Hazelnut Reflections

the gift of peace and quiet

2008-12-24T08:18:00.003-06:00

Husband and I got our greatest gift last night.

We love our two cats, Wilbur and Houdini, but their presence in the house is not always conducive to a sound night's sleep. Round about 10 p.m. seemed to be their time to wake up and start caterwauling, fighting, and causing general mayhem. We used to keep our bedroom door open at night, for them to wander in and out, but Houdini used to start hunting human body parts at two in the morning (NOT a way you want to wake up) so we kicked him out. Wilbur, however, is a pleasure, sort of, to have as a foot of the bed cat. He's easily spooked, but loves to snuggle when the humans are lying down and not making any sudden moves. So we got in the habit of inviting Wilbur in and kicking Houdini out.

Wilbur, however, decided that he wasn't often ready to settle down when we were, and so began games of "let cat in, let cat out." He howls to be let in and howls to be let out. So we had gotten to the point of giving him one "free round-trip" and then kicking him out. Which defeated the whole purpose of a cat, which is keeping one's feet warm at night, especially during our recent cold snap. Add to the mix Houdini's random moments of scratching and howling on the door to be let in (every now and then he forgets that he's not allowed) and you have a recipe for a sleepless night.

Recently husband commented that he remembered that when we would give them treats of wet food, that they would become quiet and sleepy after that. So we first experimented by feeding them at our dinnertime the other night. Hey, we were able to eat OUR meal of take out mustard pork loin from Buy for Less (Yum!) without Houdini's interference or Jack Nicholson-like stare as we eat something he's particularly interested in. Wilbur and Houdini retired to the bedroom in a haze of turkey dinner and were quiet the rest of the evening.

So last night, I fed the cats around 9:30. Sure enough, when we went to bed at 10,Wilbur was ready to just curl up and fall asleep at the foot of the bed, and he didn't make a peep the rest of the night. (Didn't do his little snuggle dance, either, so there are still some bugs to work out in the system).

The only drawback is that I'm being stalked any time I pass by, head towards, or think about going into the kitchen.

May you all be blessed by the gift of peace this season, in whatever form that takes for you.

And all the little kitties say, "Amen!"

Domesticities

2008-12-01T16:12:00.001-06:00

Happy Advent! I'm not quite as into Advent as I sometimes am, it arrived so quickly on the heels of Thanksgiving. But I still love this season of wreaths and holy waiting.

In search of a quiet day with just the two of us, I ordered a Thanksgiving dinner for two from the OKC Museum of Art, who provided us with more ham than I can imagine eating and two poussins. We supplemented their fare with some cooking of my own. (See, I cook! Proof!)

Carrots, potatoes, onions, celery. . .and roasted garlic, to squeeze out of its papery skin at the end. DH doesn't like roasted garlic--all the more for me, my dear.

Roasted vegetables. . .mmm (Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything

Meanwhile, I am sadly at the end of Noro Kureyon #124. Discontinued colorway. Out of seven skeins, I've squeezed a Lopi Lace Scarf, Maine Morning Mitts and the Entrelac Scarf seen here:

Cold weather has finally arrived in Oklahoma, so I finally get to wear some of my wooly handknits. Now if I could just finish those alpaca/wool socks sitting in my Piddleloop bag. . .

October/early November wrap-up

2008-11-20T08:17:00.000-06:00

So. . ..

Let me sum up.

We were visited by the donkeys for Blessing of the Animals.

Over 40 of us from St. C's went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch in Shawnee.

We hosted Trunk or Treat at the church, and our partners in crime were residents of the Mid-Del Group Homes, who are always great fun and put the rest of us to shame with their costumes.

And there was some knitting. I churned out a ton of small projects recently; this one I made several inches of progress during diocesan convention. It's the Lopi Lace Scarf from one of my favorite knitting books ever, "Weekend Knitting," and no, it's not from the called for Lite-Lopi but from a gorgeous and discontinued colorway of Noro Kureyon. The scarf in the book has a nice rustic look, and the Kureyon matches perfectly with it.

Always wear your collar while. . .

2008-10-06T08:27:00.002-05:00

My last year in seminary, we had a class called Dean's Seminar, in which the Dean, a former parish priest, told us the really useful things one needed to know to function as an Episcopal priest in the world, like leading vestry meetings, what to do with wedding coordinators, and when to wear your collar and when not to (yes for driving in your car, and no for sitting on an airplane).

I'm a lot more sporadic about collar-wearing than I used to be but of course Sundays are an absolute in the collar-wearing business.

After church on Sunday and some brief pastoral calls, I decided I was going to use my free afternoon to take care of something that I had wanted to do for awhile, namely, see the Roman Art from the Louvre exhibit at the OKC Museum of Art (and which ends on October 12). Louvre art? In OKC? And the geeky side of my nature also thought maybe learning some more about Rome might be good for someone who, say, studies the New Testament and church history on a regular basis.

As it turned out, I wasn't the only person who had had this idea on a glorious Sunday afternoon. The last time I had popped down to OKCMOA on a Sunday after church I had been able to grab a spot right in front of the door. No such luck this time as there were parked cars for a few blocks around.

When I finally made it into the museum, there were two lines. Fairly long lines. One for cash and one for debit/credit cards. I wasn't sure how much cash I had on me, and couldn't remember how much the exhibit price was, so I took up a spot at the end of the credit card line.

As the line inched forward, the man in front of me engaged me in some small talk about the length of the line. As we crept along, he finally turned to me and said, "Excuse me, if you don't mind me asking, but are you a sister?"

No one had asked me that since we lived in highly Roman Catholic St. Louis. I smiled and said, "No, I'm an Episcopal priest."

"Then we're buying your ticket."

I protested but was overruled. His wife laughed that he was spending her money but also insisted on buying my ticket. It turned out that they were RC but even more importantly, her mother was the parishioner of a colleague of mine in a community in a different part of Oklahoma, and they think very highly of her.

I need to drop her an email and tell her she got me into the exhibit free and let Jim Lemler+ know--always wear your collar while standing in line at a museum.

a day late and. . .

2008-09-26T08:01:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was day two of the Medical Grand Rounds for Clergy program at the VA Hospital. We've been taking in a lot of information--the first day, last Thursday, contained introductions from geriatrics, pediatrics and ICU. Yesterday we got tours of a rehab unit, the prosthetics lab (I couldn't help but think of The Fugitive), and the surgery suites.

To go into surgery we had to put on paper "bunny suits" and put on head and shoe coverings. One of the funniest moments of the day was all 16 of us standing in the hallway, putting on our new outfits, when the hospital staff wheeled a man by in a gurney, taking him to one of the operating rooms. The look on his face as he checked us all out was priceless. Something like a cross between "are those medical students?" and "I'm in so much trouble." Then we were escorted through the surgical area and allowed to peek into the active operating rooms. It was wild to see stuff for real--to be just the other side of the glass from heads bent over draped bodies, operating room lights on in dark rooms.

A theme that continued to come up over and over again yesterday was money. We had a presentation from a surgeon about the changes in his field over the last one hundred years. He spoke about how medicine in the US had advanced the way it had because medicine had basically been given a blank check. And so there are huge machines (one anesthesia machine in the OR cost $350,000--of course that machine keeps people alive at an incredible rate.) and new drugs--but the costs of health care in our country are spiralling out of control.

In contrast, he spoke about being on a medical mission trip to Bolivia, and performing a cervical cancer surgery on a patient in a bare bones hospital, where cauterization was done with a Sears Craftsman soldering iron (or, rather, he decided not to use it) and suction was powered by some giant machine outside the window. The nuns who ran the hospital toted up some costs and decided to charge $300 for the surgery, which the mission team all chipped in to pay.

Thinking about the costs of it all on a day when my prayer focus was on the success of the Millenium Development Goals made my head spin. What's the answer? What price is health? Is life? A prosthesis made for a below the knee amputation down in the lab (carbon-fiber) was about $8000. What price the ability to walk again for a veteran?

I didn't write this to have an answer, but spending the day looking at hugely expensive machines to keep us alive (and who doesn't want them) while thinking about those who have no medical care, no prenatal care, no clean water--it was something that made my head spin.

I pray that we may have grace to realize our privilege and sort out our economic issues while not forgetting those billions around the world who have nothing.

Let me explain. . no, let me sum up

2008-08-26T21:16:00.001-05:00

We went to Utah.

Shawn and Carol's cat investigated my purse.

I knit a demented tea cozy.

I knit the most beautiful thing I've ever made.

Maybe I'll have more words in September.

on the road with Jacob

2008-07-22T08:47:00.002-05:00

Sermon, Eucharist, Royal School of Church Music Summer Course, Tulsa

Last time on “As the Book of Genesis Turns,” Rebekah the wife of Isaac, daughter-in-law of Abraham, discovers a prophecy of God related to her twin sons; Jaccob manipulates his brother Esau out of the elder brother’s birthright; Isaac tells Esau to prepare to receive his patriarchal blessing but Rebekah sneaks Jacob in to get the blessing instead; Esau threatens to harm Jacob; Rebekah and Isaac send Jacob away to find a wife—and it is on that errand that our story opens this morning, with Jacob, who has technically supplanted his elder brother. He seems to have won and yet at this moment he has been exiled from his family—not knowing if he will ever return—and beyond the vague instruction to go get himself a wife, has no idea what will come next.

In a time when any one of us can hop on a plane and fly safely across the globe, or drive a hundred miles in a day without thinking about anything more than the cost of the gas, it is hard to put ourselves in Jacob’s place on that lonely evening at Bethel, with nothing but a stone for his pillow. To be sent away from your family in that time could be a death sentence. Anyone could rob you or take vengeance upon you without your family’s protection. And there was no QuikTrip, no AAA to help out if your donkey broke down, no McDonald’s oasis on the Canaan Turnpike for a quick bite. Jacob is alone, no family or servants. Alone in the wilderness, even the simple act of falling asleep means taking a huge risk.

Jacob the underhanded—Jacob the deceiver—left alone in the darkness to contemplate the actions that have led him to this moment. If he’s thinking about God at all—and up until this point there is no evidence that he cares at all for the God of his ancestors—he probably thinks that his actions have left him to be abandoned and condemned.

So imagine his surprise when God appears to him in a dream and assures Jacob of the promise God made to him and his family. It is undeserved and unmerited and yet Jacob has received God’s favor.

IT would be easy for us as observers to wonder why God has chosen this dysfunctional family and this individual in particular to invest in, to build God’s plan for the future. This one? Really? A liar and a cheat? A manipulator and a thief? The legitimate heir according to the rules of society at the time—Esau—has been tricked out of his inheritance for THIS guy—and it’s part of the plane. On the surface, betting all of the money on Jacob seems like a strange plan indeed.

And yet, Jesus reminds us in this morning’s Gospel that the casual observer is not privy to God’s understanding of individual human beings in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. The particular weeds Jesus refers to, when they are young, look remarkably like wheat—so it is only in the fullness of time that it will be obvious what is productive and fruitful versus what is empty and void. And it is God’s job, not ours, to make the final judgment between the two.

That God has a place for Jacob and Esau—God does not abandon Esau, either—is good news for you and for me. That only God can tell the difference between weeds and wheat is good news for you and for me. It’s all very good news for young Ethan, baptized this morning. Nothing we do is removed from the realm of God’s care and love, and only in the end will God what is fruitful and what is not. So we can let go of worrying whether we are good enough to be part of the kingdom of God. If God can make use of a cheat and coward like Jacob, and slow-witted, impulsive Esau—God can make a place for any and all of us.

Whether we are safely immersed in a loving family or on the road to exile like Jacob, God does not abandon us. The road may sometimes be dangerous, but God is always with us, blessing us in our faults and our gifts. We may not always be able to see the vision of the kingdom, the ladder connecting heaven and earth, but in baptism and communion we are connected to it, always being reborn out of exile in the wilderness into everlasting life.

a yarn of a tale

2008-06-21T21:01:00.004-05:00

Or, how I went to St. Louis on a yarn pilgrimage.

I wasn't able to go to St. Louis KIP b/c my friend Jane and I were on an equally
important quest--that of the Saturday morning farmer's market. We hit the one in Clayton first, followed by a further jaunt to Soulard and pub lunch at the new Llewellyn's. Yum. But I did see St. Louis knitters publicly knitting when I dropped by Knitty Couture before heading off to
see friends in Webster Groves.

Monday brought more yarn.

That is the one and only Myers House. Guaranteed to enhance your stash, because how can you resist yarn in a historic house? The pull of the house's charm is so strong that the fabric store on the first floor, which one must trek through to reach the yarn-laden second floor, always makes me want to start quilting. (As I walked through on this trip I repeated to myself "I hate ironing. I hate ironing." This saved me from succumbing to the lure of the fabric until I was safely on the stairs.)

