Car and rain

 This morning I took my car to English Auto, who have worked on it since I owned it.

The 'check engine' light keeps coming on for no reason they can find.

But tomorrow I have an emissions test and wanted it fixed.

It took most of the day and was raining like crazy when Bern took me down to get it.

The rain never stopped--which Bern and Mrs. English both told me was greatly needed.

I don't keep up with stuff like rain, but I drove through it for 20 miles to see how the car ran.

It was fine, but I got real wet just getting to the house.

Rain is a blessing--when it's not on you!

Father's Day in the Forest

 My son called me earlier today and my daughter will later, I'm sure.

Father's Day is odd and I live in a forest.

A great guy from Torrington's Soup Kitchen was in church last Sunday and spoke to us as the sermon.

Afterwards we talked and I told him about the 20 trees in our side and back yard.

He said, "you live in a forest! And that's what I want."

I hope he finds it.

And I love it.

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there in cyber-land.

I'm loving it in my forest and with Bern making me a pizza for dinner.

What could be better?

Wedding

 It went well!

Well over a hundred guests.

Groomsmen in white, bridesmaids in green--groom in green, bride in white--very thought  out.

They're a great couple and their families were thrilled.

I kept it short but our musician did a great job before and during and after.

God love K and C--may their lives be full of wonder.

(But I'm glad I mostly go to Milton--30 miles away--on Sunday. The traffic the last two days through Waterbury was horrific!)

Wedding rehearsal

 I'll be leaving in half-hour or so to go to Milton for a wedding rehearsal.

Back years ago at St. John's, Waterbury, I did lots of weddings.

This is my first one in several years.

There's something encouraging about weddings--two people setting off on a journey of a life-time.

However, not all of them end up that way.

I like K. and C., who are getting married. I did their pre-marriage counseling  and came to admire them both.

I'll bless their vows and pray God that it goes for them as it has for me and Bern--decades of love, change and adventure.

Best of luck, K and C!

What to drink

 A few months ago, Bern thought I was drinking too much wine and asked me to stop.

She may have been right or wrong--I'm not sure--but I stopped.

Since then I drink 6 cans of Polar Ginger Ale a day.

I may have become a 'gingeraleaholic' for all I know.

But I love ginger ale--but only Polar when I can find it or Bern can.

Most times the bottom shelf of our refrigerator is full of it.

Have a Polar Ginger Ale on me....

Straighten it out...

 I don't know if it has to do with growing old or something else, but I have become frantic about having things straight.

Scatter rugs most of all. We have lots of them and I'm constantly moving them around to look right.

I'm rigid about having things straight.

I've also started counting stuff: how many people are in church or on the street, how many books are on the table, even how many steps I take to get from the house to the car.

I'm always saying to myself, "Stop Counting!"

But it doesn't work.

Next I'll be counting how many times I say "Stop Counting!" to myself.

Both these things are driving me a little nuts.

But I was 'a little nuts' already, so it won't hurt....

I am an idiot

 Church was great! The head of the Torrington Soup Kitchen was our speaker. Michael and I tried to find a gospel hymn having to do with 'eating' and the best we came up with was "Let us break bread together on our knees", which was fine.

Everybody--including our guest--received communion. That doesn't happen often--there are always a few who don't come forward.

But that has nothing to do with why I'm an idiot.

I went to the grocery store to get small crossants (excuse my spelling--I'm a spelling idiot too). I got them at Stop and Shop, where they are available--not at Big Y where I go always. Bern and I go to different stores!

When I came out I left my cane on my shopping cart and didn't realize it until I was home and reached for it. I don't need it much, which is why I forgot it!

So, I raced back and lo and behold, the cart and cane were where I left them.

I was as over-joyed as an idiot like me can be....

My tooth

So, I have this tooth in a plastic thing that fits over 6 or 7 teeth and holds the tooth in the space where I will--some day....--get an implant.

I dropped it in the kitchen sink one day and couldn't get it out of the garbage disposal.

Bern got it out.

Then today I dropped it in our downstairs bathroom, which is tiny, but it went behind the toilet and I couldn't get it.

Bern got it for me.

I have a tooth I wouldn't have twice over if it wasn't for Bern.

Could she be the tooth fairy???

 

Appreciating Life

 Today I was walking downstairs from my office and I told myself, "really look at what you're seeing".

All over our house, where we have lived for over three decades, there are things that give me joy.

