source of the river

What was I thinking?

2011-12-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

I found myself back in my hometown again, dreaming of the house my father’s second wife lived in before she married him, a duplex, and the other half housing her sister’s family. There are many times that I end up at that house, rarely inside, but more often than not doing something with the yard. Last night it involved cutting the lawn while the house was being repainted maroon with white trim.

I usually find myself dreaming of my hometown, my home or the high school whenever I am stressed, or at a time of decision making. Why my mind settles there, I do not know. I am sure that Freud would have an opinion as to why I am never inside the house.

Two gentlemen were watching from the adjoining yard voicing lots of opinions on the grass cutter, me, and the painter. I remember magically see the house change to blue and white, immediately brightening the house and all around it. Color, or the lack of it, plays an important part of our lives.

I had spent part of the day trimming away the dead parts of plants in the garden. Perennials that will sprout again next spring and summer. When I look out the front window it is a different view now, not brown, but filled with ever green plants and shrubs which compete with all the vibrant colors of the spring and summer, always present but sometimes hidden.

Men voicing opinions are always around me. Lots of opinions, most of them I ignore, but some of them know me well, and those I keep with me. I am more inclined to listen to women, women who understand what is at the heart of a subject, if the soul might be wounded, if courage is needed.

So who or want is waiting for me to decide, to notice? How long will I gaze waiting for another sign? How might the universe choose to communicate?

Possibly by needing to replace a hard drive which temporarily forces me off the internet and back to quiet and the time needed to ponder.

Movies to have your soul smiling and laughing

2011-12-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

I have not been writing much lately, and I like to blame it on the fact that my keyboard hates my fingers. I can be typing along and the keyboard will make random keys stick or place the shift key where the enter should be. It is infuriating. So much so, I hate to use the damn thing.

However, there are times when I really want to share, to give in to the temptation and somehow manage to confuse the keyboard as to whose fingers are pounding away.

Before Christmas I came down with a cold that transformed itself into bronchitis. Sent home from work, twice, I finally went to the doctor, received "drugs" and was told to rest, sleep, drink fluids and get well. Oh, and to have a Merry Christmas. :)

What is one to do when confined to bed, alone?

Netflix and On Demand Movies, life savers they truly were. And my taste is all over the map. Just think 24 hours a day of not sleeping due to coughing and hacking.

It seems like I watched hundreds these past ten days. And considering the plethora of holiday and Christmas movies, etc. it was amazing that I could find anything else. Some movies I have watched twice: Stage Beauty, Bran Nue Dae, Legion, The Mechanic, Lars and the Real Girl, Cedar Rapids, Hereafter, The Young Victoria, What Doesn't Kill You, and the Dr. Who Christmas Special - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

Some it pained to watch once due to the raw emotions on the screen ; The Road, Edge of Darkness.

My two favorite during this period had to do with transformational love in two different settings. Check out Joshua and Nativity!

Finally, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Season of Creation

2011-10-16T15:29:00.000-04:00

Each Fall the Episcopal Church ofSts. Andrew and Matthew (SsAM) in Wilmington, DE celebrates with services entitled Season of Creation. The Season of Creation liturgies focus on biodiversity, land, water, climate change, need not greed, and caring for God's creation. Join with us in praying that this resource may deepen our comprehension of God as Creator and broaden our understanding of our calling to be faithful stewards of creation.

Refashion our mind, O God, to a new way of thinking, that seeing the peril of our failure to halt the desecration of the planet and its creatures, we commit to the promise of life for all that lives.

Reconcile our hearts to one another across all boundaries, that human diversity may be experienced as enrichment, and differences honored as leading to wiser action.

Sensitize the governments of the world to the folly of violent conquest, that has led all of history's adventures in empire to ultimate decadence and demise. And teach all who aspire to leadership of nations the enduring wisdom of collaboration and servanthood.

Strenghten the movement for nonviolence that has emerged in our time, that human ingenuity may be turned to the preservation of the earth, and that our economies be reordered to the urgent needs of the human family.

Kindle in each of us a resolve to dismantle our own private arsenals of violence: our greed and thanklessness, our rage and grievances, our hatreds and all of our shifting of blame.

Enliven the faith communities of the world with a rebirth of welcome for all sorts and conditions of humanity, moving us to reorder our lives and our loves to such simplicity and goodwill as to preserve the each and make for peace.

Paul, Martin and Peace

2011-09-07T16:16:00.000-04:00

This is what Bishop Wayne P Wright has written in our weekly eblast newsletter this week.

This coming Sunday is September 11^th– the tenth anniversary of a day that none of us will ever forget. For weeks, even months, we have been preparing. I am impressed by the many observances taking place in our churches and schools. They are obviously the fruit of much reflection, study, and prayer. Each carries the potential to invite healing, deepen faith, and strengthen love. Our hope is always that the future may learn from the past. Thank you.

I have been reading about the events happening this weekend at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel in lower Manhattan. Trinity is only a few hundred yards away from Ground Zero. St. Paul’s, just across the street from the World Trade Center, became a place of rest and respite for rescue and recovery workers in the days following the attacks. Our Presiding Bishop will preach at St. Paul’s on Sunday morning. New York’s Bishop Mark Sisk will be the celebrant for the principal service. Many other events at Trinity and St. Paul’s will add to a week of commemoration and observance. You can read more on the website: www.trinitywallstreet.org

I was especially struck by the theme the parish has chosen to guide its anniversary observance: “Remember to Love.”

This phrase brings to mind Paul’s sturdy and deeply challenging admonition about Christian love: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)

Before September 11, 2001 I am sure that I always took this passage too lightly. Seeing burning fragments from buildings and airplanes literally falling from the sky, I came to realize how seriously I had underestimated the need for what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the strength to love.” By choosing the theme “Remember to Love,” the members of Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel have placed this challenge and an opportunity directly before us. It is important to remember the past. But, it is not enough simply to remember. My daily prayer will be for the Spirit of Christ to reconcile and heal us and for the love of Christ to make us instruments of his much needed peace.

Faithfully,

Wayne Wright,
Bishop of Delaware

Leaping

2011-09-07T16:12:00.000-04:00

The other day I re-watched a movie called Leap Year staring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. I am a sucker for anything filmed in Ireland and has relationships similar to Tracy and Hepburn or Clark Gable Claudette Colbert in In Happened One Night.

The plot of Leap Year is that "when Anna’s (Amy Adams) four-year anniversary to her boyfriend passes without an engagement ring, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Inspired by an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on Leap Day, Anna follows Jeremy (Adam Scott) to Dublin to propose to him. But after landing on the wrong side of Ireland, she must enlist the help of the handsome and carefree local Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her across the country. Along the way, they discover that the road to love can take you to very unexpected places."

Now besides the great accents and the scenery the happy endings always present in Hollywood films, what stuck with me was the scene when Jeremy in an attempt to find some common ground, asks Anna what one thing would she grab if her house was on fire.

Of course, remember Anna is American and to think that that someone would know the one thing they would grab is ludicrous. As she scoffs and taunts Jeremy, he calmly tells her it would be his grandmothers clatter ring. That is the only thing he would take.

What came to me as I watched this movie for the umpteenth time, late at night in my bed. is that I had finally made the great leap over things.

I realize that what I wanted to make sure made it out of the house were the three cats. Everything else did not enter my mind. Things had lost their value.

Of course, remember that I have insurance. What I would need to have in my new abode I would be purchasing.

I realized that the furniture that had been handed down to me, were no longer important. My daughter has no interest. She had her own style.

So, what I have put in my " fire bag" is a dvd of when my aunt told the history of the Gregory family from Scotland and the dvd's my daughters father made as she was growing up.

What else?

Not much.

So Who's in Charge Here

2011-07-31T18:07:00.000-04:00

For the past month or so, I have been trying to discern whether I was really meant to return to Sudan in September. I had made the connections with Five Talents, Inc. I had met the people, attended meetings and started to prepare for going. I had spoken with David Copley and spoke to him about stopping in Juba. I was excited that I might be going through Nairobi, Kenya and ending up in Wau, The Republic of South Sudan. I was excited to be revisiting and old friend in a new country.

I remembered the time leading up to my trip in 2008. Every problem that I put before saying no, was taken care of. A house and cat sitter, a sabbatical granted, funds raised.

This time, not so easy to recognize who was in control.

However, little by little who was in control became very apparent. In order to make sure that I was really listening a messenger I could not ignore came calling. The Rev. Canon Lloyd Casson.

The result, an adventure in a different direction, one that does not require leaving Delaware. But it does mean much time will be spent working toward the continued education of young women utilizing the same skills needed in Sudan.

Then is my continued involvement in the organization the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. The work on their annual conference and the up coming expense of attending General Convention in Indianapolis in 2012, both seem to be asking for funds that might go toward funding another trip.

Then my 24 year-old heat pump decided to leak in the basement. Imagine being told I needed $8,000-$10,000 to replace it entirely. Or $2,000 towards replacing the pan.

Jeez Lueez.

Ok, I might not have been paying attention, but did you have to shout?

South Sudan becomes an independent Nation. Celebrate!

2011-07-09T01:22:00.000-04:00

8 July 2011 Last updated at 19:19 ET

South Sudan becomes an independent nation

Click to play

The BBC's Will Ross says the party has begun in the capital Juba

Sudan: Set for divorce

South Sudan has become the world's newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are among international dignitaries attending celebrations in the capital, Juba.
Sudan earlier became the first state to officially recognise its new neighbour.
The south's independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died.
Celebrations in Juba began at midnight (2100 GMT). A countdown clock in the city centre reached zero and the new national anthem was played on television.
South Sudan became the 193rd country recognised by the UN and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

At the scene

Peter Martell BBC News, Juba

Officials had planned for people to hold quiet celebrations at home, with the formal declaration of independence due later on Saturday.
But the people clearly couldn't wait. Two hours before midnight and lines of cars zoomed around town packed with people waving flags and waiting to celebrate.
When the final countdown arrived, the atmosphere was wild. Groups ran down roads, dancing to drum beats. Soldiers and policemen joined in too, waving paper flags and laughing.
A sign read: "Congratulations, free at last, South Sudan." But the people didn't need to read the message - they were already dancing and leaping with happiness.
"It is a shout of freedom," said Alfred Tut, lifting his head back and screaming.

The BBC's Will Ross in Juba says the new country's problems are being put aside for the night, and there is an air of great jubilation.

People are in the streets, cheering, waving South Sudan flags, banging drums and chanting the name of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, he adds.
A formal independence ceremony is due to be held later on Saturday.
The Speaker of the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, James Wani Igga, is expected to read out the Proclamation of the Independence of South Sudan at 1145 (0845 GMT). Minutes later Sudan's national flag will be lowered and the new flag of South Sudan will be raised.
In addition to Mr Bashir and Mr Ban, attendees will include former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice, and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham.
Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a referendum was held on independence, which was favoured by more than 99% of voters.
The new country is rich in oil, but one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.
Unresolved disputes between the north and south, particularly over the new border, have also raised the possibility of renewed conflict.
On Friday, Sudan's Minister of Presidential Affairs, Bakri Hassan Saleh, announced that it recognised "the Republic of South Sudan as an independent state, according to the borders existing on 1 January 1956", when Sudan gained independence from Britain.

South Sudan

Facts and figures:

Population: 7.5-9.7 million
Size: 619,745 sq km (239,285 sq miles), larger than Spain and Portugal combined
Major languages: English, Arabic (both official), Juba Arabic, Dinka
Religion: Traditional and a Christian minority
Main export: Oil

Challenges ahead:

One of world's least developed countries: Worst maternal mortality rate; most children below 13 not in school; 84% of women are illiterate
Relations with Sudan: Dividing debts and oil; border disputes; citizenship
Security: At least seven active rebel groups

'Southern brothers'

President Bashir, who agreed the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), stressed his country's "readiness to work with our southern brothers and help them set up their state so that, God willing, this state will be stable and develop".

"The co-operation between us will be excellent, particularly when it comes to marking and preserving the border so there is a movement of citizens and goods via this border," he told journalists in Khartoum.
Fears of fresh conflict resurfaced after recent fighting in two border areas, Abyei and South Kordofan, which forced some 170,000 people from their homes.
But separate deals - and the withdrawal of rival forces from the border - have calmed tensions.
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution approving a new 7,000-strong peacekeeping force for South Sudan - but this is basically a rebranding of the force which was already in Sudan, mostly in the south.
Khartoum has said its mandate would not be renewed, leading the US to argue that the 1,000 UN troops should be allowed to remain in South Kordofan. The 1,000 troops in the disputed town of Abyei are to be replaced by 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers.
Our correspondent says keeping both the north and the south stable long after the celebratory parties have ended will be a mighty challenge.

Click to play

All you need to know about South Sudan's independence

The two sides must still decide on issues such as drawing up the new border and how to divide Sudan's debts and oil wealth.
Analysts say the priority for Khartoum will be to negotiate a favourable deal on oil revenue, as most oilfields lie in the south. At present, the revenues are being shared equally.
Khartoum has some leverage, as most of the oil pipelines flow north to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Citizenship is also a key issue which has not yet been decided.
A new law passed by the National Assembly in Khartoum has withdrawn Sudanese citizenship from all southerners.
The UN refugee agency (UNCHR), has urged both governments to prevent statelessness.

Sudan: A country divided

Show regions

The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

BBC Coverage of South Sudan Independence

2011-07-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

8 July 2011 Last updated at 11:40 ET

South Sudan counts down to independence

There are dress rehearsals in Juba for the independence day ceremony

Sudan: Set for divorce

South Sudan is counting down the hours until it becomes the world's newest nation on Saturday 9 July.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and dignitaries from around the world will be attending the celebrations in the southern capital, Juba.
Sudan has announced its official recognition of its new neighbour - the first country to do so.
South Sudan's independence follows decades of conflict with the north, in which some 1.5 million people died.
Under the 2005 peace deal, a referendum was held on independence, which was favoured by more than 99% of voters.
The new country will be rich in oil, but it will be one of the least developed countries in the world following the long conflict.
'No quarrel'

Click to play

All you need to know about South Sudan's independence

The celebrations will begin after midnight local time (2100 GMT) around the countdown clock in the centre of Juba.
The BBC's Will Ross in the town says in the lead-up to the historic event, radio stations have been blaring out South Sudan's new anthem.
"The Republic of Sudan announces that it recognises the Republic of South Sudan as an independent state, according to the borders existing on 1 January 1 1956," Minister of Presidential Affairs Bakri Hassan Saleh said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Earlier this week, President Bashir pledged his support to South Sudan and said he wanted the new country to be "secure and stable".

South Sudan

Facts and figures:

Population: 7.5-9.7 million
Size: 619,745 sq km (239,285 sq miles), larger than Spain and Portugal combined
Major languages: English, Arabic (both official), Juba Arabic, Dinka
Religion: Traditional and a Christian minority
Main export: Oil

Challenges ahead:

One of world's least developed countries: Worst maternal mortality rate; most children below 13 not in school; 84% of women are illiterate
Relations with Sudan: Dividing debts and oil; border disputes; citizenship
Security: At least seven active rebel groups

"We will bless our brothers in the south over their country and we wish them success," said Mr Bashir, who agreed the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

But he warned that "brotherly relations" depended on secure borders and non-interference in each others' affairs.
There had been fears that war could resume after recent fighting in two border areas, Abyei and South Kordofan, which has forced some 170,000 people from their homes.
But separate deals in recent weeks, and the withdrawal of rival forces from the border, have calmed tensions.
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution approving a new 7,000-strong peacekeeping force for South Sudan - but this is basically a rebranding of the force which was already in Sudan, mostly in the south.
The government in Khartoum has said their mandate would not be renewed, leading the US to argue that the 1,000 UN troops should be allowed to remain in South Kordofan.
The 1,000 troops in the disputed town of Abyei are to be replaced by 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers.
Challenges ahead Rebecca Garang, the wife of the late John Garang who led the southern rebels in the civil war, told the BBC her people had no quarrel with the people of the north, only with their government.
"There are many colleagues and comrades who perished during the war but we are here for their blood," she said.
"So we are very happy and grateful for their contribution for this nation."

President Omar al-Bashir warned 'brotherly relations' depend on non-interference in each others' affairs

Our correspondent says keeping both the predominately Muslim north and the south stable long after the celebratory parties have ended will be a mighty challenge.
The two sides must still decide on issues such as drawing up the new border and how to divide Sudan's debts and oil wealth.
Analysts say the priority for Khartoum will be to negotiate a favourable deal on oil revenue, as most oilfields lie in the south.
At present, the revenues are being shared equally.
Khartoum has some leverage, as most of the oil pipelines flow north to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Citizenship is also a key issue which has not yet been decided.
According to the state-run Sudan Radio, the citizenship of South Sudanese living in the north has now been revoked.
Earlier this week, thousands of southern Sudanese civil servants working in the north had to leave their jobs ahead of the split.

Sudan: A country divided

Show regions

Can A Ringtone Help Unite a Nation

2011-07-08T10:23:00.000-04:00

Can A Ringtone Help Unite A Nation?

by Craig Cole on July 06, 2011(President and CEO of Five Talents, Inc. Five Talents

Fresh off Fourth of July weekend, I'm now ready to celebrate the independence of another country: that of the new South Sudan. On July 9, the nation will formally declare its independence. As soon as a week later, South Sudan will become the 193rd member of the United Nations.
Our project manger in Sudan, Harun Matuma, e-mailed to tell us people are so excited there that many have made the new national anthem their cellphone ringtone! This made me think, can a ringtone help unite a country?
On days like July 4, we here in America unite around patriotic songs, the Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. As July 9 approaches, it seems that people in South Sudan are uniting around their own flag and their own national anthem.
In the US, touchstones like the Flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the National Anthem bind us together. That's not always easy to do, as we're a diverse bunch. For example, my neighbors from El Salvador, Bolivia, and India – they all participated in last weekend's July 4 festivities. They were lighting off fireworks, going to the parade and celebrating their adopted country's freedom.
South Sudan is also a diverse nation in need of touchstones that can help people come together as one. Since 2005, Five Talents has been a part of this "coming together," engaging clans and tribes at the grassroots level. Our 69 savings and loan associations are comprised of more than 1,000 men and women spread across about 50 communities in Renk, Lainya, Juba, Wau and Malakal. These areas include many different ethnic clans -- some of which have been fighting for years.
One of the most difficult areas to work is Malakal. Our director of program, Suzanne Schultz, met with members of the Malakal associations in the capital of Juba earlier this year. These people had reached out to strangers and invited them to participate in our literacy and financial education training sessions.
"[These group members] met people in rural communities where they hadn't mixed with a different clan or different tribe before," Suzanne told me when she got back. "They met people who were hurt and killed [in the recent violence], and it changed everything [about their relationships]."
Suzanne's story is an example of the unification that needs to happen on a large scale if South Sudan is to flourish as a nation. Groups of people who at one time were fighting or avoiding each other must now grab-hold of the hand of their neighbor and work together to build a new nation.
The success of this unification will, of course, require more than a ringtone, more than organizations like Five Talents. It will take God's blessing.
Fortunately, the people of this brand new nation seem to recognize this truth. Here are the words to the tune that is played every time a proud new citizen's phone rings in South Sudan:
Oh God,
We praise and glorify you
For your grace on South Sudan
Land of great abundance
Uphold us united in peace and harmony.
Oh motherland
Arise! Raise your flag with the guiding star
And sing songs of freedom with joy,
For justice, liberty and prosperity
Shall forever more reign.
Oh great patriots!
Let us stand up in silence and respect
Saluting our martyrs whose blood
Cemented our national foundation,
We vow to protect our nation.
God bless South Sudan.

