Healing

This Sunday I want to preach about healing.

In the gospel for the day, Jesus raises a woman from the dead--but before than, another woman, who is seriously ill, touches the hem of his garment and is healed.

I think a lot about healing.

I pray for those (including me) who need to be healed.

I may even offer prayers for healing and anointment with oil after church for any who want it.

I long for things in life to find God's healing.

Especially our beloved country turned inside-out by the oligarch who is president.

But also for the healing of those I love--their relationships and their bodies and their minds.

Healing is God's greatest gift to us.

Lean into God's healing power.

Long to be healed.

 

 

Did I not post yesterdsy?

Monday is a blur to me. I don't know why.

I went to the library and got great books, including a David Rosenfelt mystery that is a prequel to all his others. Yea!

I also got Bern Winston Gold and me Marlboro Red. Yes, we both smoke (Bern more than me). Get over it and have a cig....

I slept until 9:07 a.m. this morning and skipped breakfast for coffee and my Tuesday group chat.

We talked about Baptism a lot.

M. told them how I always invited everyone--I mean EVERYONE--to receive communion.

Then I told them of the half-dozen or more folks who came to me, after receiving communion, to ask to be baptized.

The font leads to the altar, but the altar can lead to the font.

Those of some of the moments I remember most in my 21 years at St. John's in Waterbury.

We also talked about our own baptisms.

I will spare you that for now--but maybe in a day or two....

Great Tuesday to you!

 

Church today...

..went well. Great Trinity hymns and a Mozart postlude that made it sound like Michael had three hands!

Heat on in the car all the way there!

Tomorrow is June and the last few days felt like March.

When is Spring coming to Connecticut?

We'll probably go straight to summer.

Several people told me stories about how my sermon on the Trinity applied to their lives.

That kind of stuff makes 2 years at Harvard Divinity, 2 years at Virginia Seminary and a year at Hartford Seminary worth it.

3 degrees (MTS, MDiv and Dr of Ministry) don't mean much if you can't touch peoples lives in your words.

I must admit, though I never dreamed of being an Episcopal priest, I'm glad I am.

That makes the day worthwhile.

 

The Holy (and 'wholly' mysterious) Trinity

 Sunday is Trinity Sunday.

I dread it every year!

Even though the 'doctrine of the Trinity' is something we have to embrace to be Christian, I find it hard to understand.

(That's not unusual--I find lots of stuff about the Christian faith to be difficult to understand....Even though I'm an Episcopal Priest!)

3 in 1 and 1 in 3 isn't math that I comprehend.

I try in my sermon to clear things up--not well, by the way!

You are one person to your family, another person to  your friends and yet another person to strangers.

Not good enough.

Your mother brought you into being, protected you from harm and gave you guidance on how to be an adult.

3 in 1 and 1 in 3.

Still not enough for me.

But what the hell! Why understand it, just rejoice in it!

Our God is OUR GOD!

That should be enough....

Happy Trinity Sunday....

Ouch!!!

 I went to the peradontist today (that's probably not how to spell it) and he cut into my gum, inserted something and gave me two stitches. 

I feel like some George Floyd or some boxer hit me in the mouth.

As the numbing wears off, it hurts more.

Plus, it's still bleeding a bit.

He told me to put tea bags, wet, onto the wound. I've been doing that though I had to go to Big Y to get tea bags--we don't have any.

Now, to my surprise, my regular dentist will put the implant in.

This has taken 6 months, at least and will be a few weeks more.

I've left our my dental thing that puts a tooth in the hole (# 8 if you're a dentist).

But he told me it used to take over a year.

Why did I decide to do this in the first place?

I don't remember.

His office is on Chapel Street in New Haven. We lived there for 4 years--on that street next to St. Paul's Church, where I was Rector.

But that was over 30 years ago and I didn't have any idea where I was when driving there.

We forget things, I know, but New Haven looked like Pluto to me today.

Getting old is not a ton of fun....

 

A bit off center

 Memorial Day felt like Sunday so I didn't realize it was Tuesday when I got up at 9 a.m.!

9 a.m.--do you sleep that late? I don't either. Memorial Day and being with 40 people at the birthday party wore me out.

So, I forgot my face-time with 'the boys' as Bern calls them--accurately I might add. No women on the screen.

Tried to get on and was told there was a problem.

Alas and alack!

No Tuesday morning talk with my brother-in-law, the only non-Episcopalian on the call (he's a RC priest) or any of the others.

There would have been talk about the Clergy Conference last week--which I didn't attend.

Good grief, I'm an old man, I don't need to be around a bunch of priests for two days!

So, today has slipped away on me. But I'm making dinner as I do on Tuesday--a big salad with lots of stuff on it.

That, at least, I'll get done today....

Memorial Day

 Today's the day to honor those who fought in wars to keep our country free.

My father (God rest his soul) was in General Patton's army in WW2. He lived through it and I was born when he came home.

He never talked about his years of service. He must of saw things that troubled him deeply.

Our 'president' is having people fight on the White House lawn today.

Memorial Day is a day of peace not fighting.

We're going to an old friend's birthday party today.

That seems an appropriate way to honor those who fought in horrible wars for our freedom.

On line I saw our 'president' standing around flags. One had 48 stars instead of 50 and the other had 11 stripes instead of 13.

Is there no one around him that could see those mistakes and help him avoid them?

I'm afraid not.

Very afraid not....

Have a great day and thank God for those who risked and those who lost their lives to keep us free.