*pictures Bern created for me

*photos of grandchildren

*pictures of both our children't marriages (which I preformed!)

*nick-nacks that go back years

*furniture that has held me for decades

*Books I read and grew from years ago

*plates from places in West Virginia where we both grew up

*plants I don't know the names of but which Bern lovingly cultivates

*rugs from the past

*a bench from my childhood

I could go on and on and then go outside and tell you about the wonders of nature on our property, but I'll stop there.

Here's what to do: decide to take a stroll around your home or your neighborhood and actively appreciate what life gives you.

It's well worth a try....

Bible Study

 After a long time off, we started Bible Study again today at Trinity.

We're going to be reading the Gnostic Gospels so I should probably write "Bible" Study, since those writings aren't in the New Testament.

But some of them were written at the same time as the rest of the New Testament but were either over-looked or rejected by the early church.

They were found in 1945 buried in Egypt in a place called (help my spelling, Lord!) Nag Hammadi.

They have lots in common with the 4 gospels, but lots that is different.

Some of them bear the names of women! Possibly why those were outlawed.

Luckily someone saved them and hid them so we can read them.

I look forward to it in many ways....

Talking to Owls

 When I go out on our back deck (if Bern isn't there to talk to) I talk to Owls.

They aren't real owls. They are plastic and supposed to scare away something--squirrels? chipmunks? who knows?.

One has been on our deck for years. The other used to be down at the end of the back yard with wings and on a pole. The wings fell off and she fell off the pole so now she is in a huge pot with him on our deck.

I assigned them gender. The wingless one is a girl named Olivia and the sitting one is a male named Oliver.

Clever names, huh?

I don't talk about serious things with them--the weather, the time of day and time of year. Stuff like that.

I don't talk to real owls, though I saw one in one of the trees on our side yard and few weeks ago and tried to strike up a conversation.

None of the owls--plastic or real--talk back.

I could be talking to nothing, just to hear my voice.

But I prefer talking to owls.

Try it out. You'll see what I mean.

A good night's sleep

 I haven't been sleeping well for a few weeks.

Saturday I probably slept 4 1/2 hours and then went to church.

But Sunday, I had a good night's sleep!

I went to sleep before Bern and only work up once--4:20 a.m.--but dozed right back off.

Sleep really matters.

It changes the whole next day.

Funny thing, it's only 3 p.m. and I'm a tad sleepy.

Just longing for last night.

Sleep well, my friends, sleep well....

Healing

 The Healing Service after church today went well.

Almost everyone came up for anointing and prayers for healing.

Some shared a particular issue and others just wanted general healing..

It went so well we may do it a Sunday a month.

Healing is something we all need.

Usually we know it, but sometimes not.

Long for healing and have faith it will come.

Dog Dream

 I had a dream last night about our dog.

A young couple came by the house, he was dark and she was blond and both were tall. They told us they were new to the neighborhood and had built a 'dog room' in their house.

They wanted to know if they could take Brigit to see the 'dog room'--whatever that was.

Bern said they could, without asking me.

They came back and said Brigit really liked the 'dog room'.

The next day they came back and asked if Brigit could spend the night with them.

Before Bern could answer I asked, "where will she sleep?'

They said, 'the dog room'.

'And where will you sleep?' I said.

"Our room," they answered together.

I told them 'no', that Brigit sleeps in our bed and I never wanted to see them again.

Then I woke up.

I told Brigit about the dream, but she didn't seem to understand.

Dogs....

A.I. in my computer?

 I've noticed that things I write about in emails suddenly show up on my computer when I go to look at news and things.

Obviously, I'm an Episcopalian, but every time I go to Microsoft Edge I get ads to buy Episcopal stuff.

Plus, I mentioned the Gospel of Phillip (from the Gnostic Gospels) in an email and suddenly there are ads to buy copies of Phillip and the Gnostics on M. Edge.

I hate and fear A.I.--I think it will make us dumber (several studies frorm MIT prove that) and it will take over our lives in ways we're not aware of...like our computers.

Maybe I'm just being anxious, but I don't think so.

Our normal human intellegance gets us in enough trouble (like this: I don't think I spelled the 4th word in this sentence correctly!).

And think of the trouble our votes in the last presidential election got us involved with!

But AI will get us in even more.

Believe me, AI does not have our best interests in it's 'artificial' mind....

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!