The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

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2009-05-12T10:44:00.002-04:00

We're now using "Episcopalians in Marlboro," a social network available to anyone. ThisWeeksNews and ThisWeeksSermons are not posted in the Blog area. You can share photos, start a discussion, talk back to sermons, become a member.

A visit with Amelia (and Jenn and José)

2009-04-30T21:00:00.007-04:00

Rob and I spent a couple of days in California last week. JFK to San Francisco on Thursday, returning Saturday. The weather was beautiful, but while it was HOT here, it was beautiful but COLD there. Temperature was in the 50s and it was windy. And I didn't even take along a sweater. Got to spend quality time with Amelia, and got to see the awesome condo that they'll be moving into within the next few weeks.

Here's a little "movie":

Dinner with Amelia

ThisWeeksSermon—April 26 Easter 3

2009-04-30T19:44:00.001-04:00

ThisWeeksSermon—April 19 Easter 2

2009-04-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

ThisWeeksSermon, the 2d Sunday of Easter, April 19th

ThisWeeksSermon—April 12 Easter Day

2009-04-15T14:18:00.002-04:00

Please follow THIS LINK to the Easter Sunday sermon.

Sorry for the hiaitus in postings. It's been busy!

No audio this week, either. Forgot to hit the START button.

FYI: I'm testing a different venue for online our parish "social networking." Click here to join Episcopalians in Marlboro. Let me know if you have any trouble with it.

Fr. Jerry

ThisWeeksSermon—March 22, Lent 4

2009-03-23T19:16:00.004-04:00

“Breathe on me…”
The 4th Sunday in Lent, March 22d, 2009

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“The dog was just breathing on me. It was kind of nice, actually. . . .”
“You know, the word dog is God spelled backward.
And all I could think of for the next couple of days were the words from that hymn that we sing at baptisms.
It kept relentlessly running through my head, except the word God got replaced with the word Dog.
Breathe on me breath of Dog.
Fill me with life anew
You know the tune. Very pretty.
That I may love what you love, and do what you would do.
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant life, I was swimming in it for days.

It was everywhere.

It was all over me!”

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Audio version available. CLICK HERE

Several of my friends and relatives suggested that I NOT begin my sermon this morning the way I’m about to.
But I’m doing it anyway, although I admit I’m kind of nervous about it.
Here goes.
By now everyone has to know that I have a dog.
Jackson the big white standard poodle.
And right about now I can “hear” Bill Borchert thinking, “Oh boy, here comes another one of those sermons about the dog….”
He’s right.
Sort of.
I can’t help it.
I absolutely love animals, and especially dogs, and especially this dog, because he’s my dog.
One of the things that I especially like about pets, in general, is that when I connect with a dog or a cat or a bird (I’ve had them all as pets) I feel an awesome connection with another species, with all of Creation, with God’s creation.
One of the things I like, about dogs in particular, is that they live “in the moment.”
It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday.
It doesn’t even matter what happened 15 minutes ago.
There’s no yesterday.
There’s no tomorrow.
There’s just “right now.”
The present moment.
Many spiritual people refer to this phenomenon as experiencing the “sacredness of the moment.”
Many claim that meditation will take you there, and that when you are there, you’re in the very presence of God.

The night of the breath
Jackson sleeps on the bed with me.
It’s a big bed, and he’s usually nowhere near me.
Maybe he simply prefers the foot of the bed.
Or maybe he sees me as a “top dog” and respects my space.
Maybe it’s a kind of guard-dog position.
I don’t know.
But the other night I had just dozed off.
I rolled over and realized the dog, oddly, was right next to me.
I could feel his breath against my face.
Somehow he’d moved up on the bed, and gotten his head between the pillows.
I peeked through my eyelids.
He was on his side, nose toward me, looking right at me.
I opened my eyes wider.
He moved his head even closer!
(I want you to know that this is a dog who does not have bad breath.
So it wasn’t disgusting, or anything like that.)
He was just breathing on me.
And it was kind of nice, actually.

The word God
You know, the word dog is God spelled backward.
I hope you don’t think I’m being sacrilegious, but all I could think of for the next couple of days were the words from that hymn that we sing at baptisms.
It kept relentlessly running through my head, except the word God got replaced by the word Dog.
Breathe on me breath of Dog.
Fill me with life anew
You know the tune.
Very pretty.
That I may love what you love, and do what you would do.
Breathe on me breath of Dog!
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant life, I was swimming in it for days.
It was everywhere.
It was like all over me!

The uniqueness of John’s gospel
In the first three gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the word Kingdom is used 113 times.
But in the fourth gospel, the so-called Gospel of John, it’s different.
It is used only twice.
In John, it’s all about the concept of “Life,” Life with a capital-L, abundant life.
It’s not about the Kingdom.
And John’s “life” theme comes up in his morning’s passage from that fourth gospel.

Authorship of the 4th gospel
It was allegedly written by John, the son of Zebedee, a member of the inner group of Jesus’ followers.
According to legend, John lived into old age in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in what is now Turkey.
It was a very important center of early Christianity.
Paul preached there, and John, the son of Zebedee, is said to have lived there.
It was in Ephesus that he is said to have composed not only this fourth gospel, but also three letters that made it into our New Testament, and maybe even the book of Revelation.
This legendary authorship is highly improbable.
The gospel was probably written near the close of the first century, well after John’s death.
And that makes it a close contemporary of Matthew and Luke.
There’s even evidence that it went through several editions.
And many scholars think that the gospel of John is actually the product of a “school” of writers who had been influenced by John.
Those writers (or that writer, as the case may be) would have us believe that the words we heard this morning were spoken by Jesus himself, spoken during a secret conversation with Nicodemus, a leading member of a strict Jewish sect.
The writer(s) began the passage with the words, “Jesus said,” and then they put quotation marks around their own words, describing their own theology as though Jesus was talking about himself.
Jesus said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
They’re not Jesus’ words, and anyway, it would be kind of weird to have Jesus talking about himself in the third person!
And the tense is off as well.
Surely, instead, if they were Jesus’ words about himself, he would have said, “God so loved the world that he IS GIVING [present tense] ME [1st person], so that believers will have life.”
What we get in the gospel of John is clearly first century theology.
The words are the writer’s own analysis of what the coming of the “son of God” meant to them.
It was faith in God, the Holy One they had seen in the life of Jesus, faith that could breathe new Life into others, not some time later, but now.
That was their message.

The Christianity that I seek
The essence of Christianity that I find lies beyond the scriptures that were written well after the life of Jesus.
The essence of Christianity that I find lies beyond the creeds that are third and fourth century creations.
The essence of Christianity that I find lies even beyond the familiar words of our liturgies that were shaped most dramatically by the 13th century.
The essence of Christianity cannot be bound by the words of a 2000 to 3000-year-old religious system.
The essence that I seek must always go beyond religious traditions.
I do not believe that God is a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or a Buddhist, or anything else, even though these traditions have pointed hundreds of millions of people toward the Mystery of God.

Jesus gives a picture of God
In the Bible stories of Jesus of Nazareth, we get a picture of the God that Jesus was pointing us to.
God is portrayed as a life-giving, life-enhancing, awesome, surprising presence.
The God that Jesus called “Father” was one of generosity, of invitation, of inclusiveness.
Jesus pointed us to a God who would bring healing to the human condition.
Jesus pointed to a God who opened people’s eyes, opened rooftops, opened the doors of a wedding banquet, offered a new experience, a new way of being, a new creation, New Life.
Jesus pointed to a God who passed through all boundaries, and held each person’s place and dignity as paramount.
The God that Jesus was pointing us to is the One who created us from the earth, filled us with with a Divine, Holy Spirit, breathed the breath of life onto our faces and into our bodies.
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant Life.
We’re swimming in it.
It’s everywhere.
It’s all over us.

ThisWeeksNews—March 22, 2009

2009-03-23T15:54:00.011-04:00

Another quick trip to California. Returned Saturday evening following an uneventful but productive flight. That nonstop from coast to coast provides a rare opportunity for several uninterrupted hours. Quality time with the next day's sermon! Returned with a camera full of photos, and a couple of short "movies." On Friday, Amelia picked up a Matchbox toy car, deciding it was not a car, but a car phone! Click on the video to see this funny scene.

