Wednesday, April 15, 2020

It's Moving Day


Well, it's finally happened.  We're moving to a whole new host, address, and service.  Once Blogger dumped my side links to the bottom of the page without warning or explanation, I realized that, for the third time, they're trying to encourge me to update my template.

You know, you could just ask me, boys and girls.  I'm really rather easy to work with.

Anyway, click here for the new site.  Please update your bookmarks and we'll see you in the promised land.

Hey, Leave My Amish Bros Alone

Authorities Investigate Illicit Amish Wedding in Sleepy Ohio Hamlet, Population 3,220

Meanwhile, Muslim congregations are allowed to worship on their Sabbath without hassle.

Our Country is Toilet Paper Weird

It's even a news story.  Granted, it's cable news with some very serious soy product guy, but still....


A Pungent Question

How is it that all of these politicians and media TV darlings are sporting their usual haircuts and I look like someone just rescued from a desert island?  Is this a case of "do as I say and not as I do"?

A Pungent Observation

Computer models aren't reality.

Just in Case the NYT Decides to Paint Itself as the True Hero in All of This


To be fair, they have a lot of Chinese advertisers.  To quote Confucius, "You must always listen to the voice that feeds you."

Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Genius

Pennsylvania Has Made It Both Difficult and Dangerous to Buy Liquor: 
The state has shut down all liquor stores, leading customers to crowd into retailers across the border.

Hymn: Crucifixus pro Nobis by Patrick Cary [17th century English]

CHRIST IN THE CRADLE

Look , how he shakes for cold!
How pale his lips are grown!
Wherein his limbs to fold
Yet mantle has he none.
His pretty feet and hands
(Of late more pure and white
Than is the snow
That pains them so)
Have lost their candour quite.
His lips are blue
(Where roses grew),
He's frozen everywhere:
All th' heat he has
Joseph, alas,
Gives in a groan; or Mary in a tear.

CHRIST IN THE GARDEN

Look, how he glows for heat!
What flames come from his eyes!
'Tis blood that he does sweat,
Blood his bright forehead dyes:
See, see! It trickles down:
Look, how it showers amain!
Through every pore
His blood runs o'er,
And empty leaves each vein.
His very heart
Burns in each part;
A fire his breast doth sear:
For all this flame,
To cool the same
He only breathes a sigh, and weeps a tear.

CHRIST IN HIS PASSION

What bruises do I see!
What hideous stripes are those!
Could any cruel be
Enough, to give such blows?
Look, how they bind his arms
And vex his soul with scorns,
Upon his hair
They make him wear
A crown of piercing thorns.
Through hands and feet
Sharp nails they beat:
And now the cross they rear:
Many look on;
But only John
Stands by to sigh, Mary to shed a tear.

Why did he shake for cold?
Why did he glow for heat?
Dissolve that frost he could,
He could call back that sweat.
Those bruises, stripes, bonds, taunts,
Those thorns, which thou didst see,
Those nails, that cross,
His own life's loss,
Why, oh, why suffered he?
'Twas for thy sake.
Thou, thou didst make
Him all those torments bear:
If then his love
Do thy soul move,
Sigh out a groan, weep down a melting tear.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The Great Triduum Lockdown Now Begins

Sorry, regular readers, but as you know, once the sun sets on Holy Wednesday, my attentions are diverted.  Even in this singular year, I'm doing what I can to keep things as normal as possible, which means a lot of time in front of a computer in video meetings and learning how to serve as both "cast and crew" for the live streamed and recorded broadcasts of our liturgies.  New fun can always be found on my parish's Facebook page.

After this week, I'm taking a break.  We'll be back after Easter Week with a return of the Friday biographies [new ones!] and even some more Thursday Places. 

Quarantine Seems to Be Capricious

Disaster in motion: Where flights from coronavirus-ravaged countries landed in US

Interesting note: This story originally appeared on the ABC website.  It disappeared later in the day for reasons that seem obtuse.  However, ABC neglected to "disappear" the URL, so it's still recoverable.