Countdown to Independence

2011-07-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

PRESS RELEASE

Government of Southern Sudan approves Agenda of Celebrations :

With one week to go before the independence of southern Sudan is declared on July 9th, the Government has revealed the agenda for the landmark celebrations. A host of concerts, sports events and religious prayers are taking place all week, reaching a climax on the day itself in the capital Juba and across the countryʼs ten states.

The main planned events will centre around the 8th, 9th and 10th July. On the eve of independence, citizens across southern Sudan will be encouraged to go to churches or gather in public squares to light candles and say prayers, to herald the birth of the new nation. Dancing and festivities will take place in villages across the country.

The Catholic Church has initiated 9 days of prayer on the theme of tolerance and harmonious inter-ethnic and inter-religious relationships. On Independence eve, neighbours from all faiths will be encouraged to share a meal together. Other faiths including Islamic groups are taking similar steps.

At midnight, bells will be rung across the new country, and drums will be sounded, to mark the historic transition from Southern Sudan to the ʻRepublic of South Sudanʼ (RSS) – the worldʼs 193rd country.

In Juba, on Saturday July 9th, the official program will begin at 10am at the Dr. John Garang Mausoleum and last until the early afternoon, with a parade, official acts and a series of speeches. Some 3,500 representatives will attend including kings, chiefs and elders from the 10 states, leaders from the business community, civil society, womenʼs groups and the youth movement. Foreign dignitaries will include some 30 African Heads of State, leaders of regional and multilateral organisations, as well as foreign ministers and other senior officials. Over a hundred thousand citizens will bear witness to the events at the Mausoleum, and many others will watch on large screens across the city. Events will also be broadcast live on national television (SSTV) available across three continents, and by international media. Simultaneous activities will take place across the land. Security measures are being put in place all over southern Sudan to ensure a peaceful and orderly environment for the weekʼs activities.

The parade of 1500 people will include a March-Past of groups from different branches of the military, including the Army, Police, prison service, wildlife service and fire brigade. There will also be six groups of folklore dancers from different parts of the country, joined by womenʼs groups, civil society and young people. During the ceremony, the National Choir and hundreds of young South Sudanese will lead the singing of the new National Anthem, which was chosen through a competition of 49 entries by musicians, poets and academics. The song, which reflects the unity, identity, the landʼs resources and the liberation struggle of the country, has been taught over the last weeks to government officials, security organs, civil society and other groups across the country.

There will be a Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of South Sudan by the Speaker of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) Rt. Hon James Wani Igga. The flag of Sudan will then be lowered and the flag of the new Republic of South Sudan will be raised, to the tune of flag ceremonial trumpets. President, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit will then sign the new Transitional Constitution into force. He will then take the oath of Office as the first President of the Republic of South Sudan.

Main speakers will include the President of South Sudan H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Head of the UN General Assembly and representatives from the African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Arab League, European Union, United States (representing the Americas) and China (representing Asia.)

Information Minister Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin said: “It will be a historic occasion for all our people who have traveled a long and difficult road to the birth of this nation. We all know we face many challenges ahead – we will face them as united, peaceful and independent and build a stable and prosperous country.”

In the evening, there will be an open-air concert of folklore and music at the Nyakoron centre, and other concerts over the following days featuring distinctive music from the countryʼs different ethnic tribes.

Football matches will also be held, including a match between the recently-formed national team of South Sudan versus Kenya on the 10th July, and a basketball match against Uganda on the 11th.

As well as planning for the commemoration, other work has been underway to establish the foundations of the new Republic. Over the last few weeks, the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly has passed some key laws that are prerequisites to the establishment of the nation. These include the Nationality and Citizenship Act, and laws on the National Flag, Anthem, Coat of Arms and States Seal. On July 1st, the Council of Ministers approved crucial draft legislation relating to the financial framework of the country, to be considered by the Assembly. These include draft bills on the formation of the Central Bank, public finance management, taxation, investment promotion, company law and medals and insignia. The Transitional Constitution is currently before Parliament.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Republic of South Sudan (RSS) will become the 193rd country in the world and the 55th country in Africa. Its independence marks the end of the interim period under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005 to end decades of civil war between the North and South.

Jeopardy in the Afternoon

2011-06-26T19:29:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know what God is?

A great philosophical question fit for hours of discussion with friends while consuming large amounts of coffee and huge amounts of available time.

This is the question coming through my hedge this afternoon.

The hedge separating me from the neighbors that couldn't use the word God without combining it with a swear word.

This is the question I heard repeated over and over and then shouted while floating in my pool chair.

Does anyone know who God is?

Yeah. Yep. Shut up.

How about Elijah?

They definitely have my attention now.

Answers, I want answers.

Finally I hear.

They do not teach you religion in the public schools.

That's why you do not know what God is.

The Jeopardy answer... What are Sunday Schools?

Bishop speaks about War Waging in Nuba Mountains

2011-06-23T13:58:00.000-04:00

Here is the link to the article in Episcopal Life Online.Episocpal Life Bishop Andudu

Bishop Andudu was with the American Friends of The Episcopal Church of Sudan (AFRECS) this past weekend in Glen Allen, VA (outside Richmond).

He is asking that we all FAST and PRAY this Sudan. Pray for Peace in the Nuba Mountains. Pray for Peace in Sudan.

June 8, 1968

2011-06-23T06:18:00.000-04:00

Do you remember what you were doing on June 8, 1968?

If you are reading this, some of you now are Googling the date and are rewarded with information about the funeral of Robert Kennedy, Bobby.

I have just watched a wonderful documentary of pictures taken from aboard the train that carried Bobby's body back to Washington, DC for burial.

One Thousand Pictures is the name of this wonderful documentary, shown on HBO, that is filled with pictures from 1968 and follow-up interviews given 43 years later.

So I do remember what I was doing, I the junior in HS that was deciding to join the Peace Corp after graduation.

Much to the chagrin of my parents, my friends and I were gathered around the TV to watch the funeral and weeping.

Here is the ending excerpt from Edward Kennedy's eulogy. The full eulogy can be found here. Edward Kennedy Eulogy

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.*

Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."

That is the way he lived. That is what he leaves us.

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

"Some men see things as they are and say why.
I dream things that never were and say why not."

What moves a Blessing into a Curse

2011-06-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning someone emailed me with some thoughts and then told me to Be Well.

Be Well. Wow, someone wanted me to be well.

Well then, why has my life gone to pot since then?

What was really behind those two words that once written, the universe snapped up and turned them around?

Who was lurking in the shadows, gleefully rubbing hands together in devilish anticipation of the mischief they could now cause?

And, where was my guardian angel? Out for a smoking break? In line at Starbucks? Tweeting another?

How long am I supposed whine and wail?

How long before normal returns and I never need kleenex?

EVER.

Or I want to eat again?

Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... that could be a good thing.

I was raised knowing that sticks and stones yada yada yada, but well wishes?

Words of inspiration?

Acts of kindness?
What is this world coming to?

Me and Obama

2011-06-07T06:31:00.001-04:00

How many people can say that the President is with them every minute of the work day?

Ok, probably a lot of people inside the beltway, but outside?

And, even when he travels abroad?

When a person retires sometimes they provide you with gifts.

Last week a colleague and friend retired after working for the church for seven years. Now friends get to sit side by side in the pews.

In her office was a life-sized cut out of President Obama that stood behind her office door. Once a visitor shut the door the usual response was YIKES and then a smile.

And the eyes, they follow you where ever you walk. Great eyes.

However, she knew I loved that cut out and she gifted it to me.

So now the President smiles at me from across the room.

Eat your heart out Michelle.

The Music Is In Me

2011-06-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

Finally, the music is playing again.

It has been 18 months of silence.

Oh, the music has been around, but not everywhere. A few select places. Everywhere else silence. Random songs, stanzas that stayed for a while and then left.

Sometimes the music was present only once a week, eagerly gulped down as if I were afraid that if I took too long in the listening someone else would steal the sound away from me.

How does one make the choice to leave the music? Is it a one major conscious choice or many small random unrecognizable choices. Isn't it rather like choosing not to breathe?

That is what the past eighteen months have been like. Holding my breath. Forgetting to exhale.

When I finally remembered to breathe, to exhale air and inhale sound, I took massive deep gulps of air. The music tripped over my tongue, tickling my tonsils, down into the belly moving into the blood and back into my heart, brain and sole.

How had I ever lasted this long?

How did I manage to commute without song?

To clean house without song and dance?

Friday afternoons without Janis? Singing with Judy?

Maybe the music started again with the sound of drums, and naked ladies and one Jonathan.

I got the music in me.

Again.

So Who is the True Heathen?

2011-04-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

The definition of a heathen: One who adheres to the religion of a people or nation that does not acknowledge the God of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.

Can you be a partial heathen?

Can you be half a Christian or Jew or Muslim?

I have been reading the accounts of the retribution killing in Afghanistan in retaliation of the burning of a copy of the Quran at the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL last month.

And I am sicken. How does a place devoted to the same God burn a Holy Book at a place called Dove Outreach?

Dove Outreach.

Today I was with a 10 year-old boy who loved to spell, so I have been thinking about spelling bees which led to thinking about the dictionary.

Dove, besides the small birds, has two additional meanings. The first is a gentle woman or child and the second is one who takes a conciliatory attitude and advocates negotiations and compromise. The second is used in contrast to a hawk, or someone who advocates war as a solution.

Outreach is defined as to surpass, to exceed, to go too far. Even to get the better by trickery. Where that last definition comes from, I do not know.

Some related words are encroach, infringe, invade, or trespass.

So maybe it is time to rename this center.

How about The Hawk Infringement Center.

Or The Center of Holy Trepass.

Or The Surpassingly Hawkish Center.

Or the Dead Dove Center.

Anyone of those would certainly have Jesus and his father smiling.

Wouldn't they>

Photo Prayer by Danny Schweers

2011-04-02T09:39:00.000-04:00

There is no end to the things we might do

but few things we actually will do.

Inspire us to love you, good Lord,

and, since it is so much like it,

to love our neighbor.

Then may we sleep in peace.

(Blessed Be) The Ties That Bind

2011-03-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, a truly inspirational woman set foot back in Delaware and joined Delaware Episcopalians at St. Anne's Episcopal School in Middletown, Delaware. We were coming together to discuss her wonderful book The Ties That Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption. However, most of our discussion centered on...

Transformation!

The author's name is Dr. Bertice Berry, originally from Wilmington, DE, and here is a sample of some of the comments that I wrote down.

When you walk in purpose, you collide with destiny.
Gratitude is the parent of all virtues.
Measure our success/progress not by where we are not, but where we have come from.
Border questions important to know: Who are you, where are you from, where are you going, and what will you be doing when you get there?

Dr. Berry's book is recommended reading for Episcopalians in the Diocese of Delaware. It first came to my attention at the 2010 Parish Life Day. The Rev. Rod Welles had several copies of the book at a booth he was manning and after reading the jacket cover, I was hooked.

First of all this book was going to provide me a glimpse into the world of the African-American growing up in Wilmington, DE both before and after desegregation. Wilmington is a very small city where it seems everyone knows everyone else and coming from another state it takes a while just to crack the surface of joint knowledge and experiences.

Second, there are friends of mine and their relatives that are mentioned in the book.

Third, being part of a racially diverse congregation, I hoped that this book might help me understand a part of history that unless I had walked with slavery, I could not understand.

The title of Saturday's session was "Journey to transformation: The way out is back through."

Part of the morning involved exposure to the following thoughts, and I promise that I probably did not write fast enough to get everything that is important.

Stage One: Me - Life begins with the Me stage, at birth until around 2. The stage when it really is all about me, what I want, what I need.

Stage Two: You - Self/you becomes socialized and lasts till the teenage years.

Stage Three: Us - Teenage years where the individual becomes lost in the "us."

Stage Four: I am/We are - also known as Ubuntu, the theme of the last General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim. According to Wikipedia, Ubuntu is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of southern Africa and is seen as a classical African concept.

Note the emphasis on "people's allegiances and relations with each other."

This is the Stage that I am on. However, there is a fifth and final stage.

Stage Five: All - This is the stage that the saints operate in and that we should strive to be more "All" in our thinking. It is said that "All" thinking affects seven, yep count em, seven future generations.

So, when you decide to switch to a refillable water bottle, the ripple effect is GREAT.

Now back to the title.

In 1772, Pastor John Fawcett was called to a large church in London leaving behind his congregation at Wainsgate. As the present congregation gathered to say good bye, with tears in their eyes, they begged him to stay. And, stay he did.

However, from this experience came the following words:

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers.
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.

We share each other’s woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart
And hope to meet again.

And the Earth Shook

2011-03-13T08:59:00.000-04:00

I was never as great a fan of techonology until I went to Sudan where I leaned on my computer to keep me connected to home.

Or when I showed my friend Tito where I lived using sattelite photos and seeing "Tweety" parked in my driveway in a mid-summer shot.

Gadzuks!

I have included a link here from a NY Times article this morning, where technology plays a part in understanding the magnitude of what occurred to Japan last week.

Damages

But I intended to

2011-03-12T17:41:00.000-05:00

Today, I planned on doing a little writing on how the universe has to hit me on the head to do something beneficial. Something I would benefit from.

Am I going to do that?

Not unless my writing was to have been about a very powerful movie.

It is titled Water a movie directed by Deepa Mehta a most wonderfully talented woman. She has directed the film Fire and then Earth. Some consider her the voice of a new India.

"The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social restrictions imposed on widows, and a man who is from the highest caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi."

Hindu law at the time gave widows three choices. To follow their husband in death, to live a life of purity as an outcast or with the family's permission to marry the younger brother. The movie takes place at the time of Ghandi and his imprisonment by the British.

At the time of the India 2001 census there were 21 million widows.

There is a great line in the movie that answers the question "Why does God want widows to suffer, why does this have to happen?"

The hero, if you want to call him that, tells her that the law is " disguised as religion, but it's all about the money." One less mouth to feed, one less corner of the house taken up, four less saris to buy.

I couldn't say it any better. Pick any topic currently in the news.

Disguised, but it's all about the money.

I wish I were....

2011-03-09T06:45:00.000-05:00

Memory is an amazing thing.

Even in the best of times, it confounds me why sometimes I cannot remember what I was to do on the way home, but can then sing the lyrics to a song that was popular when I was in 7th grade.

It's My Party by Leslie Gore.

I loved her songs, except for her follow-up Judy's Turn to Cry. I went from villan to super-villan in the span of months.

But, I'd give it an 8.

Then when you add perspective to memory, you end up with several people looking at the same event and recounting different stories.

Take an event that elicits emotions, like movies. Afterward, you tell the tale loving and laughing, but your friend is telling others it was boring, trite, don't waste your money.

Remember the conversations that math, history should be taught by song? Most everyone knows the Billy Joel song We Did't Start The Fire that details events from 1949-1989. Imagine if we had been taught history by dissecting each one of those events?

Or advertising jingles that we can remember for their catch phrases.

Where's the Beef? I've fallen and I can't get up? I can't believe I ate the whole thing?

Or jingles.

Plop, plop fizz fizz Oh what a relief it is.

For me, sometimes jingles not only made me want to buy something, but elicited a stronger urge to participate.

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Myer Wiener.

This jingle made me want to find the Wiener car. Where was it, how would I find it?

Every time that darn jingle played, it sparked the memory of wanting.

Where was it, how would I find it?

Now, imagine an ordinary grocery store stop after work, turning the corner, looking for a space and ....

OMG, OMG. Run get the camera.

See this is why I carry it with me. OMG

So what did I do? Went inside and met the Wiener Guys, sent a postcard, got a sticker, and a Wiener whistle. Life is GOOD.

OH, I wish I were an Oscar Myer Wierner.

Everyone Would Be in Love With Me.

A girl can dream,

Can't She?

Is it Time Yet?

2011-03-03T21:17:00.000-05:00

I have discovered that I could care less if negotiations between the NFL players and owners falls through or is never resolved. I love my Giants, but
Is it time for baseball yet? So, here are pictures of the next best thing.

I have purchased my MLB.com subscription in order to watch my beloved Yankees play.

However until opening day comes I will have to be satisfied from the picture from last year.

Sights of Lancaster

2011-03-03T21:09:00.000-05:00

Sometime this past December, I was feeling the need to travel, to leave town and just drive.

When I was younger, Kathryn's dad and I would take part in road rallies. A contest to see who would arrive first at a location by solving riddles, traveling at the correct speeds.

Gas was cheap, there were no cells phones, and technology did not rule our lives.

When we lived in Aston, PA these rallies would take place across the river around Swedesboro and Glassboro, NJ. Little did I think that at a later date we would actually buy our first house there.

So that Sunday, skipping church, I headed out to find examples of humanity outside of Delaware. Here are some pictures of what I found in on the road to and from and in Lancaster.

I cannot begin to convey how tall this horse really was, except that when he walked towards me and the camera I began to back up. Here I had discovered him during his downtime, not hooked behind a plow.