Sunday morning at the church, we welcomed visitors from Martha's Vineyard and from the coast of Maine. It was incredibly satisfying to hear a very positive reaction to their experiences in our little church. Sometimes you just don't know whatcha got until someone tells you so.

I have a few photos from the coffee hour. And then later on, from the Lenten potluck program. Boys and girls decorated a cake decorated with symbols of the Easter Passion.

Holy week is fast-approaching. A week from Sunday is Palm Sunday. Then weekday services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We'll also be doing the Easter Vigil on Easter Saturday, inviting people from the community who wish to be baptized ("open baptism").

The gifts of God for the People of God…No strings attached.

Then, finally, Easter Day. Each event offers its own experience as we relive the story of the end of Jesus' life and the birth of the spiritual Christ power. Services on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will begin at 7 o'clock. Easter Day celebration will take place at the regular time, 9:30.

Here are some of the announcements from yesterday's service booklet:

Coffee hour arrangements…
If no one has signed up to provide for us at coffee hour, and if I can remember (!), I will swing by Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to church and pick up a couple of boxes of Munchkins each Sunday. The weekly cost is a little over $15. If you’d like to assist in underwriting this, contributions will be accepted. For some, I expect it’s an option that’s better than taking a turn at hosting.—Fr. Jerry

Care to join me for dinner at Casa Milanese May 16th
Once again it’s the Highland Rotary’s annual “Service Above Self” dinner-dance at Casa Milanese. Vito Dispens will be receiving the award. It’s also Highland Rotary’s 25th anniversary.
Silent auction, music, dancing, prime rib, chicken Francaise, stuffed filet of sole. Last year about 20 of us from the parish attended. Filled two tables. It’s a ready-made parish night out. All we have to do is pay the $40 per person and show up! Cocktails at 6, dinner at 7. See me to reserve a place at the table!—Fr. Jerry

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?
If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

LiturgicalNote (for reading of the gospel)
In Anglican churches, as in the early church, members of the congregation take an active part in the liturgy: responses, songs, hymns, etc., and by “Amens,” we ratify and make our own the prayers spoken by others.
In addition, members of the congregation may do the following:
Stand and face the reader during the reading of the gospel, and make the sign of the cross with the right thumb on the forehead, lips, and breast when it is announced.

Got contributions for rescued dogs & cats?
Our Church school boys and girls are collecting supplies for the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon. They’ll be delivering the supplies as part of a monthly “field trip” to ARF.
Here’s what they’re asking for: • Cash contributions, • Paper towels • Heavy-duty, extra-large garbage bags, • Clorox bleach, • Pedigree dry and wet dogfood, • Puppy Chow, • Friskies wet cat and kitten food, • Purina One or Purina Cat Chow dry cat food, • Purina One or Purina Kitten Chow dry kitten food, • Cotton rounds, • Clorox Clean-Up Spray, • Newspaper, • Catnip and Pounce cat treats.

Birthdays & anniversaries
Birthdays
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
4/5 Joanne Ward
4/5 Evelyn Gilman
4/17 Mary Ruvolo
4/18 Richard Chilcott
4/22 Felicia Harrington
4/26 Bryan Cuilty
Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll
4/27 Bill & Reneé Borchert

Calendar*
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 25, 12:00am The Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 28, 10:30am Wardens’ Conference 2009
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice
Saturday, April 4, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, April 5, 12:00am Palm Sunday
Tuesday, April 7, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 9, 7:00pm Maundy Thursday Eucharist & Agapé
Friday, April 10, 7:00pm Integrity
Friday, April 10, 7:00pm Good Friday
Saturday, April 11, 7:00pm Holy Saturday Easter Vigil
Sunday, April 12, 2:15pm Easter Day
Tuesday, April 14, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 16, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch)
Tuesday, April 21, 7:00pm Vestry
Income and expenses
Income Expense Variance
Budget, Jan. 1–Jan. 31 $3,833 $4,227 -$394
Actual, Jan. 1–Jan. 31 $4,904 4,735 $169
Last week (March 15) Not counted (Budgeted weekly = $884)

ThisWeeksSermon—March 15 Lent 3

2009-03-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

“Express the 10 Commandments by holding a dance!”
The 3d Sunday in Lent, March 15th, 2008

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"Understanding the Ten Commandments as a set of burdens overlooks something essential. The commandments are not prefaced by the words, “Here are ten rules. We can also think of them as descriptions of the awesome life that wins out in the “zone” of God’s emancipation.
“Because the Lord is your God, you are free not to need any other gods.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free to rest on the seventh day.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free from the tyranny of lifeless idols.
“You are free from murder, stealing, and greediness as ways of establishing yourself.”

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The Ten Commandments: three versions
I’ll bet you didn’t know that there are three different versions of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, and none of them lists just ten.
There’s one list of 17 commandments in Exodus, another list of 21 commandments in Deuteronomy…
and a third list of 27 commandments later on in Exodus.
They got combined in various ways to come up with ten.
And the list we read this morning is the best known of the three.

What is a Biblical literalist to do?
Comparing the versions leaves those who hold a literalist view of scripture in more than a slight predicament.
How could God dictate three versions of the same law code, and supposedly to the same person?
Of course the reason for the discrepancies is that each was written at a different time, and in a different context.

Jesus and the Ten Commandments
As you know, when Jesus was asked about the Law, he came up with this answer:
Love God with all your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
What you may not know is that he drew that “summary” from two separate places in the Hebrew Bible.

Words from our Presiding Bishop
Our presiding bishop had this to say about the two commandments that Jesus identified.
As Episcopalians, she said, we try to follow those two commandments.
We believe that they are central mandates, and that they are clear.
We are to love, welcome, and include all people into fellowship in which “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all are one in Christ.
It is in these two overarching commandments and central mandates from the Bible that we find the authority of Scripture.
We don’t look for that authority, she says, in any handful of scattered, isolated passages, selectively gathered to rationalize intolerance, cruelty, or injustice.

Words from Julia Childs
Some of us can remember Julia Childs.
She’s the woman who, through a public television series and a number of cookbooks, brought the art of French cooking into many American kitchens, including mine.
She was such a delightful person.
She is said to have claimed this about her theology:
"Good theology,” she said, “like a good recipe, does not waste words.
Love God and love your neighbor."
Those looking for an airtight, Bible-based ethical system undoubtedly find this too simple, to simplistic.
But of all the teachings of Jesus contained in the gospels, Jesus himself gave priority to these two commandments.
If we really want to know what Jesus would have us do, we have to take these two commandments as seriously as he did.

Ten 500-pound commandments
You may remember reading about Judge Roy Moore.
He was chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
He waged a fight to keep a huge Ten Commandments monument in his courthouse, and he lost that battle!
Here’s an interesting fact that I ran across:
That monument weighs almost 5300 pounds.
That’s just over 500 pounds for each commandment.
The Judge had been lugging this 5000-pound albatross around from one public appearance to another on the back of a flatbed truck.
Whenever the truck came home to Alabama, it took a 57-foot I-beam crane, attached to the ceiling of a warehouse, to retrieve the monument from the truck.
Even this five-ton crane buckled visibly under the weight.

The point is...
There’s a point that can be made about all this.
In the popular religious consciousness, the Ten Commandments have somehow become huge burdens.
They have become heavy weights.
They have become 500-pound obligations.
For a lot of people, the Ten Commandments are all about constraining human behavior.
Most people can’t name all ten.
But at the same time, most people are sure that at the center of each commandment is a wagging finger, “Thou shalt not.”
For others, like the judge hauling the 5000-pound monument around, the commandments are heavy yokes, harnesses to be publicly placed around the necks of misbehaving neighbors.
That 5000-pound monument sitting on the bed of a truck is a perfect symbol of that heavy yoke.
In our ancient Old Testament history, Babylonian gods were heavy idols that had to be trucked around, and Isaiah was scathing in his criticism:
“Those hunks of wood are loaded on mules and have to be hauled off, wearing out the poor mules.
Dead weight, burdens that cannot bear burdens, hauled off to captivity.”1

Missing something essential
Understanding the Ten Commandments as a set of burdens overlooks something essential.
The commandments are not prefaced by the words,” “Here are ten rules.
Obey them.”
Instead, they are breathtaking announcements of freedom.
I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.2
We’ll never get away from calling them the “Ten Commandments,” but there’s a whole other way to look at them.
We can also think of them as descriptions of the awesome life that wins out in the “zone” of God, the awesome life that wins out in the realm of God’s emancipation.
“Because the Lord is your God, you are free not to need any other gods.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free to rest on the seventh day.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free from the tyranny of lifeless idols.
“You are free from murder, stealing, and greediness as ways of establishing yourself.”
The Decalogue begins with good news of what the liberating God has done, and then it describes the shape of the resulting freedom.