For Some, the Current Crisis is Merely an Authoritarian Test Run

But apathy about cancel culture is very damaging to the Christian cause. Christianity is supposed to be spread by persuasion. If people are to become Christians, they have to be persuaded of the truth that the crucified and risen Jesus Christ is the divine saviour of the world from sin and its consequence – which, according to the Bible, is eternal death. As the Apostle Paul summarised the Christian message in his letter to the Romans in the New Testament: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ How can people be persuaded of this wonderful message of salvation if the persuaders are not allowed to speak freely and publicly?
When the mayor of New York states he can "permanently" close Christian and Jewish houses of worship [he can't, of course, but note that the specificity of his dictatorial desire is limited to only two of NYC's several religions] and there is no vigorous response from our leadership, that is a semaphore of their acquiescence and surrender.  In fact, there almost seems to be a gleam in the eyes of some of the church's powers-that-be when they state that this pale, wan, desiccated thing that is "remote worshipping" is the future of the church.

Please, you just want to sit on your prat at home and show off your book collection as a background set.  By all means, Mrs. Future, pursue that course.  The rest of us will re-build a muscular, active sense of worship that actually permits people to be together.  Then we'll show you what the future looks like.

A Pungent Realization

I'm now living in a country where people get arrested for holding church services and for surfing.  No way I'm getting through this without being defrocked and/or put in jail.

Sojourn #38

"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." - Matthew 6:6

Sojourn #37

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” - Isaiah 30:15

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Descolada #1

An engineer deliberately ran a train off the tracks at high speed near the Port of Los Angeles in an attempt to crash into the USNS Mercy hospital ship, prosecutors say. 

The Pacific Harbor Line train derailed Tuesday, running through the end of the track and crashing through barriers, finally coming to rest about 250 yards from the docked naval ship. 

Federal prosecutors allege train engineer Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro intended to hit the ship, saying he thought it was "suspicious" and did not believe "the ship is what they say it's for.'"

And so it begins.  Ten days ago, we noted this at The Coracle:
Thus far, people are denied socialization at work, school, restaurants, congregations, places of group conviviality, and sporting events. We are social animals and will resist this very soon; possibly in ways forthright and aggressive.
Part of that resistance is the surrender of reason and logic, and the embrace of paranoid conspiracy theories about an "other" who is secretly plotting against you and you alone.  Fortunately, you hold the truth and will tell the world, even if the world doesn't want to hear it.

I heard a word once upon a time, during my younger adventures, from a Brazilian woman.  [Allow me to pause and recall the halcyon days of youth.] It is not a proper Portuguese word, but from that tongue's slang.  Desocolada.  It's a pretty word and the closest it means in English is "un-glueing".  I suppose, were I translating it formally, I would say "coming apart", but that's not as poetic, is it?  The glue of sensibility begins to lose its hold.

The other day I had to get gas and the pumps were malfunctioning, so I had to go into the convenience store to pay.  While waiting for change, the clerk leaned over the counter [hey, physical distancing, lady] and whispered, "He knew about this."

"Who did?"

"You know who."

"Oh, him.  He knew the pumps were busted, did he?"

"No, not the pumps.  The cortinavirus [sic].  He knew all about it and didn't tell us because he wants some people to die."

"That's diabolical."

"Uh-huh."

So, since I prefer to get gas for the truck in Reality-land, and since I don't want to have to go inside a convenience store to pay in these days of pandemic, I'll bid a fond farewell to this particular station and the clerk who knows the inconvenient truth.  However, I fully expect to have more and more conversations like this the more people are constrained by fear of a disease and a capricious government.

Sojourn #36

"Silence is solitude practiced in action. If you meet God in solitude, you discover the God you meet is the God who embraces all people. Solitude does not pull us away from our fellow human beings but instead makes real fellowship possible." - Henri Nouwen

You Don't Say

Chinese government lying about coronavirus could impact U.S. business ties: Experts 

I think China is going to find itself "impacted" rather resolutely once we're allowed to leave our homes.

