30 April 2006

coincidences

It's funny how our paths cross with people in unexpected ways.

Today at church, I was hunting down my student sacristan just before the service. A woman stopped me to ask if the church was open. I said, Sure, there's an organ recital right now and at 5 there's a Eucharist. She seemed to desperately want to go to the service, but worried about not being dressed up. And so I made sure to reassure her and to do the normal things: being friendly and giving her a service leaflet.

I'm not sure why, but somehow this must have made a difference, because after the service, she thanked me for my kindness. To me, it was common, but by coincidence she needed someone to be welcoming. I wonder if everyone who comes to the church door finds the welcome they desperately need. Unfortunately, the answer is probably no. But I can't think of anything more important for the church to be. We're the representatives of Christ on earth. The very least we can do is greet people with a smile and welcome them into the house of God.

shelties!

Mom went on a trip to the coast of Georgia in her RV... with three very cute Shelties! They look as happy as clams, which isn't surprising, since I hear they got all kinds of attention from the kids at the campground.

Ollie is the fluffy lion one on the left. Emma is in the middle, perhaps a little distracted by something interesting, like a bug. Fiona is on the right, looking like the beautiful princess she is.

29 April 2006

current project:

Christology paper. Rough title: The Centrality of Incarnation in Anglican Theology since the 19th Century.. Topics of interest: Implications for Salvation, the Cross, Resurrection, Ethics, Baptism, Reconciliation/Confession, Ministry.

Bloggin' about it is much more interesting than actually putting my nose to the grindstone and writing the darn thing.

Yup.

cookies! and milk!

I seriously heart milano mint cookies. Yum.

My christology paper looks more interesting already.

NFL draft day:

'nough said. Yay football!

Commentary: I don't understand why the Browns would deal with the Baltimore Ravens. They're such rivals, and they're also in the same division. It's over and done with now, but I found it surprising.

First round was interesting, but I'm not into it enough to find the second round fascinating.

27 April 2006

lalala .. lalala...

I don't want to do my work.... nope. I might have a paper or two (three actually) or finals (two), but let's not talk about those. Nope.

Denial... I could resist, but somehow it's so very seductive.

I can't stop...

...playing Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" (the line that gets me is 'Look like nothings going to change / everything still remains the same')

...and Peter, Paul and Mary's "Early in the Morning" (which Steve describes as seventies Jesus music..)

And so, I just play one and then the other... several times. For the last week. I'm wondering when I'll get tired of these and switch to a new music obsession. And I'm sure Steve is wondering that even more, as he is less enamored of them... as in not at all.. :)

26 April 2006

meme from yodabeth

Do you have:
(1) your own cell phone
( ) a television in your bedroom
(2) an MP3 player
( ) a photo printer
( ) own phone line
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(3) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
( ) DVD player in bedroom (see the tv thing)
( ) at least a hundred DVDs
(4) a childfree bathroom
(5) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
(6) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
(7) a working dishwasher
( ) an icemaker
(8) a working washer and dryer
( ) more than 20 pairs of shoes
( ) at least ten things from a designer store
( ) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
(9) a multi-speed bike (but I don't have a car, and I use my bike for commuting and errands)
( )a gym membership
( ) your own set of golf clubs
( ) a pool table
( ) a tennis court
(10) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
(11) wealthy family members
( ) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(12) a yard
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
(13) good credit
(14) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
(15) a stock portfolio
(16) a passport
( ) a horse
(17) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
(18) private medical insurance (at least in theory)
(19) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans

Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
(20) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores (Whole Foods.. because I am serious about the quality of my vegetables)
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry cleaning)
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
(21) wear perfume or cologne
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon (every 3 months)
( ) have a job but don't need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive your taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner

Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
( ) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way

Have you:
( ) been on a cruise
(22) traveled out of the country
( ) met a celebrity
( ) been to the Caribbean
( ) been to Hawaii
( ) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
( ) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
(23) dined with local political figures (I would guess that they include state elected officials and US senators and congressmen.. but I was a cog in the political party machine for a few years)
(24) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(25) took riding or swimming lessons as a child
( ) attend private school
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party

sun! shining!

The sun is out, the breeze is light, the air is dry and a lovely 62 degrees. As Joy would say, flippin' amazing.

Amen, sister.

25 April 2006

I like dirt..

I'm longing for a garden of my own, with all the new growth of spring around. Lamb's ear, forsythia, pansies, snapdragons. I want to have my own earth to turn and plant and watch. I want to see things push upward each year and I want to tend my own space. Someday I'll have a house of my own and land to dig my fingers into. For now, I have been satisfying myself with things that grow in pots. I have a lovely topiary azalea, and pothos. A big leafy green tropical. A pot of ivy. On my kitchen windowsill, I've put rosemary, spearmint, thyme, and sage.

16 April 2006

Updates!

Ok. I solemnly swear to be far more diligent about posting from this point forwards. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I've posted all of the sermons I've given this semester, which are:
  1. Easter Evening (Apr. 16, Chaplaincy Eucharist)
  2. Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mar. 26, 7:45 & 11 am, St. Paul's)
  3. Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mar. 26, 9 am, St. Paul's)
  4. Third Sunday in Lent (Mar. 19, Chaplaincy Eucharist)
  5. Seventh Sunday after Epiphany (Feb. 19, Chaplaincy Eucharist)
I hope you'll read one or two and leave comments, although I know it's quite a bit to read all at once.

feeding the five thousand

Ok -- so it wasn't 5,000. It was more like 24. Steve and I made an Easter dinner for the Chaplaincy students. (I admit, mostly Steve. I was preaching.)