Let’s hold a dance!
Dr. Thomas G. Long, a member of the faculty of Emery University’s Candler School of Theology, makes this suggestion.
If we really want to symbolize the presence of the Ten Commandments among us, we should hold a dance.
The good news of the God who set people free is the music.
The commandments are the dance steps of those who hear the music playing.
The commandments are not weights.
The commandments are wings, wings that make it possible to catch the “wind” of God’s spirit and fly.
The Ten Commandments: declarations of freedom
To see the Ten Commandments as declarations of freedom is far more true, far more authentic, far more fulfilling than hauling around tons of dreary obligation and worrying about whether the springs and shocks under a flatbed truck are going to hold up.
God spoke all these words:
“I am God, your God, who set you free, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery.”
Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews—March 15th, the 3d Sunday in Lent

2009-03-16T19:46:00.003-04:00

Three down, two to go … Sundays in Lent, that is. I wouldn't exactly say that spring is in the air, but it is 8 p.m. as I write this, and my outdoor thermometer reads 45 degrees. By Wednesday, they're predicting daytime temperature of 60 degrees. Sixty degrees, when you're in the sun, feels like summer to me, having grown up in Seattle!

Here's my progress report:

• Sunday afternoon potluck/Lenten programs have been well attended. How great it is to be a part of this piece of The Episcopal Church. Wonderful food, great friends, and thoughtful sharing with one another.

• Funds have been collected to allow us to proceed with phase 1 of the Sunday school kitchen rehab. Next step: bring a crowbar to church.

• Nonperishable food items are being collected for the Stone Ridge food pantry.

• Reneé's been offering two choir practice sessions each week for those who want them. Anthems will be ready for both Palm Sunday and for Easter.

• Kickoff meeting for the May yard sale took place this morning. Reneé Borchert, Lea Buttner, Patti Ogden, Julie Segnet, and I met this morning and laid out the strategy for getting from here to there.

• Reneé and I hosted the dinner meeting of the Mid-Hudson Region Executive Council, which met in the undercroft Thursday. Should have taken pictures. Between the two of us, we can do a pretty good job of creating a "dinner party." Food came from the Highland Cafe (Diocese will reimburse).

FROM THE SERVICE BOOKLET:

Care to join me for dinner at Casa Milanese May 16th
Once again it’s the Highland Rotary’s annual “Service Above Self” dinner-dance at Casa Milanese. Vito Dispens will be receiving the award. It’s also Highland Rotary’s 25th anniversary.
Silent auction, music, dancing, prime rib, chicken Francaise, stuffed filet of sole. Last year about 20 of us from the parish attended. Filled two tables. It’s a ready-made parish night out. All we have to do is pay the $40 per person and show up! Cocktails at 6, dinner at 7. See me to reserve a place at the table!—Fr. Jerry

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?
If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

Birthdays & anniversaries

Birthdays
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
4/5 Joanne Ward
4/5 Evelyn Gilman
4/17 Mary Ruvolo
4/18 Richard Chilcott
4/22 Felicia Harrington
4/26 Bryan Cuilty

Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll
4/27 Bill & Reneé Borchert

Calendar*
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 28, 10:30am Wardens’ Conference 2009
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice
Saturday, April 4, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Tuesday, April 7, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 9, 12:00am Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 10, 12:00am Good Friday
Saturday, April 11, 12:00am Holy Saturday
Thursday, April 16, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation

ThisWeeksSermon March 8th Lent 2

2009-03-09T12:39:00.003-04:00

“Learn the art of cow-releasing”
The 2d Sunday in Lent, March 8th, 2008

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Was Jesus influenced by Buddhism?

“These Truths keep popping up, unbridled, irrepressible, unstoppable.
Centuries before Jesus, these same Truths surfaced within Confucianism and Daoism in China, within Hinduism and Buddhism in India, within monotheism in Israel, and within philosophical rationalism in Greece.
The Truth that bubbles up from God is that more is not better.
Release the cows, and look in the other direction.
Discover the real you.”

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May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Audio version is available. Click here.

In the first reading...
In the first reading this morning, we heard the legend of God’s covenant promise to Abraham to identify him as the ancestor of a multitude of nations, throughout all generations.
All subsequent history of the Jewish people has rested on this promise.
The people of Israel were to be God’s people.
Forever.

In the second reading...
In the second reading, Paul argued that God’s promise to Abraham has special value for Christians as well.
As it was for Abraham, it is faith that is crucial, not keeping of the law.
It’s faith that makes the promise effective.

In the gospel...
In our gospel reading this morning, Mark wanted us to understand the kind of messiah that Jesus really was.
Jesus’ participation in human life was total, to the point of death.
Mark wanted us to understand something about what it costs to follow Jesus, to follow Jesus all the way to the cross, and beyond.
This was not the kind of messiah that anyone was expecting.
For that matter, it wasn’t the kind of messiah that anyone would have wanted.
Mark wants us to know that Jesus took an unexpected path.
It was a path into the world of Alice in Wonderland, a world where everything is topsy-turvy.
In the world that Jesus took his followers into nothing was what anyone would have ever expected.
“Those who want to save their lives must lose their lives,” Jesus said, but those who will give up everything, including their lives, in order to follow him, they’re the ones who would save their lives.
Self-sacrifice is the way to saving yourself, saving your true self.
What good does it do to get everything you want, and lose you, the real you?
What could you ever trade your soul for?

Buddhist teachings about giving in order to get
Buddhism embraces a similar teaching.
It is said that if you really want to achieve salvation, it’s very difficult to live as a worldly person, because being worldly, you are subject to problems of the world, the needs of the world, and the temptations of the world.
There’s a Buddhist parable about this.
One day, the Buddha was sitting in the woods with 30 or 40 monks.
They were in he midst of an excellent lunch, and they were enjoying one another’s company.
A farmer passed by, a very unhappy farmer.
He asked the Buddha and the monks whether they had seen his cows passing by.
The Buddha said they had not seen any cows.
The farmer expressed his unhappiness.
“I have 12 cows,” he said, “and I don’t know why they all ran away.
“I also have a few acres of sesame seed plantation, and the insects have eaten up everything.
“I suffer so much I think I am going to commit suicide.”
The Buddha said, “My friend, we have not seen any cows passing by here.
“You might look for them in the other direction.”
So the farmer thanked him and went away, and the Buddha turned to his monks and said, “My dear friends;
you are the happiest people in the world.
“You don’t have any cows to lose.
“If you have too many cows to take care of, you will be very busy.
“That is why, in order to be happy, you have to learn the art of cow-releasing.
“You release the cows one by one.
“In the beginning you thought that those cows were essential to your happiness, and you tried to get more and more cows.
But now you realize that cows are not really conditions for your happiness.
“They actually are an obstacle for your happiness.
“That is why you want to release your cows, one by one.
“Learn the art of cow-releasing.”

Was Jesus a Buddhist?
Well, Mark put it in a different way.
Self-sacrifice is the way to saving yourself, saving your true self.
It’s Jesus’ truth, but it’s also a Buddhist truth.
I once brought up this apparent coincidence with Jane, my spiritual director.
I asked whether it is just a coincidence that Jesus’ teachings often sound just like Buddhist teachings.
Teachings of the Buddha had been proliferating in the ancient world for about 500 years by the time Jesus began his ministry.
So that’s why I asked Jane if she thought Jesus might have been influenced by those teachings.
Her answer was twofold.
“A lot of people think so,” think that Jesus was influenced by Buddhism.
“Some claim that during the years in which we know nothing about Jesus’ life, that would be the period between the story of Mary and Joseph losing their 12-year-old son Jesus in the Temple, the period from that incident until Jesus’ baptism as an adult in the Jordan River, some claim that during those “lost years,” he very well may have traveled and may have been influenced by Buddhism.
But Jane doesn’t think so.
She thinks that Truth-with-a-capital-letter, like today’s Truth about how to save your True self, about the art of cow-releasing, she thinks that Truth like this simply bubbles up comes from the Very Spirit of Life, comes from the Heart of the Universe, bubbles up from the living God, from the One who transcends all things yet is present in them.
These Truths keep popping up, unbridled, irrepressible, unstoppable.
Centuries before jesus, the same Truths surfaced within Confucianism and Daoism in China, within Hinduism and Buddhism in India, within monotheism in Israel.
One One of those truths that has bubbled up from God is that more is not better.
“Release the cows, and look in the other direction.
“Discover the real you.”