The Next Time Some Bigshot from WHO Issues a Statement, Remember This


January 14th, the day I arrived in Singapore.  Thanks for nothing, WHO.  Taking China's word for it, or any communist regime's word for anything, is foolishness.  Communists claim to have replaced God with history, yet history reveals communism's repeated failures and contribution to the de-humanization of whole portions of society.  I really wish communists did worship history, but they just seem to worship their own sense of moral superiority.

Sojourn #35

"One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude." - Goethe

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Sojourn #34

“Many people suffer from the fear of finding oneself alone, and so they don't find themselves at all.” ― Rollo May, Man's Search for Himself

Sojourn #33

“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Sojourn #32

“Solitude sometimes is best society.”  ― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Saturday, March 28, 2020

I Have a Follow-Up to Your Story, NBC

Round One:

Rounds Two, Three, Four, and Knockout





The Art of Fixing Diocesan Prayers

Original, authorship unknown:

In union, O Lord with the faithful at every altar of your Church, where the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, I desire to offer you praise and thanksgiving. I present to you my soul and body with the earnest wish that I may always be united to you. And since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. I unite myself to you, and embrace you with all the affections of my soul. Let nothing ever separate you from me. May I live and die in your love. Amen.

Revised by yours truly:

O Lord, we present you praise and thanksgiving in union with the faithful at every altar of your Church. We offer our souls and bodies, earnestly striving to be in covenant with you. As mortal circumstance prevents us from physically receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we welcome your spirit into our hearts. We unite ourselves to you with the affection of our souls. May sin and the caprice of human will never separate us. May we live in your love, now and forever. Amen.

Sojourn #31

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion."
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

Panic in the Year Zero!

Hundreds of rolls of toilet paper spilled along I-85

All the "Toilet Paper Weird" people are now racing to North Carolina.

Sojourn #30

"Each way means loneliness — and communion. We must always take risks. That is our destiny. Every moment is a fresh beginning." - T.S. Eliot

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Gee, I Wonder Why the Contagion is So Virulent in NYC

Almost two weeks after the U.S. government's travel ban on China, the chairman of NYC Council's Health Committee laid this on Twitter:
That really was a "powerful show".  Good advice, bud.

Sojourn #29

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Moondog Time


68 years ago, the very first large rock and roll extravaganza was held.  Naturally, it was in Cleveland because, I mean c'mon.  Not only did the term "rock and roll" get coined through this event, but the police shut it down shortly after it began, thus creating the outlaw paradigm for rock music that exists to this day.

If you ever wonder why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, here you go.

More about The Ball may be read here.

It would be good to read about Alan Freed, too, as he was the impresario behind it and the DJ who brought us the music and the experience.  The scene, if you will.

Bonus: Not only did I buy my first "real" record album at Record Rendezvous [it was Sgt. Pepper], but I graduated from high school in Cleveland Arena.

Surprising No One Who has Ever Spent Time in the Ivies

Harvard, Boasting $40 Billion Endowment, Lays Off Dining Hall Workers Due to Coronavirus

The Ivy League enjoys grand abstract gestures but is often baffled when dealing with just plain folks in person.  Also, that $40 billion is tax-free, making it one of the world's richest hedge funds.

Sojourn #28

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

The Media Should Quit Trying to Make It One

Covid-19 is not a ‘generation war’
The Covid-19 pandemic will have huge consequences: for human life and health, for the global economy, for people’s livelihoods. Coping with these consequences largely depends on developing a strong sense of social solidarity: drawing on the ties that bind us to our communities, friends and families, and setting aside petty differences and grievances.

This can mean many things, and will need to take many creative forms. But, however we do it, we must bring young people into the project of meeting this challenge, by encouraging the best in them rather than presuming the worst.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Sojourn #27

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I'm Guessing the Latter

Monday, March 23, 2020

Pandemic Control Seems a Little Uncoordinated

So, I can't go out for a meal or worship in a church on a Sunday, but this is America's air traffic this evening?