Tuesday morning I was trying to figure out whether I could squeeze in a trip to an LYS when I realized I was about to drive by the (also new to me) Kirkwood Knittery. How convenient that they were right on the way to my friends' house in Webster! Didn't even have to go out of my way.

Tuesday night Jane and I found ourselves picnicking in Forest Park before seeing "The Producers" at the Muny. (I had not seen the theatrical production or the movie of the musical. You have to love a friend whose idea of a picnic before theater includes vichysoisse in green plastic martini glasses. Bolstered by our dinner, I knit my way through the talking head introduction and the intermission at the Muny:

Wednesday evening Jane (did I mention what a good friend Jane is?) and I hit Busch Stadium to take in a Cards game and I had my very own Stitch 'n' Pitch:

Thursday I had one last day in St. Louis and I made it count. First, a trip to The Loopy Ewe during their open hours:

(I called Kay while standing here in front of the wall of Lorna's Laces.) Then I continued on to see Knitorious in their new location (or at least, new to me) on S. Watson Road.

Last, but certainly not least, since I had not had a chance to Knit in Public under the Arch on the 14th, and since I was curious about the water levels on the Mississippi, I trekked down to the Arch steps (warning--just to get into the Arch these days, even if you just want to use the bathrooms, is an undertaking that rivals going to the airport. Do not be in a hurry to get to the bathroom. Just sayin'.)

I'll post more water photos in a later post, but this was my view while I sat on a nice piece of grass under a tree and plugged along on the sweater back.

Illinois driver

2008-06-21T20:53:00.000-05:00

I'm back from my one week adventure in St. Louis--home of good friends, Ted Drewes', and, at this moment, a surfeit of water.

More on the water in another post.

When I first got to St. Louis last Friday, Large Car Rental Company upgraded me to a bigger car when the one I had reserved wasn't there (is there anyone else besides me who wonders about the whole point of reservations?)

As I was signing all the requisite paperwork, which included a form that told me I could drive unlimited mileage in Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas, the Renter Dude (I'm sure that's his official title) said, "You're not driving into Illinois,are you?"

Having lived on both sides of the river, I always find the attitudes of many in the St. Louis area about people on "the other side" to be very amusing. I knew plenty of folks in the Metro East who didn't venture over to St. Louis, and vice versa. My favorite sign on Highway 40 was "Last Missouri Exit"--also there's one on I-44 that notes it's the "Last Rest Area in Missouri."

I pointed out that I would be most certainly driving in Illinois, and he made a fuss about "noting that on the form." After he left and I was getting settled into the car, I had a good laugh when I saw the license plate.

God forbid one should drive a car registered in Illinois in--Illinois.

note to my next door neighbor

2008-06-11T08:54:00.004-05:00

Dear Neighbor,

Did you find a foam "P" in your patio this morning?

Are you wondering where it came from?

Bear with me.

You see, this morning I finished weaving in the ends of a project I've been working on for two+ months:

(That's Serenity Blanket from La of JenLa. Stats: 5 and a smidge balls of white Cotton-Ease on size 6 needles. This is intended as a gift, but I won't say who or when until I actually get the thing in the mail and sent).

A few months ago I spotted foam tiles at Michael's that one can interlock in different shapes, and I thought they would make a great blocking board. And they do.

This morning I went outside with the tiles b/c the patio is the best space we have for big projects that need some elbow room. I went outside with the tiles before I realized we are having yet another day with strong winds out of the south.

Before I realized what was happening, the tiles started flipping up in the wind, and then some of them flew up in the air. I was able to grab most of them, but in the process, the little letters and shapes started falling out of the tiles, and at least one of them flew over the patio wall.

So this is why there's a foam "P" on your patio. I can live without it, but if you can find it and can return it, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Your wacky neighbor (yes, I'm the one who takes her cats out for a stroll on the patio and that's why you hear me say, "Houdini, no. No!" during the evening, when he goes for the chives).

all creatures great and small

2008-05-26T09:17:00.000-05:00

I have to say, that when we drove down to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge last week, I kept my expectations low. It was hot and sticky, and I wasn't sure we would actually get to see any animals. Having lived in the desert for years, I know that creatures don't always come out close to humans in the hot weather.

It's good to be wrong.

(Is it just me, or do you want to reach out and scratch the rest of that hide off? Or am I the only one thinking "and how exactly does that turn into buffalo yarn?)

Further to the west, we made two visits to Prairie Dog Town. Some of the prairie dogs whose territory is closest to the road are used to being fed, despite the signs, and come right up to you. Others make a dive for their holes when the big scary humans come along.

But maybe when the humans don't move around so much they start to feel it's okay to come out and check what the world is up to.

We've bookmarked this as a definite return trip. I can't wait to go back when it's a tad cooler and do some hiking.

Stash Enhancement

2008-05-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

So one evening I'm minding my own business on Ravelry and got a PM from a RavFriend saying that she had heard my screenname drawn at Maryland Sheep and Wool for one of the RavelRaiser prizes. Eep!

I was on pins and needles until the next morning, when it turned out I had won the Lace Dream Stash.

The woman at the front office was a little nonplussed at my eagerness to get my package today. Also, I had red clay on my sandals and didn't want to muck up her space, but I was insistent on getting my box.

I opened and found these:

So what shall I do first?

Behold, a meditation

2008-05-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

Thought I would post the meditation I wrote for our recent women's conference in Tulsa. The theme of the conference was "Behold, I do a new thing."

“Behold, I do a new thing!”

The theme of our conference was a message to the people of Israel in exile in Babylon. Dragged off from their homes in Judah, the exiles didn’t know what to
expect on their arrival in a foreign nation. To their surprise, many found it comfortable. Many found prosperity. So many them thought, why worry about the covenant with God and the poor folk left behind when you can take daily power walks in Babylon’s hanging gardens, park your two chariots in the driveway, and buy the latest in fashion in the marketplace?

So there was tension in the community of exiles. The question at the heart of the matter was this: do we stay and adapt, taking on not just the trappings of Babylonian life but worship of the Babylonian gods as well? Or do we hang on to what makes us a community, strengthen our identity, build cohesion as the people of Israel in exile?

And then, breathtakingly, Cyrus the king of Persia conquers Babylon and offers the exiles an opportunity to return home. It is that offer that Isaiah refers: “Behold, I do a new thing!” God working through the politics of the time to restore God’s people to their home.

But what is this new thing? What are the people returning to? The land of Israel is shattered. The fields are laid waste. The temple, the visible sign of God’s presence among the people of Israel, is gone. Returning home, rebuilding the community—it’s going to be hot, dusty, dirty, smelly work.

On the surface, this “new thing” looked dismal. It looked like the dumbest idea ever—well, maybe the dumbest idea since Moses listened to a burning bush and dragged a ragtag group of slaves away from their comfortable well-fed captivity and around the wilderness of Sinai for 40 years.

Isaiah continues, “I am doing a new thing—do you not perceive it?” The exiles were challenged to look with their eyes of faith—to see freedom and homecoming instead of desolation and poverty.

Exile might seem comfortable—but it’s not with God. Our call is to be with God, no matter what the external circumstances.

All of the signs around us point to the fact that God is doing a new thing in the Episcopal Church. We are being called out of our comfort zone. Like the exiles of Isaiah’s time, we know we are being called to rebuild the community of God in new ways and in new places. It’s hot, dusty, dirty, smelly work.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve been at retreats, Cursillo closings, or other recent events and heard people get up and say—people I knew to be lifelong Christians, pillars of their church—“this is the first time I’ve experienced true Christian community.”

If that’s what’s been comfortable for us, then we have truly been in exile.

On the surface, the future we’re being called into looks uncertain, and the outward trappings might be a bit the worse for wear. But if we perceive with the eyes of faith, we might find ourselves emerging from exile, coming home and set free to do the work that God asks us to do to be the body of Christ for each other, and for the whole world.

in which I do not get to see Dick Cheney

2008-05-03T18:08:00.003-05:00

So I've returned home from our annual ECW Conference over in Tulsa (and over the weekend I learned where the phrase "Tulsa time" comes from, so now all those billboards make a whole lot more sense. Or more accurately, I should say I was introduced to the song that the phrase "Tulsa time" was used in.)

Being part of the board that puts on the conference, I'm always aware of the under-the-surface paddling that allows us to pull these things off. But this year was made more complicated by the fact that it also included the appearance of the Secret Service.

I've been a little nose-to-the-grindstone lately between episcopal visitations and the usual end-of-the-program year stuff so that most news of the day had entirely escaped my notice. I was checking into my hotel room the afternoon before the conference, and in typical Oklahoma fashion found myself chatting with the person in the room next to me. She asked what I was doing there, and I reciprocated. She said, "I'm here for the Vice President's visit."

It took me a minute to realize she meant the Vice President, and I stared at her. "The Vice President's coming here?"

She stared at me like I was the local village idiot. "Yes, he'll be here tomorrow."

Again, clueless to the fact that when she said "here," she didn't mean "Tulsa" but at that very same Large Downtown Hotel. (Which one might also refer to as the Large Downtown Hotel of Slipshod Service, or LDHSS for short).

Of course, no one at the front desk of LDHSS had bothered to inform me of this fact when I had checked in mere moments before. Or informed me that access was going to be restricted in and out of the hotel the following day. Luckily, the cashier at Very Large Downtown Parking Garage where hotel guests parked was more forthcoming with, you know, actual information. When the board compared notes on Friday morning, we discovered many of us had been given conflicting information by hotel staff on what would be accessible and what wouldn't during the magical hours of 4 - 7:30.

(LDHSS also failed to clean our hospitality suite before we got there, so we were greeted by sticky tables, balloons left over from a baby and a moldy ice bucket. In addition, the check out material stated that "enclosed was a service questionnaire". There was no service questionnaire in the packet. The irony was not lost on the conference board).

Because I was still learning my singing parts for Friday's choral evensong, I did not try to venture back to LDHSS. I heard later that the Secret Service blocked off the garage and the 2nd street exit of the hotel, and some of our women were not able to get back in time for Evensong because they couldn't get their cars out of the garage.

So I missed Dick Cheney and the Secret Service, although some attendees of our conference hung out and people watched as people came into the ballroom. I'm kind of sorry I missed that part, but since the opportunities for public embarrassment were manifold with the setting for evensong, I chose rehearsal over affairs of the day.

But I am kind of sorry I didn't get to see what all the fuss was about.

redemption on the diamond

2008-04-27T20:56:00.002-05:00

Words cannot express how much I loathed high school PE.

The only sport I actually ever enjoyed playing in PE was soccer, and if I knew then what I know now, I would have tried out for it, but I was at a high school where everyone already seemed to be an expert at everything, so it didn't feel like there was a lot of possibility for trying something you might not be good at.

So sports and I have an ambivalent history. On the one hand, I actually enjoy watching sports. I even subscribe to Sports Illustrated. On the other hand, there's that ghost in my head.

I got rid of the ghost in my head for awhile by playing basketball with friends in graduate school. Great fun, and I have a decent eye for making shots.

But the two sports I loathed most were volleyball and softball. To this day, I still resent the high school PE teacher who failed me in volleyball and made me come in early one morning for makeup work, which involved setting the ball ten times in a row and other equally informative exercises. Softball? Just miserable.

Later in life I had some friends give me some gentle coaching in holding a bat and keeping my eye on the ball, so I've actually made it on to a base for awhile, and once, in a seminary intramural game, scored a run.

Today St. C's had a game against another church in our deanery. The church is larger and their team has been together for awhile (they had t-shirts!) We hadn't even played together once.

When we first got out there, I wasn't even sure I wanted to play. I hung out in the dugout, but I was too scared to get out there. Then after awhile, seeing the broad spectrum of quality of play, I knew I had the courage to go out and at least take my hand at swinging a bat.

I made contact and even though I hit into a double play, it felt good.

It totally helped that I had watched "Bull Durham" last week. I kept thinking--"it's a simple game. You hit the ball, you throw the ball, you catch the ball." And of course, Kevin Costner at the plate, thinking "Bring me that weak-assed $%@#, meat."

Before the game was over, I had hit a sacrifice fly ("I advanced a runner! I advanced a runner!) and made it to 1st base on the error of a guy who was giving me some smack because I was a priest (deeply satisfying). I eventually scored a run. It. Felt. So. Good.

Hey, maybe this week we'll even practice. Cause we totally--well, we totally sucked in the first couple of innings but by the end we were--better.

In the immortal words of Nuke LaLouche--sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes--it rains.