What really matters...
Clearly, we’re in the midst of a terrible global financial crisis, and an equally terrible environmental crisis.
These are crises that ask us what is real, what is lasting, and what really matters.
A crisis reminds us that circumstances always change.
And in the midst of the current crises, right now might be just the right time to seek this thing called “contentment.”
Now might just be the moment when spiritual gold can be found, treasures of character and strength.
Spiritual gold does not depend on the economy, or on politics, or on health, or on security, not on any of that.
Treasures of character and strength depend on “contentment.”
Contentment.
It’s the path to “enlightenment.”
It’s the path to salvation, here and now, in the ordinary moments of life.

An affirmation for these days
May we release all burdens of guilt.
May we release all burdens of shame and fear.
May we release all burdens of loss from the past burdens that no longer serve us.
May we release needless fear, and anxiety about the future.
May we be present, in the moment, and filled with loving kindness.
May we be centered, peaceful, and at ease.
May each of us enjoy both material and spiritual well-being.
This is my prayer.

ThisWeeksNews—March 9th

2009-03-09T11:26:00.002-04:00

Golly. Here we are, almost half-way through Lent. It's a busy time of the year.

Weekly Lenten potlucks on Sunday afternoon. About 15 of us spent two hours together yesterday. Great food. Good wine. Awesome discussion for adults while the kids did "their thing" over in the Sunday school. Adults are investigating spiritual tools and sharing stories of our life journeys. It's going well.

Meanwhile, the choir is practicing twice a week, getting ready with Palm Sunday an Easter anthems. Vacation Bible school "sets" already are being painted, and contributions are coming in to fund the rehabbing of the "rectory" kitchen. We're collecting nonperishable food items for the Stone Ridge food pantry, and we're collecting supplies for the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon.

Here are a few announcements from Sunday's service booklet:

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?

If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

A window of opportunity: please help!
We have a window of opportunity, right now! Resources are available right now to “gut” the 1950s rectory kitchen, put up sheetrock, and then tape, spackle, and paint the room. No charge for labor. All we need is $500 for materials. If each of us were to drop an extra week’s contribution into the plate, we’d immediately have more than enough funding for the project, and would not miss this opportunity. I hope you’ll join me in continuing as much as you’re able to make our Sunday school facilities as inviting as possible.
Remember to mark your contribution as “Rectory Kitchen” and include your name if you like. Special envelopes are available in the pew.—jb+

Want offering envelopes for 2009?
Using offering envelopes for making contributions to the church has a couple of advantages. One is that no one else in your pew will know how much you’re contributing. Another is that the treasurer will track your contributions during the year and provide documentation for IRS deductions at year-end. So even if you weren’t able to participate in our annual pledge drive, you’re still entitled to envelopes. Please speak to me if you’d like some.—Fr. Jerry

LiturgicalNote (the Sign of the Cross)
In Anglican churches, as in the early church, members of the congregation take an active part in the liturgy: responses, songs, hymns, etc., and by “Amens,” we ratify and make our own the prayers spoken by others.
The sign of the cross is made by touching the hand sequentially to the forehead (father), heart (son), left shoulder (Holy Spirit), then right shoulder (Amen). The sign of the cross may be made by individuals at any time. In public worship, the sign of the cross may be made
• At the conclusion of the Creed
At the absolution, following confession
When the celebrant blesses her- or himself during the consecration
Before receiving communion
At the final blessing

Birthdays & anniversaries
Birthdays
3/9 Jim Gephard
3/9 Benjamin Gephard
3/11 Derek Tauffner
3/14 Erin Gephard
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll

Calendar
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 12, 6:00pm MidHud Exec Committee
Thursday, March 12, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

My Ash Wednesday "remarks"

2009-03-04T16:34:00.003-05:00

“Ash Wednesday”
Ash Wednesday, February 25th, 2008

A deeper faith
Father Jeff Golliher is an Episcopal priest at St. John’s Memorial Church in Ellenville.
He’s also a cultural anthropologist.
He has traveled widely to understand the spiritual dimension of the environmental crisis.
For more than ten years, he was canon for environmental justice and community development at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
He now is the environmental representative for the worldwide Anglican Communion at the United Nations.
But mainly, he’ll tell you, he’s a parish priest, and a spiritual director.
He’s written a book called A Deeper Faith, A Journey Into Spirituality.
The book takes the form of a series of letters to a “dear friend” on a spiritual journey.
Lent: the most holy time of the church

Here are a few excerpts:
You are entering the most holy time of the church, a time that represents the most difficult part of a spiritual journey.
It begins with Ash Wednesday, the first day in the season of Lent, when we turn our attention solely to self-examination and fasting in preparation for Holy Week.
The teachings of the church say that anyone can make this passage, but no one can make it alone.
The fact that you’re beginning to realize that you really can’t do this tells me your instincts are good, and precisely for that reason, all your doubts have surfaced, with a vengeance.
Believe it or not, this is a perfectly normal reaction, given the circumstances.
You actually are following the spiritual path, so don’t be surprised that it’s difficult.
There is, in fact, more to life than we can accomplish on our own.
We really do need God’s help.
And when our minds finally meet up with reality, our egos don’t like it one bit.
Welcome to the spiritual path.
Self-examination in Lent
Concerning your self-examination in Lent, I suggest reflecting on some burdensome expectations you’ve likely placed on yourself.
You say that you’re getting nowhere.
You say a dead end has been reached.
My advice, at times like this, is to examine our feelings about the permanently closed door very carefully, and take them to God in our prayers.
Honestly, what else are we going to do?
Do we really want to give up now, believing that the door will remain forever shut?
Now is definitely the time to remember those personal qualities that have brought you to this place in your life:
honesty, loviing-kindness, perseverence, steadfastness, your genuine struggle with life and faith.
You have these qualities, and you’ve used them well.
What next?
So what now?
I can’t tell you exactly what to do, but I will share with you what I do.
This is an ancient spiritual practice, deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, and based on one of Christ’s teachings that I take quite literally.
It begins with the tell-it-like-it-is words we hear on Ash Wednesday:
Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Although these words may see startling and abrupt, they express one of the most clear-minded thoughts we will ever hear.
The fact of our mortality is unavoidable and very real, and of all the endings in our lives, this, obviously, is the ultimate one.
There’s absolutely nothing morbid about this.
To remember we are dust puts everything else about the here-and-now into perspective.
There is an ending.
The next step is to follow Jesus’ directions about how to pray.
In a very simple and straightforward way, he says, Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
I want you to find a quiet, secluded place, perhaps a room in your home.
Go there, alone, and close the door behind you.
You are the one closing the door, no one else but you.
Before you begin to pray, I want you to do something else.
Never mind that it sounds a little crazy.
Remember that image you have of the permanently closed door, the dead end?
The door with a sign over it that says, “It’s all pointless.
I’ll never get anywhere on the spiritual path.”
We give up or never try because we’ve been told so many times that the door won’t open.
Instead of turning away, I want you to face the truth about yourself.
I want you to yell at the closed door in your mind.
Do it as an act of defiant courage or as an act of faith, but do not take “no” for an answer.
Yell until you’re sick and tired of yelling.
Yell at it until you find yourself laughing.
Whatever it takes to break the spell, do it.
This gate cannot be taken by storm.
We can’t knock it down, but we can overcome our disbelief.
We can enter into the ending.
Finally, while you’re still in your room, I want you to say the “Jesus Prayer,” the Prayer of the Heart, with as much devotion and loving-kindness as you can find within yourself.
This short prayer comes from the Eastern Christian tradition.
The words of the prayer, said repeatedly in a mantra-like way, are simply these:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
The words are ancient, and if you say them enough, the spirit will carry you into the depth of your heart, and God’s.
This is the actual “room” that Jesus is really talking about.
The door will open, because Jesus will open it for you.
I should warn you now that the mind always resists.
As negative thoughts arise, they inevitably will, simply observe them, without making judgments, and then return to the words of the prayer.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Let them carry you, gradually, to the place of deep spiritual rest within yourself.
Jesus will help you find it.
I hope you will do this spiritual practice throughout the forty days of Lent.
This is my suggestion.
It will be a huge step on the spiritual path.
Even if it makes no rational sense, I want you to do it anyway.
It’s not “giving up chocolate”
Obviously, the kind of Lenten fast I have in mind involves much more than giving up chocolate.
I’m talking about shedding the belief, whether conscious or unconscious, that we have been abandoned, that we have no choice, that we are forever stuck in the way things are.
This great experience of the spiritual path requires our “dying to the world.”
It is the ancient way.
We are mortal creatures with immortal souls.
Yet even death, our greatest fear cannot prevent God from opening that door that seems so clearly shut.
It is possible to enter into the ending we’re so eager to deny.
You are right.
This is an ending, but the passage still exists.
I’m encouraging you to enter into this ending as an act of faith, and I’m telling you that there’s more going on in heaven and on earth han we know or believe.