Sojourn #26

A prayer composed through The London Oratory:
Lord Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness.
At your command, the sick were made well.
Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus.

May they regain their health and strength.

Heal us from our fear, which prevents neighbors from helping one another.

Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.

Good Lord, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.

May those who have died from the virus rest in peace and rise in glory.

Be with the families of those who are sick or have died.

As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair.

Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process.

May they know your protection and peace.

Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with prudence and charity for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve.

Stay with us, Lord, and grant us your peace. Amen.

A Lamentation

I'm not really prone to depression.  I'm not the most giddy person in the world, certainly, but I'm not organically or situationally given to the low tide of emotion.  In fact, my cynicism is a pretty good shield.  I don't expect much, so I'm rarely disappointed.  More often, I'm pleasantly surprised.

Our current times are a bit of a challenge.  So far this year, our town's first selectman revealed that she didn't know the name of our church, confusing it in her article in the town newsletter with the one across the street.  There are only two churches in town, so this was a bit of a surprise since I've worked in larger towns and cities, certainly with more churches, and the political leader not only would know the names of each church, but the names of the clergy, too.  I found it said more about Protestantism's absence of relevance in our society than it did about a poorly informed politician.

Then, of course, there is the plague.  I'm an introvert, so working from home and staying away from the human race is my preferred state, anyway, so this isn't a burden.  However, I found myself again disappointed when learning that churches in Connecticut were to be designated "non-essential".  Gun and liquor stores are essential, but not churches or other religious congregations.

Now, I expect the pezzonovante to have a low regard for us, as indicated by our local political leader, but what left me empty was the fact that our bishops didn't fight against this classification.  They didn't vigorously argue against it with all of the remnant might of our poor corner of Christian witness.  They would have probably lost, but that doesn't really matter.  Even in a lost cause, it is best to do what one may to stand up for what you are.  It is the battle, not the outcome, that determines our identity.  [I'm Augustinian, by the way.  Did you notice?]

It doesn't help that my guitar business, small as it may be [we prefer "boutique"] has, for the first time in its sixteen years, received no new orders.  Musicians aren't performing and aren't earning, so they aren't buying and haven't the wherewithal to afford repairs to their current instruments.

Then there is the church's budget.  Yeah, no public worship, no envelopes in the plate, no shared moments of community all means that I'll turn the lights out when I leave.  All that work in balancing the budget and enabling a capital campaign is for naught.  I had planned on staying until I Biden-ed out, but I'm looking at reducing my hours and my pay and, since I've reached the point where my pension allowance would be greater than my salary, it's tempting to pitch it all now.  That my closest and longest clergy friend, the only other member of my peer group who has not yet retired, decided to file his papers this morning didn't help.

The knowledge that, without something to do, I'd be dead in about three weeks is about the only thing keeping me attached to the job at this point.

Oh, great.  It's snowing.  How perfect.  This is turning into scene in a Russian novel.

Well, Lent didn't need much help from the artificial acts of surrendering things or taking them on.  Circumstance did that for us.  I'm just really hoping that this season of imposed austerity and disruption will, as with the liturgical Lent, reveal a time of resurrection and hope.

From Henry Nouwen's Dark Night -
It certainly was a time of purification for me. My heart, ever questioning my goodness, value, and worth, has become anchored in a deeper love and thus less dependent on the praise and blame of those around me. It also has grown into a greater ability to give love without always expecting love in return.... What once seemed such a curse has become a blessing. All the agony that threatened to destroy my life now seems like the fertile ground for greater trust, stronger hope, and deeper love.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

He's Got a Point

Thus far, people are denied socialization at work, school, restaurants, congregations, places of group conviviality, and sporting events.  We are social animals and will resist this very soon; possibly in ways forthright and aggressive.

Sojourn #25

“The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived.”
― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Sojourn #25

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

The Resilience of Homo Sapiens

Our Country is Toilet Paper Weird

But, But, But, We Prefer Hysteria. Now, Let's Cancel Something Else, Eh?