What the heck is Meat Bingo. Being a vegetarian, I shudder.

What a great Nativity Scene

Why can't we all recycle like this?

Comments?

This I really liked.

Ha!

Yo Ho Ho

Finally I knew what I had been driven to find.

Frank, Gladdie and Hope

2011-03-03T20:39:00.000-05:00

Some mornings I waken to discover that there is a song that is already playing in my head. Sometimes the origin of the song has its beginnings in dreams or the Weather Channel.

Other times, I am at a loss to understand where it comes from.

Sometimes, it springs from the need to encourage a particular emotion or feeling.

Right now I am thinking of Glad Frick, as I sometimes do around Diocesan Convention times. Glad used to volunteer as the Assistant Secretary to Convention. And, she loves Frank Sinatra.

Maybe it was the thinking of Glad and remembering Frank that had me humming High Hopes.

Just what makes that silly old ant thinks he can move that rubber tree plant?

High Hopes.

So it came as a real surprise when stopped on the interstate in rush hour I happened to look up and see that silly old ant.

High above me.

Hopeful.

That is what I think of each morning when I see that ant.

I realize that I do live a hopeful life. Hopeful that the best is yet to come.

I hear you Lord

2011-02-23T13:38:00.000-05:00

Whatever we are called -
Mrs., Ms., Miss, or Mister,
Captain, Doctor, Maestro,
Ambassador, President, Professor, Dean,
Your Honor, Your Highness, Your Holiness,
Little Princess, or The Cat's Meow -
you, good Lord, call us by name.

Photo of the child of a beauty pageant contestant
by Danny N. Schweers (www.photoprayer.com)
photo copyright 2005; prayer, 2011.

Diocesan Convention

2011-02-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

This Convention, being held in Dover, the capital of Delaware, will be a first for a few reasons.

The first is that it is being held in its entirety in a hotel. Worship and everything. We are trying out a centralized location with a couple of congregations hosting.

The second is that the Convention is being given over to Dr. Brian McLaren. All workshops will be given over to his being there.

Finally, I will working double duty. My normal routine of assisting the Bishop and the Treasurer along with the manning of a table.

As a Board member of AFRECS, the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, I have brought AFRECS to the Diocese of Delaware. Along with myself, Connie Fegley, another Board member, will be there as well. And, Maureen Lyons, from Trinity, will be helping as well.

If you are attending Convention, please stop by and say hello and join. Before you come, please check out our website at www.afrecs.org

It's Showtime

2011-01-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend Comcast customers get to watch Showtime for free. I did not think this would matter much until I went to the movie section.

I thought HBO had everything, but I was wrong. I have just watched two movies that I would recommend.

The first, Cairo Time, was a trip back to the desert city of Khartoum for me. It accurately portrayed the feel of living in the desert, the clothes, society, women, men, food, coffee, religion, etc.Cairo Time Trailers And, it also reminded me that that one drink from the Nile is still pulling me, beckoning me, return... return...return. I strongly recommend renting and watching this movie. Of course, its a great love story as well.

The second, Crossing Over, Crossing Over Wikipedia, is much more intense. This is not John Edwards and his speaking to souls, rather is a multi-layered movie about all sorts of immigrants. Legal, illegal. Atheists, Jews, Arabs. Multi-generational. And the cast is amazing. I highly recommend it as well. The movie should make you think, and unless you are one way or the other on the issue, this is not a black and white movie, but shades of gray.

Finally, IT'S SHOWTIME.

What? Where? When?

The voting has started in Southern Sudan, the referendum to separate from Northern Sudan. A new country might be born at the end of the day.

There has been so much written and spoken about this day that it is funny it is so quiet.

Quiet. Listen.

Can you hear New Sudan's first breath?

First cry?

I can.

Spilling out of garages

2010-12-12T17:39:00.000-05:00

Each day I leave my development traveling past hundreds of homes with cars parked in driveways and not in garages.

Sometimes, when the garage doors are open, you can see tiny little pathways wandering through the "stuff" piled floor to ceiling. And, this is happening in houses with full basements and 3-4 bedrooms.

Yikes.

At this time of year, with commercialism running amok and the government asking us to bail out the economy again by going deeper into debt, I wonder where all this new junk is going to go.

Fifty years ago, the idea that a family would have a storage POD sitting next to their house filled with stuff they no longer use, would have been ridiculous. The dump or collectors would have made off with most of it. Toys and clothes and furniture were handed down.

I struggle with this side of America daily after living in Sudan, a country where what one owns is really minimal. Consumerism may be there, but it is not for everyone.

I have signed up for two minute readings during Advent, something offered by CREDO.

Saturday's reading follows below:

An ADVENT Walk

One of the advantages of age, at least as I am experiencing it, is that stuff doesn't matter nearly so much as I once thought, indeed, as I was reared to value it. Perhaps the great sin of
relative affluence is the urge to hoard, to hold on tight if not to acquire more, telling ourselves that prudence like ours could never be greed. I haven't achieved Jesus' standard of material austerity yet, but I'm working on it.

A few years ago it was a real pleasure to dump my grandmother's twelve-place setting of elegant china on my elder daughter. She got more than she bargained for, but she hasn't realized it yet. I'd dragged it around for fifty years without realizing what a burden it was. It couldn't go in the dishwasher, and when would I ever have twelve people trying to sit down at a table, which comfortably seats four?

Harder still is letting go of the invisible, intangible impedimenta like envy, arrogance, neediness, and fear. Some of them are troubling, some of them feed my ego, some of are there just because that's where they have always been. If you drag them with you long enough, you forget how heavy they are. You forget how to run, how to skip, even to walk briskly. Eventually you even forget what it might be like to walk unimpeded. I comfort myself with the imperfection of the twelve. Like the rest of us, they too remained works in progress to the very end. Maybe I have just one more walk. Everything has been practice up to now.
--Margaret Guenther
Walking Home: From Eden to Emmaus

Disconnecting

2010-12-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

I have left Facebook, a community that I never really embraced.

I was electronically attacked by someone in Minnesota who entered my Facebook space and sent damaging emails and videos.

Who needs these headaches. Not me.

In fact, I realized that when so many of you informed me of what you were doing you were not telling me. I have not heard the sound of some of your voices, nor you mine, in years.

So I suggest this. Let's reconnect. If there is something exciting going on in your life, pick up the phone and call me. Let's laugh and cry together. Whine and celebrate to the sound of our voices connecting.

I never thought that pulling this plug would be so much fun.

Yahoo. I am rebel, hear me roar.

I guess it is never too early

2010-11-18T15:38:00.000-05:00

I must tell you up front.

Seeing Christmas appear in stores before Halloween, or the end of October really riles me up. In fact, I choose not to enter a shopping center that has already succumbed to decorating tables, walls, doors, walkways.

However, today an associate sent me a really feel good video set in Macy's in Philadelphia. Here is the link.
http://www.philly.com/philly/video/106492678.html

Enjoy!

The Third Letter of the Alphabet

2010-11-14T23:06:00.000-05:00

A good friend gave me a gift this weekend. She probably did not intend on giving me this gift, when we parted last week, but nevertheless, she did.

Sometimes gifts come when least expected. Not on birthdays, or Christmas, or one of the other myriad of Hallmark holidays.

They come quietly, in the morning, from out of town.

I took a trip back in time this past Saturday, and that was part of the gift.

Leaving Delaware and traveling north, I turned onto Route 452 and continued north for about 10 miles.

I had forgotten how "close" communities and roads could be outside of Delaware. Delaware County Pennsylvania is so different from northern Delaware, though they share a border.

Here I was traveling past the apartment where I used to live, the church where my daughter was baptized, the first apartment next to the firehouse, past the road to Linville Orchards, up to Granite Run Mall, Weathers Motors, Riddle Hospital, Lima, Aston and Media.

This past was the early part of my adult life. When I was first married, going to college, having a child. The time when my faith was growing, slowly, steadily.

Growing but still not preparing me for everything to come down the road.

That is where the second part of the gift comes in. I was given the chance to re-learn the alphabet.

A, B,C.

C,C,C,

Three C's.

Cause, Control, Cure.

I did not cause it.

I cannot control it.

And, I cannot cure it.

The gift of my lifetime.

Of all the letters in the alphabet, I have determined that C is my favorite.

It has provided me with a lifeline.

And, it was the gift that came quietly, and unexpectedly this Saturday.

Thank you my friend.

Back but here to stay?

2010-11-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

The last writing I did was on September 12.

I would like to say that I have been circling the globe without my laptop but that would be untrue.

The truth?   I hate writing. Actually, I hate my laptop.

It seems that my fingers have a mind of their own on this laptop. My writing is much better at work. My fingers like that keyboard. The workstation is set up for efficiency.

The solution would probably be to purchase another laptop. One that understands where my fingers want to go. One that I might actually like.   Also, possibly a table where I could sit down and type. However, my finances are not going along with these ideas.

In fact, my Finances and I are not on a first name basis anymore.

My Finances have moved out and established a life of her own and changed her name to Gone.

Finances R Gone would rather spend her time repairing cars, or replacing cell phones, or installing new walls and flooring after plumbing leaks rather than buy me a replacement laptop and workstation.

That said, since Sudan I have learned that life can be a struggle and you must persevere. One never knows around what corner Hope is waiting for you. Or, Redemption, or Forgiveness.

Keep on trucking, as we used to say.

I have picked up finishing this on Friday, November 12th. The keyboard won.

Last night I watched the "new" Karate Kid featuring Jackie Chan and the newest actor from the Smith clan, Jaden. Movie Link This remake was filmed in China, the visuals are phenomenal, and as such gave a new perspective to the original film.   However, it is this from both films that I remember and have taken to heart:

"You have taught me very important lesson, Xiao Dre. Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up."

So, what I do is to keep standing up, walking along, looking and listening for the changes that will allow me to stand a little taller.

Prayers of God's People

2010-09-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

Lord God, you come and seek us out, you call us and empower us to live to your glory, you are our Shepherd and guide, you are our God. We pray for all who have strayed from the faith, all who have gotten lost in various ways, especially any who lives are in danger.

God our protector, we remember before you all who work or live in dangerous places or a hostile environment, all who are suffering at this time from storms and disasters, all who are caught up in stife and warfare. We pray for all who are seeking peace and well being for the world: we remember the United Nations and peace-keepings forces.

Lord we give thanks for all who have sought us out in times of troubles, who have been a strength and a joy to us. We pray that you will guide all who teach and influence others. Let us know your presence in our homes and with our loved ones. Guide us in our friendships.

We ask you to be with all who walk in darkness; may your love and light protect the depressed and despairing; may your strength and hope be known to the discouraged. We ask your blessing upon all who are ill at home or in the hospital.

We pray for all who are entering the shadow of death and for their loved ones in their time of anxiety. Bless all who are in hospice and all who have the care of the terminally ill. We pray for all who have passed through death and entered life eternal.

Good and faithful Shepherd,
guide us into the ways of life and peace.

An I-95 Perspective

2010-09-04T11:08:00.001-04:00

For the first part of the summer I tended to travel to work in Wilmington along I-95. It is usually fast since the roads are not filled with school buses, teachers in cars, kids and parents in cars resulting in making the interstate as clogged as some people's arteries. In Delaware, to hasten integration between the races within the schools, busing was instituted. Being from New York, this was a situation that I did not understand. So for me it is a matter of perspective based not on busing.

We are a long way from the 1970's and I tend to focus more on the environmental affects of these policies.

Of course, this was at a time when gasoline was around 50 cents a gallon and there were fewer Delaware residents. Given the resulting cost of gas now, and the fact that "rush" hour isn't, might these be two good reasons to stop busing and focus on greater better schools? Or, better yet, make school three months of the year and summer the remaining nine.

However, this discussion can wait, since I am merely venting and this topic never reaches a conclusion in Delaware.

Each day, I pass two bill boards with messages from two local banking institutions, Wilmington Trust and Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS), and their messages could not be more different.

Wilmington Trust: It really is all about you..... OWN YOUR WORLD.

WSFS: Fans of Small Business.

It was while reading Jim Wallis book Rediscovering Values that these two advertising signs appeared alongside the road. Since Wallis's writings challenge us to remember that our decisions should take into account seven generations into the future, the slogan "It really is all about you" was offensive.

And, Own Your World?

Please aren't we temporarily renting space?

To counteract my negativity about the WilmingtonTrust Co. sign, I brought up this topic with the book group.

By the end of the night amid our discussions about personal responsibility, another perspective was offered about the sign's language.

It really is all about you ...and the choices you make. Your responsibility for your choices.

You do not need to make choices that are counter intuitive toward the greater good.

You can use your personal wealth to benefit you and others for generations to come.

Own Your World and make better choices. It is your own world that you are responsible for, only you can change what you do in it.

Perspective.

With others mine changes all the time.

The Tenth Parallel

2010-08-25T11:50:00.000-04:00

This Sunday's NY Times book review section had an article and review of Eliza Griswold's, daughter of Frank, new book. She writes about the interaction of Christian and Jews and does it really well.

Since I have lived in Sudan, she captures the relationships extremely well. I recommend this book.

The 10th Parallel - Eliza Griswold

THE TENTH PARALLEL

Dispatches From the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam

By Eliza Griswold

317 pp. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $27

Prayers for People

2010-08-24T14:26:00.001-04:00

Lord, move us, move our wills and direct us by your Spirit. Help us and your whole church to know when to pull down and when to rebuild; give us discernment and courage to do what you would have us do. We pray for churches and communities caught up in constant change, for those who have become restless and cannot settle at all. We pray for builders-up of communities and confidence, for our own pastors and leaders.

We pray for all who seek to provide good housing and places of beauty, for city planners, architects and builders, for all who maintain parks and gardens. We remember all who live in areas of poverty and deprivation, for all who lives are in danger through not having clean water or proper health care. God bless all who give their lives in the building up of communities.

Lord, teach us to reverence the earth, to have respect and awe towards each other, to keep holy days,that we may be aware of you. We pray for all who have been humiliated and have lost respect for themselves or others. We ask you to make our homes places of light and love, of grace and goodness.

We remember all who live in fear through war, oppression or violence, all who have suffered from abuse or contempt. We pray for all who have a poor opinion of themselves. We ask your blessing upon all whose lives are darkened by crippling illness, all who are afraid to venture, all who are unable to venture.

We give thanks that you are the God who makes all things new, you heal and restore your people.

Lord, let your light shine upon us
and dispel our darkness.

These were the Prayers of the People at SsAM's, Sunday August 22, 2010.

Slipping into Simplicity

2010-08-23T09:53:00.003-04:00

Each week I receive the email newsletter from Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. A couple of weeks ago this article was included. Since the theme of the upcoming Parish Life Day is Simplifying your life, I was intrigued. After reading the article, I am not sure I am truly reading for this idea.

explorefaith.org - Slipping into Simplicity

Immigration Op Ed Piece

2010-08-10T14:31:00.000-04:00

I could not have stated it as eloquently as Jim has.

http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201008050597?page=2&build=cache

With new ears

2010-07-22T14:39:00.002-04:00

This came to me from a co-worker as we make use of the new Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. This major revision to the Book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts was approved by the 2009 General Convention. It is a remarkable work and a significant addition to the life of our church.

Bishop Wayne Wright says "In the new book’s Foreword, former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold writes: ”Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints seeks to expand the worshiping communities awareness of the communion of the saints, and to give increased expression to the many and diverse ways in which Christ, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, has been present in the lives of men and women through the ages, just as Christ continues to be present in our own day.

Holy Women, Holy Men greatly expands upon the witness to the Holy Spirit’s working. The example of these holy lives is inspiring and impressive. The book will be a valuable addition to worship. It will also be a great aid to teaching."

My co-worker is passing along some thoughts by a priest about the abundance of women that seem to be honored this week. Here is what she wrote:

This past week I have been meditating on the witness of women in our faith. On Sunday, we reflected on Martha and Mary—two women who remind us of the importance of hospitality, discipleship, and our intentional focus on God in all that we do. At the Wednesday Eucharist, we celebrated the lives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman. All four of these women lived in the 1800s, at a time when women did not have many rights and slavery was still ever present. Yet, these women teach us about how anyone can be a witness against injustice and oppression. Finally, today is the feast day of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was a faithful disciple of Christ, and is regarded as the first witness to the risen Lord—or as I like to say, the first preacher of the Good News. Mary Magdalene, who was a faithful pastor to Christ, became a faithful witness of the power and meaning of Christ’s resurrection.
As a female leader in the Church, I am very aware of how little “face time” women get in Scripture and Tradition. Some feminist theologians would argue that women expose us to a different experience of God and should therefore receive more attention and meditation. In many ways, I agree with that perspective. As a people whose Scripture is dominated by males, I am always eager to see what and how I will learn differently through women in our Scripture and Tradition.
What I have been contemplating this week, however, is how much the message of Christ touches me regardless of gender differences. Martha and Mary, Elizabeth, Amelia, Sojourner, Harriet, and Mary Magdalene teach us how to be faithful disciples of Christ. They teach us to be Christ-centered in our work, to take time to listen to God, to be bold in our struggle for justice and in fighting against oppression, and to witness to the risen Lord in the world. These lessons have nothing to do with the gender of the teachers. Many men in our tradition have taught us the same lessons. My hope is that hearing the message from a feminine voice might allow us to hear that message with fresh ears. How might a different voice renew your energy to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”

Jennifer Andrews-Weckerley

A Special Pentecost Sunday

2010-07-19T13:40:00.000-04:00

This past Pentecost, the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew had the opportunity to hear some wonderful preaching from the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville Burrows for the Celebration of New Ministry welcoming The Rev. David Andrews. Here is the link.

http://www.ssam.org/davidAndrewsSermonByJennifer.htm

What the????????

2010-07-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

OK, here are two headlines making news yesterday.

1. Church of England advances plans for women bishops

2. The Vatican issued revisions to its internal laws on Thursday making it easier to discipline sex-abuser priests, but caused confusion by also stating that ordaining women as priests was as grave an offense as pedophilia.

Now, I understand that being a woman causes some concern among non-women. Therefore, I can with love, accept those Church of England priests being upset. After all, it has happened here.

HOWEVER, to be a woman priest in the Roman Catholic Church is as GRAVE a sin as pedophilia?

OK, I am speechless.

Ok, maybe not speechless as dumbfounded.