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro—February 8th

2009-03-03T08:39:00.004-05:00

The first Sunday in Lent on the first of March. Seemed like it should've been the start of spring. When I was a boy growing up in Seattle, I always bought my mother local, fresh-cut daffodils for her March 9th birthday. That was Seattle. This is New York, and right now, at 9:45 a.m., it's only 10 degrees out there. And I'm not even mentioning the wind-chill factor.

Lots of photos from a kid-friendly mass

Sunday it was our turn to provide a more kid-friendly mass. The boys and girls greeted folks at the door and distributed service booklets. They also presented the bread and wine, and took up the collection. Cameron read the lesson (perfectly). At the consecration of the elements, they joined me at the altar. And then, at the conclusion of the service, they dismissed the congregation. "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

Photos are posted on our Facebook page:

(This link should work. Please let me know if it doesn't!)

Lenten potluck series: week 1

We kicked off Lent with the first of five Sunday afternoon (4–6 p.m.) potlucks. The first hour was social. Food, a glass of wine, food, conversation, food…well…you get the idea. Lots of great food! Social time for adults. Social time for the children.

Emily brought the most incredible "dog" with her. It's a big poodle-like stuffed animal that wags her tail, barks, wimpers, sits, stands, pushes back at you when you scratch her ears. Uncanny! I made a one-minute "movie" of the "dog" in action. Click here. (Please let me know if the link doesn't work.)

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?

A window of opportunity: please help!
We have a window of opportunity, right now! Resources are available right now to “gut” the 1950s rectory kitchen, put up sheetrock, and then tape, spackle, and paint the room. No charge for labor. All we need is $500 for materials. If each of us were to drop an extra week’s contribution into the plate, we’d immediately have more than enough funding for the project, and would not miss this opportunity. I hope you’ll join me in continuing as much as you’re able to make our Sunday school facilities as inviting as possible.
Remember to mark your contribution as “Rectory Kitchen” and include your name if you like. Special envelopes are available in the pew.—jb+

Mid-Hudson Lenten event March 4th
A Lenten program, “From Ashes to Fire,” is being presented by the Mid-Hudson Program Committee. The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche (diocesan Canon for Pastoral Care) and The Rev. Canon John Osgood (dioscesan Canon to the Ordinery) will each make a presentation, with time allowed for questions and discussion. Wednesday, March 4, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Zion Church, 12 Satterlee Place, Wappingers Falls. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided. No cost. See me to reserve a seat.—jb+
Lenten quiet day at the Monastery March 7th
The Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy will be leading a Lenten quiet day at Holy Cross Monastery Saturday, March 7, 9:30–3:30 p.m. (Cost expected to be $15–$20.)

Looking forward
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Thursday, March 5, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 8, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 12, 6:00pm MidHud Exec Committee
Thursday, March 12, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

Pancakes and Ashes: a reminder

2009-02-24T12:31:00.001-05:00

Pancakes tonight, 5:30-7 at the church. No beads required.
Ashes tomorrow night, 7 at the church. A fresh start toward Easter.

ThisWeeksSermon February 22d, The Last Sunday After the Epiphany

2009-02-23T11:52:00.002-05:00

“The light in our hearts”
The Last Sunday After the Epiphany, February 22d, 2008

+ + + + + + + + + +
“My spiritual director once asked me how far I could get in the Creed before choking on the words. I won’t share my answer. But I too am a product of our literal-minded culture.”
+ + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + + + +
”…so they lapsed into poetry. When this life was born, the life of Jesus, they said a great light split the dark sky. Angelic choruses peopled the heavens to sing of peace on earth. They told of a virgin mother, a rejecting world, of stars and kings. Light once more separated the darkness. There was no other way to talk about it.”
+ + + + + + + + + +

Streaming audio available. Click here.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Two magical stories
We got two stories of magic and miracles in this morning’s readings.

Elijah passing his prophetic role to Elisha
First it was the story of the prophet Elijah, passing his torch as the leading prophet of Israel to his understudy, Elisha.
It has all the markings of a heroic folktale, preserved as oral history, and that’s of course what it is, a heroic folktale.
It almost has the ring of a children’s story, in its simplicity and repetitiveness.
Elijah running God’s errands, first to Bethel, then to Jericho, and then on to the Jordan River, and all the while Elisha being told, over and over, “You stay put!”, but he doesn’t stay put.
He insists on tagging along anyway.
Everyone seems to know that it’s Elijah’s last day on earth, but for some reason, no one’s supposed to talk about it.
At the Jordan River, we discover that Elijah has a bit of the “magic of Moses” in his old bones.
Elijah rolls up his coat, hits the water with it, the water divides, and he and Elisha are able to walk across, reminiscent, of course, of Moses parting the Red Sea.
Elijah is then sucked up into heaven by flying horses.
And that’s where our reading stopped today.
But if you read on, you’ll find in the next verse or two that Elisha picks up the coat that Elijah left behind, and he’s able to do Moses’ magic as well.
He hits the water with Elijah’s coat, the water divides, and he walks across again.
The torch has been passed, from Elijah to Elisha.

The gospel
The other story of magic and miracle this morning was in the gospel, where Mark tells a story of Jesus’ “transfiguration,” Jesus’ dazzling, but temporary, metamorphosis, his clothing becoming whiter than white, and a voice of God coming from the clouds, “This is my Son,” the voice said, “the Beloved; listen to him!”
The torch has been passed again.

The point of the stories
The point of these stories of magic and miracle are to show that Elijah had inherited the standing of Moses, that Elisha had inherited the standing of Elijah, and that Jesus shared the historic prophetic tradition of all three of those major religious figures as well.
These stories show a continuity of ancient Israel’s faith with the birth of Christianity, a connection between Jew and non-Jew, a connection with the same God.

These stories are “true myth.”
The stories of course both have mythic qualities.
The Bible as a whole is way more poetry and myth than it is history.
It’s kind of unfortunate that we live in one of the most literal-minded cultures of all time.
We have trouble grasping the idea of “true myth.”
The two words seem to contradict one another.
I can vouch for that.
I used to think I had to cross my fingers when I recited the Nicene Creed.
My spiritual director once asked me how far I could get in the Creed before choking on the words.
I won’t share my answer.
But I too am a product of our literal-minded culture.
It’s not surprising that the Bible largely remains a closed book.
If you treat the biblical myths as history, as something literal, you end up either with distortion, or absurdity.
What the Bible genuinely is, is our story, our story told in myth, our story explained using parable, our story overflowing with metaphor, and allegory.
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, and its relationship to the mystery we call “God.”
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, and its relationship with the wider human community.
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, to the cosmos itself.
The power of our story, told in myth and parable and metaphor, the power of our story for inspiration and transformation is immeasurable.
The true myth of the Bible can change lives.
And it does.