Evidence over hysteria — COVID-19

Best observation: #21 People fear what the government will do, not infection

Related:

Friday, March 20, 2020

A Modestly Pungent Suggestion, or a Pungently Modest Suggestion

A modest suggestion: Could we call it "physical distancing" instead of "social distancing"? The former is more accurate given how socially connected we are online and through prayer.

Sojourn #24

I said, ‘You are my servant’;
    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:9b-10

Princess on the Steeple

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and three of her Senate colleagues sold off stocks worth millions of dollars in the days before the coronavirus outbreak crashed the market, according to reports.

It's not so much what they sold that bothers me, I sold off some stock, too.  It's what they bought.  Clearly, they knew a mass quarantine was coming.

A Pungent Comment

"Imagine" by John Lennon is one of the most insipid songs ever written, composed, performed, and recorded.  The fact that a collection of puzzlewits always feels the need to sing it in times of quandary doesn't improve it.  That just trivializes the social issue and renders the song even more insipid, which is nearly impossible.

Needlehooks: No Kidding, Sherlock

Study: Global Pandemic Could Have Been Avoided If China Had Acted Sooner

Although this has been handy in identifying which media outlets rely heavily on money from Chinese industry.  Also, I'm glad that China's employees in the National Basketball Association were able to be tested so quickly.

Needlehooks are articles that catch the attention of The Coracle's staff.  This is not an indicator of ideological agreement, necessarily, just a representation of differing points of view.

Sojourn #23

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. - 1 John 4:18

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Sojourn #22

From the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer, rendered in English and Maori.

God be your comfort, your strength;
God be your hope and support;
God be your light and your way;
and the blessing of God, Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life, remain with you now and for ever. Amen.

Or

 Mā te Atua koe e manaaki
e tiaki i ngā wā katoa
e noho i roto i te aroha o te Atua:
ko te aroha hoki te mea nui.
Āmine.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

A Pungent Observation

Not the best day to be a resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, what with no St. Patrick's Day parade, closed churches, and Tom Brady packing his bags.  I'm sure they're handling it well.

Sojourn #21

Healing is a journey, too, as many of us know.

Sanctify, O Lord, the sickness of your servants, that the sense of weakness may add strength to our faith and seriousness to our repentance; and grant that we may live with you in everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Sojourn #20

Heavenly Father, thank you for the promise to walk with us always and through all times.
 - Early monastic prayer.

Sojourn #19

God of the seekers and dreamers, the disaffected and disillusioned, the worn out and burnt out, the rejected and leavers.

We ask for blessings as we travel, as we doubt, as we meander.

We ask for the grace to leave when necessary, to come home when we can, to create new homes when we need.

We pray you lead us where we need to go, by whatever route it takes.

We pray for new ways to see You, to understand new ways of being in the world.

We pray for healing and for redemption, and, where possible, reconciliation.

We pray for all of this so we can know wholeness, know each other, know You.

A Pungent Question

In the past five days I’ve been to a café, a restaurant, several stores, and a health club. None of them are closed; all are taking reasonable measures to control exposure to any virus. All of them welcome a rich variety of our fellow citizens. Why is it, then, the churches are closed?

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Sojourn #18

 https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3131/2424852511_e85d70a15b_b.jpg

Come along with me
     as a sojourner of faith.
Bring along
     a sense of expectancy
     a vision of high hopes
     a glimpse of future possibility
     a vivid imagination.
For God's creation is not done.
We are called to pioneer
     a future yet unnamed.
As we venture forward,
     we leave behind our desire for
          a no-risk life
          worldly accumulations
          certainty of answers.
Let us travel light
     in the spirit of faith and expectations
     toward the God of our hopes and dreams.
May we be witnesses
     to God's future breaking in.
Come along with me
     as a sojourner of faith
     secure in the knowledge
     that we never travel alone.

~Susan Gregg-Schroeder

If I Seem to Be Taking This Virus in My Stride...