Red Scarf at Night . . .Sailor's Delight

2008-04-16T08:22:00.002-05:00

Another knitalong for Seamen's Church Institute got underway this month. We have been challenged to knit a red scarf and matching hat to celebrate the upcoming liturgical feast of Pentecost (May 11).

More information can be found here.

Black Cherry Chutney

2008-04-03T20:51:00.003-05:00

Doesn't that sound like a yummy yarn?

I went for a manicure today, a gift from a parishioner to a local salon. The nail tech sent me to the wall of nail polish to select my color. I have charmingly red toes at the moment, a nice dark red color that was applied at the pre-Maundy Thursday footwashing pedicure the women of St. C's engaged in on Holy Wednesday. (Don't tell me that's theologically suspect--it was fun).

I was looking for the matching nail polish at the salon, when my eyes were drawn to a display of a particularly au courant set of colors. "Black Cherry Chutney," read one. It was a deep, dark purple. How fun, a part of my brain insisted. Too out there, the other part responded. I set it down and went back to the red.

As the pre-polish portions of the manicure went on, administered by the charming Amanda, I kept thinking about the dark purple of the "Black Cherry Chutney." How it would be fun to have that on my nails. What would people think? that little voice inside my head continued to say.

I'm 41. I think it's time to wear the nail color I want.

When Amanda got up to get some lotion, I asked to switch colors.

I have Black Cherry Chutney nails. They make me happy.

Thank goodness Lent is over.

2008-03-24T09:13:00.003-05:00

The final total for Lent:

22 hats.

And this:

My Lenten discipline was knitting for others. I would take a break from the hats with the log cabining.

Did I mention I was glad it was Easter? It was a good discipline and I'm glad I made myself stick it out, but I'm glad to be doing other things now.

Unintended Consequences

2008-03-08T21:02:00.002-06:00

It occurred to me, this evening, as I ran up the stairs to answer my cell phone, that there is one drawback to having the orchestral version of the James Bond theme as your default ringtone when one is actually watching a James Bond movie on television. It took me a minute to realize it was my phone ringing and not the soundtrack.

Dum da da da dum dum dum. . .dum da da da dum dum dum

I broke the Internet, selfish knitting, and other stories

2008-03-05T07:32:00.003-06:00

Ok, it wasn't that dramatic. But I came home last Thursday and settled myself at my home office chair when I discovered the lights on our modem were blinking in an unhelpful fashion. As in blinking red.

An hour later, having run around the house, carrying the cordless phone on speaker so Tech Support could guide me in testing to see what was wrong, plugging the modem into various outlets to see if it was dead (It's dead, Jim), looking for a paper clip to press the reset button, I was wondering just exactly how all this technology was improving my life.

Oh, yeah, because without it, I couldn't surf Ravelry.

And I couldn't run upstairs and digest the latest episode of Lost with Paula. (Although since the last episode was marked by a dearth of Sawyer, I couldn't just repeat over and over "Sawyer. Hawwwwt." So the loss of the modem didn't interfere in that usual Thursday night ritual).

Obsessive hat knitting continued, through an ECW Board meeting in Tulsa, through Knit In at Gourmet Yarn, through our Sunday morning adult forum. (Hey, we're watching a video on the history of Christianity--it's legit). I'm also working on a baby blanket for an impending great-nephew on husband's side--it's one of those log cabin baby blankets by the those women at Mason-Dixon. When I lost my hat mojo for a couple of days, some plain old garter stitch got me back on track. I am now in the biggest block of all--108 rows of 108 garter stitches. I can only work on that in small doses.

I promised myself that this Lent I would knit for others. I tend to be somewhat of a selfish knitter. It's not that I don't give my knitted items away, it's just that I tend to knit what pleases me. Sometimes it turns out afterwards it works as a gift. I tended to shy away from charity knitting, especially when my wrist wasn't happy. I was knitting so slowly then that I felt awkward about trying to make deadlines.

Now I have a new laptop with a better keyboard (yay!) and can do more knitting again. But I was still resistant. Then I knit a couple of small sock yarn squares for a blanket that MasonDixon was putting together as a fundraiser. Then I spotted the 4000 Hats thing after I had cast on for the baby blanket. So I committed to knitting for others as my Lenten practice. And may have gone a tad overboard on the hats in the process.

Over the weekend I found myself hitting a spiritual wall. I was desperate to cast on something for myself. I had done all sorts of Ravelry browsing and bookmarked patterns for stash busting, and I so badly wanted to start casting things on. Stuff for me.

It's not that I think I'm going to go to hell if I fail at a Lenten discipline (for goodness' sake, I've failed at so many Lenten disciplines in the past, God would have a long list to choose from at this point). But I was struck at how I was tempted to give up even something as simple as the practice I had chosen and which I was enjoying. This wasn't like being tempted to have some chocolate at the 3rd week of Lent marker (see under "failed Lenten discipline"). This wasn't deprivation. I was having fun with the hats and the baby blanket.

I made it through the temptation but I found it heartily instructive. If it's so easy to be tempted to give up a small Lenten practice which isn't even onerous, how on earth do we train ourselves for "the race that is set before us?"

(I think that's where that whole grace and mercy thing come in).

hats off

2008-02-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

It's a disease. A sickness.

I can't seem to stop.

In general, I don't use chunky yarn. NOT figure-flattering. But perfect for mariners with cold heads.

Questions were asked at Gourmet Yarn'stea party yesterday about the patterns that are being used for 4000 Hats in 40 Days. Circular patterns are fine. Jeanette has some patterns listed on her blog that are not the same old patterns Seamen's Church has been collecting for years. I've been doing a number of different patterns with ribbing, cables and stripes. I think as long as they are gender-neutral, warm and in the genre of watch cap or beanie that goes down over the ears, it's fine. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out the link to the projects we've made alreadyhere.

There's probably a reason I've been obsessed with the hat-making, other than I enjoy doing the different patterns and getting that instant gratification from quick projects. The last couple of weeks have been stressful at a level that's almost beyond description. I was sick with a nasty chest cold for a couple of days after the installation, returning to a regular schedule at work two days after Ash Wednesday (I got through Ash Wednesday on adrenaline and cough drops). Two days later, we lost one of our beloved members at church who had been hospitalized for something seemingly minor. We did her funeral on Saturday, and the following day, I attended the death of another member of the congregation, whose funeral was this past Wednesday. Stir in some bleak weather and the news that my beloved seminary, which in many ways was like a second home for me, is involved in "restructuring" and no longer going to be offering residential M.Div. programs. They claim they are "not closing," however, I am suspicious of the rhetoric being tossed about.

So prayers for Seabury--for the futures of the faculty and students, and for wisdom for the board and administration. And I'll go about my hat-making ways through Lent.

gone a little OCD

2008-02-17T22:08:00.000-06:00

Why, I don't have a hat problem.

Why do you ask?

I've bookmarked a whole bunch of bulky hat patterns on Ravelry and am enjoying watching the Plymouth Encore Chunky #1444 disappear into useful hats for mariners with cold heads.

It's not too late to join the 4000 Hats in 40 Days crowd. Ravelry link is here

and information about the project for Seamen's Church Institute is here.

Book meme

2008-02-12T08:24:00.000-06:00

I got tagged.

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more.

Angel and Me, Stories by Sara Maitland

Find page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.

"My guardian angel put in an appearance the other day, while I was polishing the silver. I sort of hoped she would be impressed to see me performing this menial and housewifely task with such devotion. Of course, she wasn't."

Heh. I wonder how my guardian angel would feel about the yarn?

Ok, now to tag 5 people:

Paula
Kay
Songbird
Terri
Anita

Hack, hack, cough, sneeze

2008-02-07T08:29:00.000-06:00

So I haven't written yet about the big Celebration of New Ministry we had at St. C's this past weekend.

That's because I promptly got good and sick after it was all over. And hubby, too. Instead of being at our respective Shrove Tuesday pancake dinners, we stayed home and ate the traditional pre-Lenten Chinese delivery (chicken rice soup--it'll cure what ails you!) and huddled under blankets.

I wasn't too sick to knit so I finished knitting my mile that was part of the Stash Knit Down group on Ravelry by getting to block eight of the Moderne Baby Blanket I'm making for an impending great-nephew on hubby's side (yay! using up the vintage Microspun stash).

Yesterday, between services, cough drops and heavy intake of hot fluids to keep my voice from disappearing, I set aside the blanket and cast on my first hat for this. I "met" Jeanette via Ravelry--she's in charge of Christmas at Sea for this longtime Episcopal Church ministry in New York. I've knitted a scarf or two before, because hubby was involved in the ministry with mariners back when we lived in St. Louis--we even got to go down to Paducah, KY once for him to bless a tow boat. I have a ton of brown/black Encore Chunky that I bought back for a crochet project but that didn't please me, but will make some nice fast hats for this effort. So--Lenten discipline AND knitting from more vintage stash.

And here's a funny knitting-related Ash Wednesday story. A woman was at church for our noonish service who I had never met. But even from the altar I could tell she was wearing a Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf made out of Berroco Foliage (I should get some kind of points for that). She was visiting from out of town and was only mildly startled when I asked at the Peace if she was a knitter! (She was).

Red Dirt Big Bad Baby Blanket

2008-01-30T09:04:00.000-06:00

So, how's that knitting a mile thing coming?

More stash-busting. This is more from the "I'm stressed and I can relax if I just go to the Michael's around the corner from the church and stare at the yarn and oops! How did that yarn get in my basket?" stash.

But since I found out at the register the yarn was about $1.99 a ball on clearance, that makes this a $6 blanket.

Pattern: Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch 'n' Bitch
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino, color "Regency." Just under 3 skeins.
Needles: Size 7 Denises. I dropped down from the recommended 9 for the pattern to get a nice tight seed stitch.

Speaking of which. . .a border of seed-stitch (20 rows on each end) has whipped my seed stitch into tighter shape. Unfortunately, that means you can tell which end was the cast-on end.

And I gotta tell you, 40 rows of seed stitch for a border, and nothing but seed stitch and stockinette for that many inches is pretty mind-numbing. It's good TV knitting, though, so I highly recommend some TV show on DVD to get you through it (and if, say, it happens to have Sawyer from Lost on it, all the better). There are quite a few episodes of that show, Project Runway, my soap, and the hour of syndicated Two and a Half Men that went into this blanket. (What? I am the queen of guilty pleasure TV watching).

Further Thoughts on Lady Eleanor

2008-01-23T15:21:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all of the compliments on Lady E!

And now some technical notes:

8 and a smidge skeins of Natural Geranium, Patons SWS, knitted on size 9 needles (Denises). So it is all one colorway. The original pattern calls for 10.5. I am a bit of a loose knitter, but I tested a few different needle sizes and picked the fabric I liked best, which was the 9. As other people have noted, the first tier or so you're wondering WTH you're producing, but after about four or five tiers it really starts to look beautiful.

I put her in for a bath and she seems to have grown in length, not much in width. The stitch gauge seems to be about the same. Now my ends were draping off the lawn chair, but I don't think that would cause the overall stretching. I wish I had taken a measurement of the whole wrap before I put it in for its bath. However, I did measure at the halfway point, and there was no way, at that point, I was going to get to 70 inches with the 35+ tiers. And it's now about 80 inches long.

I liked working with the SWS. It's not super-soft, but I like the drape, and the wrap is nice and toasty. I did not teach myself to knit backwards, and it really only became a problem at the end, when I was turning a garment of that magnitude every 8 stitches.

The cats vote thumbs up, too.

She's a Lady

2008-01-21T15:02:00.001-06:00

CIMG1302
Originally uploaded by julianscat

A mostly-completed Lady E.

Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style.

It's been a tad stressful on the work front since, oh, Julyish. That's when the question of whether I was staying at St. C's not just as the Interim but as the Rector really clicked into high gear. I didn't realize how much I was stressed until I wasn't.

Right about the time that decision got made (what does this have to do with Lady E? Bear with me), pastoral care needs in the congregation kicked into high gear. Between the end of October and last week, the congregation experienced the untimely deaths of 3 people associated with the church, the house fire of one family, and the ice storm and all of its consequences for so many of our members who live in a part of the metro area that was termed "Ground Zero" for the storm.

Not to mention my little encounter with OKCFD #18.

I hate to admit that one of the ways I manage stress is yarn therapy. And since St. C's is just around the corner from Michael's. . .well, it doesn't take much to put two and two together and comes up with thousands of yards of yarn. And now that Michael's carries "nice" yarns likes SWS and Patons Classic Merino. . .

Oops.

So I'm taking on the Stash Down 2008 challenge on Ravelry. Not a yarn diet. Just getting serious about actually doing something with my stash except using it as insulation for our apartment.