What the heck is the correlation between a sexual predator and a woman giving the sacraments?

The fact that the Roman Catholic church can make such a connection is in fact what is wrong with the CHURCH.

As written about earlier, it now comes really clear to me.

I am a follower of Jesus, which has no real connection to the CHURCH.

I think a new bumper sticker is in order.

WWJD?

Vomit.

Good Intentions

2010-07-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

Last week I had decided to utilize my lunch time to write. There is so much that is happening around me that I felt the need to "share." It would be my prayer time. However, good intentions or not, it did not happen.

Everyday some task or some one would present itself to me and my need to set aside the time evaporated. Taking time away from the office to write is not possible. I could of course lug my laptop with me and type away in my car. However, any one residing on the east coast of the U.S. knows that with triple digit temperatures, sitting in a car and typing away was not a logical step.

I could defer writing until the evening, but once I set foot in the house my steps take me to the garden and the pool. No laptop in sight.

So, I have decided to write early in the morning when I get in.

I have already opened the mail, posted deposits, answered email queries and prepared for my first meeting at 9:30 AM.

What is on my mind this am? Well, it is the onerous question posed by our news media last week about the building of houses of worship. OK, a mosque. Can you believe that Diane Sawyer actually asked people to call in and state whether or not a worshiping Muslim community should be able to build near your neighborhood?

OK, I get the 911 thing. I get fear. It was said that "people" are afraid of what people learn in mosques. "War mongering".

Well, if that is the criteria of whether or not a house of worship stands, than prepare the dozers because a lot of Christian Churches are going to tumble down.

We Christians are big on going to war with "God on our side".

How many of our pulpits ring out with the exclamation that war is not what Jesus was and is about?

How many times do Christians learn to distrust and hate in the name of Jesus?

BUT, and this is a big BUT, as a follower of Jesus, we are taught that LOVE is to be behind, within, and guiding all of our actions.

How is this negative reaction governed by LOVE?

This past Sunday, in our Adult Forum gathering the question was "Is Jesus worth saving?"

YES.

But, is it possible that Jesus and his teachings need to be saved from the Christian Church?

Courage

2010-06-27T20:14:00.003-04:00

This Sunday morning, we had a great conversation about courage, speaking out, following the video on atonement in the Saving Jesus series. The following summons up where we were heading.

Spiritual Courage

Courage is connected with taking risks. Jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorbike, coming over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or crossing the ocean in a rowboat are called courageous acts because people risk their lives by doing these things. But none of these daredevil acts comes from the centre of our being. They all come from the desire to test our physical limits and to become famous and popular.

Spiritual courage is something completely different. It is following the deepest desires of our hearts at the risk of losing fame and popularity. It asks of us the willingness to lose our temporal lives in order to gain eternal life.

Henri J.M. Nouwen'sBread for the Journey.

Handbook Part II

2010-06-24T12:35:00.005-04:00

Do not compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Invest your energy in the positive, present moment.

Do no over do, try to set or keep limits.

Do not take yourself seriously, no one else does.

Do not waste energy on gossiping.

Dream more when you are awake.

Envy is a waster of time. You already have all that you need.

Forget issues of the past or you will ruin your present happiness.

Life is too short for hating. Smile and laugh more.

Realize that life is a school and that you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like your algebra class, but the lessons learned will last a lifetime.

Agree to disagree.

Funeral Service for Manute Bol

2010-06-24T12:23:00.001-04:00

Sudan Sunrise

June 23, 2010

The family of Manute Bol has announced that his funeral will be held on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

The public is invited to join his family and friends in giving thanks to God for the life of this extraordinary man.

"Well done, good and faithful servant".

Tom Prichard

Executive Director

Sudan Sunrise

World Refugee Day

2010-06-20T20:14:00.003-04:00

Today is observed worldwide as World Refugee Day. This day, strange
as it may seem, can be a cause for celebration if we reflect upon the
courage and resilience of the millions who have escaped oppression and
near annihilation to rebuild their lives. We can all look around us
and find evidence of the incredible spirit of those who, facing
seemingly formidable odds, started their lives anew and are now
offering their gifts to their adopted communities. At the same time,
this would be a good time to remind ourselves of the loss that even
those who appear to be successfully resettled experience as they
confront the pain of being separated from family and friends with
little prospect of being reunited with them. It is also a good time
to think of the struggles that continue in places such as Sudan and
recommit to preventing the tragedies which lead to displacement and
new refugee crises. Possibly, most tragic of all for whom we still
must plead are those internally displaced who cannot readily escape
oppression and await an uncertain future as armies and politicians
negotiate their fate. On this day, special prayers are requested for
refugees everywhere. For members and friends of AFRECS, we give
thanks for the many friendships that we enjoy because we have welcomed
our Sudanese sisters and brothers into our lives and thus been
enriched by their love and faithfulness. At the same time, fervent
prayers for the end of violence in Sudan and a peaceful and fair
referendum that will usher in a new era of peace are needed. World
Refugee Day is a good occasion for reminding ourselves that especially
for our Sudanese friends, the journey toward peace continues. We are
called to participate in that journey with our prayers and with our
advocacy for an end to the suffering which has been the plight of
millions of Sudanese.

Richard Parkins
Executive Director
American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Danny's Prayer

2010-06-18T11:05:00.002-04:00

The colors call, but who will interpret?
My neighbor talks and finds my ear.
Our enemies rail and find an echo
but not from us, God willing.

Photo of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
by Danny N. Schweers (www.photoprayer.com), photo copyright 2009, prayer 2010.

The Power of Witnessing

2010-06-18T10:52:00.002-04:00

Everyday, except Sunday, the Rev. Jim Bimbi sends out a bible reading and reflection. Since I have just completed a nine month study of being a disciple, this spoke to me. Enjoy

Psalm 27:1

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? *

the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?

Letter to the Hebrews 12:1-3, 12-14

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,^* so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴. .12Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 1Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

When Jesus sent the disciples out it was never alone, but always with at least one other companion. Our witness to Christ’s redeeming love is most joyful when we have others to encourage and guide us through those times when our human limitations of energy and emotion catch up with us. Ask yourself: “Who is making this journey of faith with me?” “How do we support each other?” “Is there someone who encourages me that I should pray for or personally thank today?”

Concluding Prayer (Of a Saint 3, BCP p. 250)

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Question: What are your thoughts on Memorial Day, 2010?

2010-06-02T11:17:00.008-04:00

"Today, I shall wince if I hear some orator say our fallen warriors “died to keep us free.” Why? Because, since WW II, I’ve not seen a single war fought for our freedom. “Freedom” is just another word to justify U.S. hegemony in the world. The dead—some of my friends—were tragically misguided, their courage exploited, their blood wasted. And they will have died in vain, if we refuse to study war no more." The Rev. James E. Lewis

I apologize for sharing my thoughts about Memorial Day late. I had the best of intentions to write yesterday, but life interrupted.

My friend Jim shared those thoughts on his blog, Fig Tree Notes.

Growing up, I marched in many parades as a Girl Scout or Brownie. Being part of the Color Guard was a tremendous honor. Then came the Vietnam War. I stopped going to parades, and I was not one of those that honored our fallen.

However, as I have aged I am able to separate a decision by our government from those asked to carry out that decision.

"Peace work means crossing boundaries to meet even with the so-called enemies of our nation. Furthermore, at the heart of all civil disobedience is a passion for justice that demands a disobedience to laws in pursuit of a higher imperative." The Rev. James E. Lewis.

I protest American involvement in "wars". Once I was struggling with possibility of civil disobedience involving Pacem en Terris. Jim counseled me about this decision. Instead, I was found myself standing on the side of streets carrying the sign It's the oil, stupid.

I have met many men and women who have served, when asked, and returned in some part changed forever, some damaged. I have a cousin who is a Marine stationed in harms way. I honor his and his comrades bravery.

Still, I do not attend parades. Like Jim, I do not link these wars with keeping us free.

However, for the past several years, each Memorial Day finds me riding through the Delaware Vets Memorial Cemetery off of Route 71 north of the Canal.

It is very sobering sight arriving to a sea of small American Flags, blowing in the wind. The setting is so tranquil.

Family members stop at the Administration Office and get a map to assist in locating a particular grave.
I took pictures to put on the blog, however, it was set to record and when played back showed only my walking feet. Francis Ford Copula I am not.

As I rode through, another car was keeping pace with me. Two women, one carrying an umbrella, parked, walked a little ways, spoke to an individual and returned to their car.

At my last stop, they approached me and handed me pamphlet about handling grief.

Not wanting to give them a false impression, I explained what I was doing. They belong to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses located on Route 71. Each Memorial Day, their congregation sends people to the cemetery to offer emotional support to those who are visiting.

What a wonderful ministry.

Next year, I am hoping to organize a group from SsAM's to do the same.

Life's Handbook Part One

2010-05-29T20:14:00.004-04:00

I wish I had written this, I have not, so I will be passing these along to you in parts.

HANDBOOK 2010

Health :
1. Drink plenty of water

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Make time to pray.

6. Play more games

7. Read more books than you did in 2009

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

9. Sleep for 7 hours

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Round One

2010-05-29T20:11:00.001-04:00

Our Bibles vs. Our Cells Phones

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.

Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!

If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for
Him, forward this.
93% of the people won't forward this.

Windshield Wonders

2010-05-23T14:41:00.001-04:00

Hey There. I am adding a new blog to my favorites. My friends are traveling through out the US in an RV. Please check out their activities and pictures.

Gaddafi's Egg and Nile Islands

2010-05-19T10:06:00.002-04:00

Here is a link to great pictures from Sudan and an interesting article at BBC's internet paper. It speaks to the struggles between old and new, Arab and African, poor and not-so poor.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10121573.stm

Episcopal Relief and Development

2010-05-18T10:14:00.004-04:00

Episcopalians have a lot to be proud of and one of them is the work of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD).

Here is the link to the article letting us know that ERD has received its third 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. Enjoy then pass it along.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_122091_ENG_HTM.htm

He's Available, Are You?

2010-05-04T09:26:00.009-04:00

My friend and I were discussing a question from my discipleship group yesterday. It centered around forgiveness and grace. What would I say to someone who didn't really buy into the concept that God forgives us all, through Jesus, even if he did not think he was worthy.

That led us through other discussions about faith, working for the diocese and its people, strengthening our own faith.

My friends mother receives a copy of the weekly sermon from Concord Presbyterian Church in Delaware. The sermon from April 25, 2010 seemed to address some of the issues we were discussing. The Rev. Fritz Ackerman wrote the following:

John 10:22-30
A t that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, ' I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice' I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out or my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Fathcr's hand. The Father and I are one'"

In my former life,I was sitting in my office one day when the bank president called to say he needed me to come to a meeting in an hour to discuss a fast breaking opportunity to acquire another bank. What do you think my response was? Did I say "Gee Bob, I am really booked today, I do not think I can make it?"

You get a call from your friend telling you that her son has had a terrible accident and is being rushed to the emergency room. She asks if you will take her to the hospital and sit with her. Do you say, "I'd really like to help,but you know Tuesdays are cleaning days and the house is really a mess. "

Without question, the response to each of these circumstances is to make yourself available.

In our story from John's gospel this morning, the Jewish leaders who confront Jesus are guilty of failing to make themselves available to the compelling truth of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. They are angry and frustrated because Jesus' claims do not line up with their expectations. They are fearful that the beliefs and practices that are the source of their own power are being called into question. It's not so much that they don't want Jesus to be the Messiah; but they want him to be the Messiah of their own definition.

Jesus doesn't answer their demand for a straight answer to their question about his identity. He tells them their unbelief is not because he hasn't given them a clear answer, but because they haven't made themselves available to it.

Knowing the Messiah involves more than analyzing the answers to questions and arriving at a reasoned conclusion. Knowledge of the Messiah has to do with a reorientation of the knower.

Henri Nouwen suggests that "Most questions people ask of Jesus are questions from below..."1 He goes on to say, "We have to keep looking for the spiritual questions if we want spiritual answers."

Do you remember the story of Nicodemus, another leader of the Jews, found earlier in John's gospel? He approaches Jesus with what sounds like some pretty good knowledge __"Rabbi," he says, "we know that you are a teacher who has come from God" (3:2). But he bases this conclusion on the signs Jesus has been performing; and he comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness.

Nouwen would say that Nicodemus approached Jesus' identity "from below;" and Jesus responds accordingly, telling Nicodemus that "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" (3:3). In other words, the kingdom that Jesus represents, the kingdom of God, is entered not by our reasoning or cleverness; not by our ability to ask the right questions, but by a transformation wrought by God.

I began by relating two examples of phone calls or requests to act in situations where it seems obvious what the response has to be. In those situations, and many more that I'm sure you could name, there is no need for follow-up on the part of the requestor. In those situations it's hard to imagine what the consequences of failing to make ourselves available would be. In the first instance I may have been seeking new employment, in the second a good friend would be devastated and perhaps lost to us.

In today's confrontation over his identity the Jewish leaders are not condemned or mistreated by Jesus. They are simply told that they have not grasped the answer to their question because they have not been available to the message; the message that would transform them from one flock to another; from the flock preoccupied with their own fears and self-interest, to the flock of those who hear and answer God's persistent call to a loving relationship; the call from above that seeks us out, no matter where we are.

The good news of the gospel is that we need not be in hot pursuit of God. Jesus teaches us through his life that it is indeed the other way around. Like the lost sheep, God is looking for us. We heard it earlier in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

God is seeking a close, intimate, personal replationship with each one of us. When we deny God by our sinfulness, we are not dismissed for insubordination, and we do not diminish God's love for us. When we run from God in confusion, sorrow, paid and despair we can know with confident that God has followed us into the darkness.

Simon Tugwell, a Dominican of Blackfriars in Oxford, England, says in his book entitled Prayer,2 that "Our part is not to shoulder the whole burden of our salvation, the initiative and the programme are not in our hands: our part is to consent, to learn how to love [God] in return, whose love came to us so freely while we were quite uninterested..." In other words, make yourself available.

Tugwell goes on to say that "wherever we have got to, whatever we have done, that is precisely where the road to heaven begins. However many cues we have missed, however many wrong turnings we have tsken, however unnecessarily we may have complicated our journey, the road still beckons, and the Lord still waits to be gracious to us."

Jesus did not give a straight answer to the Pharisees because their question came out of expectations that were at odds with the God revealed and embodied by him. Make no mistake, while we may tend to vilify the Pharisees, God loved them, and was pursuing them even in this moment in the temple. They needed only to make themselves available.

What questions would you ask Jesus? I suspect the answers to those from above are already there, in the stillness of your deepest self.

This I know, and this I proclaim to you with confidence-God is calling each of you right now.

Are you available?

1. Nouwen, Henri Bread for the Journey. Harper:San Francisco, 1997.

2. Tugwell, Simon Prayer, as quoted in A Guide to Prayers for Ministers and Other Servants. Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, editors. The Upper Room: Nashville, 1983, pages 161-2.

Wearing a Coat of Sorrow

2010-04-29T09:43:00.006-04:00

This past week has been very difficult. I am surrounded by the deaths of friends, workmates and colleagues.

Included below is the link to the obituary of Chris White, a former member of my church, who was killed by a senseless act of violence. Chris' funeral service will be tomorrow at Sts. Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington. I will be a chalice bearer. Being in front of people will hopefully limit my tears. http://miva.delawareonline.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?obits.mv+90386

Yesterday, my colleagues mother-in-law, Nora, died after a long illness. Nora had a wry sense of humor and a fighting spirit. Her son John, her daughter-in-law Judy and all of us will miss her.

On Monday, a former colleague lost her battle against cancer. Maria Picazo and I worked together at Abriendo Puertas, the shelter that she started as a haven for embattled women and children. Her spirit, determination, and sense of humor will remain with me always.

I was told that usually after a long hard winter, upon the arrival of spring there is a greater incidence of dying.

A disciple group colleague sent me an email this morning. The picture and accompanying poem can be found at Danny's website, which is linked to my blog. Here it is.

Rather than wait for the tree to fall,
we take it down and plant another.
When those we love die too early,
the future has a hole in it.
There are others to love,
but there is no replacement,
only redemption,
which is what's best,
but not what we want.

Evangelism and Blacktop

2010-04-23T15:16:00.005-04:00

What could possibly be the connection?

Adding another level of blacktop, usually entails removing the old and adding the new. Roughing out the edges and once poured, trying to keep it clean, looking new.

Sound familiar?

One of my tasks today was to meet with a representative from a driveway paving company and obtain an estimate. Three estimates actually.

I arrived to find another work crew busy wrapping up the repair of a carport and its roof. Carpenter bees buzzing around, no help at all.

I have great respect for an insect that can actually drill a hole in wood while in mid air. I give those fat bees as much room as they need.

The gentleman that arrived to walk with me, I knew was different. Very easy going manner.

Why do this, it looks authentic, leave it alone.

Heavy machinery would damage these cobblestones, leave it alone.

Great tree, winter really damaged it. Leave it alone, for a season.

When we finally got around to the third project, I asked about removing the old driveway.

Why? It's in good condition.

Leave it alone.

Add another top layer.

So, when exchanging business cards, he comments that he has worked for the same person his entire life. This surprised me since the company has not been in business for his lifetime.

Wrong boss. Wrong company.

His boss owns a company that has been around for about 2000 years. Uh Oh.

Never laid anyone off.

Never filed for bankruptcy.

This leads us to both exclaiming how joyful we are in doing the work and ministry that we love.

And that leads to my new definition for JOY.

Jesus

Others

Yourself.

Evangelism and Blacktop. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Leave it alone.

Powerful Message

2010-04-22T09:03:00.006-04:00

Everyone once in a while something comes across my world by phone, or fax, or email, or person and the surprise carries something "Awe Full."

I had sent out an email to my friend and colleague, Corky, and her out of office reply reminded me of that in which I am grounded.

Subject: Out of Office: A Reason or a Season

Thank you for your e-mail, I am currently out of the office in
celebration of the Resurrection. I will return to the office ...

This simple sentence invoked feelings of love and hope and inspiration and wonder and thankfulness.

How about you?

Support for Sudan Elections

2010-04-13T14:37:00.003-04:00

Pray. Teach. Partner. Urge. Give.