How can we describe the Jesus experience
Jack Spong writes about the effect that Jesus had on the women and men who followed him around.
They had tasted the power that was in Jesus, and they were made whole by it.
They felt a new freedom.
They knew what it meant to live in the moment, to live in what many call “The Eternal Now.”
They became agents of the power of Jesus.
They shared those gifts, and they shared their stories, from generation to generation, creating and re-creating our story, transforming it, making all things new.
As the power moved among those human beings, light once more separated from darkness, and it was good!
They searched for the words to describe the moment that recognized the fullness of this power, living in history, living in the life of this person, Jesus, but words failed them.
So they lapsed into poetry.
When this life was born, the life of Jesus, they said a great light split the dark sky.
Angelic choruses peopled the heavens to sing of peace on earth.
They told of a virgin mother, a rejecting world, of stars and kings.
Light once more separated the darkness.
There was no other way to talk about it.
Paul: Darkness and light
We read a bit about “light” from of one of Paul’s letters this morning.
What Paul said about darkness and light was this:
Those who have been touched by the God they see in Jesus have seen the Light, and it’s as if seeing the Light at the very first moment of creation, knowing the spiritual presence of God in Jesus, as if brand-new, knowing the spiritual presence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, knowing the presence of the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”
It’s the Light that shines in our hearts.
It has separated the darkness.
(And I don’t need to cross my fingers any more.)

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.
Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

2009-02-22T19:30:00.004-05:00

Austin James Perillo came to church today!
It was very busy this morning at The Episcopal Church in Marlboro. Austin James Perillo was welcomed into full membership, and it was witnessed by a full house—nearly 70 of us. Austin's parents are Manny and Valerie. They were married nine years ago at our church and live in Dutchess County. What a warm, friendly group of visitors we had today. The movie included here includes photos taken during the service, at coffee hour, and later in the Sunday school, where Lea Buttner, Reneé Borchert, and their children have already begun preparing the sets and props for the 2009 vacation Bible school in June.

A perfect opportunity to improve our kitchens
At last week's vestry meeting, we decided to act on the two kitchen improvements that we've been talking about for quite some time. It seems like the classic "perfect storm," where things surprisingly come together all at the same moment to bring about change. We had previously raised about $1500 toward changes in the parish hall kitchen (new sink, built-in dishwasher, and kitchen counter). Turns out, Carolyn Cuilty, our treasurer, is working for a firm that in the business of kitchen upgrades, and some deep discounts are a possibility. Looks as though we will be able to move forward sooner rather than later.

The original kitchen in the former rectory has been an embarassing eyesore embarassing in the midst of our office and Sunday school rooms. Sgt. Bukavinsky, from the Eastern Correctional Facility, has been urging us to take advantage of services provided to nonprofit organizations by inmates. They currently have two teams available with guys who are skilled at putting up sheetrock. Steven Gilman provided a professional estimate of costs for materials, and it totals about $500. If we can raise that amount quickly (and I think we can), we can transform that room into usable space and eliminate an eyesore.

We owe the Diocese some back-payments
Turns out we paid the Diocese less in 2008 than we should have. The vestry will make an effort to manage funds this year in such a way that we're out of debt within 12 months.

Pancake supper Tuesday 5:30-7 o'clock: bring us your palm branches from 2008
It's an Anglican tradition, the pancake supper held on the evening preceding Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras without beads. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit. We'll be burning palm branches from 2008 Palm Sunday to be used the next day, Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday eucharist and imposition of ashes at 7 o'clock
Our service will begin at 7 o'clock Wednesday. I'm trying to come up with a list of alternative services in our area for those who are unable to make our service. Will keep you posted.

Red Cross blood drive on Saturday in our parish hall
The Red Cross will be taking over the parish hall Saturday from 9–2 p.m., hoping to replenish their supply. Spread the word!

Lenten family potlucks begin this Sunday
We'll be getting together at 4 o'clock on the next five Sundays sharing potluck meals. Following the meal, adults will stay in the parish hall for a program provided by the Congregational Development office of the National Church: Spiritual Journey: A Small Group Resource. The children will take part in a parallel "track" suited to their needs. We did this same sort of thing last year, and it was well received.

Birthdays
2/23 Nicholas Gephard

Anniversaries
2/24 Susan and Joe Jurkovic
Calendar*
Sunday, Feb. 22, 4:00pm Bach Cantata at Monastery
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 5:30pm Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Family-friendly mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am “Third Thursday” mass + lunch
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

ThisWeeksSermon February 15th 2009

2009-02-18T15:33:00.003-05:00

“God is Wonder, not judgment.”
The 6th Sunday After the Epiphany, February 15th, 2008

“The revelation of God is Wonder, not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and story, not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.”

“For me the experience was the result of receiving the dreaded cancer diagnosis and then unexpectedly, being aware of the Wonder of it all, somehow, without warning, knowing a connection with God and the Universe that could not be undone, no matter what, ever.”

CLICK HERE to start streaming audio version.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Namasté
Namasté.
As you may know, “namasté” is a common spoken greeting in the Indian subcontinent.
It’s an expression of deep respect.
It’s commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists, but it’s also associated with spiritual meditation among Christians, and all over the world.
In India, the word is spoken at the beginning of a conversation, “Namaste,” with prayerful hands, palms facing one another.
At the end of a conversation, when departing, the same hand gesture is made, but usually without words.
Taken literally, namasté means “I bow to you.”
In yoga, namasté is said to mean, “The light in me honors the light in you.”
Other interpretations are, “I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me.”
Or “the Divinity within me greets the Divinity within you.”
“Your spirit and my spirit are One.”
These ideas should not be foreign to Christians.
The whole idea that God would become incarnate in a human being, Jesus, is the quintessential example of “God-within-us” in our tradition.
There are lots of other examples as well.
Early Christians spoke about Jesus being “in the Father”, one with God, and the Father being “in” him, and Jesus being “in” us, and us being “in him,” and so forth.
We as a church claim, actually to be God’s body in the world.

Naaman’s young skin and my old skin
Changing the subject here for a minute.
In this morning’s first reading, from the second book of The Kings, Naaman went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan River, following the directions of a holy man, and his flesh was restored, we’re told.
It became like the flesh of a young boy.
The leprosy, it’s called Hansen’s Disease today, the leprosy was gone.
He was clean.
(You know, I look at myself in the mirror and I think “If only I could get a bit of that Jordan river water.”
Wouldn’t we all like to have our flesh restored to the flesh of our youth!)
Nonetheless, the aging of our skin, clearly, it’s to be expected.
It happens.

Recognizing the wonder of God all around
But I think there’s another way to look at it.
Instead of focusing on what it is we expect, we can look for the un-expected, we can look for the surprise.
Call it “Wonder,” with a capital-W.
Wonder.
It’s all around us.
When I look in my mirror, and all we see are these wrinkles, and I wish, if only I could take a swim like Naaman’s, in the Jordan River, and be restored?
Instead of focusing on what’s expected, and trying to wish these wrinkles away, I might look at them as “an awesome Wonder.”
I might think of them as something more.
How about thinking of them as “patterned lines of experience.”
Where we see those extra pounds and protruding midsections, what we might see instead could be confirmation of the Wonder of “abundant life.”
When there are tears of regret, they can actually be miraculous occasions for the Wonder of of tenderness and empathy.
Those tears can be “moist opportunities for compassion.”
Where we experience failure, the Wonder of new opportunities presents itself, the Wonder of seeing things in new ways.
Paul celebrated this concept, you know, in his letter to the Colossians:
“…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If we want to, we can lose ourselves in the Wonder of the un-expected.
We can welcome the surprise as hiding-places of the Wonder of God.
It’s possible to live being open to possibilities of divine revelation all around us, the Wonder of an incarnation……
of God with us, of God within us.
The wonder of the Light that is within all things that live and move and have their being.

An old joke about what we don’t recognize
Ian Lawton, an ordained Anglican priest who is now “Executive Minister” at a large community church in Michigan, told this joke in a recent sermon.
There’s a saying, he said, that Jews don’t recognize Jesus, Protestants don’t recognize the Pope, and Baptists don’t recognize one another if they run into each other at a Hooters restaurant.
In his sermon, Ian Lawton added one more.
Cynics don’t recognize beauty, even when it’s sometimes right under their noses.
It’s easy to become cynical, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t blind a person to the beauty that’s all around.
And then Ian Lawton said this about Wonder (and I especially like this part):
The revelation of God is Wonder.
It’s not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and it is story.
It is not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.