Hence, Lady Eleanor. That's 8+ skeins of SWS. I bought 8, ran out on the last triangle, had to buy one more. Don't tell the Stash Down people. I'll use up much of the rest of it making tassels, right?

the light shines in the darkness

2007-12-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

This is an adaptation of my sermon from Advent IV at St. C's, and yet it seems very appropriate for Christmas Eve. Blessings to all.

A month or so before I was to be ordained, I had some serious doubts about the whole thing. I wrestled with dark thoughts about my worthiness, my ability to actually be a priest. I relived everything wrong I had ever done, every mistake I had ever made, and felt the weight of all of my imperfections.

I finally called a friend, a colleague and asked to see her. At her house, I confided all of these doubts and fears to her. She listened very carefully and finally replied that she had been a priest a long time, and over the years she had come to believe in the power of darkness. She thought that as I was approaching the advent of this very good thing that it would try to overwhelm and distract me.

I've been a priest for a few years now, and like her, I've come to believe that there is an objective force for evil in the world. I don't believe in the idea of a "devil" with horns and a tail, but I am convinced that there are powers of darkness ranged against the power of light.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately as it has seemed like there is a dark cloud perched over our congregation for the last couple of months. So many families in our congregation struggling with personal tragedy, and in the past couple of weeks, the very fabric of our property here at the church, so many of the beautiful trees we loved collapsed under the weight of the ice. It seems as if there is something dark out there trying to distract us from our mission.

And to me it's not a coincidence that darkness might be at its height this time of year. I happen to believe that Christmas is a very, very good thing. Not the celebration our culture tries to turn it into, some twisted collision of Norman Rockwell and Martha Stewart, some glittery expectation none of us can meet. Christmas itself is all about the Light coming into the world. So it's probably not a surprise that our inner voices of despair and gloom are heightened this time of year by an insidious darkness.

And sometimes those voices aren't so obviously dark. Think of Joseph--the voices would have been those of society, would have sounded so reasonable, sounded like conventional wisdom. "Who's she kidding, being pregnant by the Holy Spirit? Get her out of your life." And it was the angel, the messenger of light who appeared and said--"Fear not." How crucial was Joseph's part in the story--that Mary and the child Jesus would have protection from a husband and father in those dangerous times.

We get to choose which voices we listen to. On Christmas we are reminded that the Light came into a dark world, and the darkness did not overcome it, and so each one of us can have the strength to be part of that Light.

May your house be open to the Light, Emmanuel, God-with-us, on this Christmas, and on the Christmases yet to come.

And the insurance agent said

2007-12-18T17:57:00.000-06:00

"You're the only client of mine who ever ran into a fire truck!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is my new claim to fame. In the early hours of our now infamous ice storm, the Sentra skidded on an ice patch and slid, diagonally, into a fire rig (OKCFD #18), parked in the right hand lane. The car then crunched forward, ripping off the passenger side mirror. Other than that, nothing else was damaged.

So much for the 8:00 service. By the time the cops were done with the scene investigation, the weather was really happening and we cancelled our late service. But the wonderful driver of OKCFD #18 bought me a hot chocolate to cheer me up. (Do I wear a sign that says chocolate is my addiction of choice?)

By the time I got back to the church on Tuesday, this is what I saw:

Among other piles of debris. I'll spare you the forty photos I took.

Many in our congregations were without power. Mr. Julianscat and I were quite lucky--we lost power for only 12 hours. But we learned how unprepared we were. Ouch.

My favorite part of our outage was the look of withering outrage the cats turned on me on Monday morning as the temp in our apartment started to drop. It was as if they were saying, "How dare you do this to US?"

You would have thought I had personally turned down the thermostat.

Other than that. . .Christmas is arriving. . .I have some shopping left, mostly for some "angels" off our belated church Angel Tree. I'm not knitting for gifts this year, although I did make hubby a new wool hat (of course, once I had started it, we found the acrylic hat I had knitted him during my first spate of knitting.) But superwash wool will be good for his morning runs in colder weather.

Got some sermons to write, too ;)

Benjamin Bear skips Advent, apparently

2007-12-04T21:38:00.000-06:00

It might be an "oops" for me, but it fits him nicely.

My head is too big

2007-12-03T15:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it probably is in that way, too, but I'm talking about knitting.

I spent last night working on the Santa Hat from Handknit Holidays. I figure with the stretch of a knitted fabric, I could get away with the woman's size. I knitted to gauge (oh, you know where this is going. . .)

Too small. With the bobbles and the bind-off. . .well, you get the picture. (And no, there's not going to be a picture).

Well, I'll find someone who needs a Santa hat. . .

Convention knitting

2007-11-17T18:16:00.000-06:00

I literally picked up hooks and yarn back in 2004 to save my sanity at the church meetings I suddenly realized I was going to be spending the rest of my life attending. At many of these meetings my attendance and attention is required, but not necessarily activity.

From crochet I wandered into knitting and the rest, as they say, is in my stash.

Diocesan convention is prime knitting territory. For one thing, if you're at a heated convention, the soothing Zen qualities of knitting take the edge off. If you're at a slow one. . well, the soothing Zen qualities of knitting take the edge off.

The convention I attended was neither heated nor slow, and I was surrounded by congenial company. Our church also had a booth where we were selling pretty sparkly things. So I didn't get much knitting done. But I did spot other knitters and their work, including my friend at Effervescence, who had the requisite socks,and someone working on what looked like the beginning of a Seaman's Scarf for Christmas at Sea. I counted two other knitters present, although I did not see evidence of their knitting.

I still have half a ball left of Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair on my Misty Garden, and I lost a stitch marker (before you wail on my behalf, it was one half of a very cheap earring I bought at Wal-mart in Sikeston, MO, precisely for the purpose of being a stitch marker.)

As we all know, planning what projects you take for convention knitting is almost as vexing as the other question that perenially faces clergy--what to wear? (Suit? Jeans? Collar/no collar?) But all of this can be resolved by a night of good cheer among Episcopalians at the hotel bar, watching soccer parents groove to karaoke.

Finally photographed

2007-10-20T08:54:00.000-05:00

That whole Ravelry thing is forcing me to actually clean up some odds and ends with recent knitting projects. Here's one:

I finished it awhile ago. I acquired the yarn and the pattern on the Great 2007 Ft. Worth Yarn Crawl atSimpatico Yarns in Bedford, between Dallas and Fort Worth. That's a very friendly yarn shop with staff. The yarn is the soft Misti Alpaca Chunky, and I used the stockinette version of the lace pattern. I didn't mind the roll, and I liked how it looked. It's huge and long and soft and very pink.

If I fall off the face of the earth. . .

2007-10-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

You can blame this.

There's something about this prayer thing

2007-10-15T10:30:00.000-05:00

I went out to the fall women's retreat at our retreat center with the firmest intention of asking the retreat leader for a few moments of prayer for dealing with some dark stuff I had been carrying along with me last week.

The topic of our retreat was "Prayer: Not with Words Only" and we tried different sorts of prayer. We prayed the Daily Office, we practiced Centering Prayer, we practiced walking prayer, played with Anglican beads and finger labyrinths.

I realized, as I was driving away, that simply being in that prayer-soaked atmosphere accomplished what I needed to have accomplished without me ever tracking down the retreat leader for a few minutes' chat.

Funny how that works.

Side Trips and Meanderings

2007-10-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

You know you're working in Oklahoma when:

You are making a pastoral call at the hospital on the day of the big OU-Texas game, and as you walk down the hallway, looking for the room your parishioner is in, you hear snippets of the game from every room you pass.

(I even watched a few seconds myself down in the surgical waiting room with the little crowd that had gathered around the big screen TV there).

My own alma mater is 3 and 0 in conference play, a feat that is making me consider revisiting orange and blue as a fashion statement. They need all the help I can get.

I'll leave you with a favorite shot from our whirlwind Midwestern tour from the summer. This museum in Austin, Minnesota is definitely worth the trip.

dinner for two

2007-09-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

With two clergy people with odd schedules in the house, and cats who have so far resisted all attempts to train them to take on any share in the domestic affairs of the household, dinner is sometimes a hit or miss affair.

We had a real winner last night, and I'm documenting this so I can remember:

one box Coconut Ginger Rice (one of those Thai mixes in the Asian foods aisle)

extra-firm tofu
one zucchini
a handful of carrots
one red pepper
onion and garlic

I sauteed the veggies and the tofu and tossed them in with the rice mix while it was cooking. At the end I mixed in dried cranberries, almonds and green onions, and drizzled it with lime juice.

Given that we polished the whole thing off last night, I would say it was a hit.

The Coconut Ginger rice mix definitely needs a little sweet something to balance out some of the curry flavors. I think next time I might toss in golden raisins or another dried fruit that's a little sweeter than the cranberries.

Satisfaction of a home-cooked meal AND bonus points for using things in the pantry stash.

Knitting Content!

2007-09-26T07:53:00.000-05:00

I picked up the needles again late this summer and I've been in a flurry of frogging projects that no longer interest me, finishing up projects that were languishing on the needles, testing out some new ideas, and trying, vainly, to use up stash.

Dishcloth from pattern in Creative Knitting. Spur of the moment stash-reducing project. The actual color is more purple than blue. Bernat Cottontots, size 8 needles.

More stash-busting. This is Aibhlinn. It used at least 2 and some skeins of Wool-ease from stash. I was hoping it would use up all four skeins, and it's possible it used up 3 and some, but it lived for a while in the trunk of my car, and then for awhile in the bottom of my knitting bag while my knitting was on hiatus, and now I'm clueless how much it used up. The pattern calls for this to go to 24 inches, I quit at about 20 as it seemed perfectly big enough. Benjamin Bear agrees with me on that assessment. The swirling rib stitch pattern is simple and fairly memorizable but looks really cool. And, I learned how to bobble!

These two dishcloths were the result of playing around with some ideas from Mason-Dixon Knitting . I don't know that I'm ready for an entire bedspread of mitered squares (the ends! the sewing up!) or an entire Log Cabin blanket (the ends!) but I found these projects to be lots of fun. I could feel myself ready to keep going on the Log Cabin. That log cabining, it's addictive, and I can totally see why those Mason-Dixon women are so into it. These are all Lion Brand Cotton--the mitered square dishcloth is actually the second in a series, but my mitering got off in the first one. Who cares? It's a dishcloth. All are doing duty in the kitchen as we speak.

In this season of retreats, conferences, meetings and diocesan conventions (and the ongoing whatever-you-want-to-call-it in the Episcopal Church), it's a good time to keep one's hands busy.

ordination photo round-up

2007-09-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

In which a field house becomes a worship space.

St. Christopher's wall hanging does not quite disguise the scoreboard, but since St. C's can take all the bonus points we can get, there's no complaining here.

In which we have a new bishop

2007-09-17T08:09:00.000-05:00

or, as my friend Paula referred to it, BishopStock '07. Which is not to imply that any priest named Stock was made Bishop.

Anyway, the Rev. Dr. Edward Konieczny is now the Rt. Rev. Dr. Edward Konieczny, Bishop of Oklahoma. It only takes 3 bishops to make one new bishop, but like a wedding, it just can't be that easy. There were Native American drummers (which I could only hear, not see, as I was out in the "West staging area.") There were two big screens to televise the service to the whole field house. There was Taize. There was the Presiding Bishop. Iactually think half of the congregation was in the procession, in some form or another.

I had one part in the service myself, which was the chanting of the Psalm, which was set to a lovely melodic setting by a musician in the Diocese. I need to write her a thank you note, because it's not that often that one gets to sing a Psalm setting that is actually, you know, pretty. When it was time for me to sing, I went up to the lectern and prayed that my voice would hold out (I had been suffering from a cold all week, and promptly after the Psalm, what was left of my voice was done. I've been reduced to silence and IMing with friends. Instant Messenger is a gift to extroverts with laryngitis).

I got to sit in the very front row along with the other worship leaders for the Ministry of the Word, so I got to see it all, mere yards away from me. It was all beautiful and perfect, and I was keeping it together until our retiring bishop handed our new bishop the crozier. And guessing from the sniffles around me, I wasn't the only one who got a little teary at that point.

The other discovery of the event was that the Holy Spirit can apparently manifest herself in the form of the Oklahoma City Emergency Alert System. The actual moment of ordination itself happened a little before noon. As the other cantor started singing the Taize setting of "Veni Sancte Spiritus," the sirens went off. I held my breath--and then it became clear that the Spirit was indeed working. The Taize piece is set in A. Apparently, so are the sirens. The cantor went on, the ordination went on.

The events of the whole weekend have left me remarkably peaceful about the upcoming House of Bishops meeting and whatever emerges from that for the future of the Episcopal Church. That's either the work of the Spirit or the great quantities of herbal tea I've been drinking to help move this cold along.