As we prepare to send this update, Sudan is more than halfway through what is now a 5-day voting process in regional and national elections. Slated for April 11-13, the elections have proved too problematic to be completed in 3 days; yesterday the National Election Commission announced a 2-day extension. The problems encountered have been as expected: no ballots at poll-opening time, the wrong ballots at some polls, candidates' names missing from ballots, long waits to vote, names missing from voting registers, balloting fraud of various types, such as the easy removal of the "indelible" green ink used to mark individuals after voting or individuals caught with multiple voter registration cards. Serious accusations of widespread fraud and misconduct abound as well, along with criticism of some international monitors.

Reaction around the world ranges from excoriation of the process -- and the Western governments and NGOs that have tacitly allowed it to proceed -- to approbation of the progress Sudan has made since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but all agree that Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir will retain their positions, and few are warning that there are likely to be immediate violent consequences of the elections.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8616249.stm

For a list of stories on the elections as they emerge: www.sudantribune.com

For another: http://www.sudaneseonline.com/

Delaware Friends of the Sudan

2010-03-29T16:25:00.002-04:00

Peace, Shalom and Salom

I have added the website Delaware Friends of the Sudan. My friend Maureen Lyons and I are answering a call from The Mothers Union in Sudan for the need of a new vehicle.

I am not experienced in raising funds, rather I am trusting God and the inspiration that he provides.

The journey started with emails prior to Christmas to some good and long-time friends. This progressed into emails to more friends.

Now, it is mass letter writing time. I have, with the assistance of Danny Schweers, authored a letter that is being mailed in stages. Hopefully, this will be completed prior to Easter.

The nice thing about being a sponsor towards this vehicle, is that we will accept all levels of gifts. Nothing too small. If however, you are able to make a gift of $100, this will enter you into a raffle for a week's stay at a B&B in England and two airline tickets. Nice huh?

So if you want to learn about the car, the raffle and how to participate, please click on the link provided.

As always, may God bless you and yours.

The Kingdom of God

2010-03-26T11:51:00.001-04:00

Daily Meditation Minute by The Rev. James M. Bimbi

St. James Mill Creek Hundred

Friday, March 26, 2010 – 33^rd Day of Lent

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;

nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’

For, in fact the kingdom of God is among you.”

(Luke, Chapter 17, verse 20-21)

Much of what we experience in life can be held externally from ourselves. It happens around us but we don’t let it get too close. We speak of something that happened ‘back then’, or was once observed, or we’ve just read about in the newspaper. We insulate ourselves from any personal involvement or response. We can even go about our lives acting like nothing around us ever changes as we place our faith in our daily routines.

We can try this same approach with God, but it is folly to think that we can pull it off. God has planted Divine grace deep within ourselves and the people around us. God is in, and around, and through everything we see, and do, and think. Not that it is always easily felt or seen – but it is there, with the possibility of changing the smallest of events into life-changing moments.

God of each breath, may we know your closeness within us. Amen

Moose and Sprinkler

2010-03-26T09:18:00.002-04:00

Enjoy and Remember the Importance of Playing

Click here: http://www.wimp.com/babymoose/

Lenten Reading Wed. March 24, 2010

2010-03-25T08:14:00.002-04:00

Daily Meditation Minute by The Rev. James M. Bimbi

St. James Mill Creek Hundred

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 – 31^st Day of Lent

Jesus said, “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;

and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”

(Luke, Chapter 16, verse 10)

There’s an old saying that it’s the little things in life that count the most. I would not speculate that such a saying dates to or before the time of Jesus, but he did recognize that little things can lead to big consequences. The power of faithfulness is not measured by the size or impact of the matter to which it is given. It is measured by our willingness to stay true to our beliefs and to clearly see the larger goal we long to achieve. If we skip too many “little” classroom lectures, we may end up struggling or even failing to earn our diploma. If we waste too many “little” workdays, we might be demoted or fired by our employer. If we turn away from too many “little” opportunities to worship and pray and minister to others, we may find that our faith is weak or absent when life throws something truly big at us.

Jesus knew that once we begin to excuse ourselves on the basis that what is before us is “only a little thing”, we begin to move towards darkness rather than light. Jesus, the model of faithfulness, came to call us to be children of light. One sign of that is to cast off the notion that occasional faithfulness will get us by. Sadly, such a notion has only led too many otherwise good people to merely stumble around in the dark.

Jesus, you humbled yourself by setting aside your divinity for the littleness of our humanity: pray for us to the Father that we may be faithful in things large and small, so we might be strengthened and be made worthy of your kingdom. Amen.

Week of Prayer for Sudan - March 21-28

2010-03-24T10:35:00.002-04:00

As Sudan prepares for historic presidential and parliamentary elections, Samaritan's Purse and church leaders in Sudan are calling on believers across the nation and around the world to participate in a week of prayer March 21-27, culminating with a Sudan Global Day of Prayer on March 28.

“Churches nationwide are mobilizing prayer,” said Pastor James, a church leader in Khartoum. “We are praying that everything will run smoothly. We are praying for the nation of Sudan.”

More than 2 million people died in Sudan's civil war before the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed five years ago. The 2005 accord ushered in an uneasy truce, tied to a promise that the people of southern Sudan would be allowed to participate in national elections in 2010 and vote in a referendum on independence in 2011.

Free and fair elections in April could help lay a foundation for lasting peace. However, if violence erupts it could start a chain reaction that plunges the nation back into civil war.

Government and church leaders in both the North and South agree that prayer is the key for maintaining peace in Sudan. Please join us in praying daily for Sudan the week of March 21-27, concluding in the Sudan Global Day of Prayer on Palm Sunday, March 28.

Lenten Posting for Monday, March 22

2010-03-24T09:42:00.003-04:00

Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father

and mother, wife and children, brother and sisters, yes,

and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”

(Luke, Chapter 14, verse 26)

To be a disciple of Jesus is to make tough choices along the way. It is to hear the Word of God amidst the chatter of the world, and then to set our hearts and minds on the pathway to God. It is not impossible – for with faith all things are possible – but it can prove to be difficult. And Jesus is not about to tell us that it will be a walk in the park. He makes no bones about the fact that you can’t say you are his follower if you are unwilling to order your life towards the Kingdom of God.

So what are we to make of his over-the-top statement with regards to ‘hating’ our parents, siblings, etc.? It is not about rejecting our relatives but in loving God first. Jesus’ could not literally mean for us to hate the people closest to us on one hand, while with the other tell us to love our enemies. He is prodding us towards the truth that God is the source of all that is, and if we do not know the pure Love of God then whatever love we think we bring to our other relationships will lack authenticity. In other words, our devotion to those with whom we live is only a reflection of the devotion we first choose to offer to God.

Jesus, pure Word and true Love, guide our choices and ease our journey. Amen

Attributed to The Rev. James Bimbi

Open Letter from Haiti

2010-03-11T13:21:00.002-05:00

March 5, 2010] The following is the Lenten letter from the Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.

‘The earthquake has not destroyed our hope in the future’

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Seven weeks after we were hit by the 7.0 earthquake on the Richter scale, the situation is still very serious in Haiti.

As you know, many people were killed, perhaps as many as 300,000. Thousands and thousands of others have been injured. In the Church, we have lost many people. Millions of Haitians have no place to live; many are sleeping in the streets in tents, and some of them still have not found any shelter at all. All the infrastructure of the country, as well as all the key institutions of the Diocese, have been destroyed, especially in the capital of Port au Prince. The situation is very difficult.

Many of our famous churches are gone, especially Holy Trinity Cathedral, which was not only a place of worship, but a place of culture. The Cathedral was a very important institution for the whole country. Yes, it has been physically destroyed, but our faith is still here and our communities are still alive. The earthquake has not destroyed our hope in the future. Despite the difficulties we face, many of our parishes have grown larger since the earthquake, because more and more people trust our Church and are turning to us for help spiritually, socially and morally.

We are still a strong Church and we will continue to work with you in partnership to be able to build up the Kingdom of God on earth through evangelism, education, health care and our development programs. We will work together to preach a holistic Gospel so that human beings may become more fully human in the face of God.

We will have to rebuild all of our communities. We in the Diocese are working very hard to have a Master Plan to replace the physical structures of the Church, so that we may continue to serve Haitian people with the same love, the same care, and the same support that we have always shown. Our mission will not change. We pray that God will continue to give us strength to do all this work despite so many difficulties. We ask you to please be patient and wait for our guidance as we put together this plan so that we can determine how our resources can be used most effectively. Once we have made our decisions, we will announce the plan. To assist us in using all of our resources in the best possible way, and to provide the best accounting of donations, I ask all of our partners in traditional programs to resume sending donations through the Partnership Program. The fastest and safest way to do this is by wiring the money into the Partnership Program account; the Rev. Kesner Ajax, Partnership Program Coordinator, can provide that information to any who require it.

I am grateful for all of the support and assistance of the Church Center and especially of the Presiding Bishop and Primate, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori. Her visit to us in February, even though it was short, gave us great strength here in Haiti, and I am deeply thankful for our time together. We appreciate very much the willingness of the Church Center to continue to work with us in the Master Plan to rebuild the Diocese.

In addition, I give thanks for the visit of the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, Bishop Suffragan of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, who is visiting right now on the Presiding Bishop’s behalf. I also give thanks to all of the bishops and dioceses of The Episcopal Church for their prayers and support, and for telling our story. Some of them have been directly involved in supporting me and my wife, Edithe, during our difficult time; all of our family is especially thankful for this.

Special thanks must be given to Episcopal Relief & Development; all of us are grateful for its assistance and work in providing us food, shelter, water, medicines and all other forms of support to help us survive these difficult times.

In addition, it was very good to receive the Most Rev. Thabo Cecil Makgoba, Primate of Cape Town, and the Rt. Rev. Laish Boyd, Bishop of Nassau and The Bahamas, who are visiting at this moment. I also give thanks to all other bishops and archbishops of the Anglican Communion who have expressed their support to us.

The earthquake of Jan. 12 was our baptism; now is our new creation. In this new creation, we pray to all work together, and we ask that you give us the time we need, first to care for our people, then to rebuild the Kingdom.

In this Lenten season, the season of repentance, conversion and intense prayers, we ask you to remember our Diocese and all the people of Haiti in this difficult moment. We also ask you to continue to support us by your prayers and your gifts, so that by Eastertide, we will be able to sing together with great joy, “Alleluia! He is Risen!”

I bid you my blessings for this holy season.

Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti

Jesus Said

2010-03-05T08:14:00.001-05:00

Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?”

(Luke, Chapter 6, verses 46)

Ouch! Why does Jesus always have to be so blunt – especially with the truth? What would be so wrong with a little sugar-coated helpful suggestion once in a while? But, thanks be to God, that’s not in God’s nature. For if Jesus is to be Lord of my Life, not just lord of my liking, then I must give myself to him in all things. I don’t get to pick and choose what I want or like about Jesus and ignore the rest.

Jesus is the complete Word, not just several letters. He is Redeemer of my sins, not the excuser of a few indiscretions. He is the Savior of my life, not the rescue worker of a fleeting distress. If I truly desire to give my life to God, to call Jesus ‘Lord, Lord,’ then I am nothing but a fool if I ignore what he tells me, shows me, and invites me to do in his Name.

Jesus, Lord of our lives and Savior of our souls, have mercy on us as we strive to follow you without exception or fear. Amen.

The Rev. James Bimbi, author.

My Friend Alex

2010-03-03T17:24:00.008-05:00

This is a picture of my friend Alex Tyree preaching about the Big Love at my church, Sts. Andrew and Matthew. Alex spoke often about this Big Love being expressed on earth.

Back when Alex was 17, he had Hodgkin's Disease and recovered after a year of chemo and radiation. In 2008, he was diagnosed with late stage Gastric cancer at 49. Through his blog, Alex wrote about having this disease from the perspective of middle-age, as well as having over 18 years as a hospice professional. He wrote about his life continually deepening through this experience.

Alex's last blog entry on February 19, 2010 at 10:09 PM, contained stories about the days visitations from family, his stops at the local coffee shop, Brew Ha Ha, and about his wife Cheri's first day of short-term medical leave. He wrote about the sunset that he could see through the trees from a window in his house. This is his last paragraph:

All I have been recounting in this message is about relationships and how they convey the kind of comprehensive healing power that one needs at this time. It is not necessarily dramatic, but when taken together, is quite miraculous and powerful. It is the Big Love on earth being manifested through its many conduits.

Some of you may remember a prior entry that I wrote about Alex and his trip to see John of God. Alex recounted how in just being in John's presence the two of them seemed to recognize each other's souls. John could not offer physical healing for Alex, but he stayed an additional week just cause.

Alex transitioned to his next journey on Feb. 24 at 3 AM surrounded by his wife and his hospice nurse. He died holding hands, peaceful music playing and a lavender candle scenting the room. Cheri reminded us that she and Alex had been reading and talking about transitioning being like a birth, sometimes messy and uncomfortable, but a journey towards embracing the lightness of spirit.

Cheri has just written today that Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "Nothing can make up for the absence of someone whom we love, and it would be wrong to try to find a substitute: we must simply hold out and see it through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time, it is a great consolation, for the gap, as long as it remains unfilled, preserves the bonds between us. It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap; God doesn't fill it, but on the contrary, keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain."

I was so blessed to have known Alex. He was my hospice volunteer when Jim died. He and Cheri and Jamie sat in front of me at church. I loved sharing the peace with all of them.

So, in this gap I will remain.

John of God

2010-02-07T13:21:00.002-05:00

Hundreds of people from all over the world arrive at the Casa de Dom Inácio every week. They come with all possible kinds of illnesses, many of them life-threatening, like aids or cancer. What draws them here and who have they come to see?

John of God is a man that for the past 48 years has performed miraculous healings despite the absence of any medical training and only 4 years of schooling. Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday he attends to several hundred people each day, giving out herbs, prescribing crystal bed sessions, and even doing visible and invisible surgeries. He regularly heals people with diseases deemed incurable such as cancer, aids, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. Remarkably, he doesn’t charge anything for his healings.

Over the years his reputation has grown such that hundreds of people from all over the globe are visiting the Casa each week, and during his rare visits abroad it is common to see many thousands of people filing in line to see him. In the past two years, TV and camera crews from ABC primetime, the BBC, Discovery Channel, Irish TV, and New Zealand TV have visited Abadiânia, an unassuming, small town in the middle of Brazil, to document the miraculous healings of John of God.

I learned about John of God from The Rev. Rod Welles, my friend and mentor. Rod has traveled to see John of God many times. This past February, Rod led the Adult Forum at Sts. Andrew and Matthew (SsAM) in discussions about healing centers. Entering into the discussions were individuals from the larger Wilmington, DE community and other SsAM members who also had traveled to the center.

I do not have the ability to describe to you their experiences of the healing they received. Sometimes healing of the body, sometimes their being, and sometimes both. To see actual pictures of the energy that surrounds the center, not visible by the human eye, but captured in pictures.

We have learned that there is a Spiritual Healing Center in Newark, NJ, of all places. A large group of us plan on making that journey.

I urge you to Google John to see what this is about. And, I will keep you informed about what I learn.

Snow as a Deterent

2010-02-07T12:09:00.006-05:00

Nuclear Bombs. Hah!

If you want to cripple a society simply call forth Mother Nature. Lots of anything seems to do the trick.

This past weekend Mama rendered Washington DC immobile. Lots and lots of snow fell in the states bordering the Atlantic Ocean. From North Carolina north to New York City. A great Noreastern.

Delaware, the first state and one of the smallest, received from 25-over 30 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. Makes a pretty picture, if you are inside.

The State of Emergency was lifted this morning. Once lifted, non-essential or non-emergency vehicles were allowed on the road. Off I went to pick up more bird seed and cat food.

And, what is it with everyone buying bread and milk on Friday? There I was in the store buying nuts and raisins and iced tea.

Wilmington is snow bound. Church was canceled for this, Sunday, morning. Snow plows needed to find places to move the snow that fell on the city streets. People needed to shovel out their cars stuck on the streets, plowed in. Hopefully, operation Code Purple was in effect and the homeless men, women and children all had places to stay.

The suburbs always seem to fare better. There are lots of places to move the snow. In fact, in my neighborhood they were plowing in the middle of the night on Friday.

The snow started falling where I live at 4:30 PM on Friday. It kept falling until 3:30 PM on Saturday. Friday night was a restless night.

All noises seem to amplify in the snow. I kept wondering how much was falling and when could I start the snow blower in the am. The cats were restless as well, running around the house up and down the stairs, up and over my bed. Kathryn was spending the night away from home.

I remember the first time that I was "allowed" to use a snow blower. Until that time, it was shovel, shovel, shovel. Bend at the knees, lift with your whole body. Watch your back, stretch before and after.

My neighbor George Bowersox, now deceased, grudgingly let Jeff and I use his snow blower after his first heart attack. It was after a hugh snow fall. Everyone in the neighborhood was busy assisting the rest of us.

So, one of the first things I bought after my divorce was my own snow blower. A single woman does not like to feel helpless. Kathryn was living in Pennsylvania. The men in the neighborhood all had families to take care of. Their wives acceptance of assisting damsels in distress was limited.

I could not wait for the first snow fall. Of course, that winter none fell.

However, the following winter, there I was. One of the "guys", my face becoming crippling cold as the snow blew back into my face, my hands, hair and feet wet, no matter how wrapped up. My eyeglasses useless. Long warm showers after I was done.

Ah. I love winter.

As you get older this machine is a must. It allows one to "play" in the snow, but accomplish something as well. The driveway and sidewalks get shoveled. Access to the road ways. FREEDOM.

As I drove out of the neighborhood, I passed one house that was still snowed in. Two young men were "shoveling." Hah! There they were in flannel pants gently dipping shovels into the snow. They appeared to wonder how the snow was to leave the shovel. Where to put it? What wimps. They should have been outside yesterday.

In fact, that was most noticeable yesterday. All the teenagers were inside. Sleeping.

Older adults were outside cleaning up. Younger kids were outside playing with sleds, making snow people. Snowball fights.

Here are some pictures from the second floor of my house. The snowman below is now completely covered by this new snow fall. Just the tip of his head showing.

Sundance Channel

2010-01-31T18:51:00.008-05:00

I have a confession. I head home with the best of intentions.

I save a lot of information that strikes me as worthwhile directly to a blog entry. It sits there and waits until I take the time to write something as to why it struck me as worth while.