From a J.D. Salinger short story
In 1954 J.D. Salinger published a short story called “Teddy.”
Teddy, in the story, is a ten-year-old with enormous spiritual insight.
In this story, Teddy is having a conversation with an adult on a cruise ship.
Here’s what Teddy said:
“I was six when I saw that everything was God, and my hair stood up, and all,” Teddy said.
“It was on a Sunday, I remember.
My sister was a tiny child then, and she was drinking her milk, and all of a sudden I saw that she was God and the milk was God.
I mean, all she was doing was pouring God into God, if you know what I mean.”
An experience like that can change the way you see everything around you.
For me, the experience was the result of receiving the dreaded cancer diagnosis and then, unexpectedly, being aware of the Wonder of it all, somehow, without warning, knowing a connection with God and the Universe that could not be undone, no matter what, ever.
An experience like that lets you see everything around you with new eyes.
You feel different.
Not only do you feel more connected to everything, but you feel more compassionate, more content to simply be in the moment.
There’s a sense of participating in something huge, and grand, and much larger than any individual human being.
The boundaries between me and the rest of life are gradually, but surely, dissolving.

Wonder and Effortless Action
If you are overwhelmed by Wonder at the sight of a coral reef, or by a pristine mountain lake where the water’s so clear that you can stand waist-deep and still count your toes, if these experiences are true for you, you’re not very unlikely to throw an empty beer can into the water, or anything else that doesn’t belong there.
If you look at the stars and you’re overwhelmed by the size of the universe, you’re less likely to think that you’re the center of the world, or that the universe exists simply to satisfy your own needs.
If you’re lost in the joy and pleasure of a toddler learning life’s lessons, you’re a lot more likely to be compassionate toward that child, and probably toward others as well.
If you have these experiences, you know something of the Wonder of God’s presence here and now.

The revelation of God is Wonder, not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and story, not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.

Namaste.
When Wonder in me greets Wonder in you, there is only one of us.
In the eyes of God, those wrinkles and expanding midsections and tears and failures are gone.
They have disappeared in the waters of the Jordan River.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer.
Amen.
Jerry Brooks+

Valentine flowers for Amelia Jane

2009-02-17T17:10:00.002-05:00

The two grandfathers (Los Abuletos) remembered Amelia Jane on Valentine's Day. Mom and Dad let her unwrap the Fedexed bouquet and recorded it for the rest of us.

I had something to say about this experience in my sermon Sunday.

"If you’re lost in the joy and pleasure of a toddler learning life’s lessons, you’re a lot more likely to be compassionate toward that child, and probably toward others as well. If you have these experiences, you know something of the Wonder of God’s presence here and now."

ThisWeeksNews Sunday, February 15th

2009-02-17T16:34:00.003-05:00

Well, we're closing in on the end of the Epiphany liturgical season. Ash Wednesday is February 25th, a week from tomorrow. Time is passing faster than ever, it seems. What I'm thinking is that time passes quickly when you're enjoying yourself; it drags when you're not. If that's so, then for me it's a good thing tht the pages of the calendar turn quickly.

Baptism this coming Sunday
This coming Sunday we'll be baptizing Austin James Perillo, borne to Manny and Valerie on June 21st. We baptized Austin's brother a couple of years ago. Hope you'll be joining me Sunday to welcome this little boy and his family into our family.

Pancake supper Tuesday
Two days later, February 24th, it'll be the annual pancake supper—a tradition that goes back to days when our denomination in this country was the Church of England. I don't recall what time dinner was served last year. Stay tuned. I do, however, know what time we'll be observing Ash Wednesday with imposition of ashes: February 25th at 7 p.m.

Lenten potlucks: five Sundays
On the five Sundays in Lent, we'll be meeting for an early supper—4 o'clock each week. The meal will be pot luck, followed by a two-track program: something for adults, and something for boys and girls. The adult track is titled "A Spiritual Journey." The purpose is to view our lives as a "spiritual journey" and, hopefully, to deepen our spiritual awareness. One effective eye-opener for many is the power of stories. Each of us has her or his own story to tell. So we'll be looking closely at our own stories, hoping to glimpse God moving in our midst. This could be the makings of a truly meaningful Lenten preparation for Easter.

Mid-Hudson Lenten event March 4th (****Highly recommended by me, four stars)
A Lenten program, “From Ashes to Fire,” is being presented by the Mid-Hudson Program Committee. The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche (diocesan Canon for Pastoral Care) and The Rev. Canon John Osgood (dioscesan Canon to the Ordinery) will each make a presentation, with time allowed for questions and discussion. Wednesday, March 4, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Zion Church, 12 Satterlee Place, Wappingers Falls. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided. No cost. See me to reserve a seat.—jb+

Calendar

Thursday, Feb. 19, 11:30am Third Thursday Mass+healing, then lunch & conversation
Sunday, Feb. 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, Feb. 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, Feb. 22, 4:00pm Bach Cantata kickoff
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Family mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck

ThisWeeksSermon, 5th Sunday After Epiphany

2009-02-10T12:14:00.009-05:00

“Remember what we’re here for.”
The 5th Sunday After the Epiphany, February 8th, 2008

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“What this story says to me is that it’s a good thing to just stop for awhile.
Stop the multitasking.
Do one thing at a time, intentionally.
Enjoy the wonder of being in the present moment.
Recognize holiness and even divinity in the people and things around you.
Entertain new possibilities, and be open to seeing the world in a new way.”

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Click here to listen to streaming audio version of the sermon.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Thursday morning at the train station
Thursday morning Rob and I arrived more than half an hour early for the 10:33 train into the City.
Allowed plenty of time.
Wanted to be sure to find a parking space.
It was really cold outside.
But it was warm in the waiting room.
Three of us sat on a bench in the sun.
Rob on my right, then me, and then, on my left, a woman I’d spoken with briefly as we were buying our parking tickets.
Thirty minutes with nothing to do.
So I pulled out my laptop computer and placed my laptop in my lap.
Started it up and got three things going at once:
checking for eMail, looking up the weather report for the next couple of days in San Francisco, and calling up my things-to-do list, doing all three of these things simultaneously, and at the same time, keeping my eye on her, the woman ten feet to my left, on the bench.
She asked me to watch her black canvas bag, which she left on the bench, while she stepped out for a smoke.
While my fingers tapped away on my keyboard, I did keep an eye on that bag, looking back and forth between it and the computer.
I kept an eye on the bag until she came back, and after that, I kept an eye on her.
What she did when she got back was immediately kneel in front of the bag, as though in payer.
I could hear her talking to the bag, but couldn’t make out the words.
I kept typing, and listening, and sneaking a peek every once in awhile.
This kind of multitasking comes naturally to me.
I do it all the time.
“Rob,” I whispered.
“I think that woman over there is praying to her suitcase!”
I kept typing.
Then finally, I got an idea of what was actually going on.
I tested my idea.
“What’s in the bag,” I asked her.
The answer: two cats.
She had been on her knees all this time talking with her two cats.
A kind of prayer, I suppose.
But not what I was thinking.

Here’s the way my day goes.
As I said, this multitasking thing is something I do all the time.
If I’m in the kitchen, the TV is on.
If I’m in my office, I’m listening to the radio over the internet:
news from Boston, contemporary music from Woodstock, classical music from Seattle.
I grind coffee beans and make a double cappuccino while I’m preparing the dog’s breakfast and portioning out his medications.
I never just read the morning paper.
I read the paper and watch TV at the same time.
My day goes something like this.
I set out to answer eMail, but then the phone rings.
It’s a client asking me to fix a bad link on a website.
It’ll only take a minute.
So I don’t go right back to the eMail.
Instead, I start up Dreamweaver, the program that manages my websites.
It’s a big application and takes awhile to open, so I decide there’s time to synchronize my iPod with my computer, and so I start that.
Then the phone rings again.
I can see it’s Val Stelcen in the bishop’s office returning my call.
Better drop everything and take that one!
She has a request.
She wants me to send out eMail to Ulster County clergy.
Of course I still haven’t gotten back to my original eMail, but I follow through with Val’s request anyway, and that’s the way my day goes, switching from one thing to another to another to another.
This way of working is called “multitasking.”
For most of us, it’s the way we live our lives these days.
Read while we exercise.
Eat breakfast on-the-go.
Text-message while listening to a lecture.
Talk on the phone while grocery-shopping.
Talk on the phone while driving a car!
It’s what we do.
Multitasking.
Switching from thing to thing to thing.
Never just focusing on one thing at a time.