...It’s because, in large part, my character was forged by guys like this:


Sojourn #17


O God, Who brought our fathers through the Red Sea and carried them safely through the deep as they sang praises of Thy name, we humbly beseech Thee to guard Thy servants aboard ship, and having repelled all adversities, bring them to the desired port after a calm voyage. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.  Amen.

(This is the prayer used by Cunard Lines back in the good old days. It is wood-burned into my great uncle’s sea chest from his service as a 12-year-old cabin boy.)

Sojourn #16


Show us your ways, Lord.  Teach us how to walk again.  Lead us to new places. Blaze for us paths of grace, mercy, integrity and love.  Find in us a good companion on the way. - Tribal American Christian prayer.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Sojourn #15

 https://boutique.labonnenouvelle.net/504-large_default/plaque-divine-protection.jpg

O Almighty and merciful God, who hast commissioned thy angels to guide and protect us, command them to be our assiduous companions from our setting out until our return; to clothe us with their invisible protection; to keep from us all danger, and finally, having preserved us from all evil, and especially from sin, to guide us to our heavenly home. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Sojourn #14

 https://www.mybaggage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/woodland-trail.jpg

Lord Jesus the Wanderer, we walk in the hope that only you can give. Our way is unclear. Our path is filled with twists and turns and confusion. Guide us to what is true and right so that we may walk your paths in light.  Amen.

- Early Tribal American Christian prayer

A Pungent Question

Judging from the supermarket shelves, do people think they can eat toilet paper?

Monday, March 9, 2020

A Reporter of My Acquaintance has an Epiphany

“My point has to do with this: they offered an honorarium, which I declined, because I’m doing okay and it would seem low to take money from church-basement ladies. They had some charities they supported that could use it. They suggested it go to the homeless family they’re supporting? Fine! Or how about the food shelf? That’s fine too! Or we hav this other outreach - you make the call. That’s just one small church on a back street in a suburb. They all do this. Every church you pass as you drive or stroll or fly over does this.”

Sunday, March 8, 2020

A Pungent Question

Why are members of a political party lamenting the absence of women, people of color, young people, and non-millionaires among their remaining candidates?  Tulsi Gabbard, anyone?

Sojourn #12

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Krjgite1KBBjTQ1_JstUIYyEcG2lAyA6QhOhHzdRjTtacQYeDnRnDVBdvChhcwanzk2CFMjPNWFpy11Iq_aW78JI4ZksYhfTInERPKgtraJAqatgjADWgE1_fVuIrL91ml6fY75ntdk/s1600/m45_3J3.JPG

O God, Who did cause the children of Israel to traverse the Red Sea dryshod; Thou Who did point out by a star to the Magi the road that led them to Thee; grant us we beseech Thee, a prosperous journey and propitious weather; so that, under the guidance of Thy holy angels we may safely reach that journey's end, and later the haven of eternal salvation.

Hear, O Lord, the prayers of Thy servants. Bless their journeyings. Thou Who art everywhere present, shower everywhere upon them the effects of Thy mercy; so that, insured by Thy protection against all dangers, they may return to offer Thee their thanksgiving. Through Christ our Lord.

Sojourn #11


Now I walk in beauty,
beauty is before me,
beauty is behind me,
above and below me. - a Navajo travel prayer

Friday, March 6, 2020

Sojourn #10


"In how many families do you hear the legend that all the goodness and graces of the living are nothing to the peculiar charms of one who is not. It is as if heaven had an especial band of angels, whose office it was to sojourn for a season here, and endear to them the wayward human heart, that they might bear it upward with them in their homewoard flight. When you see that deep, spiritual light in the eye,---when the little soul reveals itself in words sweeter and wiser than the ordinary words of children,---hope not to retain that child, for the seal of heaven is on it, and the light of immortality looks out from its eyes." - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Sojourn #9


 How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.
~ Buckminster Fuller

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Sojourn #8



A journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step. ~ Lao-tzu