We were expecting about 16. 24 people came. The food was just enough -- no one went away hungry.

We served:
  • leg of lamb braised in red wine and stuffed with herbs,
  • leg of lamb (roasted) with a cumin-lemon spice rub,
  • parmesan zucchini,
  • asparagus (blanched and chilled) with a citrus vinagrette dressing,
  • creamed spinach,
  • mashed cauliflower,
  • roasted potatoes with garlic,
  • trifle (orange sponge cake, marscapone whipped cream, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries).
And then there were many dishes to clean. It was super fun, the food was great (thanks Steve!), but dinner parties are hard work.

Easter Evening Homily

Texts: Acts 5:29b, 30-32; Psalm 136; Luke 24:13-35

I can’t really imagine a day in the Christian calendar about which more has been said than this day. And for good reason, because this is the day that defines our faith.

We knew the ending of this story even before we began Lent forty days ago, but each year we return to Jesus’ last weeks and days. And each year on this day, we remember and relive His rising.

I want to pause for a moment to reflect on just how remarkable this is. THIS is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened in this world and in our lives. And it is for us. We must always remember this one truth: Jesus has risen today, this very morning, in our hearts. It is as real as it was 2000 years ago.

It is in this way that we are witnesses, just as the women at the tomb, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the apostles in Jerusalem and Galilee witnessed the risen Christ. We share the Easter-moment with them, here and now.

That is what makes this day remarkable: it is the realization of all that Jesus said and did. It is the moment of hope that belongs to each and every person.

In the encounter on the way to Emmaus, the two disciples experience and know Jesus fully in the breaking of the bread. It is in coming to the table that we, too, can begin to know Jesus more fully.

Like the disciples, we are on the road, on a journey together. And when we meet Jesus, will we recognize him? Will we know him when we meet on the way? At the turn of the last century, Frank Weston, a priest and missionary in Tanzania, wrote:
You are Christians, then your Lord is one and the same with Jesus on the throne of His glory, with Jesus in His blessed sacrament, with Jesus received into your hearts in Communion, with Jesus enshrined in the hearts and bodies of His brothers and sisters up and down the world.

Now go out into the highways and hedges, and look for Jesus in the ragged and naked, in the oppressed and sweated, in those who have lost hope, in those who are struggling.
Let your eyes be open to the presence of Jesus yet among us. Let us know Jesus in them, and let us break bread with one another. We have, today, experienced the rising of Jesus Christ. We have, like the disciples on the road, an amazing story to tell. So let us go forth, strengthened by the meal of fellowship that we share today, and let us go forth to tell the story of our Savior, not only in our words, but in our actions, not only with our voices but with our hands, with our love, with everything we have to give.

Because we have been given the greatest gift ever given this holy week. Jesus gave his life for us, for all of us. And, in the midst of doubts, darkness, and disappointments, we have also been blessed, alongside his companions, by hope in the resurrection of Christ on the third day. We have been given so much, and these blessings are not ours to keep but instead belong to each and every person. So share the joy, the love, and the hope that this Easter day has brought to us.

We have been offered a great gift, but it is up to us to pass on the good news, to witness to the risen Lord, and to bring the kingdom of God into reality. In this way, we become part of the gift that God has given the world this day, by telling the story of the resurrection and by remembering who Christ has called us to be. In the resurrection, God overcomes death and brings light into the darkest hour; there is hope for the kingdom that Jesus had lived and died to preach. When we recognize the spirit of Christ in one another, we are bringing about the kingdom in our own lives. We must live out the hope of Easter-morning each day, remembering that we, too, are witnesses to the power of God and the promise of abundant life.

Let us, as the Psalmist did, give thanks to God who created us and redeemed us, who lived and walked with us in ancient Palenstine, who is with us still.

Let us give thanks to God for this easter day and for the blessed one who came in the name of the Lord. Let us give thanks to the risen Lord, here and now, but also in everything we do.

Let us give thanks that Jesus, the Christ, is made known to us in the breaking of bread.

Let us praise God for we have much to give thanks for! Alleluia, alleluia! Amen!

13 April 2006

argh!

I can't believe it's been so long! Life has been hugely busy, and the online stuff just had to hit the back burner for a little while... thanks to Mary Beth for popping in and checking up on me. I'm definitely going to try and post more often (which shouldn't be hard.. I'm pretty sure I can do better than every couple months!)

So, to ease into it, I'm going to post a couple of the sermons I gave over the past few months, and then hopefully I can do a thorough update.

Main thing on the mind this week: preaching Sunday at the chaplaincy. Starting to freak out. I keep telling myself it doesn't have to be the best ever. It's Easter. I'm pretty sure that many people have said much more profound things than I'll be able to say. I'm not persuaded though. I think Easter is one of those Sundays you can't be lackluster. So.. hopefully I don't completely lose it.