The brain switching
The word multitasking comes from the world of computers, actually.
I can ask my computer to do any number of things, all at once:
transform a bunch of photos into a movie, print a 500-page document, add up a column of figures, whatever.
The computer will complete all the tasks, eventually, but it might slow to a crawl, and if I give it too much to do all at once, it might even give up and crash.
Something called “context switching” is what slows the computer, the need to continually switch from one workspace to another.
For us, the kind of multitasking that we take for granted is the human version of “context switching.”
What psychologists say
In the last couple of decades, psychologists have been studying the nature and limits of human multitasking, and the effects of “context switching” on humans.
They see that all of these switches that we make on a daily basis gobble up our energy, and affect productivity.
We may complete all the tasks eventually, but productivity can slow to a crawl.
If we try to do too much all at once, like the computer, we may very well, ourselves, crash.
Context switching is disorienting.
And what’s more, psychologists note, frequent context switching interferes with one’s ability to feel happy.
Timothy Ferriss, a productivity guru, argues that you should rarely multitask and should instead devote full attention to completing just a very small set of defined goals in a given time.
Jesus needs time alone.
This morning in the gospel reading, Mark told a story about Jesus going about healing people who were sick and disabled.
It didn’t seem to matter who needed help.
Jesus responded to anyone who asked.
Clearly, even this early in his ministry, Jesus was gaining a reputation.
Mark says that people were flocking to Jesus, and in today’s story, it apparently had been overwhelming, switching from person to person and thing to thing, as we do.
It had to have been stressful.
And apparently it was.
One thing right after another.
Nonstop.
What a day for Jesus.
A human version of the dreaded computer crash.
Here’s what happened next:
The next day following that frenetic series of healings, the next day early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
In the midst of everything, Jesus simply left.
He stopped what he was doing, and disappeared.
Didn’t say anything to anyone.
Didn’t leave a note.
He simply left.
Went to what Mark called “a desolate place,” a place with no distractions.
And there he prayed.
This sent his disciples scrambling.
They searched everywhere.
The crowds wanted a show, and the disciples couldn’t find the star of the show.
When the disciples did finally find Jesus, he said “no.”
“Let’s move on.”
In the midst of this frenzy of activity and fame, Jesus had sneaked out the back door to pray to the god he called “father,” and and to reorient himself to his calling, his purpose.

Many things to be learned
Of course there are many things to be learned from this passage, but what stands out for me is that Jesus recognized his need to get away.
Even the one we call the “son of the most high” could not get his thoughts straight in the midst of so many things happening around him all at once.
Too much context switching from thing to thing to thing.
Too much multitasking.
He needed time alone, to think, to pray, to regain his focus.
There’s a sort of hunger, an insatiability, that can come with being in the spotlight all the time, and Jesus rejected that feeling outright.
He remembered what he was there for.
Fame and power were not it, not what he was there for.
Staying busy all the time was not what he was there for.
And those things are not what we’re here for either.

The point of the story?
What this story says to me is that it’s a good thing to just stop for awhile.
Stop the multitasking.
Do one thing at a time, intentionally.
Also, for maybe only 10 or 15 minutes in the midst of the day, just stop, with intent, and think about regaining some perspective on what’s going on in your life, in your family, in our community, in our country, in the world.
Enjoy the wonder of being in the present moment.
Recognize holiness and even divinity in the people and things around you.
Consider the connection between ourselves and all things that live and move and have their being.
Entertain new possibilities, and be open to seeing the world in a new way.
Jesus recognized that he needed to get away, to retreat, and to reorient himself to his calling, to his purpose.
Jesus said “no” and went off to a desolate place where he got back in touch with the One he called “Father.”
We can do the same.

Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro—February 8th

2009-02-10T10:35:00.012-05:00

Savannah Laurette Collin became a member of The Episcopal Church this past Sunday. Baptisms at our church seem to be particularly joyous occasions. It gives me enormous pleasure to be able to offer this sacrament which celebrates the miracle of new birth—in this case, Savannah's first rite of passage.

We had quite a crowd in church Sunday, with many visitors. We counted 72 in church, with 60 taking communion. Anne Borchert again prepared a cross-shaped cape, this time for Savannah. Fortunately, Christine Eagan had brought some delicious pumpkin muffins. Nonetheless, Joanne Ward had to run out for bagels and break to ensure enough for everyone. (We were surprised by Sunday attendance.)

It also was Boy Scout Sunday this week. Eric Borchert attended church in full uniform, looking awesome. (Can't believe we didn't get a photo of Eric, but take my word for it. Eric looked great in his uniform!)

Photos from Sunday are included in a separate posting. Click here to view.

Lenten quiet day at the Monastery March 7th

The Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy will be leading a Lenten quiet day at Holy Cross Monastery Saturday, March 7, 9:30–3:30 p.m. (Cost expected to be $15–$20.)

Birthdays
2/13 Madison Segnit
2/16 Martha McMullen
2/23 Nicholas Gephard

Anniversaries
2/24 Susan and Joe Jurkovic

Calendar
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, Feb. 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, Feb. 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, Feb. 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Thursday, Feb. 19, 11:30am Mass+healing, then lunch & conversation
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Wednesday, Feb. 25 Ash Wednesday
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Child-friendly mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm Lenten Program: “From Ashes to Fire”
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday

Click here to view the "live" version of the parish calendar.

Snapshots—February 8th Baptism of Savannah Laurette Collin

2009-02-10T10:27:00.006-05:00

Savannah Laurette Collin became a member of The Episcopal Church Sunday morning at her baptism. Savannah is the daughter of Dierdre and Matthew Collin, married at our church two years ago. It was a very happy morning at our church!

Pizza with roasted veggies, a pear rustic tart, and two days later dessert with Amelia

2009-02-09T10:37:00.006-05:00

It's always wonderful to spend time with a one-year-old, especially when she's your granddaughter, but I've got to tell you that one of the perks on each Thursday-to-Saturday visit is the meal we get to prepare together.

Saturday it was a homemade pizza. Whole wheat crust, mozzerella cheese, roasted butternut squash and broccolini and red onions and parsnips followed by…

…a pear-and-ginger rustic tart. Served it with low-cal vanilla ice cream.

We may be gone…
but not forgotten.
Jenn's in D.C. on business for a couple of days. José is "home alone" with Amelia. Last night we entertained her as she polished off a container of baby yogurt.

Amelia is definitely into electronics. If it has a button or a switch, she's there. And this Skype service is the best thing ever as far as she's concerned.

Our day at the beach in San Francisco

2009-02-06T18:39:00.004-05:00

Spent the day Friday in San Francisco. After Amelia saw her pediatric dermotologist, we headed for Ocean Beach (where the Cliff House is). Then we headed for The Presidio and finally back to Berkeley, where we had a great authentic Mexican lunch and did some shopping. Cherry trees are in blossom!

Back to New York tomorrow….

House-painting, finally

2009-02-04T19:47:00.003-05:00

I think we moved here in 2005 and that it'll be four years this coming summer. Brand-new construction, but without light fixtures, towel bars, bathroom mirrors -- and all with a thin coat of a yellowy "white" splashed everywhere. And I do mean "splashed."

Four days into this, the main floor walls are done, but not the woodwork yet. The ceiling in the front hall is more than 30 feet up at its highest point. What a chore.

What you see here is pretty much the color scheme, although my monitor isn't representing the red accurately at all. I call the part that's painted red the "elevator shaft." It starts on the ground floor in my office, enclosing stairs leading to the door on the far left in this photo. On this, the main floor, the "shaft" encloses a half-bath on one side and provides a solid (red) wall in the kitchen. On the third floor, it rises to the vaulted ceiling and encloses the guest bath.

All the woodwork will be white. Not the creamy color you see here. I won't tell you what this is costing, but my spiritual director/companion, Jane Leifer, suggests that I deserve to live in a beautiful space. She told me that when, in year 2 here, I told her we had bare light bulbs everywhere there should be a light fixture.

Enough about me … and the paint.

Off to California tomorrow.