Those are my intentions. However, those intentions disappear the longer it takes me to drive home. I leave little bit behind at each mile post. A little over the river, a little at the rest area. A little at the entrance to my development. By the time that I have opened the garage door and walked inside, intentions are no longer a part of my to do list.

There is a great commercial for Weight Watchers. Hunger is pictured as this cute orange stuffed animal. Sometimes you shut the door on Hunger.

Well orange is the color of my Intentions.

One of the best things about cable TV is that it has these great movies channels, Sundance, Independent, Foreign. -I love anything with subtitles. Even Bollywood movies.

A while ago I watched this great movie, Blame it on Fidel (original French title: La Faute à Fidel) a 2006 French drama film directed by Julie Gavras.

The movie is about a 9-year-old girl, Anna de la Mesa, who weathers big changes in her household as her parents become radical political activists in 1970-71 Paris. Her Spanish-born lawyer father Fernando is inspired by his family's opposition to Franco and by Salvador Allende's victory in Chile; he quits his job and becomes a liaison for Chilean activists in France. Her mother a Marie Claire journalist-turned-writer documenting the stories of women's abortion ordeals, supports her husband and climbs aboard the ideological bandwagon. As a result, Anna's French bourgeois life is over. She must adjust to refugee nannies, international cuisine and a cramped apartment full of noisy revolutionaries.

The film covers an array of philosophy and ideology - everything from Communism to Catholicism to Greek and Asian mythology - which Anna must reconstruct from confusion into her own set of beliefs. As she negotiates her way through this ideological maze and ultimately internalizes her parents' well-meant (albeit ad-hoc) objectives, she must deal with stereotyping, misinformation, the potential hypocrisy of ideology and the potentially false hope of idealism.

The gist of the film shows how diversity and different influences alter the precocious Anna's life, as she struggles to understand why her parents would want to give up their comfortable life and wonders about what gives over their newfound ideals. Through the little girl's view we see both the parents' shortcomings (mom's feminism clashes with dad's male supremacy, and both parents begin to have a strained relationship with Anna) and strong points (they are both caring parents), but as the rigid and selfish girl begins to thaw she never becomes lovable enough to really embrace with love.

The schematic political film offers a full-blast lecture on the benefits of diversity and even the right to live differently.

I highly recommend this movie.

"Many Thanks to Wikipedia"

Missionary Wanted

2010-01-20T16:03:00.004-05:00

A missionary is being sought to serve the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) in the Provincial Office in Juba, Southern Sudan. The objective is to provide support to The Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop of the ECS and his efforts to organize, maintain, and report accurate financial books, safeguard cash, provide cost -effective use of resources, train and mentor the Provincial Chief Accountant and Bookkeeper and provide methods of transparency to donors and among the provincial office and dioceses. For more information, please contact Judith Lane Gregory at Judigregory@dioceseofdelaware.net or Jennifer Ernst at Jpe60@aol.com.

If you know of someone who might be interested, please pass this message along.

I can speak positively that no matter what you might give in service, more so will be given you.

Who Knew

2009-12-27T00:49:00.015-05:00

It is not often that so quickly do negatives turn into positives. During the months of December and January this became the norm.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, I was involved in a car accident. An accident involving my bright yellow Chevy Aveo, Tweedy Bird. I am fine, the car was totaled. My insurance company decided that the cost to fix the car was more than the car was worth. To make it more insulting, the last payment on the car was made in December. So, I was a proud owner of a car not worthy of being repaired.

As I began to look around for another vehicle, purchased using the insurance check, I realized that a lot of me was linked to that bright yellow Aveo. The thought of purchasing a white, or black, brown, or black car really was making me ill.

The positive? Another chevy Aveo, a year younger with 30,000 less miles on it. I am now the owner of this car, without a sun roof, but with cruise control, something I wished I had on the old Tweedy. So, now I am riding in Tweedy Two.

The downside is that I had to finance this vehicle, even if for only 3 years. Not enough received as cash from the insurance needed to purchase another car. Since moving to the cash basis of living, I had been welcoming the thought of one less debt. Instead, though the debt is less, it is still there.

The positive? Since I had to finance a minimum amount, I was able to use the balance of the insurance check to make needed repairs to my house, pay down other debt and make last minute contributions.

The weather for the last Sunday in Advent was snowy. In fact, by the end of the day, 16 inches had fallen in my part of Delaware. I had traveled out twice the previous day, and felt that coming into church would not be a problem. That said, I did not check the website to learn that services had actually been canceled. Upon arriving, I realized that not many were in the parking lot. In fact, counting the two priests, the acolyte and myself, there were four in church.

The positive? Sitting together directly around the altar. A feeling of how the early Christians must have observed communion. The sermon, interactive, speaking directly to each other. What a gift. The bad weather continued and this gift presented itself again on Christmas morning.

The Disciple Study Group that I am a part of has had a profound affect on my way of thinking. Reviewing the history of the Jews and their relationship with God, has me understanding that God's answers to problems or crisis do not sometimes happen at that moment. I am learning to wait and see.

Hopefully, not the normal waiting period of 40 years.

There is a phrase in the Books of Esther and Jonah, "Who Knows?"

"Who Knows" when your answer will come.

Am I willing to accept that no answer is an answer?

Am I willing to accept the possibility that the answer is not something I have thought of?

Am I willing to accept that God could take away something that means so much to me only to replace it with something better?

Are we willing to accept the pain of heartache and loss and live into the hope of something new?

Who knows?

Brillant

2009-12-10T19:35:00.003-05:00

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward.

This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.

This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant.

Make sure you read as well as listen...forward and backward.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled "u @ 5 0" by AARP.

This video won second place.

When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause.

So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

You Only Think You Know the Story

2009-12-06T17:39:00.003-05:00

This is from my friend, Major Saif, living in Bangladesh.

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race.

The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.

The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.

This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues.

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been over confident, careless and relaxed.

If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral of the story ? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.

If you have two people in your organization, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organizational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.

But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river .The hare sat there wondering what to do.

In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.

In an organization, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better.

So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the river bank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.

There are more lessons to be learned from this story.

Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures.

The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure.

The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the tortoise also learned another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.

Here is the story of the Real Life Tortoise and Hare.

When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi - focused and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.

Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14ounces.

What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces.

Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competitor wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.

To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.

To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. Chief among them are :
That fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady;
Work to your competencies;
Pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;
Never give up when faced with failure; and,

Finally, compete against the situation - not against a rival.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-27T11:01:00.009-05:00

Those of us in the United States celebrate a day of Thanksgiving, the last Thursday in November. Much has changed since 1951, the year of my birth.

I remembered grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins coming to visit. I remember the Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade. I remember getting to decorate the house, inside and out following that Thursday. I remember Thanksgiving Day church services and singing songs we only sang once a year, such as Now Thank We All Our God and We Gather Together.

We Gather Together was written in the Netherlands in 1597 by Adrianus Valerius to celebrate the Dutch victory over the Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout.

Now Thank We All Our God was written by Lutheran minister, Martin Rinkart, around 1636. Rev. Rinkart had moved to Eilenburg, Saxony at the beginning of The Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The war started out as a conflict between Protestants and Catholics and Eilenburg became a refuge for political and military fugitives. Massive over crowding led to pestilence and famine. The song was song and used as grace at the Battle of Westfalia in 1648.

Today, my family is scattered or passed on, so I celebrated with my daughter, her boyfriend and his little boy. My sister travels to her husbands family in Daytona Beach. My step-father celebrates with his sister-in-law in Fort Myers.

Kathryn, Matt and Nicholas were not interested in watching the parade. Too much commentary has been interspersed with the floats and marching bands.

Church services are now mostly preceding Thanksgiving Day and usually ecumenical. (A Good Thing.)

The meal became a shared experienced. I shopped, Kathryn cooked and Matt? Well, Matt and Nicholas hung out together. Kathryn is an excellent cook and loves to do it.

Thanks be to God.

Football games have become a tradition on Thanksgiving, but I am not interested in football, so I spent my time digging out the Christmas decorations, giving thanks for no rain.

On Wednesday, I awoke not even a little sore following a car accident that I had Tuesday evening heading to church. My little yellow car, Tweedy, cannot say the same thing. Her front is smashed in, hopefully not too bad to be fixed, since my last car loan payment is made this month. I am driving, until 3 PM, a pick-up truck.

I am thankful to be safe, to have had car insurance, and to be in a vehicle to drive.

I am sitting in Borders, using it as a free internet cafe. No longer do I have to pay $5 for about two hours of internet access. I still find it much better to get computer work completed out of the house.

So, I am thankful for this warm, dry space, that connects me to my friends, FREE.

I am thankful for having a job this season, considering all those that do not. And, I am especially thankful for working for the people of God at the Bishop's office for the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware. And, thankful for all those I work with day by day.

I am thankful for my good health, remembering those who do not.

I am thankful for having a roof over my head and that it is large enough to provide shelter to Kathryn, Matt and Chris.

I am thankful for my family at Sts. Andrew and Matthew, a place and community that nourishes my faith and pushes my limits in my mission.

I am thankful for the Disciple Bible Study group, a new community that meets every Tuesday evening.

I am thankful for my continued mission to and for the people of Sudan. I am grateful for having God provide an extension of my ministry by providing me with serving on the Board of AFRECS (American Friends of the Episcopal Church in Sudan.)

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve, we thank you Lord.

Now Thank We All Our God (lyrics)

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

AMEN.

A Litany for Envisioning a New World

2009-11-15T14:46:00.003-05:00

Refashion our mind, O God, to a new way of thinking, that seeing the peril of our failure to halt the human desecration of the planet and its creatures, we commit to the promise of life for all that lives.

Reconcile our hearts to one another across all boundaries, that human diversity may be experienced as enrichment, and differences honored as leading to wiser action.

Sensitize the governments of the world to the folly of violent conquest, that has led all of history's adventures in empire to ultimate decadence and demise. And teach all who aspire to leadership of nations the enduring wisdom of collaboration and servant-hood.

Strengthen the movement for nonviolence that has emerged in our time, that human ingenuity may be turned to the preservation of the earth, and that our economies be reordered to the urgent needs of the human family.

Kindle in each of us a resolve to dismantle our own private arsenals of violence: our greed and thanklessness, our rage and grievances, our hatreds and all our shifting of blame.

Enliven the faith communities of the world with a rebirth of welcome for all sorts and conditions of humanity, moving us to reorder our lives and our loves to such simplicity and goodwill as to preserve the earth and make for peace.

Season of Creation Week Three- Con't.

2009-11-15T14:28:00.003-05:00

The past several weeks have really gone by quickly and I did not have a chance to follow up on the Paradise Now chatting.

Here are some of the phrases that I wrote down listening to Mark.

Jesus Lived Simply, Loved Well and walked in the Garden with his friends. So, take the Garden seriously.

Everything we need for paradise has been given to us now in creation.

In ancient Persia, paradise was described as a lush walled garden. Eden.

Eden, the paradise that God provided so that he could walk unfettered with his friends.

Humans are basically large mouths seeking to devour everything.

The human family lives on the promise of hope.

Live simply so that others can simply live.

Resources for Humans

2009-11-15T14:21:00.003-05:00

OK, I do not have enough to do. Therefore, I started a new blog called Resources for Humans.

This is an out flow of overseeing Human Resources for the Diocese of Delaware. I have included lots of useful links, and will be posting articles.

Do you have a topic you want to see addressed? Let me know.

In the meantime, enjoy.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield

2009-11-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

In preparing for Discipleship Bible Study, I googled the word atonment, and ended up at Rabbi Hirschfield's Blog www.windowsanddoors.com and author of You don't have to be wrong for me to be right:Finding Faith without Fanaticsm. I did not discover what I was looking for, but discovered what was intended.

Fort Hood Shooting: Compassion First, Questions Second
Friday November 6, 2009
Categories: News, Politics, Religion

With 13 dead, 30 wounded and an Army psychiatrist who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he opened fire on them, we must do three things: first, most importantly, we must care for the injured, support their families, and comfort the mourners. Second, we must fight all efforts to use this tragedy to cast aspersions upon an entire tradition and all of its followers. And third, we, and more importantly those followers, must ask probing questions about the relationship between the faith which the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, followed and the actions which he took.

The human issues really are job one. And the test of that commitment will be in the way which people not only reach out to the families of the victims, but also to the Hasan family as well. They too, by all accounts, are victims. There is no evidence that they supported Maj. Hasan in his terrorist attack, and they are among the most vulnerable to any potential backlash which may occur. While the military and the FBI will certainly continue to investigate all aspects of this case, including Hasan's family, until we know otherwise, they too deserve our compassion and concern.

We must also resist the temptation to extrapolate from this act and the role which faith seemed to play in it, to the effects of that faith in general. Ironically, those who will use this event to disparage all Muslims or Islam in general, even to the point of violence, will prove themselves no different from those they oppose. In fact, they will prove how much they share with Mr. Hasan. Such generalized hatred is precisely the animating approach of anyone who opens fire on a collection of individuals who pose them no immediate threat.

All this having been said however, when a man commits mass murder and shouts 'God is great' as he does so, hard questions must be asked. And the place they must be asked the most, is where they seemed to be asked least i.e. the community from which the murderer came. It's not enough to say that this was the work of a lone madman, or that this "has nothing to do with Islam". None of us operates in a vacuum and clearly for Maj. Hasan it did.

Collective guilt is never appropriate, but collective responsibility always is. In fact, it is the hallmark of any ethical community. Today is Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, and in every Mosque across this nation communities will come together. I wonder what sermons will be preached.

Will they simply be calls for understanding, condemnations of the murder without any soul-searching about the culture of the murderer, or will there be Muslim leaders with the courage to mourn publically the fact that once again Americans are burying their dead, people who died hearing 'Allahu Akbar' as they did so? I wonder.

I do know that if the rest of us do not play our part by taking care of steps one and two, there is no possibility of Muslims taking care of step three. We all have work ahead of us, today and in the weeks ahead, in order to both heal and help assure that such tragedies never occur in the future. I hope that we settle down, overcome our respective fears, take real responsibility, and do that much needed work. So much for an easy weekend, whether in Fort Hood or across the nation.

Season of Creation Week Three

2009-10-25T16:48:00.011-04:00

Today's theme for the Season of Creation at my church, The Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew, was The Human Family. The guest speaker was The Rev. Canon Mark Harris, one of my three Wise Men who helped me get to Sudan. His remarks began with....

I take refuge in God, and so should you!!!!!

Mark cautioned us, Episcopalians, to be careful about speaking for the Whole Human Family. Why?

There are roughly 7 Billion of us in the Human Family.

There are roughly 2 Billion "Christians."

There are roughly 70 Million Anglicans, and 3% of them are Episcopalians.

Do the math.

Mark had requested that an excerpt from the play Paradise Now, performed in the 1960's at The Living Theatre in NYC.

Founded in 1947 as an imaginative alternative to the commercial theater by Judith Malina, the German-born student of Erwin Piscator, and Julian Beck, an abstract expressionist painter of the New York School, The Living Theatre has staged nearly a hundred productions performed in eight languages in 28 countries on five continents - a unique body of work that has influenced theater the world over. Find more information about the Living Theatre at www.livingtheatre.org Here is a picture of their production of Frankenstein.

In Paradise Now, there are numerous actors on the stage one of which has the part of a pole, around which all the other actors revolve, similar to a solar system, each actor representing a part of the human family. Each actor does not memorize text but responds to questions or stimuli. At times members of the audience become entwined in the action.

So here is the question: What do you want? Simple, right?

Here are some of the responses:

To make the world glow with creation. To make life irresistible.
To feed all the people. To change the demonic forces into the celestial.
To remove the causes of violence. To do useful work.
To work for the love of it and not for the money. To live without the police.
To change myself. To get rid of the class system.
To re-invent love. To make each moment creative.
To be free of the force of the State. To be free to create.
To get rid of a life of material greed.
To free all the energy wasted in financial transactions.
To cut all the bureaucratic wasted time out of life.
To free humanity from armies.
To stop distorting the mind of the people.
To stop crippling the human body with frustration.
To learn how to breathe. To live longer than we do.
To supply what we need. To seek what we desire.
To stop wasting the planet. To stop dying of competition.
To break down the walls that alienate.
To get to know God in all of God's madness.
To make the destination clear.

At this point the pole asks... What is the destination?

The actors spell out ANARCHISM. The pole asks... What is anarchism?

The actors respond.. PARADISE, and then continue chanting Now, Now, Now...

Season of Creation

2009-10-24T13:55:00.009-04:00

Every year beginning in October, my church the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington DE, celebrates the Season of Creation for seven Sundays. Each week the theme is different, the music is different and the readings are different.

This past Sunday the theme was The Planet Earth and second reading was from the 1854 Treaty Oration of Chief Seattle. The next paragraph is from the Home page of the website devoted to Chief Seattle , www.chiefseattle.com.

Although we call him “Chief” Seattle, there were no hereditary chiefs among the Puget Sound Indians. Strong leaders arose in each village from time to time who, distinguishing themselves by the actions or particular skills, were respected and followed. For instance, there were fishing leaders, peacetime leaders, and leaders in times of crisis. Chief Seattle was one of those. In addition to his leadership skills and his ability to understand what the white settler's intentions were, he was also a noted orator in his native language. At the presentation of the treaty proposals in 1854, Chief Seattle delivered a magnificent speech, which is widely remembered today. It is the speech of a man who has seen his world turned upside down in his own lifetime: as a boy, he had seen Vancouver’s ships, and when he died the treaty protests were still going on.

Here is an excerpt from his oration:

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.

Every shiny pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect

All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood the courses through our veins. We are a part of the earth and it is part of us.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers.

The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and humanity, all belong to the same family.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children.
So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give to any brother.

The air is very precious to us, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his firs breath, also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?

That the earth is our mother?

The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

We ended with this prayer.

O Loving Creator, you have nourished us from the grain and from the vine, the bread and cup of Christ: Now send us forth prompted by your Spirit to listen for the Earth's many cries for justice, and to stand with you in the world as instruments for the healing of our planet: we pray in Christ's most sacred name.

Amen.

A message from Major Saif

2009-10-23T09:23:00.003-04:00

First, I love the fact that this gentleman who I met my first day in Sudan, still connects with me.