Thanks for all the help

2007-09-06T19:24:00.001-05:00

Actual ODOT sign on I-40:

"Beginning September 10. Various lanes closed."

Lesson learned

2007-08-27T11:33:00.001-05:00

Take Dramamine before seeing Bourne Ultimatum on the big screen if you're at all prone to motion sickness.

Learn from me.

And just for fun:

2007-08-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.
You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.
Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.
While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Where have I been?

2007-08-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well. . .

My wrist was bothering me, which kind of put a damper on two of my favorite activities--writing and knitting.

I went to LA in June for (get this) a soap opera fan weekend. I got to meet actors I remember watching since I was a child at my mother's knee while fighting with her over whether we were going to watch Days (her choice) or Underdog (my choice). Then DH and I did a family and friends tour of the Midwest that took us to a Cards game in the new Busch and the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. Really.

Wrist is better, so I've been gently taking up knitting again. Work has kept me busy.

I hope to return to blogging regularly again. But really, all is well.

Totally sucked in

2007-02-24T17:33:00.000-06:00

So in the time period when I wasn't posting regularly, a friend of mine made the mistake of sending me a Youtube link (long since misplaced) for a Sawyer scene on "Lost." Since Husband and I were like the last people on the planet to not have seen any of "Lost," we have since rectified said omission by immersing ourselves in the Season 1 and 2 DVD sets (and you all wonder why I hadn't been posting).

It's dealing with something like this that you realize that there are two very different personalities at work. Left to my own devices, I would probably have had Lost marathons at every possible opportunity; Husband is usually content to take in just one. (Sometimes I can talk him into a second one, but then he has to cut me off). He should probably always accompany me to yarn shops as well.

We're only partway through Season 2, so I don't want any spoilers (holding off on watching any of Season 3 for the moment).

There really hasn't been a substitute for the demise of the Whedonverse (Buffy and Angel) but a good session of Lost angst does wonders for keeping minds off real-life angst.

The first Friday of Lent

2007-02-23T17:20:00.000-06:00

calls for pondering the weighty issues that face the Episcopal Church or examination of the ways in which I fall short of the mark.

But instead I'm just going to report that the staff of the nursing home I visited a couple of times this week informed me that they've nicknamed me the Vicar of Dibley, and I am inordinately pleased by that.

The morning after

2007-02-22T09:55:00.000-06:00

Ash Wednesday, like Holy Week, has come to be one of my favorite times of the church year. And I forget every year, until I'm in the middle of it, how much I love it.

There's a rhythm to the day that is deeply satisfying. It was even more so in my first job out of seminary, where we offered the traditional Ash Wednesday service three times during the day. At St. C's we have two services, and last night we were joined by many of our brothers and sisters from the ELCA congregation around the corner, which led to a pleasantly full sensation in the nave.

It's the repetition of unique actions and words that I find most appealing as the day goes on. I think that's why I miss that ritual of doing it three times. The first service usually gets the kinks out--where are the ashes, did it work if I knelt here or there, did I blithely add in an "Alleluia" where there shouldn't be one, etc. By the second and third time, the routine has settled in, and I can kneel and pray Psalm 51 and the Litany of Penitence (actually, I got so carried away last night during the Litany of Penitence that I forgot the Lutheran pastor and I were alternating petitions--oops). And there is a different kind of intimacy in making a cross of ashes on someone's forehead than in giving them communion.

We're going over to the Lutherans' for Good Friday. Really, we ought to plan one of these joint service things sometime when we can have a rollicking good party afterwards.

***********

About the affairs of the wider church, I have many thoughts, most of them scattered and ill-defined. I do know I am tired of the Episcopal Church being considered the naughty province that should be in timeout for betraying not actual rules but unspoken boundaries. That is the hallmark of a dysfunctional system. Accepting judgment from a Communique before there's a Covenant seems kind of backwards to me.

My Ash Wednesday fast

2007-02-21T07:37:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking I might refrain from reading any news about the Anglican Communion today.

God is in the details, right? Right?

2007-02-19T08:45:00.000-06:00

You know you've crossed some sort of line in your life as an ordained person when the thing that makes you most excited on a Sunday morning is to walk into your church and discover that the new Junior Warden has managed to install programmable/timer thermostats on the furnaces in the worship space.

Aside from the squeeing over that (thanks be to God, the clergy and the vestry no longer have to remember to turn the heat up or turn the heat down, or which furnace has to be set lower than the other one for them to work properly), I had a very nice weekend which included a Quiet Day hosted by our chapter Daughters of the King. A local lay spiritual director came and led us through an introduction to centering prayer and lectio divina. We had 24 people throughout the day, including three Lutheran women from our neighboring ELCA congregation. We are working to build a stronger relationship with them, and I'm very excited to see the glimmerings of that.

Quiet Day reminded me that I am still not naturally a contemplative but I can play one on TV. No, seriously, being someone with some extrovert leanings, I find myself drawn to contemplative worship, as long as there are other people in the room being contemplative with me. So maybe one of my Lenten tasks will be to find a way to work some group contemplative work into my prayer life. Our 20 minutes passed much more quickly than I would have imagined.

The "Alleluias" are buried, the Feast of the Blessed Pancakes is tomorrow, and Lent begins. Ashes? Check. Lenten materials for all ages? Check. Ash Wednesday organized? Eh, that's what Shrove Tuesday is for. . .

Friday Five

2007-02-16T07:56:00.000-06:00

No, seriously, don't faint. Two posts in two days?

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)

We've only been in Oklahoma City a couple of years, but already we have discovered that the one place all of our out-of-town guests want to see, unsurprisingly, is the memorial to the Oklahoma City bombing. I find it a very peaceful and thoughtful place to visit myself. My favorite time to go is at night, when there are fewer crowds, and the glass chairs are lit up. It's such an intersection of tragedy and hope, and its power is hard to put into words.

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

Husband is slow and easy, I'm a crammer--which means when we travel together, we meet somewhere in the middle (the good ol' via media, I suppose.) When I travel by myself I tend to go and go and go. I always think "what if I'm never back here again?"

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

All of the above? I was a museum educator in a previous life, so I do enjoy exploring them. More and more I like to do outdoor things. I love taking walks when we're in Utah, or hiking up in the mountains. Then there's that small Local Yarn Shop problem. . .

4. Do you like organized tours and/or carefully planned itineraries, or would you rather strike out and just see what happens?

I like to take organized trips when they get me into places I couldn't swing on my own, but pretty much I'm an independent traveler. When left to my own devices I end up planning slightly kooky trips. One time, when I was in England, I completely flummoxed someone at one of those Tourist Board offices when I wanted to take a trip from Canterbury to Norwich to Cambridge before heading back to London. This made no sense to her, but it made all the sense in the world to this recently graduated seminarian to travel to the heart of Anglicanism, to spend some time in Dame Julian's town, and to visit some other English seminarian friends at Wescott House.

5. After an extended trip, what do you find yourself craving most about home? My own bathroom and not having to work so hard for every meal.

Knock knock

2007-02-15T13:08:00.000-06:00

Who's there?

The blogger of this blog?

Nothing worrisome to report; just hadn't particularly felt like blogging.

I think I'm going to make a daily blog part of my Lenten discipline.

See you all on Ash Wednesday.

a Happy Christmas

2006-12-25T09:37:00.000-06:00

Being a bit of a whiner (ahem), I find myself doing quite a bit of eye-rolling and complaining when I look on the liturgical calendar and find that Christmas Eve is falling on the 4th Sunday of Advent yet again. This year was no exception (although frankly I was quite glad to be working as an Interim, and not circuit riding my way across Oklahoma like last Christmas Eve). We did our best at St. C's to plan a reasonable set of services for a congregation of our size, which included a joint service of Morning Prayer for 4 Advent, followed by decorating and a potluck in the Parish Hall.

I'm going to learn, one of these days, to just stuff go and leave it in God's hands. Because after all of my worrying about assorted liturgical details, and wondering if anyone would show up, and if we would have a nice time, and all the other things that clergy worry about in the week leading up to Christmas Eve. . .it was one of the most lovely Christmases I can remember (and I'm writing this before Husband and I have even done our Santa moments, as he is off to do a Christmas morning service at his church).

During Advent, St. C's did an Angel Tree, like many other churches I've attended in the past. We had angels on the tree with requested Christmas presents for members to buy for people in the community. But what made it so special for me was that these were presents for people we knew. We had angels on the tree for the residents of some group homes for developmentally disabled adults that we have been working with for the past six months--some were presents for the homes themselves, and some were presents for some of the residents who have no living family members. And some of the other presents were suggested to us by a social worker who's working with me with a family in our geographical area.

After our service was over in the morning, and while many of the congregation were decorating, the coordinator for the group homes came up to pick up the presents, and she was staggered by what she saw. The pile of presents we had gathered had been stacked in front of the altar to be blessed by our worship, and it was an impressive sight. As I'm writing this,I'm sitting about two inches from our tree and the pile of presents underneath, and I'm not going to deny that it's a good thing, but I don't think a pile of presents has ever made me so joyful as that pile in front of the altar yesterday morning.

It's been a scattered holiday season for us. We finally got our tree up on Saturday, and it's just a bare tree--thank goodness for pre-lit artificial trees. I have done no baking, Christmas card writing--I got just enough done. But a funny thing happened--it's been one of the most wonderful Christmases I can remember.

I was at Large Unnamed Chain Craft Store a couple of days ago picking up some last minute items, and I overheard a woman say to another woman that every year she tried to make Christmas bigger and better than the last, but that this year she was really struggling with that. I'm grateful to her because she gave me my sermon illustration for the late service last night, but she also gave me a thought that I have been pondering in my heart--it's not about doing Christmas bigger and better. It's about being attentive to the places where Jesus is coming into the world, and putting yourself there with him.

A blessed Christmas to all!

moving into the 21st century

2006-12-15T22:32:00.001-06:00

I have discovered Itunes.

God help me.

the advent of Advent Friday Five

2006-12-01T07:51:00.000-06:00

via the RevGals:

1) Do you observe Advent in your church?
We Episcopalians don't let you skip from Thanksgiving to Christmas. There must be Advent. I love celebrating Advent, and was giddy as a schoolkid when the box arrived from Creative Communications this week that had the meditation booklets, children's sticker books and candle table tents that I ordered for the congregation.

2) How about at home?Yes and no. In theory, we do. But if we didn't start doing some Christmas stuff in Advent, it would never get done--ie. hanging decorations and lights. We do have a couple of Advent wreaths, but if you read this blog you'll already have a good sense of how well we stick to disciplines around this house. . .So we do Advent in a classically ENFP kind of way. The wreath will come out--whether or not the candles get lit every day is a whole 'nother matter. (In fact, do I have candles? Hmmm.)

I always try and find a chocolate Advent calendar--wait, that's not really a spiritual celebration of the season.

3) Do you have a favorite Advent text or hym
Yes, although I discovered it not in church but on one of the Very Special Christmas albums. Sting covered it, which is what made me sit up and take notice and then I discovered it was in the Episcopal hymnal. Just imagine the adolescent girl squeal moment I had when I found THAT.

"The angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame
La la la la la (kind of unclear on the words here)
Most highly favored lady, Gloria."

Can we talk about my least favorite Advent hymn? UGH. "On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry. . ."Yawn. The music is dull and is often played at a plodding rate. Ok, it's possible I might have an issue here.

4) Why is one of the candles in the Advent wreath pink? (You may tell the truth, but I'll like your answer better if it's funny.) It's a conspiracy to make packages of Advent candles more expensive. Because otherwise you could just buy 4 purples (or blue--your Advent color mileage may vary) and be done with it. But NO. . . .you have to buy the special candles.

(Ok, I actually love Rose Sunday. And sometimes we get to sing the hymn from question 2).

5) What's the funniest/kitschiest Advent calendar you've ever seen? As long as it has chocolate in it, I kind of don't notice what's on the calendar.

Didn't the Vicar of Dibley have a rock star Advent calendar? I think it's the Christmas lunch episode.

noodling around

2006-11-30T11:31:00.000-06:00

I used to have a major cooking obsession.

It didn't always involve the actual cooking. I had a subscription to Bon Appetit, and hauled the back issues (10+years) around from Tucson to seminary to St. Louis until finally I decided to lighten that load. I still have most of my cookbooks, and piles of clipped recipes. It didn't help that St. Louis had both Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table, full of shiny kitchen toys.

But somewhere along the way I lost my cooking mojo. Not that I ever cooked all that much, but I wasn't so interested in my cookbooks, or getting new toys. Losing interest in stocking our kitchen with gadgets is not a bad thing, but I did wonder why I never seemed to have any interest or energy for the kitchen.

