Chronicles, I’m talking about the possibility of a doctorate. For a while I wondered if my interest was related to my recent frustrations, and it is, but not in terms of a way out of this situation. It’s not that I’m contemplating running away to a doctoral program to avoid dealing with this situation. I’m very clear that I’m not leaving here voluntarily. It’s more that considering the possibility of a doctoral degree gives me a focus beyond this congregation, reminds me that there are other options out there just in case, gives me a constructive project to work on aside from and away from the congregation. If I want to do this PhD thing (not DMin, probably) in two years (more or less), I have to start catching up on reading, try to get a reading knowledge of another language (or two), and decide if I want to do this and how and where. It gets my head out of the pain and difficulty of where I am, of the things that I can’t control or even influence. Call that escapism if you will. It’s my reality at the moment.

Friday Five: Companions for the Journey

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five this week is five companions for your journey.

I’m not sure how to look at this: my life’s journey, my Lenten journey, a trip in general? Some of them would be the same anyway, so here goes:

1. A mentor and former professor of mine, Denise. She is a gifted Biblical scholar, a warm, insightful and sensitive human being. When I was once going through a difficult time in my ministry, she told me (yes, it is burned into my memory, because it has served me well many times), “On your worst day, you are better than they could ever have expected.” I have actually travelled with her, under some trying circumstances, and I must say she bore the difficulties with more grace than I did. She also plays a mean hand of Hearts, always useful on a trip.

2. My friend Dan. He too, is warm and insightful, not to mention supportive. He can see the humour in almost any situation, and get you (or me, at least) to that place as well. I have travelled with him, too, and he is a definite plus for a trip--he can always find the good restaurants!

3. My mom. She loves to travel—metaphorically and in reality—and is a great companion on the way. It doesn’t seem to matter how recently we spoke—when one of us calls, we generally talk for an hour or so—about family, the meaning of Communion in different denominations, the play she saw last week with a friend, and the issues and concerns and frustrations of life. Her pastor thanked me once—she said that my mom was one of her most appreciative parishioners, because Mom knows what pastors deal with, because of her conversations with me. We can travel together down almost any path.

4. Believe it or not, my dog. He’s not much for long walks (his legs are too short), but he’s a wonderful companion on the road of life. He likes to cuddle against my feet (keeping them warm) when I'm reading, he listens well and doesn’t ask too many questions, he doesn’t demand his own way all the time, if I don’t get home on time, he doesn’t complain, he loves to ride in the car, and if he gets two square meals a day, he’s very happy.

5. Tall One, my son. Yes, he’s hard to get up in the morning, but he’s a great conversationalist, and he sees things many of us miss. He’s also fairly adaptable and willing to try new foods (and new activities, if they are represented in a “cool” way). Not to mention that I don’t see enough of him anyway, so travelling with him in any way, shape or form is a plus.

This has been a week of sheer h*ll, so it is no mistake that all these people are supportive and nurturing!

Travel!!!

Reverendmother’s Friday Five meme at the RevGalBlogPals is all abut getting out of town… So here we go!

1. What is one place you make sure to take out-of-town guests when they visit? (you can be vague to preserve your anonymity if you like)

Here in River City, we have an amazing waterfront. At one time in the city’s history, it was covered with docks, stores, etc. Now it is a miles-long park, with sculpture gardens, playgrounds, topiary, snack bars, fishing spots, fountains, benches, etc. Every year in late June, there is an amazing fireworks display over the river—a joint presentation of River City and Big American City Over There. They’re celebrating JuneTeenth (the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery in the US) and the Fourth of July—we’re celebrating Canada Day. Everyone in River City, pretty much, goes to the river that afternoon/evening and watches. The best fireworks I have ever seen—and I’ve seen plenty. So I would take (and do take) visitors to see the riverfront, but if they are here at the right time, they see the fireworks, too.

2. When visiting another city or town, do you try to cram as much in as possible, or take it slow and easy?

That would depend on why I’m there. If I’m in town for a conference and have an afternoon when none of the sessions appeals to me, I’ll leave the conference and do some sight-seeing. But if I’m there on vacation, I try not to schedule too much at one time—it is my vacation, after all!

3. When traveling, where are we most likely to find you: strolling through a museum, checking out the local shopping, or _________________?

Probably the museum or historical sites. The other alternative is just wandering the streets, getting a feel for the place, maybe sitting in a sidewalk café reading the local paper (assuming it’s in a language I can read!).

4. Do you like organized tours and/or carefully planned itineraries, or would you rather strike out and just see what happens?
I try to strike a balance between planning—so I get to see what I want to see—and spontaneity, so that I can take advantage of opportunities, or take an afternoon off if I want/need to. That unplanned part of a trip may be the most memorable part!

5. After an extended trip, what do you find yourself craving most about home?

My bed. That and my own dresser/closet. I get very tired of unpacking and repacking. I took a two-week trip through England, Wales and Scotland once, travelling by train. About halfway through I realized I had brought way too many clothes. Now I make a point of packing half of what I think I need—and twice the cash!

The photo is of Salisbury Cathedral in England, and yes, I did take this one myself, from a bridge over a small stream near the cathedral. The light was amazing that day--we went from Salisbury out to Stonehenge, and I got some great photographs there as well.

Blessing of Relationships

(On the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day, I like to do a Blessing of Relationships, which recognizes all the relationships that are important to us. Here's what I'm doing this year; it will be right after the sermon)

Today we celebrate the relationships in our lives—those relationships that bring us joy, that nurture and support us, that bring us comfort and love and hope. Perhaps that is your relationship with a partner—Valentine’s Day is coming up. But these supportive and loving relationships can be with a friend, as I feel supported and loved by my friends, or by family--my mother and son and my sisters and my uncles. Whoever it is, bring those people to your mind now, name them in your heart….

(Pause)

Holy One, pour out your grace and love on us and on our relationships—all our relationships. We thank and praise you for those that nurture us, that give us hope and joy. Bless us, bless our relationships—with partners and spouses, with friends and loved ones and families, with those we know well, and those we are coming to know, with our co-workers and with our fellow-members in this congregation and in your church around the world. Where our relationships have become tattered or broken, heal and repair our hearts and spirits, knit us again into your pattern of love. Give us grace always to thank you, the source of all love and blessings, for all the relationships in our lives. In all your many names, amen.