Second, I love having a connection with Islam through this man.

Third, I love seeing the arab language written. I wish that I could do so.

So, here is what he sent me.

Assakamualaikum. (May Peace be upon you)

I came across this beautiful succinct advice of the great companion of the
Messenger (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) and the third Caliph of Islam, 'Ali
(Radiallahu 'anh). Let us spend some moments extracting the underlying
wisdom this statement offers:

*لا تخف إلا ذنبك ، ولا ترج إلا ربك ، ولا يستحي الذي لا يعلم أن يسأل حتى يعلم
، ولا يستحي من يسأل عما لا يعلم أن يقول : لا أعلم.*
**
*"Don't fear (anything) except your sin, and don't desire (anything) except
your Lord (Rabb). Let not the one, who doesn't know, feel shy to ask (about
it) till he comes to know it. And let not the one, who is asked about
something he doesn't know, feel shy to say : I don't know." *
**

[Narrated by Ibn 'Abdul-Barr in his work "Jamiu' Bayan Al-'Ilmi waFadlihi"
2/55. Excerpted from "Risalatul-Mustarshidin" of Abu al-Harith al-Muhasibi]

May Allah bless us all.

And from me, Peace, Shalom, Salam.

A Closing Prayer

2009-10-19T10:10:00.003-04:00

The cross. We shall take it.

The bread. We shall break it.

The pain. We shall bear it.

The joy. We shall share it.

The Gospel. We shall live it.

The love. We shall give it.

The light. We shall cherish it.

The darkness. God shall perish it.

AFRECS

2009-10-17T20:26:00.008-04:00

I am watching the Yankees in their second game of the American League playoffs.

It is very cold in Delaware and further north it is colder still. Watching TV and seeing baseball players in earmuff hats and head warmers is really strange. Keith Olberman's blog at www.mlb.com comments on the effect this has on the players.

Are mittens far behind?

A little over a week ago, I was elected to the Board of AFRECS, the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. You can now link to their website from my blog. I think you will be amazed at the connections Episcopalians have with their sisters and brothers in Sudan.

(Yankees up by one.)

I cannot begin to describe what an honor this is for me. What God has given me by introducing me to Sudan is unexplainable.

The American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, founded in 2005, is a network of individuals, churches, dioceses, and other organizations that seeks to focus attention on the needs and priorities of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) and enable American friends to assist the ECS in meeting the needs of the Sudanese people.

For those of you reading in the States, you will recognize someone in the following picture. Now our lives are connected in another way. I believe that this might be taken at his church in old Alexandria, VA.

In fact, the photo is labeled "Oran" photo.

Well done friend.

CPA or CPA?

2009-10-15T09:30:00.006-04:00

Depending upon your perspective, those three letters could stand for a title conveyed upon someone you has passed their Certified Public Accountant exam. Until Sudan, that is what it meant to me. Imagine reading the papers, and see CPA in articles.

Why was everyone speaking about accounting?

Reference Check!

CPA= Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005.

Different meaning.

I have added the link to the website of the Episcopal Church in the Sudan.

If you link or copy this site, you will find the text of a statement issued this week by Juba-based Church leaders, including Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, on the state of Sudan at present and especially on the current implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA): The Archbishop urges those of you involved in advocacy work for Sudanese peace on behalf of the ECS to use this statement to its utmost effect in your efforts.

2009-10-01T11:36:00.002-04:00

Bishop Wright received this email from Mitch Edmunds, a physician and member of Christ Church, Milford ...raising his concern about the national debate over health care reform. He/I am sharing it today with his permission. The Bishop's response is below the letter.

Dear Bishop Wright:

For the past few months, we all have watched the debate over health care reform unfold. While many of our leaders have recognized the urgent need for high quality, affordable healthcare, the discussion on how to fulfill this need has turned acrimonious. Partisans have not merely staked out their positions, but have deliberately distorted the views and efforts of others who do not share their opinions. Lawmakers have erred, both by fanning the flames of anger in their need to “Be right”, and by shirking their duty to confront fear and irrational behavior with reasoned discourse and compromise. The result is a stalemate that threatens to undermine the reform that our nation so sorely needs.

In moments like these, we need to turn to God to help us to find our way. I am asking that you consider declaring October 18, the Feast of St. Luke the Healer, a day of prayer for health care reform. Just as I, as a physician, cannot heal without God’s help, so do our politicians need the hand of God to help them see beyond their differences to achieve the greater good. The faith of the country is being put to the test, and it is time to ask for God’s grace and love to help see our nation through this battle.

Thank you for your attention.

Faithfully yours,
Mitch Edmondson, M.D.

The coming Feast of St. Luke the Healer is a special opportunity for each of us to teach, preach, and pray for God’s grace and guiding as the national debate over health care reform continues. As citizens and as a church this is an important contribution each of us can make. I hope that you will join me in doing this.

Below are two prayers that I believe are especially appropriate.

Collect for St. Luke’s Day (October 18) - Book of Common Prayer, page 244

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

In Times of Conflict - Book of Common Prayer, page 824

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forebearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Faithfully,

Wayne Wright
Bishop of Delaware

Rickshaw Slide Show

2009-10-01T11:06:00.004-04:00

Well most of you know that my main means of travel in Sudan was by rickshaw. Imagine my surprise at seeing a BBC article on line featuring these "cabs" and their operators. Enjoy.

< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/in_pictures/8272511.stm

Catching Up

2009-09-30T07:35:00.002-04:00

I am back riding on the train to New York City, on vacation as of 10:30 AM, heading to the annual Episcopal Business Administrators Conference (EBAC). This is an event that I have attended for each of the 15+ years that I have worked for the Diocese, except for 2008 when that honor went to my associate.

For me being on the train is very relaxing and allows the opportunity for random thoughts to come to the surface. There have been numerous times over the past several weeks that I jotted down thoughts or inspirations that should have moved me toward typing. However, they did not. My beloved Yankees are moving toward playing in the World Series and I am preoccupied. And, I am at the beginning of several new projects.

But first a couple of my in-frequent thoughts.

Fall or Autumn is fast approaching in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. Several times in the early evening, the sun setting earlier and earlier, I have caught a whiff of a smoke from a home fireplace. A smell that transports me to sweaters and socks, flannel sheets and cats sleeping around my legs. Other times, I in looking up the blue sky and white clouds are the perfect example of the opening clips of The Simpson's blue sky.

These days my spare day light hours are filled with closing up the pool, pulling up summer annuals, re-ordering the flower beds and cutting the grass for one of the last times. This weekend, I will decorate the inside and outside of the house for fall and Halloween, one of my favorite non-holidays.

This past week, I began a 34 week Disciple Bible Study course. Including myself, there are 14 in the group. I am the facilitator and not teacher. The participants are eager and excited, lots of energy. The differences in the group should add to its dynamics: Southern Baptists, Episcopalians, Quakers, young and not so young, men, women.

While typing, I am hearing the recitation of scripture as two men, Jews, are studying as they head to a funeral in Queens. I took the liberty of asking if the yarmulke they wore was to remind them of God, and the answer is to remind them that there is something above or higher than they. They are receiving phone calls and speak a mixture of Yiddish and English. Wonderful for the ears. Seeing how the younger man reveres the older, I think he must be a rabbi. He is reading and teaching.

Believe it or not they asked abo ut the trials within the Episcopal Church.

Arriving at Penn Station, I wait in the taxi line, oblivious to time. God will get me where I need to be in time. My driver is offered a $20 to get me to The Roosevelt and the conference by 1:15. He is Haitian and as is my usual custom we discuss when he came to the states, etc. He arrived in 1984, attended Brooklyn College graduating with a degree in Biology. He has been driving a cab since 1990. He is an expert on the Haitian history as it relates to the US. On his days off he goes to museums and soaks up everything. Oh to continue this conversation. But off I go.

I arrive in the room at 1:22. David is not far along. Video has been watched. Success and off to get a room, register and head to workshops.

I Love this City.

I Am a Christian

2009-09-22T09:23:00.005-04:00

At the annual Episcopal Church Women's Prayer Breakfast at Sts. Andrew and Matthew this past Saturday, September 19, this was one of the readings. Enjoy.

I Am a Christian

When I say, "I am a Christian"

I'm not shouting "I'm clean Livin"

I'm whispering "I was lost, now I'm forgiven"

When I say, "I am a Christian"

I don't speak of this with pride

I'm confessing that I stumble
And need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say, "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I was weak and
Need HIS strength to carry on.

When I Say, "I am a Christian"
I'm not braggin of success
I'm admitting I have failed and
Need GOD to clean up my mess '

When I say, "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too
Visible but. GOD believes I'm worth it'

When I say, "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain;
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon HIS name.

When I say, "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou
I'm just a simPle sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow'

-MaYa Angelou

Mere Lauren in Haiti

2009-09-15T08:24:00.002-04:00

I am going to add the writings of my friend, the Rev. Lauren Stanley. I first met Lauren in Sudan, Khartoum to be exact. She and I spent an evening together before I was heading home and she was heading back to Renk Theological College. Lauren is now a missioner in Haiti and I will be bringing you her adventures through her own words. Lauren writes for Episcopal Cafe which can be found at www.episcopalcafe.com

Plus ca change

By Lauren R. Stanley

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – I’ve been in Haiti for just a few days now, and already, I am being bombarded with questions: How is it? Is it really different from Sudan?

After serving as a missionary for four years to the Episcopal Diocese of Renk in the northernmost part of South Sudan, I now am discovering the joys – and differences – of living and moving and having my being in the West Indies. Every day, I see something that reminds me of Sudan; every day, I encounter the differences as well. Intellectually, I know I am in a new and different place. Emotionally, I am learning to adjust. Spiritually, I never moved.

The main differences begin with the languages , of course. Here, the people speak French and Creole, instead of Arabic and Dinka and Nuer and Murle and all those other tribal languages spoken in Renk. Here, no one says Salaam aleikum. Instead, we greet each other with Bonjou or Bonswa. And the manner in which we greet each other differs greatly, too: In Sudan, we shake hands – endlessly, it sometimes seems. In Haiti, we hug and kiss on the cheek – something unheard of in my previous posting.

But even more startling than the languages, which I am learning slowly (Creole) or recovering after 30 years (French), with 10 other languages in between, is the freedom, the absolute freedom that you find in Haiti. This nation is very Caribbean in its flavor; the mode of dress alone is enough to startle the eye. But there’s freedom here that is not experienced in Sudan: Freedom to do, freedom to be, freedom to believe. In the portion of Sudan where I lived, there were few overt signs of Christianity. Yes, you could see churches and crosses atop mud huts and some signs, but that was it. Sudan is a land where religion still very much divides the people.

But in Haiti? God is everywhere, openly proclaimed. Churches proliferate. Churches bells ring. Christianity is the main religion, and no one hesitates to proclaim it, no one hides it. Even the tap-taps, the pickup trucks converted into public transportation, are covered in calls to God: Grace be with us; Immanuel; Son of God; Holy Trinity; Saint (fill in the blank with whatever name you wish). Even one of the lotteries played in this country invokes God’s presence and blessing.

And as startling for me is the freedom of the women. They can dress however they like, go wherever they like and seemingly do whatever they like. This is a nation with a female prime minister, Michele Pierre-Louis. At the hardware store yesterday, searching for plumbing parts to fix a recalcitrant shower, the person with whom I consulted, the manager, who knew more than anyone else in the store about plumbing and what I needed, was a woman! This simply is not the case in Sudan, and even though I am an American, I’ve lived overseas for a long time and am very adapted to the subservient role women take in many places. To be in Haiti, to see such leadership and freedom enjoyed by women, is both thrilling and a bit unsettling; it is something to which I will have to become – joyfully – adjusted.

But setting aside those major differences (there are others – various customs and foods come to mind), there are even greater similarities. The people are, for the most part, dirt poor here. But they try – they scramble every day – to get through the day. They work however they can; they take their children to school; they gather to talk and debate. I’m not foolish enough to say the people are happy; I am discerning enough to see the small joys they find in life and to hear their laughter. I see an intense devotion to and trust in God; an intense desire to not only survive for another day but to get ahead, even just a little bit; an incredible hunger for education.

Yes, I have moved thousands of miles, from the largest nation in Africa to one of the smallest in the world. I’m changing cultures and languages and even foods. But I am still living in the fields of the Lord, still serving God’s beloved children, still astounded at God’s grace and how it is received and displayed. Much has changed, but through the love of God, even more has joyfully remained the same.

The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an appointed missionary of The Episcopal Church, serving in the Diocese of Haiti in the West Indies. She began her new ministry there last week..

Saints of God

2009-09-09T09:59:00.005-04:00

When I left Sudan last summer, Robin Denny began her ministry as the next Missioner to Sudan working as an Agricultural Consultant to the Province.
Here is her latest musings.

Dear Friends,

"I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and
died for the Lord they loved and knew."

In mission work, in life in general I suppose, there is always juxtaposition of states of being:
joy and sorrow, hope and despair, love and fear, beauty and horror. They exist side by side,
often in the same situations. The tension then is trying to hold these separate experiences of the
world at the same time, and recognizing the presence of God there in the midst of it.

In the last few weeks, the Episcopal Church of Sudan has suffered two terrible attacks. One in the diocese of Ezo
(on the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic), and one in the diocese of
Twic East (northern Jonglei state). In Ezo, there has been a renewed ferocity of attacks by the LRA
(rebels/terrorists of northern Uganda) in the last few weeks. People have fled to the town center of
Ezo for protection, but even there the LRA attacked. The bishop, the diocesan staff and 12 of their parishes
are currently displaced. On August 12-13 there was an attack on Ezo town by the LRA. The ECS church was
attacked, a lay reader was killed, and 8 Sunday school children were abducted by the LRA. The LRA are known
for forcing children to become soldiers, and the torture of those they kill or abduct.

In Twic East diocese there was an attack by approximately a thousand heavily armed militia on the
village of Wernyol and the surrounding area, on August 29. More than 40 people were killed in the area,
and the ECS Archdeacon Joseph Mabior Garang, was among the dead. He was killed in the church in
Wernyol while leading morning prayer.

More than two thousand have died in south Sudan in increasing internal conflict since April. See
Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul´s appeal regarding these recent events: http://sudan.anglican.org/jongleiappeal.php

I received the news of these two attacks after returning from a wonderful trip to two dioceses on the border with
northern Sudan last Saturday. The news, devastating in itself, also adds to the growing despair people here feel
about the instability of the peace. Where is God in all this? How can we reconcile these events with the image
of our loving God? And why is it that I back to this question after asking it so many times in the past?

In the last 25 years, more than two and a half million people died in the war in south Sudan. The Church in Sudan
is not a stranger to suffering and death, imprisonment and martyrdom. And yet many of the bishops and leaders
in the church who I know are people full of a deep and contagious joy. Despite the existence of such horror and
despair in the past and present, joy, peace, love, and hope are very much alive in the hearts of these men and
women. I am learning from them that a heart full of this mysterious joy, is something that cannot be taught, but
must be gained through prayer and experience. In the journey of our lives, each discovery redemption, each
experience of the presence of hope in the face of despair, love in the face of fear, joy in the face of pain,
teaches us about God. Here God is, in the joy and hope of those wise souls who have gone and continue to
go before us, walking with God in humility and patience. have much to learn from these saints of God.
"The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus will".

We are each a part of the body of Christ alive in the world today. How will we live into that calling today?
Perhaps we should start by finishing the song.... "The saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too!"

Peace and joy to you my friends,
Robin

-------------------------

Sudan News

2009-09-07T14:11:00.005-04:00

This past Sunday I shared this important news pertaining to The Episcopal Church in Southern Sudan. I ask that all continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ during these difficult times:

August 28, 2009

Dear All,

"Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His believers"

It was with deep sorrow we receive the death of Archdeacon Joseph Garang- he was the Archbishop Commissary in Bor to oversee the creation of Twic East Diocese.

The late Joseph was murdered (this morning Friday) in cold blood as the armed Murle attacked the Payam of Warniyol about 80 miles north of Bor town. About 30 people were killed and many more wounded.

Please let's pray for the family of the late and uphold the people in Bor particularly in the aftermath of this deadly attack.

The Rev. John Malesh

Director

ECS Kampala

Here is The Associated Press article on wearing pants in public:

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A woman journalist was convicted Monday of public indecency for wearing trousers, but was spared a sentence of flogging. A defiant Lubna Hussein said she would not pay a $200 fine and would take a month in prison instead to protest Sudan's draconian morality laws.

The 43-year old journalist has set out to challenge the police and courts since her arrest in July by insisting the case go to trial, aiming to embarrass the Khartoum government with the publicity. Her prosecution — and the prospect that she could get the full sentence of 40 lashes — drew an international outcry.

The judge's decision to impose a fine equivalent to $200 appeared to be an attempt to curb the criticism.

"I will not pay a penny," Hussein, who during the court session wore the same trousers that sparked her arrest, told The Associated Press after the ruling.

During the session, police rounded up about 40 women protesting outside the courthouse in support of Hussein, some of them wearing trousers as well in a sign of solidarity.

Sudan's government implements a conservative version of Islamic law in the north. Under public indecency laws, anyone committing an act or wearing clothing deemed indecent can be punished with a flogging or a fine, but lawyers and human rights groups say the law is too vague and arbitrary. In the capital the "public order" police enforce the laws, breaking up parties and scolding men and women who mingle in public.

In mostly Muslim northern Sudan, many women wear traditional flowing robes that also cover their hair, but it is also not uncommon for women to wear trousers, even though conservatives consider it immodest.

Public order police arrested Hussein along with around a dozen other women in a Khartoum public cafe. Ten of the women received a quick, closed-door trial and were flogged soon afterward, avoiding the social stigma associated with a public trial on morality charges.

Hussein, however, insisted on a public court and even resigned from her job in the U.N.'s public information office because it gave her immunity.

After a three-hour session Monday, the judge ruled Hussein's outfit indecent and imposed the fine. He said her clothes violated traditions that a woman should only "adorn themselves" for their husbands and not in public, Hussein's lawyer said.

Lawyers said Hussein would be taken to a jail in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, after she refused the fine.

Galal al-Sayed, Hussein's lawyer, called the ruling "incorrect" because the judge ignored his request to present defense witnesses and based his decision on contradictory statements from the prosecution witnesses. Al-Sayed said he would appeal the conviction.