A funny thing happened on the way to Thanksgiving. When I was in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning with my 10 pounds of russets, a vegetable peeler, and a deadline for making a batch of mashed potatoes for the first time for a major cultural feast day, I realized how much I was actually enjoying it.

So it's been back in the kitchen for me.

Last night I played around with one of those long-ago clipped recipes (from a Williams-Sonoma catalog, no less). The original recipe called for tagliatelle with sweet Italian sausage and leeks. Always a sucker for leeks. By the time I was done, it was egg noodles with chicken/apple sausage and leeks.

Yum. And since Husband doesn't do remains of the night before, I get the leftovers.

Needs more leeks, though.

Black Friday Friday Five

2006-11-24T11:52:00.000-06:00

1. Would you ever/have you ever stood in line for something--tickets, good deals on electronics, Tickle Me Elmo?

It's been awhile. I HATE LINES. When I was at U of I, we stood in line to get lottery tickets for buying concert tickets. I stood in line for Peter Gabriel and U2 lottery tickets (ah, the good ol' days). But my roommate had the lottery luck, so we ended up with good tickets on her lottery number.

2. Do you enjoy shopping as a recreational activity?

I used to, but not so much anymore. These days I prefer shopping for things I know I need over the Internet.

I do like browsing and shopping when I'm in a different place, especially if it's in a different country. One of my favorite Black Friday memories is going down to Nogales, Sonora, with friends from the anthropology department. I still have a number of items I bought on that trip.

3. Your favorite place to browse without necessarily buying anything. Art festivals. Sometimes Williams-Sonoma. The King Arthur Flour catalog. The Bissinger's catalog.

4. Gift cards: handy gifts for the loved one who has everything, or cold impersonal symbol of all that is wrong in our culture? I have no problem with gift cards. But sometimes they're a little easy to lose.

5. Discuss the spiritual and theological issues inherent in people coming to blows over a Playstation 3. I don't think that's what we mean when we talk about the kingdom of God coming near to you.

I have a date

2006-11-22T08:39:00.000-06:00

with 6 pounds of potatoes and a potato peeler.

That is all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

ETA: It's now 15 pounds. I don't think our kitchen is that big.

ETA again: Back down to 10 pounds. Much better.

a blog post sighting!

2006-11-14T21:18:00.000-06:00

So I'm alive.

And things are okay--sometimes good and great, sometimes sucky in that way that is simply part of the deal when you're working in a congregation.

Going back to Evanston suddenly seems like a long time ago but it was a very fruitful trip. Diana Butler Bass's addresses were like two more pieces of a puzzle that I'm putting together in my head of how to cope with these rapidly changing times in the church. Don't have all the answers, and still trying to figure out a way forward, but the landscape around seems to be a little more distinct and manageable. (Still scary, though, as it is for all of us in the mainline these days).

Going home forced me to put my money where my preacher's mouth is. Two big pieces of reconciliation were on the agenda--the continuing one with my family (better and better all the time, and our dinner together was the loveliest I can remember since childhood), and another piece of personal business which I won't go into here, but suffice it to say that some idiocies of young adulthood can be overcome over a good lox and bagel.

Words fail to describe the emotions of sitting in "my" favorite spot in the chapel at the seminary. Or to adequately express my thanks to one of my former professors, who let me just talk out much of the peaks and valleys (and valleys, and valleys) of the past several years.

So I'm here. And the cats are well. And we have stewardship, and adult education, and hopefully God is deeming it good.

home turf

2006-10-30T09:15:00.000-06:00

Or, still blowing off Morning Prayer after all these years.

I negotiated with the felines for some time off last week to take in some continuing ed back in the land of lovable losing baseball. It was wonderful to be back in the home place, with rainy weather, wind off the lake, good friends, assorted Episcopal bloggers whose URLs I can't think of off the top of my head (Hoosier Musings, Reverend Ref, Family Letter, AngloBaptist, Nueva Cantora--am I missing anyone?) My parents wined and dined me on Friday night with Italian food, culminatng in a chocolate lava cake and pumpkin gelato. . .Another alum and I hit an old standby, Lulu's, for pan-Asian yumminess (I used to order in from Lulu's on Sunday evenings--X-files and sesame noodles go really, really well together.)

The whole point of this operation (wait, it's not about the food?)was to hear the reflections of Diana Butler Bass in two keynote addresses. Did you know there IS hope for mainline churches? Will digest more later; I'm still thinking about it all.

Sunday morning was about Stewardship and Sunday afternoon was about celebrating a fellow knitter's birthday with more good food. So this morning it's time for the unglamorous world of laundry and reasserting my authority with the cats. Yeah, that last part is just a fantasy.

Forgot to share this part

2006-10-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

So on Sunday I read a story in the aisle as my sermon.

I borrowed a stool from the band (they're MIA these days, anyway). The one stool we had was back by the drum set. I used it just fine at the 8:00 service, sat in the aisle and worked out well.

At 10:30, I picked up the story, picked up the stool, gave my little intro about the author and why I was doing this, and got settled in to read.

When I noticed I was slowly sinking, sinking lower. Somehow I had jostled it while setting up. I felt like I was the Wicked Witch--"I'm melting, I'm melting."

Humility comes in many forms.

rained out

2006-10-15T16:40:00.000-05:00

We were supposed to have our second Mass on the Grass today.

It turned into Picnic in the Parish Hall instead.

Quick Friday Five

2006-10-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

1) How old were you when you voted for the first time?

I think I was 20 when I voted for the first time, since I turned 18 between major elections. So that would have been the presidential campaign of 87. Being a longtime Cubs fan, I am well trained in rooting for the underdogs. Sigh.

2) What was the contest at the top of the ballot?

See above.

3) Can you walk to your polling place?

People walk in Oklahoma City? I have in the past been able to walk in the polling place. In St. Louis, it was right downstairs in our apartment building. At seminary in Evanston, even though our dorm was a polling place, it was not OUR polling place, and we had to walk up the street.

4) Have you ever run for public office?
Nope! Very unlikely.
5) Have you run for office in a club or school or on a board.

I ran for Commission on Ministry in a previous diocese and was elected. That's about as exciting as it gets, folks.

d'oh!

2006-09-27T15:32:00.000-05:00

The whole sprained ankle affair taught me a couple of things:

The practical:

1) Don't deliver Mobile Meals to homebound seniors in heels on the stairs in the rain

On a more serious note:

Part of the events surrounding my little tumble was finding out a parishioner was dying, my haste to finish out a delivery so I could get to the hospital led to the fall. Over the next few days, I could only do funeral planning from sofaside (although it's amazing what one can do with wireless Internet and a laptop, and the cordless phone, as well as assorted TV remotes--wait, THAT didn't have anything to do with work). Which was so frustrating to me, because I definitely believe in spending time with grieving families, sitting with them, being with them, planning the service in person--and there was nothing I could do. I could not put any weight on that foot for awhile--especially not if I hoped to lead Sunday worship or preside at the memorial service.

Today a parishioner told me how meaningful the memorial service was. And I got hit, upside the head as always, with the fact that IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. God took care of it. We planned as best we could, and God took care of the rest.

Unfortunately, I doubt that will be the last time I'm going to learn this particular lesson.

no good deed goes unpunished

2006-09-25T16:53:00.000-05:00

Just fyi. . .

I sprained my ankle while delivering hot meals to homebound seniors.

(A little achy today after a full Sunday, even though I alternated between crutches and hobbling around). Thanks for all the well wishes.

down for the count

2006-09-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

...sprained my ankle...

(ow, that really, really hurt).

ordained women just can't get no respect

2006-09-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Overslept this morning and called in to the office to see what was going on.

Our administrative assistant just took this phone call. The caller first asked for food, then for money. When she said only the pastor could deal with that, the caller demanded to speak to the pastor.

Admin: "I'm sorry, she's not in."

Caller: (outraged voice) "What do you mean, it's a CHICK?"

Dude. You're not helping your cause.

down the lane at sunset

2006-09-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of noise in my head lately--not bad noise, particularly, not destructive--just distracting. So when I got out to our diocesan camp and conference center for a board meeting Friday I became aware that just being out there, even if it was on business, was going to be a relief.

Walking up the lane at our diocesan camp and conference center in the evening after dinner, I could feel the noise in my head turn off just a little. And as I rounded a corner, there was a deer in the meadow just ahead of me. The deer and I stood looking at each other for awhile, then, as I backed away slightly, another one came into view, and another, until there were five of them watching me.

Despite the fact that my feet were firmly grounded on the blacktop of the drive, I felt as if I had stepped, ever so briefly, into another time and place. It seemed holy, if you will, and then, they began to drift away and I returned for the evening portion of our meeting.

As we left the center Saturday afternoon, two more deer were leaping across the meadow. A reminder to take a walk, to turn off the noise, to keep my eyes open for holy things in the midst of the everday.

Marching To Zion

2006-09-05T07:31:00.000-05:00

Well, Driving Through Zion, anyway.

More photos from our trip. Zion has become my favorite Western National Park. We spent a day there a couple of summers ago and I was completely enchanted by it. You drive along through this red rock country, and then all of a sudden you start following this green strip along the Virgin River into this beautiful valley filled with dramatic rock formations. You can't drive into Zion proper during the summer; you have to park and take a bus to the park, and then another bus through the park. I heartily approve. It really lets you have that feeling of being at an oasis. Although the park is packed, it's much more peaceful than the Grand Canyon. Without their cars, people are fairly civil to each other.

This time we weren't stopping, merely driving through on the eastern edge on our way from St. George to Flagstaff. Warning--it costs $20 to drive through. But you get to pass through all sorts of fabulous scenery
and a very cool set of tunnels

One of the highlights is a mountain named Checkerboard Mesa. There was a big sign at this pullout explaining the geological causes of the checkerboard effect, but I can't remember what they are.
We drove on through Grand Staircase-Escalante, which is still quite undeveloped (glad we didn't have our flat there) and over into Arizona at Lake Powell. I have such mixed feelings about Lake Powell--I'm pretty sure it's a bad environmental decision, but it's quite stunning, seeing the blue water against the red rock. The tourist center at the dam is under much, much tighter security than it was when I passed through on a trip with campus ministry back in the mid-90s--a sad reflection of the times. But I also remember that trip to Lake Powell because it was there that I had a funny little spiritual experience that finally pushed me over the edge into admitting maybe, just maybe, I should explore this whole vocation to the priesthood thing. Maybe.
If you had told me then that on my next trip through the area I would be a priest and married to a priest I would have laughed in your face. Never underestimate the Divine's sense of humor.

Summer Adventures

2006-09-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

Husband and I got away for a couple of weeks out West in our trusty vehicle.
(Really, we took the car).
We planned our trip around the temperature. The mountains of Utah beckoned after weeks of drought and heat here at home. We even got in some hiking near a place called Tony Grove Lake--when we got out of the car, I was actually chilly. What an odd sensation. The "spring" wildflowers were in full bloom up there.
Eh, let's face it, we have to go to Utah on a regular basis not for family and friends but for the real purpose of our pilgrimage--the one and only
(Utah State's signature gift to the world).

Driving the Friday Five

2006-09-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

via the RevGals, as always:

1. Driving: an enjoyable way to clear the mind? a means to an end? a chance to be quiet with one's thoughts? a necessary evil? the downfall of our planet and its fossil fuels? Discuss. I have a love/hate relationship with driving. On the one hand, in a city without regular public transportation that goes where I need it to go, it's a means to an end. And I admit to enjoying being out on the open road--especially backroads highways. OTOH, I don't like the costs--societal, financial, and personal. I grew up riding public transportation in Chicago--living out West for graduate school finally forced me to embrace the automobile.

2. Do you drive the speed limit? A little faster? Slower? Have you ever gotten a ticket? Eh, a little faster.

3. Do you take public transportation? When? What's your opinion of the experience? One of the things I love about Chicago and St. Louis is being able to take various forms of trains. And one of the reasons I love going to England and other parts of Europe is to take lots of trains. Lots and lots of trains. Buses, I'm not so fond of. I even enjoy the occasional Amtrak adventure. And I love tooling around San Francisco on their public transportation. It helps that there's always something interesting to see.

4. Complete this sentence: _____________ has the worst drivers I've ever experienced. Dallas is scary. Chicago's pothole encrusted narrow lanes don't make for an enjoyable driving experience with your fellow neighbor, either.

5. According to the Census Bureau, reverendmother's fair city has the 6th longest average commute in the United States at 29 minutes each way. How does your personal commute rate? I drive 17.5 miles one way, currently, mostly interstate, which is about 20-25 minutes.

Bonus for the brutally honest: It has been said, and the MythBusters have confirmed, that cell phones can impede driving ability almost as much as drinking. Do you talk on a cell phone while driving?

I don't talk much on the cell in the car, but I will share a great moment from vacation: While driving through Flagstaff, David and I noticed a car in front of us with the bumper sticker, "Hang up and drive." The car was weaving a bit in its lane because, you guessed it, the driver was on the phone.

great moments at the office #4328967

2006-08-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

Actual phone conversation at St. C's this week:

Caller: "Is (insert name of former Rector here) available?"
Office Administrator: "I'm sorry, he's retired, can I help you?"
Caller: No, I'll call back later."

We must be operating with different meanings of the word "retired."

it's in the small things

2006-08-21T07:20:00.000-05:00

If you've heard any of the story of my journey through the ordination process, you know that one of the significant pieces was working through my parents' opposition to the ordination of women--me being willing to risk losing their love over it (yes, it was that serious) and then, the three of us as a family working to put the pieces back together again. My parents chose not to come to either of my ordinations and we had some testy moments through the years.

Things have changed slowly since Husband and I got married, but something happened Saturday--a small thing, but really quite remarkable. Dad called and we chatted about vacation (blame Blogger for lack of photos, BTW), and then he asked if he could see a picture of the church. I thought he meant Husband's church, but then he said he wanted to see photos of both our churches.

It was a tiny moment, and I missed it at the time. It wasn't until I was setting the table for the 10:30 Eucharist on Sunday that the impact registered. A soloist was singing "In This Very Room," a song perhaps familiar to some of you--"quite enough love for all of us. . . "and the connection between that and the bread of life passages and the whole thing hit home.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow , indeed.

same as it ever was

2006-08-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

So I returned from vacation planning to post photos and the like. . .reflections on taking a Sabbath. . .how refreshing to be away from it all. . .

I returned, of course, to a dying parishioner and funeral planning.

And was told during the 8:00 service yesterday that we had no water.

(it's back on).

Whew!

2006-08-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

We're back!

In the past two weeks, Husband and I have driven across major portions of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and back on I-40 through Amarillo and Oklahoma.

One minor adventure: the tire blowout outside Albuquerque Tuesday evening. So we ended up staying in Albuquerque instead of reaching Tucumcari as we originally planned. So yesterday we drove 548 miles to get home.

Photos to come!

Adventures In Harlotry, Part the Second

2006-07-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

The committee: (Thanks, y'all. And a shout-out to Janet for the homemade shortbread).

The ceremonial giving of the swirly tornado thingie you can get at the airport gift shop:

The tornado meets the travelling sock.

A very Harlot kind of evening

2006-07-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

July has been quite exciting around these here parts.
(The cats share in all the excitement).

I spent a week in Tulsa with the Royal School of Church Music.
I passed my two year blogiversary (Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm a blogger.)
We had a wedding and a patronal feast at St. C's--all in the same weekend.
And last, and most certainly not least, the Metro OKC Knitters' Guild and Gourmet Yarn hosted Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, known to the ~~yarn-obsessed~~ online knitting community as the Yarn Harlot.

I was ~~ruthlessly browbeat~~ happy and delighted to chair the Reception Committee for the evening, and other than worrying about the numbers (did we have enough veggie trays?), all seemed well on our end until I went to pick up the cake at Large Chain Grocery Store That Shall Remain Nameless.

The cake was not finished. Three hours before we had to be in our seats at the library, awaiting the entrance of the Harlot, and the cake wasn't done.

The bakery manager took our cake to a decorator at another store and I paced the aisles of Large Chain Grocery Store That Shall Remain Nameless (lousy magazine section, folks). The store manager, I should add, was quite helpful, and, as you can see, not only did we have our cake with Stephanie's blog logo on it, it was free.

The words "free full-size sheet cake" are very pleasant to the ear.

Even more pleasant to the ear:

I had to stop pinching myself. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was in Oklahoma City? She is, in person, even more delightful than her blog and a keen observer of the life of knitters.

Don't be frightened. We're pretty well-behaved as long as we have yarn and pointy sticks in our hands.

(More to follow. Blogger is being pesky. I know, you're shocked).

better late than never

2006-07-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

the Friday RevGalBlogPal Five:

And now the Five:1) What is your first memory of the RevGalBlogPals?
I remember reading over at Reverend Mommy's placethat what had been a loose circle of corresponding women clergy could form a ring, and I signed up pretty early.

2) Have you met any of the other ring members in real life? I think the only one that I know is Wide-Eyed and Laughing . We knew each other before she went off to seminary.

3) Of those you haven't met, name a few you would love to know in person. Surely this isn't an exhaustive list, and if I leave you off, it's only b/c I'm not awake yet. (Nor am I going to futz with all that HTML this morning). Reverend Mommy, Songbird, MaryBeth, Quotidian Grace, Reverend Mother, Cheesehead, Construction Time Again, Cathy Knits, St. Casserole, Pink Shoes, The Big Dunk. . .or just check out my sidebar. We Oklahoma/Texas Gals/Pals should make an effort, and soon, to find a place and time to meet.

4) What has Ring Membership added to your life? Virtual friendships and thought provoking moments with women clergy (and those in discernment processes) that helps ease the sometimes lonely nature of being clergy and of being a woman in Holy Orders.

5) Describe a hope for the future of the WebRing. That we find ways to meet in person!

home again, home again

2006-07-18T08:09:00.000-05:00

jiggety jig indeed.

Ok, I was away in Tulsa all last week. I have been at the annual Royal School of Church Music Summer Course sponsored by Trinity, Tulsa, and for which I am the chaplain. This requires moving into the dorms at the University of Tulsa (hereinafter referred to as "TU"), celebrating Eucharist at 7:30 in the morning, and generally hanging out with the staff and participants, and officiating our Evensongs every day.

Our time at TU also coincides with the annual Presby Youth Synod held there; I have no problems with Presbys or Youth Synods, but there just seemed to be an awful lot of them this year, always standing in front of places I wanted to be. But they always appreciate our sung tgrace, and clap heartily when we sing it in the dining hall.

I'll post more about the whole thing later--today I'm catching up on laundry and unpacking. It's like becoming a college student all over again for a week--pillows, linens, laptop, along with assorted liturgical hardware and software, all have to come along and be hauled up the stairs at LaFortune Hall.

I'm quite behind in my blog reading, too. . .I had my computer but the whole experience is really overwhelming and all-encompassing. Hope you all are surviving the heat!

Yes, I exist

2006-07-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Will explain later.

Simply accept that I am dodging hordes of Presbyterian youth while writing many sermons and giving my voice a workout.

Oh, and I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in days.

Back soon.

2006-07-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went downtown to get the paperwork done to get licensed to perform weddings in the county. . .

First I stopped at the diocesan office to get a little photo ID that proved I was ordained so I didn't have to drag my framed-in-glass ordination certificate down to the courthouse.

I finally found my way to the correct office in the courthouse. Now it's always a trip to go to a lcoal courthouse to start--I've been with parishioners for trials and divorce hearings, and family court. . .it's such a crossroads of people--well-dressed lawyers, people just barely surviving. . .

It turned out that the minister's licenses were in the same room as the marriage licenses.

Let me tell you, in a room full of people waiting to get married (there were people in long dresses and tuxes, just waiting to see a judge), a woman entering the room wearing black and a collar can really stop the conversation.

Friday Five

2006-07-07T17:31:00.000-05:00

via the RevGals:

short things for a short week:

Short People: aside from one of my favorite covers by the King Singers, I would be the resident short person in our household (well, aside from the felines). I'm a scosh short of 5 foot 5.

Short Cuts: I just got my hair cut today, and am quite happy with the stylist I found last month. It's always traumatic to move to a new city and find that person who will "get" your hair.

Short Attention Span: Mine. Frankly, it's amazing to me that I still have a blog, almost two years into it. I tend to become very passionate about things very quickly, and then move on.

Shortness of Breath: (from teenage years) brought on by Harrison Ford, Pierce Brosnan, assorted British actors who wandered through Shakespearean drama on PBS. I actually had a Han Solo shrine on my bedroom wall--I collected every bubblegum card that had his photo on it.

Short-waisted: sadly, that's me.

Happy 4th of July

2006-07-04T17:14:00.000-05:00

A quiet holiday for us--it seems to be raining--if it lets up, we'll be off to some fireworks with friends from Husband's congregation here shortly.

An odd way of celebrating the 4th--doing a little genealogy research. On my father's side, it's a little tough to research--his side of the family are post WWII immigrants, and the ancestry is lost in the murkiness of any genealogy research involving Jewish communities in the German speaking lands of Moravia, Bohemia, Austria.

A couple of days ago, a woman responded to an entry I left a while back on a genealogy research board. We've corresponded briefly, and her last email led me to a site with records from the Nazi death camps.

So I've been looking at two possible entries for women who died in Terezin/Theresienstadt, who could be my great-grandmother. I've always known she died there, but to see it on the computer screen is sobering.

So I am grateful for the blessings of living in a country that celebrates independence and freedom; it often falls short of the promise, and it's a constant struggle, but I will gladly watch the fireworks and hum along with the marches that the OKC Symphony will play.

(Although, it's been so dry, I can live with it if it just pours, too).

summer blogging

2006-07-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to post right now--nothing wrong on this end, I just don't have much to contribute.

So I don't even have random bulleted thoughts.

Perhaps tomorrow.

how not to lose your mind

2006-06-29T08:11:00.000-05:00

while working out to videos:

a variety is helpful, for sanity, and for not repeating the same uses of particular muscles day in and day out. I can only do so many knee lifts after awhile.
find a couple of tapes that are so easy, you can listen to other things and still follow them. I find that the walk DVDs I have are simple enough that I can work out to Diane Rehm, Car Talk, and other NPR favorites.
Check customer reviews on collagevideo.com and amazon.com. They are very helpful. Also, collagevideo has little previews you can click on and play.
Most DVDs are too short for serious weight loss, but if you combine them, you can put together some nice long workouts.
The cats will not display any interest at all in your behavior, and will probably go to sleep on the couch.

if you pass a resolution at General Convention

2006-06-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

and no one notices. . .

Turns out life in one's actual parish is a lot different than life online.

If you read online, you would think the sky is falling.

If you were around our diocese last weekend, you would have noticed the ordination of 3 permanent deacons, and a packed cathedral to witness to it and support them.

If you were around our congregation, you would have witnessed the gathering of the body, an enjoyable time looking at the history of the 1789 Prayer Book, Eucharist, surprise visitors who dropped in to see me, gatherings over coffee and cookies, a lunch bunch that gathered at a local restaurant to check in on the restaurant owner, a member of the congregation, and some wedding planning.

I think I'll stick to the stuff I can actually make a difference in.

we all scream

2006-06-23T14:11:00.000-05:00

Ice cream. . .the perfect way to change the topic. . .

The RevGal Friday Five

1. Ice cream: for warm weather only or a year-round food? Please, why are we even asking this question? Year-round, although especially appropriate in summer.

2. Favorite flavor(s)
Flavors with chocolate and crunchy things. Cherries, strawberries, also work well. Pralines and cream, yum. There's a cappuccino chunky frozen yogurt thing at Braum's that is a current family hit

3. Cake cone, sugar cone, waffle cone, cup?
It's all good, but for personal choices, waffle and sugar.

4. Childhood ice-cream memory
Walking a few blocks up to the local Baskin-Robbins in the summer. Oh, and the ice cream truck swinging through the park that was just next door to our apartment in Chicago. Eating Good Humor ice cream bars from the same truck while watching people on the beach.

5. Banana splits: discuss. I haven't had one in years! At this point in life, they would have to be shared. Although I have to admit that those commercials for the little junior splits at Sonic that are constantly on the air here in OKC are starting to lodge in my brain and whisper, "go to Sonic." So far, I haven't given in. . .

(Feel free to answer the above based on your favorite frozen yogurt, sorbet, lactose-free, you name it.)

hmmm

2006-06-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

I've started any number of posts today about General Convention and our life in the Church.

They all seem inadequate.

A friend of mine has a running joke that someday she's just going to quit parish ministry and work in the produce section of a local grocery store.

Today is one of those days when I know just what she means.

waiting breathlessly

2006-06-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

The cats are waiting with anticipation for what promises to be significant actions in the life of the Episcopal Church. . .

Well, maybe not.

umm. . .wow

2006-06-19T06:57:00.000-05:00

So', just an ordinary Sunday, two services, Adult Forum in the middle. I kept checking the computer at breaks to see if a new Presiding Bishop had been elected (it's hard not to think about white smoke and bells in this context).