He said the judge had apparently opted for a fine, not flogging, to avoid international criticism. "There is a general sentiment in the world that flogging is humiliating."

Even before the ruling, Hussein said she would refuse any fine. "I won't pay, as a matter of principle," she said. "I would spend a month in jail. It is a chance to explore the conditions in jail."

It is not the first time Sudanese courts have raised an outcry. In 2007, a British teacher was charged with insulting Islam after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad in a class project, which some radical clerics called an insult to Islam's prophet. She was convicted and sentenced to 15 days in prison, though not the possible sentence of 40 lashes — again, an apparent move to avoid worsening international criticism. She then received a presidential pardon and returned to Britain.

Hussein's case has raised a string of condemnations by international human rights groups, and Hussein has sought to draw attention to Sudan's morality laws.

Amnesty International called on the Sudanese government to withdraw the charges against Hussein and repeal the law which justifies such "abhorrent" penalties. The London-based group said Friday that the law allowing flogging is state-sanctioned torture.

It pointed to an incident in 2003 when eight women were flogged in public with plastic and wire whips, reportedly leaving permanent scars on the women. The women had been picnicking with male friends.

Human rights and political groups in Sudan say the law is in violation of the 2005 constitution drafted after a peace deal ended two decades of war between the predominantly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south Sudan.

In a column Friday in the British daily Guardian, Hussein said her case is not an isolated one but is emblematic of repressive laws in a country with a long history of civil conflicts.

"When I think of my trial, I pray that my daughters will never live in fear of these police," she wrote.

Hussein said she would take the issue all the way to Sudan's Constitutional Court necessary, but that if the court rules against her and orders the flogging, she's ready "to receive (even) 40,000 lashes" if that what it takes to abolish the law. "We will only be secure once the police protect us and these laws are repealed," she wrote.

Government spokesman Rabie Abdel Attie said Monday that "this is not a way to change the law."

"Changing the laws goes through officials, and it is a continuous matter looked into by the parliament," he said.

Abdel Attie said many women in Sudan wear trousers in government offices and institutions. He said there may be other issues surrounding Hussein's case that led to her arrest, but he refused to elaborate on what they might be.

"These courts are not convened without a crime. Lubna was convicted and she should respect the law," he said.

William Hicks and Perspective

2009-08-20T23:33:00.006-04:00

I have discovered that after working with computers all day, the best intentions go astray when I enter the house.

Rather than a place of continued work, the house becomes a place to play, whether by puttering around in the garden, watching a Yankees baseball game, Keith Olberman on Countdown, sitting in the pool reading book, reading the Sunday Times, playing with the cats, or (God forbid) cleaning.

I cannot tell you the number of times that I have actually written out lists of things to do

Finishing filing my 2008 Income Taxes.

Writing on the blog.

Working on the raffle for Sudan.

Planning for Disciple Bible Study beginning this fall.

Maybe I am channeling Lee Iaccoca, though I in no way think that I am in the shape that Chrysler was in.

That said, maybe I am channeling someone. Possibly Jim. It appears that I can work very well sitting in Borders, as I am now.

Okay. I do remember why I loved being in Borders. It is people watching, something I know I share with my sister.

There is one male employee that walks around with pink hair. Then, there is this man in the corner that has pen to paper and writes and then looks up to his right. Continually. This man either has a tick or is drawing the woman sitting on his right with her back to him. It is very odd. If he had a focusing problem, it might have his head turned right but staring straight ahead at me. YIKES.

I love this place. However, since putting myself on a strict budget, I can only afford coffee, no books. It is like an addiction with me, the purchase, want, need of something new to read, a book to own.

Can I say library?

OK, mystery solved. He is drawing. I think his coffee cup. And yes, I have kept staring.

No tick, no fascination with the woman's back, no off-kilter sight.

Speaking of sight. Today, I am a woman with a new eye.

On Thursday, I had my right lens replaced due to a cataract. I can see well (20/30) as of yesterday. And it is bright and clear and white is white and not dingy yellow white. It is like having a blue white light bulb instead of a yellow white light bulb. I will have the left one corrected on October 6.

It is truly a miracle, the way science, medicine and technology have come along. Just years ago, this operation would have required stitches, more recovery time. Now, there is a small incision, old lens broken up and removed and a new one inserted like a ship in a bottle. And, I would have been driving that same day, if the anesthesia I had received did not prohibit it.

So now all that I will eventually need is a pair of $5.99 readers out of the local drugstore.

Of course, this could all lead to a discourse on perceptions. Mine vs yours vs theirs.

In the US, the big topic leading to so perceptions, read opinions, is Healthcare Reform. It is enough to make us all dizzy.

Just one page in the proposal, 435, is a point in fact. For a funny, strange not haha, example of this, log on to www.comedycentral.com and watch Thursday's episode of The Daily Show. It went on for so long, that they had to add the balance of the interview to internet viewing only. The show was heading out for their August vacation.

One person reads and fixates on the phrase life sustaining. Another reads the same sentence and fixates on the phrase shall report.

I read the entire sentence and I am sure that there are others that do the same thing and still come up with different observations or conclusions.

It is the same with Christians and our Bible, Jews and their Bible, Muslims and their Koran. Take the same story and you will get at least two interpretations, two reasons for why the story is being told.

This should make everyone excited, that another reader can bring their experience, their needs and wants to a reading and provide us with another insight.

It should.

This fall I am facilitating a weekly course on Disciple Bible Study. I use the term facilitate because I am not the teacher. I am another pupil/participant. However, someone has to arrange for the meeting space, start and end the meeting, arrange for and play the video, start the discourse.

My energy will come from hearing the many variations on the same story. To nurture each other. To be respectful of each others point of view.

For me, as I learn how to do this praying and listening and evolving around Bible study, one of my goals is that I will be able to do this around politics and other life issues.

From John 8:31:

If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples.

Imagine “a church focused on addressing the”why” questions of God's purposes before engaging the “how to” questions of church practices.

Imagine “the members of the body of Christ shaped by a shared knowledge and understanding of the whole biblical story and its connection to their story.

“The nature of discipleship, Jesus says, is like the lifetime of labor it takes to establish a place of growth and nurture, refuge and redemption, trust and hope.”

Finally, I have come upon a quote that has rapidly become a favorite of mine. It is a quote on religion by a stand-up comedian, William Melvin “Bill” Hicks (12/16/61 – 2/26/94). Mr. Hicks wrote this on February 7, nineteen days before his death. Mr. Hicks was introduced to me this past February 26 by Keith Olberman on Countdown. Mr. Olberman has a segment on his show that highlights something that took place in history on each particular day. I look forward to this part of the show because I almost always learn something new. Or I get really excited when I can say (yell) I knew that.

Here is the quote:

“I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.”

Step it up, Just do it

2009-08-05T20:10:00.005-04:00

One of my challenges is to take what I believe in, what my faith tells me, and relate it to what is happening around me. The past few days, weeks, and months have provided me with numerous examples, but I have so far been silent.

Not any more. For some of my family or friends, warning, I will probably annoy you.

Frequently.

One of the tenants of my faith is the forgiveness that is abundantly given to all of us. We humans who make mistakes. Often. Some rather large. Some repeatedly.

My faith in this forgiveness comes from the teaching of Jesus, out of the Christian books of the New Testament.

It is therefore difficult for me to hear "Christians" not willing to allow human mistakes be forgiven, rather to be calling for strict punishment. Once again, my fellow "Christians", whose faith appears to be grounded in the Old Testament with a little of Jesus thrown in, separate themselves from me.

There are consequences for our actions, but what is the sense of welcoming Jesus, who proclaimed a new way of looking at the world, of relating to each other, of caring for each other, if every time a challenge comes along, Jesus is forgotten or pushed aside.

Why is there so much clamoring for a pound of flesh?

Why the emphasis on the negative?

This anti-Christ crap? The birthers?

I am astonished to hear the furor over the release of the two journalists recently held in North Korea. Rewards for bad behavior is what John Bolton has said.

This was not a case of not eating your vegetables and still getting dessert. This was hard labor, wives and mothers separated from husbands and child. Rewards?

If the case for saving was to have been deserving where would we all be?

Remember Jesus talking about separating us into two groups, those welcomed into heaven and those not? Remember him preaching that by taking care of the least of them, feeding the least of them, welcoming the stranger,that by doing so, we did it to him? He never said that the qualification for assistance was that the receiver believe in anything that the giver did.

Working towards caring for all of our citizens by reforming health care?

Nah, Jesus didn't mention health care. Or, why should I care about "them". Or, I work hard for what I have, let "them" do the same. I have mine, let them get theirs.

The time to live up to this is now. Step up to the plate.

Just do it.

On a personal note, my mother did not have health insurance in the latter part of her life until she could get on Medicare. At 64, she could not afford a policy.

She would have liked to have had an option, any option, that she could have afforded.

At 65, she died.

What about your mother, or his, or hers, or theirs?

What about your sister, or his, or hers, or theirs?

Father, brother, cousins, friends.

What about them?

Just get on with it.

Rush Hour

2009-08-05T06:32:00.003-04:00

Monday through Friday during the summer, the route that I take to work changes.

During the summer, schools are closed and therefore, students, parents and teachers are not traveling on the roadways. Without buses and all those extra cars on the road I can take the shorter distance, travel the same speed, and get to work much quicker.

(God forbid Americans would design public transportation to take the majority of travelers where they need to go. Delaware should design a high speed rail line up the middle of I-95 as well as providing adequate bus or train lines in the southern part of the state. But, I digress.)

Each morning I am reminded about a particular story in Matthew's Gospel. Each morning those of us exiting at Concord Pike gather in a long line.

When I was younger I would drive as far as I could up the middle lane, then cut to the right when there was a break in the line.

At other times, those waiting in line endured those that cut their waiting time by driving up on the right shoulder. At those times, several of us would move to the right straddling both lanes taking away this short cut. So self righteous.

Then, I changed my driving habits. I tended to get in line, travel up slowly and take in the view of the river and woods along the Brandywine River. However, I would seethe at those that still maneuvered their way at high speeds, cutting in or driving up the right.

All in a hurry to get there first. My way was the right way, the correct way to get off the exit.

Eventually, all of those traveling get off the exit. No matter which way we travel, we all get off the exit. Slow or fast. Left, center or right lanes. We all get there.

I do not know when it happened, but I came to care not about when I got off the exit.

Rather, I came to care that I got off the exit.

The last shall be first, the first last. But, they all enter.

Matthew 20:1-16

SimonSurmises

2009-07-31T09:04:00.001-04:00

I have added another blog link.

The Rev. Canon Simon Mein, a long time friend and associate, has a wonderful blog called Simon Surmises.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit down comfortably, and read, thereby exercising not only your brain, but your soul.

Enjoy!

Remembrances

2009-07-30T06:45:00.006-04:00

Some of my dearest friends and I will be getting together this Saturday to celebrate 40 years of being away from home. Here is what she has written. For those of you reading this in Sudan, or other parts of the globe, Cate, along with my three Wise Men, assisted me in obtaining my vision to do more for my church. Hence, God put me in Sudan, for which I am eternally grateful.

Mountain View Life Coaching Newsletter
40 Years Ago...

JULY 29, 2009

Hard to believe, but it's true. Forty years ago I (barely) graduated from Ossining High School.

The "barely" part is another story...

This weekend I will spend a few short hours with a handful of my amazing graduating class of over 300 "kids".

Not long ago, I realized that my experience "growing up" with my classmates (and the classes of '66, '67, '68 and '70) is one of the greatest gifts of my lives. I feel as though we raised ourselves and each other. I think we did a pretty good job. No one else was paying attention to my struggles and angst, at least not that I noticed. I can't speak for my classmates or anyone else of this "era".

Perhaps this is not unique to the Class of '69, but we truly "went though a lot" together, the best of times and the worst of times.

Coming from five small racially, ethnically and economically diverse elementary schools into one over-crowded junior high school, 7th and 8th grade, which adjoined the high school, we were on double session for two years while a new "middle" school was built. We went to school from 7 to Noon one year, Noon to 5 the other. It was weird. We didn't really have any activities except to find our classrooms on time (which could be under the stage or next door at the church) and the rush to get there early to claim one of the limited number of desks and chairs. Never mind the books....

We learned to sit wherever and share. Made us close.

We were the beginning of the peak of the baby boomers and our town and school did not plan ahead.

We lost our beloved President Kennedy when we were only 12 years old. Our hearts were broken, but our young spirits were not dampened. We still believed we could save the world.

We entered high school in the same complex of buildings, as the "middle schoolers" left us and headed to their new school. We had "toughed it out" and got to spread out and relax a bit in our roomier old school and annex. We finally had dances, played sports together (well, the boys, this was pre-Title 9 after all, the girls watched or were cheerleaders). We went to the town library at night to study (or at least that's what we told our parents). We skipped school and took the train down the Hudson River to NY City and learned how to get to the Greenwich Village on the subway and back, and off the train before dismissal.

We lost Dr. King and Senator Kennedy. We were in shock and pain as the racial tension in our school escalated to the breaking point. Police lined our corridors for weeks as we made our way to class.

We worked together in our senior year in our shared desire to heal.

We broke the dress code. Yes, the girls wore skirts that had to touch the floor when we got on our knees in the dean's office, and the boys had to wear jacket and tie on Fridays. Now we all wore jeans, or at least we could.

We experienced the "sexual revolution" in our own young way, having heard reports of the "Summer of Love" in 1967 Haight-Ashbury. Some of us experimented with drugs. We watched the war in Vietnam on the evening news, watched it escalate and worried about the draft. We partied when our parents were away. Our parents remained oblivious, or so we thought, until some of us "got caught".

That summer, many of us planned for college, entered the work force or Armed Service, and some of us bought our tickets and looked forward to The Woodstock Festival in August (more next time), as we marveled at men walking on the moon.

Back to today -- My boxes for our move are mostly packed and I am fleeing my home and my adoring, understanding husband, to see my homegirls and homeboys for a few short hours of laughs and shared memories.

We share experiences that have bonded us in ways that I barely understand, if not because of the "times", than at least because we were and are who we are.

Unlike previous reunions (I made the 25th and 35th), I don't care if I have a manicure or something new to wear. I won't and I don't. I don't care that I didn't lose a few pounds just for the occasion. I am who I am. Happy to be able to attend and hug my classmates!

Including my years in junior and senior high school, I have spent many years trying to morph into something I'm not.

I finally like myself for who I am.

Funny thing is, this group of old friends, brothers and sisters of my soul, always appreciated me for me. It's taken all this time for me to "get it" -- that I'm okay and totally lovable, just as I am.

I believe we are all born with an innate sense of worth and intact self-esteem. I lost mine for a very long time... and found it again through the transformational work of "integrative" life coaching.

If you would benefit from support, a guide to help you find the path back to your birthright of worthiness and self-acceptance, call me. From my training, personal experience and the experience of my clients, I know that from this place of wholeness, your gifts will unfold with ease. The world is waiting for your gifts. Why wait another moment?

Call me for a complimentary conversation.

Namaste,

Cate LaBarre

Mountain View Life Coaching
Certified Integrative Coach Professional
Trained by The Ford Institute of Integrative Coaching at JFK University
Workshop Facilitator and Leader
(607)264-9500
After August 6th -- (518)882-9880

2009-07-16T21:43:00.007-04:00

My first encounter with Bishop Steven Charleston was at the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew. Each year, the Rev. Canon Lloyd Casson would invite Bishop Charleston to participate in the three Hour Good Friday service at SsAM's. What started out being a one year treat turned into seven.

Imagine looking forward to Good Friday, an afternoon spent praying, crying, laughing and being in community.

Since then, I have encountered Bishop Charleston at CODE, EBAC and other conferences. To know that he will speak is to know that I will be challenged and refreshed.

Here is a synopsis of what he had to say this week during the noon time Eucharist. from Episcopal News Service.

Future generations will look back on the Episcopal Church aghast that it spent 30 years talking about human sexuality and largely ignoring the ecological disaster affecting the world, said Bishop Steven Charleston in his July 15 sermon during a General Convention Eucharist that celebrated creation care.

“For years now the environmental movement has told us that there is a clock ticking, a clock, ticking, a great organic ecological clock that is ticking away the time of our lives to that when we no longer will be able to reverse the damage that we have done to this planet through our own greed, negligence and ignorance,” said Charleston, assistant bishop of California and provost of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

Charleston continued: "Why is it that we do not hear that? Why is it that around this world of ours, though there are good men and women all seeking to help save the earth, that there is not this huge outpouring of sudden activity as the bell rings in our ears to save the earth?"

It is because, he said, "we have been distracted."

In addition to being distracted by discussions on human sexuality, the church has been worrying about its institutional survival; its relationships in the Anglican Communion; money, budget sheets and head counts, Charleston said.

“I am here to tell you that unless we recognize that there is a higher, deeper calling that lies behind all of these needs … none of our hopes and dreams, whether they come from conservative hearts or liberal minds, will sustain the day on anything we have been discussing, for all will be for naught, all will be for naught lest we wake up and pay attention to the underlying great issue of our day.”

"The day will come when the future will look back on what we have been doing here and see in our discussions -- though they appear to us in this moment, so fraught with importance -- issues as antique as the concern as to whether or not women could have the right to vote and whether we should stop the practice of child labor," said Charleston.

"And yet they will consider our folly on a planet that is but a burnt cinder, compared to the garden that has allowed us the luxury to have these self same debates. They will live in a world in which wars over water will make ours over oil pale in comparison."

But, he said, it doesn't have to be so. As the history of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion have shown, people can live in peace even when they disagree and people are capable of living in harmony with the natural world.

"In the name of Jesus of Nazareth I call upon the presence of the Holy Spirit … the spirit of the very earth itself and ask that that spirit come into this room and touch each and every one of you who is listening to me now," Charleston concluded. "Let your mind be opened to the truth of what I have spoken here today, let your heart be set on fire … be not afraid Episcopal Church, but stand proud and tall into this great commission of God.

"This is our moment, this is our time, this is our call and under an anointing of the spirit of God we will not fail in that call, but be in the vanguard of a change that will resound around the world full of hope and grace to renew humanity itself through the hope and power of Jesus in whose name I have preached and in whose name I have prayed."

And the crowd of hundreds took to its feet in applause.