In the afternoon, a stop at the OKC Knit Guild for the detailed announcement about the visit of the Yarn Harlot (July 25th, 6-8 p.m., a talk at the Village Library, followed by booksigning and reception at Gourmet Yarn Company--y'all come). I had to leave early to get to the Cathedral where I was officiating Evensong (they were short clergy today) and I was listening to NPR, blah, blah, blah, the Episcopal Church has just elected its first woman Presiding Bishop--just as I was pulling onto I-44--I almost went off the road.

Three years ago, I was in Minneapolis as an ECW delegate, and I remember the Sunday of General Convention very clearly. I went to the big convention Eucharist with a friend from my congregation, who was a deputy, and then I sat in the big hall to hear the Deputies debate the ratification of Gene Robinson's election. I had a strong sense of witnessing history--whichever way the vote came out. At dinner later in the week, one of the deputies said, as we were processing the fallout, "We shouldn't come back to Minneapolis for Convention for a long time--strange things always happen here" (Minneapolis was also the site for the approval of women's ordination, among other things. . .)

She'll have to add Columbus to that list, now.

Wow.

Whatever one might think about the Episcopal Church, it is not dull. Not these days.

a little bit of fun

2006-06-17T08:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, I can't resist pointing this one out:

In my inbox this morning, direct from the Episcopal News Service, was this headline on an email: "Bishops vote in favor of slavery and racial reconciliation. . ."

Oops.

Mainly, however, the cares of General Convention have receded from my mind because of some news posted on the tour page of the one and only Yarn Harlot.

More will be revealed at our Metro OKC Knitting Guild meeting on Sunday.

A woo and a hoo.

Zzzz--Friday Five

2006-06-16T07:03:00.000-05:00

(Speaking of sleep, I did manage to fall asleep after watching Larry King interview various players in the controversies facing the Episcopal Church, which was way past my General Convention curfew. I'm trying not to read news from Convention too late in the evening, so I can get the sleep of which reverendmother speaks. . .)

Via reverendmother and the RevGalBlogPals:

1. In what kind of environment do you sleep best? (e.g. amount of light and noise, temperature, number of pillows, breathe-right strip, sleeping in the buff, etc.)

It was a dark and stormy night. . .no, seriously, I fall asleep best to darkness and rain, slightly cool, two pillows. Even better with a cat mushed down by my feet. Also, a good round of exercise during the day, and a session of pattern admiring with a stack of knitting magazines seems to be key in drifting off.

2. How much sleep do you need to feel consistently well-rested?
How much can you get by on?
What are the consequences when you don't get enough?

Left to my own devices, eight hours is what I get, and can wake up after those 8 hours without an alarm. Below six, I'm crabby and a little lightheaded.

3. Night owl or morning person? Morning person, although being a pastor means you have to be able to do both, thanks to nighttime vestry meetings AND early morning services.

4. Favorite cure for insomnia often lying on the couch or the futon helps, a little change of scenery does the trick

5. To snooze or not to snooze? Why or why not? Snooze alarms. . .bad. Also, you get those funky half asleep half awake dreams that are pretty wacky and not at all restful

I am a lemming

2006-06-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

On my needles: a ball-band dishcloth in bright colors from a ~~fall off the wagon~~ purchase at Joann's. (Well, I didn't have those colors in the dishcloth cotton collection.)

Not much to report

2006-06-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

but I'll blog anyway. . .

Various moments:

--I finally went to the doctor about the sty on my eyelid. I was informed that I had a sty. (Actually, I like my new doctor very much, as he displayed appropriate sarcasm about the state of what passes for a system of American health care).

--I am continuing to bump up my daily exercise quotient. This change in my life is very positive, but it does take focus and energy that I don't have for other things.

--My bishop spotted me at the Norman Sit n Stitch at Borders last Thursday. He seemed unsurprised to find me ensconced among knitters and yarn.

--Said bishop and various other Oklahomans are gathered with half of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. The wonders of technology are allowing us at home to follow along much more closely than in years past. I am missing being there; it is great fun, and I may sign up next time as a volunteer.

--I was eaten several times by tiny T.Rexes and Velociraptors at Vacation Bible School this morning (oh, and I taught a lesson on Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, too).

Who knew?

2006-06-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful.
You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Who's Your Inner European?

of the Trinity

2006-06-11T15:07:00.000-05:00

Trinity Sunday
John 3:1-16
(preached originally without notes, so this is an edited version of what actually happened)

When I was in seminary, I was handed a sheet of paper with the list of courses we were required to take our first year. Church History, I thought I could handle that. Church Music, no problem. But one class title, for the spring term, leaped off the page at me. Systematic Theology. Theology--well, that sounded a lot like Philosophy, which I spent my four years as a liberal arts major avoiding--all that thinking. Systematic--well, that sounded like math, and that hadn't gone to well in high school.

Then I turned up in class, and the syllabus was even more frightening--we had to do papers on God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and a final 20 page paper on the Trinity.

All I remembered of the Trinity was that drawing with the circles and the triangles from confirmation class--which hadn't made any sense to me when I was 11, and hadn't been cleared up since.

Thankfully, our professor was very good--although I did suspect that he was going to be the first professor who was ever going to tell us that HIS dog ate OUR homework, but I digress--and working on that paper helped me understand what was going on with the Trinity, why it's so important.

After all, in the Episcopal Church, we don't care how you're baptized--sprinkled, poured on with water, dunked 3 times in the river with white robes--but what does matter is that you're baptized in the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

So why does it matter so much?

What Systematic Theology helped me understand is that all that 3 in one language is about two things--God is bigger than any one thing that we can imagine AND the very heart of God's being is relationship. God is the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and that relationship is love. The love of Father and Son pouring out into the Holy Spirit. And it's so important for us to be drawn into that love because we get drawn into something bigger than just us--it's not all about me.

(Here I handed out a paper copy of this icon).

This icon of the Trinity was painted by a Russian icon painter named Rublev. I could go on all day talking about the importance of icons, and how each gesture, each facial expression, each color, each item in the icon has significance. But what is critical with this icon is that, as you look at it, you realize that the 3 of them are looking at you. The viewer is at the fourth place at the table. You have been invited to sit with the Trinity at the Table, and participate in that relationship of love.

On this Sunday, as we do every Sunday, let us gather at the table, let ourselves be drawn into the heart of that love, that we show it forth into the world. Amen.

RevGal Friday Five

2006-06-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

Songbird, what is this rain of which you speak?

It's bone-dry and hot here. (How hot is it?) It's so hot, I stopped at Large Chain Clothing Store yesterday before meeting Kay for dinner and knitting to get a lighter colored outfit--too hot for black!)

1. Favorite way to spend a rainy day

Curled up with books, knitting and cats, or walking outside, splashing in puddles. Or getting thorougly soaked, coming back in, putting on clothes warm from dryer.

2. Favorite song about rain

How about the Eurhythmics "Here Comes the Rain Again."

3. Favorite movie featuring rain

"Singing in the Rain," of course. Gene Kelly dancing, what more could one ask for?

4. Favorite piece of raingear, past or present
Not an umbrella, I always lose them or they get turned outside out by strong wind.
I once had once of those cute patterned raincoats, white, with the preppy pattern inside. It was really, really cute. Really. Didn't breathe at all, but it was really cute.

5. Favorite word for rain -- "Pluie," French (is that spelling right?)

silly season is upon us

2006-06-06T17:54:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember when no one noticed what the Episcopal Church would be up to in its General Convention?

Sigh.

A friend of mine calls this time the pre-convention silly season. The most bizarre rumors have reached me via the grapevine, which I'm not going to repeat, lest someone trying to find out whether a rumor is true googles it.

Being a historian and anthropologist gives one a particular perspective. Over the years the Anglican tradition has fought about a)altars or tables? b)altar rail or no? c) candles on the altar? d) the wearing of the surplice e) the use of wedding rings f) could the king annul a marriage (a few times) and so forth and so on.

I was at the last convention, as a delegate to the Triennial Meeting of the Episcopal Church Women. While everyone else was doing their thing, we were learning the hula from the delegation from Hawaii.

Strangely, CNN didn't cover that part.

the wisdom of Perky Fitness Chick

2006-06-03T08:03:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged much about this, because I didn't want to jinx my efforts and derail what I was working on, but I've been spending my mornings with a Perky Fitness Chick via the wonders of DVD. I would not have thought that I would ever have turned into a workout in front of the TV kind of person, but as Husband sagely said, "the best exercise is the one you actually do," so there it is.

As I was in the middle of various low-impact bodily contortions yesterday, using a tape I hadn't yet tried, said Perky Fitness Chick said something that really jumped out at me. She was talking about the importance of building muscle, and that muscle has an attractive shape to it, that body fat distorts our appearance.

I think she's on to something. Not that I'm ever going to be American's Next Top Model, but I thought about what it meant to be spiritually weighted down, by excess poundage in our bodies or our hearts, or, for most Americans, with all of our stuff.

If we're really made in God's image, than all that stuff we carry around with us really is a distortion of that.

(and on that note, I have a date with Perky Fitness Chick. . .)

thank goodness for Friday Five

2006-06-02T07:51:00.000-05:00

Just got back from annual small group retreat with our Bishop, and having waded through an entire day's worth of emails regarding the current state of the Episcopal Church, I have nothing to say. Thanks, reverendmother, for a lighthearted Friday Five!

1. If you were a mutant, what ability would you like to have? (think superpower)

Bilocation comes to mind. . .of course clergy already can do that and read people's minds, right? (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek)

2. Tell us about a memorable road trip you've experienced.

A trip to Santa Fe with friends from Tucson--in the middle of winter. It was a) really cold and b) because it was so cold, we had car trouble as the cold did something to the car engine worthy of a phone call to the Magliozzi brothers. We did return home safely, and I also learned that one should not blithely order enchiladas with green chile sauce without enquiring as to the strength of the chile!

3. Do you enjoy solving riddles and working on puzzles? If so, what kinds?
I do puzzles in waves--I'll go on a crossword or sudoku kick. Currently I'm kind of addicted to weboggle, which is a web version of boggle--don't go there or you will be sucked into the dark side as well.

4. Take two of your phobias and combine them to make a campy horror/disaster flick. What would it be called?
Fear and Loathing on a Tall Swaying Bridge Overlooking a Deep Rocky Chasm

5. Just how batsh*t crazy is Tom Cruise, anyway?

Very!

Bonus: Name each of the five movies that inspired these questions.
Hmm, I can think of XMen and MI3 of the top of my head--the rest is hopeless.

Your money or your life?

2006-05-30T08:27:00.000-05:00

(This is a pretty close reconstruction of Sunday's homily: I'm mostly preaching extemporaneously these days, so any blogging of sermons is memory-dependent. Thanks be to the author of the commentary on Acts in the New Interpreter's Bible who sparked this train of thought).

7th Sunday after Easter
Acts 1:15-26

Your money or your life.

That's familiar scene in a lot of bad movies. "Your money or your life."

But it's also the theme of the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.

A rich young ruler comes to see Jesus. What will it take to get me into the kingdom of heaven? Jesus asks him if he's obeying the commandments. Yes, all that. Give up everything you have and follow me. The rich young ruler walks away, sad, for he cannot do it. He cannot choose to give it all up.

Your money or your life.

The parable of the prodigal son--the young man chooses his half of his inheritance over everything else--his relationship with his family, and squanders it all.

And in Luke's Gospel, we are reminded that "Blessed are the poor. . ." not "Blessed are the poor in spirit " as Matthew wrote, which has provoked many scholars over the years to wonder just how many wealthy people were in Matthew's congregation?

This morning's reading from the Book of Acts presents us with another choice--your money or your life. In Luke's story, Judas does not repent and give back the thirty pieces of silver he acquired to betray Jesus. He does not hang himself. Instead, he uses the money to buy land. Land means building a life--a home, a family, crops and flocks. But instead, he "falls headlong" or in other translations, "swells open," in a particularly gory passage for 10:30 in the morning and all his bowels gush out. What should be a field for life becomes a field of death. A field of blood.

Your money or your life?

Husband and I were up in Guthrie this weekend, and we wandered through a lot of the antique stores. When we left, I said to him, "there's a fine line between 'antique' and 'junk.'" It's amazing what we will spend our money on.

Developing a spiritually mature relationship with our money is part of our call. Money is neutral--simply something to be exchanged for goods or services. But it can becomes something else. But do we separate wants and needs?

A definition of addiction is that you are willing to sacrifice everything else for that which you are addicted to. . .

Your money or your life?

On this Sunday, the Sunday after the Ascension, we celebrate Christ taking human flesh into heaven, taking humanity to participate fully in the life of God. What could hold us back, keep us attached, weigh us down from ascending into new life in Christ?

Your money or your life. . .